The 1% Edge

Does Self-Esteem Impact Time Management?

2012-02-01T16:41:00.000-05:00

To follow you will find one of my favorite articles. It's been around a while...yet it's practical insight is timeless.

I'm posting this article because the answer to the title question is...yes! Believe it or not folks with a stronger self esteem tend to be better managers of time. And I bet you can guess some of the reasons why. I'll expound on that in the next post. For now let's take a look at the always relevant topic of self esteem.

Cultivating Your Self-Esteem
By: Brian Tracy

Your self-esteem is probably the most important part of your personality. It precedes and predicts your performance in almost everything you do. It is the energy source or the reactor core of your personality, and how much self-esteem you have determines your levels of vitality, enthusiasm and personal magnetism. People with high self-esteem are more positive, more likable and more effective in every part of their lives.

Everything that you do or say or think will affect your self-esteem. Your job, therefore, is to keep your self-esteem high and positive on a continuing basis.

Probably the best definition of self-esteem is this: the level to which you respect and value yourself as an important, worthwhile person. People with high self-esteem feel terrific about themselves and their lives. When you feel really good about yourself, you tend to be the very best person you can possibly be.

Your level of self-esteem is really your level of "mental fitness." It's a measure of how healthy, hardy, and resilient you are in dealing with the inevitable ups and downs of daily life. Your self-esteem determines how much peace of mind and inner contentment you experience. It is also closely linked to your health and levels of energy. People with high self-esteem are seldom sick and seem to have an inexhaustible flow of energy and enthusiasm that progressively moves them toward their goals.

How much you like and respect yourself also determines the quality of your relationships with people. The more you like and enjoy yourself, the more you will like and enjoy others, and the more they will like you. In fact, when your self-esteem is hurt in any way, the very first thing that is affected is the way you get along with people. To perform at your best and to feel terrific about yourself, you should be in a perpetual state of self-esteem building and maintenance. Just as you take responsibility for your level of physical fitness, you need to take complete responsibility for the content and quality of your mind.

I have developed a simple formula that contains all the critical elements of self-esteem building, and you can use it on a regular basis to assure maximum performance.

This formula is comprised of six basic elements. They are: goals, standards, success experiences, comparison with others, recognition, and rewards. Let's take them one at a time.

How much you like and respect yourself is directly affected by your goals. The very act of setting big, challenging goals for yourself and making written plans of action to achieve them actually raises your self-esteem, which causes you to feel much better about yourself.

Self-esteem is a condition you experience when you are moving step-by-step toward the accomplishment of something that is important to you. For that reason, it's really important to have clear goals for each part of your life and to continually work toward achieving those goals. Each progressive step causes your self-esteem to go up and makes you feel more positive and effective in everything else you do.

The second element in self-esteem building is having clear standards and values to which you are committed. Men and women with high self-esteem are very clear about what they believe in. The higher your values and ideals are, and the more committed you are to living your life consistent with those values and ideals, the more you will like and respect yourself, and the higher your self-esteem will be.

Lasting self-esteem comes only when your goals and your values are congruent-that is, when they fit into each other like a hand into a glove. Much of the stress that people experience comes from believing one thing and trying to do another. But when your goals and values are in harmony with each other, you feel a wonderful surge of energy and well-being, and that's when you start to make real progress.

Many people tell me that they are unhappy with their job because they can't seem to achieve success no matter how hard they try. I always ask them if they are doing what they really care about and believe in. In many cases, people realize that they are not happy with their job because it is the wrong kind of work for them. Once they change jobs and start doing something that they really enjoy, something that is more consistent with their innermost convictions, they start to make real progress and get a lot of satisfaction out of their work.

The third element in self-esteem building involves having success experiences. Once you have set your goals and standards, it is important that you make them measurable so that you can keep score of your small and large successes along the way. The very act of setting up a goal, breaking it down into smaller parts, and then completing those parts makes you feel like a winner and causes your self-esteem to go up. But remember that you can't hit a target you can't see. You can't feel like a winner unless you clearly lay out the standards by which you are going to measure your success and then achieve those standards.

Let's say that you set a goal to sell a certain amount or earn a certain amount of income in a given year. If you break that down into monthly and weekly goals, and then you achieve the first of those goals, you will feel great about yourself. Each time you reach another milestone, your self-esteem and ability to perform will increase, and you will feel encouraged and enthusiastic about the next challenge.

The fourth element of self-esteem is comparison with others. Leon Festinger of Harvard University concluded that in determining how well we are doing, we do not compare ourselves with abstract standards, but, rather, we compare ourselves with people we know. To feel like a winner, you must know for sure that you are doing as well as or better than someone else. The more you know about how well the others in your field are doing, and the more favorably you compare with them, the more you will feel like a winner, and the higher your self-esteem will be.

Successful people continually compare themselves with other successful people. They think about them and read about them and study their performances, and then they work to surpass them one step at a time. Eventually, successful people reach the point where they compete only with themselves and with their past accomplishments. But this comes after they have moved to the top and left many of their competitors behind.

The next element for self-esteem is recognition of your accomplishments by people whom you respect. To feel really great about yourself, you need the recognition of people you look up to and admire, such as your boss, your coworkers, your spouse and people in your social circle. Whenever you are recognized and praised for any accomplishment by someone whose opinion you hold in high regard, your self-esteem goes up, along with your eagerness and enthusiasm to do even better on the job.

The final element of self-esteem involves rewards that are consistent with your accomplishments. You may work in a field where you receive financial bonuses, status symbols-larger offices, bigger cars-or even plaques and trophies for superior achievement. All of those symbols can have an incredible impact on raising your self-esteem and causing you to feel terrific about yourself.

If, however, your existing situation does not offer the tangible or intangible rewards that are necessary for you to build and maintain your self-esteem, you must create rewards for yourself. One of the smartest things you can do is to design a system for giving yourself rewards for both small and large accomplishments as you move progressively toward your goals. For example, people who do telephone prospecting will often treat themselves to a cup of coffee after every 10 calls. After 25 calls, they will reward themselves with a walk around the building or the block. After 50 calls, they will go out to lunch. Each of those rewards serves as an incentive that motivates them to repeat the performance. The end result is success, enthusiasm, and high self-esteem.

Whether or not your current environment provides the six elements of self-esteem building-goals, standards, success experiences, comparison with others, recognition, and rewards-you need to establish your own structure and take full responsibility for building yourself up on a regular basis.

Of course, it is possible to like yourself in the abstract, to think of yourself as a valuable and worthwhile person, but this tends to be a very shaky form of self-esteem that is easily knocked down by a negative experience or a temporary disappointment. The only real way for you to absolutely know that you are a valuable and worthwhile person is for you to make the effort, overcome the obstacles and pay the price to bring these elements into your life. When you have that foundation, you will experience a form of mental fitness and unshakable optimism that will sustain you through failure and propel you to success.

Check out the latest release: Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed - how to manage your time, space, & priorities, to work smart, get results & be happy - learn more here:http://www.joanncorley.com/

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

HR Bites - Need To Know Information on Workforce Trends

2012-01-25T13:12:00.000-05:00

HR Bites
Purpose in This New Segment:
In the spirit of the 1% Edge - 1 bite of information can make a difference in helping my fellow HR colleagues maintain their professional edge.

Today's Bite: Comment on millions of jobs in the U.S. going unfilled...

"The Information Age and The Cyber-Mental Age. Prior to the Cyber-Mental Age (2010), we had a large percentage of jobs that required only minimal literacy and numeracy. Now, over 50 percent of the jobs require high levels of literacy and numeracy, plus critical thinking, communications and computer skills. Only about 27 percent of the US workforce has these abilities." (My comment as an HR-training & development professional - this is a trending challenge!)

Source: An interview with Ed Gordon, a futurist specializing in career and technical education. Author of the Winning the Global Talent Showdown-(Berrett-Koehler, 2009)

Check out the latest release: Organizational Strategies for the Overhwhelmed - how to manage your time, space, & priorities, to work smart, get results & be happy - learn more here:http://www.joanncorley.com/

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

What Business Leaders Need to Know and Won't Be Told In a Typical Time Management Seminar

2012-01-24T09:53:00.000-05:00

Time management -- it is one of the most popular topics in any professional development offering. It’s has been around for years. Franklin Covey put it on the map, made it mainstream and it’s one of the most popular professional development key word searches on Google.

In general, people are aware of it, think they should be doing it, and believe it is important. And yet I must say, when you take a traditional time management seminar or training there are critical issues that dramatically impact it that won’t be mentioned.

As a business leader or manager, why should you care? Those critical issues directly impact your company’s bottom line.

I’ve traveled across North America over the past 13 years teaching time management, getting organized, and reducing stress seminars. I teach leadership seminars and coach corporate managers and small business owners and from those experiences (and my own experience in corporate life) have gleaned insights that are fundamental to effective time management and its connection to company profits.

To follow are a few of those what you won’t hear insights and I’ll suggest that without being aware of them, time management training, as we know it – will have minimal effectiveness. In essence you won’t really be getting what you’re paying for.

What you won’t hear in a typical time management seminar:

1. Trouble employees waste time. I don’t mean to sound heartless. Yet it’s very important that those who lead understand that more time, energy, and focus is taken up with trouble employees than with those who are productive.

A study released by the Future Foundation several years ago entitled: The Hidden Costs of Poor People Management (worth a read for sure) shared some interesting findings: U.S. managers waste an average of 34 days per year dealing with underperformance. Senior executives claim they spend seven weeks a year -- or over an hour per day -- managing badly performing employees.

Why?…well that leads to #2.

2. The lack of understanding of behavior and effective performance management wastes time. One of the major issues that managers have (as I have met thousands across the country) is that they do not know how to manage behavior – which in essence is managing people.

Couple that with the lack of company process and strategy to effectively and quickly coach folks to get better – or clearly decide it’s time for them to go and that adds up to a lot of wasted time.

Bottom line…there is a lot of time spent with employees who should be let go a lot sooner!

This situation leads to #3.

3. A lack of knowledge wastes time. There is more opportunity to train employees and managers than ever before and opportunities I might add that will not break the bank and yet, the lack of training in general for employees and particularly for managers is an epidemic and completely unnecessary.

A very doable and affordable time management strategy is to have embedded in every business growth strategy an employee and management growth strategy as well. I’ve seen it – as employees grow in skills and capabilities, a business grows.

4. Managers unskilled in managing time waste the time of their staff and negatively impacts your profits. Ok, this is self explanatory- time management training should be a fundamental offering at every company just like employee orientation.

And for the record, I want to speak out for the many workers of America (from all 50 states I might add) who’ve told me how unorganized and time inefficient some of their managers are and the incredible amount of unnecessary stress that creates.

Alrighty, I could share more, but those are compelling enough for sure.

So, consider these questions: Is time management and time management training a part of your business execution and profit strategy? Do you believe that the skill of managing time is fundamental to business success and a company’s bottom line? How does your company operations reflect success in the areas mentioned above…or not?

I’ll leave you with this final thought and question: If your business could have 3 extra weeks of time for just 1 employee how would you re-direct that time to impact profits? Where would you get 3 weeks or more?

Here’s how:

After I present the managing interruption tips in my seminar, I pose this question, “How much time do you think you could recapture in a day from that one tip?” I get a myriad of answers ranging from several hours to 15 – 20 minutes.

I then ask them to calculate the answer using numbers on the low side, so we usually use 30 minutes. Here’s how it looks:

1 Week: 30 mins. a day recaptured x 5 days = 150 mins. (2.5 hrs.)

1 Month: 150 mins. x 4 weeks = 600 mins. (10 hrs)

1 Quarter: 10 hrs. in a month x 3 mths. = 30 hrs (3.75 days assuming 8 hrs in an average work day).

1 Year: 30 hrs x 4 quarters = 120 hrs. (15 days divided by 5 work days = 3 weeks!

Think about it for a moment - taking back 3 weeks of time for just 1 employee. Now, calculate that for an entire team. How could that impact a company’s bottom line? Conclusion?...time can be translated into profits.

Check out the latest release: Organizational Strategies for the Overhwhelmed - how to manage your time, space, & priorities, to work smart, get results & be happy. This book is based on the seminar of the same name - learn more here: http://www.joanncorley.com/

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Managing Email is Managing Time

2012-01-14T09:29:00.000-05:00

I do believe this is another of the competencies I mentioned in the introduction that needs to be developed. Effective email management is a skill.

If you can manage your email 1% better - you’ll create more time to get more work done. With the suggestions to follow, find your 1% edge.

Email can be an effective way of communicating, but I believe and have experienced, that the lack of skill in using it just creates more work. A lot of time is wasted with email.

With that in mind, I recommend you adopt this mindset regarding email:

Email is a tool to manage the virtual experience. It is a tool to work with people through a process to get to a result. (So is text and the phone for that mater).

You know there are a lot of expectations when people communicate virtually that are in their head but don’t get put on paper.

Here’s what I mean. How many times have you gotten a request for something from a colleague and there was no indication of when it’s needed - no time and date? How many emails don’t have enough information in them and therefore requires 3 or 4 more email exchanges just to get from point A to point B.

Because most people do not use email effectively, I recommend developing this skill:

Be more specific, informative, & directive when using and writing emails.

So what is specific, informative and directive? Tell people what to think, how to behave, and what to expect as specifically as possible.

For example - have a format or template that you use on a regular basis. If someone sends a request for something and it doesn’t have all the information, send it back with specific instruction on exactly what you need at the exact time and date you need it.

In some cases you already to do this. When I’m conducting a seminar I ask, “How many of you have your out of office reply on?” Many raise their hand. Then I ask then to share what it says. Many will say, “I’ll be out of the office on x day returning on x date. If you need assistance call x at extension 3560.”

That is a great example of instructive, informative, and directive. It clearly illustrates tell them what to think – what to expect – how to behave.”

Here’s the overriding point to remember: e-mail like voicemail is a tool to manage a virtual experience and relationship in the context of trying to execute work. It’s about managing behavior, results, and expectations.

It’s useful to think: “I’m managing my relationship (or experience) with this person and I’m communicating with them through e-mail, and that’s apart of a relationship. This person has a personality. This person has a work style with certain characteristics that are either helping me or hindering me and I need to communicate in a way to coach that person so that I get the results I want in the most efficient and effective way.”

This is an excerpt from the newly released book: Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed -
To learn more - click here

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Do You Have a Meeting Philosophy? The CEO of Google Does

2012-01-11T09:29:00.005-05:00

(My apologies for the previous release and the typos...)
I would say one of the consistent complaints I hear as I travel across the country conducting the seminar Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed are how meetings are such a waste of time! And as we know...time is a key commodity in getting the results needed that lead to profits.

So...if this is an issue in your organization - take some advice from Larry Paige, the CEO of Google. After I read this I thought, "Awwh...and this is why they are where they are." (One of the most dominate companies on the planet.)

I also thought - this is leadership! Larry issued a company wide letter giving guidelines on meetings.

Here they are:

Every meeting must have one clear decision maker. If there's no decision maker -- or no decision to be made -- the meeting shouldn't happen.

No more than 10 people should attend.

Every person should give input, otherwise they shouldn't be there.

No decision should ever wait for a meeting. If a meeting absolutely has to happen before a decision should be made, then the meeting should be scheduled immediately.

The source article also stated a useful insight. "These rules sound like common sense, but they often disappear as companies get large and people call meetings more for political or ego-boosting reasons than to actually get anything done."

Today's coaching tip: How about using Larry's advice and modeling his leadership...nuf said. :-)

Read the entire article: http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-how-larry-page-changed-meetings-at-google-after-taking-over-last-spring-2012-1#ixzz1j9x0jynK

New book release: Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed - How to manage your time, space, and priorities to work smart, get results, and be happy - Formats available: book, kindle, audio, e-book download

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Are You an Expert Question Asker?

2012-01-10T09:15:00.002-05:00

Questions Are a Powerful Communication Tool
In the spirit of the 1% - one skill for sure we need to have in our leadership-management skill portfolio is the ability to asked the right, the best question.

Why? Questions are a highly effective and necessary communication tool in many ways.
Here are a few:
- it stirs and speaks to the subconscious (where everything we really are is housed; especially our core truths.)
-it helps people learn how to think, process, and come to their own conclusion (very useful in persuasion).
-it helps people consider a new line of thought
-it's a way of building rapport
-a way of expressing care and concern
-it's a great way to communicate with someone who resists being "told" what to do

Questions provoke, inspire, lead, teach, motivate to name a few - thereby making it an essential element for your leadership-management toolkit.

Of course how you ask the questions equally matter. For example if it's done with an "interrogating" tone...that may evoke the opposite of what you want - shutting someone down vs. opening someone up.

Question Asking 101
One of the easiest ways to get started developing the skill of question asking is starting with what I call the power 6 - 6 words we learned in our elementary years: who, what, when, where, how, why. I recommend you begin practicing with these.

For some of us (those with management styles that are more directing), getting the feeling of and developing the habit of being an "asker vs. a teller" will be a very interesting and informative practice.

Additionally as you use these questions, determine what you want to accomplish with them. Do you want to...
-have someone consider something different?
-teach them a lesson?
-encourage them to learn to problem solve via developing options?
-feel cared for

So here is our coaching question from this 1% lesson - In what area(s) do you need to enhance your management-leadership effectiveness? How can being a skilled question asker help you achieve that?...and ok...I can't resist - 1 more question - What are the benefits of developing this skill?..to you? ...to your team?

By the way, the book this blog is based on is in the question format. The book is designed as a coaching book - it's more of an "asking" book vs. a "telling book. If you haven't gotten a copy yet, I recommend the workbook version - which includes the questions. This version is also available on Kindle.

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Check out the latest release: Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed - How to manage your time, space, and priorities, to work smart, get results, and be happy.

The Power Of New!

2012-01-03T16:04:00.000-05:00

I love the new year! (Though it always comes with Winter - it's 23 degrees in West Georgia today). But back to our theme.

One of the quotes I share in my seminars (which apparently is pretty popular) goes like this, "Don't let your past pollute your present or undermined your future." The beginning of the new year gives greater umph to that sentiment.

I simply want to start off the first blog post of this new year with the encouragement to take the "new" in New Year to heart. How will you implement the meaning of new? How will you start fresh...with yourself, with others?

The power of New could be used as a cleansing of the old, a de-cluttering and getting rid of and that could apply in your thinking, emotions, closets, work space, garage and dare I say even relationships. Or it could be something as simple as a new look.

If you're a manager, can you use the power of new to reset team expectations, reset how you manage and relate to your staff? New can be about resetting or renewing in any area.

While the feeling and time is here...let's leverage the power of new! It is simple and yet can be powerful and profound...

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Ever Heard, "There is a Book Inside of All of Us?"

2011-11-26T12:22:00.000-05:00

With the upcoming release of my next book, I'm being asked about what it takes to write. Many express their desire to do so, but are stalled by overwhelm and not knowing where to start.

A while back I ran across a blog post entitled, "How to Write a Book in 40 Days." I've had it for sometime so I don't have the source, but here it is. And by the way, one of the many reasons I love this is it follows the principle of the 1% edge - a little bit done consistently goes a long way. Following the information is also a link to Create Space, the self publishing arm of Amazon.

Is there a book brewing inside you?

How to Write a Book in 40 Days
1. Create a working title which represents your basic premise or theme, Example: "Marketing to People Whom You Thought You Couldn't: How to make every stranger a potential customer."

2. Create ten chapter titles (or 12 or 14, but I like 10). Example:

a. The art of marketing

b. The obvious targets

c. The non-obvious targets

d. How to create irresistible appeal

e. The lead pipeline and how to fill it

f. Never losing a lead

g. Killing prospects with value

h. Closing the sale before anyone knows it

i. The rare and lost art of the referral sale

j. Customers for life

3. Create four or five key points for each chapter. Example:

d. How to create irresistible appeal

i. Luring people to you

ii. Identifying the emotional "trigger"

iii. Providing buying options

iv. Unique value propositions vs. the competition

4. Write five pages for every key point and you'll have a 20-25-page chapter.With 10-12 chapters, including front material, appendices, and index, you'll have a 225-300-page manuscript (which would be about a 200-250-page book,enough for hardcover).

5. You're done. If it takes you one hour, for instance, to complete one of those key points, it will take you about four hours to complete a chapter, and 40 hours to complete a book. If you feel I'm conservative, then double it, but you're still talking about 80 hours, which can be two hours of writing a day over two months or so.

So, if you're really intent upon a book and are at sea about how to begin it, use my formula and get cracking. It's worked for me 21 times, so I just might be on to something.

Self publishing resource: https://www.createspace.com/
This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Your Job Search Begins While You're Still Employed

2011-11-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

Article first published as Your Job Search Begins While You’re Still Employed on Technorati.

In case you missed - an important read and please pass it on...

Ok I know that sounds like an odd statement. And, I bet some reading this have no plans anytime soon to begin a job search - not in this economy anyway. Yet, it is under these conditions that the 21st century job search is being transformed.

As I assist people with career transitions as well as provide support to close friends, it’s clear it’s a whole new ball game. It’s also clear that in some cases creative strategies need to be employed.

One job search component is evident - having a professional network in place, puts you miles ahead of those who don’t. For those I know who have gained employment (or gotten interviews), in many cases it’s been because someone referred them.

Additionally, interviews are gotten because they are extremely pro-active and persevering; they make phone calls, they keep following up, and they spend the time (hours) going through the painful, tedious process of plugging in their information on-line. My conclusion – a job search today takes a tremendous amount of character and confidence. The resounding comments, “ Looking for a job is a full time job and it’s tough.” Yep…it is.

And that brings me back to the title of this article. As your self-appointed career coach for the next few moments, please take to heart the following advice: Please don’t wait until you are laid off to start working on your employment prospects – build the foundation and nurture the infrastructure now!

Here’s a few tips to get you started:
1. Build and nurture a professional network of people who know you, trust you, and can honestly comment on the work you do.

2. Social Networking/Media is here to stay so use it. As I travel across the country conducting professional development seminars, there is a mix of attitudes about the social media presence in our lives. Some feel it’s turned into a down right invasion. No matter, accept the fact that it is here to stay and can serve you well, should you be in a job search. There are affinity groups, professional organizations, etc…that make it easier to connect, which will more effectively serve #1.

3. At minimum have a LinkedIn presence. My nephew in college already has one. If you choose no other, choose this as it is the original on-line professional connection source.

4. Please know some folks have found jobs via Twitter…so learn about it.

5. If you use Facebook, stay in the know about privacy settings and be discerning about what you put on your page. Believe it – recruiters comb the web for information.

6. Digital resumes are helpful. What’s a digital resume you say? It’s a web site of sorts that can be used to present you in ways a flat one-dimensional resume cannot. Without giving away proprietary information, you can describe your work experience, projects, and successes.

7. Keep track of not only what you do, but also what you’ve accomplished. Figure out how to give numbers and percentages to what you do where possible.

8. Keep developing professionally – go to workshops and seminars even if your company doesn’t pay for them. Last week I heard a great story from a woman in my seminar that got promoted because she did that with her own time and money.

9. Develop an “enhanced professional presence.” You can volunteer to speak at an event, do a lunch and learn, comment or write for blogs, or contribute to news articles. I subscribe to HARO (Help a Reporter Out). Reporters are always looking for people to contribute who are involved in real ways (meaning outside the guru, consultant genre).

You’ll notice all of these tips are building a foundation and are practices of active career management. Those who are passive will be farther behind as they ramp up a job search.
The final tip?...make active career management a permanent practice in your professional life.

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

2011-11-08T21:00:00.001-05:00

This a sneak peak from the soon to be released book: Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed - How to organize your time, space & priorities to work smart, get results & be happy

I welcome your comments and please spread the word...of the release..

___________________________________________________________________

The Bottom Line…

It’s all about decisions that generate behaviors

that create habits.

Consider this formula: Consistent behaviors = habits = results

In fact, did you know that the sum total of your life could be spelled out with five letters? That’s right. - H A B I T. Those five letters spell the word Habit. Habits are automated behaviors. They produce consistent, automated results.

We each have automated behaviors that get the desired results and the undesired results in life. Ultimately in changing anything in your life, it’s helpful to view it through the lens of habits.

With that in mind, building an awareness of your habits is the final component of improving the “Me in Team and Time.” Building awareness means taking yourself off automatic pilot and becoming more conscious of what you’re doing.

Here’s a quick exercise:

Identify a positive, consistent behavior in your life by filling in the blank below:

I’m in the habit
of_______________________________________

Now identify something you’d like to change, but identifying it as a habit…fill in the blank again.

I want to develop the habit
of_______________________________________

Habits are the hard-wired behaviors created and mapped in your brain, sourced primarily from your subconscious. The hard wiring, simply put, is the neural pathways mapped through doing or thinking the same things over and over again.

So in order for a change to occur or a new habit to be created, a new neural pathway has to be built. The key – the new action has to happen consistently and long enough for the new pathway to be built.

This is one reason people get discouraged when setting and then not meeting their New Year’s Resolution or other behavior based goals. The attempt to change does not happen long enough for the neural pathway to be created.

I recently ran across a poem devoted to the word habit.

HABIT

“I am your constant companion; I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I’m completely at your command.

Half the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed. You must merely be firm with me.

Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great men and alas of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those of you who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine although I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a man. You may run me for profit or run me for ruin. It makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me and I’ll put the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. Who am I? I am HABIT!”

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Sources for Syncing the Family Calendar

2011-10-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

Sourced from: Suzanne Kantra, Founder, Techlicious

Keep Organized with a Family Calendar

With five busy people in my house, keeping track of who needs to be where when is a challenge. There’s my work schedule, my husband’s work schedule, my kids school calendars, classes, doctor’s appointments and games and all of our social events.

We have a paper family calendar that is posted by the fridge. It has all of the kids’ appointments and events, plus work travel. But writing appointments into the little squares is difficult and there’s no way to access it unless I’m home.

What I use instead is a digital calendar that syncs with Outlook and Google Calendar so I can see everyone’s schedule wherever I am so I can set up doctor’s appointments or schedule a dinner party with confidence that I’m not double booking someone.

My favorites are below. Each has a couple of features that set it apart (and some limitations).

Cozi Family Organizer

The Cozi Family Organizer syncs appointments with Outlook and can be accessed through iPhone, Android and BlackBerry apps. Each family member is assigned a color, so it’s easy to see who’s busy and who’s free at a glance. You can’t send invites outside of Cozi, though, like you can with Outlook and Google Calendar. Read more.

Famjama

The Famjama family calendar is ad-free and can be accessed online or through the Famjama iPhone and Android apps. You can sync with iPhone, Android and iCal, which makes Fanjama the best choice for Mac users, but you’re limited to making appointments only for those using the service. You can also send group messages via text and set up shopping lists. Read more.

Google Calendar

If you’re Gmail user or just looking for a calendar, you can create a family Gmail account and associated calendar. You can then sync that calendar with Outlook, iPhone and Android and share it with other family members who use Google Calendar. It’s also the only option that lets you invite outsiders to events. Read more.

Join the conversation on Techlicious and let me know how you use your familly calendar.

Suzanne Kantra

Founder, Techlicious

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

A New Twist on Having Stuff - Have More of It!

2011-10-25T08:44:00.001-04:00

Every morning I get to wake up to a wonderful gift in my email called Daily Dose. They are challenging, inspirational, and chalked full of rich wisdom. Daily Dose is written by an internet friend, Linda Fitzgerald, who also started an online-offline group call Affiliated Women International.

I found this morning a great Daily Dose regarding the concept of stuff. I love that word. I use it alot in my classes on getting organized. I am usually talking about how to manage your stuff and mostly get rid of lots of it. In fact I use the phrase, "less is more."

This morning, however, Linda offered a much different take on stuff - one definitely worth sharing.

Here is - a new take on stuff!
Thanks Linda!

Affiliated Women Intltm

Enriching Women WorldWide - One Neighborhood at a Time!

A message to all members of Affiliated Women Intltm

This a.m. I was responding to an email about bringing "stuff" for the gift baskets at our Indy charitable event tomorrow.. The slang phrase "Stuff It" ran across my brain.
We usually think of these words strung together as a derogatory comment to someone who irritates us. I used to say it to my daughters when they got a bit "lippy".

But here's why I'm using it for today's Daily Dose: I believe - no I know that each of us has been "stuffed" with more native ability, talent & skill than we can ever imagine! I know we can become the woman we're intended to become. I know we can do anything we set our heart/mind to do.

So let me suggest that today, you begin to get acquainted with your "stuff". That you haul it out, examine it, let it 'speak' to you about how valuable you are & how it is part 'n' parcel of that value.

Then don't "stuff it" back into hiding. Put it to work. Use it. Most of all, let others see your "stuff" - the "stuff" of which you are made! The world needs your "stuff"!
Warmly,
Linda

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

The 1% Edge is Now a 1 Day Seminar!

2011-10-12T12:00:00.000-04:00

I have to credit a client for giving me this idea. She loved the book so much that she asked me to craft a seminar around the book. It's been so much fun putting it together! There will be a formal announcement about that later.

Additionally after conducting a management training for another client who bought the book for all her managers, in coordination with the book, I am sending e-coaching reminders tied to the key themes in the book - 7 themes/categories - 7 follow-ups.

The whole purpose of the book is offer meaningful concepts and actions items that really can make a difference if genuinely applied; and thus I consider them "power tips or power strategies." These will be part of the post as well.

So, I'd like to share those with you over a period of posts. And if you haven't gotten the book yet, the link is below and the workbook version (expanded explanations with coaching questions) is
also on Kindle.

Management Moment
E-follow up #1
These e-reminders are also included in your book The 1% Edge - the topic and pages are referenced at the end of each tip. The book is designed to record thoughts, notes, and most importantly an action plan. Use it fully as your self-coaching guide.

Topic: The YOU Factor - Are You Committed?
Remember our conversation about really wanting to be a manager? Consider this encouragement to again, be honest with yourself. Embrace and recommit to being a manager 100% and with that review your MOP (management operating philosophy). If you haven't completed it, here's your reminder and if you haven't posted it where you can see it everyday - this week is the time to complete that action.

Power Tip: Be honest - do you really want to be a manager? You won't be your best unless you are really honest and commit whole heartedly to the role you've been entrusted with.

Book reference: Section 1 The You Factor - Pages 15 & 18

Complimentary Lessons from the Brown Bag Bite Site:
Create Your Guiding Principles: What's Your P.O.P.
Do You Really Want To Be One? Are You Caught in the Management Dilemma?

This blog is based on this book. In it are actionable ideas on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

2011-10-07T15:00:00.000-04:00

It's Brown Bag Friday
One of the easiest ways to gain your professional edge the 1% way is to add continuous learning to your lifestyle. Brown Bag Bites can help you do that. Below is the introduction. If you wish to go right to the lesson where you can listen or read, just jump to the link below.

Today's Topic: Your Power Point - And I Don't Mean The Slides

Day in and day out, believe it or not, we have power points. Here’s what I mean. If you have a sheet of paper in front of you, I’d like for you to write out this equation: E=R=O. If you don’t have a sheet of paper, just write it out in your mind. Again, E=R=O.

Here’s what they stand for: E is the event, R is our response or reaction to the event, and O is the outcome that is a result of our response or reaction to the event, E=R=O. You know, that’s a formula for how we live our life.

Life happens, stuff happens. And consciously or unconsciously, we are responding and reacting, on a regular basis, to things that go on around us. And they result in outcomes. Some of those outcomes we like and some of those outcomes we don’t like. That formula is so important to be conscious of because if you want to have different outcomes, you’ll have to consciously determine different responses and reactions to various events.

Click for the full lesson here: Your Power Point

This blog is based this book. In it are actionable idea on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

My Reasons Why Bad Bosses Exists

2011-10-05T09:30:00.000-04:00

I recently responded to a media query regarding the above topic that I wanted to share....

Query for title: How Do Bad Bosses Get to Be Bosses?

I have authored a non-fiction book based on personal experiences from many years
in the corporate business world. "The BOSS is IN: incapable, incompetent, ineffective..."
describes twenty three cases of bad bosses.

Questions arise, "How did those bad bosses get to be bosses?" Further, "How do they remain bosses?"
I plan to author a follow-on book that provides answers.

I am looking for personal knowledge from bosses (good or bad), employees,
human resources, retirees or others involved in the hiring and/or promoting process.
What are criteria? If a boss, how did you become a boss?
I am also interested in stories of bosses being fired.
I will give credit (if desired) and a complimentary copy of the book.
I will change all names of characters. Thanks.

My Response:
Thanks for writing this book and I would really like to stay in touch and even help promote it. I believe bad bosses exist for several reasons:

1. A basic lack of knowledge of how bad behavior impacts profits, motivation, and the overall "wellness" of a team.

2. A lot of folks are promoted due to the personality trait of need to direct - be out front - act first; which doesn't mean they will make effective leaders.

3. Some folks are promoted because they have specific product or service knowledge; perhaps credible individual contributors and yet when promoted no knowledge of how to manage people.

4. An overall lack of management training in most companies.

5. Lack of accountability to what's happening as managers.

6. Lack of career pathing; in most cases the only way to make more money or advance a career is via a mgt. path and in many cases - people don't really want to be managers.

7. Most decision makers at all levels of a corporate structure themselves do not have adequate knowledge of how to effectively manage.

By the way, I'm not the kind of person who points out the negative without offering solutions. It is my goal over the next year to make management training and development more accessible and affordable than ever. It started with The 1% Edge, which provides great and effective tips and there is more to come.

This blog is based this book. In it are actionable idea on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

The Power of 1% - It Really Doesn't Take Much to Make Progress!

2011-08-30T15:01:00.000-04:00

Can 1 tip make a difference or improve your bottom line or make a difference in your quality of life? YOU BET! You see, it doesn't take doing a lot. Just doing a meaningful thing consistently. This is the power of the 1%...focus on the 1.

I haven't posted much on the blog as of late as I've been trying to do final edits on my upcoming book. The book is surrounding the themes of time and organizational management, getting results, and increasing productivity while reducing stress.

If you've ever wondered if bringing a seminar on site is worth the investment - would impact the bottom line consider the following:

One of the most popular workshops I teach across the country is Organizational Skills for the Overwhelmed. (I love that title!)

When I begin the workshop I usually go through a discussion of what the participants want to get out of the day. One of the most popular needs it dealing with interruptions from other co-workers.

Though there are many ways to approach is, I give a 4 step process that is tactful, controlled and easy to implement.

As I've been teaching this, we've been calculating how time would be saved (or I say recaptured for reallocation) if this were implemented. People are amazed when they do a calculation what that can translate into over a period of a month or even a quarter.

One participant in my class indicated he would not only recapture that time, but also help other team members save time as well. But for the sake of the exercise, we just worked his numbers.

Ok, he indicated he would save on average 1 hour a day x 5 days in his work week = 5 hrs x 4 weeks = 20 hrs (that 2.5 days for the month)....over the course of 1 quarter? (20 hrs a mth x 3 mths = 60 hrs divided by an 8 hr. day = 7.5 days a quarter x 4 quarters in a year?....30 days.. .that's 1 work month and a week!!! Wow!!....just from him learning and implementing that 1 tip.

Realize...that is just for 1 person. Imagine the impact of this tip on an entire team? Let's say the same holds true for a team of 5 - 30 days x 5 team members = 150 days divided by 25 work days in a month = 5.2 months of time recaptured to direct towards other activities.

Wow! Think that's worth a 1 day seminar for a company?

Additionally, this affirms the premise of the the power of 1 and the 1% edge. It's doesn't take a lot of money and time to impact a company's bottom line and for employee training and development to positively impact company revenue.

So...do you want the tip?....here it is - Managing Interruptions

This blog is based this book. In it are actionable idea on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Reality Check - It's Mid Year - Really!

2011-07-02T11:01:00.000-04:00

Mid Year - Inspiration - Time As A Motivator

It goes by so fast, right?

We've hit the mid-point of 2011, so you've got 6 months left.

Six months to create more.

Six months to share your message more broadly.

Six months to live more, achieve more, serve more, amplify your potential.

Then, BAM, it's 2012, and another year went and you must ask, "Did I really make this year COUNT?"

Well, I say it's time for all this caution and pause and fear-based thinking we see everywhere to STOP.

IT'S TIME to breathe life into the "make-it-happenness" that lives within us all.
It's your time to be more and have more.

Quick coaching tip: Stop! Take time out to assess your year so far? In my mid-year assessment I asked myself, "what habits do I need to develop to get the results I desire."

Source: Brendon Burchard's email - author of The Millionaire Messenger

This blog is based this book. In it are actionable idea on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Management Success Tip: Be A Skilled Decision Maker

2011-06-29T19:00:00.000-04:00

Category: Management Styles, Management Effectiveness, Productivity

Post Source: The 1% Edge - The Workbook

Master The 4 Key Decision Making Styles

Management entails a lot of decision-making in a variety of situations. There are four key decision making styles: spontaneous, decisive, methodical and inclusive.

An effective manager is able to respond to the need of each situation with the best decision making style. Be aware of your natural default style and train yourself to use the others where appropriate.

Of the 4, what you identify as your natural decision making style?

Can you identify the natural style of each of your team members?

Coaching tip - Evaluate a variety of situations in which you’ve made decisions and ask these questions:

What style did you use?
Was that the best style of that situation?
How could you have made a decision differently?
What style(s) would you like to develop?
Do you know of any situations now that you could use to do so?

I recommend you print this post, do an honest evaluation and I guarantee you, you'll find your 1% in those answers.

Bonus tip: You can manage and coach people more effectively when you are keenly aware of their decision making style. Be aware that this can also be a source of conflict within a team.

This blog is based this book. In it are actionable idea on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

American's Choose Leisure Over Learning?

2011-06-28T11:20:00.000-04:00

Category: Time Management, Life Management

There is recent article in the Wall Street Journal surrounding a survey taken on how Americans use their Time. The report reflected many observations including the fact that leisure is on the increase.

Here is the summary of the report:
Americans are gaining more free time, but are devoting most of it to leisure rather than learning new skills or working out, according to a new government survey.

On average, Americans aged 15 or older spent about three hours and 58 minutes working on weekdays, according to the 2010 American Time Use Survey released Wednesday by the Labor Department. That was a six-minute decrease from 2009, and down 26 minutes from 2007, before the recession hit.

In its annual Time Use Survey, the Labor Department says Americans are working less, sleeping more and watching a lot of television. Joseph Light explains why.

According to the survey, that time has been allocated largely to leisure activities and sleep. In 2010, for example, Americans spent an average two hours and 31 minutes watching television on weekdays, up 5.4 minutes from 2007. They caught eight hours and 23 minutes of shut-eye per day, up more than five minutes from 2007.

When you read additional information in this article, many questions can be asked. This is a great example of the principle of 1% in the context of choosing how we use our time.

If you didn't catch the Book Snap Shot of my upcoming release, I recommend you read it in light of this article... it addresses the power of choice in the context of time. Read Snap Shot here

Read full WSJ article here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304657804576401890078537246.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

This blog is based this book. In it are actionable idea on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

The Power Of Now in Time Management

2011-06-27T09:10:00.000-04:00

Book Snap Shot

"I do believe that living our best life now is grounded in being aware of the opportunity for choosing in each moment."

You may be familiar with this phrase. Several years ago a book was released by Ekhart Tolle entitled The Power of Now. Interesting read I must say.

One of many takeaways from that book is thinking about the concept of “now.”…as opposed to earlier or later.

I think for many (and I’m including myself in this) we think in terms of what’s coming up vs. focusing on what’s happening at the moment primarily because we have so much going on. It might be described as partially functioning in the present while constantly anticipating the future. And because of that, we are rarely if ever all in the moment.

So if it’s even remotely true that we are rarely all in the moment, are we at our best in our moments? Can we give our best in a moment when we portioning part of ourselves out in anticipating the future?

Why does this matter? It matters because a moment is a segment of time. A moment turns into minutes, which turns into weeks, months, years….a life time.

Can we conclude then, that not maximizing our moments, giving our best in a moment undermines living our best life now? What a thought – the “nows” formulate a life time. Ah ha! That’s where that phrase, “being in the moment” comes from.

At this point, probably some questions on how can we live more in the moment are appropriate.

Should we….slow down, become more aware, focus on 1 task or event at a time?

One Additional Consideration

In order to accomplish any of this we need to consider another key element in living our best life now and that is choice. Each moment is presented with a choice. A choice is defined as “actively choosing.” Each choice generates a result. Each result is a building block of our life.

By the way, conscious choosing is more empowering and we feel more of a sense of ownership to the results generated.

I also believe that in not doing that, some begin to feel and take on a disempowered victim role where they interpret life as happening to them rather than seeing themselves as participating in life and doing all they can.

Book Snap Shots are sections of the soon to be released book: Time of Your Life - time & organizational strategies to live your best life now. This blog is based on the book The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness, which contains actionable ideas on how be a better manager.

Stay Connected to Your Success - The 1% Way

2011-06-26T11:55:00.000-04:00

"I see achievement as simply stepping into our best creations. " Ali Brown

I love that phrase - stay connected to your success. As humans we can tend to have memories and because we are human we can't remember every single event, let alone every single success. (By the way there are a few who do have that gift. I saw them on 60 Minutes last week).

But since most of us don't here is the next best thing - keep a success journal. Or, if you're hung up on the word journal use the word log instead. Imagine the benefits of doing so!

On a psychological level, the very act of consistently recording nurtures a sustainable "success mindset." I think it would be particularly useful as something to reference when things are not going the best.

Just think, the very act creates a habit of success; it's like being your own success coach. It's also a strategy of career management and being a resource when negotiating a raise.

This insight of staying connected comes from a blog post from Ali Brown's blog. Here is the post in it's entirty entitled: “Stay Grounded and Connected with a Success Journal” by Ali Brown http://www.alibrown.com/blog/?p=1663

This blog is based this book. In it are actionable idea on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Word of the Day: Confidence

2011-06-25T12:30:00.000-04:00

I am just about to do an interview for an article the will appear at SHEknows.com. The article is on female confidence in the workplace.

So I always go to my handy friend Webster to consider the dictionary version of a word...and below is what I found.

I think I'll be sharing a word of the day more often. For me definitions provide clarity and insight...at least this one sure did!

Definition of CONFIDENCE

a : a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances <had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed> <met the risk with brash confidence>b : faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way <have confidence in a leader>

: the quality or state of being certain : certitude <they had every confidence of success>

This blog is based this book. In it are actionable idea on being a better manager: The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

The 1% In Reverse - The Downslide of Starbucks

2011-06-20T12:10:00.000-04:00

If you hadn't had time to pick Howard Schultz's new book Onward -it's worth a read. Though I haven't made it through the whole thing, it's an interesting recount of the recovery of a company from the brink.

I look at some of the comments Howard made through the lens of my 1% principle and the power of 1. One decision in Starbuck's case, the decision to expand too quickly, reversed the profitability of the company. The power of 1 - 1 decision = lost revenue.

Howard explains it this way, "The damage was slow and quiet, incremental, like a single loose thread that unravels a sweater inch by inch," (My word 1% at a time).

Tangibly that slow unraveling looked like this - "the company grew from approximately 5,000 stores to 15,000. But it was all too fast. In 2007, Starbucks' stock dropped 42 percent."

The good news of course, Schultz retrieved the leadership reigns and in the depths of the recession, within a 2 year period, Starbucks has gained $10 billion in revenue and employs 150,000.

There are lots of lessons to be learned from this story. As far as the 1% is concerned, remember, even one decision can have a huge ripple effect that can in fact go undetected for a period of time both good and bad.

Coaching question: Are decisions you're making moving you closer to or away from your desired outcomes?

Want to read the book? You can access it here - happy reading.

The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Quick Announcement

2011-06-17T17:37:00.000-04:00

After much dilberation, I have decided to combine my 1% Edge blog with my Seminar-in-a-Bite.

So, this site has gotten a slight make over and over the next few months you'll see the learning bites migrated over to this site. Both sites share the same principles, just delivered in a slightly different format.

Until then, you can still take advantage and of the lay-out and content of that site: Seminar-in-a-Bite

Todays learning bite was a 9 minute video on - Social Media & Your Job Search

With the migration, I'll be featuring the Brown Bag Bite though-out the summer. If you don't want to miss one, I invite you to subscribe via email.

Here's to you getting and maintaining your professional edge - the 1% way. In this economy, we need it now more than ever!

JoAnn

The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness

Make Money Solving the Next Problem - A 1% Solution

2011-06-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

Make Money Solving the Next Problem

This is my favorite story today as I review what to share on this blog that is worth your time to read - the story of The Dutch Brothers. I call this a simple - 1% philosophy for economic stimulus.

A start-up coffee company in Starbucks country started with this premise: Serve Coffee Fast. How did Dutch Bros. make money? By solving the problem raised and created by Starbucks...oh the irony!

Read how this small shack-of-a-business grosses more than $46m in revenue?....in Starbucks country.
http://www.amonmunyaneza.com/2011/02/make-money-solving-the-next-problem/

I am inspired!

The 1% Edge - The Workbook - Power Strategies to Increase Your Management Effectiveness