Photo Credits Tunnel

Would you consider yourself a big picture thinker or someone who focuses on the processes? When an expansive project lands in your lap, do focus on the end goal or do you instinctively start thinking of a To-Do list? In business and life, we will encounter people who are the visionaries of the world and those who are the planners. Both are good and both are absolutely necessary to the success of a company.

If you find yourself falling in the big picture camp, you will find you need to be a planner at times. But how can you become more detailed oriented if you are naturally more of a concept thinker? And why should you bother to work to change your thinking?

Having detail-oriented skills will allow you to accomplish more of your big concept ideas and to realize them to their full potential. Consider a luxury hotel experience versus a mid-range hotel. What are some of the differences? First, you may find that the lobby is more ornate. You will notice the room has a nicer view. These are both very obvious differences you would expect to get for paying a premium price. However, there are smaller details at work that create the overall feeling and experience of your stay. The paper used in the stationary might be just a little thicker, your sheets could be just slightly higher thread count, the towels softer. Maybe instead of a standard alarm clock you have one that connects to a mobile phone to play your music. There may be a note personally welcoming you to your room, the staff will know you by name, bottled water is left by your bed –these are the little things that make a big difference.  Would you notice these things if they weren’t there? Maybe, maybe not, but all of these touches add to your luxury experience.

And they were not implemented without attention to detail.

How do you become more detail oriented? Here are a few ways to start improving your skill.

First, think of someone you know who is detailed oriented. When looking at your current project, try to think of what they would do. Would they start by outlining a timeline? Would they contact key people who will be involved in the project? Then, talk to that person and see what input they have. This way you will better learn their strategy and be able to replicate it on future projects.

Second, if you have a project you know will require several repetitive steps, writing out those steps will ensure you do not miss anything. Even if you are not someone who generally makes lists, for the first few times, make yourself check off steps as you go.

Third, slow down to check in with yourself and the project. How has the project been going? Are there pieces that still need to be examined again? What would make this project just a little bit better? Remember, someone had to take the time to personalize that note in your hotel room. What little touch can you add to your project? Are you moving too fast?

Fourth, take a step back. If you are getting so wrapped up in the details of your project you feel like you are missing the forest for the trees, step back and reevaluate what the goals and priorities are. Not every detail can or needs to be addressed. Determine which are going to have the biggest impact, and focus on getting those right.

Finally, after your project is complete, review and evaluate. How did it go? Were there details that need to be altered next time? Was this project received differently by your audience than previous projects with less focus on details?

Focusing on details may seem like a lot of work, however, it pays off significantly. Creating that ideal customer experience is what will inspire them to buy, keep them coming back and even get them talking with their friends and family about your company.

Do you agree about the importance of detail? What experience have you had where one small change made a big difference? Do you think you are more detailed-oriented or concept-focused? I’d love to hear in the comments!

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Photo Credits Dan X O’Neil

What is it that enables great leaders to grow their following, impact change and make a difference? It is more than education and connections –lots of people have those. It is something rarer.

It is instinctive intelligence.

Instinctive intelligence is being able to know things, see things and act upon them with an understanding that cannot be taught in a textbook. But, it is not acting based on a gut feeling. Leaders cannot reach their potential for success if they are acting only upon instinct, there will be too many mistakes made along the way.

Instead, great leaders use experience and combine it with data in order to create a high probability of success. Consider seasoned professional athletes. When they are on the field, they are able to read the game in a way that a rookie hasn’t fully developed. The seasoned athletes are able to use their experience in combination with their instinct to determine which way to run on the field, who to pass to or where the ball is likely to go. They need both their experience and their instinct to be successful. Relying on just one or the other would result in mistakes that may cost the game or the season.

Rookies can develop their instinctive intelligence by studying the success of seasoned leaders and through consuming data, typically in the form of game film, player stats and player behavior. During the early part of their career, they also need to overweight the influence of data and underweight their instincts because the experience has not been gained yet. Studying trends, successes and failures and the environment around them will build their intelligence. Their specific combination of influencers will make each leader’s instinctive intelligence unique to the individual.

How does this relate to your career? How can you utilize some of the same strategies professional athletes use to better your instinctive intelligence? Are there industry leaders you can follow, stats you can study and consumer behavior you can analyze? Adding this to your daily regimen will enable you to build your experience and knowledge faster so you will be able to rely heavily on your instinctive intelligence in the future.

Has your experienced lined up with this? Do you feel that instinctive intelligence can be learned?

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Rudy dressed in his Notre Dame #45 jersey for the Georgia Tech Game

Last month, I wrote about the important traits of being a leader. One of them was persistence. Persistence means never giving up when you know something is right. It means you do not stop no matter what the odds are or how big the challenge is you are facing. This is how I was raised and it has made a huge impact on my life and my success at work.

In business you will face continuous obstacles, but with your vision clear before you, failure does not become an option. In life, persistence is a key trait that I embrace in both business and in my personal endeavors.  While running, even when I have worked from early morning to late at night, I know that I still need to maintain my training plan in order to be successful during an upcoming marathon.   Even when my body says stop or quit during a 20 mile run, I stay persistent in accomplishing the goal that I had set out to obtain.

Persistence is so important to success in life that I have been teaching my kids about it since they were young. The words “never give up” are a continual phrase that has been used since our boys were little.  As a great example to underscore how important it is, we’ve taught our sons through the true story and movie of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. Rudy dreamed of playing football for Notre Dame but faced many challenges that could have easily disqualified him if not for his incredible persistence. He had a dream to be the first in his family to go to Notre Dame along with the lofty goal of playing for the legendary Irish football team. The first three times he applied to Notre Dame, he was rejected. Finally accepted, he wanted to get on the football team, but he was only 5’6″ and 185 pounds, which was considered way too small for football, especially for the Fighting Irish. Through hard work and dedication, he eventually proved to his coaches that he deserved to play.  On November 8, 1975, Rudy played defensive end against Georgia Tech which was due in part to the urging of the first string players to their coach because they witnessed his daily persistence and NEVER GIVE UP attitude year after year. On his third play he sacked the Georgia Tech Quarterback, which literally caused the stands to erupt in applause. Rudy was carried off the field by his teammates – one of only two players in Notre Dame football history to be carried off.

Our son, Barrett, has the black and white photo of Rudy being carried off the field sitting on his dresser along with Rudy’s autographed football jersey from Notre Dame hanging on his wall with the phrase “Never Give Up!” It is a constant reminder to never stop pursuing your dreams and the things you want most.

Rudy’s dream would never have come true if he hadn’t been so persistent.

Tell me in the comment section below how persistence has pushed you closer to accomplishing your dream.

The post What Daniel ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger Taught us about Persistence appeared first on Ryan Wuerch.

Photo Credits, Haroldo Watson

How do you tell the difference between a leader and a follower? Personally, I have always defined the two based on a simple question, who is making decisions and who is waiting for someone to make the decisions for them?

This doesn’t mean that every decision a leader makes is the correct one. I have found that the results of a choice I made were not what I had originally intended. But, because I learn from these situations, I add this wisdom to future decisions. The repetition of poor decision-making causes individuals to develop hesitancy to step into a decision-making role for fear of causing negative consequences for themselves and others. When an individual can learn, he or she is able to improve leadership skills.

Everyone is faced with decisions, all the way back to childhood. Which way do I want to go, which game do I want to play, which college should I attend, which job should I take and so on. As we get older, the decisions we make get more complicated, and the consequences of those decisions more important.

Effective decision-making takes practice. The key to successful decision-making is to have a process.  A leader must learn to take into account emotional, analytical and cognitive elements before deciding on a final choice. He or she must learn to craft a map of possible outcomes based on available options. Finally, the leader must be able to evaluate the success of the decision based on the outcome, and determine if there was different option that would have yielded better results.

What is the best decision you have ever made?

What is the toughest decision you had to make and what did you learn?

The post How to Make Great Decisions appeared first on Ryan Wuerch.

Photo Credits: J Favel

Productivity is less about plowing through a series of tasks on a to-do list and more about efficiently and effectively accomplishing the work you are skilled at doing. When using your strengths in work, you are more likely to work faster, with higher-quality results, feel better about your work and allow your team members to shine in their areas of strength. However, if you attempt to be excellent at everything, you are more likely to work slower, with lower-quality results, feel less confident in your work and prevent your team from being able to assist in their areas of expertise.

Proper delegation is not about transferring your work to someone else, but about allowing yourself time to do what you do best, while doing the same for others on your team. This will result in better outcomes overall.

How to determine what to delegate and what to take on yourself:

1. Determine what skills you have and what areas you are not as strong. To start, consider what you enjoy working on and what you do not, this could be an indication of where you have expertise.
2. Determine what tasks do not match your skillset, then delegate those tasks to team members who have the skills to match the task.
3. Hone in on your responsibilities. Now that you do not have to worry about working on tasks you are not especially skilled in, you can focus more on your own work and produce the highest-quality results.

As the leader, you will still have to oversee the work being done by your team, which will require you to be involved in the process for tasks you delegate. But overall, you will have more time to focus on the work you enjoy and are most skilled at doing. To be most successful, implement a long-term delegation strategy that will allow you and your team to settle into the arrangement and to feel empowered in their personal responsibilities.

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Image by Foxspain

How do you stay ahead of the curve? How do you guarantee you are providing your customers with the next big thing? How do you present your offer in a way that is still intriguing to distracted customers?

The answer is creativity.

One way to get the attention of customers overwhelmed by choices is to step outside the predictable. Surprise is interesting. A new way of looking at something catches attention.

For many, creativity does not come easily. However, there are a few easy ways to boost your creativity throughout the day:

1. Change locations. Oftentimes, a new location will inspire a new way of thinking. Take a break and go outside for lunch instead of eating at your desk. You might see something that sparks an idea.

2. Change your routine. Instead of following the same pattern each day, make slight adjustments that will force you to pay attention to your new surroundings and may expose you to something inspiring.

3. Don’t say “no.” For the time being, allow yourself to say “yes” to every thought without considering the reasons it won’t work. It can be those impractical ideas that lead to the next really great one.

4. Step out of your box. Meet a new person every day. Try a new food. Memorize facts, even if you cannot use them directly in your work. This will change the ways your brain thinks and will open new pathways for your thoughts.

What strategies do you use to spark creativity? Let me know in the comments!

The post Revealing Inner Creativity appeared first on Ryan Wuerch.

Just as I strive to be a leader to my team, you are a leader to each person you share Solavei with daily. As leaders, part of our responsibility is to grow and build those we lead. I was recently reading an article online titled The Five Traits All Top Performers Share. The article lists five traits to look for when interviewing a new staff member. However, I believe these traits are also important to build within the teams we lead. I have chosen three of them I believe are essential to a strong team:

Intellectual Firepower: What does this mean? This is more than being academically educated. This has to do with listening, knowing what questions to ask and what information to supply. When you are sharing Solavei with friends and family, you will begin to develop a rhythm for your conversations. The more people you talk to the more intellectual firepower you will develop. You should also make sure to familiarize yourself with the resources available to you online as well as stay up to date on announcements. Remember, know all there is to know about what you are sharing and you will build trust in your team and your new connections.

Values: Solavei is built on values and those are at the very foundation of everything we are doing to revolutionize the social commerce industry. We wanted to provide individuals with the ability to save money on what they already buy every day so they could spend that money on something more important. Then we added the ability to earn income when you share Solavei to increase the benefit to everyone involved. Remember, a single relationship has the power to change the lives of many.

Work Ethic: The dedication of a leader inspires those who he or she leads. Show your team that you are committed and you believe in your cause through your consistent work ethic. Not only will you be inspiring those you shared Solavei with, but you will be able to accomplish more, grow your network and earn more. A consistent work ethic will expand your sphere of influence, enable you to learn new leadership strategies and accomplish your goals.

I build these traits in people in my team through example, education and counsel. I look for these traits in others when adding to my team. And most importantly, I keep these in mind as I go through my day.

Which of these traits resonates the most with you? Are there other traits you look for? Tweet to @rwuerch with your thoughts!

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