Entries Tagged 'Motivation' ↓
July 12th, 2008 — Leadership, Motivation
“If you can’t beat them join them”, right?
Wrong.
It is completely wrong, unless you are joining them to beat them. Beat them either harder or smarter. Better both.
by TOMOYOSHI
You are not a quitter. But sometimes you get to the point where you want to give up on your dream. You feed yourself with ton of excuses why you can’t do it. You want to quit and move on.
Do not quit, you can beat them. You can beat them all.
Struggle is the meaning
When I was reading Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich 
I stumbled on a very motivational quote:
If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not working on hard enough problems. And that’s a big mistake. – Frank Wilczek, 2004 Nobel Prize winner in physics.
It really made an impact on me and every time I feel down, this one helps me to get up and move forward toward what I believe, The Dream.
It takes time to win
I am a big fan of “Fail Fast” approach. In a nutshell it means that investing in something must gain fast results. If the investment does not gain any results, if it fails – stop doing it, change the approach. It helps avoiding Pyrrhic Victory. However, never give up on the bigger goal, The Dream.
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. -Albert Einstein
Struggle is your source of energy
In the The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal the authors identify 4 Dimensions Of Personal Power: Physical, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual. Their approach is based on tens of years of research and applied practice – they actually Practice This ;). Their take is that our Physical, Emotional, Mental, and Spiritual muscles must be periodically stretched in order to refill our personal power reservoirs. Keep fighting to be stronger.
What’s not killing me only makes me stronger - Friedrich Nietzsche
Beating smarter
How do I become a smarter fighter?
Try applying ancient proven patterns & practices of martial arts – take, for example, Judo – my favorite sport :
The word "judo" … may mean "gentleness", "softness", "suppleness", and even "easy", depending on its context
The soft method is characterized by the indirect application of force to defeat an opponent. More specifically, it is the principle of using one’s opponent’s strength against him and adapting well to changing circumstances
Here is another great source of techniques to beating them smarter – The Thirty Six Strategies:
Whereas other Chinese military texts such as Sun Tzu The Art of War focus on military organization, leadership, and battlefield tactics, the Thirty Six Strategies are more suitably applied in the fields of politics, diplomacy, and espionage.
Take, fore example, this one:
19. Remove the firewood under the cooking pot.
When faced with an enemy too powerful to engage directly you must first weaken him by undermining his foundation and attacking his source of power.
The foundation
My take is that the foundation to becoming a smarter fighter is Emotional Intelligence.
Emotion Is Your Enemy – coach John Wooden.
Fight your enemy, become Emotionally Intelligent:
Self test
- Do you have a Dream?
- Have you ever gave up on your Dream? How did you feel? Drained?
- Have you ever fulfilled your dream? How did you feel? Empowered, ready for another fight?
- Do you want to become a smarter fighter?
- Do you want to win you Dream?
July 4th, 2008 — Influence Without Authority, Motivation
What it makes the job to be a dream one? How can I find out the gap between what I have and the dream job?
I found the answers in the book by Marcus Buckinghamand Curt Coffman - First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently.
by Duke LeNoir
The book is “Based on in-depth interviews by the Gallup organization of over 80,000 managers in over 400 companies – the largest study of its kind ever undertaken”.
In the book the authors share 12 questions that in my opinion should provide very sharp answers to the questions – “Do I have The Dream Job?” or “What must be done to make it one?”. They group the questions according to the employees “maturity” – new on the job role, on track, up-and-running, thirsty for growth [my interpretation]. The authors compare this journey of career development to mountain climbing thus dividing it into 4 camps. 4 camps toward the summit – the dream job.
Below are the questions.
Base camp – “What do I get?”
- Do I know what is expected of me at work?
- Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
Camp 1 – “What do I give?”
- At work, do I have the opportunity to do my work best every day?
- In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
- Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care of me as a person?
- Is the someone who encourages my development?
Camp 2 – “Do I belong here?”
- At work, do my opinions seem to count?
- Does the mission or purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
- Are my co-workers committed to do quality work?
- Do I have a best friend at work?
Camp 3 – “How can we all grow?”
- In the last 6 months have I talked w/someone about my progress?
- This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
Ask yourself. Ask your employees. Most of the answers you already know. If the answers are YES – you or the employee being asked have reached the summit, the dream job. Those questions that answered NO are the gaps. Take a look at the gaps? The most important question to ask is – “Can these gaps be closed?”. If the answer is YES, you have exciting times to come. If the answer is NO here is what happens next:
- If you are the employee… my advice to you – find another job.
- If you are the manager, it should explain this turnover thing you have. You may want to read The Dream Manager book right away.
June 28th, 2008 — Leadership, Motivation
Why becoming a leader? What does it take to become a leader? What’s leadership anyway? Is it attainable by anybody? Is there actionable guidance to become a leader?
I found the answers to almost all the questions in Gerald M. Weinberg book - Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach.
My favorite is how he defines leadership.
by JessicaFairchild.com
Leadership is the process of creating an environment in which people become empowered. – Gerald M. Weinberg.
I found out that this definition can be easily applied not only to technical leadership but to any kind of leadership.
Family
Are you creating an environment in which your kids and your partner become empowered?
- Is your home a place where your family members long to be? Or each one seeks a reason to sneak outside if it?
- Are your kids passionately share their experiences they had in kindergarten or in the school? Or when you ask “How was your day?” you hear just “Fine”?
- Is you partner shares her deepest feelings, thoughts on life and work. Do you discuss a deeper meaning and then make love? Or you have transactional conversations and actions that sometimes concluded by just sex?
Work
Are you creating an environment in which your colleagues, managers, reports become empowered?
- Do you like coming to your work? Why?
- Do you like your office? Why?
- Do you like your colleagues? Why?
- Do your colleagues like you? Why?
- Are you writing emotionally intelligent emails that build rapport?
- Did you receive “Thank you!” email privately lately?
- Did you send “Thank you!” email privately lately?
- Are you genuinely interested in listening to what you colleague has to say?
- What’s your “street creds”?
- What nickname your co-workers gave you?
- What significant change you drove lately? How many followed?
- Are you “go-to” person for any subject of your interest/expertise?
Blogging
Are you creating an environment in which your blogofriends (real and virtual) become empowered?
Self
Are you creating an environment in which you become empowered?
Footnote
Becoming a leader looks actionable and attainable to me. I think you can easily become a leader. It is all about developing skills of creating environment that empowers people.
Mr. Universe doesn’t have more muscles than I do, just better developed ones. – Gerald M. Weinberg.
June 9th, 2008 — Getting results, Leadership, Motivation
Is there a prescriptive recipe for success? Is there a pattern to follow that will assure the big win?
Yes, there is. John Wooden’s offers his Pyramid of Success as prescriptive guidance for success.
by varshesh
"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable" - John Wooden.
I used John Wooden pyramid as self test, an assessment. I tried to assess myself whether I follow proven practices for success or not. For each topic I’ve identified post I’ve published that relate. Assess yourself too. Are you on track?
Foundation
"Success travels in the company of very hard work. There is no trick, no easy way".
"Strive to build a team filled with camaraderie and respect comrades-in-arms"
"Be true to yourself. Be true to those you lead."
"Have utmost concern what’s right rather than who’s right"
"Your energy and enjoyment, drive and dedication will stimulate and greatly inspire others"
Second Level
"Control of your organization begins with control of yourself. Be disciplined."
"Constantly be aware and observing. Always seek to improve yourself and the team."
"Make a decision! Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all."
"Stay the course. When thwarted try again; harder, smarter. Persevere relentlessly"
Third Level
"Ability may get you to the top, but character keeps you there - mental, moral, and physical"
"What a leader learns after you’ve learned it all counts most of all."
"The star of the team is the team ‘We’ supersedes ‘me’."
Forth Level
"Be yourself. Don’t be thrown off be events whether good or bad."
"The strongest steel is well-founded self-belief. It is earned, not given."
Peak
"Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day."
May 23rd, 2008 — Influence Without Authority, Motivation
Do you have a dream? I bet you do, me either. What about those that surround you, do they have their dreams too? No doubt. Who’s responsible for their dream to come true?
You.
You are responsible for their dream fulfillment.
by mikelens
Matthew Kelly poses an interesting question in his book The Dream Manager:
“Isn’t one of the primary responsibilities of all relationships to help each other fulfill our dreams?”
I say “Yes”, it is.
In every interaction I reflect on what I do and try to see the other party as a customer, I try to constantly reflect on myself - “Am I offering this customer the best experience?”.
Today I am better than yesterday
The result was amazing:
- My kids get their daddy more often and with full attention. Their biggest wish is having their parents to spend more time with them. Not just be but interact.
- My wife gets more attention. Less transactions, more meaningful conversations, and more positive emotions. We both noticed our interactions become transactional lately. We wished to seize our passion and our love back, just like it was 10 years ago. And we seize it back now.
- My managers and co-workers … I realized I made few serious mistakes. Now I know what to improve.
I think that today I am a better person than yesterday. I help making other people make their dream come true, and they help me to make mine to come true in response.
