5 Questions With Inspiring Women: Laurie Palau – Guest Blog by Megan Kristel

Laurie Palau is a Doyelstown, PA based entrepreneur, speaker and owner of SimplyBOrganized.  Like her predecessors in the Inspiring Women series, she is a dynamic, hard working woman, with an inspiring work ethic who also happens to be a wife and mother of two teenage girls.  She’s not only a friend of mine, but I am a loyal client of hers.

She’s helped me organize my home by creating zones for my high traffic areas, and most importantly, helped create a process for archiving family photos and mementos.  By doing something she feels passionately about, she’s created a fantastic, lucrative business that actually improves the lives of the families she works with.

I’m so fortunate to have a phenomenal network of kick a** women in my life.  In fact, I’m surrounded by so many of them, I almost live in a bubble. Recently, though, I was reminded that there is still a segment of the population who will call a woman “crazy” or “unstable” if she shows a characteristic other than passiveness.  I don’t know how else to to combat such a narrow world view than to continue to speak out, and this series is one of the ways I can do that. By highlighting the success of empowered woman who took a risk, didn’t take no for an answer and reap the benefits of following their instinct I hope we can inspire other women to do the same.

You know I LOVE what you do!  I’ve been a client of yours for physical and virtual clutter and think your services are invaluable. Tell our readers exactly how you help your clients.

Most of my clients have an idea of what they want to accomplish-whether it’s decluttering a room, deciding how to maximize a space, or dealing with paper clutter. I help develop a strategy by breaking their overwhelm into a manageable action plan that they can either execute themselves or hire us to do with them.

What is the most problematic/cluttered areas in your clients’ homes and how do you combat it?

Continue Reading….

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Pushing Through Discomfort to Power Up Productivity

I’m a relatively new runner.  If you’ve ever been in those particular athletic shoes, you know that there some pain involved in that process.  I was running with Coach Dave, and we started talking about this very topic.  He said I needed to learn the difference between pain and discomfort.

Right? That made a light bulb go off for me, in a much larger context than how many miles I was putting in. It made me think about all those times when you feel hurt, or had a niggling feeling that something wasn’t right. Those are the red flags used by our body and mind to capture our attention. We need to listen to those signals and determine if we are in pain… or just uncomfortable.

 

Coach Dave and I agreed that it’s about persisting through discomfort. Some of our biggest breakthroughs are achieved personally and professionally when we are willing to power through discomfort until we get to the results we’re eager to achieve. If you’re ready to get to the other side of discomfort and power up your productivity to achieve more greatness in the new year, let’s look at a few strategies to keep in mind.

 

1. Know your why. A good WHY is a great motivator. Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” Why are you working longer hours? Spending more time on planes? Staying late? Getting up early? Putting systems in place? Fine-tuning that vision? Or running that extra mile? If you can articulate the bigger ‘why’ you are more likely to persist, stay focused on the reasons race full-speed ahead towards those important goals.

 

2. Know your time table. No, not math. Your timeframe for accomplishment.  Listen, if you don’t believe it already – let me be the first to share:  you are better than you think. You are more capable than you believe. You have gifts and guts and talents that are unique and mighty to YOU.  So, give yourself that. Then set a definitive timeframe to achieve your goal. You might surprise yourself at how much you will endure. Can you run an extra mile (or an extra 10 minutes)?  Can you read a little longer to get educated (even though you are tired)? Can you make two more phone calls (even though it feels as if everyone is saying no to you today)?  Set yourself a timeframe of how long you are willing to be uncomfortable and as my friend says, “Just keep going until you hit it, not quit it.”

 

3. Know your rewards. They are different for everyone.  Are you motivated by taking a break? Calling a friend? Getting new shoes (my Achilles, pun intended). Determine the reward that most motivates you to move through discomfort. Articulate that what hitting those goals will feel like on the other side.  You will feel fitter. Your relationships will soar. Your business skyrocket. Your sales go through the roof. Marathon medals are within your grasp. Hold those visions in your mind when feeling uncomfortable and they’ll help you power through the tough stuff.

 

Now, go knock your goals out of the park.  Set some that get you out of the comfort zones and into the s-t-r-e-t-c-h that will see your life, your business and your mind expand exponentially.  Make a no-ruts policy for the next twelve months and power through. I’d love to hear from you.  What can you do to persist through discomfort?

 

When you’re looking for a female motivational keynote speaker with the kind of leadership, sales and productivity strategies that will help your team become more engaged and driven towards their goals? Excited about their part in your organization? Eager to adopt the tools to increase profitability, productivity and accountability?  Neen James is the attention expert and speaker to call.

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Global Gurus Leadership and Coaching Speakers

Global Gurus is a research organization who researches and ranks the Top 30 professional speakers worldwide in a variety of categories. This research allows corporations, organizations, non-profits, event planners and bureaus understand who are the most referred and recommended professional speakers within their industry. It’s a great way for those searching for keynote speakers to determine who to choose for their next event.

Global Gurus only earn revenue from advertisers on their site, not from a GURU or GURU candidates.  Unlike other “Top Guru” or “Best…” lists out there, they do not sell rankings nor give any ranking consideration to organizations who advertise. All Global Guru Sites choose remarkable leaders who makes an impact and who from people who took time to vote for them. They are NOT industry leaders, but people who support knowledge and personal / organizational development in their fields through speaking, training, books, and media.

Thanks to YOU and to those that recommended me to the list, I’ve been selected in the TOP 30 for both World’s Best Leadership Speakers and World’s Best Coaching Speakers. You cannot imagine how delighted and humbled I am by this selection and from your kindness and willingness to nominate me.

Next time you or your event is in need of a coach or professional speaker, visit the Global Gurus website and choose the topic of your choice.

Champagne Kisses,

Neen

 

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Pay Attention to Opportunities to Recommend Your Peers: It’s Good Business – and Good Fun!

Recently I had the privilege of speaking at the SHRM Volunteer Leadership Summit in Washington, DC with four of my speaker friends that I frequently recommend to others. We are part of a group called The Keynoters and clients often hire us together to speak at their events. We had so much fun being the leadership track for this important Human Resource professional’s event.

Some of our favorite comments received were from the meeting planners and attendees — all sharing how much they enjoyed watching us support each other in the sessions. The format required two of us present at a time in rooms beside each other. As there are five of us, we would help the others when we weren’t presenting by providing handouts, moving chairs, doing whatever needed to be done.

Here’s what you need to know: people are always watching. And they pay attention not only to what you say, but what you do. We all enjoy each other’s company, we love seeing the others succeed and we love serving clients together. Behaviors follow beliefs. We all believe in the other presenters and providing the most valuable experience for our client and our audience.

If you want to get attention for your products, your projects, your team, consider referring others. It’s a win-win-win-win-win – you get the idea!

Here are five ways you can get attention by referring your peers:

Create a strong network. Know who you can trust, what their strengths and talents are and who you can recommend to clients, customers, members, friends and colleagues.

Explore client needs. Know your clients’ challenges, concerns and big picture goals, then make suggestions for them. When you do, you become their trusted advisor, and go-to resource.

Make connections. Don’t just mention people to each other, make an actual introduction via email or a teleconference. Give a few reasons why you think there might be a good fit between them. Make it easy for others to do business together.

Follow up. Don’t stop at introductions. Be sure to follow up to see if those you recommend were able to connect.

Build advocates. When you actively refer others and constantly strengthen your network, you can build strong relationships with people who will become advocates for you and your work. Foster those relationships, reach out to them regularly and keep them informed of what you are doing. When you do, you’ll often find yourself on the receiving end of a referral of your own!

Pay attention to the needs of your clients, members, patients, and team members and colleagues. Actively look for the connections that could be opportunities for others to play a role in someone else’s success. In doing so you’ll elevate your relationships with all of the above to being both an expert at what you do – and a positive facilitator for connectivity. Have some fun with it! I can tell you that The Keynoters and I sure do!

Want to learn more ways to identify opportunities to recommend others when you can’t be all things to all people? Here’s how to have a network of professionals you know and trust to recommend and refer when your area of expertise isn’t the best fit.

This video will guide you on how to:
– Recommend the right professional to fit your customer’s needs
– Make connections between professionals so cold calls aren’t necessary
– Build trust with your clients and contacts to become their go-to resource for professionals

When you pay attention to your clients’ needs, you can be a hero by recommending others who are experts ready to solve their problems.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and if you are in the market for a good referral or think I might have some connections that could help you with an event, project or problem, please don’t hesitate to call me today. I’d love to assist!

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How and When to Recommend Professionals You Know and Trust

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How and When to Recommend Professionals You Know and Trust

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What Paying ATTENTION to Your Millennials Looks Like And How It Pays You Back in Productivity

 

I love millennials.  I love their energy. Their insights. Their outside-the-box, or even no-box-at-all eagerness and drive. Recently, I was asked by one of my awesome clients, who is always traveling that cutting edge, if I would help them craft a training program for their millennial team members.

 

Those folks between 20 and 30 in their organization who were moving into mid-level management. He asked, “How can we get their attention in positive ways and KEEP it?” Smart guy-right?

 

What we did was design a program that was focused on four important areas:

 

1. Communication skills. Millennials are amazing at technology and connection, and those are wonderful things. Your training should complement those presenting skills as well as teach valuable listening skills.
2. Leadership. While management is obviously about looking after tasks, leadership is really about understanding strategy.  Share that distinction with them so they can bring their uniqueness to their roles.  Then help them understand what kind of leader they are now, and help them set their sights on the kind of leader they want to be in the future.
3. Delegation skills. Teach your team to understand how to delegate responsibly to others, and also how to be the kind of leader who can be delegated to as well. I like to tell my clients that when you think about delegation, think of it as a pie.  80% of that pie is the work that you have to do yourself. That leaves 20%, of which 10% should be delegated to people who are learning to do YOUR job, and 10% learning to do your BOSS’S job. That way the whole organization continues to GROW in the right direction.
4. Productivity. Millennials are famous for being tech-savvy and extraordinary multi-taskers.  Accelerating productivity calls for not just learning how to manage time, but to FOLD time. In my book Folding Time, I share hundreds of strategies to do just that.  I love what LaSalle Network in Chicago implemented in their organization. Their brilliant mentoring program is called Grandparenting.  It’s an ahh-mazing mentoring program where key management leaders look after not only their staff, but the staff level below their staff. It’s a very powerful way to connect everyone.  Millennials are so keen to learn and they have so much to share and give. Can you think of some ways you can create that kind of mentorship within your own organization, hospital or credit union?

 

Lastly, look at all the ways your organization is paying attention to contributing to the community around you. One of the things I really love about this particular generation is how incredibly altruistic they are. They think more globally and they definitely look at the world from a different lens.  If you really want to pay attention to this demographic of team members within your organization, create programs that embrace the brilliant uniqueness they offer. Then partner them with people they can learn from who value their contribution – and you’ll have a winning combination that will send productivity through the roof!

 

Want to know more? Learn to collaborate, coach and communicate millennials by watching this video and learning the following:
– How to get, and keep, the attention of Millennials
– How to focus and improve Millennials communication skills
– How to coach them to become strong leaders in the workplace

 

 

When you’re looking for a female motivational keynote speaker with the kind of leadership, sales and productivity strategies that will help your team become more engaged and driven towards their goals? Excited about their part in your organization? Eager to adopt the tools to increase profitability, productivity and accountability?  Neen James is the attention expert and speaker to call.

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How to Pay Attention to the Millennials in Your Workplace

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How to Pay Attention to the Millennials in Your Workplace

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Get Attention by Becoming a Professional Training Genie

Okay, so not literally a Genie in a bottle. A professional training Geniecast using genius instead.

Does anyone remember that show ‘I dream of Jeannie” – loved that show and one year I went to a fancy dress party dressed like her.

With teams spread around the world and leaders wishing they could constantly be developing their people with professional training, I was delighted when I heard about GenieCast.

Geniecast is transforming the way the world connects people, ideas, and inspiration.

It’s an online marketplace for expert speakers and thought leaders. They connects the intelligence and guidance of experienced business professionals with people and organizations searching for solutions.

They use a cool two-way live video broadcasts, speakers (affectionately named “Genies”) share their knowledge with executives, managers, or new employees in order to improve processes, develop new business strategies, increase productivity or complete professional training.

To make sure every one of these is a success, a professional Production team is readily on hand during each Cast, guaranteeing quality and interactivity. With a wide range of content available, Geniecast is the one-stop shop for any type of corporate or professional training.

I have had the pleasure of doing several of these with organizations including EO and others and it was a blast!

If you are looking for a great way to provide development to your team and leverage technology, check out GenieCast… I can’t quite fit in a bottle, but I can grant some wishes!

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Saying No Is Saying Yes to Success – Meetingsnet.com

Busier doesn’t necessarily mean better when it comes to your career.

Saying no is scary.Saying yes is even scarier when we realize what it does to our time, our sanity and our ability to pay attention to what matters most.

I love this quote by Warren Buffet: “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.”

Let that sink in. It’s important. It’s also really, really hard for many meeting professionals.

I get it. You want to be helpful. You want to be a team player. You want to get accolades for being a “yes” person. You like staying crazy busy. The flip side to that coin is that, when you say yes to everything, you may not leave room for opportunities that come up, and your time management strategy flies out the window.

To be on top of your game, you need to keep your sights on high-priority activities that take you closer to your goals each day. You need to keep a careful eye on your bandwidth at any given time on any given day. Neither is possible if you’re always taking on whatever comes your way. Saying No allows us to keep our focus front and center on the priorities that matter most.

Here are a few ways saying “no” can lead to a bigger success “yes”:

• It eliminates distractions and keeps the focus on your goals.
• It allows you to use your time and talent resources more effectively.
• It puts you on a path to be a more focused leader.
• It narrows your choices so you can keep your focus crystal clear.
• It preserve your physical and mental energy.
• It allows you to fail faster (and yes, that’s a good thing).
• It allows you to fail smarter. (You have to love a great learning curve!)
• It makes you more honest. (How many times did you really want to say “no”?)

Saying no when people ask you to help them with projects or attend an event doesn’t make you rude, or a bad friend, or a bad team member. It keeps you on track. I often say that you don’t have time to do everything; you only have time to do what matters.

“But Neen!” you cry, “It’s so hard to say no.” Here’s any easy way to turn down something that’s not going to move you toward your goals. Say, “Thank you for your kind invitation; however, I am unable to join you.” That’s it. Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t throw excuses or fibs at it. Just say, kindly and politely, “No thank you.”

In his book, Anything You Want, Derek Sivers writes, “When you say no to most things, you leave room in your life to throw yourself completely into that rare thing that makes you say, ‘Hell yeah!’” I love that, and you should too. Why? Because everyone’s life deserves a whole lot more “Hell yeah” moments.

Say no to the things that don’t take you closer to your goals, get you excited, make you want to jump out of bed, or move you forward. That way there is room to say yes to all the things that do. I’d love to hear your thoughts—share them with us below!

 

This article was originally published on the fabulous site of Meetingsnet.com – the go-to resource for meeting planners and event specialists. Check out the original post and let them know your thoughts and ideas for how you can learn to say ‘NO’ to distractions and say ‘YES’ to what matters most!

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The Link Between Structure and Success: Powering Up Your Productivity to Pay Attention

Meetings. Events. Deadlines. Customers. How’s a person to get it all done – AND still have room in the calendar for all the “good stuff” like family, friends and personal time?  Impossible?  Not at all.  The trick is a little structure, a little strategy and a system that works specifically for YOU. No two business and no two people are alike, so defining the structure that allows YOU to work at your highest potential without the fear of burnout is vital.

 

Take me, for example.  As an attention expert and keynote speaker, I spend a LOT of time on airplanes, walking convention floors; meeting clients, coaching, creating, sharing ideas and strategies with the people in my mentoring program—and of course, running a business and all that entails. For our team?  The easiest way to accelerate productivity is to systemize the week. Now like all good systems, we don’t get it right every time and it doesn’t work every time however it is a great guideline for us.

 

We don’t work as many weekends with clients as some of you might. We want to protect weekends as recovery time whenever possible; we know this isn’t practical for some of you reading this blog. So this is how we like to structure our week:

 

• Monday – meeting with mentors in the mentoring, networking, client appointments, writing, strategy and often this is a travel day to speak at an event.
• Tuesday to Thursday – speaking and media interviews and travelling.
• Friday – more speaking, meeting with mentors (mostly in the morning) writing, setting up the next week and catching up.

 

It’s simple (it’s idealistic… but hey, it’s good to have a wishful week right?).  This allows us maximize time balancing what we do with how we do it. Could you think about balancing your day if your week is a harder place to start?

 

Ready to get down to structuring your OWN success plan to take you into the new year?  Here are a few things to consider:

 

1. First things first: You: “But Neen, there’s no time.” The truth is that if you’re not healthy, happy and looking after yourself, you’ll never be your best for your company, your clients, your family or anyone else. That whole, “You can’t pour from an empty cup,” thing? Is an eye opener, or at least it should be. So step one in making a better, more productive year ahead is to schedule YOURSELF first.  Book an appointment every day that is focused on you. This might include exercise, mediation, quiet time, reading, self development – or all of the above!

 

2. Get crystal-clear: It’s hard to hit a moving target. When you’re unsure of your plan, your goals, your vision for the most important things you’re eager to achieve, it’s fairly hard to knock it out of the park.  The good news is the reverse is true. When you’re exceptionally clear on what you want, where you’re headed, what the highest vision is that you have for your future and those things that so powerfully important to you that you’ll jump out of bed each day with a passion to make them happen – you can’t lose. For me, I love to speak on productivity, helping people make room in their lives and days to PAY ATTENTION to those things that really matter.  That’s my focus. My very simple WHY.  The simplicity allows me to determine where I want to spend my time which becomes a filtering system for time choices.

 

3. Block time for business. Admin work.  Seriously not my favorite thing. Not most people’s favorite thing. But all organizations require administration, attention to details and dare I say it… paperwork. I’m grateful to have a wonderful virtual business manager Maria Novey, who does much of the heavy lifting for me, but some of it still needs my undivided attention. So, I block time for that. (Monday’s if possible. Which makes me laugh sometimes.  It reminds me of the story where you’re given a list of tasks that you HAVE to accomplish by the end of the day, one of which is eating a frog. Yuck! But as Mark Twain once shared, “If the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worse things that is going to happen to you all day long.” Your “frog”? The biggest thing on your plate. The most daunting. Or boring. Or scary. The thing you’d LEAST like to do.   Knock it out of the way first though (like on a Monday) and the rest of the day, or week, is your oyster.

 

4. Block your projects: Ours is a busy world, with a lot of demands. There are always a list of projects that require our attention, but closing those circles can be intimidating from a time-constraint perspective. Let me share an example of how my team managed this, and see if it works for you as well.  Like many of you I serve on some boards, including the National Speakers Association board.  When I was co-chairing an event for my professional organization. This was a super time-intensive commitment, and had the capacity to be a full-time job, although not one that would increase my revenue directly, so managing the time in was a priority. We decided, as a team, to restrict the allotted time for the project to Monday afternoons and Friday mornings. This one simple time-blocking step ensured if we needed to speak with someone, speak with my co-chair or reach out to participants – we do it in one of these time blocks. Time blocking is a beautiful thing. It provides clarity. Structure. Takes away stress.  Just like when your work space is orderly – a place for everything and everything in it’s place. When there’s a time for everything and everything is in it’s time – you breathe a little easier. Have time for the good stuff.  Ask yourself, “What projects are you working on that you could time block this week?” (Then DO it!)

 

5. Manage interruptions: Stuff happens. Wherever you work, interruptions are inevitable. For some, that one little blip in the time-table of their day throws off their groove for a week! Instead? Take a pro-active approach to how you handle interruptions.  Try wearing headphones while you get tasks completed, stand up when someone comes in your office to help accelerate the conversation or create a do-not-disturb sign (that the whole team understands) while you are chin-deep in a deadline, doing prospecting or an intense project.

 

6. Try systems on for size: Change is AH-MAZING, but it can also be a temporary detour while you’re getting used to a new system, strategy, or structure.  Not everything will work and that’s all right.  Be willing to give them a try. Select a week, advise your team of the goal you are wanting to accomplish, block the time for training and implementation then review at the end of the week to see if it’s a keeper of an idea, if it needs tweaking, or if it’s a dud for you and yours.  Keep trying new things, and you’ll find that your results will expand proportionately!

 

I’m wishing you EVERY success in your daily productivity.  Systems that work for you. Tools that make sense. Structure that helps eliminate stress. And TIME to PAY ATTENTION to the things that matter most in your life.  I’m here to help!

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Set Yourself Apart as a Successful Speaker: Speaker Lab Podcast with Grant Baldwin

 

Have you ever considered that how to set yourself apart as a successful speaker may be to embrace what is uniquely you? Maybe it’s an accent you have or your above-average height, whatever it is it may be the key to standing out in our crowded speaking marketplace.

Tune into Grant Baldwin’s The Speaker Lab as we discuss how professional speakers can leverage what makes them unique to attract audiences, stand out in crowds and leave a lasting impression on those listening.

 

On today’s edition of The Speaker Lab, I’ve got a guest who has used her unique voice and stature to create a thriving speaking career. Neen James stands a petite 4’10 (and 1/2!) and hails from Australia. With her tiny height and self-professed Disney princess voice she was told by many no one was going to book her or take her seriously as speaker.

 

But with her undeniable sass, drive and determination she has proven them wrong! Listen to this episode to hear how she accidentally became a professional speaker, how she pivoted from productivity to her current topic today, and how she built her reputation in the corporate business world. You’ll hear that and more on episode 124 of The Speaker Lab.

 

THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:   

• What’s the trick to having a successful speaker career?
• What are “telecoffees” and how did she build her business with them?
• Why you should audit the things you are good at.
• What are the things that make us “memorable”?
• Why speakers have to establish credibility and do it quickly.
• How she pivoted from productivity to attention.
• Can you be a jack of all trades and be a successful speaker?
• How can you become a great resource and trusted advisor to your clients?
• And so much more!

 

Become a successful speaker by checking out more of Grant Baldwin’s Speaker Lab Podcasts by visiting The Speaker Lab.

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ATTENTION to Rules, Regulations and Bureaucracy: When is it Time to Change?

As a keynote speaker and executive mentor, I am frequently asked for ways to deal with rules and bureaucracy in the workplace. Especially when dealing with some large corporations with employee manuals the size of War and Peace.  Rules, regulations and bureaucracy are part of corporate culture, but, done right, they don’t have to adversely affect your morale and productivity.

 

Let me share five strategies for paying ATTENTION to what matters in a corporate environment rich with rules.  They are:

 

#1. Communicate the UNWRITTEN rules. While I’m certain all the big rules and expectations are spelled out in an employee policy manual, there are ALWAYS unwritten rules that can often trip people up. New team members and people who transfer between departments can be especially susceptible to this. From break-room etiquette to social interaction to managing the personality differences that keep everyone working well together – define what those underlying expectations are so that everyone is on a level playing field.

#2. Share Common Goals. One great way to clear some of the bureaucracy is to help every team member understand what their part in the goal is.  Make sure that whatever goal you commit to as a team is clear, communicated well and often, and visual. Put the goals where everyone can see them. They then become a filtering system to avoid unnecessary missteps.

#3. Empower decision-making. Here’s the thing – if team members must run to leadership for every single decision, productivity suffers and so does morale.  The flip side of that coin is you empower your employees to make decisions on their own, you give them the freedom to grow as leaders. That fuels innovation. Creativity. The sharing of ideas. Of course, there will be things that must be approved by leadership, so be crystal clear about those expectations. For the rest? Empower your team to be decisive. Offer new solutions and step up to leadership roles of their own. When they do you elevate your entire organization.

#4. Encourage collaboration. There’s nothing quite like a team that works well together is there?  You can help encourage that kind of collaboration by having an “open door” policy where people can come in and get clarification or share ideas.  Allocating time during meetings to brainstorm specific challenges or growth strategies is another great way.  Perhaps you can look at your organization as a whole and see if there are ways to break down some of the silos that get created between departments and divisions so that talent and innovative ideas can flow freely throughout the entire team.  That way everyone has a stronger opportunity to learn and the feeling of true teamwork is elevated.

#5. Decrease meetings and eliminate outdated or unnecessary rules. Don’t get me wrong – meetings done RIGHT can be amazing, collaborative and constructive. Too many times however they are meetings for meetings sake and can run counter to what you want to accomplish.  When it looks like your meetings have become time stealers and demotivators, then it’s time to revisit why and when you are having them. Can you change it up? Schedule less? Create shorter meetings for quick discussion opportunities and then break? Can you meet via online or conference platforms that don’t require everyone to physically be in the room?  One of my favorite books on this topic is Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni. If you haven’t read it, pick it up. It’s a keeper!

 

Rules are important to keep a smooth operation running certainly.  Just be careful your team isn’t so bogged down in the do’s and don’ts that they lose the ability or the desire to jump in and utilize their full potential. Empowering people to really be part of the process and developing that culture where they aren’t afraid to express their thoughts and share their ideas can be AH-MAZINGLY powerful for the growth of your company.

 

Looking for more ways to focus on reducing and simplifying rules, regulations and bureaucracy in your organization? Watch this video, full of ideas to help answer:
– How to reduce regulation headaches
– How to help others navigate rules to be more productive
– How to focus on what matters most

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to share them with me here or on social media. I’d also love to help your leadership team cut through some of the red tape that may be holding your company back. Call me today to explore your options!

 

 

 

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How to Pay Attention to Reducing Rules and Bureaucracy

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How to Pay Attention to Reducing Rules and Bureaucracy

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How to Pay Attention and Create Employee Loyalty

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Attention to Employee Loyalty: The Inside Scoop on Creating and Keeping a Thriving Team

 

How do you create employee loyalty strategies that get your team to rise to the top and stay there both as individuals and as a whole?  How do you keep them from being recruited away, or experiencing burnout?

 

Start by paying ATTENTION to those key factors that drive THEIR attention to the employee loyalty outcome you want to create.

 

Let’s take a look at three powerful strategies for creating comprehensive employee loyalty:

 

1. Map it Out. Create a roadmap that allows each member of your team to see the big picture goals you are striving for as an organization and the roles they play in it. Share with them how their “piece of the puzzle” fits into the success of the company and their success as well. Then hold them accountable for staying the course.
2. Coach Them. What I mean by this is really being present with your employees to assess their strengths and areas of enhancement and invest in the training and development that will help them soar. That might mean brainstorming solutions. Scheduling one-on-ones with them. Disconnecting from devices and distractions when you are meeting with them so you get the scope of what they need to be their most successful. When your team members know that you are engaged in helping them thrive, their loyalty, job satisfaction and willingness to jump all soar.
3. Motivate Them. They key to motivating anyone is the find out what motivates THEM as individuals. Surprisingly enough, money is NOT always the biggest factor in motivation. For some it may be giving them a stronger leadership role. For others, it might be shifting their work hours so they have more family time. For someone else it might be including them on specific teams, or sending them to a conference or training that will advance their knowledge and ability to hit goals. Spend some real time one on one with your employees and find out what sparks them to jump out of bed and hit the ground running every day. Once you know that, you can help guide and motivate them to discover their own greatness.

 

Being a leader who can bring people together, develop creative solutions, and knows each team member well enough to know what drives them and what will make them pull together will inspire loyalty and help your business thrive.  I hope you’ll take these strategies and put your own spin on them to make it an ah-mazing year for you and your organization.

 

Want more ideas and tips to create strong employee loyalty and drive motivated success throughout your team? Take a moment and watch this video.

This video will teach you:
– How to discover what motivates your employees
– How to reward and recognize hard work
– How to create programs that focus on employee culture

 

Want to learn what it takes to get team members to pay ATTENTION to the strategies that create unstoppable success? Call me today and receive my white paper filled with Tips to Help Leaders Pay More ATTENTION to Their Teams. 

 

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How to Pay Attention and Create Employee Loyalty

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Transform Your Meetings with 10 Productivity Hacks: Guest Blog on MeetingsNet

 

I’m obsessed with attention and teaching others to utilize their focus to create more significant, productive moments in life. When I came across this article and infographic on meetingsnet.com about using productivity hacks to maximize the output of meetings, I just knew I had to share. Hope you enjoy as much as I do!

 

 

We all go to meetings—a lot of meetings. But even meeting planning meetings can be less productive than everyone would like. Here are 10 ways to fix that, from our friends at SilverDoor.co.uk:

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Protected: Pay Attention: Productivity Strategies for Speakers

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Audiences Stand Up When You Stand Out: Book Review

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Audiences Stand Up When You Stand Out: Book Review

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How to Pay Attention to and Improve Your Company Culture

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How to Pay Attention to and Improve Your Company Culture

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ATTENTION to Company Culture: Cultivating Success Throughout Your Organization

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to work with a large media organization who wanted to shift their company culture in ways that would drive bottom line results, but also produce an environment where employees and team members WANTED to come to work each day and give it their all.  Why? When organizations FOCUS on creating a better company culture where they pay ATTENTION to what really matters, productivity, profitability and accountability go through the roof!

 

To help illustrate the strategies I wanted to help them implement I asked them to visualize their action plan as a triangle.  Here’s what I shared:

 

Layer One:  A foundation of FOCUS. As the bottom layer, this is an important step to getting everything else right. It’s all about determining the focus, or top priorities for your organization. Is it productivity? Profitability? Service? Once you have a handle on this, you can start to build the culture you want to create.

 

Layer Two:  A core of creativity.  When you nurture an environment where team members feel they can be seen and heard, share ideas, innovate – everyone benefits.

 

Layer Three:  Make the decision.  This is where everyone decides on the goal – and goes all in to make it happen.  Everyone takes ownership of their part in the process and are held responsible and accountable for delivering results.

 

Layer Four:  Reward people for their commitment. Keep your momentum building by keeping team members engaged in the process. Rewarding them is a great way to do that, and we’re not talking financial rewards in most cases.  It can be simple things like a hand written thank you note on their desk. Recognizing someone with a shout out in a meeting. A plaque on the wall. A leader-board with results. A Friday night cookout for the staff to say thanks to everyone for jumping in.  Have fun with it – and continue to have fun with it.  Your team will too.

 

Layer Five:  Develop partnerships.  Partnerships help continuously share different perspectives which leads to creatively finding solutions. Can you partner with other organizations? Other departments?  Or partner team members together so they can learn from each other and act as accountability partners.

 

As leaders, it’s our job to help our teams grow, learn, and pay ATTENTION to those things that will drive them closer to realizing their goals and potential, and raising the company standards.  Often, that means we must lead by example and model a company culture of ownership as well as the behavior and action steps that we most want to see.

 

As leaders, it’s also vital to be crystal clear in communicating what you want your team to focus on. Break down the goals and objectives in such a way that everyone completely understands and is on the same page as you move forward.  This isn’t a one-and-done process. Stay forward and focused on those goals by consistent, clear communication as you go. Through email, meetings, video, goal charts – the works.  As people adapt to the shifts and get excited about realizing their goals for both reward and personal pride, you’ll see your organization grow in ways you never thought possible. It all just starts with paying ATTENTION to these valuable layers of culture and leadership.

 

Looking for more ways to improve your focus on improving company culture?

This video contains ideas to help answer:
– How to create ownership among employees
– Ideas to recognize employees and reward their efforts
– How to foster an environment of thinking and collaboration

 

I’d love to hear from you on the subject! I’d also like to help you create this kind of creative culture shift in your organization so that you too can see stronger bottom line results in profitability, productivity and accountability.  Call me today to learn how we can make that happen!

 

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Build Your Brand: 5 Ways To Show Your Expertise – Guest Blog by Megan Kristel

To Say No is Say Yes to Success – Focus on What Needs Your Attention

I love this quote by Warren Buffet, “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.”

 

Let that sink in. Because it’s important.

 

It’s also really, really hard for a lot of people. I get it. You want to be helpful. You want to be the team player. You want to get the accolades of being the “yes” person. You like staying crazy busy. HOWEVER, there’s a flipside to that coin.

When we say YES to EVERYTHING, we don’t often leave room for opportunities that we otherwise might have and there is little or no strategy to our time management.

Top producers, exceptional earners – are strategic thinkers.  They pay ATTENTION.  They know exactly what their bandwidth is at any given time of any given day.  In order to be on top of their game, they keep their sights close to the high priority activities that take them closer to their goals each day.  Are you doing that as well?

 

Here are a few ways saying NO can lead to a bigger success YES:

 

• It eliminates distractions and keep the focus on the goals
• Allows you to use resources more effectively (time and talent)
• Puts you on a path to be a more focused leader
• Narrows your choices, keeping focus crystal clear
• Preserve your energy (physical and mental)
• Allows you to fail faster (and yes that’s a good thing)
• Allows you to fail smarter (love a great learning curve)
• Makes you more honest (How many times did you really want to say NO before?)

 

Saying no when people ask you to help them with projects or attend an event you don’t want to doesn’t make you rude. Or a bad friend. Or bad team member.  It makes you focused and keeps you on track. I often say you don’t have time to do EVERYTHING, only time to do what matters.

 

“But Neen!  How do I say NO?” Let me help you. “Thank you for your kind invitation, however, I am unable to join you.”  That’s it. Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t throw excuses or fibs at it. Just say, kindly and politely, “no thank you.”

 

In the book, Anything You Want, Derek Sivers says, “When you say no to most things you leave room in your life to throw yourself completely into that rare thing that makes you say, ‘HELL YEAH!’” I love that and you should too.  Why? Because EVERYONE’S life deserves a whole lot more ‘Hell Yeah’ moments.

 

Say no to the things that DON’T take you closer to your goal, get you excited, make you want to jump out of bed or move you forward. That way there is room to say YES to all the things that DO.  I’d love to hear your thoughts! Share them with us here!

 

The post To Say No is Say Yes to Success – Focus on What Needs Your Attention appeared first on Neen James.

How Attention Pays for Meeting Professionals

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How Attention Pays for Meeting Professionals

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Pay Attention to Your Influence. Influence Redefined – Book Review

Buy this book to be influential Monday to Monday

I have smart friends. When I received my copy of Influence Redefined: Be the Leader You were Meant to Be by Stacey Hanke, I squealed with delight.

Stacey is a dear friend, my accountability partner, an awesome speaker and one of the strongest communicators I know. She travels the globe sharing with Fortune 500 companies how to be more influential.

This book is like sitting with Stacey in one of her executive coaching sessions.

Full of strategies to be the most influential leader Monday to Monday^® Stacey shares practical advice for every leader. The book is also filled with great case studies, bonus assessment tools and videos. When I started reading I couldn’t put this down.

She challenges the reader that you may not be as influential as you think! I love the contextual model she outlines in the book and the action items and executive summary in each chapter.

This is a MUST read for everyone this year. Read it, apply it and buy copies for your team. This book makes for a great coaching and discussion tool for you and your team. Influence Redefined helps individuals create a consistent personal brand. The value readers receive is through the practical skills and techniques they can apply in their day-to-day interactions, both at work and home. The book offers how-to’s for communicating with brevity, clear and concise messages, adapting messages on the fly to meet listeners’ needs and reaching a call-to-action.

Check out Influence Redefined today.

Want to know more about what you can expect? Check out my online review:

 

The most requested topics this year revolve around sales, service and leadership. Call me today to learn how getting your team’s ATTENTION and teaching them innovative strategies in these areas can catapult your company’s ability to compete.

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Pay Attention to Peloton (and life lessons it teaches)

Photo Courtesy of www.PelotonCycle.com

I joined a cult. All right, not quite. But close!

It started at Christmas. I blame my best friend.  We were in NYC, our annual tradition, with my two adorable goddaughters and my incredibly smart (and fit), best friend. She told me about her new obsession, a Peloton.  No, not the Tour de France group of riders but the sexy spin bike that people are buying for their homes. (If you haven’t already – check out their crazy-hot ads on TV.)

So, I jumped in.

Bought myself one for Christmas without any real knowledge or experience. I thought hey, I used to spin! How hard could it be? (Answer: hard but ah-mazing!)

Here’s where the message gets crazy interesting though.  First, I am not the fittest person I know.  To my credit, I am addicted to barre3 in my local Doylestown studio. I do love to run – but outside! This winter treadmill training is revolting! But now, putting something else in the mix?  Buying the Peloton on a whim?  I wasn’t sure if I would even use it. But what I DID do? Was buy the matching shoes (of course) and all the accessories so I would look cute when riding my new obsession – even though I had never done it. What does THAT tell you?

It tells you they did some things very right.  Look at me. I teach branding. Productivity. Marketing. Sales.  And yet? I was hooked. Addicted even.  Since hopping on the Peloton bandwagon, there is literally not a day that goes by when I am not riding my bike. In fact? Some days–I ride twice.  Take that a step further.  When I was away on vacation recently, I used the Peloton app at the hotel gym. Yep. That hooked.

And it’s not just me. It’s the Peloton brand. It’s their business model and how they are pay ATTENTION to their community. And you know me with ATTENTION!

Here are three lessons we can all learn from the Peloton bike (and brand):

 

Make it Sexy. The bike is sleek, the website is easy to navigate, don’t even get me started on the instructors and their insane bodies!  (For the record, Jennifer Jacobs abs are to die for.) The packaging, the language, the people and they even have their own line of clothing! That’s brilliant when you want to makes sure that everything looks and feels consistent.

 

Make it Fun. My friend shared with me last night an interesting fact – that internet businesses and events very often find that people ‘come for the content but stay for the community’. RIGHT? That has been the most interesting component about my Peloton purchase. In my experience? The 20K+ riders on Facebook who are like a cult, obsessed with the rides, health and the instructors in the most positive way I have ever seen. They have created a fun tribe of strangers who hold each other accountable, cheer each other along and post their wins. I have seen people raise money for to help strangers afflicted with illness, share heartache and hurt, and one girl who rode eight times in one day! (Now that’s insanity). The whole brand and experience so far has been fun (while it absolutely kicks my butt and I am breathless and unglamorous).

 

Make it matter. Peloton instructors regularly recognize rides with shout outs of unique rider names who are on the live rides alongside them. You can track how you are progressing against other rides on the leaderboard just so you know. Hmmm, I might be a little competitive. People share their results and post their Personal Records (PR) and the company keeps surprising subscribers with new features, new workouts (on and off the bike).  Regular software updates are shared on their Facebook page before they even occur. Truth be told? It might be like what Tesla owners experience when they wake up and their software has been updated, then all of a sudden, their car can drive itself!

 

So, here’s my question to you: How can you Peloton? In other words, what do you need to do to make your customer experience or your product line more sexy, fun and make your audience matter? How can you pay ATTENTION to these three things that can take your organization, your brand – your business to the next level? When you answer that? You can have customers like me!  Who feel like becoming part of something – the Peloton experience – is the best thing that can happen to them?  I love it. I hope your team can learn from that kind of customer buy-in.  Oh, and now?  I’m off for another ride! Want to join me?

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Share them here and let me know what sparked your interest!  I’d also like to share some strategies that can take your brand to spectacular heights.  Call me today to find out the inside scoop!

The post Pay Attention to Peloton (and life lessons it teaches) appeared first on Neen James.

5 Love Languages: Pay Attention at Work, Home and in Your Community

Have you heard of this powerful little book called 5 Love Languages?

Have you read this New York Times Best Selling book?

I read it over 20 years ago and yet the advice outlined is as true today as it was back them.

In corporations we use tools to assess our communication style, our personalities, and our productivity …. wouldn’t it be fun to see how we show others we care. We can! This book is valuable reading for every executive, entrepreneur and pretty much anyone.

Take this online free assessment tool to discover your love language. Click here: Maybe even share this with someone you love and see what their love languages are too.

If you want to show more attention to those your share your life with, pay special attention to their love language. We often communicate in the way we want to be communicated with.

We often communicate in the way we want to be communicated with and yet we can have more impact on others when we communicate in the way they want to receive it. By paying attention to others it is easier to care for them they way they want.

When I was first married my love language was ‘gifts’.  I LOVE giving presents and receiving. I absolutely LOVE giving presents to others and over the years my love language shifted.

Pick up a copy of this little book, it’s an easy read, and start to find ways you can love those around you in the way they want to be loved.

 

What’s your love language? Determine your love languages and discover how you can:

• Connect with customers, employees, peers and more
• Use your love language to communicate and influence
• Determine what motivates your employees

 

Are sales, productivity, engagement and accountability top on your to-do list this year?  Call me today to find out why my Attention Pays!

The post 5 Love Languages: Pay Attention at Work, Home and in Your Community appeared first on Neen James.

Become a Productivity Superhero – Pay Attention to Time

We all wish we could fold time so we could have twice as many hours to whittle down our constantly growing to-do list. And guess what? While you can’t actually change the space-time continuum, you can develop systems and become your own productivity superhero based on your own unique skills and talents.

In a recent MeetingsNet webinar, I shared these three practical strategies you can implement today to get more done—to become your own productivity superhero!

1. Conquer the world in 15 minutes. Are you saying, “But Neen, there’s no time.”? You’re right: No one has an hour any more. But everyone has 15 minutes. Think about all you can do in 15 minutes! Clear emails—boom! Make a phone call—yes! Call a property to organize a walk-through—yep!

Invest in a 15-minute strategic appointment with yourself every morning and choose your top three, non-negotiable activities to complete before your head hits the pillow tonight and voila, instant superhero status!

2. Say No.  I hear you saying, “Neen, I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings” or “I don’t want to disappoint people.” I know, I know! But “no” can be your new best friend when it comes to productivity.

No is a complete sentence. We need to say “no” more often so we can say “yes” and give our attention to those things that really matter.

That’s my focus. My very simple “why.” I use the very simplicity to determine where I want to spend my time, which in turn becomes a filtering system for time choices. What do you need to say no to so that you can focus on the things, people, projects, and events that are most important to you?

3. Schedule recovery time. As busy meeting professionals, we are always standing in service of everyone else. Make time for you.

When you are planning a huge event or meeting, schedule a recovery appointment for yourself. That might involve time with your family, or time at the spa (my fave), or a catch up with a girlfriend. What do you need to do to top up your energy and feel strong for the next big event or project? Protecting your mental and physical energy is vital if you want to be a productivity superhero and save the world, one event at a time!

Some of my go-to apps to make life easier (and to help you get more done include:

Cozi—a shopping app you can share with your family for grocery shopping and calendar management.

Freedom—a website-blocking app

Moment—but only use this one if you want to scare yourself by seeing how much time you spend on your device daily

Hootsuite—to pre-schedule tweets for your events and manage multiple conversations

If you want to be a productivity superhero, choose one of these strategies, and implement it, and then tweet me @neenjames and copy @MeetingsNet and let me know what you implemented!

Don’t forget—you don’t have time to do everything. You only have time to do what matters.

Wishing you success and superhero productivity status in 2017. I’m here to help!

Want to learn what it takes to get team members to pay ATTENTION to the strategies that create unstoppable success? Call me today and receive my white paper filled with Tips to Help Leaders Pay More ATTENTION to Their Teams. 

The post Become a Productivity Superhero – Pay Attention to Time appeared first on Neen James.

Influence Redefined - Stacey Hanke's Latest Book Reviewed

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5 Love Languages: Show Love and Pay Attention to Others Around You

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Influence Redefined - Stacey Hanke's Latest Book Reviewed

Watch video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/cyHji9b5JqA
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5 Love Languages: Show Love and Pay Attention to Others Around You

Watch video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/O9XJ3mqANuA
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5 Love Languages: Pay Attention at Work, Home and in Your Community

Have you heard of this powerful little book called 5 Love Languages?

Have you read this New York Times Best Selling book?

I read it over 20 years ago and yet the advice outlined is as true today as it was back them.

In corporations we use tools to assess our communication style, our personalities, and our productivity …. wouldn’t it be fun to see how we show others we care. We can! This book is valuable reading for every executive, entrepreneur and pretty much anyone.

Take this online free assessment tool to discover your love language. Click here: Maybe even share this with someone you love and see what their love languages are too.

If you want to show more attention to those your share your life with, pay special attention to their love language. We often communicate in the way we want to be communicated with.

We often communicate in the way we want to be communicated with and yet we can have more impact on others when we communicate in the way they want to receive it. By paying attention to others it is easier to care for them they way they want.

When I was first married my love language was ‘gifts’.  I LOVE giving presents and receiving. I absolutely LOVE giving presents to others and over the years my love language shifted.

Pick up a copy of this little book, it’s an easy read, and start to find ways you can love those around you in the way they want to be loved.

 

What’s your love language? Determine your love languages and discover how you can:

• Connect with customers, employees, peers and more
• Use your love language to communicate and influence
• Determine what motivates your employees

 

Are sales, productivity, engagement and accountability top on your to-do list this year?  Call me today to find out why my Attention Pays!

The post 5 Love Languages: Pay Attention at Work, Home and in Your Community appeared first on Neen James.

Become a Productivity Superhero – Pay Attention to Time

We all wish we could fold time so we could have twice as many hours to whittle down our constantly growing to-do list. And guess what? While you can’t actually change the space-time continuum, you can develop systems and become your own productivity superhero based on your own unique skills and talents.

In a recent MeetingsNet webinar, I shared these three practical strategies you can implement today to get more done—to become your own productivity superhero!

1. Conquer the world in 15 minutes. Are you saying, “But Neen, there’s no time.”? You’re right: No one has an hour any more. But everyone has 15 minutes. Think about all you can do in 15 minutes! Clear emails—boom! Make a phone call—yes! Call a property to organize a walk-through—yep!

Invest in a 15-minute strategic appointment with yourself every morning and choose your top three, non-negotiable activities to complete before your head hits the pillow tonight and voila, instant superhero status!

2. Say No.  I hear you saying, “Neen, I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings” or “I don’t want to disappoint people.” I know, I know! But “no” can be your new best friend when it comes to productivity.

No is a complete sentence. We need to say “no” more often so we can say “yes” and give our attention to those things that really matter.

That’s my focus. My very simple “why.” I use the very simplicity to determine where I want to spend my time, which in turn becomes a filtering system for time choices. What do you need to say no to so that you can focus on the things, people, projects, and events that are most important to you?

3. Schedule recovery time. As busy meeting professionals, we are always standing in service of everyone else. Make time for you.

When you are planning a huge event or meeting, schedule a recovery appointment for yourself. That might involve time with your family, or time at the spa (my fave), or a catch up with a girlfriend. What do you need to do to top up your energy and feel strong for the next big event or project? Protecting your mental and physical energy is vital if you want to be a productivity superhero and save the world, one event at a time!

Some of my go-to apps to make life easier (and to help you get more done include:

Cozi—a shopping app you can share with your family for grocery shopping and calendar management.

Freedom—a website-blocking app

Moment—but only use this one if you want to scare yourself by seeing how much time you spend on your device daily

Hootsuite—to pre-schedule tweets for your events and manage multiple conversations

If you want to be a productivity superhero, choose one of these strategies, and implement it, and then tweet me @neenjames and copy @MeetingsNet and let me know what you implemented!

Don’t forget—you don’t have time to do everything. You only have time to do what matters.

Wishing you success and superhero productivity status in 2017. I’m here to help!

Want to learn what it takes to get team members to pay ATTENTION to the strategies that create unstoppable success? Call me today and receive my white paper filled with Tips to Help Leaders Pay More ATTENTION to Their Teams. 

The post Become a Productivity Superhero – Pay Attention to Time appeared first on Neen James.

ATTENTION to Company and Community: What a Difference Focus Makes

Real magic happens for organizations whose interests branch out beyond their physical walls and into the community around them.  It creates a powerful “people connection” that benefits company team members as much as community members. It’s the perfect win-win.

 

So, what can YOU do to help create that community connection within your company? Let’s take a look!

 

1. Create a ‘give back’ initiative. I love when companies get super creative with how they give back to their communities. One of my clients, Comcast chooses a day every year where their entire teams go out and service the community and they call it Comcast Cares. Everyone has a great time and serves a terrific cause.  It can be simple ways, such as providing a meeting space for a local charity to congregate. Or allowing students or community members to come into your organization to learn more about what your team does and help them skill build.
2. Encourage giving. Some of my clients do this by giving their employees one or two days per year dedicated to community service projects. Others have created awesome “matching” programs where they will match employee contributions to specific charities.  I’ve also seen companies who create reward programs for employees who are community minded, honoring a different team member each month, for example, for their outreach initiatives.  Or a combination of all the above might work for your team as well!
3. Choose a charity. When I work with meeting planners, often they’ll choose a charity that is specific to the area in which the event is being held.  For example, a national organization partnered with Habitat for Humanity after Hurricane Katrina and brought the organization’s team members down into the lower ninth ward to frame new houses during the rebuild of that devastated area.   When I work with Trinity Health, they are wonderful about going out into the community where their event is and choosing a local charity based on needs.  I know real estate organizations and credit unions that host annual coat drives for kids, or support their local food banks.  Get creative, and choose a charity that feels right for your team.
4. Invest skills. One idea that I find works fantastically is when organizations create programs to teach skills to members of the communities. For example, you might have a mentor program where interns can come in and learn necessary skills they’ll need to get jobs in your industry. Or it could be local moms who are eager to rejoin the work force but need to strengthen their skills before returning to the job market. Perhaps a youth-development program might work where you can work students from the local schools? What can you do to invest in the skills of the people around you?
5. Provide internship opportunities. Take step four to the next level and create a true internship program that will help create future leaders. One of my clients, JKJ, which stands for Johnson, Kendall, Johnson, has a phenomenal mentoring and intern program. They are committed to creating and nurturing those valuable mentor/protégé relationships in their community.  Providing safe, valuable learning environments is a great way to give back to your community and to brand your team as the company that cares enough to invest in the people around them.  And that? Is good business.

 

I’d love to hear some of your ideas! Share them with us and let me know what YOUR team is doing to give back and how that has made a difference in your lives!

 

Meet Neen James: Force of nature. Boundless energy. Timely topics. Laugh out loud fun. Eye opening ideas. Take-aways that create positive change. Sound like what YOU’RE looking for? Then Motivational Keynote Speaker Neen James is the woman to call!

 

Want more tips and ideas for how you can pay attention to what matters most? Sign up for Neen’s newsletter now!

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How Your Company Can Focus on Community

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How Your Company Can Focus on Community

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