March 31st if you are in India, Asia and Australia.

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We can find success secrets in many places - though they aren't always secrets. Success, you see, leaves clues, and when you observe, listen to and learn from the very successful in any arena of life you will find these clues . . . if you look for them.

This morning I found them in a USA Today story about Will Smith (in part a promotion for his new movie Seven Pounds), The story, titled 'Seven Pounds,' seven keys to Will Smith's success , gives you a glimpse into the success habits of one of Hollywood's most respected leading men.

If you want to see some of these clues,read the article. Pay particular attention to his seventh point - "Leave Nothing to Chance." In this short section you will see a clue about the importance of purpose in our lives - in this case in the context of marriage.

For us to maximize our success (by whatever metric you want to use - not just monetarily), we must operate from a position of purpose. Whether as a leader, team member, peer, , or in your personal life, purpose is a powerful thing.

We'll talk about some success clues, but more importantly, I translate these clues into specific actionable ideas to help you make your next 12 months your best 12 months in my teleseminar on Dec 18th.

Consider this learning opportunity my gift to you. I hope you will join me!

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If you've read blogs for very long, you've seen these things before. A blogger posts "seven things you don't know about me" and in the chain letter tradition, urges seven more bloggers to do the same. Of course if everyone did that, by now even those without blogs would have had to start blogs in order to complete the cycle. But I digress . . .

I have gotten these requests before and thought they might be fun, but I haven't done it (perhaps I've been the cycle breaker?).

Why then, am I writing this post today? For reasons, that I believe are instructive (beyond the coming seven bullet points about me). . .

1. The person that tagged me is Mike Figliuolo of the Thought Leaders blog. It is a great blog and I have recently become acquanited with Mike through Twitter (he's @figliuolo) and our mutual friend and colleague Jim Canterucci (@canterucci on Twitter).

2. I recently did a webinar with Michael Stallard on the importance of connecting with others (here's the link to the webinar).

3. Because of that webinar, I wrote an article that was posted earlier called Get Connected.

Do you notice a theme?

I decided to write this to build my connection and relationship with Mike. And because of my recent work on the subject, I felt I could make the post more relevant to you, and lastly, I hope the seven things about me that I am about to write will help form or deepen the connection between you and I - which is one of the best reasons for me to be writing this blog anyway.

So here we go.

1. My Grandmother was my fifth grade Homeroom and Social Studies teacher. Mom and Dad told me I had to call her Mrs. Eikenberry, and on the first morning, Grandma told me, in fron of the whole class, that if I didn't call her Grandma I would flunk. She won. By the end of the year, half the class called her Grandma.

2. I played the tenor saxaphone in the Purdue "All American" Marching Band for two football seasons. The band was as big as my entire High School. I tried out because I thought it might be fun, and I would have better seats for the football games (that isn't the case for the band now). It also allowed me to play at Northwestern, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, a Detroit Lions game, the Liberty Bowl and the Indy 500.

3. I'm not a big vegetable fan. I grew up a picky eater, and while I am much better now, I still don't need any cooked spinach, broccoli or asparagus (among others).

4. I like most music, but Country Music is my favorite. I grew up on quartet gospel, which drew harmonies from country music, I love stories, and well, country was the easiest to find on the tractor radio (where I spent MANY hours). Barbara Mandrell sang a song "I was Country When Country Wasn't Cool." I identified with the song then and I still do.

5. My favorite fiction writers are James Michener and Og Mandino. I've read everything Og Mandino wrote and most of Michener. I read Centennial as a eighth grader and loved it - the idea of historical fiction was new to me at the time. And Og, well, someday, I hope to write as powerfully as he did.

6. I have 7 bookshelves full of books in our offices (a.k.a. the Remarkable House). And probably enough books in boxes to fill two more. And Lori, my wife, is still waiting for me to move my books out of the house.

7. I love auctions. I guess it comes from going to so many as a kid. It doesn't matter what they are selling - I like them. Someday I plan to get my auctioneer's license.

7.A I'll bet I own the only BMW with a Purdue license plate on the back, and a John Deere plate on the front. I collect antique tractors -yes the real ones - and 8 of the 10 in the current collection are John Deeres (this hobby is one good reason to go to auctions). Let me know if you want to see pictures, or have one to sell. :)

Regardless of what you learned about me, or if you feel more connected to me, I hope the meta-message of this post is clear - do what it takes to build deeper connections with those you lead, teach, work with or who are otherwise in your life. That investment may not be repaid immediately, but you will be richly rewarded in the long run.

Here are seven other bloggers who I'd like a deeper connection with, so I will tag them.

Michael Stallard
Pam Slim
Rajesh Setty
Steve Roesler
Kyle Lacy
Shama Hyder
Jose Castillo

Thanks Mike - writing this post was more fun, and hopefully more valuable to others, than I thought it would be.

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I just opened an email that told me I have been named a Distinguished Author by Best Management Articles.

I don't share that to brag or make some sort of pronouncement. I share it here for the lesson it gives to all of us.

If you want something, you must take action.

I've been writing articles for several years - well over 300 of them at this point (not counting over 700 blog posts). In that time I have gotten better (I hope), I have had some great things happen and met some wonderful people. But none of it would have happened - including receiving the email today - if I hadn't:

1. Decided to write.
2. Write.
3. Keep writing.

If I stop at 1 (which many people do) or at 2 (because "I wrote an article and nothing happened"), the results I am receiving and will continue to receive wouldn't have come to me.

By the way, this article isn't about writing unless that is your action too. This article is about deciding to do the things that will help you become more successful and reach your goals.

Maybe you want to be better with Customers. Maybe you want to be more creative. Maybe you want to be a better team member or team leader. Or maybe you want to learn something new.

It doesn't matter what your "what" it; the formula remains the same.

1. Decide
2. Do
3. Keep doing

Chances are you know what your what is. You may have even taken step 1 by deciding to do it.

Now it is time for action and discipline.

This is a very simple success formula. It's time to get going.

Labels: success

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My friend and project management expert Jim Brosseau just published his latest issue of the Clarrus Compendium, and he talks about an important distinction in team performance.

Here is how it begins . . .

In many shops, I have seen situations where one person (or perhaps a few, but it is always a minority) appears to be getting in the way, and the perception is that they need to be sent on their way for the good of the team. While this actually is true in some cases, I think that more often than not it is more a case of failing to appreciate what others bring to the table.

The measurement of personal productivity is a powerful tool, but can be wielded in dysfunctional ways. It is possible to measure the amount of new code that a developer produces over a period of time, or the number of defects found by a tester, and these are great measures for the individual to use as a basis for estimates of future work. In the context of the team, though, there is a strong tendency to start comparisons. Alice produces more code than Bob, so is Alice better? Bob finds more defects than Cindy, so is Bob better? By this sort of measure of productivity, most executives would be seen as highly unproductive (unless of course we measured the amount of time they spent facing their Blackberries or iPhones). We need to go well beyond the surface.

Read the rest here.

Than think about how you evaluate those you work with, and decide if you have your measurements calibrated correctly.

If all of this makes you think, you might want to read this past post of mine too.

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In this world of cell phones, skype, email, instant messages, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In (must I continue?) It seems hard to believe that we build communities around the world better than we do right . . . next . . . door.

Consider this:

According to social scientists, from 1974 to 1998, the frequency with which Americans spent a social evening with neighbors fell by about one-third. Robert Putnam, the author of “Bowling Alone,” a groundbreaking study of the disintegration of the American social fabric, suggests that the decline actually began 20 years earlier, so that neighborhood ties today are less than half as strong as they were in the 1950s.

This comes from a New York Times piece this morning, written by Peter Lovenheim who is writing a book about neighborhoods. (Read the full essay)

So Let Me Ask You?

When was the last time you focused on building the community with those who live near you rather than logging into Facebook? When was the last time you worked on your relationships at in the office rather than doing more email?

Networking, social media, and being in touch and available is great, but what are we trading for those wonderful new things?

Get some balance today - for yourself, your co-workers, those you lead, and for your neighbors.

Everyone will win.

Labels: relationships

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I sat down with Susan Otto, owner of Training-Modules.com, instructional designer extraordinaire, colleague and friend of mine recently (okay, we did it through email because we are both busy and live two hours apart) and asked her some questions about her experiences and advice around creating more effective meetings. Here are her thoughts on my questions . . .

What is the biggest issue with meetings today?

No one is considering the true cost. When was the last time - if ever - that you estimated the cost of a meeting. I don't mean the room, lights, food, etc. I don't even mean time spent just chatting because you were waiting to start the meeting -though that is important, too. I mean the meeting member’s salary for that time spent. If everyone in an hour-long meeting made $30.00 per hour and there were seven people present, then the cost for that hour-long meeting would be $210.00 just for the members. That doesn't include the cost of what they could have been doing with there time if they weren't "stuck" in the meeting. And, that cost gets much higher when you have executives attending the meetings.

(a note from Kevin - when you add in the cost of infrastructure and benefits, the number goes up by another 30-50%!)


What do you believe is the most important thing you can do to make a meeting more effective?

Create and provide an agenda - based on the purpose for the meeting. Any meeting items that are not pertinent to the meeting's purpose should be eliminated. And, if possible, the agenda should be distributed prior to the meeting.


What is one of the biggest mistakes people make when attending meetings?

Not being prepared. This follows what I just mentioned . . . if an agenda is distributed prior to the meeting, each member attending should know what they need to do and/or bring to make the meeting more effective. And, if you are invited to attend a meeting and you don’t have a clear idea of why you need to attend, call and find out. Then consider whether your participation at that meeting is really necessary.


What is one of the biggest mistakes people make when planning meetings?

Expecting the "usual" members to attend the meeting, which again follows what I was just alluding to. Only invite those members to attend who really need to be at a meeting. Oftentimes, people are invited to meetings whose attendance is not necessary, especially for the purpose of the meeting. Some meeting could, and should, be sub-meeting where only a few members meet to discuss and decide on issues. Written communication, following the meeting, can provide the rest of the group with what was discussed or decided.


What can I do to evaluate my meetings' effectiveness?

Ask someone to attend one of your meetings, paying attention to the interactions between team members only. Watch for who participates in the meeting, who talks to whom, etc. Oftentimes an outside resource can provide you with valuable insights into the groups’ or teams’ meeting effectiveness, especially if the team is well-established team and has been working together for a long time.

Thanks Susan!
....

Susan has created a training module that can be used in your organization to improve your meetings - and has created an eWorkbook (a tremendous value) on the same topic. I urge you to take a look at those links (as well as all of the other Modules and eWorkbooks she has available) if you would like to create more effective meetings for yourself or across your organization.

These are just two examples of Susan's excellent work - take a look to learn more, download some samples and make a purchase.

Labels: meetings

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Staying connected is important for us in any number of roles in our lives: as leaders, as friends, as businesspeople, as marketers, as parents, as family members, as people.

Labels: conncetions, relationships

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Today my son Parker, a Sophomore in High School had a disappointment. A goal of his for over a year was denied him, at least for now. After a long conversation, some hugs and some tears he is feeling better.

It reminded me of a video my friend Jon Gordon shared on his website today. The title? Life = Risk (watch it here). When I watched it this morning, it made me smile. When Parker watched it tonight, it made him smile. It shares a clear point.

Things don't always go the way we plan. We will face disappointments. But if we don't take risks, nothing will happen. Disappointments can be stepping stones to successes, but no mistakes and no risks mean no life at all.

I suppose we all know this, and yet we don't always remember. How many risks are you taking, as a leader, as a team member, and a human being?

Labels: mistakes, risks

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In the USA Today yesterday I read about a new book called Not Quite What I was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. The title tells you the premise - you have just six words to write your memoir. You can read examples and contribute your own (perhaps in the next book!) here.


This exercise got me thinking about ways you could apply this concept for focus and clarity - even if you weren't writing your memoir. Consider having only six words to define:

your beliefs
your goals
your vision
your team
your family
your leadership style

This process could be very helpful for the creative process as well as for crafting clarity.

Your examples in the comments are very welcome!

Labels: clarity, focus

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Each year Punxsutawney Phil comes up from his hole on Groundhog Day to see about the world around him and look for his shadow (or not). Media from around the world will cover this event (I haven't quite figured out why). You can learn more about this event and it's history from the official site. But this isn't exactly why I am writing on Groundhog Day Eve.

Like I said, Phil comes up out of his hole after months of hiding and hibernation to check out his world, then he retreats just as quickly as he emerged.

This reminds me of some people I know.

They get so caught up in their lives; their work, their projects, their goals, their cocoon, their hole, that they don't take time to look up and see what is going on in the world around them.

If we want to be more successful, happier, better leaders, more effective team members, more creative, or a more effective learner (need I go on?), we must do more than Phil.

First of all we need to lose the hole completely. We need to be more engaged in the world around us. Does this argue against focus or hard work? Not at all. Instead this advice encourages you to be more open to new ideas, new insights, and new observations that will make your work more relevant, more effective, more connected and quite possibly easier.

How often should we look around our world?

Well, if we have gotten rid of the hole and chosen to reside in the world (a glass house anyone?), this question is almost irrelevant; you will be looking, noticing and observing.

On this Groundhog's Day Eve, get out of your hole, look around, and resolve to learn from and with the world around you.

Note: I've written about Groundhog Day in the past and if you enjoyed this post, or like the day, you may want to check out 2005 and 2006.

Labels: Groundhog Day

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I recently read this somewhere:

Being right is less important than being successful.

This isn't the first time I've heard this idea, but when I read it this time it hit me as profound.

Consider:

- A leader who takes ownership of an idea of a team member, frustrating the team member and damaging trust.
- An argument with a customer that becomes counter productive because being right becomes the primary concern.


I could list other examples, but I'm sure you have thought of your own.

We all have the opportunity to make a choice in these situations. This quotation reminds me of the importance of this choice.

When you feel yourself focused on being correct, ask yourself if that focus is serving your biggest goals.

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Last week I attended the 2007 Author Pow Wow sponsored by 800-CEO-Read. At the end of the two day event the participants were asked to share a single word that encapsulated their feelings and thoughts about our time together.

Words included: fun, invogorating, energy, relationships, genersoity, memorable, learning, and fattening (that was right on Ben). I chose the word Remarkable. The group chuckled at my choice, but it truly is the best word I could have chosen.

Consider this - a highly creative and fun environment thanks to The Catalyst Ranch in Chicago, over 20 business authors working to hone their craft and learn about the publishing and marketing of books, along with experts and gurus from across the expanse of publishing, as well as the 800-CEO-READ team. This group included:

The Authors

Erika Andersen - Growing Great Employees

Greg Alexander - Topgrading for Sales

Jose Castillo - an incredibily smart and creative guy.

Phil Gerbyshak - 10 Ways to Make it Great

Joanne Gordon - Be Happy at Work

Jackie Huba Creating Customer Evangelists

Joe Heuer - check out several of his books, including Business Daffynitions

Mike Kanazawa - Big Ideas to Big Results

Alexander Kjerulf - Happy Hour is 9 to 5

Steve Little - The Milkshake Moment

Ben McConnell - Citizen Marketers

Pamela Miles and Jack Mitchell - Hug Your Customers, and soon, Hug Your People

Robert Mintz - The World According To You

Susan Quandt - Sudden Impact on the Job

David Meerman Scott - The New Rules of Marketing and PR

Michael Stallard - Fired Up or Burned Out

Dan Roam - The Back of the Napkin

John Rosen and AnnaMaria Turano - Stopwatch Marketing

Rajesh Setty - Life Beyond Code

Bill Welter - The Prepared Mind of a Leader

Steve Yastrow - We - The Ideal Customer Relationship

The Gurus

Ray Bard - Bard Press

Mark Bloomfield - Harvard Business School Press

Shelley Dolley - Leap7

Barbara Cave Henricks and Dennis Welch - Cave Henricks Communications

Mark Fortier - Fortier Public Relations

Nick Morgan - Public Words

Gerry Sindell - ThoughtLeaders INTL

Les Tuerk - BrightSight Group

Susan Williams - Jossey-Bass (my inital editor for Remarkable Leadership)

The 800-CEO-READ Team

Jack Covert
Melinda Cross - Concepts Content Copy
Sally Haldorson
Jon Mueller
Kate Mytty
Joy Panos Stauber - Stauber Design Studio
Todd Sattersten
Aaron Schleicher
Dylan Schleicher
Rebecca Schlei

I want to thank everyone involved - the efforts of everyone form the staff at the Ranch, the the 800-CEO-READ team, to the speakers and gurus, to my fellow authors. Each one helped to create this amazing learning experience. All of my expectations for the event were met and surpassed thanks to everyone else.

The lesson here for everyone?

When you have a chance to hang out with and learn from other cool and smart people, make sure you do whatever you have to do to make it happen - it the experience will expand your thoughts, infuse you with energy and change your life if you let it.

Labels: accelerated learning, bools, Business books, collaborative learning

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I am fortunate to have a number of clients in the oil and petrochemical businesses. One of the things that always strikes me about their cultures is the extreme focus on safety. While many other businesses (including some of our other Clients) have a major focus on safety, in a petrochemical plant that deals with high pressures, temperatures, hazardous materials and more, it is ultra important.

Which leads me to the sign I saw at the ChevronPhillips Chemical plant in Pasadena Texas last week. A sticker was posted to the bottom of the restroom mirrors. It read:

This is the person responsible for safety today.

This powerful reminder is true, of course.

And as important as safety is - there and anywhere else - the sign could be altered to be even more true, and even more powerful. Consider a sign on our mirror that reads:

This is the person who is responsible.


All of us are responsible.

The more clearly we recognize this, the more effective leader we will be.
The more clearly we recognize this the more effective team member we will be.

And parent, and teacher, and trainer, and salesperson, and .

The more clearly we understand that we are responsible (not the government, the home office, the markets, the economy, global warming, ), the more effective, and happy, we will be as human beings.

Be responsible today.

Labels: accountability

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The good folks at 800-CEO-READ have created a new set of book words specifically for business books. I am honored that my latest book Remarkable Leadership has been nominated!

The awards will be based on reader votes. So, I’d be thankful and pleased if you were to vote for Remarkable Leadership as one of the best business books of 2007.

To see the full list of nominated books and to vote for Remarkable Leadership (or any of the others), go here.

Labels: Business books

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That was the title of the sermon J.K. Jones gave at Traders Point Christian Church yesterday. While in this post I won't include the scripture references, I believe the five points he made are extremely relevant to all of us as leaders, team members, and professionals (and as human beings).

He suggests asking these five questions regularly:

Are my words true?
Are my words helpful?
Are my words inspiring?
Are my words necessary?
Are my words kind?

If you take the first letter from the key word in each question: true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, kind; you get THINK.

Asking these questions, and adjusting our actions accordingly will make us better communicators, better team members, better leaders . . . and better at just about anything else you can think of.

In short, words matter, so THINK.

Labels: communication

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I have a new hero - Denny Flanagan. Denny is a pilot for United Airlines and was the focus of a a front page article in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal. You can read the article here.

Captain Denny does a variety of things for his passengers - and none of them are in the United employee handbook. Here are just a few examples:

- he takes pictures of people's pets in the cargo area and show them to passengers.
- when there are long delays he buys McDonald's hamburgers or fruit for all the passengers.
- he hand writes notes to passengers in first and business class, thanking them for choosing to fly United.
- he calls the parents of unaccompanied minors on his cell phone if there are delays.

The article states that the airline reimburses the pilot for his expenses for these unique services, and I'm sure they would do it for others as well.

Captain Flanagan is taking personal responsibility for his Customers. Captain Flanagan is leading, without a leadership title. He is making a difference for hundreds of passengers everyday.

And guess what?

Because of his proactive approach, I'm sure Captain Flanagan enjoys his work far more than most of his colleagues.

All of these things are a choices this pilot, who lives on a farm in Ohio, makes everyday. These are choices that are making a difference for his company, his co-workers, his customers and himself.

You don't have to be a leader to make a difference; Captain Denny Flanagan proves it.

And that is why Captain Flanagan is my hero.

Labels: accountability, reponsibility

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Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time is now available online and at your local bookstore.

Here's a post from the book's blog with the latest update.

I'll be sharing much more information here in the days to come - but for now, trust me. You don't want to order or buy your book yet. There are over fifty reasons to wait until 8/22.

More later.

Labels: Remarkable Leadership

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I've got lots of great stuff in my head to get out of my head, through my fingers to the keyboard and on to you, but time this morning is limited, so just a couple of great ideas I've run across in the last couple of days. Both of these ideas relate to books and reading, and both make me smile as a book lover and reader (and I don't think those things are exactly the same).

In fact, book lovers will love this story in the New York Times about leaders and their book collections, It is titled C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success. I highly recommend it. After you read it, ask yourself - what keys to success does your library reveal?

Readers, who are less connected to the books themselves (and are willing to actually let go of a book after they have read it) may find this idea more interesting - Bookswapping. I found this idea late last week on the Book Maven Blog. The post called A Night of Bookswapping has been intriguing me every since. I quote Bethanne:

The rules were, and remain, elegantly simple: bring any books in good condition that you're finished owning. You can take the same number as you bring (although by each bookswapping night's end, this rule is usually broken). We pile the books in a central location, pour wine and beer, and grab plates of nosh . . .

She goes on to say that the best part of the evening was the conversation about the books and the ideas they contained.

Imagine doing a Bookswap party at work on a Friday afternoon. Or even a book sharing party where people show up with favorite books in had to discuss them, let others see and touch them (and then place their order at 800-CEO-Read or their favorite online bookseller).

As Bethanne says, this isn't a replacement for a book club, but perhaps an interesting additional activity to try. The conversation may not be as focused, but might be much more serendipitous.

What do you think?

Labels: books, reading

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Today we in the United States celebrate the 231st anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. In essence, we celebrate our freedom. While declaring independence, the 56 signers of that document were, at the same time, declaring their interdependence to each other.

This paradox is not unlike the one we face in our organizations today. People want to be independent - able to make decisions and chart their career course, and yet there is more interdependence than ever - to team members, job sharing partners, collaborators, global partners and much more.

I believe the great message for us in this day, outside of pride and patriotism is not about independence, but about freedom. The freedom to choose.

The greatest freedoms afforded to citizens of the United States are the freedoms to choose, including choices like where and how to worship, where to live, what to say and what to think. It is from these freedoms that much of our national power and influence have arisen.

We can take this lesson to our organizations. Offer greater freedom. Give people more choices, offer more options. If as a leader you feel this will create chaos, you are correct at one level - some times things in the United States are a bit chaotic! But just as with my country - when the goals and objectives are clear - whether it is healing an area torn by disaster, helping friends in need, or consolidating our hearts and minds behind any cause - that freedom of choice creates creative solutions, greater engagement and fantastic results.

In our organizations we must have a clear mission - a purpose for existing that motivates and inspires those within. With this clear purpose, offering great freedom of choice won't create greater chaos - it will create create greater results.

Labels: choice, engagement, freedom

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I've asked myself that question in the past, and wondered what other people thought. So I took note of my personal list and had a member of my team (Thanks Erica!) scour the web for more to consider. After review and discussion, we landed on the following ten as our contenders, as of June 2007, for the Best Leadership Blog (in the galaxy?).

Labels: leadership, leadership blog

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While reviewing a new program from Charthouse Learning called Leader Fish! (a program for leaders based on the Fish! philosophy, I heard a phrase used by Southwest Airlines people on the DVD. They talked about leaning towards the Customer.

This comment was made talking about encouraging people to try new things and not to be afraid of making mistakes. The comment was that no one will ever get in trouble for a decision if they are leaning towards the Customer.

Which led me to some questions . . .

Did I lean towards my Customers today?
Did I encourage my team to lean towards a Customer?
How can we lean tomorrow?
How can we lean next week?

Leaning towards Customers. It obviously works for Southwest. There is every reason it can work for you too.

Go ahead...

lean towards your Customer.

Labels: customer service

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To be the most effective as a communicator, it is our responsibility to communicate in ways that work for the other person. We must become adept at seeing the other person's perspective, their skills and their style. One of the best short pieces I've read recently on this truth was written by Guy Harris (who calls himself the Recovering Engineer) this week.

This communication truth applies to us in all areas of our communication - in working with Customers, leading others, being a part of a team and more.

His article really hit home for me, and I believe it will for you too. It is titled Speaking Their Language, and I highly recommend reading it.

Labels: communication

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There is more to March Madness than just basketball.

As the final teams compete today for the NCAA Sweet 16, here are a couple of observations and lessons from the tournament so far.

Butler moves to the sweet 16 playing as a team. If you are a basketball fan, you have to like the way they play. Tough, smart, hard nosed and as a team. Few teams in the tournament will come closer to reaching their potential than will this team. Yes, the Butler campus is just a few miles from my home, but that doesn't change the fact that watching how they play together is a lesson in teamwork we can all learn from.

Indiana University lost to UCLA last night and their season (and for the seniors their career) is over. In the Indianapolis Star this morning, their coach Kelvin Sampson is quoted as saying, "There are alot of tears in the locker room. Kids that don't cry don't invest." What more could any coach or leader ask for than for their players or team to be invested? It begs the question, how invested are you and how invested are those you lead?

My alma mater, Purdue University plays defending National Champion the University of Florida in less than two hours. They are the biggest underdog of the day, according to the odds makers. Carl Landry, their team leader and star player was quoted in a press conference yesterday saying "I know everyone has pretty much counted us out, but this is the NCAA Tournament. If a few possessions go our way and the ball is going down, Florida has no chance."

Confidence is an important component of performance whether you are shooting baskets or shooting photographs for a marketing campaign (or doing anything else). Confidence is an under-appreciated attribute for us in the non-sports world.

I don't know what will happen in the game today (though I'll certainly be rooting for my Boilermakers), but I do know that the confidence of Carl Landry and his teammates will serve them well.

How much do you trust the strengths of your teammates?
How hard to you play?
How invested are you?
How confident are you?

There is more to March Madness than just basketball.

All you have to do is look.

Labels: basketball, sports leaders, sports teamwork

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You may think that building teams is something we think about in corporate settings, but that athletes who have played a team sport their whole lives might already have that concept nailed.

While their experience may give them a leg up, this article about the Los Angeles Angels will give you a good feeling that team building can and does occur everywhere. This article talks about how Angels manager Mike Scioscia uses spring training and meetings to build his team beyond the field of play.

The article also talks about how Scioscia's strategy builds leadership too - as a couple of past team leaders are no longer on the team.

Whether you are a baseball fan or not, you will find this useful and instructive.

Labels: baseball, sports leaders, sports teamwork

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It seems everywhere I look, turn or listen I find messages about gratitude. I've always been a person who tries to "count my blessings" and be grateful for the wonderful (and even the not-so-wonderful) things in my life.

I believe that when we need greater lessons and understanding of a topic or idea, if we listen, those lessons will be made available to us. The more I "notice" lessons on gratitude, the more I'm convinced I was ready for deeper lessons.

I have in the past few months become more disciplined about being in a state of gratitude and reminding myself of the things I am grateful for each day. There is no question that this practice is making a difference in my life.

This is not just a personal "feeling better about myself and my world" topic either - there is loads of research that shows that when we are more grateful we build relationships more effectively, communicate more positively and are more effective and efficient. Note this recent post in Curt Rosengren's wonderful Occupational Adventure blog.

It describes a fascinating study of the tangible benefits of being grateful. I encourage you to read it.

Here is an exercise to try today. Before your next meeting, take 2 minutes to write down five things you have to be grateful for over the past two weeks. These can be small or large things - it doesn't matter. Notice how you frame issues and communicate differently in the meeting.

Once you have done this for yourself a couple of times, take a bigger risk (it really isn't a risk but it might feel like one right now) and ask everyone in the meeting to do the same thing.

This isn't a sharing exercise - reassure people that they won't be asked to share what is on their list - it is a personal gratitude exercise.

Taking this action will create a new energy and focus for your meeting. You will create more ideas, and more positive, encouraging conversation.

This is just one example reflecting on your gratitude. (If you are immediately interested and want some other ideas go here.) In the coming weeks and months, I might well have more to share in this area. But even if I don't, this one exercise can make a positive difference in your life when you do it.

Labels: gratefulness, gratitude

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It seems that in every organization I work they claim to have more acronyms than any other organization. Actually, they all seem to have equally large numbers of them. We even have them in our own small organization. Acronyms are a series of letters used as an abbreviated form of a longer phrase. CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance), and LSU (Louisiana State University) are three examples.

You have likely thought of many examples as you read the above paragraph.

The value of acronyms is that they create a short hand and help us speak more rapidly. The danger is that communicating with people who don't know them can cause major and immediate communication blocks.

I've done an exercise in the workshops where I have people define a number of "common" acronyms. Perhaps the most interesting thing that happens is that many of the acronyms have two different yet equally valid meanings! Talk about communication gaps.

Acrostics are something entirely different. An acrostic is defined as: "An acrostic . . . is a poem or other writing in an alphabetic script in which the first letter, syllable or word of each verse, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out another message. . . . an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aide memory retrieval." (Thanks Wikipedia.)

Acrostics then are much more powerful than acronyms, because in their order they create meaning and improve the chances we will remember that meaning. I often try to create these in my writing. Yesterday, when discussing a recent article I wrote in Unleash Your Potential, titled, Be a Better Listener With These Great Questions, someone immediately identified a powerful acrostic.

The content at a high level was written as:

Reasons Great Listeners Ask Questions

There are specific purposes for the questions asked when trying to listen more successfully. They fall into four basic categories:

- Questions to confirm understanding
- Questions to learn more
- Questions to understand meaning or feelings
- Questions to encourage and show support

And the acrostic is - Use a CLUE to formulate great questions

Confirm understanding
Learn more
Understanding meaning or feelings
Encourage and show support


See the power of this tool?

(Here's the full article.)

I encourage you to look for ways to creatively see more acrostics, and perhaps fewer acronyms. The effectiveness of your communication will be greatly improved.

Labels: accelerated learning, Acronyms, acrostics

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I’ve been home most all of this week and have had the chance to enjoy the local media coverage of "our" Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts. From a leadership perspective it has been interesting to watch and listen to the coverage of a coach who does things in a different way than many other football coaches.

While much of what has been written about the calm demeanor and overall approach of Tony Dungy is interesting and valuable to consider, perhaps the most telling thing I heard was from Peyton Manning, the MVP Quarterback who thanked his coach at the victory rally on Monday night, calling him "our best friend."

Many talk about the need for a split between personal relationships and supervision or leadership. This talk typically revolves around people becoming close friends and then having a hard time being objective about performance or meeting job expectations.

Perhaps there are risks in that closeness, but the rewards of emotional closeness in terms of communication effectiveness, trust building and productivity improvement seem to far outweigh those risks. (And besides, I doubt that Tony Dungy has any problem giving feedback on performance!)

Peyton and his teammates may not invite coach Dungy over for dinner like you might with other best friends, but to be considered a friend as a leader seems like a championship quality to me.

Labels: Indianapolis Colts, leadership, sports leaders, Tony Dungy

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In the month of the January I thought a lot about resistance, as it was the focus of The Remarkable Leadership Learning System for the month. Due in part to that fact, I also wrote this article (Why We Avoid Resistance) for my newsletter, Unleash Your Potential.

When I read this quote, I shook my head an said "YES!" Even though no one was around. Buckminster Fuller was a smart guy and this quotation only confirms that fact:


"You never change the existing reality
by fighting it. Instead, create a new
model that makes the old one obsolete."

-- R. Buckminster Fuller

While resistance isn't a negative thing, only energy to be understood and channelled, this thought takes resistance out of the picture. When we create a new model that is compelling and provides an extremely desirable picture of the future, we bypass resistance build energy quickly.

Don't try to create change - create something so compelling and so new that the old is obsolete.

Labels: change, creativity, resistance

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