Business Experiments in the Test Kitchen of Life

I am just back from a weekend in Toronto with my dear friend and business partner Tanya (hereto forward known as Tanya with no preamble about how we are both best friends and business partners!).  The working weekend was set up about a week ago when we recognized that some face time was our answer to busting through the Seth Godin style resistance our lizard brains had been mounting at various times over the past month about next steps for our beloved Coach Buffet.

After a couple of successful Coach Buffet events in the fall and some demand for more, we found ourselves royally stuck.  A new approach was the answer, we decided, so we spent several meetings in January designing a new virtual approach. And then, lizard brain again.  It seemed that something was keeping us from moving forward to ship it out and make it happen. 

As part of our weekend plans, we decided it was important to include some fun. We recognize that while all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, it makes us grumpy and grumpier!  As coaches, we also know that inspiration can be found in funny places.  Tanya challenged me to come up with something we could do during our visit that would be so memorable that I would write about it in my 2010 recap of what I am most proud of.  No pressure.

You guessed it.  Once again.  Stuck.  Zut, alors. What could we do?  I help my coaching clients get unstuck on a daily basis and there I was stuck again. 

Luckily, when you have a business partner who is also a coach, you don’t have to stay stuck for long.  Together we brainstormed a challenge for ourselves that very well could make the ranks of things I am most proud of in 2010.

Our challenge:

Make a meal together for Saturday night. Big deal, right?  Hold on.

The rules:

1. Visit at least 3-4 foodie neighbourhoods in Toronto together
2. Spend exactly $50 each and not a penny more (Tanya’s husband Greg sprang for the wine)
3. Split up to make purchases
4. Make no menu plans in advance
5. Hide our purchases from each other for the entire day. In other words, NO discussion on what we were each buying independently for our joint meal
6. Make a full meal together that would include every single ingredient we bought.
7. Eat every dish.
8. Insist that Greg eat every dish :)

The results?  A pinch of stuck, a sprinkling of anxiety, heaping scoops of laughter, and five surprizing courses.  All this and some almost espionage too.  You will have to read my next post for that.

My Reputation is Golden

It is confirmed.  My reputation is Golden. Retriever, that is! Yep. Ruff ruff.

In early January, I embarked on a journey to get information on how I am perceived by my current and past clients, colleagues, friends and family (well all the friends and family are current!).  My motivation was curiosity.  My intention:

1. To gather information I could use in my marketing (i.e. where is the sweet spot between the small business owners’ needs and my character strengths, coaching skills, experience and offerings; and,
2. To provide information for me own self development work with my business coach (i.e., how can I play to my strengths and accept/ modulate my weaknesses). 

Like any tool, the Reach 360 would give me pieces to inform me but not the whole picture.  

And so, as I hinted above, the bread of dog that comes to mind when people think of me is Golden Retriever.  It don’t think they meant it in the Fido sense (as in, Lisa looks like a Golden Retreiver) but perhaps some did.

The question was worded something along the lines of “when you think of Lisa’s qualities, what dog breed comes to mind?”.  Of the 31 respondents who filled out the anonymous electronic reach 360 questionnaire, more than half of them said Golden Retriever. And they weren’t picking from a drop down list. This was an open-ended question.

So why am I focussing on the dog question when I could be sharing with you what people’s perceptions of my strengths and weaknesses are or I could be listing the “brand attribute” words that were most often used to describe me? I guess it is because I find th dog section fun, funny, and pretty damn accurate.

Wikipedia says,

1. The temperament of the Golden Retriever is a hallmark of the breed …”kindly, friendly and confident”. Check.   Well, my confidence waxes and wanes but I am consistently kind and friendly.
2.  A Golden should not be unduly timid or nervous. Check
3. The typical Golden Retriever is calm, naturally intelligent and biddable, with an exceptional eagerness to please. Check.
4. Golden Retrievers are also noted for their intelligence. Ahem. All I will say here is that curiosity and learning are top values of mine.
5. These dogs are also renowned for their patience. Ok. We might have reached the end of the “how Lisa is like a Golden Retreiver” exercise. 

Lest you think I am all Golden, I also got shepard, collie, Alsatian, afghan hound and “Royal Puddle“. I decuded that the later came from a francophone coach colleague who told me over coffee the other day that she thought I was most like a ”un caniche”.

If you, your employees, or your friends and family could benefit from knowing more about how they are perceived in the world by those who know them well, I do recommend the Reach 360 and the Via Strength finder (both are free). 

Be prepared for some introspection as you read the information that comes in.  If you know yourself well, there will be few suprizes and some great tidbits you can learn from.   And remember, feedback is feedback. It is someone else’s opinion and it is golden as long as you take it in stride!

Wanted: Small Business Owners- Reward!

As a business coach, my niche is small business owners. Of course, all small business owners are not created equal so I continue to refine my focus.  To help me do this, I find it very helpful to conduct 1:1 interviews. During these interviews I learn what keeps business owners up at night, what they typically do to address their “pain” and how they go about finding help.  

I so appreciate the time these entrepreneurs give to me to help me build my business that I offer a complimentary “no strings attached and I mean it!” coaching session to them or another business owner they want to pass it on to.  I also sometimes write blog posts (see sample) as a way to spread the word about their business and their story.

And so, what’s the point? Simply this: if you are a small business owner who fits this profile and you are willing to spend 20 min on the phone with me (or have coffee in person for those in Montreal), I would love to hear from you soon:

Criteria:

• Have been in business for 3-5 years++
• Have at least 5 employees or associates
• Work in any industry (though I have a preference for food, marketing, fashion, professoinal services/ consulting etc.)

Feel free to forward this link to someone who fits this profile. I look forward to hearing from you or someone in your network. Email me at lisa@chandlercoaches.com  Thanks!

The Perspective of 11 Year Old Johanna

I haven’t been able to post anything since the earthquake in Haiti.  I contemplated writing my response to the devastation .  I thought of trying to make sense of it somehow or to write about it through different perspectives through the eyes of a coach . That all felt very contrived.  

Today I am able to post something because the words of an 11 year old girl found their way to me.  Johanna is the neice of my friend James. She says it so simply and eloquently.  Goes to show that “through the eyes of a child” is a perspective we had better not forget.

Writing, images and arrangment by Johanna, Age 11

Playing to Your (VIA) Strengths

Twice in the past month I was pointed to the online VIA Survey of Character (or VIA Inventory of Strengths, VIA-IS). I didn’t pay it much attention the first time (it was Christmas after all!) but the second time it crossed my radar, I checked it out as it was presented as the ”un-DSM-IV” which essentially means it is not about mental disorders! Well if that isn’t enough to send you to the site, what will it take??  What the VIA Strengths Survey is, in fact, is the world’s most scientifically validated tool for measuring character strengths. 

At no charge, you can take the VIA Strengths survey (click to this page  and scroll to the bottom to register).  You will need about 20-30 minutes to answer all 240 short questions if you do the full survey.  It is worth it. Immediately you will receive an ordered list of your results listing your character strengths from from 1 to 24.  Incidentally, there are five strengths that are most closely linked to happiness.  I am not going to tell you which ones though.  Take the survey and if you are curious,  leave a comment here or email me at lisa@chandlercoaches.com and I will reveal all.

So you confirm your strengths (you likely had a good sense of what they were anyway) and then what?  Well conventional wisdom suggested you work on your weaknesses but newer thinking in positive psychology recommends playing to your strengths.  Do you remember your school guidance counsellor telling you to get tutored in math to improve your long division because you were terrible at it. Well no more!  Some folks at Harvard have created an exercise called Reflected Best Self to help you play to your strengths (You’ll have to pay $6.50 to order the whole article).  A life/ business coach can help you leverage your strengths too.

In my case, on the heels of doing the VIA Strengths, I am also using the free online survey called 360 Reach to get external feedback too (the link I have here is for the free version that you can use for 15 days. It was hard to find on the site).  I sent the 360 survey to colleagues, clients, employees I used to manage, friends and family. The beauty of the 360 Reach tool is threefold: at the basic service level it is free; it is turn key; and responses are anonymous making it more likely that respondents will be honest. And the bonus: you can review the feedback in real time at the site as anonymous responses roll in. Once you have a minimum of 10 respondents, you get some analysis of the data.

Based on the feedback so far, I have heard what people believe are my greatest strengths and weaknesses (oh, and the survey includes a couple of projective questions.  So far, the type of dog people think of when they think of me is a golden retreiver–happy, dependable, loyal and attractive :); and the home appliance that most relates to me is a mix master). 

I could say lots more but I am going to wait until I have a statisically significant number of responses in. Are you curious yet about your strengths?

Business Creativity and Innovation Thanks to Mr. Potato Head (and Frosty)

According to Hasbro:

The three newest members of the MR. POTATO HEAD family offer tons of imaginative fun for playful toddlers. The charming PRINCESS SWEET POTATO figure comes complete with tiara and frog prince for royal adventures, and FRYER FIGHTER tater is ready to squelch flames with his handy fire extinguisher.  Swashbuckling spud CAPTAIN POTATO CHIPS figurine has a peg leg, eye patch, and hooked hand and is eager for action-packed expeditions. 

The Potato Head Family of Fredricton, NB!

It is all about Mr. Potato Head today because I had the pleasure of creating a whole Potato Head family while playing with my cousin’s toddlers—Aidan and Morgan—during the holidays in the maritimes. I created a replica of their family in potatoes and was so pleased with my rendition (very loose!) that I took a photo. Of course, the significance was lost on Aidan and Morgan who were too busy pulling them apart.

So what do the Potato Heads have to do with business or coaching?  Not much in a direct kind of way and a lot from another perspective.  Creativity is essential for business innovation but we business owners often get so immersed in the day to day of our operations that we squelch it in ourselves and our employees too.

Fast Company recently published the results of a long-term study on business creativity (entire article here)  by Harvard professors Teresa Amabile and Leslie Perlow in which they bust a number of myths:

1. Myth: Creativity comes from creative types.
   People who are tuned into their work, whether in accounting or production, have the best ability to tap into their creative process.
2. Myth:  Money is a creativity motivator.
   People are most creative when they care about their work and when they are stretched. Any entrepreneur will attest to this.  Of course, the same entrepreneur, when stretched too much due to overwhelm, financial worry etc will tell you that his creativity goes out the window.
3. Myth: Time pressure fuels creativity.
   People are least creative when they are fighting against time and there is a hangover effect of reduced creativity for a couple of days after people are crunched to be creative under pressure.
4. Myth: Fear forces breakthroughs.
   Love and joy spur creativity far more effectively than anger, fear and anxiety. When people are excited about their work on one day, they are more likely to “hatch” ideas the next, after sleeping on it.
5. Myth: Competition beats collaboration.
   The best ideas come from sharing and debating.  Competition and secrecy to protect ideas does not give creativity the best chance to lead to business innovation.

Creating Potato Heads with kids, some journal writing and conversations with family about my business issues and a good dose of Rock Band passively filled me with great ideas for Chandler Coaches in 2010.  Who knew that some of the best ideas would come while stepping away from the business and eating too much fruit cake?   

Note: There was an important snowman involved in this creative process too.

2009- What I am most proud of

2009 was a challening year for me on many fronts. About 3 weeks ago I sat down to do my own year-end questionnaire to complete the year (a tool I share with my coaching clients).  On first pass, I felt depressed and eager for the year to be done.  However, a few conversations and “reframes” later with ardent and supportive friends had me seeing things from a different perspective.

Here are a few of the things I am most proud of:

1. My former tenant and a coaching colleague allowed me to set them up on a date last January.  A few days before Christmas I received this photo with the message “Look what you started!”.  They married on November 28th. I beamed when I read the note.  Isn’t this what life is all about?

1. In May, I became a Certified Professional Co-active Coach (CPCC) and in June an Associate Certified Coach (ACC).  While the titles give me credibility, I am most proud of the learning and the relationships I built with colleagues as far away as England, South Africia and the US during the certification process.  I treasure my colleagues and my new skills and knowledge.
2. My life to date has had its share of productivity and accomplishments.  Yet this year, certain things I really wanted to create in my life actually failed, hurting me and others too.  Some people fear the word failure.  I no longer do.  It stings. That is for sure and its effects can linger.  AND there are things to be gained from failing too…like opening up to being more vulnerable, learning to ask for help, the opportunity for deeper relationships, and learning to live more comfortably through uncertainty.  The sting of failure. I still don’t like it and I am a heck of a lot better at it than I was a year ago.  I wouldn’t mind if there is less dissappointment in my 2010 but I know I am resilient enough to weather what comes in 2010. And it doesn’t hurt that I have amazing friends and family who support me at every turn.
3. In 2009 I came home to the maritimes for a number of special occasions: Christmas, my parents 40th wedding anniversary in February, my brother’s 30th birthday (and my 40th!) in July, my sisters’s 35th birthday in October and now Christmas in PEI again.  I am proud I was part of these milestones in my family and so grateful we all want to celebrate together. 
4. The past year saw my clients courageously tackle big issues in their lives and businesses. My coaching helped them leave mind-numbing jobs that conflicted with their values, find ways to live more peacefully while running high pressure businesses, reframe failure and see beautiful opportunities that lay just on the other side, and deepen relationships with partners (life and business), family, friends, bosses and employees.  Thoughtful Christmas cards from several of them brought quiet smiles of satisfaction to my face.
5. My own partnership with my friend and colleague Tanya Geisler grew into a full blown business with the launch of Coach Buffet, an idea we started developing in the spring of 2009.  By early December, we had already received coverage in the Globe and Mail.
6. Coach Buffet created a platform to get to know amazing coaches in Montreal and Toronto. I am proud my coaching network grew from a handful last year to well over 40 coaches.  Almost half of these fine folks joined me in my home on Dec 18th for a Christmas potluck lunch.  Most of us are entrepreneurs/ self employed consultants so it was fun to gather at holiday time to raise a glass of cheer.

If 7 is a lucky number, perhaps it is best to stop the list right here.

I received a beautiful journal of Peter Beard photograhy for Christmas from my friend Claire.  In it, I plan to keep track of how 2010 unfolds. I would love to sit down a year from now and share that a few of my dreams have come true (or at least are further along). And perhaps I will share more about my failures too.  You see, if I fail in 2010, it means I dared to keep going after what I value most.  For me, this is pretty important.

If you would like an electronic copy of my year end questionnaire “Creating Your Bigger Game for 2010″ please comment below and I will be happy to send it to you.

The Star Quality of an Enterprising Young Woman

It’s been a very long time since I have written anything on tango, tending as I have to write strictly on business in this forum despite my blog title Business, Coaching and a Side of Tango. I rectify this by bringing you a delightful “side of tango”.  It’s not just any side of tango either.  This video was created by Méline Abraham.  Méline is not yet 20 and studies cinema at Dawson College in Montreal.   On Tuesday evening, she hosted her very own vernissage Travelling Through Tango.  Her exhibit featured her film (created in Montreal with the indoor scenes at MonTango and the outdoor scenes in NDG park and the Old Port), photographs and paintings, and tango artifacts.  I see her not only as an artist but also a budding entrepreneur who will surely make her way in the world on her innovation and drive.   Enjoy her work.  I sure did.

Coach Buffet in Today’s Globe

My business partner (and dear friend) Tanya Geisler recently pulled off Coach Buffet Toronto on her own (I was feeling under the weather and couldn’t travel). As if that is not enough, she also managed to get Coach Buffet featured on the front page of the Life Section in today’s Globe and Mail!  Check out  Speed-interviewing: On your marks, get set – hire!  by Globe writer Zosia Bielski. 

So today we are celebrating being on the front page of the Life section, perhaps the most popular section of our national newspaper. Not bad, Tanya! Coach Buffet is on its way to becoming a household name!

The Globe article speaks of an increasing trend to speed hire (i.e. employees, babysitters, doulas and coaches!). Our inspiration for Coach Buffet came in part from the notion that putting participants and coaches in a room for a high energy evening of coaching would be efficient à la ”speed hiring” AND it was much bigger than that too.

You see, as coaches ourselves, Tanya and I know the power of coaching, even in short 15 min segments. We set out to create Coach Buffet as a way to help coaches offer real coaching to show how they help clients create incredible possibilities in their lives and businesses.

Equally important to us is that Coach Buffet participants (prospective coaching clients) receive real value on the spot, perhaps by getting unstuck in an issue they have been grappling with or by finding a way to look at the situation through a new lens. While we would prefer that participants leave the Coach Buffet event wanting to hire one of the coaches from the buffet, we also see it as a great positive when participants leave feeling inspired and with their eyes opened about the potential of coaching.

Come see firsthand what I am talking about. Our next Coach Buffet Toronto is on Jan 26th and Coach Buffet Montreal is Jan 28th. There is no better time than January to get off to a great start and I feel extremely confident that Coach Buffet can help.

What I Learned This Week: The Hero’s Journey

Most of us go on hero’s journeys in our lives and businesses. The idea of the hero’s journey or monomyth originally came from Joseph Campbell and had 17 steps.  I learned about a 7 step version on a group coaching call this week and raced to draw it for you (I still love that grade 6 feeling of using markers and Bristol board). 

So dawn your metaphorical cape and tights.  As you read through these stages, think about your current business and life journeys.  Plot where you are right now. I would love to tell you where I think I am in my life and business journeys, but I would rather keep you guessing.

The promised 7 steps of the hero’s journey:

1) Innocence-your life or business is ticking along. It might be dull but it’s safe and things are working.

2) Call to Adventure- you start to hear a calling to make a big change and it gets louder and louder (i.e. quite your job, buy the competition, climb Aconcagua…this is a plug for Coach Ian Renaud and his Project R.I.R.E…it is in French only)   

3) Threshold Guardians- as soon as you decide to heed the call, guardians or protectors are sure to emerge. Their goal is to send you back to innocence (i.e.  your wife who doesn’t want you to resign, your mortgage, your own sabotaging voices that tell you that you are crazy and you will surely fail)

Many people return to innocence at this stage, too scared to go on.  Or as my mentor coach says, “they buy a big screen TV” and forget about the call altogether (although life becomes shades of grey even if the TV is in HD).

4) Road to Adventure- you made it past those powerful threshold guardians. Congratulations. You are on a journey of challenges, excitement, intrigue, and learning (i.e. you are building your business, traveling the world).  Times are good.  You feel free and full of hope.  

5) Principal Ordeal- and then…seemingly out of the blue, you start feeling confused and trapped.  You have come too far to go back to safety and yet you don’t know how to go on.  This stage is not called the Principal Ordeal for nothing.  It will really test your metal.  You don’t know how long you will be stuck here and how you will go on, but go on you must (Hint: you need to get really quiet when you are here…the answers are inside you somewhere). 

6) Flight/ Return- Yippee! Somehow you got silent. You found your way out of the fog. Your purpose is clear again and you know what you have to do to get the proverbial treasure back home (i.e. redefining your business offering, moving to a new city).  Whatever the ordeal is for you, you found a way out of it and now you are on your flight to freedom again having “slayed the dragon”.

7) Celebration and Service- You made it. Perhaps you are hometown hero. Perhaps it is just a quiet victory.  Whatever the case, you get to celebrate your success and share your treasures/ learnings. Revel in the victory and innocence of this time of celebration. Serve others. And keep your eyes and ears open.   If you are true hero, your next call to adventure won’t be far away!

Where are you in the hero’s journey of your life or business? Tell us by commenting.