Remember that one of the habits of highly successful people is the ability to visualize. Great vision precedes great achievement. A team without vision is at worst, purposeless. At best, it is subject to the personal and sometimes selfish agendas of various teammates.
One of the jobs of the leader is to state the vision and then keep the vision in front of the team... Now you would think that everyone could get behind a VISION that so positively affects the members we serve, but there are people who both criticize the vision and the visionary. This speaks more for their lack of leadership potential then the vision.
Remember that Einstein once said, GREAT VISIONS are always OPPOSED by Mediocre minds and people (paraphrased). Don’t be Mediocre! Decide today to be a leader. State your own vision and then get behind it!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Leadership
Now that we have covered the 7 habits of highly successful people, I want to focus on our taking those habits and gaining success both spiritually, personally and professionally as a corporation. Success is within each of us and therefore within the reach of each of us individually and collectively. Personal success requires the other twin tower, which is leadership! Success without leadership only brings limited effectiveness. A person’s impact is only a fraction of what it could be with good leadership.
Leadership is also not related to the position you hold in a company, in your family or in your own life. Martin Luther King said, we can all be leaders because we can all serve. True leaders understand the concept of willful and voluntary service.
Someone I know used to work as a secretary in a law firm. As the secretary her duties included getting coffee for her boss, answering his phones, sorting his correspondence and keeping his calendar. One day her boss was having a meeting and asked that she wipe down the chalk board. She was not happy that she was asked and instead of wiping down the chalk board fully she only wiped down that portion of the board she could reach.
She was never asked to wipe the chalk board again, but who won the “contest”? In this situation the “second mile” would have been to wipe the entire board because at the point you are walking the second mile you are in control and the one imposing the task on you. All of us can demonstrate leadership in our specific roles. Leadership will take place when we can learn the lesson of servitude with gladness in our hearts.
Look at our economy and the economy of other countries. Those countries in which each person is invested in the success of the country, like China and India, are winning because they are all working with one common purpose. Think of how great our organization would be if none of us cared who got the credit or the BLAME!
Leadership is also not related to the position you hold in a company, in your family or in your own life. Martin Luther King said, we can all be leaders because we can all serve. True leaders understand the concept of willful and voluntary service.
Someone I know used to work as a secretary in a law firm. As the secretary her duties included getting coffee for her boss, answering his phones, sorting his correspondence and keeping his calendar. One day her boss was having a meeting and asked that she wipe down the chalk board. She was not happy that she was asked and instead of wiping down the chalk board fully she only wiped down that portion of the board she could reach.
She was never asked to wipe the chalk board again, but who won the “contest”? In this situation the “second mile” would have been to wipe the entire board because at the point you are walking the second mile you are in control and the one imposing the task on you. All of us can demonstrate leadership in our specific roles. Leadership will take place when we can learn the lesson of servitude with gladness in our hearts.
Look at our economy and the economy of other countries. Those countries in which each person is invested in the success of the country, like China and India, are winning because they are all working with one common purpose. Think of how great our organization would be if none of us cared who got the credit or the BLAME!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Sharpen the Saw
We are on the 7th habit of highly effective people.
All highly effective and successful people “Sharpen the Saw”. This is the concept of balanced satisfaction! You work hard and then you engage in carefully selected recreational activities. The key here is that recreation follows hard work and the recreation we involve ourselves in should fill the purpose of enriching our lives. There are example of folk who work all the time and example of folk who engage in recreational activities all the time. Successful people balance the two!
To review, the 7 habits of highly successful people are:
Be proactive.
Begin with an end in mind.
Put first things first.
Think win/win.
Seek first to understand, then be understood.
Synergize.
Sharpen the saw.
Put these 7 habits into place and watch what happens in your life!
All highly effective and successful people “Sharpen the Saw”. This is the concept of balanced satisfaction! You work hard and then you engage in carefully selected recreational activities. The key here is that recreation follows hard work and the recreation we involve ourselves in should fill the purpose of enriching our lives. There are example of folk who work all the time and example of folk who engage in recreational activities all the time. Successful people balance the two!
To review, the 7 habits of highly successful people are:
Be proactive.
Begin with an end in mind.
Put first things first.
Think win/win.
Seek first to understand, then be understood.
Synergize.
Sharpen the saw.
Put these 7 habits into place and watch what happens in your life!
SYNERGIZE
Let’s continue to discover the seven (7) habits of highly effective people.
Habit six (6) is to SYNERGIZE! People who synergize collaborate in decision-making and value differences. Folk that have the maturity to synergize have learned to build upon each other's strengths. Through exploring the differences which make all of us great, SYNERGIZERS succeed by building on the strengths and weaknesses of each person on the team. They have learned as Mr. Spock said in STAR TREK – "The needs of the many out-weigh the needs of the few or the one." The strengths of the many promote the interests of us all! The WHOLE IS ALWAYS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS.
Habit six (6) is to SYNERGIZE! People who synergize collaborate in decision-making and value differences. Folk that have the maturity to synergize have learned to build upon each other's strengths. Through exploring the differences which make all of us great, SYNERGIZERS succeed by building on the strengths and weaknesses of each person on the team. They have learned as Mr. Spock said in STAR TREK – "The needs of the many out-weigh the needs of the few or the one." The strengths of the many promote the interests of us all! The WHOLE IS ALWAYS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Seek first to understand
Well we’re at lesson five (5) in our journey to learn the seven (7) habits of extremely successful people. We have covered:
Being proactive;
Having the end game in mind;
Putting 1st things 1st; and
Thinking win-win when confronted with conflict.
The 5th lesson is “seeking first to understand, then to be understood”. This concept deals with listening. How often do you really listen to another person? If we are honest what we mostly do is evaluate and judge the other person because of the “video” we have running in our heads about that person. That’s what prejudice is all about. We all have video clips running in our heads-those videos have been placed in our heads and hearts by our parents, by our experiences, what is said by others, or our own experiences. What if we erased all the preconceived videos and just tried to experience each other on a fresh basis with each new interaction. Wouldn’t the world be a better place? You have the power to erase the video clips in your head that are negative not only for others but more important FOR YOURSELF!
Being proactive;
Having the end game in mind;
Putting 1st things 1st; and
Thinking win-win when confronted with conflict.
The 5th lesson is “seeking first to understand, then to be understood”. This concept deals with listening. How often do you really listen to another person? If we are honest what we mostly do is evaluate and judge the other person because of the “video” we have running in our heads about that person. That’s what prejudice is all about. We all have video clips running in our heads-those videos have been placed in our heads and hearts by our parents, by our experiences, what is said by others, or our own experiences. What if we erased all the preconceived videos and just tried to experience each other on a fresh basis with each new interaction. Wouldn’t the world be a better place? You have the power to erase the video clips in your head that are negative not only for others but more important FOR YOURSELF!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Win/ Win
In continuing with the Seven (7) Habits of Extremely Successful people, Lesson Four (4) is “”Think Win/Win”. When you adopt the attitude of Win-Win you have an attitude whereby mutually beneficial solutions are sought that satisfy not only your needs but in the case of conflict, both parties involved in the conflict. This is probably not how most of us operate. We too often think that the only way “I can get what I want” is to adopt an attitude that “I need to make sure your needs are not met”.
Actually when we live our lives with the concept that a “Rising tide lifts all boats”, then we will live with an attitude of Win-Win. I don’t need to beat you down to feel important— we are all important, successful and special in and of our selves. In fact, the next time you are in a conflict practice this strategy and you will find that the other person will be more prone to look at themselves and how they contributed to the conflict as opposed to trying to lay blame on you!
Have a GREAT HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL day. Be proactive (Habit 1), remember your end game (habit 2), put 1st things 1st (Habit 3) and adopt a Win-Win attitude. You are successful people; let’s work on becoming highly successful/
Actually when we live our lives with the concept that a “Rising tide lifts all boats”, then we will live with an attitude of Win-Win. I don’t need to beat you down to feel important— we are all important, successful and special in and of our selves. In fact, the next time you are in a conflict practice this strategy and you will find that the other person will be more prone to look at themselves and how they contributed to the conflict as opposed to trying to lay blame on you!
Have a GREAT HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL day. Be proactive (Habit 1), remember your end game (habit 2), put 1st things 1st (Habit 3) and adopt a Win-Win attitude. You are successful people; let’s work on becoming highly successful/
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