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How Alive is Your Business?

This morning I met with a client who is looking to enliven his business. He confided that, while his business is progressing and moving forward, the whole energy of the company seems lacking in enthusiasm. It is as if he, and everyone he works with, plods along feeling dutiful, but glum.

My client asked,How can I raise my company's liveliness level? When I look out at my business and I see it's all-OK, but no one's really excited anymore. How can I inspire the people I work with to catch fire with my business dreams, goals and ideas?

We would not have to look far to discover all sorts of turn-around solutions for business ventures that are sick or dying. But there's not much advice out there for blah businesses, those that are sort of humming along, but at a ho-hum pace. It's as though these businesses are suffering a mild depression-able to function day-to-day, but with very little joy or excitement at their core.

My client is very wise to not only notice what is going on but to decide not to accept such a flat energy level for his business. And there's no reason he should. He's not looking to get out of the business he's in; his business has not run its course, it still has fuel in the tank, ways to serve. So it makes sense for him to focus on ways his business can recover its lively and engaging and excited personality it had when it was new. It's not an impossible task. But it does require that he do some important inner work.

As my client explained his challenge, I saw it as an opportunity. I knew my first job with my client was to help him go inside, to see how he was responsible for creating his reality, and then help him refocus his energy in positive directions so he could experience a different, more positive reality. I told him that if he was willing to begin with himself, the changes he wanted were well within reach. Then I shared one of my favorite quotations of all time:

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
~ Mahatma Gandhi

I reminded my client that whenever we encounter challenges in business (or in any area of life for that matter), we tend to want to look out there for the cause. We want to fire the culprit, blame the economy, impose reorganizations-but the only real solutions begin first within ourselves.

I shared with him that real change begins when we are willing to assess where we are now and accept our current status (bored, enthusiastic, energized, drained, etc.) It might seem like the circumstances in which we find ourselves just happened to us, but that is never the case. Whether we know it or not, we've created our reality with our thoughts. And whatever we are living now is a result of thoughts we have already thought in the past. And the thoughts and feelings we are experiencing right now are determining our present and future realities.

Our thoughts create feelings, our feelings create a vibration or energy, and that vibration attracts results that match exactly. If we have been thinking boring thoughts or focusing on the negative aspects of the day-to-day grind, we will experience, even more boring results. By contrast, if we have been thinking lively thoughts or focusing on exciting business opportunities, we will experience lively feelings and, in turn, will create even more lively results.

Emotion = Energy in Motion

Just learning to notice and respond to what we are feeling is evidence of great emotional intelligence. My client's lackluster feelings are a sure sign that he's been focusing his thoughts on all the negative aspects of the business. Understanding how his thoughts, feelings and results are connected will allow him a chance to change his focus so he gets different results.

Are you like my client? Is your business alive and energized, or just so-so? Do your employees seem happy to be working for you? Do they come to you with ideas and innovations? Do they seem connected to each other, Are your customers excited about doing business with you? Or do they drag themselves in, plop themselves down and sigh their way through another day? Look in the mirror-chances are they aren't the only ones dragging, plopping and sighing.

If you are like my client, you need to take a close look at what your focus has created in order to interpret and respond in a manner that will raise your company's energy level-as well as your own.

It can be tricky to shift your focus when you have been in a negative space for any length of time, but you can begin by using that negative focus to redirect your thoughts in the opposite direction.

To review, here are the steps to raising your personal vibration so that you can enliven your company as well.
Step #1 Assess where you are in your business right now. Ask yourself some questions, and answer yourself honestly. Do you love your business? Is your company an exciting place to be? Is everyone mostly positive and generally upbeat? Do your people support your vision with enthusiasm? If not, don't panic. Congratulate yourself for taking responsibility for what you have created and move on to Step #2.

Step # 2 Accept what is. If you discover you've been less than positive, don't beat yourself up. That was then, this is now. Now you have a new awareness. From this aware perspective that tells you what you don't want, you will now be able to choose something better.

Step #3 Decide what your new desired result is going to be, then practice placing your thoughts on noticing where that already exists in your business. If you drift into the negative, just readjust your thoughts. Then, keep your antenna up for opportunities to take positive action in that same direction. Finally, put this inspired action into place in your organization.

Step #4 Continue to stay focused on your new choices and reward any new outcomes from taking this action. This will cause even more good feelings that will, in turn, generate even more positive excitement.

Article Source: http://www.dummiesguideto.com

Steve Kennedy is a professionally trained and certified co-active coach with a passion for "The Game of Business." Steve new book, 'Winning the Game of Business: The Entrepreneur's Quest for Ultimate Success', is due Spring 2007. To learn more visit: www.winningthegameofbusiness.com

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