You Get What You Get February 5, 2010
Posted by petemcd in Leadership, Personal Effectiveness.add a comment
I subscribe to a number of blogs and e-newsletters. One of them is Frank Kern- really fun, smart and creative internet marketer. Sometimes, very irreverent- which I like. One of his segments was on the learning he received from Jim Rohn and Earl Shoaff, both wonderful men who are now deceased. Here’s what I picked up from Earl and Jim, via Frank: “What you earn is all that people are willing to pay you. It’s not what they pay. It’s just what they pay you. You don’t have to work on a company or a client to get paid better- you have to work on you. Success is something you attract by the person you become- by becoming an attractive person. It isn’t something you pursue. Your income is directly related to your philosophy, not to the economy. Don’t search for the exotic until you’ve discovered the basic.”
Wow, really good stuff, wouldn’t you agree? It short, what you get is what you get. You are going to get what you have earned through your learning and effort and other parts of your life. You results are the result or sum total of all of your learning and application of ideas. Your value and what you earn are directly connected to this. By the way, earning something doesn’t always involve money. You earn respect, you earn friendships, and many other things.
You are the one responsible for this- no one else. You are the one in control of your destiny, which is constantly evolving. Even when things can cause you to go sideways you have the choice or free will to reconsider your circumstances and alter your mental environment. This is true even for believers of specific religions such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. I’m a Christian, and so it would be easy to say that my statement, “You are the one in control of your destiny”, is a bit blasphemous.
Yet it’s not. I rely on a greater power as a part of my personal development. I turn things over to my God (the Lord) and yet I know that I have been given a level of intelligence, abilities and talents to use. It is up to me to use these, not waste these. The point is, whether you are agnostic, atheist, or a believer in a higher power, you have the choice and opportunity to move your life forward and be constantly learning and applying.
For me, it really hits home as I am inconsistent with my own personal development. And yet, I’m way more into personal development than many others. Personal development is directly connected to professional development. So, my question is, what are you doing for your personal and professional development? Are you actively working on this or just clocking in and clocking out each day? It’s up to you. And your development or lack thereof will show up in the value you are perceived as having and what you get paid. You get what you get.
© 2009 Peter E. McDowell
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Disconnected January 31, 2010
Posted by petemcd in Personal Effectiveness.2 comments
I’ve been in southwest Florida for the past nine days, seeing my parents and in-laws and helping my mother who recently had rotator cuff surgery. At eighty, she’s doing pretty darn well. I’m blessed to still have my parents and my wife’s parents still living, all in their eighties. I just returned today to Seattle. I was pretty busy with family things and doing what I could to make sure good ole’ mom didn’t overdo it.
Although I brought my laptop, I found it hard to be connected online. When you live in technology oriented urban areas such as Seattle, the Bay Area, L.A., Austin and many others you take for granted the ease with which you can access the internet. It’s not the case in places like south Florida where many, if not most, of the residents don’t even have computers. If they do, they aren’t wired to the net. If they are wired to the net, they aren’t using a wireless router, so I couldn’t even borrow (or, is it steal?) a signal from anyone in the condo complexes- no signals to be found. In fact, in certain areas it’s actually hard to get a cell phone signal!
So, I was resigned to finding a Starbucks every other day for an hour…which was all the time I had to break away while my mother was at physical therapy. By the time I ordered my standard double tall non-fat latte, fired up the laptop, and logged into the Starbucks-ATT WIFI link I only had about forty-five minutes left in that hour. All I could do was collect my email from the three sites I use. I typically get over one hundred emails each day. It was a bit frustrating.
Yes, if I had an air card or something similar it would have made a difference. But, I don’t travel enough out of the wired Seattle area to justify the expense. Even Boingo wouldn’t have made a difference as I still would have had to break away and find a spot that I could connect into.
Did I miss the internet? Yes. I missed the opportunity to be connected to others and to search for information (news, videos, blogs, columns/postings, etc.) at random, whenever I felt like it. This is the world we’re in. Is it necessary? I think so. I can’t imagine doing business or building relationships today without the tools we have. Is it death when you can’t connect well for a week or more? No. Just by clearing my emails I was able to stay somewhat current with my network. And with few exceptions, if I hadn’t been able to connect the world would not have come to an end. Maybe my sanity would have come to an end because I would have had to come back to well over one thousand emails!
Now I’m back and ready to blog with a bit more regularity. I enjoy it and I’m finding that a few of you do too! I appreciate your feedback and comments from time to time. I like writing about business and other issues and I try to do it with a common sense approach. I’m rewired and ready to go.
© 2009 Peter E. McDowell
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Listen Up January 11, 2010
Posted by petemcd in Culture, Leadership, Personal Effectiveness.add a comment
Why is it so darn tough for us to listen? We all know certain people, very few unfortunately, who are actually very good listeners. I admire their ability to not only listen, but to listen deeply and seek real understanding. There are two traits or behaviors I’ve seen in good listeners: (1) they usually ask good questions (2) they really do keep their mouths shut- they don’t have an urge to have to speak. Most people are not good listeners, including me.
Rather than write about how to listen better (cripes, how many classes, seminars and books have we read about that?), I’d like to offer a few comments on why people may not listen and how you can be aware of this ‘telling’ tendency to make things better in your business.
Most people are tellers, focused on making sure they get their point of view heard. Why is that? I’m no psychologist but I believe that people are telling way more than listening because they are dying to be heard. We live in a world with so much audible clutter (noise) from so many sources that it is easy to not be heard- to be drowned out. When people have a chance to say what is on their mind they are going to do it. They want to advocate something. They may not get that chance again. And, in a world where individualism and self promotion or self centeredness is more evident than ever (or, perhaps it is rampant), the individual is actually being more and more unappreciated. He or she who talks loudest and is most dominant believes that is the only way to be heard, be noticed and be seen as having smarts. Why listen when you can orate to show who you are and how smart you are?
OK, what can you do about it? I came across this quote from Brian Dunn, CEO of Best Buy. I believe I read it in either a Forbes or Fortune article a few issues ago. “One of my roles as CEO is to be the chief listener. I don’t believe that the model is any longer that there are a few really smart people at the top of the pyramid that make all of the strategic decisions. It is much more about being all around the enterprise, and looking for people with great ideas and passionate points of view that are anchored to the business and connected to things our customers care about.”
I think he’s right on and I’ve thought this way for a long time. It’s why I believe in an inclusive and collaborative style of management- one where you open yourself up to the ideas of everyone in the organization. That means you have to be open to hearing what they have to say. They will tell you if you give them an opportunity and many of their concerns and ideas will have merit. People will speak up because they care and they think they have something to offer. If you’re a business leader or if you’re in sales, you have to be aware of this. You have to decide to be a better listener.
Note that I didn’t say be a great listener, although that would be ideal. Rather, be a better listener. Make the conscious effort to hear from those around you-the people who are dying to say something. These are your employees, your customers, your stakeholders, etc. When people approach you with something to say, just listen. As a leader or sales person, you always will get your time to speak. You have the power and authority inherent in your position to speak and shut someone down. But, you will be wiser and better off to listen to others because you just might learn something. I know that’s true for me.
© 2009 Peter E. McDowell
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Relationships matter December 24, 2009
Posted by petemcd in Culture, Personal Effectiveness.add a comment
I realize that last Friday’s post may have been a bit of a downer. Sometimes I just have to get things off my chest. Today, my post is a bit more upbeat for you. A recent story from the San Jose Mercury News caught my eye. It was about the two founders and current co-chairman of the board of Adobe, John Warnock and Chuck Geschke. The article points out how these two men have a legacy built on friendship.
In his book, The Heart of Coaching, Thomas Crane has a model for getting results: The Results Cycle. The RC is a circular model where a person’s beliefs determine their behaviors which influence their relationships which affect their results which reinforce their beliefs, and so on. Relationships are the key to results. Your ability to build trust, establish rapport, share openly and honestly, and make intentional and meaningful connections will greatly affect your results.
Business (and, life) is all about relationships. You should want to do business with people you like trust and respect. You should want the relationships you build to have longevity. Ultimately, your legacy will be reflected in the relationships you build. It’s through those relationships that things get done that benefit others.
My belief is that building effective relationships is not only important, but a choice. We can’t be deep friends with everyone. But, we can have good or great relationships with the people we meet and do business with.
And now, ending on a politically incorrect note, let me wish you a Merry Christmas. I wish this to you whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist or what, ever. Why? Because the simplicity and reality of Christmas is all about having loving relationships, of pursuing others with the intention of love and grace and wishing for everyone peace and joy. What’s wrong with that?
© 2009 Peter E. McDowell
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Naughty or Nice December 15, 2009
Posted by petemcd in Personal Effectiveness.add a comment
This has nothing to do with the holiday season and the annual ‘good will toward men’ saying and attitude that pops up. Admittedly, I’m a little cynical about all the ‘niceness’ during the holiday season although even if it’s just for a day or two, or even a few weeks, it’s better than nothing.
I believe we need to be nice all the time. We need to validate others as having a genuine presence and role in the world. When I say genuine presence, I mean that we really welcome others into our world and we acknowledge their worth. When I say role, I mean that we believe and understand that everyone has unique gifts and talents, most are trying to do their best in a harsh world, and that whatever they do for a vocation or in a volunteer activity, they are doing something of worth.
When they were teens, my kids used to get really annoyed with me. Yes, I know that teens get annoyed with pretty much anything a parent says or does. They got annoyed because I took the time to greet people I didn’t know and talk to people in public areas. I still do this. Fortunately, they’re adults now and okay with my communicating with people I don’t know.
I’ve always thought it was the right thing to do and to do it without any expectation of reciprocity. How often do we see people walk right by us and stare at the ground or look away? Isn’t it nice for someone when you can say “hello”, or “good morning” or something similar? What’s wrong with being friendly and welcoming? How about telling a cashier, ”Thanks, I appreciate that.”, or “Thanks for doing such a good job.”?
Being nice is a choice. You can brighten someone’s day or not.
© 2009 Peter E. McDowell
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