Your Great Mind

One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.

Avoidance leadership has become all too common in business today. There are hosts of reasons why people don’t recognize and deal with problems early including: fear of upsetting someone, fear of the potential cost, worry about raising negative issues, overconfidence in their ability to adapt and some just hope the problem will take care of itself.

Effective leaders are always scanning the horizon for potential problems or issues which might prevent them from accomplishing their goals. They recognize most business failures occur because some small issue, which easily could have been taken care of early, turned into a crisis, an emergency and ultimately a crushing blow to the business.

Spend time regularly on early stage issues and the strategies to correct them.

Pick one and solve one today – it will save you and your business an emergency tomorrow.

Please share your comments!

Your Friend and Partner in Your Success,

Ray Stendall

To an entrepreneur or small business owner hope is very important. But, hope is NOT a strategy!
Far too many entrepreneurs and small business owners are hunkering down hoping. They hope the economy will pick up. They hope the price of gas will go down. They hope they can make another payroll. They hope they can survive the next quarter. They hope their customers will remain loyal. They hope sales will pick up soon. Hoping, hoping, hoping…

Again – hope is not a strategy! If you are going to be successful in any area of life or business you must have a strategy. The most important question you must be able to answer for yourself and for your business is, “What is my strategy?”

Take this week and review or create your compelling strategy. If you do not establish your strategy first, you will never build a successful business which will last.

Your Friend and Partner in Your Success,

Ray Stendall

“If you aren’t playing well, the game isn’t as much fun. When that happens I tell myself just to go out and play as I did when I was a kid.” Thomas J. Watson

When in a slump, athletes often go back to their uninhibited childhood playing days to recapture the passion, excitement and energy needed to get back on track.

Do you find your passion waning? Has your entrepreneurial vision collapsed into day-to-day drudgery? Have you lost that magic and spark which used to drive you to achieve excellence?

If you are feeling a bit run-down and frustrated, return to your early entrepreneurial days. Get back to the vision which got you into the entrepreneurial game in the first place. Remember past success. Review periods of peak performance and fun, fulfilling growth.

Remember why you became an entrepreneur and do something today to recapture the energy and vision you need to face the challenges to come.

Have a great weekend,

Ray Stendall

“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” Seneca

Do you know specifically where you are going? Have you developed a strategy to get where you want to go as an entrepreneur or business owner? In today’s economy there is no time to drift. Write down the specific places you are going to take your business then chart a course to get there.

Everything begins with a decision and a desire to move from point A to Point B.
Today – this very moment get clear on what you want and the price you are willing to pay for it to come true. Make sure you are very clear on the “Why” you are doing this – to motivate yourself during the difficult times and there will be difficult times. How else would you appreciate the good times if you had nothing to compare it to? From now on please view challenges in life as tests… tests to see if you are worthy of the success you seek.

Till Next Time – Your Friend and Partner in Your Success,

Ray Stendall

“High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.”
Charles Kettering

Whether you are working with your employees, your children, a group of peers or even when working with yourself – expectations drive performance. Rarely do people rise higher than the expectations placed upon them. (Even if those expectations are self-imposed.)

Start this day by reviewing your expectations of yourself. Then review the expectations you have for the individuals you lead. Have you settled for mediocrity in your personal performance? Have you settled for mediocrity from the people you lead?

Raise your expectations, and always remember to express confidence in people’s ability to achieve greatness and deliver the extraordinary.

Have a Fantastic 5/19/2009

Your Friend and Partner in Your Success,

Ray Stendall

“Fail forward fast.” Tom Peters

It is far better to have sloppy success than to have perfect procrastination. It is easy to get caught up in the endless tinkering and perfecting of a project. It is true some things require perfection – most simply need excellence. All need action today!

Do you find yourself waiting to launch important projects? Are you forever splitting hairs about elements that are not mission critical. Do you spend hours and hours on details that don’t matter much?

Start your Monday with action! In taking action you may fail – but even that failure will move you forward toward ultimate success. Pick a project you have been putting off and begin today to take the action which will accelerate your path to achievement.

Please share your comments!

Ray Stendall

“The best way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them.” Benjamin Jowett

Sharing the limelight and sharing the credit are hallmarks of a true entrepreneurial leader. If you want your people to rise up and do more, be more and become more you must validate their performance by giving them the credit and celebrating their success.

What will you do to place employees, friends and family members who do well in the limelight?

Have a Fantastic Day!

Ray Stendall

Martin Luther King said, “You don’t need to see the whole staircase. You just need to see the first step.”

Every entrepreneurial journey begins with a single step – FORWARD and UPWARD. Often the successful journey requires that we step to the edge of the light and even one step into the darkness. It is there we find that the path is lit for another step.

Far too many become paralyzed simply because they cannot see the whole staircase and end up waiting and ultimately missing the opportunity because they were unwilling to take an uncertain step toward a certain goal.

Are there any areas of your business or life where you are waiting to take a step forward and upward? Take a step today!

Wishing you the very best and please share your comments!

Ray Stendall

“Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your product or service, and that bring friends with them.” W. Edwards Deming

What do your customers say about you? Are they glad they do business with you? Have they emotionally connected with you, your company and your product or service? If not, now is the time to improve and enhance your customer’s experience.

A down economy is the best time to increase service and go get more customers. Your competitors are probably cutting back on service and raising prices. The strategic entrepreneur and business owner will see the best way to increase profits during a down economy is to improve service in order to capture more loyal customers.

What will you do today?

Please add your comments

Ray Stendall