Imagine having a business that lets you focus on what you really enjoy and all the other aspects are handled for you. If you enjoy working with your clients, but don't like marketing and getting new clients, imagine that a system exists that automatically and always brings to you your ideal clients.

Imagine being so energized and magnetized that

Imagine having a business that lets you focus on what you really enjoy and all the other aspects are handled for you. If you enjoy working with your clients, but don't like marketing and getting new clients, imagine that a system exists that automatically and always brings to you your ideal clients.

Imagine being so energized and magnetized that the perfect opportunities and resources flow to you and that your business really works for you - versus that you really work for your business.

To get a flavor for some of the topics and teachings in this program, go to the following blog about The Four Agreements in the Workplace

In Energize Your Business! programs, you will explore many tools and techniques to create a new business or re-create your existing business so that you are feeling highly energetic and developing serious business systems to let grow your business to support the dream of your life.

The Energize Your Business! program takes you through energizing, insight-gathering exercises and processes to leverage your time, your money and your energy to create maximum joy and income given a minimum amount of time and effort.

• The Toltec Masteries and The Four Agreements
• Business Systems Designed to minimize work and maximize energy and revenue
• Your Daily Energy Builders Daily Action Items
• Journaling Exercises, Projects and Outreach between calls

For more information and to register, please email kevin@earthandlight.com or call Kevin Murray at 203.410.8150

Lead Generation Systems

Lead Conversion Systems

Client Fulfillment Systems

Systems can be formal or informal or anywhere in between, but every business has them. The more formal the systems, the more repeatable the results. And if you want to create a quality experience for your clients, you don't want to leave anything to chance.

In this blog, we will begin to layer The Four Agreements brought forth by don Miguel Ruiz, with these business systems.

What are business systems? And where are they in your business? They are in everything, behind everything and everywhere all the time. Really.

Why are Business Systems important? Because all the results that you and your business create will flow from the systems you have. And results are Profitability, Employee retention, Client satisfaction etc. i.e. Big Important Results. I'd say that primary divisions of systems in any enterprise are systems that: 1) Generate Leads 2) Convert Leads to Clients and 3) Fulfill on whatever it is that your clients want you to do.

Sometimes it is hard to see the systems operating in your own business. As Mr. Deming said "A system can not understand itself. The transformation requires a view from outside." A fairly Toltec point of view, don't you think? If you'd like to borrow an external point-of-view to look at your business, call me or email me, this is part of my Coaching practice.

One big distinction that helps is that these systems exist on a continuum from very informal to very formal. The way the phone is answered is a business system. If it is scripted and the same all the time no matter who answers, then it is likely a formal system. If the way the phone is answered changes depending on who answers or how they are feeling, it is a rather informal system, yet it is a system none the less.

If you chunk your business processes down to the things that happen between the time a prospective client first learns about you to the time you have a satisfied new client (providing referrals) then all of these little pieces are parts of the Overall system and can be systems in and of themselves. It may seem silly or busy work to try and define systems for minutiae like opening mail, checking phone messages etc, but much organizational energy is wasted by having the same things done different ways at different times by different people. And you aren't going to maximize the results you want if your systems are informal and/or not adhered to. Let's say that you do a mailer to 300 people once a month. A good system might include a checklist with how you print, copy, fold, where the forms are on the computer, database maintenance instructions etc. Another system might be to approach it like it's a new task every time. Can you see that there might be, if not a "best" way, at least a "better" way to do this task that would benefit from systemization?

Another system example that is very big in my business is the Proposal System. If I didn't have a solid system and process for reviewing project needs and itemizing costs, labor and material inputs, I wouldn't have much control over project profitability. I don't do this different ways. I have what is currently "the best" way to do it. I say "currently" because my systems are dynamic and changing and always being improved!!! [ wow 3 exclamation points-that must be really important]

I would not counsel you to break everything down this way, and it is usually best to let the people working "in" the system to work "on" the system - they'll feel more ownership and system shifts will more likely stick. [for extra credit- say "Sticky System Shifts " 3 times out loud real fast - and send me a comment- you'll earn 10 Toltec points]

*Big System-Shifting Recommendation* - work on the systems that will yield big results quickly and that will reduce areas of upset. If we borrow the idea from Class 2 that says that personal upsets point to systems issues, follow this through to find where are the most upsets in the business. Is Shipping not shipping well and creating big headaches? Are there quality issues requiring costly rework? Are computer issues slowing down everyone's productivity? Wherever there are big upsets, there's a strong clue that a systems shift could be warranted.

Some shifts are very easy and quick and can implemented without any costs. A great example is a retail store with their informal greeting system. How many times have Sales Associates come up to you and said "Can I help you with anything?" Usually we say no, maybe yes, but this is a closed-end, yes or no question with a strong chance of ending the conversation. In a new more formal system, the Sales Associate might ask " What brings you in to our store today?" This might begin a conversation to help this customer buy something they wanted. It's a small system shift, but it could create a great difference over a volume of visitors.

Where do you see systems in your business that are causing you, your employees and clients distress? A great piece of homework [thanks to Joanne Dunleavy] is to look for and write down all the systems you see next time you go out for a meal. It's quite eye opening. With just a small shift in your own attention, you can become a great Systems Thinker.

For Class 1 of this series- The Four Agreements in the Workplace

For Class 2 of this series- click here - for The Four Agreements in the Workplace - Don't Take Anything Personally

For Class 3 of this series- click here - for The Four Agreements in the Workplace - Dont Make Assumptions

The third of the Four Agreements is "Don't Make Assumptions." In the book by don Miguel Ruiz, the author tells us "The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth." It is also a big, error-prone shortcut to communication. And here is where this agreements meets the workplace. If our habit of making assumptions is getting in the way of effective two-way communication, we are wasting a lot of energy in our places of work. Later in this page, I'll share with you the "CURE*" to no longer making assumptions. Using this cure will make your time and energy much more effective in all areas of your business.

In our business day, when we speak, we assume that the other people know what we are talking about. We assume that they have the same background and knowledge that we do. The reality is that we are coming from two different worlds (if there are only two in this conversation) - the more people- the more worlds are coming together. What do I mean by "worlds?" We each create our own versions of life and reality. Based on all of our knowledge, and based on what has been recently happening in our lives. It's as if we have been traveling to some strange and exotic locale on our own, and then we return to interact with others who have been off on their own journeys. We assume that people are on the same page with us, but that is rarely the case.

As we begin a new conversation, whether it's a sales call, or a vendor communication or a meeting, we've been thinking about this and preparing for it - and they have not. The other has been involved with many other things, none of them having to do with us. There is a little bit of "taking things personally" here.

We launch in to whatever is on our agenda and it might take quite a few minutes, if ever, for the other person to be on the same track as us. The result is that we spend a lot of energy sending out communication that is not being received. Then we might either: have to repeat ourselves, wonder why we're not getting our message across, or get upset that the other person is not paying attention. In all three cases, we were assuming that the other was open, willing and ready to be attentive simply because we were!

A more energy efficient approach is to check in, *ask questions, see how the other person is and see where they are at in this moment. This might take a little more time, and we may feel that is a little off-task. But if we can tee up a conversation or meeting this way, we spend more time on-purpose, there is more real relating going on, and our communications are much more effective.

*The cure to making assumptions is to ask questions. Be curious! The time will come in any conversation to address your agenda items. But if you adopt a stance of curiosity, and really demonstrate that through questions and listening, you'll be amazed at what might happen. You'll get your business done, but you'll also get to know another human being a little better.

Try adopting Curiosity for your next call or meeting and let me know what shifts for you. Please use the comments to share this with other readers.

For Class 1 of this series- The Four Agreements in the Workplace

For Class 2 of this series- click here - for The Four Agreements in the Workplace - Don't Take Anything Personally

For Class 2 1/2 of this series click here -for  The Four Agreements - Systems Thinking and Systems Point-of-View

Thanks, Kevin

[to review Class 1 - click here]

We're working with The Four Agreements to see how we use and lose energy in ourselves and our organizations. In this section, you'll see where much of your energy goes and how to recapture it to deploy for better results in your life and work.
[**BIG VALUABLE CONCEPT DOWN BELOW!!]
In our individual lives we use a lot of energy in a day to support the stories and ideas of who we think we are. We defend. We may argue. We may criticize and gossip about others who don't agree with our points of view. For most of us, before we begin a path of Awareness, we aren't really very conscious about the beliefs and opinions that we are upholding. We simply believe them as if they are true. We have faith in them without question. And many of these ideas and concepts are merely points-of-view; they are not necessarily true.

However, there is a big connection between these beliefs, how we hold them, and the emotional and energetic response they create in our own lives. Many times someone will say something in an off-hand way, and we may have an emotional response. Someone may say something about all the rain we're having. We might have a reaction like "they are so negative, I don't like negativity like this around me. I'm not like that person." We may not say anything, but the mind goes automatically into a reaction. The reaction causes physical responses in our body, like tightness, heat and tension. And then our mind interprets the physical response as an emotion, like anger or fear. This begins a feedback loop between the mind and body, and can use up a lot of energy - just because someone noticed that it's raining!

This is called "Taking it Personally." Even if what the person is saying really has nothing to do with us, we take it personally. We all do this a lot. The good news is that once we begin to develop awareness of the comings and goings of this responsive mechanism, we can begin to make different thoughtful choices instead of having automatic reactions.

In the workplace, there is an organizational "mind" made up of all the culture, history, beliefs and "how-we-do-things-around-here" just like in our individual mind. We can use our emotional reactions in the workplace to bring more light to the pieces of the Systems mind that could use a little transformation.

I remember a time when I was not happy with an Office Manager in my company. I felt that she was always complaining and telling others about how she was a victim in many parts of her life. She was always complaining. And I started to be "always complaining" about her to anyone that would listen. [Do you already see where this is going?]
After a few months of this, I saw in one sparkling, clear moment, that there was no difference between her complaining and mine. I was taking her complaints personally, even though they (mostly) had nothing to do with me! Once I saw this and got a big laugh at myself, I began to see that I could have a choice when my complaints would rise up. I could say "oh, that's just old automatic stuff, let me really listen and see what is here and if there is anything for me to do about it."
I noticed that some of what she was saying, and where she was taking things personally came from holes, gaps or lack of clarity in our business systems. This is the magical insight in this section. If you notice yourself or someone else really taking things personally at work, chances are there is a System issue behind it.
[**This is the Big Idea]
Imagine shifting your own reactions when you see that someone or something isn't working as you wish in your business. Instead of the automatic reaction of " this shouldn't be happening" or "why me?" or "this customer is a jerk" imagine saying "what is the system issue or need behind this?"
Suspending the automatic "taking it personally" in this way allows to you reclaim 50% or more of your wasted energy in a day. (that is a fact I made up.)
But try this and let me know what you find. Please use the comments feature of this blog and let's create some dialog here with real-life examples. Or email to me at Kevin@earthandlight.com.
We'll continue this idea and we still have 3 other agreements to tackle. Thank you for being part of this conversation!
Kevin

For Class 1 of this series- The Four Agreements in the Workplace

For Class 2 1/2 of this series click here -for  The Four Agreements - Systems Thinking and Systems Point-of-View

For Class 3 of this series- click here - for The Four Agreements in the Workplace - Dont Make Assumptions