Tag Archives: business

Lessons from Walt

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The following post about Walt Disney is one of the most read pieces I’ve published.  Turns out lots of people are looking for information on Walt’s perseverance.  In any event, I’ve been reminded again how important it is for us to persevere even when we’re tired – maybe especially when we’re tired – of keeping at something.

Well, have you been trying for twenty years?  Me neither.  Keep pressing on….

Walt Disney’s Perseverance  Originally posted February 22, 2011

Travel with me back in time to 1938. It was four years past the original book release of Mary Poppins and Walt Disney made his first attempt to gain rights to transfer the beloved story to film. Mickey Mouse was a big hit and this was the year that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released, winning Disney an Oscar (accompanied by seven miniature statues). Really, the Snow White story provides another wonderful example of perseverance, but I’ll try to stay on track.

Anyway, 1938 was a big year for Walt (understatement), so you’d think that when he approached Helen Lyndon Goff (pen name P. L. Travers) she would have been flattered at the opportunity to work with him on a film adaptation of Mary Poppins; but no. Turns out that she didn’t think a film version of her books would do justice to her story; she didn’t want it to be turned into a cartoon.

So Mr. Disney asked again… and again… and again… and again… for 20 YEARS! During that time he released animated classics like Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi. He opened Disneyland. He moved out of animated films with Treasure Island, Old Yeller and The Disney Club. These were the golden years of Disney and of course I can’t begin to do justice to these 20 years with a little paragraph here.

And yet year after year, he’d pick up the phone, send a letter, drop by – however it was that Mr. Disney courted Ms. Travers’s business – to try to get the rights to Mary Poppins.

Here’s my commentary: really? Why? How did he see the potential? Why was he so driven? Or was it just a crazy obsession because he’d been told no? And didn’t he have enough going on? Why this? We won’t know… but my mind wanders. Back to the story….

Finally, P. L. Travers gave in and the rest, as they say, is history. Mary Poppins released in 1964 as one of Disney’s most successful musicals. It won Oscars. Julie Andrews won an Oscar. The songs, editing, and visual effects added even more Oscars, resulting in a total of 13. (BTW – all this information is available on Wikipedia and Answers if you want even more information on the topic.)

As you can see, Walt Disney’s perseverance paid off. In my post yesterday, I cited this as something that I found more applicable to me personally than the “hey, look how they picked up after failure” stories. I can relate to doggedly going back to something that I think really needs to get done – just like Disney did with Mary Poppins. I know I wouldn’t have had the insight to see the potential in Mary Poppins, but I can think of things in my life that I shouldn’t give up on. For that I can learn a lesson from Walt.

Even if it takes 20 years.

Coaching: Anticipation

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Whatever you’re anticipating, it can be used to your advantage.  Discard worry and use anticipation of events to your advantage.  Ready to consider this?

Here we go….

What have you been worrying about lately?  What are you anticipating that’s causing your angst?  Identify it.  Name it.  Recognize it and reflect on it.

Now that you know what it is that’s causing worry, what can you do about it?  Is it in your control?  If so, what can you change?  Is it outside of your control?  Recognize this and let it go.  Really.

Finally, what do you have planned in the future that you are positively anticipating?  A gathering with friends?  The holidays?  A vacation?  Finding a new job?  Buying something special just for you?  Whatever it is, take time each day to anticipate what’s coming your way.  Nothing in the works?  Plan something.  Soon.

Anticipation can work in our favor or it can work against us.  It’s up to us to make the choice of where we want to spend our time and energy.  Anticipate good things!

Positive Anticipation

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Just as anticipation of demanding events can make us more tense, anticipation of something wonderful happening in the future can make us feel joyful right now.  Particularly during stressful times, anticipating a fun and exciting event can lift our spirits.

This is exactly why it’s so important to have positive plans in our future.  As we traverse through stressful times, if all we can see are more demands and, at best, a few mundane happenings, our anticipation will be primarily negative.  It must be balanced out.  Yet too often we leave planning for fun in the hands of others.

Personally, I’ve learned that during stressful times I have a tendency to quit planning for fun – or for much of anything, for that matter.  It’s at these times I know I need to push through my anxiety and make some happy plans. When worry has a hold on you, this is the best time to create something good to anticipate.  It can be something small such as lunch with a friend.  Or something much larger, like a vacation.  Either way, when we have something fun to anticipate, it makes us hopeful in the present.

Anticipation of positive events brings hope and hope is a perfect emotion to balance out our worries.

Oh, the Anticipation!

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It has been said that when left with incomplete information, we fill in the blanks with the worst-case scenario.  Human nature seems to lead us down the path of worry.  Anticipation of the unknown can create a host of anxieties.

What are we doing to ourselves?  Looking back, those events we spend so much time worrying about rarely play up to our negative expectations and often never happen at all.  It’s the anticipation of the event that gets our blood pressure to rise, adding stress to already stressful times.

How can we change?  Here are a few things that have worked for me:

  • Look back at similar circumstances and remind yourself that the worst-case scenario very rarely happens. It likely won’t happen this time, either.
  • Walk through the worst-case scenario playing in your head.  How would you react? What would REALLY be the worst that could happen?  See yourself living through it. Learning from it.
  • To counter the above exercise, walk through the best-case scenario.  See how you can shine in a difficult situation.  As you do this, take note of what you need to do to support this happening so that you are best prepared.
  • Find someone to alleviate your fears by reminding you of your knowledge, your expertise, or your preparedness – whatever it is that you have that is going to carry you through this event.
  • Finally, remember what you are doing to yourself.  Sometimes simply remembering that you are worrying about situations that will likely not take place may bring a little peace.

And then, walk through it.  Make the presentation.  Ask for the raise.  Have that difficult conversation with your kid, spouse or parent.  Step into the hot air balloon.  Put on your party dress.  Go.  Shine.

Coaching Challenge: Learning

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I once heard a conference speaker say that as a manager he would pay for any sort of learning one of his employees wanted to pursue.  Often learning something in one area provides inspiration and insight to us in another.  He knew this.

Whether intentional or as a by-product of a life event, learning is foundational to growth and development.  If you can’t think of a few things you’ve learned over the past couple of days, it’s probably time to pay more attention.  Be more deliberate.

Here we go….

  • Is there something that you want to learn and haven’t yet?  What’s holding you back?  Make a plan to move toward the goal by figuring out whether it’s time, money, or some other commitment needed.  Find what it will take for you to execute and make a plan to get it done.
  • Next time you participate in an activity that isn’t what you usually do, take a few moments following the event and think about what it taught you.  What did you learn about yourself?  About your relationship with the individuals around you?
  • Pull an unread non-fiction book off your bookshelf and read it.  Read them all?  Buy a new one and read it.
  • We learn so much when we teach others.  What do you know that you can pass on?  What would you like to learn more about so that information can be shared?  Like the actions in the first bullet, make a plan to make it happen.

Finally, enjoy the process.  It’s not usually fun when we feel forced to learn something.  When a new topic or idea can be approached with a sense of curiosity and adventure, it’s then that we’re able to learn the most.

Life’s Lessons Learned

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Some things just take time. Unfortunately, we don’t always learn a lesson the first time life presents one to us. But now that I have finally learned a few things that experience has tried to teach me over and over and over again… I’m filled with gratitude for those lessons I’ve learned.

When considering all those things that life has taught, for me the biggest has been patience. As a new manager – and likely when I was a new mother, too – I didn’t have the patience I should have had. So many times I sent email too quickly, voiced my opinion too strongly, and stubbornly thought that others should move as fast and in the same direction as me. I didn’t have time to wait for people to think about what was happening – they should just come along with me and move at my pace!

Augh.

I can’t really say exactly when I found my patience. It was a long process, I’m sure. At some point, though, a mirror was held up to me and I was able to see my impatience clearly. Then, as we often do when we are hit with the hard reality of who-we-are versus who-we-hope-to-be, I began to see over and over and over again how impatient I really was being. And that it had to change.

There are episodes now where my natural tendency to be impatient bubbles up; however, I like to think that I’m more patient than not. And in those instances when I find myself acting as I should instead of how I would have in the past, I’m once again filled with gratitude and thanks that I’ve been given the chance to improve on who I am.

Find me on Facebook: Coach Carolyn

Learn Anything New Lately?

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When was the last time you learned something new?  When was the last time you deliberately learned something new?  Every day we experience events that can teach us something if we look for the lesson.  I’m not talking about that.  I’m talking about the last time you decided that you needed to know more about a particular topic or wanted to learn a new skill – and then you went and gained that new knowledge.

Been a while?

One of the more rewarding parts of having a career focused in professional development is routinely having the opportunity to explore new subjects.  How can I pass on information about goal setting or time management or even write these posts without taking the time to learn something new?  I’m learning something new all the time.

While it’s interesting to me to have new information, the best part about learning is this: I can’t learn something new without learning something new about myself as well.  This is why it’s important.  Learning something new creates an environment for our personal growth, too.

So whether I read a book about an historical event, listen to a lecturer on a topic, or conduct an extensive Internet search on a particular theme, I come away knowing something more about what I believe, what I know to be true, or thinking about why I should change going forward.  It can’t be helped.  Knowledge impacts us this way.

Returning to where we began: when was the last time you deliberately learned something new?

Maybe it’s time.

Coaching Challenge: Setbacks

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We all have setbacks throughout our careers and as we move toward our goals.  Sometimes it’s a deadline missed.  Other times it’s a hoped-for outcome that doesn’t come to pass.  And from time to time individuals can let us down.  Regardless of what’s happened, it’s important for each of us to take stock of what’s been learned and – more importantly – move ahead.

Have you had a recent setback that you haven’t quite gotten over yet?  Keep it in mind as we go through today’s coaching challenge.

Here we go….

  • Take time to write out what you’ve learned from this recent setback.  As much as possible, recognize the positive and those things that will provide wisdom as you continue toward your goal.
  • Once the list is complete, take a moment to be grateful. These lessons learned have made you smarter about what to do next.  Recognize this as a good thing.
  • If you find that you’re blaming someone else, decide to forgive and let it go.  Focus on what you could have done differently.  You can only change you.
  • Identify the next step you will take to move forward and make a plan to do it.
  • Going forward, decide now how you will react to the next setback you face.  Maybe you’ll set aside time to wallow and then be done.  Maybe you’ll go right into figuring out what you’ve learned.  Whatever it is, have a game plan.  There will be another setback.  Plan for it.

Finally, if resilience is something that isn’t your strength and if setbacks knock you out for quite a while, find someone to talk to about it or pick up a book on the topic.  Resilience can be learned and how you react to setbacks can make you stronger.

Moving Beyond Setback

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We know we should be resilient; pick ourselves up after a setback and move forward.  Carry on.

When it comes right down to it, what exactly does this MEAN?  If you’re like me, you may find checklists and action steps to be very helpful.  When I’m feeling lousy and wanting more to wallow in a little self-pity than to truly move ahead, being told what to do next can be beneficial.

It’s because of this that I found the 10 Ways to Deal with Setbacks article from TechRepublic to be sound advice.  Below are suggestions regarding what to do when failure has come knocking at your door.  As the article says – tips for prevailing even when things go wrong.

  • Step back and reflect
  • Find a confidante
  • Stay positive
  • Focus on the future more than the past
  • Learn from the experience
  • Be careful regarding blame
  • Find a way to benefit
  • Write about your experience
  • Teach others
  • Remember that failure isn’t final

Yes, it’s definitely easier to read the list than to actually do it all.  But then, wallowing in self-pity isn’t a compelling option, either.  Taking each one, one step at a time, will help you move forward after a setback and will assist your efforts to progress past any setback.

Coaching: Execution

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We can plan and dream all we want; however, until we actually begin to DO something, that’s all that will remain – plans and dreams.  Without execution, our plans and dreams will never become reality.

What have you been putting off?  What dream seems too big to move toward?  Or too small to bother with?  Pick a plan or a dream that has been hanging out there and keep it in mind as you plan to take action.

Ready to create a little momentum?

Here we go….

What one thing can you do to move closer to your goal?  Usually this first action is small – though it may not be.

Write it down.

As you consider this first step, what must you do to make it happen?  Is there a person you need to engage?  Time that should be set aside?  Additional information needed? Considering this, does your description of your action change?

Modify this first step so it is very specifically what you need to do to move forward.  Call so-and-so.  Set aside 30 minutes next week to do X.  Spend 60 minutes researching topic A.  Get to the nuts-and-bolts of what movement toward your goal means.

Now, write down the outcome you expect to achieve from your action.  This is the meat of what will move you toward your goal and it will help you gain momentum, giving you motivation to move to the next step.

Got it?  Once you realize that outcome, what will you do next?  Take this information and define the next action after that.  And the one after that.  Make a plan to keep executing.

Before you know it, your dream will be in reach.

It’s all about execution.

It’s Time To Do Your Dream

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Think about the power of putting action behind your dream.

To walk through the possibilities, let’s start with a “small” dream – taking a vacation. For many people taking a vacation seems like a dream out of reach.

“Work will fall apart without me.”

“We can’t afford it.”

“The clean-up when I get back to the office just isn’t worth it.”

Etc. Etc. Etc.

However, when we decide to follow our dream, each of these can be rebutted and actions taken to support the desired end result.

Work will fall apart without me. First, I’m only buying this one if you’re a one-person shop. You aren’t that indispensable and if you are, then perhaps you do need to leave so that others understand all that you do – but that’s a post for another day! Back to following the dream… if this is true, steps can be made to mitigate potential problems. This is your dream! Plan in advance; recruit others to help you; hire administrative help. Whatever it takes, you’ll get creative because you have a dream.

Can’t afford it? Give something up and start putting that money aside for your get-away. My sister-in-law once pointed out that just $50 a paycheck set aside would get her to a tropical island within a year. Or maybe your trip is a gift to yourself when you get a bonus or pay off a credit card. Again, with focus you could overcome this obstacle as well.

Clean-up not worth it? Well, I’d argue that it always is; but if I can’t convince you of that here’s a creative idea for those of you who live in an email centric world. I heard about someone who put on his out-of-office replies that all emails he received during his time away were headed right to the trash bin and if it was important, please send the email after he returned. Do you love this?!

All of these things take conscious effort. Without the dream as a guide, either the vacation might not take place or the concerns may actually be realized, reinforcing that vacations are tough to take, afford and return from. The dream helps make it better all around.

Now, think about the power of putting action behind your dream. Buying a lake home. Having a baby. Retiring. Changing careers. Buying new furniture. Going to college. Starting a business. Cleaning out the garage. Volunteering in Africa. Planning a family reunion.

The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do. ~Sarah Ban Breathnach

Do your dream.

Time To Execute

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A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. ~Colin Powell

Oh, yes.  We must work to achieve our dreams.  We must execute.

Have you worked in an environment that lacked execution?  A place where a lot of talking without a lot of action was the norm?  A friend of mine recently moved on to a new employer because of the lack of execution at his company.  For those of us with a propensity to action, lack of execution can be excruciating.

That said, from time to time we all fail to execute, do we not?  Procrastination is tempting when action is difficult, unpopular or boring.

In Creating a Charmed Life, author Victoria Moran reminds us to “take the next action life presents.”  This comes from the chapter Do the Next Indicated Thing – a mantra I recite when I simply don’t feel like executing.  Often, that next indicated thing is something small: wash your face before you go to bed; gather the ATM receipts before you go to the bank; plan this week’s meals before going grocery shopping; create an agenda before running a meeting.  These are the small steps taken to move toward goals.  Steps to move toward checking items off our to-do list.

It’s Monday and a perfect time to plan your execution strategy for the week.  What have you been putting off?

It’s time to execute.

Grateful Remembrance

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Today is a powerful anniversary for our country.  As I, like many of you, look back at that terrible day; what I remember most is being grateful.  Terrified.  Horrified.  Sick.  And grateful.

If your workplace was like mine, everything stopped and we all gathered around a TV in a common area of our building.  My husband and I worked at the same place, so we soon found each other and watched the day unfold together, surrounded by several coworkers who were – and still are – close friends.

The conversation echoed with many “We were just there,” statements, said with disbelief and shock.  This is why I was grateful.  It was awful to see and impossible to understand, but we were together.  My husband and friends who had been in NYC just a few days before were safely in Fargo.  We were spared frantic calls trying to place whereabouts.  Or worse.  Spared the worry that could have been added to the day.

Knowing that it could have easily gone the other way created sincere, deep empathy for our kindred Americans going through the experience.  So many of us have been to NYC and so many of us love it there that it felt close to home, even when it wasn’t.

Eleven years later I am still grateful.  I’m grateful to the men and women who have risked their lives both in the Middle East and here on our American soil in attempts to make our lives safer.  I’m grateful that the people of New York and the country chose to make a beautiful monument to honor those whose lives were sadly taken that day.  And I am, of course, profoundly grateful to have my husband with me in Fargo where he belongs.

You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy. ~Colin Powell

And it has.  For that, we can all be grateful.

Coaching: Following

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Perhaps this week is the first time you’ve given any thought to being an exceptional follower.  With all the focus on leadership, it’s no wonder so few of us have spent much time thinking through our followership skills.  Today, let’s change that by asking ourselves how we can all be better followers.

Here we go….

Yes, you may be a leader.  However, you are also a follower, too.  Take a moment to identify areas where you are a follower.  If not at work, maybe it’s at a charity where you volunteer or a special project you’re working on with others.

How well do you play the role of Follower?  What can you do to listen and trust the leaders in your life?  How can you better support them?  What do they need from you to better lead?

Thinking about the next followership opportunity that comes your way, what can you do to be a great follower from the beginning?  What will it take for you to get on board quickly and take direction when needed?

Most importantly, what reminder can you put in place to keep yourself from focusing on what the leader could do better and instead focus on what you can do to help him or her lead better?

We are all followers at some point or another so we may as well be awesome followers!

Follow The Leader

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There can’t be any leaders if there are no followers and each leader must lead at least one person, usually many.  I’m doing the math and figure there are more followers out there than leaders, yet an Amazon search brings up over 100,000 results for “leadership” versus 236 for “followership.”  Seems like it should be the other way around.

In any event, we are followers even if we’re also leaders.  Most of us are leading in some ways, following in others.  These are roles, after all, not permanent titles affixed to us regardless of circumstance.  And most of the time we’re followers, not leaders (again, simply doing the math…).

Given this, how many of us have spent time thinking about how we can be better followers?  Observing the scant number of books on the topic, my guess is just a few.

So how can we be better followers?

  • Listen  We’ve got to hear what our leaders are saying if we’re going to effectively follow.  Knowing what our leaders need is found in the words they say.  We must hear them.
  • Trust  Our leader has been put in place because of his or her expertise, experience, and understanding of the organization.  Trust that he or she knows what’s going on and has put thought into decisions made.  If a decision doesn’t make sense, there may be something you don’t know that he or she does.  Believe they have good intentions.
  • Manage Up  Fill your leader in on what you are doing.  Don’t withhold information.  Be honest when you encounter roadblocks.  Ask for help when you need it.  Don’t surprise them at the last minute with bad news.  Share good news, too.
  • Follow First  Get on board with ideas and changes quickly.  Be an advocate for what needs to be done.  Don’t drag your feet and push back on inevitable change.  Watch First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy.  “The first follower transforms the lone nut into a leader.”

Ultimately, what each of us can do best as followers is to follow the lead of the leader.  The leader will tell us how we can best follow if we listen, trust, and follow.

We Are All Followers

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Following a tweet, over the weekend I was lead to an article on being a follower.  Reading this got me thinking about how much time and attention is focused on being a leader and yet we rarely see articles on how to be a good follower.

And we are all followers.

With this focus on leadership, followers are sometimes characterized as sheep, conformists, maybe even lazy.  After all, if we were really bringing our A-game, then we’d clearly be the leader, right?

Without realizing it, many of us think this way.  And at the same time we’ve also observed situations where there were too many people trying to lead and relatively few willing to dig in and do the work.  Not enough participants willing to follow someone else’s lead.

It may be time to ditch this notion that being a follower is a bad thing and focus instead on how to follow well.  I know there have been times where I’ve spent too much time focusing on how (I thought) I could lead something better than the leader, which could only result in being a pretty poor follower.  Had I been a better follower, it likely would have been better for the organization and probably better for my career, too.

So where are you trying to lead when you should really be following?  It’s a question I’ll be asking myself more and more.

Coaching: Expectations

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Regardless of whether we set our own expectations or someone else sets them for us, the expectations placed upon us can either motivate or discourage us.  It depends on whether we meet them or not, right?!  When thinking about the expectations you have for your career, your relationships, or other areas of your life, keep in mind that the source and the essence of these expectations plays a role in how you feel about your success.  With that in mind, let’s dig a little deeper.

Here we go….

Where do your expectations come from?  Have you set them yourself or have you accepted them from someone else?

First, think about those you have set for yourself.  How realistic are they?  Are they a source of motivation or do you use them to beat yourself up?  What would a motivating expectation look like for you?  How can you rewrite your own expectations so that you aren’t letting yourself down?

And for those expectations that have been given to you, have you accepted them freely or are they being imposed on you?  Those being imposed by someone other than your employer should be accepted or let go.  For those being accepted by you, how can you make them your own?  This will help make them motivators for you.

Finally, examine your relationships and be sure that you aren’t imposing your own expectations on someone else unnecessarily.  Your relationship will benefit from it.

I expect to take a long, relaxing weekend.  I hope you do as well!  Enjoy every last moment of summer.

High Expectations

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The expectations we set for ourselves can be more unforgiving that those others set for us.  Oftentimes this can be good for us as we push ourselves further in our careers, exercise routines or other competitive situations.

This is true for me as well.  Regardless of what sort of personality assessment I take, if there’s a measurement for “competitive,” it’s usually off the charts.  The thing that’s interesting is that when people find this out about me they are usually surprised.

This is likely because my competitiveness doesn’t always show.  If you and I were in a race or working together or playing a game, I would likely not be competing with you.  I’m competing with myself.  I’m constantly comparing the success I have now to successes in my past in just about everything I do.

Why am I telling you this?

How this translates is that my expectations for myself get higher and higher (at least that’s the goal!) and subsequently I am harder and harder on myself regarding the level of success I should achieve.  And that can be incredibly difficult to maintain.

It doesn’t matter if I’m canning vegetables, getting a review score, or playing Solitaire on my phone, I want every batch, every review, every game to be better than the one before.  That can be pretty exhausting.

The good news is that I know this about myself.  Intellectually I know that every outcome can’t be better than the last.  I’m able to remind myself of this when my expectations aren’t met which helps me move on to the next goal.

So set those expectations high but remember that there’s likely a point where achieving better results every time simply isn’t possible.  When you miss the high bar that you set, recall your long-term ambitions and remember that over time you are improving as you continue to set high expectations for yourself.

What Will You Give Up?

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Maybe it was a quote posted by a friend or in an email I received, but somewhere recently I was reminded that to move toward a goal oftentimes something must be given up to make it happen.

It’s been on my mind because I’ve been thinking about how, with my youngest headed back to school in a few days, I should reincorporate more structure into my day as I definitely lack discipline during the summer months.  Sure, I’ve managed to stay fairly active with exercising and I eat breakfast every day.  Other than that, my summer has lacked routine.

Also no secret is the fact that early risers and well-organized individuals get more out of their mornings and, therefore, their days.  I want to be one of those people, so I’m thinking that an early, consistent wake-up coupled with a morning routine will be just the thing to do.  The benefits will be multiple.

Unfortunately, that means I’ll have shut off the lights at an earlier hour than I’ve been.  The things I enjoy doing in the late night hours will have to go.

As I think about this, I realize that it will need to be a conscious decision to quit doing certain things in the evening so that I am able to go to bed earlier and, as a consequence, be able to get up without hitting the snooze button each AM.  If I fail to release those activities I’m sure to continue them; I’ll try to fit in too much and the result will be maintaining the status quo.

This give-and-take between priorities takes place all the time.  In order to be thin, calories must go.  To be debt-free, purchases have to be delayed or skipped.  If you want to take on a new job, the old one has to be left behind.

We can say we want to do or achieve something but until we make the commitment to let go of what’s holding us back, the likelihood of seeing that happen will be decreased.

So, what are you willing to give up to get what you want?

Coaching Challenge: Supporting Others

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This week’s coaching challenge is less about you and more about those in your life who have and need your support.  Too often the support we give is haphazard and random.  Today, let’s give some thought to how we can be purposeful and deliberate in how we support others.

Here we go….

As you read through the posts this week, who came to mind?  Is there someone that you’ve been supporting in word only?  Following are a few ideas of what you can do to take your support to the next level.

  • Send a hand-written note wishing him or her success, outlining how proud you are of the efforts you see, or simply praising what you have seen him or her do.  Positive support and accolades go further than what we speak.  A note can also be returned to later if the receiver needs an extra boost of support.
  • Make an appointment with this person to learn more about how you can tangibly support their business.  If you don’t need the services offered, you likely know someone else who will.
  • Next time you are invited to join an event from someone in your network, go.
  • Extra credit: Set aside time in your calendar next week to go through your contact list.  Identify who you want to support, deliberately, and then make a plan outlining how you will do so.

We can support people in spirit and in our word.  But when we support others with our actions, it goes much further.