This week on our group coaching call, one of my clients asked the question: 

"I'm going into a meeting with a client this afternoon and I know he is going to ask me to cut my fees - what should I do?".....

.....who else has been in a similar situation here?? 

Off the back of this question, we had a great discussion with the whole coaching group as this is an incredibly common occurrence in our industry. 

Everyone left the call with a lot to think about!

Here is a summary of the main issues with you cutting your fees:

1) Lost Opportunity Cost

Before you agree to drop your fees or your project costs and do the project for love and no profit margin at all.....

Ask yourself - "What’s my lost opportunity cost here?"

Meaning, if I say yes and do this project for cheap and take up my time and my teams time on a project that's not going to make any money at all - what else could I or my team be working on that could actually make more money or create a better opportunity? 

Ask yourse...

Do you feel like you are constantly missing the mark with your clients? 

Do you always feel on the back foot even when you think you've done a good job? 

In today's video I would like to walk you through the concept of expectation vs. reality. 

Today I want help you address this issue and help you turn your clients into raving fans of you, your team and your business! 

Click Here  to watch now.

Josh ‘Expectation vs Reality’ Stone

PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now:

1. Join the Leaders In Engineering community designed specifically for engineering leaders and business owners
   It’s our new Facebook community where engineering leaders and business owners are learning the strategies and leadership skills to step up and thrive right now – Click Here to join

2. Download our FREE PDF guide – “How To Build A High Performing & Highly Profitable Engineering Team”
   Learn the skills to get the most out of the people around you. Build a high performing engineerin
...

For most in the engineering and construction industry at the moment - things are hectic!

There is plenty of work on and the biggest issues at the moment are workload, resourcing and keeping up with clients and how fast they want to go right now.

A big frustration for most at the moment is managing their clients, dealing with tight deadlines and juggling the constant workload issues (as well as the team overwhelm and burnout that comes with this). 

Today I want to explore with you 2 areas that can make a massive difference to these very real issues you are facing at the moment.

1) Deeply Understand Your Clients World 

A lot of client related issues stem from not taking the time to deeply understand your clients world. 

Slow down and take the time to talk to them and understand what their drivers are. 

Who do they report to?

What are the issues and pressures they are facing at the moment? 

How could you make their lives easier through a tweaking of your delivery program on their...

Do you constantly get to the end of each day or week feeling tired, burnt out, flat, unmotivated and like you’ve got no energy left to give to the other parts of your life? 

If yes – then this is a really good indication that the achiever part of your personality is running you into the ground. 

In today’s video we explore this part of your personality from both viewpoints – both functional and dysfunctional. 

You need this part of your personality to be on fire - keeping you accountable, ensuring that you’re ticking things off your to-do list and keeping things moving forward if you’re going to be successful at leading and growing your team and your business. 

However, if you let this part of your personality run your days, your weeks and your life in general – then you’re in trouble…..as this can lead to burn out, overwhelm and a complete imbalance with the other (just as important) parts of your life. 

If you want to learn more on this topic, follow the link below to watch the ...

In this week’s group coaching calls for members of my 10 week and Boardroom programs - we explored the traits of the people pleasing part of your personality. 

We explored as a group the benefits as well as the limitations of this part of your personality. 

It was a really interactive session and this is honestly one of the main parts of your personality that I see in my coaching work that leads to burn out, overwhelm and not enjoying the work you do.

Some of the benefits we explored of the people pleasing part of your personality:

• Allows you to be genuine and approachable.
• Ensures you do great work for your clients.
• Helps your team and your clients to like you and enjoy doing business with you.
• Helps you develop rapport and great relationships with those around you.
• Ensures good repeat business from your existing clients.

PS - mind blown moment!! We also explored how this part of your personality can help you be incredible at marketing, sales and BD as it helps potential ...

Leadership is a particularly interesting topic.

Most of the leaders and business owners I work with really want to be better leaders. 

They want to inspire the team of people around them.

They want to be able to lead with confidence. 

They want the skills to be able to go into any situation and know they will get a good outcome.

A lot of leaders and business owners I work with also really feel like they have to completely overhaul and fundamentally change who they are to be exceptional leaders. 

This is simply not true. 

Everyone has the ability to be a great leader and you don't necessarily need the job title or status or to be in charge of a team of people to turn up every day and to lead with confidence and authenticity. 

There are two areas I want to explore with you today that will allow you to dramatically improve your leadership skills. 

1) Be Humble 

People naturally gravitate to and respect leaders who are humble. 

Be willing to admit when you don't know something. ...

How do you want this year to play out for you, your team and your business? 

Who do you want to become this year?

When you get to the end of this year and look back – what will you have achieved? How will you have achieved it? Will you be proud of the person you have become? 

Last year had us all playing defensively. 

We have an incredible opportunity now at the start of a new year to get on the front foot and play offensively.

In today’s video I walk you through how to put solid strategies in place for how you can grow yourself, your team and your business this year. 

I want you looking back on 2021 and the things that you have done and achieved with pride, joy, contentment and a real sense of satisfaction. 

If you want to learn more on this topic, follow the link below to watch the video.

Click Here  to watch now.

Josh ‘Front Foot’ Stone

PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now:

1. Join the Leaders In Engineering community designed specifically for...

Happy New Year!! Wishing you and your family an incredible 2021!! 

If you’re like most people – you’re eager and excited to get stuck into the new year. You’ve left last year behind you, you’ve had a relaxing break, you’ve done your goal setting for the year and your raring to go! 

But goal setting is only the first part of the equation if you want to succeed this year.

By the time February comes around, most people have forgotten about their goals and are back to old patterns, old values and old ways of thinking, operating and behaving. 

In today’s video I walk you through a really simple concept and process called ‘6 Week Sprints’ that ensures you are consistently taking meaningful action towards your goals and your vision and ensures that you are incredibly intentional about the results you want to create in 2021. 

If you want to learn more on this topic, follow the link below to watch the video. 

Click Here  to watch now. 

Josh ‘6 Week Sprints’ Stone

PS: If you’re intereste...

Are you a perfectionist? Do you have perfectionist traits? 

Engineers by nature have a deep desire to get things 100% correct and perfect. And don't get me wrong, this personality trait is completely functional and needed when it comes to de-risking a project, system or process. In fact the general population who use or are affected by the things you design and create WANT you to use your perfectionist so that nothing goes wrong! 

However, sometimes this perfectionist trait can cause friction within yourself as well as your clients and your team. 

Let me explain. 

Have you ever had a client call you up and ask you to get your deliverables done more quickly? Or a client bring forward a project deadline by a week just because they can? Have you ever had a team member get frustrated with you that you're taking too long on the element that you're working on and it's delaying them getting started?

And when this happened, did you FEEL yourself getting frustrated, overwhelmed and maybe e...

Well here we go - we're into the run into Christmas! What a year!

What I notice at this time of the year is that leaders and business owners start to get complacent and take their foot off the pedal. 

It’s been a hard and full on year - I know. But if you want to finish this year strong AND set the start of your 2021 up right - then you have to keep going. 

This is where consistency matters. 

It’s the little things you do every day that really matter and allow you to build momentum - and momentum generates results!

Watch and listen for those little voices in your head that tell you things like:

• It's been a hard year - just take the rest of the year slowly.
• Don't worry about following up that client / proposal / opportunity - leave it until the new year.
• I can't be bothered having that hard conversation with a team member or client - I'm tired and don't want the angst. 

Use your calendar to your advantage here. This way you are physically creating the time and the space in ...