by Helena Escalante | Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Time
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Leadership: Debunking 5 myths
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: Position
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: Permission & Production
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: People Development and Personhood
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 10 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Leadership: Climbing the steps
— From Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
Well, I thought I had finished the miniseries on Leadership from Leadership 101, but I couldn’t resist writing a coda. After debunking the myths and examining the levels of leadership, John C. Maxwell gives some quick, additional insights into the process of climbing the steps of leadership. I thought you might be interested, as they are very short, to the point, and further help solidify the ideas we’ve seen over the past few days.
Here are Maxwell’s thoughts, verbatim:
The higher you go, the longer it takes. “Each time there is a change in your job or you join a new circle of friends, you start on the lowest level and begin to work yourself up the steps.”
The higher you go, the higher the level of commitment. “This increase in commitment is a two-way street. Greater commitment is demanded not only from you, but from the other individuals involved. When either the leader or the follower is unwilling to make the sacrifices a new level demands, influence will begin to decrease.”
The higher you go, the easier it is to lead. “Notice the progression from level two through level four. The focus goes from liking you to liking what you do for the common interest of all concerned (to liking what you do for them personally). Each level climbed by the leader and the follower adds another reason why people want to follow.”
The higher you go, the greater the growth. “Growth can only occur when effective change takes place. Change will become easier as you climb the levels of leadership. As you rise, other people will allow and even assist you in making the needed changes.”
You never leave the base level. “Each level stands upon the previous one and will crumble if the lower level is neglected. For example, if you move from a permission (relationships) level to a production (results) level and stop caring for the people who are following you and helping you produce, they might begin to develop a feeling of being used. As you move up in the levels, the deeper and more solid your leadership will be with a person or group of people.”
If you are leading a group of people, you will not be on the same level with everyone. “Not every person will respond the same way to your leadership.”
For your leadership to remain effective, it is essential that you take the other influencers within the group with you to higher levels. “The collective influence of you and the other leaders will bring the rest along. If this does not happen, divided interest and loyalty will occur within the group.”
You must know what lever you are on at this moment. “Since you will be on different levels with different people, you need to know which people are on which level. If the biggest influencers within the organization are on the highest levels and are supportive of you, then your success in leading others will be attainable. If the best influencers are on the highest levels and not supportive, then problems will soon arise.”
“Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow.” – John C. Maxwell
ACTION
TODAY: Take some time to ponder at what level of leadership you are today with the various people with whom you’ll interact. Figure out what you can do so that you both grow (even if it’s just one, tiny, baby step) and your joint project progresses from your collaboration on this day.
FUTURE: Always remember that you never leave the base level. It’s important to nurture and give time to every relationship that you want to see flourish.
Know someone who wants to learn more about leadership? Please share this post and the upcoming ones in this miniseries, thank you! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 35 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Ask these questions to describe your successful, ideal life
— From No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline: 21 Ways to Achieve Happiness and Success by Brian Tracy
Each one of us has a different definition of success, yet we will all likely agree that no matter what our definition is, the pursuit and attainment of that success will bring us happiness. In his book No Excuses!, business guru Brian Tracy cites Aristotle as saying that the great question each of us must answer is, “How shall we live in order to be happy?”
He goes on to say, “Your ability to ask and answer that question correctly for yourself—and then to follow where your answer leads you—will largely determine whether you achieve your own happiness, and how soon.”
And to get there as soon as possible, we can start by defining what success looks like for each of us. Tracy suggests asking the following questions and answering them as if you could wave a magic wand and make your life perfect in every way.
If your business, work, and career were ideal in every way, what would they look like?
What would you be doing?
What sort of company would you work for?
What position would you have?
How much money would you earn?
What kind of people would you work with?
And, especially, what would you need to do more or less of to create your perfect career?
If your family life were perfect in every way, what would it look like?
Where would you live, and how would you be living?
What kind of a lifestyle would you have?
What sort of things would you want to have and do with the members of your family?
If you had no limitations and you could wave a magic wand, in what ways would you change your family life today?
If your health were perfect, how would you describe it?
How would you feel?
How much would you weigh?
How would your levels of health and fitness be different from what they are today?
Most of all, what steps could you take immediately to begin moving toward your ideal levels of health and energy?
If your financial situation were ideal, how much would you have in the bank?
How much would you be earning each month and each year from your investments?
If you had enough money that you never had to worry about finances again, how much would that be?
What steps could you take, starting today, to create your ideal financial life?
Why aren’t you already as successful as you would like to be, and what one discipline would help you the most to achieve all your goals?
What one skill could you develop that would help you to realize more of your goals?
If you could wave a magic wand and be completely disciplined in one area, which one discipline would have the greatest positive impact on your life?
As you begin to lay out your vision of success, pay attention to the very last question in each category (the things that you should be doing more or less of) and the very last three questions.
Self-discipline is the key to achieve what you want; however, it’s very important to lay out a plan first, so that you can then follow it with your self-discipline. For this, Tracy focuses on the Law of Cause and Effect, or sowing and reaping: “This law says that if you want to achieve success in any area, you must determine how success is achieved in that area and then practice those skills and activities repeatedly until you achieve the same results.”
Success guru Kop Kopmeyer aptly says that you must “learn from the experts [because] you will never live long enough to learn it all for yourself.” Remember that success leaves clues!
ACTION
TODAY: Set aside some time to answer the questions above and figure out what your ideal and successful life looks like. As you answer, a clear path will emerge and you will see what you need to do more or less of to head into the direction of your dreams.
FUTURE: Once you know what success looks like for you and what direction you need to go into, figure out who are the foremost, trusted experts in those fields, so that you can learn from them and follow in your footsteps.
Please share this post with someone who could benefit from answering all these questions to define their success, thanks! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 0 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: 3 Questions you must ask yourself to succeed in business
— From The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success by Brian Tracy.
In The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success, business guru Brian Tracy shares the Law of Critical Success Factors: “Every business has a number of key success factors that measure and determine its success or failure.”
Just as our bodies have indicators of vital functions that determine our health (heart rate, blood pressure, etc.), “companies have critical success factors, as well, which measure the health and vitality of an enterprise.”
Tracy says that many critical success factors are common to all businesses: “leadership, product quality, service, sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, and finance and accounting.” Excellent performance in each of these areas will bring about excellent results, whereas poor performance—or nonperformance—will seriously jeopardize the survival of the business.
Above and beyond these common critical success factors, some companies have their own factors that are specific to them. They are unique and they are what separates a particular company from the rest.
This last point brings about the first corollary of this law: “Each individual has personal critical success factors, the performance of which determines his or her business future.”
Tracy goes on to explain, “You have a set of key skills or core competencies that you use, like tools, to do your job. A weakness or failure in any of your key skills can undermine your overall effectiveness and weaken your ability to do your job effectively. To perform at your best, you must first identify the critical success factors of your work, measure your strengths in each one, and then develop a plan to become excellent in the areas that can help you the most.”
There are two questions that you must ask yourself in order to determine your personal critical success factors:
Why am I on the payroll? “What exactly have you been hired to accomplish? Why does the company pay you the money it does? Both you and your boss should be in complete agreement on this question. Whatever your answer is to this question, that is what you should be working on most of the time.” (Note: if it’s your own business, substitute the above with questions as if you were hiring someone to work in your position. It’s an eye-opening exercise, what exactly would this person work on most of the time?)
What can I, and only I, do that if done well will make a real difference to my company? “This is a task or responsibility that only you can do. If you don’t do it, it won’t get done. But if you do it and do it well, it can make a tremendous difference both to your company and to yourself.”
And these two questions bring about the second corollary to this law: “Your weakest critical success factor determines the height at which you can use other skills.”
What exactly does this mean?
“Your personal strengths and core competencies are what have brought you to where you are today. They are the foundations of your position and the determinants of your income. At the same time, your weaknesses form the ceiling on your ability to rise to even greater heights.”
To move ahead more rapidly, Tracy says, you must ask yourself—and be honest—about your weaknesses:
What are your weaknesses? “What one skill, if you developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on your career? Whatever the answer to this question, this is where you should begin to work on yourself. This is where you can get the biggest payoff in terms of increased competence.”
By asking these three questions, you will be able to determine where you currently stand and what you need to do to move forward to achieve your greatest business success.
ACTION
TODAY: Assess yourself. Tracy asks, “What are your personal critical success factors, and what is your plan to become absolutely excellent in the one area that can help you the most at this time?” Create a plan to start working on yourself in this area.
FUTURE: A great individual assessment and a book that can help you figure out your strengths is called Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Highly recommended. It will help you figure out your top 5 strengths so that you can build upon them. I’m happy to report that my biggest strength is learner (not that you hadn’t noticed…). A good outlet for expression for a learner is to share what he or she has learned, as a teacher, and this is another reason why this blog came to life, to be able to share what I learn. Check out the book and/or test and let me know in the comments here what your top strength is!
Know someone who needs to find his/her strengths? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Tools, Wellbeing, Willpower
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 7 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The one characteristic that unites enemies and strengths
— From The Artist’s Journey: The Wake of the Hero’s Journey and the Lifelong Pursuit of Meaning from Steven Pressfield
I love Steven Pressfield’s books. He has a knack for brevity, clarity and great wordsmanship that I admire enormously (and secretly wish I had).
In his great book The Artist’s Journey, the author makes a point of sharing and comparing the modern-day enemies that (most of us) share and the strengths that we all strive to have. The conclusion? The one thing that unites both our enemies and strengths is that they are all mental.
Don’t believe it? Check this out:
ENEMIES: “None of these enemies are real… they are all products of the mind.”
Fear of failure.
Fear of success.
Fear of the new, of pain, of loneliness, of exertion, of intensity.
Need for external (third-party) validation.
Self-doubt.
Arrogance.
Impatience.
Inability to defer gratification.
Predisposition to distraction.
Shallowness of thought and purpose.
Conventionality.
Insularity.
The need to cling to the known.
The best part of this, says Pressfield, is that we “confront no foes that are not of [our] own creation.” Yes, a pouncing lion or a man with a gun may be real, but we’re not talking about those absolutely true, physical dangers in here (if you confront either one of them, please run!).
We’re referring to our every day, mentally domesticated and cultivated, enemies. We have within ourselves the ability to defeat them: we’ve created these enemies in our heads and we can overcome them the same way.
But how do we overcome them?
By developing and nurturing strengths within ourselves. They are also a product of our mind. And while Pressfield rightly points out that none of the strengths listed below are innate, the good thing is that “all may be acquired by effort and force of will.”
STRENGTHS:
Courage.
Honesty, particularly with oneself.
Self-confidence.
Humility.
Compassion for oneself and others.
The ability to receive criticism objectively.
Patience.
Curiosity, open-mindedness, receptivity to the new.
The ability to focus.
The ability to defer gratification.
Will.
Mental toughness.
The capacity to endure adversity, injustice, indifference.
In computer science, the term GIGO stands for “garbage in garbage out.” This means that if you put flawed data in (=garbage), you get flawed data out. It’s the science equivalent of the old saying you reap what you sow.
Our mind works the same way. Feed it with the enemies described above and it becomes a fearful, selfish mess. Feed it with the strengths above and you will attain the best version of yourself. We could even coin the term VIVO: virtue in virtue out, or value in value out. (I was not able to find the opposite of GIGO anywhere… if you have a better option let me know in the comments here.)
The wonderful thing about all this is that it is up to us: we’re not subject to anything or anyone to get started and to cultivate and reap the rewards of the VIVO habit. Let’s go!
“Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
ACTION
TODAY: Pick one of the enemies from the list above or one that you are battling within. Pick a strength to overcome it. Think of an instance in the past in which you let the enemy rule and ponder how you could have overcome it with the strength. Please don’t use this as a way to beat yourself up, but instead as an opportunity to learn directly how to react the next time. It’s all a matter of awareness: the quicker you realize when your enemy is creeping up, the quicker you’ll be able to defeat it by bringing out the virtue/value with which you want to substitute it.
FUTURE: Make VIVO a habit that will help you cultivate and reap the best version of you.
Know someone who could use the concept of VIVO? Please share this post! Email, Facebook, Twitter. Thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 36 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: 3 Things all good listeners do – Part 4
— From What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith
In this miniseries, we’ve learned that good listeners (1) think before they speak, (2) listen with respect, and (3) ask “Is it worth it?” before answering. This is all incredibly simple, yet you’ll likely agree with me that it’s not easy.
Marshall Goldsmith, author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, says, “The only difference between us and the super-successful among us—the near-great and the great—is that the great ones do this all the time. It’s automatic for them… there’s no on and off switch for caring and empathy and showing respect. It’s always on… They treat everybody equally—and everyone eventually notices.”
“The weird part here,” Goldsmith goes on, “is that all of us, at every level of success, already know this. […] We already believe it. The question is: Why don’t we do it? Answer: We forget. We get distracted. We don’t have the mental discipline to make it automatic.”
Since the majority of this skill involves listening, and listening requires discipline, Goldsmith developed a simple exercise to test listening skills. Try it for yourself. Close your eyes and count to 50 with one simple goal: you cannot let another thought intrude into your mind; you must concentrate on keeping the count.
More than half of Goldsmith’s clients can’t do this. Around 20 or 30 other thoughts start to invade. While this seems as an exercise in concentration, it’s really a test of listening. “After all,” Goldsmith points out, “if you can’t listen to yourself (someone you presumably like and respect) as you count to 50, how will you ever be able to listen to another person?”
Just as you get limber by stretching your muscles every day, the more you do this exercise, the more you’ll be able to count to 50 without being easily distracted. “This newfound power of concentration will make you a better listener. After that, you’re ready for a test drive.” So, go make your next interaction an exercise in making the person you’re with feel like the only one in the room, whether that’s your spouse, a colleague or a total stranger.
Goldsmith has put together this list of tactics as a cheat sheet—keep it handy!
- Don’t interrupt.
- Don’t finish the other person’s sentences.
- Don’t say “I knew that.”
- Don’t even agree with the other person (even if he praises you, just say “Thank you”).
- Don’t use the words “no,” “but,” and “however.”
- Don’t be distracted. Don’t let your eyes or attention wander elsewhere while the other person is talking.
- Maintain your end of the dialogue by asking intelligent questions that (a) show you’re paying attention, (b) move the conversation forward, and (c) require the other person to talk (while you listen).
- Eliminate any striving to impress the other person with how smart or funny you are. Your only aim is to let the other person feel that he or she is accomplishing that.
If you can do all of the above, Goldsmith says that you’ll uncover a glaring paradox: “The more you subsume your desire to shine, the more you will shine in the other person’s eyes.” And that is true because by fully listening, you’ll make people feel “like a million bucks in your presence, you’ll score a bulls-eye.”
The good thing to all this is that we already know how to listen and focus. Just think of when you go on a first date, or when you’re on a sales call, or in a meeting with your boss: very likely you will be focused and interested in what the other person is saying. The key, going forward, “[is] a matter of remembering to do it all the time.”
ACTION
TODAY: Do the 50-count test and see how far you can go. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get far (I got to 27 and started wondering where my dog was…), the more you do it the better you’ll get.
FUTURE: Keep working on the 50-count exercise. Despite how far you go on it, review the cheat sheet and determine to apply as many of the concepts as possible until, as Goldsmith says, you remember to do it all the time.
Please share this post with someone who might be interested in refining his/her listening skills with this miniseries. Email, Facebook, Twitter. Thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Resolutions
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 20 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Success is predictable
— From No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracy
I am a big believer in the “success leaves clues” principle: whatever success means to you, there is someone who, very likely, has already achieved that which you want. And this is a wonderful thing, not only because it proves that it can be done, but also because, by virtue of this person leaving “clues,” you can follow his/her footsteps and achieve your goals.
Success, any way you define it, sometimes seems elusive and unpredictable though. That is, until now. In his great book, No Excuses!, business guru Brian Tracy says that success is indeed predictable: “Success is not an accident. Sadly, failure is not an accident either. You succeed when you do what other successful people do, over and over, until these behaviors become a habit. Likewise, you fail if you don’t do what successful people do.”
Tracy goes on to say that when you are not working “deliberately, consciously, and continuously to do, be, and have those things that constitute success for you,” you default to the path of least resistance, or to the expediency path. Neither of these two paths will lead to success, instead, they will lead to cutting corners and getting things done just to get them out of the way, but not to put in the work to do them right necessarily.
In the book, there’s a quote by H. L. Hunt, who was at some point the richest man in the world. He was asked what the secrets of his success were, to which he replied:
“There are only three requirements for success. First, decide exactly what it is you want in life. Second, determine the price that you are going to have to pay to get the things you want. And third, and this is most important, resolve to pay the price.”
Everyone wants to be successful. And one of the most important requirements is the willingness to pay the price, “whatever it is and for as long as it takes, until they achieve the results they desire,” says Tracy. “But most people are not willing to pay the price. Occasionally, they may be willing to pay part of the price, but they are not willing to pay the whole price.”
At this point you are probably wondering what the price of success is. Tracy answers, “It’s simple: Look around you. There it is! You can always tell how much of the price of success you have paid by looking at your current lifestyle and your bank account.”
One of the prices that we must pay is that of learning all we can, from the experts, so that we can follow in their footsteps before venturing out on our own. Another price to pay is the ongoing nature of our mental and physical fitness: “Achieving success is like achieving physical fitness. It is like bathing, brushing your teeth, and eating. It is something that you need to do continuously, every day. Once you begin, you never stop until your life and career are over and you have achieved all the success you desire.”
Please tell me in the comments here what other prices come to mind!
ACTION
TODAY: Determine what success looks like to you. Then determine who has achieved what you want and start following in that person’s footsteps. Has this person written a book? Or does he/she have a blog? Do they have a seminar or webinar, or an e-course? Can you write to them for an informational interview or advice?
FUTURE: Once you have determined what success looks like to you, make a plan to implement the steps that can get you there. What is the price that you will have to pay? Think, of course, in terms of money, but also in terms of time, opportunity cost, etc. It’s important to know (or at least to have an estimate up front as to what it will take) and to commit. Determine your willingness to do so and move forward.
Please share this post with someone who is doing things right and enjoying the price of success! Email, Facebook, Twitter.
