Get marketing done well by knowing how to execute: #1

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan wrote Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done in 2002 and brought together three important process: people, strategy and operations. The authors don't talk about these processes in realtion to marketing, but I've found they’re an ideal fit for Guerrilla Marketing and MarketSmarterNotHarder.

As a small businessperson, or individual/single contributor sales person, you must Execute your marketing well.

• People Process -  link all the people involved in your marketing to the strategy and operations
• even the smallest of organizations have people outside the employee realm that can/do participate. I'll talk more about this in a later post
• included vendors and fusion partners in the thought process of People
• if you have an HR department, be sure they are involved
• continuously think about improvement in the People Process
• Strategy Process - link your marketing strategy process itself to the people and the operations
• everyone involved in the execution of the Marketing Plan must be involved in constructing and owning their part of the strategy
• a strong strategy for executing the Marketing Plan will address the following questions:
• what is the assessment of the external environment?
• how well do you understand the existing customers and markets?
• what are the best ways to grow the business profitably? (see Guerrilla Marketing)
• what are the obstacles to growth?
• who are your competitors?
• can the overall business execute this strategy?
• what are important milestones for executing the plan?
• are the short-term and the long-term balanced?
• what are the critical issues facing the business that need to be addressed?
• how will the business make money on a sustainable basis?
•  Operations Process - link the process of implementing the actual operations of your marketing consistently to the people and the strategy
• all the moving parts have the same common assumptions
• embrace trade-offs
• have contingency plans
• have a robust evaluation and correction system in place

Weaving and blending these process into your practices into your strategy (you have to have a purposeful strategey) and your opertations (you have one whether you purposefully do or not) is the direct results of the impact you get.

And finally, a robust evaluation and correction process. More about these processes on Monday.

What do you do to stay keyed-in on your marketing efforts? (Comment button is bit small, but I'd love to hear what you have to say..or read)


To that end.....practice, practice, practice....MarketSmarterNotHarder.



Danny L. Smith   |   512-773-6528   | Danny@DannyLSmith.com

www.ImpactMortgageGroup.com

Who do you trust with your mortgage referralls?

Staying on Purpose - A Daily Marketing Plan

Looking over my shoulder and reviewing the day's events (I visualize myself turning my head)....I see I accomplished some of what I'd intended, but not near everything. Part of the start to my day is reviewing my marketing plan, evaluating and making any changes and focusing on the main event.

My personality is high D/I (from the DISC assessment) which means I have great intentions and will set out to accomplish something, even if it's wrong (D), but I can sure get distracted (I) by texts, people calling, a new idea (brainstorm), shiny objects....(oh look at that kitty). It really is amazing that I get anything done while at the same time I continue to be dumbfounded by the fact it happend AGAIN!

The Power of Words

Be mindful of the words you use when you talk to others and yourself. The words matter, and in the words of my friend John P. Griffin...YOU MATTER.


To that end.....

Why Work?

Why do you work? Postings about this subject: http://godandworkmatters.blogspot.com/

22 of the Many Roadblocks to Successful Marketing (and getting money in the bank)

Remember the Titans - Coach Boone Speech

Just saying -

Dreaming through T.A.S.K.S. Based Goal Setting

This has been a fast and furious (no pun) year; lot's of movement and changes that I never would have expected. But....that's why I should continually re-cast goals.

Note 1. this is an updated repost from 2/2/2011

Note 2. I've added comments about "dreams" in August, 2013

Note 3. Personally, I don't do goals well in the typical "goal-setting" sense. My goals are very short-term (rarely do I set a goal past this Friday). What I do though, and I'm very driven, is DREAM.

One generation ago, we were a society that feared and resisted change. Now many accept change as unavoidable and do little to prepare for the consequences. Instead, most people I know flow with the times, struggling to make the necessary adjustments life throws at them.

How about you….how do you engage in the changes in your business, your life? Do you plan, set goals and prepare for changes? Or, are you in the more common camp of “go-with-the-flow.” How about dreams? Do you still have dreams? A few people seem to do well in spite of themselves with this “ready-shoot-aim” method. But that doesn’t work for most of us.

To be effective, we know we need goals and a plan of action, but we’ve set and missed so many goals that it’s gotten us down and we’re scared to set them again. In default we’ve taken to the go-with-the-flow or ready-shoot-aim method and we’ve failed.

So, how does one properly set and stay engaged in achieving goals? And what do dreams have to do with anything?

First, there needs to be a dream. You might call it a passion, desire or purpose. I call it a dream and define a dream as something I want real bad and when things get tough and rough, I can think about my dreams (a dream) and it will get me through the moment, the day...the event.

Whether your role is as a leader, manager, follower, single-contributor or combination thereof, you'll get better results from your goal setting by having a dream and practicing and staying engaged in T.A.S.K.S. - Based Goal Setting.

• Time
• Attitude
• Skill
• Knowledge and
• Style

In order to achieve a goal you must align the goal with your capabilities. If you don’t have the Time, Attitude, Skill, Knowledge and/or Style needed to accomplish that goal, then you’ll need to gain those particular capabilities.

This is the true essence of having long and short-term goals and the time in which you set to achieve them. Achieving good-meaningful-goals is a daily practice that with a few modifications to traditional goal setting rules you will achieve results.

Here is how to practice TASKS - Based Goal Setting:

1. Dream big, dream small, but dream and Put Your Dream To the Test (check out John Maxwell's book: click here)

2. Start growing by associating with what it's going to take to move towards your dream. Zig Ziglar said "you'll be the same 5 years from today as your are today except for what you listen to, who you associated with and what your read." Make the decision to grow.

3. Set short-term goals that drive you to grow towards your dreams

4. Evaluate and correct (learn) the Time, Attitude, Skill, Knowledge and Style you’ll need to accomplish each of your dream, your growth and your goals.

5. Increase your capabilities one-day-at-a-time.

6. Evaluate and correct your growth and goals on a continuous basis. Goals should be “living documents.” Things (life, lack of capabilities, etc) will get in the way that will cause you to not achieve many of them. But, you must be in a constant practice of evaluating, correcting and re-implementing the goal setting process. When it seems too tough, too rough, pause and reflect..think about your dreams. Let your dreams replenish your energy.

Brad McCoy, football coach and Dad to pro-football quarterback Colt McCoy, explains how he coaches football and takes on life; “prepare the player for the path, not the path for the player.”

So, with that in mind, continuously prepare yourself and you’ll do much better on the path you find yourself on. Don’t let your tolerance for change cause you to give up on something prematurely – focus on the dream and depend on the growth to help accomplish the minor goals that require minor changes that lead to big results.

To that end…..live purposefully.

Margins....must have margins, more margins. And clarity.

My daughter, Sunne, texted me one Sunday morning in 2009 that "you have to listen to Tim's sermon series" about margins." I did, and re-listened this past March.

Since that text I've also read the book Tim Hawks recommended "In Search of Balance: Keys to a Stable Life." Those lessons have been instrumental in practicing and living out God's plan these past 2 1/2 years.

In essence....like water in a glass, if I'm too full, I'll overflow when as the day and week builds. Eventually, something's going to get wet and it's rarely a good thing. I need margins.

Michael Hyatt wrote a piece yesterday about margins and mentioned "clarity." Clarity's another big thing for me (one of those trust behaviors)...being clear about my purpose. That purpose isn't just a big holy audacious goal purpose, but today's purpose, this morning's purpose. The type of purpose I need when one-day-at-a-time is too long and I need to just be purposeful about putting one-foot-in-front-of-another type purpose (and being purposeful about where I'm stepping purpose).

Margins are a big deal. Clarity gives what fills my glass focus.

To that end.....

Godin, Trust ....and not being lazy!

As do a few hundred thousand others, I enjoy reading Seth Godon's Blog, and today he hit home with a very short post titled Where does trust come from?

Godin nailed it right up front with a hint.....it never comes from the good times and from the easy projects.

This week I've had the pleasure of working through some good times, projects, files, conflict. In some of it I was a sounding board, some good, some not-so-good, but all of it included people and/or processes.

And through it all, I came out with a bit of knowledge of who and what I can trust, and at what level I need to be checking on what I'm expecting. I know if I get lazy about trusting, I'll get burned...that's just the way it is. BUT, as Godin eludes...it's those engaged well in the battles we stand with.

To that end....tell the truth in ways in can be verified!


How about you....what causes you to trust?

With Baited Breath

Returning a colleague's call today, I left a message and laughingly said I was "waiting with baited breath" to hear back what he was calling about. Hanging up, I thought about how often I'm "waiting with baited breath!"

Being a mortgage loan officer and processor, one tends to always be

• waiting for something to happen
• in a stage of restrained anticipation
• waiting anxiously, or excitedly, or great suspense!

Or, as one dictionary defined it...."having subdued breathing due to high emotions."


To that end...

It's a great Day!

oh...I and like the baited versus bated.

Communicate Well by Deluting the Junk!

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to

entertain a thought without accepting it.

- Aristotle

I'm a bit hung-up on the talking-to-yourself lately and don't apologize. How I communicate with myself is important to having a propensity to trust myself and others. And it's important to have that propensity to trust (trust well, but trust!...I'm reminded of Ronald Reagan's trust but verify).

Almost a year ago I wrote a post about strategic thinking leadership and this post connects in many ways with that...

Notice that Aristotle (above) did not say an "educated person" but rather a trained or educated mind. Hence, a disciplined way of thinking,

As we think, we're talking to ourselves - as we're talking to ourselves, we're thinking about how good or bad we....(you get the picture). We have to pay attention to the noice, the talk, going on in our heads.

Hint....it's many times better to have some "easy listening" music going just to drown out the thoughts going on it our heads. Can't sleep at night? Plug in a good sermon and let your pastor put you to sleep.

Heck, I can't wait to get to heaven for a number of reasons. And when I do, I look forward to eventually running into some pastors (McArthur, Piper, Keller, Hawks, Chan, Carter....) and let them know how much I enjoyed their teachings and how they even helped me sleep.

To that end.......discipline yourself by deluting the junk!

Great Loan Officers as are Great Team Builders

The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with team members smarter than they are. They are frank in admitting this and are willing to pay for such talents.

Amos Parrish

(This is an update of a post from 2011)


Great Loan Officers and Great Team Building

Great Loan Officers -

• know that Great Loan Officers have Great Teams
• are Level 5 Team Builders and work for companies that appreaciate and support Level 5 Team Builders
• believe that the key Sales and Marketing Person is the one delivering the product or service at any given moment
• know that good customer service is the sign of a good hire and bad customer service is the sign of a bad hire
• practice, practice, practice at being a Great Loan Officer and a Great Team Builder
• work hard at all Top 10 Characteristics of a Great Team Builder
• are passionate about being a Great Team Builder

Please don't confuse this list with a complete list of characteristics of a Great Loan Officer; this is just about Great Loan Officers building Great Teams.

Supporting the loan officers that want to build and do their part in building great teams is an incredible purpose to have. This isn't easy and support goes both ways; it isn't just about the LO, nor is it just about "support staff." It is about the TEAM, about the "I" in wInning.


To that end....

Where Rubber-Meets-the-Road: Living Out the "Levels of Leadership"

I had the privilege of speaking to three different groups this week about some of my favorite topics: Trust, Asking Good Question, Levels of Leadership and Talking to Yourself.

Practicing the disciplines of these topics myself and watching how they naturally play out in life is another privilege. One of those "played-out" settings I've pondered has to do with a non-profit. The leader of this very important organization, Larry, is the epitome of living WELL Maxwell's "five levels of leadership." 

While those on Larry's board are all following him at levels 2, 3, 4 or even 5, there are undoubtedly those he is attempting to gain favor and assistance from who are at a distant 1, if at all. 

When we're not leading someone, they're not following and we could actually be chasing them. Being led in this way is not always an enjoyable form of  following. But many times extremely necessary.

As I thought through and prayed for Larry's struggles (struggles are part of doing something well), I was reminded how important it is to lead "ourselves" well as we chase our passion, wants and dreams. My thoughts further carried me to:

• How important it is to talk-smart to ourselves. 
• How talking-smart means, in part, to have a "propensity to trust" ourselves and others.
• Trusting-well means I must practice a good balance of evaluation and correction.
• Trusting-well and talking-smart means always asking-smart-questions.

And.....I must always remember I'm leading at all 5 levels at all times.

To that end....talk-smart to yourself FIRST!

Danny

Talking To Yourself

I had the privilege of speaking to a group this week about "how" we talk to ourselves and "what" that talk can do. Getting ready for that talk I re-read much of Shad Helmstetter's book "What To Say When You Talk To Your Self." ( This is the first book my wife saw me purchase back in 1986).

My talk focused on Trust. In particular, how we trust ourselves (or not), and the impact the words that come out of our mouths have on our trust. How much we trust our self, and others.
Three other books were used to illustrate factors in that 45 minute presentation - John G. Miller's "QBQ," Stephen M. R. Covey's "The Speed of Trust," and God's "Bible." The Bible references came from John Maxwell's "Leadership Bible."

The application I left everyone with was pure QBQ (the question behind the question) -

1. Don't ask questions that start with When, When or Where and/or contain Who or They.

2. Ask questions that start with HOW or WHAT, contain I and focuses on ACTION.

To that end.....become a become a better leader through talking smarter by asking better questions (it's not just others that hear you...you hear yourself)

Danny

512-773-6528

Danny@DannyLSmith.com

Who do you trust with your mortgage referrals? I use my 28 years of experience to lead you through the home loan minefield: www.ImpactMortgageGroup.com

Notes from the book "The Talent Masters"

Notes from Conaty and Charan's book "The Talent Masters" -

1. An enlightened leadership team, starting with the CEO. We find that such leaders invest at least a quarter of their time in spotting and developing other leaders; sat companies such as GE and P&G, it's closer to 40%.

2. Meritocracy through differentiation. Warning....differentiation breeds meritocracy; sameness breeds meritocracy. Talent masters dig into the causes underlying performance so that they can recognize and reward leaders according to their talents, behaviors, and values.

3. Working values. By whatever name the values are called, masters repeat and repeat and repeat their values, and reinforce them by linking recognition and rewards with them.

4. A culture of trust and candor. A company can develop its people only if it has accurate information about their strengths and development needs.

5. Rigorous talent assessment. Talent masters have the same goal and results orientation in their people processes as they do in their financial systems.

6. A business partnership with human resources. Talent masters use human resource leaders as active and effective business partners.

7. Continuous learning and improvement. Talent masters recognize that a fast-changing business environment requires constant change and updating of both their leaders' skills and their own leadership criteria.

A couple of my thoughts - Conaty and Charan's background lends their writings to experience, not opinions (this is good). As I read this book, I'm taking notes and underlining (as I do in most books), but I'm finding that I'm tending to correlate much of what they have to say with others.

This is also good and gives credibility. I'll bring those out in coming posts.

Good stuff!!!

To that end.....

The Power of Habits, by Guest Blogger Blair Ball

thanks to Guest Blogger Blair Ball

www.prepare1.com for incredible

social media workshops

Do you ever wonder why you do what you do? Why others do what they do? HABITS 95% of everything that you think, feel, do and achieve is the result of habits.   Are you wanting better health?  Are you wanting to be more successful?  Are you wanting to have better relationships? The good news, if you change and replace your bad habit's with good habit's good things will happen in your life!  Habits as we know them can be either good or bad. Habits can be ignored. Habits can be changed. Habits can be replaced.   This process within our brains is a three-step loop.   1. The Cue - A trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. 2. The Routine - Which can be either physical, mental, or emotional. 3. The Reward - Which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.

Experts say 60% of Our Marketing Efforts Should Be...

Experts say we should spend 60% of our marketing efforts and dollars with current and former clients.

Yet, how much should you market to current and former clients?

In reference to the circles above, how do you draw people from the "everyone else" to Permission Prospects?

First....be sure you're marketing to present and former clients. Most do not. Never, never and never.

Second...use spaced repetition to market to everyone. You can word search this blog to find other postings on spaced repetition. You can also buy the book "KNOW CAN DO" by Ken Blanchard.

Third..to reach the rest of the universe, meet/great/smile/dial/advertise....and use social media, or hire someone that does social media well. Done correctly, social media will soften your market and add credibility just through name recognition. I've met people at business function, and I've called to introduce myself, and people have said "your name is familiar, where have we met?'

Forth...and this is really the foundation; have a real live living maturing Marketing Plan. Experts say that writing this down, even in the simplest of manners, will put you head-and-shoulders in front of your competition.

To that end....Market Smart, Not Hard

Danny L. Smith
Sr. Loan Officer
Executive Coach
512-773-6528
Danny@DannyLSmith.com

Developing a Niche to Differentiate Yourself

Dan Klopp, owner of Sign Satisfaction, was interviewed recently by Dag Nybo at Austin Business Journal. Here's a quick summary of the 4 ways Dan says to develop a niche and differentiate yourself from your competition:

1. study your competitors, figure out what they do well and where there's room for improvement,

2. focus promotional efforts (I assume the article is referring to all marketing), and stick to that message, and

3. resist the temptation to lower ethical professional standards

You can read the entire article at http://tinyurl.com/7dgrghm

Question...do you know someone who doesn't believe they can refinance their house because they owe too much?

Many people have interest rates over 6% and owe more than the appraised value of their home.

Yet, many can still refinance their home.....even if they owe more than their house is worth.

Have your friends contact me for a free qualification and loan decision (no credit or appraisal costs).

Danny L. Smith
Phone: 512-773-6528
Fax: 512-551-0006

Click below for

Mortgage Loan Application Site

LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook

On Leadership: The Five Dimensions of a Couregeous Follower

Undoubtedly, if we've communicated much at all, you've heard me talk, or write, about following well. Much of what I teach on this subject, besides my own personal experiences, comes from Ira Chaleff's book, Courageous Follower.

This subject, following well, is one of the most important conversations in leadership training. To help us understand the dynamics, here's Chaleff's YouTube video (4 minutes) on the Five Dimensions of Courageous Follower.

http://youtu.be/K1dkfN1XBuE

Related articles can be found by inputing "follow" in the upper left search box.

Make it a great week, be purposeful.

Danny L. Smith

512-773-6528

Danny@DannyLSmith.com

Covey's Speed of Trust: the 2nd Wave - Relationship Trust

Relationship trust is all about behavior..consistent behavior.

It's about learning how to interact with others in ways that increase

trust and avoid interacting in ways that destroy it.

- Stephen M. R. Covey

Pace is "Roots-Up" by guest blogger Steve Heston

“We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”

-  Max Depree, American author / businessman

“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Becoming what we need to be happens in a moment.

The concept today is along the lines of Abraham Lincoln being an overnight success.  He lost election after election.  He lost all his money.  He lost friends along the way.  Then, all of a sudden, he was president, and a danged fine one at that.

We have to be true to ourselves – anything else will contribute to our failure – and we also need to be constantly evolving.  It’s true in nature, and it’s true in us, as well.

What’s the connection to “pace?”

Well, we need to evolve faster than ever before.  We need to pick up the pace.

This is one of two times of year that I desperately miss the farm.  Planting and harvesting are the frenetic times in a farmers life, and they’re also a great corollary to the idea that pace and patience are closely linked.

All through the winter, the soil is changing.  The seeds are getting ready to be placed in the soil.  And, while patience is required, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that billions of microscopic changes are taking place every hour of that waiting time.  Weeks or months later, we see the plants break through the soil, which appears to take place in a moment, when it’s actually been evolving out of sight for those weeks or months prior.

When it comes to changing our pace, perhaps one of the best things we can do is manage our prep time – our patience period – so that by it we are gathering momentum and accelerating our evolution.

What do we read?  What do we spend time on that detracts, rather than contributes to the outcomes we seek?  Who do we hang with?  What “seeds” do we plant in our minds?

If we want to accelerate our pace of evolution, the key to the acceleration is in the quiet times that lead up to the seeds breaking the surface of the soil.

Pace is a “roots up” consideration.

Make something incredible happen today.

STEVEN T HESTON

Staying on Purpose!

Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
- Alexander Graham Bell

 Note...this is a re-write of a former post (way too fitting!).

Looking over my shoulder and reviewing yesterday's events, I see I accomplished some of what I'd intended, but not near everything. Part of the start to my day is reviewing my marketing plan, evaluating and making any changes and focusing on the main event. Ha! Quite a few shots across the bow yesterday.

But, I think I did a pretty good job staying on purpose. Or at least I came back to it, a few times.

My personality is high D/I (from the DISC assessment) which means I have great intentions and will set out to accomplish something, even if it's wrong (D), but I can sure get distracted (I) by texts, people calling, a new idea (brainstorm), shiny objects....(oh look at that kitty). It really is amazing that I get anything done while at the same time I continue to be dumbfounded by the fact it happened AGAIN!

Habits and Clutter

Yesterday I began the day thinking a lot about leading myself, and rambled a bit in this blog and otherwise. I had started off with planned meetings: a standing 8:30-11am appointment I have every Monday, a prequal loan application at 2pm and a 1:1 with Ken Fudik/TeamLogicIT.

A lunch appointment with Gilbert Sausedo @thecolorfactory and Larry Megason/www.restoreavoice.org was added (incredible ministry...more on that in another post). A couple of phone calls are possible leads to loan applicationsI messed up the time on the meeting with Ken and was 30 minutes late, and failed to register for an event I really wanted to attend.

Overall good day of meetings and getting to know people and about their businesses, needs and how/if I can help.

But I missed something important along the way...the timely response to a rate and fee request. As a mortgage loan officer, I make money when I fund a loan. To fund a loan, I have to take a loan application. To take a loan application, I generally have to compete with a rate and fee quote. To compete, I need to be timely.

Sometimes the trust in the relationship is already there and the prospect will go directly to applying for the loan, but not always.

While I was timely in getting the original information to the prospect (30 minutes), a follow-up request didn't happen until hours later.

What caused the delay? I had other appointments, lost track of priorities and let clutter get in the way. This wasn't just missing an opportunity for a loan, it was putting income in jeopardy, loosing focus on my purpose, and clutter.

What caused the delay? Lost focus on priorities.

What caused the delay? Bad habits.

To that end...

Leading Myself, and Rambling

Starting another week and I'd sure like better results from last one. Yet, what do I mean by "better results?" My mission statement says "...make a difference and a reasonable profit." (Hmmm...it should say "positive" difference). I believe I made a positive difference last week, so what has me all spun-up about making this week beeper than last week?

Did I make a difference last week? Yes, seemed to, in reflection just now.

Did I make a reasonable profit? Hmmm, not really. Not last week.

So, my attitude has to do with my feelings of week's "results." The differences I made are overshadowed by numbers?! Not the first time for that.

Ok....T.A.S.K.S. Check-up: Time (check), Attitude (obviously not-so-good, Dreams not clear either), Skill (ok, though working on better habits, need better habits), Knowledge (good, improving), Style (hmmm...still developing style).

I'm now thinking about my "Ponderings on Why Work?" post....why do people put so much time into a hobby that has no hope of any financial gain? Serve money vs serve the work for the Glory of God.

Went I sat to write this post, my thoughts were on "leadership" and not necessarily about leading myself. Then the rambling took hold! (changed post title!).

To that end.....

BHAGs: Put Your Dreams to the Test

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, 
but happy is he who keeps the law.

- Proverbs 29:18 (NASB)

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by 
moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees 
the dawn before the rest of the world.

- Oscar Wilde

I recently heard Brawn Lide, of BrawnCoaching.com, speak on John Maxwell's book Put Your Dream to the Test. Brawn went into fairly good detail on the 10 questions Maxwell challenges you to ask yourself....and I'm challenged.

Here are the 3 "Questions" I'm focusing on this next week and will be challenging myself and others:

#2. Do I clearly see my dream?

#9. Does working towards my dream bring satisfaction?

#10. Does my dream benefit others?

This year is almost 7/52's over and many of us have already forgotten the goals (errr..resolutions) we started 2012 out proclaiming.

That's probably because our dreams aren't big enough. How big are your dreams? What is God's will in your life? Are you considering the two?

It's ok to dream, it's good to have goals and it's ok to dream big and have big goals!

To that end....

Make 2012 the "year of achieving big Holy audacious goals and dreams!"

Danny

Related Posts

Be Smart About Finishing the Year

Setting Goals Worth Achieving

TASKS Based Goal Setting

Performing Daily Acts of Trivia

Goals and the Matter of Values

Goals. Deep subject, and wide. Setting goals is one part of achieving good results. Achieving good results is about a matter of habits (as mentioned in previous post) aligning values, setting good goals, establishing plan and strategies, determining measure points, putting forth the work and having a robust evaluation and correction process.

Goals are rarely achieved because of numerous reasons and the #1 cause is a lack of alignment to a persons T.A.S.K.S. (see below).

The second is a lack of understanding of what it takes to properly setting goals to begin with.

Working through and clarifying your values is the first stage of a solid foundation for goal setting. To properly set a goal, the goal must be reasonable and must be set in accordance with a person’s time, attitude, skill, knowledge and style (TASKS); a goal can be set to increase or strengthen any of these TASKS points.

Goals can and should build upon each other to achieve results that today one doesn’t have the TASKS to achieve. More about that in another session.

A key component to that solid foundation is recognizing your Core Ideology; comprised of your mission and your values. During life’s triumphs, struggles and day-to-day living your Core Ideology is what helps ground your behaviors and thoughts so that no matter what path you find yourself engaged on, you stand true.

It’s vitally important to not only define your mission and values but to put them both in writing, commit to these statements, and recognize when you find yourself detouring.

To that end.....

Habits and Batteries

This "new" year is almost 1/12 over. Three days left.

My step-up goals have not been met and I'm setting here this morning pondering what has gotten in my way.

I heard Donna Fox, CEO of GutsVisionIntensity, speak this week at PriorityAssociates. Donna's talk was on "goal setting."

She emphasized "habits." Or at least my big Ah Ha!, my take-away, the thing I'm remember most about her talk, was HABITS,

Evaluating my Top 10 Goals for 2012's 1st 100 Days (thanks again Scott Carley), where I'm on and not on track to accomplish, and I realize it's all due to habits.

I must develop better habits. Good habits.

This has been a great time of "evaluation and correction."

Thanks Donna, thanks Scott.

And to that end.....I'll now go back to the battery problem in my car, mower and jetski. Maybe I'll develop a habit of..never mind.

“Without dreams, there can be no courage. And without courage, there can be no action.”  

 - Wim Wenders, German film director (b. 1945)   

It’s interesting how one thing feeds another, and the continuum keeps on keepin’ on…   Dreams, courage and action.  

If that’s all we could bring to the game each day, we’d probably be ok. 

But they’re not all we can bring.  When we intersperse these traits with planning, wisdom, experience and knowledge (not necessarily in that – or any order), then incredible things start to happen.   Layer on a dose of practice, and wow, we’re rolling!  

Interesting to note, though, that action and courage are linked.  Even when the outcome is more sure than others – courage is at play.  Those that watch things happen tend to wish they were the ones making things happen.  

 Make something incredible happen today! 

Dream….courage…..action!  

STEVEN T HESTON

Dream Big, Think Small

This is a partial post from Fran Tarkenton's weekly newsletter Fran's Corner at GoSmallBiz.com. While this article is written to Small Business Owners, it pertains to all of us. Great article and thanks to Mr. Tarkenton and GoSmallBiz.

Put your time into dreaming about a great big idea: a great product or a great service. Dream about solving big problems for your friends and neighbors. Dream about doing something better than anybody has ever done it before. Don't dream about having offices in London, Shanghai, and Dubai, with a plush corporate jet to fly you between them. The big idea will take care of all that. Dream about relevant customer benefits and competitive differentiation, and the big idea will pull you right into the Hall of Fame. Dream big, but think small. Too many small companies try to act the way they think big companies act. And too many big companies try to act like the Fortune 500 act. I'm not sure if you noticed lately, but the Fortune 500 has not been acting so smart. They think big: big corner offices, big corporate jets, big office towers, big signs on professional sports stadiums with their names on them. Big costs-but not-so-big profits. They have shareholders who will put up with that foolishness. As a small business owner, your number one shareholder better not put up with it, or all you'll own is debts and regrets. - Fran Tarkenton, GoSmallBiz To that end.... Danny

Sync Your Lips with Your Feet

What you do speaks so loudly that what you say I cannot hear

- Anonymous

Stephen M.R. Covey states "trust is one thing that changes everything. Trust is common to every individual, team, family, nation and organization." Mr. Covey continues with building an excellent compelling business case for Trust and how it is something you can get better at.

Having become a student of Covey's brand of trust the past 4 years, I've used his teachings in my daily practice of coaching, training and life. The one factor that stands out higher than any other is his 2nd core of credibility -

Intent: What's Your Agenda?

You can find this in his words and detail beginning with page 73, but I'll give you my version.

1. Words and Walk; the words and the walk must be the same every time. When they aren't, I lose traction with the relationship and everything slows down. When the words and walk are consistent, then our relationship speeds up and will grow.

2. Watch out for Blind Spots; be aware of the fact that we trust people based upon how much we trust ourselves and our own feelings about trust. If our tendency is to not trust, then relationships don't grow and business slows down. If we tend to blindly trust others, then we'll get burned. Subsequently, as we trust well, we'll build relationships and business between within those relationships will flourish.

3. Willingness to Win/Win; intentions and motives. Is everyone in the relationship pointed towards not only the same end mission or purpose, but also goals along the way and the basis for how to get there? Does everyone understand the other person's "win?"


My favorite Trust Behavior is -

Create Transparency (page 152): tell the truth in a way people can verify. Be real, open and authentic. Over deliver your disclosure.

Opposite is - hidden agenda / withhold information / not disclosing because "they didn't ask"

Counterfeit - masking the real behavior and agenda with hidden agendas and motives / being passively-aggressive / technically telling the truth (Covey has this as part of "Talking Straight" but in practice I've found it to be important here also)


Our lips and feet come out-of-sync in many ways and that can be driven by a lack of focus, the greed to sell something at the moment and volatility. Some of us don't even realize what we are doing at the time, others of us do and mistakenly think the end result is the only thing that matters.

Look over your shoulder and be aware of what you leave along the way; bad and good - improve on the bad and relish the good. Practice trust well.

To that end......


Danny

Third Time's A Charm: I hope

I subscribe to John Maxwell's Your Word Today is....  and today's Word he gave his viewers/listeners was Self Control.

My first view was early this morning and my thought was YEA! I agree, I have control of myself! By 8:30 though, life had attacked and I was in the middle of a couple of controversies; one with someone not making a call they were supposed to make, and then my seemingly inability to perform simple taks on the computer....a certain software this morning.

I thought...self control, self control, self control...why am I thinking self-control! And then I remembered----Maxwell's word.

So, I just now listened to it again. And I feel better. Or did. Not so much now as I write this and I'm thinking one, about the phone call (did it happen?) and two, I've got to get learn how to use that software and get that work done.

Self-Control.

I hope the 3rd time I watch that 1 minute video helps.

To that end...

Deep breaths.

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 is hard.

Just hard.

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

Just hard.

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

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."

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.

To that end....let's purposefully change in 2012.

And it'll be hard.

Just hard.

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

A Baby's Hug

From an Anonymous author…..

A Baby's Hug ~

We were the only family with children in the restaurant.

I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, 'Hi.' He pounded his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter

And his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map. We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists.

This was Christmas time and we were eating before going next to the mall for Erik to see Santa. Frankly, it was annoying for Erik to be so interested in this man across the room.

'Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster,' the man said to Erik. My husband and I exchanged looks, 'What do we do?'

Erik continued to laugh and answer, 'Hi.' Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The Old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby.

Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, 'Do ya patty Cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek- a-boo.' Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed.

We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his Repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments. We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot.

The old man sat poised between me and the door.

'Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik,' I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's 'pick-me-up' position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man.

Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love and kinship. Erik in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes.

His aged hands full of grime, pain, and hard labor, cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a Time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, 'you take care of this baby.' Somehow I managed, 'I will,' from a throat that contained a stone.

He pried Erik from his chest, lovingly and longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, 'God bless you, ma'am, you've given me My Holiday gift.' I said nothing more than a muttered thanks.

With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was Crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, 'My God, my God, Forgive me.' I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny Child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not.

I felt it was God asking, 'Are you willing to share your son for a moment?'

When He shared His for all eternity.

May we all remember the purpose of this season.

Steve Heston on Tebow, Trust and Results

Another great post from Guest Blogger - Steve Heston

“You can’t create a high-trust culture unless people perform.”

-  Craig Weatherup, former CEO of PepsiCo, as quoted in
The Speed of Trust; The One That Change Everything
by Stephen M. R. Covey
and recommended by Randy Watson

Tim Tebow is 7-1 as a starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

He “can’t throw,” “can’t read complex, high-speed NFL defenses,” “can’t make multiple reads,” etc.

He’s 7-1.

He can, and does, win.  He performs.  He gets results.

His teammates, interestingly enough, trust him.  Because he performs, but not just because he performs.

By all accounts, his integrity is impeccable, his intent (to be a winner) is clear and his capabilities have at least allowed him to be in a position to be in the NFL, so those cornerstones are set. 

But integrity, intent and capability aren’t enough over the long haul.  That’s significant today in our world, because we’re finally having “long haul” conversations again within the walls of this here place we spend our waking hours.

So, what are “results?”  To loop Einstein in to the conversation; “Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.”

Covey frames it with six objectives:

1)    Play hard

2)    Have fun

3)    Be a good sport

4)    Be a good team player

5)    Learn something

6)    Win

Pages 114-117 give more depth, so in the interest of space, I’ll move to how Covey suggests we can improve our results;

A)   Take Responsibility for Results

B)   Expect to Win

C)   Finish Strong

Tebow’s Broncos have come from behind in 6 of those seven wins.  The loss, by the way, was a crushing defeat to the Detroit Lions (before several of the Lions got sent home for being thugs).  Tebow bore the responsibility for that blowout loss, and he’s deferred to the team (see #3 and #4 above) in the wins.  Those would be the wins he’s expecting, and the ones he’s producing by finishing strong.  With the teammates he trusts and who trust him.

Integrity.  Intent.  Capabilities.  Results.

The four things that make up the core of the One Thing That Changes Everything.  Trust.

Make something incredible happen today.

STEVEN T HESTON 
SteveHeston@AOL.com

Counterfeit Credibility

Googling counterfeit brought up over 7 million hits; counterfeit behavior 948,000.

Counterfeit means; made in imitation so as to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; not genuine; forged: counterfeit dollar bills. Pretended; unreal.

Credibility means; capable of being believed; believable: a credible statement. Worthy of belief or confidence; trustworthy: a credible witness.

Counterfeit Credibility then means that one's credibility, or credible statement, or credible witness is an imitation, deceptive, not genuine, and deceptive.

Normal counterfeit behaviors that destroys others trust in us, AND one's trust in oneself include:

An Amazing Post. Simply Stinking Amazing.

This is an "amazing" post. I say "amazing" because "amazing" is what my coach told me to say when I thought something was stupid, horrible, bad attitude.....or when I don't have anything good to say.

Keep Looking Over Your Shoulder

The step that most directly controls our success or failure is our

behavior - what we do or not do. Behavior means our actions.

How we act, what we do, each moment of each day...

- Shad Helmstetter What to Say When You Talk to Yourself

What did you do to be successful last week? Look over your shoulder? Literally. Look to see if you did what it took to succeed last week.

Assuming that you're responsible for generating income...Did you make a sale? Did you market well last week? Did you bring new people into your sphere of influence. Did you go out, meet people and tell them about your offer? What you're selling? Did you start new relationships last week? 

In days of old (ten years ago), most of us only started new relationships over the phone and/or face-to-face. These days, there's the social media aspect, email and other internet impact.

And, the guy that succeeds in these relationships will usually use many ways to touch his spheres.

Notable BizTweets this Week

Without Good Followers, There Are No Real Leaders http://ow.ly/6GTFW