Daily Thought Archives: September 2009

September 1
PUT QUALITY IN YOUR QUALITY TIME
For many leaders, their 1-1 time with their people sneaks up on them. They haven't really prepared for it and end up just discussing the latest operational issues. This is the leader's quality time with their people, and it should be used for discussing how to help their people grow and do their job with even more success.

September 2
CULTURE STARTS AT THE TOP
A company's culture starts at the top with the CEO's behaviour being a role model for others to copy in the the organisation. Successful leaders know that everything they do is noticed by their people, and that their behaviour will be a major driver in the culture that develops in the company.

September 3
BE CRITICAL IN PRIVATE
A great leadership slogan is to praise in public and criticise in private. You destroy the motivation of your people when you criticise them in front of others. When you need to reprimand, do it in private. You get the opportunity to discuss how the person can improve and can boost their motivation to make that improvement.

September 4
THANK YOU INCREASES SELF ESTEEM
These are only two words, but a thank you has tremendous power. A thank you to others has the power to increase their self esteem, as they have done something for you that you have valued. So, say thank you more often, and you make a positive impact on others around you.

September 5
FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE NOW
Everyone thinks about the past and wishes they had done something different. Also, if they had, they could be better off today. The past is gone, so the best approach is to start from wherever you are now, and focus on taking the right actions from this point forward. Start today.

September 6
LISTENING WELL WHEN YOU DISAGREE
When someone is disagreeing with what we are saying, we tend to stop listening to them and begin focusing on what arguments to support our side we will bring up next. When others disagree with us, it is the time for us to listen to them as closely as we can. We can never convince others without understanding them well first.

September 7
CONFIDENCE = FAITH IN YOURSELF
Confidence is really our faith in ourselves. When we are confident, we show to others that we believe in our abilities, and that they can then believe in us as well. It's the faith in ourselves that drive use to take the risks in our lives and enable us to grow.

September 8
DEFENDING YOURSELF IS RARELY POSITIVE
Whenever we are defending ourselves in front of others, we are always speaking from a weak position (as others have us on the back foot). It is better avoid these situations, and we can do that by bringing our best behaviours every day. As they say in sports, the best defense is a good offense (being our best).

September 9
DISCIPLINE IN THE FACE OF PRESSURE
Pressure is what really separates the successful and unsuccessful. While the unsuccessful tend to become confused on what to do, the successful raise their focus and become even more disciplined on doing the necessary and fast. Pressure is best met with discipline.

September 10
REFLECT ON WHAT YOU LEARN
People who grow faster invest the time to reflect on what they learn each day. They are constantly asking themselves how can they apply what they have learned to their life. Also, if things didn't work out well on a particular day, they are asking themselves, what can I do differently the next time. Reflect on what you learn.

September 11
THE WHY AND THE WHEN
Many people focus on what they need to accomplish and how they are going to do it. The successful take it a step further and define the "Why" which provides the motivation and the "When" which drives their creativity to find a faster way to get there.

September 12
MAKING OTHERS FEEL IMPORTANT
Those with the best people skills do one thing very well. They make others feel important. When you make others feel important, you have boosted their self-esteem and gave them the feeling of "I made a difference." Therefore, making others feel important has you and them both with the feeling of making a difference.

September 13
RIGIDITY MEANS FRAGILITY
In today's world, everything is changing at a faster and faster pace. The people who have problems adapting to the pace struggle to open their mind to new ideas & experiences. Their rigidity in their thinking makes them fragile, and they find it hard to cope. To thrive today, the key word is "adaptability".

September 14
LEAVING THE UNIVERSE WITH A TRACE
Whenever you see someone making a difference, they are thinking something like "I would like to make sure I leave something behind". That really means the future can have a trace back to the actions they have taken in their life. A great question, "Will your actions create a trace in the future?"

September 15
SHOWING THEM HOW THEY HAVE BEEN HEARD
All employees want to have the feeling that they are being listened to, and that they are making a difference. Successful leaders are always highlighting and giving credit to their people's ideas, and their people take pride in seeing their ideas put into action.

September 16
SET YOURSELF UP TO GET STARTED
The biggest barrier to accomplish what we want is often just getting started. Successful people break through this barrier better than others, as they are constantly setting themselves in the position to get started. They know what triggers their action, and they create the environment drives them to get started.

September 17
TURNING IDEAS INTO REALITY
One ability is key for success in any role. It is the ability to turn ideas into reality (making it happen). The greatest energy and influence is always needed to get an idea in motion (into action). Those people with the ability to move ideas to action create their own success.

September 18
HOW YOU HANDLE A SUDDEN CHANGE
Change is always difficult for people, but nothing is more difficult than a sudden change (and a big one). People who are very adaptable, focus more on how to respond to the sudden change, versus always thinking about why it happened. In any change, success comes to those who focus on their response.

September 19
LEAVING & NOT LEAVING A VACANCY
Leaders always want to know that they make a difference, and if they weren't there, the performance would suffer. In some, this drives the wrong behaviours with the leader making his or her people dependent on them. The very best leaders grow a team around them to continue the same success when the leader decides to move on.

September 20
WHAT OTHERS ARE NOT WILLING TO DO
Ask successful people what has made the biggest difference in them becoming a success, and often they will say a similar thing. They say that they were willing to do what others are not willing to do. It comes down to the discipline to do what's necessary, when it is necessary. Discipline is really the key to success in any area of our lives.

September 21
HAPPINESS IS FREE FROM WANT
Everyone wants to be happy, and some always say I will be happy when...... However, if we take that view, we might always be chasing happiness for the rest of our lives. Happiness is living in the moment, and free from a want that takes us out of that moment. Also remember, happiness is simply a decision, our decision.

September 22
LOOKING INSIDE AND FORWARD
Everyone who has achieved success in their lives have looked inside themselves first. They understand that while others can help them, that they will only get the help when they help themselves first. So, they look inside and forward to the future, and decide the person they need to be to get what they want to achieve.

September 23
NOT TAKING YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY
Look at very successful people who are enjoying their life, and you see one common trait. They all take very seriously what they want to accomplish, but don't take themselves seriously. People who don't take themselves too seriously are great to be around, and they always get more support and help than others do.

September 24
PREPARE AND LUCK COMES TO YOU
People often look at others and say they were lucky. However, what these people don't see is all the preparation that has gone into positioning others to receive this luck. As with many things, your preparation is something that is invisible to others, but is what creates your success.

September 25
UNDERSTANDING HOW PERCEPTIONS DEVELOP
Successful leaders understand how perceptions develop and are very good at influencing the right perceptions to be formed in their organisations. These leaders know that influence is always about communicating, and they focus on developing & executing a well thought through communications plan.

September 26
ADMITTING OUR MISTAKES
One of the most difficult things in life is to admit our mistakes. However, there is probably no better way to judge the character of a person than by the way they will admit or not admit their mistakes. People of character take responsibility for their mistakes.

September 27
FOCUSED ON THINGS WE CAN CONTROL
There's lots of personal productivity tips available to all of us. However, one tip is the hardest to implement, but its impact is huge. If we just focus our mind on only those things we can control, we would drive more focused action and get more done.

September 28
LEADERSHIP IS 24/7
Leaders have to live the life of a leader every day and all day. Leaders are really in "show business" and their behaviours are noticed, whether they are on the job or off the job. Many failed leaders lost their credibility because they didn't realise their leadership was 24/7.

September 29
THE MAGIC IS IN THE FUNDAMENTALS
What is often overlooked in many areas of life or business are the "fundamentals". If you study any successful sports team or business team, you will see that they do the basics (the fundamentals) with a skill and excellence far above others. When that's in place, the magic happens.

September 30
INPUT INTO THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS
People want to feel they make a difference, to know they are listened to, and that their ideas are being used. Very often, they won't mind not being in the decision making if their input has been considered in making the decision. If you get others' input, it makes the acceptance and implementation of the decision much easier.