Cultivating a Fearless Mindset

1. Get rigorously honest about your fears. Fear is activated in the most primitive part of the brain — the reptilian brain. It signals danger. In life and death situations, fear is an important survival mechanism to act quickly, mobilizing strength and courage we never thought we had. In most situations, however, fear is a serious liability. When fear runs you, you can’t see its control over you. It impairs thinking, paralyzes decision-making and drives reactionary behavior.

To shift from fear to fearlessness, you must first get rigorously honest how fear may be running you right now. What fears about your business, the economy or the future dominate your thoughts right now? Who would you be without those fears? How might your future be different when coming from that fearless place?

2. Playing to win vs. playing not to lose. Every action you take or goal you set is driven by motivation. In which direction is your motivation driving your business now? Motivation can be categorized into two types: “toward” motivation — moving toward something positive; and “away from” motivation, moving away from something negative or painful. In a strong economy, it’s easy to “play to win.” In a tough economy, however, most businesses are motivated by “away from” — or “playing not to lose.”

While vigilant spending is always a wise choice, layoffs, budget cuts and putting growth on hold are typically signs of “playing not to lose.” The irony is: “playing not to lose” has the highest stakes of losing, leaving you in a vulnerable position organizationally and in the marketplace. What negative thinking or beliefs are preventing you from “playing to win?”

3. Upgrading your mental and emotional game. Today’s negative media messages are being anchored into your brain without you realizing it, turning off your creativity, risk-taking and “intuition switches.”

The key is to neutralize the fear system inside your head — to go where fear does not exist. To get started: Tune out the media which ignite the fear flames. Disengage from pessimistic people. Be vigilant, but not hyper-vigilant. Stop asking “Can my business thrive?” and start asking “What will it take for my business to thrive and grow?” Exercise your risk muscle — no matter how small.

Fearless Strategies and Actions

4. Re-ignite the passion in your business with a BHAG. “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal” is a concept coined by business author Jim Collins in his book Built to Last. When Jim looked at what the greatest companies did to become great, he found that these “greats” had a really big goal — a goal that inspired everyone in the company to see a future greater than the one in front of them.

BHAGs are ambitious, but not impossible. They create focus, instill excitement, encourage creativity and make the journey worthwhile. BHAGs are the perfect remedy to counteract fear and paralysis. What big, hairy, audacious goal inspires you to be bigger than where you are?

5. Use “reverse positioning” to increase market share. In a recession, customers’ buying behaviors, decision criteria and motivations change. Doing more of the same won’t work. You must adapt your marketing to today’s conditions.

Here are two examples to get you started. In an economic downturn, buying luxury items — even for wealthy people — declines significantly. Consumers refocus primarily on buying necessities. How can you position your products/services as necessities? Also, security and safety rise to the top of your customers’ buying criteria. How can you make doing business with your company “safe,” such as low-risk offers? How can your products/services increase their sense of security?

6. Cultivate fierce accountability. One common trait of high-performing businesses is their commitment to accountability. Accountability is a simple concept, yet for many, challenging to execute. It is often the difference between achieving vs. struggling to achieve a goal. Here’s why.

According to the American Society for Training and Development, the likelihood a person completes a goal is as follows: Consciously decide to act on an idea: 25%; Set a timeframe: 40%; Develop a plan: 50%; Commit to someone: 65%; Specific accountability appointment with the person to whom they have committed — 95% actually complete the goal.

Take inventory of your accountability strengths/weaknesses on the following three levels and make improving accountability a priority. 1) Self-accountability: to what extent are you keeping commitments to yourself? 2) Peer accountability: to what extent are you keeping commitments to a team, partner, coach or mentor? 3) Organization accountability: to what extent is your company keeping commitments to your stakeholders (such as customers, employees, investors, etc.)?

7. Finally, be like a rock; flow like a river. For an individual or organization to perform at its peak, it must know how to operate in the world of paradoxes. In these times, your business must paradoxically be like a rock and flow like a river.

“Be like a rock” means operating from your core — that part of your business that is a constant and anchors you no matter how rough times get. Your core consists of your values, core competencies, culture and mission.

“Flow like a river” means knowing how to navigate through the waters of change, especially those beyond your control. This requires balance, agility and resilience. Balancing such opposites as: certainty vs. uncertainty, short-term vs. long-term, strategic vs. tactical, etc. Having agility means rapidly responding to change, minimizing threats and seizing new opportunities. Having resilience means having the capacity to bounce back from catastrophe or unexpected circumstances.

We have more control over our business future than we realize. Your business economy does not have to be dictated by the global economy. The keys are where you put your focus, how you respond to change and to what extent you are willing to step up your game bigger and bolder than you ever have. 

Denise Corcoran, a business and leadership coach and CEO of The Empowered BusinessTM. She has 33 years experience as a business coach, consultant and former corporate executive. Subscribe to her monthly ezine, The Empowered Business^TM, at www.empoweredbusiness.com 

[go to top]

T R E N D S

The changing face of small business 

Small business is changing. The Intuit Corporation and the Institute for the Future recently released a study identifying emerging trends that will impact small business formation and operations over the next decade. According to the study, entrepreneurs in the next decade will be more diverse than their predecessors in age, origin and gender. These shifts in small business ownership will create new opportunities for many, and will change both the U.S. and the global economy.

Expect more women and immigrant entrepreneurs who will help drive a new wave of globalization. Entrepreneurs will no longer come predominantly from the middle of the age spectrum, but instead from the edges. People nearing retirement and their children just entering the job market will become the most entrepreneurial generation ever.

Personal businesses — one-person businesses with no employees — have become an important part of the U.S. economy and will increase in number over the next decade. The growth will be driven by shifts in larger company employment practices and changes in technology.

Finally, the last decade has seen a rapid growth of college-level entrepreneurial training. The next decade will see the continuation of this trend, but also the growth of entrepreneurial training aimed at youth, mid-career professionals, artists and musicians, as well as trades people. 

Source: Times-Standard, April 5, 2009 

[go to top]

N E W S

More credit card cuts for small firms 

Credit card banks aren’t through cutting credit card lines. By 2010, about 20% less credit will be available via plastic. Small businesses, about half of which rely on credit cards either for financing or as a safety net, will feel the pinch. Higher credit lines won’t come back after the recession, either, further squeezing access to capital and making it difficult for many small businesses to grow.

To make matters worse, while it’s mainly untapped credit that’s being reeled in, cutting a small business owner’s credit line could cause his or her personal FICO credit score to drop by 50 points or more if the owner is subsequently deemed to have too little available credit.

To reduce the odds of having your credit lines cut, pay credit card and all other bills on time, and give unused credit cards some exercise. If you still get hit with a cut, try nontraditional lenders or visit your community bank. Also, consider applying for the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) loan program or a 504 loan, which is for the purchase of real estate or other fixed assets.  

Source: Kiplinger.com, April 7, 2009 

Toxic colleagues destroy company performance 

Incivility at the office doesn’t just affect the moods of a few employees; it hurts the entire company. Common anti-social behaviors at work, such as berating bosses and employees who take credit for others’ work, assign blame or spread rumors, are far more toxic than managers may realize, according to the authors of the forthcoming book, The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility is Damaging Your Business and What to Do About It.

Targets of incivility become angry, frustrated and sometimes vengeful. The authors’ research revealed that 95% of Americans say they have experienced rudeness at work, and 12% say they’ve left a job because they were treated badly.

The work performance of employees on the receiving end of incivility often takes a dive: 48% decreased their work effort; 66% said their performance declined; 80% lost work time worrying about the incident; 63% lost work time avoiding the offender; and 78% said their commitment to the organization declined. The authors suggest that uncivil behavior should be penalized and repeat offenders cut loose.  

Source: Harvard Business Review, April 2009 

Ad messages should focus on time, not money 

Rather than promoting your discounted prices during the recession, you should be promoting something else: time.

A new study by researchers at Stanford Business School, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, found that it’s more effective to reference time and personal experiences in marketing than to focus on monetary value.

“Because a person’s experience with a product tends to foster feelings of personal connection with it, referring to time typically leads to more favorable attitudes — and to more purchases,” said an author of the study. For example, Miller beer’s “It’s Miller Time.”

In one test, the researchers set up a lemonade stand and tested the effect of three different signs — one mentioned time, one mentioned money and one mentioned neither. The sign that stressed time brought in twice as many passersby who ultimately paid twice as much, and claimed to enjoy it more, than when the sign stressing money was posted.

In another experiment, college students were asked about their Apple iPods. One group was asked how much time they spent on it and another group on how much money. Those asked about time expressed liking their iPod a lot more than those asked about the money spent on it.

Just using the word “time” in marketing can make a difference. One exception: luxury items sell best when focusing on the monetary value — possibly because the owners value just owning those products more than the time spent with them.  

Source: Independent Street, www.wsj.com, March 24, 2009 

[go to top]

T I P S

• Grab your customer’s attention with a promotional “gift” card. The same size as a credit card, promotional cards can be used as a stand-alone direct mail piece or as an insert with virtually any type of customer communication. With an engaging design, consumers are likely to view the cards as more valuable than typical coupons. The recipient receives an actual, tangible “reward” she can put in her wallet and use the next time she shops. With the right equipment, these cards provide measurability through trackable barcodes, allowing you to get reports on who is redeeming the promotion.

Source: www.targetmarketingmag.com

• Improve rapport with clients and employees by learning to slow down your listening. Most people speak at an average rate of about 120 words per minute. But most people can listen about four times faster. So your mind fills in the gaps by thinking of other things. Be aware of this and force yourself to stay focused, so that you can fully connect with the speaker.

Source: Communications Solutions, 111 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 500, Chicago, IL 60601

• Can Twitter help your business? With all the hype about Twitter.com these days, you may be wondering if the microblogging service can help your small business. Here are some suggested uses: Monitor your company name to find out what people are saying about you. If they are complaining, you can respond in real time. Monitor your competitors and see what people are saying about them. Search using keywords of what you offer and see if anyone is looking for the same thing. Use it to promote specials or communicate timely information to your customers. Still not sure if Twitter is for you? At least sign up to register your company name as a username before someone else does.

Source: www.businessweek.com

• Will your bank cut your line of credit? There are two types of credit lines. If you have a contractual line of credit, the bank is obligated to maintain that. There is usually an up-front fee because, in essence, the bank is reserving those funds for you. However, if you received a letter from the bank giving you a guidance line of credit, the bank is not obligated to maintain that. The key words to look for in a guidance letter are “terms that are mutually agreeable to both parties,” and “subject to review from time to time.” This is essentially a feel-good line of credit. If you got one of those letters a year or so ago, you should talk to your banker and ask point blank if this money is there for you if you need it tomorrow. If you’re not comfortable with your banker’s answer, shop around.

Source: www.nytimes.com

• Can negative word of mouth work in your favor? When Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco occasionally received some bad reviews on Yelp.com — rather than ignoring them — they took the negative quotes and printed them on T-shirts for their employees to wear. For example, “This place sucks” and “The pizza was soooo greasy. I am assuming this was in part due to the pig fat.” The publicity they got ended up turning a negative into a positive. The strategy works because now they can become a part of the conversation, rather than just being a victim of it.

Source: www.brainsonfire.com

• Get some media exposure and convince your target market that you know what you’re talking about by writing a press release that includes the how-to’s about what you do — what in the PR business is called a “tips sheet” press release. The tips sheet must include information that is newsworthy to the reporter who receives it. The best approach is to combine a newsworthy event with a tips sheet. A purchasing expert may want to create a tips sheet on how to get the best buys for companies. A web developer could write one about the most common ways to drive visitors to a website. A massage therapist could create a release with tips on how to relax. The key is to make sure it has a good news hook.

Source: Be Heard! newsletter, www.cherrycommunications.com

• We all know that the customer is the most important person to your business, but never forget that the second most important person is any employee that has contact with that customer. How is he or she contributing to the customer’s experience? Here are a few tips you might want to share with employees: First, treat every customer like a millionaire. Even if the customer is not a millionaire, people will buy more when they get treated like one. Next, get the customer involved in the sale. Have them try on or handle as many products as possible. This gives them a feeling of ownership, and the more products the customers view themselves owning, the more they’ll buy. Finally, ask for the sale. Most salespeople never do.

Source: www.dealerscope.com

• Crossing your legs can have a devastating effect on a negotiation. A study found that after videotaping 2,000 sales calls, no deals were closed by people who crossed their legs. If you want to appear cooperative and trustworthy, sit upright with both feet flat on the floor and your body tilted slightly forward. This way, you will send an open, positive signal.

Source: www.smartbiz.com

• Now is a good time to recruit out-of-work talent from the corporate world. But are these applicants entrepreneurial and will they stick around? Beware of these red flags: their cover letter isn’t personalized to your firm; they’re more interested in 401(k) matching and severance packages than having an equity stake; they expect to be assigned rather than take initiative; and they view meetings as the way to get things done. Look for people who didn’t quite fit the big-company mold and were always trying to accomplish new things. Look for real achievements instead of limited involvement in projects. Also, be honest about your work environment so they know what to expect.