Project: Your Greatest Competition

Don’t let the competition dictate whether or not you will do something; unless that is to dictate that you will work harder to be better.

Suppose your alleged rivals are wearing black, do not be intimidated to wear black for fear there will be naysayers and other spectators that question why you are the runner up.

Be confident in what you do and even if someone is reaching for the same result, do the same thing, just do it differently. Do it your way. No matter whom you compare yourself to, The biggest threat to your ideas is yourself. Think big thoughts and be bold enough to share them. 

Three tips to feel confident against your biggest competition (that’s you):

Be Knowledgeable: Doesn’t it feel good to begin a conversation where you know what you are talking about? Don’t just pursue what you like in life; pursue what you love you will have the power to retain the knowledge and hold a passionate conversation.

Be Open to Knowledge: There is always something new to learn and always someone who can teach you something new. Confidence isn’t knowing it all, it’s knowing who you are in what you do. And if you want to improve what you do, you’re going to have to understand that that what you do might change.

Be Bold: You’re going to make mistakes, misunderstand and have miscommunications no matter how much your knowledgeable about something.  Keep growing your idea and sharing it boldly. A baby doesn’t stop walking no matter how many times it falls down. It looks for his or her destination point and runs for it until it grows into the proficient toddler walker. Learn to be like that baby. Don’t let shaky legs or a shaky voice shake you up. Set your eyes and heart upon your destination and don’t give up.

And if you’re lucky, just like a baby has loving people cheering him or her on, make sure you have your cheer squad. And make sure, as your greatest competition, you’re part of that squad! Because we definitely are!

-The Green Couch Project

Project: Talk To The Hand

The ‘90s. 

Is the fashion worth recycling? No. Do we have a Pandora station dedicated to ‘90s Hip hop? Yes. Do we revert ‘90s vernacular? Duh.

A most memorable catchphrase the youth used (and overused) when encountering topics, conversations, peoples or obstacles they did not want to face the circumstances:

Talk to the hand!!!

However, it gets better - because this colloquialism was not just uttered. The hand was lifted, and the head was dramatically turned away, “Talk to the hand…because the face just can’t understand.”

While this catchphrase may have died and become obsolete and extinct one thing has held on steadfast.

So that is the body language. It may not be so overt. It may not be so dramatic. But it gets the best of us when we clock in and we work alongside co-workers who far too often we see as the opposing force. Co-workers are team members but when every encounter provokes topics and conversations that seem like insurmountable obstacles our body language soon assumes a talk to the hand pose.

We become stiff. We avoid meeting their eyes; we roll our eyes. We avoid them in the halls. We give them our back.

Perhaps you’ve been on the receiving end. Perhaps you’ve been the generous benefactor.

What causes this alienation?

It stems from unsolicited advice. We all know the type: The person who is too eager to offer advice.

Here are a few quick questions to ask yourself when you think you have something wise and witty to say. This guideline that will help you know when people are more likely to be receptive to information. It might take you awhile to redeem yourself, but it is time for your team to pull together. Here’s a good place to start:

• Is there a problem or is it just an opportunity for you to express your opinion?

• Will it inspire your people?

• Will it enhance the work culture?

• Will it build your team’s relationship?

• Will it open the doors for creative collaboration?

• Will it encourage your team’s strengths?

• Will it be a wise use of your time?

• Will it utilize the tools your company provides?

• Will it benefit your community?

• Will it give an opportunity for a teammate to play devil’s advocate?

• Will it be okay if it fails?

• Will it encourage people to step up to be leaders?

Are you ready to lead your team to a new formula of FAQ's?

If you have any questions for us, we are always eager to encourage and inspire!

-The Green Couch

Project: Unfabricated: The Live Event

One Couch. 16 stories. 19 people. Hundreds of followers, friends and lives touched.

However, it started with one story, one that two weeks from today will be told.

Dreamers, doers and thinkers – this is a heart-to-heart talk you do not want to miss. It is an exploratory look into the mindset of an entrepreneur’s process from failure to success.

• How do you take an idea and turn it into a business?

• How do you take a business and turn it into a brand?

• How do you take a brand and turn it into an inspiration?

• How do you inspire people when you feel uninspired? 

Laura Wallace would be the first to tell you that she is just like anyone else. That she has no special powers. That she has her ups and downs and downs and downs. That she catches colds and sometimes does not feel like getting out of bed. So that is why this is the heart-to-heart that matters most. Because it is real. Real people. Real conversation.

She cares about your life and your story and your passions and your purpose.

That even though she had no idea purchasing The Green Couch would play such a difference in her outlook in life, she cannot look at it any other way – she must help others speak, follow and fulfill their dreams. And this time she is doing it LIVE!

She is ready to spill her gutsy. Are your ears ready to catch it? Are you ready to accept the challenge to change the direction and go with your gutsy and follow your dreams? What is your couch telling you?

Come one, come all – January 27th is calling you!

-The Green Couch

Reserve Your Unfabricated Seat Here: Eventbrite

Project: It Takes Gutsy To Be A Good Leader, Part I

Whenever we pose the question to children what they want to be when they grow up we expect the average answer – firefighters, nurses, police officers; all good things. Sometimes we even hear a child responding they want to be an inventor – okay it is indirect mainly due to some kid’s fantasy of owning their own empire of a hybrid Willy Wonka meets Disney World. For all that I’ve been around children (and there have been a lot of sticky, stinky children, yet lovable every one of them; almost) I have never heard a child say, “When I grow up I want to be an entrepreneur.”

The things they do express, nevertheless, illustrate that they want to change the world, and that is a good place to start. The only thing is that the games we grow up playing are misleading. (Yes, another business-oriented blog focused around a game. Why? Because our roots and dreams begin at childhood, and if we can learn from our roots, our fruits will be that much more bountiful.)

To which games do I refer? How about Simon Says and Follow the Leader.

Simon Says implies that we as world-changers, entrepreneurs and leaders can tell our employees when, how, where, why and what to do – no questions asked. Monkey face? Sure, no problem. Jumping up and down too? My pleasure? Oh, I did not follow the exact rules and now I am disqualified? Okay. My pleasure, as well.

Follow The Leader is a game that has given us a misconception of what a leader is. Yes, we follow them, but that does not mean they are always physically in front us. It does not mean that a leader gets to order us like a drill sergeant, and we must mimic their every move. 

So if you thought owning your own business meant that life would be a glorified version of these games; sorry, game over. If you thought you would be in charge of people and it was a means to bossing them around…Well, it means you are responsible for their wellbeing. Are they achieving their personal and work goals? How do you ensure this is happening?

•    Do Not Be The Employee’s Pet

No one likes the teacher’s pet. Also, no one likes the employee’s pet. Singling out an employee beyond the employee of the month is more detrimental than it sounds. You cannot win everyone, and while you win more flies with sugar than with vinegar, you also create a sticky situation if your words are too sugary sweet. False reinforcement is similar if not the same as negative feedback.

Here is how the scenario ends: you have an employee that has false illusions as to what they can and cannot do. Animosity grows within your corporation and lessens the impact your company has internally and externally.

Honest and helpful guidance in a constructive manner tailored to all employees – as best as possible towards their personalities, at least within their divisions – is the best way to create a more united and established front. Take the time to understand them and help them understand one another.

•    Do Not Micromanage

Trust your employees. You gave them guidance. You gave the tools and resources. If you’ve done your part in training them, then you should be able to manage them and allow them to make their own mistakes. That is the only way they can learn. There are two types of typos. One of which is inherit – the one we as responsible adults and employers and employees try to avoid and fix as soon as we recognize in our work. While it should not be a common occurrence or an acceptable common occurrence, it happens.

The other is the kind when we are typing a proposal up, and our manager is leaning over our shoulder for the entire process, and every other letter becomes a stuttering process; a typo. Both wastes valuable time and will devalue the time and talent of the employee/employer relationship and roles.

•    Do Not Be The Water Cooler Topic

Do not complain, do not show up late, do not take sick, personal and vacation days just because you can. Do not attend the Christmas Party already drunk. You undermine your authority and lose your respect and become a boss, not a leader.

We all need someone to follow, not someone to boss us around. We can find individuals like those around everywhere. Just take a peek around the corner, in our own homes, I can even flip on a Fitness Channel and have a health guru yell at me, bossing me into a fit body.

However, we need leaders. We need people that encourage us to change the world. So we can stop playing Simon Says and begin living Simon Inspires.

So what should you do, then, to be a better leader? Do return next week to find out; that is step one.

-The Green Couch