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With every interaction and transaction, a business gives its customers a positive, neutral or negative feeling. The last two have no place in a thriving company, while the first is a necessary component to happiness and success. What business can afford the negative impact on its customers, and therefore the bottom line, from the lack of positive experiences?
Give yourself and your business the gift of an honest self-appraisal. If you find that your leadership style, current team, work environment or your customer service could benefit from the support of a qualified coaching professional, then take that next step and invest in your excellence. The success of your company and the happiness of everyone involved is on the line.

If you’re like most people, you’ve worked for a variety of business owners and managers throughout your lifetime. Some of them likely stand out in your mind as individuals you enjoyed working for, while others created an unpleasant work environment. It’s also likely that you have a clear preference for the type of person you would prefer to work for.
There is a vast difference between being a leader and being a boss. A leader influences, collaborates, guides, inspires, mentors and supports others to foster movement in a desired direction. Conversely, a boss is someone who exerts control over others, often in a domineering and demeaning manner, utilizing fear and intimidation to extract more effort from those they oversee.

When people bring their professional baggage home their personal lives are affected in real ways, too. The ripple effect can be felt far and wide by family and friends. The adverse effects of this situation can damage and even destroy marriages, alienate children and cause others to avoid these unhappy, frustrated, negative and often angry people altogether.
Realizing that life is not all about your work — that work is only a part of your life — will help you strike a successful life/work balance that leads to greater levels of happiness and success on and off the job.

Some people believe there is a very distinctive barrier between our personal and professional lives which keeps the two separate. However, when you really step back and take an honest and discerning look at your own experiences and those of others you have worked with, this is clearly not the case.
Unwanted, unexpected and truly challenging situations are a part of life for each of us. They can be difficult and daunting, but they don’t have to damage or destroy a career or business. If your ability to function at a high level and to be successful and happy is compromised by the issues in your personal life, make the strong choice to get the assistance you need so you can bring your best, not your baggage, to work.

When customers like, or better yet love, your business, they are going to give you their patronage and will happily share their glowing recommendations with others. Business owners who want to create enterprises that will survive challenging times and thrive in the easy times, should consistently endeavor to create raving fans of their customers.

The most effective way to create raving fans of your customers is to first create raving fans of your team members. They are the ones who interface with your patrons and deliver customer service. In many instances, your team members control the quality of the products and services you provide.

A very real challenge business owners face in building a solid team is a lack of credible, unbiased information. When considering the future growth of your business, having clear, unbiased and accurate information that positions you to build and develop the best team possible is a key ingredient to your success.
• Are you looking for a way to hire correctly the first time, reduce turnover and increase retention?
• Do you wish you had access to clear-cut information that would allow you to place your team members in positions where they would be the most effective and the happiest?
• Do you want to enhance engagement and productivity?
• Would discovering the specific areas for the training and professional development that would deliver the greatest return on your investment appeal to you?
If you answered yes to any one of these questions, then accurate, nonbiased, comprehensive and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission compliant assessments may be just what you need.

“More often than not, people start a business based on what they know—what they are good at and comfortable doing—not necessarily what they are passionate about. Sometimes, entrepreneurs choose a product or service they believe will make them rich, but they don’t genuinely believe in it or would even use it themselves. This creates a disconnect that even riches cannot compensate for.
“Believing in the products and services you provide is a necessary ingredient in enjoying business ownership. Integrity not only feels good, but it also attracts and retains talented team members and increases the number of loyal customers you serve. Integrity enhances the fun, pleasure, and success you experience in running your business.”