Making your life extraordinary

In the book the Fred Factor Mark Sanborn says

"there are no insignificant or ordinary jobs when they're performed by significant or extraordinary people"

I just love that idea. The people that have made your life special at home or at work, probably do not have a big job title - it is the way they behave.

Let me give an example. I go to the same place for a quick meal each weekend. Why ? Great food...no, great environment...not really, great prices...not as low as I think they should be!

No the real reason is because of the people who work there...they say Hi Anna, your usual? I will bring your drink over once I have finished serving this lady. The waitresses who are not highly paid make me feel special - when the restaurant took my favourite dish off the menu they continued to cook it for me! The point is that their jobs are not powerful or special - they are, they make me feel valued, and provide value through service. They have ordinary jobs that they make extraordinary.....I now have crossed my fingers ahead of going there tomorrow!

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.

Brainstorming or Creative Thinking

When you are trying to be creative sometimes you get bogged down. One technique that I use is to change the word...so if you are thinking of a designing a new car...think vehicle, transport, carriage etc. This inspires you to think away from how your mind thinks of the word car.

This works with process. For example if you want to design a new induction program....think welcome, invite, introduction, training, new starter, starter etc

Teamwork beats individualism

Quick story, from Aesop. A farmer who had a quarrelsome family could not find a way of reconciling their differences. So he called his sons together and told them to lay a bunch of sticks before him. He tied the sticks together in a bundle, and asked one son after another to pick them up and break them. They all tried but in vain.
He then untied the bundle and handed a stick to each and invited them to break it. Each son did it easily. He then turned to his sons and said
My sons, as long as you remain united, you are a match for all your enemies, but differ and separate and you are undone"

I think this stands for itself...

Great Management and Customer Advice

One piece of advice that I received early doors was this

"Customers don't believe what you say, they believe what you do"

This is an important point for any relationship - family, spouse, friends, employees, boss etc Words are great but it is action that shows your commitment.

If you want to stand out from the crowd then deliver on your promises, live your values, and ensure that your words are backed up by actions.

Positive feedback and dealing with problems

Over on the Widows Quest there is a carnival on 5 November about how to turn your life around. I love this idea, and can't wait to see the links.

As managers, friends, partners etc we rush to find what is wrong with the reaction, idea, work etc We need to bring some positivity to the world!

So tomorrow (and next week at work) try and respond to any person with a positive comment, find something genuine and positive to say no matter whether you agree or not. I am often accused of seeing the positive in everything - well, guilty as charged! I believe that there is always something that you can learn or take from an interaction. If you do see the positive, just watch how people respond to you and open up...... you attract people because you stand out from the normal negative people

Introduce your blog and yourself

I came across MyBlogLog - which is a great tool to put a face to your readers. I have put the widget over on the right hand side and would love to see you - so go on add your photo.

I love blogging, I love sharing tips, ideas but to really build a community that you need to put a face to who is reading...go on you know you want to!

Ten Ways to Beat the Winter Blues

As we enter the colder, darker days (or at least in the UK!) we tend to suffer a dip in our motivation. So how can we keep our motivation going?

1. Exercise is good for your motivation. Why not go for a walk for 20 minutes at lunch.
2. Take a nightclass to learn a new skill.
3. Sit down and write 3 goals for the next 3 months. Plan how you will achieve them.
4. Eat well, eat more vegatables/fruit to keep your body in tip top condition.
5. Don't waste your weekend -this is a chance to recharge your emotions. Plan something to look forward to during the week.
6. As a manager, set some events that bring people together with a fun element - quizzes, brainstorming, celebrations.
7. Write a blog to help others with the feelings of a dip in motivation.
8. Visit older members of your family and friends who feel the winter the most. The act of helping others can be uplifting.
9. Hold breakfast sessions at work to stimulate motivation discussions.... keep them light, but they ease people into work.
10. Make sure that if you work in the office you get some of the sunlight during the day. When outside - via a walk etc make sure you lift your head and allow your eyes to see the sun.

Helping each other can be great, understand that people will have down days, be patient and supportive.

Internal Branding to be Customer Focused

I have just spoken with Steve Farber who is a wonderful author - The Radical Edge: Stoke Your Business, Amp Your Life, and Change the World and The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership are really worth reading. I was talking to him about being obsessed with customers - and he said any company that isn't will ultimately fail. I tend to agree and would take this one step further.

Any company that is not obsessed with their employees, and their employees being customer centric will fail. Every thing you do whether it be a service, manufacture, retail, wholesale depends on your people believing in what they do...feeling the values of the brand and displaying them throughout their interaction with the customers. An example is Toyota - the manufacturing teams live quality and want their product to live up to the customer standards. They might not meet them but they want the customer to feel the quality.

If you are going to get this level of engagement - great 4 step guide here over a series of posts - then you must interact with your team, to the same values, to the same mission that you want them to do to your customers. For many support areas such as finance that can mean their internal customers. Remember services can be outsourced and you are interacting with a customer and fighting for the contract!

Learning from the New Generation

On The Engaging Brand, yesterday I published an interview with Billy Smith (Show 39) about how the new generation feel about work and life.

I think we can learn from our children, the younger people at work. Yes, we have the experience but they also have fresh ideas, see things that we don't see. It reminded me of a quote

"Always listen to the young monks: they know all the things that you have forgotten" St Benedict

We can learn about the new technologies but also creativity. When we were younger we were more creative, somehow along the way it gets drained from us. So don't ignore the new starters - listen to what they have to say. Don't ignore because you tried it 5 years ago and it failed. It might be that it will work now.