Andrew Carnegie - Excellent Advice

Andrew Carnegie says that there are 2 types of people who don't achieve very much

1. One who won't do as they are told
2. One who does no more than they are told to do

If you want to achieve success, then you need to be the third kind - Someone who not only performs the role but then adds a little more....turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Mentoring and Building Credibility

Just because you are a parent, manager, leader does not mean that you are an ideal mentor. The title does not consititute the skill, and people are assessing you as a potential mentor they will ask 3 questions

1. Have you been successful at what I am trying to do or become?
2. If not, have you coached someone else succesfully to achieve the success?
3. If not, do you know what you are talking about i.e what is your knowledge like, do you keep yourself up to date technically and professionally?

These are great questions to ask yourself, and also to ensure that you are expanding your skills. It helps you understand what gaps you need to fill, and also a chance to celebrate your personal progress.

Fail, fail and then succeed

Have you ever had an idea, gave it a go and it didn't work? Have you ever felt that you were the reason or that your idea was not good enough?

Success comes through persistence....

1. Chuck Yeager threw up on his first flight and swore he was not made for air travel - he later became the first man to break the sound barrier!
2. Charles Carlson developed photocopying in 1938 - 21 years before Xerox produced the first copier.
3. George Burns was 80 when he won his first Oscar.

If success was easy, everyone would be successful. Success comes through perseverance...Tom Peters says Fail, Forward, Fast....

Success comes with hard work

A story...

In the early 1950's Colin needed to earn some money and so volunteered for day jobs. He landed a spot on the soda delivery team, then cleaning up the soda syrup at the Pepsi plant. No one else volunteered for these kind of jobs...he did great work, had a grat attitude and was asked back the next summer. A story told in his autobiography....who, Colin Powell.

Sometimes when we see successful people we think - Oh, it alright for them...but we forget the work they put in, in their early careers. Success does not happen, you make it happen. Working hard, and practice are a huge part of most successful people's early life.

Remember the old golfing quote...The harder I practice, the luckier I get....

Dealing with Anxiety

Remember that anxiety that you have, is only an illusion. It is not reality. Anxiety is good, adrenalin is good in order to improve performance - just look at sports stars!

You can only live life forward, looking back afterwards and reviewing it is about learning, its about understanding.

If anxiety is about an illusion than create a postive look - see people smiling and clapping at a presentation that you are about to give. See a succesful conclusion with the task no matter what that looks like....

Make the illusion work for you, not against you. You don't know how it will be, so why worry about a negative outcome? Picture a success, picture a celebration, let the illusion work for you and that will control the anxiety.

Time Tips

Couple of tips today to help you manage your time. Time is precious, and a scarce resource so you need to protect your time well.

1. Build in interruptions to your day. We all know they will happen. Too many people book back to back meetings - don't plug in some time that acts as a buffer.
2. Why use 30 minutes chunk's? Use 20 minute slots....save 10 minutes. Helps people focus and no matter the time people will fill their slot.
3. When you have a to do list, write a time and date by the side of each item. By placing a time it helps focus the day and also gives it more importance.
4. Cancel any meetings that don't add value!

Be a Talent Magnet to Succeed

John Wooden the coach of UCLA Bruins said

"Not every coach can consistently win with talent, but no coach can win without it"

So true! You need to be passionate about talent, love it, thrive on it - too many people are scared about it. Don't let that be you.

Talent has a wonderful effect on you if you embrace it

1. It keeps you on your toes....you need to keep learning to stay ahead. Talent is there for you to learn from...
2. Talent makes you look like a star, people see you as a talented leader as you attract the stars of the future.
3. Remember to keep talent. When things go wrong you take responsibility in public, when you have success let the person take the credit. This is one of the most attractive features of a good leader.
4. Allow talent to cross train, join projects that are not under your control, go on temporary assignments. Their development is your main concern - and they will respect you for it.
5. Talent protects you - it does not endanger you. The more talent you attract the higher the performance of your team. The higher performance the more you will be recognised for achievement.
6. Success is a great motivator......helps create a great culture. A great culture attracts more talent.....talent brings great performance. It is a wonderful circle.
7. Great PR about you. Talent will speak highly about you across the business. Wonderful, free PR!