AchieveMax, Inc.
|
|
|
Words of WisdomIn developing our seminars and keynote presentations, we are fortunate to run across many words of wisdom. If you need a refreshing thought, idea, slogan, or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board, take a look through the following topic areas.
Random Thoughts on LeadershipBy not demanding accountability, you fail to protect your
people from their own incompetence. We expected that good-to-great leaders would begin by setting a new vision and
strategy. We found instead that they first got the right people on the bus, the
wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats — and then
they figured out where to drive it. The old adage "People are your most
important asset" turns out to be wrong. People are not your most important
asset. The right people are. Leaders see more in other people
than other people see in themselves. Vision is the art of seeing things invisible. Today a reader — tomorrow a leader. It isn't the people you fire who make our life miserable,
it's the people you don't. The world is moving so fast these days
that the man who says it can’t be done
is generally interrupted by someone doing it. It’s wonderful when the people believe in their
leader ...
but it’s even more wonderful
when the leader believes in the people! It is only as we develop others that we
permanently succeed. People support what they create! IBM’s Tom Watson was asked if he was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost IBM $600,000. He replied, "No, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?" The best executive is the one
who has sense enough to pick good people
to do what he wants done,
and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do! I don’t know the key to success,
but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. A person must be big enough to admit their
mistakes,
smart enough to profit from them,
and strong enough to correct them. Random Thoughts on Teamwork"Denial" is not a river in Egypt. Most relationships suffer
from what we deny or avoid. But if we can't talk about it, we can't fix it. There is more information and knowledge
within a team than is usually revealed. The object is not to see through one another,
but to see one another through. The power of a waterfall is nothing
but a lot of drips working together. A company with internal dissension
is drained of energy
before it has a chance
to devote itself to its proper purpose. Random Thoughts on ServiceCustomer service is either good or bad.
There is no in-between. If you provide only 99% satisfaction,
a million transactions mean
10,000 unhappy customers! If your departments
don't communicate effectively
with each other,
you can be certain they aren't communicating
with your customers either. Response time should be measured
in minutes, not hours. There is less to fear from outside competition than from
inside inefficiency, discourtesy, and bad service! Today’s typical customer wants only two things: The quality of service is going to be a selling point in a
fickle environment where customers have more choices. It never ceases to amaze me that companies spend millions to
attract new customers (people they don’t know) and spend next to nothing to keep
the ones they’ve got! Seems to me the budgets should be reversed! If you own the problem, you own the customer. A major key to success of any business in today’s competitive
environment is to never lose sight of the fact that your number one goal is to
please your customers. Random Thoughts on Time ManagementDon’t spend a $1.00's worth of time
on a $ .10 decision. Time flies.
It’s up to you to be the navigator. Time is life.
To waste your time is to waste your life. You will never find time for anything.
If you want time, you must make it! Many of us spend half our time wishing for
things
we could have if we didn’t spend half our time wishing.
The more sand has escaped from the hour glass
of our life,
the clearer we should see through it. Do today what must be done.
Your tomorrow may never come. Random Thoughts on GoalsAvoid perfection.
That last 10% of effort and skill
it takes to achieve it
isn't worth the time. You miss 100% of the shots you never take. There are two things to aim at in life:
first, to get what you want,
and after that to enjoy it.
Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Nothing can add more power to your life
than concentrating all of your energies
on a limited set of targets. Random Thoughts on ChangeA man who does not leave his hut will bring nothing in. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while
the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind. It is generally much easier to kill an organization than
change it substantially! Leaders need to be the Rock of Gibraltar on Roller Blades! The new competitive realities demand that we turn our backs on
the ones who brung us. Every leader needs a formal “forgetting strategy.” When the speed of change outside the organization exceeds the speed of change
within ... The end is in sight! When you shift people’s perceptions, their actions follow. If nothing changes, nothing changes!
Think about it! If you always do what you always did —
you'll always get what you always got! Dissatisfaction is the basis of progress.
When we become satisfied,
we become obsolete. A bend in the road
is not the end of the road ...
unless you fail to make the turn. Change happens, that is for sure, and not just in our modern,
21st century era. It seems that the stress of the new affects most people in
every age. So the trick is not to resist it, but to go with it. The real problem
for the creative person is getting over the resistance of those who don’t want
to change. Keep constantly in mind in how many things you yourself have
witnessed changes already. The universe is change, life is understanding. Observe constantly that all things take place by change. Those who have changed the universe have never done it by
changing officials, but always by inspiring the people. The only way to change our lives is by changing our minds. You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To
change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. Faced with changing one's mind, or proving that there is no
need to do so, most people get busy on the proof. In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst
enemy. In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth,
while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that
no longer exists. There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from
bad to worse! As I have often found in traveling in a stagecoach, that; it is
often a comfort to shift one’s position, and be bruised in a new place. There is nothing more certain and unchanging than uncertainty
and change. The world hates change yet it is the only thing that has
brought progress. The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in
the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the
greatest pain is the pain of a new idea. You don't get creative by staying in the same place. There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous
to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the
introduction of a new order to things. Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Change does not change tradition, it strengthens it. Change is
a challenge and an opportunity, not a threat. Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot
change their minds, cannot change anything. A competitive world offers two possibilities. You can lose.
Or, if you want to win, you can change. Change is not merely necessary to life—it is life. The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to
preserve change amid order. Random Thoughts on MotivationOne person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 with only
interests. Find your voice, and inspire others to find theirs. (Don't
ignore that longing to make a difference.) It's not what you are that holds you back, it's what you think
you are not. It is difficult to say what is impossible,
for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today
and the reality of tomorrow. Yesterday is a canceled check;
tomorrow is a promissory note;
today is the only cash you have —
so spend it wisely! The man who believes he can do something
is probably right,
and so is the man who believes he can't! Things may come to those who wait,
but only the things left by those who hustle! Many of life’s failures are people
who did not realize how close they were to success
when they gave up. Fall seven times,
stand up eight. In the heating and air conditioning trade,
the point which neither heating nor cooling must operate
— around 72 degrees —
is called "The Comfort Zone."
It’s also known as "The Dead Zone." Failure can be divided into
those who thought and never did
and into those who did and never thought. The only difference between a big shot and a
little shot
is that a big shot is just a little shot that kept on shooting. Fear is that little darkroom where negatives
are developed. Failure is the opportunity to begin again,
more intelligently. Random Thoughts on SalesYou don't sell what it is —
you sell what it does. The prospect is persuaded moreby the depth of your conviction
than he is by the height of your logic. You can get everything in life you want
if you will just help enough other people
get what they want. There's no business like KNOW Business —
KNOW your industry, company, product,
service, customer, and competition
better than anyone else! Random Thoughts on PotentialBetter than a CD-ROM ...
our brains are capable of retaining
about 100 billion bits of information.
That's the equivalent of 500 encyclopedias! There are 200 billion neurons in the adult human brain.
That's as many stars as there are in some galaxies! As we think, the brain undergoes
100,000 chemical interactions per second! Whether awake or asleep,
at any given moment
millions of our brain cells are at work.
24 hours a day, People are always blaming their circumstances
for what they are.
I don’t believe in circumstances.
The people who get on in this world
are the people who get up
and look for the circumstances they want,
and, if they can’t find them, make them. I am looking for a lot of men
who have an infinite capacity
to not know what can’t be done. Random Thoughts on GenderMen are more prone to color blindness and left-handedness. Women are more sensitive to sounds and more agitated by loud noise. Men are less likely to disclose personal information such as political and religious views, etc. Women have sharper senses: smell, taste, hearing, and touch. Random Thoughts on CreativityI dream my painting and then paint my dream. Imagination is more important than knowledge. The only sustainable competitive advantage comes from
out-innovating the competition! To stay competitive, we have to lead the world in per-person
creativity. The average business executive has spent between 1,000 and 10,000 hours formally
learning economics, history, languages, literature, mathematics, and political
science!
The same executive has spent less than ten hours learning about creative
thinking! PEOPLEOPOLY No employee will ever perform to any meaningful level where
expectations are not clearly established, communicated, and verified for
understanding. Hire employees with caution, launch them with clarity and
eliminate poor ones with great dispatch! Your organization will never be any stronger than the
employees you recruit, select and hire and how effectively they are initially
trained, coached and ultimately retained. Random Thoughts on Repetition Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of
thought. Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which,
repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex. Progress, far from consisting of change, depends on retentiveness ...Those who
cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Relentless, repetitive self talk is what changes our self-image. Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with REPETITION and
emotion will one day become a reality. Only one thing registers on the subconscious mind: repetitive application
―
practice. What you practice is what you manifest. Random Thoughts on EnthusiasmTo successfully experience and demonstrate ENTHUSIASM,
remember the last four letters and be certain they describe you. I.A.S.M. (I Am
Sold Myself). There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity
and accomplishment. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that
inspires no one. If you have zest and enthusiasm, you attract zest and enthusiasm. Life does give
back in kind. Knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch. Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on
fire first. Random Thoughts on EmployeesOver the years, I've had the privilege of observing many
successful leaders execute a variety of strategies in their quest for success.
The most effective tactic I have ever witnessed is the simple and constant
application of expectations, accountability, and consequences! Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees,
motivate them, and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't
miss. I don't think I'm the primary motivator. I give people license
to be themselves and motivate others in that way. We give people the opportunity
to be a maverick. You don't have to fit into a constraining mold at work ― you can
have a good time. Executives owe it to the organization and to their fellow workers not to
tolerate nonperforming individuals. Numerous motivational studies show that employees typically place a high value
on getting information about their job, their performance and how the company is
doing. When was the last time you asked your employees if they have the right level of
challenge in their work? Stars radiate light. Black holes absorb energy. We need to invest in our stars
― not our black holes! The character and qualifications of the leader are reflected in the men he
selects, develops and gathers around him. Show me the leader and I will know his
men. Show me the men and I will know their leader. Therefore, to have loyal,
efficient employees, be a loyal and efficient employer. Research indicates that workers have three prime needs: Interesting work,
recognition for doing a good job, and being let in on things that are going on
in the company. A great employee who is poorly managed is no better than a
poor employee who is managed well. Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he should be,
and he will become what he could be.” Which horses win races ― those the jockey whips the hardest, or the ones who
enjoy running the most? Employees tend to live up to their manager's expectations of them. If a manager's
expectations are high, productivity is likely to be excellent. Random Thoughts on AttitudeA successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with
bricks that others throw at him. The good news is that the bad news can be turned into good
news when you change your attitude. An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist
sees a calamity in every opportunity. Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to
you ... as by the attitude you bring to life. Two men looked out through prison bars; one saw mud, the
other, stars. Life is 10% what you make it, and 90% how you take it. Every great and commanding movement in the annals of the world
is the triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it. Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from
achieving his goal: nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental
attitude. The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our
dispositions and not on our circumstances. There is no danger of developing eye strain from looking on
the bright side of things. Some people look at the world and say "why?" Some people look
at the world and say "why not?" We are the only creatures on earth who can change our biology
by what we think and feel. I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give
this game of life everything's he's got. Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at
midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our
hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. Frank Sinatra once told his son, Frank, Jr.: "Don't ever let me catch you singing like that again, without enthusiasm. You're nothing, if you aren't excited by what you are doing." Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward
it, for that determines our success or failure. Don't give up. Keep going. There is always a chance that you
stumble onto something terrific. I have never heard of anyone stumbling over
anything while they were sitting down. A bend in the road is not the end of the road. The most handicapped person in the world is a negative
thinker. Random Thoughts on NetworkingNetworking is creating relationships whereby you can help
others achieve their goals, which in turn will help you achieve yours. Networking is the systematic process of meeting people,
learning about them, and establishing relationships so that all parties
establish and expand a base of resources to support their endeavors. Networking is people connecting with people, linking ideas,
and resources. Networking is establishing connections that are mutually
satisfying, helpful, and uplifting. Networking is a communication process—exchanging information
and receiving advice and referrals.” Networking is communication that creates the linkage between
people and clusters of people. Networking is the way you interact and relate to people, the
world, and the opportunities around you. When two people exchange dollar bills, each has only one
dollar. When two people exchange networks, they each have two networks! Do the
math! Networking with integrity creates a greater willingness of all
parties to be part of a human conduit to serve as energy and resource to one
another. Sometimes you will give more than you receive and sometimes you will
get back more than you give. It’s not about keeping score. If you want to see positive results from your networking
efforts, you must focus on your area of needs. You must know what you want to
accomplish and how to communicate with those who can assist you in your efforts.
Random Thoughts on FearNever be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built
the ark, professionals built the Titanic. Never fear shadows ... they simply mean there's a light
shining somewhere nearby. Nothing is so much to be feared as fear. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest
fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil. The fear of being wrong is the prime inhibitor of the creative
process. FEAR is an acronym: False Expectations Appearing Real. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Fear is interest paid on a debt you may not owe. Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed. The most destructive element in the human mind is fear. Fear
creates aggressiveness. Fear gives a small thing a big shadow. Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile ...
initially scared me to death. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience
in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which
you think you cannot do. I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up,
this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit
is. Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and
your belief will help create the fact. If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not
due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power
to revoke at any moment. Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the
world. Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with
others. One will never reach distant shores, if he chooses to remain
upon the dock, In fear his little ship of dreams may be dashed against the
rocks. Random Thoughts on Sense of UrgencyWithout a sense of urgency, desire loses its value. In everyday life there is always manana. There is no urgency.
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is
not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. Great things come to those who hustle while they wait. Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by
those who hustle. A sense of urgency wins. If not now, when? The people who make things move in this world share a same
sense of urgency. No matter how intelligent or able you may be, if you don't
have a sense of urgency, now is the time to start developing it. The world is
full of very competent people who honestly intend to do things tomorrow, or as
soon as they can get around to it. Their accomplishments, however, seldom match
those of the less talented who are blessed with a sense of importance of getting
started now. Sometimes the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a
complete rest! I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it. I never worry about action, only inaction. I think there is something more important than believing:
Action! The world is full of dreamers, there aren't enough who will move ahead
and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision. A leopard is chasing us, and you are asking me, "Is it a male
or a female?" How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment
before starting to improve the world. "Now" is the operative word. Everything you put in your way is
just a method of putting off the hour when you could actually be doing your
dream. You don't need endless time and perfect conditions. Do it now. Do it
today. Do it for twenty minutes and watch your heart start beating. Don't wait. The time will never be just right. The wise does at once what the fool does at last. A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do
the same thing; only at different times. Random Thoughts on PassionThe most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.
"When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn. Chose your passion, not your pension. Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion. Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the
second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high
wire. This is your moment. Own it. Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you
the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the
world. A genuine passion is like a mountain stream; it admits of no impediment; it
cannot go backward; it must go forward. Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive.
And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come
alive. Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint
which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth a spark. My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is
considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose. Chase down your passion like it's the last bus of the night. One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested. Without passion you don't have energy, and without energy you have nothing. Every civilization is, among other things, an arrangement for domesticating the
passion and setting them to do useful work. They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them
feel. A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position. Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could hear the
music. The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea,
buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its
fulfillment. Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. Love life, engage in it, give it all you've got. Love it with a passion, because
life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it! |
Enter E-mail Address: |
|
For more information on our seminars and keynote presentations, Copyright © 1997-2008 AchieveMax®, Inc. |