August 30th, 2009
Fortunately, problems are an everyday part of our life. Consider this: If there were no problems, most of us would be unemployed. Realistically, the more problems we have and the larger they are, the greater our value to our employer.
Of course, some problems are small, like opening a ketchup bottle. Others are monumental like a seriously ill or injured child or mate, which present ongoing, daily complications. Successful living comes when we learn to handle those business and personal problems with as little fanfare as possible. The successful business executive can handle challenges and solve problems at a remarkable clip. He/she makes quick and final decisions as a result of years of experience. The homemaker with small children at home handles many “catastrophes” each hour with the same dispatch.
Many people use counter-productive methods to deal with problems: They refuse to recognize them, deny responsibility for them, pretend they will go away if they ignore them, or are just flat insensitive to them. The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does exist. Next, we determine whether the problem is our responsibility. If the answer is yes, we must determine how serious and/or urgent it is. When that last determination is made, we either take immediate action if the problem is simple and quickly solvable or develop a plan of action and prioritize it if the solution is more difficult and time-consuming.
Problem-solving becomes a very important part of our makeup as we grow into maturity or move up the corporate ladder. I encourage you to take the time to define the problem correctly, learn the skill of quick analysis and remember, if it weren’t for problems in your life, your position might not be necessary in the first place. Ironing out the wrinkles and solving the problems is what most jobs are about. Think about it, and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
Tags: recognition, recognition programs, recognize
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July 30th, 2009
According to a Juniper Research study, the number of Internet shoppers in our country will grow at an average rate of 12 percent per year through 2010, resulting in more than $144 billion in online sales. That is a lot to pay attention to! E-commerce marketing has become more and more important. We struggle to find the best way to communicate to our prospective buyers without braking the bank.
Your e-commerce website is your store and you only have 5 to 10 seconds to get your customer to do a click through shopping any particular item. Your website should demonstrate your company’s culture and personality throughout. It should not only welcome visitors, it should provide a bit of an education on your product and how it fits their needs. If you are not blessed with good writing skills then a professional writer should be considered to add flare without sacrificing your individual style.
Provide an customer incentives to visitors who complete surveys or provide suggestions. Be brave and ask your most respected critic how they might improve your website. Test your website, is it too complicated? Is comprehension of your site’s vocabulary one that requires a PHD? Use www.websitegrader.com to obtain a full view of subjects that may be keeping your site from top rankings.
Tips for creater Internet exposure:
- Blog daily with at least one blog being over 450 characters with at least 3 keywords peppered throughout.
- Measure your site’s click throughs from home page to a specific page.
- Review your competitor’s keywords and stay on top of emerging use of new keywords.
- How many visitors come to my website? How many visitors opt into your mailing lists and request White Papers?
- What type of comments are you receiving from your blogs?
- Connect your blog to social networks automatically so that your daily blogs appear on Facebook, Myspace and others.
The Internet is one of few marketing venues that provides a continual opportunity 24/7 to sell your products and services worldwide. With the rumor of XTM don’t you think it is time to recognize that SEO marketing is a daily investment?
Tags: customer incentives, recognize, recognize employoees
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July 7th, 2009
The Most Important Measure of Success
Being respected by others is very important to each of us. A survey done by the Gallup organization found that the most prominent living Americans rated the respect of others as the most important measure of success in life. They worked very hard to earn the respect of their parents, the respect of their spouses and children, the respect of their peers and colleagues, and the respect of mankind at large.
Why You Respect Yourself
It seems that we truly respect ourselves only when we feel that we are respected by others, and we will go to great lengths to earn and keep that respect. When we feel that someone respects us for who we are and what we have accomplished, we tend to be more open to that person’s influence.
Two Things You Can Do
We can do two things to put ourselves in a position to be respected by others. The first is to develop our knowledge of our field. The more people perceive you know about your subject, the more they will respect you. The highest-paid people in almost every field are those who know more than the average people. They are recognized as experts, and they develop what is called “expert power.” Because of their superior knowledge, they are looked up to and listened to, and they are much more capable of influencing others to act in a particular way than they would be if their knowledge level were just average.
Know Your Business Well
The best salespeople are those who know their products cold. They deeply understand every aspect of their products and the ways in which their products can be used to achieve the most important goals of their customers.
Develop Your Expertise
Another way to put ourselves in a position of being respected by others is to develop our expertise. Expertise is closely tied to knowledge, but it is a little different. Expertise is the ability to do, the ability to perform well in your chosen field. Men and women with expertise are those who practice over and over in whatever they do until they become known far and wide as the very best in their field.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, study your field in detail. Dedicate at least one hour per day to reading, listening to audio programs, studying to become more and more knowledgeable about what you do.
Second, continually upgrade your knowledge and skills in your field. Identify your weakest important skill and go to work on that.
Knowledge and know-how are the keys to the 21st century.
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June 7th, 2009
Chapter I – Health
1. Drink plenty of water
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that
is made in Plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy
5. *Make time for prayer*
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2008
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours
10.. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day and while you walk, smile.
Chapter II – Personality
11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. *Don’t over do; keep your limits*
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously; no one else does
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the Curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more
24. *You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.*
Chapter III – Community
25. Call your family often
26. Each day give something good to others
27. Forgive everyone for everything
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day
30. What other people think of you is none of your business
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.
Chapter IV – Life
32. Do the right things
33. *Get rid of anything that is n’t useful, beautiful or joyful*
34. GOD heals everything
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
37. The best is yet to come
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.
Travel and enjoy what life has too offer. If you are an employer create an environment that provides the freedom for respect, creativity and appreciation. Donor, customers and employees all gain from the true individual incentives.
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May 17th, 2009
Have you ever found yourself angry with people you care about and didn’t seem able to stop yourself? Do people who love you tell you that you have anger management issues? Have you lost some important relationships or created problems for yourself at work because you couldn’t seem to control your angry behavior?
If this describes you, then you need to regain control and stop yourself from hurting others. The first thing to do is to recognize that you are choosing your anger. What? Choosing my anger? Why in the world would I do that? Well, there are several reasons people may choose anger. Let’s see which one best describes you.
Some people use anger to intimidate others and subsequently get what they want. In this way, the angry person is able to control the behavior of others.
Some people use their anger as a way of getting attention. If a person needs attention, it doesn’t always matter whether that attention is positive or negative, as long as someone is noticing him or her.
Anger can also be used as a tactic to avoid responsibility. If a person doesn’t want to do something, anger can be a valid way to get out of it.
Similar to wanting attention, sometimes people are feeling small and insignificant and anger works to pump themselves up or provide courage to do something scary.
And others use it as an emotional release, much the same way a pressure cooker lets off steam. Anger has energy. When someone is experiencing things that are frustrating, he or she may not be dealing with his or her anger. Instead of processing it, cognitively restructuring some belief systems or working out the energy physically, anger can provide a much needed release valve.
Do you recognize yourself in any of those scenarios? When you lose your temper, which one of these reasons best identifies what you are trying to accomplish? Perhaps you have yet another reason. One thing I know for sure is that you always behave in your best attempt to get something you want. Your behavior is never random and it never “just happens” to you.
It’s a very subtle difference but an important one nonetheless. All behavior is proactive. You do not choose a behavior because of something that occurred outside of you. For example, I can remember asking my youngest son to clean his room. He said he would do it later—only later never came. So, I patiently asked him a second time. Again, he said he’d do it later. This went on for most of the day. Finally, in exasperation, I lost my temper with him and yelled at him about cleaning his room.
The question is why did I get angry? Most people would say I got angry because my son wouldn’t do what I asked. However, the real reason is that I used my anger as my best attempt to get my son to clean his room. (Just for the record, it didn’t work very well.)
Why am I making this seemingly insignificant distinction? Because once you become conscious of the reasons you are choosing your behavior, then you can consciously choose to do something more responsible and more effective.
More responsible means you are getting your needs met without interfering with other people meeting theirs. Effective means it actually works to get you what you really want.
When you use anger, it is not responsible because anger almost always interferes with the other person getting his or her needs met. You definitely have not only the right, but also the responsibility to get your needs met but not at the expense of someone else.
Underlying most reasons for choosing anger, you are probably attempting to improve an important relationship in your life. Anger will never work to do that. You may get the initial satisfaction of getting the other person to do your bidding, but you have damaged something in the relationship.
You must make a proactive plan about what you are going to do instead of using anger. It should be something that has at least an equal chance of getting you what you want while supporting others in their process of getting their own needs met.
Tags: donor incentives, incentive, incentives, recognize, recogntion, reward
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May 15th, 2009
Had Chesly B. Sullenberger known that US Airways Flight 1549 would fly through a flock of geese and lose both engines, then he likely would have stayed out of the cockpit that day. After all, who in their right mind wants to pilot an engineless aircraft? Thankfully for the 155 passengers on board, however, the veteran airman was at the controls to safely crash-landed the plane in the Hudson River.
Although he never would have volunteered for the adversity he faced in the skies above New York City, Sullenberger’s influence soared as a result of his leadership in the midst of harrowing circumstances. Before January 15th, Sullenberger was an accomplished, but anonymous pilot. Afterward, he was recognized as an American hero, drew a captive audience whenever he spoke, and was highly sought after by federal aviation officials for his safety recommendations.
Going through adversity, though not pleasant at the moment, opens the door to new levels of influence. By staying poised and keeping a positive attitude under pressure, leaders can pass through adversity having grown in stature more than they ever could have in comfortable times. In this article, I’d like to focus on the potential benefits that can be gained by triumphing over adverse conditions.
Overcoming Adversity Creates Resilience
A study in Time magazine in the 1980’s described the incredible resilience of a group of people who had lost their jobs on three occasions due to plant closings. Researchers expected them to be discouraged, but they were surprisingly optimistic. Their adversity had turned into advantage. Because they had already coped with job loss and found employment at least twice, they were better equipped to handle adversity than people who had always worked for the same company and found themselves unemployed for the first time.
Overcoming Adversity Develops Maturity
During more than four decades as a pilot, both with the Air Force commercial airlines, Chesly B. Sullenberger had to weather his share of storms and mechanical glitches. When questioned by Katie Couric about his heroic landing of US Airways Flight 1549, Sullenberger credited his past experiences for giving him the maturity to steer the plane. “One way of looking at this might be that, for 42 years, I’ve been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience: education and training. And on January 15 the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.”
As an African proverb says, “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” The bumps in the road may seem only to be nuisances, but they’re often the best instructors on the leadership journey. If we’re observant, the lessons learned during hard times can be mined at a later date for our advantage.
Overcoming Adversity Creates Greater Opportunities
Just about every successful entrepreneur I’ve met has numerous stories of setbacks that opened the door to greater opportunities. Consider these not-so-flattering moments from the lives of famous Americans.
- Early in his career, Walt Disney’s Laugh-O-Gram studio went broke, leaving the talented man out of work.
- Abraham Lincoln plummeted into financial ruin as a young shopkeeper.
- Milton Hershey failed dismally in his initial attempts to open a candy store.
- Henry Ford’s Detroit Automobile Company went bankrupt before reorganizing as Ford Motor Company.
- H.J. Heinz’s venture to sell horseradish flopped before his recipe for ketchup met with commercial success.
In the middle of adversity, it can be difficult to stave off feelings of hopelessness, but oftentimes a bright future waits on the other side of hardship. The mental strength acquired in dealing with misfortune can be an invaluable asset in pushing forward into new ventures.
Overcoming Adversity Wins Respect
Respect almost always is gained on difficult ground. In the words of Plutarch, “The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune.” No one sees your courage in the sunshine. It takes difficulty and darkness to prove bravery. When others see your character and persistence during the rough stretches in leadership, they walk away with an enhanced opinion of you.
SUMMARY
The economic crunch creates adversity, and leaders feel its pain and pressure acutely. While no one hopes for adversity, it can actually serve to benefit a leader. By bearing in mind the potential upside of leading through difficulty, it can be easier to deal with our present troubles.
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May 13th, 2009
Toss negativity out of your environment, your speach and your relationships. Things are tough but you woke up today with the sun shinning, birds singing and ability to love. Those are precious gifts that are not changed by the economy. What you can change is you. Be grateful, be hopeful and perseverent. When you give love and respect, the world will in turn give back. Walk in a room with a smile on your face and become a magnet for those who seek the positive. You gain from them, they gain from you.
Turn off the television and put down the paper, who needs all the media negativity any way? Learn from the science of your garden. There is a direct connection between what you invest in your garden and what you reap. Spend time watering and weeding to soon be in the presence of fragarant roses. Every religion around the world teaches us that a positive causes will bring positive effects. The results from your actions are not limited. Practice them and soon they will become an addictive habit others will seek increasing your business.
Try not to loose faith when immediate responses that you desire do not come to fruition immediately. There is a lesson in time. Success requires complete faith and a go get them attitude. It seems that when we are stubborn and remain in negative cycles we remain there until we change our attitude. When we finally do, it is when we reach our goals. We look back coming to the understanding of time and the lessons that it brought us along the way.
If you believe in Karma, you must first be accepting all of things and people of this world. We are all here for life’s lessons. Everything you do affects someone else. Plant good seeds in everything you think and do. Karma is a very uplifting, each day you have the opportunity to change and plant. Make the right choices. Don’t offer a discout coupon on an overcharged item. Soon your customers will realize and you will just end up out of business. Be honest and people will see that as an incentive to do business with you regardless of price. By praciticing good business, you will gain when the economy heals itself. You gain today and then flourish later!
Demonstrate appreciation for others. Recognize the good work of those who remain resilient and steadfast in their commitment to you. Whether it be your sales team or your customer, keep their relationship with you as rosey as your garden. Develop your own corporate ten commandments and make all aware of it. Keep harmful actions, exageration and self out of your daily equation. Involve others to embrass the positives in their garden.
The gift that never stops giving is a good attitude. Lift your business up and other along with it. Don’t let the negative media dictate your attitude, you business; you life. Be the gardener you were meant to be and enjoy!
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and anaylsis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. - Buddha
Tags: CRM incentives, employee incentive program, incentive, recognition program, recognize
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May 8th, 2009
Be careful to keep your personal challenges to yourself and those closest to you.
The people around you have challenges of their own and likely won’t be able to give yours real attention. Also, in time (if we’re awake), we begin to see what a complete waste of energy a complaint (or whine) is even to the people who might be most interested… ourselves.
Once we embrace this fact, complaining less should be fairly easy… until someone around us begins. At that point, we might have a tendency to join in. When we smile, we remember to do what we can to minimize this tendency. When we move, we express care for another’s situation and help if we can.
To feel good and flourish, researchers say that people need a 3:1 positivity ratio. That means they need to hear three positive statements for every complaint.
Having a positive attitude has been linked to mind-body-spirit benefits including:
1. Greater creativity and increased intuition
2. Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of stroke
3. Increased resilience and happiness
—”Positive Affect and the Complex Dynamics of Human Flourishing,” by B. Fredrickson and M.F. Losada (2005).
Relatively speaking, many of us who complain about anything really shouldn’t.
When the complaints begin among our circle of people, maybe we should be the ones who throw out the idea that many people struggle with far more real (and basic) challenges than we do.
That’s when we might hear… “Well, it’s all relative.”
And when we hear that, we should remember (and maybe remind each other) that we’re all human beings
Tags: Make employees happy, recognition programs, recognize, recognize employees
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July 2nd, 2008
When you have the energy to fuel your passion, success is sure to follow. The 1-2 punch of energy and passion is the key to success in life. In order to be successful in any endeavor you will need to overcome much discouragement, frustration and failure, and the key to rising above these things is energy and passion. That is why I always say that “Energy is the fuel to ignite passion and passion is the engine of success!”
In the movie Cinderella Man, Russell Crowe plays a down and out boxer that makes a dramatic comeback. The backdrop to this movie is the great depression and previous to the great depression Crowe’s character, Jimmy Braddock was a champion boxer that lost his way. After his comeback a reporter asks him, “You have lost before, what’s the difference this time?” Jimmy Braddock then answers, “I know what I’m fighting for.” The reporter follows up with, “And what’s that?” and Jimmy comes back with what I feel is the most memorable and inspiring line in the whole movie, he simply says, “Milk.” That says it all; now he knew why he was fighting. He was fighting to feed his kids. He was able to look defeat straight in the face and say, “Okay, one more round.” He was able to overcome failure because he had the energy and passion to achieve his goal of putting milk on the table. I feel this is the story of America. A spirited passion for a worthy goal that will let nothing stand in her way. “Okay, let’s go one more round” was the unspoken mantra for generations of Americans and what has made America the greatest country in the world.
The 1–2 punch of energy and passion is the key to success in your career as well as your life. People can feel your energy and passion. Our job is to “sell” people on what we know will help them and you can’t do that by being lethargic.
Many years ago when I got started in sales, I didn’t know how to sell but I was passionate and energetic. One of my first clients told me that as my skill increases it is natural for my passion to wane. He told me the key to my success will lie in my passion and if I can combine an infectious passion with proven sales skills, I will always be a top producing sales person. Was he right! Isn’t that what Mr. Ziglar has been teaching us for years? If we present our message with an infectious passion and conviction combined with a high level of energy, it will speak volumes to our prospects and “sell” them on taking action by using the best person in town…YOU!
Put the 1-2 punch of energy and passion to work in your life so you can live the life of your dreams!
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July 1st, 2008
…then get out of the kitchen”.
So goes the phrase associated with U.S. President, Harry S. Truman. What Truman was trying to say was “don’t persist with a task if the pressure of it is too much for you”. The suggestion being that, if you can’t cope, you should leave the work to someone who can get it done.
Hmmm…I guess it works if you are one of those individuals who EASILY GIVE UP or one of those who find plenty of EXCUSES (such as blaming others or your current situation or environment) as to why you do not pursue your dreams, wishes and goals.
However, if you are like many who:
- Are driven from within on their quest for success,
- Have a burning desire to life their lives to the max,
- Welcome and easily overcome challenges through perseverance and determination and,
- Are not afraid to ask for what they want in life…
…then you know that this is not the case in your life. You always ask for more. You always shoot for the moon. And, you know that the word “impossible” was never intended for you.
I see many people who use words such as “CAN’T”, “BUT” and “IF” copiously in their conversations. If you, too, are like these people then I STRONGLY encourage YOU to continue to read on!
To get you started and motivate you on “Your Quest For Success” here is my version of this quote (with apologies to Mr. Truman)…
“If you can’t stand the heat, then find a way to get used to, and beat it!”
The word “can’t” is one of the most disempowering words known to humankind. To me, “can’t” means one of two things:
Meaning Number One:
You don’t want to do something (even when you know it is good for you to do it)…
Of course I am not talking about illegal or immoral things, where a person’s moral compass would not allow them to do something that would be in conflict with their values. What I am referring to is having the courage to step out of your comfort zone and finding the information and tools you need to get the task at hand done, no matter how hard, or painful it might be.
Meaning Number Two:
You do not know HOW to do or get something done. Perhaps, as with Meaning Number One, you do not have the confidence or courage to take that very first step.
Here’s my straightforward 5-step plan as to how to take control of your life and prepare your self to “beat the heat”.
Step One: You need to create a burning desire for change within you. Become dissatisfied with your current situation and where you are in life. Create within yourself the courage and confidence to become a “CAN”- do type that others will gravitate to. No matter if you lack education, technical skills or others areas of expertise you must never let these be stumbling blocks. And with that in mind, read on to Step Number Two.
Step Two: Create a “game plan” with clearly-defined goals. Whether your goals are personal, professional, financial or other, take the time to write then down in a clearly written, realistically achievable plan. Then as you take action to achieve your goals, also take time to visualize yourself meeting or even better yet, beating your plan. Visualization can be a powerful tool.
Step Three: Remember you are “bigger” than you know. You are just as good as anyone else. Never shoot for less than the moon. Become a person for whom the word impossible is not meant for.
Step Four: Expect, welcome and overcome challenges. Remember what does not “kill” us, makes us stronger.
Step Five: Never be afraid to ask for what you want. If you do not ask, then 110% of the time, the answer will be “no”.
The Roman philosopher, Seneca, who lived from 4 B.C. to 65 A.D. said, “Most powerful is he that has himself in his own power”.
By using “Shaw’s five-step plan” you will soon you will develop the power of confidence and courage that will inspire you to take action. You will feel more excitement and clarity in your life everyday. You will be motivated like never before and easily “beat the heat”.
Tags: employee rewards, incentives, motivate, recognize, virtual visa
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