Business Coaching

“The strength of the team is in the individual and the strength of the individual is in the team.”

Wake up inspired, go to bed grateful and in between chase your dream.

Navigating the demands of your professional life is challenging.

Most people struggle to effectively deal with the root cause of work-related stress and to keep their business lives from spilling over into their personal lives.

 You can’t just flip a switch at 5 pm and go home without a care in the world… Well, you can, but in one form or another, you take your challenges home with you (and vice versa)…

The ABCDES (Attitude, Breathing, Chiropractic/Correct Posture, Diet, Exercise and Sleep) have changed the lives of countless entrepreneurs and career-driven individuals.

 If you’re thinking that these six areas are too simplistic and have nothing to do with business, well, I can tell you one thing for sure:

 Without knowing anything about your line of work, neglecting them will lead to a drop in performance professionally and personally — I can assure you that.

On the contrary, when you empower the ABCDES you can be certain that your productivity, efficiency and fulfillment in all areas of your life will skyrocket!

You don’t have to live with fear of failure, anxiety, and insecurity at work. You don’t have to let work challenges erode your personal life, health and relationships at large.

You can reach a point where you step into the office, embracing the challenges ahead, and step out of the office feeling grateful and inspired whether you own the business or not.

Many people are working themselves to the ground, trying to get ahead while abandoning all sense of self-care.

Still… there are those who resent their workplace despite it being their primary source of income and funding their lifestyle.

Adjusting your attitude as it relates to

Mental Toughness Audio Podcast

The Psychology of Referral Generation

This is the subject of, Work Your Network with The 4Cs – Dr. Oudi’s Amazon best-selling book co-authored by Dr. Ivan Misner, dubbed the father of modern networking by CNN. Since the release of the title, he has been in high demand for coaching on how to elevate the 4Cs: Credibility, Competence, Clarity and Connectivity.

Administering a peer-to-peer assessment for your organization. Why?

First, to see where your team members stand in each other's eyes, and second, to expose weaknesses that need strengthening. The 4Cs assessment is based on the book Work Your Network with the 4Cs written by Dr. Oudi and his coauthor, Dr. Ivan Misner, dubbed the father of modern networking by CNN and Forbes. Chapter 7 is dedicated to the importance of the assessment and how to administer it properly.  

Would you like to know more about the 4cs assessment tool? Here is an exercise from the book

Implement the 4Cs Assessment in Your Organization/Network

Imagine you know exactly how others perceive you. Imagine knowing where you are weak and strong when it comes to each C. More than just imagining this, you can find out by implementing the 4Cs Assessment. This assessment will help you and your fellow organizational members understand where they stand in terms of Competence, Credibility, Clarity, and Connectivity. We will explain how it all works, how it can be used in your organization, and, if you are a BNI member, how it can be used at the Chapter level.

The first step is to rate your fellow members on each C on a scale from 0-10 such as in the table below. It is essential that everyone is encouraged to rate each other as accurately as possible. In the end, you will get a score for each C which you will then have the opportunity to compare to other Cs. You can also compare your score to your group’s average; however, this will require someone to calculate it. It is recommended that both the group average and individual scores be done by someone outside the group. Here is an example of a 4Cs assessment below:

So far, this assessment has been piloted around the world, and it is giving professionals feedback on important areas related to business that they otherwise would not know. 

We have found that anonymity is important when administering the 4Cs Assessment. While it might be tempting to know where you stand with each individual member of your group, we find that approach is not without its limitations. In short, your peers don’t want you to know they think that you aren’t clear … or competent … or well connected. You get the point. By administering the assessment anonymously, everyone is guaranteed frank feedback. If you happen to be part of an organization that has a culture of Radical Transparency, popularized by Raymond T. Dalio, author of Principles, then perhaps anonymity can be bypassed.

However keep in mind that a culture of Radical Transparency doesn’t happen overnight, and comes with a fair share of risk.

MemberC
Competence
C
Credibility
C
Clarity
C
Connectivity
 

How good are they at what they do?

(0 – 10) 10 is the highest

How much do you trust them as a person?

(0 – 10) 10 is the highest

How well do they communicate about their area of expertise?

(0 – 10) 10 is the highest

How well connected are they?

(0 – 10) 10 is the highest

Oudi Abouchacra    
Ivan Misner    
Name    
Name    
Name    
Name    

What others have said

Building confidence and enriching content as a presenter.

A professional speaker since his College days Dr. Oudi coaches on how to deliver effective presentations which includes mastery over what he calls the inner game of confidence and the outer game of content. He says, “There is no point of having a perfectly crafted speech if you don’t have the confidence to deliver it and conversely it is pointless to have over-the-top confidence if your presentation is content poor.”

Key areas to master to step up your speaking game: (in Video)

Win the war within 6 week audio program

Win the War Within – 6 week Audio program: Overcome your speaking fears, anxieties and insecurities once and for all. IT IS possible to exude confidence, seize opportunity and leave others wanting to rub shoulders with you, every time you speak in public. Imaging speaking to groups with the same comfort, confidence and certainty as when speaking to a loved one in the kitchen.

If your ready to come completely out of your shell as,a speaker, to win the respect of your audiences and exand your influence as a presenter, this program is for you!

Proper Breathing

Chiropractic and Correct posture

Diet

Eat-ology Testimonials

Exercise

Sleep

Eliminate distraction. Get Inspired. Reach your full potential.

Inspire your team and grow your business

This is what my coaching style offers you:

Your problems are addressed at their root. What you learn from me, you can apply throughout your life! Your results aren't only profound; they're also measurable.

People assume that individuals are solely responsible for their success. But the truth is most successful people have one massive advantage in common — a COACH!

Think of any successful person in your field…

And I can confidently say that in one way or another, they had a coach at their side, driving them, mentoring them and showing them the way. There's so much value in having an expert guide you towards your true potential. Whether it’s a singing coach, a swimming coach, a boxing coach or even a mindset coach… Their goal is always the same: improve your performance.

Inspired Results has the recipe.

It has the track record to prove to you that you CAN be more than you are today because you have the most important ingredient - potential. And we know how to unlock it. In our first session, we'll help you identify each and every high-priority obstacle you need to address and then put a strategic plan in place to tackle them. Seize Your Business Goals And Objectives. Maximize Your Productivity And Efficiency With Business Coaching

Learn more about our specific brand of business coaching!

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Complete Transcript of Episode 774

Priscilla:
Hello everybody and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast. I’m Priscilla Rice and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. And I’m joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan, how are you and where are you?

Ivan:
I have been as in the past, traveling a lot by Zoom all around the world. I’ve been to Vietnam, India; I’ve been to Thailand. But right now, I am live and in-person in France, at the BNI French conference this week. And what an amazing group of people. I love BNI France.

Priscilla:
Yeah, that must be terrific. Well, tell us what we’re going to be learning today.

Ivan:
Well, I’ve got a special guest today. He’s a friend and a co-author of a book that I’ve talked about a couple of times on previous podcasts. He is Dr. Oudi Abouchacra. Gotta get that right. And Oudi is the co-author of the book, Work Your Network with The 4Cs. He’s a 23-year practicing chiropractor by day and a coach, speaker, and author by night. He is the founder of Inspired Results performance coaching and training. They focus on attitude, breathing, correct posture, diet, exercise, and sleep for the purpose of impacting not only health but human performance. It’s no surprise that he’s considered to be a chiropractor with a twist. And on top of that, Dr. Oudi is the former Executive Director of BNI Abu Dhabi. And he is, as I said, the co-author of Work Your Network with The 4Cs, which recently hit number five on Amazon’s bestseller list for marketing to small business. Dr. Oudi, welcome to BNI Podcast.

Dr. Oudi:
Thank you so much. awesome to be here. I’ve been listening to the podcast for, oh my god, decades.

Ivan:
Well, it’s fantastic to have you here. How did you start your networking journey? Because that is important, not only for the book, but for the message that we want to get across today.

Dr. Oudi:
Absolutely. It started back in Toronto, I was 27 years old, just opened my clinic, my father walked in, and he said, “Son, I really like what you’ve done with the place. But it’s missing one thing.” And I thought I had everything covered, Ivan, and then Dad looked around and then looked me dead in the eyes and said, “Patients! There’s nobody here; this place is empty.” And I was like, “Dad, you got to give people time to find out about me. You gotta give patients an opportunity to know I’m the new guy on the block.” And he’s like, “Son, that is your first mistake. You don’t wait for patients to find you. You go out there and you network.” And I gotta tell you, networking was… the word networking was intimidating. I don’t even think I really knew what it meant. I just knew it meant getting out of my office, the comforts of my walls, and going out there and meeting people and strangers and having to talk about what I do. So that’s when I got introduced to BNI by somebody. And yeah, the rest is history.

Ivan:
It was good advice from Dad. Dads sometimes give really good advice. Mine certainly has in his life.

Dr. Oudi:
Undoubtedly.

Ivan:
Yeah. So just for the record, so everyone knows, the whole concept of the 4Cs was Dr. Oudi’s concept. And he came to me with this idea that I really, really liked, and we did this book together. But this is something that you put together — the concept, and I love it. Maybe you can share with everyone the 4Cs in a nutshell, because for BNI members, this is critical to understand in order to generate referral business. So what are the 4Cs?

Dr. Oudi:
Sure. Ivan, well, thanks. I just want to also mention that you did make a very, very important distinction in the book, which is so powerful, which I’ll get to in a second. But the 4Cs are basically the foundation for which relationships are built. And it’s not just in the business context, which of course, that is the most important and most relevant part of it. But if you go back to, you know, before there was even language, if you were sitting with your family in your cave, and somebody knocked on your imaginary cave door, you obviously would be asking a set of questions like Who is this person? and several things.

But the idea is the first question that would come to mind would most likely have nothing to do with the person’s competence. Even if the person looked like someone who would be able to help you around the house, help you with your hunting and gathering, and all that kind of stuff, the first question you’d probably be asking, and I know it’s hard to predict what people would be thinking, but it’s probably safe to assume to say that you would be questioning whether you can trust the person. Can you, you know, is it safe for your kids and your family be around this person? And so the first C is Credibility.

Even if he or she turned around, climbed a coconut tree and offered you a coconut, you wouldn’t be mesmerized and be thinking, “Oh, wow, it would be great to have this person around for food and hunting purposes,” you’d be thinking, “Can I trust the person?” So really, competence is irrelevant, unless Credibility has been established. And that is the first C Credibility.

The second C is Competence. Once you’ve ticked that Credibility box in your mind, you then want to be asking, “What’s this person’s skill set? What’s this person good at?” “How are they going to help around the house or help with your life and what you value most?” But once you establish Credibility, Competence comes in. We want to know, we want to trust the person, and we want to trust that they’re good at, let’s just say their job.

But it’s not just that either. In the social, like I said, non-business context, and even in the business context, we also want to know that this person, you want to know what this person needs in terms of help. “Do they communicate well?” And the third C is Clarity, which basically has to do with how clear you communicate. It’s very difficult to help someone if their communication is off point. It’s very difficult for people to help you if you’re not communicating clearly, and with Clarity. So that’s the third C.

And the last C, which I think is probably an underappreciated C, and that is Connectivity, which is a recent term that has to do with the quality and the quantity of your connections. So even if we go back like I said, to the times even before words, before language, we would be asking, “How well connected is this person? Who does this person know?” Because, like it or not, people are judging how connected you are. And people want to rub shoulders with people who are well connected, because those who are well connected, are going to help you make the connections you need.

Because we know that, behind every successful man stands a woman, and behind every successful woman perhaps stands a man. Or behind every successful person stands a person. But also every door that leads to an opportunity, there’s a person standing in front of you, in front of that door. And so it’s important to be able to connect to those people who can open doors for you. So those are the 4Cs in a nutshell.

The only caveat, the only little twist in the business context, is that Competence comes first. Because we are not going to refer someone if we don’t think they’re good at their job. And so that’s pretty much it. The only thing in the business context we’ve got to think about is it starts with Competence, then we go to Credibility, Clarity and Connectivity, as opposed to starting with Credibility in the in the non-business, social context, and interactions with people at large.

Ivan:
So how did you struggle with the 4Cs in your early career?

Dr. Oudi:
You know, that’s the thing, when I first got involved in BNI, I really didn’t understand why some people get referrals, and some people don’t. And after 20 years of being in BNI, I was able to distill it down to these 4Cs. And I can tell you, for me, the biggest challenge for me was Clarity of communication. So I’m a US and Canadian Board Certified Chiropractor, so I think from a Competence point of view, I ticked that box. And Credibility-wise I was okay. But when it came to communication, I really struggled, Ivan. I mean, it was really, really difficult to be concise and precise, and really get a message across in a networking context within, you know, under 60 seconds in our weekly presentation. So that was probably my toughest C, and it cost me big time.

Ivan:
How did it cost you? Time I’m guessing, it took a while for people to really understand how to refer you.

Dr. Oudi:
It did. I think it cost definitely time. If I want to stick to the Cs concept, so it cost time, it cost cash, it cost confidence, because every time you speak ineffectively, you then start to second guess yourself, and then you lose confidence for the next presentation. It’s huge. Again, I think most people underappreciate all these Cs, but specifically with communication, most people think that they’re effective communicators. But if you ask their peers, many times, they’ll say, “I don’t really get what they do. I don’t really understand them.”

Ivan:
Right. We’re almost out of time. What’s the most powerful way to develop the Cs? And could you speak briefly about the 4Cs peer-to-peer assessment that we have in the book?

Dr. Oudi:
Absolutely. So definitely, it’s important to work on each one of those and maybe ask those that may be in your Power Teams or people that you’re very close to for real, honest feedback. But the problem is, most people will not necessarily tell you what they really think because it’s tough; it’s hard to give critical feedback. And it’s also not necessarily assumed that you’re going to receive it well. So the peer-to-peer assessment is an anonymous survey that goes out to your members, for example, in the chapter. You can also do this outside of BNI in organizations, but just imagine every member of your chapter rated you anonymously on these 4Cs. And imagine you got a scorecard that basically said, You’re nine out of 10 with Credibility, nine out of ten with Competence. Maybe you score three out of 10 with Clarity, and nine out of 10 in Connectivity. Guess what, you know, not only what you need to work on, but what you don’t need to work on so much, that way you can just maintain.

Ivan:
Yeah, the peer-to-peer assessment is a great concept. It’s one of the things, one of the many things that you brought to the book, and I really like it. I urge people to pick up a copy of the book and do some of the 4C peer-to-peer assessments. Dr. Oudi, thank you so much for being on BNI podcast. Any last comment before I wrap?

Dr. Oudi:
No, I just want to thank you so much for having me. And I really think it’s important for people not to just walk around assuming that they know how their members are perceiving them. But really to, number one, ask those that are close to you, but also consider doing a 4Cs assessment, maybe at the transition of leadership teams, or at some point in BNI, because it’ll just really help you understand where you sit in the eyes of your fellow members.

Ivan:
Yeah. Well, thank you so much. Again, the name of the book is Work Your Network with The 4Cs. We’ll have a linkto it here on the podcast. And for more information about Dr. Oudi, go to www.DrOudi.com. That’s www.DrOudi.com. Thank you so much. I appreciate you being here. And of course, I appreciate co-authoring the book with you.

Dr. Oudi:
Thank you, Ivan, it’s been a pleasure.

Ivan:
Over to you Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay, perfect. Thanks for the great information.

This podcast is sponsored by www.misneraudioprograms.com. These audio programs will provide you with the tools and the inspiration to powerfully enhance your BNI experience. So check out the great material that’s available to you at www.misneraudioprograms.comand use the promo code IVAN50 for 50% off of everything [this code is good for a limited time]. All of the proceeds go to the BNI Foundation.

Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we look forward to having you join us again next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.