109: The 5 Ps to Deliver an Unexpected Message to Your Leader

Otros episodios de "The Ops Authority"

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  119: How Personality Assessments Can Help You Grow Your Business & Navigate Your Career

  20/10/2021

  29:55

  Have you ever taken a personality assessment? If so, how have you integrated the results into your business model or your career path? Today we are talking all about personality assessments, and how you can use them as you are growing in your business and navigating your career. We’ve been talking specifically about three parts of the brain. Last episode we spoke about the conative portion, which is the “doing” part of the brain. Today we’re going to look at the affective part and how that plays into your business or team. For full show notes visit www.theopsauthority.com/podcast/119.
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  118: Leveraging Kolbe While Leading and Growing a Team with Eryn Morgan

  13/10/2021

  50:27

  Do you know how to interpret Kolbe scores, and how to use them to build a strong team?  Today we are continuing our conversation on the Kolbe assessment. I’m speaking with Eryn Morgan, and we are going to focus the conversation on how to use the info that we get from Kolbe to build your team. Eryn Morgan is a Kolbe Certified™ Business Consultant (4 4 8 3) who helps CEOs of creative businesses strengthen their leadership skills so they can sustainably grow their companies. She believes that cookie cutters belong in bakeries, so she partners with her clients to create customized solutions that match their goals and their Kolbe strengths. Eryn uses industry-leading conative tools, blended with her decades of real-life experience, quickstart adaptability, and laser-focused improvisational teaching style to help each client increase their company productivity and profitability. To get connected with Eryn, visit her website at ErynMorgan.com and grab your copy of her CEO Checklist. With it you'll quickly identify the small shifts you can make today that will put you on the road to becoming a clearer, more powerful decision maker and CEO. For the full show notes, visit theopsauthority.com/podcast/118. 
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  117: Understanding the Kolbe for Greater Ease in Business

  6/10/2021

  30:06

  How do you take action, and why is it important to recognize your strengths in this area? Today we are focusing on letting your unique strengths guide your career and your business growth. The Kolbe index is the tool we leverage here at The Ops Authority to help people understand what their unique strengths are.  For full show notes go to theopsauthority.com/podcast/117.
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  116: Creating a Next Level Experience for Her Clients & A Better Fit for Her Life with the DOO Certification - Claire Grace

  29/9/2021

  35:17

  If you’ve ever wondered if there’s a way to find a better fit for your business future while also creating an incredible experience for your clients, I’ve got good news.    Today I am interviewing one of my rockstar students, Claire Grace. She will be talking about her journey and how her life has been impacted since joining the Director of Operations (DOO) certification program. She shares how the certification allowed her to create a next level experience for her clients while also being a better fit for her life.   For the full show notes, visit theopsauthority.com/podcast/116.   Meet Claire Claire is a Certified Director of Operations and founder of The Assistant Quarters a UK VA & OBM Agency. Claire's journey to starting her own business is typical of many others. She had her first child in 2013 and just as her daughter was about to start school, she was made redundant from her 15+ year corporate career in Banking.    That unexpected turn of events gave her the nudge (and financial buffer!) to finally launch her own business as a Virtual Assistant. The goal, to work with ambitious female founders, be more present as a mother with the flexibility of working on her terms, without the stresses of a London commute.    Since launching in 2017, Claire quickly started to grow a team and rather organically grew The Assistant Quarters into a small VA Agency. In turn, transitioning her own 1:1 client offering from that of VA to OBM/ Ops Manager by bringing together a strong and skilled team of VAs with a range of specialisms to support clients to handle day-to-day ops support and implementation. Drawing on her experience of managing remote teams and her time in Project Management and Business Management roles, she realized her real passion was sparked in her work with clients to define their business strategy, nail their business operations and build strong teams.    Whilst on maternity leave with her second child in 2020 during lockdown, Claire signed up to the DOO Program, knowing that she and her business were ready to grow even further. She currently works with a small number of clients 1:1 as their DOO and offers her popular Business Freedom Formula Strategy Sessions. The DOO Programme has renewed her confidence and energy and she has exciting plans to further grow her Agency in 2021 and beyond.  What is your background? Was with the same company for 15 years, in all different kinds of roles: project management, ops roles, and executive administration Her hour commute was becoming difficult due to having a young child Banking in the UK goes through routine restructuring, and once her job was made redundant, she took the opportunity to look into becoming a VA She hasn’t looked back, and would never go back to a corporate job Was solo for about 3-4 months, then hired an accountant and an associate around month 5   What was the journey from starting out as a VA to hiring your first associate to starting the DOO program? Came across the concept of an online business manager (OBM), and felt more aligned with that skill set rather than a VA Has been in business for 4.5 years Came across the DOO program and felt aligned with that skill set and it seemed like the next logical step   What intrigued you about the DOO certification? The opportunity to uplevel her strategy sessions Using the Strategic Mapping she would be able to enhance this service Felt like a much better fit for where she wanted to head after the birth of her 2nd child   “This felt like such a much better fit for where I was heading after having my second child.” - Claire Grace   How did you integrate the Strategic Mapping™ with your new and existing clients? Initially started to talk with her current clients, and offered it to a few at a discounted rate to test the process Having the framework bolstered her confidence when she needed it Became much easier to sell confidently Went in depth with the script and the process from the beginning and kept refining it until it was her core service   How does the Strategic Mapping™ work as a product in your agency? A new client won’t come on board until they have a strategic mapping session with her unless they just need basic VA services If they are ready for an OBM or DOO, then this service is positioned up front so they can be really clear on what their priorities are Her sweet spot is in team hiring and business systems operations She secures the client, delivers the strategic mapping, then highlights some of the additional services they could benefit from. They will get a proposal for DOO short term supports, or accountability assistance, or an introduction into the team if they need VA support.    “There is no better way to scope a project than going through a Strategic Mapping™.” - Natalie Gingrich   Was there anything within the HR module that has really changed the way that you show up as an agency owner? She used to manage a remote team in her corporate career Going through the HR model made her reflect on how she could improve and how she wanted her team culture to be and how she wanted to show up as a leader   What gave you the permission to say yes to this investment? When she was first introduced to the program, lockdown had taken quite a hit on her ability to work, and she had to take a leap of faith  She had faith in her connections’ feedback about the program and read other testimonials and felt like this would be a good fit She wanted to be surrounded by other OBMs and VAs who were leveling up, and a business coach who specialized in operations What is next for you? Wants to design a membership or course that will help people who have gone through strategic mapping to take the next steps   Any advice for those thinking of joining the DOO certification program? Go for it! It has been the best investment she has made Have faith that coaches are there to support you, especially if you fall behind in the modules Don’t just think of it as the just a program and certification, there is an entire community there to support you   “I wouldn’t have the business I have now if I hadn’t made this leap.” - Claire Grace Connect with Claire Instagram   Previous Episodes Mentioned Episode 113: Results Matter: Why Quality Programs Focus on the Results of Their Students Other Ways to Connect with Me: Website Private Facebook Community Facebook Page Instagram This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/116.
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  115: Why It's Important to Build a Business That Fits Your Personality & Skills

  22/9/2021

  15:30

  What's wrong with finding a guru, and following their business-in-a-box model? Today we are talking about why it's important to build a business that fits both your personality and your skills. We are opening up a new series for the next few weeks that will help you to create a vision for the types of business models that are available to you.    Two things you must remember: No 2 business are the same Your business will not be the same 6 months from now The Best Business For You As a young girl, I was raised by parents who had a brick and mortar business in the advertising specialities sector. When I dreamt of what type of business I may have one day, I literally couldn’t see past a product based brick and mortar business. Of course commerce has changed a ton since then, but I limited myself to that style of making money. My vision followed a model I trusted. As I went to school, a theme of helping came out, and the careers I had were in nursing, fitness, teaching, and leading teams. I explored these and landed at a fortune 150 company for 15 years, where I did a lot of leading, mentoring, and developing talent. These were roles that complimented my soft skills, and I flourished in this work. Luckily, I had the opportunity to walk away from that phase and when I did I immediately knew I was going to have my own business.  “I craved the ability to create a legacy for my family as well as flexibility in work hours.” I  flirted with the idea of a brick and mortar business because I knew the power of product models. But when I did deep work and thought about what fueled me in my professional career, it was service and using my soft skills of empathy, leadership, relationships, and development. What better way to leverage these through a service based model? Then the online world was presented to me.  “I started to look at the entrepreneurial world with much more complexity because it wasn’t just service based or brick and mortar.. there was a land of new options available to me.”  There were also dozens of people willing to take my money to teach me their model, framework, or path to 6 figures. I have started, grown, and scaled The Ops Authority in complete alignment with who I am, my gifts, what I desire, and the way I work best. I have built my own business which is different from any other person's business. It’s completely mine and this is exactly what I want for you. This series is about leveraging your personality, soft skills, and your innate way of working, to create a business that compliments you.   Assessments We love quizzes and assessments because they take a peek into our personality. Think about Myers Briggs, Disc, Enneagram, 16 Personalities, The Hogan Assessment and many more. These results show you more about your psychology and your behavioral tendencies. By knowing these parts of your personality, you can use this as data to help you design your specific business model. For example, if you’re more of an introvert, I recommend a 1:1 model. Marketing may be an uphill battle because you don’t want to be front and center. With a 1:1 model, you don’t have to have as many sales events and with just a few conversations, you can fill your business up. This model allows you to focus on fewer people and deeply serve. It also means your churn will be less. This is frequently what our Directors of Operations (DOO) choose, especially as they’re settling into business ownership. This is called a retainer model. Something else  that can help you become clear is the Kolbe index. This is different because it has nothing to do with personality but everything to do with action. The Kolbe looks specifically at your conative mind, which is the “doing” part of your brain. We’re going to dive deeper into the Kolbe system next week, but for starters it looks at 4 modes: fact finding, follow through, quick start, and implementation. “Personality may change, and will change over time but conation doesn’t.” If you’re a “quick start” on the Kolbe index, you probably have more vision and volume of ideas than others. It might be best to build a business with a supportive team to help you carry out those ideas. You also might leverage a funnel or have multiple offers, because you like complexity.  If you combine the two examples I’ve given you, an introvert and a quick start (looking at personality and natural action) this individual could create a business that will leverage paid and organic traffic to get the right prospects into a funnel to have a sales call, rather than someone who speaks on stages to build connection. See how that works? “I’m on fire to help our community build a business that aligns to them and their values but at the same time leveraging the vast tools available to us rather than copying someone else’s model.” For now you can learn a little bit more about the four business models available to service providers by taking our quiz at the theopsauthority.com/quiz.   “The right business model will bring you faster success, less stress, and more ease and confidence.”     Weekly Ops Activity Take the quiz and let us know your top result in our private Facebook community. I can't wait to see what your results are! Other Ways to Connect with Me: Website Private Facebook Community Facebook Page Instagram This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/115.
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  114: How to Break Up with a Client

  15/9/2021

  16:38

  What do you do when a client relationship goes south? How do you go about ending a client relationship on good terms?   Today, we are talking about a part of business that can be scary and intimidating; how to break up with a client. All of us will eventually come across a situation we need to get out of, and I’m going to give you a 10-step process on how to escape a relationship that is no longer healthy. For the full show notes, go to theopsauthority.com/podcast/114. Why You Should Break Up Similar to dating, sparks fly at the beginning. But at some point (in some relationships), they stop. It doesn’t happen overnight, but something changes and you reach a point where you have to make a decision. Do I stay or do I go?  Now, let’s shift this scenario to business. At some point in every business relationship you’ll reach a point where it’s unhealthy, unfulfilling, clashes with your values, or holds you back from your greater potential. This is when you begin asking yourself if you should be in this relationship. When those feelings come over you, you begin looking for your exit plan. Today I'm going to guide you through how to professionally and respectfully exit the relationship.   How You Should Break Up 1. Get Clear on Why  Sometimes this is obvious, and other times it takes some introspection. I'm a fact finder and get confidence from pros and cons lists. You should start this process by knowing why you’re leaving. 2. Review Your Terms  Review the terms of your contract. What date is the contractual period ending? Do either of you  have terms that you need to be aware of? Even if there are terms, you can still proceed. 3. Firm Up Your Exit Date  You know the business, the terms, and the client, so you have the info you need to determine the date you’ll be leaving. Firm this up before disclosing your exit so you aren’t talked into or out of anything. 4. Define What You Will Deliver This is key and has been my differentiator in keeping former clients as referral partners and advocates of my work. Create a plan that outlines what you’ll accomplish in the stated time period (from step 3.)  “You rock project plans and your exit needs one.” The clearer you are with what you’ll accomplish, the less emotional it will be. You’ll also be more productive.  5. Know Your Audience Surely you’ve seen your client on good, bad, challenging, and successful days. Think about how they deal with difficult or tough conversations. I don’t know of many that want to lose amazing talent like you. As we prepare for the next step, anticipate how this “break up” conversation will go down.   6. Prepare for Conversation You’ve gathered the facts and done some thinking. Now it’s time for the planning. Most often, I script these out: Why I’m leaving What date I’m done Last payment info What they can expect from me in the timeframe Transition plan   7. How You Will Deliver Schedule a face to face meeting or phone conversation. Email or text may be an option, but keep in mind that it’s not the most professional.    8. Have the Conversation You’ve got this! Stick to the plan. It's a trusted plan with plenty of uses behind it. Of course you should be prepared for a response. With such a detailed plan, I've rarely run across a heated conversation.  “If you deliver with details and empathy, it increases your chances of being understood.” If it does go south, cut it short and follow up with an email.   9. Deliver on Your Promise Here’s where you turn into an undeniable professional! Regardless of why you’re leaving the clients business, remember the plan that you communicate and deliverables you promised. Meet and exceed every single one.  “Be a woman of your word: do what you say, and deliver with excellence.”   10. Send a Note This is extra, but something I think is necessary. At the end of the period, send them a handwritten note. Thank them for the opportunity, and outline all of the wins you have accomplished together, and any other anecdotal feedback.   Breaking up is hard to do, no doubt. But this process has helped me to stay firm and overdeliver while wrapping up. I always tell my Director of Operations community that we’re elevating the expectations of service providers and operations professionals. This is one part of how we can accomplish that!   Weekly Ops Activity Go into the Ops Insiders group and tell us: how can you articulate why you are leaving to a client so they hear it and don’t take offense?   Other Ways to Connect with Me: Website Private Facebook Community Facebook Page Instagram   This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/114.  
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  113: Results Matter: Why Quality Programs Focus on the Results of their Students

  8/9/2021

  23:39

  When you decide to join an online course, what convinces you to invest? How do you determine if you're going to get that precious return on investment?    Today we are talking about how the best online programs are obsessed with results. There are a lot of different things we can look at as consumers of online products, courses, coaches, or masterminds… but the thing you need to do the most active research on is the results that they are getting for their customers. For the full show notes, go to theopsauthority.com/podcast/113.   Evidence of Real Results Results are the key ingredient that you need to consider when you are looking for the right program to invest in. It is far too easy to fall into the marketing traps of a one-size-fits-all formula.   Ask yourself: Does this solve a pain point that I’m currently having? Am I spending my resources because of the amazing marketing of the program or the attractiveness of the leader?   If the leader/teacher is an icon, are we taking the time to actually get to know them?  Does their teaching style resonate with you? Do you like/respect them? Does their presentation allow you to learn?   Make sure that you are purchasing for all the right reasons. You need to truly connect with the leader, but mostly you want to critically review the outcomes that they promise.  What do you get by working with them/participating with them?  What kind of results have they helped generate for their previous students?   When I look for training/coaches/programs, this is the biggest gap I see. This is why I have been hyper vigilant about defining and tracking the results for our Director of Operations (DOO) certification program.  In my path of learning and development, one of the things that was lacking was the gap in the promise of results. We have done this in a couple ways in the DOO program:   Every student has a coach Every single student is assigned a coach that they meet with one-on-one each  week. That coach fills in the gaps and serves as a resource for any questions that come up in the recorded trainings. This is related to the ROI that our students are having.    Experts in Key Areas We provide expert coaches in key areas, specifically in the areas of operations, leadership, and communication. Experts address the specific situations, questions, concerns that students have and this has made a big difference in getting specific (rather than generic) responses.   Develop Milestones We took the time to develop milestones in each of the tracks of our program. There are two different tracks in our program:    Employee track: If you are an employee in someone else's business, they can sponsor you to come through the program. There are 6 different milestones to accomplish to make sure you stay on track, and they are focused on confidence and leadership.   Business Builder track: This is for the service provider who wants to build a business and have multiple streams of income or multiple clients at one time. This track includes an additional 6 milestones to hit. We define milestones so that the business builder can achieve exactly what they want when they join us.    Ask for Feedback We continuously ask for feedback as people are going through the process and at the end of the program, relating to the content, coaches, and curriculum design. We make feedback an important part of the experience so that the students want to give us feedback. Since we were getting feedback more regularly, we started to make real time additions and adjustments based on what students need.    Facebook Community This is a real authentic group where people come in and ask questions, and are vulnerable with their experiences. It is a guarded safe group, and I love the way I see our community leveraging this asset. We are able to coach them through overwhelming situations that they don't feel like they can figure out by themselves.    They also have true access to me. So many programs advertise access to the leader, but once you get inside, that leader is nowhere to be found. This is one of the reasons we set a maximum number for each of the cohorts. I want to make sure I have access to know everyone's situation, and goals.  We build real, deep relationships with several layers… not just with your coach.   Give Access for Life I've had lots of advice on how to do this, but I want to make sure that students can come back to the content that they start to lack confidence in. They can come back and have access for life, and as we make improvements to the content, they get those.    “It’s important to me that results don’t stop when teaching stops.”   We want this to be a community that they can leverage, because they continuously pour into it and point out the gaps. This is the breeding ground for a strong program as well as  results for our students.   “I am obsessed with over-delivering and ensuring that our students get their return on their time, energy, vision, and investment.” By The Numbers We require results, and we only work with people who are hungry for them! Here are the real results that we have gotten for our students over the last few cohorts.   82% of our students have achieved up-leveling the avatar they desire 85% of our students have walked away with new offers 71% Get a full ROI within 6 months Students are bringing an average of $16,275 into their business within 6 months Our satisfaction rate is 92%, with over 200 students Our completion rate is 96% (as opposed to the online industry average of 15%!) Weekly Ops Activity Check out the program! We are accepting applications for round 11 right now.  If you have questions, you can ask them in our Facebook group!   Other Ways to Connect with Me: Website Private Facebook Community Facebook Page Instagram This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/113.
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  112: How the DOO Certification Helped Her See Her Potential and Create A Dream Business with Sarah Khan

  1/9/2021

  35:57

  Do you want to hear more about the Director of Operations (DOO) certification program from someone who has gone through the program?   My guest today is certified DOO Sarah Khan, who has come through our Director of Operations certification program. Sarah has the ability to help people with leadership and business development, and I know you will enjoy her wisdom! For the full show notes, visit theopsauthority.com/podcast/112 Meet Sarah Sarah Khan is an operations strategist and consultant committed to busting the BS in the online service space. Her expertise is in bringing clarity to chaos by helping ex-corporate, visionary women business owners identify and prioritize clear action steps to achieve their goals, while managing all the moving pieces of their business. But her passion lies in rewiring corporate & employee mindset: the myths and "shoulds" of what it means to run a successful online business and the mental and emotional transition of moving from corporate employee to business owner in your own right. Through her grounded, pragmatic approach to business and leadership development, she sees through the FOMO, cuts out the "buts" and holds you accountable to your vision.   Sarah was in corporate for 15 years in the project management and executive coaching space, and then transitioned to higher education. When she became a mother, she was laid off, then laid off again after she had her second child. This made her want to rethink her devotion to her corporate career, but she didn’t consider entrepreneurship. She started dabbling in the online space as a VA, pivoted into the OBM space, and eventually made her way into the DOO certification program.    Interested in the DOO certification program? Fill out an application.   Connect with Sarah Workbook Facebook Instagram Other Ways to Connect with Me: Website Private Facebook Community Facebook Page Instagram This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/112. 
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  111: The #1 Essential Ingredient to Healthy Client Relationships

  25/8/2021

  20:15

  Do you have trouble communicating honestly with your clients? Do you wonder what piece of the puzzle you are missing when it comes to building healthy, long-lasting client relationships?   Today we are talking about my #1 essential ingredient to having healthy mature client relationships. This is what so many people dream of, because their experiences are the exact opposite. They are used to unhealthy and immature client relationships.    Join us for a 5-day series coming up that’s all about scope creep. (You know, when your client(s) take over your entire life, or a project goes from simple to stressed?) Register here to join us on August 30th!   Building Healthy Relationships with Candor The word “candor” changed a lot of things for me. I have a long history of rising into formal and informal leadership roles, and behind all of that success is the concept of candor. I once had a tough boss who asked me to be less candid, and because of that I began to examine how I could grow in my career while still honoring and leveraging my gifts.    “Candor allowed me to build deep relationships, get authentic buy-in, helped me establish an open door policy, and be a respected leader.”   Candor is the quality of being open and honest in expression, and it was my special sauce. The problem is that it can get a bad rap because it is easily misunderstood and can imply that you are sassy or condescending. But it is the #1 ingredient in my success in having long healthy mature client relationships!   “If I’m not going to be honest, direct, frank, or open… how could I ever truly be an authentic partner?”   Candor has enabled me to build solid relationships and two-way communication with my leader and the teams I’m supporting. Two-way conversations are a huge piece of what we encourage in our Director of Operations (DOO) program because I believe it has the power to keep you happy, fulfilled, and to grow your business.    When it feels like you are going different directions in your relationships, candor will bring you back. When things need to be addressed, these conversations can happen with much greater ease. Scope creep will happen in both client relationships and projects, and when it does… candor is queen. I am convinced that we have high turnover in the online space because there is a lack of candor happening.    Are You Candid? Check in with yourself. Are you able to express your thoughts? Are you able to be open and honest with your expression? Continuously ask yourself this question.    Even in tough moments ask yourself what can you do to be honest and open? Sometimes it means delivering a hard message, but just because it's difficult doesn't mean it needs to be done in a negative way. You can still come with solutions, and kindness. I want to make sure that people don’t assume that candor has a negative connotation.    How Can You Add Candor? What can you do to add candor to your life?   Pick clients you align with. You ultimately get to choose who you will work with. You will naturally have greater ease when you are serving clients whom you align with.  Be bold and address gaps you are seeing. Take the reins and address the gaps, opportunities, shortcomings, and feedback. Have more conversations. Continuously get in front of your leader, and have thought provoking conversations, offer course corrections, and bring solutions. Have these conversations so they can begin to hear you better. Coach them and partner with them.  Reporting is fundamental for any service provider. Your leader wants to see what you have been up to, and it will facilitate conversations that should be rooted in candor. Ask for feedback. How are you doing, and where are your opportunities? By doing this, it shows them that you are open. Take that feedback and expand on it to make it a two-way conversation. “The ability to be candid is directly related to the quality of your client relationships.” Don’t forget to sign up for The Scope Creep Solution!   Weekly Ops Activity Tell me how you practice candor with your clients. Join us at our private FB community, and share an example of how you show candor in your relationships.    Other Ways to Connect with Me: Website Private Facebook Community Facebook Page Instagram This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/111.    
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  110: 8 Benefits of Setting Boundaries with Clients

  18/8/2021

  20:14

  Do you find it hard to establish and communicate boundaries with your clients?   Today, we are going to talk about why you need to set boundaries with your client or employer. The most successful relationships that I’ve had are those in which I've been able to show up as my true self, and have established boundaries. Not only did I have to do the work to define the boundaries, but I had to effectively communicate those boundaries. When I was able to do both of those things, I experienced the most fulfilling business relationships I’ve ever had.  Why You Need Boundaries in Your Business What is a boundary? It is a limit which you consider acceptable. There is no box you have to fit in, and there is no list of boundaries that will be applicable for everyone. You get to be the author, and your boundaries should come from what you value.   If you are thinking about all the relationships that haven’t been successful, a common theme was probably that you were under-appreciated and overworked. Overworking never produces an overly satisfied party. The over-striving to impress someone sucks your time and energy.   “A healthy relationship lends itself to a productive, effective, and highly communicative partnership.”   I want you to move from a place where you feel like an employee to the next level of that feeling of partnership. Being productive, effective, and communicative are met by having boundaries and having mutual respect for those boundaries. The win/win for you and your client is that you are able to show up and share your gifts, rather than carry the stress, questions, and worries.  So, let’s dive a little deeper into why boundaries are so important in the work you do.   You Come First You likely got into business because you want to do life on our own terms. You want to use your gifts and expertise and be able to show up authentically as you. These boundaries are going to be derivatives of your goals, dreams, values and vision.   You Deserve Balance We all have talked for years about the concept of work-life balance. After all of that work, the work-life balance is still elusive… especially in a corporate environment. If you are stepping out and doing business on your own, I want you to be balanced. The closest you will get to that is going to be the place you are the happiest with yourself, your family, and your work.    Take as Much as You Give You can easily get out of balance when you are overachieving or when you are not clear. Those things lead to overworking and burnout, which is the opposite of what balance looks like.   Your Mental Health Matters If you feel stressed, can’t sleep, or have a lack of exercise, all of this will lead to a place of poor mental health. These lack of boundaries can lead you to a place of being in a poor mental health space.    “No boundaries equals stress all of the time.”   High Performing Connections and Relationships When you have boundaries you have high performing connections and relationships. If you have been in a position where you have felt that you were never doing the right thing or never doing enough… it likely lacked an ease of communication. In this situation you will never have the feeling of high performance. When you have all of that chaos around you, it never feels like ease.    “When you have high performing connections, it builds a solid relationship and creates the best client relationships.” Stay Focused and Productive When Present When you have boundaries, you will stay focused and productive when present. Time is a boundary for most of us. If you put a boundary on your time and couple it with a healthy communicative relationship, then when you show up to work you will be focused and productive. You won’t have all of the emotions that will slow you down.   Avoid Uncomfortable Situations When you have boundaries you avoid uncomfortable situations and misunderstandings. Your clients can’t read your mind, so if you don’t clearly communicate your boundaries, there is no way a client can uphold them. They won’t be able to know if they are putting you in a situation that makes you feel uncomfortable. Love Your Work I want you to love your work, and honor your gifts. When you do this, you will experience less turnover. When you are seen for the great gifts you have, and are able to use your gifts, you will stay in that place for a lot longer. Finding new clients will always set you back, so minimize that by working with people who respect your boundaries.   “If you can go into a relationship where your boundaries are said, understood, and practiced, you will love your work in a different way.”  If this topic resonates with you (it should if you’re a service provider in any capacity), we have a 5-day series coming up and it’s all about scope creep. You know, when the time when your client or clients take over your entire life or a project goes from simple to stressed? Register here.    Weekly Ops Activity Evaluate the struggles you are currently experiencing with your client, write them down, and then write out a boundary statement that you can institute to minimize your struggle. Head over to the FB group and share it with us!   Other Ways to Connect with Me: Website Private Facebook Community Facebook Page Instagram This episode was first published at theopsauthority.com/podcast/110.