MaxBlog

The poor blind man sat on his matt in front of the building begging for money with a sign that read "Please help, I'm blind." A lady approaches the blind man, grabs his sign, turns it over and writes something on the back -then puts it back and walks away. Suddenly the blind man is receiving an unprecedented amount of cash and alms -so much that he is almost unable to keep up with the amount! What did the lady write on his card that caused so many people to give so much -so quickly to the blind man? You can watch the short video by clicking on this link here (to find out): http://youtu.be/pzjEzohHmaM

The power of stories... I had you as soon as I started writing you that story didn't I? Stories cause our brain to stop what it's doing and pay attention. As human beings -our brains are wired for stories. The problem is that most leaders forget this fact. We tend to spout off concepts and theories rather than stories and -not only lose our listeners -but cause our listeners, our friends, or our employees to forget the very important concept we want to get across.

To increase engagement (and therefore -results) try this...

Think about the concept or principle you want to communicate. Then ask yourself "What is an incident in real life that I know about or have experienced that best illustrates this concept?" Then tell the story.

I have a client who has a company that services pulp & paper mills all over our province. They are very big on safety. They want to communicate to their people to always respect the pressure washers they use and to never randomly fire the washer at anything soft. Here's the story they tell their people...

"A few years ago we had a new employee start using this washer. They were amazed at the pressure that it fires off at and they wanted to feel it with their hand. When he put his hand in front of it it immediately sliced off their ring and pinky fingers. It was quick and was over before he even realized his fingers were missing. Please respect the sprayer and never use it randomly on soft objects. Ever."

That's it. Simple and short and unforgettable.

The next time you want to get something across to a group of people or to someone special in your life -use this process. It works!

According to BusinessCoach.com -here is a complete list of reasons why companies succeed. See how many of these you have in your own business! (They aren't in any particular order)...

• The leaders are very clear about their commitment to the future of their business and use outside professionals for advice.
• They have a well written strategic plan.
• They have a written down mission, vision, or purpose statement clearly defined and over-communicate it to employees.
• They have clear communication of company goals and Company commitments (or Core Values).
• They have an up-to-date procedures manual for employees to follow.
• They operate by the philosophy that no one person is more valuable to the company than another.
• They have a written down marketing plan or marketing strategy.
• They have a complete understanding of the market and competition.
• They have adequate capitalization.
• The leaders of the organization are committed to being powerful (NOT forceful).

You have decided to step it up!
To "amp up" your personal or professional growth curve!

You have booked the workshop, ready to read a book a month and look for a Coach.

Congratulations!

Here is one often misunderstood area essential for personal growth.
FEEDBACK - It is the major tool in growth and development. In order for you to get the most out of your efforts to improve, let me offer a few truths about feedback.

Here is what I have observed about feedback that may work for you:

1. Feedback is the breakfast of champions – It is what all serious learners seek.

Sometimes feedback is winning a race, or losing money on an event – these outcomes tell me some things that I am doing that work, or do not work. The feedback is neutral, not right or wrong, not good or bad. It is simply a clue to me to examine what I am doing. To observe what worked or what is missing. To “course correct” to get better results, or not – and get the same results next time.

2. All feedback is valuable – people see things differently than I do – they have a different perspective. Not right or wrong, not good or bad – but valid because it is their perspective. And valuable because how else will I know how other people see me unless they tell me?

• It just is… the feedback.
• It is impersonal.
• It is how I occurred to them.
• It is valid because it is their experience of me.
• It is a clue for me to examine what I am doing.

3. I don’t have to agree with all feedback - in fact people are not looking for my agreement, they are simply seeking to serve me, by giving me their perspective. Wow! How great, that people care about me enough to give me their feedback. I want to be hugging them, thanking them.

4. I cannot grow without feedback. Therefore I seek it out, I speed it up by doing more, asking for more, listening more and changing more – not to please others but to become more of what I am called to be… I cannot get there on my own I need others to give me feedback.

Doing more means I get more feedback, and that means I grow faster. If I ignore feedback then I do not grow. It is your responsibility to examine what you are doing to cause feedback to come from people in a certain way. “I am the cause of every effect.” You create all feedback from who you are being at that moment.

What might work for you:

Accept all feedback with “Thank you for that feedback.” Or “Thanks, I will give that some thought.”
Rejecting feedback may communicate you reject the person, and that you are not interested in growing – and that is not true of you.

Always be willing to give honest, positive and appreciative feedback to others when the opportunity presents itself.
Sow the seed of feedback in others and reap the blessing of feedback in your own life and performance.

See people as valuable human beings.
As soon as we label people, name them anything other than human beings, we diminish them and we ourselves are self-deceived.

We are closed to the great learning that is there for us.

And I am not committed to that!

Companies don’t need a great leader! from Mary Mershein

Great leaders maximize their own personal goals.

There is nothing wrong with this. However, if the goals of these leaders are not in line with the goals of their company, these great leaders become bad for their company. 
Consider the British newspaper “News of the World” established in 1843. It was the biggest selling English newspaper in the world with a circulation of over 8 million at its peak compared to the Wall Street Journal which had a peak circulation of just over 2 million. 

 In 2007 the editor of News of the World, Clive Goodman, admitted to publishing articles obtained by phone hacking and went to jail. In 2011 the newspaper paid fines to the victims and shut down. The parent company News Corp. made 20% return on investment in 2011. The executives, including CEO Rupert Murdoch, profited while the newspaper was destroyed.

So how does an organization ensure management and the company both want the same thing?

The answer is communication. Rupert Murdoch and the other executives at News Corp. testified before a parliamentary select committee in November 2011 that they were unaware of any wrongdoings.

The higher up a manager is in the organization, the less connection there is with staff. Once you reach the Executive and Board level decision makers receive almost all of their information funneled through a few individuals. Sometimes they employ analyses which cannot show the entire picture of what is truly going on. This is how situations are created where those in charge benefit from the demise of the company.

However, when people talk to people, face-to-face, on a regular basis it is much harder to disguise the truth. There are no numbers to manipulate. There are no one-sided stories. Any deviations between what the company wants and what the individual wants become evident and can be corrected before harm is done.

Companies don’t need a great leader. Great leaders are individuals working towards their own goals.

Companies need fraternities. These fraternities are groups of leaders all working together for a common cause.

And the next time you attend a leadership training course, don’t go alone! Take the Board of Directors and the CEO with you.

©2012

Mary Mershein is a Chartered Accountant with a master’s degree in management who believes common sense is our greatest financial analysis. Additional common sense can be found at www.moosemoney.wordpress.com.