Leadership Ability impacts.....

Leadership ability determines a person's level of effectiveness

- Law of the Lid, John C. Maxwell

Lids negatively impact all of us, everyday. Experts say the we typically go about our day working solely from our unconscious. In other words...on autopilot.

In a marketing class today I was asked "do you think we should take a leadership class to improve our marketing abilities?" My answer was "yes, nothing will help you more than to constantly improve your core leadership abilities. Improve your ability to lead and you improve your ability to trust yourself, others will trust you more, your spheres of influence will increase and your marketing impact will improve in direct proportion." Maybe not word-for-word, but something like that.

What lids are keeping you where you're at? What leadership roadblocks are keeping you from "rising to the next level?"

Think about the characteristics of leadership and marketing. Do you agree they're so closely aligned?

A couple of suggestions:

1. If you'd like my 22 Common Roadblocks Scoring Sheet, email me at Danny@DannyLSmith.com.

2. Click on the Leadership Lunch & Learn tab above for info about upcoming events.

To that end....  

Changes are Hard

He who rejects change is the architect 

of decay. The only human institution which 

rejects progress is the cemetery. 
~ Harold Wilson

I don't care who you are, change, purposeful change, is hard.

It doesn't matter if you're trying to change, or having to changing. It's hard.

Whether you need to change, trying to change or having to change. It's hard.

It's just hard.

If you say it's not, I'll say, as my brother Randy is fond of saying "you lie to your friends and I'll lie to mine, but let's not lie to each other."

When it's not hard is when your molding to the ebb and flow of the world around you and you don't notice the change. 

Otherwise, it's hard to purposefully change. 

Embrace the fact that change is hard and you'll be better prepared to handle the tasks it will take to change.

Because it's hard.

Just hard.

But that's ok. It's supposed to be.

To that end.....

"The top 1% of successful entrepreneurs build themselves ahead of their business."

Les and John; behind the scenes

If you've ever thought about becoming a professional speaker, you'll love these videos. Grab your favorite beverage, click the image and enjoy.

Who's in your inner circle? How are they impacting you?

A leader's potential is determined by those closest to him

- John C. Maxwell, The Law of the Inner Circle

What 3 people do you go to for advice?
What 3 people do you regularly feed from (authors, speakers, etc)?
What 3 people give you advice whether you ask for it or not?

These 3 - 9 people have a tremendous impact on your productivity, your accomplishments, your income, your life.

John tells us (page 131 of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership) "most people create an inner circle of people. However, they are usually not strategic in doing so."

How was your week? Reflect back on it and how it was impacted by those closest to you?

Thinking thoughts about Multi-Tasking

Friend and colleague Craig Foster asked me this morning "how're you doing?"

I proceeded to tell him how much I thought the "thoughts" about multi-tasking being non-productive are a crock.....I went on about how energized I get when I get into my multi-tasking mode versus how a pain it is to be singularly focused (what do you call not-multi-tasking?).

In the end, I'm sure he'll think twice about asking how I'm doing in the near future.

So, multi-tasking......What do you think?

Competencies, Processes, Gray Boxes....and Dreams. Thank you Lord for Dreams.

Competencies. Personally, I like a list such as the attached (see files) that gives me behaviors to add to my process.

"Think-into-the-results" you want to accomplish. Dream about what you want. Dreaming will get you out of your rut.

The results of your Dreams will be a direct reflection of your engagement in your processes. Implement any process, work it, evaluate it, correct it. "Think" about it as a circle and keep going around and around that circle (implement, work, evaluate, correct, implement, work, evaluate, correct, imple......). A good read to reiterate this point is the "Hedgehog Concept" Jim Collins discusses in his book "Good to Great."...

If you haven't read "Good to Great," today's a good day to go to Barnes and Noble, grab a copy off and read the gray boxes.

Every business person should read the gray boxes in Good to Great.

Have a Great Day. It's raining in the Texas Hill Country! Maybe my old dock will float and I'll get to sell it!

Blessings, Danny

Picking the right company to work for: "the 6 Ps"

After making a couple of bad employer choices back in the mid '90s, I decided I needed to decided ahead of time what I was looking for in an employer.

That thought process brought up the 5Ps: People, Processes, Products, Pay and Pricing. A friend, Mark Hairston suggested adding a 6th P (Purpose) in 2015 and I've since substituted Processes for Platforms.

I've been involved in recruiting a large number of people over the years. And I've been recruited. My experience (good and bad) has proven, good and bad, that it boils down to the 6Ps; Purpose, People, Platforms, Products, Pay and Pricing.

You can throw in a few others, and is more of an art than science, but always comes down to the 6Ps.

Note: My experience (not opinion) is that the order is important but not entirely weighed equally. 2nd Note: this is specific to a mortgage company but can be easily adapted to other industries.

Bias Warning: I have a bias towards leadership and believe that everything "rises and falls on leadership." How do you define leadership? Influence. This is a period-the-end thing for me and if you don't agree with that, then you won't agree with the rest of this.

Thinking into results

My coach and mentor Paul Martinelli reminds me to "think into my results."

Here's a great thought....

"Blessedness, not material possessions is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought." - James Allen

Danny L. Smith

512-773-6528

"The top 1% of successful entrepreneurs build themselves ahead of their business."

Goals, growth, dreams. Which is most important?

Goals, growth, dreams. 

If the DREAM is strong enough, the GROWTH will happen by putting in the Time, having (or getting) the right Attitude, developing the Skills and gaining the Knowledge. 

The TIME, ATTITUDE, SKILL and KNOWLEDGE are T.A.S.K Based GOALs. Achieving big goals, without a strong enough dream, are almost impossible. The comfort zone and the impact of reason are too powerful.

But, when the DREAM is strong enough, I'll break free of comfort zone, get past the reason and move through growth.

What DREAMS do I have? It doesn't matter how big they are, but how strong. That strong desire will cause me to want to grow. The goals will be set and I'll grow into the person to accomplish them and get my dreams.

Dreams are the fuel to growth and goals.

To that end....

Resource - Are you on LinkedIn and not sure how to benefit?

Getting ready for the week?

Getting ready for the week? 

Remember these words of Ralph Waldo Emerson 

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Reach for your potential this week.

How much abundance did I miss out on this week?

Coach @EdDeCosta asked this morning "How much abundance can I possibly stand today?"

I know Ed a bit. He's part of the JMT faculty and he's serious about that question.

How about this question, "How much abundance did I miss out of this week?"

That's a question I wonder about. Normally I'll look back over my shoulder, review my calendar, phone calls made and received (missed?!) and emails - on Saturday morning. Not Friday.

Today, I'm doing that so I can finish the week with a bit more abundance, a tad more purpose, and reach harder for my potential. And abundance.

Join me by looking back at your calendar, phone calls and emails. Let that exercise jog your thoughts, mess with what's "in-the-box" (your head and heart) and finish the week well.

Reach for abundance today.

Blessings

Do you have Untapped Potential?

What do you honestly believe about your potential?

Think..."what do-I-honestly believe about-my-potential?"

One of my coaches, Christian Simpson, reminded me this morning that we can't manage and improve something "if we're not aware of it."

You have potential you're not using. We all do. Evaluating where you are now in life, your business, your leadership, your marketing....it seems trivial but it is THE important 1st step in your journey.

Again, "what do-I-honestly believe about-my-potential?"

I believe you have so much untapped potential it's mind-boggling!