How to Nurture Potential for Growth

Unlock Potential! 🔐 In my career coaching and leadership development work, I've found that focusing too much on people's weaknesses can be demoralizing and limit their potential. My approach is to identify and build upon individuals' innate strengths and talents instead. Here's why: ☑ Improves confidence and motivation. When you start from a place of weakness, people feel inadequate. But focusing first on their natural abilities energizes them. ☑ Capitalizes on what comes naturally. It's easier to excel in areas where you have innate aptitude rather than struggle to become competent. ☑ Makes weaknesses irrelevant. When you maximize strengths, you don't need to rely on your weaknesses as much to accomplish goals. ☑ Creates passion and engagement. People are naturally motivated when pursing endeavors matching their strengths. ☑ Makes people well-rounded. Teams balanced across different strengths can complement each other's weaknesses. Of course weaknesses still need development. But making strengths the priority unlocks performance and creates enthusiasm for improvement. Here are a few tips: ✔ Have people take strength tests to define their talents ✔ Identify how strengths apply to a person's role and goals ✔ Develop plans to maximize use of strengths each day ✔ Use strengths to achieve goals and compensate for weaknesses ✔ For weaknesses, set minimum standards, not expertise goals Focusing on deficiencies limits potential. But capitalizing on people's natural abilities sets them up for growth and achievement. What are your thoughts on coaching people based on strengths vs weaknesses? I'd love to hear your experiences! #unlockpotential #strengthsnotweaknesses #leadershipcoaching

Earlier today, one of the clients I'm coaching shared with me about his sales pipeline and that his current mindset was in "service" mode versus "client acquisition" mode. My curiosity immediately took over. I asked him, "Tell me why?" I then dug deeper to ask him, "Describe what you might miss with a service-only mindset versus a mix of both?" He was perplexed and wasn't sure. Even when we are in service mode (regardless of your industry), we can still help our client see the value or problem we are solving and encourage them to keep us at the top of their mind (#referals and build #champions) should they have someone else in their network we can speak with. Building the habit of asking, "Who else comes to mind?" or "Is there anything else that I can do to support you?" can and will dramatically impact the relationships you build over time. Hence, the picture below. I asked him how long it would take to turn the water from really cold to really hot. He said, "It can take a while," and that was my point." I learned that if I did a little business development each day or week, my sales pipeline wouldn't go from hot to cold and would always stay warm at the very least. My advice hit home for him about always having a mix of service and growth. Over my 20-year corporate career as a sales and sales leader, my team and I were always in business development mode because we stayed curious. We listened. We were present in each conversation. We followed up. If we couldn't help a client, we would refer them to someone else who could. #WinTheRelationship Building a business is hard. It takes a clear vision with intentional habits and a mindset of #belief. When we start each day with the mindset that "we believe what we do matters," we will build the confidence to stay present and ask who and how else we can help existing and new clients. Let me know your thoughts on creating a consistent mindset for business development in the comments below. #salescoaching #sales #growthmindset #growthstrategy #relationships

Growth the funnel or nurture more? Growing traffic is not always best for revenue growth. ❓Why it matters: I've worked with multiple clients who didn't have a traffic or conversion but a nurture problem. ❌The problem: More traffic or CRO experiments don't help when purchase decisions aren't easily reversible, or sales cycles are long. 🧩The solution: What's needed is better nurturing. Instead of more aggressive CTAs or investing in more SEO traffic, build out nurture funnels. ➡️For example: - Instead of asking users to book a demo, send them an email sequence that educates them about the problem they're facing - Share customer success stories - Promote product ambassadors and advocates on your site - Run free webinars with an emphasis on solving your customers' problems instead of selling them on your product - Put a demo walkthrough of your product on your site Not everyone is ready to sign up for a demo or even free product right away. But if you control how they explore the problem and options, you're likely to come out ahead. Back to you: do you actually have a nurturing problem? #nurture #marketing #growth

This is my superpower ... Building a successful business isn't only about having a great product or service. (although it helps) It's about identifying and nurturing talent within your organization. I've made a career out of growing young, hungry talent. It's become one of my superpowers. And I've found that the secret is giving people more responsibility than they deserve. It's about enabling them to flourish and grow. Rather than micromanaging and teaching them how I take on day-to-day tasks… I first present them with small challenges and watch them figure out solutions (that are sometimes better than my own). It's my job to find my own style. Not force others to adapt to the way I work best. I give them a few answers. Coach them on the details of our business, the principals and frameworks that help make our clients successful. And show them the guidelines that they should work within. But not all of them. It's about giving people an opportunity, and watching them stumble and grow. Offering feedback and guidance along the way. Correcting behaviors that aren’t ideal. And giving encouragement when it’s needed. And guess what? The faster you can do that, the healthier (and more profitable) your business becomes. Why? Because you're putting untapped passion, energy, and talent into areas of the business that need it. And it opens you up to dive into deeply strategic initiates that need your time and experience. When it comes time to sell your business, having a strong leadership team is crucial. You can't have one person doing everything. You need a team that has grown into this culture. A team that is capable. They should have developed their own styles of growing and developing talents, operating procedures, documentation, and assessments. Building this kind of team takes time and effort. But it's one of the most rewarding parts of being a leader. Watching people grow and flourish under your guidance is incredibly fulfilling. And it sets your business up for long-term success. So, my advice to any business leader is this: Invest in your people. Identify those with potential and give them the opportunity to shine. You might be surprised at what they can achieve. Do you agree? Share your thoughts below. P.S. - Get some value? Please reshare this.

Having coached more than 300 young adults with traditional and nontraditional educations to success, I have found the following three suggestions to be fundamental: 1. Establish Crystal-Clear Expectations: Make sure you and the individual are on the same page. Have the difficult conversations. Be straight about goals, objectives, KPIs, & accountabilities. (I like to use maps as visuals.) 2. Keep the Feedback Flowing: Difficult conversations are less challenging when they are routine conversations. Create a welcoming environment in which everyone may give and accept feedback without feeling offended.  3. Nurture Growth: Assist your participants in understanding their own strengths and skills, while also providing resources on how to address their limitations and guidance on how to compensate for those weaknesses as they progress. Make it clear to your participants that setbacks can be repurposed as opportunities to growth. Remember, effective coaching is a continuous, ever-evolving process that requires flexibility and understanding. Tailor your approach to each individual's unique needs and goals for the best results. ☮ #coaching #mentorship #flexibility #performancecoaching #performanceimprovement #resultoriented #resultsdriven

𝐍𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡: Whether cultivating plants or employees, nurturing their growth creates optimal performance. This past week, I was sidelined with COVID. I was away from work for the week. As a result, my plants suffered, but surprisingly, my leadership flourished. Why? Two responses, both from the same leader. Growth and development are paramount in leadership, and the parallels between nurturing plants and employees are striking. Both require careful attention, consistent care, and a supportive environment to thrive. Like plants, employees need the right conditions to reach their full potential. Plants require sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow; lacking these elements can hinder their development. Similarly, providing a conducive environment for employees—clear communication, adequate resources, and opportunities for skill development—can significantly impact their professional growth. Being away from my office, my plant suffered. My supervisor, Becky Wilkey, noticed the plants and provided positive nurturing to help it bounce back. The positive effects of nurturing were extended to me as an employee. She allowed me to sign up for a leadership training program through IACLEA, resulting in increased job satisfaction, productivity, and optimal development. Plants grow towards the light, seeking opportunities for optimum growth. Similarly, employees thrive when presented with growth opportunities through challenging projects, mentorship programs, or professional development training. Nurturing employee growth creates a workforce that is competent and motivated to excel. Plants thrive with consistent care, regular watering, pruning, and attention to specific needs. In the workplace, constant support through regular feedback, recognition, and training programs can foster employees' sense of belonging and motivation. As you can see by the images, recognizing the needs of my plant by providing consistent care created an environment where growth occurred; the same is valid for employees. Whether tending to a delicate plant or supporting an employee's career journey, the rewards of nurturing are bountiful and contribute to a flourishing, vibrant ecosystem. Thank you, Becky Wilkey, Gonzaga University, and International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipmatters #nuture #growth #growthmindset #leadershipgrowth