Leadership questions for now and to think about for the future

1. Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader? Maybe someone who has been a mentor to you?
2. Why and how did this person impact your life? What is one really impressive strategy they had when leading people?
3. What are the most important decisions you made as a leader to date?
4. What did you cry out for within you as a employee, what did you want to see or hear from your leader when he led you in your business?
5. As your business gets more successful there can be a tendency for the “institution” to dampen the “inspiration.” How do you keep this from happening?
6. How do you consistently day in day out encourage winning positive thinking within your company?
7. If you were the CEO TODAY, what would you want from manager tomorrow within your business?
8. Where do the great ideas come from in the business, who suggests new strategies or is it all left to you?
9. Which is most important to your business—mission, core values or vision?
10. What is really important to you?
11. How do you or other leaders in your business communicate the “core values”?
12. How do you encourage others in your business to communicate the “core values”?
13. Do you set aside specific times to cast vision to your business and other leaders WITHIN THE BUSINESS?
14. How do you ensure THE BUSINESS and its activities are aligned with your “core values”?
15. How do you help a new EMPLOYEE understand the culture of YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS?
16. When faced with two equally TALENTED MANAGERS, how do you determine whom to PROMOTE?
17. What is one characteristic that you believe every MANAGER should possess?
18. How must a manager and leader carry themselves all the way through to next week no matter what the pressures within the business?
19. What are the messages the people around the world will hear from the leader everyone is talking about tomorrow?
20. What is the biggest challenge facing YOU AND MANAGERS IN THE BUSINESS today?
21. What is one mistake you witness MANAGERS making more frequently than others?
22. What is the one behaviour or trait that you have seen derail more MANAGERS “ careers IN BUSINESSES?
23. What advice would you give YOURSELF going into NEW ROLE AS A MANAGER for the first time?
24. What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a MANAGER leader?
25. What is the best strategy of a leader In the morning?
26. What will you say tomorrow before YOU START A NEW MONTH IN BUSINESS?
27. What will your future employers see and hear from you tomorrow?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4tIrjBDkkwatch  strong message " I cannot make you do it "

 "I always want more success for people than you want for themselves " Stevie Kidd 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y_KJAg8bHI Listen to music and clear your mind with a path to your future , clear away all your limitations, as when you decide to have none , your life will change forever ...

In personal growth your Aura will glow, its crucial you maintain it and along the way understand more in how to control your emotions?

" I am currently being coached by Stevie Kidd right now for a period of 6 months , and all I can say is " it's like turning metal to gold" you simply have to experience this man .... Operation director 

Be inspired, driven, motivated and led by the leader in you who will through time and when is ready step up and align and plan the next chapter of your life, so you go in history books where you are spoken in great stories of people before you. we have it all within us to achieve and inspire to be great..Stevie Kidd... www.steviekidd.co.uk ,

Business Strategy days .... It starts here for me .............

     It starts here for me .............

http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_got_a_wicked_problem_first_tell_me_how_you_make_toast?language=en

In what I do from initial engagement, then through to 2 day Health check of business then leading to a two day strategy day below is successful way to lead a strategy day. I have had 7 companies across 25 years and supported many businesses and what is below has helped enormously as a foundation to growth or position of sale or growth for the business....

Step One - Be the best - Strive for Excellence - Modelling Excellence

The result of a well-developed and executed strategic plan is for us to develop a competitive advantage. Just what is a competitive advantage? Business lingo aside, it is simply the answer to: What can your company potentially do better than any other company? Have a think about that, do you believe for one you can be better than any other company, that's where it starts?

Understanding your competitive advantage is critical. It is the reason you are in business. It is what you do best that draws customers to buy your product/service instead of your competitor’s. Extremely successful companies deliberately make choices to be unique and different in activities that they are really, really good at and they focus all of their energy in these areas. You have to live your missions and values on your sleeve right through the business, its the culture you create and sustain through visionary Leadership.

Step Two – State your purpose - The leaders passion and energy must drive the Mission..

A mission statement is a statement of the company’s purpose. It is useful for putting the spotlight on what business a company is presently in and the customer needs it is presently endeavoring to serve. It also serves as a guide for day-to-day operations and as the foundation for future decision-making. To write a mission statement, answer the questions: What is our business? What are we trying to accomplish for our customers? What is our company’s reason for existing? Take my advice unless everyone lives by it, do not visit it................

Step Three – Visualize the future - Take Leaders to Future Past Mindset.

A strategic vision is the image of a company’s future and the direction it is headed, the customer focus it should have, the market position it should try to occupy, the business activities to be pursued, and the capabilities it plans to develop. Forming a strategic vision should delineate what kind of enterprise the company is trying to become and infuse the organization with a sense of purposeful action. Think big! To write a vision statement, answer this question: What will our business look like in 5 to ten years from now? In this area I take leaders to the future and come back, relating then to future past, a powerful strategic technique for Leaders as they then believe the end goal has been achieved.

Step Four – Take an inventory.

The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis helps you look critically at your organization. It is a tool to help produce a good fit between a company’s strengths and its opportunities.

Assess your strengths and weaknesses by answering these questions: What do we do best? What do we not do best? What are our company resources – assets, intellectual property, and people? What are our company capabilities (functions)?

Assess your opportunities and threats by answering these questions: What is happening externally that will affect our company? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor? What are the driving forces behind sales trends? What are important and potentially important markets? What is happening in the world that might affect our company?

From Health check through to strategy day we get real eye opener for progress as we revisit SWOT report. Secret is speed of execution = speed of change..

Step Five – Profile your customers - How well do you know your customers - Do you know who they are now and the future customers, get visual..

If you want to move your company from being successful to wildly profitable, you need to meet your customers’ needs and wants better than your competitors do. Develop a customer profile by answering: What are our customer’s needs, motivations, and characteristics? How do we uniquely provide value to our customers? What should we improve to grow our customer base?

Step Six – Write your goals and objectives.

Goals and objectives are like stair steps to your mission and vision. Realistic goals and objectives are developed from the SWOT analysis and customer profile. Objectives set the agenda, are broad, and global in nature. Write two to six objectives that give action to your mission/vision and will take a few years to achieve. Then, develop goals to achieve each objective. Goals should be measurable, quantifiable, and support your objectives. Think about achieving them in a one-year time frame. Effective goals must state how much of what kind of performance by when is to be accomplished and by whom. Make sure both your goals and objectives build on your strengths; shore up your weaknesses; capitalize on your opportunities; and recognize your threats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPwrfa7oY-M

Step Seven – Assess your resources - 3 Big Chunky Goals.

Now that you have completed your goals and objectives, it is time to do a resource assessment. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to all well laid strategic plans is time and money. As with every business, budgets are never big enough to do everything you want to do. Prioritize key goals by asking: Do implementing the goals make financial sense? Do you have the human resources to achieve your plan?

Big Goals - Outline 3 chunky goals ....

Step Eight – Take action - Nail your communication strategy across your business with KPIs.

Tactics set specific actions/action plans that lead to implementing your goals and objectives. Basically write a to-do list for each goal.

Practical and effective support for organisational change management. A quick way to develop your tactics is to answer this question: What roadblocks exist to achieving my goals? Use the answer to develop action items for each goal. Assign responsibilities and deadlines to ensure implementation. A great method to get buy-in from your staff is to assign a goal to each employee. Ask him/her to write the action plan and be responsible for making sure each task is accomplished.

Step Nine – Keep score.

In step six, you wrote goals that were measurable. Put these measurements and targets on a scorecard (in Excel), which acts as an instrument panel guiding your company towards achieving your vision. With the scorecard, you can actively track your progress on a monthly basis.

Step Ten – Make strategy a habit.

A leader devoted to the successful implementation of the strategy and plan is key. The plan needs to be supported with people, money, time, systems, and above all communication. Communicate the plan to everyone in your organization. Hold a monthly or quarterly strategy meeting ( Board meetings)to report on the progress toward achieving the goal. Don’t forget to take corrective actions when needed and adapt as the environment changes.

Step 11 - Personal Vision

 Take a step back and invest in getting to really know your people. Get to know them through emotions and triggers, take the time as leaders to understand who they are as people.

Conclusion

My last word of advice is a plan is a living document. It does not have to be perfect or 100 percent complete to start using your strategic plan. A business without a plan is like a car without a steering wheel. A rough draft is better than no plan at all. 

stevie@steviekidd.co.uk

www.steviekidd.co.uk

Mobile 07780 333627

How Big Do You Think .....................

Stevie Kidd – David Lloyd Member for ten years – www.steviekidd.co.uk

My Journey to “The Starting Line of Great Wall of China Marathon”

How big do you think? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej1uY1RMC70

Few months ago I committed to something that scared me, from a person who has never ran before, I committed to signing up to a marathon that is in the top 10 hardest marathons in the world, So settled on “ The Great wall of china Marathon”

I have a term I use for such “GOALS” and that is called “HUGGS”

HUGGS (What are the HUGGS that bring tears to your eyes when you think about them) some outcomes are more important than others. I like to call them HUGGS, (Huge, Unbelievably Great Goals). They are typically large scale Goals that will start as a seed and manifest to become more precisely defined as your progress the idea and seed in your mind. They will appear like a 360 IMAX in your mind, like a film you will feel your in the film in the future, you have main part in film,

 HUGGS have the following Qualities; - They are clear, compelling and easy to grasp. - They connect with your identity and core values -   You are completely passionate about them. They engage your emotions to the point you can have tears in your eyes when your thinking about achieving them – you feel amazing when you think about them. Sometimes become very emotional. -  With all your senses you create the show in your mind, you become completely associated and immersed in it. With myself innovation and creativity is always at centre of my "HUGGS" , only settling for "Challenging Reality" or " Opportunity to Turn metal to Gold" always where opportunity lies to create or implement a seed to create a better world, improve a life or a business. We all have this power within us all, I work with people and walk with them to find the HUGGS they want to create in life. While pushing yourself through such a challenge I create innovation within my mind.

My message is , “When you think of your goals if they do not make you emotional or even make you cry, They are not big enough"

David Lloyd Support

So reality for me was, my mind-set at the time was “you attempt this on your own you will have higher chance of failure”, to make this happen its always about finding someone who already gets the results you want, So I approached someone I admire and knew within David Lloyd club, John McMillan (manager), who I have known for nearly ten years. John kindly sat and listened to me through why I was doing this event but more important that I was partnered with someone who could understand me, someone I could build rapport with, but also someone who would go beyond just a personal training partnership, in other words support me more than just that hour or two hour training session.. I initially asked for John, but John made it clear, “Stevie I know the very man (“Simon Lim Chow Tom”), someone who recently ran marathon in Paris and “city to summit event”. So John agreed to be at end of a phone, text or email but also meet me once a month to assess where I was personally and with Simon.

I have now trained with Simon for a few months now and results are amazing, each session is never the same as one before, but all training is adapted to end goal. I remember really challenging Simon and putting a lot of passion into what I expected from him during this journey, I even stated that if I never got pushed to my limits I would leave the partnership. He took those words on board as training has been world class.

Finding your feet Charity

While training in David Lloyd over the years a lot my friends and colleagues train for Iron man events around the world. Over the 6 month period I kept hearing about money being raised for a charity called “Finding your feet”, it was like being drawn to the charity but more so the woman behind the charity who also is a member of David Lloyd, Corrie Hutton is just an inspiration to so many I asked to meet and ask permission to run the marathon for the charity.

Super-fit single mum of one, Corinne Hutton from Renfrewshire, Scotland became ill in June 2013 after a seemingly bad cough turned into double acute pneumonia. Despite pioneering treatment at Leicester’s ECMO unit, septicaemia had poisoned her blood and surgeons were forced to amputate both her hands and her legs below the knee. 

Corinne, her closest friends and family set up ‘Finding Your Feet’ from her hospital bed, a charity to help others who find themselves facing such life-changing physical trauma through illness or injury and who do not have the support network from which she feels she has benefited.

Finding Your Feet is about providing that support network to others who need it and aims to help individuals in similar situations to ‘find their feet’ again in life. By providing counselling, respite, financial assistance or anything else required, the charity aims to help people regain their lives and rebuild themselves following physical life-changing trauma. 

To find out more about Finding Your Feet, visit www.FindingYourFeet.net, follow us on twitter @FYF_Charity or find us on facebook.

Finding Your Feet is hugely grateful that Stevie has committed to such an enormous challenge and will be with him every step of the way. Please support Stevie so that he can help Finding Your Feet make a difference to those facing life-changing physical trauma.  You can support Stevie at https://www.justgiving.com/SteviesGreatWall/

Finding Your Feet is a Scottish registered Charity. Charity No. SC044572

Self Limiting Beliefs - When I work with people I read the patterns of the limiting beliefs they have coded to nervous system

Its my job to scramble the pattern and create new beliefs for my clients, here is how I do it........

All my life I have been obsessed why people do what they do, one area where people lose out continually in growth and opportunities in life is through having strong beliefs and self-limitations, it’s what forms us as human beings,

The beliefs you hold to be true, make up the fabric of your experience. The stronger those beliefs, the more they seem unshakable, and the more you will find evidence to support them. What most people don’t realize is that the vast majority of our beliefs about the world are not really true “out there.” They are only true because we've decided they are, albeit we likely haven’t done so consciously.

Beliefs are formed through repeated thoughts, and the only reason they hold any weight is because you've decided or agreed that they are true.

There are a lot of collective limiting beliefs that you've probably agreed to:

·         I am not good enough

·         I am too old to make a go of it

·         I could never work at that level

·         I just cannot seem to reach my best

·         Dreams are just not practical

And there are probably a lot of personally acquired limiting beliefs you’ve collected through your own unique experiences. Whatever the case, most beliefs are formed unconsciously, without our knowing about it. We didn't necessarily decide to agree to these beliefs because we wanted to. Now I hear you ask what’s all the different states of consciousness, will remind you later in the week.

It’s not like one day we woke up and thought “Man, you know what would be awesome? To go out today and repeat a bunch of thoughts that are going to turn into hard and fast conclusions that will keep me from experiencing the life I want. Yeah, I think that’s what I’ll do today.”

That would obviously be ridiculous.

None of us want to keep these beliefs, but we either think:

1.     That’s just the way things are (everyone else agrees), or…

2.     It’s become such a part of my identity that it’s too hard to change now

In order to solve the first problem, we need to realize that what is often seen as “just the way things are” is, in reality, just a collective assumption. And because it’s an assumption, that means that we decided to agree to make that assumption as well, on some conscious or unconscious level.

In that case, we need to reclaim our power, and choose to stop agreeing. It can really be that simple.

When it comes to ingrained limiting beliefs, patterns, or habits, these can be a bit harder to change. Because we’re so used to them — and mostly because we identify with them — they hold a lot of weight in our experience. It can almost feel as if they’re immovable objects on our path.

Some common limiting beliefs are…

·         The feeling of not being enough or good enough, question is “How do you know this”

·         The feeling of not having enough “ what’s enough and how do you know when you have enough”

·         Having to work hard for money “ what’s working hard to you”

·         Not deserving success “ what’s success to you”

·         [insert your limiting belief here] do you have one we all do so think about one that limits you, I know with some of my clients it took them months to work with me, I had a chat with a senior manager of a business because I was to be silent in our work, the limiting belief was having a performance coach for him was a limiting belief he was weak and a failure, we changed that to inspiring a workplace with his example of learning and personal growth. Beliefs can destroy you, they can cause wars around the world.

These things can seem daunting to try to change. And even when you do make a real, consistent effort, it is often just too hard to overcome.

Luckily, there are a few steps you can follow in order to make the shift to new, more empowering beliefs.

1.     Stop identifying with the belief. Most beliefs are so difficult to change because we identify with them. They seem to be ingrained as a part of who we are. And because we identify with them, we allow ourselves to be defined by them. If you think you’re not creative, you’ll see yourself as someone who just wasn’t born with that ability. If you think you’re bad with getting things to work, you might think you’re just not a mechanical person. It’s easy to get caught up in allowing our beliefs to define us, but they don’t have to. So the first step is to stop identifying with or defining yourself based on what you believe.

2.     Kill your conclusions. Whatever you think you know to be certain is probably a lot more flexible than you think. What you think to be required is certain to be much more negotiable. Question all of the conclusions you have about what you think to be true, fixed or possible.

3.     Test your assumptions. Without pushing the boundary and testing your assumptions, it’s impossible to move past your limiting beliefs. You need to do something to breaking the pattern of the limiting belief. Questioning is the first step, but if you only do that, the possibilities of moving to a more empowering perspective stay in your head. Some type of action must be taken that puts your conclusions to the test. Just make sure that you’re not staying in the limited head-space that leads you to reinforce what you already hold to be true. Suspend your judgment and take some kind of action to test your assumptions.

It might seem simple, but these are the basic steps to moving past any limiting belief.

They’re only part of it, though. In order to really integrate a new, more empowering belief, you’ll need to spend time cultivating it. And it can help to go through a structured process to dissolve the limit.

So how can they can prevent us from achieving the personal and professional success we deserve, so thinking about breaking these kinds of beliefs, I wanted to share some ideas on how to go about doing it.  Some are concrete tactics while others are more inspirational.

1.    Acknowledge It
Identify the limiting belief. Greet it. Let it know that you’re aware it exists.

2.    Expose It 
Don’t hide from it. Bring it out into the open.

3.    Advertise It
Share this limiting belief with others. They’ll tell you how ridiculous you’re being when you can’t see it yourself.

4.    Challenge It
Ask “What evidence do I have that supports this belief?”

5.    Risk It
What if this liming belief was actually true? So what?! Throw caution to the wind and you’ll discover that “failure” isn’t so bad.

6.    Remember Others Like It
What limiting beliefs have you overcome in the past?

7.    Examine It
When did it start? Where did it come from?

8.    Pay Attention To It
What is it preventing you from accomplishing?

9.    Take It To Its Logical Conclusion
If you don’t get rid of this belief, what will happen?

10.    Get Mad At It
This limiting belief is a jerk. Don’t make friends with him. Show him who’s boss.

11.    Laugh At It
Seriously? This limiting belief is hilarious! I can’t even keep a straight face when I think about it…

12.    Take a Break From It 
Put it on hold. Pretend it doesn’t exist for a while. What’s different?

13.    Exaggerate It
Turn up the volume on it. How ridiculous does it look when it’s 20 feet tall?

14.    Reverse It
What would happen if the exact opposite was true?

15.    Repeat It
Ever repeat the same word or phrase so many times it stops making any sense? Do that.

16.    Prioritize It
Make it an important priority to get over this limiting belief. Stop putting it off.

17.    Lean Into It
Sometimes pulling away from it only makes it stronger. When you stop resisting, it goes away.

18.    Replace It
What UN-Limiting Belief can you put in its place?

19.    Starve It
What actions and thoughts feed this limiting belief? Get rid of those and watch it die.

20.    Make It Hurt
Try the old stand-by rubber band snap on the wrist every time you find yourself falling back on it.

21.    Listen To It
What is this belief really telling you?

22.    Respect It
Limiting beliefs shouldn’t be ignored or belittled. Underestimate it at your own peril.

23.    Doubt It
Just because it feels real, doesn’t mean it IS real.

24.    Invest In It
Put your time, money, and energy into overcoming it.

25.    Imagine Life Without It
What would you be capable of?

26.    Separate It
Maybe this belief is attached to someone in your life and you’re just absorbing it. Is someone else feeding it to you?

27.    Disassociate It
Is there an action, situation or feeling that triggers this belief to pop up? Learn how to have one without the other.

28.    Track It
Are there times when it doesn’t show up? What’s that all about?

29.    Tilt It
Look at it differently. A new perspective may change it completely.

30.    Sacrifice It
Yes, you may feel like it’s a part of you that you can’t imagine living without. Let it go. Sacrifice it to the Gods.

31.    Reason With It
Logically. Truthfully.

32.    Look for Twins
Is one limiting belief showing up in multiple ways?

33.    Forgive Yourself
Don’t hold it against yourself that you’ve been harboring this limiting belief. You’re human.

34.    Interrupt It
When you notice a limiting belief rearing its ugly head, stop yourself mid-thought and…

35.    Breathe Into It
Inhale, exhale.

36.    Confront It
Look it in the eye.

37.    Verbalize It
Say it out loud. How silly does it sound?

38.    Write About It
Put it on paper. How different does it look?

39.    Simplify It
At its fundamental core, what is this limiting belief about?

40.    Engage With It
Start a conversation. Get to know it.

41.    Connect It
How is this limiting belief connected to your mental attitude?

42.    Align Forces Against It
Prepare all of your faculties for battle.

43.    Reword It
If you phrase it in a different way, does it offer a different meaning?

44.    Compartmentalize It
Isolate it to one corner of your mind. Don’t let it infect other thoughts.

45.    Normalize It
You’re not unique for having these beliefs. Everyone has them. It’s okay.

46.    Reframe It
It might feel like truth. But it’s not. It’s a perception. Reframe it as such.

47.    Take Responsibility For It
This limiting belief belongs to you. It’s yours to keep or discard. Make the choice.

48.    Disconnect From It
This belief is not a part of who you are. It is not your identity. Losing it will only let your true identity shine more.

49.    Tune It Out
Stop listening! Turn a deaf ear on it. Hit the “mute” button.

50.    Abandon It
Leave it in a basket at the edge of the woods. A pack of wolves might adopt it and raise it to be one of their own.

51.    Take Action On It
Nothing will change without your active participation. What are you doing TODAY to overcome this limiting belief?

www.steviekidd.co.uk