Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Company-Culture-the-Personality-of-Your-Business-and-Brand.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Company-Culture-the-Personality-of-Your-Business-and-Brand.html Is your company culture fear-based, trust-based, or strengths-based? Take a few moments to think about it. How would you know the difference? It’s vital information that reflects the personality of both your business and brand. In a fear-based culture the traditional hierarchy dominates. Managers tell uninspired employees what to do and how to do it based on the assumption that the company is a machine that needs willing servants to function properly. Does this sound overly simplified? In reality, the fear factor might express itself with more subtlety but it always comes down to a one-way communication channel. It is no surprise that creativity and innovation suffer while productivity slows down when fear is the motivator. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Are-You-in-the-Right-Business-How-to-Discover-the-Business-You-Were-Meant-to-Do.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Are-You-in-the-Right-Business-How-to-Discover-the-Business-You-Were-Meant-to-Do.html You might not outright ‘hate’ what you are doing in your business, but if you don’t enjoy going to work each day, you might want to figure out why. No one loves work all the time, but if you find that what you do is dragging you down rather than lifting you up, you should take notice. Many unhappy workers wind up feeling frustrated and defeated by what they do, when in fact the real reason they dread work, is that they’re working way under their potential. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Become-a-Master-in-Listening.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Become-a-Master-in-Listening.html Did you know that the Chinese symbol for listening consists of 10 distinct elements? They combine meanings like “king, ear, eye, heart, sense and respect” into one symbol. What does that tell you? Obviously the entire culture of the Far East perceives listening as extremely valuable and is trained to get a lot of information beyond the spoken word: Context, emotion, cultural background or intentions. As a sharp contrast, our Western culture emphasizes verbal and written expression, powerful speaking, articles and books as part of individual development. This cultural underpinning is subconscious and might impact our readiness to listen effectively. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Powerful-Questions-to-Impact-Change.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Powerful-Questions-to-Impact-Change.html Questioning is one of the most common leadership tools. But, what is your intend when asking a question? Do you want to find out the progress status on a certain project? Or do you want to engage and motivate a team member to accelerate in their performance? Or is it both? Now ask yourself: How successful is your questioning in which situation? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Are-You-Maximizing-Your-Genius.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Are-You-Maximizing-Your-Genius.html Most people go to bed thinking about the things they could improve or do better in and very few think about the things that they did well that day. Living your natural genius is all about capitalizing on your strengths and exceptional talents and delegating your areas of weaknesses. Ask yourself: How much more could you accomplish in your business if you were an expert in your strengths and knew how to delegate your weaknesses effectively? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/5-Lies-You-Learned-at-School-That-Are-Holding-You-Back-in-Your-Business.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/5-Lies-You-Learned-at-School-That-Are-Holding-You-Back-in-Your-Business.html In the 25 years since graduating from high school, I’ve come to the conclusion that many of the lessons I was taught in school haven’t helped me succeed in my life and business. And I’m not alone. These damaging lies cost people friendships and fulfilling relationships, rob them of joy, and hold them back from having the success in business they deserve. But once you can identify the lessons, you can let go of the old baggage and take off the brakes that have been holding you back. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/No--Your-Number-1-Tool-to-Succeed.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/No--Your-Number-1-Tool-to-Succeed.html Did you know that the word NO is the most important word in the English language for people who are determined to succeed? We did several workshops on living your natural genius for larger corporations over the past few years. Every participant was asked for his or her opinion of the words YES and NO. The results weren’t very surprising. Most people have positive associations with the word YES and negative associations with the word NO. This is a very common perception, but does it really represent the truth? If you ask me, NO it does not. The ability to say NO to discouragement, distraction and other negative influences is essential for being successful, especially for smart people. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Are-You-Too-Smart-to-Succeed.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/2675/Are-You-Too-Smart-to-Succeed.html When we worked in our educational consulting business in Germany many years ago, parents came to us because their kids were not able to get the grades they wanted. When working with these children we saw the following scenario played out over and over again. These children weren’t slow learners or stupid, they were actually too smart. When taking an exam these brilliant students would see so many complex ways to answer test questions that their answers were far too complicated. The teachers who evaluated their test could not make sense of these advanced answers and the students received failing marks as a result. Similar to these children many business owners do not realize how much more they can accomplish when they simplify their thinking and focus only on one idea at a time.