Beate Chelette's Blog: The Women's Code, page 14

How to Invest Money to Grow Your Business

 

Old Habits Never Produce New Results

 

You are ready to take your business to a new level and finally begin experiencing consistent results from your hard work. Still, for some reason, when it comes time to invest money, you become almost paralyzed to take a step. Why? Well, it has a great deal to do with your brain’s wiring – Your subconscious has only one real job: to keep you safe and in your current location. 

 

You know you need to increase your cash flow, but nothing has changed in your income that justifies investing in moving forward. Your brain’s wiring for security is telling you that you have to increase your business before you can make any type of investment. The problem with this is that if you continue to do what you are doing right now, it is impossible to make more money because your business pattern will keep you in your current circumstances. 

 

The level of success you are experiencing right now directly results from your actions and your thoughts. To be successful, the status quo will never work; something must change in how you are operating. 

 

Secure Funding

 

You cannot wait until you have your cash flow where you want it to commit to investing in your business. This means you are going to have to secure funding now. The good news for those needing loans is that money is cheap right now. If you have applied for a PPP loan, or other funding available to you, it is imperative that you do not take this money and use it as a cushion to pay your bills. If you use borrowed money this way, it will vaporize. Any funding you secure must be invested in activities that will create money in the future. 

 

You have to invest your money before seeing results because the results occur due to your investments.

 

Invest Your Money for Growth

 

Once funding is secured, the only investment you should make is to develop your sales process and strategy. Without a process map for where your clients are, where they are going, and a clear vision for where you want to take your business, it is impossible to know how much future money you will need to invest or where it needs to go. Begin by bringing someone on board that can help you execute the tasks you need to make money – sales appointments in your calendar, lead generation, sales funnels, landing pages, freebies – anything you can do right now that will get clients in the door. 

 

This is far and away the most important way to begin investing in growing your business. When you start investing in these types of activities, then opportunities will bring you more jobs, and more jobs mean more money.

 

Prepare to Uplevel

 

Your goal is to take your business to the next level and continue leveling up. If you are waiting for your sales to increase before you take a step, you will still be waiting in this same place a year from now or three years from now. Nothing can change unless you change. 

The change required of you right now is to find the courage to understand that you cannot build, grow, and scale a business unless you take risks calculated on where you want to go. To do this, you have to be clear on where you want to take your business. 

 

If you are unsure where you want to go, I have a Super Simple Goal Setting Tool for you to drill down and fine-tune your focus on who you are and where you want to go. Once you own your vision, it is much easier to gain results because all that is left is to map out your strategy. 

 

At the Growth Architect, my goal is to help you find your vision and to build a plan to achieve your income goals. If you want to learn more about finding the courage to make changes and successfully invest in your business, then watch my video, and contact me when you are ready to create your growth strategy!

 

Let’s grow!
Beate

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post How to Invest Money to Grow Your Business appeared first on The Women's Code.

How to Overcome the Income Sine Wave and Take Control of Your Income

 

One of the most challenging problems business owners face is inconsistent income patterns. If you find that your income seems to lack consistency–up one year and then down the next, then you are experiencing what is called an income sine wave. One year you have stellar results, your income goes up, and you think you have it all figured out to keep this upswing alive, then just like that, the wave drops back down, leaving you frustrated and confused. The good news is that there is a way to break this cycle and reach your income growth goals through a solid business strategy.  

  

Understand What is Causing the Sine Wave in Your Business

The income sine wave has multiple factors that play into it and create inconsistency:

 

If your business has been in the sine wave for several years, and it is not changing, then it is something that you are doing or not doing that is causing it.
Some income sine waves occur due to the work pattern of the business owner. For instance, when the owner has the time to push it and work extraordinarily hard, income and clients go up, and everything is fantastic. The problem occurs when the owner reaches burnout and the income drops because one person is the driving force.

Many businesses experience an income sine wave due to the lack of a business system focused on investing in developing a consistent income increase strategy. If business owners are not investing the money they make into a strategy to increase their income, they will never get out of the income sine wave; it’s simply not possible.Invest In a Business Strategy

When your business is taking off, and you can really tell that something is happening, it is time to take the money you are making and invest it into a strategy to create lead generation. You cannot avoid this step because these activities bring leads that keep work in the pipeline. So, what does investing in lead generation look like? Typically, it means hiring subject matter experts in lead generation, such as a virtual assistant or a social media expert, and allowing them to develop a strategy for finding clients. If you want to stop the sine wave, you must take this step–hire more people.

 

Resist the Temptation to Operate in a Protective Mode

 

If you think you can continue to do what you always do and that one day your income is just going to increase into a quantum leap–it’s not. And the reason it will not work is that the formula you are using is actually causing the sine wave. No matter how much money you are making, from $100,000 to $10 million, the only way to overcome this inconsistency is to change the formula.

 

There comes the point where you have to commit to growth, and the commitment to growth comes at an expense, and it comes at a rapid change in business. Business loans are an excellent investment, but you must use them correctly. If you have $30,000 in your bank, that is money to drive your business forward; you must use it that way.

 

You must resist the urge to keep it in the bank “in case something happens,” that is not what the money’s for; it’s not a rainy day fund. This money is supposed to be used as an investment to create the systems and processes in your strategy to keep you from ever being in this position again. You need money to make money. 

 

Find a Strategy that Brings People to You

 

The income sine wave results from your behavior – the things you are doing or the things you are not doing, which explains the critical need for a solid business strategy. Without a system in place that focuses on consistently bringing in clients, don’t be surprised when there are times you have clients and times when you don’t.

 

There are multiple strategies to place people in your pipeline, from network and referral strategies to basic lead magnet lead pages, opt-in pages that award free things, webinars, executive roundtables, and speaking engagements–the list could go on and on. What matters is that you have a growth strategy in place and develop a plan for where the money will come from to build these initiatives. I recommend that you plan three strategies so that once and for all, you can solve the problem of inconsistency in clientele.

 

At the Growth Architect, we want to help you breakthrough with strategies to take your business to the next level. My goal as a strategist is to help you get out of your protective mindset to build a plan to achieve your income goals. That’s what I do! If you want to hear more about overcoming your income sine wave, then watch my video, and contact me when you are ready to create your growth strategy!

 

Let’s grow!
Beate

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post How to Overcome the Income Sine Wave and Take Control of Your Income appeared first on The Women's Code.

What is Imposter Syndrome and How Do You Overcome It?

 

Stop Justifying Your Right to Be Here

Imposter syndrome is a phenomenon that you must overcome in your life, or it will hinder your forward progress and keep you in a perpetual state of doubt and questioning your value. Imposter syndrome occurs when you constantly feel like you have to justify your right to have a seat at the table–even though you already have one. Although anyone can struggle with this, it often happens specifically to women in the workplace. You are there, and you have earned your way into your spot, but you can’t get past the feeling that you are still battling for a position. You feel the need to prove your right to a job, the right to speak, the right to make your salary – the list goes on.

 

One of the most significant issues stemming from imposter syndrome is the power it has to erode your confidence. When this happens, you feel like you don’t belong – even though you clearly do – and everyone else picks up on your insecurities. 

Determine Your REAL Strengths

If you find yourself struggling with imposter syndrome, one essential thing is to stop the negative self-talk. To do this, you must focus on your strengths and have a strong understanding of what you do really well. Not what you have been told to do, not what your parents wanted you to do, not the path you were told you were supposed to take – what you actually do exceptionally well. We all have strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots, and to move forward you must become aware of what these are for you.

 

This is not as easy as it sounds because every evaluation system in the educational world is set up for you to learn information, retain it, and then regurgitate the content back in the form they have asked. You get into the private sector, and you need to be an innovative, free-thinker that can develop ideas and solve problems. When this happens, sometimes it isn’t easy to figure out what you really are good at because school did not give you enough likeness to the real world to actually know. Then the internal conflict begins – do you do what you were trained to do, even if you are not great at it, or do what you are truly gifted in and what you love, even if the messaging from others has communicated that there is no value in it?

 

One of the keys to overcoming imposter syndrome is to discover your super-skill because everyone has one, and instead of apologizing for the things you are terrible at doing, double down on the place where you shine. 

Shine With Your Super Skill

Once you discover your super-skill, the thing you love that you are fantastic at doing, it is time to capitalize on it. One way of accomplishing this is to double-down on your super-skill and hire people or surround yourself with teammates with expertise in your areas of weakness. In the real world, this looks like making sure that if Excel Pivot Tables and Spreadsheets are not an area where you flourish, make sure you have a plan in place that allows someone on the team that lives for the organization of data on Excel to take ownership of this part. When your evaluation occurs, if they point out your lack of knowledge in Excel, then you can let them know that you teamed up with a partner so you could both work in your area of expertise. Then, you proceed to tell them about the things you are passionate about and how your skills are making their organization better and improving their bottom line. 

When you approach your strengths and weaknesses this way, it allows you to stop making excuses for what you don’t do well and then shine with your super-skill. This is how you stop imposter syndrome in its tracks and keep it from having a chokehold on your life and career. True confidence can then radiate, and the need to justify your place will officially be a thing of the past.

 

I am here to help! At the Growth Architect, my job as a strategist is to help you reach your goals by understanding how your mindset, growth, and business strategies work together. If you want to hear more about overcoming imposter syndrome and shining with your super-skill, then watch my video.

Let’s grow!
Beate

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post What is Imposter Syndrome and How Do You Overcome It? appeared first on The Women's Code.

Should Your Business Accept Cryptocurrency?

 

As cryptocurrencies continue to become more prominent, the question of whether or not to accept them as payment is one more businesses will need to scrutinize. Studies indicate that more than 2,300 U.S. enterprises have now opted in at this point, making it all the more prudent to consider whether you should be accepting cryptos in your business. As you consider doing so however, it’s important to weigh both the pros and cons. As with most business decisions, there are both incentives and possible disadvantages associated with the idea, and how crypto affects you will depend on your specific situation and fit.

To help you determine whether digital assets are right for your business, we’ve gone over some reasons to accept –– as well as some reasons you may not need to.

 

Reasons to Accept Crypto

1) Payment Security

With the pandemic leading to a surge in credit and debit card fraud (attempts rose by 35% in 2020), one thing crypto offers is better payment security. Crypto transactions occur directly from buyer to seller. They also do not require the storage of business or consumer data in a centralized hub where data breaches can occur. Plus, the actual transactions are quick and straightforward, and can be conducted securely on existing equipment (like smartphones and most modern POS systems).

2) Keeping Up

As noted in a previous article on the need to pivot business strategies, it’s important to keep up with the times when running your own enterprise. This, to some business owners, is the key driving factor to crypto adoption. We mentioned above just how many U.S. businesses are accepting digital assets, and it’s worth noting specifically that that number is the result of a notable increase in small businesses adopting cryptocurrency of late. By following suit, you’ll be ensuring you keep up, rather than let these businesses get too far ahead.

3) Casting a Wide Net

Global accessibility is vast in the crypto world, with studies showing that half the population now has access to Bitcoin. That in and of itself means you’re speaking to a large market. Plus, you’ll be opening your arms to a growing population of consumers who are specifically enthusiastic about cryptocurrency, and perhaps roping in more business in the process.

 

Reasons Why Crypto May Not Be Suitable

1) Time Management

Allowing crypto as a payment method can create inefficiency in your business processes, and potentially add work for your employees. Dealing with refunds during busy seasons, for instance, will require your team to divert time and attention towards individual payment returns –– some of which can be complicated by the fact that crypto values will have changed in the time since the original purchase.

2) Distinguishing Consumers From Investors

It’s also important to recognize that most people within the aforementioned population of crypto enthusiasts are ultimately more interested in trading cryptocurrency than using it as currency. The real excitement revolves around the idea of setting up an account on an online exchange and speculating –– buying and selling digital assets for gains, much as people have long done with commodities and stocks. But even within growing communities of those who trade cryptocurrency in this fashion, most do not make a regular habit of using their digital coins in day-to-day transactions. That’s not to say none do –– there are, again, some who specifically look to use cryptos. But talk of a growing crypto market mostly has to do with trading and investment.

3) Volatility

While crypto is here to stay as a commodity, its time as a functional currency may well come and go. As with the value of anything, supply and demand applies to crypto too. As a result of this (and all of the aforementioned exchange trading) it’s not uncommon for the price of Bitcoin, for instance, to increase or decrease in price by 10-15% from one day to the next. Smaller cryptos occasionally swing by even greater percentages. With currency this volatile, there’s always a risk element.

As you can see, there are pros and cons to the idea. Be sure to weigh both sides as you determine whether or not crypto adoption is the right idea for your business.

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post Should Your Business Accept Cryptocurrency? appeared first on The Women's Code.

How to Get Everything Done to Be More Productive

 

Narrow Your Focus

The most important step you can take toward increasing your productivity actually occurs before the work for the day begins. Being productive starts with having a “self” planning meeting for you to determine the single most important task that has to happen today. Once you isolate the most critical goal, then list four more items you need to accomplish. I use a psychological productivity tool called the Daily Five with my clients, where they make a master list and “brain dump” everything they can think of that needs to be accomplished. From this lengthy list, they determine the top five things for the next day.

 

So, why five? Because long lists tend to overwhelm our brains, and instead of being helpful, the list can become a distractor. By creating small, achievable productivity goals, your odds of accomplishing the tasks at hand increase drastically. 

 

Keep Your Commitments to Yourself

No matter what five tasks you determine, they are meaningless without your commitment to doing them. Once you make this commitment, the execution of the tasks becomes non-negotiable. You are better never to commit than to commit and not follow through. By not carrying out your commitments, you train your brain that your words mean nothing, and a litany of negative processes begin to occur in your mind. Compare this to something you have committed to in the past, perhaps to stop smoking or not eat sweets–if you allow yourself to ignore your commitment just one time, it becomes easier and easier to continue to move off the path.

 

It doesn’t matter what the commitment is–the important thing is to stick with what you say you will do. By committing to accomplish your tasks, you are making a promise to yourself, and you must keep your word to yourself. 

 

Set Yourself Up for Success

Knowing that commitment is the most critical part of the productivity equation, setting yourself up for success is vital. If five things seem like too much for you to start with, begin with a number you can accomplish–even if that is only one task. I like to set an uber accomplishment task at the end of my list, which allows me to see that I went above and beyond my commitment and overachieved the goals for my day. Unlike the negative signals that breaking promises sends to our brains, overachieving sends a positive message to our brains and reinforces our ability to meet new goals.

 

Follow-Through = Confidence

Making plans, committing to them, and following through on your commitments is the secret to building confidence. If you lack confidence, you are likely continuing to break promises to yourself. It is so easy to slip down the slope of excuses–I’m too tired; I want to watch this TV show; I want to talk to my friend–whatever you choose to be distracted by becomes your barrier to seeing results. Anyone can make a list or give lip service to a commitment, but it takes discipline to create follow-through and confidence.

 

Whatever it is in your life that you want to move forward with–your job, your career, self-development, your family, a relationship–it takes an intentional commitment to carry out your goals. Just think, if you do five things a day, five times a week, by the end of the week, you will have accomplished 25 things. That means within just one month, you will have completed 100 tasks placing you closer and closer to your ultimate goals.

 

At the Growth Architect, we want to help you find strategies that will help you increase your productivity and accomplish your goals. That’s what we do! If you enjoyed this article, watch my video, How To Get Everything Done/Be More Productive.

Let’s grow!
Beate

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post How to Get Everything Done to Be More Productive appeared first on The Women's Code.

How to Hire More Diverse Candidates

 

If I were to ask you which sector of the workforce most effectively achieves diversity in the workplace, you might assume that government jobs would most likely live up to this standard. Unfortunately, data indicates that is not the case. An article published by Black Enterprise expounded on the data provided by governmentjobs.com, which revealed that Black women are 58% less likely to be hired than White men.

Wow, that is a large number! But let’s look a little further. As with all statistics, it is critical to dive deeper to see the true story the data tells. Was the study looking at all candidates or just the qualified ones? What were the overall numbers of White, Black, and Hispanic applicants? This matters in research because the numbers might be misleading if the people not hired were not qualified. It is also important to determine the number of candidates in each gender and race that applied–you cannot take a minority group and make them a majority.

 

The Data Tells the Story

Based on looking at the data with these critical questions in mind, what information was revealed? 

Qualified Black women were 58% less likely than qualified White men to be hired.  Out of 17,000,000 applications, 28% identified as Black.Out of the 28% of Black applicants, only 18% were actually hired, which is indeed disproportionate.Qualified Black women were 39% less likely to receive an interview than their male counterparts.

With so many organizations desperately needing more diversity of thought to achieve success, these numbers are unacceptable. But there are ways to overcome this barrier.

 

Be Actively Aware of Hiring Practices

We continuously see diversity as a challenge for organizations because of hiring practices that trend toward sameness. This problem occurs because of the tendencies of people to desire to be around people that are similar to them. Who is doing the majority of the decision-making in organizations? Middle-aged, White men–and they are hiring people into the organization that they understand and are like them–this is actually a normal tendency. Who really goes out and seeks friends that are completely different from them that they have very little in common with? Not many people.

Often, the lack of workplace diversity is as simple as a lack of understanding of how the problem occurs. To address it, leaders must take an honest look at who they are hiring and why. If the pattern revolves around the habit of seeking sameness, then the organization must make a concerted effort to change this practice and seek diversity. Diversity of thought will only make the company stronger.

 

Change the Hiring Formula

If diversity of thought is the goal–and it should always be the goal–then hiring formulas must be changed to become gender and ethnic neutral. Some companies think that they do this but are failing miserably. For instance, Google has a hiring process they call hiring for culture, but Google still has a huge diversity problem. Why? Because the only people considered for a job are the ones that master their process. The design is flawed because it only allows them to continue to get more of what they already have, and then everyone fits the same mold.

So, what does the new formula need to have? Knowing that quotas conjure up the idea with some majority groups that women or minorities are somehow receiving an unfair advantage, there must be another way, and there is. Companies must create a truly neutral hiring process that removes gender, race, and ethnicity and creates a hiring practice that looks at applicants by qualifications only. By removing the intake or interview process, the candidate’s qualifications determine who receives an interview and ultimately lands the position. Adopting a blind hiring process reduces the chances that leaders will succumb to the unconscious bias of sameness.

 

Let’s grow!
Beate

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post How to Hire More Diverse Candidates appeared first on The Women's Code.

Motivating Your Organization: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

 

One of the most impactful practices you can engage in when motivating your staff to reach their full potential is taking the time to understand how to meet different types of needs. When you know the needs of the people in your organization, you can ensure you are moving them in the right direction and helping them reach their full potential. Why does this matter? Because it keeps them motivated to do their best work, and Maslow’s Hierarchy is a perfect place to begin this process.

Meeting Basic Needs

It is impossible to move forward with those you work with until you provide for all of their basic needs. These basic, foundational needs are both biological and psychological–food, shelter, and clean water. Often, in western civilization, we can take for granted that everyone has these basic needs met, but that could quite easily not be the case. If you are in an organization that employs low-level staff on minimum wage, it is essential to keep these basic needs in mind.

With the cost of rent skyrocketing, and a shortage of affordable housing, most of what they make could be going into rent alone. When this happens, it can make it almost impossible to put food on the table and keep consistent housing. If you have staff dealing with these issues, then they are living continually in survival mode.

Living in a constant state of survival means being able to function in a calm, confident way is exceptionally challenging. People in this state will almost always struggle to put everything they need into work because they are at the bottom of the hierarchy–continually worried about the bare necessities of life.

The Importance of Safety

The need for safety in the workplace can never be overstated, evidenced by Maslow placing it as the second-highest need in the hierarchy. When we talk about safety, it is important to understand that this means more than just being physically safe–we also must consider if we are providing a place of physical and mental safety. Although all three safety components have always been important, it is of particular importance in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

With the prolonged pressures and constant change created by COVID, we see an increase in mental health and emotional issues. Knowing the heightened need for emotional safety, we must ensure that our workplaces not only provide physically safe spaces but spaces that are emotionally safe, as well.

Workplace violence on the rise can also cause people to feel unsafe at work; knowing that these tragedies can make people feel unsettled and fearful, it is imperative to create a physically safe environment for all of your staff. Just remember, safe environments are created intentionally, and they are established by how the community communicates, interacts, and relates to other people.

The Power of Love and Belonging

Never underestimate the power of feeling the bond of belonging to a group. Yes, love is part of this, but in a work environment, we are really talking about creating an atmosphere of appreciation and making your employees feel like they are part of a team. When this is missing in an organization, it is easily identifiable because it comes out in victimizing and blaming behaviors that spew anger. When the need for love and belonging are met, then the task of retaining talent becomes much more likely–and in our current work environment, this cannot be taken for granted. You live and die by keeping great people, which is much more likely when they feel like a valuable member of your team. Keep this need in mind as you work in a hybrid model; it is critical to create an atmosphere of belonging for your remote workers as well. 

 

Building Esteem 

The need to feel good about the work you do, feel appreciated, and recognized for your efforts is a need in the hierarchy that must not be overlooked. When you build a culture of gratitude and recognition, it creates a sense of confidence in your staff that is vital to the success of your organization. One way to accomplish this is to make sure you are rewarding what is done right instead of constantly pointing out what needs to be changed. By encouraging good behavior versus punishing undesirable behavior, you are putting positive energy into motion that changes the dynamics of your organization. Participating in team-building activities that allow others to share good things about each other can instantly transform your organization into a positive place where people feel good about themselves and want to be part of your team.

 

Living Up To Your Potential

Self-actualization is at the top of the hierarchy, and it is where you live up to your potential. Although it is common to hear others talk about living up to potential as a goal, most of the time, people find excuses to keep from actually getting to this place. As a leader, it is crucial to make sure you are constantly looking for high potential and sharing this insight with your team members. Often, you may recognize potential in them that they have not recognized, and you are the person that can encourage them to go after these goals. The leader is also pivotal because you can help guide them in the steps they need to take to get where they want to be. So, if you want them to go from one point to another, then your role is to give them more information, education, or training in that area. When you do this, they begin to see an obtainable picture of what they are striving to do or where they want to go. This helps them form that actualized vision in their head and shifts their mindset–and we know from mindset that you can’t achieve something unless you have a clear path of how to get there.

If motivating your staff to reach their full potential is something you would like to know more about, please reach out to me, The Growth Architect, and I’d be happy to have a conversation with you! If you liked this article, check out my video on motivating your staff.

Let’s grow!
Beate

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post Motivating Your Organization: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs appeared first on The Women's Code.

Self Confidence and The Female Entrepreneur – Are YOU Good Enough?

 

Am I good enough? I can’t do that. I don’t know how… I’m never going to make it… Ever been plagued by these thoughts before? Then you’re not alone!

Many millennials, and women in particular, struggle with a crippling lack of self-confidence. I suspect I don’t need to tell you that this feeling of inadequacy is holding you back.

To succeed as an entrepreneur, and to make it as a leader in today’s uncertain world, it is vital to believe in yourself and believe you can do it – even if you don’t know how. The key is to identify your weak points and find a work-around, so they stop holding you back.

Not sure where to begin? Here are some tools both men and women can use to bolster their self-confidence and get on course to success.

 

Everything is a learnable skill
You start learning the day you are born, and you shouldn’t stop until the day you die. If some skill or area of expertise is tripping you up, then pick up a book or watch a YouTube video and learn how to do it yourself. And if something really isn’t clicking, then learn enough to hire it out – but never give up on learning new tricks!

 

Outsource
No one is good at everything. The best leaders learn to surround themselves with people who know more and can do better. Combine forces with people whose strengths balance out your weaknesses. If you’re insecure about your writing, hire a ghost writer. If you worry your appearance isn’t up to snuff, consult a stylist. No idea how to handle contracts? Hire a lawyer. Delegation could be your ticket to overcoming self-confidence issues.

 

Never forget: You have something to offer.
I bet something that seemed difficult to you 6 months or a year ago has become second nature now – or at least a little less overwhelming. Take a second to look at what you’ve already done and how far you’ve come and applaud your progress! The things that seem easy to you may seem impossible to the next person. Stop selling yourself short and celebrate what you are good at.

 

As a female entrepreneur, building and sustaining your self-confidence may always be a chore. Just return to these tenets when you’re feeling inadequate, and remember: You are good enough. You belong here. And you are going to kill it.

Let’s grow!
Beate

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post Self Confidence and The Female Entrepreneur – Are YOU Good Enough? appeared first on The Women's Code.

3 Tips To Boost Your Confidence And Career

 

Does the thought of speaking in front of others or being called on in a group make you break out in a cold sweat and leave you speechless? If so, this is a true sign that you lack confidence–a critical skill to building your success. When asked to speak, present, or pitch to a client, that is the time to show up with a strong inner self that highlights your strengths and assets. It is absolutely not the time to stumble over words, be uncertain of what to say, or start looking like you might pass out. If this happens to you, it is time for you to learn the art of having more confidence and showing up, showcasing your full potential.

 

Practice Makes Perfect

It is imperative that you practice, practice, practice becoming a subject matter expert. Why does this matter? Because it is the trick to being ready for whatever gets thrown your way. If you have been called out in meetings before and found yourself inadequately prepared, then you know that feeling of panic that can occur when you do not have answers. One way to fix this problem is to list everything that you stumbled over in the past and create a list of effective ways to handle those moments in the future. If not, then all you are left with is hoping you will not be asked the same questions again or that maybe you will not get called out on something you do not know–and that is no way to build confidence. The path to confidence lies in practicing for tough questions and preparing for anything that has caught you off guard in the past. When you go into a situation prepared, it will inevitably boost your confidence level.

 

Fake It ‘Till You Make It

Fake it ‘till you make it is a concept that can tend to be misunderstood. This does not mean that you walk around pretending to know things or believe in things you have no clue about. Fake it ‘till you make it actually means that you find something you truly do understand and believe in, and you use it as your confidence hook. For instance, if you see yourself as a good person or a trustworthy person, build your confidence from that area. When you feel insecure, remind yourself of who you are and what you are good at, and remind yourself that you have a great deal to be confident about. This will allow your brain to reinforce the positive areas and diminish the negative thoughts that can cause you to lose focus. Remind yourself of your past achievements and let your past successes fuel your energy–keep telling yourself that if you could do that, then you can do this! By creating a positive narrative in your mind, you learn to reinforce confidence in your mindset.

 

Discover Your Super Skill

You must know your Super skill and how to use it to build your confidence and your career. If you are not sure of your Super Skill or how to use it to experience success, you absolutely need to check out the program that I just launched called–Rocket Launch Your Career. I designed this specifically for you to discover your Super Skill, learn to talk about yourself with confidence, and know when you walk into a room what the people there want to hear from you. Once you understand what people are thinking and what they are looking for, it allows you to prepare yourself in a completely different way, which builds your confidence exponentially. When you take the guesswork out of what others expect from you, it allows you to anticipate their questions and tackle any situation with the confidence you need to experience success.

At the Growth Architect, we want to help you find strategies that will help you build your confidence and be prepared for any situation. That’s what we do! If you enjoyed this article, check out my video on building confidence.

Let’s grow!
Beate

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post 3 Tips To Boost Your Confidence And Career appeared first on The Women's Code.

How to Love Your Job–Or Do You Have To?

 

If we choose to look at our life through just the lens of time, it is easy to see that we spend more time at work than doing almost anything else. So, does it matter if you love what you do? For many people, the answer to that question is found in your purpose and where you find your passion.

 

What Drives You Matters

Before you can begin to assess the importance of loving your job, you must evaluate what drives you in life. Without knowing what holds value, it will become almost impossible to tell if loving your job is a non-negotiable in your life. For instance, if you thrive in an environment designed around vision and purpose, which gives your life meaning, it will be challenging to work in a job where you don’t exercise your passion. Taking a job that doesn’t meet these needs will increase the odds that you experience burnout, disappointment and seek to leave at the first opportunity you find for a different job. On the other hand, if you are a person that simply sees a job as a vehicle to make money and allows you to do the things you love, then loving your job is not nearly as important. The critical piece is understanding what matters to you and what brings your fulfillment, then the choice is yours.

 

The Choice Is Yours

Once you understand what motivates you, the choice is yours. If you are motivated by passion and meaning, choosing a job that allows you to be a difference-maker is imperative to your overall satisfaction in life. If making money to do the things you love matters more to you, then there is nothing at all wrong with taking a job that you are good at, has excellent pay and benefits, and allows you to clock out and do the thing you do love. You are the only person that can decide this for you; you have to make these decisions based on how you are wired and what brings you joy and satisfaction. One of the worst things you can do is allow yourself to get entangled in other people’s experiences and expectations. Know you, and follow your own path.

 

Evaluate Your Current Situation

Now is the time to evaluate your current situation and determine if it aligns with what matters to you. When I reflect, I realize that it is impossible for me to do something that I am not passionate about. I work a tremendous amount, love taking action, and have an intense drive to inspire people, help them build their business, so they can make money and help more people. This is what I love, and I would be miserable trying to do a job that did not allow me to use my passions. But this is not necessary for everyone, and that is fine–never feel bad because your motivators are different from others.

The good news is that if you realize that you want a job you are more passionate about, there has never been a better time to go out and find something you love. With the talent shortage that exists right now, there are multiple opportunities to negotiate a great deal on a job that meets your needs. At the Growth Architect, my job as a strategist is to help you understand how your mindset, growth, and business strategies work together. That’s what I do! If you want to hear more about how to love your job, then watch my video.

Let’s grow!
Beate

 

 

Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.

Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.

Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.

To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!

The post How to Love Your Job–Or Do You Have To? appeared first on The Women's Code.