Page 35 - Flathead Beacon // 3.26.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM BUSINESS MONTHLY MARCH 26, 2014 | 35

BUSINESS IS PERSONAL Mark Rifey

Breaking Through

Business Frustrations

W
HAT THINGS ABOUT YOUR Quite often the mental barriers to
business are you fed up about? solutions require mindset changes or

Sometimes it might be ev- decisions that we have trouble giving
ourselves permission to make, or they
erything or the very biggest things, but
at other times, it might simply be an require actions with the same barrier.
aspect of your business ... the tiniest of It isn’t that we don’t want to solve the
things. Even in those cases, the frustra- problem. Instead, it tends to be conlict
tion is just as strong. The only diference avoidance or a little dose of honesty with
is the concern you have about the out- that person we see in the mirror.
When I’m discussing these things
come and what’s at right.
VALLEY’S BEST
with business owners, they tell me I have
LIES AND COOKIES
such clarity and see through all the fog of
POWER So what do you do about it?
problems they’re dealing with.
Whenever I’m having a conversa- Really, though – I’m simply the only
tion with someone about this, I always person who isn’t telling them what they
HOUR
remember Jim Rohn’s Girl Scout cookie want to hear. Instead, I’m telling them
story.
what they need to hear. Sometimes it
seems as if I’m giving them permission,
4-6PM
Rohn answered the door one day
to ind a Girl Scout standing in front of even though I don’t have a skin in the
Drink & App for $10
him. She gave the perfect pitch and made game. All I’m doing is discussing the
the ask. Rohn told her that he’d already obstacle with them and at times, asking
4bought cookies from another scout and tough questions.
Wines by apologized.
Again, it isn’t that these folks don’t
The girl thanked him and moved on.
know what to do, but the mental - and
the Glass sometimes subconscious barriers - are
As Rohn shut the front door, he was
for $4 each
fed up. He had just lied to a Girl Scout be- often standing right in the middle of the
cause he didn’t have the $2 it took to buy path to solving the problem.
a box of cookies.
2 He was 25 and had a family. That he BREAKING BUSINESS
Fresh and had just lied over two bucks was a semi- FRUSTRATION BARRIERS
nal moment in his life. His frustration One exercise you might ind useful
Creative
with where business was taking him is to project the problem onto someone

Cocktails
couldn’t have been more clear.
else - someone you are sure is at least
as smart as you. This person would cer-
for $4 each
OBVIOUS? SURE. WHERE TO tainly make the right decision if the right
START? NOT SO.
information was placed in front of them.
6 While your everyday or even ran- If you put this person in that situ-
dom massive frustrations might pale in ation, try a few of these tactics to pry
Hand comparison to Rohn’s cookie situation, loose a solution:
it doesn’t mean they’re any less frustrat- • What would you say to this person?
Selected
ing.
• What questions would you ask?
Draft Beers
The problem that’s the source of • What’s the irst step you would sug-
business frustration tends to have an ob- gest for them?
for $4 each
vious solution. In my experience, most • What resources would you suggest
people have a decent idea what needs for them?
to be done. Some know *exactly* what I know. It seems like a stupid exer-
must be done.
cise. Yet that type of conversation is ex-

Yet these things often sit for days, actly how our conversations tend to go
weeks or months without action being when this clarity comes out to play.
taken.
After I’ve had these conversations
Sometimes, where to start or how with someone, I often suggest that they
to start is the toughest part to identify, try an exercise like this with themselves
even if the solution itself is obvious.
the next time they get stuck.
A frequent cause is that you’ve not Most people ind it useful, despite
given yourself permission to start solv- continuing to work with me. Some move

ing the problem because the mental/so- along with the process and use it quite
cial baggage seems to have a steep price.
efectively, and some pass it along to
their frustrated employees as a tactic to
PERMISSION? HOW SO?
address their own challenges.
The permission thing might seem If you use another tactic to break out
like an odd obstacle, but we’re strange of these situations, I’d love to hear about
creatures.
it.

139 1ST AVENUE WEST

KALISPELL
Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a business, operations or
755-4441
marketing problem? See Mark’s site, rescuemarketing.com, or contact him via email Expires 4/30/2014
at [email protected].

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