Business Executives Need to Be Healthy

This week we welcome Guest Blogger Rob Santarossa, Body Transformation Coach, Creator, Power-Cardio 30:  Kettlebell-Interval Fitness System.

Joined Rob' program in January and proud to say lost 20 pounds!   Thanks Rob for helping me run out of excuses - Frank

Get Healthy or Die - The Choice is Yours. 

I recently read an article about a major increase (25%) in strokes in younger people and they’re attributing it to lifestyle choices.

Choices is the key word here.

As an entrepreneur or businessperson I understand that you're crazy busy.  But your stroke, heart attack or other major illness is coming and it doesn't care that you're tired, or you have to get up a little earlier to workout, or that it's hard to eat right when you're entertaining clients.

You live every day with loads of stress, you eat poorly, you don’t exercise (BTW “activity” is NOT exercise). Do you really believe you’re not going to pay the price with your health or maybe even your life?  And no fad diet or pill is going to fix your problem.

As an entrepreneur myself I know you're thinking that taking time to exercise is time away from your business or family that you don't have and eating right when you're constantly "on-the-go" or having to eat out is impossible.

You don't really want to work out because it's hard and you enjoy your unhealthy meals because they're convenient and they taste good.  I know because I used to do the exact same thing until I made the better choice.

The reality is working out and living a healthier lifestyle gives you more energy which makes you more productive.

This gives you three important things:

1)  You get more done each day in less time because you're alert and "on", so you make more money.

2)  You feel better about yourself and your appearance so you have more confidence and energy when interacting with clients and prospects (oh, and your spouse).

3)  You have the energy at the end of each day to spend quality time with your kids instead of just plopping on the sofa and watching TV.

Richard Branson, the billionaire owner of the Virgin label was asked how at 62 years old he was still able to run the over 400 companies in his empire.  He answered in one word "workout".  He says his daily workouts give him an extra  3 -4 hours of productive time each day.

Now let's deal with the "I don't have time" issue.  I've met and coached hundreds of successful people who've discovered that you can get a great workout in just 30 minutes a day or less (if you do it right).  And delicious, healthy dinners can take just 10 - 20 minutes.  Breakfasts and lunches take 1 - 5 minutes.

And no, I'm not talking about rabbit food, rice cakes or pre-packaged junk, and no you don't have to eat like a bird.  You don't have to cut out any of the foods you love or even restaurant meals.  You just have to learn to be strategic.

The CHOICE is up to you.

You can die fat and unhealthy while living every day with no energy trying to survive on coffee, sugar and energy drinks making excuses and eventually paying the price for your lifestyle with your health maybe even your life, or...

You can pay the price of discipline.   Get on a sensible (not fad or quick fix) fitness and eating program so you can live each day feeling great with TONS of energy in a healthy, fit body.  You'll get more done at work,  you'll get to spend quality time with your kids and you'll even have a better love life.

Either way you're going to pay a price.  The price you pay is your choice.

Rob Santarossa, Guest Blogger
Body Transformation Coach,
Creator, Power-Cardio 30:Kettlebell-Interval Fitness System
(519) 979-3238 
http://www.IronCoreKettlebellClub.com

Top Ten Qualities that make a Great Leader

What would you add or remove from this list?

Top Ten Qualities that make a Great Leader:

1.   Honesty & Integrity
2.   Ability to Delegate
3.   Communication
4.   Sense of Humour
5.   Confidence
6.   Commitment
7.   Positive Attitude
8.   Creativity
9.   Intuition
10. Ability to Inspire

Highly agree Honesty is #1 on the list and added Integrity to top the list in making a great leader.  Personally, have been working on #2 for quite some time and happy to report doing very well after having a tough time embracing this (remember letting go?).

All issues/challenges seem to relate to some sort of communication, misunderstanding the communication or lack of any communication.  Many have defaulted to e-mail and text messages to replace better forms of communicating such as the phone or face-to-face discussions.   

While e-mail and text messages are good tools for convenience and non-intrusive communication, they lead to many challenges such as open to misinterpretation, no emotion and no pulse check on the other party how they are feeling.  One pet peeve is three to five e-mails back and forth just to schedule an appointment. 

Adding some sense of humour instead of being a stuffed shirt helps with most situations.  Everyone likes to laugh and making people smile means we are doing a good job leading.

#5 is powerful when you can be confident and actually deliver and back it up instead of just acting it - see #1 Integrity.  When you present yourself with over-confidence and not able to back it up you lose your Integrity.

#6 & #7 are qualities you must have as a great leader and without them it will be tough to lead any team.  It's too easy to quit and to be negative.   Being a great leader is be committed and to be positive.

#8 is a struggle for some of us.   Yes drawing "stick people" is what People Like Us without a lot of artistic creativity do.  However, when it's time to generate ideas, another kind of creativity kicks in making us great leaders.

Intuition is part of what surviving and adapting to rapid changing environments is all about.  Keeping composure and instilling confidence are key here.  It's required in our business as technology virtually changes hourly!

Having the ability to inspire your team is a special quality.   Motivating and invigorating the Team requires investment of effort and most of the other nine qualities listed.

There are many others that can be added to the list.  One of my favourites to add is passion.   Bring your passion to everything you do.  Your team and everyone around you will embrace it.

This blog was inspired by:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/2/

Learn how to Give

This week' blog topic is learn how to give and was inspired by Hugh MacLeod and Glen Barcarro.

Hugh MacLeod's picture "The minute you learn how to give is the minute you become successful" 

The other very inspiring source was going to see Glen Bacarro tell his story, so openly and candidly.  Glen challenged the audience to ask who, if anyone, we have mentored to make a difference in their life.   His message, amongst many others, was clear to give and make a huge difference.   For his story go to https://www.facebook.com/TheGlenProject 

How many of us truly give on a daily basis?   How many of us have mentored someone?

When we give to others and when we expect nothing in return, it is very enriching to see the other person benefit.   Mentoring is a great experience and highly recommend it if you have not taken part.   Listening and asking tough questions while sharing your experiences results in the other person learning valuable knowledge.   

You also provide the skills for confidence and for making tough decisions.  Of course, we all have to make mistakes to learn and sharing our lessons learned with others helps them grow.  

Currently volunteering for several organizations to help others and finding it very self-rewarding.   Giving back to this great Community that supports us is how I personally have learned to give.

Embracing Continued Growth

One of the challenges with continued growth is running out of space.   Our move in the Fall 2008 was to provide head room for at least ten years and here we are five years later surpassing all forecasts!

As the team grows and the space is utilized, you reach a point where a decision is required to address this challenge.

Different options were reviewed.  Several Partner meetings were held to discuss best ways to move forward.   Some options included; adding on to the current building, renovating the current space with major investment to utilize the third floor (basement) and we look at other buildings.   

Finding the right location needs to provide the level of decor to fit our brand, ample parking and has to support the company culture.  

Tough decisions were made to agree on best strategy to move forward.   We decided to lease a second location nearby with overflow parking.   This was a short-term decision to provide us with resolving the immediate challenges.

The next step on our journey is to find the right location as part of our long-term strategy.  There are a lot of choices and our decision was made not to settle just for the sake of settling on a location.   

Glad we made the tough decisions as we continue to embrace the growth.

Do You Attend Trade Shows?

Our team is attending several trade shows a year, sometimes as attendees and sometimes as exhibitors.  We are looking at more trade shows to be involved in as we continue to move into new markets.

As attendees, our goals are to determine if we should keep attending the specific show each year and if we should set-up a booth.  Other shows it is determined ahead of time to have a booth. 

The key is understanding the industry sector and marketing core competencies we offer to help the attendees' companies. 

Recently we supported a client at their trade show as part of entering a new industry.  With their experience as a long-time member and connections, we were embraced by the attendees and given a very warm welcome. 

This helped increase awareness and created opportunities for this new target market for AlphaKOR.  This was a true partnership experience with one of our valued clients.

We are looking at investing into a professional booth to ensure we properly represent our brand at these shows.  Involving our vendors and proving display products as well as swag are all part of being an exhibitor.

What strategy does your company have regarding trade shows?