Retweet: Three Words That Will Transform Your Career

May 31, 2013 by Leave a comment

Today we’re going to take a little different spin.  

Personally and professionally, I find a lot of value in LinkedIn.  I love seeing what kinds of articles people post.  Yesterday, I came across a quick read by Bruce Kasanoff (entrepreneur, writer, speaker) that really has a great message that we need to remember and act on (often).  As it’s short and to the point, I will post the entire article below or you can click on the link here to access it on LinkedIn.  Enjoy!

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Three Words That Will Transform Your Career

Every time you encounter another person, think: help this person. It’s not altruistic. Nothing else can so quickly supercharge your career and improve the quality of your life.

When you walk into Starbucks for a coffee, think help this person about the barista who serves you. Instead of being frustrated that he isn’t moving fast enough, see if you can make him smile. Better yet, tell him to keep the change.

When the phone rings on a busy day, don’t get frustrated by the interruption. Think help this person while you answer the phone. Doing so will change your demeanor, your thought process, and the entire interaction.

If you have a subordinate who isn’t pulling her weight, instead of criticizing her, every time you see her think help this person. This doesn’t mean let her slide, or ignore her shortcomings. It means help her either improve her skills or find a position better suited to her strengths. But don’t just brush her aside; really help her.

But wait a minute – I know what some of you are thinking. What about the people who take credit for other people’s work? What about the rich and powerful who have gotten that way by crushing others? Doesn’t their success prove me wrong?

Not at all. Sure, there are some people who take the exact opposite strategy. But it takes real skill and focus to succeed by being evil, and most of us just don’t have the fortitude to pull it off. For those of us with a soul and a heart, the only real choice is to succeed by helping others.

By first thinking help this person, you will change the ways that others perceive you. There is no faster or more effective way to change your interactions and relationships. You will be viewed as a positive, constructive, helpful and dependable person. People will think you are more perceptive, attentive and understanding.

That’s why this way of thinking is not altruistic; it is selfish, in the best sense of the word. The single best way to help yourself is to always be looking for ways to help other people. Sure, you’ll be making the world a better place, and in the course of your life you will help many thousands of people. But don’t do it because you ought to, or because it’s the “right” thing to do.

Think help this person because you’re selfish, and proud of it.

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Filed under Developing, Leading, Mentoring Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Reach Out!

July 13, 2012 by 1 Comment

I was able to witness something awesome recently.  At the Walmart Shareholders Meeting this year, there was a brief moment that they were celebrating a young man named Tim Kerfoot from Canada that was named the International Associate of the Year.  Tim works at a distribution center.  Tim is also wheel chair bound.

Why was he the International Associate of the Year?  Well, when you listen to him (video below), it will take you about half a second to realize that this guy radiates positive energy and motivates others to be excellent.

Here is a man that has faced a huge adversity, could easily give up, or be ticked off at the world because of his lot in life, but you would never know it.  This doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have troubles or struggles, it just means that he chooses not to let them dictate his attitude.  – which is absolutely awesome.

In fact, while they were recognizing him he said something that I thought was incredibly profound.  He said, “In the midst of a challenge, find people around you that can support you through it.  And then…..find people around you that you can support.”

Think about that for a moment.  

What a great leadership lesson!

In the first half his statement, he basically says, when you need help – seek out those that can help you.  Ask for it.  Don’t go it alone.  Rely on others.  Get support.  Reach out!

This is such a fail point for so many leaders.  Often we think that we need to define ‘being strong’ as ‘doing it ourselves’ and ‘not showing weakness’.  There is nothing further from the truth!  We – you and I – need other people.  That’s how we’re wired as human beings.  There is no shame in asking for help. In fact, it may show greater leadership maturity if you do.   And quite frankly, we need other people to offset our own flaws, lift us up when we’re down, and strengthen us when we’re weak.  I’m sure that you’ve heard the old adage that a single stick is easily broken, but a bundle of sticks cannot be broken.   We need each other in order to succeed.

But, the coolest thing about what Tim said followed next.

“…then….find people around you that you can support.”  Wow!  This is POWERFUL! This simple statement brings the first half full circle.  It’s not just about asking for help when WE need it.  It’s about helping others when THEY need it.  This is very symbiotic and brings the whole concept of reaching out full circle.  When I hear this I picture someone reaching down in to the pit to help pull us out, but just as we’re about to be pulled out, we reach back and extend our hand to someone else.

Something important to point out here is that he used the word “FIND”.  This is an action word that we should pay close attention to.  When it comes to helping others, we shouldn’t wait for them to come to us.  We should FIND PEOPLE AROUND US THAT WE CAN SUPPORT.  Good leader’s don’t sit back and wait.  They take action to proactively and positively impact the lives of others.  This requires us to sharpen our skills of discernment and be aware and sensitive to what is happening around us.

REACH OUT – when you need help.

AND

REACH OUT – to help others.

As leaders, I challenge you to do both!  Both are healthy.  And if you are the kind of person that reaches out to help others more often than you ask for help, I guarantee you that someone will always be there for you when you need it.

Tim also made another neat statement.  He said, “Life is better with a team, with family and with friends.”  I couldn’t agree more.

With an outlook on life like this, it’s no wonder that Tim Kerfoot from DC 3059 in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada was Walmart’s International Associate of the Year.  Way to go Tim!

I’ve attached Tim’s acceptance video below.

Who needs you to reach out to them today?

Filed under Developing, Leading, Mentoring Tagged with , , , , , ,

Don’t Spill the Milk

February 10, 2012 by 2 Comments

Have you ever had those days or weeks when the momentum of the day has you in a crazy frantic state?  There’s just so much going on that it becomes noisy, confusing, and stressful.  Too much to do.  Too little time in the day.

It’s kind of like taking a cup and filling it up with milk.  At some point, you can’t put any more in to the cup without it overflowing and spilling over on to the floor.  And as my 4-year-old says, “We don’t spill milk on the floor, Daddy” – usually after she’s already spilled it on the floor.

But that proverbial cup is our own capacity to deal with life and the milk is the demands of the day that come at us from all directions.  And when we can’t deal with anymore?  Our cup runs over and spills on to the floor.

The latter is messy.  And even my 4-year-old gets it.

So, what can we do to keep from spilling our milk?  One strategy is to lessen the amount of milk flowing in the first place.  Another would be to consume the milk in the cup faster, so that you can fill it with more.  A third would be to get a bigger cup  (perhaps something with a handle or a backpack attachment).

In this post, we’re going to tackle the milk flowing in because it’s a great starting point.  But how do you do that?  Slow or reduce the demands of life.

 The simplest answer is to create filters to ensure that the right amount of milk is flowing in to the cup.  We call these filters ‘priorities’.

Setting (and adhering) to personal priorities can often make the difference between dealing with outright pandemonium and at least a controlled chaos.

Case in point – over the last couple weeks, I’ve received several emails and questions asking why there haven’t been any new posts on the Leader’s Locker recently.

My answer is simple.  Priorities.

Just like you, my life gets crazy from time to time with demands coming from all directions.  So, I fall back on my personal priorities to help slow the flow so that the things I am focusing on are done well.

This blog is an awesome project, but it is not the most important thing in my life.  So when push comes to shove, my higher priorities take precedence and I reduce the amount of time I spend blogging.

Personally, I use my priorities as a guide to which activities I engage in and where I spend my time.  Example:  I am a huge stickler around attending my children’s special events.  I rarely ever let work or another project keep me from them. 

Why?  Because my kids are a greater priority than my career or other projects.  Obviously, there is a life balance to that because (in the big picture) I have to make a living somehow so that I can buy milk for the ones I love and hold most dear.

So how do I determine my priorities?

For me, understanding priorities really boils down to three things:

1.  Knowing yourself. 

Everyone has different motivators in life.  No one can set your priorities for you, so you need to set them for yourself.  This is a conscious task and shouldn’t be taken lightly.  After all – your priorities dictate your time and your time is valuable. 

Try rattling off your top 5 priorities right now.

Mine are easy – My faith, my wife, my kids, my career, my immediate family/close friends.  I can recite these in a blink of an eye, because I’ve put thought in to them and use them as regular fence posts during my week.

If you have never written down your priorities, find some quiet time and sit down with a blank sheet of paper and work it out.  Start with the top 5.  What is important to you?  Try to think beyond what is important today or tomorrow.  Think in the context of your life.  Think bigger picture.

Once those are written, then determine what is most important.   Work through scenarios in your mind to help you get to the right priority order for you.  Once you get the top 5, subsequent priorities become easier to define and order.  Once done, file your list away or save it on your hard drive to revisit later.

SIDE NOTE:  This is also a good exercise for couples.  It’s good when you’re on the same page about your life priorities!

2.  Establish Reminders. 

It’s important to find ways to remind yourself of your priorities.  This could be notes on your office wall, a note on the bathroom mirror, or something as simple as a picture on your mobile phone or computer desktop. 

One trick I learned from one of my SVPs about a decade ago was to take a business card sized paper and write your priorities on one side and your goals on the other. Laminate it and put it in your wallet.   If you ever find yourself struggling with what to do, take out the card for reference.

The picture here is my first personal card that I made about 9 years ago.  You can tell by the wear and tear that it has been put to good use.  The other side has my 5 and 10 year goals on it.

3. Revisit your priorities. 

Life is dynamic.  Things change often.  And we as individuals change and evolve over time.  Which means our priorities change too.  A given priority may rise or fall in importance, be new to your list, or may fall off your list altogether.

So, it is important to constantly re-evaluate your priorities to ensure you have the proper filters in place to help guide your path.  As you can see from my card above, some of my priorities have shifted over time.  When they do, make a new card.

I suggest purposefully revisiting your priorities at least once a year or at any major life change. 

If you did #1 above, then this is as simple as pulling that list of priorities back out of the file or up on your computer and evaluating if you are in the same place as you were before or not.

Setting personal priorities is critical to limiting the flow in to your life, which helps you deal with the momentum of the day.  The absolute key to success though was mentioned briefly above – adherence. 

Once your priorities are set, you have to use them to guide how you spend your time.  This means you will have to say ‘no’ to some things and stick to it. 

If not, you’ll always have more than you can handle and your cup will end up running over …and no one wants spilled milk.  Just ask my daughter.

Do you know your priorities?  How do you set them?

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