Encouraging Greatness

Everyone Is Stupid And Everyone Is Smart

Okay, stupid is probably not the nicest word to use, but it is amazing how often that judgment is made about others. A better word to use is ignorant, we all have the capability to learn new things, whatever the subject, it is a matter of where we are on the learning scale. I was reminded of this while reading Seth Godin’s post about skill acquisition. All of us, every single person is an expert at some things and a novice at others.

It is good to know where you yourself are on the scale for a given subject. If you are a novice, be humble enough to tell everyone that you are a novice and need help in understanding the subject at hand. Set the example that it is okay to not know everything. When you pretend that you know everything, and that is really all it is – pretending, you will find lots of people trying to prove what you don’t know. On the flip side, if you are an expert, view it as a gift to share with others, always in a respectful way.

An even better skill is being able to evaluate where other people are on that scale. It is a leadership opportunity for you to encourage that person as they attempt to learn more and telling them it is okay to not know everything, it is a great chance for them to be challenged and discover something new.

Just another example when you look at things the right way, how every person has strengths and weaknesses that they bring to a team, which makes every person valuable. Attitude and poor behavior is a topic for another time, but knowledge, we are all equal there.

How You Can Make A Difference In The World

I hope I’m not giving anything away here, but if you weren’t already aware, you aren’t going to live forever. Your time on the Earth is relatively short and I think many people share a goal in making enough of an impact that you aren’t forgotten when you are gone. I think that is why many reality shows are such a hit, people want to have their 15 minutes of fame and by appearing before millions of people in whatever kind of staged environment producers can come up with allows those individuals to feel like they have a shot at being remembered. For others, it isn’t about fame, but about making a difference. I think many people would like to be remembered for doing something great. But there are only so many great things that can happen, all six billion people in the world can’t be known for something great, can they?

I believe how we can make a difference in the world is to remember that for the vast majority of us, our realm of influence is pretty small. Everyone probably only has 100-200 people that they are really close to and spend time with, regardless of how many friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter they have. My world starts with my family, then extends to my friends and coworkers. If everyone thinks of that group of people as their world, how can you make a difference there?

To make a difference...just make a difference, add value, help out. Do something for someone that makes their life easier and doesn’t really do anything for you. Usually it is easy with friends and family, at work it is different. There isn’t enough time to get your work done, there is no way there is time to do other’s work as well. I believe though that if you want to be great, and you want to be a leader, you will find a way to set this example. When you can add value, by offering a helping hand, support, insight or feedback that helps the other person, you win. That also means not being negative, playing devil’s advocate, criticizing or pointing out all of the things not working. Not many people find that sort of feedback on its own helpful.

Imagine an organization where you hear, “I just heard (fill in the blank) and thought it might be helpful to you.” Or how about, “I understand you get to work on the Smith project. Just so you know the Jones project I did earlier this year sounds pretty similar, happy to help out if you have any questions.” Wouldn’t you like to work with those people in that type of a company? So why isn’t that how you talk? Why isn’t that how your organization operates? Where you hear things like that being said you will find success. That is how you can make a difference, make a difference in the lives of the people that you are in contact with every day.

Why Doesn’t Anyone Care About Culture?

I have now been with the company that I work for close to two years, I feel like I’m starting to truly get a feel for the business as a whole and the people within the organization. It has been an interesting last couple of months at work. The company I work for probably has a story like many others out there. Our company isn’t going bankrupt, but is struggling in a bad economy; this is due in part because we are influenced by a number of factors outside our control. Still, we have a group of people that want nothing but the best for everyone involved in the company yet we still just can’t seem to get over the hump.

To solve that, we are going through some interesting exercises as we have grown and we are trying to figure out who we want to be. We have been fortunate recently to be going through some branding exercises and one of the key points made is how many strong brands in the marketplace are built on aligned passionate cultures. That really struck a chord with me because it is something I strongly believe in. Ever since I first read Built To Last by Jim Collins and his concept of “Cult-Like Cultures” I started seeing this play out in every company I’ve worked for. I believe that companies that find success are those that have a passionate culture in which there is a shared vision on what that company should be.  What it should be to its customers, how it relates to its employees and how it views their position in the world.

The interesting part I think comes next though, because you can get a group of people in a room and they agree to the mission and vision statements, the core company values and believe they are on the same page. After that work is done comes the execution, now do you really walk what you talk? Too often I see people that want their cake while eating it faster than a group of 3 year olds at a birthday party. At the end of the day, you need to have that shared vision and have the strength of a leader to stick to the plan. I want to hear more people say:

"Yes, that is a great idea and there is probably tremendous value in it, but it has to wait until we get the other things done that we said are really important."

Yet all too frequently in organizations we hear:

"Yes, that is important, I know we are doing other things but we need to get creative and find a way to do both."

Think about your own situation, have you found that your company is more successful when they are all on the same page and executing well? Or is it better to just throw a lot of things out there and see what sticks? As a leader, my challenge to you is to work at creating a culture where what is stated to be the most important is valued as the most important every single day, regardless of how many new shiny objects cross your path. 

Learn About Money - The Sooner The Better

I grew up in a family where we didn't talk about personal finance. I didn't know how much money my parents made or how much anything cost. I had part time jobs throughout high-school and into college and used it to buy things that didn't really matter, movies, CD's, gas for the car, etc. Part way through college I was estranged from my parents for a while and I was forced to figure things out on my own. I, like most Americans, began accumulating a mountain of debt. Starting with student loans, mortgage, new car payments and the dreaded credit card debt. I look back on it now and I really have no idea what we spent all of our money on, because there wasn't really a lot to show for it. I knew it was time for a change.

Starting in 2006, my wife and I got serious. I started tracking our spending every month and set a budget based on how much income we had. It took some time to get under control, but eventually we did. I then worked on getting rid of debt. Within a year and a half we had eliminated my student loan, one car loan and purchased a lot with which we planned to build a house someday. The amazing thing was, when looking back we didn't notice that we had greatly sacrificed in our lifestyle. 

Today I just kick myself thinking about all the time I wasted, not talking about, thinking about or planning our families finances better. We built a new house, so yeah, we still have debt, but we are finding ways to save money and still do the things we enjoy.

I would encourage you to take a look at a great sight I found after I had figured a lot of this out the hard way. J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly writes a fantastic blog about personal finance, covering topics from debt reduction, emergency savings, retirement savings, cost reduction and income improvement. His common sense approach and average Joe style makes the concepts easy to understand and easy to implement. Personal finance isn't really as hard of a subject as many feel it is. The thing that has really hit home to me is to start, no matter how small the start is. The longer you wait the less impact you can make. 

One of the most important things I hope to be able to teach my children is how to manage their personal finances as they get older. I plan to open up to my children exactly what our income and expenses are every month so they can see and understand what it takes. I plan to share all of the mistakes that I made and hope that they don't make the same ones. If they do make mistakes though, I hope that I can help them figure it out sooner than I did on my own.

I would encourage you to develop your own personal finance plan. Having a goal and working towards it, even if it means years of work, is well worth the effort. Having the peace of mind to be constantly aware of your personal financial situation and yet not worried about it all of the time is a place you will enjoy. It isn't as far away as you think either.

Try To Matter, Otherwise You Don't

Seth Godin had another of his great thought provoking posts, this time about doing things that show you matter. The thing I loved the most about many of his ideas are they aren't grandious things that make you famous or irreplaceable. They are the little things you can do. Being gracious, raising the bar, teaching and forgiving. Mattering isn't about being a superstar at something, it sounds to me like mattering is about doing the little things in life, helping out those around you and being hesitant to judge others or be condescending. 

This is so much what I've talked about before, doing the little things, one day at a time, better than you did in the past. Working to matter in the hundreds if not thousands of interactions with others we have every day. I encourage you to read through the list. Pay close attention to the first 5, because if you aren't doing those things you are just going through the motions and you don't matter. 

Inspiration From Disney - The Company And The Man

I'm not sure where it started or why, but I love Disney. Maybe not in the way the rest of my family does, but it facinates me to no end. Don't get me wrong, we have been to Walt Disney World twice, planning our third trip for later this year, and have been on a Disney cruise. I can certainly be a kid at heart when I'm there, you can't help but be happy when you are there. But what really is fascinating is Disney as a business. Yes, I think about business and Disney, kind of lame, but I can't help it. 

After my first trip I read Inside the Magic Kingdom which really got me thinking about Disney as a business. Some of the anecdouts I still remember to this day. Like how every night they strip down and repaint every one of the horse-head hitching posts aligning Main Street USA. Or that the gold paint on Cinderella's Carousel is actually 14 karet gold leaf paint. How you won't see any gum sold within the parks (so you don't stick it to anything) and every single employee, make that every cast member is responsible for keeping the park picked up. The success of the brand they built was intriguing to me and I was drawn to the great lengths they go to for the customer. The entire organization is built around what the customer wants. It started with the beliefs of Walt Disney himself. You see it in the attractions at the park. Beyond just a great ride, they make the whole experience of waiting in line part of the attraction itself.

 

Since then I continue to read about Disney often to get a glimpse of what Mickey and the gang are up to next. I just finished a great book, Walt Disney: An American Original that gives an in depth look at Walt Disney's life and the start of the company. The perseverence he had was amazing and the ability to branch out to new things, from animation shorts, to animation features, to live action movies, to television, to theme parks and more, and continue to be successful in each new venture is astounding to me. Rarely can a company achieve such success in almost everything they do. That is why Walt is a tremendous roll-model, he never decided that they had reached the peak.

One of his earliests successes was The Three Little Pigs, after there was a great demand for more cartoons featuring the three little pigs, to which he replied, "You can't top pigs with pigs." That was a theme for Walt Disney's entire life, always working on the next big thing. However, Disney isn't perfect, far from it. In the Disney War you can read how Walt's son-in-law, Ron Miller was forced out as the head of Disney and replaced by Michael Eisner. It gives an interesting look at the success Eisner had in the early years and the decline that ultimately led to his being forced out.

All of the history and stories around Disney serve as a reminder and inspiration to me. Be it work or your own life, Disney has lessons that we can learn from:

• Never assume that what you are doing today is good enough.
• Treat customers like they are the most important thing to your organization, because they are.
• Walt Disney was so passionate about what he believed in he was willing to risk everything that he owned to make it work. How much do you believe in what you do?
• Make your entire experience that customers have working with your company enjoyable. Everything they come into contact with connected with your company should be a positive experience.
• Push the limits, beyond what others think is practical or realistic, that is where true success comes from.

Hopefully each of you have a little more of the Disney spirit in your life.

Give Away Your Talents

Given the economy and the number of people that unfortunately are searching for a new job, many out there are looking for ways to hang on to their job. I believe one of the best ways to make yourself more valuable to your company is to give your talents away at work as often as possible. Each of us has certain talents that make us shine. I'm not talking about the things you do well or the tasks at work that you can get done as needed. I'm talking about those one or two things that you are best in the world at. If you think you don't have them you are wrong. We all have them and I believe every one of us needs to be doing more of that and less of everything else. You might think that you are really good at something, but hardly the best in the world. The thing to realize is your world is what is important, not the entire world. Sometimes it can mean being the absolute best in the company at something.

If you know what that is, do it, and do it often. If you are the best salesperson at your company at getting in the door at new prospects, I believe it is your job to help every other salesperson get in the door with their prospects. If you are the best at closing, help everyone else close. I know you are busy, you have a ton of your own work to do, there are barely enough hours to get your own work done let alone help everyone else. That is the point, companies are cutting back, you are stressed, as is everyone else. If we all pool our greatest strengths together as a team, be it a department, a company, a family, a nation or a world, how much further could we go compared to doing everything on our own?

The Last Lecture And Your Legacy

I’m sure I’m behind a bit in reading this as much has been written about Randy Pausch and The Last Lecture. For those that haven’t heard about it, it is the book that was written by a professor at Carnegie Mellon University that was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Before he died he gave a “last lecture” that was a common practice for departing professors. Normally this was for retiring or transferring to another position, but Randy’s was indeed going to be his last lecture. He used it as his final statement, and they recorded it to someday show his three children, the oldest which was 5. This video was released on the internet and became a phenomenon. I highly encourage you to watch the video or read the book. 

Randy tells the story of his life and shares stories from his childhood and the dreams he had for his life. He talked about how he was able to realize many of his dreams and encourages each of us to do the same. To live each day to the fullest. I guarantee his story will make you look at what is important in your life and to not take any day you have for granted.

It made me think about what my legacy will be and how much I want to be able to look at my life and see that I have made a difference in peoples lives, like Randy was able to do. He gave something back that his children, and people that knew him, will be able to look at and be proud of the man he was. That is what I hope for my life. It isn’t a goal to be famous, it is about my wife and my children being able to look at what I do in this world and being proud of what I accomplish. My ambitions are around wanting to make a positive difference in the lives of the people I interact with, to make the world a better place. What other purpose is there in life? What other purpose should there be?

How do you want to be remembered when you are gone?

Eliminating Criticism

I heard something recently about a man that seemed to be happy all the time. It was an infectious happiness too, it seemed to cheer up the people around them without realizing why they were happier. When asked what his secret was he said that he strived to never say anything negative about another person. To take that a step further, he would try not to listen to others being critical either. This really struck me as I realized how I feel when I am complaining about someone or a situation. I feel stressed, exhausted, tired, frustrated and angry. How amazing is that. All this time you are told to be nice to others because of what it does to that person. The true benefits are for you though. I think this is just another instance in life about how it is never about the situations you are in, but how you react in those situations that is important.

When I remind myself that my happiness is impacted by my attitude and reaction to other people and circumstances in life it changes how I react. So don’t be critical of others, it is for your own good. 

What Is Your Goal In Life?

I was asked the question recently “What is your goal in life?” It was from one of those books of questions to learn about another person.  There were 4 multiple choice answers and my wife of course knew the one that fit me, “To make the world a better place.” Of all the answers that was the obvious choice for me as well. Even if it was an open answer questions, that is probably what I would have put. For some reason that has stuck with me and I’ve been reflecting on it a lot lately. I tell myself that it is a great goal, who wants to make the world worse? But, in my life do I really make the world better?

I do know that I try, at work I try and help my co-workers. If I have information that will help them, even if it isn’t my job, I will share it. Not because I want to be a no-it-all, but because I truly like the feeling of helping someone and making their life easier or better. But then I beat myself up because I’m not perfect. I wish I was a better husband and be the romantic thoughtful person that is always there for my wife. Why do I get grumpy some times and bite her head off over nothing? I wish I was a better father and didn’t lose my patience and yell at my children when they frustrate me. How do I make the world a better place when I hurt the people I love the most?

I realize that I’m not perfect, and I’m only human, all of us are. All we can do is continue to work better at it each day. I’m sure I will still lose my patience in the future, get mad at the wrong things and beat myself up over something I should let go. My goal is for it to be less than it was before, to get better every day, and I think that I’m achieving that goal. When I think about the best way I can make the world a better place, it is to make myself be a better person, to everyone I interact with. What if you strived to be better every day as well? What kind of impact could we have in the world? What if everyone was a better person tomorrow then they are today? Imagine a world where 6 billion people are better than they were yesterday? Give that a year, or 10 years, and you can only imagine the possibilities.

So what is your goal in life?