Category Archives: basics

Google and Lazy Students

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The Lost Arts of Problem Solving and Asking Questions.

How does it begin and where does it end? If I can not find the solution on the first page of google, it must not exist. If my teacher isn’t readily available to do it for me, then “I can’t do it”.

Problem Solving
It is a learnable skill, and for some it is an art. You must begin with determination and then add in some perseverance. It requires a willingness to research… beyond the first five links on google. For challenging problems, you might not even find your answer online. Problem solving can sometimes lead to what used to be referred to as ”head scratching”. Something can be gained by staring at an actual piece of paper where you have scribbled notes and you PAUSE TO THINK. Be willing to follow leads, come to dead ends, and then start down new paths. Some creative brainstorming with other smart people may even be required.

Asking Questions
Don’t be afraid or to proud to ask sharp people for a bit of intellectual assistance. This is different than asking someone to do your job for you. This is actual learning and it doesn’t have to be limited to a classroom at school. Seek out people who know a thing or two or three. Exchange value with them. Get a push in the right direction. Most leaders are willing to donate a few quick minutes to share their skill with young, hungry, up-and-coming leaders. But your do have to ask.

 

Magic In A Conversation

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It is tough, I know. I too sometimes get caught up in the whole dilemma. In our heads it goes something like this… “Why call the guy when I can email him? Or wait, why email him when I can so quickly text? Better still, why bother with text, I’ll just tweet at him the next time I am checking my other social media outlets.”

Be notified! There is a little magic left in having an actual conversation. It is very personal. Tone, inflection, feeling, care, energy. It all comes through so much better for most of us when we take the time to talk with one another. Our faces more accurately reflect the nature of our souls. Personal dialogue conveys genuine interest. Conversation makes it so much more difficult for minor issues or misunderstandings to become major rifts or flare-ups in a relationship.

Don’t let technology’s ease of use lull you into thinking that it can be an adequate replacement for person-to-person, conversational interactions. If you have an important sale to make, pick up the phone. If a small thing at work is escalating into something that is pissing you off, walk down to the other person’s office. If you don’t feel a tenderness of care in the text messages between you and your lover, try an actual dinner date. Turn off the tech and see what might happen.

Slow Down and Train Consistently

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When I started running these two pieces of advice were not to my liking. I wanted to go fast and I wanted to do it on my schedule, not some forced predetermined regimen. I learned, however, through some moderately painful experiences that these two adages came from decades of experience and wisdom gained by other runners. Apparently it can take your body at least two years to adapt to the rigors of running long distances.

When I started in leadership I was given much the same advice and … as with running, I had the same difficulty adapting myself to proven wisdom. So, what I have learned painfully may help you. Dig deep. Be patient. Execute consistently. Learn your craft very, very well. And expect that it may take you at least two years before you find your groove.

Otherwise, get some ibuprofen, a good head doctor and some cheap whiskey to brace yourself for some pain.

The Not So Sexy Basics

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Try as you might, you can’t control everything. And as you already know, stress, frustration and anxiety derive out of focusing on things you can’t control. Remember the basics? It’s time to re-focus on items in your world that you can control and that make a huge impact on your readiness to lead:

This list seems dumb when I write it out. Everyone knows this stuff. But many, many high impact individuals fail to execute in these controllable areas and then find themselves in a bad place, trying to change things out of their control when there are so many things inside of their control that can make a practical difference on each and every day.

* Friends – A different post all together, but spending too much time with people that I lovingly refer to as “stupid friends” who have crappy outlooks and even very little vision or ambition for what their lives could be.

UPS and other twitter pretenders

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UPS (twitter.com/ups – @UPS) and other companies are great at pretending to care about twitter and other social media customer service schemes. Heck, you have to say it on your TV ads and print it on all of your stuff or you aren’t legit these days. Right? And because I had 10 minutes or more left on their voicemail hold system, I went to twitter to see if I could get some help from @UPS.

Turns out that @UPS has 7 twitter accounts for customer service representatives… these account include pictures of real people. Each agent twitter account is listed on every @UPS account so you would think that they are all real and still employed people. However, the most recent twitter update by any of their customer service reps is 9 hours old!  @EvanatUPS is by far and away the most active of their twitter customer service reps. Twitter at the company must be his idea, because of the rest of them…

  • one of them hasn’t posted since Feb. 3
  • another hasn’t posted since Feb. 25.
  • two more of them haven’t posted yet this month

Combined all of their customer service agents have under 2500 followers…. and 1900 of those are for the passionate guy, Evan.

@UPS has 13 total twitter accounts! @UPS_canada who I could really use right now has 150 total followers.

I have tweeted all of them & I bet they don’t get back to me until Monday @ 9am EST.

Here’s why I care. @UPS could help me IF they were actually active on Twitter. My shipment is stuck in their warehouse in Calgary. It might be there all weekend and effectively waste all of the time, money and energy that has been spent on attending a trade show this weekend. It’s been there ALL WEEK. Their phone system and managers are just playing the normal game of bounce me to someone else. I have literally been on the phone for over 3 hours being bounce around to everyone one who isn’t responsible for helping me or their voicemails. Maybe all of their agents are busy creating twitter accounts that they won’t use. Twitter seems to be a scheme for some managers at big companies or organizations to look tech hip but actually do no more for the customer or client.

Nothing beats real people & leaders who take the time to care about the customer and track down solutions to problems. Nothing. Do it on twitter. Do it on the phone. Serve the customer in person. I don’t care, but stop bouncing me to one more electronic place where you don’t actually care.

Stop Over Thinking the World’s Best Cup of Coffee

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You need to stop over thinking it, because things are getting way too complicated.

Run a coffee house? Your coffee ought to be awesome and a nice place to sit would be great. Learn from Elf.

Own a plumbing company? Do first rate work, make sure my toilet works and I want ZERO leaks throughout my house.

Did you say you are an auto mechanic? Really? Then fix only what really needs to be repaired and only offer to maintenance what truly needs to be maintained.

You lead a non-profit for homeless kids? Then work to make sure that there are beds available, good people to care for them and a plan to help them lead healthy and productive lives. Yes. I know it takes money.

Are you a pastor or clergy member? Teach people who Jesus really is, be like him yourself, use words the people can understand and do the same amount of good for the world that he did.

Too many of us are way over thinking our industries and our leadership arenas. We have forgotten the basics, the ‘core’ of our businesses. Everyone is super tired of shitty delivery, weak leadership and a lack of focus. Any worthy youth sports coach will tell a kid to “learn the basics really, really well”. Don’t get cute and cleaver offering wild incentives, cool programs, the most amazing ‘other’ thing that has nothing to do with what I came to your business for.

Starbucks, if I want music I will get on my laptop and go to iTunes.

Church, if I want a musical production, awesome video or interesting drama I will go to the theater.

Non-profit, if I want a new community with a bunch of friends who all have the same exact passion as me I will join a commune.

Do your main thing with excellence … or just go away. Stop clogging up the world with your noise and leave your mission for others to do. If you are just starting out, then here is the simple principle – stay focused on basics and learn your craft and your industry. Don’t get distracted.

A Finite Life and All of The Possibilities

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Ok. My last post sucked. I was trying way too hard and came off as a Seth Godin wanna be., so here’s another attempt, trying to say it better.

I mentally wrestle with the billions of possibilities that are out there in the world and I don’t care what all of the tech geeks say, the world isn’t getting smaller. If anything it just keeps getting bigger with more problems, more things to buy, more business opportunities to develop and more friends to have (thanks a lot facebook & twtitter). The world is such a huge place and there is just so much cool shit out there. And beyond all of the cool stuff that the internet and news media sources bring to us, it also brings us a much, much clearer picture of all of the true need, hurt, war and helplessness that exists in the world.

I can get locked-up with all of possibilities.

At times it rattles me and prevents me from going any particular direction. I find myself asking, “Which way should I go? What should I choose to do really well and pursue with all of my energy and passion?” I could be totally into myself and seek daily pleasures and recreation. I could launch full force into a business idea. I could radically change the lives of a small village in Africa (or South America, or Asia, or Eastern Europe or the inner-cities of any major US city). And.. I could do all of this stuff at the same time if I really applied myself.

My life is finite but the possibilities are not.

Last Saturday I had breakfast with friend who most consider a sage. He is affectionally known as “the silver fox” by some. Over the last 10 years he has lead a team to radically and holistically transform a small village in the Dominican Republic who had great need. They have experienced tremendous results. Our meeting was on point about his desire and plane to re-launch his team to do it again with another village.  He’s passionate, driven and on task about making a difference in the D.R., but the question that bothered me was “why”. Not ‘why’ as in “why are you doing this?” But, more specifically “why there?”. I wanted to know how he chose. What helped a smart guy with a large world view decide to give his time, talents and resources to a small village in the Dominican Republic. What made it more worthy of his help? What comprehensive matrix did he utilize in making his selection? Did he receive a voice from heaven directing his path? Why not  _________? (you fill in the blank)

His answer: “Because it’s an opportunity that came to me.” (That’s roughly paraphrased; I forgot to turn on my iPhone recorder) He went on to explain that of all of the things he could possibly do here was an opportunity (not a possibility) that came to him through his network of trusted relationships. It fit him. It was his size, his style, within his ability and leadership and it needed to be done.

Man!, I need to make things easier on myself. I need to quit searching so hard through all of the possibilities and start focusing on opportunities that are right in front of me.

On a related topic, I watched this very good movie last night.

The 3 Most Important Resume Items

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I’ve seen a thousand+ resumes over the years and now it is time to declare that the traditional resume must die. Here are 3 things that matter most for your new generation of resume.

1. Remarkable Performance.
This is also known as your portfolio of art, accomplishments, projects and leadership. Believe it or not, when you are exceptional with who you are and at what you do, word does still get around.

2. In-Person Network
All things being equal, the living, breathing human being still makes the most accurate and best impression. Way too many people are jobless because they are hiding behind their computers or are too lazy to drive down the street to me a possible employers or customers. Get out! Go meet some new people that matter. Learn what they do. Share what you do. Volunteer on local projects that matter. Make some free contributions to share your remarkable abilities. Knock on the door on the head of HR, maybe they are more available for real people than you know.

3. Online Presence
NO! I am not talking about your wasted Farmville time on Facebook. Share your art, your talks, your thoughts and your references from bosses, peers, and employees.  Blog about your industry, your role and how you are leading, serving or producing. (Heck, just do it at least once a month if you struggle to get started.) Post interesting and excellent pictures of yourself and possibly short videos. List your past projects giving a few important details. Make it easy for people to contact you via email and phone. If you are worried about security & spam, get a FREE number & email through google, then give your real stuff to legit contacts.

Do these 3 things well and you will never need your college formatted, Microsoft word template resume again.

The #1 Offer People Do Not Take

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Here’s the #1 offer that people don’t take: Experienced Feedback Available
I find that plenty of people will let you do their work for them but that very few seek feedback and challenge and then go back to do their own hard work.

So,
Why do you resist feedback?
Why do you shy away from asking people what they truly think of your work product?
Why do you not change or modify what you are doing based on experienced advice?
Why do are you more comfortable just going through your day doing the same shit you were doing the day, the week, the month or the year before?

Seek excellence. Challenge yourself. Surround yourself with people who press you to become better. Recently I heard a proven expert state it this way, “surround yourself with professionals that have the heart of a teacher”.