The Value of Success Circles

This article appeared in 'Our Big Earth' in April 09
by Karae White, BEd, eCC

As a career coach for the last 15 years, I have heard many stories about how people found work and discovered meaningful careers. Part way through my career I went from working in an office with co-workers to working as a self-employed Career Coach. During this transition, I also went back to school to earn my eCareer Coach certificate. It was here that I learned about professional learning communities.

Working for myself, I lacked the regular contact with other professionals. The kind of day-to-day talk that led to inspiration and resolution. I wanted to create a professional learning community of my own so I wasn’t working in isolation.

The idea of the Success Circle came to fruition when I listened to Maureen Fitzgerald talk about her research into ‘sharing circles’ found predominately in aboriginal cultures. She has since grown an entire business from this powerful idea of sharing in circles.

I envisioned a sharing circle for businesses and piloted it for 10 months. The results were amazing for every participant. Check it out at www.morganebbett.com/successcircle.htm.

1. The Success Circle works well for a couple of reasons.
   We all come to the circle with varying degrees of business expertise but none of us knows it all. Through the dialogue, women do have a tendency to discuss stuff, we all end up contributing to the knowledge base as well as adding to our own. This turns into a feel good yet practical way to grow your business. It becomes a meaningful network of supportive people.
2. The second benefit comes from publicly setting SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely goals. The more precise your goals are the more likely you are to reach them. The more goals you cross off your list the higher your motivation to keep working hard. This hard work grows success.
3. The third reason is an increased level of accountability. There is nothing quite like saying you will do something and then having someone check to see what you achieved Often we back down when obstacles come up and this accountability provides another level of motivation to push through our fears and achieve our goals.

In short, Success Circles can be a business owner’s collaborative “board of directors” of sorts that allows you to maximize your potential while helping others achieve their business goals right along side you. It’s a fantastic way to support like-minded businesses and foster a spirit of cooperation and community as well. A Success Circle is something that, as business owners, you will find is an invaluable addition to every day.