Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Be the brand Posted: 30 Jun 2008 12:18 PM CDT In his book "Raising the Bar" Gary Erickson, founder of Clif Bar Inc, tells the story of how he came to the point of selling the business he had founded, because that was the conventional thing to do. Gary was sitting in the meeting with the buyers, and the lawyers, and his business partner, and a cheque for $60 million with his name on it. He felt uncomfortable and told the meeting that he had to go out for a walk. When he came back he explained that he could not go through with the sale. He not only lost the $60 million, but he had to find another $60 million to pay his partner. He could not go through with the sale because he knew that the trade buyer would not honour the values and purpose of the business that they had built. Today Clif Bar is one of the worlds leading producers of sports food and a tremendously inspiring business that is committed to creating great products sustainably and with great working practices. Starting or running a business can be challenging. Fortunately there are all sorts of books and advisors to tell you how things are done. If your business is an authentic business not all of the more conventional advice will sit comfortably with you. A brand is defined by the behaviour of the business and as the business evolves that brand may be articulated to help customers and staff understand what the business is about. The difference with an authentic business, is that the brand is defined by the authentic purpose, values and ideals of the people involved. Authentic businesses are a personal expression, the artistic creation of their founder. They are not just about money and business, they stand for something significant in the lives of their creators. When seeking advice for an authentic business it is important to remember that most advisors are unlikely to really understand the concept of authentic business. I have worked with many people setting up their authentic businesses (see list below) and often they have been quite demoralised by some of the advice they have been given. The important thing to remember is that if your business is going to be authentic - you ARE the brand. Your values and beliefs define how the brand behaves and no one else is better qualified to design the business than you. If you are feeling uncomfortable with a route it may be because that route is off brand and you need to trust your intuition and find another route that feels better for you. www.mysecretkitchen.co.uk www.carboncoach.com www.sailforlife.se www.madweekends.tv www.afriversity.org www.network2012.net www.themagicofbeing.com www.mallorca-concierge-service.com www.bizaripromo.com www.himawari.dk www.eurasia2009.com www.whomadeyourpants.co.uk www.seepotential.com Drop me a line if you want some authentic support with your business. with love nx neil crofts  - coach, consultant, facilitator Authentic Transformation - join the evolution UK mobile 07775 658534 neil@authentictransformation.co.uk   www.authentictransformation.co.uk First man: sometimes I'd like to ask God why he allows poverty, famine and injustice to continue when he could do something about it'. Second man: what's stopping you ? First man: I'm afraid he might ask me the same question Anon This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Stretch Posted: 23 Jun 2008 12:37 AM CDT It is very tempting to hide behind the mask of prudence, to temper our efforts with caution, to avoid exposure to risk or danger. And not just tempting, it is positively encouraged in our society to play safe. The English have a subtle double-speak to indicate when you have gone too far: "you are brave", (with the emphasis on 'brave') translates as - "you are a mad and irresponsible fool". "The tallest trees catch the most wind", "keep your head below the parapet", "play it safe" - are the subtle mantras fed into our consciousness. But where does it lead? Where do you get to with a life lead below the parapet? Do you get to your full potential? Do you achieve the extraordinary? Do you do amazing things? So where is the edge? If our cultural conditioning places such an early limit on our potential, how do we know where too far is? The reality is that we don't. The "edge" is not a constant thing, it is a constantly moving, morphing thing. It depends on so many variables that, like the weather or financial markets, the only way to have any certainty about even the very short term, is to get very close to it and make subtle adjustments the whole time. Colin Chapman, the mercurial founder of Lotus Cars and genius motor racing engineer and innovator used to say that "Any car which holds together for more than a race is too heavy". Meaning that if you want to excel, you have to be prepared to face the edge of failure. If we want to innovate, change, succeed, be fulfilled or do anything meaningful in life, love or business, we simply have to be prepared to stretch. Stretch is where the learning and development starts. If we don't stretch we don't improve. If we don't push ourselves beyond our comfort zone, nothing changes, we just loop around, same old, same old. What is next for you? More of the same, or more of life? If you want help breaking out of old patterns in business or life, give me a call. With love nx neil crofts  - coach, consultant, facilitator Authentic Transformation - join the evolution UK mobile 07775 658534 neil@authentictransformation.co.uk  www.authentictransformation.co.ukk "He who never risks going beyond his limits should not complain about the mediocrity of his existence." Anon This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Put your money where your mouth is Posted: 13 Jun 2008 07:20 AM CDT Consectetuer arcu ipsum ornare pellentesque vehicula, in vehicula diam, ornare magna erat felis wisi a risus. Justo fermentum id. Malesuada eleifend, tortor molestie, a fusce a vel et. Mauris at suspendisse, neque aliquam faucibus adipiscing, vivamus in. Wisi mattis leo suscipit nec amet, nisl fermentum tempor ac a, augue in eleifend in venenatis, cras sit id in vestibulum felis in, sed ligula. In sodales suspendisse mauris quam etiam erat, quia tellus convallis eros rhoncus diam orci, porta lectus esse adipiscing posuere et, nisl arcu vitae laoreet. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Don’t do less, do different Posted: 09 Jun 2008 02:28 AM CDT When times are tough and money is flowing in more slowly than it is flowing out there is a tendency for us to feel fear. When we feel fear we often take a step back to what we think is safer ground. A teacher of mine memorably referred to this as "going limbic." What he meant by this was that, when we experience fear the limbic (instinct, mood and basic emotions) part of the brain takes over from the cerebral (intellectual, thinking) part of the brain. This tends to exacerbate the problem. When a community (like a business) or a country "goes limbic" it can be very damaging. What comes first the media reporting of more challenging times or the challenges themselves? Whichever comes first, we do have a choice about what we do about it. We can react, hunker down and hope it will go away. Or we can respond, be creative, come up with new ideas, new ways of doing things and new offerings that work under the new conditions. We can accept this economic climate change, engage with it, find our new place in it and prosper. We can turn negativity and pessimism into possibility and positiveness. How will you change what you do? The challenge is always to delight customers, and as often as possible to delight them for less. The technique is to sit with what might seem to be contradictory and impossible concepts, until you get the breakthrough. If you can add more impossibles into the equation you can get more specific on your innovation. Behave with the absolute certainty that the solution exists. Be aware that the most creative ideas and solutions are unlikely to arrive when you are sitting at your desk or in your office. Spend as much time as possible with the unfamiliar. Want to discuss challenges and breakthroughs? with love nx neil crofts  - coach, consultant, facilitator Authentic Transformation - join the evolution UK mobile 07775 658534 neil@authentictransformation.co.uk   www.authentictransformation.co.uk "If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention." anon graffitti Clerkenwell London This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Beyond logic Posted: 02 Jun 2008 01:55 PM CDT Do you know that feeling. The one where there is a big gap between the logical reasons why you like something and how much you actually like it? I am like that with cycling. There are all sorts of logical reasons why I like it so much; the fitness, the fresh air, the scenery, the cool gadgets, the mechanics of it, the heroism (of pro cycling), the speed and so on. But when I add all of those up, they still don't add up to how I feel about cycling. And that gap is the difference between "like" and "love", between "OK" and "passionate", between "involved" and "avid". In our own lives the greatest fulfillment will come if we can organise it so that as much of our time as possible; our work, our significant relationship, our home are all off the "like" scale and into the "love" scale. When we love what we are doing we are more committed, more engaged, more present, more motivated than when it is just acceptable. So what does that mean for our work? If we can adjust our work so that our focus is on doing what we love to do, achieving an outcome that we also love, we have the possibility to achieve something significant. If we employ people the difference in their effectiveness when they love the job and the outcome, compared to tolerating it is the same and an enormously valuable shift. If we can enable them to achieve something significant, either individually or as a team we have the opportunity to move up a further gear. The way that I have achieved this for business clients it to have an entire team or business, individually articulate their "life purpose" or "core motivation" to then use that to define a team purpose and a vision for what it will look like to achieve that purpose. We then go on to identify the obstacles to achieving the vision and then create the teams to overcome the obstacles, based on their own passions and talents. The individual teams devise their own plans for overcoming the obstacles and present them back to the wider group. The result is an entire team or company engaged on realising a purpose to which they are all passionately committed, working beyond "involvement" to "avid dedication" to their task. This process is transformational to tasks like new product development, process and systems innovation, cultural development, leadership, change management and team building. Why would you want to work with less commitment? Do you want some help in making it happen for you? With love nx neil crofts  - coach, consultant, facilitator Authentic Transformation - join the evolution UK mobile 07775 658534 neil@authentictransformation.co.uk   www.authentictransformation.co.uk belief precedes reality This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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