Still We Must Act

What is your current and continuing success really made of ?

Are you the recipient of great fortune by being in the right place at the right time or do you attribute your success to something else. The achievements you have made can be directly associated with the effort expended. There is such a thing as "luck" but these uncontrollable events called luck have far less to do with your success that want happens when lucky things happen. There are good and bad things that happen that you had nothing to do with. The issue is singularly focused on what happens when these unpredictable things happen. How do you respond? That is the pivotal question. When good things happen you can certainly take credit for being ready to make the most of the good fortune. Conversely when bad things happen, you need to be prepared to rapidly make the moves that will mitigate the effect and turn lemons into lemonade and you can take credit for that as well. You are going to have to take ownership either way.

Take the time to analyze what has happened that is directly attributed to your actions and take time to analyze the things that are not. Then you can draw a clearer conclusion how to build upon the events that are part of your continuing and increasing levels of success. You must act no matter what happens and to the extent that you are prepared to respond and build upon the events, you will find yourself so busy "doing" that the impact of the uncontrollable events will either be positively greatly expanded upon or you will significantly diminish the negative impact of less fortunate events. Some of the greatest victories are going to be those victories where you can look back at the bad events and calculate just how well you preformed in less than desirable circumstances. Robert Trent Jones Jr., one of the greatest golfers of all time was quoted as saying: "I never learned anything from a golf tournament I won."

So it does not really matter if it is good or bad, still you must act.

Of Brine & Swine

Surprisingly more people are killed each year by pigs than are killed by sharks.

Businesses often spend a great deal of their resources, human and financial, on figuring out a way to get ahead of the competition, the sharks. They focus on the sharks outside the business and rightfully so. You cannot ignore your competition and viewing them as sharks will motivate you to swim faster, else that will eat you up.

But sharks are not what kills or damages most businesses. The pigs inside the building are the real threat to the business. The are also the part of the business that is completely within control of the management. Allowing the pigs to destroy by tolerating their lazy and ineffective work ethic happens far too often. When a company becomes so consumed with the sharks they allow the pigs to run wild, a death spiral is inevitable. Pigs run wild, at times, without running at all. When management allows the pigs to lower the overall expectations by accepting their mediocre efforts and results, they are in effect saying that this behavior is acceptable. Pigs are crafty and will appear to be making progress when is fact, they are simply working dilligently at not working. Others in the company see the pigs performance and reasonably think that if the pigs can behave as they do and still get paid, why should I make the effort to meet expectations. The pigs don't, so I am not going to.

Allowing pigs to wallow in their sty of deplorable results while expecting others to make up the difference does the company considerable damage and will eventually take a toll on everyone. Once a pig is identified, get the pig help and try to turn the pig into a productive member of the team by insisting that they perform at a higher level. If they chose not to take advantage of the opportunity, call the butcher.

Thank You

Often the most simple words are the most meaningful. All to often we get so wrapped up in what we are doing to move the business forward we forget to consider the considerable-contributions of all of the people around us. Considerable-contributions does not necessarily mean large contributions. What it means, is that in some meaningful way, the people were involved in our achievements and we would have not been as successful had they not been involved.

No one can be successful in a vacuum. You cannot achieve anything meaningful without the help of other people. While you may be the person who gets the attention, I assure you your efforts are not the only individual efforts that contributed to your achievements. Many other people helped you. (From the doctors and nurse who aided in your delivery, to your teachers and your friends who gave you advice even when you didn't want it.)

Take the time to look around and consider where you would be if you didn't have other people helping you. You may subconsciuosly look to they that set fine examples by what they do well, and you follow their lead. You may learn from the mistakes others have made, because indirectly they paid a price you didn't have to. All of these people deserve your thanks. One of the best means to say thanks to those people who helped and may not be around anymore, is to make the best of what you have because of the opportunities you have been given. Of course the very best way say thank you is to simply say; "thank you, I really appreciate what you have done for me."

I Will Try That

In a restaurant, trying something new is perfectly acceptable. You may like it and add it to your must have list or you may not like it and never order it again. Either way, you know.

In business "trying" is a path to failure. Trying is implying failure because, to try, lacks commitment. When you commit you are buying-in and unleashing your determination to make a success of your new chosen project. All to often when someone says they are going to try, the outcome is already in question. Simply trying gives them the path to an easy-out by allowing them to say; "At least I tried." So what? We do not need non-committed individuals in the business world. Either take a stand and say, I will or say I will not. Do not take the position that you are going to try. There is not time for try, there is plenty of time for "I will."

When you make the commitment to making something happen there is a gathering of unseen forces within you that align and provide strength and determination moving you toward a favorable outcome. To commit means that you are not going to try it means that you are going to DO.

There will be times when you realize that the endeavor might not succeed as planned and that may be the time to cut your losses. Yes, there is a difference in cutting your losses and saying; "At least I tried." Cutting your losses often means that circumstances beyond your control have changed. You didn't stop trying because you never were trying, you were in the process of doing when things changed. That is perfectly acceptable and understandable. Move on to the next endeavor, but don't try, DO!

If People Aren't Buying

A good friend of mine was in the sales business. At the time of this story he shared with me, he was in the advertising sales business working at a newspaper where his Father was the editor. One evening at dinner with his Mother and Father he was complaining about how terrible sales were. He was not making his goal, clients were too unreasonable, prices were too high, he could not get appointments with decision makers, the competition was stiff and no one in the newspaper was willing to help. His Father listened patiently to this tirade and then said; "I have found in my rather lengthy newspaper career, that if people aren't buying, that usually means that no one is selling." My friend said that changed his whole disposition and outlook on his sales career.

Selling is not an easy endeavor and yes there are many reasons why people do not buy. But for every reason there is for not buying, there is a reason to buy. Your mission is to discover why people aren't buying and then give them factual reasons to buy. If you spend your time mulling over the reasons that someone is not buying, you are looking in the wrong direction. Focus on the reasons why people should buy from you and look at the issue from the client's perspective.

If people are not buying that means that someone is not selling.

We are the Constant

I am in the newspaper business. My career in this fantastic business started a long time ago, selling advertising for a daily newspaper with a circulation of 16,000. When I began, the only thing I knew about newspapers was that I read one every day. I still do.

The local newspaper in my hometown was, for want of a better word, local. The newspaper was much more than a newspaper, it was an institution and a part of our daily lives. There was community information in the newspaper that could be found no where else. Good information, the kind that provides people with what they need to make decisions. Those decisions were, and still are, centered in the desire to make a better life. The newspaper could be trusted to report the news that mattered.

Sports was and still is my favorite section. There was, over the course of time, a bit of news and information for almost every interest one may have. The newspaper appealed, in that sense, to everybody. Some loved it and some did not, but almost everyone read it and talked about what they read.

The newspaper provided local businesses a very effective end efficient method to deliver their marketing messages to their best potential customers. These advertisers could talk to their market using a vehicle that delivered, literally and figuratively.

These realities are indisputable.

What is also indisputable is that the newspaper held politicians and business people and citizens accountable. The news-hounds would aggressively go after anyone who was suspected or actually charged with wrong doing.

The questions we all need to answer is who, that can be trusted, is going to continue this vital service if newspapers do not. Make no mistake, if there is not a means, with a commitment, to hold people accountable and bring to the light the wrong doings, and also illuminate that the accused did nothing wrong, the places we now live will look a lot different, without newspapers, than they do today.

"We are the Constant" and, unless someone-else wants this responsibility, we need to trust and support the local newspaper.

Talent-Alone Will Not

Talent-alone will not work!

We all know talented people. Some of us know exceptionally talented people. We ourselves, may be exceptionally talented. Talent in and of itself is a gift and should be categorized as such. Talent-alone is not what your are going to need to get you where you want to go. We were all given a special set of talents from the beginning of our life. Some get bigger doses of talent than others. So what? Talent-alone is not sufficient to achieve lasting and meaningful success. Certainly not the kind of success that helps to build on other successes and establishes a winning pattern. They who rely on talent-alone will achieve the occasional victory, but they do not grow because talent-alone is not a willful act. You don't choose to get talent, you just get it.

Talent does not teach.

When you compliment your talent with your determination and meaningful action you will begin to see just how far you can go if you decide to do so. You will discover that the choices you made to add determination and willpower to your efforts are going to help you achieve much more than your talent-alone.

Look around. The world has a lot of very talented people that are not getting anywhere. Their considerable talent, instead of being a positive, has actually hurt their chances of continued success because they relied too heavily on talent-alone. Their talent "ran out" and they stopped progressing because they had not willingly added anything, such as determination and persistence, to the formula.

You can achieve high levels of success independent of your level of talent, if you do the things that need to be done, consistently.

Do not take talent for granted, it is a gift, and should be treasured. Identify your talents and make the most of what you have been given by getting better everyday. You may discover talents you did not know you had and may have never discovered, if you had not made a decision to do the things necessary to be successful. With or without exceptional levels of talent, you can and deserve to be successful.