May 13, 2010

How to Create Better Quality Teachers (For Yourself, Your Organisation and Your Kids)

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Graduating Teacher Holding Eyeglasses and Chalk

I’ve met a lot of teachers over the years who want to get out of teaching.  Why?

I’ve also met and worked with lots of people over the years who consider teaching for one reason above all else: because it’s great for the holidays.  What?  What about the longer working part?  And the effect it has on your personal life?

Of course, you’re sending your kids along (or at least you probably will be) to spend much of their time with people who either don’t want to be there, or who only want to be there because they can’t wait until school’s out.  (This might ring alarm bells in your own work too).  That’s an awful lot of people who don’t really want to be there teaching your kids.  I don’t know about you, but it scares me.  I don’t want someone helping to grow, develop and teach my children, when their heart isn’t in it.  Because when their heart isn’t in it, then their performance, energy and results aren’t in it either.  The impact on your child’s learning, results and life, is huge.

For the record, I’ve also met a handful of teachers over the years who are in their ideal career, working not for the holidays, but for their passion and enjoyment for teaching and helping integrate children into the real world.  These people are the bridge to accelerating learning.  These people are driven to make it work.  They really care about their pupils and seem to put the needs of their pupils before their own.  And they tend to be remembered by their pupils. You may remember some of yours and you may even have the urge to get hold of them if you could, to thank them.  They made impact and they made learning enjoyable and powerful too.  A couple of my teachers stood out like that.  A couple, out of about 50.

Please note, I don’t blame teachers at all and I’m not having a go at teachers.  Because what’s going on here is going on in your field too.  My advice to teachers though who don’t really love their work is to get out and find and get into something that really makes you bounce out of bed in the morning and give it everything.  Something you’re driven to get better and better at and something that puts you in the best position to really help others doing what you do best.  My advice to everyone else (especially if you have kids) is to help teachers you know who are considering a career change to see it through.  They might be very pleased to hear of www.thegreatcareerescape.com.  Getting in to their ideal career will make them happier more productive people, and it will make way for teachers who were born to teach well.  They are out there, possibly working in the wrong job.  Think of the number of children’s lives this will positively influence over time.

And while you’re at it, consider how and where this is going on in your own industry too.  Perhaps some strategic repositioning will positively change your life and the lives of your customers?

May 3, 2010

How to Leap Ahead in Your Career

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Hand holding chess piece

I’m going to show you how you can make a huge leap of progress in your career.

I meet plenty of people through my work, all at different stages in their career.  It doesn’t take me long to decide which of three general attitudes they have towards their work:

1.  There are those who think they’re on a moving walkway in their career.  They think that just because they’re employed in a certain position, that all it takes is time for them to move up the ranks, and that in 30 years they’ll be in a successful, senior position.  It happens to some, but not to most (how can it work for everyone when there’s only a few places at the top anyway?)  If that’s you, then you can leap forwards in your career by understanding my next point…

2.  There are those who realise that there’s no moving walkway, and that no one owes them anything, that it’s not a fair playing field they’re playing on, and that they won’t get their ‘turn’.  They realise that if they want more back from their career, their employer or their life, then they’re going to have to get up and make it happen themselves.  You have to earn what you want.  Their priority is to get their hands on what they need to learn, and then put it into practice as fast and effectively as possible. They can leap forwards in their career by learning how to learn twice as fast (they need their employer to provide them with something like this) and learning how to manage themselves effectively to apply what they learn fluidly and consistently.

3.  There are those who just don’t care.  They just potter along.  They just go to work because, well you have to don’t you?  They’re in the wrong job.  Because when you’re in the right job, you do care.  You’re compelled to make things happen and do a great job, because you enjoy doing just that, and you’re proud of the results you create.  Unfortunately, those who don’t care about their career progress because they’re in the wrong job are unlikely to be reading this blog post.  So you might need to point them towards what they need, which is this.


Join the Queue?

Brian Tracy says that you only have to do 2 things to get to the front of a queue, or to advance your career:  ‘Get in line and stay in line.’

The truth is, you don’t have to stay in line where you’re at.  You can jump the career queue, and the beauty is, it’s a fair jump too. You earn the right to jump the queue by becoming more valuable to those who pay you (and to your colleagues too).  And it’s not a single line anyway.  It’s a mass huddle of people.  It’s a crowd.  It’s like a chess board full of pieces, and you can move like a knight.  You can jump people sideways, if you like, to get to where you want.

Just follow these steps:

1.  work out what position you want to be in and why (make it a position you really care about and will be proud of)
2.  work out what value you’d need to provide to who (and how often) in order to earn the right to be in that position
3.  work out what you need to LEARN and then APPLY in order to provide that value
4.  learn it
5.  apply it
6.  repeat

Of course there are plenty of stumbling points along the way, and there are ways to move through these steps faster, more easily and enjoyably too. If you’ve got a question for me related to this, please post it below or email me and I may blog my response.

April 19, 2010

How to Be More Productive Than Your Computer

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Be Productive

Really?  You can be more productive than your computer allows you to be?

Yep.  Well, of course your computer is the right tool for certain jobs.  But it’s all too easy to get lazy and try to do everything via your computer.  Ultimately, using your computer for too many things chokes your productivity.

Ever heard of Maslow’s Hammer? Abraham Maslow once said, “It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail”

I think that the computer has become the new Maslow’s Hammer.  It’s not always the right tool for the job.

Here’s how you can beat the productivity of your computer: don’t use it so much.  Get off the computer more often.  And I don’t just mean to take a break.  I mean get off the computer and invest more of your time doing these, which will make you much more productive:

  • thinking – take an hour a day out to think away from the computer.  Think to answer this question: How could I change how I work to make much more positive impact on more people who pay me, more often?  Jot your thoughts down
  • reading and learning – take an hour a day out to learn whatever you need to learn to be able to do your job twice as well as you do it now.  If you could work twice as well as you do now, what would you most need to learn?  Learn it for an hour a day away from your computer (read, listen to audio, attend courses or chat to experts)
  • planning your next 3 months, your next month, your next week and tomorrow (the objective of your plan is ‘what would I have to do to earn myself a forever increasing supply of TIME, MONEY or ENERGY?’  I’d just pick one of those for now and make your plan to achieve that
  • doing physical activity
  • consider calling some people with the objective of getting ‘an answer’ instead of emailing them (I’m not suggesting to always call instead of email, I’m suggesting that each one is the right tool for a certain job. Emailing can be too passive.  Calling can be too intrusive.  Get the tool right to create a win:win where you can).  You can even start the call cheerily and say, ‘I’m spring cleaning, I’m organising my time for the months ahead – I’m tidying up all unmade decisions around me so that I can focus my efforts on what’s definite’  This tip is about asking for what you want. You’ll be amazed the impact it has on your progress towards more TIME, MONEY or ENERGY.  Most people don’t get the things they want (and deserve) because they don’t ask
  • just resting

Each of those are healthier for you, your mind, your eyes, and your body and each are an investment with potential high returns in the short, medium and long term.  They will make you much more productive.  Since most people don’t do them, you’ll be well ahead of your competition if you do, and you’ll be rewarded appropriately over time.  It’s not rocket science this, it’s pretty simple.  Just turn what I’ve told you here into some actions, schedule to take them, and when the time comes, just get on with them. Then come back and let me know how you went.

April 9, 2010

How to Be the Best, Fastest or Smartest Employee in Your Team

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It would be tricky to aim to be the best, fastest and smartest in your team.  But certainly fun trying.  However you can and should be one of them, or at least the ‘something-est’ in your team.  Tip: don’t be the lazi-est.  Go for something positive!

I learned this idea from Mike Michalowicz who wrote the excellent and unique business book ‘The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur’. He calls it the ‘EST’ model.  He says in business, to stand out and be the one that people will go to when a particular job needs doing, you must be the ‘something-est’ business in your niche.  You could be the fastest to deliver.  You could be the smartest to work with. Or the nicest to work with perhaps, if that’s what your customers value and pay for.  I guess if you’re a comedian, you want to strive to be the funniest perhaps, for your niche.  Or you could just aim to be the ‘b-est‘.  Whatever will appeal most to your niche and put you in the forefront of their mind when they desire that particular ‘EST’ in the solution they’re paying for.  So, as with many of the business ideas I blog about, this too can be applied by you on an individual level in your work.  Decide what your ‘EST” is.  And consider amplifying it further.  Consider the impact of growing your ‘EST’ in it’s natural direction.  If it’s what your niche (or ideal) employers want, then you should find your employment value increase.  So make sure it’s something they value and pay a premium for perhaps.
The B-est Way For You to Earn a Living

I’ve just launched my new service to help people find and get in to their ideal career (and escape the wrong job).  It’s called ‘The Great Career Escape‘.  The process I walk people through to land themselves in the strongest most rewarding position possible in their career is not the cheapest.  It’s not the fastest (it’s no magic pill) either.  And short term, it’s not the easiest because you’re required to put some thought and effort in (although it makes the rest of your life much much easier).  But I’m confident it’s the smartest approach.  I’m confident that it’s the longest lasting in terms of keeping you on track for the rest of your life, if you hang on to the process.  And if you follow the process in full, I’m confident that it’s the highest quality solution out there.  As it improves continuously, and has already proven to work, I’m confident that my chosen market will consider it the best solution available.  If you’re keen to reinvent yourself in a new career but don’t know where to start – click here to create a free account.

April 2, 2010

Employees: Earn More for Less Effort

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People often say ‘you get out what you put it’.  Rubbish.  You can get loads more back than you put in, if you ‘put in’ to the right places in the right ways at the right times.  Whatever you’re currently getting out of your work, you can almost certainly get much more.

How?

I learned this lesson from Michael Gerber in the book ‘The E-Myth Revisited’.  It applies to business owners, but equally applies to employees too.  Michael Gerber mentions that whilst working in your business, you should also be working on your business.  As well as doing the day to day stuff that you get paid to do, you should be giving plenty of attention to strengthening, organising and growing your business too.  You should be planning ahead, deciding which way you’ll move and ultimately building a money making machine that’s as near to self-perpetuating as possible.  You should build your business to free yourself.

How Do You Do it as an Employee?

Whilst working in your career, you should be working on your career.  Few people do.  They don’t want to spend the time.  But it’s an investment.  If you take a little bit of extra time to think ahead, plan, choose your direction, and try to ‘build’ the value you provide in to something as near to self-perpetuating as possible, then you’re on to something rewarding.

If a business owner can strive to build a money making machine that eventually frees themself, then why can’t you as an employee?  Have you ever thought about it?  Can you stop selling your time and instead work out how to still give high value by somehow bottling up the value you provide?  When you’re explaining things to others, or teaching them, can you bottle up your words so that they can listen again if they need to and so that your words can reach others, freeing you from saying them again?  That’s so easy to do these days, but few people do it.  And that’s just one example.

For every task you do, how can you work in such a way that your efforts can be re-used when you’re not there?

Think about it.  Get some answers.  Write them down and schedule to try them out.  And enjoy what comes of it.

P.S. The smartest way to earn more for less effort is to get in to the right line of work in the first place.  Working on your career means purposefully steering yourself towards the highest rewards you want by exchanging the best of yourself.  My new site ‘The Great Career Escape’ helps you do that and you can create a free account: http://thegreatcareerescape.com

There’s also a free ebook on the home page which you might find interesting..

March 17, 2010

Become Indispensable

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I sent this post out as a newsletter back in 2008. For those who missed it, it’s worth a look:

My advice this month was given to me 10 years ago by a colleague who I deeply respected.  It still holds true and I often think about it.  He explained to me that to increase your value and earn more money, and increase the chances of continuous employment you should purposefully become indispensable to your employer or your customers.

He explained that often there is money to be made in the jobs that most people don’t want to do or can’t easily do.  He explained that in every organisation there are certain important areas in which few people, if any, are expert.  And that if you make it your mission to become the expert in any of these areas, then you’ve just made yourself instantly valuable.  Especially if you can create value and impact in your work that no one else can.  That’s when they need you.

When you reach that level, people keep coming to you.  Word of mouth soon travels when you can do something truly useful (and relevant) that no one else around can do.  You (and the value you provide) get free advertising.

With that of course comes bargaining power.  You should become more in demand, so long as you choose the right area to become expert in.  And with that, your (employment) price can go up.

But you must not get complacent!  Times are changing so fast these days that it’s healthy to assume that whatever niche area you are expert in will become obsolete in the next 5 years.  So you must keep learning of course, and keep an eye on which areas to dominate as THE expert.

Give this some thought.  It could change your career and your lifestyle forever.  And of course, if you want to become indispensable fast, then you should learn how to learn fast and self manage effectively so that you can put what you learn into practice in the right way at the right times.

Finally, it’s much easier to become indispensable when you’re in your ideal career. Are you?  If you’d like to find your ideal career because you’re not happy in your current one, drop me a note. I might have a surprise for you.

Help Yourself and Your Organisation

Since 2003 I’ve helped businesses and corporates in the UK and Australia grow high value engaged employees who:

  • learn fast and adapt quickly
  • become highly productive
  • think like a business

Here’s what they’ve said.

If you think I might help you or your organisation, then either get in touch, or put them in touch with me.

March 8, 2010

How You Limit What You Earn

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The problem a lot of employees have during their work is they get paid to perform a specific set of actions, so they rarely tend to do anything outside of these.  Why should they if they’re not getting paid to?  That’s the common mentality.

Unfortunately, the deal they’ve agreed to keeps them firmly in place, and for many stifles their potential value and input.  Neither they nor their employers get the rewards they’re capable of creating.  The thinking is set, the actions are set, the pay is set and the rewards are set.  And all the while the thinking is set, the others won’t really change.

Entrepreneurs and business owners are ‘free’ to move in any direction and know that they get paid more for thinking of new things, innovating, creating and acting way beyond a specific set of actions.  They know they need to look for problems and solve them.  They know they need to make order from chaos.  They know the pay and rewards come in the medium to long term.

The same rules and laws however apply to employees.  Don’t let your job description and pay limit and determine what you do.  Start thinking outside of what you’re paid to think.  Start looking for problems to solve, and create more order within your team or department and more order for your customers or those who pay you.  Ask yourself how you’d run things if you were the big boss?  Then, don’t just keep your ideas to yourself.  Use them to add more value, and steer things so that you earn yourself more rewards.

February 24, 2010

Better Learning, Business and a Much Better Career

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Better Business

Businesses do best when they continuously give their ideal customers what they want.  This applies to individuals too (where their customer is their boss or employer).

Better Learning

Learning works best when the learner learns information using their own strengths.  If you read well, you should read.  If you learn best by video, use video.

What if you’re in the business of educating your customers?

You are.  When you market and sell or even communicate, you’re usually educating.  Even more so these days where businesses share all sorts of information online to help educate, inform, inspire or entertain their customers to increase engagement.

So then, you want to give your ideal customers what they want when learning too.  If they want to read, then write for them.  If they want to watch videos, create videos.

The Key Here is Ideal

You’ll see I highlighted ‘ideal’.  You can’t aim to please everyone.  My ideal online customers are readers, for sure.  That’s why I mostly write.  The majority of readers have things in common that match up to my chosen market.  Naturally I’ll lose people who prefer to learn by video.  But I know this and it’s part of the plan – they’re outside my niche.  I won’t concentrate my efforts, time and money on them.  I’ve got to focus.  They can find videos elsewhere online, and that’s fine.  The point is, I’m repelling them.
You’ll Be Losing Attention Too

You’ll be doing the same when you communicate online.  You’ll be attracting some people and repelling others, just based on their learning preference!  I’ve just finally given up using an instructional based service I used for quite some time.  Why?  Because they only put their manuals up as videos.  I speed read and learn information about 10 times faster when reading than I do through audio or video.  They’ve lost me as it’s too time consuming for me to use them.  That cost outweighs the monetary cost.  If they wanted to attract video based learners as their customers, then they’ve done the right thing.  If they haven’t thought about it, they’ve done the wrong thing.

How do your ideal customers (or boss) learn best?  Are you delivering to them appropriately so that you hang on to them?  Are you attracting the right customers and right attention?  Are you getting the balance at least right?


My New Service that Appeals to All Learning Styles – The Great Career Escape

Finally, whilst most of my work is written (or in person), my new service The Great Career Escape will meet all learning needs.  It’s in written format, and will soon be in video and audio (for iPod/mp3 listening) too.  I don’t want to lose anyone based on their learning preferences.  I want to help as many people as I possibly can find and get in to their ideal careers, no matter how they learn.

With everyone well aligned to their work, everyone will surprise themselves by the impact they have on others, and the impact on their own life.

As well as helping you find and get in to your ideal career, The Great Career Escape will also help you build a network of people to assist you in your challenge (and make it more social), and you’ll get hold of some excellent mind mapping software which you’ll learn how to use for planning and thinking purposes.  It’s a thorough e-course with loads of useful stuff thrown in.

FREE Access?

The site is practically ready (version 1) and if you are interested and serious about getting out of your career and in to your ideal career, you can get access for free if you’re quick and if you convince me that you’re ideal for it: http://thegreatcareerescape.com

P.S.  There’s just 20 places going free to those who qualify (you have to convince me by dropping me a quick note), so get in quick.

February 12, 2010

Make Your Employer or Customers Pay You More

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Ok, you can’t make them pay you more, but you can make decisions and act to provide more value to those who pay you.  In time you can then justify asking for more money, if you earn it.

Your goal should be to always make your ‘customers’ (or boss, or employer) SMILE.

That’s it.  Clear and simple.

Look after them, and they’ll look after you.

And if you deliver and they’re not smiling then change something to make them smile.  Do that every time and you can ask for more money.  At all costs, don’t leave the transaction without them smiling.

I just tried to exchange a shirt to a local clothes shop.  It had labels on, was unused and I had the bag and receipt.  “We don’t do exchanges”, she said.  I wasn’t left smiling.  I won’t pay them more money – it’s too risky.  Neither will I recommend people shop there.  In fact I’ll tell people to avoid the shop.  They clearly don’t strive to make their customers smile.

Big shops like K-Mart let you return or exchange just about anything.  They always leave me smiling in the end.  They help me get what I want.  So I buy more things there, knowing I’m looked after and left smiling.  I’d always recommend these sorts of shops.

I’m all for supporting local business, but not if they don’t support me.  And note, unfortunately in business, you usually get just one chance to get it right per customer.

Make This Useful to Your Own Work

Do you complete your transactions or projects ensuring you leave a smile on the person’s face who pays you?

Ever tried making them grin from ear to ear?

Ever done it again and again?

Maybe even every time?

That’s how you get paid more.

February 8, 2010

4 Decisions to Sort Your Life Out

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Reading time 3 mins

At the end of this post I offer you 4 decisions to sort your life and career out.  Don’t jump straight to them or you’ll fail to understand and do anything about them.

Learn to Get Whatever You Want

‘Learning’ is the key to just about anything.  Anyone can learn how to get what they want in their work or life.  Anyone can learn how to make smarter decisions, how to solve problems they face, and how to get good at what they do for a living.  But, to learn these things effectively is a huge challenge because of…

The (Flawed) System

The system keeps you in place.  The traditional educational system is hard to avoid.  It lurks everywhere, in business and organisations too.  And it feeds itself.  Graduates of the traditional educational system tend to refuel it and design and deliver learning the way it was for them.  Teachers often teach the way they were taught.  Managers often educate their teams the way they were educated.  It ‘works’ for people like them, but fails everyone else.  It maintains the status quo within it’s own bubble.  It keeps the flawed system the same.  Unfortunately then, the system won’t help you get what you want.  It won’t help you sort your life out.

No One is Coming to Save You

Individuals have to protect and save themselves from the system, because unfortunately it seems most educational institutions aren’t coming to save you.

Yes, there’s a lot of talk within educational institutions about traditional approaches not working.  Most people are nodding.  But still the tendency is to drift back to old ways and give the educators the most control rather than the learners.

How Learning Should Be

Effective learning is about learners learning and applying what they learn.  Learners are at the centre of learning.  It’s not about teaching.  There’s way too much focus on the teacher or presenter.

It’s about making the learning content available in a number of ways and styles that suits all learners, then leading and inspiring them to seek out the right ‘meal’, and swallow and apply the learning content for a win:win.

A great presentation might go like this:

“Hi folks, I need 30 seconds of your attention, if you learn how to do this you’ll be able to get these results which will mean xyz for you personally.  To learn how, here is a list of 50 resources all chosen to teach the same thing in different ways so that you enjoy learning this fast.  Check them out and pick which suits you best.  Enjoy yourself.’

Free Yourself and Learn to Get What You Want

The internet points to this idea of how learning should be.  It will change the system gradually.  But it only works when the learner takes control and frees themself from the system.

That means that you must:

1.  DECIDE what ‘wins’ you  want in your work and life

2.  DECIDE how you can improve the lives of other people or businesses (and get them to confirm this) doing what you enjoy and are best at in order to create the win:win you want

3.  DECIDE what you need to learn and apply on top of your existing knowledge, experience and strengths, to get these win:wins as fast, effectively and enjoyably as possible

4.  Seek out and DECIDE on the most effective way for you personally to learn and apply the right things.  Do NOT trust that the traditional system will help you get the wins you chose at step 1.

NOTE:  These are all DECISIONS and can only be made by YOU. No one else.  Unfortunately ‘the system’ makes these decisions for most people.  Any educators, career advisors, managers, friends, family or any one who tries to take the reigns and decide any of these for you are not helping you or themselves.  People in the wrong jobs learning the wrong things in the wrong ways aren’t creating the value they could be for any one involved.  People making these decisions for you are part of ‘the system’.  They’re part of the problem.

All my work is aimed at helping people make these decisions for themselves.  Subscribing to my posts means you’ll receive practical tips and occasional goodies to help you in these areas.  Any questions, fire away below.

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