A wise teacher was taking a stroll through the forest with a young pupil and stopped before a tiny tree.

“Pull up that sapling,” the teacher instructed his pupil, pointing to a sprout just coming up from the earth. The youngster pulled it up easily with his fingers. “Now, pull up that one,” said the teacher, indicating a more established sapling that had grown to about knee high to the boy. With little effort, the lad yanked and the tree came up, roots and all. “And now this one,” said the teacher, nodding toward a more well-developed evergreen that was as tall as the young pupil. With great effort, throwing all his weight and strength into the task, using sticks and stone he found to pry up the stubborn roots, the boy finally got the tree loose.

“Now,” the wise one said, “I’d like you to pull this one up.” The young boy followed the teacher’s gaze, which fell upon a mighty oak so tall the boy could scarcely see the top. Knowing the great struggle he’d just had pulling up the much smaller tree, he simply told his teacher, “I am sorry, but I can’t.”

“My son, you have just demonstrated the power that habits will have over your life!” the teacher exclaimed. “The older they are, the bigger they get, the deeper the roots grow, and the harder they are to uproot. Some get so big, with roots so deep, you might hesitate to even try.”

Creatures of Habit
 Aristotle wrote, “We are what we repeatedly do.” Merriam-Webster defines habit this way: “an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.”

There’s a story about a man riding a horse, galloping quickly. It appears that he’s going somewhere very important. A man standing along the roadside shouts, “Where are you going?” The rider replies, “I don’t know. Ask the horse!” This is the story of most people’s lives; they’re riding the horse of their habits, with no idea where they’re headed. It’s time to take control of the reins and move your life in the direction of where you really want to go.

If you’ve been living on autopilot and allowing your habits to run you, I want you to understand why. And I want you to let yourself off the hook. After all, you’re in good company. Psychological studies reveal that 95 percent of everything we feel, think, do and achieve is a result of a learned habit! We’re born with instincts, of course, but no habits at all. We develop them over time. Beginning in childhood, we learned a series of conditioned responses that led us to react automatically (as in, without thinking) to most situations.

In your day-to-day life, living “automatically” has its definite positives. If you had to consciously think about every step of each ordinary task—making breakfast, driving the kids to school, getting to work, and so on—your life would grind to a halt. You probably brush your teeth twice a day on autopilot. There’s no big philosophical debate; you just do it. You strap on your seatbelt the minute your butt hits the seat. No second thoughts. Our habits and routines allow us to use minimal conscious energy for everyday tasks. They help keep us sane and enable us to handle most situations reasonably well. And because we don’t have to think about the mundane, we can focus our mental energy on more creative and enriching thoughts. Habits can be helpful—as long as they’re good habits, that is.

If you eat healthfully, you’ve likely built healthy habits around the food you buy and what you order at restaurants. If you’re fit, it’s probably because you work out regularly. If you’re successful in a sales job, it’s probably because your habits of mental preparation and positive self-talk enable you to stay optimistic in the face of rejection.

I’ve met and worked with many great achievers, CEOs and “superstars,” and I can tell you they all share one common trait: They all have good habits. That’s not to say they don’t have bad habits—they do. But not many. A daily routine built on good habits is the difference that separates the most successful amongst us from everyone else. And doesn’t that make sense? From what we’ve already discussed, you know successful people aren’t necessarily more intelligent or more talented than anyone else. But their habits take them in the direction of becoming more informed, more knowledgeable, more competent, better-skilled and better-prepared.

My dad used Larry Bird as an example to teach me about habits when I was a kid. “Larry Legend” is known as one of the greatest professional basketball players, but he wasn’t known for being the most athletically talented player. Nobody would have described Larry as “graceful” on the basketball court. Yet, despite his limited natural athletic ability, he led the Boston Celtics to three world championships and remains one of the best players of all time. How did he do it?

It was Larry’s habits—his relentless dedication to practice and to improve his game. Bird was one of the most consistent free-throw shooters in the history of the NBA. Growing up, his habit was to practice five hundred free-throw shots every morning before school. With that kind of discipline, Larry made the most of his God-given talents and kicked the butts of some of the most “gifted” players on the court.

Like Larry Bird, you can condition your automatic and unconscious response to be those of a developed champion. This chapter is about choosing to make up for what you lack in innate ability with discipline, hard work and good habits. It’s about becoming a creature of champion habits.

With enough practice and repetition, any behavior, good or bad, becomes automatic over time. That means that even though we developed most of our habits unconsciously (by modeling our parents, responding to environmental or cultural associations, or creating coping mechanisms), we can consciously decide to change them. It stands to reason that since you learned every habit you have, you can also unlearn the ones that aren’t serving you well. ]]> http://www.strategicconcepts-ca.com/news/articles/habits-by-darren-hardy/feed/ 0 http://www.strategicconcepts-ca.com/news/articles/3-ways-to-be-a-positive-leader/ http://www.strategicconcepts-ca.com/news/articles/3-ways-to-be-a-positive-leader/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:18:37 +0000 info http://www.strategicconcepts-ca.com/news/?p=1284 In a world filled with busyness and stress I find that too often leaders can act like hard-charging, fast-driving bus drivers that have a vision and goal within their sights and they’ll run over anyone–even their own employees–to reach their destination. I know this well because early in my business career I was that kind of leader and I have had to work hard to change my approach.

I realized that any hard-charging leader can create success in the short term, but it would take a positive leader with a people and process-driven approach to build a successful organization for the long term. As John Maxwell said, “If you are all alone at the top, you are not a leader. You are a hiker.”

No one creates success alone. To win in business, you must win with people. Running over people will only get you so far. To create true and lasting success you must nurture and invest in your people. Here are three essential ways to do this.

 1. Care about them – The main question every employee in every organization is asking is, “Do you care about me; can I trust you?” Employees want to know if you care about them. If you do, they will be more likely to stay on the bus and work with you. Employees are more engaged at work and will work at their highest potential when their manager cares about them.

 2. Develop a relationship with them – Author Andy Stanley once said, “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” Far too many managers and leaders share rules with their people, but they don’t have a relationship with them. So what happens? The people rebel, and they disengage from their jobs and the mission of the team. I’ve had many managers approach me and tell me that my books helped them realize they needed to focus less on rules and invest more in their work relationships. The result was a dramatic increase in team performance and productivity. To develop a relationship with your employees, you need to build trust, listen to them, make time for them, recognize them and mentor them.

 3. Appreciate them – The main reason people leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated. For example, Doug Conant, the CEO of Campbell Soup, has written more than 16,000 thank-you notes to employees in the past seven years and created a very positive business in the process. It’s as easy as saying (or writing) “Thank you.”

It’s a simple truth: When you care about your employees and the people you work with, they are more likely to stay on the bus and work harder, with more loyalty and greater positive energy. In turn, they are more likely to share their positive energy with your customers, thus enhancing service and the bottom line. The greatest customer service strategy has nothing to do with customer service, but it has everything to do with how you treat your employees. If you model great service, they will provide great service.

Remember, leadership is not just about what you do, but what you can inspire, encourage and empower others to do. Instead of running over the people in your team/organization, invite them on the bus with you and engage them to help you create an amazing and successful ride.

I am not only a looking for the ease of technology, I looking for traditional customer service and a warm greeting or two. I want options of online products and services along with face to face service.  I like variety in my life with lots of options. As Gen Xer, I want to know you are interested in my family, friends and I.  I want to know you are working on new online services that are easy to use with lots to offer. I also want rewards because they are at the top of my list when making my purchase decisions. I be interested in a credit or ATM card unless, I get a good deal and incentive rewards.

Point reward programs are interesting due to the variety of incentives that they offer.   I can either earn points to buy my mom something,  save up for a green vacation or donate to my favorite charity.  I definitely do not want to stuff my closet with another t-shirt or put add to my coffee mug collection in my kitchen.

I am your employee and your customer, I am your best advertising.  I will speak positively and energetically about my experience and believe in our relationship as an your employee and as your customer.

The eyes have it and that is why eye gaze studies are becoming more and more important to companies with a large Internet presence. On a given website, visitors will view the search bar and menu options spending less than 30 seconds before deciding to continue or move awat from  a website.   Large marketing firms now are investing in research to learn more about eye gaze studies and the link between social and search as is used to advertise on Facebook. 

In studies, regarding the difference between the sexes’ eye contact,  women establish more frequent eye contact than their male counter parts.  Men established more mutual eye contact while listening and speaking.  Research also concluded that both sexes look more when speaking to a female than a male. This leaves some speculation that women are more attentive, demonstrative and participative.

Eye gaze studies are crucial to companies with a large Internet presence. On a given website, visitors will view the search bar and menu options spending less than 30 seconds before deciding to continue or move off a website.   Business owners are continually challenged seeking ways to increase click throughs once their visitors arrive without visual overload.

Research has demonstrated that the eye tends to navigate to the middle of the top of the page and top of far left panel on the Facebook.  Most immediately look at wall updates and announcements then navigate to the far right for highlights then venture upwards viewing any personally  interesting advertisements. Facebook members tend to find great value in the ability to communicate quickly and easily to family, friends and use it as a networking too. Because of this friendly relationship with Facebook, advertisements are not seen as intrusive as they were on Myspace causing a decrease in membership.

It has been found that 25% of females between the ages are Facebook members.  Below is a listing of visitors by website:

                                             Facebook                                            Twitter                                      You Tube

  Monthly Traffic                  91.2                                                      21.9                                                  71.3

% of People 18 – 49              62%                                                      75%                                                   59%  

% of Men/Women               44/56                                                 45/55                                               50/50

The intensity of visual interests provides valuable information to all those with interests in development.  The eyes of the buyer and those we wish to influence. The story is told and absorbed by our eyes. The passionate communication the provide an incentive to react or walk away. 
Some researchers into consciousness believe that fixational points of interests are placed where important cognition thinking takes place.  Marketing researchers, use eye-gaze systems while conducting marketing research on consumers, similar to those used to develop technology for those that are physically challenged allowing them to turn on lights, talk via a specialized computer or move. They learn about the power of influence on the brain and the motivation for the brain to react.

Like a great hunter, the eye lines up the animal of interest to the center of the retina creating a target of interest. Consumer research concentrates on (1) the scanning pattern across a scene indicating what features are noticed first and second  (2) the amount of time on the item of interest (3) the time that it takes before first seeing the item and focus on detail, and (4) fixations measuring the amount of time that the individual’s eye moves from one specific location to another. 

Maintaining the visitor’s interests requires a careful balance answering the “what’s in it for me” question, providing intriquing information and an incentive to do business with you in 30 seconds or less. If you have ask yourself what motivates you when you visit a website or when you find yourself captivated by an advertisement,  you will learn more about how to capture the eye of your visitors.

In a life time, if we are lucky, we are deeply touched by a few people in our lives. Some that consist of family, some are friends and others are in the public eye. Favorite songs and movies marking sweet symbolic times of our lives that come back to life with just a sight or sound. No one artist in my life time could be responsible for marking so many weddings, parties or special time with my favorite guy than Michael Jackson.

Today, we say good-bye to the earthly body of Michael Jackson knowing that his passionate love of his music will burn brighter than the media’s glare. Rest in peace Michael Jackson, I was so fortunate to have experienced your amazing talent.

Over the decades–heck, even centuries–philosophers, politicians, tycoons and other leaders have insisted that you can’t get something for nothing: “There’s no such thing as a free ride,” or “Nothing in life is free.” Well-known economist Milton Friedman once said, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Even Entrepreneur columnist Robert Kiyosaki’s rich dad told him the same thing.

But in our evolving Web 2.0 world and with Google leading the way, the rules have changed: You can get something for nothing–and for entrepreneurs, that something can have a significant impact on their businesses. Today, the web is full of free tools to help entrepreneurs start, run and grow their businesses for next to nothing. It’ll just cost you some time and an internet connection.

Think back to your summers as a young adult what types of things made you stop and take notice? Get out a pad of paper for some neat ideas that will not only get your donors in, it will get their families in too.

• Host an  educational  water safety event.
• Collaborate with MADD or other organization providing a public service.
• Give away tickets to the nearest water park for donations.
• Host a parking lot concert for donor drives.  
• Create a baseball themed contest. Provide give aways for each run scored in addition to points they have earned for their individual donations.
• If Type O blood is in demand, soccer themed events are a big hit.
• Local athlete presentations and sports camp.
• Dance presentation on site.
• Have a luau party during the month of July with food and beach toy give aways. Ask your team to join in on the fun wearing Hawaiian shirts.

For online charity websites:

Create an incentive wall that allows people to post short comments about their experience and invite others.

Add interactive games with gift incentives for their participation.

Short term theme events with interesting facts and online prize awards.

Host live and informative classes on nutrition.

Post your organization’s wish list.

Be sure to keep your website up-to-date and interesting. Stale information will only lead visitors feeling that your organization may be on vacation mode too.

Keep the energy up in your organization by providing employee and volunteer incentives. If they are motivated, they will help your organization reach its goals.

But reality and results tell another story entirely. A quick look through the garages and basements of many of these great starters would likely reveal the truth about completion: the final ten percent, for many people, is virtually uncharted territory – meaning they never get there.

Carry the accumulation of half-demolished foyers, clogged caulk guns, and piles of debris into the business world, and it’s no different.

The pattern for success in business is to recognize an unsatisfied need, innovate to find and provide a solution, then to expand and repeat the process. Somewhere between innovation and delivery, we find the no-man’s zone known as completion.

I once employed someone who proved to be an excellent initiator but a terrible finisher. She would start a task but get hung up once she encountered an obstacle. When asked why she didn’t get the job done, she blamed someone for not getting back to her or a situation she’d encountered. In short, she didn’t understand how to drive to completion.

What makes completion such a challenge?

Completion forces us to step forward.
For many people, the thought of completing a goal is unsettling – even when the task at hand is unpleasant. Maybe it’s the sense of the ‘known evil’ being preferable to the unknown one. No matter how ornery a project has become, at least it’s a pain in the neck that is familiar. We know that upon completion, we must choose again. We question whether we’ve got the goods needed to accomplish the next challenge.

Completion forces us to step up.
Concluding the current initiative inevitably moves us to a point of “what next?” For success-minded people, the answer to that question always comes in the form of raising the bar. Knowing that an even greater challenge lies ahead can make incompletion insidiously alluring. We know that each completion is followed by a call for even more. We wonder how we will bear up as the stakes are raised.

Completion forces us to step out.
Whether the task at hand is pleasant or not, we become attached to it. No matter how hard it seemed as we first put our hands to the plow, it is now within our comfort zone. It is familiar, and it seems manageable. People generally fear change. We convince ourselves that survival depends on staying inside our circle of competency. Completion represents a not-so-subtle nudge out of that circle.

For many people, incompletion has become a way of life. It takes the form of procrastination, loss of interest, confusion, and frustration. By remaining at the 90% complete mark, we reap the dubious benefits of security, mediocrity, and familiarity.

How can we push forward for completion?

Assess the current situation.
Focus on one task at a time until it is complete. This sounds like an effective solution – on paper. Chances are, though, that your world is more complex than that. However, even with multiple projects and priorities going on at the same time, you can still focus on one idea at a time and then move on. Each new opportunity should be evaluated before you commit. Remember that ‘good’ is the enemy of ‘best’ in your consideration. Does it serve your purpose? If so, engage and then move forward into completion.

Realize that the final 10% isn’t so bad.
Often the final stretch is comprised of unremarkable, monotonous, or tedious tasks. Because they are less than exhilarating, they seem onerous. Reality is that these final milestones are a lot closer, and a lot easier to attain than they seem. These loose ends rarely take the time or energy we fear they will. Just like the sticker on your car’s rearview mirror reads, completion “may be closer than they appear.”

Understand the price you pay for incompletion.
The process of beginning an initiative and working on it requires that you fully engage your commitment, your creative power, and your attention. The deepest recesses of your mind loathe letting go of these commitments. Like an elbow constantly poking into your ribs, your mind will nag you unceasingly about your incompletion. This distraction is often enough to pull you right out of the game when it’s time to take your next step.

Enjoy the rewards of completion.
The marketplace rewards completion. Every purchase of goods or services is immediately and unconsciously evaluated for completion. If you were to go out for dinner, place your order, and then never receive your food, you would complain, refuse to pay, and never want to go there again. If you purchased a car and discovered it was missing some key component, a steering wheel for example, you would refuse to take delivery.

It’s been said that the key to outrageous success is to do what nobody else will do. This brings to the forefront an opportunity to excel through completion, and reap the rewards of your diligence. A quick look around illustrates people’s tendency toward procrastination, loss of momentum, distraction, and incompletion. By committing to completion, you will do what nobody else will do, and the rewards will follow.

Recognizing the prices and benefits of completion may be enough to move you forward. What prize awaits when you push forward for completion?