Author Archives: Amy Beilharz

3 Ways to Leverage Employee Engagement for Career Growth

Are you a go-getter career woman, who somehow keeps moving so fast you leave a wake behind you instead of a following of supporters and a network of people you can tap into?

You are busy getting ahead in your career. You probably stay late and work weekends to make sure your projects come in on time and with all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted.

But do you take time to notice how much you engage your employees?

When I first moved through the ranks of IBM, I was loved by my bosses because I got things done, got them done on time, and could be counted on. My peers disliked me most of the time because my achievements routinely made them look bad. It was a hard lesson I had to learn—gaining people’s support at a peer level actually could be as important as those above you. In fact, I later learned that my teacher’s pet mentality was costing me more than I knew.

But my saving grace was I always listened to and took care of my employees. I made sure they got projects they wanted, got opportunities to shine, and loved what they did. When they didn’t enjoy their job we worked on designing a new angle to the job that improved their satisfaction or I got them transferred or promoted into something they would love to do. I was hard in reviews and made sure employees knew where they needed to improve, yet I always was fast to praise what they did well. My relationship with those who worked for me is actually what helped propel me at IBM, later in the cellular industry, and finally in my own companies.

Today, it is called engaging your employees. Nicole Alvino wrote a great article on why it pays to engage your employees in Forbes. What you call it does not matter. The three keys to creating a great employee base that promotes you as a boss and your company’s brand are the same.

First and foremost, listen. Knowing how employees feel about their jobs, about the company, and about you will only come through listening. Not during an annual review where you officially ask them, but over coffee or lunch. Notice whom people listen to and follow, then talk to that person. How much do you know about the people who work for you? The bosses who know the most about someone’s personal life are also the bosses who know what will inspire and motivate someone. Get involved with your people, not as a weekend drinking partner, but as someone who truly cares about them beyond what they can do nine to five.

Create goals and even jobs together. Solicit ideas with your employees rather than just give them a job. This second key to employee engagement is easy, but often overlooked due to time and budget constraints. We think we cannot afford to take the time or probably cannot do what they will suggest. However, when people feel ownership of what they are doing they produce better results in less time. I have always been amazed at the solutions my employees find to challenges when I turn it over to my team, rather than give them directions on what to do. Sometimes they come up with ideas we cannot afford or just won’t work, but the times they come up with a winning solution it is always better than anything I had yet conceived—usually at much less expense or much higher returns. Bottom line? Participation creates results.

Lastly, the key to successful teams is honest and detailed feedback. When employees do not know how they are doing, they drift. Even though it is hard to give someone a negative review, it is tens times easier than firing them. And any disgruntled employee barely doing their job will sooner or later quit or need to be let go. We all know the costs of employee turn over—hiring time, training time, efficiency curve, the list goes on and on.

Although it is important to have regular reviews that employees can depend on; it is equally, if not more important, to give immediate and frequent feedback on the little tasks and projects as they progress or are completed. Don’t wait for a formal review to call someone aside and let them know what a great job they did, or how you would like to see things improve on the next one.

Even critique can inspire an employee if you do it with an attitude of concern and desire for the employee’s best interest. And this brings me full circle to my first suggestion to engage your employees. Listen. When you are giving reviews and critiques you are not interested in excuses and employees should know you do not want them. Yet, you are interested in how the job or project is going for them. What would make it more interesting for them? What are their goals and how could you develop projects that help them achieve those goals?

Give yourself a review, today!

  • How well do you engage your employees?
  • When was the last time you listened to their input?
  • How much do you know about your employees outside of work?
  • How many jobs are being done that employees have helped design and how many are handed down to them?
  • Do your employees know what your immediate goals as a company are?
  • Could they talk about the company’s mission? How involved are they in formulating your company’s goals?
  • How are you at giving employees constructive feedback?
  • Do you have objectives for their jobs they know they should meet?
  • Do you praise employees when you see something they do well?
  • When was the last time?

Don’t put your personal review off until tomorrow. Improving your ability to engage your employees can make or break a small startup, propel an established company to significantly higher profits and make everyone’s job more rewarding—including yours!

What makes a successful entrepreneur?

In a September 3, 2014 Forbes article, Checklist Of Traits Of A Successful Entrepreneur, Jenny Q. Ta points out some really important traits of successful entrepreneurs.

But she misses the key ingredient. ALL successful entrepreneurs have a burning desire to create something very specific. In other words, anyone who achieves noteworthy success always has a definite goal — one they can visualize in great detail. And because they know deeply what the goal is they create plans and take actions to accomplish it, which are driven by a very strong desire to see it through.

With a goal they deeply desire in their heart and mind, they THEN use the traits Jenny speaks of—self confidence, self-motivation, tenacity, honesty about their own limitations, healthy disrespect for rules, and willingness to fail—to go after their goal no matter what others say, no matter if they succeed at first…no matter what!

Many entrepreneurs fail before they get very far because at the first sign of obstacles they lack the burning desire to make their idea happen, no matter what. It is this goal deeply imbedded in their mind in bold color and detail that makes other entrepreneurs succeed against apparently overwhelming odds. I love the story about Fanny Hurst in Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich, where Hill describes Hurst getting 36 rejections from the Saturday Evening Post before getting them to publish her first story. He goes on to state that most writers, or people in most any profession, would have quit at the first “No”. Hill is right, most do. And the secret to becoming successful at whatever you do is having a burning desire to see your goal happen. When you have this burning desire you will learn, do and be whatever it takes.

So I challenge you to find a goal that is truly worthy of your time,  attention and  life. Then you will have the passion it takes to be a self-made Female Millionaire. If you need help finding your passion, or creating a business that creates wealth pursing what you love, I can help you.

Should New Business Start-Ups Fake It or Not?

Start-up entrepreneurs often struggle between looking good to outsiders and being honest about where they are in their company’s development. Do you know when to fake it until you make it and when to fully disclose your position?

From the title of Danielle Tate’s article, Fake It Till You Make It For Startups, I assumed I was going to write a rebuttal to her piece. I oppose the concept of faking it until you make it under the scenario that you pretend to be an expert where you are not and sell yourself that way.

Yet, Daniel’s piece has nothing to do with how I interpreted the title. She gives a wonderful reminder if you are contemplating or in the midst of a new start-up that being in a garage or basement is not only alright, but also exactly where you perhaps should be until you are past the bootstrapping phase. In other words, working in the extra bedroom does not minimize the value of your concept, nor how you should present yourself or your ideas when pitching it outside your makeshift office.

Too many, startup companies don’t feel legitimate until they have an official office space and rush too quickly into this type of fixed costs before they can afford it. (A fixed cost is one that does not go up or down with your volume of business and has to be paid whether you are selling products or not. A variable cost does what its name implies. It varies with your sales so you do not incur these costs unless you are selling something.) Adding fixed costs takes valuable resources away from functions that will yield revenue.

Don’t let the allure of having something to prove your company’s value to customers, employees or even investors fool you into taking this step prematurely. Your idea is valuable, wherever you house your office and do your work. We ran our last service business for two years out of our home—employees and myself answering phone calls and emails from my kitchen table—until we built our office space. It freed money to spend on quality employees, expansion of our product offering, and other needed expenses—while our business grew. Our customers were getting the best service possible and really had no idea they were talking to us from my kitchen. My banker did not know either. However, I can comfortably say the bank would have been pleased I was not adding fixed costs to my operations since that improved their chance of getting paid back!

When starting out, more important than a brick and mortar building are your company’s partnerships with others who can advise, promote, and connect you and your idea to the right people and organizations. Although you don’t want to be shy soliciting partnerships with big names or influencers, partnerships with smaller names or organizations are also essential for fast growth. Finding ways to collaborate with others so they become your ambassador is always a key to rapid, early success.

When you are presenting your mission, concept and direction, speak as if you already are there. Don’t apologize for not having a glossy convention booth or big office (if those are not essential for your business). Don’t minimize your ability to get where you want to go. Think big. Act big. And speak with the confidence that it has already happened. Because in reality, it happened the minute you made a decision to act. You have conceived your idea in your mind, which is the place where all great things begin.

When John F. Kennedy decided to put a man on the moon and return him safely to earth, he did not talk to Congress or the American people with words like…

“I think we can…”

“Maybe if this goes well, we will…”

Nope. He made a decision and spoke about it as a completed fact that only needed to be materialized. You, too, need to present your ideas as successes about to materialize, not wishes or dreams. If you believe in your business and present it with the determined faith that it will be, potential customers, investors and employees will all see it as happening, too.

Yet, when it comes to presenting your projections and current progress – be real with customers, investors and employees. Don’t fake it.

Woman in a Man’s World

Can you imagine being the first women in venture capital?  To put this in perspective, today after 30+ years of women in venture capital there are fewer than 4% of senior VC’s who are women! Now imagine, again, how out of place Kathryn Gould must have been in these early years in a man’s world.

Kathryn gave the commencement speech at University of Chicago this year, and if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend reading it.  She has been on the investing side and the entrepreneur side, and shares some wonderful advice.  These are some highlights of her speech.  These are really great gems of wisdom for anyone, especially a woman entrepreneur in her first start up.

1. “So, about your adventure:  should you have a plan? Maybe. But don’t follow it. Planning prepares the mind, and chance favors the prepared mind, but chance usually messes up plans!”

2. “Don’t be afraid to take a step down” (Kathryn left as marketing manager for a $100 Million  business to join Oracle, a $1 Million business.)  I agree, if your intuition says it is a good idea, but all the outer world says “no stay at your good job”, chances are it is time to take a leap.  I talk about this often.  When I left IBM to join a small start up that later became what we know as the cellular industry, no one thought I was making a wise choice.  But my intuition said jump!

3.  “Build Your Skills Not Your Resume.”  We live in a work world of resumes, but not once you become an entrepreneur.  When you are starting your own business, you will be doing jobs from janitor to book keeping at times.  Broaden your skills at every chance you can, before and after you take the plunge.

4.  These are some gems she learned along the way:

  • “How to cold call –adrenaline, real time, 3 seconds to grab their attention—learn this!”
  • “Also the adage As hire As, Bs hire Cs—absolutely true—be careful of the company you keep.”
  • “What goes around comes around. Help people with their careers, their ideas, contacts—and I’m serious, good things come back years later.”
  • “I also learned that the first time without a paycheck is a little scary.”

5.  “Find Your Obsession.”  I should put this at the top, the middle and the end.  Without a burning desire for achieving something you will not have the needed fire to fuel your path as an entrepreneur. 

6. “It’s Not the Calls You Take, It’s the Calls You Make.  You are the creator of your destiny. In whatever business you’re in, there is always so much coming at you that you can stay insanely busy just responding.  Don’t do that. Always think about what is your agenda, what do you want to make happen, what do you want the future to look like.  This is not so easy.”  I think this might be the number two reason people fail at start-ups or careers.  (The number one reason is not having a goal they truly are passionate about.) Years ago I moved my family to the country.  Initially there was no cell phone coverage on our land and although we installed a phone line, we worked on one side of our 88 acres and lived on the other.  Our one land-line phone meant we were away from the phone most of the day. When our answering machine broke people became irritated they could not leave us messages–playing the now familiar electronic version of tag, your it. However, I found such freedom in not responding to everyone else’s requests that I stalled considerably getting a new machine.  I recognized in that experience the perpetual vortex of being sucked into other people’s priorities, and the power of stepping out of it.

I leave you with Kathryn’s ending remarks:

“Break rules, find your obsession, be extraordinary!”

In life — Eat one bite at a time!

“The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult.”
Madame Marie du Deffand

I love this quote!  It reminds me of wisdom I have had to learn over and over again.  That wisdom is: It is not essential to know all the steps of how to accomplish a big goal.  What is essential is taking the next step.

So often we become paralyzed by the scope of our goal or the number of things looming over us needing to be done and we fail to move forward at all.  Each step, no matter how small, will move you closer.

When I hit this place it appears every aspect of my goal is tied to the next and will create a domino affect if I make the wrong move, or miss the magic answer.  If the project feels like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro sometimes I spin in circles trying to put all the pieces into some systematic order that will make the job come together.  From this place decisions are impossible and forward motion ceases.

Yet, truly all that is needed is for me to take the next step.  And with each step the next one becomes more obvious.  Each step simplifies the path and brings the end goal closer.  And my taking action not only moves me closer to the goal, it also reduces my anxiety and clarifies my thoughts.  This simple solution has solved more problems for me than almost anything else.

Do you sometimes get paralyzed by decisions that feel too huge, or a project that feels overwhelming?  Try this next time.  Take just the very next step.  Decisions become easier and mountains of tasks slowly shrink to a manageable size.

Why do women have great friends and horrible networks?

I have been coaching women entrepreneurs for awhile and am dismayed by our gender’s general lack of networking when we are so good at creating social circles and deep friendships. Too many business women work hard to get ahead and fail to create the professional networking so vital to advancement.

Women are known as the sex that is better at relationships, communicate more and more effectively, and have stronger compassion genes. Yet, study after study show that women regularly fail at networking when it comes to their careers.

A recent article by one of my favorite Forbes contributors, Geri Stengel points to many of the pitfalls my clients have fallen into when they come see me about jumpstarting their stalled career or helping their start-up take flight.  Geri offers 6 tips for improving networking skills including “get over your inhibitions.”

However, I find most women are not shy, so this does not necessarily point to the real issue but is more of a symptom.  What I have learned coaching women is they are hard wired to supporting other people’s requests (their boss, co-worker, or family) but find it extremely difficult to ask others to help them, to ask for what they need. Period.  No amount of “getting over your inhibitions,” cracking the confidence code, or leaning in will unwire this because it is not about assertiveness.  Women can be plenty assertive at pitching their deal, rally for a cause, or going to bat for an employee.  Where they fail to speak up is asking for themselves.

To ask for something for yourself requires a few key things.  It is about knowing what you want, seeing how others could help you, and reversing genetic conditioning that stops you from recruiting others’ help. Let’s look at the first one, knowing what you want– since without that step the others are meaningless.

Many years ago I had a counselor send me home with the assignment of writing down everything I would ask for if I had the guts, and not ask.  She just wanted me to start to know what it was I would ask for if I felt I could.  Whoa!  Once I got going I realized there were a lot of things I was not asking for.  It was a great exercise and because she did not send me off to start asking for what I wanted, I was able to see more clearly all the areas that I was holding back.  If she had recommended I go start asking for what I want, I am sure I would not have been able to think of anything to ask for.

You, too can start this with just a pad a paper.  You don’t have to ask your boss for a raise or an investor for money.  At least not yet.  Start with a clean sheet and just think. If I could not loose–what is it I would ask for.  Start to really make long lists. List all the people you would ask.  It will help grow your muscle of seeing yourself as capable of asking.  You might surprise yourself and start asking sooner than you think.

My new Vision Board

One picture.

One focus.

One message.

Sometimes we get lost trying to find all the nuances of something when the simplest idea conveys the most meaning.  I have a vision board with lots of great things on it.  However, I am replacing it today with this picture.  For it represents to me…

Grace, Strength, Beauty, Purpose, and Courage!  ALL with a capital G,S,B,P, and C!  These are qualities I aspire to embody.

The other things on my vision board are still important.  Yet, they are the result of me living with these qualities at my inner core and then living them in my daily life.  The qualities I feel when I look at this picture are the cause!  And so I am moving my attention to the cause and allowing the results to happen as a result of my attention to what I truly desire.

What qualities do you aspire to embody?  When you find an image that can help you remember them, all in one moment ~ hang on to it, look at it daily, imagine it in everything you do!

What limitations do you believe?

In 1955 and at the age of 67, Emma Gatewood, mother of 11 and grandmother of 23, became the first woman to thru-hike the 2168-mile Appalachian Trail solo.

It makes you wonder what limitations we hold as fact that might be a belief we acquired along the way–a belief we could just as easily put down as hold.  Do you think you are too old?  Too fat?  Too young?  Do you worry you don’t have the right education?  Or the right experience?  Do you think only men can do that?  Or only people who already have money?  Do you feel other people have advantages you do not?

What voices do you listen to that tell you it can’t be done?

What would you be doing if you did not believe that limitation?

I am certain there were plenty of people telling Emma Gatewood she was too old or for any number of reasons (including she was a woman) she shouldn’t attempt to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone.  Maybe she had internal voices saying things, too.

She obviously did not listen.  What could you do if you stopped listening to the clatter of limitations you currently believe?

Imagine your dream in detail often.  Make a plan that moves you in the direction of your goal.  Surround yourself with people who will tell you — “You go girl”!

And then go…..

You only have to take one step at a time, and with each successful step you become stronger, bolder and closer to your dream!

What dreams do you have that you hold yourself back from following?

Drop Negative Media Headlines as Truth and look elsewhere for news

Sometimes we focus too much on what is not right.  Yet, focusing on what is going well, who is showing up and making things better, and how good things are happening all around us is exactly the recipe for bringing more of the good things to the stage of our lives.

Melinda Gates has a forum on tumblr to spotlight people who are making a difference at empowering women and girls.  You will be inspired reading about these unsung heroes and heroines.

Just as important as what these wonderful people are doing is asking ourselves what are we doing to empower women and girls.  What can I do today, this week, this month that will give some other woman a lift up?

The people Melinda is highlighting did not just one day do an amazing, global, world changing act.   They set out with small acts of courage to go against the norm, small words of encouragement when some female was down and out, or some gift of mentorship for one, single individual that built in them the muscle and the habit of doing more and more until they did something the world recognizes as a great contribution.

Look around your world.  What women and girls do you come into contact with?  What do they need to get ahead that you could help with?  Look at yourself.  What strengths do you have?  What experience have you garnered?  How can you share your strengths and wisdom with other women or girls–maybe just one, possibly making a difference in their lives?

Large acts of grandeur are not necessary for women and girls to become fully empowered. Small, continuous acts of generosity from those of us that have something to share may have a far wider reach than we ever imagined.

Let me know what you do to help empower other women and girls.  Your idea could be the winning lottery ticket that inspires millions of others to do the same small act that changes the world for women from this day forward.

Are you unstoppable – like this woman?

This woman suffered outer circumstances you and I could not imagine.  Yet, she is unstoppable.  Are you?

Jane was pulled out of school by the age of 9 years old,  married by 12,  had 5 children and lived in poverty.  Yet, Jane decided to make sure her own children were educated.  Then she decided to become educated herself. (Note: decisions are key, you can wish and whine until you die — or you can decide.)  She learned basic math, bookkeeping, and income-generating skills, as well as how to save money and secure loans as part of the income training in The Unstoppable Foundation’s 5-pillar development model.  She developed skills that positioned her as a leader in her community.

Her decision and subsequent actions created inspiration for her husband who also got educated.  Then he organized the men in the village to become educated.

Next, their village agreed to stop marrying girls by age 12 and now commit to everyone being educated.

8 years later from her decision to come out of poverty she has changed her whole village to one that is prospering and sustainable.  You can read more about her and others like her here.

The key to being unstoppable is going after something you have a strong desire for, like Jane when she determined her children (even her girls) were going to be educated.  If you are doing what you are passionate about — you will be unstoppable!

How do you figure out what you are passionate about?  Take time to listen to your quiet inner voice through meditation, retreats and journalling.  Take time to fantasize the life of you dreams.  Dream big.  Notice what things make you feel enlivened and what things drain you. You can start today.  Take my free quiz and then listen to the free meditation audio you will receive.  It will help you move your imagination until you can dream of a life that brings you joy, not every once in awhile–but every day.