“I’VE JUST LOST MY BIGGEST CLIENT!“ Edwin, a management consultant I coached many years ago, blurted out on the phone one day. “What am I going to do now?” Edwin’s one client provided him with half of his six-figure income. The loss was, he told me, through no fault of his own and at the “worst possible
Don’t Throw the “Quit Switch”
At the beginning of his classic self-help book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill tells the story of R. U. Darby and his uncle, who went out to Colorado from their homes in Maryland to strike it rich digging for gold. After finding a carload of ore, their mine ran dry. They dug on for
Even a DOG Can Do It…
My fellow coach Amir Karkouti shared a story with some of his colleagues recently that I want to share with you now: Some time ago, a team of scientists took a dog and put him in a cage where the floor had a very mild electric current running through it—just enough to make the dog
Don’t Forget the Most Important Person
If you’re like most people, you found yourself juggling all of the things you had to do this past month, including social obligations and gifts galore, and you may have left someone very important off of your list by mistake…YOU! If you could have anything in 2014, what would it be? And why don’t you
A TALE OF TWO ADVISORS
A favorite hypothetical of mine: Let’s imagine two professionals in the same field. We’ll call them Advisor A and Advisor B. We’ll give them the same educational background, the same training, the same resources and connections, and even similar personalities and work ethic. But when we put them out in the field, I can promise
Beating THE “BUT” MONSTER
You know the feeling: You gave the presentation of your life! You were “on fire”. Every question was met with a dazzling, intelligent, emotional, cogent, coherent answer. Every idea that you could share with your clients or prospective clients found its way into your head and flowed bountifully into your words. But… As you’re driving
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE
Two advisors start their careers with similar backgrounds—the same education and training—and similar connections and people skills. Within two years, one of them is extremely successful, and the other is struggling. Maybe “the other” isn’t bringing in enough clients, or the right kinds of clients. Maybe he is working so hard that he has no
Work Smarter IV: A Fear of Success?
While most people think that the biggest fear we face in our professional lives is the fear of failure, the fear of success is actually much more insidious and damaging. Lisa, age 28, had been earning $40,000 a year at her corporate job and switched to a straight commission financial job working for one of
Work Smarter III: Focus on the Vital Few
“There’s just never enough time to do all the things that need to be done!” Dave, an insurance producer, told me during a recent workshop. “Is it possible,” I asked Dave, “that you’re focusing on the trivial many instead of the vital few, and that’s why you don’t have enough time?” I explained to the
Take Mighty Swings
Baseball fans know that most of the great home run hitters also have unusually high rates of strikeouts. The most revered of these players, Babe Ruth, once advised a fan: “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” But most of us are too afraid of striking out to swing hard enough