Career progression

When I started my career, I wanted to be an athletic trainer in order to help other injured athletes return to their desired level of activity safely. Since I did not have any sports medicine care when I was younger, I struggled with injuries that could have been prevented, detected and properly treated.

Over time, I realized I wanted to be more involved with the business side of health, sports and fitness, and this is what prompted me to get my graduate degree in sport management. Since I never took any business courses in my undergraduate program I thought this would give me the theoretical background I would need in order to be a better business person. I have always liked numbers and investing, but I didn't realize how much I enjoy the concept of business, management and leadership. I have discovered a passion for diving into the financial information of organizations to better understand how they function and to drive decision making.

Since I wanted to progress into administration, I also started talking with those that held positions I was interested in obtaining. During these conversations there emerged some trends.
Quite a few of the executives I met with got their start by having a manager who took an interest in their career and helping them develop the skills they needed to progress. When opportunities arose, these managers then had the chance to step into larger organizational roles.
Another trend I noticed was similar to the first and it was that their manager took a chance on them based on something that they saw inside. While they may have lacked education or experience in the position they were chosen for, their manager hired them anyways and then trained them in how to perform the job and even set up with continuing education opportunities. In this way, they hired the person based on intangible characteristics and developed the experience that they thought they needed to succeed.

From what I gathered, few people make their own way. They tend to perform well in a job with a manger who takes the time to work with them to progress their career. Then, when an opportunity arises they are able to move into a larger role.

I want to share this with you to help you progress your own career. When you are looking for jobs, look for those managers who take an active interest in developing their people, this will fast track your career learning and progression. If you are already in a management role, remember how you got there and don't forget to pay it forward. There are a lot of talented individuals out there just waiting for someone to notice them and take an interest in them so they can achieve great things. Don't miss out on identifying these future stars.

Words of wisdom

Warren Buffett is well known for his investment success and his frugality. He has crafted a life that has netted him billions of dollars and yet, he remains humble.

 

His phrases around investing are famous and he takes a very forward, simple approach to his businesses. Some of the people that he has influenced have taken the time to write about some of his phrases and applied them to everyday life. The following is a guide book for how to live your life, spend your time and make decisions. All of us could benefit from heeding this wisdom.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin/2015/10/04/not-for-investors-only-top-10-nuggets-of-buffett-wisdom-for-life-success/2/

 

Your personality affects your career

This is a fascinating article that looks at the links between personality type and career trajectory.

 

Your personality has an effect on your future potential. If you want to see where you stack up, check out the full infographic.

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/surprising-ways-your-personality-affects-your-career-2015-7?utm_content=BISelect&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20%28Wednesday%20Friday%29%202015-07-29&utm_source=Sailthru&nr_email_referer=1&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select

Goal setting

Precision Nutrition put together an article explaining their coaching process and why they have been so successful.

They have developed a 2 part process to goal setting and attainment: breaking the goal down into skills and the skills into specific daily practices. To determine what those practices are they use another set of parameters: simple, segmental, sequential, strategic and supported. What this means is that whatever the larger, grander goal is can be broken down into specific skills that need to be either worked on or achieved and then putting a daily routine in place to attain those skills.

The best part about this process is that it can be used to reach any goal. This system is adaptable and applicable to a variety of arenas, not just for fitness and nutrition. By making the goal smaller and putting together daily action steps the skills necessary for attainment can be developed. Having some guidance and accountability in place is also helpful. Having some way to monitor and assess your progress is a vital component of goal attainment.

Give this a try the next time you have a big goal you want to accomplish. The daily application of small, dedicated practices can add up in a big way.

You can check out the whole article to see how it can be used with real world examples by clicking below.

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/pn-coaching-secrets-revealed?utm_source=PnCoachingSecretsRevealed&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=PnCoachingSecretsRevealedEmail

Leadership Styles

There have been many, many theories on leadership and the various styles that leaders utilize given their personality, environment, followers and other variables. In an HBR article, Dan Goleman assess six that are connected to emotional intelligence:
1. Coercive-demanding compliance
2. Authoritative-mobilize toward a vision (more transformational than transactional)
3. Affiliative-building bonds, empathy
4. Democratic-consensus through participation
5. Pacesetting-setting high standards for performance
6. Coaching-develops people for the future


Of the 6, 2 are negatively viewed by employees and are not beneficial in most situations, those are coercive and pacesetting.


Effective leaders will improve their emotional intelligence and choose a style dependent on the situation. They have learned how to utilize the various styles effectively to lead others and generate results.


Research has demonstrated that leaders with strong emotional intelligence perform better than those with limited EI. Those that possess it are better able to communicate with individuals and a team, create a feeling of shared responsibility for success and motivate each individual in the team to contribute with what they do best. Since every person and every situation is different, the more tools that a leader has at their disposal, the more effective they will be. If you struggle with any of these styles, seek out a trusted colleague, mentor or coach who can help you identify where you need improvement and work with you to improve. As you continue to learn more about how you respond to situations and how your employees respond to you, your leadership ability will continue to grow and thrive. As a result, your team will function at a high level with a shared purpose.


To learn more about the styles and how to best utilize them, visit the HBR website:
https://hbr.org/2000/03/leadership-that-gets-results

Gallup State of the American Manager report

Gallup released its State of the American Manager report and the results are pretty disheartening: there continues to be very low engagement among workers and management accounts for a high percentage of that disengagement. Talent for management lies in only 10% of the people, while another 20% possess the foundations to be successful managers. The result of this is that only 18% of managers have the high talent necessary to excel as managers. According to Gallup, this is a problem since talent is the most powerful predictor of performance.


There is good news, however. Taking the time to find, cultivate and hire the right manager will have long ranging ramifications for the company; increased employee engagement, increased productivity and sales and decreased employee turnover. Good managers not only improve employee and company performance, but they engage their employees.


So, what separates good managers from the not-so-good? Good managers have the following talents in common: they motivate their employees, they are assertive, they make decisions based on productivity, they create a culture of accountability, and they build relationships. Managers that possess these talents are more likely to have engaged and productive teams. Looking for these traits in employees can also help to identify potential future management material. By learning how to pick out talented employees, companies can pave the way for current, and future success.


In order to improve employee engagement, managers can focus on being more open and accessible, consistently discuss employee performance and goal attainment and focus on strengths. By communicating frequently with employees about their work and their life leads to a better relationship, trust and satisfaction at work. There has been a lot of talk about ongoing performance evaluations, but waiting until the end of the year them is poor management. Performance should be ongoing with adjustments made as necessary. This will really show your employees that you care about their growth and that you are ready to help them succeed. interestingly, employees perform better when their strengths are highlighted. They are significantly more engaged when they get to use their strengths and their weaknesses are not constantly highlighted. That does not mean that weaknesses are ignored, but that the focus is on making their strengths stronger.


Learning about what employees want will help any manager improve. Also, the only way to improve leadership is through self-awareness and emotional intelligence, and from the looks of this report; we could all use it.


Here is the link to the full report:
http://www.gallup.com/services/182138/state-american-manager.aspx

2015 goals

It's a new year full of potential and opportunities. Instead of coming up with resolutions to change behavior, choose goals to spur growth. 

Take some time to think about what would make 2015 a great year. In order for you to look back a year from now and say 'wow', what do you need to do? Make a list of the accomplishments you want to achieve in 2015. 

After you write them down figure out the steps you need to take in order to reach them. After doing this exercise you will have discovered the path for the year. Now, take action on those steps. Make 2015 a great year by setting lofty goals and achieving them. 

Live your life

Henry David Thoreau is famous for saying to live the life you have imagined, but many of us are not sure what actually means. How does one decide what kind of life they want to live? What steps need to be taken in order to live that life? What if the life you want runs counter to norm? I believe that living your dream life starts with your values and principles. When you determine what is important to you, it becomes easier to craft your life.

When determining your values, you need to think about what you personally want. While this seems like an easy, logical step, it can be anything but. It can become very complicated to sift through your thoughts and feelings about money, relationships, location to live in, type of career you want and spiritual decisions. To help improve the process, start by making a list of the things that are important to you. 

Once you have a list you can look it over for consistent themes and narrow it down further. This list can then serve as a foundation for writing a personal mission statement or manifesto.

Review your list and write your principles into a series of action steps that reflect those values. At the end of this exercise you should have a page or two that you can use to evaluate the opportunities in your life. Those that are in line with your values can be acted upon, those that don't can either be passed over or changed to meet those values. When you take the time to really think about what is important to you and what life you want, you can create a framework that guides your decisions to  improve and amplify your life. 

This paper reflects who you are and who you want to be. Like anything, it can change over time and there may be some corrections, but when you know what you stand for and the mark you want to leave, your life takes on more meaning. 

Choosing a system

As a strength coach working with teams to improve strength, speed, agility and conditioning I quickly learned how important it was to develop a system in order to make my life essier and my programs better.

When I first started out I would write each workout a day or 2 beforehand and give only minimal thought to the other sessions. It did not take long to learn how much more work it added since I had to look at what I did last time, decide what to keep and progress, what to introduce and what to phase out. My lack of work up front turned into a lot of work later.

Once I had more than one group or team I was training it became imperative to develop a system for what I wanted to accomplish. My approach then became to talk with the player and coaches to develop the goals for the team and then the time paremeters I had to work with to work toward achieving those goals.

The fitness industry abounds with different programs, philosophies and ways of doing things. As you learn more, progress professionally and train the same types if clients you start to have your own way of doing things. This way of doing things that you adapt starts to form the framework for your system. I believed in training athletes how to move more efficiently, develop body weight strength and power and get quicker, faster and more fit. Once I knew this, I began to put a system in place to achieve my goals and replicate it with other teams and groups. 

The most important factor I learned in developing my system was that it had to be easy for me to teach and easy for the players to learn. I do not necessarily believe that there are bad systems (although some may be better than others) but there is bad implementation, both in teaching it to athletes and them learning it. 

I believe that this is the most critical favctor in creating a system for business, training and life. It has to be easy to teach and easy to learn. It will change and evolve over time as you learn new things and make adjustments just like any other good program, but if the foundation is not strong then no matter how much you learn you will not effective. 

Your system is a reflection of you: your philosophy, values and personality. When you create it as a reflection of yourself you will improve your ability to implement it. 

Create positive impact

I just listened to a speaker who said that the purpose of life is to create positive impact. Wow! How profound when you stop and think about that, create positive impact.

When you adopt this philosophy your life takes on a different meaning. You approach life, relationships and work in a different manner. One in which you do your best to improve the world around you and leave it better than when you arrived. 

I will personally take this as a challenge and I encourage everyone to do the same. Create a positive impact in whatever you do. Make decisions for the right reasons. Be great at whatever you do and strive every day to leave a good impression and improve your life and the lives of others. 

Keep things simple

The more I learn and interact with others the more I realize how much I want to simplify my life.

Creating principles to guide what you do and what you stand for helps you keep your programming, networking and interactions simple. They can guide you in what you do and provide your basis for  your system. 

Over time you can evaluate your principles for their effectiveness and make any necessary changes to it. These principles also serve as talking points when you talk with others about how you are different and how your system provides results. 

Depending in your client base, their goals and your background, the principles you use may be different. They main thing is to understand what those are, how they work together in a system to provide results and how you evaluate their effectiveness. 

By simplifying your approach and streamlining your process you can maximize your time for other things. 

Achieving fitness success

In order to effectively meet your fitness goals you need to decide what those goals are. If there are several goals then rank them in order of personal importance so you know what to focus on.

Once you have decided what your goal, or goals, are then you can create a system to achieve them. In general, the human body is very good at adapting. When you apply a stress to your body it responds. Ideally, this stress will result in changes that make it easier to withstand that stress again. This is how strength and fitness is achieved. 

If you follow a structured workout that is meant to achieve specific results then your body will undergo stress. Recovering from that stress allows your body the chance to adapt. 

Following this process of progressive overload and adequate recovery will lead to long term, consistent results. 

When injuries occur, it is attributed to your body not adapting properly. This may due to too much stress, not enough recovery, or both.

Remember, long term gains are made over time. Your workout is only as good as your ability to recover and adapt. 

Learn and Practice

I think that one of the keys to success is to learn and practice.

Investing time to learn more about a topic, skill, or job will almost always have a high return. By expanding your knowledge and critically thinking about what you learn will improve your understanding and enable you to improve. 

Learning gives one the understanding to improve. Practice creates and makes that skill better. Without understanding what your practice is for, it is hard to know if it is being correctly. Applying that practice with a purpose is what sharpens skills. 

Whenever you read a book, attend a course or see a practical it will improve your learning. Taking that new information and applying it to your practice in order to enhance what you already do makes you better. By constantly learning and practicing these new things you become better and better and your performance improves. 

Get organized

Have you ever been to an event that had a bunch of people working, but no one seemed to know what was going on?

I recently had that experience and it was very frustrating trying to find anything or check out. I even saw 8 people by the check out area and not one could offer any help. Why is it that people coming to an event seem to know more of what is going on than the ones working the event?

If you want to run successful events you have to educate your workers. This is not something that needs to be challenging, but going over the layout, the flow, and how to field questions can easily help make the event more successful. Managers also need to get more involved by walking around and seeing how things work, or don't work. If there is a problem, address it. Do what has to be done to make it an enjoyable experience for the customers.

Spending time to make sure that the event layout makes sense and that your workers all know what their job and expectations are will go a long way to ensuring that your event is successful.

Setting Goals

When I get asked questions about exercises and recommendations I try and make sure I ask 'what are your goals?' first. It is amazing how many people respond back with 'I don't know' or 'I heard this is a good exercise' or 'I want to train this particular muscle'. If you do not know your goals how can I answer the question appropriately? Just because an exercise or a routine is good for one person does not mean that it will be good for everyone. Every good workout is based on understanding what the destination is and creating a plan to achieve it.

If your goal is to lose weight then following the same workout a bodybuilder would use is probably not the best fit. If you are an athlete then you are going to have different goals than a fitness enthusiast.

And please do not say your goal is to 'be fit'. Once again, this means different things to different people. When you are thinking about your goals and what you want to achieve be realistic in terms of the time frame to get there and the commitment that is needed to get there. Goals can be attained, but if means that they need to be a priority and other things may get in the way of you achieving them.  You also need to be as specific as possible. This will force you to set a quantifiable number which helps with tracking your progress. If you want to do a 5K then we know you need to be able to run that distance at the end of the training program. Having these specifics ensures that your program is tailored to you and your particular case to achieve optimal results in the most reasonable time frame. Hopefully, the next time someone asks you what your goals are you have the answer.

Keys to success

Starting an exercise program is easy; just tell yourself you are going to do it. The hard part is following through on it when life starts to get in the way. Here are a few things to keep you on track:

1. Set goals. It is hard to do your workout if you don't know what you are working towards.

2. Be consistent. It is easy to fall off the wagon so to make sure you don't, do something. It may not be the planned workout for that day, but do something to be active and get back the next day. Even a walk has health benefits and can keep you engaged in your program.

3. Progressive overload. Do a little more tomorrow than today. More next week than this week and more next month than this month. This will consistently force your body to adapt to the new stimulus.

4. Recover. This is even more important than the workout itself. The workout applies a stress that your body has to adapt to and it can only do that with adequate rest and nutrition.

4. Eat well. You do not need to follow a fancy diet to be successful but you do need to be aware of what you eat. Focus on lean protein, vegetables and fruit for the majority of your meals and you will feel fuller and have the nutrients to repair, rebuild and regenerate.

5. Have fun! Working out should not be a chore but something that makes you feel good about yourself. Join a club, work with a trainer, take a class. Whatever makes exercise fun will help you stick to your plan and reach those goals.