Work Better, Not Harder

I am fortunate to be good friends with The Phone Lady. There are many important things that I have learned from her - the most difficult has been to stop using the word 'just'. That insidious little word just wants to sneak in everywhere. The problem is, once the word 'just' pops in, it diminishes the rest of the message: "I'm just calling to follow up..." (but it's really not important) "I just dropped in..." (but I didn't care if I saw you or not) How about...? "I'm calling to follow up..." (because it's important to me) "I dropped in..." (because I wanted to see you) It's definitely a struggle to keep that little 4-letter word out of my vocabulary! Here's Mary Jane's message about this - I encourage you to read it. Click to Tweet this Article

My business is all about making things easy for my clients. What I’ve learned is that making things easy isn’t the only secret to success. My clients need direction and motivation too. Getting the right mix of all three can be a challenge but, when it comes together, wonderful working relationships result. Chip and Dan Heath, in their new book “Switch”, use a wonderful metaphor – of riding an elephant. The book is all about creating change, in ourselves and in others. Here are 3 basic ways to do that: Direct the Rider : appeal to our brain Motivate the Elephant : appeal to our heart Shape the Path : make it easy While I’m all about shaping the path, I still have to direct the rider and motivate the elephant – both for myself and for my clients. I tend to try directing the rider first. Clear instructions should yield results… or so I think. Then I wonder why nothing happens. I have to remind myself… it is one thing to “get it” intellectually but quite another to “get it” em...