Set Priorities
Stress management requires that you take complete control over the activities of your daily life. This means that you plan your day, set priorities and work on high value tasks. The indispensable key to time management is concentration, the ability to focus single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and to stay with it until it is 100% complete.
Create Chunks of Time
This is not only the hardest challenge that a manager faces, but the ability to concentrate single-mindedly is probably the rarest single ability in the workplace. Most of our important tasks take large chunks of time. We need to plan and organize our days in such a way that we allocate these chunks of time so that we can do the jobs upon which our success depends.
A Burst of Energy
The wonderful thing about setting priorities and concentrating single-mindedly is that, the very minute that you do these two things, you will begin to feel a tremendous sense of control and well-being. As you work progressively toward the accomplishment of your most important tasks, you will feel a flow of energy and enthusiasm. As you finish something that is relevant and significant to your company and to yourself, you get a burst of energy. Your self-esteem improves. You feel good about yourself. You have a wonderful sense of making measurable progress toward greater successful in your career. You feel like you are making a difference.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two ideas you can use immediately to concentrate single mindedly on the highest value use of your time.
First, analyze your work before you begin and then ask yourself, "What one thing, if I did it quickly and well, would have the greatest impact on my work?" Whatever it is, go to work on that one item immediately.
Second, once you have begun on a high value task, discipline yourself by repeating over and over, "Back to work, back to work, back to work!" This will keep you focused and on track until you finish the job.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Develop A Prosperity Consciousness
The starting point of all riches is the development of a prosperity consciousness. You must become a financial success in your thinking long before you achieve it in your reality. Both poverty and riches are the result of a state of mind, and the most important single step you ever take on the road to wealth and financial independence is the decision to change your thinking, to impress into your mind an unshakable belief that you can and will achieve your financial goals. This must happen before anything else happens.
Think And Grow Rich
When I was growing up, I was fascinated by stories of successful men and women and how they made and lost their fortunes, and then made them over again. I read about the importance of a prosperity consciousness in the book, Think And Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, several times. But I never fully understood what it meant until about five years ago. Then it hit me and I've never been quite the same since. Every aspect of my life has improved dramatically, especially in the area of accumulating wealth, since I finally understood what is meant by a prosperity consciousness.
Two Great Discoveries
Here are two of the most exciting principles ever discovered in the long search by mankind for the secrets of health, happiness and great personal wealth.
All Causation is Mental
The first principle is this. All causation is mental. That means that everything that you are or ever will be will be a result of how you use your mind. You are merely a mind with a body to carry it around with. The entire man made world that you see is simply an expression of thought. Your entire life is an expression of your own thinking. And since the quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life, if you improve the quality of your thinking, you must, you will, inevitably improve the quality of your life.
The Law of Expectations
The second principle is what we call the law of expectations. This law says that whatever you expect with confidence, positive or negative, becomes your reality. If you confidently expect to succeed, if you confidently expect to learn something from every experience, if you confidently expect to become wealthy as a result of applying your talents and abilities to your opportunities and you maintain that attitude of confident expectations long enough, it will become your reality. It will give you a positive optimistic cheerful attitude that will cause people to want to help you, and will cause things to happen the way you want them to happen.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to practice these principles in your day to day life:
First, start thinking today in a positive, optimistic, confident way about personal and financial success. Continually imagine what differences it would make in your life if you were financially independent. This is the starting point of developing a prosperity consciousness.
Second, develop your own attitude of positive expectations. Look for the good in every situation. Look for the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty. Be positive and cheerful about everything that happens and you will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life.
Think And Grow Rich
When I was growing up, I was fascinated by stories of successful men and women and how they made and lost their fortunes, and then made them over again. I read about the importance of a prosperity consciousness in the book, Think And Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, several times. But I never fully understood what it meant until about five years ago. Then it hit me and I've never been quite the same since. Every aspect of my life has improved dramatically, especially in the area of accumulating wealth, since I finally understood what is meant by a prosperity consciousness.
Two Great Discoveries
Here are two of the most exciting principles ever discovered in the long search by mankind for the secrets of health, happiness and great personal wealth.
All Causation is Mental
The first principle is this. All causation is mental. That means that everything that you are or ever will be will be a result of how you use your mind. You are merely a mind with a body to carry it around with. The entire man made world that you see is simply an expression of thought. Your entire life is an expression of your own thinking. And since the quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life, if you improve the quality of your thinking, you must, you will, inevitably improve the quality of your life.
The Law of Expectations
The second principle is what we call the law of expectations. This law says that whatever you expect with confidence, positive or negative, becomes your reality. If you confidently expect to succeed, if you confidently expect to learn something from every experience, if you confidently expect to become wealthy as a result of applying your talents and abilities to your opportunities and you maintain that attitude of confident expectations long enough, it will become your reality. It will give you a positive optimistic cheerful attitude that will cause people to want to help you, and will cause things to happen the way you want them to happen.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to practice these principles in your day to day life:
First, start thinking today in a positive, optimistic, confident way about personal and financial success. Continually imagine what differences it would make in your life if you were financially independent. This is the starting point of developing a prosperity consciousness.
Second, develop your own attitude of positive expectations. Look for the good in every situation. Look for the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty. Be positive and cheerful about everything that happens and you will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life.
Management and Other People's Knowledge
Be a Low Pressure Persuader
Management can be defined as "getting things done through others." To be a manager you must be an expert at persuading and influencing others to work in a common direction. This is why all excellent managers are also excellent low-pressure salespeople. They do not order people to do things; instead, they persuade them to accept certain responsibilities, with specific deadlines and agreed-upon standards of performance. When a person has been persuaded that he or she has a vested interest in doing a job well, he or she accepts ownership of the job and the result. Once a person accepts ownership and responsibility, the manager can step aside confidently, knowing the job will be done on schedule.
You Have Two Choices
In every part of your life, you have a choice of either doing it yourself or delegating it to others. Your ability to get someone else to take on the job with the same enthusiasm that you would have is an exercise in personal persuasion. It may seem to take a little longer at the beginning, but it saves you an enormous amount of time in the completion of the task
The Best Form of Leverage
A key form of leverage that you must develop for success in America is other people's knowledge. You must be able to tap into the brain power of many other people if you want to accomplish worthwhile goals. Successful people are not those who know everything needed to accomplish a particular task, but more often than not, they are people who know how to find the knowledge they need.
What Knowledge Do You Need?
What is the knowledge that you need to achieve your most important goals? Of the knowledge required, what knowledge must you have personally in order to control your situation, and what knowledge can you borrow, buy, or rent from others?
Two Calls Away
It has been said that, in our information-based society, you are never more than one book or two phone calls away from any piece of knowledge in the country. With on-line computer services that access huge data bases all over the country, you can usually get the precise information you require in a few minutes by using a personal computer. Whenever you need information and expertise from another person in order to achieve your goals, the very best way to persuade them to help you is to ask them for their assistance.
Don't Be Afraid to Ask
Almost everyone who is knowledgeable in a particular area is proud of their accomplishments. By asking a person for their expert advice, you compliment them and motivate them to want to help you. So don't be afraid to ask, even if you don't know the individual personally.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, multiply your output and rewards by persuading other people to do the job for you and do it well. Delegation is the key to personal leverage.
Second, identify the most important knowledge you need to do an excellent job and then concentrate on finding and using that knowledge.
The person who can find the knowledge in others is often more valuable than the person who possesses it.
Management can be defined as "getting things done through others." To be a manager you must be an expert at persuading and influencing others to work in a common direction. This is why all excellent managers are also excellent low-pressure salespeople. They do not order people to do things; instead, they persuade them to accept certain responsibilities, with specific deadlines and agreed-upon standards of performance. When a person has been persuaded that he or she has a vested interest in doing a job well, he or she accepts ownership of the job and the result. Once a person accepts ownership and responsibility, the manager can step aside confidently, knowing the job will be done on schedule.
You Have Two Choices
In every part of your life, you have a choice of either doing it yourself or delegating it to others. Your ability to get someone else to take on the job with the same enthusiasm that you would have is an exercise in personal persuasion. It may seem to take a little longer at the beginning, but it saves you an enormous amount of time in the completion of the task
The Best Form of Leverage
A key form of leverage that you must develop for success in America is other people's knowledge. You must be able to tap into the brain power of many other people if you want to accomplish worthwhile goals. Successful people are not those who know everything needed to accomplish a particular task, but more often than not, they are people who know how to find the knowledge they need.
What Knowledge Do You Need?
What is the knowledge that you need to achieve your most important goals? Of the knowledge required, what knowledge must you have personally in order to control your situation, and what knowledge can you borrow, buy, or rent from others?
Two Calls Away
It has been said that, in our information-based society, you are never more than one book or two phone calls away from any piece of knowledge in the country. With on-line computer services that access huge data bases all over the country, you can usually get the precise information you require in a few minutes by using a personal computer. Whenever you need information and expertise from another person in order to achieve your goals, the very best way to persuade them to help you is to ask them for their assistance.
Don't Be Afraid to Ask
Almost everyone who is knowledgeable in a particular area is proud of their accomplishments. By asking a person for their expert advice, you compliment them and motivate them to want to help you. So don't be afraid to ask, even if you don't know the individual personally.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, multiply your output and rewards by persuading other people to do the job for you and do it well. Delegation is the key to personal leverage.
Second, identify the most important knowledge you need to do an excellent job and then concentrate on finding and using that knowledge.
The person who can find the knowledge in others is often more valuable than the person who possesses it.
How to Trigger Great Ideas
A major stimulant to creative thinking is focused questions. There is something about a well-worded question that often penetrates to the heart of the matter and triggers new ideas and insights.
Questions Stimulate Creative Thinking
Some of the best questions I've found for business problem solving are the following:
Clarify Your Desired Result
Question #1 "What are we trying to do?" Whenever you become frustrated with slow progress for any reason, step back and ask this again and again, "What are we trying to do?"
Analyze Your Current Methods
Question #2 "How are we trying to do it?" If you are experiencing resistance, perhaps your method is wrong. Be willing to objectively analyze your approach by asking, "How are we trying to do it?" Is this the right way? Could there be a better way? What if our method was completely wrong? How else could we approach it?
Could You Be Wrong?
It requires courage to face the possibility that you may be wrong but it also leads to your seeing new possibilities. The rule is: Always decide what's right before worrying about who's right.
Question Your Assumptions
Another good question is, "What are our assumptions?" About the person, the product, the market, the business? What are our assumptions? Could we be assuming something that is incorrect? Someone once said that "Errant assumptions lie at the root of every failure".
What if your unspoken or implied assumptions were wrong? What would you have to do differently?
Put Past Decisions on Trial
Another form of focused questioning is what I call "Zero based thinking." This method requires that you put every past decision on trial for its life regularly by asking, "If I had not made this decision, knowing what I now know, would I make it?" If I had not hired this person or gotten involved in this project, knowing what I now know, would I do it over again?
If the answer is "NO" to one of these questions, then your aim should be to get out of the decision as fast as possible. Be willing to "cut your losses," and try something else.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to trigger more and better ideas.
First, be very clear about exactly what it is that you are trying to do. Write it down and describe it as if it were already achieved.
Second, question your assumptions continually. What if there were a better way? Be willing to try something completely different.
Questions Stimulate Creative Thinking
Some of the best questions I've found for business problem solving are the following:
Clarify Your Desired Result
Question #1 "What are we trying to do?" Whenever you become frustrated with slow progress for any reason, step back and ask this again and again, "What are we trying to do?"
Analyze Your Current Methods
Question #2 "How are we trying to do it?" If you are experiencing resistance, perhaps your method is wrong. Be willing to objectively analyze your approach by asking, "How are we trying to do it?" Is this the right way? Could there be a better way? What if our method was completely wrong? How else could we approach it?
Could You Be Wrong?
It requires courage to face the possibility that you may be wrong but it also leads to your seeing new possibilities. The rule is: Always decide what's right before worrying about who's right.
Question Your Assumptions
Another good question is, "What are our assumptions?" About the person, the product, the market, the business? What are our assumptions? Could we be assuming something that is incorrect? Someone once said that "Errant assumptions lie at the root of every failure".
What if your unspoken or implied assumptions were wrong? What would you have to do differently?
Put Past Decisions on Trial
Another form of focused questioning is what I call "Zero based thinking." This method requires that you put every past decision on trial for its life regularly by asking, "If I had not made this decision, knowing what I now know, would I make it?" If I had not hired this person or gotten involved in this project, knowing what I now know, would I do it over again?
If the answer is "NO" to one of these questions, then your aim should be to get out of the decision as fast as possible. Be willing to "cut your losses," and try something else.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to trigger more and better ideas.
First, be very clear about exactly what it is that you are trying to do. Write it down and describe it as if it were already achieved.
Second, question your assumptions continually. What if there were a better way? Be willing to try something completely different.
Double Your Pay
You probably have the ability to produce and ear n easily twice as much as you are producing and ear ning today.
Put Key Ideas Into Action
I have taught time management strategies to more than 100,000 people over the last few years and the successes these people have had have often been amaz ing. Many of them have doubled their output in as little as one or two days. One businessman in Philadelphia tripled his income and doubled the amount of time he spent with his family within twelve months. Another businessman from Montreal increased his income by 700% over a period of two years by disciplining himself to practice these principles every hour of every day.
Small Effects Yield Large Results
The good news is that even a small effort on your part to implement the very best of time management principles into your life will yield a tremendous return in increased productivity, performance and output. It is like stepping on the accelerator of your own life and moving yourself onto the fast track in your career.
Efficiency Starts At School
We usually learn how to work efficiently and effectively in our teenage years by doing our schoolwork and our homework in an excellent way and handing it in on time. If a young person does not learn how to work during their school years, he or she will have a tough time working when they actually take a paying job.
Master your time and master your life!
Wouldn't you like to have more time available to get more done? To make more
money and have more time to spend doing the things you like, and being with the
people that make you happy?
Most People Are Poor Workers
According to the studies, fully 50% of adults could not work a full day if their life depended upon it. They cannot stay on task. They are continually diverted and distracted into idle socializing, personal phone calls, shooting the breeze, arriving late, leaving early and taking too much time for coffee breaks and lunches. Time wasting consumes their day. Then they wonder why they are not entrusted with increased responsibilities and offered greater pay.
Be Paid More And Pro moted Faster
The fact is that if you do an excellent job in a timely fashion, you cannot help but be paid more and pro moted faster. We live in the first great meritocracy in human history. In a meritocracy, you are paid and rewarded purely on the basis of the valuable contribution you make to the lives and work of others. There are no glass ceil ings and no barriers to advancement.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, select the most valuable and important assignment you have to do right now, resolve to complete it, and start on it immediately.
Second, resolve to "work all the time you work" once you get started. Aim for 100% productivity. This could change your life.
Put Key Ideas Into Action
I have taught time management strategies to more than 100,000 people over the last few years and the successes these people have had have often been amaz ing. Many of them have doubled their output in as little as one or two days. One businessman in Philadelphia tripled his income and doubled the amount of time he spent with his family within twelve months. Another businessman from Montreal increased his income by 700% over a period of two years by disciplining himself to practice these principles every hour of every day.
Small Effects Yield Large Results
The good news is that even a small effort on your part to implement the very best of time management principles into your life will yield a tremendous return in increased productivity, performance and output. It is like stepping on the accelerator of your own life and moving yourself onto the fast track in your career.
Efficiency Starts At School
We usually learn how to work efficiently and effectively in our teenage years by doing our schoolwork and our homework in an excellent way and handing it in on time. If a young person does not learn how to work during their school years, he or she will have a tough time working when they actually take a paying job.
Master your time and master your life!
Wouldn't you like to have more time available to get more done? To make more
money and have more time to spend doing the things you like, and being with the
people that make you happy?
Most People Are Poor Workers
According to the studies, fully 50% of adults could not work a full day if their life depended upon it. They cannot stay on task. They are continually diverted and distracted into idle socializing, personal phone calls, shooting the breeze, arriving late, leaving early and taking too much time for coffee breaks and lunches. Time wasting consumes their day. Then they wonder why they are not entrusted with increased responsibilities and offered greater pay.
Be Paid More And Pro moted Faster
The fact is that if you do an excellent job in a timely fashion, you cannot help but be paid more and pro moted faster. We live in the first great meritocracy in human history. In a meritocracy, you are paid and rewarded purely on the basis of the valuable contribution you make to the lives and work of others. There are no glass ceil ings and no barriers to advancement.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, select the most valuable and important assignment you have to do right now, resolve to complete it, and start on it immediately.
Second, resolve to "work all the time you work" once you get started. Aim for 100% productivity. This could change your life.
Napoleon's Key to Victory
The only real measure of business leadership is results. This requires the ability to act boldly with no guarantees of success. The greatest obstacle to overcome is fear of the unknown.
The Key to Confidence
Most fear however, is rooted in ignorance. The more knowledge or skill you have in any area, the less fear it holds. Napoleon Bonaparte is considered by historians to be perhaps the greatest single military leader who ever lived. More than 100,000 books have been written about him since his death on St. Helena.
Pay Attention to Detail
Napoleon's courage was legendary but it was not vain or impetuous. Napoleon was famous for his fastidious attention to detail, for taking pains to study and thoroughly understand every military situation he ever faced. He led the French army in hundreds of minor and major engagements and lost only three, the last one being Waterloo. The more you know about what you face, the lower your level of ignorance, the more courage and confidence you will have naturally. The more time you take to think through a situation, the more capable you will be of dealing with it when it arises. Napoleon planned for every contingency.
Think About the Possibilities
He carefully considered and followed through to its natural conclusion every setback or possibility of defeat he might encounter and then he prepared against it. To be caught unprepared for unexpected setbacks is a mark of weak leadership. Confidence comes from the constructive use of pessimism, thinking about what could go wrong long before it does.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways you can apply Napoleon's strategy to your situation.
First, become an expert in your field. Never stop learning and growing. The more you know, the more confidence you will have.
Second, get the facts. Double check everything. Be prepared for unexpected setbacks and reversals. The more prepared you are, the more confidence you will have
The Key to Confidence
Most fear however, is rooted in ignorance. The more knowledge or skill you have in any area, the less fear it holds. Napoleon Bonaparte is considered by historians to be perhaps the greatest single military leader who ever lived. More than 100,000 books have been written about him since his death on St. Helena.
Pay Attention to Detail
Napoleon's courage was legendary but it was not vain or impetuous. Napoleon was famous for his fastidious attention to detail, for taking pains to study and thoroughly understand every military situation he ever faced. He led the French army in hundreds of minor and major engagements and lost only three, the last one being Waterloo. The more you know about what you face, the lower your level of ignorance, the more courage and confidence you will have naturally. The more time you take to think through a situation, the more capable you will be of dealing with it when it arises. Napoleon planned for every contingency.
Think About the Possibilities
He carefully considered and followed through to its natural conclusion every setback or possibility of defeat he might encounter and then he prepared against it. To be caught unprepared for unexpected setbacks is a mark of weak leadership. Confidence comes from the constructive use of pessimism, thinking about what could go wrong long before it does.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways you can apply Napoleon's strategy to your situation.
First, become an expert in your field. Never stop learning and growing. The more you know, the more confidence you will have.
Second, get the facts. Double check everything. Be prepared for unexpected setbacks and reversals. The more prepared you are, the more confidence you will have
Relax and Recharge Completely
Regular relaxation is essential for a long life and personal effectiveness. Here are some techniques for relaxing physically that are used by the most successful and highest paid people in America.
Take Time Off Every Week
First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days.
Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere
During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, prepare proposals, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.
Get Away on Mini-Vacations
Second, take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.
Take Big Chunks of Down Time
Third, take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You'll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.
Give Yourself a Break Today
If you are involved in a difficult relationship, or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least one day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don't continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.
Go For a Walk in Nature
Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.
Eat Lighter Foods
Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.
Be Good to Yourself
Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy, and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more fastidious you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that foods high in fat, sugar, or salt are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat, the more energy you have.
Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Discipline yourself to keep this date.
Second, reserve, book and pay for your three day vacations several months in advance. Once you've paid the money, you are much more likely to go rather than put it off.
Third, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you work, work. And when you rest, rest 100% of the time. This is very important.
Take Time Off Every Week
First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days.
Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere
During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, prepare proposals, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.
Get Away on Mini-Vacations
Second, take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.
Take Big Chunks of Down Time
Third, take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You'll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.
Give Yourself a Break Today
If you are involved in a difficult relationship, or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least one day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don't continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.
Go For a Walk in Nature
Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.
Eat Lighter Foods
Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.
Be Good to Yourself
Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy, and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more fastidious you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that foods high in fat, sugar, or salt are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat, the more energy you have.
Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Discipline yourself to keep this date.
Second, reserve, book and pay for your three day vacations several months in advance. Once you've paid the money, you are much more likely to go rather than put it off.
Third, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you work, work. And when you rest, rest 100% of the time. This is very important.
Monday, February 18, 2008
A leader must listen
THE best team leaders have perfected the art of listening and the rewards are numerous. They include a substantial improvement in understanding what others really think and feel, better team dynamics and greater motivation.
There are five main things that help a person to be a good listener: Being focused, asking the right questions, showing patience, displaying appropriate body language and being able to summarise accurately the other person’s point of view.
1 BEING FOCUSED
A well-focused listener will convey the message that what is being said by the other person is important and worth taking into account. The other person will feel important and respected and will be encouraged to open up and contribute more to the issues being discussed.
It is true that people like to be heard and when they know that their views are being considered, they tend to be more committed team players.
2 ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
A good listener makes the effort to ask the right questions. Questions which produce simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers have very little impact on truly understanding where the other person is coming from.
Questions that elicit a descriptive analysis of the other person’s point of view, for instance — “Could you tell me a little bit more about the point you are making?” — are far more useful and will enhance mutual understanding.
A good listener will probe further by bringing generic terms down to specifics. Try avoiding statements that are too general. For example: “I think communications should improve in this team.” Instead of that, try saying: “What specifically would you like to see improved in our communications?”
Asking the right questions will help you understand the other person’s point of view, achieve clarity of purpose and position the whole team on the same wavelength.
3 SHOWING PATIENCE
In these modern times, things need to go faster but if you skim through contributions made by team members and impose your own conclusions, a great deal will be lost.
A good listener will take time to hear out the other person and take into account where the other person is on the learning curve and how articulate he is in putting across a concise point. He will help the other person to achieve greater clarity of thought and convert the apparent ‘waste of time’ into an invaluable event.
4 RIGHT BODY LANGUAGE
Body language communicates positive or negative intent. It is seldom neutral.
Appropriate body language is very powerful in building rapport, trust, confidence and helping people to relax so that they can express themselves better.
You can show that you are a good listener by leaning forward slightly and maintaining pleasant eye contact as opposed to being aloof, looking at one’s watch or trying to see the last e-mail from the corner of the eye.
5 BEING ABLE TO SUMMARISE
The ability to summarise accurately what was said is the ultimate test for differentiating between a good and an average listener. It conveys true understanding.
In a team situation, a leader who is a good listener will be able to present the final conclusion and transfer ownership of the tasks or issues discussed to the team.
The team will be clear about their roles and responsibilities and will swing into action. The effort to succeed will become collective and a mutually supportive team will emerge.
There are five main things that help a person to be a good listener: Being focused, asking the right questions, showing patience, displaying appropriate body language and being able to summarise accurately the other person’s point of view.
1 BEING FOCUSED
A well-focused listener will convey the message that what is being said by the other person is important and worth taking into account. The other person will feel important and respected and will be encouraged to open up and contribute more to the issues being discussed.
It is true that people like to be heard and when they know that their views are being considered, they tend to be more committed team players.
2 ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
A good listener makes the effort to ask the right questions. Questions which produce simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers have very little impact on truly understanding where the other person is coming from.
Questions that elicit a descriptive analysis of the other person’s point of view, for instance — “Could you tell me a little bit more about the point you are making?” — are far more useful and will enhance mutual understanding.
A good listener will probe further by bringing generic terms down to specifics. Try avoiding statements that are too general. For example: “I think communications should improve in this team.” Instead of that, try saying: “What specifically would you like to see improved in our communications?”
Asking the right questions will help you understand the other person’s point of view, achieve clarity of purpose and position the whole team on the same wavelength.
3 SHOWING PATIENCE
In these modern times, things need to go faster but if you skim through contributions made by team members and impose your own conclusions, a great deal will be lost.
A good listener will take time to hear out the other person and take into account where the other person is on the learning curve and how articulate he is in putting across a concise point. He will help the other person to achieve greater clarity of thought and convert the apparent ‘waste of time’ into an invaluable event.
4 RIGHT BODY LANGUAGE
Body language communicates positive or negative intent. It is seldom neutral.
Appropriate body language is very powerful in building rapport, trust, confidence and helping people to relax so that they can express themselves better.
You can show that you are a good listener by leaning forward slightly and maintaining pleasant eye contact as opposed to being aloof, looking at one’s watch or trying to see the last e-mail from the corner of the eye.
5 BEING ABLE TO SUMMARISE
The ability to summarise accurately what was said is the ultimate test for differentiating between a good and an average listener. It conveys true understanding.
In a team situation, a leader who is a good listener will be able to present the final conclusion and transfer ownership of the tasks or issues discussed to the team.
The team will be clear about their roles and responsibilities and will swing into action. The effort to succeed will become collective and a mutually supportive team will emerge.
Don’t find faults, find facts
ORGANISATIONS sometimes have to make decisions or take actions. When a decision is ineffective or the actions taken create more problems, there is a need to do an after action review (AAR) to see what went wrong.
Such AAR sessions are a good way for the policy-makers to assess and analyse the situation and make new recommendations either to spice up or renew the process.
However, such AAR sessions may end up as a fault-finding missions rather than factfinding ones. When an AAR session becomes a fault-finding mission, nothing gets resolved and the problem that existed will not go away.
In fact, fault-finding is going to worsen the situation as the person or persons concerned are going to be de-motivated and the organisation might end up losing good employees because they failed to address the pertinent problems.
An AAR session that focuses on fact-finding alone will be beneficial to the whole organisation as objective steps can be taken to ensure that the same set of problems does not recur.
Such an objective factfinding mindset can be created by having a good facilitator lead the discussion towards the goal of identifying the root of the problem and nurturing effective suggestions from participants to resolve the issues amicably.
In order to do this, the facilitator must keep in mind the following suggestions when conducting an AAR:
MAINTAIN NEUTRALITY
Whatever that was not supposed to happen has happened. The facilitator should remain neutral in the fact-finding mission. This means not leading the argument towards a forgone conclusion.
There will be certain persons in the AAR session who may want you to follow their line of argument which may smack more of fault-finding than factfinding.
The best way to maintain neutrality is to reiterate the situation to the participants regularly during the AAR session so that they are aware of what their area of focus is and not go beyond the boundaries.
You can display the situation that has occurred with all the relevant data on a flipchart or handouts, minus the names of people who may have been directly involved. When a visual representation is given, straying participants can be led back quickly to the key discussion issues.
ESTABLISH AN IDEAL OUTCOME
The facilitator should give the participants a clear idea of the current situation and the ideal outcome. When everyone in the AAR knows what the discussion aims to achieve, they will be more focused towards achieving that goal. Thus, there will be a shift away from faultfinding to fact-finding.
STAY RELEVANT TO THE KEY ISSUES
The facilitator should stay relevant to the key issues being discussed and ensure that other issues that arise are quickly set aside. To achieve this, the facilitator needs to be assertive and firm and ensure that the people involved do not lose their cool and start fighting.
It would be helpful to create a checklist of the issues that need to be discussed. A copy should be given to each member of the AAR session so that they are constantly made aware of what they are discussing. Once a certain issue has been dealt with, it should be ‘checked’ in the list. This way the members of the AAR session can see the progress they are making.
HAVE A FOLLOW UP SESSION FOR REVIEW
It would be more viable to keep the AAR session short, say about two hours. However, if it is not possible to resolve issues within such a short time frame, it might be beneficial for everyone to take a short break to reflect on what has been discussed and to try to see things from a different angle.
The facilitator may also need to organise a systematic followup session to see what progress has been made after the AAR session. He should keep a record of what has been discussed and inform members of the AAR session of the progress that has been made so that they can resolve outstanding issues.
An organisation that knows how to conduct effective AAR sessions will improve its efficiency, thus benefiting everyone working directly or indirectly with the organisation.
Such AAR sessions are a good way for the policy-makers to assess and analyse the situation and make new recommendations either to spice up or renew the process.
However, such AAR sessions may end up as a fault-finding missions rather than factfinding ones. When an AAR session becomes a fault-finding mission, nothing gets resolved and the problem that existed will not go away.
In fact, fault-finding is going to worsen the situation as the person or persons concerned are going to be de-motivated and the organisation might end up losing good employees because they failed to address the pertinent problems.
An AAR session that focuses on fact-finding alone will be beneficial to the whole organisation as objective steps can be taken to ensure that the same set of problems does not recur.
Such an objective factfinding mindset can be created by having a good facilitator lead the discussion towards the goal of identifying the root of the problem and nurturing effective suggestions from participants to resolve the issues amicably.
In order to do this, the facilitator must keep in mind the following suggestions when conducting an AAR:
MAINTAIN NEUTRALITY
Whatever that was not supposed to happen has happened. The facilitator should remain neutral in the fact-finding mission. This means not leading the argument towards a forgone conclusion.
There will be certain persons in the AAR session who may want you to follow their line of argument which may smack more of fault-finding than factfinding.
The best way to maintain neutrality is to reiterate the situation to the participants regularly during the AAR session so that they are aware of what their area of focus is and not go beyond the boundaries.
You can display the situation that has occurred with all the relevant data on a flipchart or handouts, minus the names of people who may have been directly involved. When a visual representation is given, straying participants can be led back quickly to the key discussion issues.
ESTABLISH AN IDEAL OUTCOME
The facilitator should give the participants a clear idea of the current situation and the ideal outcome. When everyone in the AAR knows what the discussion aims to achieve, they will be more focused towards achieving that goal. Thus, there will be a shift away from faultfinding to fact-finding.
STAY RELEVANT TO THE KEY ISSUES
The facilitator should stay relevant to the key issues being discussed and ensure that other issues that arise are quickly set aside. To achieve this, the facilitator needs to be assertive and firm and ensure that the people involved do not lose their cool and start fighting.
It would be helpful to create a checklist of the issues that need to be discussed. A copy should be given to each member of the AAR session so that they are constantly made aware of what they are discussing. Once a certain issue has been dealt with, it should be ‘checked’ in the list. This way the members of the AAR session can see the progress they are making.
HAVE A FOLLOW UP SESSION FOR REVIEW
It would be more viable to keep the AAR session short, say about two hours. However, if it is not possible to resolve issues within such a short time frame, it might be beneficial for everyone to take a short break to reflect on what has been discussed and to try to see things from a different angle.
The facilitator may also need to organise a systematic followup session to see what progress has been made after the AAR session. He should keep a record of what has been discussed and inform members of the AAR session of the progress that has been made so that they can resolve outstanding issues.
An organisation that knows how to conduct effective AAR sessions will improve its efficiency, thus benefiting everyone working directly or indirectly with the organisation.
Listen actively and learn more
IN a world of rapid change, you are surrounded by uncertainty and ambiguity – and you need to find a way to deal with them. Active listening is one good way.
Uncertainty
Uncertainty is when the options are clear, but the right decision is not.
In Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic, Alice In Wonderland, Alice arrives at the intersection of several roads. She looks up, sees a cat sitting in a tree, and asks the cat which road she should take.
The cat listens attentively to Alice’s question, then asks: “Where do you wish to go to?” Alice replies: “I really don’t know.” The cat says: “Then take any road.”
At work, you face uncertainty all the time. You are uncertain whether to enter a new market or give up an existing one, to sign up a new key account or lose an old key account. You have to deal with rapidly changing economic and geopolitical trends, as well as culturally diverse colleagues, customers and suppliers.
Like the cat in the tree, you can effectively deal with uncertainty by actively listening and asking good questions.
At a recent workshop on listening for leadership in transition, one chief executive said he made sure that managers and leaders in his organisation were comfortable with asking questions.
His reason is that good questions help us cope and stay focused. In trying situations, questioning leaders are likely to remain calm and level-headed. This self-control is necessary for critical reflection and thought, which allow us to find meaningful alternatives in uncertain situations.
Ambiguity
Ambiguity is when the meaning of something is imprecise, and could be two or more different things.
During a routine business visit to my company’s Shanghai plant, the Chinese deputy general manager suddenly mentioned the promotion of MBA programmes offered by foreign universities.
He said he had received a barrage of information about MBA information and had also been invited for interviews with enrolment officers from various well-known universities. During the two weeks that we travelled together, not a day passed without his touching on the subject of MBA programmes.
But at no time did he directly ask for any financial assistance from the company, or openly express his desire to enrol in an MBA programme. I had no clear idea what he was up to. I faced an ambiguous situation.
Finally, I decided to use active listening to get to the bottom of the matter. I said to him: “Tell me more”, “How did you become interested in these programmes?”, “I’d like to learn about that”, and so on – and carefully listened to his answers.
Eventually, the manager went from merely hinting to fully expressing his interests and needs.
By reflecting, understanding and evaluating, I now know what he wants and I can formulate a company response to his requirements.
Conclusion
A fast-paced, rapidly changing environment makes it difficult for anyone to find the time to slow down and listen. The work demands placed on those who manage and lead make it hard for them to focus, enquire and think critically.
Practising good listening habits can help you to extract meaningful information. When you distil the response you get, and act on that response, an uncertain or ambiguous situation becomes understandable and manageable.
Uncertainty
Uncertainty is when the options are clear, but the right decision is not.
In Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic, Alice In Wonderland, Alice arrives at the intersection of several roads. She looks up, sees a cat sitting in a tree, and asks the cat which road she should take.
The cat listens attentively to Alice’s question, then asks: “Where do you wish to go to?” Alice replies: “I really don’t know.” The cat says: “Then take any road.”
At work, you face uncertainty all the time. You are uncertain whether to enter a new market or give up an existing one, to sign up a new key account or lose an old key account. You have to deal with rapidly changing economic and geopolitical trends, as well as culturally diverse colleagues, customers and suppliers.
Like the cat in the tree, you can effectively deal with uncertainty by actively listening and asking good questions.
At a recent workshop on listening for leadership in transition, one chief executive said he made sure that managers and leaders in his organisation were comfortable with asking questions.
His reason is that good questions help us cope and stay focused. In trying situations, questioning leaders are likely to remain calm and level-headed. This self-control is necessary for critical reflection and thought, which allow us to find meaningful alternatives in uncertain situations.
Ambiguity
Ambiguity is when the meaning of something is imprecise, and could be two or more different things.
During a routine business visit to my company’s Shanghai plant, the Chinese deputy general manager suddenly mentioned the promotion of MBA programmes offered by foreign universities.
He said he had received a barrage of information about MBA information and had also been invited for interviews with enrolment officers from various well-known universities. During the two weeks that we travelled together, not a day passed without his touching on the subject of MBA programmes.
But at no time did he directly ask for any financial assistance from the company, or openly express his desire to enrol in an MBA programme. I had no clear idea what he was up to. I faced an ambiguous situation.
Finally, I decided to use active listening to get to the bottom of the matter. I said to him: “Tell me more”, “How did you become interested in these programmes?”, “I’d like to learn about that”, and so on – and carefully listened to his answers.
Eventually, the manager went from merely hinting to fully expressing his interests and needs.
By reflecting, understanding and evaluating, I now know what he wants and I can formulate a company response to his requirements.
Conclusion
A fast-paced, rapidly changing environment makes it difficult for anyone to find the time to slow down and listen. The work demands placed on those who manage and lead make it hard for them to focus, enquire and think critically.
Practising good listening habits can help you to extract meaningful information. When you distil the response you get, and act on that response, an uncertain or ambiguous situation becomes understandable and manageable.
Adjusting to a new corporate culture
WHETHER welcomed or not, corporate mergers are here to stay. In a period where roles and employees’ value to a company are scrutinised, adapting to a newly formed corporate culture can ensure your success in a new workplace.
Corporate culture affects how you do your job and interact with colleagues. The number of hours worked, the work environment, how employees interact with one another, competitiveness amongst employees, office space, training and skills development, and on-site perks, such as break rooms, gyms and day-care facilities all play a part in the employee’s approach to work.
But for something so important, a company’s culture can be often misunderstood or misread and just like different cultures around the world, workplace cultures differ from one another. A clear way to ease the stress of entering an unfamiliar work setting is to closely scrutinise the workplace culture and if necessary, change your habits accordingly. Even though you deliver the same quality of work, behaving in the same way as your previous job can possibly lead your co-workers and managers to perceive that you are inflexible to change and therefore not suitable to the new organisation.
If a merger has placed you in a new or unfamiliar position, it is important to take a step back and gain a clear understanding of your new setting. Entering the new company with a strategy will solidify your position and allow you to do your job with confidence.
Generally with a merger, one company’s culture is more dominant than the other. Identify if the merger means a new strategic direction and will it require different skill sets and an altered way to approach your job.
Learn how information is exchanged and adopt the same methods in your own approach. Each company communicates in different ways. For example one company may have a stronger emphasis on face-to-face or are heavy e-mailers. If you are unsure, schedule meetings with key stakeholders to get an understanding of each other’s working habits and preferences.
Companies can also differ in the level of social interaction amongst co-workers, both during and after office-hours. The grapevine and rumour mills may also run on overdrive so it is advisable to be discreet until you gauge the level of openness among colleagues before you confide your opinions, especially if they relate to how the new company is progressing.
Get to know those you work with. While to hold non-work-related conversations with colleagues may not be your preferred work style, understanding what drives and motivates your co-workers can help you effectively do your job. Showing a personal interest in their lives can break down barriers and any potential ‘road blocks’ in completing your work in the future.
Leaders, like everyone, have individual styles and it is important to know how to work within these approaches so you can get your work done effectively and efficiently. Within any business there will be varying degrees of management but there are only a few key decision- makers. Identify who they are and devise a strategy for getting visibility in front of them. Look for obvious gaps in the leadership or middle management team as there may be possible opportunities for promotion.
Gain a clear understanding of where you fit and the ‘hoops’ needed to jump through to gain access to decision-makers and more importantly, the gatekeepers who manage them. In addition, analyse the relationships that existing team members have – is it an environment where constructive debate is welcomed and practised or is it more a ‘top-down’ environment?
Observe whether campaigns are worked in silos (working alone) or if collaboration and sharing of ideas and support are at the fore. Providing constructive feedback can be either eagerly welcomed or despised. Find out whether your co-workers would be pleased or offended when you offer suggestions about their work.
In the past, it was quite normal for businesses to concentrate on the high-level financials of a merger, leaving the workers to learn and adapt to a new work culture. However, with recent statistics showing that 66 per cent of organisational transitions fail, companies are beginning to focus more on the people-side of change. Companies are starting to realise that its people are the only sustaining competitive advantage.
However while most businesses are reasonably good at explaining rationale for change, they are poor at explaining how the change will impact individuals.
If you are facing a merger, hopefully your company has the foresight to provide the support needed to drive organisational change and implement a new corporate strategy. If not, remember to analyse the corporate culture and adapt accordingly.
Corporate culture affects how you do your job and interact with colleagues. The number of hours worked, the work environment, how employees interact with one another, competitiveness amongst employees, office space, training and skills development, and on-site perks, such as break rooms, gyms and day-care facilities all play a part in the employee’s approach to work.
But for something so important, a company’s culture can be often misunderstood or misread and just like different cultures around the world, workplace cultures differ from one another. A clear way to ease the stress of entering an unfamiliar work setting is to closely scrutinise the workplace culture and if necessary, change your habits accordingly. Even though you deliver the same quality of work, behaving in the same way as your previous job can possibly lead your co-workers and managers to perceive that you are inflexible to change and therefore not suitable to the new organisation.
If a merger has placed you in a new or unfamiliar position, it is important to take a step back and gain a clear understanding of your new setting. Entering the new company with a strategy will solidify your position and allow you to do your job with confidence.
Generally with a merger, one company’s culture is more dominant than the other. Identify if the merger means a new strategic direction and will it require different skill sets and an altered way to approach your job.
Learn how information is exchanged and adopt the same methods in your own approach. Each company communicates in different ways. For example one company may have a stronger emphasis on face-to-face or are heavy e-mailers. If you are unsure, schedule meetings with key stakeholders to get an understanding of each other’s working habits and preferences.
Companies can also differ in the level of social interaction amongst co-workers, both during and after office-hours. The grapevine and rumour mills may also run on overdrive so it is advisable to be discreet until you gauge the level of openness among colleagues before you confide your opinions, especially if they relate to how the new company is progressing.
Get to know those you work with. While to hold non-work-related conversations with colleagues may not be your preferred work style, understanding what drives and motivates your co-workers can help you effectively do your job. Showing a personal interest in their lives can break down barriers and any potential ‘road blocks’ in completing your work in the future.
Leaders, like everyone, have individual styles and it is important to know how to work within these approaches so you can get your work done effectively and efficiently. Within any business there will be varying degrees of management but there are only a few key decision- makers. Identify who they are and devise a strategy for getting visibility in front of them. Look for obvious gaps in the leadership or middle management team as there may be possible opportunities for promotion.
Gain a clear understanding of where you fit and the ‘hoops’ needed to jump through to gain access to decision-makers and more importantly, the gatekeepers who manage them. In addition, analyse the relationships that existing team members have – is it an environment where constructive debate is welcomed and practised or is it more a ‘top-down’ environment?
Observe whether campaigns are worked in silos (working alone) or if collaboration and sharing of ideas and support are at the fore. Providing constructive feedback can be either eagerly welcomed or despised. Find out whether your co-workers would be pleased or offended when you offer suggestions about their work.
In the past, it was quite normal for businesses to concentrate on the high-level financials of a merger, leaving the workers to learn and adapt to a new work culture. However, with recent statistics showing that 66 per cent of organisational transitions fail, companies are beginning to focus more on the people-side of change. Companies are starting to realise that its people are the only sustaining competitive advantage.
However while most businesses are reasonably good at explaining rationale for change, they are poor at explaining how the change will impact individuals.
If you are facing a merger, hopefully your company has the foresight to provide the support needed to drive organisational change and implement a new corporate strategy. If not, remember to analyse the corporate culture and adapt accordingly.
Chart your own progress plan
CONVENTIONAL career paths have all but disappeared, and organisational structures are continually changing. As a result, there does not seem to be an incentive for organisations to guide their employees’ career development. Instead, the term self-development is now frequently used.
WHAT SELF-DEVELOPMENT MEANS
Self-development suggests that the individual employee is responsible for identifying his own development needs and is equally responsible for doing something about them.
Self-development can mean different things in different environments.
In some organisations it can mean “you are on your own, look after yourself”.
Alternatively, the organisation can provide a more supportive role: “Don’t expect us to tell you how you need to develop, but we can provide you with help to implement your decisions.”
Self-development suggests that there is a willingness on the individual’s part to take the initiative to learn from experience.
“True” self-development consists of two components:
The “of-self” aspect makes selfdevelopment a goal or a series of escalating goals concerned with the enhancement of the self. Prime examples are economist Maslow’s “self actualisation” or the Buddha’s “way of enlightenment”.
The “by-self” aspect is primarily where self-development is essentially managed by the individual, sometimes involving family, friends or colleagues, but with the learner taking the responsibility and choosing the depth and direction of such development.
Self-development should not be linked solely to career development. Rather, it involves the development of the individual according to his needs. It is a holistic approach to his work, career and place in the world.
However, in the work environment, self-development is an important concept that is linked to career development, management development, organisational development and total quality management.
Self-development is not a new concept, but it is seen increasingly as something that is applicable to all employees — from the up-andcoming manager to the low-level supervisor, and from the highly productive officer worker to, more importantly, the less efficient one.
WHERE TO START
There are many ways to conduct a self-development proposal. This is one suggested way:
STEP 1: Exploring the present
This step primarily involves a needs-analysis, where you provide information about yourself. The five areas that you look at explore what is important in your life:
Physical attributes — such as age, height and weight;
Emotional attributes — are you shy, cynical, happy or frustrated?;
Mental attributes — your intellectual abilities, such as clever, dull, thoughtful, analytical, and so on;
Roles — functions you fulfil in relation to others, for example, are you single, married, a parent, a sibling, an employee or your own boss?; and
Relationship with others — the characteristic stance you take towards others, such as closed, open, withdrawn or giving.
Listing 10 statements about yourself does not encompass your whole personality, but is usually a good indicator of how you see yourself and your present role in life.
STEP 2: Envisioning the future
The two fundamental questions in this step are:
What kind of person do I want to be
Describe the kinds of skills, abilities, qualities, disposition, character and understanding you want to have.
What do I want to do with my life
Think of big and small achievements, goals and important issues that concern you.
To achieve the results of the two questions above, you need a strategy that involves answering the seven questions below:
1 Where am I
Describe fully your current state in both your personal and work life.
2 How did I get there
Look back in your life and trace all the elements, events and people who influenced your path in life.
3 Where do I want to go
Using the material from the two fundamental questions, describe your goals.
4 How will I get there
Refer to the information you have gathered about your journey in life so far, and consider new ways if the usual ones are hindering your progress.
5 What will I do when I arrive
Sketch out your intentions and actions.
6 Where shall I go next
Life is a continuous process of change, therefore it is important to plan beyond your immediate horizons.
7 How do I begin
List what you have to do and attach a time frame for each objective.
STEP 3: Bridging the gap
The third step bridges the gap between your current situation and what you wish to achieve. After you have identified your goals and targets, identify your resources to help you achieve them.
STEP 4: Evaluation
The fourth step involves reviewing the changes made, how they have helped you, and if there was a way you could have done something better.
Ask yourself if your developmental path has progressed in the way you expected, and if you have discovered new opportunities on your journey.
If you have made progress, give yourself a little reward to further motivate you. If you have not moved forward, ask a friend, family member or even a career coach for advice — you may need that extra push to get started.
A journey of self-development can provide rewards in many ways. In a rapidly changing world, where the working environment is unstable, resourceful people are recognising that it is a road they have to take.
WHAT SELF-DEVELOPMENT MEANS
Self-development suggests that the individual employee is responsible for identifying his own development needs and is equally responsible for doing something about them.
Self-development can mean different things in different environments.
In some organisations it can mean “you are on your own, look after yourself”.
Alternatively, the organisation can provide a more supportive role: “Don’t expect us to tell you how you need to develop, but we can provide you with help to implement your decisions.”
Self-development suggests that there is a willingness on the individual’s part to take the initiative to learn from experience.
“True” self-development consists of two components:
The “of-self” aspect makes selfdevelopment a goal or a series of escalating goals concerned with the enhancement of the self. Prime examples are economist Maslow’s “self actualisation” or the Buddha’s “way of enlightenment”.
The “by-self” aspect is primarily where self-development is essentially managed by the individual, sometimes involving family, friends or colleagues, but with the learner taking the responsibility and choosing the depth and direction of such development.
Self-development should not be linked solely to career development. Rather, it involves the development of the individual according to his needs. It is a holistic approach to his work, career and place in the world.
However, in the work environment, self-development is an important concept that is linked to career development, management development, organisational development and total quality management.
Self-development is not a new concept, but it is seen increasingly as something that is applicable to all employees — from the up-andcoming manager to the low-level supervisor, and from the highly productive officer worker to, more importantly, the less efficient one.
WHERE TO START
There are many ways to conduct a self-development proposal. This is one suggested way:
STEP 1: Exploring the present
This step primarily involves a needs-analysis, where you provide information about yourself. The five areas that you look at explore what is important in your life:
Physical attributes — such as age, height and weight;
Emotional attributes — are you shy, cynical, happy or frustrated?;
Mental attributes — your intellectual abilities, such as clever, dull, thoughtful, analytical, and so on;
Roles — functions you fulfil in relation to others, for example, are you single, married, a parent, a sibling, an employee or your own boss?; and
Relationship with others — the characteristic stance you take towards others, such as closed, open, withdrawn or giving.
Listing 10 statements about yourself does not encompass your whole personality, but is usually a good indicator of how you see yourself and your present role in life.
STEP 2: Envisioning the future
The two fundamental questions in this step are:
What kind of person do I want to be
Describe the kinds of skills, abilities, qualities, disposition, character and understanding you want to have.
What do I want to do with my life
Think of big and small achievements, goals and important issues that concern you.
To achieve the results of the two questions above, you need a strategy that involves answering the seven questions below:
1 Where am I
Describe fully your current state in both your personal and work life.
2 How did I get there
Look back in your life and trace all the elements, events and people who influenced your path in life.
3 Where do I want to go
Using the material from the two fundamental questions, describe your goals.
4 How will I get there
Refer to the information you have gathered about your journey in life so far, and consider new ways if the usual ones are hindering your progress.
5 What will I do when I arrive
Sketch out your intentions and actions.
6 Where shall I go next
Life is a continuous process of change, therefore it is important to plan beyond your immediate horizons.
7 How do I begin
List what you have to do and attach a time frame for each objective.
STEP 3: Bridging the gap
The third step bridges the gap between your current situation and what you wish to achieve. After you have identified your goals and targets, identify your resources to help you achieve them.
STEP 4: Evaluation
The fourth step involves reviewing the changes made, how they have helped you, and if there was a way you could have done something better.
Ask yourself if your developmental path has progressed in the way you expected, and if you have discovered new opportunities on your journey.
If you have made progress, give yourself a little reward to further motivate you. If you have not moved forward, ask a friend, family member or even a career coach for advice — you may need that extra push to get started.
A journey of self-development can provide rewards in many ways. In a rapidly changing world, where the working environment is unstable, resourceful people are recognising that it is a road they have to take.
Monday, February 11, 2008
A Special Kind of Courage
There are several different aspects of courage. Perhaps the most important is the courage to endure, to persist, to "hang in there" in the face of doubt, uncertainty and criticism from others.
Practice Patience in Adversity
This is called "courageous patience," the willingness and the ability to "stay the course" in the face of uncertainty, doubt and often criticism from many quarters.
Stay the Course
In my experience, there is a critical time period between the launching of a new venture and the results that come from that venture. During this hiatus, this waiting period, many people lose their nerve. They cannot stand the suspense of not knowing, of possible failure. They break and run in battle, they quake and quit in business.
The True Leader
But the true leader is the person who can stand firm, who refuses to consider the possibility of failure. The turning points of many key moments in human history have been the resolution, or lack thereof, of one person. Courageous patience is the acid test of leadership.
To encourage others, to instill confidence in them, to help them to perform at their best requires first of all that you lead by example.
Allow Honest Mistakes
The second thing you can do to help alleviate the fears of failure and rejection in others is to encourage them to take calculated risks and allow honest mistakes.
Build People Up
Give the people who look up to you regular praise and approval. Celebrate good tries as well as success, large and small. Create a psychological climate where people feel safe from censure, blame or criticism of any kind. Then do things that make people feel terrific about themselves.
Become Unstoppable
Courage comes from acting courageously on a day-to-day basis. Your personal development goal should be to practice the behaviors of a totally fearless person until you become, in your own mind, unstoppable.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways for you to develop courageous patience.
First, prepare yourself in advance for the inevitable disappointments and setbacks you will experience on the way to your goal. Don't be surprised when they occur.
Second, resolve in advance that you will bounce rather than break and continually encourage others to think and act the same way.
Practice Patience in Adversity
This is called "courageous patience," the willingness and the ability to "stay the course" in the face of uncertainty, doubt and often criticism from many quarters.
Stay the Course
In my experience, there is a critical time period between the launching of a new venture and the results that come from that venture. During this hiatus, this waiting period, many people lose their nerve. They cannot stand the suspense of not knowing, of possible failure. They break and run in battle, they quake and quit in business.
The True Leader
But the true leader is the person who can stand firm, who refuses to consider the possibility of failure. The turning points of many key moments in human history have been the resolution, or lack thereof, of one person. Courageous patience is the acid test of leadership.
To encourage others, to instill confidence in them, to help them to perform at their best requires first of all that you lead by example.
Allow Honest Mistakes
The second thing you can do to help alleviate the fears of failure and rejection in others is to encourage them to take calculated risks and allow honest mistakes.
Build People Up
Give the people who look up to you regular praise and approval. Celebrate good tries as well as success, large and small. Create a psychological climate where people feel safe from censure, blame or criticism of any kind. Then do things that make people feel terrific about themselves.
Become Unstoppable
Courage comes from acting courageously on a day-to-day basis. Your personal development goal should be to practice the behaviors of a totally fearless person until you become, in your own mind, unstoppable.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways for you to develop courageous patience.
First, prepare yourself in advance for the inevitable disappointments and setbacks you will experience on the way to your goal. Don't be surprised when they occur.
Second, resolve in advance that you will bounce rather than break and continually encourage others to think and act the same way.
The Law of Forced Efficiency
This law says that, "There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing."
You Always Find the Time
When you run out of time and the consequences for non-completion of a key task or project can be really serious, you always seem to find the time to get it done, often at the very last minute. You start early, you stay late and you drive yourself to complete the job rather than to face the negative consequences that would follow if you didn't get it completed within the time limit.
Rule: "There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do."
You Are Already Overwhelmed
The fact is that the average person today is working at 110% to 130% of capacity. And the jobs and responsibilities just keep piling up. Everyone has stacks of reading material they still have to go through. One study concluded recently that the average executive has 300-400 hours of reading and projects backlogged at home and at the office.
What this means is that you will never be caught up. Get that out of your mind. All you can hope for is to be on top of your most important responsibilities. The others will just have to wait.
Deadlines Can Be Counterproductive
Many people say that they work better under the pressure of deadlines. Unfortunately, years of research indicate that this is seldom true.
Under the pressure of deadlines, often self-created through procrastination and delay, people suffer greater stress, make more mistakes, and have to do redo more tasks, than under any other conditions. Often the mistakes that are made when people are working under tight deadlines lead to defects and cost overruns that lead to substantial financial losses in the long-term. Sometimes the job actually takes much longer to complete when people rush to get the job done at the last minute and then have to redo it.
The Key Question You Should Ask
The key question you can ask is: "What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?"
This is the core question of time management. This is the key to overcoming procrastination and becoming a highly productive person. Every hour of every day, there is an answer to this question. Your job is to ask yourself the question, over and over again, and to always be working on the answer to it, whatever it is.
Do first things first and second things not at all. As Goethe said, "The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least."
The more accurate your answers to this question, the easier it will be for you to set clear priorities, to overcome procrastination and to get started on that one activity that represents the most valuable use of your time.
Action Exercises
Take a few minutes each day and sit quietly where you cannot be disturbed. During this time, let your mind relax and just think about your work and activities, without stress or pressure.
In almost every case, during this time of solitude, you will receive wonderful insights and ideas that will save you enormous amounts of time when you apply them back on the job. Often you will experience breakthroughs that will change the direction of your life and work.
You Always Find the Time
When you run out of time and the consequences for non-completion of a key task or project can be really serious, you always seem to find the time to get it done, often at the very last minute. You start early, you stay late and you drive yourself to complete the job rather than to face the negative consequences that would follow if you didn't get it completed within the time limit.
Rule: "There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do."
You Are Already Overwhelmed
The fact is that the average person today is working at 110% to 130% of capacity. And the jobs and responsibilities just keep piling up. Everyone has stacks of reading material they still have to go through. One study concluded recently that the average executive has 300-400 hours of reading and projects backlogged at home and at the office.
What this means is that you will never be caught up. Get that out of your mind. All you can hope for is to be on top of your most important responsibilities. The others will just have to wait.
Deadlines Can Be Counterproductive
Many people say that they work better under the pressure of deadlines. Unfortunately, years of research indicate that this is seldom true.
Under the pressure of deadlines, often self-created through procrastination and delay, people suffer greater stress, make more mistakes, and have to do redo more tasks, than under any other conditions. Often the mistakes that are made when people are working under tight deadlines lead to defects and cost overruns that lead to substantial financial losses in the long-term. Sometimes the job actually takes much longer to complete when people rush to get the job done at the last minute and then have to redo it.
The Key Question You Should Ask
The key question you can ask is: "What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?"
This is the core question of time management. This is the key to overcoming procrastination and becoming a highly productive person. Every hour of every day, there is an answer to this question. Your job is to ask yourself the question, over and over again, and to always be working on the answer to it, whatever it is.
Do first things first and second things not at all. As Goethe said, "The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least."
The more accurate your answers to this question, the easier it will be for you to set clear priorities, to overcome procrastination and to get started on that one activity that represents the most valuable use of your time.
Action Exercises
Take a few minutes each day and sit quietly where you cannot be disturbed. During this time, let your mind relax and just think about your work and activities, without stress or pressure.
In almost every case, during this time of solitude, you will receive wonderful insights and ideas that will save you enormous amounts of time when you apply them back on the job. Often you will experience breakthroughs that will change the direction of your life and work.
Three Questions for Lifelong Happiness
You already have everything you need to create a wonderful life for yourself. You know everything you need to know to be your own best friend, a gentle guide, a teacher and a helper to yourself so you can be truly happy and fulfilled.
You can learn how to become your own psychotherapist for life, and how to resolve the difficulties that stand between you and personal joy.
Be Honest With Yourself
The starting point of becoming your own best friend is for you to be perfectly honest with yourself and your relationships. Refuse to practice self-delusion or hope for the best. For example, when something is making you unhappy, for any reason, the situation will tend to get worse rather than better. So avoid the temptation to engage in denial, to pretend that nothing is wrong, to wish and hope and pray that, whatever it is, it will go away and you won't have to do anything. The fact is that it probably will get worse before it gets better and that ultimately you will need to face the situation and do something about it.
Deal With Your Problem at a Higher Level
There's an old saying that you can't solve a problem on the level that you meet it. This means that wrestling with a persistent problem is often fruitless and frustrating. For example, if two people who are in a relationship together are constantly fighting and negotiating and looking for some way to resolve their difficulties, they may be attempting to solve the problem on the wrong level. Dealing with the problem on a higher level, those people would ask the question, "In terms of being happy, is this the right relationship for us in the first place?"
Find the Right Job For You
Many people work very hard and experience considerable frustration trying to do a particular job. However, in terms of their own happiness, the right answer might be to do something else, or to do what they're doing in a different place, or to do it with different people-or all three. Here are a few questions for you to answer in this arena of happiness. Write them down at the top of a sheet of paper, and then write as many answers to each one as you possibly can.
What Would It Take?
The first question is: "What would it take for me to be perfectly happy?" Write down every single thing that you can imagine would be in your life if you were perfectly happy at this very moment. Write down things such as health, happiness, prosperity, loving relationships, inner peace, travel, car, clothes, homes, money, and so on. Let your mind run freely. Imagine that you have no limitations at all.
What is Holding You Back?
The second question is a little tougher. Write down at the top of a page this question: "In what situations in my life, and with whom, am I not perfectly happy?" Force yourself to think about every part of your day, from morning to night, and write down every element that makes you unhappy or dissatisfied in any way. Remember, proper diagnosis is half the cure. Identifying the unsatisfactory situations is the first step to resolving them.
Determine Your Happiest Moment
The third question will give you some important guidelines. Write down at the top of a sheet of paper these words: "In looking over my life, where and when have I been the happiest? Where was I, with whom was I, and what was I doing?"
Decide What to Do
Once you have the answers to those questions, think about what you can do, starting immediately, to begin creating the kind of life that you dream of. It may take you a week, a month, or a year, but that doesn't matter. Every single thing you do that moves you closer to your ideal vision will be rewarding in itself. You'll become a more positive and optimistic person. You'll feel more confident and more in charge of your life, and you'll achieve true peace of mind.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, examine your business and personal relationships carefully. Is there any situation you wouldn't get into again if you had it to do over?
Second, make a list of every single thing in your life that would make you happy and then think about what you could do to begin achieving them.
Third, allow yourself to dream and fantasize about your ideal life, what it would look like and feel like, and then do something every day to make it a reality.
You can learn how to become your own psychotherapist for life, and how to resolve the difficulties that stand between you and personal joy.
Be Honest With Yourself
The starting point of becoming your own best friend is for you to be perfectly honest with yourself and your relationships. Refuse to practice self-delusion or hope for the best. For example, when something is making you unhappy, for any reason, the situation will tend to get worse rather than better. So avoid the temptation to engage in denial, to pretend that nothing is wrong, to wish and hope and pray that, whatever it is, it will go away and you won't have to do anything. The fact is that it probably will get worse before it gets better and that ultimately you will need to face the situation and do something about it.
Deal With Your Problem at a Higher Level
There's an old saying that you can't solve a problem on the level that you meet it. This means that wrestling with a persistent problem is often fruitless and frustrating. For example, if two people who are in a relationship together are constantly fighting and negotiating and looking for some way to resolve their difficulties, they may be attempting to solve the problem on the wrong level. Dealing with the problem on a higher level, those people would ask the question, "In terms of being happy, is this the right relationship for us in the first place?"
Find the Right Job For You
Many people work very hard and experience considerable frustration trying to do a particular job. However, in terms of their own happiness, the right answer might be to do something else, or to do what they're doing in a different place, or to do it with different people-or all three. Here are a few questions for you to answer in this arena of happiness. Write them down at the top of a sheet of paper, and then write as many answers to each one as you possibly can.
What Would It Take?
The first question is: "What would it take for me to be perfectly happy?" Write down every single thing that you can imagine would be in your life if you were perfectly happy at this very moment. Write down things such as health, happiness, prosperity, loving relationships, inner peace, travel, car, clothes, homes, money, and so on. Let your mind run freely. Imagine that you have no limitations at all.
What is Holding You Back?
The second question is a little tougher. Write down at the top of a page this question: "In what situations in my life, and with whom, am I not perfectly happy?" Force yourself to think about every part of your day, from morning to night, and write down every element that makes you unhappy or dissatisfied in any way. Remember, proper diagnosis is half the cure. Identifying the unsatisfactory situations is the first step to resolving them.
Determine Your Happiest Moment
The third question will give you some important guidelines. Write down at the top of a sheet of paper these words: "In looking over my life, where and when have I been the happiest? Where was I, with whom was I, and what was I doing?"
Decide What to Do
Once you have the answers to those questions, think about what you can do, starting immediately, to begin creating the kind of life that you dream of. It may take you a week, a month, or a year, but that doesn't matter. Every single thing you do that moves you closer to your ideal vision will be rewarding in itself. You'll become a more positive and optimistic person. You'll feel more confident and more in charge of your life, and you'll achieve true peace of mind.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, examine your business and personal relationships carefully. Is there any situation you wouldn't get into again if you had it to do over?
Second, make a list of every single thing in your life that would make you happy and then think about what you could do to begin achieving them.
Third, allow yourself to dream and fantasize about your ideal life, what it would look like and feel like, and then do something every day to make it a reality.
Four Steps to a Super Attitude
Decide How to React
It is not what happens to you that counts. It is how you react to what happens to you, especially when you have unexpected problems of any kind.
In this newsletter, you learn powerful strategies you can use to keep yourself thinking and acting positively and creatively.
Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.
Focus On the Future
First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.
Think About the Solution
Second, whenever you're faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem. Solutions are inherently positive, whereas problems are inherently negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive human being.
Look For the Good
Third, assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major proponent of positive thinking, once said, "Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem." The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it.
Seek the Valuable Lesson
Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow.
Decide to Be Positive
A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, become solution-oriented with every difficulty you face. Make a habit of looking for the answers to your questions, the solutions to your problems.
Second, seek for the valuable lesson in every adversity. Make a list of every idea or insight you can gain from every setback or difficulty.
Third, think on paper. Take some time to write out every detail of the problem, and then take the most logical next step to solve it.
It is not what happens to you that counts. It is how you react to what happens to you, especially when you have unexpected problems of any kind.
In this newsletter, you learn powerful strategies you can use to keep yourself thinking and acting positively and creatively.
Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.
Focus On the Future
First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.
Think About the Solution
Second, whenever you're faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem. Solutions are inherently positive, whereas problems are inherently negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive human being.
Look For the Good
Third, assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major proponent of positive thinking, once said, "Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem." The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it.
Seek the Valuable Lesson
Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow.
Decide to Be Positive
A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, become solution-oriented with every difficulty you face. Make a habit of looking for the answers to your questions, the solutions to your problems.
Second, seek for the valuable lesson in every adversity. Make a list of every idea or insight you can gain from every setback or difficulty.
Third, think on paper. Take some time to write out every detail of the problem, and then take the most logical next step to solve it.
Fortune Favors the Brave
Boldness is a necessary part of courage but it must be a boldness based on an intelligent assessment of the potential risks and rew ards. The wonderful nature of boldness is that, properly directed, it builds the habit of courage in the person who practices it.
Act Boldly in Every Situation
In my experience, any virtue translated into action leads almost invariably to positive results. This applies to integrity, persistence, courtesy, love and courage. I've always liked the advice of an old man to his grandson. "Act boldly and unseen forces will come to your aid."
Take a Leap of Faith
Perhaps the most obviously important part of courage is the courage to step out in the face of uncertainty. Every great venture in the history of man has begun with faith and a giant leap into the unknown.
General Douglas MacArthur said, "There is no security in life, only opportunity." The creed of Frederick The Great, one of history's most successful leaders was, "Audacity, audacity-always audacity."
Launch With No Guarantees
A 12-year study of successful entrepreneurs conducted by Babson College concluded that the only thing they had in common was the willingness to launch, to step out in faith. Once they had started, they learned the lessons they needed to succeed. Many of them ending up successful in completely different businesses from where they started.
Dare to Go Forward
Dare to go forward. Successful companies are invariably those that continue to research, develop, experiment and introduce new products and services - even during the deepest recessions. Successful executives are those who are continually stretching themselves to move out of the comfort zone, to face the twin fears of failure and rejection and to move forward in spite of them.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways to develop greater boldness in your work and personal life.
First, just do it! Step out in faith! If you think of some action you can take to improve your life, give it a try. You may be surprised.
Second, when in doubt, act with audacity. Audacity may get you into trouble but even more audacity will get you out. Go for it!
Act Boldly in Every Situation
In my experience, any virtue translated into action leads almost invariably to positive results. This applies to integrity, persistence, courtesy, love and courage. I've always liked the advice of an old man to his grandson. "Act boldly and unseen forces will come to your aid."
Take a Leap of Faith
Perhaps the most obviously important part of courage is the courage to step out in the face of uncertainty. Every great venture in the history of man has begun with faith and a giant leap into the unknown.
General Douglas MacArthur said, "There is no security in life, only opportunity." The creed of Frederick The Great, one of history's most successful leaders was, "Audacity, audacity-always audacity."
Launch With No Guarantees
A 12-year study of successful entrepreneurs conducted by Babson College concluded that the only thing they had in common was the willingness to launch, to step out in faith. Once they had started, they learned the lessons they needed to succeed. Many of them ending up successful in completely different businesses from where they started.
Dare to Go Forward
Dare to go forward. Successful companies are invariably those that continue to research, develop, experiment and introduce new products and services - even during the deepest recessions. Successful executives are those who are continually stretching themselves to move out of the comfort zone, to face the twin fears of failure and rejection and to move forward in spite of them.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways to develop greater boldness in your work and personal life.
First, just do it! Step out in faith! If you think of some action you can take to improve your life, give it a try. You may be surprised.
Second, when in doubt, act with audacity. Audacity may get you into trouble but even more audacity will get you out. Go for it!
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Empowering Others
Get the Cooperation of Others
Empowering people is the key to building a high-performance team. Once you empower people by learning how to motivate and inspire them, they will want to work with you to help you achieve your goals in everything you do. Your ability to enlist the knowledge, energy and resources of others enables you to become a multiplication sign, to leverage yourself so that you accomplish far more than the average person and in a far shorter period of time.
Determine the Key People to Empower
There are three types of people that you want to and need to empower on a regular basis. They are, first of all, the people closest to you: your family, your friends, your spouse and your children. Second are your work relationships: your staff, your coworkers, your peers, your colleagues and even your boss. Third are all the other people that you interact with in your day-to-day life: your customers, your suppliers, your banker, the people with whom you deal in stores, restaurants, airplanes, hotels and everywhere else. In each case, your ability to get people to help you is what will make you a more powerful and effective person.
Always Be Positive
Empower means "putting power into," and it can also mean "bringing energy and enthusiasm out of." So the first step in empowering people is to refrain from doing anything that disempowers them or reduces their energy and enthusiasm for what they are doing.
There are things you can do every single day to empower people and make them feel good about themselves.
Satisfy the Deepest Needs
The deepest need that each person has is for self-esteem, a sense of being important, valuable and worthwhile. Everything that you do in your interactions with others affects their self-esteem in some way. You already have an excellent frame of reference to determine the things that you can do to boost the self-esteem and therefore the sense of personal power of those around you. Give them what you'd like for yourself.
Continually Express Appreciation
Perhaps the simplest way to make another person feel good about himself or herself is your continuous expressions of appreciation for everything that person does for you, large or small. Say "thank you" on every occasion.
Thank your spouse for everything that he or she does for you. Thank your children for their cooperation and support in everything that they do around the house. Thank your friends for the smallest acts of kindnesses. The more you thank other people for doing things for you, the more things those other people will want to do.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, continually look for ways to make people feel more valuable and important. Say things to others that you would like others to say to you.
Second, express appreciation for everything anyone does for you, large or small. Say the words, "thank you" on every occasion.
Empowering people is the key to building a high-performance team. Once you empower people by learning how to motivate and inspire them, they will want to work with you to help you achieve your goals in everything you do. Your ability to enlist the knowledge, energy and resources of others enables you to become a multiplication sign, to leverage yourself so that you accomplish far more than the average person and in a far shorter period of time.
Determine the Key People to Empower
There are three types of people that you want to and need to empower on a regular basis. They are, first of all, the people closest to you: your family, your friends, your spouse and your children. Second are your work relationships: your staff, your coworkers, your peers, your colleagues and even your boss. Third are all the other people that you interact with in your day-to-day life: your customers, your suppliers, your banker, the people with whom you deal in stores, restaurants, airplanes, hotels and everywhere else. In each case, your ability to get people to help you is what will make you a more powerful and effective person.
Always Be Positive
Empower means "putting power into," and it can also mean "bringing energy and enthusiasm out of." So the first step in empowering people is to refrain from doing anything that disempowers them or reduces their energy and enthusiasm for what they are doing.
There are things you can do every single day to empower people and make them feel good about themselves.
Satisfy the Deepest Needs
The deepest need that each person has is for self-esteem, a sense of being important, valuable and worthwhile. Everything that you do in your interactions with others affects their self-esteem in some way. You already have an excellent frame of reference to determine the things that you can do to boost the self-esteem and therefore the sense of personal power of those around you. Give them what you'd like for yourself.
Continually Express Appreciation
Perhaps the simplest way to make another person feel good about himself or herself is your continuous expressions of appreciation for everything that person does for you, large or small. Say "thank you" on every occasion.
Thank your spouse for everything that he or she does for you. Thank your children for their cooperation and support in everything that they do around the house. Thank your friends for the smallest acts of kindnesses. The more you thank other people for doing things for you, the more things those other people will want to do.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, continually look for ways to make people feel more valuable and important. Say things to others that you would like others to say to you.
Second, express appreciation for everything anyone does for you, large or small. Say the words, "thank you" on every occasion.
Parkinson's Law
Why People Succeed or Fail
Parkinson's Law is one of the best known and the most important laws of money and wealth accumulation. It was developed by English writer C. Northcote Parkinson many years ago and it explains why most people retire poor.
The Way the Law Works
This law says that, no matter how much money people earn, they tend to spend the entire amount and a little bit more besides. Their expenses rise in lockstep with their earnings. Many people are earning today several times what they were earning at their first jobs. But somehow, they seem to need every single penny to maintain their current lifestyles. No matter how much they make, there never seems to be enough.
The Key to Financial Success
The first corollary of Parkinson's Law says: "Financial independence comes from violating Parkinson's Law."
Parkinson's Law explains the trap that most people fall into. This is the reason for debt, money worries and financial frustration. It is only when you develop sufficient willpower to resist the powerful urge to spend everything you make that you begin to accumulate money and move ahead of the crowd.
Slow Down Your Spending
The second corollary of Parkinson's Law is: "If you allow your expenses to increase at a slower rate than your earnings, and you save or invest the difference, you will become financially independent in your working lifetime."
This is the key. I call it the "wedge." If you can drive a wedge between your increasing earnings and the increasing costs of your lifestyle, and then save and invest the difference, you can continue to improve your lifestyle as you make more money. By consciously violating Parkinson's Law, you will eventually become financially independent.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
First, imagine that your financial life is like a failing company that you have taken over. Institute an immediate financial freeze. Halt all non-essential expenses. Draw up a budget of your fixed, unavoidable costs per month and resolve to limit your expenditures temporarily to these amounts.
Carefully examine every expense. Question it as though you were analyzing someone else's expenses. Look for ways to economize or cut back. Aim for a minimum of a 10 percent reduction in your living costs over the next three months.
Second, resolve to save and invest 50 percent of any increase you receive in your earnings from any source. Learn to live on the rest. This still leaves you the other 50 percent to do with as you desire. Do this for the rest of your career.
Parkinson's Law is one of the best known and the most important laws of money and wealth accumulation. It was developed by English writer C. Northcote Parkinson many years ago and it explains why most people retire poor.
The Way the Law Works
This law says that, no matter how much money people earn, they tend to spend the entire amount and a little bit more besides. Their expenses rise in lockstep with their earnings. Many people are earning today several times what they were earning at their first jobs. But somehow, they seem to need every single penny to maintain their current lifestyles. No matter how much they make, there never seems to be enough.
The Key to Financial Success
The first corollary of Parkinson's Law says: "Financial independence comes from violating Parkinson's Law."
Parkinson's Law explains the trap that most people fall into. This is the reason for debt, money worries and financial frustration. It is only when you develop sufficient willpower to resist the powerful urge to spend everything you make that you begin to accumulate money and move ahead of the crowd.
Slow Down Your Spending
The second corollary of Parkinson's Law is: "If you allow your expenses to increase at a slower rate than your earnings, and you save or invest the difference, you will become financially independent in your working lifetime."
This is the key. I call it the "wedge." If you can drive a wedge between your increasing earnings and the increasing costs of your lifestyle, and then save and invest the difference, you can continue to improve your lifestyle as you make more money. By consciously violating Parkinson's Law, you will eventually become financially independent.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
First, imagine that your financial life is like a failing company that you have taken over. Institute an immediate financial freeze. Halt all non-essential expenses. Draw up a budget of your fixed, unavoidable costs per month and resolve to limit your expenditures temporarily to these amounts.
Carefully examine every expense. Question it as though you were analyzing someone else's expenses. Look for ways to economize or cut back. Aim for a minimum of a 10 percent reduction in your living costs over the next three months.
Second, resolve to save and invest 50 percent of any increase you receive in your earnings from any source. Learn to live on the rest. This still leaves you the other 50 percent to do with as you desire. Do this for the rest of your career.
Failure Is Not An Option...Or Is it?
"Failure is not an option" was the tag line for the film, "Apollo 13." In fact, if you go to the souvenir shop at Kennedy Space Center in Florida , you can purchase shirts, license plates, bumper stickers, and so on with this quote emblazoned on them. Okay, I'll confess. I bought a license plate that now hangs on the wall of my office.
What if we modify this statement and instead ask, "Is failure an option?"
If you think about it carefully you will find that the answer is Yes!
I'm guessing that many of you are surprised by my answer. I'll also bet that many of you are terrified of failure, so much to the degree that you would never attempt to try anything new -- no matter how small or large. Let me ask you this…if you aren't willing to risk and make mistakes, how will you ever learn and grow?
Failure is part of the process of learning anything. You can gain far more knowledge from failure, much more than from your successes and triumphs. You will more often find out what will work by learning from your mistakes.
When you begin to work on any new venture, you are going to run into difficulties. Those who are successful in overcoming failure never lose their nerve, go to pieces, or lose control of themselves. And they never give up on finding a solution. They also never define themselves as a failure.
The most successful people fail well and fail gracefully. Look at any great inventor, and you will find that they failed far more than they succeeded. When you look at the very best athletes, you will find many who lose more contests than they win. Or salespeople who are the very best at what they do. They know that for every sale they make, they will experience far more rejections.
In the same way that you learn to win, learn to fail. When you realize that failure is a normal part of life and learning, you will be more accepting of yourself, and your self-esteem and outlook will improve.
Amar Gopal Bose, the founder of Bose Corporation, said, "No one ever won a chess game by betting on each move. Sometimes you have to move backward to get a step forward."
Change your approach to thinking of failure as being equal to a negative outcome. We all fail. If you can learn from, rather than break under, the pressure of failure, you will achieve far more than those that do not.
What if we modify this statement and instead ask, "Is failure an option?"
If you think about it carefully you will find that the answer is Yes!
I'm guessing that many of you are surprised by my answer. I'll also bet that many of you are terrified of failure, so much to the degree that you would never attempt to try anything new -- no matter how small or large. Let me ask you this…if you aren't willing to risk and make mistakes, how will you ever learn and grow?
Failure is part of the process of learning anything. You can gain far more knowledge from failure, much more than from your successes and triumphs. You will more often find out what will work by learning from your mistakes.
When you begin to work on any new venture, you are going to run into difficulties. Those who are successful in overcoming failure never lose their nerve, go to pieces, or lose control of themselves. And they never give up on finding a solution. They also never define themselves as a failure.
The most successful people fail well and fail gracefully. Look at any great inventor, and you will find that they failed far more than they succeeded. When you look at the very best athletes, you will find many who lose more contests than they win. Or salespeople who are the very best at what they do. They know that for every sale they make, they will experience far more rejections.
In the same way that you learn to win, learn to fail. When you realize that failure is a normal part of life and learning, you will be more accepting of yourself, and your self-esteem and outlook will improve.
Amar Gopal Bose, the founder of Bose Corporation, said, "No one ever won a chess game by betting on each move. Sometimes you have to move backward to get a step forward."
Change your approach to thinking of failure as being equal to a negative outcome. We all fail. If you can learn from, rather than break under, the pressure of failure, you will achieve far more than those that do not.
Ten Tips to Achieving Your Goals
In achieving any worthy objective, there must be consistency in the amount of hard work you put in; a day here and there just isn't going to do it. A week of sustained effort isn't going to do it either!
So what am I saying?
I'm saying if you want to achieve your goals, you must remain focused on exactly what it is you want.
Starting the process is usually quite easy, especially when you have that initial excitement about a new objective or goal you've just set for yourself.
Here are ten ideas to assist you in reaching any goal you care to set:
1) The Right Reasons (personal to you). Doing things for the right reasons is easy; having strong, powerful emotions for reaching your goals will give you the "Get Up and Go" that is needed when things sometimes get tough. If we're excited and full of enthusiasm for reaching our goals, then the energy and vigor naturally follow. If you don't have a strong enough reason for doing something, then it becomes more of an effort, requires more discipline, and uses more energy.
2) Think In Ink. Use pen and paper to write down clear, concise goals. When your eyes see your goals written down, it becomes a new permanent picture in your subconscious mind for you to recall any time you choose.
3) See It, Be It. Visualize what it is you want; feel the strong emotions you associate with your goals -- the smells, the tastes, the happiness, the sense of achievement.
4) Say It Loud, Say It Proud. Speak to yourself in positive, present-tense terms. I am, I have, I earn, I do, I can. The more emotion you put into this exercise, the more powerful they become, and the more energy you will feel.
5) Destination, Station. You can't travel in the right direction unless you know where to start and exactly where you want to end up. Your route can change in many ways; the journey will almost certainly not be a straight one, so look ahead for the blind corners before you get to them.
6) Measure Your Treasure. Your goals are something to be treasured; if they're not, then you probably don't have "The Right Reasons" in the first place. So measure your progress. You can only adjust your route if you find out where you are; otherwise you will waste a lot of effort to end up a long way from your intended destination.
7) Peer, Steer. Associate with as many positive, motivated, and focused individuals or groups as you can. Meet with them, talk on the phone, in email, or by fax, or join news groups. Set up your own newsgroups if you can't find any on your particular goal.
8) Fewer Goals, Fewer Tolls. By this I mean you should concentrate your efforts on just a few goals at any one time. You can have as many goals as you like, but only have a few priority goals to work on at any point. Don't pay a higher price en route.
9) Pay Every Day. If you have "The Right Reasons," you already have a powerful driving force to motivate you to do something every single day to move toward your desired goals. Taking action every day means you can break down your BIG goals into small manageable-sized pieces. You wouldn't try to eat a whole week's groceries in one meal. So why bite off more than you can chew?
10) Celebrate and Congratulate. When you achieve milestones, reward yourself and celebrate, even if only in a small way. You're on the road to overall success, so congratulate yourself on your achievement. The more you do this, the better you will feel; the better you feel, the more likely you are to do it all over again.
So what am I saying?
I'm saying if you want to achieve your goals, you must remain focused on exactly what it is you want.
Starting the process is usually quite easy, especially when you have that initial excitement about a new objective or goal you've just set for yourself.
Here are ten ideas to assist you in reaching any goal you care to set:
1) The Right Reasons (personal to you). Doing things for the right reasons is easy; having strong, powerful emotions for reaching your goals will give you the "Get Up and Go" that is needed when things sometimes get tough. If we're excited and full of enthusiasm for reaching our goals, then the energy and vigor naturally follow. If you don't have a strong enough reason for doing something, then it becomes more of an effort, requires more discipline, and uses more energy.
2) Think In Ink. Use pen and paper to write down clear, concise goals. When your eyes see your goals written down, it becomes a new permanent picture in your subconscious mind for you to recall any time you choose.
3) See It, Be It. Visualize what it is you want; feel the strong emotions you associate with your goals -- the smells, the tastes, the happiness, the sense of achievement.
4) Say It Loud, Say It Proud. Speak to yourself in positive, present-tense terms. I am, I have, I earn, I do, I can. The more emotion you put into this exercise, the more powerful they become, and the more energy you will feel.
5) Destination, Station. You can't travel in the right direction unless you know where to start and exactly where you want to end up. Your route can change in many ways; the journey will almost certainly not be a straight one, so look ahead for the blind corners before you get to them.
6) Measure Your Treasure. Your goals are something to be treasured; if they're not, then you probably don't have "The Right Reasons" in the first place. So measure your progress. You can only adjust your route if you find out where you are; otherwise you will waste a lot of effort to end up a long way from your intended destination.
7) Peer, Steer. Associate with as many positive, motivated, and focused individuals or groups as you can. Meet with them, talk on the phone, in email, or by fax, or join news groups. Set up your own newsgroups if you can't find any on your particular goal.
8) Fewer Goals, Fewer Tolls. By this I mean you should concentrate your efforts on just a few goals at any one time. You can have as many goals as you like, but only have a few priority goals to work on at any point. Don't pay a higher price en route.
9) Pay Every Day. If you have "The Right Reasons," you already have a powerful driving force to motivate you to do something every single day to move toward your desired goals. Taking action every day means you can break down your BIG goals into small manageable-sized pieces. You wouldn't try to eat a whole week's groceries in one meal. So why bite off more than you can chew?
10) Celebrate and Congratulate. When you achieve milestones, reward yourself and celebrate, even if only in a small way. You're on the road to overall success, so congratulate yourself on your achievement. The more you do this, the better you will feel; the better you feel, the more likely you are to do it all over again.
You need a clearly defined mission to be successful
To get anything significant accomplished, you must work hard, possess energy, and demonstrate drive. But to truly influence others, you also need a mission.
It isn’t enough just to come up with a “mission statement” that merely sounds good or looks sharp on paper, though that’s a start. Instead, to be effective, your mission has got to come from your heart. It’s got to grow out of a sense of what’s important in your life and in your world.
The most effective missions involve helping others. Often, it’s acquiring that mission that catapults people into a leadership role, which puts them in a position to exercise personal power.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak didn’t start up Apple Computer just to make money or to make people more efficient; their mission was to develop a “user-friendly” machine that would revolutionize people’s lives. Their sense of purpose propelled them to perform brilliantly. And, characteristically,when they later sought to attract John Sculley, widely respected as a marvelous marketer, they didn’t emphasize money or prestige, both of which he already had in abundance as Pepsi’s president and CEO.
Instead, according to Sculley’s autobiography, Jobs and Sculley were walking near Sculley’s home when Jobs asked, “So, what do you want to do, John? Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life – or do you want a chance to change the world?” Sculley, faced with that kind of challenge and that kind of vision, knew what he had to do. He acquired a new mission and joined Apple.
Candy Lightner’s defining moment came in 1980 when her daughter Cari was killed by a drunk driver. Her anger soon turned into her mission: a burning desire to do something about such wasteful tragedies. Within a few days, she held a meeting with a few friends – and that was the beginning of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, better known as MADD. Candy Lightner had no position of power when she began. Yet she is living proof of Andrew Jackson’s famous epigram: “One man with courage makes a majority.” Or, in this case, one woman. “If you care enough,” Lightner says, “you can accomplish anything.”
As usual, your attitude can affect how you choose to frame your mission. Perhaps you look around and say, “Here I am, stuck in a dead-end job. How can I possibly develop a mission?”
But where we are, or what happens to us, is not as important as what we think about where we are or what happens to us. My point is, maybe we can’t all have missions echoing the grand but simple nobility espoused by Salvation Army founder William Booth: “Others.” But we can all look outside ourselves as we try to figure out our life’s purpose. And looking outside ourselves will not only help us fashion a mission, it will also help draw people to us and our mission.
It isn’t enough just to come up with a “mission statement” that merely sounds good or looks sharp on paper, though that’s a start. Instead, to be effective, your mission has got to come from your heart. It’s got to grow out of a sense of what’s important in your life and in your world.
The most effective missions involve helping others. Often, it’s acquiring that mission that catapults people into a leadership role, which puts them in a position to exercise personal power.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak didn’t start up Apple Computer just to make money or to make people more efficient; their mission was to develop a “user-friendly” machine that would revolutionize people’s lives. Their sense of purpose propelled them to perform brilliantly. And, characteristically,when they later sought to attract John Sculley, widely respected as a marvelous marketer, they didn’t emphasize money or prestige, both of which he already had in abundance as Pepsi’s president and CEO.
Instead, according to Sculley’s autobiography, Jobs and Sculley were walking near Sculley’s home when Jobs asked, “So, what do you want to do, John? Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life – or do you want a chance to change the world?” Sculley, faced with that kind of challenge and that kind of vision, knew what he had to do. He acquired a new mission and joined Apple.
Candy Lightner’s defining moment came in 1980 when her daughter Cari was killed by a drunk driver. Her anger soon turned into her mission: a burning desire to do something about such wasteful tragedies. Within a few days, she held a meeting with a few friends – and that was the beginning of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, better known as MADD. Candy Lightner had no position of power when she began. Yet she is living proof of Andrew Jackson’s famous epigram: “One man with courage makes a majority.” Or, in this case, one woman. “If you care enough,” Lightner says, “you can accomplish anything.”
As usual, your attitude can affect how you choose to frame your mission. Perhaps you look around and say, “Here I am, stuck in a dead-end job. How can I possibly develop a mission?”
But where we are, or what happens to us, is not as important as what we think about where we are or what happens to us. My point is, maybe we can’t all have missions echoing the grand but simple nobility espoused by Salvation Army founder William Booth: “Others.” But we can all look outside ourselves as we try to figure out our life’s purpose. And looking outside ourselves will not only help us fashion a mission, it will also help draw people to us and our mission.
The Need for Feedback
There's one quick lesson we can all learn from the politicians promising us the moon every night from our TV screens: their constant diet of feedback. How would you like to end every speech and every day with a team full of colleagues and handlers telling you what you did wrong that day, what the people in Des Moines didn't like, what the fall-out will be if you say or do X tomorrow, to whom you should apologize about what?
Doesn't sound like fun? Well, hold on a moment. Maybe they're on to something with their pollsters and pundits gathered around the podium every evening.
As a busy professional constantly balancing schedules, deadlines, and priorities, you might be overlooking an often-neglected resource in your own workplace that could make the difference between success and failure.
The resource is feedback—and it's a business tool worth its weight in gold if mined consistently and effectively. Those who want to stay ahead in this ever-changing information age not only see constant and comprehensive feedback as a luxury but a necessity.
Take the initiative.
Most people mistakenly assume that feedback will automatically appear on their desk, in their e-mail, or in person. While they sit on their hands waiting and wondering, more insightful and opportunistic professionals know that most feedback has to be extracted, digested, and analyzed.
Don’t leave the responsibility to others. This is your job, so take the initiative.
Ask the Right People the Right Questions.
Many times it’s not that we don’t ask for feedback, it’s that we ask the wrong person or the wrong question—and we end up with gossip or guesswork.
We ask associates for information only supervisors would know, clients about things only associates would know, and supervisors for data only clients would know. To get the right response, you have to ask the right person.
The more focused your requests, the more precise and comprehensive responses will be.
As with Medicine, Apply Liberally to the Affected Area.
After you solicit and understand specific feedback, evaluate it in light of your personal goals and methods.
Is it an accurate assessment or a subjective opinion? Is the person in a position to know what he or she is talking about? Is a change in your style or method worth the effort? Will this change contribute to your long-term personal or professional growth?
Granted, not all feedback is created equal. But don’t just stand there, do something. Evaluate. Reconsider. Modify. Reaffirm. But do something! Don't leave all the promises and payoff to the winning politician.
Doesn't sound like fun? Well, hold on a moment. Maybe they're on to something with their pollsters and pundits gathered around the podium every evening.
As a busy professional constantly balancing schedules, deadlines, and priorities, you might be overlooking an often-neglected resource in your own workplace that could make the difference between success and failure.
The resource is feedback—and it's a business tool worth its weight in gold if mined consistently and effectively. Those who want to stay ahead in this ever-changing information age not only see constant and comprehensive feedback as a luxury but a necessity.
Take the initiative.
Most people mistakenly assume that feedback will automatically appear on their desk, in their e-mail, or in person. While they sit on their hands waiting and wondering, more insightful and opportunistic professionals know that most feedback has to be extracted, digested, and analyzed.
Don’t leave the responsibility to others. This is your job, so take the initiative.
Ask the Right People the Right Questions.
Many times it’s not that we don’t ask for feedback, it’s that we ask the wrong person or the wrong question—and we end up with gossip or guesswork.
We ask associates for information only supervisors would know, clients about things only associates would know, and supervisors for data only clients would know. To get the right response, you have to ask the right person.
The more focused your requests, the more precise and comprehensive responses will be.
As with Medicine, Apply Liberally to the Affected Area.
After you solicit and understand specific feedback, evaluate it in light of your personal goals and methods.
Is it an accurate assessment or a subjective opinion? Is the person in a position to know what he or she is talking about? Is a change in your style or method worth the effort? Will this change contribute to your long-term personal or professional growth?
Granted, not all feedback is created equal. But don’t just stand there, do something. Evaluate. Reconsider. Modify. Reaffirm. But do something! Don't leave all the promises and payoff to the winning politician.
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