By Deseri Garcia   Executive & Personal Coach/Leadership Developer/Team Builder

If you want cohesive (and successful) teamwork, you’re going to need effective communication. Here’s what that means.
For better or worse, most of us can remember those days of “picking teams.” Whether it was on the playground or in gym class, the fine art of choosing just the right players in order to win a competition has been practiced for centuries. 
But it’s a whole different situation when you’re a grownup. It’s not just about athletic ability or popularity. It’s about appreciating strengths, working for common goals, and so much more. But one of the things that you absolutely must have for any team to be successful is cohesion. So the question is: how do you get there?
Begin With the EndThe first thing every individual on your team must have is a clear vision of the finish line: what are your goals and what are you trying to achieve? Looking for some ways to get started? Check out options here. Having clarity of purpose provides the drive, stamina, purpose and direction for individual team members.
And while there are numerous characteristics of successful teams that I’ve explored in other posts, one of the most important factors for having cohesive teams is communication, plain and simple.
Keys to Effective Team CommunicationWhile effective communication is important in all aspects of your life, there are specific keys to cohesive teams that can make the difference between team wins or losses.
Welcome the ‘I.’ While the popular phrase, “There is no ‘I’ in team,” is the common perspective, there is great value in the opposite. If everyone on the team feels a direct ownership to meeting the results of the team, there’s nothing that they cannot accomplish. Through their own actions and words, each person has an opportunity to demonstrate that they are 100% committed – that they’ll do whatever it takes.
And on an even deeper level, each person needs to understand themselves and know how to get the spiritual, physical and intellectual sides of their personality in alignment.
But stress the ‘We.’ Ultimately, ‘We’ should be the dominant language of the team. When ‘I’ is overused, or when credit or recognition is given to individuals instead of the group as a whole, it greatly undermines the collective mission.
When each member of the team understands who they are and that we are all connected, everyone works in harmony. Instead of competing with one another or wanting to get credit, team members genuinely support each other and remain focused on a common goal.
Cultivate trust. Individuals must have the willingness to be real, raw and vulnerable. This means they must feel safe to admit when they need help or are confused about a task or project. Individuals must be willing to reach out and up for help.
Insist on Authenticity. Team leaders and members must be real and engage authentically. This means that egos are left at the door.
Listen to understand. We all have a great desire to be understood. When we can listen from an open, curious and ego-free perspective (and resist the urge to respond to every single thing), we draw out the best that can be revealed for the team. Being open to how others see things – and truly gaining an understanding – can bring out the best in everyone.
Feel the conflict. When individuals open up, trust and express themselves, at some point there will be conflict. So teams must learn to be comfortable with the feeling of conflict, and saying what they have to say anyway. That’s why having healthy guidelines and boundaries in place to deal with conflict is so important. Because ultimately, when conflict is seen as a healthy part of the process, members can move past it, knowing that at the end of the day relationships will still be strong.
Have fun. Humor, fun and play are essential components of effective communication. So always remember to embrace and promote fun, remembering to not exclude others (no inside jokes). Don’t take yourself too seriously, and welcome levity and opportunities to lighten the mood.

By: Robert Herjavec   Founder of Herjavec Group | Shark on ABC's Shark Tank
Most people don’t realize how important selling is—unless your paycheck depends on it! Every time I mention selling, I always hear, “It’s not for me”, “You have to have knack for sales”, or “I just can’t do sales” - but this can’t be farther from the truth. 
Salespeople aren’t the only ones selling something. In my latest book, You Don’t Have to Be a Shark, the premise is simple: great salespeople are made, not born, and no one achieves success in life without knowing how to sell. Think of the last time you convinced your kids to finish their vegetables or convinced your parents to let you borrow the car for the weekend - believe or not, you’re selling something! On Shark Tank, entrepreneurs have to sell themselves just as much as their business because we invest in them. 
Regardless of what you’re selling, it’s easier than most people think. Just keep the following 5 tips in mind…
The first thing you’re selling is yourself.Forget about the product or service. If whoever you’re selling to doesn’t like you, they’re not going to listen to you. Make sure you know the product and present yourself well. Be the salesperson you’d buy something from. 
Listen more than you talk.Bad salespeople can’t get over how amazing their product is—they go on and on about it! But good salespeople listen to what their clients are saying. They pay attention to the clients’ needs from the start and present accordingly. 
Know who to sell to.If you’re selling a widget that costs $50K, don’t try to sell it to the guy whose widget budget is $2k. A common mistake salespeople make is trying to sell to anyone and everyone. Make sure whatever you’re selling fulfills your potential client’s needs and is realistic for them. You’re much likely to get that sale! 
Understand what motivates the other side.Why should people care about what you’re selling? How is your product or service providing value to them? Pay attention to what’s driving your potential client to take your meeting in the first place and address that in your pitch. 
Keep it simple.Don’t overcomplicate your pitch just because you want to sound more knowledgeable. The mark of true knowledge in anything is how well you can explain to the average person. Keep your pitch simple and under 30 seconds—practice your elevator pitch! 
The key to selling successfully is to think about the person you’re selling to. Make your approach about their needs and think about how they’ll feel after the pitch/meeting. There is no such thing as a ‘natural-born salesperson’. Take it from me - anyone can learn to be good at sales, including you!
To your success,
RH

By Tanaaz
     Creator of Forever Conscious and other things.

Growing up I had a good friend with an eating disorder. Her obsession with her body and weight however, never really crossed my mind as being an issue.
In fact, it is only even looking back now that I would say she had an eating disorder, at the time it just seemed ‘normal’.
Unfortunately, this mindset is still rampant today and it is almost commonplace to be obsessed about your weight, or to talk negatively about your weight or the weight of other people.
As the calendar clicked over into 2017, millions of people in America and around the world started a new years resolution of losing weight.
While I think it is great to focus on the health and well being of your body, there is definitely an obsessive nature to weight loss that is extremely prevalent in society which fuels this- “You are not good enough” belief that is constantly rammed down our throats.
Loving your body and knowing that you are enough exactly as you are is definitely, 100% the ultimate cure for any weight loss problems you are having.
If you are looking to lose weight you first have to start with this and also explore the spiritual and energetic perspective.
An Energetic Perspective on Fat Fat is energy, so if you have been storing some energy in a particular area of your body, it could be a sign that there is something deeper going on.
Our bodies are not designed to overeat or crave things that do us harm. Our bodies are not designed to crave lots of sugar or foods that are unnatural or laden with toxins, artificial colourings, preservatives and so on.
When this happens, it is a sign that there is a greater imbalance. This imbalance is most likely on a deeper emotional or energetic level that perhaps may be difficult to uncover without self awareness.
Fat holds energy; in ancient manifestation rituals, different oils were used as a way to hold onto intentions and manifest things. This is because fat has a way of retaining things and carrying thoughts and ideas.
When fat builds up in the body, it can indicate holding onto things, retaining things or a fear of letting go. Fat is also extremely protective, so a build up of fat could also indicate a need to protect oneself or hide oneself from the world.
Fat can also indicate part of your purpose. In fact many healers and “space holders” need more weight as they are in charge of holding space for other people.
Some of the greatest space holders in the world that I know are completely healthy, but they carry around what society deems is “excess” weight.
Who is to say what is excess and what is not? We cannot take a “one size fits all” approach to our bodies or our health. All we can do is follow what feels like the best and healthiest decision for us.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, and to really journey into the health and well being of your body, you have to understand it from a spiritual, energetic and emotional point of view as well.
You have to be willing to travel deeper and understand the energy or feeling that is behind it.
For true wellness to occur, you have to take a mind-body-spirit approach. Anything else is incomplete and true healing cannot occur.
I hope one day that we can all live in a world when the first thing we do when we get a physical ailment is to tune into our bodies and ask- what is my body trying to show or teach me?
This is an extremely powerful question to ask and will help you to travel into the energetic disturbance that is causing your body to be out of alignment in the first place.
Learning to Love Your Body Your body is an amazing, incredible, awesome creation. Even at this very second, your body is going through millions of tiny processes and completing millions of tiny tasks all to keep you alive and well.

Every cell in your body is there to serve you, so by loving every cell and championing each and every one along, it can do wonders for your health and wellbeing.
When it comes to fat, every body is different and every body has the perfect amount of fat stores it needs to fulfil its purpose. Some people naturally hold more fat and that is ok, and some people are naturally very thin and that is ok too.
It is simply about allowing your body to be the weight that it needs to be.
When you are completely in balance in your life, your weight shifts to the optimum level for you. The level that feels right not from a societal or obsessive point of view, but the weight that feels the best to your soul.
This is why many people have a hard time shifting past or below a certain number on the scale. Some people are just designed to carry more weight than others and this is ok, as long as you are in alignment.
Getting into Alignment Being in alignment is about truly loving your body from the inside out.
When I first started on my spiritual journey I started taking a Pilates class that ended in a guided meditation. This was the first time I had ever meditated or been exposed to this type of practice.
I remember after my first class, I felt like I was floating on air. I literally felt an incredible force awaken inside my body and the feeling was – “I love you so much I never want to harm you ever again.”
Of course, it took a few months, if not years of getting this message in order to put it into real practice, but when I felt the true essence and energy of my body, there was no way I could ever harm it again.
My body was my temple, and I felt that on the deepest of levels.
Shortly into my spiritual awakening process I also adopted a vegetarian diet and started eating organic foods. I shifted my diet completely to foods that felt energetically good and aligned with who I was.
There is no one diet to fit all people. Instead, you have to get in touch with your body and work out what foods FEEL the best to your body.
Eating with LoveThere is no such thing as food that is “naughty” or “cheat foods”, there is just food that is in alignment with you, and food that is not in alignment with you.
You don’t need to judge what foods you eat or other people eat, all you need to do is follow what feels best to you and what feels right to your body.
When you love yourself and align with yourself on an emotional and spiritual level, it allows you to eat the diet that is perfect for you and your body.
It also allows you to eat when you are genuinely feeling hungry and to stop when you are genuinely feeling full.
You don’t have to eat just because its lunchtime, and you don’t just have to eat cereal in the morning because it is a breakfast food.
All you need to do is listen to your body and eat things that make you feel good and vibrant and alive.
No matter the calorie count, when you eat real food that is prepared with love and when you eat it with love, not guilt or with the idea that is ‘bad’, that food will nourish and protect you in return.
Loving Yourself is Always the AnswerLoving yourself more is the answer to every problem out there.
While there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel good and lose weight, it may help to take a spiritual or energetic approach in order to truly get to heal your body from the inside out.
If you struggle with loving your body the way it is, perhaps activities like meditationwill help you to get in touch with that awesome, infinite stream of energy that lives within you that is impossible not to love when you feel.
When you love yourself, inside and out, the rest truly takes care of itself. I can’t say that enough about everything in your life.
When you love yourself whole heartedly and eat foods that feel loving and in alignment with you, there will never be a need for you to go on a diet ever again.

I believe these to be more action plans than resolutions but either way they are fantastic ways to make 2017
better than 2016!  
Tom Ford...


By:Kaustubh Patekar
Entrepreneur, Product Strategist, Rocket Scientist

Made any resolutions for the new year? This year I decided to give a break to the usual ones of getting fit, losing weight, getting rich and being kind etc. I started thinking about what could help any Founder including me. Here are my thoughts on what can make you and me more successful this year and arguably a little happier. Fitter, may be not. That one is simple - get off your bu*# and move, more often.
Get out of the building - moreEvery business requires making decisions. If you have more than one person involved there will be a discussion or debate. Many a startups are prone to debating only internally. Debating long hours and having caffeine powered marathon meetings is tempting but often has very limited value. Any time a heated debate occurs internally it usually goes down two paths - person with the bigger pay check wins or the person who is most articulate wins. Neither of this is good if you don't have the facts.
Resolve to get out of the building more often. Talk to more customers, partners, other entrepreneurs, anyone who can offer a perspective on what is happening in the real world out there. If you don't know who Steve Blank is and like to read, consider reading one of my favourites - Four steps to an Epiphany.
Seek expertiseEntrepreneurs usually have a lot of "can do" spirit and at times a big ego as well. They wouldn't be starting up if that were not the case. Assuming that you can do everything yourself without assistance is a mistake. If you put your mind and brain to it, maybe you can learn a lot of new things over time. Losing that time, will cost you. Find people smarter than you, let them help you, guide you, coach you and at times even teach you.
Put your ego aside and let others help you achieve your goal of building a successful business. Even Steve Jobs, one of the savviest businessmen and creator in our times talked about hiring smarter people. Assembling a great team of employees, advisors, mentors and investors is one of your critical responsibilities. Do more of that this year.

Be resilientI grew up speaking Marathi and one of the proverbs that stuck with me over the years is "Prayatne valuche kan ragadita tel hi gale". Literally it means that if you crush sand with dedication and effort eventually you will extract oil. Practically it means keep trying till you get what you set out to do. Startups are a tough thing to do. It can also be lonely. Keep at it. If something doesn't work, whether it is a product or a sales tactic, keep trying new ways. Make modifications, seek advice, think out of the box, be resilient. Don't confuse this with repetition. Don't expect better results by doing the same thing over and over. Change, break, rebuild, reinvent.
Don't ignore the naysayers- look for substance, if anyWhen you are caught up in the adrenaline and maybe even caffeine charged world of building a business, everyone will tell you to ignore the naysayers. Certainly don't lose heart or give up because someone else cannot see what you can. At the same time if there is a concern or a problem being cited by people around you, pay attention. Evaluate if there is something you are missing. If everyone around is saying yes to everything you are saying or doing, let the alarm bells ring. Pay attention, even to the critics and make you product and business robust.
Simplify your messageWhen I look at product pitches of startups it is usually hard to make sense. More often than not, product pitches wax eloquently about technology and features that customer hasn't even understood the benefits of. Things are often caught up in verbiage and use of unnecessary adjectives.
Is your value proposition clear in the first 30 seconds? What problem are you solving? Why is your product better? Are you conveying your message in terms of things your audience cares about? Simplify your message. Don't assume that simple is easy. To have clear message and a crisp pitch will take some work. You can use this mantra across all aspects of your business. Simplifying processes can be even more work. All the same I have always found it to be worth the trouble and the benefits far greater than the time and effort required to making the changes.
Act with a sense of urgency - Speed is importantAnd even if you are not a racing fan, anytime you put your idea, product out there you will realise that there is competition from all sides. Speed at which you create products, speed at which you sell, speed at which you solve problems, make decisions, act on team member challenges, customer complaints. Speed matters. Use speed as a competitive weapon. Don't get tied up in analysing and evaluating, sometimes it's ok to act and then correct course as you go along. Don't confuse speed for acting in bad faith or cutting corners. 
Write about what you doAre you excited about what you are doing? If not, consider finding something else to do. If you are excited about what you are building, convey that not just verbally but in writing. Whether it is to your customers and partners or to you team members - convey your thoughts, challenges and excitement in writing. Talking is good, but the written word will allow you to expand your reach and give people time to digest and retain. Write more often to your constituencies. If you are not good at writing, get help from someone who is, to help you convey. And yes, creating videos can also work, if you are so inclined.
Copy - but not blindlyWhen you look around you can find a lot of inspiration. From other people, other businesses - around you, in other parts of the world. Art, books, a conversation - literally anything can be a source. Be smart about how you use it. Avoid the temptation of blindly copying another business whether it's doing things similar to you or not. Evaluate with open eyes, modify it for your needs, adapt it for your customers, create something better using that. There isn't a shortage of me too startups and copy cats - many of them will not last long, some of them will have spectacular failures. Decide what kind of business you want to be. Copy, replicate or emulate?
Have funIt's so easy to get caught up in the excitement and before you know it the excitement is converted to drudgery. You start feeling that you have to do this, that thing must be done by tonight, nobody is working hard enough, you need 25 hours in a day. Break out of that, don't forget to have some fun. With family, friends, team member, by yourself. Do something each day that is fun. Make it fun for those around you as well.
Say "Thank You"Whether it's in business or in life it's easy to get caught up in the daily hassles, take things for granted and forget to thank those around you. Take the time to thank all those around you that are directly or indirectly contributing to your business. Don't wait for a special occasion like a festival or a quarterly meeting or an appraisal. Be sure to include in this list not just your co-workers but your loved ones for enabling and supporting you, your driver, maid service, security. Say thank you more often and feel the magic for rest of this year.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and earlier articles. :-)