Vincent Byrne

19/07/2022

If you were to take the word "initiative" and ponder on what it means to you as a trait in yourself and in others and how important you consider it to be in relation to whatever you have created or achieved in your life, how high would you rate it?

How important has it been? Think about the single one or two most important things that you are most proud of – what part did initiative play in those successes?

Full article here:

https://buff.ly/3RAmHKj

If you were to take the word initiative and ponder on what it means to you as a trait in yourself and in others and how important you consider it to be in relation to whatever you have created or achieved in your life, how high would you rate it?

14/07/2022

What Makes a Great Leader?

I have been doing an online course recently called Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence. As part of the homework, participants were asked to talk about their own experience of good and bad leaders, and what in our opinion made great leaders. This was my submission which received some good feedback, so I thought I would share it.

Full article is here:
https://vincentbyrne.ie/what-makes-a-great-leader/

I have been doing an online course recently called Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence. As part of the homework, participants were asked to talk about their own experience of good and bad leaders, and what in our opinion made great leaders. This was my submission which received some....

07/06/2022

Advice To My Younger Self

I listen to a lot of podcasts on all kinds of different topics and invariably, one of the stock questions asked is, “What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?”

I know where the question comes from but to be honest, I am not sure that I would have taken the slightest bit of notice of any advice I might have offered because, as a consultant and coach for the past 30 years or so, I have learned that no one, of any age, really listens to advice.

I think the question would be better phrased by asking, “What do you wish you had known when you were 18 years old?”

Anyway, it got me thinking and I decided to ask myself that question and I came up with three things.

Read the full article here: https://buff.ly/3jJHs6F

I listen to a lot of podcasts on all kinds of different topics and invariably, one of the stock questions asked is, “What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?” I know where the question comes from but to be honest, I am not sure that I would have taken the slightest bit of […]

24/05/2022

It's Not Like That in MY Business!

I had a great conversation with a friend recently over a coffee, where we chatted about some issues that were holding his business back. When we got down to discussing strategies that he could employ to address the matters in hand, he uttered the words that I have heard a gazillion times over the past 30 years, “Ah, but it’s not like that in my business!”

And so the chat went off in the direction that it normally goes when those immortal words are spoken. I suggested that he challenge the 'it's not like that in my business' notion and asked him if he could categorically say that it was true. He couldn’t. I then asked him what effect did holding that belief have on his business? The answer was of course “It keeps it stuck exactly where it is and nothing changes”.

The fact is that so long as he and other business owners like him believe that making some changes to customer agreements in order to improve cash collection or to introduce a charge for an evaluation meeting are impossible to introduce in THEIR business, then NOTHING will change – and the frustration will continue as before.

The problem is that the belief that ‘things are different in MY business’ becomes reinforced by fear. Fear of losing customers, fear of the business going into decline, fear of getting a bad reputation and so this leads to the acceptance that you cannot make changes. And just as there was once a belief that the world was flat and that ships would fall off the edge if they sailed beyond the horizon, that belief was only debunked when someone actually tried it and realised that the world was in fact round all along.

Read the full article here: https://vincentbyrne.ie/its-not-like-that-in-my-business/

I had a great conversation with a friend recently over a coffee, where we chatted about some issues that were holding his business back. When we got down to discussing strategies that he could employ to address the matters in hand, he uttered the words that I have heard a gazillion times over the pa...

10/05/2022

Just Change The Three Letter Word

From time to time, you come across a piece of advice that really impacts on one's thinking and has the potential to shift the outlook of anyone who is challenged by self-doubt, when faced with a difficult situation or an exciting opportunity.

Over the past week I have been listening to Debbie Ford’s book ‘The Dark Side of the Light Chasers’ and at one point, she talks about how our language impacts significantly on whether we take action to realise our desires, or keep ourselves stuck where we are.

Take the example of a project that I am contemplating right now; starting a podcast. The usual way that we approach such ‘step outside of our comfort zone’ projects is to say something like:

“I would really love to do a podcast BUT I…don’t know where to start, or don’t have the money to buy the equipment or don’t think people would be interested in what I have to say.”

As a result, the idea stalls at the first hurdle and typically gets filed under the section called ‘Life Regrets’.

Instead, she suggests replacing ‘BUT’ with ‘AND’ in order to open up the closed idea to new possibilities and choices. So it now reads:

“I would really love to do a podcast AND I…don’t know where to start, or don’t have the money to buy the equipment or don’t think people would be interested in what I have to say.”

Read the full article here: https://vincentbyrne.ie/just-change-the-three-letter-word/

26/04/2022

It’s Okay – No Need For Drastic Action!

I saw an interesting quote from Tony Robbins recently. He said, “Make a decision today that can immediately change or improve the quality of your life.”

It reminded me of some recent conversations in which the people concerned felt stuck or trapped in difficult situations either in their businesses or personal lives.

The main problem is that the sense of ‘stuckness’ typically doesn’t derive from the situation itself but rather from the thinking around actions that we believe we need to take in order to get out of it and, crucially, the projected or imagined consequences of taking those actions.

You know what I mean; the task seems too big, the action seems too drastic, the difficult conversation will be a major confrontation. And the perceived consequences are that the partnership will break down, the business will collapse, the family relationship will end, you will invite confrontation and aggression, legal action will be a certainty, the marriage will be over, someone else will be upset, and the list goes on. The result is that you stay stuck because it is seemingly easier for you to ‘suck it up’ and accept the pain and discomfort, rather than encounter one or more of these situations.

The fact is that when our present level of pain is less than the imagined level of pain potentially caused by doing something to address the situation, we do nothing.

Read the rest of the article here: https://vincentbyrne.ie/its-okay-no-need-for-drastic-action/

I saw an interesting quote from Tony Robbins recently. He said, “Make a decision today that can immediately change or improve the quality of your life.” It reminded me of some recent conversations in which the people concerned felt stuck or trapped in difficult situations either in their busines...

12/04/2022

It's all a Cycle.

I recently found an old photograph from 2000 of me with my then business partner, from the Sunday Business Post. Apart from the fact that I was about 25 lbs lighter and the grey that has now fully engulfed my head was only starting to show in, it reminded me of a very good, positive time. We had achieved a huge amount in such a short time in the business and as a result we were about to be bought out and funded to launch in the UK.

I can recall thinking that this was the break that I had been working so hard for over the previous 7-8 years, the opportunity to build a great business whilst really making a difference. Little did I know what would come to pass over the period between then and now, or even over the following 18 months to 2 years, but it would teach me a lot about the nature of things.

We were acquired by another company and effectively all our financial concerns were sorted out, we thought! Within a year, a power struggle and a change in the top management in the parent company saw our Irish and UK operations shut down and we were sued, because we weren’t prepared to accept it. The deep pockets of the big corporation ensured that they got justice and resulted in us being significantly worse off financially than we were where we began – and we were left with no business!

Read the full article here: https://vincentbyrne.ie/its-all-a-cycle/

29/03/2022

On Reflection

There are times in our lives when we wish that we could start it all again – the business, the project, the year, the deal, the relationship, the habit (perhaps not), or even the career.

When you reach that stage, it is most likely down to exhaustion, frustration, the sense of nothing working, or just the ‘banging your head off the brick wall’ feeling.

It will pass.

But the feeling itself is a sign of the need to reflect, as well as an opportunity to begin again, if you choose to take it.

We don’t do enough reflecting and assessing. Instead we just go through the motions repeating what we have always done until we hit a problem or crisis that gives us a jolt. And even then, we don’t actually do it: reflect, assess and ask ‘is this really what I want?’

I don’t mean that we should grade or judge what we have done or where we are at, but rather inquire if we are happy with a particular aspect of our life, whether it is our career, our business, our financial circumstances, our health and fitness, or our relationships. And if we would like to make changes.

Read the full article here:

There are times in our lives when we wish that we could start it all again – the business, the project, the year, the deal, the relationship, the habit (perhaps not), or even the career. When you reach that stage, it is most likely down to exhaustion, frustration, the sense of nothing working, or ...

15/03/2022

For as long as I remember, I have had an interest in art and drawing. However, without any proper tuition (art was never taught seriously in school), I have never really progressed beyond occasionally doodling and some fancy writing. Recently, I started learning to sketch and as part of my efforts I came across a fascinating book called ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain’ by art teacher Betty Edwards.

In the book, she explains that the reason most people have difficulty in drawing the object that they see is because of the dominance of our logical ‘left brain’ in the process. This comes about, she suggests, through the emphasis that is placed by traditional schooling on reading, numeracy and memory recall rather than creative ‘right brain’ pursuits such as art and creative problem solving.

She explains that the right brain is all about perception and ‘seeing’ edges, spaces, relationships, light and shadows and so is perfectly suited to drawing. However, when presented with the task of sketching something, the dominant ‘left brain’ muscles in and tells it to ‘step aside’ and proceeds to produce something akin to a dog’s dinner!

The reason we end up with a dog’s dinner

The ‘left brain’ works by grabbing just a few basic details (as little as 40%) of a scene and decides that it is ‘a face’ or ‘a chair’. It then jumps straight into completing the picture. The problem is that the additional 60% is based not on what we actually see, but on what it ‘remembers’ a typical ‘face’ or ‘chair’ looks like. The resulting sketch is unsurprisingly nothing like the actual reality.

Trained artists however, know how to bypass the influence of the left brain by learning to ‘trick’ it into staying out of the task. They do this by presenting it with a challenge that it is not used to dealing with, such as drawing the ‘space around a chair’ rather than an actual chair, or sketching a face ‘upside-down’. The left brain doesn’t recognise the concept of sketching space and nor does it comprehend an upside-down face. So in these cases, it essentially says ‘stuff that’ and leaves the right brain to get on with the task.

What 60% gets us into trouble?

You can read the rest of this post here: https://buff.ly/3GtlMoX

For as long as I remember, I have had an interest in art and drawing. However, without any proper tuition (art was never taught seriously in school), I have never really progressed beyond occasionally doodling and some fancy writing. Recently, I started learning to sketch and as part of my efforts I...

01/03/2022

I recall reading ‘The Business Battlecard’, a book by Paul O’Dea, a few years ago as I was working through a business strategy process with a not-for-profit organisation that I was involved with at board level.

It is a short book, written from the experiences of someone who has consulted with and run strategy workshops for high potential companies all over the world. It has therefore been written like a workbook and facilitation guide, making it an easy read and extremely practical.

Its ultimate objective is to produce a ‘one-pager’ strategy document that can be easily and succinctly communicated to everyone in the business to ensure that everyone is on message – definitely my kind of strategic plan!

Create a strong starting point

For me the first section had the most arresting impact on me as I thought about trying to relate it to my own business. It poses some key questions in a way that is both accessible and challenging.

They are:

What do you want to be well known or famous for?
What is your mindset – how do you do things around here?
What are you really good at? What do others say you are good at?
You see what I mean! I don’t care if you are a sole trader, service professional or the owner of an SME or a multi-national. If you challenge yourself or your team to answer these questions, then you are well on the way to creating a really strong starting point for communicating what you are about, both to your market and within your business.

You can see the rest of the article here: https://buff.ly/3frmhnI

I recall reading ‘The Business Battlecard’, a book by Paul O’Dea, a few years ago as I was working through a business strategy process with a not-for-profit organisation that I was involved with at board level. It is a short book, written from the experiences of someone who has consulted with ...

15/02/2022

One of the biggest challenges I faced when I was first introduced to coaching was trying to deal with keeping silent when someone was sitting in front of me asking for my help. I, like most people, was brought up with the understanding that if someone came to talk or ask for help, it meant that they wanted me to hear their problem and then expected to receive my advice or answer in much the same way that I might have given accounting or business advice – they didn’t have information, so I gave them what they were lacking!

As a result, this ‘keeping my mouth shut and just listening’ was both alien in concept and difficult to apply because it required both a conceptual shift from the old ‘someone asks for help so I give them advice’ way of operating AND the development of a new habit of listening and ‘shutting up’. I needed to allow the other person the space to expunge the plethora of thoughts and stories that they had created and which were whizzing around their heads until they arrived at the ‘aha’ moment for themselves. This shift was not easy for me.

I didn’t ‘get it’!

You see, in the early days when I didn’t ‘get it’, I wondered why, after some quite long and productive and interactive sessions, clients kept coming back without having really taken any action on their issue. I thought I had done a good job because I had given ‘value for money’ because it seemed that ‘value should be in the form of advice and information’ rather than just holding the space to allow them to think.

You can read the full article here: https://buff.ly/3I2rEWw

One of the biggest challenges I faced when I was first introduced to coaching was trying to deal with keeping silent when someone was sitting in front of me asking for my help. I, like most people, was brought up with the understanding that if someone came to talk or ask for help, it meant […]

01/02/2022

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings!

I don’t know about you, but the idea of sitting through a monthly meeting where you mundanely go through a fixed agenda makes my blood run cold. I have even been in meetings, especially after hours, where people have actually fallen asleep – I kid you not!

There is an obsession with following the same format in every meeting where there is a ridiculous amount of time spent by participants reporting on what just happened in the past month – Sales Report, Marketing Report, Production Report, Financial Report, etc. It becomes hypnotically boring and guaranteed to have people playing with their phones or doodling on a writing pad. It’s even more ridiculous when you know that these directors or managers are all working together and should know this information anyway! Why do they need to come to a monthly meeting to find out what they already know? Exactly – it’s ludicrous!

What happens when you repeat the same procedure and expect different results?

The problem is that despite the amount of time wasted in such sessions held all over the world by pretty clever people in the mistaken name of good organisational management, no one actually puts their hand up and says,”Why are we doing this?” Instead, just like some kind of executive lemmings, we keep repeating the same actions over and over just because that was the way it was always done and somehow expect it to work. (And I say ‘we’ because I did it too until I learned about a more effective approach.)

Full article here: https://buff.ly/3I2rjTK

I don’t know about you, but the idea of sitting through a monthly meeting where you mundanely go through a fixed agenda makes my blood run cold. I have even been in meetings, especially after hours, where people have actually fallen asleep – I kid you not! There is an obsession with following th...