September 2007

MARK'S DAILY THOUGHTS: September 2007

2007-09-01 - Building your Personal Brand
A personal brand and a company brand are very similar. Both bring about feelings inside us about what a particular person or company stands for and how they behave. You might even think of this as the combined principles and behaviours of how they interact with others (people / customers, etc). How would others describe your personal brand?

2007-09-02 - Showing Others their Potential
The very best leaders all have one thing in common. They are all very good at showing their people the potential that is inside them. These leaders understand that to create more value in their company, they need to grow their people to use their potential. You could say that companies grow faster when the people are motivated to use their potential.

2007-09-03 - Making your Past Useful
Most people spend far too much time thinking about the past and what they should have done differently. That way the past is not useful to them, and can actually stop them from taking action in the present. Make your past useful by taking the learning from past experiences on how to do better in the present and in the future. Then, forget the past and concentrate on the present.

2007-09-04 - Peer-to-Peer Accountability
One of the most under-utilised leadership approaches is to create peer-to-peer accountability. Creating a structure that makes each of your team members feeling accountable to each other can drive improved performance faster than your ever thought possible. Look for ways to create peer-to-peer accountability, and then implement it right away.

2007-09-05 - Delays: an Indicator of Something Wrong
A good indicator of something wrong in an organisation is the constant delays in getting things completed. It usually is coming from poor processes that allow people to escape ownership for the key outcomes of the organisation. Focus on what is causing the delays and you improve your organisation's performance and success.

2007-09-06 - Strive to Learn Something from Everyone
If you want to grow faster than you are doing today, why not set a goal to learn something from everyone you meet. You'll do more listening and learn more than you would have ever imagined. Everyone brings different talents to the world and you'll uncover them, and then add them to your own.

2007-09-07 - Eliminating the Fear of Failure
What would you do if you knew you could not fail? Very often fear paralyses us from taking action, and then the lack of action creates the very problems we originally feared. Next time you get the fear, acknowledge it and take ACTION. The action you take will reduce your fear and move you forward.

2007-09-08 - You Find What You Look For
People seem to get out of life exactly what they expect. We all leave home each day into the same world. However, the people with positive expectations end each day with more accomplished than the others. Remember, you find out there in the world exactly what you look for.

2007-09-09 - "But" Puts Down a Thought
If you want to be a good conversationalist, it is best to eliminate the "buts" from your vocabulary. Whenever you use the word "but" you are really putting down the other person's thought, and that never helps the conversation.

2007-09-10 - Commitment to Excellence
Commitment is what makes us do what is necessary to get the job done. Commitment to Excellence is what drives us to get the job done right. Good enough is never good enough for the person who has a Commitment to Excellence.

2007-09-11 - Show How Everyone Contributes
One of the key targets for leaders is to show their people how each of them contributes to achieving the goals of the organisation. Making people feel valued and what they do make a difference creates a very powerful working environment.

2007-09-12 - Clean up our Own Act First
You see this everyday. People are always trying to change others and forever wishing others to act differently. The better path is to focus on our own development and improve ourselves first. This always drives others to interact with us in different ways as well. We all need to remember to clean up our own act first.

2007-09-13 - Define Success
One of the reasons many people are not more successful in their lives is that they never really invested the time to define success. Basically, these people have not defined success in enough detail so that it drives their daily actions. Have you defined success? Does it inspire you to take action (daily)?

2007-09-14 - Ability to Keep on Changing
There is one key skill or attribute that will get you far in life. That is the ability to change. If you are willing to constantly take yourself out of your comfort zone, then you will be able to achieve anything you set your focus on and have the discipline to stick with.

2007-09-15 - We Get Paid for Value, not Time
When you really think about it, we get paid for the value we bring, not the time we put in. Successful people understand this well, and constantly look at their focus and activities and ask the question: ("Am I creating the most value from what I an doing right now?"). Why don't you ask the same question, today and every day?

2007-09-16 - People Play "Small" Because of their Fears
People often don't accomplish to the level of their abilities because of their fears, usually feeling that they are not good enough, when they really are. They play "Small". Face your fears and commit to take action anyway, and choose to play "Tall".

2007-09-17 - From Acquaintances to Friendships
When you think about it, the friendships we have are what really makes our lives rewarding. Today, there's a great deal of talk on networking. However, the real power of networking comes when we move from acquaintances to friendships. Remember, family and friends are what creates the real happiness in our lives.

2007-09-18 - Always Remember, Your Boss has a Boss
We sometimes forget this, but we always need to remember that our boss has a boss. Understand the expectations your boss is given by his or her boss, and you will know exactly how to please your direct boss. Every boss has a boss. Invest some time finding out those expectations.

2007-09-19 - Why Self-Analysis is Important
It is very important to do your own self-analysis, as well as participate in 360-degree assessments. Reason is...people close to you often don't like to talk to you about your faults. It is through our own self-analysis and the inputs from those assessments that help us identify where we can improve ourselves the most. When we improve ourselves, we improve our results.

2007-09-20 - Live it Yourself to Transfer it to Others
One of the best leadership approaches is to first live it yourself in order to transfer it to your people. You can always see a leader that is struggling as he or she has skipped the step to live it themselves first. Keep your self-development going strong and set the goal to always live it yourself first.

2007-09-21 - Success is Based on How You Serve Others
Think about it. Success is never about how well others serve you. It is always about how well you serve others. However, many people think it is the opposite. People have achieved success when they have found products or services that served the needs of others, and "served well". The better you serve others, the better the return to you will be.

2007-09-22 - Learning and Innovation Go Together
Learning and innovation go together. If you stop learning, it is very difficult to get the new ideas and information that will drive your creativity. Therefore, to keep fuelling your own creativity, make continued learning one of your most important goals. In fact, your self-development provides the foundation for your creativity and your ultimate success.

2007-09-23 - How Much Do You Want It?
Everyone wants more in life. The key: How much do you want it? Too many people say to themselves, I want it as long as...... They are always putting conditions on what they want. The people who put fewer conditions (as long as...) on what they want will always have a better chance that they will get it. With fewer or no conditions there is more commitment.

2007-09-24 - Keep a Focus on your Potential
Your potential is probably the single most powerful motivator you can have. By investing in yourself to achieve your potential you are basically then investing in your future. However, most people don't even understand their potential, or haven't even taken the time to think about it. Be the one who does, and keep a focus on your potential.

2007-09-25 - A Team of Different Life Experiences
It is very often that the differences of people in a team drive even more creativity in the solutions that they come up with. That being so, a great approach is to build your team with people who bring different life experiences with them. Those differences will drive more creativity and even better solutions.

2007-09-26 - Hardships Help You Become a Better Person
Everyone would like a life without any hardships. However, hardships are part of life and make our happier times even sweeter. Hardships also help us to build our character stronger and really make us a better person. Remember, there's always a bright side on the other side of any hardships we face.

2007-09-27 - Put all your Energy into Today
Life is lived in our "Today's". However, too many people live their lives with the phrase: "I will when....". To really get the most out of life, you have to put the most in it. Put all your energy into today, and you will be amazed as to how your tomorrows will change for the better.

2007-09-28 - To Drive Change, Keep People Thinking
If you really want to drive successful change, keep your people thinking. If you are not challenging their thinking, your people will revert back to the old habits and that means the same way of doing things. When you get people thinking, they begin to change. When get them to continually think, you get the change to become the new way of working.

2007-09-29 - No Excuse is Acceptable
Think about it. A great definition of commitment is that no excuse is acceptable. If you can always think of excuses, you will never have the drive and commitment to do whatever it is necessary to make it happen. An excuse is like a hole in a dam. It only becomes larger unless it is plugged up. Remember, no excuse is acceptable.

2007-09-30 - Ability to Sell your Ideas
One of the most powerful abilities to get ahead in your business life is the ability to sell your ideas to others. The ability to communicate the passion and belief behind your ideas can gain you more cooperation in order to accomplish whatever you want to achieve.

August 2007 « » October 2007

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