Innovation Opens the Door
Businesses that withstand the test of time, no matter the product or service they offer, rely on two things: (1) Innovation and (2) Character-Based Services. Let’s about innovation, however to truly understand how to get ahead the second ingredient, Character-Based Services, of creating value for your internal and external customers is no longer optional. You can only have a recipe for success when you are founded on core values. The quality of life for yourself, your employees, and your customers increase because you are providing a value-based service which addresses needs to make people feel connected to one another. However, to keep business opportunities coming your way, your business model must have creative innovation as part of the plan from the beginning. So remember add, taste, and stir every day!
Being Innovative Means Adapting and Thinking Creatively—All the Time
Add a Dash of New
There is never a moment when you rest on your laurels, or expect mediocrity; either from yourself or those working for and with you. Thinking outside of the box should be your norm, as well as motivating and allowing others to do the same. By giving others you come in contact with the opportunity to be creative and voice ideas, you cultivate a climate that is inclusive, rather than obtrusive. This means no micro-managing or tasting the soup every two minutes! This allows your business to keep its doors open to implementing cutting-edge opportunities as they become the next big thing.
The way you stay innovative is by being well-versed in the latest trends. Whether it is in leadership or with technological advances, you have to stay current. Reading books and articles, networking, and staying abreast through social media platforms keeps you from staying in the past or dreaming of the future. By doing small steps every day to innovate, you naturally create change. There is never a moment that you’re not adapting.
In other words, always ask why and how, then adapt proactively rather than reactively.
Stir Until Well-Blended: 90-Day Action Plans
The way you constantly adapt to change without becoming overwhelmed is by creating 90-Day Action Plans. The beauty of a 90-Day Action Plan is that your dreams and ideas are on paper for all to see. Mars Venus coaches use these during every coaching session, because they provide the framework for modeling open and honest communication. Often people and businesses seek coaching to help with time management. This gets into prioritizing, and then being able to effectively communicate your plans and intentions to those working for and with you.
As the 90-Day Action Plan is created together, Mars Venus coaches are different than other coaches because they model and teach how to use men and women’s different preferences for communicating, how they cope with stress, and how they buy/sell differently to ensure you get the added bonus of learning healthy communication skills. Learning these skills as you develop your 90-Day Action Plans together ensures you implement the new communication skills as you interact with the people that will make your business a success.
The 90-Day Action Plans not only provides a valuable working document to incite feedback from your investors and coaches (those keeping you accountable), but you also get to track your progress! You identify your vision, clarify your goals, break into strategic objectives, and further whittle down the to-dos into doable action steps.
Taste, Add Ingredients As Needed: Test & Measure
The way you measure your success is through testing and measuring how well you meet and exceed your goals in your 90-Day Action Plan(s) on an ongoing basis. Make sure to design vivid, descriptive Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that tell you benchmarks for when your goal is met. The more you’re able to describe the KPIs using your six senses—seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, smelling, and kinesthetic awareness—the faster you’ll achieve your goals. Why? Neuroscience. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between fact or fiction, memory or visualization. You can use this like athletes do to create new neural pathways in your brain focused on everything that entails success for your envisioned goals. Remember, adapt and re-prioritize as the curve balls are thrown at you so you don’t get hit. Add, stir, taste, and add ingredients as necessary—daily!
Lyndsay Katauskas, MEd
Mars Venus Coaching
Corporate Media Relations
