Coach Kevin – Kevin Lawrence – Strategic advisor and business coach to CEOs and entrepreneurs

I came across this short story recently, which really emphasizes how our energy can affect others; as leaders this is crucial. As you read it, consider the following key points:

1. The energy we have when we enter any new environment has a tremendous impact on the people in that place.
2. We are in charge of our energy and how we use it when enter a new place or meeting.
3. There are mechanisms, such as you’ll see in the story, we can use to enter our various environments with the right mindset and energy.
4. Most people just show up as they are an are often not the best version of themselves.
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I am working with many clients to help them navigate through change leveraging many principles inside this amazing book – Our Iceberg is Melting – alongside my own principles and techniques. At first glance, you may wonder why I’m referencing a book based on a fable about a penguin colony in Antarctica but when you come to understand the 8 Steps for Leading Change shared by Harvard professor Dr. John Kotter and how embracing change or failing to embrace change is impacting your organization, you’ll soon see how this penguin colony could actually be in your own company.

Often when business leaders launch a new initiative, program or project, half way through it, the project fails. If you don’t get full employee (or customer) buy in at the very beginning, you will get nothing but trouble.

And most…

Ever thought you could hide from the data permeating throughout your company? I hope not! CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders should read this inspiring article about how Alan Mulally is turning around Ford from bankruptcy to the most profitable automaker in the world.

One of the most interesting insights I found in this article is that Mulally has a weekly 2.5 hour Business Plan Review meeting with the 15 top Ford executives. In this meeting, Mulally’s direct reports are required to “post more than 300 charts, each of them color-coded red, yellow, or green to indicate problems, caution, or progress.” There’s no hiding from data with Mulally at the helm. As he says, “You can’t manage a secret. When you do this every week, you can’t hide.”

Clearly,…

There are 2 lessons in this situation with the Gap:

1. Know your brand and be very careful with any changes to it; people identify with your brand first, products second.
2. If you are going to use social media, you had better understand what you are getting into.  There are many benefits, but you also give up much as well.

This is interesting because many people use the power of social media to help drive interest in their brands – and this can be very good for business.  But, at the same time, there is a price paid for this engagement. Those you engage with also have a sense of ownership of your brand and if you do not respect that…things like this can happen.

In the past, collecting customer input was considered a good thing to do and many companies would act on some of the feedback and ignore the rest.  With social media, the rules are different.  If people do…

A client of mine introduced me to Simon’s work.  It is simple and to the point – I love that! Take a look at his TED video where he describes his philosophy on how some great leaders inspire their people to greatness.

In the terms I use, this is about finding, articulating and driving ahead based on your purpose.   I really like how he explains the power of a purpose and gives some real examples.

You can learn more about Simon and his work here.

Coach Kevin’s Challenge:

• Are you clear on your purpose?  What is it?
• IS your purpose (the WHY) fueling your business’s growth and innovation or is it just there?
• What do you want to do about it?