And at long last, 2009 is upon us.
Many think 2008 went by quick. But if you take the time to reflect and examine 2008 goals on a monthly basis, you’ll see how long the year was by realizing how much you did each month.
You or your company has undoubtedly already received quite a number of holiday cards, seasonal cards or New Years cards. This officially invites us to our first great opportunity of the New Year: the best time of the year to connect!
Many people find communication difficult when they don’t have something of specific value to share or a hot topic of interest to discuss. The New Year is the single best time, applicable to everyone, to get in touch with friends, colleagues, and clients. You should contact EVERYONE you know in the month of January. Even if it’s just a quick e-mail, a general New Years eCard or wishing everyone great professional success through LinkedIn. Either way, make absolutely sure your name is seen by everyone you know in a positive way. The more time you can allocate the better in customizing the message – but the key is to connect with everyone even if for only a moment. It’s better to drop a quick “happy new year! Cheers to great success in 2009!” to 30 outlook contacts… than not saying or doing anything at all.
Send a “hello” to your people today!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Seasonal Focus: your purpose for success
Without Purpose, there is no Focus.
Without Focus people tend to get distracted very easily.
The problem with distraction is that it typically leads to not getting things done. Creative distraction can be a beneficial use of time when implemented properly. But one should always remember that focusing will lead to getting the things that matter accomplished. In business, when distraction results in no change, no innovation, no growth… it’s not a good thing.
So let’s start with examining the root of focus: your purpose.
Take some time this holiday season to ask yourself (with pen in hand and paper on desk) what is your main purpose for doing what you do Professionally? Personally? Will your purpose change in 2009? What do you live for on a daily basis? What are the people/ values/ memories/ luxuries in your life that you feel you need to protect and/or support?
After you redefine or empower your purpose, think on how this should provide Focus to your situation now. Are you doing what needs to be done for you to support your purpose and reach your goals? Or maybe 2008 has lead to a few more distractions than you may have realized. Take this time to utilize the winter season’s economic conditions to prepare yourself for the spring cleaning and new success that awaits you in the New Year. The time and strategy you do now is a personal investment in your future.
Happy holidays! I know your 2009 will be a great New Year!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Process of Productivity: Are you Results oriented… or Solutions oriented?
Results are as clear as 1s and 0s. But is it really the best method to focus exclusively on results?
I definitely am on the R.O.W.E. bandwagon. Best Buy’s Results Only Work Environment is truly considered Work 2.0.
ROWE is a management philosophy that allows the worker to work wherever and whenever they want. Obviously, depending on your department, there are general meetings to connect and make sure people are on the same page. But studies have shown dramatic increases in productivity with this management tactic.
The core value of this philosophy is in understanding that results are everything. Most employees think they are paid for their time. While most employers think they are paying for results. Miscommunication occurs when the worker feels they’ve put in substantial amounts of effort, and the manager feels the results are not quite up to expectation.
It is of extreme benefit for you to learn this distinction as soon as possible in your career. The sooner you focus specifically on results and on how to communicate these results to your manager/shareholder/board/client/team the more successful you will be.
But there’s more to this concept than just stopping at “results”.
The “results only” concept may frustrate you. We are all human and many of us do not produce tangible successful results every day or even every week… what then? When put on the stand… most of us respond “but I tried”.
Let’s discuss the negative connotations with the word “try”.
The simple fact is that you never “try” to do anything. You build a process and when “trying” you actually start “Doing” and accomplishing many mini goals, until you get stuck… which could result in you again saying “I tried”. And the cycle could continue.
The truth behind this knee jerk reaction is that you just haven’t had enough time to fully accomplish the goal or you haven’t been working efficiently enough (which could be an internal issue or an external issue).
The key is in communication! Next time you feel like responding to a complaint or question with, I “tried” – don’t!
Instead; support what you did do, be proud of how far you got, explain what you believe solutions to the problem may now be based on what you were able to accomplish. Become an asset to your team by taking your attempts or even your so called “failures” and present how and why these have lead to a greater understanding of the process and how you will put them to work in achieving the goal at hand.
Basically, being overly results oriented could lead to a loss in the process. So I like to focus more on being “Solution Oriented”.
I definitely am on the R.O.W.E. bandwagon. Best Buy’s Results Only Work Environment is truly considered Work 2.0.
ROWE is a management philosophy that allows the worker to work wherever and whenever they want. Obviously, depending on your department, there are general meetings to connect and make sure people are on the same page. But studies have shown dramatic increases in productivity with this management tactic.
The core value of this philosophy is in understanding that results are everything. Most employees think they are paid for their time. While most employers think they are paying for results. Miscommunication occurs when the worker feels they’ve put in substantial amounts of effort, and the manager feels the results are not quite up to expectation.
It is of extreme benefit for you to learn this distinction as soon as possible in your career. The sooner you focus specifically on results and on how to communicate these results to your manager/shareholder/board/client/team the more successful you will be.
But there’s more to this concept than just stopping at “results”.
The “results only” concept may frustrate you. We are all human and many of us do not produce tangible successful results every day or even every week… what then? When put on the stand… most of us respond “but I tried”.
Let’s discuss the negative connotations with the word “try”.
The simple fact is that you never “try” to do anything. You build a process and when “trying” you actually start “Doing” and accomplishing many mini goals, until you get stuck… which could result in you again saying “I tried”. And the cycle could continue.
The truth behind this knee jerk reaction is that you just haven’t had enough time to fully accomplish the goal or you haven’t been working efficiently enough (which could be an internal issue or an external issue).
The key is in communication! Next time you feel like responding to a complaint or question with, I “tried” – don’t!
Instead; support what you did do, be proud of how far you got, explain what you believe solutions to the problem may now be based on what you were able to accomplish. Become an asset to your team by taking your attempts or even your so called “failures” and present how and why these have lead to a greater understanding of the process and how you will put them to work in achieving the goal at hand.
Basically, being overly results oriented could lead to a loss in the process. So I like to focus more on being “Solution Oriented”.
Monday, December 15, 2008
95% of success is just showing up
If you were able to see a macro-view of all the opportunity you currently have access to and how much of it you pass by on a daily basis, your head would start spinning. There is so much opportunity out there because no one is claiming it. In fact, there’s so much… it can’t all be claimed!
Yet people continue to think that there are no jobs for them, no market for which their product or service will sell, or no new clients to communicate with that would care about what they’re selling.
With around 300 million people in America alone… how could you truly think like that?
People think of a good idea, and start to learn how they could launch the idea on the internet, but then they don’t follow through. Why? They shut themselves down; “I can’t, it won’t work, I’ll sink so much money into it, if it can be done successfully - its already being done”…
So untrue.
But in your conditioned choice of not acting… you make it true.
It’s absolutely amazing how often I talk to truly beautiful women that complain about never being approached by guys. Every other month some cover girl on a popular men’s magazine says they’ve never been randomly asked out in public.
Why is that? Too many people look at opportunity and say to themselves “it’ll never happen, why even try”. “She already has a boyfriend, she’s married, she wouldn’t care about someone like me, I don’t have enough money”… I feel I’ve heard it all. Do you know what this results in? The ladies saying “where have all the good men gone, why doesn’t anyone ever ask me out, why can’t I ever find the right man for me”.
The key is in acting. It’s important to ask. It’s important to try. Even if you only get a dinner or two out of the invitation, you have that much more confidence and practice to apply when your future spouse shows up in your life. Same thing with the opportunity for your future career or business. If you ask a fortune 500 company to license or buy your product and fail, what have you lost? Nothing.
If they buy from you, what have you gained? Everything!
One year I was giving a business communications speech at SJSU. There was a small reward for best speech in the category that year. I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been or usually am. But I felt just doing it would give me experience I could apply later. I went and gave a speech that was complemented on both during and after the event. To top that off, I was the only one to show up. I won by default.
I can’t repeat this concept enough. If you see an opportunity, TAKE IT. ACT ON IT. Do something. Even if your results are not absolutely perfect, the value in experience and potential is limitless.
A key to success is not focusing exclusively on the results – but in remembering most of the time the hardest job is just showing up.
And as a bonus: the path you take to get there more than likely will be just as rewarding as the result!
Yet people continue to think that there are no jobs for them, no market for which their product or service will sell, or no new clients to communicate with that would care about what they’re selling.
With around 300 million people in America alone… how could you truly think like that?
People think of a good idea, and start to learn how they could launch the idea on the internet, but then they don’t follow through. Why? They shut themselves down; “I can’t, it won’t work, I’ll sink so much money into it, if it can be done successfully - its already being done”…
So untrue.
But in your conditioned choice of not acting… you make it true.
It’s absolutely amazing how often I talk to truly beautiful women that complain about never being approached by guys. Every other month some cover girl on a popular men’s magazine says they’ve never been randomly asked out in public.
Why is that? Too many people look at opportunity and say to themselves “it’ll never happen, why even try”. “She already has a boyfriend, she’s married, she wouldn’t care about someone like me, I don’t have enough money”… I feel I’ve heard it all. Do you know what this results in? The ladies saying “where have all the good men gone, why doesn’t anyone ever ask me out, why can’t I ever find the right man for me”.
The key is in acting. It’s important to ask. It’s important to try. Even if you only get a dinner or two out of the invitation, you have that much more confidence and practice to apply when your future spouse shows up in your life. Same thing with the opportunity for your future career or business. If you ask a fortune 500 company to license or buy your product and fail, what have you lost? Nothing.
If they buy from you, what have you gained? Everything!
One year I was giving a business communications speech at SJSU. There was a small reward for best speech in the category that year. I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been or usually am. But I felt just doing it would give me experience I could apply later. I went and gave a speech that was complemented on both during and after the event. To top that off, I was the only one to show up. I won by default.
I can’t repeat this concept enough. If you see an opportunity, TAKE IT. ACT ON IT. Do something. Even if your results are not absolutely perfect, the value in experience and potential is limitless.
A key to success is not focusing exclusively on the results – but in remembering most of the time the hardest job is just showing up.
And as a bonus: the path you take to get there more than likely will be just as rewarding as the result!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)