Awareness and Mastery -Two Essential Keys To a Successful Small Business
Summary:
Get the most out
of your employees with two simple keys - awareness and mastery. Say goodbye to thick training manuals and
long training sessions.
Keywords:
successful small
business, business action plan, employee training tips, employer overload,
small business success story, business success,
Article Body:
At the heart of
it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path."
~ George Leonard
US pioneer in human potential
We often hear managers complaining that their employees aren’t productive,
don’t listen, and just can’t consistently get the job done. As a youth sports coach, I hear coaches with
similar complaints—the kids don’t listen, don’t know where to go, and don’t try
very hard. I can’t relate. The boys on my team are usually focused, do
what I ask of them, and work hard. As a
business owner, my employees are focused, do what I ask of them, and work
hard. What am I doing that is different
from the rest? And what can this teach
you about running a successful small business?
As a coach, I make my boys’ jobs very simple.
I ask only two things of them. I
ask them to master one shot and I ask them to be aware of what is going on
around them. Of course, we work on
defensive and offensive strategies, but both of those revolve around the two keys
that I gave them for success—awareness, and mastery.
I teach awareness by constantly asking them to be aware of where the ball is
and at the same time to be aware of where their teammates are and where their
opponents are. I teach them how to see
the ball and their opponent when he doesn’t have the ball. Sounds simple, but for ten-year-olds this is
work.
I teach mastery by assigning homework to each boy. In the second week of practice, they have to
show me a spot on the court from which they can make a shot every time. I don’t care if it is from just two feet under
the basket. I want them to know they can
make it every single time. As the season
progresses, they may gradually move their spot further and further out, but I
still ask that they be able to make their shot every time unguarded in
practice.
These two simple concepts have a tremendous effect on the boys during their
games. They have incredible confidence
in their ability to make shots because they “know” that they will always make
it. I don’t need to yell at them like
other coaches about where they should be on the court because they have
developed awareness of what they are doing and seeing. Now let’s see how you can use this in your
successful small business.
As a business owner, I put these two key principles to work in training my
employees. From the first day on the
job, I work with them to be aware of what tasks are needed, what I expect of
them, how I want customers treated, etc.
And I ask them to master tasks and customer scripts. Once they are mastered, I open it up for them
to adlib just like with my players. When
correction is needed, it is usually in one of these two areas. They are either unaware of what is needed or
they haven’t mastered the task at hand.
Not only does following these two concepts make it easy for me to get results
with my players and employees, but it also brings incredible results. My first team lost only one game all season
and my employees rarely lose a sale. My
businesses and products win awards earned by my employees. And, as a bonus, everyone enjoys themselves
with this simple structure. I knew I was
doing it right when the father of one of my boys told me that his boy enjoyed the practice so much that he chose to come to practice instead of going to see our
professional basketball team play one night.
And I know it works with my employees because they show up on time
happy, focused, and ready to work.
Remember, awareness and mastery are two essential keys to a successful
small business.
For more tips on creating a successful small business, visit http://www.biznbeyond.com
and get your free copy of From Vision to Action --A Five Step Process For
Getting Started, Getting Unstuck, and Eliminating Overwhelm
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