A look at the GROW Model and an unabashed and shameless pitch for coaching services offered by Andreas Gross Last Updated: 11/29/2021 Greetings and good day, Ladies and Gents,
If you’re reading this in the U.S., today is the famed and acclaimed “Cyber Monday” – i.e. “the Monday after” (after Black Friday, that is) where you can find thousands upon thousands of online shopping mega-deals! Missed Black Friday? Physical stores didn’t have what you were looking for? Or you just didn’t want to wade through the sea of people and get a black eye fighting with that bearded toothless hag over the last oversized VR set on the shelf at the big box store? Try shopping CYBER MONDAY instead! Well, aside from shopping those online deals, today is the next Coaching Is... post here on the Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises blog. As I promised in the first Coaching Is... post back on Veterans Day (which was highly logistical in nature about what you would get if you hired me as your coach), I said that moving forward I would be trying to post more tips and practical advice that you can use to light your life on fire on a day-to-day basis. So here it goes – a practical tip you can put into practice in your life right now: it’s called the GROW Model, and it’s a great tool for setting goals and following through with an action plan to execute them! Coaches (and coachees who have "started on their journeys,” as it were) have a plethora of tools in their toolboxes they can work with. One such tool is the GROW Model, sometimes referred to as the GROW Process. This is a technique that has been around a while, so there is a good chance that even those who are not intimately familiar with the world of coaching may have heard of it in one form or another. Having said that, I will admit that I had not heard of the technique until I studied coaching, but I did know several components of the technique as just ‘solid methods of goal setting’ back in my life as a ‘commoner’ when I was just a ‘regular’ educator (i.e. before I studied coaching)...I am being facetious here, if you couldn’t tell, but it's all true! The technique was developed by business coaches Graham Alexander, Alan Fine, and Sir John Whitmore in the UK in the late 1980s and first given a name in print in the 1990s. The GROW Model is one of a number of excellent methodical ways of thinking about issues to solve problems and set goals for growth and advancement. The term is an acronym. The letters stand for: “G” – Goal: the goal should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound, ecological, and the right goal for you to focus on at this point in time. S.M.A.R.T. Goals are a whole topic of discussion in and of themselves that we will we will focus on more specifically in the next Coaching is.... post. A goal’s “ecology” refers to how the goal fits into the “ecosystem” of your current life...how will this goal affect – or not – other aspects of your life for better or worse, and just exactly how much control do you really have over achieving this goal and all aspects involved with it? And, of course, the “right goal for you” is talking about priorities. Is this goal you would like to work towards right now really the right thing for you at this current point in time? Are you prioritizing your needs and wants in life optimally for you right now? This first step is of absolute crucial importance, as you may realize a number of things in your analysis of the goal you so desire – or think you so desire. For starters, you may come to the conclusion that you are barking up the wrong tree altogether, so to speak! When you sit down and really think about what it is that you want to achieve, you might come to the conclusion that that you are misguiding your energies, and what you actually want/need is something else entirely. Or, and this happens frequently, too, you may come to the conclusion that your goal is fine and well-directed, but it is not the right time in your life to go after this. Or perhaps you come to the conclusion that you actually have less control over the goal than you may have thought you had, in which case you will want to re-think things and define a more specific goal that you have control over. “R” – Reality: where you are right now. This refers to the current reality of the situation and ambient atmosphere around you that you find yourself in at the present time. What’s happening around you? What are you dealing with? What do you have to work with in front of you RIGHT NOW? Who/What are the other players/factors in the game, if any? Essentially, if you were to start working on/towards “X” RIGHT NOW, what immediate tools would you have to get started with today and what kind of an environment would you be working in now – today? It is often when really taking the time to think through and analyze all there is to analyze at this phase that many people come to the realization that (often times) their predicament is not quite a dire as they thought it may have been! (I say “often times” because, well, sometimes it is just as dire if not more than originally thought – but that is generally the exception, not the rule.) “O” – Opportunity: what else is possible? What options do you have? Who can help you? Have you really sat down to think about what ALL of your possible options and their outcomes could be, including whether or not there are different angles/perspectives through which you could approach this goal? What is/are the payoff(s) associated with successfully achieving this goal? What kind of actual day-to-day work would be required to achieve this goal? “W” – Will or Way Forward: what is the whole plan? What is the first step? What action will you take? This is the part where you “get serious” and really take the time to hash out your “master plan” – a detailed course of action, taking all the previous G.R.O. steps you have just been through into careful consideration as you formulate this plan. All too frequently, people who are inexperienced goal-setters see a problem/issue facing them in their life and jump straight to the “W” step to face it – bypassing the “G,” “R,” and “O” steps completely or nearly completely. More often than not, this is an instant recipe for disaster (“disaster,” in this case, being the inability to follow through with your desired goal – or at least what you thought was your desired goal!). Jumping straight into drawing up a plan to “take care of the problem” without carefully considering timing, priorities, what you might actually be seeking under the surface, current support and resources available, and all the other factors that come to the surface when working through the “G,” “R,” and “O” steps is like embarking on a journey with only half a bag of supplies and half a map and “hoping” everything else will “just naturally” fall into place along the way. While things might “naturally fall into place” along the way, they also might just as well not. Taking care to properly follow each step of the GROW Model – from G to W – won’t necessarily guarantee you either that you will absolutely reach your goal – YOU alone still have to go through the nitty-gritty of following through with everything – but it will help ensure that a much more complete action plan is in place than half a bag of supplies and a half-finished map for you to draw from while you walk the journey towards your goal! Let’s look at a quick example here before wrapping this post up: Let’s say I am a teacher looking to set up a weekend tutoring business. In this scenario, let’s say I have tutored various students on and off here and there over the years and now I am looking to pull the trigger and get serious with opening an actual structured tutoring business. I want to rent office space on main street, set regular business hours, register my tutoring business as a legal business entity, hire a few other teachers (employees), the works.....now I am going to use the GROW Model to help myself try and figure out the feasibility of my goal. These are SOME OF the questions I may consider as I work through the GROW Model with this particular idea. This list of questions is not exhaustive! The questions you ask largely depend on YOUR unique situation at the time. “G” – Goal: Is the goal SMART? Is this goal specific? Can I measure its success? How will I clearly know when the goal has been achieved? Is it relevant to me, my life, my skills, dreams, and desires? Is it time-bound? When will this scenario happen? Is there a timeline in place for getting started and being able to say "the goal has been achieved"? Is it ecological? Are there other things going on in my life that may impede (or further promote) this goal’s ability to come to fruition at the moment? Do I have connections to help make this happen? Do I have any external supports in place? Are there any external players/factors working against me? Is this the right goal for me to be focusing on right now at this particular point in my life? While this may be a good and worthy goal, are there any other more important items that I should focus on and get in shape in my own life FIRST before I start working towards this goal (priorities)? “R” – Reality: What is the reality I have to work with RIGHT NOW to get started? “G” slides very nicely into “R” on the point of the ecology of the goal....Are there other things going on in my life that may impede (or further promote) this goal’s ability to come to fruition at the moment? Do I have connections to help make this happen? Do I have any external supports in place? Are there any external players/factors working against me? What skills/know-how do I currently have right now to allow me to get started. What connections/supports do I currently have RIGHT NOW to help me get started – or what connections/supports do I have to get in place before I get started? Who would I be working with? I said I wanted to hire employees – do I already have people in mind, or would I be hiring “cold”? What does the market for my intended services look like? Is there a market – is my idea even commercially viable at all? I said I wanted office space on main street – how feasible really is this? Do I have the time in my schedule (or can I make time in my current schedule) to physically work through all these steps? Do I have a business plan? Do I have start-up funds? How will I pay to get started? Can I register and get a license for what I want to do? “O” – Opportunity: “R” molds nicely into “O” here for this particular goal with market and commercial viability? Is there a market for my services? Is the opportunity for this venture to take-off really there, or am I planting a seed in a desert with no irrigation options with this idea? Have I really explored all the possible options regarding my idea and the possible implications/outcomes it may have? What else is possible? What other options might I have? If I change/modify the original idea in certain ways, will it make the idea more or less viable? For example, in my original line of thinking I said I wanted to rent physical office space on main street for this endeavor – what if I open up a totally online tutoring business instead? Would that change my costs? Market? Market reach? Commercial viability of the idea? What would be the “costs” associated with both success and failure of this idea? “W” – Will or Way Forward: This one is simple – now I’m ready to write up my business plan. After all my back-planning and analysis I am in a much better, clearer space right now to be able to come up with a killer, solid business plan for my tutoring business....or, maybe I came to the conclusion while going through steps “G,” “R,” and “O” that this is not the right endeavor for me to pursue, or maybe not the right endeavor for me to pursue right now. That’s all for today, folks. Better life, better business, better you! Ideas, inspiration, opportunity, -Andreas Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises Washington State Certified K-8 Educator, K-12 International Education Consultant, Professional Coach, Proofreader/Editor, Affiliate Marketer, Popsicle Stick Crafter, Print-on-Demand Products Designer, and Webmaster Other websites by Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises: www.cityofpullmanportal.com www.949crafts.com Looking for a professional coach? I’m your man! Let’s chat.
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Last Updated: 11/25/2021 Hi Ladies and Gents, Welcome to Thursday here at Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises – AND TODAY IS THANKSGIVING DAY IN THE U.S.! That means Black Friday and Cyber Monday are right around the corner...but please, don’t even get me started on that rant! Today is supposed to be a day to give thanks and be grateful for all the good things we have in life. As I have mentioned before, although Thanksgiving is such a big holiday in the U.S. (and, although I am currently living in China, I am from the U.S.), I have had mixed feelings my whole life about Thanksgiving and how it is celebrated. In case anyone is unclear as to what I am talking about, the first Thanksgiving Feast, often told as the story of the Pilgrims in what is probably one of the most "mainstream" versions* of the story, didn't end happily for all parties involved. As the story goes, the Pilgrims - religious outcasts from Europe - arrived on the east coast of North America, nearly starved through their first winter, and almost lost their colony as the result of this. Finally, as the seasons started to change and the weather started warming up, the locals decided that maybe it couldn't hurt to reach out to these people, who were clearly floundering around trying to stay alive in this new (to them) foreign land, and show them the ropes of surviving and thriving in the Western Hemisphere. As the result of this, during the next harvest season the Pilgrims threw a huge feast to thank the locals for their kindness and generosity. Sugar coat it (or not) however you want - fast forward 400 years and, of course, it is no secret what happened next. The Pilgrims' "thank you" feast ended up becoming a "thank you" at the expense of what would be numerous Native American Nations in the end of the day. A very one sided "thankfulness" ideology to build a holiday all about thankfulness and gratefulness around in my opinion, but that’s what happened nonetheless! I have fought with the idea internally for a while, but the older I get, and the more I think about it, none of us can change the past – but we do have the potential to change our futures. Being aware of the truth behind Thanksgiving is a start to all of this. And giving thanks and being thankful for all the good we have in this world and all the good potential tucked away within ourselves, I am still going with generally being a good thing! The trick is now to spread this message, live this message, make it real. Make the future a brighter place for everyone because of our thankfulness! Don’t hoard the wealth! Be good moving forward! Right the wrongs of the past by moving forward TOGETHER, hand-in-hand rather than in the same old dividing “ruts” of the past – it IS possible! Easier said than done, right? But we have to start somewhere, so why not start now, today?! As the title clearly spells out, today’s topic ties in perfectly with building a brighter tomorrow! For our main article today we have guest author Ms. Julia Mitchell from Outspiration.net back with us again! Today she will not be talking about just building your business as an entrepreneur, but building your business sustainably. Ladies and Gentlemen, without any further adieu: Save the Planet With a Sustainable Business Model By: Julia Mitchell Photo via Pexels You’re about to begin your entrepreneurial journey, but you’d like to think beyond profits and consider how you can contribute to a good cause through your company — you might have the makings of an ECOpreneur! By opening a sustainable business, you can do your part to help heal the earth. Presented here on Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises, the following resources will show you how to build your eco-friendly company from the ground up. Best Business Practices Here’s how to get your finances in order and run your business efficiently from the start.
Keep Your Footprint Small As an ECOpreneur, it’s important to practice what you preach! These resources are packed with pointers on ensuring your operations are truly sustainable.
Focus on Your Message Make sure that your values shine through in everything you do. Here are a few tips to help you spread your eco-friendly message throughout your community.
Entrepreneurship and environmentalism are not two opposing concepts. You can help the planet through your business. Referencing these resources can help you become a successful ECOpreneur. __________________________________ Julia Mitchell has always been driven with a goal and passion. It has made her reach her dream job in a financial services firm, and working with multiple side-income entrepreneurial ventures. She aspires to bring impact to others and inspire them to passionately pursue their dreams as well. She is one of the people behind outspiration.net. ********************* Thanks for the shot of inspiration today, Julia! Let's give thanks for the potential of a better future!
Happy Thanksgiving! That’s all for today, folks. Better life, better business, better you! Ideas, inspiration, opportunity, -Andreas Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises Washington State Certified K-8 Educator, K-12 International Education Consultant, Professional Coach, Proofreader/Editor, Affiliate Marketer, Popsicle Stick Crafter, Print-on-Demand Products Designer, and Webmaster Other websites by Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises: www.cityofpullmanportal.com www.949crafts.com Looking for a professional coach? I’m your man! Let’s chat. * It is probably more correct to refer to the "First" Thanksgiving as "the first few Thanksgiving Feasts that happened on the east coast of North America in the 1600s," as there are a small handful of "First Thanksgiving" events from the 1600s that contend for the 'official' spot of "First" Thanksgiving. Last Updated: 11/22/2021 Hi Ladies and Gents,
Andreas here on Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises! For those first-time visitors, welcome to the Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises blog and website. I’m your host, Andreas Gross, a career international educator with 13+ years and counting of experience in an educational setting where I have taught students and led teams (and continue to do so right now at the time of this writing). I have been the Head of Department of both Elementary and Middle School Science Departments, led Elementary School teams to victory as their team leader, and built an international section at a school in China from scratch with my wife as a Coordinator-Deputy Coordinator duo! Currently my wife and I are leaders at large private bilingual schools in eastern Mainland China. I am the Foreign Academic Coordinator of the Elementary English Teaching Department at a private Taiwanese school, and my wife is the Deputy Director of the Elementary English Teaching Department at a school just a few miles away in the same city. I am also a webmaster, online marketer, and ICF-trained professional coach who works with educators who are interested in opening their own business and businesspeople who are interested in making the transition to education. Have a heart and support Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises! Feel free to check out the Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises webstore here! Email me directly at admin@apg-enterprises.com about educational coaching and consulting services I offer. With that introduction for our new readers said and done, let’s see where we are going with today’s blog post. This is Monday of Thanksgiving Week. Many schools across the U.S. are on Thanksgiving Break right now, having started last Friday when the dismissal bell rang. In the spirit of feasting on the abundant harvest, I promised some micro farming blog posts this month. Last Thursday, on November 15th, we took a look at 4 Factors To Be Aware Of When Considering Starting A Micro Farm. Today we will look at One Of The PRIMARY MISTAKES TO AVOID When Starting A Micro Farm In A Town Or City. It’s easy to heed the call of micro farming. It really is. Who wouldn’t get excited about the idea of knowing where his or her food came from? Who wouldn’t get psyched about feeding only the very best food to the members of his or her community? (Yeah, no modesty here, ha, ha!) Who wouldn’t mind the extra cash from a ‘kitchen garden’ or backyard-type operation? As awesome as all of the above may sound, if you make this one very common mistake I am about to discuss below, your self-sustaining, eco-friendly dreams of making some extra money through your backyard ‘green labor of love’ can easily turn into a very expensive and drawn-out battle with your local town council, city hall, neighborhood development committee, or home owner’s association. You might end up with not only a ruined micro-ag enterprise, but you could easily be left with a hefty legal bill as well! THE BIG MISTAKE: Don’t make the mistake of failing to research local laws, ordinances, and covenants! It doesn’t matter how seemingly relaxed or freewheeling your proverbial ‘neck of the woods’ may be, if you are going into micro farming – as opposed to ‘traditional’ full-scale farming – chances are more than likely that you live in a city, town, or suburban environment...probably not a place that is zoned for unrestricted agricultural use! You will need to check with local authorities if your micro farming vision fits with existing laws and policies. Local ordinances and even private neighborhood covenants and home owner’s association rules can throw cold water on your plans because of their many restrictions and other stringent requirements, but these four are the ‘Top 4’ issues that usually come up near the very top of the list – and cause the most problems – with regards to micro farm ventures intending to operate in a town or city: 1. Land use Depending on where you live, you might not be able to farm at all. Many cities ban large scale plant cultivation and/or animal rearing outright. They either restrict you to a decent-sized garden or very tiny green areas (often with many restrictions on what you can and can’t do within those spaces). In terms of keeping animals, such jurisdictions might say a pet or two (or possibly three) is fine, but beyond that, no way! Even if your city or town allows for farming, make sure you comply with the necessary permit requirements if there are any (which there is a very good chance that there are permit requirements of some sort in place – if not directly for cultivation/animal husbandry, then at least for the sale of your products). Operating without a permit not only can lead to the closure of your farm but you might be on the hook for sizable fines, penalties, and, if you don’t pay up on time, hefty interest penalties on top of your already sizeable fines. Not a good situation! Let me give a quick example here: chickens. I know my hometown of Pullman, Washington, allows for the raising of chickens for micro farming/‘backyard farming’ purposes (at least this was true as of the time of this writing), but there are strict restrictions in place. First of all, you have to meet a minimum private yard space requirement to raise chickens (i.e. you cannot raise chickens in the green spaces provided in an apartments/condominium complex, even if you own a unit there, for example). Some neighborhoods in town ban the raising of chickens (and other things as well) by private covenant. In addition, by municipal ordinance you are restricted on such other factors as the number of chickens you can keep at one time and the size/style/type of coop/enclosure you can keep them in. Despite these restrictions, it is perfectly possible to raise chickens to produce fresh eggs for your family, friends, and neighbors and even sell the eggs for money (which I am almost sure probably requires a business license to sell the eggs in exchange for money within city limits as a regular business, although I have never actually looked that far into it to be honest). The market is not flooded with everyone raising chickens in their backyards (heck, I have never tried it! Not really my thing!), but a decent amount of people do it, and you can always find fresh local eggs for sale around town if you look hard enough and know where to look. 2. Water use Local ordinances may have varying rules regarding what you can and cannot use water for. You also have to make sure you comply with drainage and sewerage rules. These might require you to get a special permit (with its matching fees!). 3. Labor regulations Some jurisdictions – I’d actually venture to say most jurisdictions in this case, whether formally incorporated municipalities or not – are very sensitive when it comes to any kind of labor arrangement. Not only must your operations comply with state rules regarding wage and hour regulations, there might be county and/or city rules you might not be aware of that need to be adhered to as well. Make sure you have a clear understanding of these rules, in addition to health and safety regulations on the state level, before you even think of hiring someone to help you out with your micro farm in town. 4. Waste regulations You might think that your operations are so small scale that you won’t be producing much waste. While this may very well be true, you can almost bet your boots that your local city site inspectors will have a different opinion on the matter of your waste! Don’t run afoul of local rules: make sure your waste management systems are in full compliance! One of the worst ways to put an end to your dreams of micro farming in town is to run smack into local laws. It’s even worse when those local laws bite you in the behind because you didn’t do your full due diligence before starting your micro farming venture! Be informed about applicable local rules and regulations so you can build a micro farm in your town that will continue to benefit your family and community for a long time to come. Don’t let your micro farming venture become a flash-in-the-pan that dies at the hands of your local city code enforcer because of a random call from a picky neighbor regarding a local ordinance you missed reading up on in the City Code before getting started! Until next time, readers! This upcoming Thursday will be Thanksgiving in the U.S.! Ms. Julia Mitchell of Outspiration will be back with another guest post - this time on sustainable business practices and what it takes to be an ECOpreneur. Better life, better business, better you! Ideas, inspiration, opportunity, -Andreas Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises Washington State Certified K-8 Educator, K-12 International Education Consultant, Professional Coach, Proofreader/Editor, Affiliate Marketer, Popsicle Stick Crafter, Print-on-Demand Products Designer, and Webmaster Other websites by Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises: www.cityofpullmanportal.com www.949crafts.com Looking for a professional coach? I’m your man! Let’s chat. Last Updated: 11/18/2021 Hi Ladies and Gents,
As I mentioned in the end of December-beginning of November Monthly Round Up, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving both fall in November! With the idea of Thanksgiving being feasting on the abundant harvest, I promised some tips on micro farming...and here is one of those micro farming posts as promised! Micro farming is a concept I delve into in a little more depth than just a few blog posts here on Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises. There is a dedicated micro farming page on the website (which I am still working to get back up and running after some tweaks), and a great interview with Elle Meager here. Elle is not so much a true “micro farmer” herself, as she owns and runs a rather large farmstead in Australia; but she discusses a lot about sustainability in farming in the interview, and there are definitely great articles about micro farming, or “urban farming,” as it is also sometimes called, on her site which is linked to in the interview. As with pretty much everything here on Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises, let me stress this first: if you are able to hit the right market and work it right, micro farming could have the potential to blossom into a lucrative full-time stand-alone venture for you; however, with that said, micro farming for most is likely going to be a side-gig...however, it all depends on what your customers want and what kind of operation you are willing and/or able to devote your time, energy, and capital into running! As the old saying goes, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. A little bit of research ahead of time can save you quite a bit of wasted time, effort, and money later on down the road. This advice definitely applies to micro farming as well. Here are four (4) key factors well worth considering before starting your micro farm project...and the first point also helps to answer the question of What is micro farming?, a question that some readers could very easily be asking at this point: 1. You must be willing to go into farming While it does have the word “micro” in the name, micro farming is exactly that - farming. A micro farm differs from a “traditional” full-scale farm only in size, generally because it is undertaken in an area where space is at a premium – frequently in a town, city, or suburban type of setting. This means raising and cultivating living things on a much smaller scale than a 500-acre spread like your “traditional” full-scale farmer friend might be doing, but also on a much larger scale than just gardening for pleasure where you’d be happy with a handful of juicy ripe tomatoes at the end of the season, or tending to your four backyard chickens for a few fresh eggs. This means you’ll have to scale up your inputs from casual backyard gardening! Your inputs could range from fertilizer, to pest control, weed control, grow lights, cages and pens, greenhouses, inoculation logs for mushrooms, or what have you. Most of these specifics will largely depends on your unique operation. This shouldn’t feel intimidating, but the point is this can involve some heavy-duty stuff that should be thought through and planned out carefully on paper first. Farming also involves longer term commitments than hobby gardening or raising those four backyard chickens we just mentioned. In many instances, to really get a positive return on investment (ROI) on the resources, time, and effort you put into your micro farming venture, you’ll have to stick with your endeavor for a longer time than a typical backyard hobby operation. And with that said... 2. Always keep ROI in mind The decision of how you start and run your micro farm will have a definite impact on the return you get for all the time, effort, and money you put into your venture. This can be either negative or positive (of course, you want it to be positive!). If you don’t use ROI as a guiding principle in your decisions, it is too easy for you to throw good money into a financial abyss, and before you know it, your micro farm has become a money pit. Worse yet, it also becomes a black hole as far as your personal time goes. ROI must guide you on the following key decisions: - what to plant - when to plant - where to plant - how to plant - irrigation options - fertilizer options (if you are going this route) - waste reclamation/recycling options - where to sell your produce and the same kinds of decision regarding livestock if your farm will involve raising animals of any kind. 3. Full automation is not a slam dunk If you are thinking about getting serious with micro farming as opposed to full-scale “traditional farming,” chances are you live in a town, city, or some other kind of urban or suburban setting, as opposed to out in the countryside where full-scale “traditional farming” could more likely be possible. The point is, labor – including your own – is not exactly cheap in urban settings in our modern world. This could easily lead to the line of thinking of “I should automate as much as possible!” However, this option comes with its own set of challenges. A fully automated urban outfit can burn a hole through your bank account just as quick, if not quicker, than paying a crew of expensive laborers. This means taking a longer time to recoup your investment – assuming you can recoup it all. Make sure you automate only to the point that it makes financial sense to do so. You don’t want to end up wasting money on expensive machinery that you don’t really need or that ends up pushing your price up too high without sound, logical justification. 4. Always keep local preferences and dynamics in mind There are some specialty avenues you can go down with this idea that might reach beyond the walls of your immediate community, but in general micro farming is the classic “at home for the local community” business idea. In addition to figuring out which produce sells best in your local community, see if you can specialize or distinguish yourself from your competitors. Any little bit of distinction can mean a great deal when it comes to meeting your ROI targets. For example, if most other local farmers sell non-organic produce, you might want to consider selling organic produce to gain a competitive advantage. Also, assuming you live in a fairly good-sized city, if ‘local’ farmers actually truck in their produce to your city, you might want to consider community farmers’ markets or outlets much closer to your actual micro farm location to sell your produce. That is to say if, for example, you are operating in a big (or big enough) town or city and your local grocery stores buy potatoes from local/regional area farms to stock their shelves, you might want to consider targeting just your own neighborhood community market/farmer’s market to sell your specialty technique “garbage can micro-farmed potatoes” – at least for starters. (By the way, I love this unique technique for growing potatoes!) Keep these four key factors in mind as you plan out your micro farming venture. It’s one thing to get excited about micro farming, but pulling it off successfully is another story altogether! Until next Monday! Better life, better business, better you! Ideas, inspiration, opportunity, -Andreas Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises Washington State Certified K-8 Educator, K-12 International Education Consultant, Professional Coach, Proofreader/Editor, Affiliate Marketer, Popsicle Stick Crafter, Print-on-Demand Products Designer, and Webmaster Other websites by Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises: www.cityofpullmanportal.com www.949crafts.com Looking for a professional coach? I’m your man! Let’s chat. Today’s post: team dynamics; what makes a team? Last Updated: 11/15/2021 Hi there Ladies and Gents,
Welcome to Monday, November 15th! Andreas here on the Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises blog and today it's time for another Coordinate THAT! From the Desk of the Elementary School Coordinator post. Well, despite the lows I have sunk to recently within my own mental and emotional self, I do feel happy and accomplished that last week I was able to successfully stick to a solid Monday and Thursday posting schedule here on this blog! Although it was a week later than it should have been, we got the end of December-beginning of November Monthly Round Up last Monday, and last Thursday I talked about coaching, with a prelude honoring Veterans Day. By the way, if you want to talk more about coaching with me, hit me up at admin@apg-enterprises.com. In today's post we'll be delving into the issue of what actually makes a team, as opposed to just a group of people who work together. Whether we are talking about our personal or professional lives, all of us - or almost all of us (someone will probably contest this, ha, ha!) - are a part of a team, many of us multiple teams, to one degree or another. These teams can and do change - some of them more than others - throughout our lives. I start of with this, and, in fact, I wanted to make this post about team dynamics today in general because I have been in a state of both personal and professional flux lately myself, and, as this is happening and I am aware of it, I see team dynamics bending and changing around me at the moment. Since the passing of my wife's maternal Grandmother two weeks ago, family dynamics have changed. With all the.....well, I don't really know what to call it....*stuff*.......that's been going on at my "day job" this semester (that I won't get into here right now), I can feel a major shift in team functioning and dynamics compared to just two and a half months ago when the school year started back in August. When talking about teams and team dynamics, Bruce Tuckman generally leaps to the front of our minds. We all know Bruce Tuckman’s (1965) famous stages of group development – Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. These are “old hat” by now – there’s nothing new here. We can all repeat these six times ‘til Sunday in our sleep. But what do they mean, really? Let’s examine these phases here: The Forming phase is when the whole team – and all its members – are new, or at least new to working with each other on a team. When a team forms, you are all trying to get to know each other in the beginning. This is the stage where individual members of the team are feeling each other out, seeing what makes each other “tick,” seeking a voice of leadership, looking for direction, looking for a “pecking order,” possibly sizing up who is “weak” and “strong” (for want of better terms), etc. Once the individual members of the team have developed enough of a preliminary personal sense of understanding of each other, the second stage, Storming, starts. As the name implies, when the team transitions from just “getting to know each other” to voicing opinions (i.e. the Storming phase), people start trying to put their feet down. This is the stage where team members can, and often do, step on each other’s toes and piss each other off – both intentionally and unintentionally. The Norming phase happens when the team is ready to set boundaries, lay down the law, and “normalize.” At this point in the life cycle of the team, the individual team members know each other well enough as fellow team members to know each other’s basic personalities, strongly held opinions, likes and dislikes, and general feelings and visions for the team and what it is that the team does (or is supposed to be doing). The individuals are acquainted with each other well enough to know that if the team is really going to move forward and accomplish what it is supposed to accomplish, a mission statement, vision statement, and set of “team norms” need to be developed. These Team Norms are your “rules for the game” moving forward. Once everyone is on the same page and playing by the same rules, the team can really start Performing, the final phase in team maturity. As the name implies here, this is when you can really get things done effectively together as a team, working like a well-oiled machine! You understand each other as individuals and you understand your mission, vision, and the “game rules” you are all playing by. You leverage the best in each other and follow your agreed upon rules (Team Norms) to accomplish your mission and bring your vision to life! All good things eventually come to an end. At some point in time, our mature, well-functioning team will enter the Adjourning phase. Again, this phase is pretty self-explanatory through the name of the phase alone – this is when the team dissolves, for whatever reason...people move on, the company goes under, the particular team served its purpose and was intentionally disbanded because its work was finished – whatever. Let me just point out here that whenever a new player shows up on the scene or something happens that drastically affects team dynamics, even a mature team operating at the Performing level has the potential to go back into Forming, Storming, or Norming mode. For example, let’s say you work at a school, and your grade level team, who has worked together for 6 years and is functioning as a smooth, mature team at the Performing level suddenly gets an entirely new set of curricular material – standards, textbooks, science kits, weekly readers, etc....the works; a total overhaul – dropped on you from your superintendent (your team did not generally want this change). You don’t have a new person on your team, but a drastic change has now happened. You may 1) simply absorb the change well as a team and just carry on with business as usual, OR 2) this situation could cause the team to “re-form,” “re-storm,” and/or “re-norm.” With the total overhaul to the curriculum, everyone could (potentially) feel lost and back to square one of getting to know each other and to how best navigate working with each other in this new environment. Everyone might have different thoughts and opinions about how to best roll out and implement the new changes. How to best use the new Weekly Readers. How to “properly” (in his or her opinion!) use the science kits and during which times of year. Some members of the team may like the new way of doing things. Others may feel vehemently negative about it. Others neutral. Some may start to disagree with the agreed upon team norms, believing that some – or all – of them don’t work well under the dynamic of the new curriculum. And so on, and so forth. As mentioned, getting this new curriculum doesn’t mean that your team has to fall apart and re-form, re-storm, or re-norm. Scenario number 1 could happen! I’m just say that at a pivotal moment like this the possibility exists where re-forming, re-storming, and/or re-norming might happen. Of course, not just changes in policy or what the team is using (like the curriculum example) can cause disruptions. Probably the big, obvious catalyst of change is when there is a new member added, or a member removed from the team. This can – and very frequently does – change team dynamics instantly. In fact, from personal experience, this is probably the single biggest factor that I have come across that will drastically change a team’s dynamic. It is also important to point out here that there is no set timeframe wherein these phases should occur or have to occur. A group of people could be thrust together at the 8:00AM Monday morning clock-in bell and told they are a team, and then that group could Form, Storm, Norm, and move right on into being a smooth, mature, high-functioning Preforming team all before the first morning coffee break! Similarly, a group of people could be placed together and told the same thing (i.e. “You are now Team X.”) and work together as a jumbled mess of individuals with their own pride, trying to force their own opinions and agendas through the organization or institution, for the next five years, fluctuating back and forth between Forming and Storming without ever even coming within spitting distance of the Norming phase until a strong leader comes in on the sixth year and takes charge of the helm, so to speak, and finally leads the team to victory. Now that we’ve explored the ebb and flow of a team’s life cycle, how can we answer today’s fundamental question: what makes a team? As we’ve seen so far, a team is more than just a bunch of people physically working in the same location. You can have teachers lined up in classrooms side-by-side each other in a school building, office workers in cubicles packed tightly together like a can of sardines, or dozens and dozens of construction workers working should-to-shoulder on a construction site, but not necessarily have a true “team” in any of these situations just because the people are working close together. You can even specifically assign people to a “team,” give that “team” a name and a job description, but still not have a true team (or have a poorly developed hodge-podge of a team at best) after taking those steps. As we have seen from Tuckman, the Godfather of Group Dynamics (at least in the Western world), to really have a mature team that gets the job done in a truly teamly fashion, as opposed to “just a group of people hacking it together,” the group of people in question need to be working together, yes, but in order to be called a team the group needs to have a clear mission as to what it is they are doing – their purpose. A clear vision regarding how they believe their work should look...as they move forward completing their mission, what are they creating and how does that look in the real world? And a clear set of Team Norms: “rules of the game” that all individuals on a team agree to uphold and “play” by in order to move forward with the mission and make the vision become a reality. Do differences of attitude and opinion exist on a team – yes, for sure! That’s natural! But a mature, high-functioning team is not in the business of fighting against these differences of attitude and opinion. A high-functioning team embraces these differences and leverages them as best they can for their benefit. Let me give you a little personal example here of a team learning to work together and leveraging each other’s strengths and differences for the overall good of the team. Back between 2012-2015 I was the 5th Grade Team Leader at an international school in Shanghai, China. We had 5 people on our immediate team, and we all five exhibited different personality types! Yes, it was a really interesting team to lead, I will say! And I will say this, we were stuck fluctuating between the Forming and Norming phase for the better first half of Semester I. Part of that was my own “newbieness” to management at the time....I was in my late 20s at the time and still very much young, dumb, and full of....well, not full of administrative and management leadership knowledge and skills, I can say that for sure, ha, ha! The other part of this puzzle was also the fact that all of our personalities were so different that it was going to take some skilled leadership to facilitate weaving us together as a true team. There was one person on our team who loved to talk and always had to be the star of the show and center of attention. As you could probably well imagine, this took up a considerable amount of time from our team meetings and planning sessions – always having to listen to this person’s stories and grandiose ideas of saving the world. “Oh great!” was the overall resounding sigh under our breaths when this person would launch into a story that we knew would blow a good 10 to 20 minutes of our precious time! But then one day, this person wasn’t there...absent for some reason. I believe this individual happened to be sick this particular day we had a team meeting. At this particular team meeting, in this individual’s absence, we actually hit pay dirt with an idea! “You know,” we all agreed, “this person loves to hear himself talk and always wants to be the start of the show – and is actually very good at doing so; how about we let this person be the star of the show rather than fighting it all the time?!” We tried it and it worked wonders for the team! From then on out we would welcome this person to kick our team meetings off his “story of the day.” It generally put a smile on our faces (most of the time), got the story “out of his system,” and then he was calm(er) throughout the rest of the meeting! Furthermore, we learned that we could leverage this “superpower” of his for MCing and being the “bouncer”/greeter at team events – which he loved to do, and it worked out well for the team because that was his strength. With this piece of the puzzle in place, we began to look at other strengths others had and could bring to the table. There was an expert scheduler on the team. We also had an expert innovator. And an efficiency expert. We delegated “areas of expertise” to each person on the team, crafted mission and vision statements, whipped up a document we call The Five Team Norms Fifth Grade Lives By, and were a smooth Performing team by Christmas...our Christmas present to ourselves! And yes, I grew as a manager as the result of this experience as well! On a final note of What Makes A Team?, I’d like to talk briefly about team leadership. I am a very egalitarian person by nature. I work best on a level playing field with some basic systems in place where we are all offered a variety of resources so we can work independently but in confederated agreement with one another towards a common goal. Though I am neither a millionaire nor a billionaire, it is the classic “loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires” way of tackling problems and working together that Paul Simon sang about in his song The Boy in the Bubble so many years ago that is how I work best – an I’ll call you when I need you, kind of thing. As a naïve young man, I jumped head-first into the world of team and departmental leadership believing that many other people in this world functioned this way. Now I just laugh at my naïveté towards it all back then! I laugh in a warm, ha, ha, I didn’t know anything way, rather than a scathing way. Of course, I, too, have lived, learned, and grown for the better and am a stronger person now because of those naïve experiences of yester-year. Anyway, the point is that I believed that if you got a group of people together, hashed out your game plan and a common set of basic rules and systems to follow, and all agreed on the common mission and vision you were trying to conquer and produce, then everyone would just naturally try their hardest out of the goodness of their hearts to stick to the mission and vision and play by the rules. Ha, ha! I laugh now! While I have met liked minded people over the years, and I do still truly believe such a team is possible to form, in reality such a team seldom works as a well-oiled machine from the very get-to in reality! I mean, look at history...even Jesus got stuck with Judas Iscariot on His immediate team! In general, there is usually going to be a player or two or three, or a “faction” of players on the team, who are not going to be fully on board with everything all the time, or who are looking to bend certain rules in their personal selfish favor, or who love to “stir the pot” and simply need some extra “whipping into line” for whatever reason. This has been the case with every single team I have ever worked on over the years except for one. That one was the exception and a truly beautiful team from the beginning – the others became beautiful teams after some work! My point here with all these words is that every team needs a strong leader! Simple as that. The team leader sets the tone, attitude, and ethic of the team. Although there are exceptions, the team is generally only as strong as its leader, as a strong leader can help to mitigate even the weakest link of a team. The team members look to their leader for direction and leadership. The leader has to be there! The leader has to be present and do his or her job effectively! Now, there are many different leadership styles, for sure, and different leadership styles will fit different teams better than others; but that is a whole nother post for a different time (leadership styles). The simple point here today is that every team needs a strong leader – whatever kind of leader they may be in terms of different leadership style, the leader must be there to support the team and lead the team to victory. How does your team stack up? Where is your team within Tuckman’s team life cycle? Is your “team” just a group of people who happen to work together in the same physical location, or are you a truly cohesive team working under a common mission to achieve a common vision while playing by agreed upon rules? Some things to think about until next time. Better life, better business, better you! Ideas, inspiration, opportunity, -Andreas Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises Washington State Certified K-8 Educator, K-12 International Education Consultant, Professional Coach, Proofreader/Editor, Affiliate Marketer, Popsicle Stick Crafter, Print-on-Demand Products Designer, and Webmaster Other websites by Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises: www.cityofpullmanportal.com www.949crafts.com) Looking for a professional coach? I’m your man! Let’s chat. A look at what professional coaching is and what you can expect from professional coaching by Andreas Gross (a pitch for services from Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises - com'on, let's be shameless [evil smile]). Today's post, however, starts with a mostly unrelated reflection (unrelated to coaching) on Veterans Day/Armistice Day, since today is November 11th. Last Updated: 11/11/2021 Hi Ladies and Gents,
Andreas here on the Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises blog! Happy Veterans Day! Today is a very important day not just in the U.S. (celebrated as Veterans Day in the US), but in numerous countries around the world, as November 11th, 1918, marked the signing of the armistice that effectively ended the fighting in World War I (although it would be another 7 and a half months before the Treaty of Versailles was signed that actually formally ended the war). The day was originally celebrated/commemorated as Armistice Day in many Allied nations, and is still called so in some. Other countries changed the name of the day around the years before and after World War II. In Great Britain and many Commonwealth nations, the day is now known as Remembrance Day. In the U.S., the name of the day was changed to Veterans Day several years after World War II. In the US, the day now commemorates veterans of all military conflicts and those currently serving in the armed forces. Just three years ago, on November 11th, 2018, the world celebrated a very special Armistice Day as humanity marked the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I. In China, where I live at the moment, there is no mention of Armistice Day, and the day is not such a happy one to remember, at least in terms of nationalistic memories of the ending of World War I. China's role in the First World War was rather unique (you can read about that here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/surprisingly-important-role-china-played-world-war-i-180964532/ and in the other articles linked to in this post). While China never actually sent troops into battle, well over 300,000 Chinese volunteered and served the Allied Powers in the Russian, French, and British militaries as trench-diggers, munitions factory workers, road and railway builders, battle equipment mechanics, and battle field ‘clean-up crews’ – “a gruesome and thankless job,” as this article in The Diplomat so rightly puts it (https://thediplomat.com/2018/11/why-didnt-china-honor-its-world-war-i-dead/). In the end of the day, the Allied Powers themselves wound up serving up China the short end of the stick at the Treaty of Versailles, giving the German-held concessions in the Province of Shandong (formerly Chinese territory before the Germans took it) to the Japanese at the end of the war after the Allied victory. This German-held territory in Shandong was precisely the territory that China was trying to win back through their affiliation with the Allies. You see, China had hoped that the foreign concessions in Shandong would go back into Chinese hands if the Allied Powers won the war...but it was much more complicated than that! The Japanese were also supporting the Allied Powers in World War I. The Japanese Imperial Military actually fought in the war on the side of the Allied Powers and stormed the German concessions in Shandong, China, (at the request of the European Allies) and effectively got the Germans to surrender. Thus, the Japanese were now left (very happily) administering the foreign concessions of Shandong – just what they wanted! And the Japanese hoped it would remain this way with the blessings of the European Allied Powers after an Allied victory at the end of the war as well...and so it did! The Treaty of Versailles gave the German concessions of Shandong, China, to the Japanese! Infuriated over this, China refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles in the end, feeling back-stabbed the by the Allied Forces whom they had so firmly supported. Because of the Treaty of Versailles incident, this sparked what is known as the May 4th Movement (no, not “Star Wars Day” – this was long before that!) in China and the establishment of The Communist Party of China just two years later in 1921. You can read more about how China views World War I here: https://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-china-sees-world-war-i-11949 and in the other links above. In China today, November 11th has nothing to do with the military or war remembrance. November 11th is unofficially recognized and celebrated as “Singles Day,” as the date 11/11 is, essentially, all “ones” (“single sticks”). Supposedly it is a day that single people celebrate the love of their single life; but what it really amounts to is a massive online shopping day, with tons of hype leading up to it and tons of mega blowout sales on the day of. Very much like Cyber Monday in the U.S. Whether we spend today remembering the end of World War One 103 years ago, recognizing those who have served or are serving in the military, or having a wild online shopping spree (or some, all, or none of the above), today's post is really about professional coaching. As in remembering the end of the Great War, I want to remind you all, dear readers, that coaching is a cornerstone service offered here at Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises. What exactly is “professional coaching,” you may ask? The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Some key words here are “thought-provoking,” “creative,” “process,” “inspire,” “maximize,” and “potential,” although I personally like to thinking of coaching as helping people to “optimize” as opposed to “maximize” (and you can very much expect that attitude from me as your coach). A professional coach works with his or her client as a partner in an open, trusting space where free-thought, creativity, and inspiration rule. The coach works with the client (coachee) to help him/her unlock his/her own potential and optimize his or her world. Coaching focuses on the present and the future - how you can work with what you have right now to move forward and optimize the situation you are looking to optimize. In this regard, coaching is different than therapy or counseling, which largely aim to work through and heal tough problems and roadblocks that are lingering from past events and experiences. Although sometimes it can be helpful to take a quick look at your past to get your bearings and know where you have come from in a coaching relationship, coaching is not a “heal the past” type of activity. Furthermore, coaching is a very client-centered practice. In contrast to consulting or training, coaches do not offer advice or suggest solutions to issues or problems. Instead, the coach helps the client to see inside him or herself to unlock the inner lock that is holding him/her back. The coach creates the space and runs the logistics of the coaching session, the client is the one who actually does the work and has the breakthroughs! The coach is the car with the built in GPS. The client is the driver. Let’s take this aforementioned GPS model a step further, because I really like to think of professional coaching and what a professional coach does in terms of being a navigator. You can picture this navigator as a modern GPS or an ‘old school’ human navigator (a person highly skilled at map reading), whichever fits your fancy; but, essentially, in the end of the day, whether a real person or all-automatic, they are both the same: a navigator helps guide you from Point A to Point B, but you (the coachee), are the one in the driver’s seat driving. YOU are the driver. Sure, the navigator can tell you such factual things as “you have just turned on to a primitive road with no warning signs,” or “this route merges with the freeway in 2 miles,” but you are still the one in the driver seat. You are still the one driving. You still have to decide whether or not you want to continue following the current route, or if you want to take a different route. I feel that this analogy is the perfect way to describe what a coach does, how the coachee fits into the relationship, and how the two work with each other. Who do I coach? I am a career international K-12 educator by profession with 13+ years of teaching experience and 9+ years of educational leadership (at the time of this writing) and counting. I am also an ICF-trained coach. Because of my background in education, I work with teachers and entrepreneurs, namely, teachers who are thinking about starting or who have recently started their own business but aren’t quite sure how to get started and/or get it to really blast off; and businesspeople who are thinking about getting into or who have recently transitioned into education. I also work with teachers and educational leaders within school settings (i.e. not starting a business) who are looking to up their game and re-enliven their professional careers in education (instructional coaching). When you come to me for coaching, we will start out with a “Discovery Session.” This is our very first session together where we take the time to get to know each other; talk about what you want coaching around; short-term and long-term goals and expectations we both have for our Coaching Partnership; guidelines, scheduling, and other logistical details of the Coaching Partnership; and generally seek to determine if we both feel we could form a meaningful Coaching Partnership together or not. The Discovery Session is not an “actual” coaching session, per say, it is more akin to a conversation between two people determining if they would be a good fit working together. If we determine that we would not be good coaching partners, then we simply go our separate ways after the Discovery Session and that is that. If we determine that we would be good coaching partners, then I will send you a Coaching Agreement for you to read through and sign (I will sign it, too) before our next session, which is the Intake Session. A one-time, non-refundable fee is charged for the Intake Session in advance. The Intake Session, while similar to the Discovery Session in some ways, is the first “real” Coaching Session in the sense that we will actually get into some “real” coaching during this session. The Intake Session focuses heavily on solidifying clear expectations for the two of us partnering together and setting specific goals for our time together – both short-term goals and long-term goals. During the Intake Session we will revisit and review the items we discussed in the Discovery Session; discuss, hone, and focus goals; and look at where priorities lie. A one-time, non-refundable fee is charged for the Intake Session in advance. Again, at the end of the Intake Session we will check-in with each other. If we still feel that we are a good fit for each other and we want to continue moving forward with our Coaching Partnership as outlined in the Coaching Agreement we have both signed, then we’ll go ahead and do just that. Our next session would then be the real-deal Session 1. If we decide after the Intake Session that we are not a good fit, then that is that, we can agree to terminate our Coaching Agreement, cease moving forward, and go our separate ways. Even if we do happen to decide after our Intake Session that we are not a good fit, after the session you should have a clearer picture of some of your bigger goals and where your general priorities around these goals lie. If we do go ahead and move into Session 1, we will have between two to three paid sessions (check out the Coaching Page here for more particulars on packages) and then a Midpoint Check-In Session. The Midpoint Check-In Session is free. The Midpoint Check-In Session, as the name suggests, is a free session where we check-in and see how everything is going. Similar to the Discovery Session, the Midpoint Check-In is not a “true” coaching session, but more of a conversation and debriefing. If we need to make any tweaks or modifications to our program going forward, we will talk about this during the Midpoint Check-In. After the Midpoint Check-In we will have two or three more paid coaching sessions and then our Final Session (which is also free). In a nutshell, this is the general layout of what you can expect from a basic coaching package with me. I offer a longer-term package as well, and am also do coaching on a session-to-session basis. This was the first Coaching Is... post for this blog, and I realize it has turned out quite wordy and logistical. In the future, you can expect at least one Coaching Is... post every month here on the Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises blog, and most posts moving forward will try to offer some insights and/or techniques you can use in your daily lives to light your life on fire! Some things to think about until next time. Better life, better business, better you! Ideas, inspiration, opportunity, -Andreas Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises Washington State Certified K-8 Educator, K-12 International Education Consultant, Professional Coach, Proofreader/Editor, Affiliate Marketer, Popsicle Stick Crafter, Print-on-Demand Products Designer, and Webmaster (check out: www.cityofpullmanportal.com www.949crafts.com) Looking for a professional coach? I’m your man! Let’s chat. What's been going on with the site lately? A recap of what ANDREAS PHILIP GROSS ENTERPRISES does, what Andreas has been up to, and a showcase of products and services offered through the site. (Yes, Andreas DOES get paid if you purchase something through this website! How's that for full disclosure exactly where it counts? Aaaah! Head for the hills and backcountry - we've got a livewire trying to make money through the Internet here! Please assume there is a good chance that almost anything you do on, through, or as the direct result of having visited this website will in some way benefit Andreas Philip Gross monetarily.) Last Updated: 11/8/2021 Good day Ladies and Gents, Just so we are all clear from the get-go here, this "Monthly Recap" post was supposed to have happened on Monday, November 1st. In case you missed last week’s post, apart from some great house hunting tips for home-based business owners in a guest post from Megan Cooper of Real Life Home, I was musing over the fact that the end of October 2021 was really not, as fate would have it, the time I was supposed to bring Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises back online! A complete deluge of un-anticipated restructuring at my "day job" which happened to all hit between the end of September and now (and which has equated to absolute madness for us coordinators, as we are generally the point-people for programs and scheduling), coupled with the passing of my wife's maternal Grandmother on October 30th, has made keeping up with this website - this blog, in particular - and my online presence at large, a feat and a half to reckon with! Let me talk a little bit about Grandma Gui's passing here. She deserves a proper shoutout and good will send-off to the next world here on the blog. Grandma Gui and Grandpa Lu raised my wife and her cousin when they were children. Her husband (my wife's maternal Grandfather - Grandpa Lu) had passed many years before, but Grandma Gui kept right on trucking for years after his death. She continued living - alone - in their cramped two-bedroom apartment in Shanghai up until moving into a senior home in the spring of 2019, where she lived for a year up until "COVID Spring" (that is, the spring of 2020), when she took a bad fall and suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. Since then (for approximately the past 18 months) she remained laying down in a hospital bed, immobile, and mute except for soft raspy groans. She was in ICU care for most of that time, until she finally passed on Saturday, October 30th. "Finally" might sound harsh to some, but we say finally here in the family with great relief as we know it was a great relief for her to finally pass on from this life and get the rest she so amply deserved at last! Of course, none of us are happy, per say, that she died; however, to rest at peace as opposed to hanging on by a thread and living a life of torture and agony; well, like I say, we are glad she has found the rest she so well deserves! Her passing is of particular importance in the fact that of all eight grandparents a couple has (four on each spouse's side), between my wife and I, seven of our eight grandparents had already passed on...and Grandma Gui was the last one to leave. Now my wife and I can officially say that, between the two of us, all eight of our grandparents have passed on. One complete set of "parents" of ours has now completely passed into history on our combined family tree. To Grandma Gui and the other seven grandparents of ours who have all passed into glory - REST IN PEACE, dear souls. Now, back to the blog! I had a piece on seasonal marketing and sales drafted to post the Thursday before Reformation Sunday (yes, which was also Halloween), which will now have to wait until a future date. Reformation Sunday, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day have now come and gone for 2021. Yes, of course, Reformation Sunday was also Halloween, and of course the family and I went out trick-or-treating and having our secular fun here in our little international community in Kunshan, China. I still absolutely love the fact how Halloween (October 31st) fell RIGHT ON A SUNDAY this year! Yes, I am a Lutheran - ELCA; and yes, I think of October 31st, 1517, as "Martin Luther's big 'trick-or-treat' against the old, corrupt Roman Catholic Church" when, at least as legend has it, he nailed his 95 theses to the church door of Wittenberg Castle, setting the Protestant Reformation in motion more than 500 years ago. Ok, ok, maybe me thinking of the night of October 31st, 1517, as "Luther's big 'trick-or-treat'" is just me, and not so much Lutheran doctrine, ha, ha! Other than everything mentioned above, October was a short month here at Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises, as I only got back online halfway through the month, but October was also an extremely important month for the same reason, as it marked the new, streamlined, and improved Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises site coming (back!) online! On the blog here in October I laid out who I am, what I do, and what you can expect from this blog each month (you can read that October 18th blog post here). I also talked about what an elementary school coordinator does in my very first monthly Coordinate THAT! post (which, in case you missed it, you can find here). The monthly Coordinate THAT! post will be a regular monthly post you can expect to find on this blog. And we were even able to squeeze in an interview in October! We heard about the career of a professional model from Fang, who is a fashion model from Henan, China (you can read that post here). With October behind us now, the crisp bite of fall is definitely in the air – in fact, here in China where I am currently located, winter actually officially started on Sunday (November 7th) according to the traditional Chinese Lunar Calendar. According to the Traditional Chinese Lunar Calendar, the Equinoxes and Solstices are the midpoint of seasons, not the start and end dates of seasons like they are on the Western Gregorian Calendar. For me as an American, November has always brought thoughts of Thanksgiving to mind. I realize there is much more to this major US holiday than is commonly portrayed – or than has even been traditionally taught in mainstream history lessons. To some, Thanksgiving is a major day of celebration; to others it is not so happy a day; and there are many of us who are caught between how we should think and feel about it. For better or for worse, a major theme of Thanksgiving is feasting on the abundant harvest. With that in mind, we’ll see some business idea posts about micro farming this month. I’ll bust out my two Coaching Is... posts for the first time this month, and our Coordinate THAT! post this month will be about What Makes A Team. And, of course, there are going to be a few other business posts thrown in there as well! Sadly, because of the hustle and bustle that was October, I wasn't able to get an interview lined up to post in November, so we will have to wait until December for our next look up close and personal at another entrepreneur's life. Furthermore, November is more than just Thanksgiving! We cannot forget about Veteran’s Day on November 11th. November 11th is celebrated as Veteran’s Day in the US, commemorating veterans of our armed services. Other parts of the world celebrate the day as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, as it is the date that the armistice ending the fighting of World War I was signed – November 11th, 1918, at 11:00AM (the 11th hour, so they say!). In China, the date is recognized unofficially as “Singles Day,” as China doesn't like to dwell on the end of World War I (and you can see there point, really!). I’ll talk more about all these things on the Veteran’s Day blog post this upcoming November 11th, which will also be a Coaching post. With all that said, this wouldn't be the Monthly Round Up without me pitching how you can spend your hard-earned money here on Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises now, wouldn't it?! So....here comes the pitch! Let’s take a look at a few products you can find here on the Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises website! You can go directly to the webstore HERE! Looking for a name plate for your desk? Click here! How about a cool Entrepreneur t-shirt? Click here! Or a nice business card design for your new business venture! Click here! As a member of the Zazzle Affiliate Program, I can offer you all these things AND MORE! Go ahead and check out the Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises store HERE!
Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises also offers professional services. Are you looking for a professional coach? I coach educators and entrepreneurs – particularly educators who are interested in starting their own business and businesspeople who are interested in getting into education. Shoot me an email at admin@apg-enterprises.com today to find out more. Full list of Professional Services Offered: Teaching and Private Tutoring online and offline: (these services are currently not available to anyone located in Mainland China) Andreas is a Washington State, USA, K-8 Certified Educator with 13 years and counting of teaching experience. Subject Specialties: - Elementary Generalist - Upper Elementary and Middle School Science - English Language Learning for all ages US$40 for full hour sessions US$17 for 30 minute sessions ****** Professional Coaching Services Andreas has completed an International Coaching Federation (ICF) approved 161 Approved Coach Specialized Training Hours (ACSTH) Professional Coach Training Course through ISTOK International Coach Center. Specialities: - Entrepreneur and Business Start-Up Coaching - Teaching and Learning Performance Coaching for teachers, students, and educational leaders - Educators who want to start a business - Businesspeople who want to enter the world of education US$40 for full hour sessions US$17 for 30 minute sessions Discovery Sessions are up to 1 hour long and they are free! Intake Sessions are half price! What the heck is a “Discovery Session” and an “Intake Session?” Click here (coming soon) to go to our Coaching Page to find out more (coming soon)! ****** International Education Consulting Services Specializing in: - New and veteran teachers looking to go overseas for the first time - New and veteran teachers who have recently "taken the plunge" and have come overseas for the first time and are now looking for direction US$40 for full hour sessions US$17 for 30 minute sessions ****** Academic Paper Proofreading and Editing (visit AETES24 for rates) Proud freelance member of Dr. Omran Akasha's AETES24 Network Specializing in: - Proofreading - Light edits for flow and readability - Will happily work with heavier editing such as Notes to Narrative type transformations of pieces, but please contact me in advance. I CANNOT offer rush services for heavier work. Looking for another related service? Visit AETES24! Editing, proofreading, Arabic to English and English to Arabic translations, video subtitling, paper layout, and custom work to meet your needs! ****** Other Websites Operated by Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises: City of Pullman Portal 949 Crafts ****** Better life, better business, better you! -Andreas Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises Ideas, Inspiration, Opportunity Washington State Certified K-8 Educator, K-12 International Education Consultant, Professional Coach, Proofreader/Editor, Affiliate Marketer, Popsicle Stick Crafter, Print-on-Demand Products Designer, and Webmaster (check out: www.cityofpullmanportal.com, www.949crafts.com) Looking for a professional coach? I’m your man! Let’s chat. Last Updated: 11/5/2021 Hi ladies and gents, So, as it turns out, the end of October 2021 seems like it was actually not the ideal time for me to bring Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises back online, ha, ha! From the zany happenings at my "day job," to the sobering reality of a recent death in the family last weekend (and subsequent funeral two days ago), these past three weeks have been a little more "one thing after the next" than is usual and customary for me (and my usual and customary load of "one thing after the next" is normally quite large)! But enough of that for now! Life takes its turns here and there, and I will comment more on exactly what has been going on in my life these past few weeks this upcoming Monday when I get back on to my regular Monday/Thursday posting schedule. For today, I have promised a contact of mine, fellow webmaster Megan Cooper, that I would run this wonderful home business house hunting article of hers here on Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises for a while now...so without any further adieu, are you an entrepreneur, freelancer, or small business owner who operates out of your home? And have you ever been in the situation where you needed to renovate or even move homes in order to get the perfect home business setup up and running? Today we have an article from Megan Cooper, founder of www.RealLifeHome.net, to help shed some light on these matters... Image via Unsplash Home-based businesses are undoubtedly the trend these days for small businesses that don't require much space. And with the threat of the pandemic still looming large, a home-based business is the ideal way to stay put and stay safe while still earning an income at the same time. But for many, an average home office doesn't usually come with all the amenities (or space) you need to see your business thrive, which could lead you to inevitably consider moving your 'headquarters' into something that will house your flourishing home-based business accordingly. That said, this article and others here on Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises, share some tips for finding that ideal space for both you AND your new home-based business. Narrowing down your options When on the search for a new home, there is plenty to consider. And if your new home is also going to be your new place of business, this will be something else to consider too. A realtor can often (not always) help you narrow down the best space for you and your business and guide you on the buying process. Can't decide? However, finding your dream place may not always be possible, especially if your business requires additional amenities and modifications to operate efficiently. In these rare circumstances, you could also enlist the assistance of an architect or designer to custom-build the ideal space for you. When finances are holding you back There is also another more cost-effective alternative to securing a property if you happen to find yourself a bit cash-strapped in the moving process, known as an as-is property. Buying a home 'as is' is one way to save money. You could even end up saving more than you had initially planned, with a quick sale usually top of mind for sellers looking to close the deal fast. As-is properties can be risky, though, as you are buying a property unaware of any pitfalls that might exist. A lawyer can help you navigate the risks associated with as-is properties. But you should also do diligent research on your part to ensure that there aren't any obvious and glaringly bright red flags that may otherwise point you in the other direction. Moving on Logistically, moving house and business will require careful planning and the services of a reputable moving company to ensure your goods are delivered in their original condition. This is an even more important consideration should you need to transport expensive office equipment and furniture safely. Setting up shop Suppose you've found the ideal space and have everything to set up shop; there are a few things you may want to consider, especially when running your business from home. These include: ● The first step in getting a license for your business is deciding on the type of business you want to register as. An LLC is a good option for home-based businesses, as it is simple to form and has many benefits for small business owners just starting out. Some of these benefits include reduced tax deductions, less paperwork, more flexibility to change the business's structure in the future, and limited liability to protect your own assets. In addition, a formation service can help you get to grips with all the legalities required to form an LLC and is often cheaper than enlisting the services of a lawyer to do the same. Also important to note is that an LLC has different requirements depending on the state you're in. ● Other startup considerations can also include enlisting the help of a bookkeeper or accountant to oversee your business finances, having the necessary insurance in place, setting up your home office as well as taking privacy and security into consideration. In summary, starting a home-based business while moving is not exactly easy, but it is certainly manageable. But besides that, it could actually be double the excitement and double the reward if you manage to do it right! ______________________________ Article by guest writer Megan Cooper, founder of Real Life Home (www.RealLifeHome.net) ************* Thanks, Megan! Some great advice that all of us running or looking to open a home-based business can benefit from! And on that note, I'll see you next time here on Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises, dear readers! On Monday, November 8th, I plan to be back on track to keep moving forward with regular Monday and Thursday posts.
Until next time – better life, better business, better you! Ideas, inspiration, opportunity, -Andreas Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises Washington State Certified K-8 Educator, K-12 International Education Consultant, Professional Coach, Proofreader/Editor, Affiliate Marketer, Popsicle Stick Crafter, Print-on-Demand Products Designer, and Webmaster (check out: www.cityofpullmanportal.com, www.949crafts.com) Looking for a professional coach? I’m your man! Let’s chat. |
AndreasInternational K-12 Educator, CLICK HERE for most recent blog post.
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