Leadership Skill Center Blog

To celebrate the launch of the Leadership Coaching Club - and my 15th business birthday - we recently gave away two memberships of the Leadership Coaching Club.

To find out who the winners were – and collect your free consolation prize if it wasn’t you – please visit
http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/free/news/and-the-winners-are.html

If you have ever felt life was getting out of control for leaders and managers in organizations today, you will really appreciate your consolation prize - free, for you just for visiting the Leadership Skill Center blog.

That link again: http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/free/news/and-the-winners-are.html

And remember if you haven’t joined the Leadership Coaching Club yet, it is never too late. Every week there is more and more value added. Don’t delay. Join now at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com

Oh, and if you are already a member of the Leadership Coaching Club, you will find this - along with lots of other bonuses - in the Free Ebooks section inside the members area. You can login at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/members/

First a huge ‘Thank You’ to everyone who has emailed, called, sent a card or posted a note on the Leadership Coaching Club blog with well wishes for my 15th business birthday. It has meant a lot to hear from you all, including so many I haven’t met face-to-face (yet).

Second - it’s not too late to join the party! The celebrations continue until the end of this month. Enter the competition for complimentary membership now at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/free and join before the end of the month at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com - for a huge discount!

Third, if you have already joined the Leadership Coaching Club there has been quite a lot of new material added recently, including more ebooks, audios, videos and articles, so make sure you login and collect it all. You can login at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/members/ using your email address and password.

Kind regards, Kerrie

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HABITS EVERY TEAM MEMBER ABSOLUTELY HATES IN A LEADER

There are a couple of habits leaders can have that drive team members absolutely crazy.

In this issue of Leading Well I want to look at one of the top two: Micromanagement.

You cannot grow as a leader until you learn to delegate effectively. Delegating means giving away control even though you retain responsibility, which can be daunting at first.

However, as a leader, there is no way you can do everything that needs to be done personally, so you must develop a positive attitude to delegation - and the skills you need to do it effectively.

Your role as a leader is to ensure your people have all the skills, resources and understanding they need to do a task, and then to let them do it. For some leaders that’s the hard bit: letting others get on with doing it!

Don’t micromanage.

Delegating tasks to people makes them feel trusted, wanted and responsible. Good workers like to be given responsibility.

Communicate your objectives and your vision and make them passionate about making it happen!

Guide your people, empower them, and instill confidence in them and they will become your strongest supporters.

More on how to avoid micromanagement and other habits your team leaders hate in the Quick Tips below:

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QUOTE OF NOTE

“The ‘sage on stage’ mode of teaching is being replaced by a new model: ‘the guide on the side’. “

Art Weinstein (American academic)

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The Leading Well Bottom Line:

You can have your own ‘guide on the side’. Join us in the Leadership Coaching Club and leverage off all the wisdom, insight and experience of dozens of guest experts, other participants and your mentor Kerrie Mullins-Gunst. See http://leadershipcoachingclub.com for details.

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QUICK TIPS FOR AVOIDING MICROMANAGEMENT:

• You can become more comfortable with delegating to your team members by being selective about what tasks you assign, particularly initially.

• As you delegate more complex tasks, arrange for regular progress meetings to ensure everything is going smoothly. If you make this an expectation up front - and don’t offer advice unless it is requested - the progress meetings will be focussed on coaching and encouragement rather than micromanaging.

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PS. You can find out what the other main habit is that drives team members crazy, at the Leadership Coaching Club. Join before the end of the month at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com for special rates.

Tuesday next week is an important date - for me and I hope for you. You see, on April 1st, fifteen years ago I launched my own business as KMG Consulting in a very off-line world.  It took me a long time to admit to anyone that I started out on April Fool’s Day!  And, at the time there were some people who thought I was a fool for going out on my own.  A lot has changed since then.

But now 15 years later things are better than ever and KMG Consulting is still going strong - I think it’s time to celebrate!  

So, this is no joke!  Next Tuesday will be the official launch of the Leadership Coaching Club with special bonuses and even a special price that you can lock in for as long as you remain a member, and more…

I’m just finalizing the sales letter, some extra Core Modules that are yet to be added and a special Bonus Pack now.  So watch out for all the details early next week.  I know you are going to love everything that’s included.  

It will be great value at the regular price, but to celebrate my 15th business birthday, if you are quick you’ll get an unbelievable special deal. 

Some of you have been my clients, friends and supporters since way back then, so I am determined to show you how much I appreciate you.  Watch out for more details soon.  

Kind regards, Kerrie

PS.  If you just can’t wait, you can have a sneak peek here - but remember there’s even more to come soon - http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/earlybird.html 

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QUOTE OF NOTE

“Knowledge and human power are synonymous.”Francis Bacon

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The Leading Well Bottom Line:  

You don’t have to do it all on your own.  Join us in the Leadership Coaching Club and leverage off all the wisdom, insight and experience of dozens of guest experts, other participants and your mentor Kerrie Mullins-Gunst. See http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/earlybird.html for details of our special early bird offer.  And of course, all our early-bird members will get all the special bonuses when they are ready! 

Hi there and welcome back for another year.  

If you’ve been lucky enough to have had holidays we hope you feel refreshed and ready for all of the exciting things we have planned for you this year.  We’re determined to make sure 2008 is just great!

Since the last issue of Leading Well our family has had two new additions … kittens called Smokey and Izzy who are (for the moment anyway) curled up asleep and looking adorable just beside the chaos they created moments ago when they were playing with anything in reach.  The brief moment of peace and quiet gives me a chance to let you know about two important things that really can’t wait:

First: 

The Leadership Coaching Club is just about ready to launch and if you are at all interested in joining, you really must make sure your name is on the advance notification list so you get to hear first when it is launched.  This is the only way you will be able to take advantage of the early-bird special offers.  There’s no obligation, and I’m sure you will regret it if you miss out.  Register here:  http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/

Setting up the Leadership Coaching Club has been a lot of work, but I have to say it is looking great and I think you will be really pleased with the way it helps you each month to become even more effective as a leader and manager.  

Second: 

As well as finalizing the Leadership Coaching Club, we have been hard at work on several other projects that I can’t wait to share with you over the next few weeks.  

And one of them is ready for you right now …

We appreciate that not everyone learns in the same way.  Some people like to read to understand information - and that’s how much leadership information is presented.  However, other people prefer to learn by listening or watching.  So we wanted to help those of you who prefer to learn about leadership and management in this way by offering you some useful videos.  

But not just one or two leadership videos!  

We have drawn together the largest collection of leadership and management videos from all over the internet and added it to the Leadership Skill Center so you can access them easily all in one place at any time.  

It’s an amazing collection, with contributions from a myriad of different sources and freely available for anyone at http://leadershipskillcenter.com/tv right now!  If you can’t find some useful videos here, I’ll be amazed.  

Have a look and let us know what you think.  

Kind regards, Kerrie

PS. Here are those links again: For the Leadership Coaching Club pre-launch registration:   http://leadershipcoachingclub.com 

For the largest collection of leadership and management videos: http://leadershipskillcenter.com/tv 

As the year seems to be slipping away I thought it was time to look at the fourth area of leadership focus: Getting Things Done. I hope you enjoy this article on ‘Doing the Important Stuff’.

And remember, the Leadership Coaching Club is coming soon. If you are at all interested in joining after it is open to the public, make sure you register at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com now, so you will be eligible for the very special offers when it is first launched. It will be worth your while!

Kind regards, Kerrie

PS. It’s my birthday later this month so if you read right to the end of this issue of Leading Well, YOU will get a present!

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Doing the Important Stuff

In “First Things First”, the follow-up to Steven Covey’s best-selling self-improvement and motivation book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, he illustrates a highly effective system of time management that can benefit any leader or manager. Covey’s Quadrant method of time management has been adopted throughout the business world: in team building, project management, business meetings, leadership training and seminars to ensure you focus on doing the important stuff.

What Covey has named his Quadrants system is based on the theory that most of us are driven by a consuming sense of urgency. He instructs us to divide all our priorities into the following four quadrants:

Quadrant 1: Important and Urgent – Items in this category are integral to your success and require your immediate attention. They include: situations such as crises, emergencies, appointments, projects that have deadlines, and other pressing problems.

Quadrant 2: Important but Not Urgent – Items in this category are integral to your success but don’t require your immediate attention right now. They include: leadership activities like planning and preparing, preventing future problems, coaching and mentoring staff, building and developing relationships with others, considering new possibilities and opportunities, and balancing activities such as spending time with loved ones, or having fun and creative pursuits.

Quadrant 3: Not Important but Urgent – Items in this category are not integral to your life, but they do demand your immediate attention. They include things that appear pressing on the surface (such as answering an insistent ringing phone or email), but probably don’t have any drastic consequences or repercussions for your success, or that may be able to be done by others or in a different way (someone could take a phone message for example).

Quadrant 4: Not Important and Not Urgent – Items in this category are not integral to your success and don’t need to happen at any particular time (or sometimes at all, for that matter), yet doing them can consume your time and energy. They include: routines, distractions and diversions, time-wasters, and other things you can generally do well without, although sometimes they include things we just like doing that aren’t necessary or important.

What Covey says next about these Quadrants may surprise you.

He warns that the common tendency is for people to get wrapped up in Quadrant 1 & 3 tasks because of their sense of urgency. This typically happens at the expense of the much more important Quadrant 2, which contains many life-enriching and important tasks.

The focus on tasks in Quadrants 1 and 3 is bolstered by the influence of other people’s demands and forces outside yourself, including the impetus of time. Accomplishing urgent tasks in Quadrants 1 & 3 gives us a comforting sense of progress. At least we have achieved something (even if it wasn’t particularly important).

Tasks in Quadrant 4 are what we do to anesthetize ourselves to the stressful effects of an imbalanced concentration of our energy on urgent matters. We often hide in Quadrant 4 tasks, and use them to procrastinate about doing something else, like the more important (and sometimes more difficult) Quadrant 2 tasks.

The paradox is that by spending more time deliberately doing Quadrant 2 tasks, we can avoid many of the crises that fall into the important and urgent tasks of Quadrant 1 and delegate many of the Quadrant 3 and 4 tasks that still need to be done. This frees our time up to focus even more on the leadership tasks in Quadrant 2.

Quadrant 2 is where our true and lasting happiness and our most productive effectiveness resides.

The sorts of tasks that fall into Quadrant 2 are often the ones that we are most likely to procrastinate about or just feel we don’t have time for. But they can be the most important in the longer-term to get your creative juices flowing and achieve significant success.

In addition to the possibilities listed above, Quadrant 2 tasks also include: reading and expanding your mind, developing new skills and abilities, getting physical exercise, engaging in recreation and leisurely activities, devising and implementing systems, preventative activities, and envisioning and shaping your future.

Giving more attention to Quadrant 2 activities will make us more readily able to tackle Quadrant 1 and 3 tasks with ease and efficiency.

Where are you spending your time? Stop for a moment and think about whether you have got the balance right (a Quadrant 2 task) or whether you are letting urgency rule your life.

See QUOTES on ‘Doing the Important Stuff’ below.

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If you ever procrastinate when you should be focussed on ‘Doing the Important Stuff’ you need to read ‘101 Tips for Avoiding Procrastination’. In this 60 page guide you’ll learn all the tricks, methods, and strategies for beating your procrastination habit.

Order now and receive these FREE bonuses:

* Time Management and
* The 3 Most Powerful Ways to Get Yourself to Achieve ANYTHING Despite Pressure, Deadlines and Procrastination

PLUS: - to celebrate my birthday enter this Secret Code: BIRTHDAY-SPECIAL
in Step 2 when you order to save $9 off the cost of this product. Normally ‘101 Tips for Avoiding Procrastination’ is only $17 but for the next few days you can use this Secret Code to pay only $8! (plus GST if you are based in Australia)

That’s more than 50% off the full purchase price and a fantastic bargain! For less than you might pay for lunch you could be well on your way to kicking the procrastination habit and reaping the success you deserve.

More details at:
http://HowLeadersGetThingsDone.com/avoid-procrastination.html

But ignore the price on that page because you are getting a special price. When you get to Step 2 of the order process just enter your Secret Code: BIRTHDAY-SPECIAL and the price will be automatically reduced especially for you.

This Secret Code is only valid up until my birthday on November 25th, after which the regular price will apply. So don’t procrastinate! Order now and start reaping the rewards today.

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TWO QUOTES OF NOTE:

“I’ve been on a calendar, but never on time.”

Marilyn Monroe

“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we know what to do with it.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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BOOKS WORTH READING -

“First Things First”
by Steven Covey

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”
by Stephen R. Covey

Finally, you can not be a good leader until and unless you have good judgment. You must be able to assess situations, weigh the pros and cons of any decision, and actively seek out a solution.

Good leaders develop judgment through experience - and sometimes that means making mistakes. You should not be afraid to make mistakes, but if you do make a mistake you must both learn from it and own up to it. This is how you develop the judgment to avoid other mistakes in the future.

It is this judgment that your subordinates will come to rely upon. Therefore, good decision-making is vital to the success of your team and your organization.

Leaders are not do-it-all heroes. You should not claim to know everything, and you should not rely upon your own skills alone.

You should recognize and take advantage of the skills and talents your subordinates have. Only when you come to the realization that the best teams rely on the different skills and experience of all members will you be able to work as one cohesive team.

Remember being a leader takes a good deal of work and time. It is not learned overnight. And leadership is not about just you. It is about you and the people who work with you. You can develop your leadership skills through the special resources of the Leadership Coaching Club, if you join now.

So, do you have the drive and the desire to serve that is required of leaders? Do you have the desire to work cooperatively with other people? Then start now. Take a stand, develop your skills and make your personal contribution as leader today.

Once you have gained your team’s trust and confidence, you will be able to proceed to communicate the goals and objectives you want to achieve.

Communication is a very important key to good leadership. Without this you can not be a good leader. The knowledge and technical expertise you have must be clearly imparted to other people.

If you struggle to communicate how to do things, you may even find yourself giving up and doing what you should be assigning to others on your team.

Being able to communicate your expectations firmly and clearly, as well as how you want something done is an integral part of leadership. It also lies at the heart of how you coach, mentor and teach others on your team to play their part more fully.

There are many special resources just for members at the Leadership Coaching Club. Join now!

Having a clear sense of hierarchy, knowing who the bosses are and who to talk to, the organization’s goals and objectives, and how the organization works is one way to show others you know what you are doing.

Being a leader is not about what you make others do. It’s about who you are, what you know, and what you do. You are a reflection of what your subordinates must be.

Studies have shown that another basis of good leadership is the trust and confidence your subordinates have in you. If they trust you they will go through many difficulties for you and for the organization.

That trust and confidence is built on good strong relationships, your own trustworthiness, and your personal ethics.

The way you interact with your people, and the relationships you build, will lay the foundation for the strength of your team. The stronger your relationships, the stronger their trust and confidence will be in your capabilities.

You can learn how to lead easily, effectively and effortlessly at the Leadership Coaching Club.

LEADING WELL - Helping your leadership grow from Kerrie Mullins-Gunst

* * * * *

In this issue: What your employees expect of you…

And, it’s coming soon! The Leadership Coaching Club will soon be open to the public and you can be the first to know. Register your interest at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com now and receive a free short course on How You Can Become an Ideal Leader. Watch for further details soon!

Kind regards, Kerrie

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WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES EXPECT OF YOU

In their book “Values Shift” authors John Izzo and Pam Withers describe a whole new set of expectations people now have of their workplaces.

As unemployment in Australia hits a 33 year low and even exceptional employers struggle to fill vacancies and retain the best people, you can’t afford to ignore these expectations. As a leader and manager you need to be constantly aware of how you measure against these expectations and how you can meet and even exceed them in day to day practice.

Izzo and Withers identified six emerging expectations you need to focus on.

1. Better work-life balance and synergy.

This is one of the strongest and most consistent expectations, rejecting the all-consuming nature of work as it was for many of the baby boomer generation. This extends earlier concepts of balancing the spread of time between ‘at work’ and ‘out of work’ life, to include a better variety and balance of roles and activities within work hours, as well as ample time out of work for a full and varied lifestyle.

2. A sense of community and connection at work.

With trends such as greater mobility and dual income families, we see less traditional neighborhood connection or sense of community for many people. This has created an expectation that the workplace will help overcome isolation and offer its own sense of community and connection.

3. Opportunities for personal (as well as professional) development.

This becomes particularly important in flat workplaces where there is little opportunity for employees to work their way up a set career ladder. People still yearn to be challenged and stimulated and to grow and develop and expect that you will facilitate that through the workplace.

4. The opportunity to contribute to a more noble cause.

Employees expect corporate objectives to be broadened beyond making money to incorporate triple bottom line and a commitment to the betterment of society. They are looking for meaning and purpose in what they do and expect to find it in their work.

5. A more democratic partnership role.

Information is now ubiquitous and there has been a shift in the balance of power. The ‘decline in deference’ means that employees expect to be able to question authority, share opinions and say what they think - and they expect to be listened to and involved in decisions, as would any partner.

6. A relationship based on trust.

Past breaches of trust have generated suspicion and distrust. Organizations need to consistently demonstrate they are trustworthy and leaders will be held accountable for any breach of trust. Employees expect to trust, respect and even like the companies and leaders they work for - or they’ll move on.

While you may not have total control over any one of these areas in your organization, as a leader and manager you do have significant influence within your own team over aspects of every one of them.

By deliberately doing what you can within your sphere of influence to meet these six expectations you will not only be better placed to retain and attract good employees and team members, you will begin to enjoy your own role as a team leader more too.

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The Leadership Coaching Club will soon be opened to the public. To make sure you are the first to know when it is launched, register now at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com and you will receive advance notice, special offers and a free short course on How to Become an Ideal Leader. Don’t miss out. If you lead or manage people you need to register today.

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QUOTE OF NOTE

“He who has a why can endure any how.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

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The Step by Step Business Plan Guide

If you’ve been spinning your wheels trying to succeed in getting funding for your business and even just getting your business plan on paper, this ebook is going to change the way you have been doing things.
See http://betterbusinessinfo.org

One of the first things you need to be able to do as a leader is to get people to follow you. How can this be accomplished?

People follow others when they see a clear sense of purpose.

This means that people will only follow you if they see that you know where you are going.

Remember that bumper sticker? The one that says, don’t follow me, I’m lost too? The same holds true for leadership. If you yourself do not know where you’re headed to, chances are people will not follow you at all.

You must not only know, but believe in, the vision of your organization. If you have doubts about whether your organization’s vision is valid or achievable your people will not be inclined to follow you. They will doubt your leadership.

Getting people to follow you relies on your capacity to influence and inspire others.

If you need to develop you influencing skills have a look at The Art of Influence audioseminar I did recently with Australia’s expert in influencing skills, Paddy Spruce.

First of all, let’s define leadership. To be a leader, you must be able to influence others to accomplish a goal, or an objective. Leaders contribute to the organization and cohesion of a group.

Contrary to what some people believe, leadership is not about power. It is not about harassing people or driving them using fear.

It is about encouraging others towards the goal of the organization. It is putting everyone on the same page and helping them see the big picture of the organization.

You must be a leader not a boss.

Even though you may have power or authority over others in your organization, one of the paradoxes of leadership is that you will achieve more if you do not need to exert your authority.

You will achieve much more as a leader when you encourage, inspire and motivate people to work together and with you.

___________

Register now for Leadership Coaching Club News so you get advance notice of special offers to celebrate the public launch of the Leadership Coaching Club.

When you are at work, do you get frustrated because things don’t seem to be happening the way they’re supposed to be? Do you see lots of activity, but nothing seems to get accomplished? And in the daily hustle and bustle, do you feel that your goals remain just that - goals. Then maybe its time for you to step up and do something about it.

Most people are content just to stand around listening for orders. And it isn’t unusual to adopt a follow-the-leader mentality. But maybe, somewhere inside of you, you feel the desire to make things happen - to be at the head, not the tail - to be in charge of achieving more.

If so, maybe a leadership role will just suit you.

My experience shows that many great leaders are made, not born. Yes, it may be true that some people are born with natural leadership talents. However, without practice, without drive, without enthusiasm, and without experience, there can be no true development in leadership.

Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their natural skills. To be a leader you need a commitment to constantly improve in whatever endeavor you choose.

How committed are you?

___________

Coming soon

The Leadership Coaching Club is almost ready for public release. If you are committed to improving your natural skills as a leader and manager you will want to register for Leadership Coaching Club News so you get advance notice before everyone else does. Register here.

Recently I caught up with a group of friends from my university days. It was great fun to hear all about what people were up to after so many years.

One of my friends was describing how her new weekend farming life had captured the interest of her team at her city legal office. So much so that, not long ago, her whole team had volunteered to help out with planting the latest vegetable crop.

“We had a great weekend” she told us. “Some teams might go away to the country for ‘Planning days’ but my team went away for a ‘Planting day’.”

Afterwards, the more I thought about the concept, the more I liked the analogy.

As a leadership specialist, I am often asked to facilitate Strategic and Team Planning events and I can’t think of a better way to describe their purpose than planting seeds for the future.

Planning days aren’t magic wands that fix all your problems. But they do plant the seeds that can be nurtured into your ideal outcomes over time.

If you are fortunate (and your planning event is well facilitated) you may secure agreement on the day from all team members about some of the fundamentals: your team vision and values, how your team roles relate to your organizational mission or purpose, and the essential actions and strategies that will ensure you deliver results.

But any team gathering also offers an opportunity to foster understanding and develop a strong team culture - which takes much longer than a day to achieve. Yet you can plant the seeds for a team that works well together even in difficult times, that supports and respects other team members, that shows initiative and embraces change. And over time these outcomes may be even more powerful than the traditional outcomes of Strategic or Team Planning events.

As with any seeds, planting them is not enough. They have to be nurtured, fed and watered over time before they grow to their full potential. And that is your primary role back in the office as leader of the team.

The nurturing of those powerful seeds of success over time needs to be attended to daily and weekly - in fact every time you interact or meet with your team.

This consistent follow-up to any annual Strategic or Team Planning event can be even more critical than the event itself. In it lies one of the secrets of all successful leaders.

Kind regards, Kerrie

PS. If you are wondering HOW to nurture the seeds of your team’s success, watch out for details about my Leadership Coaching Club, coming soon. If you want to be among the first to know all the details, register at http://leadershipcoachingclub.com and be confident of catching our special launch discount or bonuses.

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QUOTE OF NOTE

“Our great business in life is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

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DON’T FORGET!

Don’t forget to have a look at ‘Powerful Ways to Sharpen Your Memory - A Guide for Leaders and Managers’ - Now available for instant download. It includes both basic and advanced tools you can use to overcome forgetfulness, remember names, faces, numbers, places, events and more!

I wish I had know some of the things that are in this ebook years ago! So many things would have been so much easier…

Have a look now. There’s a free bonus - just for looking! You can register for the Memory Boost MiniCourse for free and try out just a few of the ideas you’ll discover when you pick up your own copy of Powerful Ways to Sharpen Your Memory.

See http://FreeMemoryCourse.com/sharpen for details.

Thank you to everyone who completed our survey for the exciting next phase of the Leadership Coaching Club. I was overwhelmed by your enthusiastic and helpful suggestions.

Despite the short timeline 112 of you responded from five continents. If you provided your email address you should have received instructions for how to download your gift. Please let me know if you didn’t and I will resend it.

We are still analyzing all your ideas, but a couple of things stand out.

First, we get the message that you want practical and useful info and and you want everything to be quick and easy to use. We understand that you are busy and don’t want to be overwhelmed with information or academic details.

Second, people thought that it would be reasonable to pay anywhere up to $87 per month for membership, although others were keen to see a lower cost option so we will do our best to ensure that you are happy with the cost.

Several people were very keen on a lower cost for annual rather than monthly membership, which was something I hadn’t considered, so I really appreciated that idea. A number of people wanted us to include discounts on the 10 Week Intensive or our other programs or products to help justify being a member - either to themself or to their boss.

You had many other suggestions that were helpful and we really appreciate you advice. Thanks again and watch out for more details soon.