Don't work harder; Work smarter!

“Procrastination is opportunity's assassin.”

– Victor Kiam, entrepreneur

It has been said that if you want to accomplish more at the office, you should go out of town more often!

This is not a conundrum.  It is a reality.  Think about it – when you are planning and out-of-office trip (business trip or vacation) you tend to become quite efficient.  You:

1) Make decisions (to act on it, to delegate the task, to file it or to trash it) – There is no time for procrastination.  Nor is there time for indecision – the clock is ticking and you must decide or delegate.

2) Become better organized (the people who remain behind in the office must know what needs to be done in your absence and where to find the necessary information.)

3) Improve your communications (your write notes, leave messages, hold efficient staff meetings to communicate the priorities that you expect your staff to handle while you are away.)

Don't worry that people will get more accomplished while you are away than when you are in the office.  Yes, more will be accomplished – and that is a good thing.  You will have let go of some ordinary tasks – and given your staff a chance to demonstrate their capabilities.

I have seen this happen to me – I left on a short business trip yesterday, and I probably got more accomplished in the last 4 hours I word before leaving for the airport than I normally would have.  I made decisions; I communicated priorities to my assistant; I wrote notes and left message.  I did not procrastinate – I did not have the time; and a deadline was looming.  I became more effective.

Here is a little tip that I picked up from the February 2006 issue of “The Motivational Manager” (which I read while on the plane:)

The more time you have, the more time you waste.  If you're working longer hours but getting less done, maybe it's time to rethink.  Pick one day a week to be your short day – the day when you'll leave (the office) on time, no exceptions.  Then keep track of how much you get done on that day.  You may be surprised to find that when you can't dawdle – you don't.”

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn

Ready, Fire, Aim

“It is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong.”

– Warren Buffett, Investor

Greetings from Anaheim, CA and the NAMM Show!  The show officially opens this morning, but yesterday was a very full day with many association meetings scheduled.  I participated in a few of them.  It is great to see how the various “sharing groups / purchasing groups” are evolving.  More retailers are realizing that they have far more in common than they thought and that there are many benefits to be realized by sharing their ideas, frustrations and experiences.  I'll be posting more about this subject later in the week.

Last evening, I had an informal meeting with a colleague who is here from The United Kingdom.  At one point in our discussion – as he was describing a new initiative that he was planning – he said, “Ready, Fire, Aim.”

Translation:  No one can ever be assured that a new product, promotion or business plan will succeed – or proceed exactly as planned.  There will be so many new products and promotions introduced here at the NAMM Show this week.  The executives and teams that put them together have high hopes that they will succeed – as planned.  And I certainly hope that they do!

Most likely, there will be some unexpected factors that may cause the product or promotion to achieve less than optimal results.  But at least the companies bought the product to the market.  And they will succeed eventually – if they dedicate energy to discovering what went wrong, fixing it and trying again.

But on the other side of the coin, there are many companies that are always “late to the market” or “still deciding” how to proceed.  These companies are suffering from “paralysis by analysis.”  They want an absolute guarantee that their new product or program will succeed; and they will not bring it to market until they have this assurance.

Over the years I have seen this happen time and time again.  Someone at the meeting will always say, “How can we be sure that this will succeed?” And then the collected doubts come to the fore.  Indecision reigns supreme.

The answer:  No one can ever predict precise results.  The marketplace will tell us if they want our new product or find our promotion compelling.  The marketplace votes with their pocket book.  But only if we actually get the product launched!

We can use our research, experience and observation to help us get “READY.”

Next, we need to “FIRE.”  Get the product out the door; execute the promotion; realize the idea.

Only then, can we we really “AIM.” 

Once we see the initial results, we need to get back to work to refine, replace or re-launch.

The marketplace gave us some great advice.  They gave us the answer – or at least a clue as to how we could redesign the product to better meet their needs.

We achieve success through our failures.  If you want to want to have more success… fail more often.  But – you need to learn from your failures – and then try again.

“Ready, Fire, Aim.”

Good luck to everyone here at the show!

 

 

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn

The Right Words

“Tell me a fact and I'll learn.  Tell me a truth and I'll believe.  But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.”

– Indian Proverb

I found this lovely proverb in the Foreword to “The Right Words at the Right Time” – a marvelous compilation of stories by Marlo Thomas and over 100 of her friends and associates.  This wonderful book was published in 2002 by Atria (Simon & Schuster, Inc.) and I frequently offer it as a gift – especially to friends who are grieving or at a difficult point in their lives or careers.

It is always difficult to offer advice to someone – they do not welcome it, do not think that they need it or they ignore it!

I find that it is even more difficult to try to comfort someone when they are grieving – how can I possibly know how they are feeling (they must think???)

But … to tell a story – the right story at the right time – now that is a golden gift that almost everyone will receive – and remember!

This morning, I picked up my copy of “The Right Words at the Right Time” because I was still thinking about the wonderful memorial service yesterday honoring the late President Gerald R. Ford.  I thought that Tom Brokow's eulogy was magnificent – just the right touch – and filled with stories – which helped to make it memorable.  I wanted to read his story in Marlo Thomas' compilation (along with stories from Betty Ford and many others.) 

The other eulogies at yesterday's service were fair (in my opinion) but far from memorable.  Giving a eulogy is one of the most difficult speeches that anyone will ever have to make.  Keeping your own emotions in check while trying to pay tribute and offer comfort to the family and friends of the deceased will challenge the skills of even the most gifted orator.  That is why the most successful speakers are the best story tellers.  In telling a story (like singing a song or playing a musical instrument) you gain several advantages:

1) The story (or song) has a built-in emotional factor – it sets a mood or a tone.

2) In telling it (or singing or playing it) you concentrate on the story (or song) and not on your own emotions.  The audience does not distract you.

3) The story (or song) has a built-in beginning, middle and end – so you remain focused and you make a point that your audience will likely remember.

So, if you want to be an effective speaker (like Tom Brokow) collect and cultivate stores.  Then practice telling them – to make them your own.  This is the single, best piece of advice that I can offer anyone who wants to improve the communications skills – or to deliver a eulogy.  Learn to tell stories.  Pick the story with the right words and tell it (well) at the right time.

Music has the same power – the right piece played (well) at the right time.  Denyce Graves' powerful performance of “The Lord's Prayer” at President Ford's memorial service is the perfect example of the power of music to lift our spirits and transport us to another place.  To offer comfort and solace and to give us hope and strength to move forward.

If you would like a copy of all of the musical selections, performers, verses and officials at President Ford's service, click here on this link.

Now, I am going to go back and read a few more stories.  Finding the right words at the right time will help me to better focus on what I want to accomplish this year.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn

A Successful Life

“Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

– Albert Schweitzer

Yes, you will! 

If you don't believe me just consider the life of Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records (in 1947) who passed away this week.

As I read Ahmet's obituary in the New York Times, I was struck by this anecdote:

In 1944, the year his father (the dean of the diplomatic corps in Washington, D.C.) died, Ahmet was 21 years old and taking graduate courses in medieval philosophy.  As he told the graduates of Berklee College of Music in 1991:

“In between courses I spent hours in a rhythm & blues record shop in the black ghetto in Washington.  Almost every night, I went to the Howard Theater and to various jazz and blues clubs.  I had to decide whether I would go into a scholastic life or go back to Turkey in the diplomatic service, or do something else.  What I really loved was music, jazz, blues, and hanging out.”

And that's what he did.  He did what he loved to do.  And his 83-years on this earth are a testament to that.

If we love what we do, we will acquire whatever skills it takes for us to be successful.  I have seen so many people during my lifetime who were talented and skilled at what they did – but they weren't doing something that they really loved – the passion just wasn't there for them.  And… they never achieved success until that found their passion.

We can thank Ahmet Ertegun for following his love, engaging his passions and becoming extremely successful – by helping so many musicians to find success.  He resisted the desires of others to make him follow a different career path – theirs.  If he had not followed his love, it would have been much harder for Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and John Coltrane to find a broader audience.

Find what you absolutely love to do.  Then it will not matter how hard you have to work while doing it.  You will be happy.  You will be successful!

 

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn

Why We Write

“Only in writing do you discover what you know.”

– Anne Beattie, author

What a joy to re-read a favorite book! You think that you remember most of the content – or at least the major points.  However, over time your own circumstances change and upon re-reading the book, the context has changed and you gain new insights.

Such was the case for me with “What Clients Love,” by Harry Beckwith.  Harry has enjoyed great success with his series of books (also “Selling the Invisible” and “The Invisible Touch”).  He has had a distinguished career in marketing and advertising and has done a masterful job in sharing his observations and client history with his readers.

This time around, my thoughts were centered on this blog.  Why do I write it?  Does anyone read it?  Does it really matter?  Does anybody care?  Why does anybody blog?

Then it hit me – in Harry's own words, “Writing teaches you that you never write just what you know.  You write what you learn as you're writing… Writing teaches everyone – especially the writer.”

I have been thinking a lot about how to differentiate what I do – consulting, speaking and training.  How do I gain a competitive advantage?  What set me apart?  Why should a client hire me – rather than another consultant?

I found a lot of those answers in Jaynie L. Smith's book, “Creating Competitive Advantage.”  But the hard part – you actually have to write them down on paper – or say them out loud.  You have to learn how to articulate your competitive advantage – in a way that a complete stranger can clearly understand.

And that is what writing does.

You are forced to learn as you write.  Not just to gather information and spit it back out.  No, to think about things – especially as they pertain to yourself – and to express them in your own individual style.

So that is why blogging matters – to me.  Everyday, I learn new things – and improve my communications skills – as I write about the things that matter to me.  I have a long way to go – and a lot to learn as I write.

 

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn

Why We Belong to Organizations

“People want to be part of something larger than themselves.  They want to be part of something they’re really proud of, that they’ll fight for, sacrifice for, that they trust.”

– Howard Schultz, Chairman and Founder of Starbucks

I found this quote this morning during my usual wandering through favorite websites.  It appears on business guru Tom Peters’ website – in his “free stuff” section.  I got to Tom’s website via another excellent site – Speaking on Speaking.

The Internet is something larger than ourselves that we want to be a part of – at least “our favorites” or the “blogs” that we participate in or the multitude of friends that we associate with through My Space and other social networks.

However, Mr. Schultz was really talking about what sets his company – Starbucks – apart.  Why do people want to work there?  Why do people like to buy their products and hang out in their cafes?

Job satisfaction is not directly related to how much we get paid for what we do.  Certainly money is important and we must all feel that we are being compensated on a fair and equitable scale.  But that is not job satisfaction.

Why do we choose the companies or industries that we work in?  The causes that we support?  The people that we want to be around – or to be like?  What gives us satisfaction?

People, Products, Reputation

We want to work with people that we like and respect.  We want to produce products and services that we are proud of.  These help to establish our reputation.  This is what give us satisfaction. This is why we choose our associations.  This is why we fight for what we believe in.  This is why people will trust us.

From today’s web-crawl and finding Tom Peters’ treasure trove of “freebies”, I have a stack of quotations to add to my database.  But I also have found motivation to get my day going.  I hope that this blog is help you as well.  If so, please share your thoughts with our readers. 

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn

Why Arts Education Matters

“Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers;  it comes from being open to all the questions.”

– Earl Stevens

I firmly believe that quality Arts Education is a vital part of a child's education.  Learning how to ask – and respond to – complex questions develops critical thinking.

And many others share this belief.  In “Quality, Equity and Access,”  The California Alliance for Arts Education states:

“The arts provide experiences in which students are encouraged to ask complex questions and experiment without a predetermined result.  A curriculum without the arts impoverishes our students as human beings, citizens, thinkers, and workers in any field, and narrows the function of education to the development of those skills that can be measured on standardized tests.”

The landmark research document on this subject is “Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning.”  This 1999 report – click here to access the full report – was made possible through the GE Fund / MacArthur Foundation.  The major findings:

1) Students with high levels of arts participation outperform their peers with little or no arts participation.

2) Sustained involvement in particular art forms – music and theater – is highly correlated with success in mathematics and reading.

3) The arts have a measurable impact on students in high-poverty and urban settings.

4) Engagement in the arts nurtures the development of cognitive, social and personal competencies.

5) Arts experiences enhance critical thinking abilities and outcomes.

6) The arts enable educators to reach students in effective ways.

Support our children.  Support the arts!

 

 

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn

The Process of Change

“People go through four stages before any revolutionary development: 1) It's nonsense; don't waste my time. 2) It's interesting, but not important. 3) I always said it was a good idea. 4) I thought of it first.”

– Arthur C. Clarke

Each of us, regardless of the industry we work in; or the point where we are in life or career, is always at one of these stages.  Understand that this is a cycle – by the time you are saying , “I thought of it first,” you are likely to say “It's nonsense” about something else.

The only certainty in life is change.  How we approach change – our attitude towards the inevitability of change is what counts:

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

– Bertha Calloway

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn

Public Speaking

I recently came across this frank confession from former President Gerald R. Ford:  “If I went back to college again I’d concentrate on two areas:  learning to write and to speak before an audience.  Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.”

 

This from a man who attained the highest office in the free world – yet he failed in his bid to be elected President largely because of his ineffective communications skills and one memorable gaffe in a televised debate.

 

Certainly, the President of the USA has a highly skilled staff on hand 24/7 to write the speeches and provide briefings and coaching – a luxury that most of us do not have.  And he still came up short – ultimately President Ford was not able to maintain control during Question & Answer sessions.  And he never acquired the skill – or perhaps the desire – to effectively communicate with an audience.  Certainly, we remember him for his non-verbal communication – tripping down staircases, shanking golf balls, etc.  Ford was not trained to turn these pratfalls to his advantage, but the comedian Chevy Chase was – and it launched his career!

 

It is my observation that the majority of people that I meet do not put enough effort into improving the communications skills – making an initial impression, speaking up in a meeting (or being afraid to speak), just “winging it” when real preparation might have given them the opportunity to really advance their career, etc.

 

While I was flying back from Australia I read an excellent book: “10 Simple Secrets of the World’s Greatest Business Communicators” by Carmine Gallo.  I had just delivered a couple of speeches and I was scheduled to deliver two speeches a few days after my return.  As I read the book I self-critiqued my recent performance.   Doing so, I feel, helped me to deliver a much more powerful speech when I returned.

 

I highly recommend this book!  You can learn more about it – and even view video clips of some excellent presenters, e.g. John Chambers of Cisco Systems and Prime Minister Tony Blair on the author’s website – www.carminegallo.com.

 

You don’t have to go back to college to learn how to improve your communications skills – there are many resources available that offer great tips.  If nothing else, you can immensely improve your communications skills by observing outstanding communicators – especially if you know what to look for – and trying to apply what you observe to your own skill set.

 

Consider the words of the late Peter Drucker, “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn

Aspirations

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.”

– Louisa May Alcott

Yesterday, I delivered the keynote address for the Kern County Music Educators Association annual fall meeting.  As many of you know, I use several quotations to highlight the themes in my talks.  For the past few years, I have been concluding several talks with this quote from Louisa May Alcott.

I really like the quote and I find it difficult to say without choking up.  I thought about it while I was driving up to Bakersfield to deliver my talk.  The sun was just coming up over the mountains and I was deep in thought thinking about the future.  For me, just starting my new career, it is important to always remember why I took the steps to make the change – and what I hope to accomplish.  This quote says it all.

Please share some of your favorite quotes with the readers of this blog.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Add to favorites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Orkut
  • SphereIt
  • Sphinn