After 14 years of specializing in being a business coach for small business owners in general, I have narrowed my niche to independent financial advisors.

“I help independent financial advisors grow their business by growing more profitable clients while saving time and energy.”

I still can help all small business owners grow their business, make more money and have time to enjoy their money.

My new website www.stanmann.com will be coming soon to reflect these changes.

Just imagine what you could accomplish if you weren’t afraid. You could play a bigger game, make more money and enjoy your business and life even more.

Everyone has fears. The most powerful of our emotions, fear can save your life by stopping you from dashing across a busy street without looking or from sticking your hand in a hungry tiger’s cage. If we didn’t have fear urging us to flee from danger, we would have vanished as a species long ago.

In contrast to helpful fears, irrational fears handicap you in the pursuit of your goals. A student who avoids asking questions of his teacher is clearly hampered in his ability to learn. Similarly, a businessman who avoids talking to bankers or a boss who has trouble saying “no” to her workers is handicapped. One excellent salesman wasted countless hours during which he could have been selling, because he was afraid to fly.

PHOBIAS: UNDERSTANDING THE ENEMY

An irrational fear is a phobia, an unfounded fear of something, causing the victim to avoid a certain dreaded object or situation.
Phobias are more widespread than you may imagine, especially when you consider the social phobias. These are irrational fears that involve other people: fear of speaking in public, examination anxiety, shyness, and so on. Phobias can be as mild as stuttering when introducing someone or so severe as to force the sufferer to be housebound.

WHY OVERCOME YOUR IRRATIONAL FEARS?

Irrational fears cause the victim to avoid even positive situations. I am reminded of the case of Marge, an airline executive. One of her job perks was the chance to fly throughout most of the world for as little as twenty dollars. Although she was not afraid of flying, she had a phobia of being in a place from which she could not easily escape – such as the back seat of a car, the middle seat in a theater, or the cabin of an airliner. Due to her unreasonable fear, she had to pass up opportunities to fly cheaply.
From my years of clinical experience, I am convinced that phobias are the primary obstacle stopping so many of us from leading the satisfying lives we could live.

If you have a phobia, it does not have to cause you severe anxiety in order to interfere with your life. Even a persistent, mild phobia can raise havoc in your life. If you have an irrational fear of something that is important to your success-talking to important people, for example-you will become nervous and anxious when you try to do it. If you forge ahead in spite of the anxiety, you pay with discomfort and stress. Your body wants to retreat as you force it forward. Repeated unwanted stress has been linked to countless diseases: ulcers, headaches, heart attacks, and even cancer are only a few stress-related diseases.
More than likely, you will do as most people-you will avoid the object of your phobia. However, doing so will make it most difficult, if not impossible, to reach your goals.

Such phobias may be causing you to make compromises and settling for second best. How many times have your plans been undermined by irrational fear? Are fears, both big and little, running and ruining your life?
As I as I remarked at the beginning of this article, you can comfortably and easily erase these fears. My system, called TRIGGERS, is one way you can do this.

Follow my blog to learn step-by-step directions.

Wishing you ultimate happiness and success,
~Stan
Small Business Coach

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There is a range of skills effective business leader needs. One of them is to get projects done well and on time. To keep important projects on track use the SMART goal system. This means goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.

The last criteria, timely, is key to keeping important projects on track. This means when delegating the project, you should set two important dates; the end date and the check-in dates. In addition to the date the project is required to be completed, be sure to establish two dates when your workers required to report back to you on this progress. This gives you the opportunity to help with any problems that may have developed and to be sure the job is being done right..

When you delegate your relinquishing the actual work, but you are always responsible for the end product, that the job is done well and on time.

If you always use this simple tip, it will save you time and struggle. You will be one step closer to being a truly effective business leader.

Wishing you ultimate happiness and success,
~Stan
Small Business Coach

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Many financial planners are doubly challenged to maintain their clientele, attract new clients and comply with the many legal and professional regulations. Tax laws are changing all the time; there are legal statuses which will change all the time. There are rules and regulations that they have to adhere to, so many things make this business particularly difficult, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good or it’s not satisfying or it’s not possible. It just means that it’s a big challenge. One of the biggest challenges is dealing with negative sentiment and investor emotions that can run contrary to successful investing.

Many in the industry feel overwhelmed. As financial markets remain volatile, financial planners are bearing the brunt of the negative attitudes. They struggle to stay motivated and focused on fundamentals and not get caught up in the media negativity. They find themselves working very hard for their money.

Financial planners are challenged to stay the course . An effective business coach can help his clients remain confident and motivated..He can provide the necessary support.

Business coaching is very effective for guiding clients to plot a course through the choppy waters ahead. With the future uncertain and foggy, business coaching will help the client set a clear vision for his practice. This clear vision motivates and encourages the team over time and keeps workers on track. A coach will help you anchor your team to your vision. It is an excellent way to build strong relationships that will maintain harmony when the going is rough.

Financial planners with business coaching support will be able to continue getting new profitable clients and enjoy the satisfaction of guiding their clients to a successful future.

Wishing you ultimate happiness and success,
~Stan
Small Business Coach

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Everyone who has hired me as a business coach had goals they wanted to achieve. Some had plenty of motivation and took the necessary action, while others had a strong desire to achieve their goals, but had trouble taking the necessary action. Even with a business coach exercise urging them, it still was a struggle for these people.

That’s when my Triggers mind programming system was a huge help. You might wonder how does Triggers work. Read on to learn by example.

Here are some real life stories, taken from my professional practice, of how this system has been used with different motivational problems.

At my Clinical Training Seminar at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, I have taught some of the professional staff these techniques to help others change. They were all graduates of accredited schools and trained psychotherapists.

During one session, as part of their training, four students worked with each other to increase their motivation, using the same methods I have been describing to you, except they were applying them to each other instead of to themselves. Having explained the procedure to the class, I asked them to think of something they would like to do more often.

“I’ll lead the first one as a model for the class,” I said, “and then you will pair up and work on each other. Now, who will begin?”

“I have something,” said Rachael. “I used to play the piano a lot, but since I had my baby, I haven’t been practicing as much as I want to. She’s four months old now and I tell myself to practice, but I never seem to get around to it anymore. I used to really enjoy it.”

“Okay, Rachael. Make yourself comfortable and we’ll take care of that for you.”
Turning to the class, I explained, “Her target is to play the piano more frequently. Now, we need something from her reservoir. What do you really enjoy doing, Rachael? Something you look forward to and do almost every chance you get?”

She thought a moment before her face lit up with a big smile. “Playing with my baby,” she said. “She’s so much fun.” Rachael was easy to work with because she had an expressive face that revealed when she was thinking of her reservoir. However, I was not certain I could read her face to know precisely when she was imagining this, so we arranged for her to signal me when she was.

“Playing with your baby will be your reservoir,” I said. “Relax and imagine yourself playing with her. See, hear, and feel that.” When her face lit up again, she signaled she was into her fantasy as I had instructed. So I pressed her right knee, creating a trigger for that response. “Now, just as vividly as you can, imagine yourself playing the piano. Give me the signal when you have it.”

“Now compare your reservoir,” I said (as I pressed her right knee), “to your target” (as I pressed her left knee). “If your reservoir is stronger, give me the signal.”
She immediately signaled that it was.

“Good. Now, imagine them together,” I said, as I pressed both knees at once.
She frowned, looking puzzled. This is a common reaction when the two sets of experiences are merging. When her face appeared calm again, I knew she had combined her target with her reservoir. This transformed her target, giving her a new mental set about piano playing.

At this point, I told her, “Think of yourself in the near future playing the piano with your newly acquired eagerness.” Again, a big smile lit her face as she signaled that she was doing as I had instructed. But the signal was not necessary. I could tell by her expression what was going on inside her. I gave her a few minutes to complete this phase.

Her eyes fluttered open and she excitedly told us that she had also figured out how to find the time to practice. This was a bonus benefit for Rachael. However, it is not necessary to do this during this procedure because, once you create the desire, you will find the time on your own.

Another student, John, voiced a concern he had: “Might you not switch the two feelings, so that you’ll dislike what you used to like and like what you didn’t like before?”

“A switch wouldn’t occur,” I answered. “What you are doing is mixing and combining the two sets of experiences – the target and the reservoir – so that the stronger influences the weaker. However, it is possible to make both experiences unenjoyable. So it is important that the reservoir experience is stronger – the stronger, the better.”

“You mean if the reluctance is stronger than the drive that’s in the other experience – if the negative is stronger than the positive – then you might end up not caring to do either one of them?” John asked.
“Yes, theoretically that is right,” I replied. “Although I never heard of it happening.”

The next person to try double triggering during that training session was Russ. He was  willing to reveal his target to us, but – for the sake of demonstrating that this method works on any target (unless you have a phobia about it) – Rachael, after checking with him that an irrational fear was not stopping him, did double triggering with him without any of us knowing his target.

This way of working can be useful to protect privacy in groups where people know each other and a client is embarrassed or shy about letting others know his or her problem. Instead of saying what it is, he can merely state in general terms the change he wants. This avoids the possibility that others might change their opinion of him and treat him differently. He does not have to worry about what others might think of his personal problem.

Since we knew that Russ wanted to do more of something, Rachael went through the same procedures with Russ that I had gone through with her, but she had to talk in generalities instead of being specific.

At the next session, he reported that the double triggering had worked splendidly. He had been feeling “lazy” about going to his karate lessons, but since his double triggering session, he had attended enthusiastically. As his reservoir, he had used reading. “I jump into a book any chance I get,” he said.

If you, dear reader, have a motivation problem, give this system a try. You’ll be amazed. And be sure to comment and let us know your experience.

Wishing you ultimate happiness and success,
~Stan
Small Business Coach

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The key is to engage your people in the problem solving process. Simply put, instead of telling them what to do, ask their advice on how to achieve the desired income.

With this approach, instead of you being the taskmaster and your worker the hired hand, you become partners. The worker feels respected and involved in the process. When he gives you his ideas and has your OK to proceed with them, he has a stake in the outcome.

What usually happens is there is a fruitful exchange of ideas and approaches.
Often you will be pleasantly surprised when he gives you a good idea you never have thought of. Then together you can choose which approach to take.

Even if his way of doing it does not seem as good as yours, you might want to consider letting him do it his way. It will help his self-esteem.

Making your workers a partner with this approach will not only make them appreciate their job more, they’ll be more loyal. You will find that they will develop into better workers as you help them exercise their problem solving muscle.

At first this approach takes more time than simply telling them what to do. Over time this discussion will often happen very quickly. Most importantly you get better results. Your workers will be more productive and your retention rates will improve.

To summarize, ask rather than tell. You will develop more productive workers.

Wishing you ultimate happiness and success,
~Stan
Small Business Coach

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Albert Ellis, PhD. that have been scientifically validated.

Working with hundreds and hundreds of business owners during my career as a business coach, I have

encountered very successful business owners who felt unfulfilled. They could not enjoy their

success. Life did not have the meaning that it should.

I have found some principles and techniques that have helped these people enormously. Here are two

of them.

1) Do not live your life seeking other peoples approval. You do not have to be loved and approved by

almost everyone in order to be happy. Do what you enjoy, not what other people think you ought to to

in life. You know what makes you happy, what makes life enjoyable. This is what you should do.

2) To become more skillful and competent, keep trying to better your own performance. Instead of

striving to be thoroughly competent, simply strive to do better and accept yourself for that. Give

up the notion of trying to be perfect or the best. As our president has said, “do not let perfect

become the enemy of good.” Accept failures as undesirable, even necessary, but not terrible. Realize

you are a valuable, worthwhile person simply because you are a human being. Your self-worth is not

based upon how well you do something. Accept yourself unconditionally.

These may not apply to you, but if they do, work on the ones that apply to you daily. These are

scientifically validated self-improvement principles based on the work of Albert Ellis, PhD.

As you make these changes, you’ll find yourself being a better leader and attracting people to you.

If you have any questions, leave your comment.

Wishing you ultimate happiness and success,
~Stan
Small Business Coach

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You spend a lot of time and energy working IN your business. You most likely went into business so you can do the thing you love. From cooking excellent food, helping people build their financial security, making the best widgets, or, like me, helping people live more successful, happier lives.

You soon found you had to spend time, energy and money working ON your business to make it grow – - getting clients or customers, prospecting, advertising, selling, hiring and managing staff.

These issues are urgent and demand your attention. But there is a part of your business that is more important. In fact, it is the most important part of your business. It is the foundation of your business.

Have you ever asked yourself, what is the foundation of your business, that which everything else depends and without it being strong and vital, your business would seriously suffer? If you think about it, that vital foundation is you.

If you have uncertainties about running your business, will this not show up in how well your business goes? If you lack focus, will not your business lack focus and your prospective customers feel uncertain of your services or products? If you are inefficient, is not your whole organization inefficient and hurting?

Are you, like most business owners, so caught up in the daily business activities that you neglect the vital foundation of your business – - YOU?

If this is true for you, it is urgent that you take steps to correct it. Schedule time, at least an hour a week, for this vital function. Many business owners schedule time every single day. Do not tell yourself you will do it in your spare time. You know full well when you’re running a business there never is spare time. Put it on your calendar. Give it top priority. Start doing it now.

This is one of the most fundamental and essential things you can do for your business and for yourself.

Wishing you ultimate happiness and success,

~Stan
Small Business Coach

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WHAT FRANK DID TO MAKE HIS PROFITS SOAR

Frank loved helping his clients reach their financial goals. His practice had grown to the point where he was working extremely hard (“working myself to death,” he told me). He had employees to help him, but managing them was a real challenge.

Frank just wasn’t an effective leader. Trying to get new changes in procedures was a joke. When he told his workers what to do, Frank thought he made himself clear only to discover he was misunderstood. They are in spent so much energy trying to straighten things out that they had little energy to solve customer needs.

Frank took courses in leadership, managing, and supervising. Nothing seemed to help .

Then he decided to hire a coach. He learned the coaching system of working with his workers. Instead of the “tell them what to do, and then make sure they do it,” method, he started using the coaching method. It was a collaborative, helping approach to managing his people.

Frank no longer saw himself as a taskmaster, but as an enabler that helped his people grow. He learned how to empower his people, ask powerful questions, establish focus, discover possibilities, make action plans, and remove barriers.

Frank invited each worker to share his ideas on how to achieve his duties. Then they both agreed upon a plan of action and method of accountability. He encouraged creative thinking and growth.

His workers soon begin referring to Frank as a “great boss.” They had more fun on the job and Frank stopped losing his good workers.

Customers received better service and sales soared. Frank had more time for his family and his stress levels fell dramatically.

Implement the coaching model described below and you will become a great boss who creates a truly effective leadership culture in your company.

The most successful companies are using the coaching model to change their culture to promote truly effective leadership.

By organizational culture, we mean all the attitudes, beliefs,
values and behaviors — both conscious and unconscious — that
define “how things are done around here.” Top management are the
models for their organization’s culture. They set the standards for
the integrity, values, priorities and goals. Management sets the
tone. For instance; if they expect their people to be friendly and
warm to customers, they had better be friendly and warm to
subordinates.

1. Communicate clearly their vision, goals, strategies and
priorities
2. Get buy-in from their people at all levels to pursue these
objectives

One of the most effective approaches to achieve enthusiastic
cooperation within an organization is the coaching model. With its
emphasis on working collaboratively, focusing on results, just in
time learning, and growing and stretching workers; coaching skills
contribute to truly effective leadership.

Creating a coaching culture where executives and managers become skilled coaches and learn a new collaborative way of working will turn a company into a high-performance organization. Such an
organization reaps the following benefits:

• Conflict is more easily resolved
• Organizational change is more easily implemented
• People become engaged in their work and have more fun
• Retention rates go up
• Real collaborative teamwork occurs
• People receive the kind of attention that enables them to grow
• More energy is available to solve customer needs
• Just-in-time learning reduces errors and cycle time
• AND Leaders become truly effective

~Stan Mann, Success Coach”Support to substantially grow your business
and create the life you really want.”

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If you are having trouble making the triggering method work for you, there are several possible reasons.

1. Begin with an Easy Target

One problem might be that you started by trying to change too difficult a target. Begin with something easy until you gain more skill and success. This approach is used when attaining most new skills. After all, you wouldn’t try to learn to drive a car on a busy downtown street. Instead you would choose a quiet residential street or a lonely country road.
Start out with something you already like to do, but would like to do even more. Write this target down on paper, along with other targets. Number your targets in order of increasing difficulty, putting those you like to do first and those you dislike last. Then, you can start transforming your motivation with those items on the top of your list and work your way down.
A person who likes to visit friends but just doesn’t get around to it, does not care too much about exercise, and dislikes job hunting would have a list that looks like this:

1. Visit friends more often
2. Do my exercises
3. Look for a better job

Work on only one of your targets at a time to give yourself enough time to adjust and practice the change in real life.

2. Use Strong Reservoirs

The second reason that double triggering may not be working for you could be because the positive experience from your reservoir was too weak. Remember, it has to be stronger and more vivid than your target. Check this out by imagining both the target and the reservoir, so you can compare the two in your mind. The assets that you take from your reservoir should contain strong feelings of fun and desire, something you can see yourself doing or something that sounds good to you. Things that you now spend much time doing are excellent assets to use. If you do not have one experience that contains enough of these assets, you can build one up by combining two or more until they create a strong resource, as described earlier on page 6.

3. Use Three or More Channels

The two preceding corrective measures should clear up most difficulties. However, another problem could be that you are not able to imagine vividly. Some people have an underdeveloped imagination. Ideally, you should be able to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste mentally what you imagine. The first three senses are the main ones that we use in our culture. If you cannot at least clearly see, hear, and feel in your imagination, these and other mind-expanding techniques will not work well. Fortunately, you can develop this skill, as explained in Chapter 4. After you become adept at doing mental exercises, you will be able to successfully apply these motivation techniques.

4. Mentally Rehearse

Remember the last step, mental rehearsal. Imagine yourself enjoying your target behavior in the future, so that it feels believable to you. Change the image until it feels right to you. Include images of enjoying the rewards of performing your target behavior.

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to send me your most pressing business problems.

Feel free to comment and ask any questions.

Wishing you ultimate happiness and success,

~Stan
Small Business Coach

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