Here are the performance management principles was developed by the U.S. Army:

Principle 1: Performance driven: This principle deals with the key organizational drivers behind the change. All business process changes must be based on customer needs and business performance measurement. All business activities and processes that support them should be done for a reason. Measurement techniques such as balanced scorecards indicate whether we are acting consistently with organizational goals, which should be based on customer needs and traceable to key performance indicators (KPIs). This principle in no way says what the right measurement indicators should be. Every industry is different, and every organization has its own strategy for identifying which goals are achievable. Nonetheless, it is vital that each organization chooses wisely; the old adage “You get what you measure” is universal to all organizations.

Principle 2: Customer focused: This principle deals with the following questions: Why would your customer care about the change? Will the improvement initiative solve or improve an identified customer issue? Who are these customers?

Let’s answer the last question first: a customer is any individual, organization, or institution that has a vested interest in or can influence the organization’s performance in some way.

To analyze the gap between our current processes and what the customer’s needs are in the future, we should consider two key factors. First, we should have a strong grasp of our customer’s needs. Second, we should understand the state of our current relationships and a have view of what we want these relationships to be in the future. Gaps between these two states will drive our needs for change. The future state view will provide a set of evaluation criteria for change from the current reality, which then will be translated into balanced scorecard KPIs.

Principle 3: Traceable to the customer requirements and key business criteria: This principle speaks to the ability to trace change to a customer requirement; if you cannot trace an improvement to a specific customer requirement, then the viability of the improvement initiative needs to be questioned.

The challenge is to build a traceable and actionable link to customer requirements and balance that with institutional and operational objectives. Conflicting business and political drivers can devastate a sound decision-making process. When those drivers are also misaligned with the organization’s mission and culture, we cannot expect successful results. Change initiatives that waste millions and even billions of dollars can be found in almost all organizations and institutions of any size and complexity. Typically, the root cause is poor decision making, or poor interpretation of the organization’s needs and customer expectations.

Principle 4: Segmented along business process lines to synchronize change: This principle deals with the importance of cross-functional integration and collaboration to ensure a sustainable change initiative. As more and more governmental agencies and commercial institutions move toward Web-enabled services, integration of products and services across an enterprise becomes more and more critical. Management structures with overly rigid organizational structures and boundaries that are too slow to respond will eventually become obsolete and nonresponsive to customer demands. Customer demand for Web-enabled services and seamless institutional response forces closer collaboration and integration between various organizational disciplines from front-end customer support functions to organizational enablers such as information technology and human resources departments. By segmenting the transformational initiatives along business process lines, we have a clear framework for organizing and prioritizing change and for measuring the impact of our efforts in terms that the business executives can understand.

Principle 5: Integrated with organizational change management: Change management initiatives are often used simply as ways of creating a document or developing the communication strategy for implementing a technology system. Clearly, this is a very limited view of change management. Instead, we must see change management as a vehicle for a more encompassing transformation. We must recognize that during initiatives such as implementing an ERP system we are not just impacting technology, data, or processes, we are also striving to identify champions and transform people into enthusiastic supporters and participants who will enable transformation initiatives. This is one reason we should encourage the analysis of existing organizational processes and capabilities. In addition to traditional change management tools, such as communication strategies, we must support changes with appropriate assignment of roles and responsibilities, organizational structures, empowerment, and most importantly, accountability.

During transition, the staff must feel that an appropriate level of trustworthy communication is happening. The main take-away is that staff affected by change should feel a sense of contribution as a result of their participation and should be positioned as the beneficiaries of the new process.

Principle 6: Conducted with a well-managed and time-boxed approach: This concept is not new and traditionally refers to program management. The program management discipline might appear on the surface to be simply managing program time and resources. If it is not aligned with the organization’s culture and not integrated with change management components and not accepted by all levels of the organization, it will be a struggle to meet all program objectives and agreed upon stakeholder expectations. Managing complex transformational programs such as ERP implementation might be the toughest thing ever done. By sticking to a proven project management approach and methodology, program risk will be reduced and program goals and stakeholder expectations will be better managed.

Principle 7: Understood as a continuous process: A major distinguishing feature between continuous improvement process (CPI) and the wave of business process reengineering (BPR) efforts that proliferated in the early and mid-1990s is the approach to continuity of effort. BPR emphasized radical change of business processes and everything that touched them in the “big bang” approach. But it did little to uphold the notion of supporting the ongoing management of the implemented change or ongoing implementation of change. It assumed the solution would have stability in an unstable market with changing priorities. Perhaps for these reasons, as well as issues with people’s natural tendency to resist change, most BPR programs failed to deliver their expected results.

We must recognize that in any given time, our stakeholders will have a set of requirements that are in flux and can be influenced by regulatory and market demands. If we accept the fact that change is an embedded part of business transformation, we should also recognize that building iterative processes in the overall business transformation is critical to the success of a CPI initiative.

The U.S. Army also defines seven phases of continuous process improvement. Table 4.1 lists the eight CPI phases and discusses their benefits and effect on the transformation program. Details for each phase and its associated tools and templates are provided under the CPI framework.

From a business perspective, performance management provides a mechanism to set targets (KPIs) for the different departments and function areas. An effective performance measurement system starts from the mission and vision of the organization and designs the KPIs for each unit or process from this overall corporate goal. In order to dynamically respond to a change, the goal and the KPI representing the performance toward the goal achievement have to be changed or modified. To continuously revise the business process and the low operational goals so that they are aligned with the new corporate goal is a serious undertaking for the senior-and mid-level management.

Table 4.1: CPI Phases and Their Benefits to a Successful Transformation Program 

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

KAM was born and raised in the world of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sold through large-scale multiple outlet retailers, but the application that suits the likes of Tesco, Carrefour, or WalMart is unlikely to match the needs of a supplier in a B2B (business to business) environment, still less that of a healthcare or financial services provider. Selling to a bank, or a hospital, or a manufacturing company is very different from selling to a grocery retailer.

The biggest obstacle to KAM is rarely the customer, nor the competition, but most commonly the supplier’s own organization. If KAM is a new venture within your company, don’t expect the existing structure to be right: most companies are set up in the way they are for good reason – it worked in the past.

Key Account Management (KAM)

• A long-term investment of resources into a customer that offers an exceptional return on that investment.
• The management of a cross-functional business team, with clearly defined goals, roles and obligations.
• The desire to understand the customer’s business, and their challenges, through deep analysis, in order to identify opportunities where we can make a positive impact.
• The development of truly customer focused value propositions, designed to achieve key supplier status.
• The development of a mutually beneficial strategic plan through joint planning with the customer.
• The measurement and management of the return on this investment.

Here are those 10 most typical reasons for having KAM:

1. Customer consolidation – power and professionalism.
2. Global/regional customers demanding a uniform approach and service.
3. Increasingly complex decision-making processes.
4. New purchasing practices.
5. The supplier’s own complexity – selling through multiple business units.
6. The growth opportunity requires prioritization of resources.
7. Your products alone no longer provide a source of competitive advantage; relationships matter.
8. The desire to sell solutions.
9. The desire to make a positive impact on the customer’s business strategy through truly customer-focused value propositions.

10. The pursuit of abnormal returns for abnormal efforts.

Do you need KAM in your business? A checklist

A positive answer to any one of these five questions will indicate that some form of KAM is either necessary in your business, or will be advantageous.

1. Does your customer portfolio exhibit a tendency towards the 80/20 rule – a small number of customers accounting for a large proportion of the turnover, such that loss of any one customer would be very damaging?
2. Do some small number of customers provide a particularly significant future opportunity, perhaps through their own growth, your ability to gain share, or that they represent a particularly effective route to your target market?
3. Does the customer have a particularly complex, or lengthy decision-making process?
4. Does the development and delivery of the value proposition require the application of a cross-functional resource?
5. Is it possible to develop an enhanced value proposition through focusing on a small number of customers, and will there be a satisfactory (and measurable) return on that investment from the application of this new value proposition to a wider group of customers?

Related posts:

1. 12 BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SKILLS CHECKLIST. 16 GOOD BUSINESS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. 7 Reasons Why Do Businesses Fail? Do You Have Business Management Skills? To help you...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Have you seen a weird behaviour from pet owner? I just saw a dog owner carry their lovely adult Chihuahua inside a pet stroller for walking. This behaviour make me laugh. We can accept if you put baby/puppy who can’t walk, but this one is an adult dog who can walk and run. This over-loving behaviour really pampers animal on the same level as human.

I also remember the golden rule from Dog Whisperer to make a happy, calm and balanced dog: Exercise, Discipline and Affection (in that order). You need to bring your dog walking/running for daily exercise (at least one hour every day), inside of putting them inside dog stroller. You need to discipline your dog by giving a dog rules, boundaries, and limitations in a nonabusive manner. Using reward, you can show affection to your dog if they behave in correct way. If you neglect discipline and exercise, you’ll get future problem in taming your dog if they misbehave.

Sometimes your dog may misbehave when you bring him for walking. You can always put on pet products, like dog leash , to bring him under control. Try to get him comfortable with the leash, and to show him the leash is not to be feared. If not, he’ll probably roll around trying to dislodge it, or try his best to scratch it off. It is important to train your dog to walk on a leash properly. Your dog has to learn that when you pull on the leash, he gets nowhere. If he wants to continue walking, it has to be by your side on a loose leash. You can buy your dog a fancy leather leash after he is properly leash trained if you like.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Why Most PR and Marketing Fails

Marketing horror stories. You’ve probably heard them. You may have one yourself. These are the stories about how someone tried a marketing technique, sent out a press release, or ran an ad, and “it didn’t work.”

I’ve heard plenty of these stories. And as with most urban legends, there’s usually more to the story than meets the eye. If you’re reading this book, you’re a coach, consultant, speaker, author, or owner of a small business, and you want more from your marketing than you’re currently getting. You may not be marketing at all because your business is new, or because you’re afraid to fail. Or it may be that your marketing is chugging along with mediocre returns or muddled measurement.

Take heart. Marketing isn’t mysterious, and once you understand how the pieces fit together, you’ll be in a better position to market your own company or to oversee someone to handle marketing for you. Let’s start by looking at the seven most common reasons that marketing plans fail.

1. No planning. Many marketing efforts fail because there is no link between the marketing actions and the bottom-line business plan goals that drive revenue. Decision makers get caught up with a vivid, creative idea that isn’t accountable to the bottom line, or because they take a “great deal” offered by a salesperson for a media buy. Marketing without a plan is a disaster waiting to happen.
2. Inappropriate actions. If there is no plan, then marketing actions may conflict with each other. It’s unlikely that scatter-shot actions will support a business plan goal. Disappointing results come about because of a “ready, fire, aim” approach where actions aren’t anchored to business objectives and target audiences. Attempts to copy what a successful competitor is doing without understanding why (or whether) the action is working for them is also a dangerous approach.
3. Lack of clarity about the target market. Blasting out marketing without a clear target is wasteful and unsuccessful. You can’t hit a target if you haven’t identified it. There is a “sweet spot” of potential customers who could become your ideal clients. You’ll need to get to know them to win them.
4. Lack of clear goals. Not only do your marketing actions need to be linked to specific business goals, but each marketing action should be measurable. Build in measurability up front so expectations are clear.
5. Unreasonable expectations. Many people become disillusioned with marketing because they don’t understand the benchmarks for successful programs. For example, most direct mail professionals are thrilled to get a 1-percent response rate. One percent! Yet many small businesses send out a postcard mailing and quit in disgust, expecting a response of 20 percent, 30 percent or more. It’s important to have realistic expectations so you recognize success when you see it.
6. Unclear on how marketing works. For many people, marketing is a lot like a DVD player. They don’t know (and don’t care) how it works. Your odds of creating successful marketing are slim without some knowledge of how the pieces function and the process required to pull the pieces together. On the Internet, new tools are emerging almost daily. Understanding what makes marketing tick is essential whether you’re doing it yourself or delegating it to someone else.
7. Lack of patience. Did you know that marketing research shows that it takes between seven to 30 “touches” to make a sale? Customers won’t buy until they have an urgent need. Until then, all you can do is create name recognition and a good reputation. That’s the value of the Rule of 30. Marketing has a lot in common with farming. You wouldn’t plant seeds one day and go out the next and dig them up in disgust because full grown plants hadn’t sprouted overnight. Seeds take time to sprout. Marketing seeds also take time to grow.

Creating a PR and Marketing Action Plan

Your action plan is the key to the rest of your 30-day success because it’s your compass and checklist.

Your action plan takes all the pieces you’ve put together so far and creates a way for you to make them happen. You won’t achieve every item on your action plan in 30 days, but you can lay the groundwork to achieve them, and make real progress toward your goal.

To be successful, your action plan needs to be detailed. Vague goals such as “I want to bring in more business” are not helpful, because they lack the detail to enable you to take action toward making the goal a reality.

Action plan items must also advance at least one business plan goal by addressing that goal’s target audience. You’ve already attached marketing actions to each goal/audience. This is a good time to look at those marketing actions and break them into smaller steps. That will give you a better idea of the time and money—and specific actions—necessary to make them happen.

For example, perhaps your top business plan goal is to get more visibility about your products and services. You’ve identified the target audience, and you’ve decided to use the Internet to reach them. That’s a step in the right direction, but not enough to really get you going.

Let’s break “use online marketing and PR” into several action steps.

• Identify the Websites, blogs, and online news and entertainment channels that your ideal prospect is already reading. These may be good for your PR announcements.
• Understand what circumstances or events trigger your customer to make a purchase. For example, if your customer values product reviews, it makes sense to put effort into getting your product reviewed by a reputable Website.
• Determine what kinds of social media and smart phone applications your customer is already using. How much do they use the Internet and devices such as cell phones in their daily routine?
• Build on the e-mail list of your current opt-in customers. What can you offer new prospects to encourage them to opt-in to your newsletter list?
• Take a look at your ability to process transactions on-line. Do you have an online shopping cart and does it give you room to grow?
• Think about how you are currently promoting your events, special offers, and other news. Are you taking full advantage of new online media?

Do you see how action steps take your marketing from being a great idea to something tangible? Don’t just write down marketing ideas, turn those ideas into step-by-step action plans and attach them to the appropriate prioritized business goal and its target audience. This one step will make an amazing difference in the results you see from your online marketing and PR, because it will make it clear what you can do every day to make your goals happen.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Stop Worrying

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.… So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matt. 6: 25–29, 34)

OVERVIEW

Do you make a habit of worry? Do you dedicate a great deal of attention and energy to worrying about failures of the past or concerns of the future? What is your honest appraisal of what you accomplish when you worry? What are the fruits of your worry labor? If the first step to becoming an effective leader of others is to become an effective self-leader, is being a persistent worrier the mark of a good leader?

Jesus articulated perhaps the most penetrating analysis of the futility of worry ever offered. His words in this regard are among his most poetic and poignant: “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns.… Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” Indeed, birds and flowers of the field don’t scurry around driven by worry about yesterday’s failures or tomorrow’s potential disasters, and they do just fine. In fact, they do more than fine as they soar through the air and grace the earth with arguably life’s greatest picture of beauty and most sumptuous fragrances. “Why worry?” Jesus asks. It just doesn’t make sense.

Jesus’ aesthetic piece of verbal art consisted of more than poetic prose based on nature, however. In fact, my favorite part of the worry-free philosophy he advocated deals with the issue of what worry accomplishes. “And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” In the book of Luke (12: 26) he adds, “If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?” We are offered the penetrating challenge to reflect on what all the energy and time devoted to worry accomplishes. Obviously, unless we are masochistic, we do not enjoy the worry process for its own sake. As Jesus points out, it cannot add to our lives even a tiny instant in the course of time. In fact, the mounting medical evidence suggests the opposite: that the stress caused by worry can lead to a vast array of personal problems, including dramatically life-shortening illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and many others. Indeed, worry cannot add even a tiny amount to our longevity, but it can significantly shorten it, and sometimes dramatically.

Stress from inner struggles and the multitude of pressures that require our attention at work and in our personal lives arguably causes more health and psychological difficulties than any other source. A plethora of studies have blamed stress for countless health problems and billions of dollars of costs. (The cost of job stress in the United States alone has been estimated at $200 billion a year.) It is little wonder, then, that stress was labeled the “twentieth-century disease” by the International Labor Organization of the United Nations. Simply put, stress can make our lives a mess. And a very poisonous ingredient of destructive stress is the mental process we call worry.

Despite tremendous progress in knowledge and practice in health care over the past few decades, the epidemic of destructive worry and stress persists. For example, one of the recent major concerns of people at work is fear of job loss. A four-year survey of 2.2 million people found that nearly half of U.S. employees were worried about losing their jobs.  Further, nearly half believed that good work performance would not protect them from layoffs by the less loyal employers of recent times. While such concern is understandable given that many people have lost jobs, it is also interesting to note that this widespread worry was found at a time of low unemployment.

Of course, the fact that worry and stress can be quite harmful is not new to us; we’ve heard it all before. Furthermore, most of us accept and believe this persistent message. The problem is that doing something about the worry process is one of the most elusive challenges of human existence.

Worry can lead to physical drain, illness, psychological turmoil, and damage to interpersonal relationships. My own life has been replete with evidence of the destructive capacity of worry. In a previous career in retailing I had a boss who reported such extensive worry that he experienced persistent insomnia. He also developed a nervous stomach that frequently caused him to become physically ill. Another former coworker admitted that he drank heavily every night to deaden the pain of his anxiety and worry. Still another colleague was completely convinced that a close friend’s death from cancer was caused by years of worry on the job. The cases are nearly endless. I have personally experienced depleted energy and various physical symptoms during stressful life experiences. So eliminating worry has become extremely important to me. Indeed, as noted earlier, evidence points to strong links between worry-induced stress and illness and disease, drug and alcohol abuse, and a host of the worst plagues of human existence.

Self-help books and seminars offering techniques that promise to remove fear and worry from our lives seem to be everywhere in our contemporary fast-paced, competitive society. Some of these books and seminars provide temporary relief, if not long-term benefits. Unfortunately, however, most of these potential remedies produce only short-term or inadequate improvements for most people. What seems to be needed is a more pervasive shift in our entire belief system and well-thought-out, customized behavioral strategies for addressing the all-too-seductive worry process. The real cure for worry may well rest in a fundamental shift in the way we view ourselves and the way we live on a daily basis.

I have personally found the philosophy and prescriptions of self-help psychology to be useful but never enough. So, like most people, I have continued my quest for the holy grail of peace and contentment that could provide a solid base for a healthy, power-filled life of personal effectiveness with as few worry-based, wasteful energy leaks as possible. In my broad search I have not found a more powerful yet straightforward philosophy than that offered some 2000 years ago by Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t need contemporary research evidence to make his position convincing. Worry and the negative stress it causes detract dramatically from our enjoyment of everyday life and accomplish nothing of value. Worry occupies our minds with disturbing thoughts and causes our bodies significant pain. It makes us tired and ornery. And even though we would like to believe that it can be a sign of love for those about whom we worry, the drain it places on us actually makes us less capable of loving.

So what can we do about worry? Jesus suggests two important strategies. First, we can recognize our worry and its futility. That is, we can take charge of our thoughts rather than letting worry run wild to ravage our minds and our energy. Instead, we can become fully aware of it and recognize its wastefulness. This is an important first step because it can establish the basis, especially the motivation, for change. Second, Jesus urges us not to worry about tomorrow—to let today’s trouble be enough for today. This exhortation is very consistent with the widespread conventional wisdom that calls us to focus on the present, to live in the moment.

Of course, many other prescriptions are available that build on the worry-busting philosophy that Jesus provided. For example, one approach based on a procedure described by Rowland Folensbee (the director of a Houston worry clinic) includes three primary steps: (1) recognize worry as soon as it occurs, (2) interrupt the worry with techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation or meditation (Jesus would suggest prayer), and (3) set aside a thirty-minute period each day to worry.  That’s right, the final step calls for us to reduce our worry by confining it to an uninterrupted half-hour period each day. Instead of letting worry run unchecked, we are asked to save up our worries and then allow ourselves a controlled dose (not unlike an inoculation to fight disease) at a prescheduled time.

Many clients have experienced reductions in worry of nearly 50 percent using this procedure. For example, an insurance company president reported being a chronic worrier all his life. He was exhausted from sleepless nights, and his productivity and quality of life had suffered greatly. After applying the worry-reduction procedure for a few months, his worry had all but faded away. As he put it, “when I get into my worry session, half the time I can’t even come up with something to worry about.”

In the light of all the logic—indeed, in the light of the unusual clarity of the folly of worry—Jesus seems to ask, So why not take charge of worry rather than let it take charge of you? Effectively managing worry may be one of the most self-empowering gifts you can give to yourself, and it can prove to be a significant step toward vastly improving your self-leadership and your ability to lead others to be empowered themselves.

Transcending worry can unleash the vitality and strength that leaders need to lead themselves and others.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

How do we turn critical thinking into a natural habit? Here is a simple and practical method for you to try out. We call it the fourfold path to good thinking. To follow the method, we make it a habit to ask these four basic questions about the ideas we come across:

These questions look simple, but they are actually quite powerful because they introduce a good structure to organize our analysis. As an example, suppose we are discussing whether it is wrong to eat (nonhuman) animals. Here is how we might apply the fourfold path:
1.    The first question—what does it mean?—is about clarifying the key concepts so that we can understand more clearly the claim under discussion.
o    What do we mean by animals? Dogs and chickens are obviously animals. But what about fish, oysters, insects, bacteria? Is it also wrong to eat them? Where do we draw the line?
o    If eating animals is wrong, how wrong is it? As bad as killing people?
2.    To carry out the second step of the fourfold path, we list all the reasons for and against the claim under consideration.
o    Arguments against eating meat might include: animals have rights, animal farming create a lot of suffering, and it is more efficient to use land to grow vegetables than to raise animals.
o    Arguments on the opposite side might include: farm animals exist because of us and so we can do what want with them, and humans are more intelligent than animals.
o    It is always a good idea to be able to count the number of arguments. For example, three arguments in support and two against.
o    Think about both sides of an issue. Even if you think eating meat is fine, you should try your best to come up with opposing arguments. You will gain a deeper understanding of your own position and be able to defend it better.
o    Evaluate the arguments on both sides. What seems to be a good argument might turn out not to be the case on further reflection—for example, why can we eat animals just because we are smarter? Does it also mean adults can eat babies and intelligent aliens can eat human beings?
3.    The third step of the fourfold path is to consider whether the issue is important. Does it really matter what the correct answer is? What are the theoretical, social, personal, or political implications?
o    How would the world be different if more people give up meat?
o    How important is this question compared with other issues such as poverty and starvation?
4.    The last step is to explore alternative possibilities and further issues.
o    Does the level of intelligence of the animal make a difference?
o    How about eating animals raised in a happy environment and killed in a painless manner? Is this also wrong?
o    What about eating animals that die naturally? What if we can grow meat from stem cells and eat meat without killing animals?

As you can see, although the fourfold path consists of four very simple questions, they help us examine an issue in depth from different perspectives. To improve your thinking, use this method often in your daily life, when you read magazines, surf the web, watch TV, or chat with others. You will become a more sophisticated, systematic, and creative thinker.

There are positive attitudes that are more conducive to good thinking:
•    Independence of thought: Good thinking is hard. Some people just want to know the answers rather than work it out themselves. Others have no patience for abstract or complicated ideas. A good thinker is able to think independently and go against conventional wisdom if need be.
•    Open-mindedness: A good thinker looks at the evidence objectively, and is willing to suspend judgment or change her opinion depending on the evidence. This is not a sign of weakness. An open-minded thinker is not dogmatic. She is willing to admit mistakes, think about new possibilities, and will not reject new ideas without good reasons.
•    Cool-headedness and impartiality: Good thinking does not require giving up emotions. But we should avoid letting our feelings overwhelm our reasoning. For example, it is difficult to think straight if you get angry easily when other people disagree with you. Fair and objective evaluations help us make better decisions.
•    An analytical and reflective attitude: Do not jump to conclusions. A good thinker is one who spends time to analyze an issue systematically and carefully and to actively search for arguments and evidence on both sides. She is interested in learning more about her own strengths and weaknesses to improve her performance.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

We believe that careful observation of communication patterns reveals a lot about the dynamics of a marriage. Underlying emotions and attitudes can often be detected in marital discourse—the patterns of talk that define a marriage. Relational messages about trust, power, respect, and intimacy are often communicated nonverbally, sometimes without awareness. Indeed, habitual patterns of everyday communication sustain both functional and dysfunctional marriages. In our view, counselors and therapists play the crucial role of helping partners identify dysfunctional patterns while increasing the capacity to engage certain kinds of constructive communication such as expressing emotion, negotiating conflict, or forgiving transgressions. The development of improved communication practices helps a marriage adapt to changing conditions.

Partners Develop and Change
Change is (ironically enough) a constant in human relationships. Although acknowledging that personality, cohort characteristics, and social structure remain relatively stable, life span researchers assume that people and their social arrangements are constantly developing. Change in intimate relationships is driven by the development of individual partners as they mature, adapt to changes, and pursue new goals. One implication is that spouses need to adjust the expectations they have for themselves, their partners, and the marriage.

Marriages Have “Turning Points”
Life span perspectives acknowledge that critical events punctuate relational development. Parenthood, childrearing, death of a parent, leaving or entering the workforce, children leaving the home—all of these bring stress as well as opportunities for relational growth. We often think of relationship development as a gradual and steady process. But when couples tell their stories, they sometimes describe these events as important turning poins when relationship quality rapidly improved or declined. A key lesson is that surviving these turning points requires adaptability and the willingness to retool the marriage.

A Resilience Framework
Resilience is the idea that people possess a great capacity to withstand life challenges. Rather than focus on losses and deficits, resilience perspectives focus on the relational resources and communication tools that help couples bounce back from challenges and thrive in the face of change. Resilience is also fostered by certain kinds of community resources.

What are the components of resilience?
Researchers find that resilience includes these six components:

1 Optimism: Resilient people focus on positive results. When faced with a crisis, they are hopeful rather than despairing. They imagine positive rather than negative outcomes.

2 Flexibility: Adaptation to changing circumstances is essential. Even as they embrace lessons of the past, resilient people make adjustments in light of new requirements and conditions.

3 Determination: A strong commitment to future success is another characteristic, which is accompanied by perseverance, patience, effort, and resolve.

4 Sustainability: Good stewardship of one’s personal and relational resources is another feature of resilience. This involves a longterm commitment to healthy behavior and the cultivation of a broad-based sense of well-being.

5 Diversity: Resilience is fostered when people perceive a range of alternatives and options. Resilient people draw on a variety of skills and past experiences. They imagine a variety of potential outcomes to problematic situations.

6 Balance: Stability, centeredness, and harmony contribute to a sense of composure in resilient people. Living a balanced life leads to psychological and physical balance.

The components of resilience provide concrete ways to help couples thrive despite the challenges of centerstage marriage. In using it, counselors help clients inventory their own strengths, imagine more hopeful futures, and connect to helpful resources.

APPLYING RESILIENCY CONCEPTS

• Focus on client resources, strengths, opportunities, and hopeful outcomes, not just their losses and limitations.
• Prompt reflection on unnecessarily limiting or pessimistic assumptions.
• Encourage clients to identify positive role models in their relationship network.
• Help clients locate past experiences that could prove helpful now.
• Connect clients with information and resources in the community.
• Encourage clients to practice new behaviors that promote flexibility, sustainability, and balance in their relationships.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

MISTAKE #1: Lacking Self-Discipline
In life, we either pay the price of discipline or the price of regret. We pay these prices in all areas of our life: our careers, relationships, health, spiritual development, and financial affairs. It is unfortunate that many of us—yours truly included—fail to comprehend this simple law of life.
Let me explain. The laws that apply to all of life’s issues—such as discipline, commitment, patience, integrity, practice, self-control, and focus—either help us live with freedom, peace, and harmony or heartache, failure, regrets, and misfortune as we move along the path of life. Much of the latter could be avoided (not all of it) if we would understand, accept, and integrate this simple truth into our lives.
The price of discipline is that daily dose of exercise, that moderation in our life affairs, our eating habits, our relationship strategies such as open and honest communication, and managing our resources wisely. The lack of these daily little disciplines accumulates day by day and year by year until each of us inherits the consequences of these misdeeds.
I have had many personal experiences where the daily lack of discipline came back to haunt me. I am discovering through these learning experiences that no one is immune to this truth. Arrogance, ignorance, or a combination of both is no excuse, and life really doesn’t give a twit if you claim either. We pay one way or another. And discipline weighs ounces, while regret weighs tons.
The pain of discipline is nothing compared to the sting of regret.

Turn It Around
Remember, it is better to pay the price of discipline than regret.

MISTAKE #2: Trying to Be Someone Else
Being who you are is often a very difficult task. Managers, customers, spouses, friends, parents, and siblings often ask us directly or indirectly to behave in ways that are consistent with who they think we should be. For many years I have been accused of being a maverick. That word can mean many different things to each of us. I don’t know whether I am one or not, but I do know that we can’t be happy, successful, or at peace with ourselves or with the world as long as we are being anyone other than who we truly are. Yes, we are developing, growing, changing, and becoming, but: all of this needs to be in accordance with our own inner drive.
When we allow others to determine who we should be, how we should behave, what we should believe. how we should feel—I know, I know, a lot of shoulds—but that is precisely the point. Who should determine who we are? This is not rocket science, my friends. It is really quite simple: as long as you let others deter-mine your destiny, personality, behavior, feelings, etc., you will never be really happy or successful (no matter how you choose to define success), nor will you ever be at peace with yourself.
Who in your life is not happy with who you are or who you are becoming? How are they attempting to influence your evolution?
Don’t let them do it. I have caved in to other people many times in the past and have always regretted it.
I am not saying, don’t change. I am only suggesting that when you do change, change when you are ready for a new you, for whatever reason. Being true to yourself—to your values, dreams, hopes, desires, needs, and so on—is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself and the rest of the world.

Turn It Around
Grow and change on your own terms, not those of others.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It’s true that English has become a global lingua franca over the past several decades. But according to the CIA World Fact Book, only 5.6 % of the world’s total population speaks English as a primary language. That means that well over four-fifths of the world’s population does not speak English. Why is it important to learn a second foreign language? To remain monolingual means to restrict your communication and thinking abilities; to limit your educational development; and to deny yourself the ability to fully appreciate and understand the world in which you live. Learning another language opens up new dimensions and opportunities and gives you perspectives that you might never have encountered otherwise. Personal, professional, economic and social considerations all point to the advantages of learning foreign languages. There are many reasons why people want to learn a foreign language: To make travel more feasible and enjoyable; To increase global understanding; To improve employment potential; To sharpen cognitive and life skills; To keep your mind healthy (learning a second language has been proven to delay the onset of dementia); To appreciate international literature, music, and film; To expand study abroad options; To make international friends; To increase understanding of different and one’s own culture; and many more.

Learning languages is much more than making yourself able to communicate with others. It’s like getting some nice new surprise and a whole new level of understanding. It’s opening the boundary of the mind. But, learning a foreign language takes time and require dedication.

If you plan to go on holiday to Vietnam, you might think that you can communicate by speaking English, so there’s no point in learning any other languages. Well, it is true if you stick to popular tourist resorts and big hotels where you can usually find someone who speaks English. However, if you want to venture beyond such popular places, going to remote places, to get to know the locals, to read road signs, restaurant menus, etc, knowing basic Vietnamese language is necessary. Learn Vietnamese language will help you to ‘get by’, i.e. to order food and drink, find your way around, buy tickets, etc. But, if you have a more advanced knowledge of the Vietnamese language, you can have real conversations with the people you meet, which can be very interesting and will add a new dimension to your holiday.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1) When You Think Big, the Problems Are Bigger

Here are my observations of being in deep problems in business and dealing with a mountain of debt:

Fear is not a good motivator; it leads you into panic and that makes for bad decision making. Anger and resentment are also emotions which are never far away – and both will alienate all parties if you put them on display. So you need to try to work towards a much more positive mindset – one of hope and optimism – as quickly as possible.

Even if you are not particularly religious, it helps to call on a ‘higher power’ to send you the strength to get through your crisis, plus the solutions you need. You need to have absolute faith for this process to work (which actually feels like a deep sense of calm), and almost immediately you will find that new people, opportunities and invitations will start appearing out of the blue. When this happens, keep an open mind and explore everything that comes your way, even though you can’t immediately see the logic in doing so at the time.

Stay positive and see your situation not as a problem but as a challenge which has been sent to strengthen you, and from which you will learn valuable lessons.

Remember, you are on a life journey, and change is often sent to move you to the next phase of your life, even if it feels uncomfortable at the time. So, even if it all goes pear shaped, bear in mind this could just be life paving the way for something even bigger and better that it has in store for you. Take strength from this extract from Max Ehrmann’s famous poem, ‘Desiderata’:

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

2) Rejection and Rip-Offs

I am often asked whether entrepreneurs are born or bred, and my answer is always that, in my view, there are just three key qualities that all successful entrepreneurs possess which make them stand apart from the crowd. Sometimes you are just born with these qualities, but more usually they are built in via a tough childhood. The qualities are:

SELF-BELIEF, DETERMINATION and DRIVE. If you possess these qualities you absolutely do not need anything else to be successful in business – no capital, no contacts, no experience – and indeed no real talent! All those things can easily be found if you have enough self-belief, determination and drive, because being an entrepreneur is just like being a magician: it is the ability to turn ideas into action, and then assemble all the resources you need to make your business idea a reality. And there is no better story to illustrate the truth of this than that of James Dyson, whose entrepreneurial journey is eloquently explained by the ghostwriter Giles Coren in James’s autobiography Against The Odds.  A journey so beset with issues and struggles and adversity it makes incredible reading!

Remember, the darkest hour is often just before the dawn.

Here are a few observations about persistence in the face of rejection:

• Read any successful person’s life story and you will soon realise that every single one of them – whether entrepreneurs or entertainers – endured many years of relentless rejection and humiliation before they finally found success. Think of it as the apprenticeship you need to serve if you want to succeed in business.
• Persistence is not just about relentlessly plugging away at something in the same way day after day, year after year. You need to trial every single way and approach that you can think of to find your breakthrough.
• If you are struggling with a go-no-where business it could make sense to focus on something else. But if the business you are currently struggling with is truly ‘The One’, then you will know deep in your heart that it is right to keep fighting on.
• Overnight success is extremely rare – success usually builds over time.
• Once you reach a tipping point, that is, when the offers, opportunities and cash really start to pour in, this is the glorious point at which you achieve ‘momentum’ in business – and everything can start to flow very fast and furiously. Momentum is very difficult to achieve – and is worth a huge amount of money precisely for that reason.

3) Knowing everything I know now, here’s what I would advise you to do if you want to sell your business:

• There are a few exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking your business is most likely to be bought if it is growing and profitable. So, whatever happens and right up to the point of doing the deal, growth and profitability should be your first focus.
• If you are contemplating selling your business, make sure that every aspect of it is rock solid, including its systems, strategy, IP, contracts, accounting policy and people. No area will be overlooked in the due diligence process, and if you aren’t proved squeaky clean you can be sure it will be used against you.
• Avoid any form of buyout clause. They are easily manipulated by your new parent company and could even act as a disincentive for your new parent to give you the support you thought you were doing the deal for in the first place.
• Yes, the best time to sell a business is at the height of its value – but how do you know when that time has come? A better yardstick is to sell your business the moment you have lost your passion for it. Selling out will give you the freedom plus the capital you need to do your next business venture.
• Get the best advice money can buy, including advisors to help you negotiate the deal. You’ll maximise the price that way, and sometimes creating distance from the negotiating table can be a powerful thing.
• Don’t be too eager or show too much enthusiasm. In the same way that a man will come on to a woman much harder if she holds back a little in the dating process, sometimes ‘going quiet on a deal’ for a few days or even weeks can make the other party even more hungry to complete. Sometimes there is nothing more effective than ‘radio silence’.
• The more options you have (including the option not to sell), the more powerful your hand.
• Try not to value your business based on what you think it is worth. Value it on what it could be worth to the acquiring party – frequently this is a much larger sum than the one in your own mind. Don’t sell yourself short.
• Remember, the deal is not done until the ink is on the paper. Until that moment, you cannot assume anything, whatever positive noises are being made or whatever assurances you may be given. To protect yourself in case the deal does go through, do not take your eye off the business ball, and always keep at least three options open.
• In paper-for-paper deals you will always be at the mercy of forces you cannot control, and your lock-in period will often prevent you from disposing of the shares for two years. Therefore always take cash, no matter how tempting the share-for-share option might seem.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.