Who Are You Accountable To?

The toughest person to be accountable to, is our selves in most cases. I know there are a few people out there who were just born with the nature ability to hold them selves to the highest level of accountability all the times, but for me it can be very difficult. I create call lists or to-do lists, and intent to get through them, but a lot of days, it seems that I let my self off on some of the items, for reasons that are really quite poor and unjustifiable.

As part of my business and the service that we provide to our clients, it is my job to hold them accountable to their goals and to do lists on usually a weekly basis. The problem that can occur for me, if I don't stay on top of it, is that I can right down and help my clients to stay accountable to their goals, but never write down my own goals or to do lists and give them to somebody else to hold me accountable. Sure I have a list in my head, but when more "important" things come up, it is amazing how my subconscious will alter or loss my goals and lists, so it can justify why I did not get done what I told myself I would.

I have a new plan starting today, to combat this recurring problem for myself. I will write down my call and to-do list, every morning and email to at least two different people on my team that I trust can keep me accountable. I have an agreement with them to hold them accountable to their own daily activity list as well. At the end of the day, I will email these people with the results of what I accomplished or they will call me and ask me why I did not accomplish these items. The expected result is that I will get much more done then I have been, if for no other reason, is that I told another person I would, and I don't want to disappoint them.

Since is the first day of, I don't have any results to talk about. However, if you are not getting the results out of your self that you know that you are capable of, find somebody who is as driven as you are and make some sort a agreement with them so that you can hold each other accountable. Our Little Voices can and do lie to us all the time. At least if you write down and make an external source hold you accountable, you can catch when your Little Voice lies to us more often.

Is Your Mission Stronger Than What Your Critic's Words?

It seems that what stops most of us from going from Good to Great, most often is caring more about what others might think of us, more than fulfilling our mission. I know that for me, getting past the thought that somebody might not agree with or like what I am saying, stops me from even trying to have a conversation, way too often. Even though I consciously know that the mission of my communications is always to help improve somebodies life, I don't pick up the phone and call the person because they might not get it, and then I might look "stupid" to them.

Some people seem to be born with the understanding that their message is more important then the possible ridicule of the people that just don't get it. Then there are other people that seem to go through their entire life trying to please everyone, and never please them selves. I am part of another group that is determined to train my self, by what ever means necessary, stop thinking so much about what I might look like and focus on the mission, and helping those people who get it and not thinking about the ones that don't get it.

Bill Cosby once said "I don't know what the key to success is, but I do know that the key to failure is trying to please everyone."

I know that statistically, most people I talk to won't get it. It is a good thing is that I only need to get through to the select few people that do get it and want to build something great, which will make me wildly successful in the process.

Are Learning All the Lessons the World is Teaching?

It seems that most of the people in the world are not taking advantage of the learning lessons that they could have everyday. The main difference between the Rich, the Wealthy, the Sports Champions and the rest of the world, is the ability and willingness to fail, learn from that failure and immediately improve.

Most people don't want to try something that they might fail at, because that is what they were taught in school or by their parents. "Mistakes and bad." The reality is that there is a lot more to learn from a mistake or failure, then from a success. The main reason why the only 5% of the population holds 95% of the wealth and money in the world is that 5% are willing to fail as many times as it takes, to learn the lessons and then create success.

Thomas Edison failed thousands of times to create a working light bulb. Each failure taught him something and got him a little closer to creating one that works, and the rest is history. Henry Ford and his team failed for years to create and engine block with eight cylinders in a V configuration. After they learned all the lessons they needed to, proper process to create a V-8 engine block was relieved.

The key to learning for your failures, and even how to improve upon your successes, is the de-brief process. After any event, positive or negative, if you and your team stop and reflect on what really happened, that is when the true learning begins.

After the event, first ask your self and/or your team, "What Happened", so that every body is on the same page.

Next, "What worked"? Even if the event was a complete failure, there was probably at least one thing that worked.

Next "What did not work?" This is where you can identify what the true learning lesson should be.

Next "What did you learn?" This is where you get to identify how the lesson applies and what you will do different next time.

Next and finally "What did you learn about your self?" This helps make you more conscious of how you are reacting to this type of situation and how to react better next time.

This process can take a few minutes, or it can take hours. The point is that a failure is only truly a loss, if you don't choice the learn the lesson it provides. One of the secretes of highly successful people is that they choose to fail faster and learn faster.

Do You Really Know Your Customers?

Not too long ago, I was approached by a sales rep for a telecom company, about switching my services to their company from my existing company. Now I like to take cold calls and bold calls from most all sales reps and companies, mainly because I like see what I can learn from them. Most of the time, what I learn is what not to do. Now this sales rep that wanted my telecom business, never actually took the time to see what or if I had any problems or concerns about my existing carrier or service, he just went right into his sales pitch about how they can defiantly offer me a lower price than my existing provider. I even tried to help him ask the right questions that would have reveled the problems I was having with my existing carrier, but he just went on with his pitch.

When I brought out my bill from my existing carrier, this sales rep had to do a lot of back peddling because as it turned out, he could not save me any money. He never took the time to find out that my real concern was customer service and that I would pay a little more for good customer service. This rep left my office with the understanding that another rep from that same company would get back to me because this other rep might my be able to work a better deal because he had more leverage with this company.

Well about a week later, I met with this other rep from the same telecom company and was prepared for an even more refined pitch. I was pleasantly surprised however, to find no pitch at all, even when I asked for one. This rep asked a lot of questions, got to know what my business does and what my concerns were about telecom services. We went through my existing bills and together found that there was no place they could save me money, but there was one service that they could match the price and he convinced me through the questions he was asking that I would get better customer service with his company, so I switched that service.

What a difference a few questions makes. So many sales people a running around pitching people all day, but never take the time to figure out what the potential customer actually needs or wants. These sales people believe that a lower price is aways the key, when all they are really doing is cutting their own commissions and training their customers to bargain shop. Studies have shown that the top grossing sales people actually have higher margins then the rest. These top grossing sales people do something that all the others do not. They listen more that they pitch.

If people are not buying what you are selling, whether it is potential customers, your friends, family, spouse, or children, it is probably because your are talking too much and listening too little. Do your your self a favor and find out what problems they actually have and then try to solve those instead of assuming that you know what there problems are before you ask any questions.

Where Are You Fishing?

As I pause to reflect on this 2009, there was one main learning point that popped out for me. It was in regards to the where and how and am finding and attracting the people that come my customers.

When I got in this business last March, I saw that our services and product could benefit any business out there, regardless of the size, structure or industry of that business. So I started casting my fishing line in just about ever pond I could find. I talked to a a lot of people at the start and expected them to see the value or at least want to explore how we might be able to help them further. As it turned out, most of the ponds I was fishing, did not have the type of people that were interested in services and products we offer, even though it would benefit them.

What I am becoming even more aware how to qualify my potential customers. So many business owners and sales people continue to go through the day, believing that every person or business is a penitential customer because the product or service can benefit these people or businesses. Most of these business owners and sales people never take the time to look at the where there actual customers are coming from. What are their demographics, geographic or other organizations the majority of your customers coming from.

As as I tracked the the results of my efforts to attract clients this last year, the theme that continues to pop out is that for my business is there a only two out of about five or six different ponds that I have been fishing in that are actually generating customers. The numbers really don't lie if you take the time to look at them. What these to ponds or groups have in common is that the sales people and business owners that are in them, have to make a descent investment every year to be part of these groups. Networking groups, trade organizations and other groups with a low investment point, tend to have people in them that are not willing to invest much in them selves or their businesses to grow and improve which is what our services and product help them do.

Going into 2010, armed with this info about what ponds my actual customers are coming from is going to drastically ramp up the success of my business because I will be moving most of my focus and efforts to fishing for customers in only these two groups, instead of spreading my focus out over all of these other groups out there. This will mean that I will be talking to the right people a lot more of the time and not wasting my valuable time talking with people that won't invest in them selves or their business.

If you want to do more business with less effort, stop throwing a fishing line in every pond that you can find. Take a moment and look at what your existing customers have in common. Is it the business there in, is it the groups they belong to, is it where they a geographically located, or what ever else you can find that they have in common. This will allow you to throw all your fishing lines into the few ponds that generate the most percentage of customers and save a lot of time and energy fishing in a ponds that does not have the kind of fish that want.

How Sharp Are Your Tools?

Are you doing what it looks like successful people are doing, but still not getting the results they have that you want? Maybe the all the "doing" is the problem. A lot of people don't realize that the most important thing that a champion do, is develop, improve, and sharpen their mindset.

Yesterday my team helped a group of people improve their mindset. However, this group of people was not a average slice of the population. They chose to take an entire week day out of their busy lives and business, to sharpen their mental tools, so that they can go back out into the world and do the things they do better. There were probably ten time as many people that directly had the opportunity to spend a day with us and improve there mindset, but most people are too "busy" to improve their life, their business, or their health. It seems that most people are oblivious to how much time, money, and energy maintaining their current mindset is costing them.

A few months ago, I had quite a few two to three foot diameter logs to cut up for fire wood to heat my house. I started cutting through the logs with my old chain saw, which took about five minutes per cut, because the chain on the saw was not very sharp and it was doing more grinding then cutting. After two or three cuts, I realized the at the rate I was going, it might take several days, a lot of chain saw gas, and a lot more frustration to cut up all those logs. After a brief discussion with my self, I made the decision to stop the cutting operation, get in my truck, and send the time and money to go the the store and get a brand new sharp chain.

I had to invest a hour or so of my time, $25 in a new chain and a few more dollars in fuel for my truck, and I was not getting anything cut up while I made this trip to the store. When I started cutting again with the new chain, there was a world of difference. Instead of five minutes per cut, I was down to maybe a minute. What a difference one investment can make. It was the same old chain saw, same gas, some operator, same logs, but a totally different out come. About a 5 to 1 return on overall investment. I used a lot less gasoline, added some time to the chain saws life, and most of all save my self time, energy and frustration by choosing to make that investment in a new chain.

So many people go through life, using the same old, dull mental tools every day, because they don't want to make an investment the time, money, and energy in sharpening their mindset. Successful people not only use the right tools, but they continue to sharpen them. That is why it may look like you are doing to same things and using the same tools as somebody else, but in reality they are more successful and more efficient because their tools are sharp.

Stop grinding your way through life and start cutting your way to the lifestyle you deserve.

The Hedge Hog Concept

The enemy of Good is Great. If you think about it, the reason why there are so few great companies or organizations is that there are a lot of Good organizations out there. If you, or your company, your church, or your team is not doing Great things, it is probably because they are doing Good enough. For more clarification, read the book Good to Great, by Jim Collins.

One of the key points from the book Good to Great, as a difference between good organizations and Great ones is the Hedge Hog concept. Basically there are are two types of people, and organizations in the world, foxes and hedge hogs. The fox is cunning, fast, light of foot, and has many complex strategies to deal with a complex world. The hedge hog, on other hand, has one strategy that takes a complicated world and simplifies it and consistently greats predictable results. Day after day the fox pursues the hedge hog, always with a new or different plan of attack. One day hiding in the tall grass, the next in a log, and the next day cornering the hedge hog at the river. The hedge hog does need sophisticated countermeasures though, it has only one, but it is a Great one. When ever it so much as senses the fox's presence, it simplifies curls up into a impenetrable ball, leaving only sharp spikes for the fox's complex strategy and cunning.

The point is that when Jim Collins and his team studied the difference between Good companies and Great companies, one of the keys, was that Great companies were very focused on one singular mission or goal. Good companies never get to be Great companies, partly because they are always looking for the newest, most innovative, or flashy strategy that will make them great. The Great companies took the time and energy to figure out what the one core matrix that they could be great at, and adopted only those strategies that supported that one goal. All other strategies, on matter how flashy or tempting, were not considered.

So, are you operating like a fox or a hedge hog. Sure the fox is in the news all the time, and everybody sees the fox running around doing a lot of different things, but in the long run, it is usually the hedge hog, that slowly lumbers its way to it's single point, a emerges with dominance. The hedge hog becomes and over "night success", with only five, ten, or twenty years of focused growth, that know one on the outside payed any attention to.

If you want your self, your organization, or team to be Great, first clearly define the one objective that you can be Great at, and throw out all strategies that do not keep you moving in that one direction. And read the book Good to Great.

Highest Energy Wins

Whether it is in your business, your job or your personal life, HIGHEST ENERGY WINS. If you have kids, nieces or nephews, you probably now exactly what I am talking about. If they have higher energy than you, they will usually win. The same is true when selling your self to a perspective client, to the opposite sex, trying to get that raise in pay and maybe trying to get that job. Most people in the world will bring a new person on to there team how is decently qualified but expresses high positive energy before they bring someone on that is highly qualified but sucks the life out of the room. Think about it. Who are the people you know that suck the life out of the room?

I used to be a person that did not project much energy. The main problem was that I did not realize what I sounded like or looked like to everybody else around me, nor did I understand how important energy is to being successful. Luckily, I got some training and joined a team that not only understands how important high energy is to a successful life, but will go out of the way to call me out when my energy is not up to par. They do that for me because teams are not suppose to make other people feel good about there current situation, they should be helping them improve there energy to lift them up to a better situation.

I went went to a meeting last night with group of people that had a positive attitude and who showed up with at least moderate energy and positive out look on life. After a three hour meeting, the energy in that room was electric, and that was at ten o'clock at night. These are the type of people you need to find your self around if you want to improve your life situation and the energy you project.

If your find that your energy is not where you like it to be or if after a meeting or get together with your friends, family or your team does not leave you with higher energy and more reason to live, FIND A BETTER TEAM. If you want to be successful find a team or mentor that does not except mediocrity or low energy and listen to their feedback. Stop hanging out with the same old friends, family or co-workers that are always doom and gloom.

You will basically have the same life style as the people you send most of you time with. Ask your self, is these people have the life I want? The quickest way to change your life and to change your energy is to change the people you hang out with.

You have a choice!

How important it is to change our state.

Yesterday, should have been a good day by all accounts, but I got into a mental funk that took me out of the game. The worst part about being in that funk is that I knew I was there and I new that I had the power to change my mood, but I could not seem to find a way,at the time. Looking back on it from a clearer perspective now, I see that there was at least one quick and easy step that I could have done to keep a down hour from turning into an unproductive afternoon.

I know that what I needed was a powerful state change or a good kick in the butt. From my training and experience I now that my mental state, my emotional state and my physical state are all linked together. Therefore if I change one of them, the rest of them are effected whether I want them to change or not. The easiest state to consciously change is our physical state. What I should have done and what I will do in the future is get up out of my chair, put on my running shoes, and hit the street for a few miles. That would have changed my mental state enough to save the rest of the afternoon and a little needed exercise too. What actually happened what I slugged around the office trying to think of what I should be doing and who I should be calling and consequently burned off a whole afternoon being and did not accomplish anything of note.

We are all in the state of mind that we allow our selves to be in and we all have the power to change that state if we desire. Sometimes the answers to how to get to the state of mind we desire is not through that mind directly, it is through changing the state of our physical body.