Los Suenos Institute

How Transforming Work Culture Can Transform Your Brand

by Sueños on 01/26/17

I talked the other day about how to increase employee engagement, however, among those I missed something critical -- workplace culture. In Tony Hseih's video he discusses how building a workplace culture that values delivering Grade A customer service, begins in developing a culture that values those characteristics in its employees. (If you have a moment, I would highly recommend the watch). We at Los Sueños Institute have held the belief that the secret to unlocking employee's true potential lies in the energy state a work place elicits. Does it encourage productivity and new ideas through things like an open door policy and positive reinforcement, or is productivity mandated through punitive measures?

What we maintain is that to drive profits, one must create a culture that has an ultimate goal that has profit as one of its antecedents, not as its focus. To refer back to Zappos, Tony Hseih talks about how the pinnacle goal of Zappos is to deliver happiness to its customers through incredible customer service. Profit, in this case, occurs as a bi-product of delivering happiness to their customers, but is not the loftiest goal of attainment.

Google's X team is another fine example of this. While the experimental team may develop new products for Google to later commercialize, the ultimate goal is to push the boundaries of human ingenuity. However, as an antecedent of this, they produce new products that are represented nowhere else in the market share.

What higher goals do you have for your business? Please, leave them in the comments section! We'd love to hear your ideas.

This is a guest blog by one of our coaches Diego-Andreas. If you like this post, check out more like it on his blog www.wonderingintomyself.com

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Minimalism: What We Can Gain From Owning Less

by Sueños on 01/25/17

When I turned 16-years-old my dad gave me a copy of Henry David Thoreau's Walden. I was immediately absorbed by the premise. To disappear into the woods with minimal possessions, and emerge some time later having discovered what I truly find most valuable. However, when I started looking around, I found myself owning a great many things that brought me joy. I have been an avid gamer since I was a kid, and even now there is nothing I enjoy more than playing games until 2:00 in the morning with my friends. However, when I look at the clothes in my closet, I realize there's a great many of them I don't wear. That being the case, I've been toting them with me everywhere I go. How does that make sense? It was this epiphany that helped me better understand one of my favorite quotes of Thoreau's “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

It's not about how many things we own, it's about only owning things that bring you great joy. To "live deliberately" by cutting out the unessential. This is a concept that can be projected onto many things. The size of houses that we own, the type of food we buy (whether it's in season or out of season), and most obviously how many things we buy. It may be your interest to grow a business, to be a doctor, or to be a CEO of a fortune 500 company, but what minimalism prescribes is doing these things for their own sake, rather than the salary that accompanies them.

Tony Hsieh, the founder of Zappos, touched on this in a great video discussing how he built the Zappos brand. He said when people ask what they should do to make a lot of money, he responds, "What is something you can imagine yourself doing everyday for the next 10 years, and never getting bored?" That, to me, is what we can gain from minimalism. A life that emphasizes our passions, by taking exactly what we need and no more.

This is a guest blog from one of our coached Diego-Andreas. If you like this post, and want to see more like it, check out his blog at www.wonderingintomyself.com

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WHY INNOVATION CANNOT THRIVE IN A FEAR BASED ENVIRONMENT!

by Sueños on 01/24/17

All patterns of behavior which are rewarded become" how we always have done things". Once established they become habits or standard operation procedures. To change a SOP or think outside the box requires risk, thus generating fear. Fear lives in a high negative state. Fear is the biggest determent to creative thinking once established, fear biochemically changes you. It stimulates your biochemistry to create elevated levels of epinephrine and nor-epinephrine. While it is a great state for fighting or running, it really helped primitive man when it was fleeing from pterodactyls, it makes you dumb. If you allow fear to overwhelm you, you biochemically will not be able to, no matter how hard you try to find the solution. The solution literally does not live in the biochemical state you are in. Innovation lives in low positive, when your calm, feel secure,your breathing is slow and deep, your biochemistry is bathing in serotonin. Your biochemically ready to create, to innovate, to change the world!

You are probably like, o.k. so how do I change my biochemical/energy states? Stay tune more to follow.........

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AN INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT IN A NEW YEAR!

by Sueños on 01/23/17

What do you want to be when your grow up? It is a question we answer as a child with out fear, without hesitation, without boundaries. Life as child is a limitless blue sky on a summer day. We dream and we dream big. Where are your dreams now? Are you living the dream? If you could ask yourself the question void of all fear would you say yes? If you would, congratulations! If you would not, why not? And when? When becomes the question. We stop allowing ourselves to dream as we get older. The disappointment becomes to great and to difficult to bear. Our fear becomes to strong. We find comfort in a new car, a nicer sound system, a bigger TV and a better neighborhood. Yet every once in awhile, while fear is sleeping dreams make a dash for your consciousness. They jump up and down to get your attention before fear wakes up and puts them in their place. This is the time to embrace your dreams and keep them safe before fear wakes up.

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IS FEAR KEEPING YOU FROM LIVING YOUR DREAM? 3 STEPS TO KILL FEARS

by Sueños on 01/20/17

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

David Thoreau

Do you live a deliberate life? Are you living your dream? Are you pursuing your passion? Have you discovered and let out the genius within? If not why not? All of us have a genius within. It is the one thing which is true to us. It is the one thing within us that makes us uniquely special. It is our genius. Many of us spend a lifetime searching for it and many of us never look for it. For many of us the number one reason we either never find it or never look for it is fear. Fear takes many shapes. The fear of failure, financial loss, embarrassment, or all of the above.
Fear can instantly send you into a state of paralysis. You have heard the expression, I was to scared to move. For many of us this is more than just an expression. We literally let fear prevent us from pursuing the kind of life we would like and deserve to live. Developing the skills to manage and defuse fear, is the key to discovering your genius, unlocking your passion, and pursing your dreams. The following steps are just a few steps you can take to diffuse fear:
1. Get Healthy. Sleep at least 8 hours a day. Exercise 30 minutes a day. Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables. Eat small portions, 6 times a day. Remember, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all" Vince Lombardi.
2. Do your research. Much of fear comes from fear of the unknown. Take the element of the unknown out of the equation. Research, Research, Research!
3. Make a plan. The sense of lost of control can also be a contributing factor to high levels of fear. Developing a comprehensive plan with milestones, realistic timelines, and achievable goals can go a long way to reducing any anxiety which may still remain and will also provide you with an excellent road map.

Start living your dream today!

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