In this week’s group coaching calls for members of my 10 week and Boardroom programs - we explored the traits of the people pleasing part of your personality. 

We explored as a group the benefits as well as the limitations of this part of your personality. 

It was a really interactive session and this is honestly one of the main parts of your personality that I see in my coaching work that leads to burn out, overwhelm and not enjoying the work you do.

Some of the benefits we explored of the people pleasing part of your personality:

• Allows you to be genuine and approachable.
• Ensures you do great work for your clients.
• Helps your team and your clients to like you and enjoy doing business with you.
• Helps you develop rapport and great relationships with those around you.
• Ensures good repeat business from your existing clients.

PS - mind blown moment!! We also explored how this part of your personality can help you be incredible at marketing, sales and BD as it helps...

Leadership is a particularly interesting topic.

Most of the leaders and business owners I work with really want to be better leaders. 

They want to inspire the team of people around them.

They want to be able to lead with confidence. 

They want the skills to be able to go into any situation and know they will get a good outcome.

A lot of leaders and business owners I work with also really feel like they have to completely overhaul and fundamentally change who they are to be exceptional leaders. 

This is simply not true. 

Everyone has the ability to be a great leader and you don't necessarily need the job title or status or to be in charge of a team of people to turn up every day and to lead with confidence and authenticity. 

There are two areas I want to explore with you today that will allow you to dramatically improve your leadership skills. 

1) Be Humble 

People naturally gravitate to and respect leaders who are humble. 

Be willing to admit...

How do you want this year to play out for you, your team and your business? 

Who do you want to become this year?

When you get to the end of this year and look back – what will you have achieved? How will you have achieved it? Will you be proud of the person you have become? 

Last year had us all playing defensively. 

We have an incredible opportunity now at the start of a new year to get on the front foot and play offensively.

In today’s video I walk you through how to put solid strategies in place for how you can grow yourself, your team and your business this year. 

I want you looking back on 2021 and the things that you have done and achieved with pride, joy, contentment and a real sense of satisfaction. 

If you want to learn more on this topic, follow the link below to watch the video.

Click Here  to watch now.

Josh ‘Front Foot’ Stone

PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now:

1. Join the Leaders...

Happy New Year!! Wishing you and your family an incredible 2021!! 

If you’re like most people – you’re eager and excited to get stuck into the new year. You’ve left last year behind you, you’ve had a relaxing break, you’ve done your goal setting for the year and your raring to go! 

But goal setting is only the first part of the equation if you want to succeed this year.

By the time February comes around, most people have forgotten about their goals and are back to old patterns, old values and old ways of thinking, operating and behaving. 

In today’s video I walk you through a really simple concept and process called ‘6 Week Sprints’ that ensures you are consistently taking meaningful action towards your goals and your vision and ensures that you are incredibly intentional about the results you want to create in 2021. 

If you want to learn more on this topic, follow the link below to watch the video. 

...

Are you a perfectionist? Do you have perfectionist traits? 

Engineers by nature have a deep desire to get things 100% correct and perfect. And don't get me wrong, this personality trait is completely functional and needed when it comes to de-risking a project, system or process. In fact the general population who use or are affected by the things you design and create WANT you to use your perfectionist so that nothing goes wrong! 

However, sometimes this perfectionist trait can cause friction within yourself as well as your clients and your team. 

Let me explain. 

Have you ever had a client call you up and ask you to get your deliverables done more quickly? Or a client bring forward a project deadline by a week just because they can? Have you ever had a team member get frustrated with you that you're taking too long on the element that you're working on and it's delaying them getting started?

And when this happened, did you FEEL yourself getting frustrated,...

Well here we go - we're into the run into Christmas! What a year!

What I notice at this time of the year is that leaders and business owners start to get complacent and take their foot off the pedal. 

It’s been a hard and full on year - I know. But if you want to finish this year strong AND set the start of your 2021 up right - then you have to keep going. 

This is where consistency matters. 

It’s the little things you do every day that really matter and allow you to build momentum - and momentum generates results!

Watch and listen for those little voices in your head that tell you things like:

• It's been a hard year - just take the rest of the year slowly.
• Don't worry about following up that client / proposal / opportunity - leave it until the new year.
• I can't be bothered having that hard conversation with a team member or client - I'm tired and don't want the angst. 

Use your calendar to your advantage here. This way you are physically creating...

Something I am noticing more and more - particularly since the whole Covid thing started - is the tendency for wanting to hide until this whole thing is over. 

I get it. This is unchartered territory.

No-one really knows how the rest of this year and into next year will play out. 

This fear of the unknown and not knowing how things will work out is causing people to want to hide, shy away, not take action and just generally procrastinate. 

At the moment - the whole leadership piece is really real. It's actually needed more than ever.

Your team and your business need you to be charting the ship and steering them into calmer waters. They need you to be guiding them, making decisions, speaking your mind and making things happen.

.....and you can't do this through in-action and procrastination. 

A big fear in a lot of my clients that I'm working with at the moment is not wanting to stand out and make a decision for fear of making the wrong one.

I completely...

Today I'd like to explore with you a really simple, but highly effective technique my clients are using right now to set their weeks up so they win. 

It all comes down to being really intentional with how you start your week. 

Most leaders and business owners get to work or get to their office on Monday mornings and they just start 'doing'.

They just start answering emails or phone calls and get stuck straight into delivery mode. 

I'd like you to do something completely different with the start of your week. I'd like you to block out 2hrs somewhere on Monday morning which will be your time to get intentional and strategic about your week. 

In this 2hr block I'd like you to think about, strategise and get clear on your actions around the following:

1)  Business development. This could mean reaching out to a potential client for coffee or lunch, strategising about who you're targeting next with your BD strategy or even sitting down to write a proposal.

...

As an engineering leader or business owner in the industry at the moment - building and showing the traits of a resilient leader is so critical right now.

The people around you need someone to steer the ship. They need someone who is calm under pressure and who makes decisions quickly when they need to. 

Your team and your business can't afford to have someone at the helm who is unsure, hiding and cracks under pressure. 

Now resilience is a difficult skill to master - particularly when you are trying to navigate your own emotions, thoughts and feelings through this pandemic as well as being there for your team and your business.

Today I want to give you 3 strategies to become a more resilient and more effective leader during these challenging times. 

1) Build Awareness

The first step is building awareness of yourself, your thoughts, your feelings and your emotions in any given moment. The easiest way to do this is to set reminders for yourself on your phone throughout...

Today I want to explore with you an area that a lot of engineering business leaders and business owners aren't getting right at the moment.

Everyone is rushing around like crazy, trying to make sense of what is going on in the market and in the world at the moment. They're not sure what the future holds and everyone wants to make the most of the now.

Because of all the rushing - rushing to do BD, saying yes to everything, rushing to get projects done, rushing the delegation process to internal teams etc. - no-one is pausing long enough to get clarity on what it is that they're actually supposed to be doing and actually trying to achieve.

The problem with rushing and the problem with taking action without clarity - is that it leads to mistakes, it leads to rework, it leads to unhappy clients who may start looking elsewhere, it leads to wasted money and resources and it leads to not profitable projects - all of which is completely unsustainable. 

If you're looking to thrive right...