What is Your Communication LifeStyle?

By Carolyn Finch

As I waited at the stop sign for the children to
get off the bus, I noticed a mother with a stroller and a sleeping baby waiting at the bus stop. I was only about 15 feet from the front of the bus and could see parents standing around. This mother was holding her smart phone with her head bent downward and at times would stop and then text  or enter a number and then the phone went back up to her ear. I never saw her check on the baby in the stroller nor did she look up. Soon a cute little light skinned boy with curly brown hair about 5 or 6 years old jumped off the bus and waved a paper with a painting at his mother. Mom paid no attention to the boy so he grabbed her leg and shouted "look mom look mom"
She looked down at him and shouted "I told you not to talk to me when I'm on the phone."

My heart sank and I wanted to cry as I'm sure that the little boy wanted to do. What an ideal time for communication. This amazing transition time when a child is enthusiastic about something he has created and at the same time happy to be getting home from school. Was this a dysfunctional communication moment?  It certainly appeared that way. Would this be the base to poor communication for the next few minutes, hours and maybe even days?

The  one major aspect of being a human being is that we are able to communicate orally. Have we forgotten to be thankful for this gift of true conversation? With the advent of smart phones we have a new addiction. Research shows that the average person with a smartphone texts an average of 100 time a day wow! This type of communication determines our lifestyle and our lifestyle determines our communication.

If we have an addiction of any kind such as shopping, drinking, drugs, sickness, foods whatever,
our typical conversation will include words, phrases and stories related to our addiction. Doesn't sound like a learning listener and quality conversation to me. Therefore my challenge to you as a Blog reader is to look at everyone you speak with, eye to eye and belly to belly. This way you will be listening to the other person and as a reward you will learn something from what they say. So add to your communication lifestyle the ability to listen with your eyes.

You can improve your communication by helping yourself become more enlightened after hearing me speak at your next conference. Call now for more information or for  a one on one Speech Coaching session.203 405 3972.

Carolyn Finch Body Language and Communication LifeStyle Expert TM
Professional Speaker who will put a SPARK in your next meeting!       carolyn@carolynfinch.com

People Hardly Invested....

Did you know your employees have great ideas that could be saving your company thousands and thousands of dollars, but may not come forward out of fear or lack of trust? In order to achieve sustained competitive advantage, you employees must be engaged and invested in company outcomes.  For employees to be engaged and invested, there must be bi-directional trust between management and employees at all levels of your company.

For example, management introduces a new process and Jack knows a better, more efficient way.  Jack is not about to open his mouth and rock the boat out of fear of retribution.  Or worse yet, what if he looks foolish in front of his peers?  It is safer to stay quiet so he does.  The cost to your organization may be a brilliant idea that saves time and money, streamlines efficiencies or that improves customer service – which is lost forever in that moment.

An employee idea management system can help to bring transparency to people and systems problems.  People do not operate in a vacuum, and should be involved in the planning stages from the outset to prevent confusion and rework.  As in the example with Jack above – Jack could clearly see from the very start, that the new process would not work as he is the one performing the work and actively engaged with customers, suppliers, systems and processes on a daily basis.  If management had brought Jack into the goal setting and planning process – problematic issues would be identified up front and alternate solutions found – ones that Jack and his colleagues would buy into as well.

Idea Share Tip of the Month!

Your employees see 80 percent of all improvements that management can’t see.  However, most companies neglect the vast potential in the untapped ideas of their employees who know their job best. 

Sign up for the Idea Share Tip of the Week! at Frame of Mind Consulting

Frame of Mind Consulting understands the unique DNA of your organization, which is necessary to turn any organization into one capable of leveraging the full idea potential of its employees. Would you like to drive connectivity and ownership throughout your company?  Contact Page at (860) 559-7942 to set up your complimentary consultation during which you will receive some invaluable tips that you can apply to your business right away.

Choices

Your current life is culmination of past choices you’ve made. Those choices come in the form of attitude, behavior, thoughts and actions or inactions you’ve taken. They are all based on choice. There are some things that we are born into that can be argued are not choices. Regardless of your belief in that regard, there is a choice involved as to whether or not that defines and confines who you are, what you are doing and who you are being. 

Take a moment to define at least one desired outcome. Is everything you are doing oriented towards the outcome you are wanting? What can you do to focus yourself on that outcome?

If it’s a better relationship with someone, are you taking the time to listen to that person and really hear what he or she is saying? Are you willing to let go of preconceived notions about what you think they are meaning and get clarity from them? Don’t expect someone else to change, rather be willing to change the way you are approaching situations in order to alter the normal chain of events. Be open to different approaches.

If you are looking for a better job, are you updating your resume and your LinkedIn profile? Are you talking with people about what you are looking for? Are you networking? Have you defined what that better job may look like? The latter is a huge point. It is easier when you know what you are looking for and also much easier to enlist the help of others in that process.

There are so many possibilities. Each step is a choice, many of which can lead you to your ambitions at varying speeds and others, which will send you in another direction. Choose wisely and remember you always have a choice. It all starts with you.

Please feel free to contact me at www.lucindasmith.com to share your successes and experiences, or to get answers to any of your questions.

Lucinda Smith

Coach ~ Speaker

Life Transformationalist
Solutions for Living

3 Foundational Skills That All Innovators Possess - Fluency, Flexibility & Uniqueness

It seems evident that an innovative mindset is helpful in today’s business climate. What’s less evident is how each of us can hone our natural innovative skills to get unstuck, think on our feet, solve complex problems, and navigate around our habitual thinking patterns? Let’s start with a look at two related words- creativity and innovation.

          Are Creativity & Innovation The Same?

A workable dichotomy on the concepts comes from Theodore Levitt who says “creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.”  This perspective highlights the importance of transforming creativity into real world applications. Ideas are great but insight without action makes no difference. Take a look at the TV show “Shark Tank” to see how creativity is interesting yet,  without application, nothing changes. I look at creativity as a source of raw material and innovation as the blueprint for how to use the material. The formula looks like this: Creative thinking + Real World Application = Innovation

          Developing an Innovation mindset

Edward de Bono reminds us that "creative thinking is not a talent. It is a skill that can be learned.“  That’s good news because it means  all of us can enhance our creative and innovative ability through practice. As with most skills, practice is what allows us to access the skill when we need it.  When asked where his inspiration comes from, artist Chuck Close responded with, “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.”

          Innovation Skill Development

Practicing these 3 skills will hone your creative and innovative abilities:

1.      Fluency is the skill of generating as many ideas as possible. Try this: In 1 minute, write down as many things as you can which can be described as “sharp.” When the minute is up, look at the list and ask yourself, “What else? What more?” Add any new words that come to mind. Carry your list with you and add to it whenever a new “sharp” word comes to mind. See what you have after 3 or 4 days. Practice with different words on a regular basis.

2.      Flexibility is the skill of seeing things from many perspectives. Try this: Time yourself for 1 minute and write down as many uses for an umbrella that you can conceive of. When done, ask yourself, “What other ways can I perceive this object?” Look at attributes like size, function, sound, color, material, etc. Add any new words that come to mind. Carry your list with you and add to it whenever a new use for “umbrella” word comes to mind. See what you have after 3 or 4 days. Practice with different nouns on a regular basis.

3.      Uniqueness is the skill of looking at something and seeing a new use for it or a new way of presenting it. “Uber” and “Dollar Shave Club” are examples. Try this exercise: Make a list of 25 professional categories from the Yellow Pages (Remember the Yellow Pages?) Choose 2 categories at random and combine them into a new profession.  Then, within 2 minutes, come up with as many names for the business and tag lines for the new business. Examples: Pet Shop and Bar becomes “Pooch & Hooch: 1 Stop for Hair of the Dog AND Hair on the Dog “; Lawyer and Landscaper:"Sue or Sow: Trim Your Lawn and Wallet at the Same Time.” Practice often with new combinations.

          Trust the Process; Trust Yourself

Your creativity skill is like a vein of gold within an unmined mountain. The more you exercise your creativity and innovation muscles the quicker you will get to that gold.

Izzy Gesell, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) (Izzy's website) is an organizational alchemist who helps individuals and organizations transform their thinking from commonplace to extraordinary. Through his keynotes, trainings, coaching and facilitated sessions, Izzy offers imaginative, intuitive and immediately useful insights and programs. He is skilled at delivering meaningful material in a way that makes participants enjoy their time with him.   Izzy was one of the first to use Improv Theater concepts as tools for personal and organizational learning. He is the author of Playing Along: Group Learning Activities Borrowed From Improvisation Theater, a co-author of Cancer & the Healing Power of Play, a co-author of Humor Me: America’s Funniest Humorists on the Power of Laughter, and a contributor of a chapter on Improvisation as a facilitation tool in the IAF Group Facilitators Handbook. "His video course  on Applied Improv for Leadership" for Lynda.com was their first  course shot before a live audience. A second Lynda.com course, "Humor in the Workplace" was recently released.

The $800.00 Per Plate Dinner

I was sitting in my hairstylist's chair getting my monthly haircut when a customer sat down in the chair next to me. I normally don't eavesdrop on the conversations of others, but I was immediately hooked into listening right away because this customer started speaking on the topic of incredible food in San Francisco and I wanted to be tuned in immediately. I had assumed this person was a food critic or a cook at a Restaurant. He created some serious curiosity when he mentioned his trip to San Francisco and sitting at a unique restaurant with total seating availability for only 15 patrons and the cost per plate was $800.00.
From that point on my ears wanted to hear the rest of the story. He mentioned a unique restaurant and the night he was there only 10 customers were in attendance. Seating was by reservation only. He said he witnessed a number of customers walk in to eat and they were not accepted because they did not reserve their spot. WOW! Now I was hooked, I wanted to hear more. I couldn't imagine turning away 5 customers that would have meant another $4000.00 in revenue for the night. He began his methodical discussion of the treatment and preparation on the appetizer...just the appetizer.. his description just sounded so amazing.

As he explain his culinary experience he described the process by taking the top of a raw egg off and removing the raw egg and mixing it with unique spice blends, refilling the egg with the mixture which was going to be used flavor various high quality meats that were soon to be delivered to the table. While they were witnessing the appetizer preparation the waiters and waitresses would come out with one bite appetizers that he said were out of this world. One was large shrimp wrapped in prosciutto sprinkled with fresh garlic and scallions on buttered garlic toast. He said as he ate this appetizer he almost fell to the floor with the amazing aroma and flavor.
 He said I would actually fly from the East Coast to the West Coast just for one more of those appetizers. At this point, I had already started drooling, I was trying to keep my head still and focus on my stylist and continue to listen to the rest of the incredible $800.00 plate dinner story.
Unfortunately,  this tale came to an abrupt ending because his hair cut was done. I figured I would get his name from the stylist next to me. Unfortunately once again, this customer paid in cash and didn't offer his name. The stylist assumed he was a famous Chef out of New York.

If your were  to have asked me prior to getting my haircut if I would ever spend $800.00 for one dinner plate at any restaurant I would have respectfully said NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS!

Now I have the $800.00 Dinner Plate experience on my bucket list before I die. Why?
This Chef from New York opened my mind in a great way. He had me visualizing what an incredible experience this would be not only for me but for my spouse. If your in the right state of mind about pursuing life experiences money becomes irrelevant. The price of never experiencing what one intensely dreams about is costly to the human soul and mind to never achieve it. The chase of ones dreams and desires becomes the defining spirit of who we are. There is a lesson in this story for Sales Professionals and Business owners, however you have see it and find the answers and examples in this story yourself and use this as a metaphor to close more sales.
What great life experience will you add to your bucket list this month? What ever it is DO IT! Always pursue your opportunities, chances and great experiences of this life without regret.

   “The Insurance Coach”

       John P. Slosek, Jr 

   "The Insurance Coach ™"
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Necessity IS the Mother of Invention

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. Each one of us is in this world is here because of our birth mother.
And we thanked our moms with a card, flowers or a celebration. Perhaps we have spent our growing life with our mother or maybe we have been adopted and have a second mother. Perhaps we have a step mother or we might have had a surrogate birth mother. I have a step-daughter who was a surrogate mother, carrying and giving birth to twins that were the sperm and eggs from their own father and mother. 

Wow! What a creation! Maybe we are called mother by someone who is very close to us and if
we are very lucky we become a grandmother or even a great grandmother. We also use the word mother in many different forms from Religious to disgust.

Then there is the use of the word as this quote states: “necessity is the mother of invention.”
What this means is that there is a birth of an idea that has a solution.

As business owners, Professional Speakers, writers and Marketers we all become mothers to our businesses whether male or female. We create, feed and nurture ides, programs, books, blogs, Speeches, Workshops and various creations.
 

There are usually two kinds of people who are Soleprenaurs. The process person and the product person. If we are a process person we may procrastinate, and put off the product creation, production and distribution because we are just having fun doing what we’re doing. If we are a product person,
we may have difficulty with the process and are quite joyful when we get someone else to help us
as we create the finished product.

It is however, a necessity to be both a process and product person if we are to stay in business.
When your mind wanders too far away from the task at hand and you lose sight of the end results
get some Life Coaching to help you stay motivated. Likewise, if you are focused on the end product, get a Life Coach who can help you with your business process.

So yes! Necessity IS the mother of invention and that’s YOUR challenge!

         Carolyn Finch  carolyn@carolynfinch.com
                                                           Communication LifeStyle Expert
                                                           Conference-Convention-Workshop Speaker
                                                                        Call 203 725 3133 or
                                                                        Text: 203 512 4798