It’s Your Turn, Coach

It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else. One of my favorite movies on keeping your dream alive is about a baseball player from Brownwood Texas. “The Rookie” is a movie based on the true story about Jim Morris, who had a brief, but famous major league baseball career in 1999. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, and Brian Cox.

If you want to win, throw me the ball

“After an unsuccessful minor league experience, Jim Morris takes a job as a high school coach. While coaching baseball for the Reagan County Owls in the spring of 1999, Morris made a promise to his team that he would try out for Major League Baseball if his team won the District Championship, something the team had never accomplished before. His team won the title, and the players each approach the coach after the game and said “It’s your turn, Coach” – Morris kept his end of the bargain by attending a Tampa Bay Devil Rays tryout. The scout wasn’t interested in Morris, but gave him a tryout solely to let Morris keep his promise to his players. Surprisingly, Morris discovered that in spite of his age, and having several surgeries on his arm, he was able to throw 12 consecutive 98-mph fastballs. After much debate with his family, Morris signed a professional contract with the Devil Rays organization at the age of 35.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rookie_%282002_film%29

It is never too late to be what you might have been. ~George Eliot

It’s never too late to take your heart health seriously and make it a priority. ~Jennie Garth

It’s never too late to give someone a a second chance. ~ Unknown

No matter where you are in life right now no matter who you are, no matter how old you are it is never too late to be who you are meant to be. ~Unknown

It is never too late to fall in love.

It is never too late too to say you’re sorry

It is never too late… to follow your dreams

It”s your turn, my friend…

Running to Win… GTR

Ten Clear Signs You Might Be in the Wrong Job

It’s no secret the world around us is changing fast. People are afraid of losing their jobs these days.  Being in the wrong job is like staying in a bad relationship. This missing gap for real job satisfaction takes a huge psychological toll.  This kind of mindset can impact your job performance, attitude and health. People who become dissatisfied at work tend to disengage from the process. Real job satisfaction only comes from knowing that your work matters and is making a real difference.

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.~ Confucius

Ten Clear Signs You’re in the Wrong Job:

10. Your skills are outdated – you are still trying to master Word 2003 and the company upgrades to 2010 version of Microsoft Word.

9. You’re ashamed to tell people where you work

8. Out of balance  – you feel no motivation to care about your body despite declining health concerns from your doctor.

7. You actually look forward to taking sick days because it gets you out of work

6. The company stops providing any money for your professional development.

5.  No meaningful work results – you may see increasing supervisor demands. More meetings with your boss. More reports are required on your progress. More daily direction

4.  You have more ambition than your office colleagues – You would switch careers in a heartbeat if you only knew what you wanted to do instead.

3. You have become the number one critic of the company merit base system.

2. You don’t support company policies and procedures because you think they are stupid and a huge waste of time.

1. Increasing conflicts – You complain a lot and your mood swings between being a victim, self-righteous or angry.

If you recognize yourself a little too much in these warning signs, then maybe you should use them as a wake-up call. You owe it to yourself to look around for something worthy of your passion, time and energy.

The Hidden Power of Stories in Leadership

Historically, stories have always been igniters for action. The power of a challenge told by masterful story tellers are experienced everyday at movie theaters across the country. I can remember watching some great movies growing up – wow – we all have our favorite movie lines by stars that were both powerful and motivating. What’s your favorite movie line?

Your stories can spark emotion or even engage people into new action. The ability to use stories in leadership can be a powerful way to teach important personal or business principles. We have to move beyond dry PowerPoint slides if we want to motivate, win over or engage people to a higher level. “Anybody who’s ever read a novel or watch a great movie knows that a story that fails deliver a surprise is dead on arrival. ” According to a great book – “Tell to Win“ by Peter Guber.

The story isn’t the icing on the cake, it is the cake. Here’s how you build a successful story according to Guber. Great leaders have learned the hidden power of stories…

1. First – Get your listeners’ attention with an unexpected challenge or question.

2. Next…give your listeners an emotional experience by narrating the struggle to overcome that challenge or to find the answer to the open question.

3. Finally…galvanize your listeners’ response with an eye opening resolution that calls them to action.

Here’s an example of a story from this book: “Tell To Win” by Peter Guber.

One of the most the heroic characters I’ve ever encountered was a young boy with a crippling degenerative disease, who lived near me when I was growing up in Boston. His speech was garbled. He couldn’t walk, and he wasn’t able to go to school with the rest of us in the neighborhood. But I could see him at the window everyday watching us bicycle up and down the block.

Always get back up

One day his father appeared on the sidewalk hauling a bicycle with training wheels on the front and back.This six-wheeled looked as if an elephant could ride it without falling. As I watched from my window, the boy’s father carried him out and put him on the contraption. Then the father went back inside.

The kid started to pedal and in a minute the bike tipped over. I could see the father in his window watching. So could the boy. His dad watched him lying there and did nothing. Finally the boy pulled himself up. Then he went about three feet and fell to the other side. Again the father just stood there watching. For weeks, that kid kept trying and falling, and the father didn’t lift a finger. I complained to my mother, but she told me to mind my own business. I couldn’t. The drama was too seductive.

One Saturday morning, the boy crashed off the curb. I had to go down, But when I reached the sidewalk, the kid waved me off. Then his father tapped on the window glass and shook his finger at me to go away. Convinced he must be some kind of monster, I left the boy trying to pull himself up and ran back home.

Then, a couple days later, the kid was out there again. Over he went; up he went, again.

But then, suddenly, he was rolling! He made it sixty feet…then turned around. And he rode all the way back without falling! I looked up and there was the father grinning down at his son. I looked back at the boy and he was beaming back to the father, then they both started laughing and waving like crazy. And I started to cry.

Finally I got it! They both knew the boy needed to face the challenge and struggle through on his own. He needed to be his own agent of change, to be active in his own rescue. If the father did it for him, the boy wouldn’t feel like a hero. And only if he was the hero would this seminal victory empower him to face the other inevitable and monumental challenges that lay in this boy’s future. The joy I felt at that kid’s little sixty-foot bike ride was overwhelming.

My experience of his unique challenge, struggle, and triumph became an archetypal tale of persistence that I told myself every time my grades fell in school, or bullies beat me up, or I failed at some enterprise. The story of the boy on the bike taught me that failure really is just a speed bump on the road to success. Heroes don”t quit, so the only true failures is the failure to get up. This story’s call to action was to keep getting up.

So what’s your story….are you using it to motivate others around you? Want to learn more about story telling to influence others – I recommend reading this book – “Tell to Win” by Peter Guber. Was this helpful?

The Best Advice I Ever Got

Advice is like opinions. Everyone’s got one. Most of the time these words of wisdom come from people who care deeply about your future. Those words of advice are like lighthouses in the darkness that give you a sense of direction.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Common Sense is a genius dressed in its working clothes.” If we are listening, great advice is given to each of us from successful people.

The one thing people are the most liberal with, is their advice….

Many times those words become the values that we live by. Here are a few bits of the best advice I ever got …

• There is no substitute for hard work
• Choose your friends wisely – your priorities will help you find the right friends
• Dress for the job you want to have
• Trust people until they give you a reason not too
• Finish what you start
• Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re lucky, because luck is what happens at the intersection of preparation and opportunity
• You usually get out of something what you put into it
• Don’t give up, don’t ever give up
• Let honesty and integrity define your character
• Listen to others
• Stay true to yourself – be yourself
• Attitude is everything
• Relationships are like bank accounts – make more deposits than withdrawals.
• Be ready to play when they put you in the game – make ‘em want to leave you in the game.
• A cheerful heart is like medicine
• Finally – choose your words carefully – they will make or break your relationships, career and reputation

No one can make it alone. Most successful leaders have all taken advice from someone they admired or trusted along the way.

What great advice would you add to the list?

The “Cinderella Factor” in Leadership

There is an old saying that says “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch” is a reality that we all understand. However, what about the leader or group of people who know they can compete at a higher level. Their confidence is matched with hard work, determination and pure belief. This factor we refer to as the “underdog” in the world of sports. These teams come out of nowhere and beat great teams at their own game.

To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act. ~Ariatole France (1844-1924)

 

Usually these groups have something in common; usually one individual has the determination to ignite others to become better at what they do. They infuse a new standard that is contagious. Others begin to share that vision and the early success only provides additional confidence. Then boom – they shock the competition with huge wins. These wins ignite a fan base that creates momentum.

My challenge – Are you igniting your team? If not, when?

The Magic of Capturing Great Teamwork

The Story

“John knew that although his department was structured perfectly, he had to make sure his employees were willing to follow the plan. He explained that the changes he made were necessary for the department and company to achieve the goals and objectives. He had chosen the right people, let them know what was expected, trained them, got them the needed materials, and created a good working environment, but still had to find more ways to keep them motivated. He needed a strong and happy team in place or else it would all fall apart.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” Henry Ford

By making his employees feel like a true team, he decided to let them work as a team. He found ways that inspired teamwork. They knew that by working as a team, they would not be micro-managed. He let them be involved in making decisions and really listened to their suggestions and ideas. He also made it a priority to always acknowledge exceptional work done and in a timely fashion. He made sure that everyone fully understood that if the goals were achieved, they would be rewarded both in pay and other small gifts of gratitude. He developed a performance appraisal that was based on statistical reports that documented whether the goals were reached. He also documented their strengths and weaknesses in order to always keep them challenged to improve. He would always look at ways to help them grow, and promoted his exceptional employees. Basically, John showed his team that he cared about them as people. He got to know them personally and supported them 100%. He did know, however, that it only takes one bad apple to spoil the lot, so whenever he felt there was conflict, he dealt with it immediately before it affected the group.

John had built a solid, unified team with the same goals in mind. They wanted to work hard because they knew they would be recognized and praised for a job well done. The harder they worked, the more John would show his appreciation. The skills they obtained were truly recognized, and even upper management came by to talk to the team about their success. John’s department was not only physically and logically in place, but now with a motivated team who was happy to follow the processes and procedures, he had created.”

Story Source: http://www.masterclassmanagement.com/ManagementCourse-ShortStoryStrongTeam.html

The Magic : It is not individual talent, technology, financial resources or strategy that can ever match the results of great teamwork. We have heard the terms “working in solos” or employees that are hard to work with that create major tension in the development of true teamwork. Let’s face it, the average human being is actually selfish in nature, which works naturally against forming a team. The future of any organization belongs to those who invest in it!

Leaders are often faced with underlying motives that are not visible on the surface in trying to build great teamwork. There is something powerful about finding common ground and collective energy marching toward a pressing challenge. The ability to find that niche is difficult to maintain but well worth the effort.

The Moral of the Story: Your employees work better when they are happy and feel they are part of a team to reach a common goal. It gives them a purpose and they will feel like an important part of the company. You want them to want to look good in your eyes. By implementing the skills taught in this lesson, you will have a strong team who respects your management skills and sees you as a leader who cares.

Five Reasons on Why Giving Encouragement to Others Is Important

I close my eyes as tight as they can go. The lights go off, and my imagination switches on. Pictures flash through my mind like an old film from the sixties. My life has been filled with many great people who have taken the time to invest encouraging words when I needed them most. It was like they read my mail. These giants have shared words that ignited my confidence along the way. Whether it was working on my 5th grade science project or going with my aunt to take my drivers license test in her huge Chrysler New Yorker, I was fortunate to have learned about the gift of encouragement. Words do last and these kind of encouraging words are gifts that will never be forgotten.

Real leaders understand the power of encouragement in the life of the people they lead.

Encouraging Words Are Gifts

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway. ~ Mother Teresa

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” ~ John Quincy Adams

Most new employee orientations spent very little time preparing leaders on how to give praise or recognition to their staff. Every leader is expected to find their own way to balance growing office expectations and employee appreciation. In fact, one of the greatest work satisfaction indicators mentioned by employees is a good working relationship with your boss. I believe the biggest barrier today in showing real appreciation lies in leadership ego or being too busy. It is easy to spot a leader who is happy to take all the praise for the work of the team. I think becoming self-absorbed is one of the greatest leadership mistake you can make.

Today’s leaders now find themselves in an uncertain economy, tight budgets, greater work expectations and less commitment to develop a long term relationship with employees.

Leaders who want to beat those odds must find ways to build a great team of people that are committed and engaged in the daily process. Usually those opportunities come in the words we share everyday. Encouraging words are powerful tools.

Here are five reasons why employee praise and recognition are important to give.

1. Words have the power to motivate or tear down. Sometimes we allow our emotions to say things that can actually hurt or even damage employee relationships. However when they are used correctly, they are great opportunities to ignite even greater passion.

2. Timing is everything in giving recognition. The note you wanted to write or the note that came three months after the event doesn’t have the same impact. Generic thank you letters written to everyone are missed opportunities. Missed opportunities can be a creditability buster.

3. People usually leave a boss before they leave an organization. Recognition usually indicates a real value for the employee. Does your current actions indicate the right level of each employee’s worth and appreciation. If not, can you afford to lose them?

4. We tend to invest in what we feel is important. How much professional development dollars are you spending on your staff? Employees stay longer when there are career development opportunities. It also expresses the value that we have for their future.

5. Great leaders don’t wait until annual evaluations or Christmas cards to say the things they need to express for great work. They express it daily through the important assignments, public praise and they find unique private ways to indicate it to their staff.

When the complaints come in – which they do in every business – it is important to have given enough praise to grow from those experiences. Office settings that don’t have enough recognition tend to be less willing to admit mistakes. This accountability measure creates a lack of trust in the work environment. The human bucket can only hold so much – so we should all work to develop our staff with the right balance of feedback and recognition. Happy and engaged employees can take your company and leadership to a whole new level.

Can you think of a time when encouraging words change the course of your career?

Are You An Optimistic Leader? Take the Test

Some people think that optimism means nothing bad will ever happen and your life is one great opportunity after another. If you have been in leadership long enough, things do happen and real setbacks can be expected. Optimism is really a state of mind that gives you the courage to work through situations. This mindset demonstrates daily courage to make the best of difficult situations.

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” ~ Henry Ford

Every great leader that I have worked for had one thing in common. They all had the ability to see something better while dealing with tough issues. They didn’t let these challenges distract them from raising the bar higher. They believed change was possible and convinced others that it could be done. Remember, 80% of what we worry about never happens.

Optimistic leaders look at a situation differently from others.

1. You can spot a path in tough times when others are still complaining about the conditions.

2. Your confidence and vision actually motivates people. (Even if it involves change).

3. You don’t worry about what you can’t control. Instead you focus on the things that you can change.

4. The evidence is clear, the more effort that goes into a commitment, the greater your ability to influence the attitudes of the people who can help you make the goal.

5. Your positive attitude reflects real ownership to lead and to collaborate with others to reach success.

6. Finally, your positive attitude allows you to work across the ranks in building partnerships. Great leaders engage talent at all levels and are careful to give credit for their contributions.

“The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” ~Carlos Castaneda

How many on the list do you have? Does a positive attitude make you a better leader?

Finding Balance In An Unbalanced Work Place

Recently I have a young father who came to talk about finding the right balance between work and his young family. This blog is dedicated to everyone who struggles to find this balance between making a living and making a life for your family.

Are you finding the right balance?

Scott Williams shared this story recently on his website that set the right tone for finding that balance with your family and your job.

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

• SON: ‘Daddy, may I ask you a question?’
• DAD: ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man.
• SON: ‘Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’
• DAD: ‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the man said angrily.
• SON: ‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’
• DAD: ‘If you must know, I make $50 an hour.’
• SON: ‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.
• SON: ‘Daddy, may I please borrow $25?’

The father was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard every day for such childish frivolities.’ The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. ‘Are you asleep, son?’ He asked. ‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy. ‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier’ said the man ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $25 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father. ‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the father grumbled. Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied. ‘Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time s lip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.

Some tips for finding the right balance

1. Always start by making decisions with this question “Who is going to be at your funeral?” – I have always tried to place God, family and work in that order when making decisions on my time.
2. The refrigerator calendar – young families are active so placing a calendar on the refrigerator and ask everyone to make sure their events are on it can avoid last minute panic. It also gives you the opportunity to place family time in there before lower priority items demand the attention of everyone.
3. Vacation time – this is one I struggle with over the years – answering work related email on vacation. Smart phones make it so easy to stay engaged but your family knows when you become distracted. Make it a family vacation…
4. Email – many of us feel driven to tackle email 24-7 at home. Finding the time to respond is a discipline that we all should consider the impact of time we are missing with our families in the next room.

What advice would you offer this father?

Who Is Setting Your Standard?

In every profession or sport – there are leaders who inspire others. Successful people draw public attention not because they’re necessarily different but they get the job done under any kind of pressure. In many cases, everyone else is measured by the standards they set. So what is a “standard” – Put at its simplest, a standard is an agreed, repeatable way of doing something. Some people set standards to maintain the quality while others use it to raise the bar.

Are you pushing for higher standards?

Thousands of books are written every year which attempt to give readers some winning standards from everything from investing to running a business.

I just watched Bubba Watson win the 2012 Masters Golf Tournament and was moved by his emotions as he knelled over to get his golf ball out of the 18th hole cup. Emotions are natural when you have pushed hard to reach a new goal. He said in a post win interview – “I never gotten this far in my dreams”… we are all moved by successful people who have work hard enough to reach their dreams.

“One gift creates appreciation, many gifts creates expectations” ~Tony Bright

Developing a higher standard means you have create a way of doing something that others recognize as successful. Success is measured by how often you can reach that same level of performance. We all love to be around those kind of winners. They get the promotion and respect of others.

Whatever the profession, these leaders are out there – they are people who step up to the plate everyday and deliver. You may be that person at work. You can spot them in an office conversation, people stop to listen when they speak. You learn quickly to trust their judgment when you’re unsure because of their high standards. This respect gives them opportunities that others don’t get.

Mike Wallace, 60 minutes program host died this weekend. He set the standard for the program for years to come. He was know for his interview style which gave the show its current success and following.

You will either set the standard or you will follow somebody else. My question is “who is setting your standard?”

We are now living in a world where declining values, growing financial debt and there is even more hunger for success. We are so eager for leadership today that many are trying to get there quickly by taking short cuts. (i.e. dishonesty, steroids or cheating).

Everyone knows somebody who is successful in their industry or profession. What attributes do these winners have?

1. Their passion drives their actions
2. They never settle for reaching easy goals
3. Their intensity matches their goal
4. They are not discouraged by circumstances or lazy people.
5. They attract other talented people to the organization.

I look forward to hearing your comments…About your experiences.

Running to Win…GTR