How do senior leaders, in their own words, describe the most effective leaders—the ones that get results, grow the business, enhance the culture, and leave in their wake a trail of other really effective leaders? After surveying more than one million leaders worldwide, co-authors Robert (Bob) J. Anderson and William (Bill) A. Adams have drawn on their research to define leadership that works, that does not, that scales, and that limits scale, in their book SCALING LEADERSHIP: Building Organizational Capability and Capacity to Create Outcomes that Matter Most (Wiley; hardcover; January 29, 2019). Below, Anderson and Adams answer questions about effective leadership. What prompted you to write this book?The foundation of this book is research into what senior leaders say to one another when providing written 360 feedback. The results were so compelling when presented to the leadership teams we work with, we just had to write a book about them. There are any number of windows in this book that shed light into how senior leaders describe the kind of leadership that works and can scale, and the kind of leadership that does not and can not. We wrote our first book--Mastering Leadership—to elaborate a Universal Model of Leadership based on our learning from more than one million rater surveys in our database of 360-degree leader assessments. We used what we learned from that in-depth review to build the foundation of what great leadership looks like, and how anyone can become a better leader. We wrote our latest book--Scaling Leadership—to provide leaders with a proven system for developing effective leadership throughout every level of their organizations. This, we believe, is essential for businesses of any size in every industry to grow and thrive today and in the future. What does effective leadership look like?What is so unusual about this book is that we (the authors) are not answering this question. We leave that to senior leaders. The reader gets to “listen in” on how they talk about this in the most intimate and important of conversations—providing another leader feedback on what will make them more effective. When we look at what they say makes a leader more effective, and what leadership is really all about, the characteristics revealed go hand in hand with what it means to be a well-rounded, integral human being. At its very heart, leadership is all about building the deep relationships required to develop effectiveness in teams and to support the growth of other leaders. Leaders who effectively transform their organizations are radically human. They lead vulnerably (learning alongside those they lead) and authentically. They are profoundly purposeful—the kind of person who brings something to the planet and who gives back—producing results that makes a difference in the world.
What are some of the key differences between Creative and Reactive leadership?Reactive leaders lead from their own unique capability, tending to identify with certain strengths—overdeveloping them while underdeveloping others. Reactive leaders emphasize caution over creating results, self-protection over productive engagement, and aggression over building alignment. These self-limiting leadership styles overemphasize the focus on gaining the approval of others, protecting oneself, and getting results through high-control tactics. Creative leaders, on the other hand, are less self-centric and are much more about developing the capacity and capability of others and the organization. They are approachable and skillful in working with people, listen well, build high-performing teams, mentor and develop capability in others, and empower their people. Creative Leaders embody their vision calmly and with integrity and courage, and improve organizational systems. In your book, you state that women are more effective leaders. How did you come to that conclusion?In our research of 300 senior leaders from 237 companies in 29 industries and 6 countries, we found that women leaders are making a notable contribution to leadership in their organizations. And while women are underrepresented in the sample (62 percent men to 38 percent women, which is consistent with the ratio in our overall norm base), they are overrepresented in the High-Creative group (54 percent) and significantly underrepresented in the High-Reactive group (22 percent). In other words, senior women leaders are consistently rated as more Creative and less Reactive than are their male counterparts. When we study our entire norm base, women are rated 15 to 20 percentile points more Creative than men. We know that’s not a surprise to women, but it’s not typically the reason why we pay so much attention to gaining diversity in our leadership. The data shows that women lead more effectively than men, and we’ve been doing everything we can in our society for as many years to keep them out of leadership. Why? We wish we could explain it—we just don’t have a good answer to this troubling question. If you’re not leading the way in your company by making leadership more inclusive and leveraging the full power and potential of female leadership, then you’re not doing your job. Stated even more strongly, we men can all learn from what women are bringing to leadership. If readers took away one thing from reading your book, what do you hope it would be?The Peter Principle has been revised. The High-Reactive, ineffective senior leaders we meet are as brilliant and competent as the High-Creative leaders. They are not meeting their level of incompetence. They are meeting their level of development. Their development has not kept pace with the expanded complexity of their roles. They need to develop into the kind of leader that can scale leadership. Everyone has the seeds within them to become truly great leaders, and to nurture great leadership in others. In these times of business volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, effective leadership is needed more than ever before. Robert J. Anderson has been a pace setter in the field of leadership development for over 30 years. He is the founder, chairman, and chief development officer of The Leadership Circle and Full Circle Group.
William A. Adams is co-founder and CEO of Full Circle Group and The Leadership Circle. Adams has over 30 years of experience as a trusted advisor to CEOs and their teams around the globe.
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Ryan Villanueva is an entrepreneur, educator and co-founder of Best Delegate, a rapidly growing education company with a goal of making Model United Nations a worldwide program in order to help this generation of students lead the world to a better, more peaceful, just, and sustainable future. As a graduate of EO Accelerator and a current EO Boston member, Ryan says that he “shares huge debt of gratitude toward the EO Accelerator program for its impact on my business and my own professional development.” I couldn’t have joined EO Accelerator at a better time. In 2014, my co-founder and I decided to hire our first employees. It had been just the two of us up to that point, until we realized we couldn’t handle all the work required to run a growing business if we didn’t hire. Now we were about to hire fresh college graduates who were entrusting us with the beginning of their careers—and livelihoods! We didn’t have a board, a business coach or even the right books to guide us. We had to figure out hiring, on-boarding and training. We wanted new hires to understand what we do—heck, we, the co-founders, needed to understand what we do, and get it out of our heads and actually write it down. And we needed a “system” for managing the company, even remotely. Our entire team would be remote, spread out across the U.S., and traveling frequently for projects. When you can’t look over someone’s shoulder, how do you hold them accountable? Thankfully, I was introduced to the EO Accelerator program because of David Carnes. His office hosted the first Learning Day I attended. An hour into that day, I thought to myself, “Where has this been all my life?” I found a community of entrepreneurs going through the challenges of building a business. We discussed questions and learned tools that I could see how I could apply to my business. I had been considering business school for a while, and I felt like I found a better alternative with Accelerator. The event wasn’t an academic exercise where I needed to memorize every single concept and pass an exam. It was all about the practical—one or two things that could be applied and have an immediate impact. I also couldn’t see myself running a company while going to school. By contrast, Accelerator’s quarterly Learning Days and monthly accountability groups provided a good balance between running a company and then pressing “pause” to do professional development. Accelerator was not only a better, more reasonable time commitment; it served as a timely reminder to work not just “in” the business, but “on” the business. After the Learning Day, I got signed up with a mentor and joined an accountability group. I now had a mini “board” that I could go to for guidance. I appreciated how much we learned just by sharing each other’s experiences, as well as the direct advice offered by a grizzled mentor. After joining EO Accelerator, I gained the tools I needed to manage a young but fast growing team. I developed an “Operating System” comprising the tools, concepts and processes learned through EO Accelerator, which could be used to manage a purely remote company. I got the “right books” and made them required reading for my employees. Three years later, my company more than doubled in revenue and size. I graduated out of Accelerator into joining EO as a full member. I continue to attend Learning Days and volunteer for the Accelerator program. I often meet with entrepreneurs who run small but growing businesses, and who don’t know about Accelerator or EO. They share with me their challenges and I share my Accelerator experience with them. And when they ask me whether Accelerator is worth it, I just tell them: wherever they are with their business—there’s no better time to join. Are you a founder who’s ready to take your business to the next level of growth? Or maybe you’ve been at it a while and need a push to bring your business further. Check out how EO Accelerator can help you. The post When Is a Business Accelerator a Better Option Than Business School? appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2uwv6Fl Save time and lower stress with these productivity tips from Bryce Welker, a CPA and the founder of Crush Empire, as well as an EO San Diego member. I’ve spent quite a long time working as an entrepreneur, but not all of that time has been productive. I’ve made many mistakes in the past and wasted a great deal of time as a consequence. However, I’ve learned some useful tricks over the years that have managed to cut down on wasted time while also reducing stress. If you apply these tips to your daily life, you should see positive results like I did! Tip 1: Observe the Golden HourThis is a term used by photographers in reference to a special time of day ideal for taking nature photographs. However, it’s also used by entrepreneurs and productivity gurus to refer to the first hour of the day after you wake up. This one hour can set the tone for the rest of your day: Use it constructively by exercising or meditating and try to avoid arguments, junk food, or other things that can throw you off your game. Tip 2: Use Time-Management TechniquesThere are many different time-management techniques being advertised as the panacea for unmotivated, exasperated, and stressed-out entrepreneurs. However, the truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all method of dividing your time between work and breaks. Instead, you should try different methods and see what works best. I recommend starting with The Pomodoro Technique or (10+2)x5 and going from there. Tip 3: Take Long WalksIf you’re already familiar with common productivity tips and tricks, chances are high that you’ve successfully incorporated regular exercise into your routine. However, consider swapping out those morning jogs with a long walk instead to get your creative juices flowing. This is a pastime that some of the brightest minds in history would partake in: Nietzsche, Goethe, Beethoven, and Steve Jobs, just to name a few. Tip 4: Get a Second (or Third) DisplayThis is another tip many computer-oriented professionals, like programmers and graphic designers, likely already do. However, it bears repeating: delegating emails or spreadsheets to separate monitors can drastically improve your multitasking capabilities. I personally like to have at least one vertical monitor for reading and writing documents. Tip 5: Reduce Blue LightAlthough blue light can help improve energy and is good for the environment, too much exposure to this light frequency can have negative health effects. In order to continue having productive and low-stress work days, try to tone down the blue light as the sun sets later in the day. Look for a night mode on your smartphone and use free software like f.lux on your desktop computer. Tip 6: Reduce Workspace ClutterYou’ve probably felt the stressful effects of a cluttered living space or workspace first-hand, but there’s also scientific evidence confirming that messy environments can lead to anxiety and limited productivity. If you’re having a tough time cleaning out your desk or office, I recommend looking into the KonMari method of tidying up. Tip 7: Unplug Before BedReducing blue light, as was previously mentioned, is important to ensure you have a good night’s sleep. However, you should go a step further and completely disconnect from any electronic distractions, such as a smartphone, tablet, or television, for at least an hour before going to bed. You may want to try listening to some music or reading a few pages of a book instead. The Bottom LineThe greatest thing about these tips is they don’t require you to completely turn your life upside down. Think of these simple tips and tweaks as minor lifestyle changes. Although they may sound insignificant, the truth is that they can provide long-term rewards in the form of increased output and better health. Believe me: If I had taken advantage of these methods earlier in my career, I would have saved myself so much time and effort. Bryce Welker is a self-made entrepreneur, CPA and the founder of Crush Empire, a diverse network of lead generation and product review websites in numerous verticals. Bryce lives in La Jolla, California, and loves driving fast cars and bungee jumping.
The post 7 Productivity Tips for Entrepreneurs appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2HD24MP Written for EO by Jessica Thiefels, social media coach and organic marketing consultant. According to Pew Research, close to 15 million Americans are self-employed. Filing your taxes when you’re self-employed means you’re having to deal with a range of new tax rules and regulations that you’ve never dealt with for personal taxes. To ensure you understand what you have to do, consider turning to a CPA. This person will walk you through what you should and shouldn’t do. You’ll likely see your CPA a few times throughout the year as well to make sure your income is on track and that there are no surprises come tax time. Even if have an expert to guide you, it’s important to know what’s expected of you for taxes as a self-employed person. Here are just some of the tax rules that may be new to you and are important to know. 1099sIf you’ve paid out more than US$600 to a service provider or received more than US$600 for providing services, you’ll give and get 1099-MISC for each business or person. As someone who’s self-employed, you’ll need to send a 1099 to anyone who you’ve paid more than US$600—think, a freelance writer or web designer. If you use accounting software like Quickbooks, you can do this automatically once you have a W-9 from the person. The companies who owe you a 1099 will send it automatically—there’s no need for you to request it. Note that you must have the 1099s sent out by January 31, according to Micah Fraim’s Freelance Tax Guide, so put it on your calendar to avoid a penalty. Quarterly Tax PaymentsQuarterly tax payments are paid by self-employed individuals who plan to earn more than $1,000 in the tax year. The IRS requires you to pay taxes as you earn income throughout the year and when you work for a company, the amount of money withheld from your paycheck covers this. As a self-employed individual however, you have to make quarterly tax payments to cover these taxes throughout the year yourself. It’s important that you pay enough quarterly taxes and that each payment is made on time. The IRS explains, “If you don’t pay enough tax through withholding and estimated tax payments, you may be charged a penalty. You also may be charged a penalty if your estimated tax payments are late, even if you are due a refund when you file your tax return.” This is another reason why it’s important to work with a financial professional or CPA. They will ensure that you know exact payment dates along with the correct estimated totals. Expense TrackingKeep a receipt for anything that you buy for your business, from stamps for mailing checks to your invoicing software and passes to industry conferences. These expenses are deductible and reduce the overall total dollar amount that you owe taxes on. According to the same tax guide from Micah Fraim, some of the common tax deductions are:
Keep track of each expense so they can be factored into your taxes at the end of the year. There are a variety of apps you can use for this, and most accounting software allows you to do it as well.
Home Office DeductionIf you’re a contractor or freelancer, there’s a good chance you work from a home office. If you have an office area designated as a working space, you’re allowed to deduct a percentage of the cost of that space, as well as a percentage of utilities used. Amy Bergen, writer for Money Under 30, explains: “The home office also needs to be the principal or primary place of your business—your base. If you occasionally work or have meetings elsewhere, you can take the deduction as long as you use the home office consistently.” There are a few methods for taking advantage of this deduction. Work with your financial advisor to choose the best one for you. Self-Employment TaxThis tax covers your contribution to Medicare and Social Security as a self-employed individual. This is normally taken out of your paycheck, but since you’re no longer a W-2 employee, you’re now responsible for this yourself. As such, this cost is factored into your quarterly tax payments. Intuit explains: “When you’re self-employed, you are paid the full amount you earn. Nothing is deducted from your check for Social Security and Medicare taxes. Instead, you make estimated tax payments during the year to pay your SE tax and your income tax. If you don’t make estimated tax payments, then you pay these taxes when you file your return.” The tax rate for the self-employment tax is 15.3 percent, with 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare. Know Your Tax ObligationsIt’s important that you know your tax obligations as a self-employed individual to avoid fees or penalties. Working with a financial professional ensures that you’re not missing important payments and are totally prepared come tax season. Get familiar with your responsibilities as you step into the world of self-employment to start your tax year on the right foot. The post 5 Self-Employed Tax Rules You Want to Know Now appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2Ohfrmj EO Philadelphia Executive Director Katie Baer shares her story of entrepreneur-style community and support. It has been almost 10 years since I walked into a Strategy Summit dinner, my absolute first experience with EO. I was hired in early June 2009 as the part-time administrator for the EO Philadelphia chapter. Frank Signorello, whom I had known personally for many years, mentioned they were looking for help planning and managing events. Fast forward a decade, and I’m still involved as the chapter’s executive director with the once unknown organization becoming my family, friends and life support. My EO family has watched me grow as a professional, as a wife and as a mom. The chapter has been a cheerleader along the way and gracious at each milestone, allowing me to adjust and adapt. However, nothing could have prepared my husband, Brad, and I for the life change we were dealt on 3 July 2018. While we were living in a temporary apartment as we underwent a home addition and I was eight months pregnant expecting our second child, our feisty 3.5-year-old son, Jack, was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). His diagnosis came as a complete and utter shock. Our active toddler had been running around like normal at school that morning. Just five hours later, we were admitted to the hospital and being bombarded by a new reality, both short-term and long-term. On Friday 5 July, I made a call to the Healthnetwork Foundation, an EO member benefit that I raved about to EO member prospects as “an amazing resource we all hope never to use.” We were already being treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Healthnetwork confirmed that we were in the right spot. As we began to disseminate the news to family and friends, I updated our Chapter President, Tim Dever, and some of my closest confidants in EO. From that moment on, I’ve felt nothing but genuine love and support. Tim immediately told me to do whatever I needed for my family and hasn’t wavered once throughout hospital stays, constantly shifting appointments and the day-to-day realities of tending to a toddler with cancer. The great thing about entrepreneurs is that they don’t ask what they can do, they just do. The chapter mobilized and provided us with a house cleaner throughout the process, meal delivery and more toys than any little toddler could ever need. When we reached out about custom closets for our home addition, EO Philadelphia member Ryan Lindstadt of Diplomat Closets not only took care of figuring out the details while we were in the hospital, but he and his team made a group decision to donate them to us. When my husband needed a break more than anything else, EO Philadelphia’s Jake Goldblum of EmpireCovers selflessly gave up his tickets to an Eagles game. When another member, Everett Katzen of Springboard Media, noticed that Jack was using an old iPad as he waited for his doctor visits, he gifted us a new tablet along with a treasure chest full of toys from Andy Langsam of Dynamic Advertising Solutions. For each of these examples, there have been countless others—including texts with well-wishes, offers to babysit and monetary donations to fight childhood cancer, including an invite from EO member Bob Simpson of Brinker Simpson to join him at a local Black Tie Gala supporting cancer research. While it might sound like I’m bragging, the only thing I’m genuinely boasting about is the EO community. Every one of us knows about the value of learning through peers and remarkable events, but the most significant asset is that we’re not surprised when our chapters step up when we need them. And not only have they stepped up for my family, but they’ve also supported me in ways that no other groups have in times of extreme adversity. Now, some seven months after diagnosis, we’re back in our home, and our Super Jack has added a new sidekick, little brother Jude (pictured above). As of late November 2018, Jack is technically in remission, but every day continues to be a challenge—logistically, emotionally, physically and mentally. Following two more months of intense chemo, at-home shots and steroids, we’ll continue treatment for a total of three and a half years. While it’s sure to be a slog, my time in EO has trained me well to simultaneously remember that this is both a sprint and a marathon. I had no idea how applicable so many entrepreneurial life lessons I’ve learned along the way would be in this unpredicted venture, but I’m humbled to have such a caring and driven community cheering us on. The post #BecauseofEO: Love and Support Through the Unthinkable appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2Fg6eX7 Written for EO by Nis Frome, cofounder of Alpha, an on-demand customer insights platform. If success in the digital age were as simple as calling for a transformation or reorganization, companies born in the industrial age would be thriving and there’d be no Netflix, Uber or Airbnb. That’s clearly not the case, though. According to Harvard Business Review, a study of 57 reorganizations found that fewer than one-third of the reorgs produced any meaningful improvement in performance. In fact, despite the potential that each reorganization and polished PowerPoint presentation promises, “Most had no effect, and some actually destroyed value,” the study concluded. You might say that, as a Fortune 500 executive recently told me (only half-jokingly), that “reorganizations are highly successful, if you’re a management consulting firm.” And yet, there are a few notable examples of so-called “traditional” organizations successfully returning to their innovative roots. To succeed in a reorganization, companies should consider these key steps: 1. Start with a hard sell to get others on boardThe one thing that reorganizations have going for them is that they are supported by company leadership. Substantial top-down support is indeed critical for creating an environment where innovation can take hold. It’s up to product and innovation teams, however, to figure out how to channel leadership’s involvement toward the right initiatives. There’s an inherent paradox with realizing change is needed, though: Getting comfortable with the idea that what made your business a success won’t always keep you successful. Convincing leadership of this fact can be an obstacle. To begin, emphasize the company’s history and recognize meaningful achievements. Successful transformations mean valuing and giving credit to the present, but then being direct and realistic about the future. I’ve seen two types of hard sells work for this next part: selling aspiration and selling desperation. The aspirational sell means fixating on a superior version of your organization. Amazon is often cited as a strong role model for this approach, given their performance and transparency regarding their customer-focused processes. At the other extreme, selling desperation may feel like fear mongering, but it can be extraordinarily effective. No one wants to oversee the sinking of the Titanic. Painting a bleak picture is sometimes the only thing that works. 2. MacGyver your way toward tractionWhile transformation champions are working toward getting buy-in from fellow leaders, they must simultaneously explore ways to generate evidence to support their arguments. That means encouraging agile teams to actually get out of the building and talk to customers. Generating on-demand insights doesn’t require a PhD or multi-million dollar budgets. “[To] people inside large companies who are struggling with this, I’ll say, ‘You might want to just do some interviews guerilla-style and then come tell everyone what you learned, versus saying, ‘We’re going to do this’ or ‘We’re going to get buy-in for — just do it,” says Cindy Alvarez, a group product manager and behavior change expert at Microsoft in an interview. “Then, find some interesting stuff and kind of dangle it in front of [others] and say, ‘Hey, there’s more where this came from, we just need to keep talking to people.’” 3. Recognize that success doesn’t speak for itselfInitial data points and stories resonate with executives who are considering different ways to move into the future. While their buy-in will create the right environment and incentives for continued progress, entrenched behaviors won’t change overnight. In corporate environments, newly redefined success needs to be showcased and evangelized. It has to be presented as the path to career acceleration. That’s why thought-leadership content and case studies are so important—they demonstrate widespread acceptance of new methodologies, provide exposure for early adopters, and explain tangible business outcomes. All together, that’s a recipe for turning success into viral success, and viral success into a full-blown, high-impact digital transformation. To accomplish this, consider creating a recurring demo-day specifically for sharing surprising user insights rather than merely celebrating the launch of new, but perhaps unvalidated, products and features. Partner with a vendor to create multimedia content featuring teams working in a more forward-thinking way. Determine frameworks for communicating ROI and benefits to different stakeholders, from the C-suite, to finance and procurement teams, to R&D. By combining executive buy-in, initial proof points, and an atmosphere of enviable success, transformations can take hold and lead to meaningful results for any business. No PowerPoints or broken promises required! The post How Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks: 3 Tips for Real Organizational Change appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2W8FZbQ Rob Dube is an EO member in Detroit, speaker, author and proponent of mindful leadership. He is president and co-founder of imageOne, a managed print services provider, and a 2017 Forbes Small Giant. Rob is passionate about delivering extraordinary experiences for his team members, customers and community. We asked him about his experience with silent retreats. Here’s what he shared. With meditation becoming more mainstream, many leaders are starting regular meditation practices. As a former skeptic-turned-proponent of this simple yet effective life tool, I speak from personal experience. It took me far too long to discover mindfulness, and I was at the brink of burn-out as I worked to grow my company, imageOne. Then one day—after reading about the benefits of meditation—I finally sat down and tried it. For the first time in years, I let my mind truly relax. That moment transformed my life, and soon I learned I was far from the only business leader committed to meditation. Just look at the growing list of high-level CEOs spreading the merits of mindfulness and meditation. From Salesforce’s Mark Benioff installing meditation rooms at his company’s headquarters to Bill Gates professing his love of practicing mindfulness and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey going on a 10-day silent retreat, personal introspection is making its mark in mainstream business. Thanks to this burgeoning interest, more leaders are seeking to jumpstart their meditation practices. Could a silent meditation retreat provide the perfect venue? If so, how could taking valuable time off work to spend in silence lead to better leadership? I wondered the same things. That’s why, many years ago, I attended a silent retreat. I learned that a long weekend of quiet reflection can change lives—and businesses—for the better. What Is A Silent Retreat?You’ve probably felt mentally exhausted at some point—being perpetually busy and never providing your mind with time to rest and rejuvenate is one consequence of today’s overly connected world. Just as our bodies require rest after exercise, our brains need a break from the constant bombardment of stimuli. That’s what a silent retreat provides. There are many fantastic programs around the world. I’d love to answer any questions so you can discover the perfect retreat for you and your schedule. Each year, I host the donothing Leadership Retreat, a four-day silent meditation retreat specifically for leaders. You can read details of what we do each day during the retreat here. Here’s an overview: Day one: Participants get acquainted with each other, the retreat site and your leader. We review meditation basics and power-off electronics. Day two: After a morning meditation, the silence begins in the afternoon. You’re discouraged from verbal communication, writing, reading or even making eye contact. Participants stay active with sitting meditation, walks through nature and retreat leaders sharing the power of mindfulness. Day three: As you grow more comfortable in silence, daily worries begin floating away, and you begin to understand what’s genuinely important: your presence, right now, in this very moment. Day four: By late morning, the silence gradually ends. The group discusses their experience and shares strategies for incorporating newly discovered mindfulness into daily life. As the retreat ends, you may find that you’re reluctant to power-on electronics and reconnect until absolutely necessary. Common Questions About Silent RetreatsAs a business leader, I know it takes more than a few paragraphs to explain to leaders all of the benefits of retreat. Here, I’ll answer a few common questions about silent meditation retreats. Do I Really Have to Stay Off the Internet? We’re all adults and retreats aren’t prisons. If turning off your phone or checking email is an absolute deal-breaker, no one will stop you from stepping away to catch up. But keep in mind, disconnecting is a rare opportunity overconnected leaders should embrace. Many past silent retreat participants say unplugging ended up as one of their favorite aspects of the retreat, including Paul Spiegelman, entrepreneur, restaurateur, author, speaker and founder of the Small Giants Community. As a busy business leader, Paul was anxious about disconnecting for a few days, but what he learned was eye-opening. “We’re not all that important,” Paul says. “Four days later, the world is still there. The world hasn’t fallen apart. So much of that distraction is just noise that we don’t need.” Imagine the clarity following a silent retreat. Everything’s still running just as it did a few days ago—but your mind now feels more aware, focused and present about the things that really matter. Won’t I Get Bored? Maybe. We’ve become wired to stay away from boredom. In our incessantly busy society, we’re taught that “doing nothing” is akin to laziness. Therefore, we fill spare time by staring at our phone, checking social media, obsessing over emails and over-planning events. As humans, we mentally can only handle so much. What if we permitted our brains to hit pause? Not just for a lazy afternoon (where we’d likely still be filling our brains with Netflix or scrolling through Facebook), but for a few days of pure mental cleansing. Silent retreats allow us to give our minds—the same minds that made us the leaders we are today—a real break. No distractions. No figuring things out. No responsibilities. Just learning to live with ourselves without all the filler. For a few days, let’s go back to the basics. How Does Meditation Help Me As a Leader? Just a short period of quiet introspection will provide you with irreplaceable tools designed to ease stress, improve decision-making, respond better to any situation and connect deeper within yourself This idea is perhaps summed up best in one of my favorite quotes attributed to Holocaust survivor, neurologist and author Viktor Frankl: “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Each day as leaders, we’re trusted to react to countless situations big and small. From writing important emails to answering complicated questions to hiring new team members, every action can potentially reverberate for years. Don’t we owe it to our teams and our loved ones to show up at our best? Don’t we owe ourselves the same?
The post Success Through Silence: Why Silent Mindfulness Retreats Create Stronger, More Present Business Leader appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2TWjTMF Follow these exercises to realize financial security—and so much more. In the third and final article in her series on personal health and finances, Megan Hottman shares a tool that helps her stay on course for financial success. Megan, also known at The Cyclist Lawyer, is a lawyer, entrepreneur and athlete. She formed her own law practice in 2010 at age 29 and joined EO in 2018. I’ve wrangled my personal overhead down to US$2,000 per month. That includes health, house and car insurance; cell phone and Internet; groceries and consumables; home maintenance and taxes. What this means: I must earn only US$24,000 per year to meet my basic needs. This fact makes me feel invincible! There is no noose around my neck threatening to choke me with financial stress. There is only freedom, excitement and curiosity about how I can continue to build a life I love—one that I don’t need a vacation from. Consider being an entrepreneur—whether you’re a trial attorney like me or a marketing guru or a tech innovator—and stepping into your arena with the sense of fearlessness that financial security and low overhead provides. There’s no longer any desperation—just a desire to do well for your clients and earn a healthy fee for your work. You can focus on the true issues and priorities, instead of lying awake at night panicked at the thought of not winning the trial or the business. In the movie Fight Club, main character Tyler Durden says, “be careful what you own because it will own you.” This expression appeared in my head every time I found myself taking a car to the shop for service or bringing clothes to the cleaners or dropping off jewelry for checkups in order to maintain its warranties, and on and on. I checked in with myself. I realized I felt resentment, anger and even loathing toward many of my possessions. They were dragging me down, sucking my energy, my happiness and my time! Enough was enough. So, I conducted a major purge of my home and office. I sold vehicles and trailers. I traded in jewelry or simply sold it off. I ridded myself of gadgets and “stuff.” I donated boxes and boxes of items to charities. I removed anything that incited feelings of resentment or shame for not using. Most importantly, I did not replace those items, those energy vampires. I savored the white space they left. The elimination of physical and visible clutter in my life was palpable, noticeable. I could breathe easier. This exercise tied in perfectly with my goal for 2018, the #YearOfNoShopping. Because as I was purging, I was also noticing how I didn’t want to buy new things to replace them. Going into my favorite shops, I found myself looking at items I would normally buy. But I would pick them up and then consider how I would likely feel after the purchase—how I would feel giving up that refreshing white space that I’d created. I left stores empty-handed and feeling jubilant. Triumphant. Lighter. More white space, less clutter. Watch your energy levels soar. Watch your feelings of being in control of your own destiny increase. Watch how it becomes easier to say NO to things like bad clients, because you don’t “need” their money. Play the game: Lower your monthly overhead
SAMPLE MONTHLY OVERHEAD CHART
Megan Hottman has raced three Ironman Triathlons and won state and national championships on her bike—all while running a successful law practice. She’s also known to lead circuit-training classes in the lobby of legal conferences to reinvigorate participants. Megan is an EO Colorado member who joined the organization in 2018. Read more from Megan at maximumenthusiasm.com.
The post How Low Can You Go? appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2JbezAw If your monthly overhead is overwhelming you, follow Megan Hottman’s tips to cut spending. This is the second article in a series about redefining success and achieving financial freedom. Megan, also known at The Cyclist Lawyer, formed her own law practice in 2010 at age 29. She has been an EO Colorado member since 2018. As is often the case in personal injury law practices, we can be funding many cases, while going a long time between settlements or verdicts—which means there is no money coming in but plenty going out. In early 2018, we happened to fall into one of those phases where we had lots of new cases requiring lots of up-front investments in records, experts and filing fees. Meanwhile, we did not have any cases resolving. We went on like this for many months in a row. My law firm has a healthy line of credit with the bank intended for times just like this. And my house is paid off, so I could borrow against it. Plus, I’ve got a great credit score that would allow me to charge a lot to my credit cards or even to take out a personal loan. These were all options, yes. Instead, I turned this dry phase into a game. I decided to see just how low I could cut spending. Here are a few of the steps I took to slash my overhead:
Most significantly, I sat down and made a list of everything I spend money on. I compiled credit card statements, bills, invoices and bank statements—and I made an inventory of every expense. Then, I went about the business of deciding what stayed and what could be reduced. For example, I could put my gym membership on hold in the summer, when I typically exercise outside. Internet companies will negotiate with us when we can find a competitor with a better deal. Cell phone offerings change and, often, we can get a lower rate as benefits improve. (For example, how many of you, like I was, are paying for minutes over your plan each month, when it’s often cheaper to switch to unlimited talk, text and data?) Something else I did during this time is to consolidate credit cards with benefits and then start using those benefits, points or credits. How many of us are so busy chasing our next dollar, we overlook the ones right under our nose? My credit card gives me rewards back as cash credits to my statement, but I had not yet signed up. Now, those credits auto-post to each statement, resulting in $200 or more deducted from my balance each month! My airline account had enough credits built up that I was eligible for a few free flights! Bottom line: I picked one airline, one rental car company, one personal credit card and one business credit card. I streamlined my accounts and finances. Less is more here, because it takes energy to maintain and oversee each account. Plus, these companies count on us being distracted or overwhelmed in the hopes they won’t have to pay us the benefits we were promised! It’s easy to bleed cash or credit and not even realize it. We’re all so busy that we rarely spend time looking at those smaller charges. But friends, those recurring “small” charges are the ones that eat us alive. It’s worth our time to pay attention and streamline. I also asked for higher limits on my two remaining credit cards. Why? Because now that I use a lower percentage of my overall available credit, my credit score has gone up, which means I can get better rates and better loans when I need them. So simple, yet so profound! Evaluate what you’re buying, the payments that are on auto-pilot and any service that can be negotiated or cancelled. Assess your inventory—for example, are there items you’ve stockpiled and stored that you could use first before buying more? After this dry spell earlier at work resolved, my firm has gone on to have its best year in business ever. The lessons I learned during the dry spell have remained. Now that we are flush again, I didn’t go back to a higher overhead. Instead, I’ve learned to keep the monthly overhead low, whether it’s a feast or famine season. During periods of abundance, I can then invest in myself and my future—by spending money on vacations, vehicles or real estate. Megan Hottman has raced three Ironman Triathlons and won state and national championships on her bike—all while running a successful law practice. She’s also known to lead circuit-training classes in the lobby of legal conferences to reinvigorate participants. Megan is an EO Colorado member who joined the organization in 2018. Read more from Megan at maximumenthusiasm.com. The post Investing In You appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2HuzfRJ If material items are costing you happiness, it’s time to redefine what success means. This is the first article in a series about redefining success and achieving financial freedom written for EO by Megan Hottman, also known at The Cyclist Lawyer. Megan formed her own law practice in 2010 at age 29. As part of her life’s mission to help lawyers and entrepreneurs become healthier and happier people who take care of themselves and remain fully charged, Megan launched her latest venture, TrialAthlete.com. I want to talk to entrepreneurs—and especially you lawyers—about your overhead. Why is it that most of us lawyers are fixated on driving the car that we believe lawyers should drive? Owning the art that we think lawyers should own? Living in the “right” home that’s located in the “right” neighborhood? Wearing the “right” suits and only the “right” jewelry? Let me be clear: If that painting or that car brings you pleasure, cool. If you can afford it and you love it, go for it. But if that expensive watch or townhome is putting you in debt and was purchased simply to impress colleagues or clients, then I don’t approve. If that pair of shoes or suit is how you’re presenting and defining success, then it’s time for you to rethink that definition. As Ryan Harris, Super Bowl 50 champion, said to me in a conversation on my podcast Maximum Enthusiasm, “Megan, that Cartier watch isn’t impressive to people who don’t know it’s a Cartier watch.” He was talking about National Football League players who blow big money on watches, raising the irony that a crazy-expensive watch isn’t impressive to people (like me) who have no idea what a Cartier watch even looks like. Consumption is killing us. I believe that lawyers more than any other profession are choked with overhead pressures. We overspend and, therefore, must generate more to compensate. How much joy does that add to our lives? Less than zero. Chasing business we don’t love and accepting clients we definitely hate causes our souls to corrode. Worse, it causes us to hate our profession. That expensive art on the walls costs us everything. Imagine yourself back when you were in law school. Perhaps your younger self is day-dreaming in the law library. You see your future self wearing a sharp suit, stepping out of a fabulous car and walking into a luxurious-looking law firm with an overpriced espresso drink in one hand and designer-brand briefcase in the other. Now, how many of us started spending money we didn’t have during law school? We work so hard to create an image of what we think success looks like, that we drown ourselves in debt and overhead—perpetuating the negative cycle of selling our souls for work that we don’t love in order to get the money we need.
Here is my experience share in a nutshell, lest you think I am preaching hypotheticals and have no substance to back up my position: I graduated law school at 24. I was blessed with parents who paid for my college education, but law school was up to me. I worked during law school running my personal training and aerobic instruction business and received scholarships, but still had to borrow money for tuition. I graduated in 2004 with US$55,000 in school debt. I made it my goal to pay it off within 10 years (even though as a judicial law clerk, I was making less than US$30,000 per year). It took me the full 10 years to get that debt paid off. Five years after graduating law school, I started my own firm. I was 29. I had plenty of school debt left to repay and US$5,000 in the bank. But I also had a fundamental drive to own my day and take back my time. If my business failed, I figured I could go back to working for someone else. As I saw it, I didn’t have much to lose—only a lot of freedom and control over my destiny (and daily commute!) to gain. I read all the books about hanging one’s own shingle. I recall being struck by how many of them begin by saying “take out a business line of credit and use it to fund your start-up costs.” The books usually told me to go out and hire a bunch of people whom I would “need” and office equipment we would “need.” I didn’t agree. I decided against taking on any debt and opted to build as I went. No loans. I started from a home office and met clients in coffee shops for the first two years. Then I leased office space in an office four miles from my home (because eliminating my commute was a huge motivator for me to work for myself). After a year of leasing that space, I negotiated the purchase of the entire commercial property. This investment allowed me to pay rent to myself and to invest in real estate. I’m happy to report—10 years after graduating law school—I paid off that law school debt, at just 34 years old. A second goal for myself was to pay off my house by the time I turned 40. As a result of saving up, not overspending and making some lucky real estate investments early on, I was able to pay my house off at age 38. I paid cash for my last three vehicles (always buying lightly used, never new) and I pay my credit card statements off every month. I am blessed to say that I have no personal debt. I worked hard to get it that way and I work hard to keep it that way. I thank my parents for teaching me: Don’t buy anything you can’t pay cash for. Don’t ever pay interest on your credit card bill. If you can’t pay cash for it at the time, it should not go on your card. I also credit my financial freedom to regular check-ins with myself. The reality for me is that debt or overhead cause me anxiety and stress. I don’t like knowing that the first chunk of my paycheck is already spoken for because I’ll have to pay off X, Y or Z every month. I sleep best at night when my overhead is low and when I have money in reserves to protect me in the event of an emergency. Anyone out there feel the same? If you spend a moment envisioning your life without debt or stifling overhead costs, do you feel lighter? Perhaps more in control? Relief? Perhaps even, more successful? Megan Hottman has raced three Ironman Triathlons and won state and national championships on her bike—all while running a successful law practice. She’s also known to lead circuit-training classes in the lobby of legal conferences to reinvigorate participants. Megan is an EO Colorado member who joined the organization in 2018. Read more from Megan at maximumenthusiasm.com. The post Are You In Over Your Head in Overhead? appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization https://ift.tt/2TJLbFH |
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November 2020
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