In this week's issue of Unleash Your Potential, I wrote about investing 30 minutes a day in your personal and professional development. I lised ten specific things you could do in that 30 minutes. Then, because I could hear the naysayers in my mind, I listed 10 ways to find those 30 minutes.

You can read the article here.

Last night I received an email that read:

Thanks Kevin.

Greetings from India. I absolutely loved your article...in theory...I dont know if I will ever find the 30 minutes you talk about...

But...thanks for encouraging me to look...

Have a great day

While I gave this reader (and now you) 10 ways to find your 30 minutes, my advice is twofold.

1. Get crystal clear on what you desire - and how investing 30 minutes in a new way will help you get there. That clarity and desire will make finding the 30 minute much easier.
2. If you still can't find 30 minutes, start smaller. Find 10 or 15 minutes, consistently, everyday and invest them in your chosen way. Once you begin to enjoy the fruits of this re-investment, more time will find its way to you.

Read the article and take those two steps, and I'll guarantee 2007 will be your best year ever.

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Whoonu is a great game with a funny name. I heard about it around Christmas time from a couple of sources, then played it at my Mom's house before New Years. Then I bought a copy (actually I bought two).

We've played it at home (Kelsey, my 8 year old) loves it, and I've introduced it to others.

I reviewed it in my newsletter, Unleash Your Potential recently (you'll find it here). One of the people I introduced it to was Bernie DeKoven, who among other things is Major Fun and he granted the game a Major Fun Award (see his review here.)

And last week I used the game as an icebreaker/team building exercise for 30 people in a training session. While I'm not sure the game was designed for this, it met my needs very well (with a couple of simple modifications).

It is a great game, and I highly recommend it, whether as a family game, a party icebreaker or your newest corporate training tool.

Also posted in Creativity, Learning, Teamwork, and Training.

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In an organizational context, there are may connections between our work and helping others reach their goals. Consider:

- It is our responsibility and opportunity as a leader to help others reach their goals.
- As members of teams we have the chance to help others reach their goals.
- As a trainer you are in a unique position to help people reach their goals
- When serving Customers, by definition, if in only a small way that is what you are doing.

Perhaps because of all of these factors, I have been ending emails with "Let me know how I can help you reach your goals in 2007" for a few days now. Since doing so, several interesting things have happened.

1. On the day I decided to make this a regular part of many emails, I sent a note to a colleague and friend, ending it that way. Her response included: "Oh baby - I love that question "please let me know what I can do to help you reach your 2007 goals". That's awesome and right back atcha." She added that a friend of hers had asked her the same question the day before and was also resolved to ask people that question everyday.

2. I added it to my basic email signature yesterday, and a person I didn't know emailed me a question. My inclusion of that line caused him to send a note asking for some help which I was able to provide. (It also led to me finding out that one of my articles was reprinted in a very visible place I was unaware of).

3. Several people have replied, asking me what they can do to help me.

4. Perhaps more important than these occurrences is that I am now much more consciously focused on helping others reach their goals. Not only is that good business, given the business that I am in, but it feels great.

I urge you to ask this question of others in your own way in the coming days. And let me close by saying...

Let me know what I can do to help you reach your goals in 2007.

Also posted in Customer Service, Leadership, Learning, Teamwork, and Training.

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Last week during the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, I heard a news story on the radio. Included the collection of private papers that were being made public for the first time ever was a college report card.

This wouldn't necessarily be all that interesting and wouldn't have made the news, except this report card included a grade for a public speaking class. That grade? A C.

Martin Luther King Jr, one of the most powerful orators of the 20th century got a C in public speaking. He obviously didn't take that as a message about his skill or potential, and he didn't use it as an excuse.

What excuse are you using today as a leader?

What excuse are you using today as a member of your team?

What excuse are you using today in any part of your life?

The next time you hear yourself making an excuse, think "Dr. King, C."

Then get over it and get going.

Also posted in Leadership, Learning, Teamwork and Training.

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An old friend (thanks Joe!) sent me a link to an amazing page today. It is called the Periodic Table of Visualization Methods, it looks like, well, the Periodic Table of Elements (duh).

But what it does in this format is provide 93 ways to visualize or look at information. It cleverly categorizes these methods in a variety of ways, AND as you hover over any individual method a window pops up and gives you an example of that method.

It is so much better to look at it than read my lame description. It is creative and will be useful to any trainer, instructional designer, author, presenter or anyone who communicates (which is everyone). It is also a perfect example of how powerful our sense of visualization is as humans.

This is a wonderful resource, and you will love it. Take a look here.

Also posted in Creativity, Leadership, Learning and Training.

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I've been "tagged" by a good friend of mine, Phil Gerbyshak and challenged to share five things people don't know about me. I enjoyed learning the five things about Phil, so I decided to take his challenge, so here are . . .

Five Things You Don't Know About Kevin Eikenberry

1. I had my paternal Grandmother as a fifth grade homeroom and social studies teacher.
2. I drove a farm truck to drivers training class one day, and I was late. I created a quite a stir in the class when I arrived after they saw the truck still outside.
3. My Dad was President of the School Board when I graduated from high school, so he signed and handed me my diploma.
4. I met my wife Lori while at Purdue University (Hail Purdue!) and we disagree about the details of the night we met.
5. I wrote an essay for my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary in 1992. It was then that I realized, I might be able to write effectively.


Admittedly I picked mostly older stuff, but I thought that might be more interesting.

As was Phil's suggestion (and the way the game is played), I am tagging five other people: Brett Atkin, Jodee Bock, Bernie DeKoven, Steve Farber, and Curt Rosengren.

Comments and questions welcome. Thanks Phil!

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If you are interested in learning more about leading change, specifically about dealing with resistance, then you need to join my guest conversation with Melanie Mills, change expert on Monday January 15th at 2 pm ET (11 am PT, etc.).

The call is a part of my Remarkable Leadership Learning System, but we are opening this guest conversation up to readers... like you. :)

You don't have to worry about what it costs, because I'm taking care of your charges for you - your participation is with my compliments. Click here to learn all the details and to sign up.

Oh, and if you aren't available for the live call, sign up anyway because you will have access to the recording and the transcript.

If you are a leader, trainer, member of a project team, or in anyway related to leading or understanding change, you want to be on this interactive (yes you will be able to get your questions answered) call.

Talk to you then!

Here's the link again.

Also posted in Leadership, Learning, Teamwork and Training.

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In my last post, I suggested you read Joe Vitale's post. (Now you have another chance).

In Joe's post he quotes a friend who says, "I am totally satisfied, I just want more." That quote is very powerful, especially in the context of being grateful in every moment.

I've been thinking about being grateful in each moment, for each moment; recognizing the magic that each moment can bring. When I saw this short (and very creative) video this morning, I was moved to share it with you.

Our world doesn't "look" like this video, and yet in every moment there are sights and sounds more amazing and wonderful than those in the video, if we open our eyes, ears, minds and hearts to them.

There is magic in this moment. Do you see it? Do you feel it?

Be grateful.

Also posted in Creativity and Learning.

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This post on Joe Vitale's blog is definitely worth reading. It give you a great perspective on how to get from where you are to where you want to be.

First you must know those two points. But Joe's post gives you an important tactical key that you can apply everyday, starting the minute you read his post.

Go read it now.

Also posted in Leadership and Teamwork.

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It is hard to avoid it - even if you don't read the tabloids or watch tabloid TV, you probably know that Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump are having a spat. If you need a recap you can go here. I call it a spat, but they'd call it a conflict.

And in the "conflict" is where there is at least two lessons for us.

Lesson 1: If you want to resolve a conflict, you must know where the conflict comes from, and what is in it for the other person to remain in conflict.

In the case of Rosie and Donald, I don't believe they want to get out of this conflict (or really, that it is really even a conflict) at all. What is in it for both of them is the same thing - publicity.

Rosie replaced Meredith Vierra on The View, and while ratings have gone up (I heard last night), the publicity certainly helps. Donald get publicity for his Miss Universe brand, and the fact that the on-air tussle comes when the new season of The Apprentice is arriving, makes it all the better.

Lesson 2: If the other person doesn't want to resolve the conflict, don't escalate it.

Also posted in Customer Service, Leadership, Teamwork and Training.

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Today is the final in my series of Seven Ways to Improve Your Professional Results in 2007 (or anytime). The first six suggestions are:

- Create more energy in your life.
- Commit to better working relationships.
- Project a contagious, positive attitude.
- Talk less, listen more.
- Mentor someone.
- Keep a journal.

I've never been very good at those "which five CDs would you want on a desert island?" kinds of questions and so I'm not sure I could pick just one of these suggestions, but I could make a passionate case for today's suggestion:

Set a big goal.

The reason this one might be the most important is that if you set a big goal, the other suggestions might well become tactics to help you achieve that goal.

Simply setting a goal would be a good tactic, but setting a big goal is a better tactic. If you have, in the past had trouble getting started, read this article - it will help you take away all of your excuses.

Your goal could be about your application of one of the other suggestions above, but more likely it will be about a skill you want to develop, a financial position you'd like to be in, a possession you'd like to acquire, a promotion you'd like to secure, or any of 1000 other things.

Whatever your goal is, setting it provides you greater focus and raises your intention for success. That is fine.

But if you really want to accelerate your results, make the goal big. Make it outrageous. Stretch yourself beyond where you think you 'should' be.

Create a goal worthy of your potential.

Then go out and achieve it.

You can do it.

Also posted in Customer Service, Leadership, Learning and Training.

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This is the sixth in my series of seven ways to improve your professional results in 2007. You can read yesterday's suggestion on mentoring here, which links you to all of the other four.

My sixth suggestion is a more personal one. It doesn't require interaction with or cooperation with anyone else. And you will find it to be one of the most powerful ways to increase your rate of learning. What is it, you ask?

Keep a journal.

A journal is an amazing learning tool! Your journal can take many forms:

• It can be electronic - in a Word document, as a series of PowerPoint slides or however else you think would work best for you.
• It could reside in your day planner,
• You could use a steno pad
• It could be in a dedicated book of your choice (I got a Moleskin notebook for Christmas and I'm using it for a special new Goals Journal)
• Or it could be anywhere else you choose.

Where you journal is less important than that you journal.

Use your journal to jot down key ideas to refresh your memory, new ideas you want to capture, lists of the books you want to read, a list of the books you have read, a list of your goals - you get the idea.

A journal is a tool for reflection and forward thinking that can become one of the most valuable development habits you'll ever create.

But only if you create it and write in it. There is no perfect way to journal, so rather than trying to figure that all out, just get started.

p.s. I wrote this advice for an article in Unleash Your Potential a couple of weeks ago, then on December 30th, my Dad showed me a small notebook he found in my Grandfather's drawer after he died earlier in the year. The pictures at the top of this post are of this very small notebook. Based on the age of the notebook and the fact that the words were written with a fountain pen, I'm guessing the notebook is older than I am. If the reasons I've just shared with you for keeping a journal or notebook aren't enough, how about leaving a legacy for your family?

Also posted in Leadership, Learning and Training.

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After skipping New Year's Eve (I spent the day with family and away from an internet connection) I'm back for the fifth in our series of seven tips to improve your professional results.

You can find the first four:
1
2
3
4

and number five?

Mentor someone.

This might seem backwards - to improve yourself by helping someone else. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you share experiences and advice with someone else (especially when your focus is on their improvement) you are reflecting on what you have learned; helping you deepen your knowledge and remind yourself of things that work.

Make the time to help and support someone else on their professional development path. It might be someone in your department or in your organization, or someone external. In any case, you will be helping another person succeed by benefiting from your experience.

You can grow by finding a mentor for yourself, and that is a wonderful strategy. But you can gain tremendously by being the mentor too.

Also posted in Leadership, Learning, Teamwork, and Training.

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It is the start of a New Year. A new chance to start fresh, to create the life and results you want.

Today I re-dedicate myself and this blog to providing you with ideas, tools and approaches to help you on your path towards your goals, both personal and professional.

My last few posts have been a series of suggestions for improving your professional results. There are three more in that series, and one of those I'll share in the next post.

Pick one and get started. The days will pass whether you do or you don't.

Celebrate your New Year by deciding how you will improve your results.

Also posted in Leadership, Learning, Teamwork and Training.

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