By Brian Tracy
All of life is a series of projects. A project is a complex task. It is often called a multitask job. This type of job requires the coordination of efforts of several people, each of whom is responsible for a part of the job, with every part of the job being necessary for successful completion. Your ability to handle these multitask jobs is a critical skill for success. All achievements of consequence are complex, and they involve the cooperation of many people.
The Key Management Skill
A study by Stanford University of the qualities that companies look for in promoting people into the position of chief executive officer concluded that the ability to put together a team to accomplish a task was the single most important identifiable quality of an executive who was destined for the fast track in his/her career. Your ability to put together teams to do multitask jobs or complete complex projects will determine the course of your career as much as any other factor. It will enable you to multiply yourself times the talents and efforts of others, and accomplish vastly more than you could do on your own.
A Learnable Skill
Project management is a learnable skill, like riding a bicycle. It can be divided into a series of steps, each of which you can master, one at a time. In managing any project, you begin by defining the ideal desired result of the project. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? What will the project look like if it is a complete success? Start by defining a successful completion of the project, the ideal desired result.
Start at the Beginning
Once you are clear about your desired result, you then start from the beginning. Determine what you are going to have to do to get from where you are to the completion of this project, on schedule and on budget. Determine a specific deadline or target to aim at. Make sure that it is realistic and achievable.
Assemble the Team
Bring together all the people whose contributions will be necessary for the success of this project. Sometimes you need to assemble a team before you can even decide upon the ideal result and the schedule. Remember that people are everything. Take ample time to think carefully about the people who are going to be the team members.
Develop a Shared Vision
A shared vision is an ideal future picture of success that everyone buys into. How do you develop a shared vision? You sit down with the members of your team and work with them to answer the question, "What are we trying to accomplish?" You encourage everyone to contribute, visualize, and to imagine the ideal outcome or desired result of the project. Once this vision is clear and shared by everyone, you move on to the development of "shared plans" to achieve the vision.
Set Schedules and Deadlines
Once you have a shared vision and shared plans, and everyone knows exactly what is to be done and what the ideal results will look like, the next step is for you to set a deadline for project completion based on the consensus of your team.
Action Exercise
What project are you trying to complete? What kind of employees do you need to successfully work on the project? What is your deadline? What is your sub-deadline?
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Major Key to Your Better Future is You
By Jim Rohn
Of all the things that can have an effect on your future, I believe personal growth is the greatest. We can talk about sales growth, profit growth, asset growth, but all of this probably will not happen without personal growth. It’s really the open door to it all. In fact I’d like to have you memorize a most important phrase. Here it is, “The major key to your better future is YOU.”
Let me repeat that. “The major key to your better future is YOU.” Put that someplace you can see it every day, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, at the office, anywhere where you can see it every day. The major key to your better future is YOU. Try to remember that every day you live and think about it. The major key is YOU.
Now, there are many things that will help your better future. If you belong to a strong, dynamic, progressive company, that would help. If the company has good products, good services that you are proud of, that would certainly help. If there were good sales aids, that would help, good training would certainly help. If there is strong leadership, that will certainly help. All of these things will help, and of course, if it doesn’t storm, that will help. If your car doesn’t break down, that will help. If the kids don’t get sick, that will help. If the neighbors stay halfway civil, that will help. If your relatives don’t bug you, that will help. If it isn’t too cold, if it isn’t too hot, all those things will help your better future. And if prices don’t go much higher and if taxes don’t get much heavier, that will help. And if the economy stays stable, those things will all help. We could go on and on with the list; but remember this, the list of things that I’ve just covered and many more - all put together - play a minor role in your better future.
The major key to your better future is you. Lock your mind onto that. This is a super important point to remember. The major key is you. A friend of mine has always answered when asked, “How do you develop an above-average income?” He says, “Simple. Become an above-average person. Work on you.” My friend says, “Develop an above-average handshake.” He says, “A lot of people want to be successful, and they don’t even work on their handshake. As easy as that would be to start, they let it slide. They don’t understand.” My friend says, “Develop an above- average smile. Develop an above-average excitement. Develop an above-average dedication. Develop an above-average interest in other people.” He says, “To have more, become more.” Remember; work harder on yourself than you do on your job. For a long time in my life, I didn’t have this figured out.
Strangely enough, with two different people in the same company one may earn an extra $100 a month, and the other may earn a $1,000. What could possibly be the difference? If the products were the same, if the training was the same, if they both had the same literature, the same tools. If they both had the same teacher, the same compensation plan, if they both attended the same meetings, why would one person earn the $100 per month and the other person earn the $1000?
Remember here is the difference...the difference is personal, inside, not outside, inside.
You see the real difference is inside you. In fact, the difference IS you. Someone once said, “The magic is not in the products. The magic is not in the literature. The magic is not in the film. There isn’t a magic meeting, but the magic that makes things better is inside you, and personal growth makes this magic work for you.
The magic is in believing. The magic is in daring. The magic is in trying. The real magic is in persevering. The magic is in accepting. It’s in working. The magic is in thinking. There is magic in a handshake. There is magic in a smile. There is magic in excitement and determination. There is real magic in compassion and caring and sharing. There is unusual magic in strong feeling and you see, all that comes from inside, not outside. So, the difference is inside you. The real difference is you. You are the major key to your better future.
Of all the things that can have an effect on your future, I believe personal growth is the greatest. We can talk about sales growth, profit growth, asset growth, but all of this probably will not happen without personal growth. It’s really the open door to it all. In fact I’d like to have you memorize a most important phrase. Here it is, “The major key to your better future is YOU.”
Let me repeat that. “The major key to your better future is YOU.” Put that someplace you can see it every day, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, at the office, anywhere where you can see it every day. The major key to your better future is YOU. Try to remember that every day you live and think about it. The major key is YOU.
Now, there are many things that will help your better future. If you belong to a strong, dynamic, progressive company, that would help. If the company has good products, good services that you are proud of, that would certainly help. If there were good sales aids, that would help, good training would certainly help. If there is strong leadership, that will certainly help. All of these things will help, and of course, if it doesn’t storm, that will help. If your car doesn’t break down, that will help. If the kids don’t get sick, that will help. If the neighbors stay halfway civil, that will help. If your relatives don’t bug you, that will help. If it isn’t too cold, if it isn’t too hot, all those things will help your better future. And if prices don’t go much higher and if taxes don’t get much heavier, that will help. And if the economy stays stable, those things will all help. We could go on and on with the list; but remember this, the list of things that I’ve just covered and many more - all put together - play a minor role in your better future.
The major key to your better future is you. Lock your mind onto that. This is a super important point to remember. The major key is you. A friend of mine has always answered when asked, “How do you develop an above-average income?” He says, “Simple. Become an above-average person. Work on you.” My friend says, “Develop an above-average handshake.” He says, “A lot of people want to be successful, and they don’t even work on their handshake. As easy as that would be to start, they let it slide. They don’t understand.” My friend says, “Develop an above- average smile. Develop an above-average excitement. Develop an above-average dedication. Develop an above-average interest in other people.” He says, “To have more, become more.” Remember; work harder on yourself than you do on your job. For a long time in my life, I didn’t have this figured out.
Strangely enough, with two different people in the same company one may earn an extra $100 a month, and the other may earn a $1,000. What could possibly be the difference? If the products were the same, if the training was the same, if they both had the same literature, the same tools. If they both had the same teacher, the same compensation plan, if they both attended the same meetings, why would one person earn the $100 per month and the other person earn the $1000?
Remember here is the difference...the difference is personal, inside, not outside, inside.
You see the real difference is inside you. In fact, the difference IS you. Someone once said, “The magic is not in the products. The magic is not in the literature. The magic is not in the film. There isn’t a magic meeting, but the magic that makes things better is inside you, and personal growth makes this magic work for you.
The magic is in believing. The magic is in daring. The magic is in trying. The real magic is in persevering. The magic is in accepting. It’s in working. The magic is in thinking. There is magic in a handshake. There is magic in a smile. There is magic in excitement and determination. There is real magic in compassion and caring and sharing. There is unusual magic in strong feeling and you see, all that comes from inside, not outside. So, the difference is inside you. The real difference is you. You are the major key to your better future.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Cultivating the Heart of Rejoicing
By Goodman Akinlabi
The power of the Holy Spirit is active in an atmosphere of rejoicing. We, therefore, must strive to maintain an attitude of joy because it's the key to prevailing over difficult circumstances or enemies. Rejoice in the Lord always because He knows we live in a turbulent world and He will always make a way for us. A gloomy heart will repel the Holy Spirit, so even though we are hard pressed, perplexed and persecuted on every side, the correct thing to do is to rejoice in the love of God.
A joyous attitude is a choice; the way we feel is under our control. When we understand the depth of the love of God, it becomes easier to be full of joy and rejoicing because then we are confident that God will always be with His own people.
Joy has got to come from the heart. Let's bear in mind that “it's not because things are bad that we are sad; rather, it's because we are sad that things are bad”. Despairing is a waste of time, as well as murmuring and complaining. When we choose to stop wallowing in sadness, our circumstances begin to change for the better; if we refuse to allow our emotions to be tossed about by physical circumstances, then, the view that God is working things together in our favour prevails.
Recorded in the bible is the story of two apostles, Paul and Silas. They cast out demons from a slave girl who was possessed with a spirit of divination and claimed to foretell the future. This greatly infuriated the crowd especially as some people were making money off her. So, they were beaten mercilessly, thrown into jail and their feet were fastened with heavy chains. The apostles, instead of despairing, prayed and sang hymns of praise to God and there was a great earthquake which shook the foundations of the prisons and the doors opened and their chains came loose. ACTS 16:16-26.
We all have to emulate the attitude of those apostles by deliberately ignoring the circumstances gnawing at us and reach
for God through rejoicing. A merry heart causes things to happen in our favour of their own accord. Rejoice! Again, I say,
rejoice!!
The power of the Holy Spirit is active in an atmosphere of rejoicing. We, therefore, must strive to maintain an attitude of joy because it's the key to prevailing over difficult circumstances or enemies. Rejoice in the Lord always because He knows we live in a turbulent world and He will always make a way for us. A gloomy heart will repel the Holy Spirit, so even though we are hard pressed, perplexed and persecuted on every side, the correct thing to do is to rejoice in the love of God.
A joyous attitude is a choice; the way we feel is under our control. When we understand the depth of the love of God, it becomes easier to be full of joy and rejoicing because then we are confident that God will always be with His own people.
Joy has got to come from the heart. Let's bear in mind that “it's not because things are bad that we are sad; rather, it's because we are sad that things are bad”. Despairing is a waste of time, as well as murmuring and complaining. When we choose to stop wallowing in sadness, our circumstances begin to change for the better; if we refuse to allow our emotions to be tossed about by physical circumstances, then, the view that God is working things together in our favour prevails.
Recorded in the bible is the story of two apostles, Paul and Silas. They cast out demons from a slave girl who was possessed with a spirit of divination and claimed to foretell the future. This greatly infuriated the crowd especially as some people were making money off her. So, they were beaten mercilessly, thrown into jail and their feet were fastened with heavy chains. The apostles, instead of despairing, prayed and sang hymns of praise to God and there was a great earthquake which shook the foundations of the prisons and the doors opened and their chains came loose. ACTS 16:16-26.
We all have to emulate the attitude of those apostles by deliberately ignoring the circumstances gnawing at us and reach
for God through rejoicing. A merry heart causes things to happen in our favour of their own accord. Rejoice! Again, I say,
rejoice!!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Purpose, Vision And Goals By Bob Proctor
By Bob Proctor
Do you have a definite purpose that guides your ambitions, vision, and goals?
It doesn’t matter how you think you arrived here on this planet or under whose direction – the fact remains that each of us has specific talents and gifts that are uniquely coded within our own DNA.
As you go through life, you don’t just pick up things you like doing by chance. You discover what you’re good at because you were meant to discover it, just as you were meant to figure out what your fingers do, and how your elbows work.
Your unique gifts are hardwired into your system just as surely as your lungs are given their blueprint to breathe.
And it’s from these specific talents and gifts that you’re able to define and determine your definite purpose… the reason why you’re here.
What’s in you cannot be found in another living human being. In fact, it’s quite possible that what you bring to the table hasn’t been duplicated – ever – since time began.
That’s right! This “purpose” is serious business.
If you fail to determine your definite purpose, everything else is wrong. It’s like working with a broken compass – you may think you’re going North, but you’re not. You’re not sure which direction you’re heading, so, you’re just wandering aimlessly.
Without your purpose identified firmly in your mind, you will wander through life, never quite feeling that you’re “in the flow.” I say, then, that it’s imperative you recognize what it is you’re good at – what it is you really love to do.
Your purpose in this lifetime is to do the thing that you love.
People will tell you they already know what they’re good at, and what they love to do most, but they’ll never earn money doing it. Whoever gave you that idea?
When you’re sorting out your purpose, I don’t want you thinking about that non-issue at all. You can earn money at anything. Once you determine your purpose, you won’t even have to think hard on how to earn money – it’s as if you’re being guided by an unseen hand, heading in the right direction… and everything falls into place.
The key to your life is not that you settle for the “safe” thing that will bring in the money. The key is to turn and do what you really love. Fall in love with an idea. That’s your life! That’s your purpose.
Do you have a definite purpose that guides your ambitions, vision, and goals?
It doesn’t matter how you think you arrived here on this planet or under whose direction – the fact remains that each of us has specific talents and gifts that are uniquely coded within our own DNA.
As you go through life, you don’t just pick up things you like doing by chance. You discover what you’re good at because you were meant to discover it, just as you were meant to figure out what your fingers do, and how your elbows work.
Your unique gifts are hardwired into your system just as surely as your lungs are given their blueprint to breathe.
And it’s from these specific talents and gifts that you’re able to define and determine your definite purpose… the reason why you’re here.
What’s in you cannot be found in another living human being. In fact, it’s quite possible that what you bring to the table hasn’t been duplicated – ever – since time began.
That’s right! This “purpose” is serious business.
If you fail to determine your definite purpose, everything else is wrong. It’s like working with a broken compass – you may think you’re going North, but you’re not. You’re not sure which direction you’re heading, so, you’re just wandering aimlessly.
Without your purpose identified firmly in your mind, you will wander through life, never quite feeling that you’re “in the flow.” I say, then, that it’s imperative you recognize what it is you’re good at – what it is you really love to do.
Your purpose in this lifetime is to do the thing that you love.
People will tell you they already know what they’re good at, and what they love to do most, but they’ll never earn money doing it. Whoever gave you that idea?
When you’re sorting out your purpose, I don’t want you thinking about that non-issue at all. You can earn money at anything. Once you determine your purpose, you won’t even have to think hard on how to earn money – it’s as if you’re being guided by an unseen hand, heading in the right direction… and everything falls into place.
The key to your life is not that you settle for the “safe” thing that will bring in the money. The key is to turn and do what you really love. Fall in love with an idea. That’s your life! That’s your purpose.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Invest Yourself
By Chip Lutz
When life is complete, what is the legacy you want to leave behind? One of policy, plans, procedures and rules? Or, do you want to leave a legacy that represents your true self? If your answer is the latter, then read on. At home, work, or play - if you want to leave a legacy that is of true value and that continues to be shared, then the answer is to tithe with others. I am not talking about giving 10% more than what you are giving right now. I am referring to sharing the 10% of yourself that makes you special. When we share our inner 10% with others, we pass that piece of ourselves on and can help others grow, develop, or move past a difficult time in their life. All the success I have ever enjoyed has been the result of another’s tithe in me - all ordinary people who became extraordinary because they took the time to invest the 10% that was personal, insightful, and sometimes painful (to share and to hear). Step up and start tithing today by being mindful of these principles.
Reflect
Having a PhD, tons of money, or a title is great, but the only requirement for you to tithe is having a willing spirit and a reflective mind. To be in that reflective state-of-mind when encountering issues, ask yourself: How can I help? What part of “me” can be of benefit to this person? Your tithe could come in the form of a personal story, an experience, a triumph, or even a tribulation. Regardless of its origin, it matters because it is a part of you. With a tithe, sometimes the smallest things have the largest impact. Always remember that each of us is special and each has something to tithe.
Remove Distractions
We live in a busy world - cell phones, WiFi, and the continual bombardment of information can leave people so stressed they feel like they are diagonally parked in a parallel universe! To tithe, we need to take the time to connect on a human level - to get away from the distractions and meet others with warm eyes and an open heart. Only 7% of the words we use are important. The other 93% of a conversation comes from our body language, facial expressions, and how active we are in our ability to listen. Tithing can be as simple as turning off the cell phone, lending an ear, and just “being there.”
Risk
Is there an element of risk in tithing? The answer is yes. There is the risk of your tithe being unwanted. There is the risk of your tithe falling on “deaf” ears. There may also be the risk of being hurt. The hardest part of tithing is making that first investment. No great thing was ever accomplished without battling with that element of risk. In life, there are people that do and people that wish they had done. Wouldn’t you rather step out, take the risk of rejection and/or hurt and be of benefit to another than to have “wished” you had done something after the fact? I think the answer is clear - we should step up, step out, invest ourselves and take the risk.
Tithing is personal. It is a personal investment of your best 10% in others that goes beyond the boundaries of mentorship and coaching. It’s about a covenant that we build with others in an attempt to make meaning of our experiences and provide value to others as we run the race of life. The tithe that we share lives on in those we invest in and, chances are, it will become part of their tithe in others. It’s not a lot, it’s only 10% - but that small investment will give returns that are much greater than we could ever expect. Don’t hesitate, now is the time to reach out, connect, inspire, and make your investment in others through tithing. Now is also the time to thank those who have shared their tithes with you!
When life is complete, what is the legacy you want to leave behind? One of policy, plans, procedures and rules? Or, do you want to leave a legacy that represents your true self? If your answer is the latter, then read on. At home, work, or play - if you want to leave a legacy that is of true value and that continues to be shared, then the answer is to tithe with others. I am not talking about giving 10% more than what you are giving right now. I am referring to sharing the 10% of yourself that makes you special. When we share our inner 10% with others, we pass that piece of ourselves on and can help others grow, develop, or move past a difficult time in their life. All the success I have ever enjoyed has been the result of another’s tithe in me - all ordinary people who became extraordinary because they took the time to invest the 10% that was personal, insightful, and sometimes painful (to share and to hear). Step up and start tithing today by being mindful of these principles.
Reflect
Having a PhD, tons of money, or a title is great, but the only requirement for you to tithe is having a willing spirit and a reflective mind. To be in that reflective state-of-mind when encountering issues, ask yourself: How can I help? What part of “me” can be of benefit to this person? Your tithe could come in the form of a personal story, an experience, a triumph, or even a tribulation. Regardless of its origin, it matters because it is a part of you. With a tithe, sometimes the smallest things have the largest impact. Always remember that each of us is special and each has something to tithe.
Remove Distractions
We live in a busy world - cell phones, WiFi, and the continual bombardment of information can leave people so stressed they feel like they are diagonally parked in a parallel universe! To tithe, we need to take the time to connect on a human level - to get away from the distractions and meet others with warm eyes and an open heart. Only 7% of the words we use are important. The other 93% of a conversation comes from our body language, facial expressions, and how active we are in our ability to listen. Tithing can be as simple as turning off the cell phone, lending an ear, and just “being there.”
Risk
Is there an element of risk in tithing? The answer is yes. There is the risk of your tithe being unwanted. There is the risk of your tithe falling on “deaf” ears. There may also be the risk of being hurt. The hardest part of tithing is making that first investment. No great thing was ever accomplished without battling with that element of risk. In life, there are people that do and people that wish they had done. Wouldn’t you rather step out, take the risk of rejection and/or hurt and be of benefit to another than to have “wished” you had done something after the fact? I think the answer is clear - we should step up, step out, invest ourselves and take the risk.
Tithing is personal. It is a personal investment of your best 10% in others that goes beyond the boundaries of mentorship and coaching. It’s about a covenant that we build with others in an attempt to make meaning of our experiences and provide value to others as we run the race of life. The tithe that we share lives on in those we invest in and, chances are, it will become part of their tithe in others. It’s not a lot, it’s only 10% - but that small investment will give returns that are much greater than we could ever expect. Don’t hesitate, now is the time to reach out, connect, inspire, and make your investment in others through tithing. Now is also the time to thank those who have shared their tithes with you!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Acting Against Discouragement
By John C. Maxwell
It's hard to imagine a time when Samuel L. Jackson wasn't an A-List celebrity, but twenty years ago he was a frustrated, little-known actor who couldn't seem to breakthrough. Despite his prodigious talents, as of his 41st birthday Jackson could claim nothing more notable than a few minor cameos. Intensely discouraged, he turned to cocaine and quickly developed a dependency on the drug. Within a year, he hit rock bottom. When his wife and eight-year old daughter discovered him passed out on the kitchen floor, there was no denying that he had lost control.
After finding Jackson unconscious, his wife LaTanya immediately checked him into a rehabilitation clinic. For the first time, Samuel L. Jackson was forced to face up to his anger and discouragement, and he began to make life changes. To his credit, Jackson submitted himself to the recovery process, and with the encouragement of his family, he was able to break his addiction. Less than twelve months later, he finally achieved stardom for his supporting role in Jungle Fever. From then on, his reputation grew steadily, and his career flourished. Today, he is regarded as one of Hollywood's finest and hardest-working actors.
What can we learn from Samuel L. Jackson's journey?
No one is immune to discouragement.
Regardless of your personality, potential, or position you will encounter discouragement at some point in life.
Our response to discouragement holds the key to our future.
I've noted two types of people in the world: splatters and bouncers. When splatters hit the bottom they land with a thud and stick like glue. No matter what you try to say and do, there's no use trying to pick up a splatter who has fallen flat. Bouncers on the other hand, pull themselves together and rebound after hitting the bottom. Give them a little bit of encouragement, and they will ride it back up to the top.
Everyone who falters has a choice: are you going to get up or give up? The difference between the splatters and bouncers lies in their attitude. Splatters bemoan their fate and blame others for their problems. Bouncers learn from their failures and find supporters to help them recover.
Our influence can be pivotal in rescuing others from self-destructive discouragement.
Imagine if Samuel L. Jackson had not been married, or if the people who cared about him had not intervened on his behalf. He might never have checked into rehab, he might never have beaten his drug addiction, and the world might never have been entertained by his acting. Thankfully for Jackson, he was surrounded by people who loved him and encouraged him as he recovered from substance abuse.
In leadership, inevitably you will cross paths with someone who is downtrodden. When you do, your encouragement can be a lifeline to save them from spiraling into self-destructive despair. Here's how you can counteract discouragement:
1) Guide Them to the Right Perspective
People who are discouraged oftentimes seem trapped under a black raincloud. Everywhere they turn appears to be dark, and they cannot see rays of light anywhere. As a leader, you can point to the positives and help them to keep hope alive. In additional, you can assist the discouraged person in properly interpreting setbacks. Remind them that just because they experienced failure doesn't mean they are a failure.
2) Connect Them to the Right People
You may encounter people whom you have limited ability to encourage because you can't relate to their area of discouragement. For instance, if you've never been in sales, it can be hard to cheer up a dispirited salesperson. However, within your network, you may know someone who has undergone similar frustrations in sales and would be glad to share some encouragement from his or her experience.
Also, the depth of someone's discouragement may necessitate professional assistance. In the middle of his drug addiction, Samuel L. Jackson didn't need a pep talk from a buddy as much as he needed medical care and attention from a licensed counselor. Sometimes the best service you can do for someone who has hit rock bottom is to persuade him or her to get help.
3) Restore Them with the Right Words
Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, at one time the greatest heart surgeon in England, says this in his excellent work, Spiritual Depression, It's Cause and Cure: "Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself rather than talking to yourself." Think about it. When you're discouraged, you wake up in the morning and right away, there are streams of thought coming into your mind. You haven't invited them; you didn't ask for them; you are not consciously doing anything to produce them; they just come! They start talking to you.
As a leader, you can help people filter unfounded fears and unwarranted worries from their inner dialogue. After doing so, you have the opportunity to speak affirming and encouraging words that can take the place of negative thoughts. Once people change their thinking, their attitudes and actions eventually follow.
It's hard to imagine a time when Samuel L. Jackson wasn't an A-List celebrity, but twenty years ago he was a frustrated, little-known actor who couldn't seem to breakthrough. Despite his prodigious talents, as of his 41st birthday Jackson could claim nothing more notable than a few minor cameos. Intensely discouraged, he turned to cocaine and quickly developed a dependency on the drug. Within a year, he hit rock bottom. When his wife and eight-year old daughter discovered him passed out on the kitchen floor, there was no denying that he had lost control.
After finding Jackson unconscious, his wife LaTanya immediately checked him into a rehabilitation clinic. For the first time, Samuel L. Jackson was forced to face up to his anger and discouragement, and he began to make life changes. To his credit, Jackson submitted himself to the recovery process, and with the encouragement of his family, he was able to break his addiction. Less than twelve months later, he finally achieved stardom for his supporting role in Jungle Fever. From then on, his reputation grew steadily, and his career flourished. Today, he is regarded as one of Hollywood's finest and hardest-working actors.
What can we learn from Samuel L. Jackson's journey?
No one is immune to discouragement.
Regardless of your personality, potential, or position you will encounter discouragement at some point in life.
Our response to discouragement holds the key to our future.
I've noted two types of people in the world: splatters and bouncers. When splatters hit the bottom they land with a thud and stick like glue. No matter what you try to say and do, there's no use trying to pick up a splatter who has fallen flat. Bouncers on the other hand, pull themselves together and rebound after hitting the bottom. Give them a little bit of encouragement, and they will ride it back up to the top.
Everyone who falters has a choice: are you going to get up or give up? The difference between the splatters and bouncers lies in their attitude. Splatters bemoan their fate and blame others for their problems. Bouncers learn from their failures and find supporters to help them recover.
Our influence can be pivotal in rescuing others from self-destructive discouragement.
Imagine if Samuel L. Jackson had not been married, or if the people who cared about him had not intervened on his behalf. He might never have checked into rehab, he might never have beaten his drug addiction, and the world might never have been entertained by his acting. Thankfully for Jackson, he was surrounded by people who loved him and encouraged him as he recovered from substance abuse.
In leadership, inevitably you will cross paths with someone who is downtrodden. When you do, your encouragement can be a lifeline to save them from spiraling into self-destructive despair. Here's how you can counteract discouragement:
1) Guide Them to the Right Perspective
People who are discouraged oftentimes seem trapped under a black raincloud. Everywhere they turn appears to be dark, and they cannot see rays of light anywhere. As a leader, you can point to the positives and help them to keep hope alive. In additional, you can assist the discouraged person in properly interpreting setbacks. Remind them that just because they experienced failure doesn't mean they are a failure.
2) Connect Them to the Right People
You may encounter people whom you have limited ability to encourage because you can't relate to their area of discouragement. For instance, if you've never been in sales, it can be hard to cheer up a dispirited salesperson. However, within your network, you may know someone who has undergone similar frustrations in sales and would be glad to share some encouragement from his or her experience.
Also, the depth of someone's discouragement may necessitate professional assistance. In the middle of his drug addiction, Samuel L. Jackson didn't need a pep talk from a buddy as much as he needed medical care and attention from a licensed counselor. Sometimes the best service you can do for someone who has hit rock bottom is to persuade him or her to get help.
3) Restore Them with the Right Words
Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, at one time the greatest heart surgeon in England, says this in his excellent work, Spiritual Depression, It's Cause and Cure: "Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself rather than talking to yourself." Think about it. When you're discouraged, you wake up in the morning and right away, there are streams of thought coming into your mind. You haven't invited them; you didn't ask for them; you are not consciously doing anything to produce them; they just come! They start talking to you.
As a leader, you can help people filter unfounded fears and unwarranted worries from their inner dialogue. After doing so, you have the opportunity to speak affirming and encouraging words that can take the place of negative thoughts. Once people change their thinking, their attitudes and actions eventually follow.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Law of Time Perspective
By Brian Tracy
The most successful people in any society are those who take the longest time period into consideration when making their day-to-day decisions. This insight comes from the pioneering work on upward financial mobility in America conducted by Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University in the late 1950's and early 1960's. After studying many of the factors that were thought to contribute to individual financial success over the course of a person's lifetime, he concluded that there was one primary factor that took precedence over all the others. He called it “time perspective.”
Plant Trees
What Banfield found was that the higher a person rises in any society, the longer the time perspective or time horizon of that person. People at the highest social and economic levels make decisions and sacrifices that may not pay off for many years, sometimes not even in their own lifetimes. They “plant trees under which they will never sit.”
Doctors
An obvious example of someone with a long time perspective is the man or women who spends ten or twelve years studying and interning to become a doctor. This person takes extraordinarily long time to lay down the foundation for a lifetime career. And partially because we know how long it takes to become a doctor, we hold doctors in the highest esteem of any professional group. We appreciate and admire the sacrifices that they have made in order to be able to practice a profession that is so important to so many of us. We recognize their long time perspectives.
Long Time Perspectives
People with long term perspectives are willing to pay the price of success for a long, long time before they achieve it. They think about the consequences of their choices and decisions in terms of what they might mean in five, ten, fifteen, and even twenty years from now.
Short Time Perspectives
People at the lowest levels of society have the shortest time perspectives. They focus primarily on immediate gratification and often engage in behaviors that are virtually guaranteed to lead to negative consequences in the long term. At the very bottom of the social ladder, you find hopeless alcoholics and drug addicts. These people think in terms of the next drink or the next fix. Their time perspective is often less than one hour.
Delayed Gratification is the Key to Financial Success
Your ability to practice self-mastery, self-control, and self-denial, to sacrifice in the short term so you can enjoy greater rewards in the long term, is the starting point of developing a long time perspective. This attitude is essential to financial achievement of any kind.
Action Exercise
Practice a long term perspective in every area of your life, especially in your financial life but also with your family and your health. Think of where you would ideally like to be in five years and begin today to take steps in that direction.
The most successful people in any society are those who take the longest time period into consideration when making their day-to-day decisions. This insight comes from the pioneering work on upward financial mobility in America conducted by Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University in the late 1950's and early 1960's. After studying many of the factors that were thought to contribute to individual financial success over the course of a person's lifetime, he concluded that there was one primary factor that took precedence over all the others. He called it “time perspective.”
Plant Trees
What Banfield found was that the higher a person rises in any society, the longer the time perspective or time horizon of that person. People at the highest social and economic levels make decisions and sacrifices that may not pay off for many years, sometimes not even in their own lifetimes. They “plant trees under which they will never sit.”
Doctors
An obvious example of someone with a long time perspective is the man or women who spends ten or twelve years studying and interning to become a doctor. This person takes extraordinarily long time to lay down the foundation for a lifetime career. And partially because we know how long it takes to become a doctor, we hold doctors in the highest esteem of any professional group. We appreciate and admire the sacrifices that they have made in order to be able to practice a profession that is so important to so many of us. We recognize their long time perspectives.
Long Time Perspectives
People with long term perspectives are willing to pay the price of success for a long, long time before they achieve it. They think about the consequences of their choices and decisions in terms of what they might mean in five, ten, fifteen, and even twenty years from now.
Short Time Perspectives
People at the lowest levels of society have the shortest time perspectives. They focus primarily on immediate gratification and often engage in behaviors that are virtually guaranteed to lead to negative consequences in the long term. At the very bottom of the social ladder, you find hopeless alcoholics and drug addicts. These people think in terms of the next drink or the next fix. Their time perspective is often less than one hour.
Delayed Gratification is the Key to Financial Success
Your ability to practice self-mastery, self-control, and self-denial, to sacrifice in the short term so you can enjoy greater rewards in the long term, is the starting point of developing a long time perspective. This attitude is essential to financial achievement of any kind.
Action Exercise
Practice a long term perspective in every area of your life, especially in your financial life but also with your family and your health. Think of where you would ideally like to be in five years and begin today to take steps in that direction.
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Seasons of Life
By Jim Rohn
“It is the promise of spring that as we sow, so shall we also reap. Faith further provides to us an irrevocable law decreed in heaven, which assures that for every disciplined human effort, we will receive a multiple reward. For each cup planted, a bushel reaped; for every good idea given to another, many shall be given to us in return. For every demonstrated act of faith, a multiplicity of the rewards; and for every act of love given, a life of love in return.”...Jim Rohn
In past years, as I traveled around the country and world lecturing, one of the most frequently asked questions was about what I expect to happen over the next 6–12 months and-or even years. Well, I’m no expert, but I can share with you my thoughts. Whether it is preparing for the next few months or the next several years, I still believe there are overriding principals that we should follow and be led by. So I’d like to devote my message this week and next to my view of the period of history we’re in now and how it relates to words I wrote almost 30 years ago in my book, The Seasons of Life. Forgive me in advance if I sound a bit philosophical, but as you know by now, I do believe your philosophy is critical to your life’s success.
Life is about constant, predictable patterns of change. For the 6,000 years of recorded history, as humans have entered this world, received parental instruction, classroom instruction, and gathered the experience of life, many have set for themselves ambitious goals and dreamed lofty dreams. As the wheel of life continues its constant turning, all human emotions appear, disappear, and appear once again.
A major challenge faced by us all is that we must learn to experience the changing of life’s cycles without being changed by them, to make a constant and conscious effort to improve ourselves in the face of changing circumstances.
That is why I believe in the power and value of attitude. As I read, ponder and speculate about people, their deeds and their destiny, I become more deeply convinced that it is our natural destiny to grow, to succeed, to prosper and to find happiness while we are here.
By our attitude, we decide to read or not to read. By our attitude, we decide to try or to give up. By our attitude, we blame ourselves for our failure or we blame others. Our attitude determines whether we tell the truth or lie, act or procrastinate, advance or recede, and by our own attitude, we, and we alone, actually decide whether to succeed or fail.
How incredibly unique that a God who would create the complex and immense universe would create the human race, and give to those humans the free choice that would permit them to select their own achievement or their own destruction.
This strange but all-knowing God gave to us a delicately balanced sphere called Earth. On it, he placed the intelligent human, who would either develop it or destroy it. How terribly fascinating that a God would leave both projects—Earth as well as humans—unfinished! Across the rivers and streams, he built no bridges; he left the pictures unpainted, the songs unsung, the books unwritten and space unexplored. For the accomplishment of those things, God created the unfinished human who, within his heart and mind, had the capacity to do all these things and more, depending upon his own choice.
Attitude determines choice, and choice determines results. All that we are and all that we can become has indeed been left unto us. For as long as you continue to draw breath, you have the chance to complete the work in and for the Earth and for yourself that God has begun for you. In the cycles and seasons of life, attitude is everything!
So let’s begin our discussion of the four seasons. I’ll start by making two comments. First, life and business are like the changing seasons. That’s one of the best ways to illustrate life: It’s like the seasons that change. Second, you cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself.
Now, with those two key phrases in mind, let’s look at what I consider to be the first major lesson in life to learn, and that is how to handle the winters. They come regularly, right after autumn. Some are long, some are short, some are difficult, some are easy, but they always come right after autumn. That is never going to change.
There are all kinds of winters—the “winter” when you can’t figure it out, the “winter” when everything seems to go haywire. There are economic winters, social winters and personal winters.
Wintertime can bring disappointment, and disappointment is common to all of us. So you must learn how to handle the winters. You must learn how to handle difficulty; it always comes after opportunity. You must learn to handle recessions; they come right after expansions. That isn’t going to change.
The big question is, What do you do about winters? You can’t get rid of January simply by tearing it off the calendar. But here is what you can do: You can get stronger; you can get wiser; and you can get better. Remember that trio of words: stronger, wiser, better. The winters won’t change, but you can.
Before I understood this, I used to wish it were summer when it was winter. When things were difficult, I used to wish they were easy. I didn’t know any better. Then Mr. Shoaff gave me the answer from a part of his very unique philosophy when he said, “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better. Don’t wish for fewer problems; wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge; wish for more wisdom.”
“It is the promise of spring that as we sow, so shall we also reap. Faith further provides to us an irrevocable law decreed in heaven, which assures that for every disciplined human effort, we will receive a multiple reward. For each cup planted, a bushel reaped; for every good idea given to another, many shall be given to us in return. For every demonstrated act of faith, a multiplicity of the rewards; and for every act of love given, a life of love in return.”...Jim Rohn
In past years, as I traveled around the country and world lecturing, one of the most frequently asked questions was about what I expect to happen over the next 6–12 months and-or even years. Well, I’m no expert, but I can share with you my thoughts. Whether it is preparing for the next few months or the next several years, I still believe there are overriding principals that we should follow and be led by. So I’d like to devote my message this week and next to my view of the period of history we’re in now and how it relates to words I wrote almost 30 years ago in my book, The Seasons of Life. Forgive me in advance if I sound a bit philosophical, but as you know by now, I do believe your philosophy is critical to your life’s success.
Life is about constant, predictable patterns of change. For the 6,000 years of recorded history, as humans have entered this world, received parental instruction, classroom instruction, and gathered the experience of life, many have set for themselves ambitious goals and dreamed lofty dreams. As the wheel of life continues its constant turning, all human emotions appear, disappear, and appear once again.
A major challenge faced by us all is that we must learn to experience the changing of life’s cycles without being changed by them, to make a constant and conscious effort to improve ourselves in the face of changing circumstances.
That is why I believe in the power and value of attitude. As I read, ponder and speculate about people, their deeds and their destiny, I become more deeply convinced that it is our natural destiny to grow, to succeed, to prosper and to find happiness while we are here.
By our attitude, we decide to read or not to read. By our attitude, we decide to try or to give up. By our attitude, we blame ourselves for our failure or we blame others. Our attitude determines whether we tell the truth or lie, act or procrastinate, advance or recede, and by our own attitude, we, and we alone, actually decide whether to succeed or fail.
How incredibly unique that a God who would create the complex and immense universe would create the human race, and give to those humans the free choice that would permit them to select their own achievement or their own destruction.
This strange but all-knowing God gave to us a delicately balanced sphere called Earth. On it, he placed the intelligent human, who would either develop it or destroy it. How terribly fascinating that a God would leave both projects—Earth as well as humans—unfinished! Across the rivers and streams, he built no bridges; he left the pictures unpainted, the songs unsung, the books unwritten and space unexplored. For the accomplishment of those things, God created the unfinished human who, within his heart and mind, had the capacity to do all these things and more, depending upon his own choice.
Attitude determines choice, and choice determines results. All that we are and all that we can become has indeed been left unto us. For as long as you continue to draw breath, you have the chance to complete the work in and for the Earth and for yourself that God has begun for you. In the cycles and seasons of life, attitude is everything!
So let’s begin our discussion of the four seasons. I’ll start by making two comments. First, life and business are like the changing seasons. That’s one of the best ways to illustrate life: It’s like the seasons that change. Second, you cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself.
Now, with those two key phrases in mind, let’s look at what I consider to be the first major lesson in life to learn, and that is how to handle the winters. They come regularly, right after autumn. Some are long, some are short, some are difficult, some are easy, but they always come right after autumn. That is never going to change.
There are all kinds of winters—the “winter” when you can’t figure it out, the “winter” when everything seems to go haywire. There are economic winters, social winters and personal winters.
Wintertime can bring disappointment, and disappointment is common to all of us. So you must learn how to handle the winters. You must learn how to handle difficulty; it always comes after opportunity. You must learn to handle recessions; they come right after expansions. That isn’t going to change.
The big question is, What do you do about winters? You can’t get rid of January simply by tearing it off the calendar. But here is what you can do: You can get stronger; you can get wiser; and you can get better. Remember that trio of words: stronger, wiser, better. The winters won’t change, but you can.
Before I understood this, I used to wish it were summer when it was winter. When things were difficult, I used to wish they were easy. I didn’t know any better. Then Mr. Shoaff gave me the answer from a part of his very unique philosophy when he said, “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better. Don’t wish for fewer problems; wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge; wish for more wisdom.”
Sunday, August 22, 2010
The Word Will Change Your Circumstances
By Kenneth E. Hagin
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. (Ps 107:20)
A pastor friend of mine once said to the Lord, "Lord, You know I believe in divine healing, but no one in my church is receiving. What's the matter?"
The Lord said to him, "Why don't you preach on it?"
So he started preaching on divine healing, and his whole church got healed.
Before, nearly all of them were sick. But they all got healed. That's what happens when the Word of God is preached. The Word of God is what does the work.
We are affected by the words we hear—whether it's truth or untruth. You could listen to someone talk who is worried and oppressed. And when you left his presence, you'd feel oppressed yourself. Some people are so full of doubt and unbelief that the very atmosphere around them is charged with darkness. That kind of atmosphere is created by words.
Thank God for the Word of God! His Word is His will. Psalm 107:20 says, "He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." Let's talk about the Word of God. Let's talk about healing from the standpoint of God's Word.
Confession
I speak the Word of God. I speak faith-filled, life-filled words that change the circumstances around me. I refuse to speak doubt and unbelief.
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. (Ps 107:20)
A pastor friend of mine once said to the Lord, "Lord, You know I believe in divine healing, but no one in my church is receiving. What's the matter?"
The Lord said to him, "Why don't you preach on it?"
So he started preaching on divine healing, and his whole church got healed.
Before, nearly all of them were sick. But they all got healed. That's what happens when the Word of God is preached. The Word of God is what does the work.
We are affected by the words we hear—whether it's truth or untruth. You could listen to someone talk who is worried and oppressed. And when you left his presence, you'd feel oppressed yourself. Some people are so full of doubt and unbelief that the very atmosphere around them is charged with darkness. That kind of atmosphere is created by words.
Thank God for the Word of God! His Word is His will. Psalm 107:20 says, "He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." Let's talk about the Word of God. Let's talk about healing from the standpoint of God's Word.
Confession
I speak the Word of God. I speak faith-filled, life-filled words that change the circumstances around me. I refuse to speak doubt and unbelief.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
3 Ways to Be a Positive Leader
By Jon Gordon
In a world filled with busyness and stress I find that too often leaders can act like hard-charging, fast-driving bus drivers that have a vision and goal within their sights and they’ll run over anyone–even their own employees–to reach their destination. I know this well because early in my business career I was that kind of leader and I have had to work hard to change my approach.
I realized that any hard-charging leader can create success in the short term, but it would take a positive leader with a people and process-driven approach to build a successful organization for the long term. As John Maxwell said, “If you are all alone at the top, you are not a leader. You are a hiker.”
No one creates success alone. To win in business, you must win with people. Running over people will only get you so far. To create true and lasting success you must nurture and invest in your people. Here are three essential ways to do this.
1. Care about them - The main question every employee in every organization is asking is, “Do you care about me; can I trust you?” Employees want to know if you care about them. If you do, they will be more likely to stay on the bus and work with you. Employees are more engaged at work and will work at their highest potential when their manager cares about them.
2. Develop a relationship with them - Author Andy Stanley once said, “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” Far too many managers and leaders share rules with their people, but they don’t have a relationship with them. So what happens? The people rebel, and they disengage from their jobs and the mission of the team. I’ve had many managers approach me and tell me that my books helped them realize they needed to focus less on rules and invest more in their work relationships. The result was a dramatic increase in team performance and productivity. To develop a relationship with your employees, you need to build trust, listen to them, make time for them, recognize them and mentor them.
3. Appreciate them - The main reason people leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated. For example, Doug Conant, the CEO of Campbell Soup, has written more than 16,000 thank-you notes to employees in the past seven years and created a very positive business in the process. It’s as easy as saying (or writing) “Thank you.”
It’s a simple truth: When you care about your employees and the people you work with, they are more likely to stay on the bus and work harder, with more loyalty and greater positive energy. In turn, they are more likely to share their positive energy with your customers, thus enhancing service and the bottom line. The greatest customer service strategy has nothing to do with customer service, but it has everything to do with how you treat your employees. If you model great service, they will provide great service.
Remember, leadership is not just about what you do, but what you can inspire, encourage and empower others to do. Instead of running over the people in your team/organization, invite them on the bus with you and engage them to help you create an amazing and successful ride.
In a world filled with busyness and stress I find that too often leaders can act like hard-charging, fast-driving bus drivers that have a vision and goal within their sights and they’ll run over anyone–even their own employees–to reach their destination. I know this well because early in my business career I was that kind of leader and I have had to work hard to change my approach.
I realized that any hard-charging leader can create success in the short term, but it would take a positive leader with a people and process-driven approach to build a successful organization for the long term. As John Maxwell said, “If you are all alone at the top, you are not a leader. You are a hiker.”
No one creates success alone. To win in business, you must win with people. Running over people will only get you so far. To create true and lasting success you must nurture and invest in your people. Here are three essential ways to do this.
1. Care about them - The main question every employee in every organization is asking is, “Do you care about me; can I trust you?” Employees want to know if you care about them. If you do, they will be more likely to stay on the bus and work with you. Employees are more engaged at work and will work at their highest potential when their manager cares about them.
2. Develop a relationship with them - Author Andy Stanley once said, “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” Far too many managers and leaders share rules with their people, but they don’t have a relationship with them. So what happens? The people rebel, and they disengage from their jobs and the mission of the team. I’ve had many managers approach me and tell me that my books helped them realize they needed to focus less on rules and invest more in their work relationships. The result was a dramatic increase in team performance and productivity. To develop a relationship with your employees, you need to build trust, listen to them, make time for them, recognize them and mentor them.
3. Appreciate them - The main reason people leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated. For example, Doug Conant, the CEO of Campbell Soup, has written more than 16,000 thank-you notes to employees in the past seven years and created a very positive business in the process. It’s as easy as saying (or writing) “Thank you.”
It’s a simple truth: When you care about your employees and the people you work with, they are more likely to stay on the bus and work harder, with more loyalty and greater positive energy. In turn, they are more likely to share their positive energy with your customers, thus enhancing service and the bottom line. The greatest customer service strategy has nothing to do with customer service, but it has everything to do with how you treat your employees. If you model great service, they will provide great service.
Remember, leadership is not just about what you do, but what you can inspire, encourage and empower others to do. Instead of running over the people in your team/organization, invite them on the bus with you and engage them to help you create an amazing and successful ride.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Part 2 – Equipping With A Cure
By John Maxwell
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu equipped an empire with a defense against the scourge of smallpox. Her story yields powerful insights for leaders desiring to learn how to equip their organizations for success.
#1 Be a Student of Success
Likely, several English visitors to Turkey had noted the peculiar absence of smallpox in the country. However, Lady Montagu took initiative to investigate the anomaly until she understood its cause. In doing so, she discovered the medical practices by which the Turks protected themselves from smallpox.
Leaders in the 21st century have no shortage of information at their disposal. Seemingly we swim in a sea of data. What separates equippers is their ability to focus on meaningful information and to extract wisdom from it. Having done so, they are positioned to share their insights with others.
Lady Montagu's example instructs us on where to look for important data: wherever you find positive deviation from the norm. In short, pay attention to success. When you come across an unusually gifted person or a particularly profitable organization, explore what makes them great. The lessons you learn can be applied personally and passed on to those you lead.
#2 Inject Wisdom with Passion
What separates those who are indifferent from those who are willing to make a difference? Passion. Lady Montagu felt compelled to equip her countrymen with a deterrent to smallpox. Her knowledge of inoculation would have been useless had she not been impassioned to share it with physicians across England.
Where does passion come from? Often it can be traced to the hardships we endure in life. Lady Montagu had nearly been killed by smallpox, and her face was forever marred by the scars it left behind. She knew firsthand of the agonizing effects of the disease, and her brother had died from the sickness. Her personal experiences with smallpox burdened her to do everything possible to halt its spread.
#3 Make Personal Sacrifices
To equip another person, you have to give something up yourself. Lady Montagu gave of her time and wealth to educate the British public about inoculation. She even sacrificed security, hazarding the health of her daughter to convince royal surgeons of the value of immunization. If you hope to equip others to change their behaviors, then prepare to part with comfort, security, or popularity.
#4 Seek the Support of Top Decision-Makers
When Lady Montagu returned to England from the Ottoman Empire, she took her cause straight to the top, announcing the benefits of inoculation to the royal court. She understood the imperative of winning over the men and women who held the most sway over the public. That's why she invited the king's personal physician to witness the inoculation of her daughter.
Before you can equip an organization with a new strategy, you must garner the endorsement of the uppermost decision-makers. While everyone has a degree of influence, some allies are far more advantageous than others. Take notice of power structures where you work and prioritize winning the support of authority figures before attempting to introduce change.
#5 Be Willing to Start Small
If you see what needs to be done to equip your company for the future, but you aren't the one in charge, then be willing to start small. Course adjustments demand a sizeable commitment of organizational energy. Most leaders are reluctant to redeploy substantial resources until they're convinced a solution works. Test-piloting a new initiative allows you to demonstrate the strength of your strategy without asking your higher-ups to put the business at risk.
Royal physicians in England did not give Lady Montagu their unqualified support until they had tested inoculation on a handful of prisoners. For Lady Montagu, who was firmly convinced of the need to inoculate Britons, the experiment may have seemed like a pointless delay. Yet although it took time, it gained her the official sanction needed to educate the public about immunization.
#6 Leverage the Influence of Key Leaders
Once you've won over leaders at the top, leverage their influence in your efforts to equip others. Lady Montagu borrowed influence from the nobility supporting her in order to communicate effectively to an entire empire. For example, after she secured the backing of the Princess of Wales, Lady Montagu made the most of the princess' platform and popularity to spread the word about smallpox inoculation.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu equipped an empire with a defense against the scourge of smallpox. Her story yields powerful insights for leaders desiring to learn how to equip their organizations for success.
#1 Be a Student of Success
Likely, several English visitors to Turkey had noted the peculiar absence of smallpox in the country. However, Lady Montagu took initiative to investigate the anomaly until she understood its cause. In doing so, she discovered the medical practices by which the Turks protected themselves from smallpox.
Leaders in the 21st century have no shortage of information at their disposal. Seemingly we swim in a sea of data. What separates equippers is their ability to focus on meaningful information and to extract wisdom from it. Having done so, they are positioned to share their insights with others.
Lady Montagu's example instructs us on where to look for important data: wherever you find positive deviation from the norm. In short, pay attention to success. When you come across an unusually gifted person or a particularly profitable organization, explore what makes them great. The lessons you learn can be applied personally and passed on to those you lead.
#2 Inject Wisdom with Passion
What separates those who are indifferent from those who are willing to make a difference? Passion. Lady Montagu felt compelled to equip her countrymen with a deterrent to smallpox. Her knowledge of inoculation would have been useless had she not been impassioned to share it with physicians across England.
Where does passion come from? Often it can be traced to the hardships we endure in life. Lady Montagu had nearly been killed by smallpox, and her face was forever marred by the scars it left behind. She knew firsthand of the agonizing effects of the disease, and her brother had died from the sickness. Her personal experiences with smallpox burdened her to do everything possible to halt its spread.
#3 Make Personal Sacrifices
To equip another person, you have to give something up yourself. Lady Montagu gave of her time and wealth to educate the British public about inoculation. She even sacrificed security, hazarding the health of her daughter to convince royal surgeons of the value of immunization. If you hope to equip others to change their behaviors, then prepare to part with comfort, security, or popularity.
#4 Seek the Support of Top Decision-Makers
When Lady Montagu returned to England from the Ottoman Empire, she took her cause straight to the top, announcing the benefits of inoculation to the royal court. She understood the imperative of winning over the men and women who held the most sway over the public. That's why she invited the king's personal physician to witness the inoculation of her daughter.
Before you can equip an organization with a new strategy, you must garner the endorsement of the uppermost decision-makers. While everyone has a degree of influence, some allies are far more advantageous than others. Take notice of power structures where you work and prioritize winning the support of authority figures before attempting to introduce change.
#5 Be Willing to Start Small
If you see what needs to be done to equip your company for the future, but you aren't the one in charge, then be willing to start small. Course adjustments demand a sizeable commitment of organizational energy. Most leaders are reluctant to redeploy substantial resources until they're convinced a solution works. Test-piloting a new initiative allows you to demonstrate the strength of your strategy without asking your higher-ups to put the business at risk.
Royal physicians in England did not give Lady Montagu their unqualified support until they had tested inoculation on a handful of prisoners. For Lady Montagu, who was firmly convinced of the need to inoculate Britons, the experiment may have seemed like a pointless delay. Yet although it took time, it gained her the official sanction needed to educate the public about immunization.
#6 Leverage the Influence of Key Leaders
Once you've won over leaders at the top, leverage their influence in your efforts to equip others. Lady Montagu borrowed influence from the nobility supporting her in order to communicate effectively to an entire empire. For example, after she secured the backing of the Princess of Wales, Lady Montagu made the most of the princess' platform and popularity to spread the word about smallpox inoculation.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Part 1: Equipping With a Cure
By John Maxwell
It began as headache, and quickly overtook her with fever. She was confined to bed-too weak to speak and barely able to lift a finger. Then red bumps popped up on her mouth and tongue: telltale signs of the deadly disease sweeping the continent. She despaired for her life as the bumps swelled into sores and then blistered open, leaking pus into her mouth and down her throat.
With alarming speed, a rash flared up on her face, crept down her arms, and covered her body in pimples. When awake, the minutes dragged by slowly, and she wondered if each hour was her last. At night, her fitful sleep was tormented by nightmares. Anytime her caretakers dared to come near her, they murmured amongst themselves in hushed, worried tones.
About a week-and-a-half after appearing, the boils on her skin crusted over with blood-red scabs, and the fever subsided. She was well enough to talk with her physician who assured her the worst of the sickness had passed. While grateful that death had not taken her, she felt only sadness as she inspected the ugly scabs dotting her arms and legs.
Day by day, the scabs flaked off of her skin until they were gone completely. But they left pockmarks as a grim reminder of their residence. Although she had regained her health, she would bear scars on her face for the rest of her life.
Smallpox Epidemic
The lady was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and the disease she had contracted was smallpox. In 18th century Europe, smallpox ran rampant, indiscriminately taking the lives of kings and peasants alike. One of ten babies in France and Sweden perished from smallpox, as did one of seven infants in Russia. Highly contagious and untreatable, smallpox killed 400,000 Europeans per year during the epidemic's peak. Who knows what fate would have befallen Europe without the courageous activism of Mary Wortley Montagu, a smallpox survivor who equipped the continent to defend against the disease?
An Eye for Solutions
In 1717 Englishwoman Mary Wortley Montagu found herself in Istanbul on account of her husband's job as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. While there, she was astonished by the absence of smallpox-a disease she had endured two years earlier. After making several inquiries, Montagu discovered the method used by the Turks to fend off the disease. Elderly women collected ooze from the infections of a victim with a minor case of smallpox. Then, the women assembled their family members. One by one, each person was given a small cut on the arm, and a tiny dose of the smallpox virus was inserted into the wound. The people being inoculated briefly fell ill with a mild form of smallpox, but they recovered quickly having gained immunity to the ailment.
Having discovered a deterrent for smallpox, Montagu wasted no time inoculating her 5-year old son. Observing the success of inoculation in Turkish society and witnessing its effects on her own child, Montagu resolved to equip physicians back in England with the knowledge to prevent smallpox.
Proving Her Case
While Lady Montagu had the advantage of being a well-connected aristocrat, she faced two obstacles to spreading the word about smallpox prevention. First, she was a woman at a time when men dominated society. Second, she had no medical credentials. Consequently, she had a tough time getting her message across to prominent doctors in Britain.
Insistent of the benefits of inoculation, Lady Montagu finally was able to convince physicians from the royal court to be on hand as she immunized her 4-year old daughter. The procedure was a success and made an impression on the doctors in attendance. Even so, they had reservations about adopting inoculation as standard practice for protecting against smallpox.
Continued lobbying by Lady Montague persuaded prominent surgeons to test pilot inoculation on prisoners. The inmates were granted pardon in exchange for their participation in the experiment. Each of the convicts was injected with smallpox and then placed under observation. All of them developed resistance to the disease.
Spreading the Solution
The experiment on prisoners added credibility to Lady Montagu's claims and won over many members of the royal court. One in particular, the Princess of Wales, pledged her support for the cause. Bolstered by her patronage, Lady Montagu was able to publicize smallpox inoculation throughout the British Isles, and in a few short years, inoculation became standard practice throughout England.
It began as headache, and quickly overtook her with fever. She was confined to bed-too weak to speak and barely able to lift a finger. Then red bumps popped up on her mouth and tongue: telltale signs of the deadly disease sweeping the continent. She despaired for her life as the bumps swelled into sores and then blistered open, leaking pus into her mouth and down her throat.
With alarming speed, a rash flared up on her face, crept down her arms, and covered her body in pimples. When awake, the minutes dragged by slowly, and she wondered if each hour was her last. At night, her fitful sleep was tormented by nightmares. Anytime her caretakers dared to come near her, they murmured amongst themselves in hushed, worried tones.
About a week-and-a-half after appearing, the boils on her skin crusted over with blood-red scabs, and the fever subsided. She was well enough to talk with her physician who assured her the worst of the sickness had passed. While grateful that death had not taken her, she felt only sadness as she inspected the ugly scabs dotting her arms and legs.
Day by day, the scabs flaked off of her skin until they were gone completely. But they left pockmarks as a grim reminder of their residence. Although she had regained her health, she would bear scars on her face for the rest of her life.
Smallpox Epidemic
The lady was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and the disease she had contracted was smallpox. In 18th century Europe, smallpox ran rampant, indiscriminately taking the lives of kings and peasants alike. One of ten babies in France and Sweden perished from smallpox, as did one of seven infants in Russia. Highly contagious and untreatable, smallpox killed 400,000 Europeans per year during the epidemic's peak. Who knows what fate would have befallen Europe without the courageous activism of Mary Wortley Montagu, a smallpox survivor who equipped the continent to defend against the disease?
An Eye for Solutions
In 1717 Englishwoman Mary Wortley Montagu found herself in Istanbul on account of her husband's job as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. While there, she was astonished by the absence of smallpox-a disease she had endured two years earlier. After making several inquiries, Montagu discovered the method used by the Turks to fend off the disease. Elderly women collected ooze from the infections of a victim with a minor case of smallpox. Then, the women assembled their family members. One by one, each person was given a small cut on the arm, and a tiny dose of the smallpox virus was inserted into the wound. The people being inoculated briefly fell ill with a mild form of smallpox, but they recovered quickly having gained immunity to the ailment.
Having discovered a deterrent for smallpox, Montagu wasted no time inoculating her 5-year old son. Observing the success of inoculation in Turkish society and witnessing its effects on her own child, Montagu resolved to equip physicians back in England with the knowledge to prevent smallpox.
Proving Her Case
While Lady Montagu had the advantage of being a well-connected aristocrat, she faced two obstacles to spreading the word about smallpox prevention. First, she was a woman at a time when men dominated society. Second, she had no medical credentials. Consequently, she had a tough time getting her message across to prominent doctors in Britain.
Insistent of the benefits of inoculation, Lady Montagu finally was able to convince physicians from the royal court to be on hand as she immunized her 4-year old daughter. The procedure was a success and made an impression on the doctors in attendance. Even so, they had reservations about adopting inoculation as standard practice for protecting against smallpox.
Continued lobbying by Lady Montague persuaded prominent surgeons to test pilot inoculation on prisoners. The inmates were granted pardon in exchange for their participation in the experiment. Each of the convicts was injected with smallpox and then placed under observation. All of them developed resistance to the disease.
Spreading the Solution
The experiment on prisoners added credibility to Lady Montagu's claims and won over many members of the royal court. One in particular, the Princess of Wales, pledged her support for the cause. Bolstered by her patronage, Lady Montagu was able to publicize smallpox inoculation throughout the British Isles, and in a few short years, inoculation became standard practice throughout England.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Life is Art
By Jim Rohn
In my years teaching people to be successful, I have seen that, basically, people break their lives down into two major parts: wealth-building and the rest of their lives. Having done a lot of reflection on these two topics—wealth and life—I am coming to some new conclusions about how to perceive the two.
Until recently, I thought that there was a significant difference in how we should tackle the two areas. In fact, I thought that the two topics should be addressed in almost opposite fashion.
You see, wealth-building is just math. While life…. Life is art.
Think back with me to high school. Most of us were required to take math and most of us probably took art as well.
Now, think about your final exams in the two areas. Your math paper was graded on hard facts:
- Ten times 10 is always 100
- Thirty divided by three is always 10
- Seven plus seven is always 14
- Fifty minus 25 is always 25
There is always just one answer in math. The answers are hard fact, set in stone. Math is a science. It is formulaic. You can know the outcome before it happens, every time.
But what about your final art project? Art is much more subjective. "Beauty," they say, "is in the eye of the beholder." There is no one right answer.
Think of the different styles of the famous artists: Renoir, Monet, Picasso, Rockwell, Warhol. Different people find different styles beautiful, and that is what makes art, art.
So how does this fit with wealth-building and life? Wealth-building is like math:
- If you add $1,000 to your retirement account each month and gain 7 percent interest over 20 years, you can know now how much you will have then. It is math.
- If you buy a rental property for $200,000 now and it increases in value by 3 percent a year, you know exactly how much you will be able to sell it for in 10 years.
The beauty of math is in the knowing. You can work the system, set it on autopilot and the math does the work for you, and you know the outcome.
But life? Life is art. And that is the beauty of life. You do not know how it is going to turn out. Life, like art, is always changing. Different people provide different colors. When you make a mistake, you can go back, erase it or even paint right over it. You can change the scenery. Life, like art, is ever evolving, and what looks good to one person is of no interest to another. And that is what makes life beautiful.
Another lesson I think we can draw is that in life we should do our math, of course, but life isn't made up of just wealth-building. Wealth-building should serve our ability to live our lives. Jesus, the master teacher, said that our lives are not made up of the abundance of our possessions. He didn't mean that possessions aren't good, just that wealth isn't what life is all about.
So let me ask you: Are you spending more time on your math or your art? Do your math. Everybody should do their very best at their wealth-building plan so they can take care of themselves and their families.
But life is about the art. What does your canvas look like? What kind of picture are you painting? What kind of pot are you creating? What kind of statue are you sculpting? Take your time, make bold strokes, use brilliant colors, and make of your life the most beautiful masterpiece that you can.
In other words, do your math so you can focus on your art.
In my years teaching people to be successful, I have seen that, basically, people break their lives down into two major parts: wealth-building and the rest of their lives. Having done a lot of reflection on these two topics—wealth and life—I am coming to some new conclusions about how to perceive the two.
Until recently, I thought that there was a significant difference in how we should tackle the two areas. In fact, I thought that the two topics should be addressed in almost opposite fashion.
You see, wealth-building is just math. While life…. Life is art.
Think back with me to high school. Most of us were required to take math and most of us probably took art as well.
Now, think about your final exams in the two areas. Your math paper was graded on hard facts:
- Ten times 10 is always 100
- Thirty divided by three is always 10
- Seven plus seven is always 14
- Fifty minus 25 is always 25
There is always just one answer in math. The answers are hard fact, set in stone. Math is a science. It is formulaic. You can know the outcome before it happens, every time.
But what about your final art project? Art is much more subjective. "Beauty," they say, "is in the eye of the beholder." There is no one right answer.
Think of the different styles of the famous artists: Renoir, Monet, Picasso, Rockwell, Warhol. Different people find different styles beautiful, and that is what makes art, art.
So how does this fit with wealth-building and life? Wealth-building is like math:
- If you add $1,000 to your retirement account each month and gain 7 percent interest over 20 years, you can know now how much you will have then. It is math.
- If you buy a rental property for $200,000 now and it increases in value by 3 percent a year, you know exactly how much you will be able to sell it for in 10 years.
The beauty of math is in the knowing. You can work the system, set it on autopilot and the math does the work for you, and you know the outcome.
But life? Life is art. And that is the beauty of life. You do not know how it is going to turn out. Life, like art, is always changing. Different people provide different colors. When you make a mistake, you can go back, erase it or even paint right over it. You can change the scenery. Life, like art, is ever evolving, and what looks good to one person is of no interest to another. And that is what makes life beautiful.
Another lesson I think we can draw is that in life we should do our math, of course, but life isn't made up of just wealth-building. Wealth-building should serve our ability to live our lives. Jesus, the master teacher, said that our lives are not made up of the abundance of our possessions. He didn't mean that possessions aren't good, just that wealth isn't what life is all about.
So let me ask you: Are you spending more time on your math or your art? Do your math. Everybody should do their very best at their wealth-building plan so they can take care of themselves and their families.
But life is about the art. What does your canvas look like? What kind of picture are you painting? What kind of pot are you creating? What kind of statue are you sculpting? Take your time, make bold strokes, use brilliant colors, and make of your life the most beautiful masterpiece that you can.
In other words, do your math so you can focus on your art.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The 5 W’s of an Encouraging Leader
By John Maxwell and Tony Dungy
For 13 seasons, Tony Dungy spent Sunday mornings giving pregame pep talks to star football players in the NFL. Two years into retirement, he still gives motivational speeches regularly, but his audience has morphed dramatically. Instead of addressing locker rooms full of millionaire athletes, Dungy now speaks at cafeterias packed with felons at correctional facilities across the country.
Why would Tony Dungy turn down a $5 million per year coaching salary to chat with gatherings of criminals? For him it's simple: he believes in the power of encouragement. He knows how important it is for people to have a leader who is cheering them on, supplying hope and courage during trying times.
For inmates, prison can be a depressingly hopeless place. In addition to the isolation and loss of freedom, most inmates are given little chance of succeeding in life upon their release. Statistics show that upwards of 60% will return to jail, and 1 in 3 will be re-incarcerated within three years of their release. Coach Dungy steps into the bleak world of penitentiary life to deliver a firm, but upbeat message about how the prisoners can get back on the right track. His words not only give prisoners a plan to succeed in life, but just as importantly, they offer much-needed inspiration and encouragement.
You don't have to visit a prison to encounter people who feel insignificant, trapped, or fearful of the future. Those feelings are commonplace. Wherever you work, people are longing to be strengthened and refreshed by encouraging words. As a leader, you are in prime position to give others the boost they need to be their best. Here are five behaviors that will equip you as an encourager where you work:
5 W's of an Encouraging Leader
1) Watchfulness
Encouragement carries more weight when it's specific. Be observant of the people around you on the job. Where do they excel? When have you seen them give exemplary effort? Make note of the ways they stand out, and use your observations as content for encouraging them.
2) Words
Everyone enjoys receiving genuine expressions of praise, especially when they're given in public. As a leader, leverage the platforms of staff meetings and team get-togethers to highlight the performance of your people. Your words of encouragement will reinforce good behavior and communicate value and appreciation to those you lead.
3) Writing
Spoken encouragement is powerful, but temporal. Written words of encouragement, however, are remembered by their recipient long after the writer has forgotten them. People can refer back to an encouraging card or note again and again, being uplifted each time they read it.
4) Wallet
When possible, leaders should reward excellent performance monetarily. However, the dollar figure attached to a reward isn't its only measure of value. As a leader, be creative in finding ways to give gifts of encouragement that have meaning and significance to those you lead. Perhaps it's an extra day of vacation, an extended lunch hour, or a keepsake. Whatever the case, be intentional about giving something of value as a means of applauding those who are doing a great job.
5) Winning
Sometimes the best way to be an encourager is to set an example. People draw strength from watching you persevere through adversity, and they are impacted when they see you make sacrifices to advance your vision. When you win by doing things the right way, your victories leave an impression on the spectators watching you.
"When was the last time you were an encourager for someone else? No matter where you are in your life's journey, you can begin today to be very intentional about leaving a trail of positive memories in the lives of those around you. Memories they will cling to in the rough spots they face over the course of their lives. Memories that will draw them closer to you and affirm their value to you and to themselves."
For 13 seasons, Tony Dungy spent Sunday mornings giving pregame pep talks to star football players in the NFL. Two years into retirement, he still gives motivational speeches regularly, but his audience has morphed dramatically. Instead of addressing locker rooms full of millionaire athletes, Dungy now speaks at cafeterias packed with felons at correctional facilities across the country.
Why would Tony Dungy turn down a $5 million per year coaching salary to chat with gatherings of criminals? For him it's simple: he believes in the power of encouragement. He knows how important it is for people to have a leader who is cheering them on, supplying hope and courage during trying times.
For inmates, prison can be a depressingly hopeless place. In addition to the isolation and loss of freedom, most inmates are given little chance of succeeding in life upon their release. Statistics show that upwards of 60% will return to jail, and 1 in 3 will be re-incarcerated within three years of their release. Coach Dungy steps into the bleak world of penitentiary life to deliver a firm, but upbeat message about how the prisoners can get back on the right track. His words not only give prisoners a plan to succeed in life, but just as importantly, they offer much-needed inspiration and encouragement.
You don't have to visit a prison to encounter people who feel insignificant, trapped, or fearful of the future. Those feelings are commonplace. Wherever you work, people are longing to be strengthened and refreshed by encouraging words. As a leader, you are in prime position to give others the boost they need to be their best. Here are five behaviors that will equip you as an encourager where you work:
5 W's of an Encouraging Leader
1) Watchfulness
Encouragement carries more weight when it's specific. Be observant of the people around you on the job. Where do they excel? When have you seen them give exemplary effort? Make note of the ways they stand out, and use your observations as content for encouraging them.
2) Words
Everyone enjoys receiving genuine expressions of praise, especially when they're given in public. As a leader, leverage the platforms of staff meetings and team get-togethers to highlight the performance of your people. Your words of encouragement will reinforce good behavior and communicate value and appreciation to those you lead.
3) Writing
Spoken encouragement is powerful, but temporal. Written words of encouragement, however, are remembered by their recipient long after the writer has forgotten them. People can refer back to an encouraging card or note again and again, being uplifted each time they read it.
4) Wallet
When possible, leaders should reward excellent performance monetarily. However, the dollar figure attached to a reward isn't its only measure of value. As a leader, be creative in finding ways to give gifts of encouragement that have meaning and significance to those you lead. Perhaps it's an extra day of vacation, an extended lunch hour, or a keepsake. Whatever the case, be intentional about giving something of value as a means of applauding those who are doing a great job.
5) Winning
Sometimes the best way to be an encourager is to set an example. People draw strength from watching you persevere through adversity, and they are impacted when they see you make sacrifices to advance your vision. When you win by doing things the right way, your victories leave an impression on the spectators watching you.
"When was the last time you were an encourager for someone else? No matter where you are in your life's journey, you can begin today to be very intentional about leaving a trail of positive memories in the lives of those around you. Memories they will cling to in the rough spots they face over the course of their lives. Memories that will draw them closer to you and affirm their value to you and to themselves."
Monday, August 16, 2010
Plan for Turbulence
By Brian Tracy
On a flight, when your plane takes off, the pilot tells all the passengers to stay in their seats with their seatbelts buckled. In many cases, the pilot will say, “We expect a certain amount of turbulence for the first part of the flight, so please stay buckled up.” When you start any new business or job, you will experience turbulence as well.
Control Your Responses
Strong people expect to experience problems on their journey toward their goals and destinations. Weak people are surprised and dismayed when things don't work out the way they had expected. They become angry and lash out. They blame other people for their problems. Often they become depressed or irrational. Your success is largely determined by your ability to respond effectively to problems as they come up. Fortunately, you can learn a number of effective strategies practiced by successful people to deal with problems.
Problems Go with the Territory
First of all, expect to have problems, disappointments, and temporary failures. Don't be shocked, surprised, or angry when they occur. Instead, take a deep breath, relax, and say, “Solving problems is my job; problems are what I do.” Each time you solve a problem, you will become even more capable of solving even greater problems. The major reward you get for solving problems is the opportunity to solve even bigger problems.
Think in Terms of Solutions
Superior people are intensely solution oriented. They think about solutions and what can be done rather than the problems and who is to blame. They are future oriented and continually think in terms of the actions that they can take immediately to control the damage, minimize the problem, and move ahead. One of the best strategies you can use is to practice mental preparation with regard to problems. Resolve in advance that no matter what happens, you will remain calm and relaxed.
Ask Questions
When you deal with unexpected turbulence in your business or personal life, you can keep yourself calm, clear, and focused by asking questions rather than reacting or overreacting. First of all, get the facts. What exactly is the problem? How did it occur? Sometimes, the solution to the problem is contained within the problem itself. The very act of asking questions keep you calm and in control. Focus on the solution.
Accept Responsibility and Take Charge
Once you have clearly defined the problem (and confirmed that it actually is a problem) and you have thought about the various actions you can take to solve or minimize it, the next step is the either take responsibility for taking action or assign specific responsibility for taking action to someone else. Think always in terms of actions you can take. Just as a pilot facing unexpected turbulence keeps both hands on the wheel and his or her eyes on the gauges, when you experience problems, you must take command of your situation and ensure that you are flying in the right direction.
Action Exercise
You become a superb pilot of your own destiny by dealing effectively with the inevitable storms that occur in your work and personal life. Next time a situation occurs take a deep breath, and then begin to think of solutions to that situation.
On a flight, when your plane takes off, the pilot tells all the passengers to stay in their seats with their seatbelts buckled. In many cases, the pilot will say, “We expect a certain amount of turbulence for the first part of the flight, so please stay buckled up.” When you start any new business or job, you will experience turbulence as well.
Control Your Responses
Strong people expect to experience problems on their journey toward their goals and destinations. Weak people are surprised and dismayed when things don't work out the way they had expected. They become angry and lash out. They blame other people for their problems. Often they become depressed or irrational. Your success is largely determined by your ability to respond effectively to problems as they come up. Fortunately, you can learn a number of effective strategies practiced by successful people to deal with problems.
Problems Go with the Territory
First of all, expect to have problems, disappointments, and temporary failures. Don't be shocked, surprised, or angry when they occur. Instead, take a deep breath, relax, and say, “Solving problems is my job; problems are what I do.” Each time you solve a problem, you will become even more capable of solving even greater problems. The major reward you get for solving problems is the opportunity to solve even bigger problems.
Think in Terms of Solutions
Superior people are intensely solution oriented. They think about solutions and what can be done rather than the problems and who is to blame. They are future oriented and continually think in terms of the actions that they can take immediately to control the damage, minimize the problem, and move ahead. One of the best strategies you can use is to practice mental preparation with regard to problems. Resolve in advance that no matter what happens, you will remain calm and relaxed.
Ask Questions
When you deal with unexpected turbulence in your business or personal life, you can keep yourself calm, clear, and focused by asking questions rather than reacting or overreacting. First of all, get the facts. What exactly is the problem? How did it occur? Sometimes, the solution to the problem is contained within the problem itself. The very act of asking questions keep you calm and in control. Focus on the solution.
Accept Responsibility and Take Charge
Once you have clearly defined the problem (and confirmed that it actually is a problem) and you have thought about the various actions you can take to solve or minimize it, the next step is the either take responsibility for taking action or assign specific responsibility for taking action to someone else. Think always in terms of actions you can take. Just as a pilot facing unexpected turbulence keeps both hands on the wheel and his or her eyes on the gauges, when you experience problems, you must take command of your situation and ensure that you are flying in the right direction.
Action Exercise
You become a superb pilot of your own destiny by dealing effectively with the inevitable storms that occur in your work and personal life. Next time a situation occurs take a deep breath, and then begin to think of solutions to that situation.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Decisions
By Patrick Egbunonu
The Walk
I love to take morning walks. With my very busy schedule these walks give me the opportunity to think, sing, pray and exercise. Towards the end of my walk yesterday morning, I began to think and reflect on “decisions”. As I thought about decisions, it further dawned on me that the quality of my life is directly proportional to the quality of my decisions. I also realized that where I am today and where I will be tomorrow are results of the decisions I’ve taken and will take.
Corporations and Individuals
Most corporations understand the importance of decision making. When it is time to choose the next CEO, CFO, or executive, the candidate’s decision making history and judgement is examined in tandem with his/her ability to execute. There are also various tools and processes sme companies put in place to enhance the quality of their decisions.
As individuals, we make decisions on a regular consistent basis ranging from what to eat, when to sleep, where to go to school, who to date, and, where to work. I won’t be surprised if statistics show that an individual makes an average of a thousand decisions on a daily basis. Some decisions not only affect our lives, but also the lives of those who work with us, live with us, work for us, or under our leadership. For example, the decision by most Canadian banks not to invest in the complex derivatives saved the Canadian economy from the type of economic collapse experienced by several developed countries.
Time Decisions
A Nielsen study released in 2008 found that Americans were watching more TV than ever before. The average U.S. household watched TV for 8 hours and 18 minutes a day from September 2007 to September 2008, which was a record high since the days Nielsen Co. started measuring television in the 1950s. If we assume that the average household sleeps for about 7.5 hours, what this means is that the average household is watching TV almost half of the time that they are awake. I know a man who wrote his books during his spare time after work. Most of our time should be invested and not spent: invested in relationships, exercising our gifts and talents, improving our selves, and helping others. If I can study how you use your day, I can possibly tell you how you will use your life -if you maintain the same pattern. What you decide to do with the time you have on your hands can determine how your life turns out
Don't join an easy crowd. You won't grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform and achieve are high...Jim Rohn
Relationship Decisions
Someone once said : tell me who you hang around and I will tell you what your future will look like. One of the most important decisions you will take in life centers around relationships - friends, spouse, co-workers, etc. Relationships can be very subtle. They can bring out the best or worst in us. They can strectch us to become the best we can be or they can quietly induce a complacent attitude and a losing mentality into us. I told my manager on Friday that I love working with him, because he brings out the best in me; which is very true. Who we decide to hang around definitely has a huge impact on our life
Gift and Talent Decisions
Each of us was born with unique gifts, talents, abilities, and possibilities. The sad news is that most of us will go to our grave with all these unique gifts, talents, abilities and possibilities. Very few will die empty. Even though we have all these talents, the decision is left to us whether we will use them or just allow them lie dormant
“One Thing” Decisions
I call this last decisions the “One Thing” decisions. I found out that every individual has one thing that drives every other thing they do. It’s like a 1% -99% rule. 99% of decisions an individual will make depends on, and, is affected by certain decisions that make up the 1%. Every individual has a motivating idol in their heart - something that they crave for, want to be like, or drives them on a daily basis. For some it is money, for others it could be sex, career, family, a celebrity, or a spiritual being.
Newton third law tells us that for every action there is a reaction. Every decision we take has some consequences or results. The good news is that we can decide to begin making better decisions by looking at facts, examining the possible consequences and/or results, and considering historical data. Decisions definitely determine destiny.
The Walk
I love to take morning walks. With my very busy schedule these walks give me the opportunity to think, sing, pray and exercise. Towards the end of my walk yesterday morning, I began to think and reflect on “decisions”. As I thought about decisions, it further dawned on me that the quality of my life is directly proportional to the quality of my decisions. I also realized that where I am today and where I will be tomorrow are results of the decisions I’ve taken and will take.
Corporations and Individuals
Most corporations understand the importance of decision making. When it is time to choose the next CEO, CFO, or executive, the candidate’s decision making history and judgement is examined in tandem with his/her ability to execute. There are also various tools and processes sme companies put in place to enhance the quality of their decisions.
As individuals, we make decisions on a regular consistent basis ranging from what to eat, when to sleep, where to go to school, who to date, and, where to work. I won’t be surprised if statistics show that an individual makes an average of a thousand decisions on a daily basis. Some decisions not only affect our lives, but also the lives of those who work with us, live with us, work for us, or under our leadership. For example, the decision by most Canadian banks not to invest in the complex derivatives saved the Canadian economy from the type of economic collapse experienced by several developed countries.
Time Decisions
A Nielsen study released in 2008 found that Americans were watching more TV than ever before. The average U.S. household watched TV for 8 hours and 18 minutes a day from September 2007 to September 2008, which was a record high since the days Nielsen Co. started measuring television in the 1950s. If we assume that the average household sleeps for about 7.5 hours, what this means is that the average household is watching TV almost half of the time that they are awake. I know a man who wrote his books during his spare time after work. Most of our time should be invested and not spent: invested in relationships, exercising our gifts and talents, improving our selves, and helping others. If I can study how you use your day, I can possibly tell you how you will use your life -if you maintain the same pattern. What you decide to do with the time you have on your hands can determine how your life turns out
Don't join an easy crowd. You won't grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform and achieve are high...Jim Rohn
Relationship Decisions
Someone once said : tell me who you hang around and I will tell you what your future will look like. One of the most important decisions you will take in life centers around relationships - friends, spouse, co-workers, etc. Relationships can be very subtle. They can bring out the best or worst in us. They can strectch us to become the best we can be or they can quietly induce a complacent attitude and a losing mentality into us. I told my manager on Friday that I love working with him, because he brings out the best in me; which is very true. Who we decide to hang around definitely has a huge impact on our life
Gift and Talent Decisions
Each of us was born with unique gifts, talents, abilities, and possibilities. The sad news is that most of us will go to our grave with all these unique gifts, talents, abilities and possibilities. Very few will die empty. Even though we have all these talents, the decision is left to us whether we will use them or just allow them lie dormant
“One Thing” Decisions
I call this last decisions the “One Thing” decisions. I found out that every individual has one thing that drives every other thing they do. It’s like a 1% -99% rule. 99% of decisions an individual will make depends on, and, is affected by certain decisions that make up the 1%. Every individual has a motivating idol in their heart - something that they crave for, want to be like, or drives them on a daily basis. For some it is money, for others it could be sex, career, family, a celebrity, or a spiritual being.
Newton third law tells us that for every action there is a reaction. Every decision we take has some consequences or results. The good news is that we can decide to begin making better decisions by looking at facts, examining the possible consequences and/or results, and considering historical data. Decisions definitely determine destiny.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Transformational Leadership
By Brian Tracy
Advancing Your Career
As your career advances, you move along the scale from employee, to supervisor to manager and finally, to leader. Managers, and some leaders, engage in what is called transactional leadership, the deployment and management of people and resources to get results.
Arouse Emotion In Others
However, at the highest end of the leadership scale, we come to what is called “transformational leadership.” Transformational leadership is defined as leadership that arouses emotion, that taps into the emotional and spiritual resources of an organization. Transformational leadership empowers people to greatly exceed their previous levels of accomplishment.
Make People Feel Terrific
Empowerment is the key. Transformational leaders are those who can elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary men and women. The superior leader is like a catalyst in a chemical process that causes the other ingredients to work together in a superior fashion.
A Key Function of Leadership
Empowerment as a key function of leadership becomes even more important as the work force becomes dominated by members of the Generation X. These highly individualistic men and women are increasingly seeking higher meaning and purpose in their careers. They are not impressed by authority or hierarchy. If they don't get the satisfaction they are seeking from their work, they will go somewhere else. And the better they are at what they do, the more readily they will leave one job for another.
Provide The Emotional Glue
Transactional leadership is essential to getting the job done but transformational leadership is what provides the emotional glue that causes organizations and the people in them to excel.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to become a transformational leader and empower your people.
First, get excited about your work. The more excited and committed you are to your work, the more excited and committed will be the people around you. The leader always sets the tone for the department or organization.
Second, continually encourage and praise the people who work for you. The better you make people feel about themselves and their work, the more empowered they will feel and the more committed they will be to your company.
Advancing Your Career
As your career advances, you move along the scale from employee, to supervisor to manager and finally, to leader. Managers, and some leaders, engage in what is called transactional leadership, the deployment and management of people and resources to get results.
Arouse Emotion In Others
However, at the highest end of the leadership scale, we come to what is called “transformational leadership.” Transformational leadership is defined as leadership that arouses emotion, that taps into the emotional and spiritual resources of an organization. Transformational leadership empowers people to greatly exceed their previous levels of accomplishment.
Make People Feel Terrific
Empowerment is the key. Transformational leaders are those who can elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary men and women. The superior leader is like a catalyst in a chemical process that causes the other ingredients to work together in a superior fashion.
A Key Function of Leadership
Empowerment as a key function of leadership becomes even more important as the work force becomes dominated by members of the Generation X. These highly individualistic men and women are increasingly seeking higher meaning and purpose in their careers. They are not impressed by authority or hierarchy. If they don't get the satisfaction they are seeking from their work, they will go somewhere else. And the better they are at what they do, the more readily they will leave one job for another.
Provide The Emotional Glue
Transactional leadership is essential to getting the job done but transformational leadership is what provides the emotional glue that causes organizations and the people in them to excel.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to become a transformational leader and empower your people.
First, get excited about your work. The more excited and committed you are to your work, the more excited and committed will be the people around you. The leader always sets the tone for the department or organization.
Second, continually encourage and praise the people who work for you. The better you make people feel about themselves and their work, the more empowered they will feel and the more committed they will be to your company.
Friday, August 13, 2010
How to have a life full of joy no matter what happens!!!
By Ade Sobanjo
Do you realise that so many people today are looking for fulfillment, Happiness and love? When I listen to the news and interact with people daily, I find that everyone seems to be looking for something, and they seem to think that other people have that thing called happiness and yet it seems to allude them. This is my contribution to this search!
Augustine of Hippo in his classic “The Confessions” says that True happiness can only be found in God. The sad truth is that we all have been trying to find true hapiness without God. Can I say along with many great men and women before me that TRUE HAPINESS or LASTING JOY can ONLY be found in GOD?
Chassing after gadgets (fast cars, money, a big house, political positions) and fame will only give temporary happiness, but once one makes the decision to repent of ones selfish liestyle and chooses to live according to the will of God, one begins the lifetime journey into continued and increasing inner joy and hapiness.
You may say - yes I am a christian so I am covered, but really can you say that your life is centered on God? If some one’s life is centered on Movies, it will be obvious to everyone, and we know those who’s lives are centered around themselves!! If you say your life is centered around God, then it must be obvious to you and to those who are closest to you.
There are many people who claim to love God and live for God whose life do not reflect God in anyway. The reason for this is that they are not living for God, they are simply attempting to use God as a tool to achieve the real thing they are living for. They spend hours praying - FOR WHAT? They study the scriptures and even memorise them - WHY? The only proof of a live centered on God is an outflow of godly life. By this I mean a “contagious” life that draws others to God.
If your life does not draw others to God - that is a sure proof that your life is not centered on God.
How do you center your life on God?
This is a question that would take a whole book to explain completely. I have spent practically all my life as a christian, learning daily how to center my life on God. However, what I can share with you is how to begin this lifelong process.
1) You must agree that you are a failure with regards to living according to God’s standard - As long as you think that you are doing an excellent job, and that you are a good person, you will find it impossible to surrender your life to God. However, the fact that you have read this far shows that you feel the need for something more in your life. It is my opinion that someone who thinks they are doing pretty well without God will have no need for God and as such will have to continue living the way that they are.
2) You must “repent”. That is to make up your mind to life right. To choose to do the right thing ALWAYS no matter whether it pays you or costs you.
3) You must surrender to God - That is to say to God that you are at his mercy and that He can do to you what He pleases
4) You must then accept the work that God has done on your behalf through Christ Jesus. Accept freedom from the power of sin and forgiveness of sins committed.
5) Be Baptised - Find a church where these truths are taught and get baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ.
6) Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
7) Talk to God daily and spend time feeding on God's word - the Bible
Once these things are done, I would say you are on your way to a life filled wtih increasing inner joy and happiness, both in this life and in eternity. Take note that inner joy and happiness are not the same as the things that make you laugh. No there will be tough time, tears and pain along the way, but through it all, you will find a constant underlying joy and assurance that ALL is well.
Do you realise that so many people today are looking for fulfillment, Happiness and love? When I listen to the news and interact with people daily, I find that everyone seems to be looking for something, and they seem to think that other people have that thing called happiness and yet it seems to allude them. This is my contribution to this search!
Augustine of Hippo in his classic “The Confessions” says that True happiness can only be found in God. The sad truth is that we all have been trying to find true hapiness without God. Can I say along with many great men and women before me that TRUE HAPINESS or LASTING JOY can ONLY be found in GOD?
Chassing after gadgets (fast cars, money, a big house, political positions) and fame will only give temporary happiness, but once one makes the decision to repent of ones selfish liestyle and chooses to live according to the will of God, one begins the lifetime journey into continued and increasing inner joy and hapiness.
You may say - yes I am a christian so I am covered, but really can you say that your life is centered on God? If some one’s life is centered on Movies, it will be obvious to everyone, and we know those who’s lives are centered around themselves!! If you say your life is centered around God, then it must be obvious to you and to those who are closest to you.
There are many people who claim to love God and live for God whose life do not reflect God in anyway. The reason for this is that they are not living for God, they are simply attempting to use God as a tool to achieve the real thing they are living for. They spend hours praying - FOR WHAT? They study the scriptures and even memorise them - WHY? The only proof of a live centered on God is an outflow of godly life. By this I mean a “contagious” life that draws others to God.
If your life does not draw others to God - that is a sure proof that your life is not centered on God.
How do you center your life on God?
This is a question that would take a whole book to explain completely. I have spent practically all my life as a christian, learning daily how to center my life on God. However, what I can share with you is how to begin this lifelong process.
1) You must agree that you are a failure with regards to living according to God’s standard - As long as you think that you are doing an excellent job, and that you are a good person, you will find it impossible to surrender your life to God. However, the fact that you have read this far shows that you feel the need for something more in your life. It is my opinion that someone who thinks they are doing pretty well without God will have no need for God and as such will have to continue living the way that they are.
2) You must “repent”. That is to make up your mind to life right. To choose to do the right thing ALWAYS no matter whether it pays you or costs you.
3) You must surrender to God - That is to say to God that you are at his mercy and that He can do to you what He pleases
4) You must then accept the work that God has done on your behalf through Christ Jesus. Accept freedom from the power of sin and forgiveness of sins committed.
5) Be Baptised - Find a church where these truths are taught and get baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ.
6) Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
7) Talk to God daily and spend time feeding on God's word - the Bible
Once these things are done, I would say you are on your way to a life filled wtih increasing inner joy and happiness, both in this life and in eternity. Take note that inner joy and happiness are not the same as the things that make you laugh. No there will be tough time, tears and pain along the way, but through it all, you will find a constant underlying joy and assurance that ALL is well.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Law of the Garbage Truck
By David J. Pollay
How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life.
Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.
I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.
I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And he even threw in a one finger salute! I couldn’t believe it!
But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck™.” He said:
"Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.
So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier."
So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”
I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.
One of my favorite football players of all time was Walter Payton. Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way: Muhammad Ali, Nadia Comaneci, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, and Pele are just some of those players. And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way: Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.
See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.
So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.
The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to greet their children with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.
What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?
Here’s my bet: You’ll be happier.
I came across this article on Ade Olubanjo.com - Patrick Egbunonu
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Practice of Discipline
By: Brian Tracy
Discipline yourself to do what you know you need to do to be the very best in your field. Perhaps the best definition of self discipline is this: "Self discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."
It is easy to do something when you feel like it. It's when you don't feel like it and you force yourself to do it anyway that you move your life and career onto the fast track.
What decisions do you need to make today in order to start moving toward the top of your field? Whatever it is, either to get in or get out, make a decision today and then get started. This single act alone can change the whole direction of your life.
Seven Steps to Success
There is a powerful seven step formula that you can use to set and achieve your goals for the rest of your life. Every single successful person uses this formula or some variation of this formula to achieve vastly more than the average person. And so can you. Here it is:
Decide What You Want
Step number one, decide exactly what it is you want in each part of your life. Become a "meaningful specific" rather than a "wandering generality."
Write it Down
Second, write it down, clearly and in detail. Always think on paper. A goal that is not in writing is not a goal at all. It is merely a wish and it has no energy behind it.
Set A Deadline
Third, set a deadline for your goal. A deadline acts as a "forcing system" in your subconscious mind. It motivates you to do the things necessary to make your goal come true. If it is a big enough goal, set sub-deadlines as well. Don't leave this to chance.
Make A List
Fourth, make a list of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. When you think of new tasks and activities, write them on your list until your list is complete.
Organize Your List
Fifth, organize your list into a plan. Decide what you will have to do first and what you will have to do second. Decide what is more important and what is less important. And then write out your plan on paper, the same way you would develop a blueprint to build your dream house.
Take Action
The sixth step is for you to take action on your plan. Do something. Do anything. But get busy. Get going.
Do Something Every Day
Do something every single day that moves you in the direction of your most important goal at the moment. Develop the discipline of doing something 365 days each year that is moving you forward. You will be absolutely astonished at how much you accomplish when you utilize this formula in your life every single day.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put these ideas into action immediately.
First, decide exactly what you want, write it down with a deadline, make a plan and take action - on at least one goal - today!
Second, determine the price you will have to pay to achieve this goal and then get busy paying that price - whatever it is.
Discipline yourself to do what you know you need to do to be the very best in your field. Perhaps the best definition of self discipline is this: "Self discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."
It is easy to do something when you feel like it. It's when you don't feel like it and you force yourself to do it anyway that you move your life and career onto the fast track.
What decisions do you need to make today in order to start moving toward the top of your field? Whatever it is, either to get in or get out, make a decision today and then get started. This single act alone can change the whole direction of your life.
Seven Steps to Success
There is a powerful seven step formula that you can use to set and achieve your goals for the rest of your life. Every single successful person uses this formula or some variation of this formula to achieve vastly more than the average person. And so can you. Here it is:
Decide What You Want
Step number one, decide exactly what it is you want in each part of your life. Become a "meaningful specific" rather than a "wandering generality."
Write it Down
Second, write it down, clearly and in detail. Always think on paper. A goal that is not in writing is not a goal at all. It is merely a wish and it has no energy behind it.
Set A Deadline
Third, set a deadline for your goal. A deadline acts as a "forcing system" in your subconscious mind. It motivates you to do the things necessary to make your goal come true. If it is a big enough goal, set sub-deadlines as well. Don't leave this to chance.
Make A List
Fourth, make a list of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. When you think of new tasks and activities, write them on your list until your list is complete.
Organize Your List
Fifth, organize your list into a plan. Decide what you will have to do first and what you will have to do second. Decide what is more important and what is less important. And then write out your plan on paper, the same way you would develop a blueprint to build your dream house.
Take Action
The sixth step is for you to take action on your plan. Do something. Do anything. But get busy. Get going.
Do Something Every Day
Do something every single day that moves you in the direction of your most important goal at the moment. Develop the discipline of doing something 365 days each year that is moving you forward. You will be absolutely astonished at how much you accomplish when you utilize this formula in your life every single day.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put these ideas into action immediately.
First, decide exactly what you want, write it down with a deadline, make a plan and take action - on at least one goal - today!
Second, determine the price you will have to pay to achieve this goal and then get busy paying that price - whatever it is.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Reach your goal faster: Use the 80-20 rule
By George Onaifo
One of the biggest challenges in the life of an individual is the challenge to lead. It is a big challenge. Indeed such person can be made or marred by the actions taken in the exercise of that responsibility. This is true in any organization: be it a profit oriented venture like a business or a not for profit organizations like charities, religious organizations, improvement union or even government agencies.
The question on the lips of anyone who is given such opportunity in business or even in other forms of relationships is HOW WILL I SUCCEED in the new challenge?
Concerning an entrepreneur who is in business, it is expected that proper leadership and direction be given to his employees, whether they are paid employees or members of the family who are assisting in the business. A supervisor is required to lead his team to achieve the stated goal.
A man as the leader of his household in the traditional family setting is expected to lead his family effectively. It is the ability to provide effective leadership that determine the failure or success of the endeavor
For the entrepreneur who fails to prioritize, chaos and lack of direction for the enterprise will be the result. As for the head of a family it may lead to “a vote of no confidence” passed by the spouse or members of the family if no meaningful steps are taken to help the members of the family achieve their individual goals. It is a common incident today to see leaders/head of the family being considered “useless” by members of the family because of lack of effective leadership. This is very sad.
Prioritizing is indeed the key. To lead effectively you have to SET GOALS and then PRIOTIZE.
The first step in setting goals and prioritizing is to personally develop what you will attain at some point in the future. The vision need to be able to lead to the goals desired.
The mission is crucial in determining your vision. Your vision needs to coincide with the big picture. The term “vision” suggests a mental picture of what the future will look like. The concept also implies a later time horizon. This time horizon tends to be mid to long term in nature, focusing on as much as 2, 5, or even 10 years in the future for visions affecting the entire organization or union.
Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th century economist, theorized that most effects come from relatively few causes; that is, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the possible causes. For example, 20% of the inventory items in the business accounts for 80% of the inventory value. 20% of our activities actually accounts for 80% of our success result.
Some leaders fall into the time wasting trap of going after the 80% of items that only have a value of 20% of the total net worth. Your visions need to picture the 20% that will have the greatest impact on your organization, union or even your marriage. Although it is nice to have small victories every now and then by going that easy 80%, spend the majority of your time focusing on the few things that will have the greatest impact…that is what a good leader does.
If you want to see how real it is, as an exercise list all the activities in your business, or even your relationship. If the activities are 10, surprisingly 2 out of those10 activities will be responsible for about 80% of the desired result. While the rest 8 activities accounts for only 20 % of the desired result.
The strategies is to identified and concentrate more on that 20% of activities and spend less energy on the 80% that lead to only 20% of the success of your mission. By so doing you are working SMART instead of working HARD.
A lot of leaders are involved in 80% perspiration and 20% exploration, It is should be the reverse. Once you have a vision, it needs to be framed in general, measurable terms and communicated to your team. If possible write it where everyone will read it over and over again. Your team then develops the ends (objectives), ways (concepts), and means (resources) to achieve the vision by priotising. The next you identify the 20% that lead to 80% of the result you desire. Then concentrate on that 20% so that 80% of your goal is achieved almost seamlessly. This is called the PARETO rule or 80-20 rule.
One of the biggest challenges in the life of an individual is the challenge to lead. It is a big challenge. Indeed such person can be made or marred by the actions taken in the exercise of that responsibility. This is true in any organization: be it a profit oriented venture like a business or a not for profit organizations like charities, religious organizations, improvement union or even government agencies.
The question on the lips of anyone who is given such opportunity in business or even in other forms of relationships is HOW WILL I SUCCEED in the new challenge?
Concerning an entrepreneur who is in business, it is expected that proper leadership and direction be given to his employees, whether they are paid employees or members of the family who are assisting in the business. A supervisor is required to lead his team to achieve the stated goal.
A man as the leader of his household in the traditional family setting is expected to lead his family effectively. It is the ability to provide effective leadership that determine the failure or success of the endeavor
For the entrepreneur who fails to prioritize, chaos and lack of direction for the enterprise will be the result. As for the head of a family it may lead to “a vote of no confidence” passed by the spouse or members of the family if no meaningful steps are taken to help the members of the family achieve their individual goals. It is a common incident today to see leaders/head of the family being considered “useless” by members of the family because of lack of effective leadership. This is very sad.
Prioritizing is indeed the key. To lead effectively you have to SET GOALS and then PRIOTIZE.
The first step in setting goals and prioritizing is to personally develop what you will attain at some point in the future. The vision need to be able to lead to the goals desired.
The mission is crucial in determining your vision. Your vision needs to coincide with the big picture. The term “vision” suggests a mental picture of what the future will look like. The concept also implies a later time horizon. This time horizon tends to be mid to long term in nature, focusing on as much as 2, 5, or even 10 years in the future for visions affecting the entire organization or union.
Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th century economist, theorized that most effects come from relatively few causes; that is, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the possible causes. For example, 20% of the inventory items in the business accounts for 80% of the inventory value. 20% of our activities actually accounts for 80% of our success result.
Some leaders fall into the time wasting trap of going after the 80% of items that only have a value of 20% of the total net worth. Your visions need to picture the 20% that will have the greatest impact on your organization, union or even your marriage. Although it is nice to have small victories every now and then by going that easy 80%, spend the majority of your time focusing on the few things that will have the greatest impact…that is what a good leader does.
If you want to see how real it is, as an exercise list all the activities in your business, or even your relationship. If the activities are 10, surprisingly 2 out of those10 activities will be responsible for about 80% of the desired result. While the rest 8 activities accounts for only 20 % of the desired result.
The strategies is to identified and concentrate more on that 20% of activities and spend less energy on the 80% that lead to only 20% of the success of your mission. By so doing you are working SMART instead of working HARD.
A lot of leaders are involved in 80% perspiration and 20% exploration, It is should be the reverse. Once you have a vision, it needs to be framed in general, measurable terms and communicated to your team. If possible write it where everyone will read it over and over again. Your team then develops the ends (objectives), ways (concepts), and means (resources) to achieve the vision by priotising. The next you identify the 20% that lead to 80% of the result you desire. Then concentrate on that 20% so that 80% of your goal is achieved almost seamlessly. This is called the PARETO rule or 80-20 rule.
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Tortoise and The Hare
Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was
faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.
But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this story. It continues. The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some Defect Prevention (Root Cause Analysis). He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been verconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race.
The tortoise agreed. This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles. The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.
But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank,continued walking and finished the race. The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency. In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
The story still hasn't ended. The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better.
So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.
They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.
The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.
Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership. There are more lessons to be learnt from this story.
Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort.
Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both. The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better.
When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980s, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth. His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time. Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth. He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market. The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking something. To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since. To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things.
Important lessons are:
* that fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady;
* work to your competencies;
* pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers;
* never give up when faced with failure;
* and finally, compete against the situation. Not against a rival.
In Short, BE STRATEGIC!
Source: CAC Management Consultants International
faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.
But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this story. It continues. The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some Defect Prevention (Root Cause Analysis). He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been verconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race.
The tortoise agreed. This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles. The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.
But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank,continued walking and finished the race. The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency. In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
The story still hasn't ended. The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better.
So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.
They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.
The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.
Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership. There are more lessons to be learnt from this story.
Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort.
Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both. The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better.
When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980s, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth. His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time. Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth. He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market. The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking something. To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since. To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things.
Important lessons are:
* that fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady;
* work to your competencies;
* pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers;
* never give up when faced with failure;
* and finally, compete against the situation. Not against a rival.
In Short, BE STRATEGIC!
Source: CAC Management Consultants International
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Grow
By Patrick Egbunonu
I sit on the board of a renewable energy company in Kingston, Ontario. At one of the board meetings in 2009, I spoke about growth having sensed that the company was about to enter the next phase of their cycle –growth phase. During my speech, I described three types of mountains to provide an analogy for growth:
1. Mountains that we have to remove;
2. Mountains that we can go around/avoid; and
3. Mountains that we have to climb.
Some mountains are self-made, some are created by external factors while others have always been around. I've constantly encountered various mountains in life - some of which were removed or avoided, and some had to be climbed (and I am still climbing). The hardest mountain is the third one.
My focus on mountains was inspired by Sir Edmund Hillary’s conquest of Mount Everest, as detailed in John Maxwell’s book, Talent is not enough. Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest along with Tibetan Tenzing Norgay. Prior to his success on Everest, Hillary had been part of another expedition, in which the team not only failed to reach the summit of Mount Everest but also lost one of its members. At a reception for the expedition members in London, Hilary addressed the audience on a platform that had a huge picture of Mount Everest behind it. Turning to face the image of the mountain, Hillary exclaimed, “Mount Everest, you have defeated us, but I will return, and I will defeat you, because you cannot get any bigger, and I can.”
The only way to deal with several mountains is to do what Sir Edmund did - Grow. The most important step in the growth process is to assume responsibility for one’s growth -not waiting on a friend, the government, company, parents, society, but taking full responsibility for one’s growth.
Growth involves stretching, which brings me to another key step for growth –taking on more responsibilities. At your places of work, at school, at home, begin to ask for and take on more responsibilities. As you take on more responsibilities, you will be stretched and you will grow. Now, in seeking more responsibility, some wisdom must be applied in order not bite off more than you can chew.
Another important step in the growth process is to increase one’s knowledge base. The more knowledgeable you are, the better you are equipped to climb mountains. Most mountains in people’s lives are really a product of ignorance. Lets become more knowledgeable about your field, business, communications, relationships, financial matters, sales, interests and environment.
I sit on the board of a renewable energy company in Kingston, Ontario. At one of the board meetings in 2009, I spoke about growth having sensed that the company was about to enter the next phase of their cycle –growth phase. During my speech, I described three types of mountains to provide an analogy for growth:
1. Mountains that we have to remove;
2. Mountains that we can go around/avoid; and
3. Mountains that we have to climb.
Some mountains are self-made, some are created by external factors while others have always been around. I've constantly encountered various mountains in life - some of which were removed or avoided, and some had to be climbed (and I am still climbing). The hardest mountain is the third one.
My focus on mountains was inspired by Sir Edmund Hillary’s conquest of Mount Everest, as detailed in John Maxwell’s book, Talent is not enough. Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest along with Tibetan Tenzing Norgay. Prior to his success on Everest, Hillary had been part of another expedition, in which the team not only failed to reach the summit of Mount Everest but also lost one of its members. At a reception for the expedition members in London, Hilary addressed the audience on a platform that had a huge picture of Mount Everest behind it. Turning to face the image of the mountain, Hillary exclaimed, “Mount Everest, you have defeated us, but I will return, and I will defeat you, because you cannot get any bigger, and I can.”
The only way to deal with several mountains is to do what Sir Edmund did - Grow. The most important step in the growth process is to assume responsibility for one’s growth -not waiting on a friend, the government, company, parents, society, but taking full responsibility for one’s growth.
Growth involves stretching, which brings me to another key step for growth –taking on more responsibilities. At your places of work, at school, at home, begin to ask for and take on more responsibilities. As you take on more responsibilities, you will be stretched and you will grow. Now, in seeking more responsibility, some wisdom must be applied in order not bite off more than you can chew.
Another important step in the growth process is to increase one’s knowledge base. The more knowledgeable you are, the better you are equipped to climb mountains. Most mountains in people’s lives are really a product of ignorance. Lets become more knowledgeable about your field, business, communications, relationships, financial matters, sales, interests and environment.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Partnering for Profit
By: Brian Tracy
The way you can stand out from your competitors is for you to position your self as a business part ner, always looking for ways to improve your customer's business.
Help Your Customer's Business
When you deal with a business person, you can be sure of one thing: that person thinks about his business day and night. It is very close to him. It is dear to his heart. And if you come in and talk to him and ask him questions about his business, looking for ways to help him run his business better, the customer is going to warm up to you and want to be associated with you and your company.
Differentiate Your self from Your Competitors
As a part ner, you should always be looking to help your customer to cut costs and improve results in his or her area of resp onsibility. You should look for ways to help your customer in non-business areas as well. You should position your self as someone who cares more about the success of your customer than anything else, even more than you care about selling your product or service. This approach to partnering in profit with your customer is a key way to differentiate your self and to keep your customer for the indefinite future.
Practice the Reciprocity Principle
There is a principle of reciprocity in business that is very powerful. It is simply this: If you do something nice for someone else, they will feel obligated to do something nice for you. You should be looking for opportunities to go the extra mile, to do more than you are p aid for, to put in more than you take out. By extending your self, you improve your positioning in the customer's mind and increasingly differentiate your self and your company from your competitors who are after the same business. If you do this long enough and strong enough, you will eventually develop the partnership to the point where your competitors don't have a chance against you.
Action Ex ercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, think about how you can help your customer's customer with your product or service. Take time to understand how your customer uses your product to do his business better.
Second, focus on increasing your customer's profits and fin ancial results. Show your customer that doing business with you is both satisfying and profit able in the long run.
The way you can stand out from your competitors is for you to position your self as a business part ner, always looking for ways to improve your customer's business.
Help Your Customer's Business
When you deal with a business person, you can be sure of one thing: that person thinks about his business day and night. It is very close to him. It is dear to his heart. And if you come in and talk to him and ask him questions about his business, looking for ways to help him run his business better, the customer is going to warm up to you and want to be associated with you and your company.
Differentiate Your self from Your Competitors
As a part ner, you should always be looking to help your customer to cut costs and improve results in his or her area of resp onsibility. You should look for ways to help your customer in non-business areas as well. You should position your self as someone who cares more about the success of your customer than anything else, even more than you care about selling your product or service. This approach to partnering in profit with your customer is a key way to differentiate your self and to keep your customer for the indefinite future.
Practice the Reciprocity Principle
There is a principle of reciprocity in business that is very powerful. It is simply this: If you do something nice for someone else, they will feel obligated to do something nice for you. You should be looking for opportunities to go the extra mile, to do more than you are p aid for, to put in more than you take out. By extending your self, you improve your positioning in the customer's mind and increasingly differentiate your self and your company from your competitors who are after the same business. If you do this long enough and strong enough, you will eventually develop the partnership to the point where your competitors don't have a chance against you.
Action Ex ercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, think about how you can help your customer's customer with your product or service. Take time to understand how your customer uses your product to do his business better.
Second, focus on increasing your customer's profits and fin ancial results. Show your customer that doing business with you is both satisfying and profit able in the long run.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Catalyst
By Sam Adeyemi
A catalyst precipitates a reaction without being changed or affected by the consequences. A person or thing that causes change can be called a catalyst. Jesus describes Christians as the 'light' of the world and the 'salt' of the earth; light can be equated to development, it's the first thing that God created, also God is described as light and we are made in His image and likeness. Salt has the power to affect - adds taste, preserves and prevents decay. Jesus is, in effect, saying that believers have the ability to affect people and things, and cause change.The life of a believer is supposed to be characterised by signs. We have not been designed to be lukewarm, living ordinary lives; we were designed to have tremendous power and influence on our world. Therefore, we have got to take the responsibility to make an impact. Not taking responsibility makes you a liability. In life, you are never neutral. People, who fail to affect their world, will be affected; if you fail to dominate, you will be dominated. When salt loses its taste, it's thrown away and trodden upon.
Tips To Help In Becoming a Catalyst
*Develop high potency - the power to affect others. The key to potency is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The influence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life can be equated to a refining fire. To maintain this potency, cultivate an intimate relationship with God. Learn to spend time with God.
*Be authentic - develop character (integrity, honesty, etc.) Hypocrisy and dishonesty puts people off. Admit your weaknesses and stay in the area of your gifting.
*Contact - Contact is the key to impact. Not till you introduce a catalyst into an equation does it get a reaction or effect. Build relationships. Love people genuinely, this way, the motives for any action will be based on what value to add and not what to take away.
Lastly, start by affecting the people closest to you.
A catalyst precipitates a reaction without being changed or affected by the consequences. A person or thing that causes change can be called a catalyst. Jesus describes Christians as the 'light' of the world and the 'salt' of the earth; light can be equated to development, it's the first thing that God created, also God is described as light and we are made in His image and likeness. Salt has the power to affect - adds taste, preserves and prevents decay. Jesus is, in effect, saying that believers have the ability to affect people and things, and cause change.The life of a believer is supposed to be characterised by signs. We have not been designed to be lukewarm, living ordinary lives; we were designed to have tremendous power and influence on our world. Therefore, we have got to take the responsibility to make an impact. Not taking responsibility makes you a liability. In life, you are never neutral. People, who fail to affect their world, will be affected; if you fail to dominate, you will be dominated. When salt loses its taste, it's thrown away and trodden upon.
Tips To Help In Becoming a Catalyst
*Develop high potency - the power to affect others. The key to potency is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The influence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life can be equated to a refining fire. To maintain this potency, cultivate an intimate relationship with God. Learn to spend time with God.
*Be authentic - develop character (integrity, honesty, etc.) Hypocrisy and dishonesty puts people off. Admit your weaknesses and stay in the area of your gifting.
*Contact - Contact is the key to impact. Not till you introduce a catalyst into an equation does it get a reaction or effect. Build relationships. Love people genuinely, this way, the motives for any action will be based on what value to add and not what to take away.
Lastly, start by affecting the people closest to you.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
From Motivation to Motive-Action
With the passing of every new year, each of us needs to understand the magnitude of social and economic change in the world. In the past, change in business and social life was incremental and a set of personal strategies for achieving excellence was not required. Today, in the knowledge-based world, where change is the rule, a set of personal strategies is essential for success, even survival. Never again will you be able to go to your place of business on autopilot, comfortable and secure that the organization, state or government will provide for and look after you. You must look in the mirror when you ask who is responsible for your success or failure. You must become a lifelong learner and leader, for to be a follower is to fall hopelessly behind the pace of progress.
The power brokers in the new global arena will be the knowledge facilitators. Ignorance will be even more the tyrant and enslaver than in the past. As you look in the mirror to see the 21st Century you, there will also be another image standing beside you. It is your competition. Your competition, from now on, will be a hungry immigrant with a wireless, hand-held, digital assistant. Hungry for food, hungry for a home, for a new car, for security, for a college education. Hungry for knowledge. Smart, quick thinking, skilled and willing to do anything necessary to be competitive in the world marketplace. Working long hours and Saturdays, staying open later, serving customers better and more cheerfully. To be a player in the 21st Century you have to be willing to give more in service than you receive in payment. These are the new rules in the game of life. These are the actions you must take to be a leader and a winner in your personal and professional life. By mastering these profoundly simple action steps, you will be positioned to be a change master in the new century.
Action Step Number One – Consider Yourself Self-Employed, But Be a Team Player.
What this means is that you are your own Chief Executive Officer of your future. Start thinking of yourself as a service company with a single employee. You’re a small company that puts your services to work for a larger company. Tomorrow you may sell those services to a different organization, but that doesn'’t mean you’re any less loyal to your current employer. Taking responsibility for yourself in this way does mean that you never equate your personal long-term interests with your employer’s.
The first idea is resolving not to suffer the fate of those who lost their jobs and found their skills were obsolete.
The second is to begin immediately the process of protecting yourself against that possibility – by becoming proactive instead of reactive. Ask yourself these questions: How vulnerable am I? What trends must I watch? What information must I gain? What knowledge do I lack? Again, think of yourself as a company. Set up a training department in your mind and make certain your top employee is updating his or her skills.
Make sure you have your own private pension plan, knowing that you are responsible for your own financial security. Entrusting the government or an employer, other than yourself, with your retirement income is like hiring a compulsive gambler as your accountant.
You’re the CEO of your daily life who must have the vision to set your goals and allocate your resources. The mindset of being responsible for your own future used to be crucial only to the self-employed, but it has become essential for us all. Today’s typical employees are no longer one-career people. Most will have five separate careers in their lifetimes. Remember, your competition is a hungry immigrant with a laptop. Action Step Number One is to consider yourself to be self-employed, but be a team player.
Action Step Number Two – Be Flexible in the Face of Daily Surprises.
We live in a time-starved, overstressed, violent society. Much of our over-reaction to what happens to us every day is a result of our self-indulgent value system, where we blame others for our problems, look to organizations or the government for our solutions, thirst for immediate sensual gratification and believe we should have privileges without responsibilities. This condition is manifested in the high crime rate and in the increase in violence in the work place where employees blame their managers for threatening their security. I have learned how to be flexible in the face of daily surprises, which is one of the most important action traits for a leader.
I really haven’t been angry for about 17 years. During that time, no one has tried to physically harm me or someone close to me. I'’ve learned to adapt to stress in life and reserve my fear or anger for imminently physically dangerous situations. I rarely, if ever, get upset with what people say, do or don’t do, even if it inconveniences me. I do react emotionally when I see someone physically or emotionally abusing or victimizing another. But I'’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Courage and Leadership
By Zig Ziglar
The name Harry Truman reminds us of his famous quote, “The buck stops here.” He also said, “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” Mr. Truman was saying that, as a leader, it was his ultimate responsibility to make the final decision. He also knew that as president he would receive a considerable amount of criticism - some justified and some unjustified.
Much of the world is indebted to Harry Truman because of the things he started. Winston Churchill called him “the man who saved Western civilization.” He’s the one who put a stop to traditional American isolationism. He introduced a strategy of containment for the Soviet Union. He pushed through the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe. He ended segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces and Federal Civil Service.
Truman had only a high school education, but he was a marvelous student, particularly of history. When Israel became a nation, the State Department advised him not to recognize them. The thinking was that they were a small nation surrounded by a hostile enemy and it was imprudent for America to recognize them. However, Truman knew his history and eleven minutes after Israel became an independent nation, he recognized her sovereignty. That took courage.
Truman gave the go-ahead on dropping the atomic bomb. Today there is considerable controversy over it, but the military people were unanimous in their agreement that, as horrible as it was, it saved millions of Japanese and American lives. In addition to that, had the bomb not been dropped, Russia would have been in on the invasion of Japan, and all of history would have been dramatically different. That decision took courage, but most significant decisions take both initiative and courage. Harry Truman had an abundance of both of those qualities and that’s why history has been so kind to him. Message: Develop those qualities and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
The name Harry Truman reminds us of his famous quote, “The buck stops here.” He also said, “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” Mr. Truman was saying that, as a leader, it was his ultimate responsibility to make the final decision. He also knew that as president he would receive a considerable amount of criticism - some justified and some unjustified.
Much of the world is indebted to Harry Truman because of the things he started. Winston Churchill called him “the man who saved Western civilization.” He’s the one who put a stop to traditional American isolationism. He introduced a strategy of containment for the Soviet Union. He pushed through the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe. He ended segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces and Federal Civil Service.
Truman had only a high school education, but he was a marvelous student, particularly of history. When Israel became a nation, the State Department advised him not to recognize them. The thinking was that they were a small nation surrounded by a hostile enemy and it was imprudent for America to recognize them. However, Truman knew his history and eleven minutes after Israel became an independent nation, he recognized her sovereignty. That took courage.
Truman gave the go-ahead on dropping the atomic bomb. Today there is considerable controversy over it, but the military people were unanimous in their agreement that, as horrible as it was, it saved millions of Japanese and American lives. In addition to that, had the bomb not been dropped, Russia would have been in on the invasion of Japan, and all of history would have been dramatically different. That decision took courage, but most significant decisions take both initiative and courage. Harry Truman had an abundance of both of those qualities and that’s why history has been so kind to him. Message: Develop those qualities and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
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