Posted: October 10, 2012 | Categories: Self-Improvement

It is no secret that we live in a world of boundless instant information and countless distractions.  Kenneth Blanchard tells us that we are exposed to more information in 30 days than our grandparents were in their lifetime.  No wonder we all struggle so hard to maintain our focus.

We need focus.  Today I was reminded of this principle when I received a phone call from a client who was frantic.  His office manager had suddenly resigned and the timing couldn’t have been worse.  Bill was on the verge of closing three major business deals and he knew he must stay with these opportunities until they were officially in the “win” column.  At the same time, he needed to get the invoicing done so that his business could maintain their steady cash flow.

As we talked through the problem, Bill came up with the following action steps:

1. Take a full-size legal pad and write down all the tasks and activities swarming in his head.
2. Go through the list and prioritize by asking these two questions:
   1. How much will I benefit if I do this task?
   2. How much will I suffer if I don’t?
3. Select the top five

After Bill went through these steps, here is what happened:

In writing down all the things in his mind, he was able to relax just knowing he had transferred everything on paper.  Writing can be a very powerful control mechanism.  If you doubt that, consider all the great achievers:  Almost all work from written goals.

By prioritizing, he did come up with his top five.  He then numbered them from one to five in order of their importance. I thought it was interesting that four of the five were related to direct sales.  Without going through this exercise, Bill freely admitted that he would have probably spent the majority of his time doing office stuff, just because of all that was surrounding him

So how did Bill feel after working through these steps?  “I feel energized, focused, and balanced, and I am ready to dive in”.  He did.

Imagine if Bill had not taken a time out to work through these steps.  He would probably still be frazzled, unfocused, and inefficient with his time.  The problems would have just compounded.

When we find ourselves thrown off track or scrambling, let’s remember to take a time out and do what Bill did.  Write it all down.  Determine the top five.  Put them in order of their importance.  Act!

Posted: September 27, 2012 | Categories: Sales, Self-Improvement

In the early 50’s, a young fellow named Sydney Poitier came from Jamaica to New York City.  His goal was to be a great actor.  Over the next 20 years, he achieved that goal.  Getting there wasn’t a cinch.

As Mr. Poitier approached agents, directors, and producers, he was consistently met with scorn and ridicule.  He now claims that one of his key secrets of success came every time he got knocked down and humiliated:  When these things happened, he got tougher.

In his book, “The Happiness Advantage”, psychologist Shawn Achor talked about the habit of “Falling up”.  Like Sydney Poitier, this means that whenever we encounter setbacks and crises, we pick ourselves up and get back in the ring with even more gusto.  All high achievers have this quality.

In 1995, Met Life hired behavioral psychologist Martin Seligman to help them with their sales staff.  Reps were underperforming and the turnover was high and costly.  Dr. Seligman decided to make the key hiring criteria be the candidate’s strength and resilience in attitude.  As a result of this experiment, they discovered that the optimist outsold the pessimist by 40%!

When we are planning to succeed, we need the right mental programming.  Here are some questions we can ask ourselves when we hit these “bumps in the road”.

1. What happened?
2. What is my interpretation of what happened?  Is it positive?  If not, what are some positives I can learn from this?
3. Is this event part of a pattern, or is this an isolated event?
4. What is the problem (No Blame, and make sure you are not just giving a symptom)
5. What are some possible solutions?
6. What is the best solution?
7. How can I begin implementation?

These questions can lead us to a winning attitude and better ego strength.  We can do this, or we can be a victim.  In the words of the late Steven Covey, “Act or be acted upon”

Posted: July 23, 2012 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement

Remembering Steven Covey…

Last week brought the sad news of the passing of Steven R. Covey, world-renowned leadership and management expert.  In hearing of Covey’s death, thoughts of all his contributions came to mind.  His work was transformational for those companies and individuals who took the time to understand and apply his timeless, common-sense principles for joyous and abundant living.  I want to share a three of his principles that were especially important to me.  Here they are:

Begin with the end in mind.  This sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  Why wouldn’t we begin with the end in mind?  According to the late billionaire, Bunker Hunt, “Most people don’t take the time in life to determine exactly what they want.  Success comes in two steps:  Knowing exactly what you want, and being willing to pay the price to achieve it.”  To illustrate, just imagine trying to put together a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle without a picture on the box!

Balance your Q2 and Q1 ratio.  In his classic book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, Covey had a quadrant that included these four categories:

1. Important and urgent
2. Important, but not urgent
3. Urgent, but not important
4. Not urgent or important.

It is easy to get caught in the world of “tantalizing trivialities”.  There is such a temptation to spend time in the 3^rd and 4^th categories.  We allow ourselves to be distracted by low priority interruptions.  We spend too long on our lunch hour and spend production time talking about sports.  When I coach teams, many of them are constantly in the “important and urgent” category”.  Covey taught us to put a sense of urgency on the important by planning and delegating well, and using and respecting deadlines.  If we don’t put a sense of urgency on what is “important but not urgent”, it will eventually become urgent.  Example:  Having a conversation with your teenager today.  It is important, but not urgent.  If you keep putting it off, the conversation may become urgent!

 Synergistic Communication

Covey says  there are three levels of communication.

1. Win-lose:  No trust is needed in this mode.  It is a zero sum game.  As a result of our conversation, I win, and you lose.
2.  Compromise:  Some trust is involved here.  Each side must be willing to give and take.  The result is coming up with a plan that everyone can “live with”
3.  Synergistic communication:  This was Covey’s favorite.  At this level the sum is greater than the total of its parts.  We have a problem.  I have an idea.  Instead of disagreeing with me, you look for common ground and say, “I like what you are saying about_______.  How about if we added_______”   The other person responds, “OK.  If we add that, how about if we included this also?”  The conversation goes back and forth, and in each exchange, your thinking is at a higher level.  When you finally come up with your action plan, it is better than either of the original individual ideas. When we can reach this state of communication and problem solving, great things can happen.  I have personally witnessed this.

Thank you, Mr. Covey for these nuggets of wisdom that have helped form my career today.  You have left a legacy, and we will miss you.

Posted: July 8, 2012 | Categories: Management, Self-Improvement

Strategy:  The gift that keeps on giving

OK.  You know what you want and you have set specific goals.  It is time for the fun to begin.  We are now ready to develop our strategy.  This is our roadmap to get to our goals.  A strategy is our own special recipe for achieving specific goals, and it should be as unique as our fingerprint (and far more exciting!).  Like any good recipe, there are important ingredients that need to be blended together in just the right portion.

Strengths:  When we look at what we want to achieve, the first thing we do is look at our strengths.  Our strengths are the characteristics and qualities that have gotten us to where we are today.  What are your strengths?  If you need help in answering this question comprehensively, ask a friend or visit helpful websites like strengthfinder.com.  Find your strengths.  We need to know them and use them.

Activity:  Keeping in mind our strengths, we need to look at what mix of tasks and activities we will need to put into play.  Here are some points to consider:

• What activities, if done consistently, have stood the test of time in generating desired results?  This could be networking,  giving programs, participating in golf tournaments,  or attending seminars.
• How can you create synergy by matching your strengths with selected tasks and activities?  If you are strong in one-on-one situations, you will probably look for several networking activites.  If you are good at public speaking, you may seek out organizations, associations, and civic clubs to deliver you valuable message.  How about if you have writing and analytical skills?  How could they be effectively leveraged?
• What new innovative ideas and activities would you like to initiate?
• How will you plan your year, month, week, day?

Habits:  Albert Gray said it over 70 years ago in his essay, “The Common Denominator of Success”:  “People form habits…habits form futures”  What habits are working for you?  What habits are not helping you (see barriers)?  What is the single most important habit you need to work on?  How soon can you get started on it?  How can you ensure you will sustain your momentum?  What results do you expect for your efforts?

Putting it all together, your strategy should consist of your ideal blend of strengths, activities, and habits that come together to drive you towards your specific goals.  The next step…EXECUTE!

Posted: June 22, 2012 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement

When I am coaching teams, one of the key components I use is a working agreement.  To maximize ownership, working agreement is built by input from the entire team.  Each team member is asked to write down all key characteristics and qualities of a working environment that enables them to be the most productive.  One word that has been popping up more frequently is “fun”.  In addition to all that good stuff like a sense of belonging, self-fulfillment, and good benefits, they want to have fun!

At first, some seem timid when they suggest “fun” to be on the menu.  Possibly they are afraid that they will be perceived as not taking their work seriously.  Let’s remember what baseball great Harry Caray once said:  “I take my responsibility seriously, but I don’t take myself seriously” Say what you want about Harry Caray…he knew how to have fun.

In his best-selling book, The Happiness Advantage, Harvard Scholar Shawn Achor has concluded that “bosses who discourage fun for their employees are at a double disadvantage, because they tend to be people who are most negative themselves.  In short, sacrificing fun in the name of time management and efficiency actually slows us down”

Southwest Airlines is the only major commercial air carrier that has made a profit every year they have been in business.  Here are their top three priorities in order of importance:

1.  Employees are #1

2.  Having fun

3.  Making the customer happy

If you have ever flown on Southwest Airlines, you probably know what I mean.  They are one zany bunch.  They even went so far as to do a rap song to deliver the standard safety message required before each takeoff.

Here are some ways we can make work more fun:

1. Check your fuel gauge before the day begins.  Thoreau referred to the first hour of the day as the “Golden Hour”.  He believed that our thoughts and attitude in this time frame were critical to our attitude the remainder of the day.  We must do what it takes to get our attitudes on “full”.  Do some inspirational reading, listen to some zesty music, or watch a motivational video.
2. Plan your day well.  Dr. Hans Seyle said, “A successful life is a series of successful days”.  If we want to feel fulfilled at the end of the day, we need to plan it well.  We all know what happens when we don’t plan our day well:  We end up caught in the trap of hurry and indecision.
3. Make a game out of it:  If we have tasks to do, we can set a goal and see if we can beat it.  Occasionally, when I have some tedious work to do, I will use my stop watch on my cell phone, and track my time per item.  Of course, the goal is to keep improving on the time without compromising the quality of my work.
4. Have your favorite video and audio clips available when you need a pick-me-up.  I have mine.  One of them is a famous Three Stooges clip.  Another is the MAD TV Bob Newhart clip called “Stop it”.  It is always good for laughs, and helps get me back on track when I get in to a funk.
5. Take breaks:  A walk around the block or a breath of fresh air can reduce stress and spark creativity.
6. Play a game with co-workers.  This can be anything from dollar-bill poker to video basketball.  It is a complete diversion, and it is fun.

 If none of these appeal to you, just Google, “Ways to have more fun at work”, and you will find scores of additional ideas.  I close with a quote from Dr. Wayne Dyer:  “There is no way to happiness…happiness is the way.”