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Creating a Thriving Work Environment: Lessons from Nature

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Image of green plants in a garden. Creating a Thriving Work Environment: Lessons from Nature. Learn how to attract and retain top talent by cultivating a workplace culture that prioritizes growth, well-being, and belonging.

As a small business owner, you know that your employees are the lifeblood of your company, so it makes sense that without a dedicated and motivated team, your business can’t thrive. Ultimately you need to attract and retain the best team possible. But how do you do that? (I imagine you’re currently screaming this at … Read more

How Toilet Paper and Bread Flour Have Changed Employee Motivation

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About a week ago, my teenaged daughter sauntered into the living room at 11 PM with a bowl, spoon and a coy look on her face. Given the unexpected smackdown the world was handed in the form of COVID-19, and our attempts to navigate a new normal, I decided to let the near-midnight bowl of … Read more

Business Success Isn’t About Working Harder. (It’s About This)

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When it comes to business success it can be easy to become lost in the weeds. Your head can be so far down in the trenches it can be hard to assess what the real priorities are. The result – you just work harder, believing that doing so should surely bring you better outcomes. One … Read more

5 Tips for Onboarding New Employees (that make them want to stay!)

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image of jamie and melina talking about onboarding

How much time and effort are you really investing in onboarding new employees? For anyone who’s had someone leave after less than a year, you’ll know it’s much more than just the salary itself. This video is for those who want to set new employees up for success. For those who know that successful hiring … Read more

Ways to Create the Life You Want (that are backed by science!)

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It’s a little cliche and, at times, a bit hard to buy into, yet I still firmly believe that we (you, me and everyone else) can create whatever kind of life we want to have. And obviously that includes your business.
Although we all have different starting points in life, we all live in the same universe; meaning we all have the same resource available to us. Yes, some of us have it closer at hand and perhaps a little easier to come by, but that doesn’t mean the resources available are different for each of us; it’s just how we reach and what we DO with those resources that counts. But this is not a competition. It’s simply a matter of knowing what is it that YOU want.
For yourself.
For your business.
For your kids/spouse/dog/fish/etc.
It’s that ‘what’ which carries you through every day you draw breath on this planet, sustains you when you’re low, and bolsters you when things are awesome.
In the video here, I walk you through four key things you need to know and use in order to create the life and business you want.
This is not an exercise in dreaming or wishful thinking. This is a solid philosophy backed by hard science.
So what are you waiting for? Get in there and watch it!
Enjoy
Jamie

To Download the Free tools in the Video, Click HERE
P.S. If you know what you want your life to look like, but are having a hard time getting to the goods, check out our free 90-Day Planning Tool which can help you narrow down and hit those short-term goals – after all, as we know – “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
P.P.S. If you’d like to learn a little more about SalesUp! Business Coaching and the work that we do, please watch this short video testimonial. We’re super stoked to work with some really awesome business owners and have been humbled and gifted beyond measure to help these fine folks create the life THEY want, and we’d love to hear from you too!

The Truth About Accountability

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A culture of accountability has many advantages. Among them are:

  • an increase in team performance (obviously) 
  • high morale (because people are growing and getting shit done)
  • lower stress for you the leader (because you’re dealing with things proactively) ; and
  • business results (when a team is thriving and executing, result have to happen – it can’t be any other way)

If that sounds attractive (and it should), then the question to ask yourself is “how effective am I at building a culture of accountability?” You’ll be among good company if your answer is lower than you’d like it. It’s a common trap—so let’s not stay there. Let’s take it up a notch (or 10). And here’s how you can do it.
First, the truth
You can’t hold someone accountable.
Sure, you could use all to go to tactics we see some parents using – yelling, guilt and shame (I don’t recommend any of those – in your business or with your kids) but would you rather that YOU have to change someone’s behaviour or would you rather THEY do it? Your true goal as a leader is to help people grow their sense of internal accountability. Your role is to help them either want to get it done or to develop the skills to get it done.
If a person has clarity on the need, the drive to do it and the skills and the resources to do it, they will act. The part of leadership that encompasses accountability is being able to identify and shift where a person has a block. It is usually one of those three elements that are lacking.
With that principle understood, let’s look at the tactics.
Step 1 – The Relationship
For communication to be effective, a relationship needs to be healthy. We listen most closely and openly to those we respect and those whom we feel respect and care for us. Knowing this truth, it is critical that your relationships with your team have a healthy foundation of mutual respect and care. So your first step in helping someone develop their accountability is to check with your own internal view of that person. Second, check in with your view of yourself – self-respect is critical.
Where respect and care are lacking, communication will have an edge, and the intent behind the act will flavour the communication in an unhelpful way, whether you mean to or not.
Step 2 – Clear expectations
To be accountable for something, you first need to know what you are to be accountable for. It sounds obvious, but over and over again we’ve seen lack of clarity between the leader’s expectations and that of the team. Put things in writing. Test your communication by having the person repeat back to you the communication they have received.
When it comes to clarity of roles in the business, we are big believers in position contracts that outline 3-7 key outcomes a person is accountable for. These are defined by criteria for success, so everyone is crystal clear on what the expectations are.

Step 3 – Framework for the conversations
We use a FeedForward system that is a document allowing two parties to have a candid and objective discussion.

Download the FeedForward Form

The intent behind the discussion is how to help a person move forward vs. pointing out where they are doing badly. The conversation is driven by the team member, not the leader. The leader acts more as a facilitator to help the person discover opportunities for themselves in the three areas we previously identified (clarity on expectations, motivation, skills & resources).
When these conversations happen proactively (before there is a problem), the feeling behind the interaction is way different than when it is too late.
Now, if you have a situation that is already too late—no problem. Still get started immediately, but you’ll need to take complete responsibility for your lack of action to date. Before you can express your dissatisfaction with their performance or behaviour, you may need to own up to not being clear about expectations or giving more guidance before now. Always point the finger at yourself before pointing it at others.
There is a very good chance that if you feel there is a problem, the other person knows it too, or they are just plain unhappy at work. Either way, there is a good reason to get the issues on the table and sort it out. You both stand to benefit.
Ideally, you don’t want to let it get to that stage. Be the leader you know you are. Be assertive and give your team the gift of accountability. With a strong sense of internal accountability, everyone’s lives become better, and that will make your business better.
When your people grow, so does your business— sometimes exponentially.
Good luck and I’d love to hear about your experiences.
Cheers
Jamie

The Onboarding Failures That Are Costing You Big

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onboarding

Finding (and keeping) great employees is consistently listed as a top concern of business owners. In fact, a recent study indicates anywhere between 10-25% of new employees jump ship within their first six months on the job. That’s a frustrating and expensive prospect on both sides of the coin, and one which could be greatly … Read more

How to Avoid Being That Boss

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How to Avoid Being a Bad Boss
Time to Watch: 3:16

Whether you call yourself a Boss, Leader, or Owner, there’s a very fine line between setting the pace and driving the pace. Knowing the difference is critical to the health of your team. It’s easy to fall into the trap of “Boss think” on this one, and it can be detrimental to the health and productivity of your team. Here’s how to effectively set the pace as a leader, no matter what stage your business is at.
What we’re talking about here is your effect on the team in terms of your behaviour around implementation and execution. It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you aren’t held to account in the same way that your people are, but to echo a sometimes-overused phrase, you really do need to lead by example to get the results you want.
You can’t create separate standards for yourself and your team, because the difference will be stark, and the result will be the creation of an “us vs. them” culture which does nothing to promote, ingenuity, motivation or retention—all cornerstones of a successful business.
If you’re looking to be a team and work as a team, then you need to actively participate as one of the team, regardless of how you view yourself in the culture of the business.

What are your biggest challenge jumping into the trenches? Let us know in the comments below.

And if you watch this and think: “If there’s no ‘I’ in team, why am I doing all the work?” This read is for you.

Get out there and have fun with it, and if you’ve hit a stumbling block, we can help with a variety of coaching programs. Reach out and let us know what you need.
Cheers,
 

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