Systems for Success

Systems for Success

By Lonnie GiengerBusinessKids & FamilyCareers
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Systems for Success episodes

  • 16. How Personality Clashes Can Build Relationships | Round Table

    Turning personality conflicts into complements that create healthy relationships and positive outcomes is a powerful process that is within the reach of every person in every family and team.

    It starts with this basic belief system. The people who are in our family are there for a purpose. They are there to complete or balance us in some way. The people we work with in business are there to make your work and life more effective. Because of this, it is worth investing time to understand the unique strengths and contributions each person in our family and each person in our business team can best make to create great relationships and outcomes.

    Three Keys to Better Relationships in Family and in Business

    Understand your own unique behavioral strengths. This is the key to personal growth and finding roles where you will be most effective.

    1. Recognize and respect the behavioral strengths of others. This is the key to effective interdependence in families and in teams.
    2. Learn to blend the differences between people in your family and on your work teams in a way that best utilizes the unique strengths of each person in each situation or project. This will result in greater harmony, productivity and effectiveness.
    Core and Adapted Personality Styles

    We all have a core behavioral style that comes most naturally to us and that we revert back to especially when under pressure or stress. This core personality style does not change much from late teen years throughout life unless you experience a life-changing personal event like the death of a spouse or child.

    We also have the amazing ability to adapt our behavioral style based on what we believe it takes to be successful in our current family or team dynamics. These adaptations are generally a very healthy part of good human relationships. Be aware however, that significant adaptations in your overall behavioral style, over long periods of time, can cause personal stress and lack of effectiveness because you aren't operating in your natural sweat spot.

    Communication Adaptations

    Another key to success in family and business relationships is for individuals to learn to adapt their natural communication style with others so it is most effective for others. Without great intentionality, we tend to communicate with others based on the way we like to be communicated with. However, servant leaders are always looking for ways to serve the people they do life with more effectively and will therefore seek to adapt their communication style to the style of the person they are communicating with. This means that we must understand our own strengths and weaknesses and understand and value the strengths and weaknesses of others.

    Ideally, this is a two-way street where both parties are seeking to understand and adapt to what the other person needs. So consider what you might need to do to express to your family or team members how you want to be communicated with based on your personality strengths. At the same time, take responsibility to proactively find out how others prefer to be communicated with and then communicate with them in this way. If you do this, your relationships and your effectiveness will increase over time.

    The Law of Differences to Build or Destroy Relationships

    This law is as predictable as the law of gravity. When I experience someone who has different strengths (or something that based on my strength, appears to be a weakness), I have a choice to make. I can choose to judge that person and see that difference as a weakness. This will lead to isolation (physical and/or emotional) which eventually leads to death in the relationship. You may physically spend less time together, choose not to go over and talk to them at events, no longer comment on Facebook posts where you once did, stop responding the same way to texts, etc. Judging a difference as a weakness leads to some type of isolation and eventual death in the relationship.

    But we have another choice we can make when we see or experience a difference in personality styles. We can choose to value that difference as a strength that I can learn from or that can benefit the situation or relationship. This draws people to us which leads to unity which leads to life in the relationship.

    The key to the unlock successful outcomes from the law of differences is understanding. It requires understanding your strengths and their strengths and the way these can be beneficially blended.

    Think about where you are judging the different personality strengths or weaknesses of your family members or co-workers in a way that is causing you to view them as "weaker" in some way. My bet is that this is leading to some type of isolation or diminishing of what the relationship has been or could be. There have been times where I have needed to apologize and say, "I am sorry the judgments I was making about you that was isolating you."

    Where are you viewing the differences in others a weaker, lesser, undesirable and it is not leading to greater unity and life in the relationship? Through understanding and humility, you can move from death to life in relationships.

    The foundation of this process is an individual commitment to stop judging differences and start valuing individual differences. We want each person to be valued and be fully empowered to play to the strengths they bring to the table. We don't want anyone to feel like they need to change their personality in order to belong to this family or this team. And when conflict occurs we will learn to value each other's opinions and approaches, which will bring us closer and allow us to see things we wouldn't ordinarily be able to see.

    Learning to recognize, value and blend personality difference is another key system for success in family and business.

    EPISODE RESOURCES:

    Purchase the Leading From Your Strengths assessment. Enter Promo Code: "Advantage" for a discount price of $19.95.

    Purchase the Strengths Finder assessment for $49.99.

    Purchase the Classic DISC Profile for $64.50.

    Take the free 16 Personalities Assessment based on the Myers Briggs process.

    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    58 min
  • 15. The One Force that Influences Everything

    What if you could have the one ring that rules them all? What if you could leverage the one force that influences everything in this world? Those of us who are leaders in the business world, have an incredible opportunity to make the world a better place…much more so than we typically think about or believe.

    Virtually everything we can see that is man-made was made by someone who had a vision to start a business, and that business provided income so that people would have jobs, and those jobs created incredible blessing. When you make money you serve everybody, you bless everybody. Everything that is not in its natural state is there because somebody had a vision they turned into something that would bless somebody, something that would give value to someone.

    There's nothing like the impact of a business that provides jobs. All the employees then contribute to society. Those jobs create incredible blessing to society. Even a plumber with two can change the world! The process of making money is a way to make the world better. It's a powerful process to serve and bless people.

    As the late, great Steven Jobs said: "Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you; and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use."

    What Transforms Societies?

    Some may argue that business isn't the only thing that influences the world. They're right! It's not. As I see it, there are seven primary forces that shape society in any city, nation, and country. They are: Family, Religion, Media, Arts and Entertainment, Education, Government, and Business.

    Of these seven forces, there is one that has the most pervasive effect on shaping or driving the other six. You guessed it. That one force that influences all the others is business. Business is the primary driver or influencer of all the other six.

    Government

    Government certainly has a significant impact on society. But where does government get tax money so it can operate? From the income created by business. People who make money in a business pay taxes that support the government.

    Arts and Entertainment

    There is no question that arts and entertainment shape cultural norms. What drives the growth of arts and entertainment in society? Who have been the primary patrons of the arts? Who is on the board of directors of the arts councils, the cultural centers or museums? Is it a homeless, jobless guy? Generally, it is the wealthy, who have become so through business. It is mostly business leaders who are the influencers of the makers of art. Robust businesses drive the arts and entertainment, which are influencers of society. If there was never any money exchanged or given to the artist or the one who created, what would happen to art and entertainment? If art has changed society or culture over time, it's because somebody was offering it as a business. If someone sets up an art studio or a theater, they do marketing, sell tickets, provide customer service, and maybe have employees, etc. Of course, there's a lot of good art that never results in money or has anything to do with money. But generally, art that transforms culture has a business element attached to it. Sitting in your room and painting or making music just for your own pleasure is good, but it is not going to transform culture. That work has to be marketed, as a business.

    Family

    I firmly believe that healthy families are the foundation of any healthy society. Yet the family requires money to function, and that money is generated by some type of business. Even if your family has inherited wealth, someone at some point made that money through business. The Bible indicates that if you don't work and provide for your family you are "worse than an infidel." Unless you are stealing to provide for your family, you will probably be providing for them as a result of some type of commerce. What has given me the opportunity to focus on raising our family and for my wife to homeschool our kids has been businesses that produced income that allowed my wife to be home to give the best efforts of some of the best years of her life training our children.

    Religion

    Religion has certainly had a significant influence on shaping society throughout the ages. Every dollar that every church has ever used to do the good work it does, though, was created by a business. You can't give offerings if you don't have money to give. Where does that money come from? Business! Who is on the boards of churches? Who is on the financial committee? Who are the volunteers? None of these important roles are employees of the church. They are all employed by some business. Every volunteer in the church, by definition, is not paid by the church. It is those volunteers who do most of the important work that is done for communities by any church.

    Media

    Media doesn't just report on what's happening in the world; it influences what people know and believe about the world. How does business influence media? Every media company is ultimately a business. Furthermore, many types of media are strongly influenced by the businesses that become their customers. When a company says, "Our business will not pay for this million dollar advertisement on your media because we don't agree with your agenda", they have real influential power over that media. Business influences media by voting for or against any media outlet with their dollars.

    Education

    Education shapes the future of society in many ways, and educational institutions are ultimately run as businesses if they are going to survive. Who is on the boards of universities? Where did money come from to build and run those educational institutions? Even educational systems that are completely free to the student ultimately receive some type of funding (with money created by business) and/or have leaders who volunteer their time on boards who make money to support their lives and their ability to give to causes through business.

    I'm not saying that business is the entirety of what shapes this world. All seven of these forces shape the world along with some less dominate factors that I have not mentioned. And certainly, there are other integrated or overlapping influences between these seven forces. For example, one could argue that government or religion could influence all the other forces. But you can see that business has an inordinate influence! Business and business leaders don't control the other forces that shape society. They simply have a significant impact, both through the influence of being an economic driver as well as through the systems and processes of business within each of those other six areas.

    If you took business out of a community, the other six forces would suffer greatly and eventually disappear. Of course, government could try to control all the other six forces. It might have the power to take control of resources and even to eliminate businesses. The Soviet Union tried that and demonstrated that this doesn't create sustainable success in society. Of these seven forces that shape society, business has proven over many generations and in many cultures to have the most profound and consistent impact on all the others.

    One has to at least ask the question: "Since all the primary forces that shape society are all influenced by and fueled by business, what is the best way to influence the world? What is the highest potential platform to transform society?"

    My bet is on business! And if you are a business leader, my bet is that you have more power to change the world than you might think. There is probably something each one of us can do to better leverage our business as a platform to improve society in some way. I'd like to challenge you to think of at least one way that you could more effectively use what you do in business to make your part of the world a better place.

    EPISODE RESOURCES:
    • Discover your love language by taking this free online assessment.
    • Order The Five Languages Book on Amazon.
    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    32 min
  • 14. Building a Passionate, Fulfilling Marriage

    Finding and keeping a passionate, lasting and fulfilling marriage relationship does not have to be an elusive dream. It can be your reality if you are willing to make finding and unconditionally loving your spouse the number one most important project.

    Listen as our daughter, Chelann, interviews Shelley and I about our marriage. She asks us key questions her generation of entrepreneurs wants to know about how to find and keep a passionate and fulfilling marriage relationship. We hope these unvarnished stories and learnings from the failures and successes in our marriage will benefit young and old alike.

    Some of the questions we answer in this episode:

    • How do you know you've found "the one"?
    • What are the core characteristics/traits to look for when choosing your spouse?
    • Why do confident men sometimes become cocky when they're around a confident woman?
    • How can women start empowering men to be MEN instead de'MAN'ing them?
    • What do we wish we would have known in year 1 of our marriage?

    We held nothing back in this conversation. Whether you're single, dating or married, this episode will empower and inspire you.

    EPISODE RESOURCES:
    • Discover your love language by taking this free online assessment.
    • Order The Five Languages Book on Amazon.
    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    1 hr 1 min
  • 13. Business Leaders that Transform Society

    Business leaders build a better world on three levels. The first level is simply building a good business that provides value to people. Second, they go beyond basic business expectations to do things in and through their business that provide extra benefit for people and communities. On the third level, business leaders intentionally use their businesses as a platform to make a transformational impact on society, to literally rebuild the world.

    If you are in business, you are already on Level 1. You are already building a better world just by doing good business!

    Level 1: Building Your Business

    At the most basic level, when you build a business you play a vital role in meeting people's needs and thereby building a better world. If you do nothing but build a business that meets needs well and makes a profit doing so, you not only provide a product or service that society needs, you create the resources that put food on tables, roofs over heads, and kids in school. Even better, if you create a healthy culture in and around your business based on enduring values, you can create a little slice of a healthier society.

    What I have learned is that ministry happens in the margins. Going the extra mile only works if you've got gas in your tank at the end of the last mile. If you don't have a business that allows you some margin in your finances, time, and emotional capital, it's hard to use your business to do effective ministry that goes beyond the goodness of simply doing business well.

    So what's the pathway to create more margin to be able to do more ministry for the world through business? I have found that the pathway is through implementing the right processes. The secret is in the systems that cause success. Implementing the right systems in your business is one of the most valuable means to be more effective at Level 1 and ultimately to allow you to enjoy more time and energy to function at Levels 2 and 3.

    To do more on Level 2, you must learn to build a business that accomplishes the mission of your business through implementing effective business operating systems in nine critical areas. If you're interested in learning more about these nine categories of business operating systems you can check out the additional information in the Appendix at the end of this book. As you continue to implement processes that produce better outcomes and create greater margins of time and money, it will help launch your business into more Level 2 activity and impact.

    Level 2: Building Beyond Business

    Once you have a business that is generating some consistent value for others and creating some consistent profit, you have the greater ability to move to the next level where you are building beyond business. At this level you are going the extra mile to intentionally create value for others beyond the fundamental value of doing good business.

    Even if your business isn't focused on changing the world, when your business goes the extra mile to create out of the ordinary value for employees, customers or their community, you are applying best practices that some of the greatest companies in this world follow. Such Level 2 initiatives are a good warm up for playing in the "big league" of Level 3 where you intentionally use your business as a platform to shape society and rebuild our world.

    Level 3: Rebuilding the World

    After you have basic success in building your business and some wins at building beyond business, at some point you begin to embrace the paradigm that your business is actually a powerful platform (some might even say an elaborate front) to transform society. You begin to see that the real power of business is more than creating valuable products, services, and environments. It's even more than going the extra mile to benefit humanity. It is actually a powerful tool to transform the world. For those who are followers of Jesus, their business can become a powerful platform to perpetuate the values of Jesus on this earth. For those who are church-going Christians, their business could even become an extension of the ministry of their church to intentionally infuse God's good purposes into the world. Regardless of your religious affiliation or lack thereof, your business can be a powerful platform to make what's wrong in the world, right! Your business is your pathway to transform your part of the world!

    EPISODE RESOURCES:

    In this episode I refer to the nine categories of business operating systems that every successful business needs to have in place. Following is some overview information and a few key questions about those nine business operating systems:

    Overview of the Nine Categories of Systems for Success in Business

    Building a business that gives you the margin needed to build beyond business and do more to rebuild the world requires the disciplined planning and implementation of nine foundational categories of business systems. Each of these business operating systems are powerful tools that will help you organize key areas of your business for maximum effectiveness. Together they work to make your entire business run like a perfectly constructed machine giving you the consistent results and margin you need to change the world through your business! I'll give a brief overview of these nine systems, and also give a little insight into why each one is important to the success of your business.

    Like the designer of anything great, you cannot build a successful business that gives you the results you want and the margin you need to rebuild the world without first creating a blueprint; a vision of what you want your business to be. That's why the first and most important system you use is the strategic planning system.

    Strategic Planning Systems

    Do you have a clear vision for your company and a step-by-step plan to achieve it?

    Success doesn't just happen; you have to plan for it. In fact, the biggest mistake business owners make is failing to come up with a blueprint for their success. When you get caught in a cycle of firefighting, it is difficult to do anything but react to the crisis of the moment. Strategic planning is the way to get proactive about your business. It starts with a clear understanding or your personal mission, vision, and values so that you can intentionally build a business that is an outgrowth of who you are called to be. Then you will develop a crystal clear mission, vision, and the core values that set the direction and DNA for everything you do in your business. Based on this, you will develop specific strategies, objectives, goals, and action plans where you decide in advance exactly what needs to be done, and how you'll do it. Your direction, strategies and goals will be in writing so it can be clearly communicated and consistently executed.

    You and your employees will know the specific tasks needed to accomplish each goal. With each positive change you make, your business will become what you designed it to be. But your designing work doesn't end with the creation of an overall strategy for your future success; you also need to design each of the individual systems that have to work together to achieve your strategic plan.

    Here's one powerful tool you can use to identify which systems you need to implement or improve in your business. It's called the Performance Gap Analysis. In strategic planning, the performance gap is the difference between where your business is today, and where you want it to be in the future. Once you define what lies between you and your goals, you'll be able to come up with a strategy to bridge the gap between the two. When you analyze where your business is today in terms of its strengths and weaknesses, you'll be able to create a specific plan to leverage your strengths, and overcome your weaknesses and take your business where you want it to be.

    Marketing Strategy Systems

    Every business needs customers, but where do you find them and how do you get their attention? The purpose of your marketing strategy system is to create and communicate your unique competitive advantage that will attract the most probable and profitable customers to your business.

    Do you have a written marketing plan that clearly identifies your product, pricing, distribution and promotional strategies, and how they will be implemented?

    When you understand the characteristics of your target market, the trends in your industry, the strategies of your competition, and your products' unique benefits, you're able to make sure you spend your marketing dollars where they will produce the best results. Your marketing strategy takes into consideration everything you do in your business that impacts your customer, like your products' features and benefits, hours of operation, customer service policies, and credit terms.

    But it goes deeper than that. Did you know something as simple as changing the color of the clothes you wear can increase or decrease your sales? So can the image your correspondence or invoices present, and the expression on your face or the tone of your voice. You can lose a customer just as easily over a little thing as you can over a big one.

    Your strategic marketing system will give you the confidence to launch a successful marketing program based on research and planning rather than on a gut feeling. It's a powerful tool you can use to take the guesswork out of all of your marketing systems.

    Workflow and Organization Systems

    More effective marketing systems will attract more customers, but more customers can lead to more chaos. That is, unless you have work flow and organization systems to keep the inner workings of your business running smoothly.

    Do you have systems in place that ensure time is spent on the most important priorities for your business, and nothing is falling through the cracks?

    Workflow and organization systems specifically address the issues of time and your efficiency. Where is your time going now? And how can you create more time to do what is most important? For example, when you use a delegation system, you create time for yourself by assigning responsibilities in a way that ensures the task will be done properly, and on time. A project control system helps you save time by giving you instant information about every activity and deadline in your business. That's so you don't have to chase people down to see what is getting done. If you have inventory, an Inventory Control System ensures you have the right amount of the right products in stock. It also makes certain your cash isn't tied up in a lot of slow-moving products.

    With business operating systems in place, you don't have to spend time rethinking or explaining each and every task over and over again, hoping it gets done correctly. Organization systems create procedures for everything your business does on a repetitive basis, like opening and closing your business each day, maintaining equipment, handling customer complaints, or any other area of your business where you want consistent, predictable results.

    There is no such thing as "good enough" when it comes to building a successful business. Your operating systems can't remain static. Your business environment is constantly changing. What works today may not be sufficient tomorrow. So you need a way to continually improve all of your business operating systems; a system to improve your systems! Here's how:

    First, you have to decide which system to improve. Next, identify the specific goals and purpose of that particular system. Third, evaluate your current situation, and do a Performance Gap Analysis to identify your desired outcome. Next, brainstorm new ideas to bridge the gap, to improve the existing system. Then evaluate your ideas and select the one that seems most likely to succeed.

    That last step is where many business owners go wrong. They may have plenty of new ideas to work with, but most business owners don't have a system to help them choose and implement the right ideas. Your strategic plan and market strategy help you identify the right ideas. Then you can use a different system to test, measure, and implement each one.

    This is called your "TMI Formula". The first portion of the TMI formula is to test your new Ideas. For example, you may want to test a new print add by placing it in a small local paper before committing it to something more elaborate. New ideas can be expensive, especially if they don't accomplish what you hoped they would.

    The second portion of the TMI Formula is what really separates the designer from the specialist. The designer doesn't just try something new; the designer measures the actual results of the change to determine its success.

    So a designer who creates an online ad campaign will also set up a tracking system to monitor the new business that ad brings in. To measure the new business, you need to know where all of the new business comes from. Did the customer read the new ad? Or did they walk into your business off the street? Or did a friend recommend they come in? One simple way to gather information is to ask, "How did you hear about us?" whenever a person walks into your business or calls. With a good system for measuring results, a designer can tell how many responses the ad generated, how many sales resulted, and how profitable the sales were. Then you can determine with absolute accuracy whether or not the idea was a success.

    That brings us to the third step of the TMI Formula: Implementation. This is more than saying "Let's do it". Implementations is taking what works and turning it into a system. It's taking the results of testing and measuring your ideas, and using that information to create procedures that will produce the same positive results over and over again. For instance, if you discover greeting a customer with a question like "Have you ever been in our store before?" leads to a higher percentage of sales than greeting them with "May I help you?" you'll want to implement that greeting into your sales process. The procedure that gets the best results is then documented in writing; every employee is trained to follow it properly, and each person is accountable for using the system you've developed for a particular situation. The final result of the TMI Formula isn't simply the creation of positive changes; it's the systematic use of the changes to achieve consistent, predictably good results in your business.

    Personnel Management Systems

    Your employees are crucial to the success of your business, whether you already have people working for you, or you're thinking of bringing someone on. Personnel management systems will help you get the most productivity and profit from your employees and create a highly empowering work environment that fully engages the best of each person. This helps you manage the entire personnel process, and it goes far beyond hiring and firing. You know you need to hire someone when an employee quits. But your personnel management systems will also help you forecast your future work force needs and develop a step-by-step process to attract the right people for the right jobs.

    Your orientation systems will prepare your new employees to become a dedicated part of your business and share your vision of what your company is all about. With effective personnel management systems in place, even disciplinary problems can be dealt with in a way that will reduce stress and miscommunication.

    How would you feel if everyone in your company loved what they did and consistently went above and beyond the basics of their jobs?

    When you take the time to develop your personnel management systems, you will reap the benefits of having employees, while you minimize the headaches. The right people, with the right qualifications bring valuable experience, needed skills, and renewed enthusiasm to the business. You will be creating a positive work environment where productivity is higher, communication and cooperation is better, and potential problems like low morale are likely to be avoided. The effect will be felt by everyone; you, your employees, and even your customers.

    Promotions and Advertising Systems

    Good advertising is as much as result of good planning as creative talent; whether you are selling a product or a service. Your advertising and promotion systems will help you get the most out of your advertising dollars, no matter what your budget is.

    Do your advertising and promotional efforts generate the response you would like?

    While the marketing strategy systems help you to position your product in your market, promotions is the job of presenting your product in a way that makes the consumer want to buy it. Advertising, personal selling, public relations, and online marketing are all considered promotional activities because their ultimate objective is to make sales. Advertising is one of the best ways to promote what you are selling. But unless you know what you are doing, it can be risky for a small business owner with a limited budget. The promotional and advertising systems you implement will help you understand the ad buying and pay per click process, so you can create advertising that gets noticed by the right people. Even if you have someone else create your advertising, it's important you understand the elements of an effective ad, to give the direction needed to ensure success. Whether creating an ad for a print publication or for online presentation, your promotional systems will help you create an effective message that will reach the right people at the right time, and generate the sales you want.

    Business Communication Systems

    As a business owner, you probably spend most of your day writing, speaking or listening to someone. Business communication systems help you master the skills you need to document your other systems, and clearly communicate your ideas to form better relationships with everyone you come in contact with. If a breakdown in communication has ever caused problems with your employees, or your customers, you know resolving these problems will cost you valuable time; sometimes money. Business communication systems will help you get your message across in any situation: one on one, in a group or when you need to resolve conflicts or negotiate agreements. Most importantly, you will hone your listening ability and use it as a tool for better understanding.

    Without good communication skills, your strategic plan will never get off the ground. Your promotional strategies won't reach their full potential, and you certainly won't be able to lead and motivate your employees, or build strong relationships with your customers. Since so much is riding on how you communicate, it is important you develop the systems to help you do it well.

    Personal Selling Systems

    While your marketing and promotion systems will attract prospects to your business, you still need effective personal selling systems to turn those prospects into costumers and achieve consistent sales results.

    Do your sales people have a systematic way to discover what the customer needs and wants? Do your sales depend on the talent of a particular person? Or do you have a sales system that enables all your people to produce consistent results?

    You can reach a certain level of growth while your sales are still dependent on you or another sales person. But unless you have the right systems in place, you'll eventually hit a ceiling, where your sales will eventually drop off. Maybe you suffer from the "Peak and Valley" system. You can go out and sell as much as you can; then your business comes to a grinding halt while you switch hats and deal with the orders you just got. You may be waiting for a superstar sales person to show up and solve your problems, but there is no guarantee they will be able to work their magic in your particular business, and if they leave, your sales expertise goes with them. When results depend on your own selling skills, or those of someone else, your bottom line will constantly change, and so will the messages sent to your customers. Personal selling systems will give you predictable control over increasing sells from your existing customers and developing the new business you want.

    Financial Management Systems

    Financial management isn't just about keeping track of historical information or keeping the IRS happy. It's about systems to plan and create the future of your business. Your financial management systems will give you a complete and accurate picture of what you did in the past, where you are now, and what adjustments you need to meet your future financial goals.

    Do you have a system in place to project your income and expenses so you can accurately predict your cash flow?

    Do you know how to use the information on your financial statements to help you anticipate and prevent problems in your business? How your business is doing financially at any given time should never be a mystery to you, or an assumption you make based on appearances. When you have the right financial systems in place, you will always know where you stand. But you will also have the ability to forecast future sales and expenses, so you can prepare for the future. Once you understand the key components of financial management, and the systems you need to run your business properly and predictably, you can begin to solve problems before they get out of hand, and you can take advantage of new opportunities that come your way.

    Leadership and Motivation Systems

    This final system for success you need to have in your business may be the most important of all. Your leadership and motivation systems have the power to make all of your other systems exceed your expectations. No matter how good they are, systems by themselves can't create success; people do. When well led, highly motivated people turn on the systems you design, you will be able to expand your vision for your company to create whatever success you desire.

    Do you have systems in place to lead, motivate, and inspire your employees to pursue your vision for your business as passionately as you do?

    Do you have a system to assess the levels of ability and motivation of each employee? And a plan to lead each one to a new level, where they can operate independently and with confidence? You probably know you can't motivate anyone yourself. You can't control or reward your employees into consistently effective behavior. To go above and beyond the basic requirements of their job, employees need to be internally motivated. What you can do is put the right systems in place to create an environment that fosters self-motivation. The ultimate level of effectiveness you can reach with your leadership and motivational systems is to have systems in place that not only develop followers, but develop other leaders in your business. When your business grows with followers, you will be limited to growth by addition. You merely begin to develop and add new employees. But when you develop by leaders, you're able to grow by multiplication. You have other leaders in your company who can add and develop new employees, expanding in leadership effectiveness. Your leadership and motivation systems are the secret to creating a self-running and self-perpetuating business that provides a platform for you to change the world!

    Imagine what it would be like for your business to take on a life of its own, apart from you, but according to your design. These nine systems are the crucial components of your ideal business. If each one is in place and working together, they become your systems for success.

    This all starts with the mindset and practice of approaching your business from a designer's perspective, rather than the perspective of a specialist. The designer perspective helps you recognize and bridge the gap between where your business is today, and where you want it to be. From this basis you will then design and implement the specific systems that work together to get your business to the point where it is achieving consistent and predictable results, giving you the time and money margin you want to do even more to build beyond business and build a better world. You will have a business that works hard for you, rather than you working so hard for your business.

    The goal of this appendix has been to stimulate your thinking and give you some proven concepts that will help you get even better results from your business. But just knowing what to do isn't enough, you also need to know how to go about it.

    If you want to solve problems that stay solved, if you want to create that special kind of business where customers love doing business with you; if you want a place where you and your staff can't wait to come to work each day; if you want to a business that gives you the time and money you need to build a better world, don't just read this. Take action now to develop the systems your business needs to go to the next level!

    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    56 min
  • 12. Keys to Healthy Accountability
    Keys to Healthy Accountability

    Is it possible to hold people accountable in a way that is healthy for relationships? Why has accountability received such a bad rap? Why is it such an unpopular subject?

    Many people have had bad experiences with unhealthy accountability that feels more like control, judgement, manipulation and even punishment.

    It is not your job to punish a spouse, friend or employee for not doing what they are supposed to do. It is not your job to force him or her to stop or change the unhealthy behavior. Accountability is not about trying to make someone else be or do what you want.

    You are not responsible for your partner's actions or decisions. If you have permission or request from your spouse to point out when they get off track from something they want to do, your job is just to point it out, not to control or cajole them. What he or she does with that information is out of your hands.

    Healthy accountability starts with a servant heart. It starts with, how am I here to serve you? It is not at all about I am here to make you shape you or break you.

    More effective words for accountability might be how can I help "support", "encourage", or "assist" you in accomplishing what you want?

    The foundation for beneficial accountability is a strong relationship characterized by unconditional love and complete transparency.

    Healthy accountability thrives in a safe environment where there is unconditional love and transparency.

    Healthy accountability requires fostering honest, open communication. People need to know that sharing the good, the bad and the ugly will all be received with the same love, acceptance and even forgiveness when needed.

    Healthy accountability thrives in an environment where people know that nothing they do or don't do will make you love them any more or less. Honest mistakes do not make me look down on your or punish you, whether in family or in business and regardless of the size or consequences.

    Radically close relationships require radical transparency. And transparency is a pre-requisite to healthy accountability. For example, in our family we give each other full access to each other's life including passwords for everything.

    Hiding things or lying is a cardinal offense because it destroys transparency and trust and diminishes the ability to have healthy accountability in that relationship.

    Whenever accountability moves towards control it becomes cancerous to the relationship.

    Accountability can easily turn to judgement and control easily whenever the actions desired become more important than the relationship.

    Accountability requires relationship and permission. You only know how and when to hold someone accountable best when you have a close relationship with someone.

    In reality we can't truly hold someone accountable, as if we had complete control over someone else's behavior. We can't force someone else to be accountable. We can actually only hold ourselves accountable. Self accountability is taking extreme ownership for our own actions. What we can do is hold ourselves accountable for supporting someone else in their efforts to hold themselves accountable.

    The specifics of how accountability is done will look different in each relationship. However, there are three steps that seem to be fairly common in any healthy accountability relationships.

    Simple Three Step System for Healthy Accountability

    Understand what the other person wants and determine best way to help them.

    • Seek first to understand their desires.
    • Ask questions like, "What do you really want in this area of your life (or business) to look like? What would you need to do to make that happen?" That means the other person has to have a desire to be do or have something different. You can't make that up for them or make them want something that you think is better for them.
    • Sometimes you can serve them well by helping them figure out what they want. This is more often the case in the work environment.

    Agree on clear expectations and get their permission to help.

    • What are you telling me that you'd like to do differently? Are you serious about doing that? When do you want to start taking action on that?
    • Would you like me to help, encourage or support you in doing this? How would you like me to support or encourage you in doing what you're saying you want to do?

    Follow up.

    • Care enough to pay attention to what is happening in their life. Do what they've asked you to do or given you permission to do in supporting them. Make the call. Schedule the meeting. Send the reminder. Ask the question. Etc.
    • Celebrate the wins and have the difficult conversations when needed. Look for any possible opportunity to encourage, celebrate and cheer them on for any progress they have made toward their desires. And be willing to have the tough conversations in love when needed. Always remember, the relationship is more important than the results.
    Cautions about Accountability

    Accountability does not mean punishing them for not coming through, by yelling, the silent treatment, ignoring them, complaining... taking something away. Those things create no value in the relationship or in their life.

    For example, if we ask someone to do something or show up in a certain way and they don't, what can we do?

    It helps to first gain some clarity. If someone does not follow through on something they agreed to, then we need to discuss it with them. We need to listen to what they want to tell us (not what we want to hear, but what they want to say), and then we need to accept it.

    At that point, we need to honestly state our truth without beating them up. Focus on exactly how you feel now and/or the impact on you or your family or team now, not the other times they let you down by doing something that you or they wanted.

    When you ask yourself how you feel or what the impact is on you, it takes great self-awareness to separate the current situation and impacts from past situations and impacts. Some people have a deep-seated feeling of low self-esteem or disappointment with your own life and those people sometimes try to hold others accountable because of that perspective of neediness in their own life. They need to show us we're worthy and when they don't come through, for many of us it is additional indictment to our level of self-worth. They have once again proven how unlovable we are reinforcing our failures. That is obviously never a position from which you can create healthy accountability in relationships.

    Ask yourself some questions to clarify what is happening inside of you. Is this a significant incident in the overall treatment we receive in the relationship — is it the standard operating system of this person not respect me? Or is this an isolated incident? Or does this incident really have nothing to do with their respect for or honor of me? Is this about them meeting my needs in an appropriate way? Am I doing everything I can be doing to meet my own needs? How do I treat myself? Am I respecting my own boundaries? Am I saying what I mean and backing it with action?

    If I'm remiss in how I treat myself, it is more likely that others will mistreat me. We must practice self-care, love and respect. In self-care, we shift the control of ourselves from waiting or wanting someone else to fulfill us, to making sure we are honoring ourselves. We must begin with self-acceptance, which includes where we may judge ourselves harshly too. Often, those who have a huge inner-critic also are tend to judge others harshly.

    Self-care doesn't mean we do everything on our own. It just means that we're willing to do what we need to make sure we're taken care of and that includes having boundaries for how we want to be treated.

    It always comes back to us when we're talking about accountability. If we're serious about a relationship, we need to be clear on those boundaries and what it means to uphold them.

    And if we're not treated appropriately by others and we're treating ourselves with respect and love, then it is probably time to re-evaluate our expectations of that relationship. Settling when we really love ourselves is not an option. It's when we don't really love ourselves that we want to hold everything outside of us accountable for that lack.

    Speak up with love, look within our thoughts and feelings to get clear follow through with action to back up our words, thoughts and feelings.

    If you've done this and you're sure that the tough conversation you want to have is not driven by some of your own insecurities or internal deficiencies, then have the courage to have the difficult conversation.

    Having Crucial Conversations

    We recommend that you read the book, Crucial Conversation for more specific training on how to have healthy, tough conversations. Defining moments in life come from having crucial conversations (as these create significant shifts in attitude and behavior). This book focuses on techniques on how to hold such conversations in a positive space when surrounded by highly charged emotions. Their findings are based on 25 years of research with 20,000 people.

    Their model has essentially 7 steps:

    1) Start with the heart (i.e empathy and positive intent)

    2) Stay in dialogue

    3) Make it safe

    4) Don't get hooked by emotion (or hook them)

    5) Agree on a mutual purpose

    6) Separate facts from story

    7) Agree on a clear action plan

    Our success in life is dictated by the quality of relationships we can engender. Some people seem better at negotiating better quality outcomes (for all) than others do – they work with people rather than through people. They are able to hold deeper, more honest conversations that create a new level of bonding and are able to transform people, situations and relationships. By being prepared to hold these conversations (often early) they ensure clarity over responsibility, define expectations and hence maintain high levels of performance. When we let these conversations go by, we let standards slip and unwittingly give permission for unwanted behavior to continue.

    Crucial conversations lie all around us – all the time: from performance appraisals at work, up to discussing problems over sexual intimacy in marriage. The skills we need in the boardroom are the same skills we need in the bedroom.

    Instead of having these crucial conversations, people tend to fall into one of three behavior camps: Those who get emotionally drawn in and resort to threats/name calling; Those who silently fume; and those who speak openly, honestly and effectively. Upon analysis they found those in the third camp were more likely to stay together.

    Communities that embraced the issues and discussed things in open honest dialogue were 'healthier' than those who either tried to control or ignored them.

    Crucial conversations, by their very definition are important and can affect a person's life. There are three factors that tend to define a crucial conversation: 1) Opinions differ 2) The stakes are high and 3) Emotions are high.

    If handled properly they create breakthroughs. If handled badly they can lead to breakdowns. Whole relationships can hang on how these are dealt with. And the reality is many people do not deal with them well – or at all. They live in either a sub-optimal state or hope the situation will resolve itself.

    EPISODE RESOURCES:

    http://www.crucialconversations.com/sus and sign up for several free resources including a simple questionnaire to help better understand our own style when under stress.

    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    58 min
  • 11. How to Build a Better World | Reveal

    What if what you are doing in business right now is actually the most powerful platform you could possibly have to make this world a better place? Think about that! In what other world could you find a better opportunity to impact every element of society? Let me explain.

    I've spent the past thirty years straddling two very different worlds: the world of building businesses and the world of building churches. I have been involved in starting businesses that serve many people well. I have been involved in starting churches that serve many people well. My prevailing paradigm over the years was that the world of building a business to create happy customers and the world of building a church to create happy followers of Jesus were very separate and distinct.

    Of course, I tried to take my faith into the work world, and I tried to take some basic business savvy into the church world. In reality, though, it seemed quite normal for church and business to be very different spheres.

    As I entered the second half of my life and started focusing more on meaning, I began to experience an internal conflict. When I was in the business world, I felt that I should be focusing more on the church world to do things that "really counted" for my life mission and legacy. When I was in the church world, though, I had a similar gnawing angst–that I needed to do something in the business world that could effectively change society in ways the church world was not.

    A few years ago, I felt convicted to write a book on this subject. It was not because I had any ambition to be a published author. It simply felt like I needed the discipline of slowing down to ponder what, if any, connection there was supposed to be between these two worlds that could potentially make me and others more effective at building a better world. I needed to figure out at a deeper level what is the ideal system for building better world.

    You've Got to Wonder "Why"?

    On my journey to understand what, if any, intersection there was supposed to be between the business and church and non profit worlds, and what would be the ideal system to build a better society, I started by questioning a lot of my paradigms and assumptions.

    • Why is it that it seems more noble or spiritual to build a church than it does to build a business?
    • Why is it that more parents (especially religious parents) aren't telling their kids that the one of the best things they can do to build a better world is to build a highly effective business?
    • Why is it that the pursuit of profit is seen by many religious people as somehow being an "unholy" or second class pursuit compared to being a missionary or working in the ministry of a church?
    • Why is it that business leaders don't often add to their scoreboard of success the value they create for society just by doing business well and providing quality products, services, jobs and thereby helping to build healthy communities?
    • Why is it that churches don't celebrate the transformative effect that the business leaders in their church have on their city through the meaningful value they provide to society through their product, service, and/or culture?
    • Why is it that when pastors are celebrating the food, clothing, shelter or education their church provides to needy people in the community through charity, they don't at the same time celebrate the business leaders who also provide food, clothing, shelter and education to thousands of people in their community through the income they provide employees, taxes paid and the goods and services they produce?
    • Why is it that being Christian has often come to mean being religious people who isolate themselves from the evil influence of the world rather than being world-changing culture creators, as was the founder of Christianity?
    • Why is it that the church is not more effective at accomplishing its original mandate of actually transforming cities and nations?
    • Why is it that the church has become more known for what happens in the programs it holds on the weekend than for the influence it has on society throughout the week?
    • Why is it so rare for the effects of the church to show up in improving economies and providing for people's tangible needs?
    • Why is it that churches, businesses, and governments have not been able to agree on an ideal system for improving society so they could cooperate more effectively to build a better world?
    • Why doesn't everyone understand the role businesses have in building a better world and why isn't there a defined model for doing this?
    • Why is it that faith has been either largely ignored by successful business leaders or relegated to a religious notion that is perceived to have little bearing on success?
    What Are We Missing?

    As I though about these questions, I really started to wonder: what am I missing here? Could it be that the way I was defining the role and system of church in this world might fall short of the originally intended paradigm? Could it be that the way I was defining the role and system of business in this world might fall short of the ideal value proposition?

    What do you do with the fact that the leaders Jesus chose to start the original church were not religious people but where actually successful business people and strong leaders in the secular community? The four books of the Bible that Christians call "the Gospels" (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John) were all written by marketplace leaders, not religious leaders. Matthew had a tax collection business. Mark was the manager of a family business/trust. Luke had a medical practice, and John owned a commercial fishing company. The key women, highlighted in the Bible as influential in the early church, were business leaders. Dorcas was a clothes designer. One of the most famous women in the early church, Priscilla, was a partner in a commercial tentmaking business. Another influential woman in the early church, Lydia, owned a textile brokerage company. Men and women who built the early church were actually building businesses.

    The founder of the Christian faith was actually a successful business leader in his community. Jesus wasn't viewed as anything close to a religious leader for at least thirty of his thirty-three years on this earth. He was known as a regional business leader. He was known as a businessman who ran a profitable business by serving people well as he ran his family construction business.

    Jesus didn't go to religious seminaries, temples or synagogues to find the key leaders whom he intentionally chose to launch a world-changing movement. None of the twelve core leaders that Jesus chose were religious leaders, priests or rabbis. Not one of them. They were all leaders in the marketplace.

    As I began to ponder these basic facts of history, I had to wonder why for much of my life as a business leader, I'd had this nagging feeling that when I was doing business I was not really doing all I could be doing for God–that if I was really devoted to God and His church, I would just be a pastor or a missionary and forget all this business stuff. If I was really spiritual, I would just build the church and not worry so much about building businesses. At the same time I had to wonder why for much of my life as a church leader, I had this nagging feeling that when I was doing church stuff, I was not really having the depth of impact on building a better society and transforming the world for God that I could be having–that if I was sold out to seeing the church be as strategic and as well led as a highly successful business, that somehow it would transform cities and nations like it was supposed to. I have believed this som much that I even started a non-profit that trains and coaches pastors on how to lead churches more strategically and for 20 years now we've been coaching pastors to lead churches more effectively and have seen many churches become more effective at accomplishing their mission and vision.

    The Consistent Key to Success in Building Society

    More and more these days as I do business around the world, I see that building successful businesses is the most consistent system for building successful societies across all nations.

    Our family was recently in Ireland. In the period of one day, we toured ruins of a village from 1000 B.C. and a market from 1000 A.D. Then we walked through a modern, vibrant shopping area.

    Toward the end of the day I asked Sky, "From what you've seen today, what are the top two or three most common elements that build society in all cultures, in all times, in all places?" This led to a very interesting discussion. You want to know what our conclusion was? We concluded that all societies, at all times, are built on two fundamental things: family and business. And that's one of the reason why when we started this podcast a couple months later, we decided to focus this podcast primarily on systems for success in family and in business. I believe that when done well, family and business are the two most fundamental pillars of healthy societies.

    We have a lot of content in these podcasts on systems for success in families and we have some on systems for success in business. Many of the systems for success apply to both realms.

    Societies throughout all times and in all places have been built on families. As far back as we can go in history we know that people have lived in families. There is no time in history where this was not the case. There has been no society that has succeeded very long by trying to destroy the system of family . . . There have been and continue to be plenty of proposals at changing the family system. And despite many actual experiments over the centuries, actual results have proven that human societies work best when there are healthy family units.

    Yet families have always been economic units too. Throughout history, they engaged in doing business. What they could not hunt or farm for themselves, they traded for by offering something of value to others. They formed cottage industries and engaged in money-making activities.

    As I do business in many of countries these days, it has become glaringly clear to me that building better businesses is a vital key to building a better world. The heart of building our world is constructing businesses that make families, communities, societies, and nations flourish.

    Yet much of society believes that the church or non-profits are the key to building a better world. There is this huge perceived chasm between building businesses and building churches. For some reason, most people don't see any correlation between pursuing commerce and pursuing cultural change through non-profit ministries. There is this giant perceived gap between going after commerce and going after God.

    I am now starting to see that this perceived gap continually perpetuates a cultural paradigm that hold the church back from having ask much tangible power as it could have to make the world a better place. It also blinds business leaders into missing the real value in they bring to building a better world and accomplishing God's purposes on this earth.

    So, as I've been journaling my journey on this subject in recent years I started to crystallize new paradigms and processes that are giving me fresh insight and inspiration regarding how my life as a business leader impacts building a better world.

    God Loves Business!

    Another one of my initial core conclusions is that God actually loves business and God really loves business leaders! God doesn't hate money, and He doesn't hate people who make a ton of it by serving their fellow man well. In fact, I'm not sure there is anything that makes God smile more than seeing business leaders create so much value and serve people so well that those people are willing to give up this thing called money in exchange. At the risk of this statement being a bit of a spoiler, I will say that I am increasingly convinced that God might have even chosen business as His preferred method to manifest His presence and perpetuate His values in this world.

    What if what you are doing in business right now is actually the most powerful platform you could possibly have to make this world a better place? What if what you are doing right now as a business leader is really God's ideal strategy for doing His best work to transform society on this earth to be more like His original intention?

    I have spent my life being very involved in many wonderful churches and other non-profits which are valiantly attempting to meet the desperate needs of society. Churches are full of wonderful people, including wonderful business leaders, who believe that the people and programs of the church are the best way to solve the massive societal problems facing our world.

    Many churches certainly play a valuable role in attempting to address these problems. Churches mobilize tremendous talent and pour out significant resources to address these needs. Churches have invested two thousand years of hard efforts trying to meet these needs through what we have considered the directly sponsored ministries of the church. The results are mixed, though. In fact, the brutal reality is that churches are not making the progress that they want nor the progress the world needs in overcoming these global challenges of society..

    Dare I say that the church is not winning the war on poverty, illiteracy, hunger, etc.? For sure, the church can show that it is making some progress. The church can show many benefits it is providing that help meet the social needs of the world. But its contributions are small in comparison with the scope of what really needs to happen in this world. The reality is that there are very few churches or non-profits that make a truly significant dent in these global problems.

    Why is that? There are many reasons. Let me just address a couple of systemic reasons which cause obvious limitations: money and manpower. Most churches and non-profit agencies believe they could do more if they had more resources. If they just had more people and time committed to the cause, if they just had more money to pour into the mission, they believe they could make a bigger dent in the problems.

    This is no doubt true. But the practical reality is that most churches and non-profits operate on a small percentage of the income of their constituencies. Because of this there will never be enough resources to meet a large percentage of the world's needs. Even if everyone donated 10% of their income, there would never be enough money to meet 100% of the world's needs. There will simply never be enough donor money to deal with the realities of the societal challenges of the world on a large scale.

    So, one of the practical challenges the church has is a basic resource problem. There's an old gospel song that says, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Well If God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, then where are the cattle when it comes to meeting all the needs of the world? They don't all seem to be in the church. Where are the resources to meet the practical and tangible needs of our world?

    Only Business Can Create Resources

    Resources are created in business! In fact, all money is actually created by business. Business creates resources when it meets a need at a profit. Business receives revenue when it serves the needs of people in a way that makes them happy. Business earns profit when what it costs the business to serve the needs of others is less than the dollars that are received from the customer. That profit is what pays the business owner for the skill, risk, and time he or she invested to serve that need. That revenue produces incomes for employees and results in taxes that fund the building of society and in also results in personal charitable donations that fund the building of the direct ministries of the church and other non-profits.

    Some Christians and certain other religious groups actually see profit as evil, as if business only makes a profit by taking advantage of or doing harm to people. Yet they profit system is pretty simple. Profit is simply the difference between the price that is paid for a product or service and the cost to produce that product or service. It is profit that empowers the business to create more value to benefit the world. It is profit that allows a business to invest in meeting whatever need the business finds, and profit that allows it to meet that need in ever-increasing magnitude. It is profit that allows the business to increase the scope of the value it provides to more and more people. For example, if you can make a profit by serving ten people, then you have a pathway to make a profit by serving one hundred people, and then a thousand, and then a million. It becomes a self-perpetuating, ever-increasing vehicle to meet more needs in society.

    Not everyone sees or uses their business as a platform to make the world a better place. But my increasing conviction is that is not only the highest and best use of business, it is the use the system God designed to make the world rebuild the world with sustainable values, norms and outcomes.

    Historically, many pastors believe that the primary value business or business leaders bring to the church is that they will give more donations to the church if they make more money. But after two thousand years, that paradigm has not yet successfully fully resourced the direct ministries of the church or the direct outreach and social service programs of other non-profits. It has not yet enabled non-profit institutions to meet the ever-increasing societal needs of the world.

    Of course, business should continue providing resources to the valuable programs of churches and other non-profits. And business leaders like me should continue donating to those good causes. However, what I am proposing here is that business not only has the power to create resources for the mission of the church, it also has the power to build great value in the world just by doing business well.

    My closing challenge for you today is to first change your paradigm about the power you have in business to make this world a better place. And second, think of one or two things you might do differently if you really believed that what you do in business could have an impact way beyond just the doing of business. What could you do that would make life better for your coworkers, your customers, your clients, your suppliers or the people in your community that your business effects? What could you do that would in some way influence better values, better relationships, more joy, more fulfillment in the people whose lives that you touch in business every day? Go beyond just doing business. The time you spend in the business world is your system to build a better world.

    EPISODE RESOURCES:

    There are no additional resources on this subject right now. But watch for the book coming out soon!

    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    53 min
  • 10. How to Control Money so it Doesn't Control You | Round Table Discussion

    Money is not important enough to let it control our life! So why not learn how to control our money so we gain more control of our life? But money is like water. It's a valuable resource necessary for life that can easily slip through our fingers. The key is to not let it slip through our fingers without our permission.

    In this round table discussion, we share some of the things we have done to build money management paradigms and processes into the fabric of our individual and family finances. We reference The Gienger Good Stewardship plan that we developed to help debt proof our family and give our kids a solid financial foundation for their adult lives. Several times in this episode, we reference the following introduction to the plan which we used when we first presented these concepts in our family:

    The Gienger Good Steward Plan

    Gienger Family Mission Statement: To courageously lead generations of people to become devoted friends and sold out followers of Christ.

    Gienger Family Vision Statement: To be intimate Friends of God and effective Kingdom Builders.

    Gienger Good Steward Plan Purposes:

    1. To develop our kids into effective manager's of God's resources which He provides them so they can be generous on every occasion in ways that result in thankfulness to God.
    2. To teach our kids to be channels of God's material blessings to the world so that people will be lead to become devoted friends and sold out followers of Christ.
    3. To help our kids learn to give, save and spend money wisely and avoid consumer debt in order to give them a solid financial future.
    4. To gradually turn over to our kids the money required for their care and support as members of our family.
    5. To trust them to be good stewards of a portion of the Gienger family resources.
    6. To provide a foundation of personal financial management training that will serve them well the rest of their lives.
    Plan Guidelines Salary and Other Income

    While on the plan, kids will receive a monthly "salary" that will become theirs to manage. The amount of salary will be determined by the parents. Salaries will be subject to annual review by parents, or more often as deemed necessary. Salary will be reviewed and may be increased on the first day of each new school year at parent's discretion according to the kid's real needs and demonstrated ability to be an effective and wise financial manager. Note that additional money may be earned to supplement the base salary from income producing jobs…inside the home for specific pre-agreed extra tasks for extra money beyond normal "privileges" for being a part of this family.

    Giving and Saving Requirements

    Kids must give away at least 10 percent of the total salary and other income to things that directly build God's Kingdom. They must save or invest at least 10 percent of total salary and other income in a real bank or other parent-approved investment vehicle. The balance of the monthly salary will be used according to the kid's plan and in keeping with our family's values. Note that kids can give additional money and/or save up more in short term savings for future larger purchases from additional earnings or under spending.

    Financial Responsibility List

    Kids will have a list of items and activities the parents will no longer pay for while the kid is receiving a monthly salary. The list is subject to review and revision at any time by the parents. Additional items will be added to the list on the first day of each new school year related to the increase in salary.

    Home Privilege Responsibility List

    Kids will continue to have a list of tasks they will be responsible to do as a privilege because they are part of the community of this family. Citations with fines may be required if these tasks aren't done in the time or manner agreed.

    Spending Plan and Record

    Kids are asked to develop a plan for how much money they intend to spend in each category and keep a record of actual expenses by category. The next month salary will only be given after the record of all spending from the prior month is shown to parents.

    Once It's Gone, It's Gone

    Kids will not borrow money from anyone including parents, not even for five minutes. There will be no "advances" on ahead of pay day. It they run out of money before the next payday, that's their choice, but there will be no more income until the next pay day.

    Hands-Off

    Parents will not criticize or interfere with the kid's management decisions as long as the child follows these guidelines and demonstrates their ability to live and manage their salary according to the family's values.

    Graduation Date

    Kids will graduate from the Gienger Good Steward Plan within two months after they are no longer full time students or when they move away from home, at which time their salary will cease.

    EPISODE RESOURCES:
    • If you'd like to use the cash envelop spending system that we reference, it is helpful to have an envelop for each budget category. That envelop gets funded at the beginning of each month with the monthly amount of cash budgeted for that category. All cash spent for items in that budget category comes out of that envelop and you write a something on the front that describes what it was spent for. We just used standard legal size envelops, ran them through the desktop printer and then punched holes in them so they could be held vertically in a regular three ring binder. If you want to create your own cash spending envelops, here's a link to our word document which you can customize and print. Envelop Spending Record
    • At the end of each month you total up what you spent in each category as recorded on each envelop as you spent the money throughout the month. Then you write the total amount of spending for each category on a summary spreadsheet that shows your budgeted amount for each category and the actual amount that you actually spent that month in each category. At the beginning of each school year, we created a new list of expense items and monthly budget for those items that each child was responsible to pay for with their "salary" money. And we also listed which expenses that mom and dad would continue to pay for. Here's a link to the spreadsheet we used which you could customize for yourself. Spending Plans-Blank
    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    1 hr 12 min
  • 9. Pathways to Multi-Generational Legacy | Presentation

    What would it be worth to you and your family if you had a process that you knew could help you leave a harmonious world changing legacy for many generations? Your family legacy includes all that your family holds dear and wants to preserve in future generations.

    In this episode, you'll hear the content from a presentation that I have been doing recently at conferences for wealthy families. I share a strategy and case study illustrations from my own family as I've spend the last 16 years trying to figure out how to create my own multi-generational legacy.

    Sixteen years ago I met a man named Greg Gunn who asked me a question that rocked my world. He said, "Lonnie, why do you invest so much time developing and implementing clear mission, vision, values and strategy for your business but you don't take the same intentional approach to leading your family?"

    I honestly had never thought about it that way. I didn't even know where to begin leading my family that strategically. So what I am sharing with you in this episode is based on many years of coaching and trial and error practice in our own family. A I believe this is a strategy that can help anyone develop multi-generational harmony and world changing legacy.

    Great legacies are no accident. Mere hope is not a likely pathway to a legacy you'll be proud of. A great legacy requires a clear strategy and action.

    This process for creating family legacy results in a more harmonious family with greater sense of shared identity and purpose.

    Here's an overview of the two-stage process for creating multi-generational family legacy.

    The first stage is defining your family compass that will provide consistent direction to your family now and in future generations. Your family compass has three components:

    • Family values
    • Family mission
    • Family vision.

    The next stage is planning your strategy for implementation of your family compass using specific

    • Relational pathways
    • Structural pathways

    I'll be providing you with the principles that drive each of these components, a process you can use to do this in your family and some practical case study illustrations from our family.

    Check out the link in these show notes Resources for the PowerPoint presentation that has all the questions and processes you need to work through in order to begin to implement this in your family. I'd recommend that listen through the podcast once to get a good overview. Then, if you want to actually do something to impact your legacy, listen again following along in the PowerPoint presentation and pausing the podcast and answer the questions on your own or with family members. Yes, if you want this to actually make any difference in your life, you'll need to actually take action on it. :)

    RESOURCES:

    Download the PowerPoint presentation used during my recent presentation on this topic at the IMN Family Office Conference, check out Family Legacy Presentation-IMN Conference, 5-15-17

    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    50 min
  • 8. How to Develop Great Relationships | Round Table Discussion

    Relationships are the carrier of all success in life and in business. So why not plan and implement specific systems that will develop the relationships that are important to you? Why not be as intentional about the practices that develop healthy relationship as we are about the practices that develop healthy bodies or healthy businesses?

    Why do we focus on relational systems? Because relationships are the primary mechanism to carry your family and business legacy to multiple generations.

    Children don't rebel against authority, they rebel against lack of relationship. How is that teenagers will do everything their favorite coach or favorite teacher tells them to do? But they don't listen to their parents? Why is that? Because that relationship is important to them. How is that teenagers will live under authority of their friends or the gang and yet they will live in rebellion to their parents. Because the teens don't rebel against authority they rebel against lack of relationship. Those relationships with their coach or teacher or friends are often stronger and more important to them. Where family identity and relationship is strong, peer pressure is weaker.

    So how do we make sure we are continuing to build relationships within our family so we aren't driving them outside the family to get their identity and vision for life? We have found that you do that by implementing a consistent strategy of specific relationship systems.

    Following are some of the relational systems our family has practiced over the last 25 years which we mention in this round-table discussion:

    • Family goal setting retreats
    • Family compass review vacations
    • Family council meetings
    • Family nights
    • One-on-one dates
    • Family connection time
    • Monthly "Shield Meeting" with Spouse to review relationship values and standards (Kylon & Te)
    • Intentionally working together
    • The "Listening Game" (An intentional process to listen well)
    • Intentional variety to keep relationships vibrant
    ANNUAL GOAL SETTING RETREATS
    • We do this all together as a family at the Beginning of each new
    • Take 4 hours of solitude and silence where each family member journals on their successes in the last year and writes down goals for the new year
    • After everyone takes time alone to work on their individual goals, Then everyone comes together to share so we celebrate each other's successes and plan to support each other's goals

    If you'd like more information on this check out the Systems for Success Podcast Episode 2 where we do a round table discussion right after doing our annual goal setting retreat.

    FAMILY COMPASS REVIEW VACATIONS

    We do a fun annual vacation that the whole family enjoys in the middle of the year every summer. Our family loves backpacking in the mountains so that's usually what we do.

    During these annual vacations we Plan intentional time and specific activities to review our family mission, vision and values

    • We Celebrate successes that we see individually and as a family in living out our mission, vision and values.
    • We take time to discuss how to better live it out
    • And most importantly, we make creative memories related to our family vision, mission and values. We've done plays and skits about our family mission vision or values. We've built things that represent our mission or vision. We've made up songs and chants about them. One time we wrote our visions statement with 15-20 foot tall letters on beach that you could see for miles away.
    FAMILY COUNCIL MEETINGS

    This is the official guidance group of the family especially as our kids have all become adults and most are out of the home.

    • Comprised of family members who are actively engaged in guiding family activities in a way that is informed by and responsive to the family compass and goals.
    • Meets every two to three months in a formal meeting with clear agenda, leadership and minutes.
    • First generation families can start with this as its only regular family assembly.
    • As the family grows larger and to multiple generations, the family council may be an elected subset of the entire family assembly that includes all family members. In this case, compose the family council so that it looks like the family, with representation from all generations, both genders, in-laws, active and passive owners, etc.
      • In larger, multigenerational families, the family council is a representative group of the entire family for more efficient planning, creating policies, and strengthening business-family communication and bonds.

    Following are some good questions to ask during Family Council Meetings:

    • What is something you are really proud of that our family or a business or individual in our family has accomplished since our last meeting?
    • What have we done as a family or individually since our last meeting that demonstrates the living out of our family values, mission or vision?
    • What could we do to continue to improve our relationships or communication?
    • Does anyone have a problem they'd like help solving? What can we do? How can we help?
    • How are everyone's business and entrepreneurial pursuits going? How can we help, support, collaborate or synergize with each other more?
    • Do you have personal needs or challenges that any of us can support you with or at least pray for you about?
    • What do we have planned between now and our next meeting that might benefit from coordination or communication about family schedules or resources?

    Following are the responsibilities of our Family Council:

    • Celebrate family and individual successes.
    • Steward of family mission, vision values and constitution.
    • Oversee family Investment Committee and monitor performance of family investments.
    • Managing and drafting legal documents concerning the family estate planning.
    • Managing the family's philanthropic efforts.
    • Overseeing family property and asset management.
    • Resolving family conflicts if haven't been resolved informally.
    • Managing the strategic and tactical goals of the family enterprise.
    • Organizing activities that strengthen family bonds.
    • Formulating policies for family members working in family businesses.
    • Define the responsibilities of a family office.
    • Forum where family members can share personal objectives, concerns and ideas with reference to matters affecting family values, family unity and business success.
    • Strategic planning for family businesses, family non-profits/foundations and the family council.
    • Formulating policies including inclusion or exclusion of spouses in council or other family entities.
    FAMILY NIGHTS

    It's best if this is the same night every week and we all make it a high priority so nothing else gets in the way of this important night.

    • The primary purpose is to build relationship
    • Do something fun and interactive that builds relationship. Don't just watch movies or play video games
    • And sometimes take some time to share stories and/or discuss questions or concepts related to your family mission, vision or values
    ONE ON ONE DATES
    • First priority is weekly date with spouse (if you're married)
    • And have typically done a date with each child at least once a month
    • When you're having this valuable one on one time, Look for opportunities to celebrate ways they are living family mission, vision or values and look for opportunities to celebrate progress on their personal goals
    • Primary purpose of these dates is to build relationship. Have fun and make good memories.
    DAILY CONNECTION TIME

    Find a daily time to connect with your wife and kids who are living at home. It's amazing how easy it is to get so busy that we don't even share meals together. We've found it important to prioritize

    Finding at least 30-60 minutes a day to turn off all media and just communicate and build relationship

    • This could be during a meal, first thing in the morning or right before bed.
    • Take this opportunity to ask some meaningful questions like:
      • What did you learn today?
      • What was the high and low experience of your day?
      • What are you looking forward to tomorrow?

    You'll be amazed at what these simple relational systems do to build strong relationships in your family!

    RESOURCES:

    For more information on the concepts behind "The Listening Game" referenced in this podcast, check out Building Reflective Listening Skills.

    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    1 hr 7 min
  • 7. How to Accomplish Big Goals | Round Table Discussion

    Our latest learnings about how to accomplish big dreams and goals by setting a plan of action, and following it. In this family round table discussion, you'll learn what we've discovered about how reaching goals takes a systematic approach to planning & action.

    QUESTIONS DISCUSSED

    --Think of some big dream or goal you've had that felt so massive that you didn't know if it was possible, but you ended up finding a way to accomplish it? What was the dream or goal? Why did it seem overwhelming when you first set your sights on it? What did you end up doing to break it down into actionable steps and discipline yourself to make progress? What did you learn from that process?

    --What do you think keeps people from setting or effectively pursuing big, important goals?

    --What has helped you personally move past your hesitations to accomplish big goals?

    --What is the most effective system you've currently found to break down your big dreams or goals into action plans that help insure regular progress? What are some real-time learnings or best practices about how you are doing this now?

    A SIMPLE GOAL SETTING SYSTEM

    Chelann referenced the goal setting system that she uses that is described in her book. Following is an excerpt from Dear Millennial, If you want to order the entire book, you can find it on Amazon or Audible.

    GOALS TURN YOUR MISSION AND VALUES INTO REALITY

    The point of an audacious goal is to reach for something that appears to be bigger than life, and most definitely bigger than what seems realistic. That's why it's a goal—it seems just out of reach, and that is the exciting part. The challenge is that we get excited in the moment, and once that excitement wears off, we tend to become daunted by the dream. This leads to feeling like it's too big to accomplish.

    That's why action steps to your goals are going to be your best friend. They take a giant objective and break it down into small and realistic action steps. When we are goal setting we constantly apply the saying, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." Although, on a side note, I'm not sure who ever wanted to eat an elephant in the first place. But it works for the analogy.

    As I mentioned above, too many people stop at creating their mission and values. They may read over them a couple times here and there, but because they aren't taking action on them, they get discouraged and stop all together.

    A car without wheels is of no use to anyone. Your mission and values are your car (the foundation and engine to your dream) and your goals are your wheels. Goal setting is your map to success. And with a plan, your dream will seem more than realistic to accomplish. You'll feel fully equipped to chase it instead of stressed about the unknown.

    WHAT MY GOALS HAVE DONE FOR ME

    If a 15 year-old can create a compass for herself without having any idea of what she's doing, you can, too, no matter what your age. I'm going to help you break your dream down into actionable steps with your mission and values as a foundation.

    When it comes to my compass, I break life down into spheres. A sphere is each major component of your life. You can create your spheres in whatever fashion you would like. I have a sphere for myself spiritually, mentally and emotionally, financially, physically, and for me as a business woman, which contains sub-spheres each of my business endeavors below it.

    Underneath each sphere is a description of my overall object for that sphere that year. This helps me categorize different areas and roles in a more organized fashion.

    Here's an example of what one of your spheres could look like. This is a sub-sphere underneath the overarching sphere of business; it's essentially what I used to break down the giant objective of writing this book plus or minus a few details.

    Sphere: My first book

    Overall objective of that sphere: I will have my first book published the week of September 26, 2017. Through the book, resources, and processes that come from it, I am establishing authority as a young entrepreneur and inspiring and empowering the younger generation to live in extreme freedom and complete life balance through the platform of being an entrepreneur and Christ follower.

    Yearly Goals:

    - Book published by September 26, 2017. - Have 5 cold lead documents for exercises throughout book - Over 10,000 copies of book sold within a year of publishing - Have book reach Amazon best seller status in two categories - Get over 100 positive reviews on Amazon within first year - To be generating $$$ a month from book sales - Grow email list to 5,000 - Have a process/program people can purchase through book (convert readers into customers)

    Monthly Goals:

    - Finish writing rough draft of book - Hire an editor - Research how to create an audio book - Research how to create pdf book - Create two of the cold lead documents

    Weekly Goals:

    - Write three chapters for rough draft - Publish an ad for editors on Upwork - Ask 3 people who've created an audio book how they did it - Research pros and cons of pdf book vs print - Create one cold lead document

    After reading through that goal sphere, do you see how all of a sudden my giant goal of writing my first book before the age of 21 not only has a step-by-step plan but also feels realistic to make happen? This is one of my favorite topics to talk about because no matter how big the goal, there is always something you can do today to get a step closer to accomplishing it!

    As you can see, I started with my overall objective. This is basically a phrase that summarizes your overall goal in a sentence or two. I like this sentence to be formatted in the present tense, like it's already happening. That way, when you read it, it affirms your ability and desire to achieve it.

    SMART GOALS

    Next, make your yearly goals. Take your overall objective and break that down into bullet points of specific SMART goals that need to happen for that overall objective to be accomplished. It's very important that these goals are SMART goals.

    SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed. Meaning, I'm not just going to put "sell a lot of books" as one of my goals because, when do I reach that goal? When I sell a hundred books or when I sell 10,000 books? Instead, I put a specific and realistic number of books to sell by a set time. As a result, I know without a doubt exactly when I will reach that goal and can celebrate that victory. Your yearly goals are the big overarching goals that you need to have done in order to accomplish that big main objective.

    Next come your monthly goals. These goals are your yearly goals broken down into what you need to accomplish month by month. I usually go through each of my yearly goals, picking them apart and placing them into my monthly goals in a way that results in them being completed within a year's time.

    Now we get to the fun part—your weekly goals. Go through each of your monthly goals and break them down into your week. Break them down into specific action steps that need to be done each week.

    This part isn't on my compass because that would be one long document, but the next obvious step is breaking your weekly goals into daily goals. Every evening, I sit down and look at the weekly goals I need to accomplish in each sphere. From there, I write down what I need to accomplish for the next day. One of my most effective hacks for having a productive day is planning out the day the night before! Waking up with a plan is one of the best feelings. It leaves no room for wasted time or purpose.

    TIME BLOCKING

    If you're super list oriented like me, you'll take those daily goals and organize them into a time-blocked timeline for that day. Time-blocking is a simple system I use each day to insure that I stay on track with what I need to accomplish for that day. I'm sure you've heard the concept of a task expanding to the time you allot to it. Well, I've tested that out multiple times and it's true. If I allot one hour to finish a chapter in this book, it's going to take one hour. I time-block by starting from the end of my day moving backwards. If I want to be in bed by 10:00 p.m., then I'm going to start time blocking from that point backwards.

    Here's an example of what my time-block schedule could look like for any given day:

    10:00 p.m.- bedtime 9:30 p.m. – get ready for bed 9:00 p.m. – time-block tomorrow 8:30 p.m. – get home from family dinner 6:00 p.m. – family dinner 5:30 p.m. – get ready for dinner 4:45 p.m. – edit and finalize one Entrepreneur Before 25 Podcast episode 3:45 p.m. – respond to all messages (emails and texts) 1:45 p.m. – edit 3 chapters of rough draft of book 12:00 p.m. – workout 6:45 a.m. – work at NUYU Juice Bar 6:15 a.m. – get ready for the day 5:00 a.m. – morning routine

    You get the picture. Notice how I have set and given myself a realistic amount of time for each task. I like to add this buffer to make sure I set myself up for success. I know that it might not take me an hour to respond to all my messages, but I'm going to allot myself that much time anyways just in case I've fallen off schedule somewhere else in the day and need some catch-up time. Now, time-blocking might not be for you, but I would encourage you to at least give it a try. Time-blocking allows me to get everything done that I need to throughout the day, and with my personality, that level of organization takes my stress levels down from where they would normally be.

    Through this break-down process, we took a giant objective and broke it all the way down into what you need to accomplish today in order to make your big, audacious dream a reality. How exciting is that?

    Don't be overwhelmed by this process. It's a process that can take place in many different forms. You just need to find the one that works best for you. But no matter what, goal setting usually has this same type of foundation.

    If you have a dream that scares you, and you feel like is bigger than life itself, you can and you will accomplish it using this process.

    TAKE ACTION

    Now it's time for you to take action to create another system for your success. Download the systems for developing your personal mission. Then take some time answering the key questions that will help you begin to define your personal life mission. Go ahead. Take this foundational step to designing the life of your dreams...a life full of fulfillment and purpose!

    RESOURCES:

    To access the Tello app which was referenced in this podcast as a tool to help you organize your goals and tasks, go to https://trello.com/ or you can search for it on your mobile phone app store.

    For a template on creating the goal portion of your compass, go to this link: https://www.chelanngienger.com/compass-template

    THANK YOU!

    Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page. We'd also really appreciate any feedback or questions that might guide what we talk about in future episodes.

    Additionally, reviews for the podcast on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and we read each and every one of them.

    JOIN THE SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS COMMUNITY!
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on IOS or Apple Itunes.
    • Subscribe to the Systems for Success Podcast on Android or Windows OS.
    • Enter your email in one of the email opt-ins on this site for regular emails from Lonnie Gienger or the Gienger Family on additional Systems for Success.
    • Follow Systems for Success on Instagram @systemsforsuccess
    • Follow Lonnie Gienger on Instagram @lonniegienger
    1 hr 4 min

About Systems for Success

From the publisher's feed

This podcast is for people who have the courage to learn and to do what it takes to design the life of their dreams. Many people think success is something that just happens to you if you're lucky or…