Inspiration

In Appreciation for Steve Jobs

In 1982 I was shown my new office at UCLA Medical Center – against the wall was a Wang word processor, accompanied by an impact printer covered by a sound dampening hood. I pulled out the manual, booted up the machine and was off and running in a quarter hour.

THEN I went to USC’s MBA program and got the joy of sitting for hours in the halls outside the computer lab, waiting for my turn to use sluggish PCs.

Muttering about it to a pal who had just joined this company I’d never heard of… Apple… she said “Why don’t you get a MAC?”

Elaborately simple explanations over dinner in an Indian restaurant, and I bought the first Mac – 128K with 400Kb discs that had to be interchanged, and who cared? I created brilliant reports in no time flat.

Of course I upgraded it to a Mac Plus so it would have resell value… silly me… then donated it to a school. My closet has every laptap Apple released since then in a nice grey pyramid. as I type this on my Macbook Pro. My Titanium sits as backup for when I’m multitasking.

Every four years or so, as I shifted my clients and consulting work to new settings, I’d find myself explaining all over again how completely simple it was to use the Mac, as every PC devotee responded with “But there are no programs for the Mac…”

Funny that. I only needed word processing, graphics (bless PowerPoint2) and spreadsheets so who cared if PCs had a gazillion programs? And Tetris to use my my language centers stalled and needed a break.

Every couple of years someone would sheepishly say “I just sat down at a Mac. NOW I get what you meant!”

Bless Steve Jobs for his relentlessness. And from being so public and unapologetic about it.

I don’t love everything Apple puts out, I can think of ways to improve the usability of the iPhone in about 5 minutes, but never mind. His relentless push to break through “that’s how it is” has inspired 10,000 creators to be as relentless in finding ways to unleash their own creativity, enriching all our lives in every arena.

And making Breakthroughs the norm has spawned 1,000 campuses that devote their curriculum to out of the box thinking. Perhaps I’ve understated that creators count. World population nearing 7 billion… Unleashed creatives and problem-solvers? Probably 7,000,000.

Thank you Steve for the world you’ve fertilized on all our behalves.

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Small Business Management – Is This Your Solution To The 5 Things You Need To Be Successful In Business?

by Linda · 0 comments

You basically need just 5 things to thrive in business. Focus, leverage, leadership, management and passion The really good news is that everyone can master these just by giving them your attention.

Focus
Being able to stay focused is the first key to small business success. There will always be new options, new opportunities, new markets you ‘could’ take your products and services to. The quickest and easiest way to build success is by having a clear focus and checking to make sure all your efforts are aligned.

There is always more that could be added to your To Do list, but are those tasks adding value? Double check daily that the actions you’re giving your time to will build the business results you’re aiming for.

Leverage
One of the ongoing challenges for every small business is getting it all done. If your vision is to grow your business, you need to practice ‘not doing’ – not doing it all your self, not doing what doesn’t actually need doing. Leverage means setting up systems for how things are best done, so that they can be handed off to other people.

Another form of leverage is hiring others, whether part-time or full-time, to take over those systems and activities. Using both of those forms of leverage will free you up to be doing exactly what you need to accomplish on behalf of your business.

Leadership
How do you envision your role in your business? Is it as a team member or a team leader? If it’s the former you’re playing small. Every team needs great members, but team success depends on a leader who make sure the resources the teams needs are available, and the obstacles get cleared out of the way. Be the leader.

Management
No matter the size of your business, you need to carve out time for working ‘on’ your business rather than ‘in’ it. That means putting together the plans that will be road maps for everyone’s efforts. Once you have those plans, it’s your turn to make sure you’ve got the resources your business needs to get the work done. And as work is taking place, you need to monitor how things are going so you know what to adjust.

Passion
Let’s not forget, as you become absorbed in the doing, you need reminders of why you’re in business in the first place. Keep your life vision and your business vision in your line of sight on a regular basis so that you can draw on the inspiration to sustain your balance!

And one way to grow your business to the next level is to join the Business Accelerator TeleSeminar Club at www.TheBusinessAcceleratorClub.com – come on board and join for $200 savings the first month.

Come join me and like-minded business builders and learn all about how to run your current business ever easier, AND how to take your experience & expertise and turn it into – Programs, Products & Services Your Clients Are Hungry For – with all the how to’s set out for you.

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Fear Is NOT A Growth Strategy

by Linda · 0 comments

SmilingUmbrella1 Fear Is NOT A Growth Strategy Businesses are not build on fear – they’re build on optimism.

Moreover – the companies that succeed, that thrive, and that last over time are those run by people who can separate out the noise from the naysayers chatter and locate the opportunities that surface.

As Amy C. Crosper, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur magazine puts it, “It’s bad enough that Detroit is wheezing and Rome is burining and all hell has broken loose, but what’s worse is that the situation is making normally rational people act like loonies.”

You and I have been here before – fear makes us irrational. I’ve listened to business leaders declare that cutting is the strategy to follow, instead of growing. They are not equal choices in business. Never have been. Never will be.

And people who pour their time into rationalizing cutting are often missing their golden opportunity to Be The Game Changer.

When I talk about changing the game with my consulting and coaching clients, I come at it from Continue Reading

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Creating Appreciation In Your Business

December 27, 2008

© 2008 Linda Feinholz. So often our focus is on what’s ‘not yet’ done, what is sitting on our To Do list, and what we ‘ought to’ be getting to but haven’t yet completed. Children have a great deal to teach us about what motivates our hearts and gives us the impetus to put our [...]

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Reminders From Young Children

December 25, 2008

I LOVE this time of year. The world gets still and quiet with everyone pausing for holiday celebrations. The city grows calmer, and so do my internal rhythms. That makes it all so perfect – perfect for refelcting exactly what HAS been accomplished the past year. My niece Emily and nephew Evan are getting The [...]

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IS IT TIME TO “RESET” YOUR BUSINESS?

July 20, 2008

© 2008 Linda Feinholz When is ‘too much to do’ finally enough? I mean enough to have you reach out and slap your personal and business ‘reset’ button? I was working with my client, Brenda, last month when she looked me dead in the eye and said “There’s no way to get out from under [...]

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BRING YOUR PASSION TO WORK

July 9, 2008

© 2008 Linda Feinholz What do you do with your passion? Ralph passed his on through his art and through the skills he taught his students. Ralph Bacerra passed away at age 70 this past month. His death has had me thinking about passion and dedication. As an artist, Ralph was passionate about clay, glaze, [...]

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Use ALL Your Brain In Business

June 23, 2008

Have you given thought to how to use ‘all’ of your brain, your mind, your capabilities in designing and achieving your life? Synchronicity is FABULOUS! I spent this week coaching two executives on how to take control of their personal power in meetings in order to get greater participation from others. One element of our [...]

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Change 1 Thought And You Can Change It All!

January 21, 2008

I shared with you the 3-minute Service Movie video at SimpleTruth.com Did you watch it? You can watch it here. This time, as you watch it, think about the reaction you had when Johnny identified one action he could do. When you have, come back here and ask yourself: “What is an action I say [...]

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USING THE HIGH PAYOFF PERSONAL TOUCH WITH CUSTOMERS

January 19, 2008

© 2008 Linda Feinholz. When was the last time you looked in the mirror, really looked, and saw how you show up for your customers? I ask because it’s been a subject that has come up repeatedly for my coaching clients, my MasterMind buddies, and myself the past couple of months. We’ve faced how we [...]

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