Dr. Blue Man

Don't Try; DO!

I hear “I’m trying” a lot.  Two thought always come to my mind thanks partly to the power of media.  The first is Yoda’s comment in Star Wars, “there is no try, there is only do or do not”.  The second is Nike’s words of wisdom- “just do it”.  To me “trying” is a halfhearted effort to succeed, which implies the distinct possibility of failure. Trying implies that a thing is hard to do, and that it may very well not get done. There are only two things in life that you and I can control - YOUR efforts and YOUR attitude.  Everything else is outside your control to some extent.  Trying seems to bring with it the negative "but" and the negative "if."

Trying is vying, vying for time; vying for attention. It implies a struggle, a struggle that you may very well lose. Trying is buying, buying an excuse to fail even before you meet the challenge. Trying is lying, lying to yourself, and that's not what you need.

Either we do a thing or we don't. Either we are doing something or we're not. Trying is a poor excuse for doing. If you want to do something, then forget about trying and DO IT.

Trying implies that there is a large doubt in your mind that you will accomplish that which you are supposedly trying to do. Don't sell yourself short. Don't entertain such a large doubt in your theater of trust. Don't look for a way out before you even jump in. Don't accept the presumption of possible failure before you begin to do what must be done. Don't "try" to do what you can do. 

Nike says “Just DO IT”, and let the trying be done by all those around you who are merely trying. 

Change, the Only Constant

There’s an old Chinese proverb that seems to be more relevant today than ever before: “If you haven’t seen a man or woman for three days, look them over very carefully when you next encounter them, for they will have changed dramatically during that three-day period.”

More changes are crammed into every day of our lives than our grandparents experienced in decades—and this process is just beginning. Every 15 seconds a new Web site is launched! Every 15 minutes a new technological breakthrough occurs! Every 15 days a new product or service is introduced that didn’t exist before! Consider for a moment that the musical greeting card you ordered via the Web has more computing power than existed on the planet when the first satellite went into orbit.

Recently, I met with a group of college students to discuss an upcoming business seminar and I asked them some questions- their answers astounded me!  I asked if they all had used a pay phone- most hadn’t.  Had they ever seen or used a rotary dial phone- most had seen them, none used them.  Had they ever owned or used a pager- no.  Had they ever had a TV with no remote- no.  Had they ever booked travel with a physical travel agent- no, but they thought their parents had.  WOW!

What about the computer’s impact. Designed as a tool for managing complexity, it also adds complexity, just as freeways seem to add more traffic. The computer enables us to sort, store, retrieve and transmit information with ever-increasing speed. But the faster data can be analyzed, the faster decisions are expected, and the greater the pressure to reach them. And the computer’s efficiency is hardly lost on our competitors. They utilize them to produce goods and services of comparable quality, for less money.  The pony express was a technological marvel for information delivery, then the train, overnight delivery, the fax.  Now it seems that we need to get information before we send it.

As the year comes to a close and the 2010 arrives, let’s decide to welcome change rather than try to resist it. Learn how to make change work for you rather than against you. Develop unique strategies and skills that enable you to create opportunities from challenges. In response to rapid change, introduce it in the form of new business systems, pricing and marketing that increase effectiveness and efficiency; create new products and new services; lower costs and encourage ideas to enhance productivity.

In everything we do, there are more choices available today than at any other time in history. To become the “brand” or “person” of choice, give others what they want in a time-starved world. Save others time and money, and you will gain more time, freedom and wealth.

I challenge you in the year ahead to embrace change and make it work to your advantage!

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Thoughts on 2009 and 2010

The holiday season traditionally includes time to celebrate with friends and family another year gone by.  The holiday season is also a time for reflection and anticipation: looking at the year gone by and ahead to the year in front of us.  When I look back at the past year, I examine what worked, what didn't work, and what I have learned from it all and what I should have learned from it all.  There is also that element of excitement as we look forward to the New Year -- 2010.  (Have you noticed that we have gotten so used to referring to previous years in this century as "oh-eight" or "oh-nine" that many are referring to next year as "oh-ten?"  Why wouldn't we simply refer to it as "ten"?)  The holiday season provides us a seemingly magical transition from the old to the new as if this season provides us a fresh, new start. 

 

In reality, this symbolic "transition" from 2009 to 2010 is merely a flip of the calendar.  When you really think about it, moving from December 2009 to January 2010 is fundamentally no different than moving the calendar from November 2009 to December 2009.  Yet, there is something magically symbolic about moving into the New Year.  This is very similar to the seasonal transitions from winter to spring as people seem to get a lift from the warmer, sunnier days of spring.  Or moving from the first half of the game to the second- your competition is the same, your teammates are the same, the referees are the same- but hopefully it will be different.  There is an uplifting anticipation associated with anything new.  However, making this symbolic new effective and meaningful in our lives, involves more than a party or a celebration or a flip of the calendar.  It requires understanding and commitment. 

 

To that end, as you ponder and reflect and celebrate the transition of 2009 into 2010, I encourage you to look at four aspects of your world:

 

1. Where have I been? 

2. What have I learned?

3. What will I change?

4. Who will I help? 

 

In my world, the lessons learned in 2009 are extensive.  In order to keep this section length appropriate, I have left out my experiences and thoughts as to each of the above questions.  If you want to hear and relate stories, contact me, I would be happy to share and learn. 

 

That said my 2009 featured challenges I could not have predicted or expected and also provided wonderful friends and contacts who have had a significant impact in my life.  As I look ahead to 2010, I am excited about building better relationships with the people and becoming a better husband, father, and businessman.  Yes, 2009 was not much fun.  But, it was a great learning experience.  I look forward to applying the lessons learned from the past to provide fundamental change and opportunity in the upcoming year.   

 

I trust your reflection and anticipation exercise will be as enlightening and productive as mine were.  More importantly, I look forward to sharing in the excitement of a very productive, prosperous, and powerful new year with each of you.  Best wishes to you, to your family, and to all of your activities in 2010!! 

 

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Helping Others and Yourself Grow Through Mentoring

Men-tor.  n. A wise and trusted counselor or teacher.

Looking for a way to help your people develop, grow, and improve their performance? Like to do the same for your-self? If so, you need to try MENTORING. If ever there was a "win-win" process, this is it!

By definition, mentoring is a relationship between an experienced person and a less experienced person for the purpose of helping the individual with less experience learn and grow. Mentoring is a great way to serve your people... and yourself. As team members develop in both knowledge and skills, their performance naturally improves. When that happens, everyone wins. And you'll find that YOU grow by mentoring, as well. As you reflect on your life experiences and distill them into nuggets to share with others, you "re-experience" the wisdom that's inside of you. What's wrong with that picture? NOTHING!

So, consider adding mentoring to your leadership strategies. And as you do, keep the following in mind:

All mentoring relationships need to focus on the people being mentored. Remember that it's not about you - it's about them. Accept them for who they are. Help them advance at their own place.

Avoid treating people you are mentoring as incompetent or incapable. Rather, think of them as individuals lacking in experience... valuable team members who need guidance. And don't forget where YOU came from. Earlier in your career, you didn't know what you know now. Why should they?

Don't criticize or belittle. Instead, help "mentorees" think through the consequences of their behavior and to identify more positive ways of handling difficult or troubling situations. And, by all means, hold the people you are mentoring responsible for their success. Be willing to give of yourself and your time, but insist that they do the same.

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The Swiss Army Knife and life

Over the past eighteen months, we have all been on our own very unique journey.  Declining revenues, trimmed budgets, shrinking markets, increased receivables, canceled projects, and the like have all smacked many of our businesses squarely in the face. 

I was in a meeting the other day where the facilitator talked about the challenges we face today are like having a Swiss Army Knife, where we have to discover tools we have never had to use before.  What a great analogy.  As we move through this "new economy" with our Swiss Army Knife in tow, remember that we are on a journey.  This is uncharted territory.  There are no road maps.  There are no compass points.  There are no historical references.  What we have experienced and are experiencing is all new to everyone.  So, you will need to explore thoughts, ideas, connections, relationships, partners, and strategies that you never thought about before.  And, despite the unavoidable stress, this is actually quite good for us.
 
Remember the lessons learned from the Swiss Army Knife and listen for the opportunities, look for the possibilities, and be receptive to the discussion.  You will be quite surprised at what you discover.  And you will have some great stories-good ones, interesting ones, and funny ones-to share when you celebrate your success on the other side of this unique educational period.

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Leaders are made not born

It is often said that leaders are made not born; I believe this to be true.

The topic of leadership has been and continues to be one of the most vital topics. From ancient civilizations to modern-day multinational corporations, men and women of passion, fervor and zeal have sought to discover the secrets of moving others beyond the gray of their mundane reality to the extraordinary life that can and does exist.

Every organization or collection of people, from large to small, requires ardent and skilled leaders. It has been said that everything rises and falls on leadership, and it is true. Every group—families, cities, churches, associations, and yes, even nations—fulfills its purposes and potential based on the leadership it is shown.

Be assured that there will be a leader of every group. There will be those who influence others, even if you don’t. There may even be unscrupulous people who use their abilities to lead others astray. The quote “All it takes for evil to prevail is for the good man to do nothing,” remains true today as it has through the annals of time. This is the compelling motive for you to rise up and lead the way for others.

Our families depend on it.

Our community groups depend on it.

Our nations depend on it.

People will follow you for two reasons: They follow you because of your character, for who you are. They also follow you for your skills, for what you can do. The best leaders challenge us to be better than we think we can be.  They challenge us to do more than we think we can do. 

Make every effort to impart skillful and honorable leadership to those who would look to you for your wisdom, your guidance and your belief in the promise of the human spirit.

Someone will lead. Will it be you? If not you, then who will lead?  If you will not lead now; then when?

Today, more than ever, you are needed. Your strong character is needed. Your finely honed skills are needed. I hope you will rise to the challenge.

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4 I’s- Lessons Learned from Mr. Demond Crump

What a weekend!  I am overwhelmed with thoughts and lessons learned this weekend by Demond who exceeded every expectation that any of us had.  For those of you that had the opportunity to spend some time with him you realize what a gift we had.  For those of you that didn’t, I will inadequately try to share some of the lessons that we learned from him.

 

The first lesson is the lesson of industriousness which has two components- hard work and planning. In terms of hard work, Demond demands more of himself than he does anyone else and he leads by demonstrating that on a daily basis not just talking about it.  The second component is planning.  In this respect, he had become a true student of the business.  Hard work without a plan is where most people in America are right now.  Coach Wooden always taught us “undirected diligence” is not very efficient”.                    

 

The second lesson is initiative.  Initiative is having the courage to make decisions and take action.  Again, Demond is a demonstration of a principle coming to life.  He shared that the first 40 people he spoke to about the business told him “no”.  But he overcame with his initiative, his courage, and his action.  He KNEW that he had the answer for him and his family and was undeterred by those who thought he didn’t.

 

Thirdly, intentness.  This is the combination of perseverance, tenacity and focus.  Intentness is the ability to avoid distractions and ignoring the good in favor of going for the best.  Our world is full of immediate gratifications and mediocrity.  Demond demonstrated and shared that we need not settle for that life.

 

Finally, integrity.  For all of us this should be the glue.  The glue for family life.  The glue for our business.  Integrity is the combination of truth, honesty, sincerity, and reliability.  Demond shared you have to strive to have integrity all the time because there are no “big and little” items.  Some define “Little” items like returning phone calls, calling back when you say you will, and being on time for meeting; to Demond they are all “big” items. 

 

In closing, I would encourage all of you to go to his website- www.spiritofteamvision.com and click on his training tab- it will take your business and your life to the next level. 

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Personal Test - Do You Put Yourself Down?

When you disregard your positive qualities by telling yourself, “I’m too fat, I’m no good, I never do anything right, I can’t talk to people, people don’t like me…” you’ll always find verification of what you’re looking for.

Dr. Richard Carlson says: “Putting yourself down reinforces rather than corrects your imperfections by placing unnecessary attention and energy on everything that’s wrong, rather than what’s right with you. Why would you do this knowing the only possible result is a negative outlook, more negative feelings and less appreciation for the gift of life? People who regularly put themselves down are often seen as complainers, not to mention the example they set. Everyone has aspects of themselves they’d like to improve, but this doesn’t mean you should beat yourself up. Here on earth none of us is ever going to be perfect, but putting yourself down isn’t the answer.”

If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. That doesn’t mean that you are perfect or that you wake up tomorrow being almost perfect.  I believe that leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent AND helping those people reach THEIR potential.  What’s important in leadership is refining your skills. All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective.   I believe leadership is a skill that is developed and built NOT a talent or a gift that is something you are born with.  Here are some specifics:

1)    Learn to be strong but not impolite.

John Wooden is one of the strongest yet most polite men I have ever met and he always seems to take this extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It’s not even a good substitute.

2)  Learn to develop humor without folly. 

In leadership, we learn that it’s okay to be witty but not silly; fun but not foolish.  Humor is such a magnet.  But we must be very careful to define this properly.  For years, I thought laughter meant something was humorous - not always true.  I learned this lesson years ago on the golf course.  It seems that one of the “normal” behaviors is to laugh at the other guys- for missing putts, for short drives, etc. I have to admit I was one of the biggest contributors until I realized that it wasn’t really funny or uplifting.

3)    Learn to be bold but not a bully.

It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you’ve got to walk in front of your group. You’ve got to be willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, and discover the first sign of trouble. Like the farmer, if you want any rewards at harvest time, you have got to be bold and face the weeds and the rain and the bugs straight on. You’ve got to seize the moment.

4)    Learn to be humble but not timid.

You can’t get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. But humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease. It’s an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem.  Humility is almost a lifelong endeavor. A sense of awe of where you belong in the overall scheme of the universe.  A sense of wonder. An awareness of the human soul and spirit. An understanding that there is something unique about you. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we’re part of the stars.

5)    Learn to be proud but not arrogant.

It takes pride to build your ambitions. It takes pride in your community. It takes pride in a cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is to be proud without being arrogant.  I believe ALL have us have egos but we need to learn to manage ours to be better leaders.  I believe I have seen the worst kind of arrogance.  It is arrogance from ignorance. It’s intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that’s just too much to take.

6)    Learn to be kind but not weak.

We must not mistake weakness for kindness. Kindness isn’t weak. Kindness is a quiet type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell someone the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion and manipulation

7)    Learn to be a chameleon. 

Life is unique. Leadership is unique. The skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. However, the fundamental skills of leadership can be adopted to work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community and at home. A chameleon changes to reflect his environment- so do good leaders.  If you are meeting someone one on one try to match their mannerisms so that they feel more comfortable. 

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Economics have Changed - Have You?

 

I recently heard the mayor of Detroit report that the unemployment is 30% and “that may be a little low”.  He also reported that the unemployment rate in the US has reached a "27 year high." Worse -- Big companies like Starbucks, AOL, Boeing, Pfizer, Home Depot and thousands of smaller companies are planning massive layoffs in the months ahead.

There are now OVER 11.1 million workers with no paycheck and that number is much higher for those with reduced paychecks.  This is the worst decline in US history and many experts believe that unemployment numbers will "double" in the next 12 - 24 months.

....Yes, "double."

 

So now what?  There are two pieces of advice I have for you.

 

1. REINVENT YOURSELF!

 

If you think of yourself as Joe, manager of “ABC, Inc.”- reinvent yourself.  If you think of yourself as Joe, worker at “XYZ Corp.”- reinvent yourself.  How?  Start thinking of yourself as owner of YOU, Inc. You, Inc. can do multiple things.  “My” You, Inc. owns an internet travel and shopping business, a mortgage company and a sales consulting firm.  What about yours?

 

I am always looking for other peoples’ perspective; one of the best ways I have found to do this is by finding great quotes.  Let me share a couple:

 

"Most people work 40-plus hours a week at jobs they don't like to buy things they don't need." —anti-consumerist Madeline Nelson

"I had one of the best jobs in the world, but there is a world of opportunity." —Chris Sacca, former head of special initiatives at Google

The American Dream has been roughed up lately. There is doubt where there once was direction. There is retrenching instead of renaissance. But there is one place where you can still dirty your hands with hope, display your ingenuity, taste a measure of independence, and feel a bit like your great-granddad must have felt--fresh off the boat, testing your potential.

2. START A BUSINESS

I know you've thought about it, too. Maybe you've been developing an invention in your head for years and now you're considering patenting it. Or maybe you have a special family recipe or an idea for a Web site, or you simply wonder what you could become if you put as much effort into working for yourself as you now do for someone else.

"In an economic downturn, entrepreneurship is usually the savior," says Chad Moutray, Ph. D., the director of economic research for the Office of Advocacy at the Small Business Administration (SBA).  Although you may find it difficult to believe in the government, the economy, and even the future, there's still one thing you can have unwavering faith in: yourself.

 

 

 

Thinking of Quitting? Don’t!

George Frideric Handel was a musical prodigy. You probably know him best as the composer of the “Handel’s Messiah”, but perhaps you don’t know how it “happened”.

At twenty-one he was a keyboard virtuoso. When he turned to composing he gained immediate fame and soon was appointed Kapellmeister to the Elector of Hanover (later King George I of England).

 

When Handel moved to England his fame grew. By the time he was forty he was world famous. But despite his talent and fame he faced considerable adversity - some internal, some external. Rivalry with English composers was fierce. Audiences were fickle; sometimes they didn’t turn out for his performances. He was the victim of the changing political winds. Several times he found himself on the verge of bankruptcy. His problems were compounded by failing health. He suffered a stroke which left his right arm limp and damaged the use of four fingers in his right hand. Although he recovered, it left him battling depression.

 

Finally, at fifty-six, Handel decided it was time to retire. Discouraged, miserable and consumed with debt, he felt certain he’d land in a debtor’s prison. So on April 8, 1741, he gave what he considered his farewell concert. Disappointed and filled with self-pity, he gave up. But that year something incredible happened. A wealthy friend named Charles Jennings encouraged Handel by visiting him and giving him a libretto based on the life of Christ. The work intrigued Handel so he began writing. Immediately the floodgates of inspiration opened. For three weeks he wrote almost nonstop. Then he spent another two days creating the orchestrations. In twenty-four days he had completed the 260-page manuscript of Messiah.

 

Thinking of quitting? Don’t!

 

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