June 2008

MARK'S DAILY THOUGHTS: June 2008

2008-06-01 - It should be their Idea
People who have had great success as a leader know it should be their idea. Asking questions and helping their people see the ideas and solutions is the single greatest skill for success as a leader. When it is their idea or solution, there comes along with it greater ownership to implement it.

2008-06-02 - Refuse to be Average
There are so many people who go through life just wanting to be part of the crowd. They want to fit in and not be different. However, if you are as everyone else, then by default you are just average. Everyone has the potential inside himself or herself for greatness, and so do you. Refuse to be average, and live each day always trying to reach your potential.

2008-06-03 - Change is Accelerating
There's a good metric to understand the future success of your company. You can understand a great deal from the following question: Is change accelerating in your company? The world is changing faster and faster, and if your company's changes are not accelerating as well, it will not be long before it will be left behind.

2008-06-04 - Accountability Instils a Sense of Fairness
One of the biggest complaints from employees is a lack of fairness from their leaders. Being fair always starts by holding all employees accountable for their responsibilities and behaviours. Leaders who consistently hold their people accountable never have problems about fairness concerning their employees.

2008-06-05 - The Future Starts Now
All successful people are action oriented and constantly battle against procrastination just like everybody else. However, unlike others who dream and not take action, successful people have the mindset that their future starts now. When they get an idea, they take action on it right away.

2008-06-06 - Leading & Managing the WHY
The most successful leaders focus their energy on the WHY. Those leaders, who don't achieve the success they could, often focus only on the WHAT and the HOW. The WHAT and the HOW are important. However, when the leader's people both understand and are passionate about the WHY, they take much more ownership on delivering the WHAT and HOW. Focus on communicating the WHY for greater success.

2008-06-07 - Prepared to Re-Learn What You Know
Look at all the successful people who achieved continued success year after year, and you will see one common trait in all of them. They were all prepared to re-learn what they know. Our world is changing so fast these days that only those people with an open mind and prepared to re-learn what they know will achieve and maintain their success. How open are you to re-learn what you know?

2008-06-08 - From Doing to Motivating the Doing
Many leaders rose to be a leader because they were very good at what they were doing. However, leadership is not about the doing, but the motivating of the doing. The leaders who focus on motivating their people to do the job just as well or better than they could will always be a successful leader.

2008-06-09 - Participate - to be in the Team
You see many people who are part of teams and almost never contribute anything to team meetings, staying quiet. Are these people really part of the team? The best leaders always focus on driving full participation from their team, and this ensures that all the ideas are getting heard, as well as any issues are put on the table.

2008-06-10 - Thank Them for their Time
Time is something that everyone puts a different value on, and you can see what value people put on it by the way they use it. When asking a busy and productive person for their time, always thank them for it. Remember, time has value.

2008-06-11 - The Difference in Skills is Small
Look at people in the same field who have experienced success and those who didn't. You often find a difference in skills that is much smaller than the difference in their success. Skills help us to be successful. However, it is always our mindset and how we use our skills that makes the ultimate difference and drives our success.

2008-06-12 - The Hardest Person to Convince is Yourself
When you think about it, the hardest person to convince is yourself. This is why changing old habits is so difficult. You haven't convinced yourself of the need to change. Your true power comes when you have convinced yourself on those one or two key habits that are the difference between where you are today and even greater success.

2008-06-13 - Security is in your Power to Produce
There are a great number of people who feel more secure if they don't take risks (i.e. take action). However, by not taking action they can be putting themselves at more risk. Security is more about your power to produce (take action) than it is about avoiding risky action.

2008-06-14 - The People Around You Make a Big Difference
As a leader, you can only be as successful as the people around you, and it really goes both ways. A leader is only successful if he or she has good people around them. However, their people and the organisation are only successful if the leader is giving them challenging work to grow and driving them to work as a team. Remember, the people around you make a big difference.

2008-06-15 - Winners Expect the Best
There is a key difference between winners and non-winners in life. Winners expect the best, and non-winners just the opposite. You could say that a good approach to life is to expect the best and prepare yourself to respond to whatever challenges come your way. Therefore, expect the best and prepare for the rest.

2008-06-16 - Spot a Problem, Bring a Solution
The very best leaders always ask their people to come with ideas for solutions whenever bringing problems to them. These leaders understand that for their people to have ownership in implementing any solution, the people also have to be a key contributor to the solution. Always bring ideas for solutions whenever spotting problems.

2008-06-17 - The Uncertainty of Opportunity
You often see people who are clearly not happy, but are afraid to try anything different. They would rather have their certain misery, than the uncertainty of opportunity. All our growth and opportunities come from moving to what's uncertain. Opportunity means something different, and something different always brings uncertainty. Therefore, embrace uncertainty to grow, and faster.

2008-06-18 - Continuous Study Stretches the Mind
One of the benefits of continuous study and personal development is that it stretches our minds. We get to learn new things that helps us to believe in new things, and that enables us to see new things. Seeing new things always means that we see more opportunities in our lives, and usually the ones that were already there!

2008-06-19 - Thinking about your Legacy
You often see people thinking about their legacy (what they will leave behind) far too late in life. A legacy is really built upon the pursuit of your dreams. It's about what you want to accomplish and how you want to serve others. If you haven't defined those dreams, do it today; and then start the pursuit by taking an action on them right now.

2008-06-20 - Develop your Curiosity
You'll notice one common trait in people with great communication skills. They all are curious and want to learn more about other people. Because of this curiosity, they are always much better listeners than others, and this makes the other people feel important as well. Develop your curiosity to gain better rapport with others.

2008-06-21 - Every Thought is a Road to Somewhere
Our thoughts are what drive what we do in our lives. They are always putting us on a road to somewhere, and often determine the pace at which we drive on that road. To travel further and faster in life, invest time in quality thinking each and every day.

2008-06-22 - Irreplaceable = Un-promotable
There are a great number of people who like the feeling of being Irreplaceable. They feel more important this way and feel everyone is focused on them. However, being irreplaceable also means being un-promotable. If you don't have others who can do your job, how can you move up? Be replaceable in the right way, being promotable.

2008-06-23 - Hold People Accountable for their Behaviours
You can always identify a weak leader, as he or she will not hold their people accountable for their behaviours. They will address a person's performance, as this can be measured. However, it is often the poor behaviours in their people that cause the teamwork problems. Be a strong leader, and hold people accountable for behaviours as well as their performance.

2008-06-24 - Separate Yourself from the Crowd
There's one way to understand if you are average or not. It's whether you feel comfortable in the crowd or not. To reach your full potential in life, you need to really separate yourself from the crowd. Remember, what makes you unique is tied to you using your full potential and living the life that is possible for you. Go after it.

2008-06-25 - We Live Up to our Expectations
There's an old saying that we "get what we expect." Our expectations of what we think we can achieve is an accurate preview of what will actually happen. Basically, we live up to our expectations. Therefore, it is important to create high expectations for yourself that will challenge you to grow and live up to them.

2008-06-26 - What are your Separators?
To get ahead in life you have to have the courage to be different. If not, just being like everyone else means that you will achieve what everyone else achieves. Think about this. What separates you from others and how could this help you to achieve what you want? Your uniqueness is what can drive the value you can provide to others.

2008-06-27 - Set your Autopilot Correctly
Our habits are just like the autopilot on a plane. When we are not thinking, they take over and run our lives. There are many people's habits that are like an autopilot set for the wrong course. They want a life that is one direction, but their habits are taking them in a completely opposite direction. Make sure your autopilot (your habits) is set correctly and that your habits are taking you in the direction of your goals.

2008-06-28 - Face Reality Sooner rather than Later
Many of the problems we face in our lives always became larger because we delayed action on them. We often choose to face the reality much later than we should. For a more successful and happier life, choose to face the reality sooner rather than later.

2008-06-29 - Your Commitments Become your Character
What commitments you make and how you keep them become the most visible indications of your character. Your character is either attracting others to you or having them run away. The best way to create a good visible character is to keep whatever commitments you make to others, and even more importantly, keep the commitments you make to yourself.

2008-06-30 - Get to the Who
In getting things done in large companies, it is often about getting people to take ownership. There are so many occasions where the "what" is talked about, but time has run out before the "who" has been clear. Remember to get to the WHO in order to get the ownership of getting it done.

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