Bounce Forward in Business.

 A number of years ago I had a sailboat accident, actually a near death sailboat accident on a sailboat, not this one but one similar.  It was this dog, Toby, that inspired me to get back on the boat!  In life and in business we all fall down, experience challenges we would rather not face, learn some lessons the hard way, mess up and have to forgive ourselves, and ask for forgiveness from others. When I watched our dog Toby overcome his fear of diving off the dock into this lake where we live, I thought "if Toby can overcome his fear, so can I".  Reluctantly I got on the sailboat, a number of years after our sailboat saga.

In business there will be challenges where fear can win, if you let it.  Fear gets in the way of bouncing forward (TM) and by Bounce Forward, I mean standing tall, leaning in and moving forward after life challenges. Is it easy? Often not. Is it comfortable? Unlikely. Is it necessary? Yes if you want to have more joy, less stress, more time and less incompletes.

I enjoyed being on The Leadership Makeover Radio Show with host Dr. Kamran Akbarzadeh who is a leadership expert and best selling author of leadership soup. On the show I shared some strategies to Bounce Forward (TM) including:
- Communicate Courageously- have the conversations that matter most and are mostly avoided. Prepare for these conversations, practice and followup.
- Build your team- trust is foundational and always takes work. Teams that trust are teams that get through crisis with more ease and less challenge.
- Manage stress- set healthy expectations. Ensure your actions match your expectations of others. Practice self care on a daily basis.  Checking emails while eating lunch is not a break. Make sure you  take breaks to refresh.
- ASK - ask for helps, support, guidance, feedback. Practice the ASK daily. The more you ASK the more comfortable it becomes.

To order your copy of Bounce Forward, 

email Chris at

  

chris.alcock@hammondgroup.bz

So as you move into your workweek, find an opportunity to ask someone...for help with a project, for feedback on an idea, for a connection to someone, practice the ASK so you are clear. An ASK a day keeps the stress and overwhelm away.


You can listen to our show, and find more strategies to bounce forward at:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/authenticleadership/2012/08/11/bouncing-forward-in-business-with-charmaine-hammond


Check out Kamran's book here, great tips for leaders: