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Ducks in a Row: Give Thanks

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

ducks_in_a_row

Thanksgiving is about excess. Excessive food, excessive drink and excessive appreciation.

We give loud and exuberant thanks for all sorts of things at work and at home—people, actions, happenings, things, stuff—a lot of which we take for granted the rest of the year.

Why not take a different path this year and give your loud and exuberant thanks every day starting Thursday (or today if you are ready).

Offer thanks for the little things as well as those that loom large and make sure the thanks are sincere.

Appreciate the good stuff and the not so good, since our best personal growth often springs from how we handle the negatives.

Reach out, instead of waiting to be approached.

Give the people in your world the benefit of the doubt as well as the benefit of your experience.

Give others the spotlight and be thankful when they rise to the occasion—even if it takes some prodding.

Put away your thoughts of quid pro quo and what’s in it for me.

Do it for the next 365 days and I guarantee that your 2011 Thanksgiving will be the most amazing one of your life.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/

Technical Difficulties

Monday, November 8th, 2010

Dear Readers,

I want to apologize for the erratic publishing last week and the missing Sunday posts.

We moved to a new server and my WordPress admin has been weird since then, with you being subjected to the end results of the weirdness.

Hopefully we have solved the public issues and I can continue the fight with the WP editor in private.

I hope it hasn’t been too annoying; if you notice further goings-on, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Self-starter Does Not Mean Self-managed

Friday, February 19th, 2010

dream-realityHow flat should an organization be?

How well do “self-starters” manage themselves?

Crucial questions for startups and small businesses, since how they are addressed can make or break the company.

Often the most important hires made when a company wants to grow are in sales.

Founders and owners often have technical, marketing or business backgrounds and many have a tendency to shrug when it comes to sales.

They see hiring salespeople as no big deal—there is an assumption that as long as they have a good track record in their previous sales position and understand the new product they can manage themselves.

If this sounds off base to you, you’re right, it’s not that simple. To use a real-life example, I had a client who thought that way.

The CEO hired “Jack” (before my time), a salesman with a fantastic record selling a parallel product to the same market.

The CEO personally taught Jack the product line and explained what the company was working to accomplish and then pretty much gave him free reign.

In the year Jack was with them he sold only two accounts, spent a good deal of his time on marketing and managed one large client; commissions totaled only $15K.

When he left he went to work in a field completely unrelated to anything he’d done before and in a market about which he knew nothing. In his first year at the new company he earned over 125K in commissions.

The difference was management.

Based on his track record both the CEO and Jack assumed that he could manage himself.

However, Jack didn’t have, and didn’t create for himself, the structure, accountability, etc., necessary to be successful.

During his exit interview he admitted that although he had no knowledge or training in marketing, he spent substantially more time than he should have because it was new and exciting.

After the CEO and I had fully analyzed what happened he concluded that the failure was 80-20, with the 80% his responsibility.

Hind sight is 20/20 and my client believes that if he had taken the time to do what was needed, instead of expecting Jack to completely manage himself, that he would still be with the company and doing a spectacular job.

The important lesson here is that “self-starter” does not mean “self-managed.” Even the best will need direction, structure, and accountability in order to perform brilliantly.

Image credit: iamwahid on sxc.hu

Derek Sivers @ TED

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Saturday I recommended spending some of your valuable time on TED, so I thought I’d offer a sample of it that I really liked.

Derek Sivers received a standing ovation for his 3 minute talk on leadership using the video below.

Too often people over focus on the moving pictures, so be sure to pay full attention to what Sivers is saying in conjunction with what is happening in the video.

Because the words are so important you can read a transcript at Siver’s site (along with other good stuff). I hope you take a moment to do so.

I’m not backing down on my contention that leadership is for all, but I completely agree that everyone can’t be leaders simultaneously and that following is just as important, if not more so.

Leadership is over-glorified.

Yes it started with the shirtless guy, and he’ll get all the credit, but you saw what really happened:
It was the first follower that transformed a lone nut into a leader.
There is no movement without the first follower.
We’re told we all need to be leaders, but that would be really ineffective.
The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow.
When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.

Image credit: dereksivers on YouTube

How to Kill Initiative 1

Friday, February 12th, 2010

questions“What’s more important to you, being right or winning?”

That is what I asked a caller today.

“Frank” has been sequestered on jury duty for several weeks and when he returned to work he found that right after he left his team was assigned a new project and they were just finishing.

Frank said that the project had gone well, was on time and in budget, but he was upset that they had used a different approach from the one he preferred.

That’s when I asked, “What’s more important to you, being right or winning?”

You’d think that was an easy answer, but I was met first with silence and then with multiple reasons proving his approach was better.

He agreed that on time/in budget was a win, but still felt they should have done it his way.

So I ask you, “What’s more important, being right or winning?”

Image credit: immrchris on sxc.hu

Sunset Isn’t The End

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

sunset-is-not-the-end

That’s it folks, this is the end.

Or at least it is the end of Leadership Turn, but not the end of Miki:)

Come fly with me over to MAPping Company Success or subscribe via RSS or EMAIL.

And don’t miss important information on how to thrive this New Year’s Eve.

Image credit: Axel-D on flickr

Feel younger, Have More Time

Monday, December 28th, 2009

thunder-boltDo you get a lot of spam? Mine is well filtered, but I still have to glance through the junk file to be sure that nothing important was inadvertently caught.

If spam is any guide it seems that Americans sex and meds dominate the American psyche.

Recently I noticed this subject line: Feel 10 years younger in bed today. I’m sure you can guess what product was being hyped.

However, that’s not what hit me and I’ll bet most of you will agree with my reaction—I’d much rather feel 10 years younger out of bed.

Around this time of year I hear from a lot of people looking for answers to the question: How do I keep going? And I’ve heard variations year in and year out, whether the economy is up or down.

Most of the people who ask aren’t down or depressed; rather they are in jobs they like, in line for, or just gotten, a promotion, have kids they are proud of, spouses they love, but still they ask.

They ask because they are tired, not exhausted, but tired, mentally and physically.

So much to do in too few hours; so many balls to keep in the air.

So a pill that made people feel 10 years younger would be worth billions.

There is no pill, but there is something that helps—declutter.

Not your home, but your world.

Prioritize. Decide what truly matters to you and how that fits with others in your world.

Once you have your list start eliminating everything that’s not a true priority.

I’m usually told that they’ve done all that, but it turns out they still Twitter, spend a couple of hours on Facebook and follow hundreds of blogs,

When I hear this I tell them to start again at the beginning and use the thunderbolt screening method. That means looking at each item and deciding if you’ll be struck by a thunderbolt if you stop doing whatever.

For example, you are more likely to be hit with one if you miss your daughter’s soccor game than if you read your email a couple of hours later or don’t update your Facebook wall.

I’m not being fatuous, I’ve seen folks who had them reversed.

If you have trouble with ruthlessness give me a call at 866. 265.7267 or email miki@rampupsolutions.com and I’ll be happy to help.

Tomorrow is my last post and the end of Leadership Turn, so if you enjoy my views and writing don’t forget to bookmark MAPping Company Success or subscribe via RSS or EMAIL.

Image credit: idarknight on flickr

Quotable Quotes: Actions

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

actionsI came across the following last week,

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

and it got me thinking about cause and effect; where things start and where they go from there.

Leonardo da Vinci said, “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do,” while Hemingway warns us, “Never mistake motion for action.”

Very true, ideas are all well and good, but they accomplish nothing as long as they stay in your head.

However, there is a problem we’re seeing a lot of now when thought becomes action that was best summed up by Goethe, “There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”

Ann Radcliffe says, “One act of beneficence, one act of real usefulness, is worth all the abstract sentiment in the world,” while Brian Koslow reminds us, “The more you are willing to accept responsibility for your actions, the more credibility you will have.”

But it is Colleen C. Barrett who nails the problem we face today, “When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers.”

Don’t forget that after today you’ll need to get your Quotable Quote fix at MAPping Company Success or subscribe via RSS or EMAIL

Your comments—priceless

Image credit: Mr_Ristoo on sxc.hu

Seize Your Leadership Day: A Reason to Think

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

seize_your_dayI spent over an hour going through my article collection and found nothing that seems worth sharing; I seem to have used up all the good stuff on this week’s Saturday Odd Bits, check them out, especially if you’re interested in Microsoft, and be sure to subscribe via RSS or EMAIL while you’re there.

Then I remembered one item I’ve been meaning to share with you and this particular weekend seems like an appropriate time to do it.

You may have seen it, since it’s been making the round of the Internet, but even so, I still want to share it with you.

It’s called If the World Were a Village of 100 People

If we could reduce the world’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

  • The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific
  • 51 would be male, 49 would be female
  • 82 would be non-white; 18 white
  • 67 would be non-Christian; 33 would be Christian
  • 80 would live in substandard housing
  • 67 would be unable to read
  • 50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation
  • 33 would be without access to a safe water supply
  • 39 would lack access to improved sanitation
  • 24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76 that do have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)
  • 7 people would have access to the Internet
  • 1 would have a college education
  • 1 would have HIV
  • 2 would be near birth; 1 near death
  • 5 would control 32% of the entire world’s wealth; all 5 would be US citizens
  • 33 would be receiving—and attempting to live on—only 3% of the income of “the village”

Most stats about global conditions involve large numbers and are wrapped up in scholarly or, worse yet, political language that makes your eyes glaze over.

Seeing it reduced to just 100 makes it easy to grasp the implications of what’s going on.

Think about them with an open mind sans ideology and share your thoughts.

It’s a discussion that needs to happen—everywhere.

Image credit:  nono farahshila on flickr

Holiday with mY Generation

Friday, December 25th, 2009

Merry Christmas!

I hope you’re in your jammies, sipping mimosas or good coffee, knee deep in wrapping paper and that Santa was good to you.

Since there are just four days left of Leadership Turn I thought you might enjoy seeing another feature you’ll be able to enjoy at MAPping Company Success.

mY generation is a comic series drawn by Jim Gordon, who graduated this year and is working in his first job. His quirky sense of humor will make you smile and his provocative viewpoint will make you think.

Since mY generation runs on Sundays you’ll receive it, as well as Quotable Quotes, if you subscribe via RSS or EMAIL.

nosanta

Again, have a wonderful holiday weekend and remember, don’t get

  • sunburned if it’s sunny;
  • wet if it’s raining; or
  • cold if it has the audacity to snow!

Your comments—priceless

Image credit: Jim Gordon on MAPping Company Success

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