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How Innovation Can Help Companies Be Successful During Difficult Times

How Innovation Can Help Companies Be Successful During Difficult Times

How Innovation Can Help Companies Be Successful During Difficult Times

Business Innovation Brief Best Article

Every company at one point in time will face difficult circumstances. It can become difficult to serve customers and stay ahead of the competition.

While it may seem to be an impossible task to make it through difficult times, there is still one aspect that can drive companies through them. Innovation.

A company that embraces innovation can successfully overcome crisis and substantially increase its overall stability and profits.

Innovation in Times of Crisis

Innovation helps a company solve new problems that arise during difficult times with out-of-the-box solutions. It allows them to explore new and exciting business opportunities and avenues, both in the midst of a crisis and beyond.

Some innovations may be simple and easy to execute while others can be complex and require significant efforts from leaders.

It is understandable that during difficult times, the conventional method of conducting business lags behind.

“With unique thinking, a company can come up with new ways to bring in revenues.”

These innovative profit-generating methods can help them achieve their goals despite restrictions and limited demand.

To ensure the fulfillment of your business goals, you should allow your business to have greater flexibility and adaptability so that you can think beyond conventional methods and take calculated risks to help you thrive in the market.

Innovation Boost

Innovation can significantly boost your business in several ways:

It helps your business stand out from the crowd: Following conventional and established methods of growth will only take you as far along as everybody else. To create a niche in the market, you need to take additional efforts and go beyond the typical ways of operating. Creative innovation will help stay ahead of the competition in difficult times and attract new customers.

It allows you to optimize the delivery of vital goods and services: You may be following a set pattern of delivering goods and products to your customers. However, difficult times provide you an opportunity to look for alternative methods of operating with efficiency. You can come up with unique ways in such times and make effective changes in your supply chain to optimize logistics and ensure maximum satisfaction of customers.

It helps you sustain your employees: In difficult times, most companies let go of their valuable employees to save on costs. However, with innovative techniques, you can introduce new streams of income for your employees and keep them on the payroll. You can increase your income source and better utilize existing resources to optimize such methods.

It helps you prepare for the future: Although you may be facing a difficult time at the moment due to Covid-19, remember that it is not going to last forever. Most leaders pay attention to short term problems and forget about the future. 

“Innovation during difficult times will guarantee the success of your business when the crisis ends, and things start getting back to normal.”

Ways to Innovate During a Crisis

It is crucial to innovate and have the courage to execute on new methods of doing things at the right time. You can use some of these innovation strategies in difficult times to succeed and thrive:

Use online platforms to attract potential customers: With the advent of digital advertising and promotion, it has opened up a wide array of opportunities to attract customers within a reasonable budget through targeted campaigns. You can identify the right platforms to invest in that will earn you the best ROI and attract maximum potential leads.

Create a culture that encourages innovation: As a leader, you need to encourage your team to innovate and take risks. Spend time with your team, mentor them to increase their ability for creative problem-solving. It will help you to earn their trust and will also enable you to navigate the company through times of crisis.

Get in touch with experts: Connect with industry experts that can provide you with innovative solutions for your team and their way of working. With the help of specialists, you can overcome many specific obstacles and come up with problem-solving methods that may even surprise you.

Think about the future: While coming up with innovative solutions and executing them, you need to think beyond the difficult times as well. Stay focused on the future and take steps that will prove to be advantageous to your business in the future.

“Enabling an innovation culture can help you drive your business on the path to success for many years to come.”

Investing in innovation will not only help you overcome the difficult times, but also ensure that you stay ahead of the competition when things get back to normal. 

The goal is to stay proactive, even when the crises tries to force you into a reactive way of running the business.

See crisis as a wakeup call to innovate towards the future, not just an alarm for short term solutions.

Business Innovation Brief

Can Entrepreneurship Lead To Self-Realization?

Can Entrepreneurship Lead To Self-Realization?

Can Entrepreneurship Lead To Self-Realization?

Business Innovation Brief Best Article

Self-realization is a term historically associated with having a family or traveling the world, but it truly means empowering yourself to bring about real change in people’s lives.

As an entrepreneur you get the opportunity to create something of value for the world. You also create opportunities for people to grow as leaders. By enabling leaders, you create impact on people’s lives by challenging them to transform into better individuals.

A leader has the potential to help solve real-time problems and evolve through opportunities and challenges. You can inculcate values and instill passion in people and drive them towards common goals.

As an entrepreneur you have a chance to learn, grow, and empower yourself to bring about positive change in the lives of the people around you.

The first few steps on the path to self-realization are acknowledging the role you are in, your responsibilities, and how you can grow in that environment while motivating those who look to you for leadership.

Identify Your Strength

A leader can often feel alone at the top of the workforce pyramid. This is why it’s important to gain the support of everyone on the team and treat everyone as partners in everything that is contributing to the growth of the organization.

Support can be both a responsibility and a liability. If a leader isn’t aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, then the support from their team can be overwhelming. So, you should first identify your key strengths and focus on the areas that need improvement.

“An empowered leader can drive themselves and their team beyond impossible tasks.”

My season three finale guest of the Rant & Grow podcast, Carey Ransom, an entrepreneur himself, believes that as an entrepreneur, you will get every chance to build your team, lead them, and succeed with them.

Entrepreneurship is a journey that instills confidence, creates happiness with the success of everyone on the team, and leads to self-realization where one can achieve truly what they are capable of.

Face Your Fears

Do you think you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? First you have to be willing to face your fears, and the biggest fear of every entrepreneur is failure.

If you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur, then the thought of failing on the expectations of everyone, your goals, and your financial security must not be something that bothers you.

According to Carey, you must acknowledge the fears and accept that you may have to face some failures along the way.

“Fear of failure should not stop you from pursuing your aspirations and goals.”

When you fall off track, pick yourself up again. When you suffer losses, start building up again.

You have to push yourself at each step. This mindset it will attract other like-minded people to join you on the journey.

When you face difficult situations, you get an opportunity to fight back and survive through them. You also get to inspire your team.

“A journey with both failures and success along the way will bring you closer to the goal of self-realization.”

Surround Yourself with the Right People

The people on your core team will validate your ideas and contribute to your success.

Most people usually pretend to be supportive and hesitate from criticizing your ideas. The right ones will question you, challenge you, understand you, and will stand by you.

You should be conscious of who you surround yourself with. They will play a crucial role in your journey towards self-realization.

Not only do they provide emotional support in crucial times but they will also help you stay focused on the path.

A great team is about loyalty and it’s through their trust that you can achieve your goals and reciprocate positivity in their lives.

Commit To Your Journey

Your idea will face lots of obstacles along the way, especially in the beginning. Carey believes firmly that it’s your commitment that is critical. It will drive you to accomplish your goals.

“When you stay committed to your goals, you will have to delve into much deeper aspects of your being to keep going. That’s what will bring you closest to self-realization.”

You will find yourself becoming who you are and connecting with those around you. This is the process of entrepreneurship you should strive for.

If you develop this mindset, not only you will be a successful entrepreneur, but you will also achieve the truest version of yourself.

If you are scared to jump out of your comfort zone, then you cannot bear the responsibility of becoming an entrepreneur.

You start with a pinch of self-awareness and the more you explore yourself by facing challenges every day, the more you grow.

Whether you are starting a new company, launching a blog, writing a book, starting a podcast, or building a new product within an existing company, entrepreneurship is a journey where you will evolve, and it will help you to be who you are really meant to be.

“Self-realization is not a destination, it’s the journey of becoming.”

Check out the Rant & Grow podcast episode with Carey. Maybe you’ll discover some wisdom if you are trying to be an entrepreneur. You can listen to the podcast right here.

Business Innovation Brief

How to Move on to What’s Next After Hitting Rock Bottom

How to Move on to What’s Next After Hitting Rock Bottom

How to Move on to What’s Next After Hitting Rock Bottom

Business Innovation Brief Best Article

We have all been in a place at some point in our lives where we felt as if we hit rock bottom.

Still, we survived.

Despite thinking it wasn’t possible at the time, we still made it through.

This year has been full of unexpected turns, and it has pushed a lot of us into a dark place. Some had to face personal losses while many got into financial troubles.

As a politically divided nation it feels as if we are collectively in a new rock bottom and we may not be getting out of it.

Whatever the circumstances don’t lose hope. History shows we humans always find a way back, even stronger than before.

Acknowledge

The first step to finding your way back is to acknowledge the situation. Know fully well where you are and how much trouble you are in.

If you are pretending that things are still good and not seeing things the way they are, then you risk fooling yourself.

You can’t run away from problems by acting out or make them go away simply with temporary fixes like abusing alcohol, drugs, or other addictive behaviors.

“The first step to overcoming rock bottom is to become well aware of your situation and prepare yourself to face it.”

Everyone might have a different rock bottom. You cannot compare your problems with people around you.

We have all had a unique journey growing up, and we have had our own unique challenges, but we also have the capacity to face them.

You might feel that things are not working your way. Do not give up. Acknowledge and see things exactly the way they are.

“Always be willing to face the truth for what it is instead of what it could be.”

Accept

Once you acknowledge the situation you are in, you need to accept it. Acceptance does not mean you have to be ok with it and give in.

If you realize that you are stuck, and accept that you are stuck, you can start working on a way to get yourself out of it.

Take full responsibility for your life outcomes and seek help if you need it. There is no point in getting your ego involved in such a situation by facing challenges alone.

You may have pulled yourself out of difficult situations in the past. But, if you have rightly acknowledged and accepted that you have hit rock bottom, then you need to change your approach.

Look for support from people you trust.

“If you want to climb out of a pit and grow at the same time, you have to get the support you need from those who have already paved the way.”

Grow Through Pain

Ryan Haddon, a Life coach, Hypnotherapist, Spiritual Mentor, and Meditation Teacher, believes that when we hit rock bottom, the accompanying pain gives us an opportunity to strengthen ourselves.

While most people prefer to run away from pain, or wallow in the pain, you can choose to get through it.

“If you are going through hell, why would you stop there? The door to your freedom is just a few more steps into the fire”

If you are in a difficult place, try to figure out how you ended up there. If you know, you won’t have to be in the same place the next time. Avoid your past mistakes by practicing self-awareness.

According to Ryan, who was a guest on my season three podcast Rant & Grow, pain is a chance to learn to see where you went wrong and how you can grow out of it.

Once you acknowledge, accept, and take responsibility, you get the chance at a better life.

“Don’t stress over problems. You have them because you’ve been chosen to overcome them and pave the way for the rest of us.”

Connect to Your Inner Self

It is possible that external circumstances pushed you into difficult situations, with no fault of your own.

At such times, you can tap into your spiritual self, and try to see the bigger picture as to what your role needs to be moving forward.

Acknowledge the Universe for throwing a problem at you, and then connect with your spiritual self. This practice will help you let go of the loss, grief, and disappointment attached to the problem.

Ups and downs are a part of life. Your problems mean you have been chosen to face them because a higher power believes you can overcome them.

Anchor your thoughts to your inner self. Ryan suggests that we should try to explore our inner selves. 

Recognize your strengths, and work on your weaknesses.

“Derive power from within and have faith that you can pull yourself out of every situation”.

You may be one of those people who finds it hard to believe in an external spiritual entity, but you can trust your own internal spiritual energy.

If you know your true self, you can coach yourself out of every problem that the Universe throws at you.

Prepare for challenges by spending time with yourself. Seek support when you need it, meditate, pray, and connect with your own spiritual energy.

This practice will empower your to be able to adopt a “what’s next’ attitude about life. Afterall, nothing is permanent, and the more we tackle life with an attitude of what’s next? the more powerful we become.

Check out the Rant & Grow podcast episode with Ryan. Maybe you’ll discover some wisdom for your own life. You can listen to the podcast right here.

Business Innovation Brief

Managing Change During Times of Uncertainty

Managing Change During Times of Uncertainty

Managing Change During Times of Uncertainty

Business Innovation Brief Best Article

Unplanned circumstances this year have drastically altered our personal and professional life. The changes that we have gone through so far in 2020 have left us overwhelmed. Some of us have lost loved ones while others have lost their livelihood.

We are perpetually living in fear of the unknown. There is hardly anyone who hasn’t been affected by changes and uncertainty this year.

Change is Disruptive

Whether it is the change that we choose to make in our lives, or it is the change that is being forced upon us by sudden turn of events, change is always disruptive.

Change leads to a ripple effect on people. The impact of any change is usually more than we anticipate, and it affects all of us.

To navigate through the uncertainty of change, the first step is identifying the roadblock in accepting change. We need to deal with the obstacle that is stopping us from realizing why change is necessary in the first place.

We all process change differently. While going through change, we go through cycles of transition similar to those of mourning.

First, we act in denial against things that are happening. Then, we move to the confusion and anger of what’s going on. Eventually, we accept how things are different and not in our control. We don’t go through these cycles all at once.

It is essential to understand where you and the people associated with you are in the change acceptance curve, in order to properly manage the relevant uncertainties.

“To help each other with change, we need to understand our readiness to move forward.”

Change is Progress

About 70% of progress activities fizzle since people and organizations don’t participate fully, mostly because they don’t have access to proper management practices.

“The ideal destinations must be completely acknowledged for change to be effective.”

Researchers have set up a few models for effectively exploring through change. From moderately casual to exceptionally organized structures, probably the best techniques and approaches incorporate Lewin’s Change Model, Kotter’s Change Management Theory, and the ADKAR Model.

Despite the model chosen, arranged change may be executed in an assortment of ways, contingent upon the establishment’s necessities, objectives, and culture.

“The key to managing change is how we as individuals prepare for it, and respond to it.”

The present climate is driving change at a remarkable rate. 

The movement of progress is quickening, expecting associations to think about advances in new ways of doing things.

Removing Uncertainty

We are confronting a new normal where the old principles don’t have any significant bearing. We know that what worked back in the day, isn’t’ going to work in the future, but we don’t know for sure what the future holds either.

“Uncertainty breeds vulnerability for the future of organizations and people.”

Managing vulnerability typically includes surveying operational and money related dangers — to give some examples.

These examinations help diminish vulnerability.

Yet, who in this day and age, can sensibly profess to have the option to gauge the dangers of a market downturn emergency due to a novel pandemic lock down?

Who can also gauge business operational dangers connected to a novel pandemic that requires people keep distant from each other?

“Vulnerability produces uneasiness and nervousness which breeds resistance.”

The higher the degree of vulnerability, the more probable resistance will hinder any sort of groundbreaking progress.

According to Rita Gurgett Martell, a recent guest on my Rant & Grow podcast, who is the author of two books: Change Ready! and Defining Moments, following a process of the five Cs will help individuals and organizations make better choices

The Five Cs to Managing Uncertainty

1) Clarity — The clearer people are about things the less resistance. People don’t like living in the question mark. Not knowing what will happen creates fear and resistance.

2) Communication — As you gain clarity about reality you gain choices. You start to think about what you can do to be solution focused. Shifting away from feeling like a victim. Openly communicating these findings helps remove uncertainty.

3) Choice — We choose the level of disruption we want to bring into our lives, and or organizations. Thus, we become the controller of our lives. We must keep our internal world as calm as possible. Remove emotional responses to what’s happening in the present or may happen, and be pragmatic.

4) Courage — Courage is acting up in spite of fear. It is about taking the first step while you are shaking in your boots. It is about doing that thing that is a little scary and uncomfortable but not completely terrifying. So, when we act in this manner we move into a position of control. Control removes uncertainty.

5) Confidence — When we place confidence in ourselves, we act. This gives us the opportunity to grow through experience. Sometimes we grow beyond our friends and family. In such a situation, we often face criticism from them because we no longer hold the persona that they like. 

“Those who truly love us are going to support us no matter how much we change or what we do in our lives.”

Look at change from a place of understanding what you can realistically take on and accept reality for what it is. Let go of what your aspirational truth of what you would like things to be. Be pragmatic. Accept reality.

Rita talks about how we can reduce uncertainty by controlling the controllable.

“Managing uncertainty is about reacting to what is happening instead of what could be happening.”

Usually, we go through change as we go through loss. First with denial and eventually with acceptance and moving on. It doesn’t have to be this way.

When we go through change in this manner, it shows we are stuck in the past. Though we must be grateful for our past we must remember that change does create new opportunities.

“Change gives us a second chance to do things that we always wanted to do.”

Managing change is more about controlling the controllable and investing our energy in it. It also leaves us with more energy to handle the unexpected.

When we don’t follow letting go, we find ourselves in this miserable middle where we don’t have what we have, and we no longer know what will replace it. At such times we must pay attention to our feelings as they would guide us to our redefined future.

Shared Vision for the Future

People see changes differently. Some embrace them as new opportunities and possibilities while for others, it is a struggle.

Therefore, change may impact a relationship in a negative way if both partners don’t share a common future.

For people in a relationship, it becomes imperative to understand the ripple effect of changes and find common ground to move into the future together.

Seek Adaptation Not Permanence

The human species seeks permanence, but it is adaptation that we must seek.

It is the willingness to accept change, to let go of the past, and to move forward with what we have in front of us that frees us from the pain of holding onto something that may never return.

Think of a nice wood log in a fire, it’s pretty to watch and produces warmth, but eventually it turns to ashes.

We often go through life wanting to put the ashes back together into the nice pretty warm wood log, but the log is gone. Managing through change is about looking for the new wood log and rekindling a new fire full of new wonder and new warmth.

“The more we accept change for what it is, the more certainty we will develop towards a brighter future.”

Check out the Rant & Grow podcast episode with Rita. Maybe you’ll discover some wisdom for your own life. You can listen to the podcast right here.

Business Innovation Brief

How to Become a Manifesting Machine

How to Become a Manifesting Machine

How to Become a Manifesting Machine

Business Innovation Brief Best Article

Have you recently lost a job or suffered personal loss? Learning to become a manifesting machine might be just what you need right now.

People talk about manifestation a lot. Manifesting your dream life, job, relationship, and every other thing. Often many people think all you have to do is dream it, desire it, and magically things will just manifest in your life.

However, the real power of manifestation is within you, and you can realize and achieve anything you take the right actions towards.

“The secret to manifestation is learning to grow as a person from inside-out rather than outside-in.”

Five Steps Towards Manifestation

My recent Rant & Grow podcast guest Valerie Gangas, is a prominent speaker, author, and life coach. Valerie spoke of a five-step process to actualize manifestation.

Step 1: Have Clarity in Your Want

Whatever you wish to achieve in life, you should have a clear vision of what it is, how you want to achieve it, and how badly you want to have it.

You simply cannot become or manifest something you are not sure of. Once you know exactly what you wish to achieve, you can then move ahead to the next step.

“Your clarity of thought will drive your will and desire to achieve whatever you want.”

Step 2: Write It Down

You must write it down in clear words and with details. You are not writing what you want just for the sake of it. If you want a car, then be specific about the make, color, and also how you will feel once you own it.

This is the push you need towards manifestation. Pour down your clear thoughts on paper. Write exactly what you want to manifest, and also write down the feelings you will experience after you achieve it.

“Connecting to the feeling you will experience achieving your goals is a critical step towards manifestation.”

Step 3: Visualize

Whatever you see on paper, try to imagine having it, dream about it when you go to sleep, and when you wake up. Pour yourself fully into your desired results. 

You are activating your subconscious mind with these thoughts. Tapping into the reservoir of this energy will put every inch of you into action.

“When your subconscious is activated, you begin to act accordingly in order to achieve your desired outcomes.”

Step 4: Have It

In step four you transform your thoughts from wanting something to having it.

When you channelize your energy towards your desire, you are forcing your consciousness into believing that you already have it.

You are not tricking your mind into believing something that isn’t there.

You are convincing your inner self to visualize that you are close to your true desire and by believing that you already have it, you are leaping into the faith where you trust yourself to actually own it.

“You’ll see it, when you believe it.”

Step 5: Take Massive Actions

The final step towards manifestation is to plan, prepare, and execute. Do your research, know the path you have to take, and then take effective actions.

If your mind is fully wrapped around the thing you want to achieve, then your efforts will complete the process of this manifestation.

Take charge and drive yourself towards your goal.

“Your mind already knows you deserve to have what you desire, so reach out and get it.”

The Hardest Step and How to Get Past It

The first step is the hardest. You may think initially that it’s easier to want something, than to go into action about it.

However, when you delve deeper and try to measure it from every angle, your desire to achieve could crumble at the thought of all the hard work needed.

Sometimes your desires change as well. That is why it is important to spend time and think about what you truly wish to achieve.

Only when you have that level of clarity and conviction, you can move on to the next step.

To understand what you truly want, Valerie says that you must trust your intuition.

Intuitions are not easy to understand. Mostly, we believe and trust what we have been told — either by our parents, friends, or society.

“Your inner self knows what you truly desire.”

Once you let go of distractions and connect with your inner self, you can hear your intuitions clearly.

The desires or wants that fade away are usually the ones that are connected to the outer world.

You may be trying to prove something or trying to live up to the expectations of your friends or family, but that isn’t something that you really want.

Let go of the fear of judgment from others — do yoga or meditate to calm your mind — and connect with your inner-self.

Distractions and chaos will turn you away from the path. Seek silence and create a comfortable space for your body and mind. See the truth for yourself and follow it to the end.

“Empower your thoughts to influence the Universe to your advantage.”

The Universe manifests what you truly believe in and guides you through the entire process.

What you feed your mind is energy, and the world around you gets impacted by that energy.

That energy then gets converted from a potential state, into massive actions that generate the outcomes that fulfill your true desires.

So, identify your true desire, believe in your abilities to visualize and act, see the manifestation of your desire in the Universe as if it’s already yours, and then take massive actions with confident to make your vision a reality.

Check out the Rant & Grow podcast episode with Valerie. Maybe you’ll discover some wisdom for your own life. You can listen to the podcast right here.

Business Innovation Brief

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