Progress Depends On Being Unreasonable

 

I recently watched a video from Robin Sharma that is, as usual, quite inspirational. Here are some notes I took as I listened:

• Become unreasonable in every aspect of life: what I expect, what I want, etc.
• Be unreasonable about levels of mastery and avoiding mediocrity.
• Be unreasonable about levels of health and fitness I’ll develop these next 12 months–you can’t become legendary if you have no energy.
• Be unreasonable about the goals I will pursue and the dreams I will realize.
• Be unreasonable about my integrity and the values I will live by.
• Be unreasonable about the people I will influence and the lives I will uplift.
• Be unreasonable about the courage you will model and the passion you will share.
• Be unreasonable in the results I will deliver and the projects I will complete.
• Be unreasonable in the happiness I will experience.

Who is one of the most unreasonable leaders I know of? Steve Jobs. Look at the results he created.

The ideas above will help you thrive.

Photo Credit: Michael Seely, Flickr

A Recent Blog Post You Might Enjoy

Vishal Sikka Leading Change

Thought for the week:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man” – George Bernard Shaw

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2015 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive! To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

We All Need People Who Give Us Feedback

“We all need people who give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” – Bill Gates

• What are you doing to improve professionally?
• Are you growing or have you become stagnant?
• Are you expanding your capability year after year or repeating the same year of experience over and over?
• Are you happy with your career progress?
• Are you getting assistance from a mentor or coach?

After playing trumpet for only 2 years in elementary school, I became the first chair trumpet player within weeks of starting junior high school beating out another guy who had 3 years more experience than I did. Why? I had had a private trumpet teacher who gave me a huge advantage over everyone else. He took years off of my learning curve.

Shortly after I entered junior high school, I started with my second trumpet teacher, Rocco DiStasio. Mr. DiStasio didn’t appreciate my musical accomplishments at such a young age. For three months, my lesson with him only involved playing the trumpet mouthpiece. It was very humbling and a bit humiliating. His point was the trumpet merely amplified what was happening with the mouthpiece. If I could make the mouthpiece sound good, the horn would sound excellent. He was right.

One week I arrived at my lesson with my horn. I thought I had heard him ask me to bring it to my next lesson. He pointed the case and said, “What’s that?” I responded, “It’s my horn.” He replied, “We won’t be needing that for a LONG time.”

I had an extraordinary experience performing in just about every type of musical group you could imagine. What made me stand out? Besides some talent, I had worked with the best trumpet teacher–my coach. That’s how I came to thrive playing the trumpet.

It’s really no different in the business world. If you want to thrive, you need outside feedback. If you only want to get by, you can do that on your own.

Photo Courtesy of Jameziecakes on Flickr

A Recent Blog Post You Might Enjoy

Why You Need An Executive Coach Today

Thought for the week:

“Dare. Dare to be more than you think.”  – Maya Angelo

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consultinghttp://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive! To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Why You Need An Executive Coach Today

The best athletes in the world rely on coaches to make them better and to help them raise the bar to new levels of performance. The athlete and the coach collaborate to produce a far better outcome than the athlete can produce on his/her own. Why should executives be any different?

In a Fast Company blog post called “To Move Forward, First Let Go,” I offered “the toughest business to consult on is your own.” The same is true for executives. It’s hard to consult about (or coach) yourself. You are too close to your situation, you greatly benefit from different ideas and perspectives, and, as my mentor, Alan Weiss, offers, “you don’t want to breathe your own exhaust.”

When an individual engages with a coach, they acknowledge they can benefit from an outside perspective. They acknowledge they can’t possibly see everything the coach can. And, they acknowledge that candid input is needed to make them more effective. Let me give you an example.

I helped coach an executive about his content and how to deliver a presentation at an all-important global sales conference. The year prior, he had been ranked the worst speaker at the event. He didn’t want a repeat. I was able to help him better connect his message to his audience. The outcome? He was the highest-ranked speaker, a complete reversal of fortune for this terrific guy.

Could he have done it on his own? It’s doubtful. He didn’t know what to do differently. He didn’t know where to start. He only felt the pain and embarrassment of his prior presentation being the worst ranked.

Why do executives believe they can do it on their own? Is it to show how tough they are? Is it to prove how self-sufficient they can be? Is it to save money? If it’s to save money, ask yourself at the expense of what?

To make my business work, I mentored with some of the best people in the world. It took me a while to learn that getting another perspective was essential if I was going to make my business work. For over a year, my ego wouldn’t allow me to admit that I couldn’t do it alone—that I needed help. I reached a point where I knew I could not help myself as effectively as a coach could.

I had had to learn the hard way that being good at something didn’t translate into executives leaping for their checkbooks so we could do business together. That required different strategies and tactics than I had knew. I had to learn a lot. And, I needed my coaches pointing out how I could be more effective and what I needed to do differently.

If you are an executive and you aren’t getting the coaching, where will you be in 6 months, a year, 2 years, 5 years? Do you think you can raise your own bar? How will you take your personal performance and value-add to the next level?

Let me help you accelerate your growth—personal, professional, company, etc.–through change.

Dave Gardner

© 2014 Dave Gardner

The News and Authenticity

I’m a news fanatic. I need to know what’s going on in my world preferably without “spin.”

This past week, I was in a lobby of a San Francisco business playing Al Jazeera America on a large display. I’d never seen this station before. It was refreshing. It reminded of what the news was like when I was growing up: no agenda–just the news. I was able to contrast the same stories I’d seen on other cable news stations and very much liked what I saw.

American media, like our politicians, caters to certain constituencies, drama, and doom and gloom. For example, when Malaysian Air MH370 is ultimately found, that will be breaking news. Anything less at this point isn’t “breaking news.”

The news media has the ability to shine a spotlight on whatever they want. I first wrote of the crisis at the VA hospitals in 2012. How did this matter avoid the detection and broad reporting it deserved?

Just today, we’re hearing about an exchange of five Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo for an American soldier whose condition was reportedly deteriorating. I’m delighted to hear about his release. Others are focused on the illegality of the action and the fact that rules weren’t followed. Yet, I’d be willing to bet if this American soldier had died in captivity, we’d be hearing that the Commander in Chief had not done enough to secure his release.

The news is all too often used as a means to support an agenda. I’m convinced true democracy requires an independent media reporting the news without spin.

In my lifetime, Walter Cronkite was considered the most trusted man in America. We don’t hear our media getting that level of respect today.

Businesses thrive when they are authentic: when they admit mistakes, learn from the mistakes and strive not to repeat them. Customers sense authenticity. They know the truth and merely want to hear it from you.

 

A recent blog post that should interest you

Vishal Sikka Departs SAP*

*a story about big company transformations

Thought for the week:

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive! To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

 

When An Owner Doesn’t Care About Customer Experience

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: customer experience

My wife needed quilting supplies and decided to support a non-chain, small business here in San Jose. They were out of a product and promised to call when the supplies arrived.

They called on a Thursday stating the item was in. My wife told them she’d stop by on Friday. The next day she drove 25 minutes (16 miles in city traffic) and was surprised they had closed at 2:00 p.m. for Good Friday. There was no mention of the early closing during the call the day before.

She called the following Monday and a store clerk agreed to ship the item and waive the shipping fee for her time and trouble the prior week. That was the right thing to do!

When the item arrived a few days later, my wife had been charged for shipping. She called the store and the same clerk refused to acknowledge the commitment for free shipping–her boss was standing next to her and eventually jumped on the call.

After a tedious conversation, the store owner agreed to refund the shipping but only after my wife committed to never do business with them again.

• Who would want to do business with an outfit that doesn’t do what it says it will do?
• Why would the owner expect my wife to be willing to overlook how she is being treated in this transaction?
• What is the potential lost lifetime value of my wife’s business for $5.00?
• Doesn’t the business owner realize there are many alternatives to doing business with his store?

Yelp confirms a number of missteps like the one she encountered. Negative customer experiences combined with the ability to easily discover customer experience information about a business via Yelp and other services mean business owners can’t hide their missteps. It’s 2014, not 1980.

The question for my readers this week is what missteps are you subjecting your customers to? You can’t accelerate growth if missteps are impacting your customer’s experiences.

Photo Credit: Flickr.com, Melissa O’Donohue

 

Thought for the week:

“The very purpose of our life is happiness, which is sustained by hope. We have no guarantee about the future, but we exist in the hope of something better. Hope means keeping going, thinking, ‘I can do this.’ It brings inner strength, self-confidence, the ability to do what you do honestly, truthfully and transparently.” – His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

When The Unimaginable Happens

 

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: leadership

This week, a South Korean ferry capsized killing perhaps 300 people. The captain and crew were ill-prepared to initiate the proper contingent actions once the ferry ran aground. The children did what the adults told them to–stay put and wait for further instructions–which, tragically, resulted in many unnecessary deaths.

In 1988, I took up scuba diving. I took advanced training as well as rescue diver training to be better equipped to deal with possible underwater emergencies. A good portion of scuba training is about “what to do if something goes wrong,” e.g., your regulator (breathing apparatus) is accidently pulled from your mouth, someone accidently kicks your mask off, your mask becomes fogged up and you can’t see, you or your scuba buddy get a calf cramp, etc.

Eventually, I had an emergency in a small tunnel in Cozumel, Mexico, at a depth of about 90 feet. I became stuck and could not move forward to exit the tunnel. Scary? Yeah! I followed my training which had become instinctual and started with “stop, think, breathe.”

I quickly figured out what I was going to do next to extricate myself from my situation. I executed my plan and, as a result, what could have been a calamity turned out to be a minor speed bump during in my dive. I was most grateful for my training and dive instructors.

When you are in a leadership position, you must have a plan for what to do when the unimaginable happens–a plan that can be executed with great speed and precision. Think of Captain Sully Sullenberger–a U.S. Airway’s pilot–who, after bird strikes disabled both engines, glided his commercial airplane to a landing on the Hudson River saving everyone on board.

It doesn’t matter if you on the high seas or part of a business dynamic–both can catch you off guard if you don’t have a plan for dealing with the unimaginable.

 

Photo Credit: DavidWatts1978, Flickr

Thought for the week:

“Don’t think what’s the cheapest way to do it or the fastest way to do it but what’s the most amazing way to do it!” – Sir Richard Branson

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

 

Self-Esteem & Self-Talk

 

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: self-esteem

I overheard an executive assistant (after giving her boss an idea) say, “I’m just an executive assistant.”

What struck me was the notion that a person gives energy to “I’m just a ____.” Perhaps she was kidding. But what if she believes it? What does “I’m just a _____” do to one’s psyche?

• It diminishes a person’s ability to feel good about contributing ideas
• It demeans a person’s value add to the organization
• It disempowers the person–it puts them in a box that they think they need to stay and know their place

“I’m just a ____” isn’t:

• Uplifting
• Empowering
• Engaging

As Prentice Mulford offered as a book title in 1908, “Thoughts Are Things,” our thoughts impact our behavior and engender feelings about who we are and what we represent in our world.

If you ever think to yourself, “I’m just a ____,” I hope you’ll think again and reframe who you are in a positive way. This will help you thrive.

Photo credit: _scartissue on Flickr.com

 

 

Thought for the week:

The most dangerous phrase in the language is “we’ve always done it this way.”  – Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Wildfire & Google–Not A Marriage Made In Heaven

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: mergers and acquisitions

There was a lot of excitement when Wildfire was acquired by Google. The Altimeter Group writes on March 14, 2014:

When Google bought Wildfire for $350M, it took many by surprise. What did Google want with a Social Relationship Management company? Google is in the ad business, not the SRM business. Last year Google announced it was integrating Wildfire’s technology into DoubleClick, and Wildfire dropped off the radar as a social business tool since then. So yesterday’s announcement that Wildfire Social Marketing Suite was being sunsetted was not a shock.

While getting acquired by Google had to feel wonderful at the time, Google acquired it for what Google would consider chump change. And, seeing that Google spent so little, the acquisition cost almost implies “we’ll try it and if things don’t work out so well, oh well.”

I wrote If I Sell You My Company Will You Respect Me In The Morning? In a relatively short time, we learned that Google didn’t respect Wildfire. Is there a lesson here?

Entrepreneurs much look at the bigger strategic fit and not get dazzled by the offering price or the suitor’s name. They must also consider potential downside should the acquiring company suddenly lose interest, e.g., Palm (HP), Pure Digital’s Flip Cameras (Cisco).

Thought for the week:

“An entrepreneur is an innovator, a job creator, a game changer, a business leader, a disruptor, an adventurer.” – Sir Richard Branson

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

What Is Your Legacy Going to Be?

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: your legacy

Barack Obama’s legacy will likely be about giving millions of Americans access to health care. This, of course, is occurring in the face of strong opposition.

California Governor Jerry Brown is committed to building his legacy around high-speed rail. Like his father, Pat Brown, who, as governor, led a huge infrastructure project called the State Water Project, Jerry Brown is evangelizing a major infrastructure project that will connect Northern California with Southern California. He faces continuing opposition.

Barack Obama and Jerry Brown have defined and are acting on what they want their legacies to be. And, in the face of steep opposition, they forge ahead.

What is your legacy going to be?

• What is going to be your standout accomplishment in your current job?
• What are your standout accomplishments going to be over the course of your career?
• What risk are you taking to move the needle within your company, your department, a critical business process, etc.?
• What are you going to be remembered for after you’ve been promoted into another position or left the company?
• Are you willing to stand up to your opposition because you believe in your cause or purpose?

Thought for the week:

“Don’t seek a position in life, seek instead a purpose.” – U.S. Senator Corey Booker via Twitter

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Move On After A Defeat

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: move on after a defeat

I awake this Monday knowing the San Francisco 49ers aren’t going to this year’s Super Bowl. My wife reminds me, “It’s just a game.” I’m not so sure I agree.

For those who’ve been playing football since they were in youth football, making it to a Super Bowl has to be the pinnacle of a football career. For the coaches, players and staff, what could be better? Winning a Super Bowl has to simply be off the charts.

The 49ers had a terrific season and were perhaps one play and an extra point away from this year’s Super Bowl. As the adage goes, “Close only counts in the game of horse shoes.”

We are taught to focus on what we want in life, not what we don’t want. It’s time for the 49ers to turn the page on this season, heal, reflect and, then, get ready for next season. That’s what the pros do. And, so should you.

Thought for the week:

“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” — Brad Paisley

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Effective Communication–Picking Up Your Game

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: effective communication

Some people aren’t great at “winging it” in calls and meetings. The inability to be succinct negatively impacts the perception of a person’s value-add with peers and senior leadership. How can a person improve?

Take a subject and define bullet (or talking) points appropriate for the meeting or call. Then, speak to issues around those talking points as you have a dialog with others. Be crisp. Take a breath before you respond. Make sure you respond to the question you are asked and do so crisply and succinctly.

When somebody asks you a question, your best response is to offer there are 2 or 3 things the person needs to know about _____. The bullet points you create help you frame your response. Long, meandering discourses lack clarity and leave listeners wondering what the point is.

You may benefit by recording your side of the conversations and listening to this later. Ask what is the take-home value in what you’ve just communicated? Were you crisp? Or, were you just spewing words?

If you have a presentation to deliver, put together a crisp PowerPoint. Don’t try to “wing it” on a complex issue. Don’t accede to the pressure of the crowd to respond immediately with no time to prepare a response. Make sure you understand what success looks like–what do you have to do to meet the requirements. It’s okay to say “I need some time to prepare a thoughtful response in light of all the options available.”

Less is more. “Less” is also harder to do. When you are able to be more succinct, it will help you and the teams you collaborate with thrive.

Thought for the week:

“Luck has a way of celebrating the persistent.”  – Robin Sharma

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

The Criticality of Focus

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: focus

Robin Sharma was asked, “What is the one thing an 18-year old who wants to change the world must be committed to? His response: Focus.

Many spiritual teachers offer, “We get what we focus on.” This suggests if we aren’t happy with what we are getting, we merely need to look back on what we’ve focused on to see why this is the case. Has our focus been on what we want? Or, has our focus been on what we don’t want? Have we moved through life purposely or been timid and uncertain?

In the past week, I’ve been struck by the story and images of former Russian oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, released from a Russian prison after 10 years of being what many characterize a “political prisoner.” When he entered prison, he was a billionaire. Putin seized his assets and broke up his companies. No one knows what his worth is today.

Most men faced with the same circumstances would have been broken physically and emotionally, ending up a mere shell of their former selves. Not Khodorkovsky. Today, he exudes charisma. He’s not back yet from a financial point of view, but, there is absolutely no doubt he will be and, I imagine, rather quickly. How will he do it?

He will focus on what he wants, not on what he doesn’t want. And, he will thrive.

I hope 2104 brings you great success, health and prosperity.

Thought for the week:

“If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.” – Jim Rohn

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Coaching Someone About Changing Jobs

A good friend called me last night to seek my advice about his desire to change jobs. I’m going to refer to his current position as “Job A” and a position he’s interviewing for “Opportunity B.”

He really needs Opportunity B to set the stage for “Opportunity C.” Opportunity B is a critically important interim step for him–if Opportunity B doesn’t provide the background and insights he is looking for, he will have set himself back and lost valuable time.

Given his objectives, I coached him to be careful about Opportunity B, to try to confirm that his “must haves” in the new job are really there and if not, to turn down Opportunity B if it is offered to him.

Last night, the biggest “must have” I heard is that he wants to leave Job A because it is not giving him the background and experience that he craves.  That doesn’t speak to what he needs in his next position. Impatience is driving his decision, not carefully understood “must haves” that need to be derived from the his next job opportunity.

Because he’s not happy in Job A, he believes that, no matter what, Opportunity B has to be better. This is in spite of the fact he doesn’t yet know how well Opportunity B aligns with his “must haves.” He’s really not given the idea of his “must haves” appropriate energy and attention at this point.

I’m concerned he might find more unhappiness in Opportunity B if he finds out it wasn’t what he wanted or needed. It sounds to me like the people he’s interviewing with are telling him what they think he wants to hear, not necessarily what he can realistically expect. Has that ever happened to anyone you know? Has that ever happened to you?

I advised him that, while the company is trying to assess him for Opportunity B, he needs to just as carefully assess whether or not Opportunity B puts him on a path to Opportunity C.  Somehow during the interview process, he needs to look for evidence–not just hear sweet words–that Opportunity B is going to be a win for him. He’s got to ask great questions of the people he interviews with to try to determine if Opportunity B is an appropriate next-step in his career.

At the end of the day, he’s got to look for alignment between his “must haves” and Opportunity B. If there’s poor alignment, he’s got to turn down Opportunity B.

What do you think?

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Dave Gardner

Employee retention during economic recovery

Too many employees have become terribly frustrated in this current economy due to overwork, stress, lack of effective processes, poor leadership, etc.

One of my colleagues asks, “What should senior leaders do now to build engagement and ‘loyalty’ so they don’t lose their best people when market conditions change?”  Here are my thoughts:

• Focus on the self-interest of each individual and make sure those interests are being met–help them get what they want and they’ll help you get what you want
• Be ruthless about listening and communication
• Remember that people leave bosses more than companies
• Don’t be tolerant of known issues that need to be addressed

What do you think?

 

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

 

© 2011 Dave Gardner

Achieving More with Greater Life Balance

I was in the middle of my MBA program when I received a call from a contract job shop about a position at National Semiconductor Computer Products Group.  I showed up for the interview and believed without one ounce of hesitation that I could do the job hands down.

I told my potential employer that I was on my way to Santa Clara University as soon as the interview was over to sign-up and pay for next-quarter’s MBA classes and needed to know on the spot if they wanted me to start the position on Monday as I would sign up for 2 rather 4 classes. [As I understood it, the Jesuits did not refund money for classes.]

My potential employer was a bit aghast at my brazenness, something I could certainly understand, but, frankly, my primary focus in life was getting my MBA.  If opportunity and fate could converge that morning, I’d be happy to make something work at National Semiconductor; if not, oh well.  So, for my potential employer, it was a “snooze you loose” proposition.  He chose not to snooze.  This turned out to be a “win-win.”  I soon joined National Semiconductor as a full-time employee; National paid for the second half of my MBA.

What’s the point of this story?  I was not to be deterred when it came to getting my MBA.  I was focused like a laser-beam on this.  As the years have passed, I find it takes more effort to sustain the same laser-like focus.  Some of my consulting colleagues mentioned a book that addressed this and I couldn’t wait to get it and read it. I was not disappointed.

This marvelous book is called The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.  I recommend it highly. In this book, Steven talks about overcoming resistance to getting things done that profoundly impactful one’s life, e.g., writing a book, starting an important article, setting up a meeting that you aren’t looking forward to, getting an MBA, etc.  He slices and dices resistance in such a way that, if you suffer from procrastination, there is no way you are going to miss seeing yourself in the picture.

For example, I’ve known all week that this article is due and I’ve now allocated time to “just do it.”  I am out of runway. I had no definitive angle selected as I started to write this article—I just started writing as Steven Pressfield advises. I want you to receive tremendous value for taking a few minutes to read this.

Business people are prone to focusing on the urgent matters in their world, not the most important matters. It’s a disease.  I suffer from it; most people suffer from it.

I can tolerate procrastination on key issues no more. It is easy to get immersed in email, online forums, the Internet, phone calls, etc., and harder to get focused on the things that really matter, e.g., exercise, diet, quality family time, writing my next book proposal, writing the book itself, writing an article for The Business Forum, etc.

In Stephanie Frank’s book The Accidental Millionaire, Stephanie suggests we look at our time usage in four dimensions:

Allocation	Definition
Focus Time	Time when you work “on” your business such as product & service development, book creation, article, speech development, marketing, web site evolution, etc.  This is the important stuff.
Flex Time	Time when you work “in” your business—actual delivery of your products and services.  This is the urgent stuff.
Family Time	Time with family
Free Time	Time for yourself to exercise, read a novel, watch television, meditate, contemplate your navel, etc.

Most of us are really busy with Flex and Family time but allocate little time for Focus and Free time. This out-of-balance situation is not sustainable for you or your business.

• If you never have any Free time, you may feel as though you just go through the motions of life, never taking a moment for yourself.
• If you give up Family time, you are missing things that can’t be replaced.
• If you never allow yourself Focus time, your business may not be sustainable.  You have to prime the pump of desire if you are to continually position yourself to attract new customers and clients. That requires dedicated Focus time.

There are 2 dimensions to solving this time allocation issue:  (1) awareness of where you are spending your time, and (2) being willing to change what you are doing if you are continually out of balance.  If Flex time is consuming most of your time and energy, you need to figure out how to personally not do that work yourself: offload, outsource, stop doing unnecessary things, etc.

My mentor, Alan Weiss, teaches that, as much as we’d like to believe to the contrary, we really don’t have a business life and a personal life: we have a life.  That life is built around the 4 dimensions Stephanie Frank addresses.

Here’s to better life balance and greater achievements.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Dave Gardner