An exciting year is under way in Carlsbad! I am very much looking forward to the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce's Annual Business Awards Dinner Feb. 22 at the Four Seasons Resort Aviara, and I look forward to seeing many of our members and volunteers there.
For those of you who missed the January First Friday Breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn in Carlsbad, you missed a great opportunity, and I recommend that you attend First Fridays from now on. The speaker was Doug Walker, management coach, speaker and author of “A-Ha! Performance: Building and Managing a Self-Motivated Workforce.” Walker outlined a great tool for setting success goals and reaching them by analyzing the steps you need to take to get there.
One of the concepts he introduced is fairly simple, but it got me thinking about my own clients. He pointed out that a problem is often the flip side of an opportunity. Like many truths we don't stop to think about, this one rang a bell for me.
I routinely get calls from clients with employee problems, but until I heard Walker's talk, it hadn't occurred to me to point out to my clients that these situations are usually opportunities to improve their practices and their chances for long-term success. On the other hand, imagining the conversation makes me hesitate just a bit. Me: “Yes, I know she's threatening to sue you for sexual harassment, but try to see it as an opportunity to learn…” Client on the phone: “click…”
But isn't it true? Every challenge is an opportunity to learn to do things better. Would any of us improve if we never had a problem? Of course, it's no fun to face big problems, and when one comes up, welcoming the learning opportunity is not the first thing that comes to my mind. But I would encourage any business owner to take a deep breath when that problem rears its ugly head, and remember the rules:
• What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
• Most business problems won't kill us.
We can all name a number of problems facing our businesses, but lets look at one of the biggest, climate change. It's a worldwide issue with real local impact. From carbon footprints and clean water rules to weather changes and rising sea levels, this global phenomenon, regardless of what caused it, is going to impact Carlsbad, its businesses and all of us who live in this region.
But this same huge problem also presents opportunities for Carlsbad and its businesses. You already know about Poseidon Resources and the desalination plant the company will soon start building here. You may also know that its “green” design is state-of-the-art and will include measures both on and off site to aid the environment. But did you know that another Carlsbad company is building the Aptera?, a vehicle it says will get 300 miles on a gallon of gas (www.aptera.com). Many other businesses are working on similar innovations in various industries; some of them are in Carlsbad and others are growing steadily here and nearby.
The Carlsbad Chamber is committed to encouraging sustainable lifestyles and business practices. For that reason, we've started a “Green Business” task force, under the leadership of two former chairmen of the chamber's board, Gary Hill and Paul Thompson. Its purpose is to identify opportunities for the chamber to encourage businesses and business practices that support a sustainable environment.
Because our economy, with its dependence on tourism, property values and the desire to live and work here, depends so much on environmental health, the “green” of sustainability is equivalent in Carlsbad to the “green” of monetary success. I encourage all of our members to get involved.
For those of you who missed the January First Friday Breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn in Carlsbad, you missed a great opportunity, and I recommend that you attend First Fridays from now on. The speaker was Doug Walker, management coach, speaker and author of “A-Ha! Performance: Building and Managing a Self-Motivated Workforce.” Walker outlined a great tool for setting success goals and reaching them by analyzing the steps you need to take to get there.
One of the concepts he introduced is fairly simple, but it got me thinking about my own clients. He pointed out that a problem is often the flip side of an opportunity. Like many truths we don't stop to think about, this one rang a bell for me.
I routinely get calls from clients with employee problems, but until I heard Walker's talk, it hadn't occurred to me to point out to my clients that these situations are usually opportunities to improve their practices and their chances for long-term success. On the other hand, imagining the conversation makes me hesitate just a bit. Me: “Yes, I know she's threatening to sue you for sexual harassment, but try to see it as an opportunity to learn…” Client on the phone: “click…”
But isn't it true? Every challenge is an opportunity to learn to do things better. Would any of us improve if we never had a problem? Of course, it's no fun to face big problems, and when one comes up, welcoming the learning opportunity is not the first thing that comes to my mind. But I would encourage any business owner to take a deep breath when that problem rears its ugly head, and remember the rules:
• What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
• Most business problems won't kill us.
We can all name a number of problems facing our businesses, but lets look at one of the biggest, climate change. It's a worldwide issue with real local impact. From carbon footprints and clean water rules to weather changes and rising sea levels, this global phenomenon, regardless of what caused it, is going to impact Carlsbad, its businesses and all of us who live in this region.
But this same huge problem also presents opportunities for Carlsbad and its businesses. You already know about Poseidon Resources and the desalination plant the company will soon start building here. You may also know that its “green” design is state-of-the-art and will include measures both on and off site to aid the environment. But did you know that another Carlsbad company is building the Aptera?, a vehicle it says will get 300 miles on a gallon of gas (www.aptera.com). Many other businesses are working on similar innovations in various industries; some of them are in Carlsbad and others are growing steadily here and nearby.
The Carlsbad Chamber is committed to encouraging sustainable lifestyles and business practices. For that reason, we've started a “Green Business” task force, under the leadership of two former chairmen of the chamber's board, Gary Hill and Paul Thompson. Its purpose is to identify opportunities for the chamber to encourage businesses and business practices that support a sustainable environment.
Because our economy, with its dependence on tourism, property values and the desire to live and work here, depends so much on environmental health, the “green” of sustainability is equivalent in Carlsbad to the “green” of monetary success. I encourage all of our members to get involved.