I took a look at this video this afternoon and it struck a cord with me. I have believed for a long time that traditional education stifles creativity. This view may have been influenced by the fact that I was expelled from primary (i.e. elementary) school for being disruptive and refusing to color within the lines. Read more…
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If you know me well you’ll probably know that I don’t have much time for benchmarking and never have. I believe it encourages people to drift towards mediocrity and to aspire to being amongst the pack albeit at the better end of the pack perhaps. Read more…
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Here’s an extract from Knowledge@Wharton, an online magazine from The Wharton School of Business that I subscribe to.
After losing $60 billion in the last decade — and billions more recently when a cloud of volcanic ash grounded flights across Europe — airlines are looking to consolidate as a way to return to profitability amid continued struggles with high fuel prices, competition from low-cost carriers, and a limited customer pool that shriveled even more during the recession. But experts are skeptical about the “bigger is better” strategy. Many observers say the carriers have proved downright flighty at following through on making changes that improve operations and put the customer first.
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From his book Winning with People, John Maxwell (who I think is one of a small handful of people who really understand leadership) takes a look at some principles that address victory over self. Here’s one that I think is a gem:
Who we are determines how we see others. This principle says once we get our own act together, we will be able to help others get their acts together. It’s impossible, if I am an unhealthy leader, to have healthy followers. I have to fix myself. We don’t see others as they are; we see others as we are, because each of us has his or her own bent and that colors our view of everything. What is around us doesn’t determine what we see. What is within us does. For example, if I am an untrusting person, how you think I will see you? I will see you as untrustworthy. So anything that is unhealthy about me is going to spill onto you. That is what leaders have to understand. But as a leader, if I can get victory over myself, if I can fix John Maxwell, the odds are high I can help and fix others.
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I do lots of presentations each year that might be best described as networking events. Given that professional service firms rely very heavily on referrals and given that your network of contacts is a potentially rich source of referrals I thought I’d share some thoughts on how to make the most of networking opportunities. Here goes:
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A couple of days ago I was skiing at Lake Tahoe and I shared the Gondola back down the hill with a couple from California who had gone up the mountain to sight-see. I asked them if they skied and they answered with a categorical “No, we’d like to but we’re too old.” Read more…
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John Maxwell in his book Your Road Map For Success, refers to a report published in 1986 about a research experiment in a San Francisco school. The Principal called in 3 teachers and said: “because you three teachers are the finest in the system and you have the greatest expertise, we’re going to give you ninety selected high-IQ students and we’re going to let you move these students through this next year at their pace to see how much they can learn.”
The teachers, the students and their parents understandably thought it was a great idea. By the end of the year the students had achieved from 20 to 30 percent better than the other students in the entire San Francisco Bay area! Everyone was delighted. However, the Principal called in the teachers and said: “I have a confession to make. You did not have ninety of the most intellectually prominent students. They were run-of-the-mill students. We took ninety students at random from the system and gave them to you.”
The teachers concluded that their exceptional teaching skill was therefore responsible for the students’ outstanding progress until the Principal said “I have another confession. You’re not the brightest of the teachers. Your names were drawn out of a hat.”
The researcher concluded that the reason both the students and their teachers performed at an exceptional level is the attitude they each embraced. They had an attitude of positive expectation and confidence in each other. They performed well because they believed they could!
I wonder how much of our own under-performance can be attributed to our failure to believe in ourselves and our colleagues. Henry Ford’s statement: “If you believe you can or you believe you can’t you’re probably right” has become cliche but I think it’s a natural law. I’d be interested in what you think.
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Interesting question? I doubt whether too many people would even bother asking it for the simple reason that the answer is self-evident …. as long as it takes! Read more…
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Selling is simply something we all do to get other people to do what we’d like them to do either for your gratification or theirs. If your primary purpose is “your” gratification you will not achieve much success as a salesperson. On the other hand if you are motivated by a desire to help people you won’t achieve much unless you’re a success as a salesperson. Read more…
Popularity: 46% [?]