Living to Lead

by Dave Ferguson

  • Home
  • About Dave
    • TESTIMONIALS
  • Coaching
  • Speaking
  • Books
    • DAVE’S RECOMMENDED READING LIST
  • Retreats
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Archives for values

8 Quick Reputation Building Tips – Part 2

September 18, 2013 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

This is the second part of last week’s article where we talked about the old cliché, “Under-Promise and Over-Deliver”. It might be cliché, but it is still relevant to having a good reputation.

Here are four more points on how I coach clients on building a good reputation:

5.  Be creative and deliver more. Go in with the attitude that what the customer or client asked for is just the beginning of the relationship. This creates an opportunity for both of you to evolve – and who knows, you may even start helping each other grow your respective businesses.

6.  Keep your customers informed if you’ve learned something in the process that is totally unrelated to what they’ve hired you for. It’s good business and can actually be worth a lot to them…and you.

7.  Deliver something extra without asking them if they need it. There is no promise here, just delivery!

8.  Create your own style and deliver your product and/or services uniquely.

Today, there are many people desperately trying to grow their business through what I call desperate measures. They will put down the competitors, cut their price to the slimmest margins, and quite frankly, lie to prospective customers. If you stay clear of these mistakes and move forward with the techniques I’ve described today, you and your business will be much better in the long run. If you build a reputation with this foundation, you will be able to sustain the toughest of storms and competition.

Take, for example, the story of Daniel Ruettiger, better known as “Rudy”.  You may have seen the movie Rudy about his life (and if you haven’t, you should).  His story is about overcoming obstacles, making mistakes, and getting back up – time after time after time. Even when your reputation gets damaged because of mistakes made, you push on and overcome. Take the time to watch the video below, and the next time you think you can’t overcome the obstacle facing you, just remember Rudy.

It takes a megadose of tenacity and a team of coaches, mentors, and accountability partners, but you CAN do more than you realize.

 

I welcome your comments.  Please do me a favor and leave a comment below.  Thank you.


The Art of Working a Room – Part 1

August 28, 2013 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

Speaking is an art and therefore as speakers we must deliver a relevant, engaging, and entertaining talk to our audience. One mistake I see many speakers make is one I always strive to avoid.  I arrive early, introduce myself and chat with the people in the room. By “working the room” prior to speaking, the sea of faces are no longer completely unfamiliar, I gain insight into what they need, and it helps lower any anxiety and nervousness I might have. What a fabulous idea, right?

Now the reality of what I just said…walk into a room, go up to complete strangers and begin talking. Is there anything scarier? According to the Stanford University of Shyness Clinic, 80% of adults identified themselves as shy in 1980. By 2011, this increased to 95%. Based on that statistic, I’d say most people are not comfortable striking up conversation with a stranger.

Working a room is a social skill that can enrich both our personal and business lives. It is a precursor to networking, vitally important to those who own their own businesses.  Yet most of us do not have this skill. Fortunately, it’s a skill we can learn and develop.     Here’s what I recommend to those brave enough to stretch:

First, we need to be aware of the obstacles that contribute to our discomfort. The experts agree there are 5 basic obstacles to overcome. Most of these are socially taught.

  1. Don’t talk to strangers. We learned this as a child and probably went on to teach the same lesson. But we aren’t children anymore. For an adult, the key factor to consider when speaking to a stranger is the environment. Striking up a conversation with someone in the grocery line is completely different than while taking the subway at midnight and not another soul is in sight.
  2. Wait to be properly introduced. It would be great to always have a host or greeting committee to make those introductions for us but it is not realistic.
  3. Don’t be pushy or aggressive. It’s impolite. Being direct does not necessarily mean being pushy. You can approach someone and introduce yourself in a friendly, non-obtrusive manner.
  4. Better safe than sorry. The old fear of rejection. We put our ego on the line when we approach a stranger. We are vulnerable. Not everyone is going to be open to chatting with us.
  5. Discomfort with small talk. We think to ourselves, “I don’t know what to say,so I’m better off saying nothing at all.”

Aware of the obstacles, you can now choose to do differently. In a world where face-to-face conversations are fewer and fewer due to technology, it is imperative we shed these old world beliefs.  They no longer serve us.

3 Final Steps to Becoming a Failure – Part 3

August 21, 2013 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

Let’s face it; success is hard – and uncertain. It might mean putting in long hours. It might mean learning new skills or doing things that scare you. It might mean some uncertainty and discomfort. Failure is much simpler. If you want to be a complete failure at everything you do, read on: I’m sharing the easy steps with you. And if you’re still set on being a big success, read on anyway, and call me.

9. Stay In Your Comfort Zone

If you ever get the opportunity to do something new, avoid it at all costs. New things are often scary – and scary is no fun at all, right? Stay inside your cozy comfort zone, and never stretch or challenge yourself. A big part of being a complete failure is making sure you never have the chance to realize what your full potential is…let alone reach it.

10.  Get Started Late Each Day

11. Procrastinate

My final tip, before you get started on your lifetime of complete and utter failure, is to procrastinate. Put everything off till the last minute…then put it off a bit longer. Not only will you fail (your report/essay/tax return will be crap); you’ll also make yourself feel stressed. Your procrastination techniques should be things that hold no real interest for you – silly online games, rearranging the jars in the kitchen cupboard, watching paint dry. That way, you’ll fail to accomplish anything, and you’ll fail to have any fun. Make sure you add in a good dose of guilt, too.

Lead With Fire

June 26, 2013 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

Success in 4D
Just Two More Days! Register Today
Enter code “dave” to discount the price to $97.

As leaders, it is part of our duty to make sure our employees are and stay energized. So, how do you truly energize your employees? Try these four ways to begin with:

  • What and how you communicate with your employees is just as important as what you pay and give them. Well-informed employees are good and productive employees, simply because they feel involved. The positive effects of communicating vital company information to employees are huge. Employees who are “in the loop” are energized and feel like a vital part of the organization.
  • Involving your employees in decisions that affect them will result in overall better decisions. The collection of employee suggestions is one of the best ways to involve employees and to energize them in the process. Their suggestions cannot only help the company but also themselves, by improving working conditions and giving them a measure of control over their jobs. If a company carefully reviews employee suggestions and quickly implements the ones with merit, management is sending a message to employees that they are valued.
  • The training employees receive is essential for their long-term relationship with your company. The best companies recognize that teaching employees pays long-term dividends. When employees are given opportunities to learn and better themselves, it can electrify an otherwise stagnant workforce. Just the ability to break out of their day-to-day routines can be very energizing in itself.
  • Creating new and interesting challenges can keep employees out of a rut. These new challenges can reenergize them and restore enthusiasm. If you want your employees to feel excited about coming to work, you have to create interesting new challenges.

If you decide to consider some of what you’ve read here today, remember that people today are looking for much more than a paycheck when they go to work. They are looking for leadership. Many employers still don’t get this, and it shows in their production and turnover numbers. My suggestion is to give your employees a chance to make an impact, not just a job. Fire them up!

 

Leaders Walk with Accountability

May 1, 2013 By Dave Ferguson Leave a Comment

When you create vision and mission statements for your company, you are in essence “talking” – yes, “talking” – to your customers, vendors, prospects, employees, and the entire outside world. When you create these visions and missions, you are creating value statements, and as we all know, you have to “Walk that Talk” if you want to create positive results year after year. There is no doubt that companies that consistently and successfully “walk their talk” do better than those that don’t.

So how do you ensure your company is “walking the talk”?

Here are just a few ways. I will add a few more next week.

1. Practice the values you committed to in your vision and mission statements. Are you living up to what you said you were going to do? Does every employee know the vision and mission of your company? If not, how can you effectively “walk the talk”?

2. Communicate like a leader should. Make sure you understand what you’re trying to communicate before you expect others to understand it. Leave out generalities, and get specific. Be clear and concise. Use charts, PowerPoint, or even stories to convey your messages. Then, check for understanding (did your audience understand your message?).

3. Do the Right Thing. Make sure you are doing the right thing, regardless of how unpopular or painful it may be. When you make promises and agreements, write them down. Then make sure you keep your word. If you make mistakes, own up to them, apologize if necessary, then get on with business.

4. Don’t be insane. Not all of your decisions need to be the only way to do things. We all know the definition of insanity is “doing the same things over and over, expecting different results.” Be flexible and open-minded. If you’re willing to look at things from others’ perspectives, you may learn something. Their way may actually even be better!

5. Get off the fence. You don’t have to make all decisions quickly, but you should make some quickly. Way too many leaders sit on the proverbial fence and, man, that must hurt after awhile. When you have all the facts or as many as you can get, make the decision. Include a small circle of advisors, mentors, or even a coach to assist you with tough decisions. I get these calls all the time from my clients.

As a business owner and coach, I have to be committed to these values and the many that will follow in the coming weeks. I have found that surrounding myself with accountability partners, such as my coach and even some of my clients, helps tremendously with keeping my actions in line with the values created in my vision and mission statements. As leaders, we can’t just say we’re going to do something; we have to make it happen. In my world, that’s “walking the talk”.

leb2013

Click to learn more about this upcoming event for leaders who mean business!

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
Dave's Recommended Reading List
Dave Ferguson
Tweets by AskCoachDave

Quick Links

About Dave
Coaching
Speaking
Book
Retreats
Blog
Media
Contact

Dave’s Recent Posts

The Tripod of Success

Five Landmarks of Leadership

Leadership Island

Six Elements of Growth

Schedule a Consultation

To schedule a consultation with Dave, click here.


Email: Dave@LivingToLead.com

Copyright © 2020 Dave Ferguson · Living To Lead · Contact · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Disclaimer