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Vinay Parmar - Speaker, Coach, Author

Fantatstic Tips on Career, Life and Business Development

Fantatstic Tips on Career, Life and Business Development

professional motivational speakers

Let’s Be Walking In Lads!

26th May 2015 by VParmar Leave a Comment

2015-05-22 10.59.03


Last week I was at Lord’s Cricket ground to watch England take on New Zealand.

It was the second day of a five day test match and things were hanging in the balance as the New Zealand team looked to be in moving into the ascendancy. Just then a chance came for a catch to one of the England fielders but it wasn’t taken and for the next few hours the England’s players watched while the batsman from New Zealand scored runs with relative ease.

It was at that moment that I remembered the voice of Jim Clarke, the ginger haired captain of Earlswood Cricket Club,  the team I played for as a teenager.

‘Hands out of your pockets lad and let’s be walking in’ he’d shout just before the bowler ran in to try and remove the opposition batsman.

[Read more…] about Let’s Be Walking In Lads!

Filed Under: Business, Leadership, Performance Improvement, Personal Development, personal growth Tagged With: Business Coaching Birmingham, Business Mentor Birmingham, Change, Cricket, improving results, inspirational business ideas, inspiring business people, life coach birmingham, professional motivational speakers, success, vinay parmar, vinspired

Mind The Gap – Finding Your Leverage

21st April 2015 by VParmar Leave a Comment

man standing on  rock

Recently I met with successful lady who has done very well in her career but is unhappy.

She talked about how she felt frustrated, undervalued and under-utilised by her company. She explained to me she was looking for a new challenge and I could see the pain in her eyes.

So I asked what she had done so far to make the change happen.

She told me that she hadn’t done a great deal other than put her CV out to a few people.

Now, from everything she said it would appear that she had the perfect motivation but yet she wasn’t taking enough action to change her situation.

She’s not alone.

Most of us at some point have had dreams of doing something different.

Maybe a change of job? A new career? Starting a business? Perhaps taking up a new activity in your spare time?

However often we fail to take quality of action we need to make things happen – why?

[Read more…] about Mind The Gap – Finding Your Leverage

Filed Under: Business, Personal Development Tagged With: Anxiety, Business Consultancy Birmingham, Business Mentor Birmingham, Business Success, Cartesian Coordinates, Change, Goals, inspirational business speaker, inspirational speaker, Leverage, life and business coaching, motivational coaching, motivational professional speaker, NLP, Personal growth, professional motivational speakers, self improvement, success, vinay parmar, vinspired

Could this be the modern day “Think and Grow Rich” ?

19th November 2014 by VParmar Leave a Comment

In 1937 Napoleon Hill published the book “Think And Grow Rich” which still to this day is changing the mindsets of people all over the world.

Napoleon Hill based his work on interviews with Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and other millionaires of his generation to uncover what they did and how they did it.

Fast forward to 2014 and we could be about to see the modern day equivalent.

Based on extensive research and one-on-one interviews with more than 50 of the most legendary financial experts in the world – from Carl Icahn, to Warren Buffett, to Jack Bogle and Steve Forbes, Tony Robbins is launching a new book titled “Money: Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps To Financial Freedom”

I came across a this video of Tony being interview by Frank Kern.

Yes! I am a Tony fan but this is not his usual kind of video. There is no fist pumping, no euphoric crowd and no sign of “Zombie Nation”

This is video is something very different. It’s 90 minutes long but well worth the watch.

In this compelling interview Tony talks in depth about the 7 key steps from his findings as well as sharing 4 traits that these successful financial experts have in common. He also gives a sneak peak at the 9 financial lies we are told which keep us from achieve financial freedom.

Enjoy.

Filed Under: Business, Personal Development Tagged With: “Money: Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps To Financial Freedom", “Think And Grow Rich”, Business Coaching Birmingham, Business Mentor Birmingham, Carl Icahn, Change, coaching, Financial freedom, Frank Kern, improving results, inspirational business ideas, inspirational speaker, inspiring business people, Jack Bogle, leadership motivational, motivational business speaker, motivational professional speaker, Motivational speaker birmingham, Motivational Speaker midlands, Personal growth, professional motivational speakers, success, Tony Robbins, vinay parmar, vinspired, Warren Buffett

What makes a strong leader?

6th October 2014 by VParmar Leave a Comment

Last week I was invited to share my thoughts with Danny Kelly on BBC Radio WM about leadership following a YouGov survey which revealed that 59% of respondents felt that Ed Miliband appeared ‘weak.’

I shared 3 key attributes which I feel are key attributes of great leaders : 1) The ability to engage, 2) having a commanding physiology and 3) being prepared to be vulnerable.

You can listen to the whole interview (8 mins) below.

There are other traits which I believe make a strong leader and add to what I said in the interview.

I’m taken back to a book I read many years ago that had a profound effect on me and shaped the way I developed as a leader.

Leadership

Steven R. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has been a permanent fixture in my book collection for many years. Below I have outlined my adaptation of five of his key principles that I believe translate into practical behaviours for strong leaders.

#1. Be Proactive. 

The strong leader is always on the front foot understanding that they cannot control everything around them. They know that they are not defined by their circumstances or conditions but rather they are defined by how they respond in situations.

The weak leader is caught on the back foot. They believe that they are helpless, a victim of circumstance and that the solution to the problem always lies with someone or something else.

For example,  imagine the performance of a team is suffering.  The strong leader will look at themselves first and ask “what is it that I could do differently to help improve the situation?”  They will step forward, accept responsibility and become part of the solution.

The weak leader will see the problem elsewhere and seek to apportion blame, declaring that it is others that need to change in order to improve things. They will step back, absolve themselves from any responsibility and believe that the solution exists outside of themselves.

#2. Begin with the end in mind. 

The strong leader has a clear vision and makes daily decisions consistent with travelling in that direction.

The weak leader’s decision making is moment to moment. They are a random collection of choices that may or may not help achieve what they want.

The strong leader knows that establishing the end game first is critical to overall success. They understand that if they know where they want to be, then they can make better choices day to day moving towards what they want rather than away from it.

For example, imagine you are leading within an organisation and are asked to identify cost savings. It would be easy to look down your departmental budget and pick out the big numbers to slash. This might win you some ground in the short term but what if those things that were cut are crucial to the long term success of your business? What if the very things that win you points now are the cause of your demise later?

#3. Put first things first. 

Strong leaders focus on the ‘must’ do tasks whereas weak leaders focus on the ‘nice to do’ things.

Where as begin with the end in mind was about the mental preparation and creation, putting first things first is about the physical creation.

In a constantly ‘on’ world you can easily find yourself being busy doing things all day, but are they the right things? Are they the most urgent or important? Or are you doing them because you like to do them?

Take email as an example. Do you respond to every message pretty much as soon as it  comes in? Does the ‘ding’ of email arriving suddenly jolt you into action?

Of course there are urgent emails and messages which need an instant reply and I bet if you really think about it there are very few that actually need that level of immediate response in reality.

What are big important things you should be doing instead? The things which will move you closer to your objective?

If you don’t have a clear end game then how can you know what is and what isn’t urgent?

 #4. Seek fist to understand and then to be understood. 

The strong leader listens…really listens, the weak leader simply hears what is being said.

Most people think they are good listeners but in reality they can still be much better.

In words of William Stringfellow –

“Listening is a rare happening among human beings. You cannot listen to the word another is speaking if you are preoccupied with your own appearance or impressing another, or trying to decide what you are going to say when the other person stops speaking” 

When weak leaders listen, they cannot wait for their turn to speak. They are eager to get their views across and say things like “I understand where you are coming from but…” or “I agree with that but…”

Strong Leaders hold the intention to fully understand before they respond. They are totally present in the conversation and have no compulsion to jump in a share their view. Their purpose is not to agree or disagree, but understand fully the other point of view before deciding how they respond.

#5. Sharpen the saw.

Strong leaders are consistent practitioners, weak leaders are dabblers in what is flavour of the month.

If you took an inventory of all of the things you know, all the knowledge you’ve gained from courses and books how long would the list be? If you were then asked exactly how much of it you consistently practice, how much shorter would your list be?

The strong leader knows that practice is a constant discipline which enables your skills to remain sharp and effective. If Tiger Woods, Roger Federer or Michael Jordan only practised their skills during game time, they wouldn’t have been half as good as they were. The investment in constant practice is what helped them to step up their performance in live situations.

Similarly, if you only practice listening in a conflict situation are you really going to be an effective listener? If you only put first things first on occasion how can you expect you plans to work?

The full 7 habits are a great simple set of principles of life and business but the biggest lesson I learned about strong leadership is this….

Strong leaders do not wait for permission, need titles or require followers. Strong leaders lead themselves first knowing that it is their actions which will inspire others to follow them.

What do you think makes a strong leader? Please leave comments below.

If you need help with becoming a stronger leader or developing the leadership skills of your people then check out Vinspired Coaching or give me a call.

Filed Under: Change, Leadership Tagged With: careers coaching, coaching for business, coaching in business, coaching to success, inspirational business ideas, inspirational business speaker, inspiring business people, leadership motivational, leadership of a company, life and business coaching, life coaching uk, life success coaching, motivational coaching, motivational leadership speakers, motivational professional speaker, motivational speaking companies, personal development coach, personal life coaching, professional motivational speaker, professional motivational speakers, small business coaching

You can’t see the whole picture when you are inside the frame!

26th September 2014 by VParmar 1 Comment

No matter how intelligent, resourceful or confident you are, there will come a point in your life, business or career when you are simply stumped by a problem.

The harder you try the more frustrated you get and the further away you seem from a solution.

The thing is often we focus so much on the problem,  that we fail to see the solution.

I saw a great quote from Les Brown which I think sums up this conundrum well  – “You can’t see the whole picture when you inside the frame!”

Here is a quick video of me explaining how that all hangs together.

If you’ve enjoyed this video blog please leave your comments or share with others!

I love answering questions and providing coaching for business and life success.

So if you have something you would like my view on then drop line or comment with your question below.

Filed Under: Change, Personal Development Tagged With: careers coaching, coaching for business, coaching in business, coaching to success, inspirational business ideas, inspirational business speaker, inspiring business people, leadership motivational, leadership of a company, life and business coaching, life coaching uk, life success coaching, motivational coaching, motivational leadership speakers, motivational professional speaker, motivational speaking companies, personal development coach, personal life coaching, professional motivational speaker, professional motivational speakers, small business coaching

This one is personal.

4th September 2014 by VParmar 2 Comments

When was the last time you stepped outside your comfort zone?

When you really decided to push your boundaries?

How did it feel?

My 4 year old started school today after 3 years in familiar surroundings, people and routines to step into a totally new environment.

Most adults I know would struggle with that kind of change.

Whenever we face a change in life or business most often it fills our heads with fears and reasons not to step over that threshold.

In stark contrast my daughter was full of beans. She was excited at the prospect of a new adventure and then it reminded me of that child like curiosity that makes them so adaptable.

Watch the video above for the full breakdown.

Filed Under: Change, Personal Development Tagged With: Business Coaching Birmingham, Business Consultancy Birmingham, Business Performance Improvement, Business Success, careers coaching, Change, coaching, coaching for business, coaching in business, coaching to success, Good to great, improving results, inspirational business ideas, inspirational business speaker, inspired, inspiring business people, leadership motivational, leadership of a company, life and business coaching, life coach birmingham, life coaching uk, life success coaching, motivational coaching, motivational leadership speakers, motivational professional speaker, motivational speaking companies, personal development coach, Personal growth, personal life coaching, professional motivational speaker, professional motivational speakers, small business coaching, vinay parmar

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