Category Archives: Goal Setting for Success

Integrity Booster: It’s all in the follow-through….

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By Laura Lee Rose, author of TimePeace: Making peace with time

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – Corporate Exit Strategist for the Blooming Entrepreneur – and I am a business and life coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  As a business coach, I sometimes receive late requests to change an appointment. Because of my busy schedule, it’s not easy to accommodate these types of last-moment requests.  In my professional life, I easily handle this with my cancelation and refund policies.  But how do we handle similar things in our personal and social lives?  Well, I recommend that we respond in similar tones.

Many people define integrity as: Saying what you mean, and doing what you say.
Most of us will say we have integrity.  If so, then why are we still:

  • late for appointments
  • avoiding certain phone calls and meetings
  • not following-through on commitments to ourselves and others
  • telling people what we think they want to hear
  • asking just short of what we really want, because we don’t think others will give us exactly what we want
  • say something we don’t really mean

All the above are examples of ‘a slip of integrity’.

Everyone has been disappointed by a seemingly sincere person.  And everyone has disappointed someone in the very same way.  Therefore, everyone has hiccups in their integrity.  It’s natural.  It’s human.  To me, integrity is a muscle that we can make stronger with practice and time.

A key integrity-muscle toning exercise is how we respond when we do fall off center.  Do we not only apologize, but go out of our way to make amends? Or do we make a string of excuses for the mistake? Do we blame others? Do we allow the shame of making a mistake compound the situation?

Generally, it is not the initial hiccup that causes people to question our sincerity and reliability.   It is actually how we handle our mistakes that define our true integrity.  People don’t normally lose respect for us when we make a mistake.  It’s how we take responsibility for that said mistake.

Toning exercises:
1) Acknowledge and be at ease with the fact that we will falter from time to time.
Think of a tight-rope walker.  They are literally walking the straight and narrow.  But if you look closely, the entertainer is constantly falling off balance.  They are constantly regaining their balance with the continuous adjustment of their body from the tip of their heads to the top of their ankles.  Their adjustments are so quick and subtle that, in the big picture of things, they are perfectly in balance and on course.

2) Define a personal refund or amend policy.

In any business and social endeavor, we are ultimately in the service of others. If we take on the ultimate service position, then we need a personal refund policy. You cannot be all things to all people.  Nor can you be all things to one person.  Because of this, some people will be disappointed at one time or another. Create a personal refund policy and protocol that you can immediately initiate and execute when you miss the mark. If you are prepared to make amends, your respond will be appropriate and immediate.

3) Immediately execute your refund/amend policy.
If you commit to a refund or amend policy ahead of time, you are more likely to take your word more seriously.

If you are interested in some real-world, real-life scenarios and examples, continue to the appendix section at www.lauraleerose.com/Integrity Booster.pdf

If you are interested in similar articles, they can be found at Laura Lee Rose’s Professional Career Development Library  (or subscribe to this link http://eepurl.com/dUi81)

If you are interested in more detail professional coaching or a professional coach to help you stay on target with those goals, please consider one-on-one coaching sessions to propel you forward faster.

Questions to Ask Yourself After You Get Fired

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As a business and life coach who specializes in time management and work life balance strategies, I recommend clients to consistently look forward (not backwards).

Therefore, the question “why I got fired” is not as beneficial as “what do I want to do now“.

Although there are many symptoms — there are usually only a few underlying reasons that anyone gets fired (I am making a distinction between being “fired” and “getting laid off”):

1) The ‘real’ job did not match what the effort the employee wanted to submit.
2) The employee and employer’s expectations were not understood or did not match.
3) The job didn’t lead the employee’s career in a direction that the employee wanted to go.
Given the above, better questions to ask yourself after you get fired are:

Creating a “No Excuse Zone” around YOU Professional Development Series

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Below is Part 2 of a 3-Part article designed to help IT and database professionals stay on top of their game in an ever-changing trade. Part 1 highlighted some IT scenarios. In this part 2, we will take a closer look.

Part 3 offers several steps toward creating „No Excuse Zones” in our home, office and thinking. For more examples that fit your specific work environment, please feel free to contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info.

We all have “excuses‟ as part of our normal, default speaking and thinking patterns. It’s normal. It’s human. We often entertain ourselves with stories of how we got to where we “don‟t want to be.”  We do not readily acknowledge these stories as „excuses‟ or blaming something or someone external to ourselves for our predicament; we‟re simply ‘explaining’ ourselves. But the longer we stay in the ‘explaining’ stage of the current situation; the longer we are stalled and not making forward progress.

 

Let’s look closer:

My task was to contact 3 hospitals to collect meaningful metrics on these five database features. Only one hospital has responded on only one database features. I am late with this project and don’t know how to proceed.

Our developer had not been keeping his team and stakeholders involved in his progress. He had been struggling with the 3 hospitals without conveying the obstacles he was encountering. He allowed the deadline to pass without a word of status. He was nervous and ashamed about his lack of progress on this task. Continue reading →

Corporate Exit Strategy Series: Handling Multiple Directives

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Whether we are in the corporate environment or starting our own small business, we have competing resources for our attention, skills and talents. How can we not only professionally handle these multiple and unclear job directives, but use these opportunities to propel us forward faster?

Tune in to the video below for suggestions you can put into practice starting today…

 

 

Laura Lee Rose is the Corporate Exiting Strategest for blooming entrepreneurs.
Laura helps others to easily transition into their next chapter whether it’s the next ladder of success within their corporate environment or into the entrepreneurial playground.

To sign-up for these tools, subscribe at  http://eepurl.com/gGZtP

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Creating a “No Excuse Zone” around your Home, Office and in your Thoughts

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Below is Part 1 of a 3-Part article designed to help IT and database professionals stay on top of their game in an ever-changing  trade.  Part 1 and 2 describe examples of how we inadvertently make excuses for our lack of progress in certain areas of our careers.

Part 3 offers several steps toward creating “No Excuse Zones” in our home, office and thinking. For more examples that fit your specific work environment, please feel free to contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info.

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – Corporate Exit Strategist for the blooming entrepreneur – and I am a business and life coach that specializes in Time Management, Project management training and work-life balance strategies.  Over the recent weeks, I have met with several clients who got trapped in the ‘blame game’.  Oh, I’m not saying they were intentionally blaming other people or external circumstances for their current situation.  But they were relinquishing responsibility and ownership to feel better about their current lack of progress.  Therefore, today I am introducing the idea of creating “No Excuse Zones” in your home, work and life.

We all have ‘excuses’ as part of our normal, default speaking and thinking patterns.  It’s normal.  It’s human.  We often entertain ourselves with stories of how we got to where we ‘don’t want to be’.  We do not readily acknowledge these stories as ‘excuses’ or blaming something or someone external to ourselves for our predicament; we’re simply ‘explaining’ ourselves.  But the longer we stay in the ‘explaining’ stage of the current situation; the longer we are stalled and not making forward progress.

 

Invitation to Join the 2012 Wish List Club

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – Corporate Exit Strategist for the blooming entrepreneur – and I am a business and life coach that specializes in Time Management, Project management training and work-life balance strategies.  Today I am spending time setting up for a magnificent 2012.  I am doing this by creating my 2012 Wish or Bucket list.

How would you like to create your own 2012 Wish or Bucket List?   Step one is to sign up for the 2012 Wish or Bucket List Club at http://eepurl.com/hQN3g   The intention is for those that want to succeed at even a faster pace to join this club to encourage and hold each other accountable.  Once you sign up, you will then receive additional instructions from there on where and how to write your 2012 Wish list.

Try to select 12 (and share only the ones that you feel comfortable with).  Once approved for the club,  we will each encourage and support each other in achieving those goals.   There will be no cost for joining this interchange. Continue reading →

Special Announcement: The 2012 Wish List Club is Here!

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Please follow this link:  http://eepurl.com/hQN3g   to be approved for the 2012 Wish List Club.

If you are interested in more detail professional coaching or a professional coach to help you stay on target with those goals, please consider one-on-one coaching sessions to propel you forward faster.

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Corporate Exiting Strategies for blooming entrepreneurs.
Helping others to easily transition into their next chapter whether it’s the next ladder of success within their corporate environment or into the entrepreneurial playground.

10 Career Boosting New Year’s Resolutions: Part 1

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This is the time of year that many people explore New Year Resolutions.  But I’m not here to talk about just any New Year Resolution.  In this 3 part article, I want to discuss changes that will boost your career to the next level.  These career boosting resolutions will assure that you have a happy and prosperous 2012.  You can view part 1 below:

 

 

 

Leave a comment in the space below to share some of your specific career-boosting resolutions for 2012.

 

Laura Lee Rose has been in the software and testing industry for over 20 years. She’s worked with such companies as IBM, Ericsson, Staples, Fidelity Investments and Sogeti in various client advocacy and project management roles. The techniques she used in her business coaching and client advocacy work saved these companies both time and money, which resulted in on-time, quality product delivery with higher client satisfaction.

 

Assuring you a prosperous 2012

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Many people will be wishing you a “Happy New Year”. You deserve more that just a wish. I want to assure you a happy new year. Take the following 4 steps to assure yourself an exciting and prosperous 2012.

The 11 Most Influentials in 2011
designed to assure a prosperous 2012

As the year comes to a close, please take time to reflect on the people, places, and events that have made you who you are today. This would include both affirmative and challenging entities; for those items that most frustrated us in 2011 helped us clarify what we actually prefer. Use those most trying people or periods to create your 2012 goals.

4 Steps to a prosperous 2012:

  1. Create a list of the top 11 most influential people, places or things in your 2011 (TO YOU).
  2. Consider people, books, movies, event, and anything that made you think or expand.
  3. Write them (even if it’s an inanimate object) a thank you note describing how you changed because of your interaction with them.
  4. For those letters you will be sending out, include
    a. your 2012 plans and goals (This allows them to keep their eyes out for those opportunities.)
    b. a request or plan to ‘kick’ your interaction with them to the next level.

Let me know how you feel when you have completed this assignment.

If you would like see some letter templates, please let me know.

Surrounding yourself with success

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Professional development series

This is Laura Lee Rose, Corporate Exit Strategist for the blooming entrepreneur, and I am a business and life coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. This is a segment from my Corporate Exit Strategy Leadership series

I’m driving back from a lovely weekend with a close friend. My friend’s son is twenty-one and living in her home rent-free. While I was there, my friend’s son had a series of good friends drop in throughout the weekend. Some spent the night and others had full access to the refrigerator, video games, etc. While my friend was happy that her son was safe, happy and had good friends, she was disappointed that he had quit his fast-food job. And he didn’t seem to be seriously looking for another position. He was taking some college classes but was currently taking a break. When his mom nags, he makes minimum motion toward filling out a job application at game/video retail shops. But it doesn’t seem to be self-initiated.

I certainly understood her frustration, so I asked, “He seems very popular. His friends seem very much at home here. Tell me more about them. Where do they live? What are they studying? Are they students in college? Do they have jobs? What are they passionate about?”

She shook her head and said, “Oh, they are very nice. They have known each other from high school. Matt shares an apartment with his brother. He doesn’t have a job. Joe lives with his grandmother. I don’t think he works. And Chris lives with his parents; he doesn’t go to school or work either…. “ Continue reading →