Get Up and DO

It's so easy to get into a rut. Especially when you're in between jobs. The worst

thing that you can do is sit and wait. But sitting at a computer, day after day, applying for jobs is not going to get you by. You have to be more active.

Sitting and waiting for something to happen is going to weaken you. It will weaken your skills, your knowledge, your ability to interact socially, and most of all your motivation. You have to get up and get moving.

I'm currently in between jobs and was falling down that hole. I did two things to help me stay towards the top, allowing me to feel better about myself and my outlook of things to come. The first is volunteering.

Volunteering is actually good for you. It provides physical and mental rewards. It helps you gain other types of professional experience. And the biggie - YOU make a difference.

The other thing I did was . . . I got a job. It isn't the type of work I'm looking for, nor making the money I need, or even has the possibility of continuing. But it is pulling in some money and keeping me busy. Plus I'm able to help out a friend (grateful to that friend). Cleaning boats is not a career choice, but it's keeping my mindset in the work world. It also shows me how lucky I am to be here and reminds me of the successes I've had.

So if you're out of wack and in that rut, get out and DO. It's quite the pick me up.

I Love a Spicy Meatball

Yes, I love a spicy meatball . . . and wings, and dips, and pizza.  But they sometimes rub 

me the wrong way, if you get my drift.  Spicy is good.  Too spicy is bad.

Kind of like people.  You've heard the saying, "If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room".  Don't be the equalizer.  You've got to add some spice to the room.  But you can't just do it randomly.  Just like spicy foods, if someone on the team is too spicy, you're going to have problems.

A good spicy team member is going to communicate, share openly and willingly, question ideas/decisions, and be honest and straight forward.  But to keep from becoming too spicy, he/she's also going to actively treat others with respect and be supportive.

You don't want all yes wo/men on your teams.  You'll never improve to the degree that you need to keep up.  Spicy people are a key.  You need people to keep things active and to keep everyone's minds flowing and thinking.  The first idea isn't always the best.  In fact, it usually isn't.  You need quality discussion.

Walt Disney once said that, "Ideas come from curiosity".  When setting up teams, take care to really look at everyone you're considering.  You need people that exhibit curiosity.  Spice it up a bit and get a good mix.  A good mix equals good results.

Follow Your Conscience

I was going to start out with, “a breath of fresh air”, but someone already did.  So I was going to start out with, “inspiring” . . . already done.  How about “enlightening”?  Nope, taken.

So what the heck, Frank Sonnenberg’s new book, Follow YourConscience, is an enlightening and inspiring, breath of fresh air.  It just is.

There are a lot of people in business who believe that they’re a great leader and they are there to support others.  There are people who believe the same of their leaders.  Have you ever heard the saying, “it’s not personal, it’s business”?  People seem to use that as an excuse to do less than they really could for people.  I (h/she) could do better - but it’s just business.  Just begin reading Frank’s book and you’ll see that you - or your leaders - are missing out on some things.

Think about what type of role model you believe you are.  Then read this book.  Now, what type of role model do you believe you are?  What kind of role model will you become?

Conscience - attitude, authenticity, integrity, humility, passion, fairness, faith.  These are just a few of the things Frank discusses, and in a way that’s easily understood and painless to put yourself in the middle of.

My suggestion?  Read the book.  Share the book.  Use it for a leadership book club.  It all makes so much sense that you’re not going to want to keep it to yourself.

Actions For Aspiring Leaders

I am thrilled and honored to have a guest post today by Bill Treasurer. His latest book, Leaders Open Doors-2nd edition, was released this week and became the first book I've read through twice within a year. Check out the links at the bottom to find out more and to pick up a copy.

Actions for Aspiring Leaders

People have high, and often conflicting, expectations of leaders. At once, we expect

leaders to be reasonable but passionate, decisive but inclusive, visionary but explicit, and powerful but humble. We also want leaders who are rational but emotionally intelligent, caring but impartial, and profit-driven but people-oriented. The list of expectations is so long and contradictory that the aspiring leader is right to ask, “Where on earth do I start?!”

Here are six actions that budding leaders can take to point their leadership in the right direction:

Answer the Holy Question: Here are the four most important words that you’ll ever learn in the English language: What do you want? People will follow you to the extent that you provide a clear vision of a better future you can help them reach. But you have to start with a clear vision of what you aim to achieve through the application of your leadership influence. What, exactly, appeals to you about leading others? Why would anyone want to be led by you? What good do you hope to do on behalf of others?

Focus on Them: Leadership is not about the leader. It’s about those being led. A leader is deemed successful based on the results that the people being led achieve. It’s tempting for newbie leaders to spend time hobnobbing with leaders who are more senior to them on the organizational ladder. You’ll go farther faster by dedicating time with the people whose results determine your success…the people you’re leading.

Get Ready for Mistakes: Rookie leaders blow up when mistakes are made. Considering how often mistakes are made in any organization, budding leaders should get a handle on how mistakes are handled. People you lead will lose clients, get the data wrong, come in over budget, or drop the ball in some other way. Don’t explode or mentally write the person off. Be mindful that how you handle (or mishandle) mistakes will set an example for others to follow.

Know Their Goals: As a leader, you’ll be under a lot of pressure to advance the goals of the people above you. Some leaders get so obsessed with the goals of their bosses that they neglect the goals and aspirations of the people they are leading. People have a right to grow and develop under your leadership. But you don’t have a right to dictate the terms of that development. Converse with each person you lead to understand what they want to get out of their job, role, and career. The sweet spot is when you can align the goals of the organization with the career goals of the people you’re leading.

Nudge Toward Discomfort: People don’t grow in a zone of comfort. They grow, progress, and develop in a zone of discomfort. As a leader, your job is to provide tasks and opportunities that stretch people beyond what they already know – which, for them, will be uncomfortable. The trick is to move people enough outside of their comfort zones that they are growing, but not so far out that they are petrified with fear. You’ve gotten it right when people learn to be comfortable with discomfort.

Express Sincere Gratitude: You may say that you value people, but if you constantly move up deadlines, rarely ask for their opinions, take credit for their good work, set unrealistic goals, and don’t say “thank you” for their hard work, then you don’t really value them. And they know it. Remember, they are the ones who will determine whether or not you’re successful as a leader. So get used to saying these words like you mean it: Thank you!

Leading others is not easy. You’ll have to balance the needs of the people above you with the needs of the people you’re leading. You’ll have to deal with mistakes, complaints, and idiosyncratic personalities.

But it is also rewarding. Your leadership influence will advance the goals of your organization and bring about career growth and advancement for the people you’re leading. When it’s all said and done, you’ll become a better person in the process of contributing to the betterment of the lives of others.

Bill Treasurer is the Chief Encouragement Officer of Giant Leap Consulting and author of Leaders Open Doors, which focuses on how leaders create growth through opportunity. 100% of the book’s royalties are being donated to programs that support children with special needs. Bill is also the author of Courage Goes to Work, Right Risk, and Courageous Leadership, and has led courage-building workshops across the world for NASA, Accenture, CNN, PNC Bank, SPANX, Hugo Boss, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and many others.  Contact Bill at btreasurer@giantleapconsulting.com, or on Twitter at @btreasurer.

You CAN Be Successful

It’s easy to look at famous people and assume that they must have stumbled onto

overnight success somehow. We think they were born with amazing talent that was immediately appreciated by the world. Unfortunately, this makes it easy to think that if you’re not successful by now, there’s no point in trying.

Of course, this isn’t true, even though it may seem that way. It’s always good to be reminded that even the biggest successes are almost always preceded by numerous failures, and that persistence is the key to eventually being a success.

Not everyone who's on top today got there with success after success. More often than not, those who history best remembers were faced with numerous obstacles that forced them to work harder and show more determination than others.

Most of us live with the fear of failure. We’re afraid of attempting something and failing in front of our peers or our loved ones. We’re afraid of being embarrassed so instead of creating a situation in which we could fail again, we give up and stop trying, creating a comfort zone for ourselves. A comfort zone that limits what we can become and limits what we can do in life. It’s time to break out of your comfort zone and try again.

When you have a moment, Google some of these people with the word "failures":

Walt Disney

Abraham Lincoln

Harland Sanders

J.K. Rowling

Winston Churchill

The Company Doesn't Owe You

A little bit of soapbox today.  Be thankful for your job.

Things that have happened this year and people that I hear and have heard talking, has again gotten my mind wondering where people get some of their thoughts from.

For instance, is there ANY company that OWES you a job?  I can't think of one.  But on the other hand YOU owe your company your best work . . . whether you like the job or not.

Unless you own the company, you're expendable.  When it comes to bad economies or budget cuts, for whatever reason, you may be dispensable. Lets face it, these are just the facts of life.

In his book, It's Called Work for a Reason, Larry Winget explains that, "Many people have become so dependent on their company, on society, and on others that they think they are owed a living.  They think the company is there to serve them instead of the truth, which is that they are there to serve the company".

Whether you're a manager, supervisor, or the guy that started in the mailroom yesterday, don't get caught up in these "entitlement" thoughts.  So what can you do?  Do your best, stand out, and take personal responsibility.  These are the things that are going to make you a success, whether it's at your current job or your next.

You're not owed a job . . . so make your leaders WANT to keep you.

Mentoring is a Partnership

Explain “mentoring” to me . . . uh-huh, that’s what I thought.  Most leaders have a vague understanding of what mentoring is, and few know just how it’s done.

 

In today's world of employee's moving from organization to organization, mentoring has become a top priority in keeping and developing their talent. If you want to help your employees grow - while holding on to them longer, you have to mentor. Enter the revised and expanded edition of, Managers as Mentors: Building Partnerships for Learning, by Chip Bell and Marshall Goldsmith - an easy to understand handbook for creating great relationships and talent.

 

All the information is here to create a self-directed learner, from planning, to rapport, discovery, and ensuring the transfer of learning.  Mixed in with the 27 chapters are fitting case studies to help pull everything together.  One of the things that I liked most of all was, The Mentor’s Toolkit, at the end.  A short series of assessments, FAQs, and stories to help you promote and support continuous improvement.

 

As Bell and Goldsmith say in the book, “Mentors practice their skills with a combination of never-ending compassion, crystal-clear communication, and a sincere joy in the role of being a helper along a journey toward mastering”.  And how do you get there?  Read and use this book as a guideline and you’ll be well on your way.

Account on This!

One of the biggest areas that I've seen lacking in leadership is keeping staff accountable.

One of the best ways that you can help people excell is to establish an accountability-based culture focused on producing results.  There are a number of basic things that you can do help this culture along, tremendously and quickly:

• Establish goals and objectives . . . that align with the organization.
• Assign each team members specific goals and objectives.
• Find out from your team what they need in order to succeed in those goals and objectives.
• Be a part of the team yourself.

and the biggie:

• FOLLOW UP!

Many leaders actually do focus on those first four bullets . . . then they lose it all at the last one.  If you don't follow up, you're just going through the motions.  That's just a waste of everone's time, including the organization's.

The Secret's Out!

Walt Disney once said, "People often ask me if I know the secret of success and if I could tell others how to make their dreams come true. My answer is, you do it by working."

"Working." Wow, what a concept.

Most people have heard of the old Bible saying, “You reap what you sow?” at some point in their life. Larry Winget, 'the pitbull of personal development', explains the problem best saying, "Most people aren’t reaping much these days because they haven’t done any sowing".

I Googled "books on the secret of success". It came up with 47,500,00 entries! That doesn't seem to me like there's much of a secret.

Here's the real "secret" of success . . . work harder, faster, smarter, and better. That will be $29.95 please.

Don't Fight It

Don't fight CHANGE. It happens. It must happen in order to grow.

You can try to ignore change, but it doesn't stop it. You can try to stop change, but you're just fooling yourself. You can try to insulate yourself from the effects of change, but that's just speeding up career death. You can't fight change and expect to be successful.

Watch out for these 7 warning signs of change resistance. You're:

• still using the old rules to play the new game.



• ducking new assignments.



• trying to slow things down.



• working hard to control the uncontrollable.



• playing the role of victim.



• hoping someone else can make things better for you.



• absolutely paralyzed, like a deer in the headlights.

A good leader makes responsiveness to change your PERSONAL mission. Be a Change Leader!

Full Circle . . . and Beyond!

On November 1, John Lasseter will become the 2,453rd star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Here’s a leader that’s come full circle . . . and beyond!

Lasseter started his career as a Jungle Cruise Skipper at Disneyland in California. It was shortly after that when he became an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation. He realized that computers could be used to make films with three dimensional backgrounds where traditionally animated characters could interact to add a new, visually stunning depth. So he began the push . . . but pushed a little too hard and was terminated.

Lasseter was then hired on at Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Group. Here he worked on their first computer animated short: The Adventures of André and Wally B. His original thought had been to create only the backgrounds on computers, but by the time it was all finished everything was computer animated, including the characters.

Most of what Lasseter had been working on had been considered “experiments” by George Lucas and his interest soon began to fade. Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Group was acquired by Steve Jobs in 1986, which then became Pixar. Lasseter oversaw all of Pixar's films and associated projects as executive producer. He personally directed Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Cars, and Cars 2 – some of the biggest animated feature films of all time.

When Disney purchased Pixar in April 2006, Lasseter was named Chief Creative Officer of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was also given the responsibility as Principal Creative Advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering. He bypasses Disney's studio and theme park executives and reports directly to Disney President and CEO Bob Iger.

Congratulations John Lasseter!!!

Do you have an idea . . . a dream . . . a plan? See it through and make it happen. You never know - it may take you . . . to infinity and beyond!

For the whole Pixar story check out, “The Pixar Touch” by David A. Price.

Gotta Have It

Energy, that is. We’ve all been there – some more than others – wish you had more energy to do more, stay awake longer, or have more concentration. Yeah, you’ve been there.

Jon Gordon, author of The 10-Minute Energy Solution says that, "Everyone has lows. The key is to know when your energy is down and what you can do to turn it around." He maps out a 30-day plan with a simple 10-minute exercise each day to give you a boost physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Here are 10 things you can do:
1. Start your day with a positive energy walk. Step briskly and say what you're thankful for. Think positive thoughts like "I look forward to the rest of the day, the people I'm going to meet, the things I'm going to learn." Or complete these sentences: "I believe that... I trust that..."
2. Neutralize the "energy vampires," the people who drain you. They’re everywhere. Counter their negative comments and attitude with kindness and compassion. Notice something? Another person's negativity can only bring you down if you let it. Like I always say, attitude you give = attitude you get.
3. Lose your mind. No, don't go any more crazy than you already are. Go meditate. Sit in a quiet place. Focus on your breathing. Inhale and think of a word like "so" or "one" or "peace". Exhale and think of the same word or another. (Gordon likes the mantra "so hum".) Repeat with each breath. If a thought floats into your head, let it float out, and focus on your breathing and mantra again. "You want to lose your thoughts, your thinking mind, so you can be one with the moment," Gordon explains.
4. Add play to your day. Run around the yard with your kids or your dog (chase a squirrel). Put on your favorite pick-me-up song and dance. Grab three tennis balls and try to juggle them. Go for a bike ride. Build something out of Legos or Lincoln Logs – remember those? Write the lyrics to your life as a funny country song (and then share it with me!).
5. Connect. Call an old friend you haven't talked to in a while. Invite a coworker to lunch. Drop a line - not by email but by good, old-fashioned pen and paper (wow, what a concept) - to someone you don't see often.
6. Smile and laugh. Walk around your office and smile at your coworkers. They won't think you're strange (probably), just in a good mood. Several times a day, think of a funny joke or experience, and laugh.
7. Let stress go. "Energy is like a river," Gordon says. "Stress blocks it." To get it flowing again, first, list your stresses. Take a deep breath and clench your hands into fists, as if you're holding on to all the stress. Exhale forcefully, opening your hands and throwing your arms wide. Feel your tension release? Good. Say, "I choose not to have my stress. I let it go." Repeat this exercise for each stress you listed and let it go.
8. Pray for someone. It recharges your spiritual batteries. Studies suggest those who have a strong faith are better able to handle adversity. Make a list of people and what they need help and prayers for. Find a quiet spot and get comfortable. Listen to your breath, feel your heart beat. When you're nice and relaxed, pray for each person on your list.
9. Look for signs of grace. Think about the times in your life when you thought something bad happened, but it turned out to be a blessing. It may have happened and you just haven't realized it yet. Write these experiences down. Next time something you didn't want or expect occurs, look back on this list and remind yourself everything happens for a reason, even if you don't see it just yet.
10. Do a little lifting. Giving someone else a lift gives you a lift too. In one study, college students who performed five small acts of kindness a day (such as helping a friend with a paper or visiting an elderly relative) experienced a significant increase in well-being.

What will your five acts of kindness be? Plan two. Then look for three random opportunities to be kind as the day unfolds. If you come across more, keep going! As Gordon says, "Positive energy never decreases by being shared. With each gift, it grows."

Well Jiminy Cricket

In sports, when a time-out is called just before the tie-breaking point is played, the coach reminds team members what's at stake . . . the rewards that await the players who make the winning effort. As a leader, you challenge team members with the memory of their past victories, with examples of what they accomplished.
- You enthuse,
- you excite,
- you encourage,
so they believe they can do it. Motivating and inspiring are about them, not you. It’s about instilling the confidence and energy that helps them to achieve the desired results. It’s what causes them to get excited enough to take ownership of their work.

In 1940, Walt Disney stopped production of Pinocchio because he thought Pinocchio was looking TOO wooden. He called the young animator Ward Kimball into his office.

Kimball, who was already upset because his long hours of work on Snow White had ended up on the cutting-room floor, was planning to use the occasion to resign when Walt called him in. But the young animator never had a chance. He got so excited listening to Walt talk about his dreams for the film and his ideas about Jiminy Cricket that Kimball entirely forgot about his own intentions of resigning.

Ward Kimball went on to become one of the greatest animators of all time. How many leaders can say that they enthuse, excite, and encourage that way? Had it been you in Walt’s situation, would Ward Kimball have stayed around?

But It's Not Illegal!

C’mon people. Lets drop the unethical behavior and act the way you’re expected to. Try to remember the Golden Rule – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Ethics are the inner-guiding moral principles, values, and beliefs that we use to analyze or interpret situations in order to decide what’s the “right” or “appropriate” way to behave or react. Laws tell us we either CAN or CAN’T do something. If there’s no law – or a law that’s not well enough defined – we're left to use our own ethics (or lack of) to decide how to act. Problem is, TOO many people these days are unethical.

According to the annual USA Today/Gallup Poll, less than one American in four rates highly the ethical standards of business executives, attorneys, members of Congress, or stockbrokers. Bankers had it especially rough in the latest poll: their approval rating fell from 35% to 23%. Only 22% of Americans held state governors in high esteem. With two unethical candidates, I would guess that Florida is even less than that.

It’s not just business and politics. A report by the Josephson Institute showed that 64% of high school students cheat and 30% steal. WOW! Nothin like starting early.

Neither laws nor ethics are fixed principles. Both are always changing. Unfortunately, people will always try to get away with things by going around and misinterpreting laws, so continuous change will always be necessary.

People will always argue that, “it's not illegal”. Maybe not. But keep this in mind the next time you have a thought like that – not being illegal does NOT make it ethical.

Tell The Truth

I just read the coolest quote from Pixar President Ed Catmull. He said, "Management's job is not to prevent risk but to build the capability to recover when failures occur. It must be safe to tell the truth."

Wow. The End.

The Best Is Yet To Come

So. You’re getting into that middle aged (or over) area and you haven’t fulfilled your “destiny” yet, huh? So what? Maybe it’s not time for your destiny. If God would fulfill all of our destiny’s early in life, what would we have to look forward to or work towards? The best may be yet to come.

Famed business guru Peter Drucker wrote 39 books. Wow. Took a long time to do that, right? By the time Drucker turned 65 he had only written about one-third of his books. For you non-math majors out there, that means he wrote about 26 books after turning 65. Now you can say WOW.

Zelda Rubinstein was 48 before she had her first acting role, a minor part in “Under the Rainbow”. She’s most known for her "debut" in the “Poltergeist” film series starting the following year (“Now clear your minds. It knows what scares you. It has from the very beginning. Don't give it any help, it knows too much already”).

Colonel Harland Sanders didn’t begin his Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise until he was 65. He used $105 from his first Social Security check to fund visits to potential franchisees.

Baseball pitcher Randy Johnson was celebrated for having one of the most dominant fastballs in the game. He made his Major League debut at 25, but didn't reach superstar status until he was 30. In sports years (kinda like dog years) that’s a pretty advanced age.

Ever heard of seven-time Grammy Award winner Al Jarreau? He released his critically acclaimed debut album, We Got By, at age 35.

So what are you going to do? Give up? Take a back seat? I don’t think so. Hold on to your dreams and aspirations. Keep moving forward and keep LEARNING. The best is yet to come!

I Want The Window!

Employers look for staff who have that special something - the skills, tendencies and attributes that help to keep productivity - and profits - up. They look for people who are going to make a positive contribution for the company.

“So what are these things?” you ask. I’m glad you asked. More and more organizations are looking for employees with strong "personal" skills, not just the right “experience”.

Here are five of the top attributes employers are looking for:

Creativity: You've heard of the saying, "thinking outside the box"? Employers want innovative people who bring a fresh perspective to the organization.

Discipline: They look for the ability for you to keep to the task at hand and complete projects without becoming distracted or bored. Being well organized helps you to work without major distractions. Organizations want employees who have high aspiration levels and work hard to achieve their goals.

Good Attitude: This has been shown to be able to predict counterproductive work behaviors, job performance and even theft. Willingness to connect personally in workplace events is very important. A positive attitude goes a loooong way toward productivity.

Influence: Groups need strong leaders to guide the way. Influence includes positively impacting circumstances by speaking your mind and becoming a group leader.

Sociability: How much you enjoy interacting with coworkers affects how well you work with them. This isn't just about job knowledge, but knowledge of coworkers and the environment. It includes being able to read other people's motives from observed behavior and using the information to guide your thinking and actions.

To have these attributes means a better chance of being hired or moving up. To master these attributes means moving into that nice office with the window.

Gotta Get Some!

Energy, that is. We’ve all been there – some more than others – wish you had more energy to do more, stay awake longer, or have more concentration. Yeah, you’ve been there.

Jon Gordon, author of The 10-Minute Energy Solution says that, "Everyone has lows. The key is to know when your energy is down and what you can do to turn it around." He maps out a 30-day plan with a simple 10-minute exercise each day to give you a boost physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Here are 10 things you can do:

1. Start your day with a positive energy walk. Step briskly and say what you're thankful for. Think positive thoughts like "I look forward to the rest of the day, the people I'm going to meet, the things I'm going to learn." Or complete these sentences: "I believe that... I trust that..."
2. Neutralize the "energy vampires," the people who drain you. They’re everywhere. Counter their negative comments and attitude with kindness and compassion. Notice something? Another person's negativity can only bring you down if you let it. Like I always say, attitude you give = attitude you get.
3. Lose your mind. No, don't go any more crazy than you already are. Go meditate. Sit in a quiet place. Focus on your breathing. Inhale and think of a word like so or one or peace. Exhale and think of the same word or another. (Gordon likes the mantra so hum.) Repeat with each breath. If a thought floats into your head, let it float out, and focus on your breathing and mantra again. "You want to lose your thoughts, your thinking mind, so you can be one with the moment," Gordon explains.
4. Add play to your day. Run around the yard with your kids or your dog (chase a squirrel). Put on your favorite pick-me-up song and dance. Grab three tennis balls and try to juggle them. Go for a bike ride. Build something out of Legos or Lincoln Logs – remember those? Write the lyrics to your life as a funny country song (and then share it with me!).
5. Connect. Call an old friend you haven't talked to in a while. Invite a coworker to lunch. Drop a line - not by email but by good, old-fashioned pen and paper (wow, what a concept) - to someone you don't see often.
6. Smile and laugh. Walk around your office and smile at your coworkers. They won't think you're strange (probably), just in a good mood. Several times a day, think of a funny joke or experience, and laugh.
7. Let stress go. "Energy is like a river," Gordon says. "Stress blocks it." To get it flowing again, first, list your stresses. Take a deep breath and clench your hands into fists, as if you're holding on to all the stress. Exhale forcefully, opening your hands and throwing your arms wide. Feel your tension release? Good. Say, "I choose not to have my stress. I let it go." Repeat this exercise for each stress you listed and let it go.
8. Pray for someone. It recharges your spiritual batteries. Studies suggest those who have a strong faith are better able to handle adversity. Make a list of people and what they need help and prayers for. Find a quiet spot and get comfortable. Listen to your breath, feel your heart beat. When you're nice and relaxed, pray for each person on your list.
9. Look for signs of grace. Think about the times in your life when you thought something bad happened, but it turned out to be a blessing. It may have happened and you just haven't realized it yet. Write these experiences down. Next time something you didn't want or expect occurs, look back on this list and remind yourself everything happens for a reason, even if you don't see it just yet.
10. Do a little lifting. Giving someone else a lift gives you a lift too. In one study, college students who performed five small acts of kindness a day (such as helping a friend with a paper or visiting an elderly relative) experienced a significant increase in well-being. What will your five acts of kindness be? Plan two. Then look for three random opportunities to be kind as the day unfolds. If you come across more, keep going! As Gordon says, "Positive energy never decreases by being shared. With each gift, it grows."

Ask What YOU Have Done

I bet I can describe one of the top leaders of the world and you won't be able to guess who it is. Okay, here goes - he runs an organization that you know of but you've never seen. He runs his own manufacturing, packaging, AND distribution companies. His many employees are among the happiest in the world. He doesn't sell any products, yet he continues to stay in business. Any guess yet? 100% of distribution is completed in one night. He's a very jolly individual - his belly even shakes like a bowl full of jelly. Yes, it's Santa Claus.

As "magical" as Santa may be, he still has to possess great leadership skills to get everything accomplished. Employees (elves) must be kept happy. In order to do this Santa must continuously monitor progress through self-evaluation. There are a few questions he asks of himself to ensure that he's keeping a focus on his most valuable asset - no, not reindeer - his employees. Santa asks himself - "In the last several months, what have I done to . . .

• Be accessible (physically and mentally) to employees who would like my attention?
• Be considerate of staff-member needs?
• Provide employees with the training, tools, resources, and feedback required for success?
• Keep employees in the "what's happening" information loop?
• Help team members maintain an appropriate balance between their professional and personal lives?
• Demonstrate respect for employees' time and talents . . . as well as respect for them as individuals?
• Solicit, and listen to, staff-member ideas and concerns?
• Help everyone develop and grow?
• Fairly distribute the work and workload?"

It doesn't take a lot of extra effort to be a caring leader. There's no extra costs to ask yourself a few questions. It doesn't take but a few minutes. But what you'll get is more time since you'll have more dedicated and motivated employees - you won't have so many problems to deal with.

For more information on Santa's leadership skills check out the book, "The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus" at www.walkthetalk.com.

Employee Orientation

Formal orientation programs should be something that is constantly looked at. Orientation can either make or break a new employee. I've actually known of people who have quit their new job because of orientation. Orientation quite often shows a direct correlation to your organizations overall training system. If orientation is unbearable . . . chances are so are the rest of your training programs.

Organizations normally want to get their new employees up to full productivity as soon as possible. That means cramming all of the new employee material into a reduced amount of time. Bad news. If employees are immediately overwhelmed with information that they probably won't remember anyway, there's no way they'll be able to contribute effectively to the team or be able to give quality customer service. If they're taught right off the bat to get through as fast as possible, then that's the way they'll approach the job from there on in.

If you have a number of things that need to be taught, keep to the basics. Cut out the "nice to know stuff". Give more time and repetition to critical information. The human brain can only hold on to so much new information. Overload it and it shuts down.

Facilitators also hold a very important role for orientation. These are some of the first people that the new employee will meet. Make sure they're enthusiastic, personable, and can project a positive perception about the organization. Without these characteristics bad attitudes could begin right here.

Remember - orientation is another type of welcome to your new employee. Make it count just as you would with a customer.