My friend John has cancer. Has for a couple years now.
I hadn’t talked to him in several weeks. So I called him at home and his wife picked up the phone.
I heard her say; ‘John and his two sons and his dad are in South Dakota hunting. It will be his last pheasant hunting trip.’
Ugh. My heart sank. I feared the worst. John’s condition must have taken a bad turn and he’s doing something he loves while he still can.
‘I see,’ I choked out, ‘how’s he feeling?’
‘Good. He went to his specialist in Houston and the cancer is not getting bigger. It’s not getting smaller, either.’
OK, I thought, that sounds pretty good. But I was ready for the hammer to drop with her next sentence.
‘And his new medication is working well and has no real side effects,’ she continued.
‘Great,’ I said, feeling still heavy but getting lighter.
Then I took the courageous step that was needed: ‘Then why is it his last hunting trip?’
‘Oh,’ she said, ‘it’s not HIS last trip, it’s his dad’s. John’s dad is really sick.’
It was one of the few times I’ve been happy to hear about someone being sick. John’s dad is about 90 and has lived a phenomenal life. At some point we all run out of time.
John still has time (at least with his cancer — he of course could be dead as I write this from some other cause).
I had been so locked in on John’s health that I didn’t really hear what his wife said. When I played it back in my mind sure enough she’d said it was his dad’s last trip, but I didn’t hear it that way.
I was locked in a paradigm; a particular perspective. So focused on John, worried that he might be doing worse, I mis-heard what his wife actually said.
This is not uncommon for me.
This is not uncommon for you.
The problem is we don’t know it’s happening. If we knew we were missing something because we were stuck in a certain perspective we wouldn’t be stuck in that perspective!
In our book, Who Will Do What by When?, (a leadership development fable in the style of “5 Dysfunctions of a Team”) a new leader, Jake, is stuck in a perspective on his staff that is dis-empowering. He thinks they are no good — and guess what? They are!
Through leadership training and coaching, Jake sets out to change his mind.
One of the most common errors we make as humans is to think our opinions and judgments are the Truth.
They aren’t.
Information comes into our brains and we process it and form our judgments and opinions.
Major breakthroughs in performances don’t come from incrementally gaining new skills, but in breaking through our limiting perspectives.
More poetically (Marcel Proust):
‘The true journey of discovery does not consist of searching for new territories but in having new eyes.’
There are many ways to develop “new eyes.”
For this article, I’ll simply remind you that you, like me, are stuck in a perspective. And as a leader, that’s dangerous.
Your takeaway homework — write down a list of each of your direct reports. Then write down what you think of each person. What’s your bottom line assessment of “how they are” as people and performers. Then challenge your perspectives — are they really the Truth?
Tom Hanson, Ph.D. is author of “Who Will Do What by When? How to Improve Performance, Accountability and Trust with Integrity.” Tom gives away more information than he should on how to get the best results from business teams at http://www.HeadsUpPerformance.com
In the hyper competition for breakthrough solutions, managers worry too much about characteristics and personality: Am I smart enough? Do I have the right temperament? The do not worry enough about the process. A commitment to the systematic search for imaginative and useful ideas is what successful entrepreneurs share, not some special genius or trait. What is more, entrepreneurship can occur in a business of any size or age because, at heart, it has to do with a certain kind of activity: innovation, the disciplined effort to improve business potential.
Most innovations result from a conscious, purposeful search for opportunities within the company and the industry as well as the larger social and intellectual environment. A successful innovation may come from pulling together different strands of knowledge, recognizing an underlying theme in public perception, or extracting new insights from failure. The key is to know where to look.
Successful entrepreneurs do not wait for innovative ideas to strike like a lightning bolt. They go out looking for innovation opportunities in seven key areas:
1. Unexpected occurrences. These often include failures. Few people know, for instance, that the failure of the Edsel led Ford to realize that the auto market was now segmented by lifestyle instead of by income group. Fords response was the Mustang, and an auto legend was born.
2. Incongruities. By the 1960s, cataract removal had become high-tech, except for cutting a ligament, an old fashioned step that was uncomfortable for eye surgeons. Alcon Laboratories responded by modifying an enzyme that dissolved the ligament. Surgeons immediately accepted the new product, giving Alcon a monopoly.
3. Process needs. Two process innovations developed around 1890 created the media as we know it today: linotype made it possible to produce newspapers quickly, and advertising made it possible to distribute news practically free of charge.
4. Industry and market changes. The brokerage firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette achieved fabulous success because its founders recognized that the emerging market for institutional investors would one day predominate in the industry.
5. Demographic changes. Why are the Japanese ahead in robotics? Around 1970, everyone knew that there was both a baby bust and an education explosion, such that the number of blue-collar manufacturing workers would decline. Everyone knew about it, but only the Japanese took action.
6. Changes in perception. Such changes do not alter the facts, but can dramatically change their meaning. Americans health has never been better and yet we are obsessed with preventing disease and staying fit. Innovators who understand our perception of health have launched magazines, introduced health foods, and started exercise classes.
7. New knowledge. Knowledge-based innovations require long lead times and the convergence of different kinds of knowledge. The computer required knowledge that was available by 1918, but the first operational digital computer did not appear until 1946.
Purposeful innovation begins with looking, asking, and listening. Talent and expert knowledge help, but do not be deluded by all the stories about flashes of insight. The key task is to work out analytically what the innovation has to be in order to satisfy a particular opportunity.
Pj Germain
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Live life enthusiastically! Dale Carnegie often called this principle the little-known secret of success. Without enthusiasm, all the skills and techniques you learn will not be as effective as they could be. On the other hand, if someone is enthusiastic, it is an energy builder. They can sell their ideas and ultimately accomplish more than sheer intellect.
History is ripe with stories of people who overcame adversity and achieved great success simply because they were enthusiastic about their job, the project or even just enthusiastic about living another day to its fullest. Remember Frank Bettger, a turn of the century professional baseball player who often wrote about how he turned himself from a failure to a success in the game. He never had a great deal of talent, but he always loved what he was doing and put his entire heart and mind into it every minute. He later was able to use that same strategy to become one of the highest paid life insurance salesmen of his day.
It is not always easy to be enthusiastic. Perhaps you do not want to make the move across country with your family to stat a new job. Personal problems can become overwhelming. Sometimes life becomes unbalanced and work or family literally drains your energy. However, it is possible to create enthusiasm.
Try the following strategies to create enthusiasm:
1. Act happy. Too many people condition themselves to be negative. They are afraid they will be seen as too gung-ho. Some say they are just being realistic by not getting their hopes up. Others say they know that a project or strategy will not work because it never has before. Why should they get enthusiastic about a sure failure? Yet one can find that if they simply act enthusiastic, it eventually becomes real. Others will pick up on their enthusiasm, become excited themselves and then feed their enthusiasm back to the originator. It becomes a beautiful circle of energy.
2. Create a mission and vision. Experience shows that people get much more excited when they see the big picture. For example, a friend once toured a defense plant and asked the people what they were making. They gave him a very technical answer but the bottom line was that they really do not know what they were doing to help keep the world safe. In fact, they were manufacturing a part for a missile system that was used in the Gulf War. He could not help but think that they would have been more enthusiastic about achieving quality and high productivity if they had known the importance of their work in the grand scheme.
The same is true in any department. Often we ignore the work of clerical workers, for example. The most mundane jobs, when done well, can actually help transform an organization.
3. Give people the opportunity to be enthusiastic. Ask staff members to come up with projects that cut costs or save money. Often this is the first time they have been asked to use their insights to help the company. Following are some examples:
The facilities maintenance manager at a hospital had only a sixth-grade education, yet he saves the hospital $15,000 by inventing a new way to open the operating room doors. He never knew the hospital cared about his ideas until this training.
A lumber mill had a process that involved picking up the lumber and moving it an extra time. Management knew it cost $150,000 in labor every year but they could not find a solution. During some internal training, a worker offered a solution. He had come up with the idea a long time ago but did not offer it because no one had asked him.
4. Do not criticize, condemn or complain - and do not put up with people who do. Just walk out of the room and say you refuse to let anothers negativity affect your enthusiasm. Consciously decide to generate positive enthusiasm.
5. Keep perspective. Life is too short to just put up with negativity. Have some fun with life. Grab the gusto. See the excitement in every situation. Be enthusiastic about the chance to make a difference with even your smallest actions: smile; hold the elevator door; allow another driver into traffic . . . even these simple actions can make a difference in others lives. Now this is something to be enthusiastic about!
Pj Germain
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The word “empower” has potency and strength. It’s used frequently these, some say “overused.” It’s also misused. Similar to the concept of “motivation,” the most common misuse of the idea of empowerment is that one person can empower another. Empowerment, as I use the word, is an inner-to-outer dynamic, most usefulwhen preceded by silence and awareness of inner guidance. Empowerment is not simply another way to “get” something, it’s a condition that supports you in living life fully.
Empowered Persons
Empowered persons are balanced, confident, aware, vital, caring, and ready. Those who are empowered are not depressed, confused, aggressive, divisive, or wishy washy. Of course, even empowered persons have days or moments of confusion or frustration or doubt, but the predominant expression is one of confidence and strength and consideration of themselves and others. Also, empowerment can be situational, that is to say, you may feel and be empowered in one situation but not another.
Most people, though certainly not all, like to be in the presence of those who are truly empowered because the energy in and around them is contagious and healing. Empowered persons are eager to laugh and experience the moment in a way that helps others to find their own power. When empowered persons shine their light, others can more easily find their own light. The behavior of empowered persons is often imitated, but empowerment is not just a set of actions and behavior. Actions aligned with inner knowingness and strength are necessary for true empowerment. Enlightened consciousness is the source of empowered actions rather than the other way around. Since empowered persons are powered from the inside, they carry their power with them.
As I’ve mentioned above in a positive way, let me be clear here what empowered persons don’t do: empowered persons don’t get their power from other persons. Empowered persons don’t hit or overpower or trample on others’ rights, make malicious remarks, put others down, use derogatory humor, dominate meetings, or suppress others. Empowered persons don’t give their power away to others, nor do they let others take their power (which is simply a variation on “giving away power).
To be empowered, you must release outdated beliefs, dense vibrations, repressed fears and resentments. To be empowered, you must replace disempowering beliefs with those that are empowering. To be empowered, you must be conscious of the focus of your attention, your thoughts, and your feelings. To be empowered, consider your own desires and beliefs and feelings as well as others’ desires and beliefs and feelings. To be empowered, start where you are right now without feeling wrong or believing you need to be “fixed.”
Empowered Organizations
Empowered organizations are composed of empowered persons, although it’s not necessarily true that a group of empowered persons automatically creates an empowered organization. Organizations that are truly empowered have moved out of the old paradigm of negative competition and beliefs in limitation and scarcity. Many persons, including me, like to consider the empowered organization is one that is moving or has moved into a “new paradigm.”
Empowered organizations in the new paradigm have transformed themselves so that they’re able to demonstrate such characteristics as: clear and honest communications, collaboration within and between work units (usually called teams), shared responsibility in all aspects of task and process, and delivery of high quality products and services driven by customer/client needs.
Persons in empowered organizations are likely to talk about the “joy” of work and feeling “love” for their team mates, although such words may not be expressed nor are the expression of such such words proof of empowerment.
Moving from There to Here
Most individuals agree with the desirability of concepts like “open communications,” “collaboration,” and “customer-driven” goals. However, established norms often prevent embodying the actions that bring these concepts into fruition. Distrust still prevails in many organizations, especially those faced with downsizing efforts that have been or are being carried out with brutal methods. Belief that an organization is in business for the sole purpose of earning money keeps organizations stuck in dysfunctional patterns.
It’s important to respect where an individual or organization is right now. Simply pushing a new paradigm on an old one doesn’t work. Lasting change happens from the inside out. The organizational structure of the old paradigm is linear and vertical: top-down and bottom-up. Ignoring the chain of command is an offense in many traditional organizations, reinforcing this linear approach.
As organizations downsize or otherwise change their structure, the linear and vertical movement tends to change to horizontal and circular. The old approach of looking to see what the one at the top of the organization wants shifts to looking inside to discern what serves the highest good with the help of intuition. Some of the popular names for the new organizations that are in alignment with this horizontal-circular-inward formation are: “team,” “cluster,” “learning organization,” “circles,” and “networks.”
With my window of looking at energy fields and working with energetic principles, I find the “flattening” of organizations to be exciting and forward-moving. The flattening (eliminating layers of management and other realignments) may not feel very positive when it’s happening, but the end results can be extremely positive. Out of the chaos grow the new forms and patterns of working and being together to do business. Chaos theory that has emerged over the last few years can help you to understand this act of discovery and creation of all kinds of systems.
Chaos theory also helps you to understand paradigms: old, new, and emerging. A new form or pattern or paradigm emerges when the old one no longer works. For those of you who find my definition of paradigms too simplistic, I encourage you to read one or more of the following books.
Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick
Future Edge: Discovering New Paradigms of Success by Joel Barker
The Fifth Discipline: The Learning Organization by Peter Senge
Managing as a Performing Art by Peter Vaill
Leadership and the New Science by Margaret J. Wheatley
Who is empowered?
You are empowered because of who you are,
not because of your relationship to others.
Empowerment comes from inside, not outside.
Guided by high intention, this power is used for the good of all.
Competition leads you to believe that resources are limited. When you turn within, you recognize that creativity is unlimited,
leading you to unlimited resources.
You compete with a belief in limited power.
You are empowered by unlimited power.
Today, help someone else to be empowered.
Such an act might help you find your own power.
Copyright 2006 Marshall House, http://www.mhmail.com. Jeanie Marshall, Empowerment Consultant and Coach with Marshall House writes extensively on subjects related to personal development and empowerment. Discover her guided meditations at the Voice of Jeanie Marshall, http://www.jmvoice.com
When you’re asked about a leader in the context of a workplace, who springs to mind? Maybe your current or a former boss, a head of department, or maybe even the company Chief Executive Officer.
Leadership is a complex subject. We should all consider ourselves leaders, particularly those of us looking to progress our careers beyond the current nine to five days we love (or endure). Whatever our occupation, admin staff to managers, refuse collectors to chefs, we have a duty to behave in a professional manner and take pride in our work - after all, we chose our path. Part of our day to day role is almost certainly likely to be influencing others around us, whether we are aware of that fact or not.
Simply by passing by our colleagues, we will no doubt influence them. They will judge us, and form opinions of our ability, our social interaction with them, and whether or not they enjoy our company on both a professional and personal level. This influence is a very powerful tool, it can motivate and demotivate those around us, and if used positively can make our own lives easier.
This motivation we silently pass on is a form of leadership, and if you observe most great leaders you will more than likely be able to see this quality very regularly. Team members tend to show a great deal of respect for their leader - and rightly so, they are all working to the same goals.
Naturally, if a colleague has ambition, he will most likely be keen to support and impress his leader - logically recommendations of promotions will tend towards the more helpful members of a leaders team.
Influence and motivation are not however enough to make a good leader great, the commonly discussed listening and interpretation skills are paramount to a teams success, communication is only truly achieved if both parties understand a message to have the same meaning.
Leadership, simply, is not just about getting the job done. It is about getting the job done effectively, efficiently and most importantly with the support and growing respect of the people you lead. Generally speaking it is not possible to achieve effective and efficient performance without these supporting and respectful team members, so those attributes can be considered the building blocks to your success.
Why not stop from time to time, and consider your role, who you are leading, and whether you have done your best to not only support your leader, but also those influenced around you?
From the Front discusses leadership, primarily in the workplace. Find out more about getting the best at work at http://www.fromthefront.com
Our personal experiences with time often force us to draw sets of conclusions which seem to contradict each other. They set up a paradox in which it is difficult to see how both conclusions can be true. Yet, on closer examination, the conclusions often are both correct. For example, no one has enough time, yet everyone has all there is.
Often, one of the statements in a paradox is based on conventional wisdom, while the other statement challenges that wisdom by pointing out a deeper truth. No one has enough time is the conventional observation, while Everyone has all there is points out a deeper truth. Understanding this paradox is an important first step in the challenge of learning to manage our time and ourselves.
Take a moment and consider the following paradoxes of time and explain the effect each one has on your life.
1. Time cannot be managed. We can only manage ourselves. Is time the problem, or are we?
2. Those who do not take the time to do something right must make the time to do it over. Should we do it right the first time?
3. Doing a job right is efficient. Doing the right job right is effective. If a task is the wrong one, it does not matter whether it is done right or wrong. If it is the right task, it matters a great deal.
4. The more hours that people work, the more time they assume they have to finish. The more hours people work, the more fatigued they become - so they slow down. Long hours feed on themselves, making everything take longer.
It has been established that controlling our lives means controlling our time, and that controlling our time means controlling the events in our lives. Why, then, do most of us have so much trouble accomplishing the things that mean the most to us in the long term? Why do we never seem to get around to those things that really matter? There are several possible answers. One is that we have unwittingly bought into two fallacies about time that prevent us from dealing effectively with the events in our lives.
The first fallacy is that we think we are going to have more time at some unspecified future date than we do now. Well, I will do that next week, or next month, or next year, or when the children are grown, or when I retire. Then I will have more time. The second fallacy is that we think we can somehow save time. The fact is, each of us have all the time there is. We all are given exactly 24 hours every day - 86,400 seconds each day. No more, no less, and none of us can save any of them to use at a later date.
Each of us has exactly as much time as the most successful people in the world. If we want to achieve the same high levels of success as these winners, we must treat our own time as a precious resource to invest for maximum return.
Time is valuable capital. If we squander it, we will not develop our abilities, take advantage of opportunities, or carry out our commitments. What is more, we certainly will not make the most of our life. An astonishing number of people, who carefully manage all of their other resources, are frustrated because time continues to slip through their fingers. What is really slipping away are their lives.
What each of us chooses to do with our time makes our life. When we make the commitment to choose what we do with our time, we take control of our life. Effective people do not just do things differently - they do different things! Their actions reflect a fundamental shift in thinking - that sometimes doing less result in more of the right things getting done. They deliberately manage their choices! As Stephen Covey has so eloquently said:
“Rather than focusing on things and time,
focus on preserving and enhancing relationships
and on accomplishing results.”
Pj Germain
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People see things differently. While some concentrate on negative possibilities and see their glasses half empty instead of half full, others consistently look on the bright side. But being positive does not mean being unrealistic. So an important question to ask yourself when evaluating one’s demeanor: Is your glass half empty or half full?
While life can bring challenging times, having a positive attitude often can have real mind and body benefits. People who are less burdened by pessimistic thinking do not suffer the health risks associated with stress. They feel more empowered to change their lives for the better. If your perspective seems focused on negative thoughts, try these tips:
1. Eliminate negative self-talk.
When we constantly tell ourselves what we ought to do, should have done, and can not accomplish, we are filling ourselves with negative self-talk. This can make us feel unable to make positive changes. Turn negative self-talk into positive self-coaching. For example, instead of focusing on what you think you can not do, brainstorm about your strengths.
2. Stay flexible.
Change can be difficult. Often, we do not have control over the changes in our lives. Instead of concentrating on the way things were, focus on how you can make the best of the way things are. For example, if changes at work mean new challenges in your job, try to excel at your new duties instead of dwelling on the past.
3. Get involved.
Activities that provide a sense of accomplishment — such as volunteering at a nursing home or homeless shelter — can make a big difference in both your life and the lives of others. You will feel good about the work you do and help someone else in the process.
4. Speak up.
Learning to assert yourself at work and home is important in cultivating a positive attitude. When you express your ideas tactfully, you feel better about yourself and earn respect from others. Keeping things to yourself can lead to stress and frustration.
5. Be adventurous.
Encourage yourself to try new things — take a class, begin an exercise program, try for that promotion. Challenge yourself to break out of your rut, and you will be rewarded by feeling better.
6. Avoid unhealthy responses to stress.
When times get tough, it is easy to let a negative outlook lead to destructive behavior. Smoking, drinking and substance abuse are typical methods people may use to distract themselves from difficult situations. These destructive habits can only make you feel worse.
7. Live for today.
Today’s little pleasures and accomplishments are the events that make up our lives. Instead of reminiscing about the past or living life in anticipation of tomorrow, take time to enjoy and savor the special moments today brings.
Pj Germain
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Our strengths often become weaknesses because we rely on them too heavily, habitually doing what we do best instead of seeking the best things to do. Someone said: If your only tool is a hammer, you approach every problem as if it were a nail.
Put down your old, familiar tools for now, or else find a different way to use them. Doing the right things, even very imperfectly, can bring about a quantum leap. Doing the wrong things, even if you do them to perfection, will never deliver your dreams.
What is important is to think beyond what common sense would allow.
Webster describes common sense as: Ordinary good sense or sound practical judgment. Ordinary, according to the dictionary, means customary, usual, regular, normal; familiar, unexceptional, common; relatively poor or inferior. Webster also describes common sense as sound practical judgment. The meaning of practical is obtained through practice or action. In other words, common sense is judgment based on past experience. When you boil it all down, common sense is just what it sounds like - it is what people today commonly believe. And common sense is full of dumb, limiting ideas. It has always been that way.
Common sense used to say the world is flat, people can not fly, bleed people if you want to heal them. The idea of a man on the moon was once pure science fiction, so was television and the idea of a heart transplant. Common sense lies to you. It focuses on the obstacles, reviews what you have done in the past, studies the normal achievement patterns of people in general, and tells you what you can commonly expect to achieve. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rely too much on common sense, and you can expect to see common results.
Quantum leaps require that you start thinking
about what you want, instead of what common sense
says is the reasonable thing for you to expect.
What would common sense say you can accomplish? What would be a sensible goal?
Uncommon sense says that you can accomplish astounding things. What would be a goal well beyond the boundary of improbable… far beyond the obvious next logical step? What would you go for if you knew your success was guaranteed? What would you do, how would you proceed, in terms of specific action steps?
Most people have the wiring in their brains messed up. They have decided to doubt the wrong things, such as their potential, the availability of breakthrough opportunities, and their chances for making a quantum leap. For now, if you must doubt something, doubt your limits. While it is true that you cannot make yourself believe in your ability to make the quantum leap, you definitely can act like you believe.
You can go ahead and do what you would do if you had complete faith. You always get to choose how you are going to act anyway. You decide how you are going to behave. You do not have to eliminate doubt to disregard it for the time being. Let it lie there, without influence, while you produce a remarkable set of results by acting as if your success is for certain. Instead of letting doubt decide what you will do, decide what you are going to do with your doubt.
Focus on ends rather than means. Develop a razor-sharp picture of where you want to land at the end of your quantum leap. Make your goal specific. Pay careful attention to the details. Focus on this goal constantly in your thoughts and imagination. Carry in your mind a picture of you achieving the objective.
Adults rarely make quantum leaps, but small children make them all of the time. Little ones focus on ends, rather than means. Kids have no hang-up about technique. Being so young and inexperienced, they are often practically devoid of methodology. But they are open-minded, goal-focused, and true believers in experimentation. They lock in mentally on their objective, and seem quite willing to let the goal determine the methodology. In fact, they proceed such that the goal often creates the methodology. The child does something for the first time ever, it works, and inherent potential is discovered. The necessary technique, the means, just sort of evolves in the process.
Grownups get it all backwards. Adults cannot seem to choose a goal without simultaneously evaluating their resources and personal repertoire of skills to see if they have what it takes to reach the objective. The adults command of technique methodology or resources then becomes the screening device used to select the appropriate goal. The choice of goals (the ends) depends too heavily on what the individual perceives as his or her obvious, available methodologies (the means).
Start by working on defining your goal, not by worrying about everything that will be involved in getting from here to there. The technique or methodology of the process you will need to follow will come to you. Just make sure your aim is good, open yourself to the unexpected, and proceed. You do not have to know how you are going to get there, but you must know where you want to go.
Think of problems, mistakes, and failure as growing pains. When you stop running into problems that is when you truly have a real problem. Somewhere in the process of growing up, we got the idea that it is best to avoid problems. Parents encourage kids to keep trouble at a minimum and eliminate mistakes as much as possible. Teachers give out As for getting everything right, and nails a student with a low grade for making errors. Eventually, failure gets a bad reputation.
In the world at large, however, failure can be a friend. There is a certain magic in mistakes. Problems, foul-ups, and breakdowns push you back on track, educate you, leaving you better equipped to navigate accurately toward your goal.
Unless you are willing to stretch yourself beyond the point where you know you can perform basically error-free, you will never find out how good you really are. If you are unwilling to taste failure, there is no way on earth you can taste the sweet fruits of your true potential.
Remember that progress often masquerades as trouble.
Mistakes and failures typically carry clues for breakthrough performance.
Pj Germain
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Attitude is defined as the way you dedicate yourself to the way you think. Think negative or think positive is a choice and a process. Negative is (unfortunately) an instinctive process. Positive is a learned self-discipline that must be studied and practiced every day.
To achieve a positive attitude, you must take physical, verbal and mental actions. Here are a few short chunks of attitude - awareness and actions - that will help put you (or keep you) on the positive path:
1. Admit it is the fault of no one but your own. The more you blame others, the less chance you have to think positive thoughts, see a positive solution, or take positive action toward solution. The opposite of blame is responsibility. Your first responsibility is to control your inner thoughts and thought direction.
2. Understand you always have (had) a choice. Attitude is a choice and most people select from the negative column. Reason? It is more natural to blame and defend than it is to admit and take responsibility.
3. If you think it is OK, it is; if you think it is not OK, than it is not. Your thoughts direct your attitude to a path. If you think: this is crappy, why does this always happen to me, then you have chosen a path. If you think, wow, this may not be the greatest, but look what I am learning, than you learn what not to do again.
4. Invest time, do not spend it. Ignore the local junk news. Find a project, or make a plan to sell something or meet with someone who buys or teaches instead. You will become a world-class expert in five years. The only question is: at what? Spend (invest) an hour a day in anything and in five years you will be a world-class expert.
5. Study the thoughts and writings of positive people. Read Napoleon Hills Think & Grow Rich.
6. Listen to tapes and CDs by positive thinkers of the world: Zig Ziglar, Denis Waitley, Wayne Dyer and as many others as you can find.
7. Attend seminars and take courses. Enroll in a Dale Carnegie program.
8. Check your language gauge. Do you say half full or half empty, partly cloudy or partly sunny? They are just words, but they are a reflection of how your mind sees things and an indication of how you process thoughts. Avoid confrontational and negative words. The worst ones are: why, ca not, will not and should.
9. Say why you LIKE things and people, not why you do not I like my job because I love my family. Say things from the positive side enough and it becomes a habit you will revel in for life.
10. Help others without expectation or measuring. If you give it away freely, you do not every have to worry about the measurement. The world will reward you 10 times over.
11. Think about your winning and losing words. Lose with: They do not pay me enough to. That is not my job. IF you say: Why should I when he… then really, who loses? Think learn, lessons, experience and solutions before you make a statement.
12. Think about your mood and your mood swings. How long do you stay in a bad mood? If it is more than five minutes, something is wrong. And your attitude (and relationships, results and success) will suffer.
13. Are you the head of the complaint department and the chief complainer? Many people slip into cynicism day by day. They become bitter because of jealousy or envy of other people or their own misfortune. Big mistake.
List the lessons you can learn from those you have bitterness for and the results will turn your thinking toward your own success and away from theirs.
1. Celebrate victory and defeat. Winning and losing are part of life and apart from attitude. Visit a childrens hospital. Get comfortable with the plight of others and feel good about the minuteness your problems compared to theirs.
2. Count your blessings every day. Start with health if you are fortunate enough to have it. Add the love of children and family. From there it is easy to build the list. Want an instant lesson? Go out and buy a copy of The Little Engine That Could. It is a philosophy for a lifetime!
Pj Germain
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Managers often deal with great deal of paperwork and people. Although paperwork is usually the most tedious, it’s often the most predictable.
People aren’t predictable. They have moods, illnesses, career expectations, crises in their family lives, etc. The supervisor’s technical expertise is often useless when it comes to supervising people.
Sometimes Intimidated by Wide Range of Policies and Procedures the new supervisor is suddenly faced with a wide range of rules and regulations — each of which the supervisor is responsible to enforce.
The supervisor is responsible for signing time cards, authorizing overtime, granting compensation time, dealing with performance problems, developing job descriptions, following hiring procedures, dealing with grievances, conforming to a complicated pay system, and the list goes on.
It can be quite difficult to conform to today’s wide range of employee laws, rules and regulations — and at the same time, produce a product or service.
New Managers Rarely Have Enough Time
No matter how many courses or degrees a new supervisor has completed, they’re often surprised that management activities are so hectic and demanding. No matter how thorough the planning, managers rarely get to spend much time on any one activity.
The role of most managers, whether new supervisors or executives, is interspersed with frequent interruptions. Any surprise in the work or lives of employees is a sudden demand on supervisors.
New supervisors often expect to have complete knowledge of everything that goes on in their group. They don’t want to encounter any surprises. So they spend more time reading, thinking, planning, communicating with employees — new supervisors often spend 60 hours a week on the job. Still, they don’t feel they have enough time to do the job right.
New Managers Often Feel Very Alone
Each manager has a unique role in the organization. Each organization is unique. Usually there are no clear procedures for dealing with the numerous challenges that suddenly face management. Ultimately, it’s up to each manager to get through the day. Faced with a great deal of pressure, little time and continuing demands from other people, the new supervisor can feel quite alone.
The supervisor is responsible to be an advocate for the organization and an advocate for the employee. For example, if the organization implements an unpopular new policy, the supervisor is often responsible to communicate and justify that new policy to the employee.
In this case, management expects the supervisor to present and support the new policy, and the employee vents his or her frustration to the supervisor.
However, if the supervisor wants to promote the employee or present some other reward, he or she is now representing the employee’s case to the rest of management. The supervisor is often alone, stuck in the middle.
The new manager wants to come across as having deserved their promotion, as being in control of the situation. It’s difficult to seek help from others in the organization. Even when there is someone there to talk to, it is difficult to fully explain the situation — the new supervisor sometimes doesn’t know how things got so hectic and confusing.
New Managers Often Feel Overwhelmed, Stressed Out
The new manager is responsible, often for the first time, for the activities of another employee. The supervisor must ensure the employee knows his or her job, has the resources to do the job and does the job as effectively as possible.
Until a new manager develops a -feeling for the territory, they often deal with the stresses of supervision by working harder, rather than smarter. They miss the comfort and predictability of their previous job.
The stress and loneliness in the role of new manager can bring out the worst in a person. If they deal with stress by retreating, they will retreat to their offices and close the door. If they deal with frustration, they will become angry and unreasonable with their employees.
If they are used to getting strong praise and high grades, they’ll work harder and harder until their jobs become their lives.
Support and Development Are Critical for New Managers
Courses in supervision, delegation, time management, stress management, etc., are not enough. New managers need ongoing coaching and support. They need someone whom they can confide in. Ideally, they have a mentor in the organization who remembers what it’s like to be a first-time manager/supervisor, someone who makes themselves available.
If the experience of first-time management is successful — it’s challenging, but fulfilling — the manager goes on to become a progressive, supportive manager.
Marcia Granger MCC Leadership Coach helps those in Leadership positions create the perfect working conditions. Visit us at http://www.1stleadershipcourse.com