Author Michael Jeffreys personally interviewed 15 top motivational gurus in 1997 for his then upcoming book. After talking to gurus from Brian Tracy to Dr. Wayne Dyer, he distilled 8 Secrets to Success they all agreed upon. These secrets are still good today and are as follows:
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1. Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life –
In a society where people blame everything from their parents to the government for failure, those who don’t buy into this mentality or succumb to the “victim” thinking succeed. To blame something or somebody outside yourself is saying they have control of your life and not you. Someone else’s opinion of you doesn’t have to become your reality.
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2. Live Your Life On Purpose -
What separates motivational thinkers from the unsuccessful is that they believe they’re doing what they were put her to do. The difference between this and just living, is that the latter is just getting through the week with the least problems. But when you live your life on purpose, your main concern is doing the job right. For the entrepreneur this means finding a cause you believe in and building your business around it.
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3. Be Willing to Pay the Price -
Be willing to pay the price for your dreams. Wanting a big house, a luxury car, and a million dollars in the bank is all very nice, and everyone wants these things – but are you willing to pay the price to get them? This is one of the major differences between the successful and unsuccessful.
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4. Stay Focused –
Every day we’re bombarded with hundreds of tasks, phone calls, messages, and everyone competing for our time. Focusing requires giving up something in the present because you are investing your time in something that will pay off big-time down the road. Jack Canfield and Mark Hanson were turned by 30 publishers when they submitted the first “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book. Instead of giving up, they stayed focused on their goal and did four or five interviews per day for radio, TV, and newspapers, for five days a week for a whole year. Eventually, a small publisher decided to take a chance, and of course now it’s a best-seller that spawned an entire series that have sold more than 10 million copies.
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5. Become An Expert in Your Field -
One striking factor all successful people have in common is how seriously they take their profession. They strive to be the best at what they do, and do almost anything to improve. If someone followed you around all day with a video camera at your business, would it be a tape you’d be proud of or embarrassed about? Make the decision today to work at being the best in your field. How? By finding out what the “best” in your field are doing, and do what they do.
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6. Write Out a Plan for Achieving Your Goals -
Write out an action plan/map for how you’re going to achieve your goals. Trying to reach your goals without a plan is like trying to drive from Los Angeles to Chicago without a map. A goal that isn’t written down is merely a wish or fantasy.
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7. Never Give Up -
Never, never, never give up. When you’re fully committed to achieving your goal, giving up is not an option. You must be willing do whatever it takes to make it happen. The power of perseverance is an awesome force. As someone once said, “inch by inch it’s a cinch”. Think of the lowly inchworm – if it pondered the length of the trip from start to finish before it started, it probably would never move. To a worm’s point-of-view, the garden path must look like a trip to Mars. Never give up! Keep on going like the Eveready battery bunny, and pretty soon you’re there.
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8. Don’t Delay -
Nobody knows how much time they have left to accomplish their dreams, and we must remember that we don’t have forever. The clock is ticking, and sooner or later your number comes up and you’re gone. Successful achievers know this too, but they don’t view it as a “negative”. Achievers use it to “spur them on”. They go after what they want as energetically and as passionately as possible, for as long as they have.
Showing posts with label Leadership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leadership. Show all posts
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 9, 2010
5 Tips for Hands-On Leadership
Be there. Entrepreneurs warn that a successful business can slip when an owner is not there at least part of every day, keeping in touch with how things are going.
Set an example for working hard. One wholesale bakery owner sometimes sleeps on the couch in his office so he can be there when the early shift comes in at 4 a.m.
Don’t confuse “hands-on” managing with micro-management. Set objectives and offer guidance, but don’t make employees do every little thing your way. Gauge what they do by the results.
Understand your business down to the last detail. The founder of a toy-store chain visits the stores and spends time doing each job (selling, clerking, etc.) and observing customers’ reactions.
Stay in touch with “stakeholders”—including customers, employees and suppliers.
Set an example for working hard. One wholesale bakery owner sometimes sleeps on the couch in his office so he can be there when the early shift comes in at 4 a.m.
Don’t confuse “hands-on” managing with micro-management. Set objectives and offer guidance, but don’t make employees do every little thing your way. Gauge what they do by the results.
Understand your business down to the last detail. The founder of a toy-store chain visits the stores and spends time doing each job (selling, clerking, etc.) and observing customers’ reactions.
Stay in touch with “stakeholders”—including customers, employees and suppliers.
5 Tips for Renewing Yourself as a Leader
Take a time-out each day. Put a “Gone Thinking” sign on your door and don’t let anyone disturb you.
Pursue hobbies and interests outside your business. They’ll provide relaxation and may inspire creative ideas that you can feed back into the business.
Take a vacation or a sabbatical. (But first, make sure you leave the company in good hands!)
Spend time with your family. Kids provide a refreshing perspective.
Do something you’ve always wanted to do but never did—learn to build a house, or take a course in acting.
Pursue hobbies and interests outside your business. They’ll provide relaxation and may inspire creative ideas that you can feed back into the business.
Take a vacation or a sabbatical. (But first, make sure you leave the company in good hands!)
Spend time with your family. Kids provide a refreshing perspective.
Do something you’ve always wanted to do but never did—learn to build a house, or take a course in acting.
5 Tips on Cultivating Confident Employees
Ask them to be responsible for progressively larger projects.
Use them as examples (in their presence) when describing to others how to do something.
Give them feedback at various times during a project—not just at its completion.
Send a note of praise to them or better still, to their direct boss.
Ask for their opinions and advice on matters not necessarily related to their normal duties.
Use them as examples (in their presence) when describing to others how to do something.
Give them feedback at various times during a project—not just at its completion.
Send a note of praise to them or better still, to their direct boss.
Ask for their opinions and advice on matters not necessarily related to their normal duties.
5 Tips on Effective Leadership
Communicate clearly and routinely. Lay out your company goals and principles in a mission statement and keep sharing your vision with your employees.
Involve employees in setting objectives. Give them feedback on how they are progressing toward meeting those targets.
Give your people authority, then hold them accountable. But don’t go after them personally when things go wrong. Find out first if the process is at fault.
Be accountable yourself. Install an advisory board or executive team to help you make good strategic decisions and give you feedback on your own performance.
Be trustworthy and extend trust to your employees. That will help you earn their loyalty and strengthen your company.
Involve employees in setting objectives. Give them feedback on how they are progressing toward meeting those targets.
Give your people authority, then hold them accountable. But don’t go after them personally when things go wrong. Find out first if the process is at fault.
Be accountable yourself. Install an advisory board or executive team to help you make good strategic decisions and give you feedback on your own performance.
Be trustworthy and extend trust to your employees. That will help you earn their loyalty and strengthen your company.
5 Tips on Exemplary Leadership
Give employees their freedom. Communicate the goals and let them figure out how to reach those goals. They want control over their working lives.
Create an environment that encourages energy and spirit. That leads to happy customers.
Strive to help employees feel that when they have accomplished the business’s goals, they have also accomplished their own personal goals.
Create a sense of meaningful purpose. Most workers want to feel they are engaged in something “larger than themselves.”
Recognize that leadership means responsibility and stewardship. “Leadership is not rank, privileges, titles, or money,” says management thinker Peter F. Drucker.
Create an environment that encourages energy and spirit. That leads to happy customers.
Strive to help employees feel that when they have accomplished the business’s goals, they have also accomplished their own personal goals.
Create a sense of meaningful purpose. Most workers want to feel they are engaged in something “larger than themselves.”
Recognize that leadership means responsibility and stewardship. “Leadership is not rank, privileges, titles, or money,” says management thinker Peter F. Drucker.
5 Tips on Creating an Innovative Environment
Show your employees that you think of innovation as an ongoing process. Some ideas will work and many won’t. Keep experimenting.
Listen, listen, listen. Innovation is a collaborative process.
Be open to “accidents,” the unexpected connections that spark new ideas. Inspiration comes from everywhere—often from outside your own field.
Draw on your own employees—they know the company’s problems and goals best. This is probably one time you don’t need outside consultants.
Be patient. Creativity can’t be hurried.
Listen, listen, listen. Innovation is a collaborative process.
Be open to “accidents,” the unexpected connections that spark new ideas. Inspiration comes from everywhere—often from outside your own field.
Draw on your own employees—they know the company’s problems and goals best. This is probably one time you don’t need outside consultants.
Be patient. Creativity can’t be hurried.
5 Tips on Empowering Your Employees
Organize an orientation session; answer the most frequently asked questions and walk employees through solving problems common to your business.
Provide employees with the history behind procedures and policies. Background is essential for good decision making.
Furnish the necessary resources. Whether it is a list of your contacts or where to find appropriate forms, give your employees the opportunity to succeed.
Teach employees where to turn when they can’t solve a problem; always going to the president should not be the solution.
Learn to delegate. Delegating tasks will build confidence and teach employees the necessary steps to follow in your business.
Provide employees with the history behind procedures and policies. Background is essential for good decision making.
Furnish the necessary resources. Whether it is a list of your contacts or where to find appropriate forms, give your employees the opportunity to succeed.
Teach employees where to turn when they can’t solve a problem; always going to the president should not be the solution.
Learn to delegate. Delegating tasks will build confidence and teach employees the necessary steps to follow in your business.
Monday, September 6, 2010
5 Tips on Knowing When You’re Getting Stale
If you’ve been running your business 10 years or more, it’s probably time for fresh leadership. Consider bumping yourself up to chairman and getting a new CEO.
Recognize that fatigue and boredom are signs you’ve been at the helm too long.
Answer honestly: Are you resistant to new ideas and risks? If so, you may be impeding your company’s progress.
Ask yourself if you are still growing and learning. If not, that’s another sign of personal stagnation as a leader.
If you think you’re becoming too set in your views, surround yourself with people who challenge your thinking.
Recognize that fatigue and boredom are signs you’ve been at the helm too long.
Answer honestly: Are you resistant to new ideas and risks? If so, you may be impeding your company’s progress.
Ask yourself if you are still growing and learning. If not, that’s another sign of personal stagnation as a leader.
If you think you’re becoming too set in your views, surround yourself with people who challenge your thinking.
5 Tips on Managing Yourself
Recognize when you’ve outrun your abilities. When one entrepreneur saw that her skills were not adequate to manage her company, she hired a president to handle day-to-day operations.
Get a CEO coach. Skilled consultants can help you learn how to take your company to the next level. SCORE can help.
Open yourself to being transformed. Listen, really listen, to employees. Let go of old notions of leadership (managing by fear, for example).
Be self-aware. Many business owners say self-awareness is essential to understanding what leadership style works for you.
Be a servant leader. Consider it your responsibility to serve employees and customers.
Get a CEO coach. Skilled consultants can help you learn how to take your company to the next level. SCORE can help.
Open yourself to being transformed. Listen, really listen, to employees. Let go of old notions of leadership (managing by fear, for example).
Be self-aware. Many business owners say self-awareness is essential to understanding what leadership style works for you.
Be a servant leader. Consider it your responsibility to serve employees and customers.
5 Tips on Teaching Employees to “Own” Their Work
Include them in long- and short-term planning efforts.
Ask for their input on projects for which they are held responsible.
Include them on top-level discussions, conferences and meetings when appropriate.
Allow them to byline the work they wrote or to speak at the presentation they helped prepare.
Help them to become more vested in the work by asking for their opinion. Ask what, if anything, should be done to make the next project easier.
Ask for their input on projects for which they are held responsible.
Include them on top-level discussions, conferences and meetings when appropriate.
Allow them to byline the work they wrote or to speak at the presentation they helped prepare.
Help them to become more vested in the work by asking for their opinion. Ask what, if anything, should be done to make the next project easier.
5 Tips on What Employees Want from You as a Leader
Employees want to trust you and you to trust them. Begin by being trustworthy and extending trust.
Employees want good two-way communication. Begin by being a good listener.
Employees want to be challenged. Set forth your vision and goals clearly and then let your workers exercise their creativity and authority in meeting your goals.
Employees want accountability. Not only should you hold them accountable for their own performance but you should measure your own performance as well.
Employees want recognition. Offer praise and express appreciation at every opportunity.
Employees want good two-way communication. Begin by being a good listener.
Employees want to be challenged. Set forth your vision and goals clearly and then let your workers exercise their creativity and authority in meeting your goals.
Employees want accountability. Not only should you hold them accountable for their own performance but you should measure your own performance as well.
Employees want recognition. Offer praise and express appreciation at every opportunity.
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