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Monday, April 5, 2010


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Luxury Camping ("glamping") and Couples Retreats now at the Danglin' B Ranch



You asked, we listened. Now you can bring your partner, group of friends or family up to the ranch for a rustic cowboy weekend. But this isn't just any cowboy camp experience. We've amped our ranch up to include:

*Couples/individual massage
*600 thread-count sheets
*Fine, upscale cowboy dining facilities
*Horseback riding
*Private yurt/cabin accommodations
*ATV'S
*Morning mountainside yoga
*Paintball activities
*Projector screen for movies and entertainment
*Country swing dancing (with lessons)
* Whatever kind of weekend you want, just make the request while booking and we'll make sure it's available to you.

Couples Weekends also include a powerful relationship workshop designed to bring you and your sweetheart closer together. It's the perfect place to reconnect and revive that spark in the beautiful mountains of Utah.

Our season starts this year on May 1st.

BOOK NOW!

Hurry and book your weekend today. Space is limited and accommodations will be filling up fast.

Email
info @ cowboyleaders dot com
Or call 801-885-3410 to book

Work-life balance means productivity. Here's why.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Find it hard to put down your smartphone, constantly on your laptop or checking for new email? Consider this - A healthy work-life balance can actually make you and your team more productive in business.

Cisco recently did a study to find that increasing their work-life balance features for employees earned them an extra $277 million this last year.

Here are five ways you can get a handle on your personal work-life balance:

1. Plan, plan and plan again.
A) The first plan is monthly. Near the end of every month, list three personal and three professional goals you want to accomplish for the next month.
B) The second plan is weekly. Take 10 minutes on the weekend to plan your next week's meetings, appointments, family commitments, etc. (and don't forget to PLAN in some family and recreation time).
C) The last plan is daily. Spend 20 minutes at the end of the day listing your personal and professional goals for the next day. Planning will keep you focus upon your priorities.

2. Don't skip lunch. Take a 30 min. break in the middle of your day to spin down and get ready to finish the day strong. Skipping lunch or working through it will zap energy from you.

3. Delegate! You don't have to do it all. In fact, the people you work with may enjoy some extra work and responsibility. Show me a manager that has poor work-life balance and I will show you a support staff that is bored and underworked.

4. Share your schedule with those important to you and ask them for help to keep you on track.

5. Make living a complete life your goal. A life that is without balance is a life on the edge of failure. You are not the kind of person who likes to fail or you would not be out of balance in the first place. You just need to put balance on your "to-do" list.

"Spend more time with people over seventy and under seven". - John Maxwell


Enjoy the Holidays!
Fritz Black
Cowboy Leaders
http://www.cowboyleaders.com


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How to keep productivity up during the Holidays - 4 easy tricks to do with your team

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The holiday season is upon us. Time to enjoy family and friends and the joy of the season. But you may have noticed your team is slacking on work. That's not good for your bottom line.

According to OSHA, the highest percentage of accidents for any one month occurs in the month of December - every year! It's easy to understand why. So much shopping to do, events and parties to attend, and then there is the problem of paying for all of this in today's economic situation. Here are four things you can do to keep your organization running smooth:

1. Be flexible with hours. If someone needs to leave early, come in late, or leave for two hours at lunch. Do all that you can to accommodate them.

2. Turn on your radar. Watch for signs of stress and tension in your people. Pull them aside and listen to them.

3. Start every day with a quick three minute meeting to ask people to
focus on safety and quality.
This may also be a good time and venue to share the holiday cards your company gets with the people who really drive your company.

4. Focus! You set the tone for the people around you. If you talk about the importance of the work instead of your next party, the people around you will see where your priorities are and respond.

Have a safe and productive holiday season,
Fritz Black
Cowboy Leaders
http://www.cowboyleaders.com

Keep up productivity in our management retreat and training courses



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Don't they care about their job? 5 ways to motivate a slacker at work

Wednesday, November 11, 2009




Say you've just filled an important job opening with the best candidate you could find. They gave a great interview, had a superb resume and came to you highly recommended. But then they start the job. This person shows up late, misses meetings, does not dress appropriately for the workplace and quite honestly seems lazy.

Your first impulse may be to let them go. Don't. This slacker might be just as good as their resume says they are if you do your job correctly. That's right; the problem just might be you!

Here's what to do with new hires to make sure you get the most out of them on the job:

1. Clearly define the role this person will fill on your team. Be specific about the hours, the dress code and your expectations.

2. Have an open conversation about how this person thinks they can become an important part of your team.

3. Assign them a mentor who is successfully working in a similar role.

4. Check in with them often for the first few weeks to see if they have questions.

5. Give up ground. Even though you think you have it all figured out, ask for and accept new ideas from the new person. After all, if you want to improve, you have to change. What better way to change than to get some perspective from your newest team member?



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What a successful business leader knows (and you might not) - 7 things to do now

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Leadership, leadership training, train leaders, leadership management training, leader, leader consultation, become a better leader, management training, management retention, train employees, develop people skills, develop leadership skills
Recent polls show a disconnect between managers and employee recognition. A whopping 65% of employees will be searching for new employment in the next year because of it. Before you throw up your hands and just write those talented people off there are a few things you can do. Here are seven skills you can learn and perfect to help you become a more effective leader.

1. Listening - You must constantly work on your listening skills. My grandfather used to tell me, "Son, you have two ears but only one mouth and your ears weren't made to close." You can become a better listener, but you first have to care about those you are listening to.

2. Service - Service to a purpose greater than your own satisfaction is the key to creating the skills needed to be a person others want to follow. To serve people, you must know what is important to them. To know this,... see #1

3. Passion - Passion changes the game. Find a reason to care. Make a difference in people's lives by showing them your commitment to them. Be passionate about seeing your people succeed. It is very hard to be passionate about organizational goals without looking like people are second to the goals. Be passionate about your people and they will achieve more than you ever thought was possible.

4. Responsibility - If passion is the gas that fuels the fire, then responsibility is the oxygen that lets it breathe and burn hotter. You can learn to be more responsible by serving your people and being specific about it. (I will teach you how to understand the shipping budget by spending one hour with you every Thursday at 8am to go over our shipping costs and needs). Then follow through!

5. Trust - The best way to gain the trust of others is to give trust freely and then communicate with people when they do things to hurt that trust. Open lines of communication foster trust.

6. Communication - There are two sides to this coin. Expressing your thoughts, feelings, etc. to others and then listening to see if your message is received and understood. Communication is a circle that begins with your message; it runs through the person receiving the message and should be returned to you for accuracy. Sloppy communication skills account for most of the errors, misunderstandings, and bad relationships we see in our lives.

7. Consistency - In order to be trusted, one must be consistent. When you consistently show others who you are and what is important to you, they see your integrity. Here is my formula for being consistent:

Our thoughts become our decisions.
Our decisions become our actions.
Our actions reveal our true character.
Thus; our thoughts shape our lives.

Surround yourself with people who share your goals. Read things that inspire you. Spend time thinking about what is truly important to you. Think - decide - act. Consistent thoughts on what you want out of life will create consistency.

Take a business leadership course and see the difference it makes in your company. It will dramatically change the way you do business for the better, guaranteed!

Just call to schedule at 801-885-3410
Email: info@cowboyleaders.com
Website: http://www.cowboyleaders.com

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Utah BusinessQ Fall Issue

Monday, September 28, 2009


See Fritz in action at the round table discussion for the fall issue of Utah BusinessQ magazine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2v9Cc7B02s

While you're at it, look inside to see the article on page 70 about the editor's experience at Cowboy Leaders and read all of Fritz's comments in the Round Table on pages 38 to 45.

http://www.utahvalleybusinessq.com/fall2009/index.html

Now make the call to book your time at Cowboy Leaders for next spring!

See you there,
Max