Silos of activity

c/o Getty Images

The majority of you who are reading my blog on a regular basis know that I’m a big football (soccer) fan. There are many parallels between a football team and an organisation. A football team consists of a goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and attackers. All of them are doing their jobs in different ways but at the end of the game, they all want the same outcome - to outscore their opponents and win the match. You can do things differently, you can have different skills but you are moving in the same direction and this is the way we should want to behave when we are part of a team.


Simon Sinek said, ”Leadership is irrespective of what level we are at.”
You don't have to be in a position of authority to be a good leader and we can show that through our communication. When you just share and tell people something, it's not really powerful. Leaders need to be spending time trying to understand where your people are coming from, what they need and not just feeding them information/data and telling them what to do, as people do not respond very well to that.


It takes strong mental strength for a leader to step back and say what is the best thing that I can do that is going to move the needle forward as a group and build trust. Throughout my career, I have seen many islands of activity! Playing the blame game and pointing the finger at who’s doing it wrong in sales, marketing, production, R&D, etc. What I want to do is enable people, and allow them to support, empathise and learn about each other. Would your organisation like to learn how to communicate as a team and not as individual silos? Contact me via e-mail for coaching, mentoring or workshops.

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You can afford everything but not anything!

A fundamental principle of micro-economics is that every choice has an opportunity cost. Economists commonly place a value on time to convert an opportunity cost in time into a monetary figure. In other words, opportunity costs represent the potential benefits an individual, investor, or business misses out on when choosing one alternative over another. I think every choice that you make is a trade-off against something else and this does not just apply to your money - it also applies to your time, energy and attention to any limited resource that you need to manage.


The idea of opportunity costs is a major concept in our lives. Saying yes to one thing implicitly means saying no to countless other alternatives and this opens us up to two questions:

1. What really matters to you? I do not mean what society says should and I do not eat what you previously thought may matter to you. I mean when you take that deep dive and examine yourself, what truly matters in your life.

2. How do you align your daily, weekly or yearly decisions in a way that reflects that?

Starting with your daily objectives, as answering these two questions is a daily practice and as lost time can be a significant component of opportunity cost, therefore, why are you waiting? Contact me via e-mail for coaching, consulting, workshops or lecturing opportunities.

The best of the best

I think that there is a huge difference between skill and talent. In my opinion, skill is something you learn and talent is something you are born with. And with very few exceptions, everything in our own lives is a skill, for example, learning to read is a skill, being brave enough to speak up with the truth is a skill, caring about customers is a skill, etc. When telling yourself that you don’t have the talent, “I wasn’t born able to do that!” That story is not based on facts, in fact it’s letting yourself off the hook, it’s an excuse. Remember, skills are easier to acquire today than ever before.


The amygdala is part of the brain's limbic system and it’s here where we process emotions. It’s here where the voice in our heads says, “don’t do that, you are in danger”. This resistance is what makes us hesitant, it’s resistance that makes us nervous before we try something for the first time.


In the western world we have been conditioned to look out for ourselves, ”survival of the fittest”. We are judged on individual performance - how well we do on exams, work, projects, etc. - and are rewarded with awards, promotions and increased wages. How can we connect and collaborate on a level where we are looking at that common mission? People may be rated individually, but what can we do to align and more in the same direction?
Contact me via e-mail for coaching, consulting, workshops and lecturing.

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Guidance from a mentor

I have been an educated mentor since 2011 and unofficially, I have been guiding individuals to gain clarity in their message for the whole of my adult life. With the mission to identify how they can grow their influence with the right people and build trust in the workplace.


We all want a sense of purpose, a feeling of being connected to the mission for the company that we work for but what is more important is feeling a connection with our colleagues. Collaborating and supporting each other and when we speak up we are heard in a non judgemental way. Many people are lacking a connection to their purpose, they do not know how to create fulfilment in their lives. Many people are lacking internal clarity. Just imagine what it would be like to become better at public speaking, giving presentations or being a better communicator.


In order to help people to become better communicators in everyday life, here’s some example questions I ask mentees:
What do you expect to gain from our sessions?
Who are you as a person?
Where are you struggling?
What is your current mission?
How are you connecting with people in a way that influences and moves them?


Contact me via e-mail and let’s arrange a virtual meeting. I will be thinking about whether I can make a difference for this mentee and in which areas of their careers or business would I be most helpful?

Workshop idea & role play

“To inform is for free, the ‘how too’ requires a fee.” I have been using this quotation for almost 30 years. Anyway, here is a workshop idea based on an exercise from the wonderful “Kill The Company” book by Lisa Bodell.


Play the role of one of your top competitors for a day and see how if you switch perspectives you could figure out ways to kill your company metaphorically. When CEO’s speak about change and innovation they are usually asking the cliche questions, for example, “How do I think outside the box?” or “What’s the next big thing?” Cliche questions generate cliche answers.

Think about ways to eliminate and put your company out of business. Play the game and ask your executives to come up with ways to put your company out of business, then they by definition will be moving out of their current perspective or box, and look at it from the  perspective of a competitor, who wants to destroy your company. Once you identify the threats, you then switch to the opposite perspective and return to being company executives and figure out ways to defend against those threats. You can also use this exercise in other contexts, e.g. “Why did I not get that job that I am applying for?” or “Why are people buying our competitors products?” 


The answers may be simple! Maybe it’s because they see something that you are not seeing or because they believe something that you don’t believe. Perhaps this is because they are telling themselves a different story and you are not able to see that story if you are looking at the world from your own limited perspective. Kill the company is a great way of forcing yourself out of that perspective and into the perspective of someone else. This is better than a collective brainstorm session or being told to think outside of the box. Send me an e-mail and let’s arrange a physical or virtual meeting to discuss a workshop for your organisation.

Success vs. Happiness

Image c/o Haiku Deck

I have always believed that success will not make you happy if you were not happy before becoming successful. I have never tied my self worth together with my accomplishments. There are many people who believe that happiness is over the next mountain and as long as they conquer that next thing or achieve that next milestone - then, that’s going to bring them happiness. In reality, if you are not happy before success, you will not be happy after achieving success.


I think happiness comes not from those big moments that you anticipate, but in the little joys of life, for example, the pleasure of walking in the park and observing the colours of the leaves; the joy of creating a morning smoothie, etc. Happiness comes from the the small moments, not from the big accomplishments, regardless of what it looks like from the outside.


In my opinion, happiness and success are two different things. Success is based on what I’ve achieved and happiness is based on what I feel about myself and about how I feel about what I am doing. Whenever I attempt to interconnect them, I remind myself that happiness and success give a separate sense of meaning and fulfilment.

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Success is made to be shared

Photo via Mads Nissen

For most of my life I have been fascinated by what triggers human beings to behave the way they do. Why is it that there are so many people in the world who live such joyous lives in spite of almost every adversity, while others who would seem to have it all, live their lives in anger, despair and depression?


We are not victims, we are creators and I care very much about helping people take responsibility for the change they seek to make. And if it makes you a living, then that’s fine, and if it doesn’t make you a living, then that’s a choice. But don’t do it because you are making a living, make a living because you are doing it. 


I think that we should all learn how to learn as it’s the only skill that out-delivers and over performs. Remember, a good mentor will teach you how to think, not what to think.

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John Wooden RIP

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”

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Don't do it alone

Image via Shutterstock

It’s a good idea to have the map before you enter the woods! Don't try to become a coach, an online trainer or monetise content without a roadmap because you'll struggle needlessly, when there are proven strategies you could have implemented right away.


Don't try to build a huge fanbase and truly inspire millions of people without knowing what really works, what business models will sustain you, how to scale and serve well. In order to reach as many people as you deserve, it would be advisable to seek guidance from a marketing/branding expert.


Don't try to get brand deals or work with the big names until you know what the industry is like and how to truly make online marketing work for you 24/7. I think that it’s important for both your loved ones and yourself to get the training you need to win. You deserve it!

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Food for thought

The concept of pretty has no meaning without the concept of ugly, smart means little without the idea of stupid. We come to understand who we are by understanding who we are not.

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Everyone loves an underdog

Here’s what to do when the odds are stacked against you:

• Be patient

• Anticipate next steps

• Stay focused

• Be calm

• Be optimistic

• Study your surroundings

• Believe in yourself

• See the finish line

• Be persistent

• Work hard

• Show grit

• Learn to anticipate

• Be present

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8 Habits of Lucky People

1. Work hard

2. Complain less

3. Teach others

4. Share credit

5. Be on time

6. Be kind

7. Be teachable

8. Show gratitude

c/o Steven Keating

Should you trust your gut?

““The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” - Albert Einstein”

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I Can See Clearly Now

I’m a sales guy by nature and have done really a lot of selling. Basically, there are two elements of selling - starting the conversation that leads to a meeting and closing the deal.

I think SALES is a performance profession! The challenge is how to accurately and fairly measure results. Most companies teach their sales team how to take an order and how to make presentations, which is fine, I think what they should also be teaching is how to ask open ended questions. You can read all the books and study it, in reality, unless you are applying it everyday, building systems and habits around it, it’s just information.

I have a passion to help others achieve their goals and exceed their own expectations with over 20 years experience of contributing to and leading organisations within retail, wholesale, marketing and branding.
Contact me if you are interested in hearing more…

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What Have I Become?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a time for reflection. I am fully aware that opportunity is always mixed with difficulty, therefore, the only time when things will change is when I change. “I am not a product of my circumstances I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey


I had an epiphany last week that made me think about the meaning of my life and what have I become. The voice said, “You can have more than you’ve got because you can become more than you are and unless you change what you are, you’ll always have what you’ve got.” I know that the major key to my better future is me, and in my case true happiness is not contained in what I get, happiness is contained in what I become. I immediately knew that I had to start working on myself and as there are only 24 hours in a day, time was not the issue. You cannot get more time, but you can create more value as we primarily get paid for the value we bring to the marketplace. We have plenty of energy to do the things that we really want to do as motivation creates energy.

The Last Dance - Netflix

What are my life goals? How can you hit a target that I don’t have? How to set goals and how to achieve them? I know that you have to have your goals in place to get what you want, and I have to set the kind of goals that will mean something by achieving them. I have to start by making myself comfortable with being uncomfortable as when you let yourself get comfortable with your way of life, you miss out on what you could accomplish when you keep reaching for the next golden ring. One has to eliminate all the negative influences in your life and that also means friends who are dragging you down and keeping you from reaching your goals.

1. Identify exactly what you want.

2. Why do you want to reach this goal?

3. What are the obstacles you need to overcome in order to achieve this goal?

4. What are the skills and knowledge required to reach this goal?

5. Who are the people, groups, organisations you need to work with in order to achieve this goal?

6. What is the plan of action required to achieve this goal?

7. When is the completion date?

Your goals could be physical, mental, spiritual, social, family, career or financial. Are you committed to reaching your goals? When you have a solid base with a solid commitment and solid objectives then you have a much better chance of reaching your goals. Please do not confuse activity with accomplishment! Have you written out your clearly defined goals? Yes? If no, why not? Is it because of fear, a poor self-image, no desire or just because you don’t know how? Would you like some guidance with how to set your goals? I am interested in building characters and developing leaders. Contact sb@stephenburrell.com

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Who is Responsible for Your Return to Work Strategy?

”CUE” illustration by www.ved5tiden.dk

The most successful global leaders in fighting coronavirus have communicated clearly, displayed empathy and always favored science over politics. When challenges arise we don't rise to the occasion, we sink to the level of our training. We have to recognize that things are not going to back to what they were before the coronavirus. The pre-COVID world was all about performance, agility and efficiency, the post-COVID world will be all about one thing - survival. Does your organisation have a plan for how we get people back to work? Are you ready to tackle the challenges ahead?

Health and safety of the workforce should be management’s top priority and managing employee numbers will be critical to protecting workplace health, as the higher the number the higher the risk. Have you thought about the benefits of a staggered reintroduction, e.g. rotating who works from the office and who works at home?

”ROUTINE” illustration by www.ved5tiden.dk

Once open, how can you keep your employees safe? There will be more questions than answers, for example:

-       What will be the new physical setup?

-       How much distance should there be between desks? 

-       Have you made restrictions on your office building capacity?

-       What about employee gatherings around the coffee machine?

-       What about the cafeteria and lunchtime procedures?

-       Have you developed new office sanitization protocols?

-       Will there be guidelines for wearing personal protective equipment, e.g. face masks and/or gloves?

-       What are the rules for checking employees who are returning to work after illness?

-       Will your employees need help to manage this mindset change?

-       How will you deal with employees who are reluctant to return to the office?

-       Do you have a Crisis Management team to deal with ethics and compliance complaints?

Would you like to have a training plan for implementing new operational procedures, processes and policies during your “back to workplace” transition and beyond?
Contact us on sb@peakbalance.dk to hear more on how we can help your organisation.

“REWARD” illustration by www.ved5tiden.dk

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Why Do We Do What We Do?

The great Zig Ziglar said, “Motivation gets you going, and habit gets you there. Make motivation a habit and you will get there more quickly and have more fun on the trip. You are free to choose, but the choices you make today will determine what you have, be and do in the tomorrow of your life.”

We are not in the business of knowledge transformation we are in the business of skill acquisition. Do you know the difference between a skill and a habit? A skill is the ability to do something well and a habit is something you do mentally or physically, that starts as a choice and then becomes a nearly automatic pattern.

In reality, a habit is the function of our subconscious mind. There is no greater evidence of the marvelous power of our subconscious than the force and sway habit holds in our life. We form habits in our subconscious mind by repeating a thought or behavior and act it out over and over again until it establishes tracks in our subconscious mind and becomes automatic. What percentage of our daily behaviors are choice? Studies have shown that between 40 and 45% of what we do each day are habits. Therefore, when we understand how habits work, then rather than being the consumer of our lives, we become the creator.

The Power of Habits training is about teaching leaders and individuals how to leverage habits so that they can improve results. The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive and achieving success is understanding how habits work. The Power of Habits training will do 3 things: increase performance, improve outcome and ignite culture. Performance is what we do, results is what comes from our actions, and culture is how we behave.

We change the world by changing behavior and there’s a process to that and at Peak Balance (Vital Smarts), our digital learning tools can help facilitate training outside the traditional classroom settings. We have put together a series of micro-trainings which consist of a series of short, focused learning modules that are delivered through Adobe Connect. These trainings have proved to be highly effective at accelerating onboarding and improving retention. 

For further information - contact: sb@peakbalance.dk

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Stimulus > Choice > Response

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Victor Frankl

We live in an information-rich, time-poor world, as a result, it is easy for us to behave like rats. In other words, we see an opportunity (stimulus) and we jump at it (response). The great thing about being human (aside from our ability to use a TV remote) is that we can exercise choice. So unlike one of *B.F. Skinner's rats, our behavioural equation is Stimulus > Choice > Response.

*B.F. skinner was an American psychologist who developed the Theory of Operant Conditioning. The idea that behaviour is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or punishments, which make it more or less likely that the behavior will occur again.

The challenge is that sometimes we move so fast we whoosh right past our choice and feel like we are simply reacting to the multitude of stimuli - demanding customers, boss' deadlines, screaming kids, requests to volunteer, web page pop-up ads, Facebook status changes, "you've got mail" notifications, GPS voices telling us to "veer right", text tones on our telephones, and on and on.

So, to help you intentionally respond to inbound opportunities and requests, here are four useful questions:

1. Does it interest me?

2. Do I have the resources (skills, money, contacts, knowledge) to make a positive impact?

3. Do I have the time (our most precious resource) for it?

4. Can I make the personal commitment necessary to be successful or fulfill the demands?

These questions reveal a thought process that highly successful people use to live intentionally. They never lose sight of the "C" - choice.

The choice is ours. Our success can be accidental or intentional. Choose to live intentionally.
Contact me here to book a 1:1 session

Crucial Conversations Training

Did you know that I am a certified Crucial Conversations Trainer?
Crucial Conversations teaches skills for creating alignment and agreement by fostering open dialogue around high-stakes, emotional and risky topics - at all levels of your organization. By learning how to speak and be heard (and encouraging others to do the same), you’ll surface the best ideas, make the highest-quality decisions and then act on your decisions with unity and commitment. 

What Is a Crucial Conversation?

A crucial conversation is a discussion between two or more people where the stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. These conversations - when handled poorly or ignored - lead to strained relationships and dismal results.

What Does Crucial Conversations Training Teach?

Crucial Conversations teaches participants how to:

• Speak persuasively, not abrasively

• Foster teamwork and better decision making

• Build acceptance rather than resistance

• Resolve individual and group disagreements

Who Needs Crucial Conversations Training?

Does your organization suffer from taboo topics, deference, disagreement, analysis paralysis, information hoarding, office politics or alienation? Is your organization battling declining productivity, safety violations, low morale, reduced quality, poor customer satisfaction or other bottom-line concerns? Then you, your team, or your organization needs Crucial Conversations Training.

My aim is to guide teams, leaders and entrepreneurs on how to focus on your company’s performance and culture by integrating open communication into the heart of your business. Crucial Conversations workshops are two days and ideally have a minimum of six participant. For further information please contact me.

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Look Inside

Just imagine if we changed our opinion on suffering and from now on we think that suffering is awesome. Some of the greatest people on earth have suffered the most, for example, Nelson Mandela. Difficult times, pain, failure and loss can be looked upon as learnings, perhaps even as purification in preparation for personal heroism.

How would your life be if you were given the tools to use disappointment, difficulty and heartbreak as a crutch to strengthen yourself? If everything that hurts you, you used to make yourself a better person. The inner work is how you move through the blocks of your shadows that are covering your primal genius. ”The more you sweat in training, the less you will bleed in war.” - Navy Seals

As children, we live through our heart as we grow older we move out of our hearts and into our heads, we are taught to numb our feelings and live in our heads. In my opinion, great art, great architecture, great business, great lives don't just come from our heads, they come from our hearts, our passion, our feelings and our gratitude. I can resonate with Jay Shetty when he says, ”We are wired for generosity but educated for greed.”

I recently asked a medical doctor, “What is in charge - your head or your heart?” He answered, “the head” and I disagreed and bravely challenged him. I said, “You can find people in your profession, who are hospitalised, still alive but clinically brain dead. I am sure that you would agree with me that when your heart stops it’s over and out!”

Succeeding in life and battle is all about training, preparation and putting in the work needed to rise above the adversities that each one of us will face during our lifetimes. Contact me here to book a 1:1 session…

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