Mandy Schumaker

PERFORMANCE COACH, TRAINER AND SPEAKER

Leadership Development

What’s Your Big Why?

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“Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment”

-James Allen, As A Man Thinketh

Do you know WHY you do what you do? Sure, you do what you do, because you have a talent or gift for what you do, need to support yourself, or perhaps just “fell” into your career. But what’s your BIG purpose?

What’s the BIG WHY behind what you’re doing? It is absolutely crucial to figure out your BIG WHY for several reasons:

1-Your BIG WHY is the reason you get up every morning and go to work.

2-It’s what keeps you anchored and unwavering, during those dark and challenging times in your business. It’s why you continue to take one step forward and continue on-even though at times, it seems so bleak in the moment.

3-People buy your “why”, not the “how” or “what” you do-they buy the “why”.

My “BIG WHY” is because of my mother. My mother was a brilliant, talented, highly intuitive, sensitive person who later on in life went back to school and completed her undergraduate degree, then went on to get her master’s degree-getting straight A’s throughout. Unfortunately, she grew up in a family that did not value her gifts, nor gave her much encouragement. They told her she would never be anything but someone’s wife.

After she attained all her degrees, she had lots ideas for starting a business, but was never able to even get started on any of them, because of her low self-confidence, low self-esteem and her mindset. Her parent’s told her she would never be able to do anything, so she believed them and she didn’t. My mother passed away from lung cancer at the age of 56.

I started my business, Higher Performing People, because I am passionate about helping people tap into their gifts and reach their full potential-no matter what someone told them in the past, or in spite of the messages they give themselves. I fully believe people are capable of so much more than they sometimes see for themselves!

So what’s your “BIG WHY”? Because if you aren’t experiencing the abundance you want, something’s keeping you from believing in your abundance and you don’t actually expect it. Getting plugged into your “BIG WHY” is a great start.

Assignment: On a sheet of paper, draw three concentric circles (being sure that in the middle, all three circles overlap each other). Answer the following questions:

  • When you think about being of service to others through your work, where do you get the most joy?
  • What comes naturally to you that you love doing?
  • What could you do all day for free?

Be honest-these are your answers, not what someone else wants for you, or thinks you should be doing!

Thinking about what stirs your soul-in the first circle, put in your first passion, in the second circle put in your second passion, then in the third circle put your third passion. It is possible to have more than three passions, but try to limit this exercise to your top three. Make sure one of your passions has a “who” to it, for example, entrepreneurs, leaders, kids, women, men etc.

Look at your three passions and give some thought to “why” you picked these three. What experiences in your life led you to these three passions? In the middle-where all three circles intersect-is your “BIG WHY”. For example, my three passions are: entrepreneurs, people reaching their full potential and teaching.

This exercise should help you determine your “BIG WHY”. Once you can articulate your “BIG WHY”, it can help you make a commitment to your business or profession. It becomes the anchor. If what you came up with is very different than what you’re doing right now-then just sit with it. Don’t judge it and don’t worry about the “how”. Because the “how” won’t show up until you’ve committed to the “WHY”.

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5 Proven Tips To Increase Your Productivity

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Did you know the average person spends 2.1 hours in distraction every day?  2.1 hours!!  And that every 11 minutes, we get distracted at work by e-mail, Facebook, texting etc?  And were you aware that it takes 25 minutes for each of us to refocus our minds and get back to the task at hand after we’ve been pulled off?

It’s no wonder many times we feel like we aren’t getting anything done or can’t get traction on a project, report or idea…because we can’t…we’re distracted. 

I have found this in my own business, constantly checking e-mail to see what just came in, or checking Twitter or Facebook and losing an hour and a half looking at various blogs and websites.  It’s not that Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites aren’t helpful or interesting, they certainly are, and they have their usefulness, but not when they get in the way of staying focused on doing business.  In a world full of distraction, it’s so important to stay focused in our businesses and organizations so we can innovate and implement.

I hear from clients all the time, “I really wish I could be more efficient”, or “Gee, I can’t seem to stay focused on anything’, or “I’ve been trying to get to that idea for months”.   We now live in a culture where our brains are constantly on the go, there is little if no downtime for us to just be.

There are however, things we can do for ourselves that help us increase our productivity, stay focused and feel more in control of our work lives.

1-Work in 90 minute cycles

New research has shown that working in 90 minute cycles increases productivity.  When you schedule your day (preferable the night before), schedule several 90 minute increments when you can focus on one task or project.  Turn off your e-mail, Facebook, Twitter etc. set an alarm for 90 minutes and work uninterrupted until the alarm goes off.  When the 90 minutes are up, take a quick break, go for a walk, or get a drink of water.

2-Make ONE to do list

This is from David Allen bestseller, Getting Things Done.  Make one to-do list putting everything you need to get done for the day on it.  This includes things from your work and personal life.  Make sure you schedule your most difficult or important tasks during the time of day when you are at your best.  If you are a morning person, schedule them in the morning, if you are an evening person, schedule them then.

3-Get enough sleep

It’s a fairly well known fact that Americans do not get enough sleep.  When you don’t get enough sleep, it can greatly impact your productivity.  If you are someone who doesn’t get enough sleep, try this experiment.  For two weeks, schedule yourself for eight hours of sleep a night. At the end of two weeks assess: how you feel, what you’ve accomplished and your overall general well-being.  Do you notice a significant difference?

4-Schedule periods of unstimulated time

I have a client who last weekend decided to turn off all electronics for the whole weekend.  No I-Phone, I-Pad, TV-nothing.  This is a guy who is constantly “plugged in”. He spent the weekend doing things with his family, exercising and reading, and relaxing. He reported by Monday, he felt so much more refreshed, relaxed and really ready to return to work.  It’s important to schedule unstimulated time during the day or week.  Try it-you may be surprised how it positively impacts your productivity.

5-Move your body

Find some time everyday to move your body.  Workouts at a gym, walking at lunch, walking or riding your bike to work, meditating, or just doing some stretches before going to bed.  Anything that gets you to move your body everyday will help improve your productivity. 

The best news about productivity is, we are in total control of influencing whether we are increasing our decreasing our productivity.  I invite you to try these five tips for the next couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference in your business!  If you’d like some help and support in your efforts, feel free to contact me at 207-653-6977 or mandy@mandyschumaker.com for a complimentary session.

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Feeling Stuck? Five Tips To Get Yourself Unstuck And Back On Track

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It happens to all of us at varying times.  We get stuck.  We know what we “want” to be doing, or where we “should” be going, or what we “ought” to be achieving.  But something is holding us back between what we desire and where we are in our job, business, or life.  As a leadership coach, I often work with clients who are stuck. Stuck in their current job or position.  Stuck in a business they don’t find fun or fulfilling anymore. Perhaps they’ve gotten caught up in the details and have lost sight of their intended vision or outcome.  Or perhaps they are unable to focus on what they really want because they have a fear of the unknown, or a loss of confidence.  Often times they just feel plain overwhelmed and don’t know where to start and can’t make a decision.  Whatever the reason, it’s painful, frustrating and downright depressing to be stuck. 

If you are a leader or business owner, being stuck also has an impact on our employees and organizations.  New ideas, projects and innovation within our organizations are jeapordized.  Your direct reports feel frustrated that things are not moving forward and there is probably a loss of trust and respect.  Productivity and profitability are compromised and customers may start to lose interest and patience with your products and services.

Again, we all get stuck at different times of our lives but what’s most important is how we choose to move through what’s keeping us stuck.  After working over the years, with clients who have found themselves stuck in a job or business,  I have found the five following tips help get most people unstuck and moving toward their goal and vision.

1) Consider playing a bigger game.  Perhaps your goal is too small and you are bored, which if the case, will clearly not motivate you to take action and move forward.  Look at your vision or goal…and double it!

2) Perhaps your goal is too large and you need to play a smaller game.  If your goal is too big, you could easily get overwhelmed and stuck in a rut.  So either set a smaller goal, or set milestones along the way and target those.

3) Do the opposite. What might happen if you started doing the opposite of what you’ve been doing to help move yourself forward, or reach your goal?  Sometimes taking a 180 or even a 90 degree turn is what’s needed to help move you along.

4) Ask yourself:  Is this really the goal I want, or is this a “should” goal.  So often I ask my clients this question when they are stuck and many, many times it’s a “should” goal.  Not something that’s coming from your heart.  Fill in the blank and answer the question, “If I do _______________, am I doing it to make ME happy or just to make someone else happy?”

5) Identify your top five values.  This is a very helpful exercise in getting clear on what values in your life are most important to you.  Only then can you authentically move forward towards a goal or objective that clearly expresses your value(s).  Working with a coach or mentor is an excellent way to identify your value list, which helps create the cornerstones for any change, movement, goal or objective you hope to achieve.

I would really welcome your comments  on this subject.  If you’ve found a successful way in helping get yourself unstuck,  I would love to hear from you.  In the meantime, if any of this post resonates with you and you’d like to have some support on getting yourself unstuck,  please feel free to call me at 207-653-6977.

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How Are Your Customers Feeling?

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Keeping customers in painLast week I ended up in the emergency room with acute appendicitis.  I had had a CAT scan in the late afternoon which showed some fluid around the appendix and there was some concern that it  might burst.   My doctor sent me immediately to the emergency room with my CAT scan CD in hand, saying, “We’ll call and let them know you are coming-hopefully that will speed things up.”   Upon arrival I was quickly seen by the triage nurse who then sent me back out in the waiting room, saying, “Have a seat, we’ll be with you in a few minutes”.  There were nearly 20 people in the waiting room and very quickly I overheard someone say outloud, “I’ve been here for over two hours, when can I see a doctor?”.  At that point, I panicked.  My abdomen really hurt at this point, I had a fever and chills.  Sitting was the most uncomfortable position for me and I started to worry that my appendix might rupture, since I had been in pain for over four days.

Over two hours went by.  During that time a couple of nurses came out and took a patient or two back into the emergency room.  But when any hospital personnel came into the large waiting room, they were very careful not to meet anyone’s eye, lest they be asked, “when will a doctor see me?”  No one ever came through the room to ask if we needed anything, blankets, water, pillows-nothing.  Now I know emergency rooms can be filled with people who may  not be having a medical emergency. And often times, doctors send their patients there after hours when waiting until the next morning to see someone, would probably have been okay.  But a patient is a patient.  A customer is a customer.  I know the hospital personnel had the best intentions, but it occurred to me that every doctor, nurse and hospital administrator should have to sit in one of their waiting room chairs for two and half hours with an acute pain in their belly, shivering with chills and a fever, and no information.

This made me wonder, how are we, as leaders and business people,  treating our customers?   Are we giving them the information they need along the way, so they know where we/they are in the process?  Do we have the courage to look them in the eyes when we are clearly at capacity and things aren’t running as smoothly as we’d like?  Or do we shirk around and keep our eyes to the floor so we don’t have to engage in a tough conversation?  Are we proactive in asking them what would be helpful to them at that moment?    Where are the gaps,  from our customer’s perspective,  in our good intentions?

I’m not talking about customer surveys and focus groups to get at this stuff.  I’m talking about meeting our customer eyeball to eyeball and finding out if what they need and communicating with them every step of the way.  What are the questions on their minds?  Where do we drop the ball in the process?  Whether we are a Fortune 500 company or a solopreneur, it’s important that we know how our customers feel-at any given moment.  So, I invite you put yourself in your customer’s shoes and walk through the process in your business.  Where are the gaps?  Where does it feel uncomfortable, unclear or even scary?   Are you making your customers feel more comfortable?  Or are you keeping them in pain?

Is Procrastination Prohibiting You From Playing A Bigger Game?

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Procrastination.  We all suffer from it at various times.  Waiting to start that big project. Waiting to do some household chore. Waiting to have a difficult conversation with an employee, colleague or family member. Most of the time  we eventually work our way through it and get the things on our list done.

But the procrastination I find most concerning  and detrimental is the behavior that gets in the way of a bigger vision.  The clients I work with are high performing people.  They have talents and gifts to offer the world.  They know deep down inside that there is a bigger game to play, a bigger vision for their lives.   My job is to support them in that vision and help them get there.  Yet one of the common traits among my clients is that they often let procrastination get in the way of moving forward.  There is an underlying fear of giving up something they are doing now  in order to catch the bigger brass ring.  It’s that chasm between what we know and what is possible.

Procrastination technically refers to the avoidance of a specific task or work which needs to be accomplished.  But this technical explanation doesn’t begin to capture the emotions triggered by the word.  If your are suffering from procrastination issues,  its important to analyze those situations where your work or project  is not  being completed. Perhaps it’s one of the following reasons:

1. Lack of Relevance – If something is neither relevant nor meaningful to you personally, it may be difficult to get motivated to even begin.  It’s important to determine if the goal, project, task is meaningful you.  Working with either a coach or mentor, it’s important to dig deep to determine whether what you are avoiding is indeed  relevant to you and your bigger vision.  If the answer is it’s not, then let it go, get it off your list and figure out what is important.

2. Acceptance of Another’s Goals – Has a project been imposed or assigned to you by someone else?  Maybe it is not consistent with your own interests,  or values.   If this is the case, you  will probably get it done eventually — you may be “required” to get it done.  But it doesn’t have to become part of your goal or vision.

3. Perfectionism-If you feel everything needs to be perfect before you can start a project, you may stay stuck for a very long time.  I have clients who feel they need to have their website up and running before they can talk to a potential client, or they have to have a completely free schedule to start their book,  or they have to have all of the right managers in place before they start working on team development.  Certainly having a plan and timeline in place for each of these scenarios is helpful, but being able to see that “done is better than perfect” can help you start taking some small steps forward.

4. Fear-Many people fear taking steps that move them forward towards their vision or dream, because it means letting go of some of the things they are doing today.  If, for example, someone wants to play on a bigger field, it may require giving up certain things they are doing today — things that bring in money or keep them at a certain status.  It’s giving up what is familiar now for much greater possibilities down the road.  By fully embracing your bigger vision, breaking down the steps and projects into bite-size pieces and continuing to hold that vision  for yourself, can help lower the anxiety and actually get started.

5. Ambiguity-Are you unclear what is expected from a task, project or field work that has been assigned to you?  This can be another roadblock to procrastinating behavior.  By asking the pertinent questions upfront, you can be more clear as to what is expected.

6. Time Management- How are your time management skills?  Working with a coach who can put you through an assessment or two around this area can quickly help you determine where you are with time management.  By focusing on some of the areas that may  play into your procrastination issues and taking some steps to improve them, could greatly improve your productivity.

7. Can’t Say No- Many times people suffer from procrastination because there is too much on their plate.  Have you been unable to say “no” to others and then found yourself with so many projects you have become paralyzed?   Look at everything on your plate and prioritize it.  What can go, what should stay?  Which items  move you towards your bigger vision and which ones are sucking the life out of you?  These are important questions to ask when sorting through all the various projects, tasks and commitments that you are currently facing.

If fear is holding you back from a bigger vision or playing bigger in the world, I would like to speak with you.  As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “we must do the thing we fear the most”.

I would like to hear your comments on this post.  Or if something resonated with you, please feel free to contact me at 207-653-6977 or mandy@mandyschumaker.com to continue the conversation.

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5 Things You Must Do When Giving Feedback To A Direct Report

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Did you know that current research shows that nearly 50% of executives fear confronting employees with constructive feedback?  If these research reports are accurate it’s no wonder so many of our companies are dealing with issues of low productivity, low morale, high turnover rates amongst high performing employees, and lower profits.

And not only do managers not like giving feedback, those on the receiving end say they don’t get enough feedback they can actually use. Or many times managers wait so long before addressing a situation, when they finally confront a direct report or colleague, they blow it because at that point the exchange is counterproductive.  Many reasons account for these disconnects: strong emotions on both sides, a focus on the employee’s character rather than on the behavior,  or a lack of clarity around what needs to change and why.

So what can managers do to improve their feedback skills?

1-Focus on outcomes — Make specific business outcomes  the focus of the conversation.  “You need to improve productivity by 20%” or “sales numbers must improve by 15% before the end of the quarter.”  Focusing on business results like productivity, sales, service, and turnover makes it an opportunity to solve a problem rather than to criticize.  Focusing the feedback on an employee’s development makes it a lot more helpful.  It may then be seen as a “gift” from a manager who is investing in the employee’s career.

2-Give feedback often — Giving feedback on a regular basis is a much better strategy than offering it only once or twice a year in a formal setting.  Waiting to give tough feedback during the annual performance appraisal is not only unfair to the employee, it also rarely changes the behavior.  Practice giving feedback often.  Praise good performance right away; deal with poor performance within 24 hours.

Before a feedback session, find concrete data that support your conclusions.  As best you can, focus on behaviors you have observed, preferably not those that you have heard about from others.

  • State observation/situation  “I want to talk to you about…
  • State Outcome  “I noticed that…” or “I felt that…”
  • Make your request  “What I would really like is…”

3-Be open to feedback and don’t assume you’re always right — Even after collecting all your data, there may still be several sides of the story.  When you are finished stating what want to talk about, what you noticed or observed and what you would like in terms of behavior change,  the employee will most likely have his or her side of the story. You may have to admit that you don’t have  the complete picture. Just as you want your employee to listen and be  influenced by what you say, you need to be willing to be influenced by what you hear.

4-Ask questions —To make this a two-way conversation between you and your employee and a worthwhile learning experience, ask questions to get the employee thinking:

How do you see the situation?
How might you do things differently next time?
What do you think worked, and what could have gone better?

Questions like these establish a supportive atmosphere in which the employee can explore alternative approaches that might produce better results. The more individuals think about improving their performance, the more committed they are to make it happen.

5-Follow through — Many managers are so relieved to be through with the initial conversation with the employee, they assume they are done.  Cross that one off the list.  But there’s a big difference between an employee understanding the situation and actually changing his or her behavior.  Your employee’s ability to make that transition requires your ongoing support and follow-up.  At the end of the feedback session, be sure to ask, “now what are the next steps you intend to take and how can I support you?”  It’s a great idea to plan a follow-up meeting in about a month.  And while you might suggest some specific steps employees might take,  it’s also beneficial to ask them to gather their own data by asking peers or their own direct reports for feedback.

Finally, in the spirit of continuous improvement it is always an excellent idea to ask the employee how he or she felt the conversation went and how you can be more helpful in the future. Don’t be afraid constructive feedback — embrace it and be a better manager.

Please remember:  Bea Fields and I will be offering our TOUGH COACHING program starting March 6 with a client who is both a CEO and an attorney (has dual careers) on the topic of someone who has been coached and has now slipped back into old habits.  This is going to be a fabulous 6-week program including online classes (telephone only), presenting guidelines, resources, assessments and coaching demonstrations to show you how to address tough issues with your clients.

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