You will never outperform your self-image

Most of us want to move to the next level, become more than we are, want things to change.

What is your current self-image? How do you see yourself? What do you say when you talk to yourself.

You will be same 5 years from today, as you are today, except for
- what you listen to and watch,
- what you read and
- who you associate with.

What are you doing different today to change your self-image, to be better 5 years from today?

To that end...

What is marketing?

Read What is Marketing? at Market-Smarter-Not-Harder

Good doesn't get you business

Good doesn't get you business. You have to be
clear - concise - compelling. You have to engage.
- Ed DeCosta

Ed goes on to say that engaging people is the key to business growth and 96% of your growth comes from engaging people in ongoing conversations.

I love stats when they come from such a high level and respected professional sales professional as Ed.

You have to start a dialog as if someone is listening

- Ed DeCosta

This is another blog post that is as much about marketing as leadership. So, how does this apply to helping leaders lead leaders?

Here it is -

- You're around people everyday, engage.
- You're leading and following other people - every day, engage.
- Start talking like a leaders, engage.
- Start a blog and writing like a leader, engage.
- Tweet, like a leader, engage.
- Post to Facebook and LinkedIn, like a leader, engage.

While you're doing all this, you're talking to yourself. You're engaging with yourself. You're leading yourself and as you learn to lead yourself better, you'll lead others better.

You'll help others lead better.

To that end...

 

Learner - applies to everything

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who 

cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, 

unlearn, and relearn - Alvin Toffler

This quote (above is from Stephen M.R. Covey's Speed of Trust; chapter on "Behavior #7: Get Better."

Things are changing, we all know it, and we must PURPOSEFULLY learn or we'll grow into something we don't want to be.

Learner is one of the 9 Essential Behaviors of Marketing-Smarter-Not-Harder. I write this under the my leadership blog because leaders must market well.

What did you learn yesterday?

What do you want to learn today?

To that end....

#MarketSmarter's 9 Essential Behaviors

You can't talk yourself out of a problem you've

behaved yourself into. - Stephen R. Covey

 

No, but you can behave yourself out of a problem

you've behaved yourself into...and often faster

than you think. -Stephen M.R. Covey

In our Guerrilla Marketing / Market-Smarter-Not-Harder workshops we focus on Behaviors. Behaviors, as explained by Covey (2), are what flows out of our agenda. Agenda flows from our intent.

The Nine Essential Behaviors to Marketing-Smarter are:

1. Learner
2. Takes Action
3. Creative
4. Evaluates and Corrects
5. Sensitive
6. Strong Ego
7. Generous
8. Aggressive
9. Patient

These behaviors are a combination of character and competence. As we remember that marketing is everything we do before and after getting the check, we want to practice these essential behaviors.

A recommended read on behaviors is Stephen M.R. Covey's The Speed of Trust.

To that end.....market-smarter-not-harder.

Danny

ps..for more marketing info and tips, go to the Market-Smarter blog

pss..pay attention to my social media feed for dates and times on free Webinars

Don't let criticism crush your creativity

Thanks to Tim Hetzner, President of Lutheran Church Charities

 for his article that prompted my thoughts on this matter.

"In A Closer Walk Catherine Marshall writes, 'One morning last week God gave me an assignment for one day. I was to go on a "fast" from criticism. I was not to criticize anybody or anything. 'For the first half of the day I simply felt a void, almost as if I'd been wiped out as a person. This was especially true at lunch. I listened to the others and kept silent. In our talkative family nobody seemed to notice.

Bemused, I noted that the Federal Government, the judicial system, and the institutional church could apparently get along just fine without my personal observations! But still I did not see what this "fast from criticism" was accomplishing - until mid-afternoon. 'In the afternoon God gave me a new vision for my life. And it had His unmistakable hallmark on it - joy! Ideas began to come to me in a way I hadn't experienced in years.

Now it was apparent what the Lord wanted me to see. My critical nature had not solved a single one of the multitudinous things I had found fault with. What it had done was to stifle my own creativity.'"
 

Creativity is a huge part of marketing smarter and when we're cynical and critical about our competition, ourselves and well...., it stifles our energy and thoughts.

To that end....stay focused on your competitive advantages!

(this is a re-post from 1/14/12 in my Market-Smarter blog page)

#TwitterTips - for Realtors (and others)

#1 Social Media Rule for Realtors: use Twitter

#2 Social Media Rule for Realtors: do NOT tweet listings

“The reason why people shouldn't be tweeting their listings is the same as why they shouldn't post them on their Facebook page. It’s annoying and it’s borderline spam,” says Eric Proulx, RealEstate.com's social media manager in Stop Tweeting Listings.

Ok. I've given some #1 and #2 social media rules before, but these are mine for today.

Plus, there's speculation Twitter has yanked some Realtors' accounts for "selling" on Twitter. That sounds far-fetched but some are claiming it.

Twitter posts should tell a story, or at least have a theme. I started reading a new fiction author a few years ago, saw he had a Twitter handle, and started following. Along the way I posted something about liking his book. Shortly afterwards I had a guy start following me and re-tweeting some of my stuff. I began reading his tweets and soon realized this "guy" was the main character in the author's book.

The author was using his character's Twitter name to continue a story line between books! How AWESOME is that! The author ended up getting rather raunchy along the way and I stopped following him, but what a great practice.

You'll notice many top bloggers with similar practices but with "themes." For instance, this week, my theme was on John Maxwell's "Law of Magnetism." I posted, at random intervals 4-7 posts a day on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin (I use Hootsuite to schedule the posts and it takes me 5-7 minutes a day).

So...if you're a Realtor, don't Tweet listings! If you're a marketer or salesperson, don't Tweet to sell. "Tweet-to-market" by drawing good attention to YOU. Draw attention by drawing people to click on your Twitter profile where they can then click onto your website where your listings are available. 

To that end....

#ThinkingAbout the Pictures is Our Head

Doug Sherman, in his Bible Study Your Work Matters to God, states "we believe that the workplace is today the most strategic arena for Christian thinking and influence. Moreover, until we become godly workers, we have little hope of becoming godly husbands, wives, parents, or church members. For unless Christlikeness characterizes the 60-80 percent of our lives spent at work, we simply are not living Christlike lives."

The most strategic arena for Christian thinking......hmmm. Have you ever thought much about your thinking being strategic? How about your thinking, do you think about your thinking? Thinking about thinking is not something most of us today think about. Think about it for a minute or two.........hard to do isn't it? How about talking about your thinking, or another's thinking?

How dramatically is your thinking influenced by what's going on around you? Think about how much your thinking is influenced by the thoughts of others, because the mind is hungry for more information and is looking to be influenced. Are you aware of how your thinking is changed? How critical is your thinking?

Prior to the invention of radio, tv, internet, and even the mass production of newspapers, the spoils and triumphs of what flowed from another's thinking a much more celebrated event. In reality, the recepient was much more aware of the absorbtion and how his thinking might be changing. He or she had time to be critical about it.

Thinking about thinking - talking about what we think - arguing about thinking is something philosophers have done for thousands of years. It wasn't that many years ago when people would travel for miles and miles to hear a simple speech and then stay to discuss their thoughts in local bars and meeting houses. Today, we get our information in bits and pieces, yet, as if from a fire hose; there is more information coming in one week's worth of the New York Times than the average 19th century American had available to him/her in a lifetime.

Thinking, critical thinking, and getting one's message across to others has always been an important part of those intent upon critical thinking. Ben Franklin would write letters to his own newspaper under fictitious names just so he could express his thoughts about what he thought and he would then write the rebuttals to further spin the thinking. He claimed years later that he did this in part to develop opinions within his readers' thoughts.

So what does this have to do with life, work and being the right person in the right place? Everything. Everyone is bombarded with news and information they don't ask to receive; from emails randomly read to story lines of favorite tv shows, but received and processe it is. How you handle that information, purposeful or otherwise, helps determine the thinking that leads ultimately to who you are in the future. What do you say when you talk to yourself? What you take in will mold what you say to yourself and that comes out in your behavior to others.

Close your eyes, right now and think about the pictures in your head.

Writer, journalist, and progressive thinker Walter Lippmann, in the mid 1900's, wrote extensively about the tendency of journalists to generalize about other people based on fixed ideas. He argued that people—including journalists—are more apt to believe "the pictures in their heads" than come to judgment by critical thinking.

The pictures in our heads is what we tend to believe and these pictures are formed from what we watch, hear, and read. And what most of us watch, hear, and read, is accidental; not purposeful.

So, what does this have to do with our influence, Christian or otherwise? Everything. If we are not purposeful about what we watch, read, and hear, our thinking will not lead to practicing Christianity and if we aren't practicing Christianity, we aren't influencing others towards God's glory.

And if we aren't influencing others towards God's glory, then what are we influencing them towards?

What do the pictures in your head look like today, and what are they going to look like in 5 years, in 10 years? Are you purposefully drawing those pictures or letting others?

To that end....

Note: this is a edited re-post from http://godandworkmatters.blogspot.com/ on 11/06/2010

#ThinkingAboutCustomers

I've written before about Peter Drucker's book The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization and Question Number 2 (WHO IS MY CUSTOMER).

Right now, real quick....WHO IS YOUR CUSTOMER?

Chances are you stumbled and answered it at least partially wrong. Who is typically treated as the customer is never the only customer and an attempt to satisfy that customer only leads to poor performance. Drucker writes in the book at length about the second type of customers, or supporting customers. They are all people that have the ability to cause you rejection.

Much like the key salesperson being the one delivering the service, the real customer is not just the one writing a check. What if you never interact with the purpose writing the check? Who then is your customer? Does that mean you have a customer?

This revision has been edited by Jim Collins and others: "if Peter Drucker were alive today, he would amend his observation from 40 years ago, when he said, "the purpose of a company is to create a customer." Today he would say, "the best companies don't create customers. They create fans." He would say that it is less important to report better profits this year than to check on whether you improved your share of the customer's mind and heart this year.

Everyone, every team, every company, every manager, every executive every board must do a better job of understanding who the customer is and how to create fans of those customers.

Note we aren't talking about "know your customer." That's different than "know who your customer is."

While the org chart can be top-down, or inverted, or sideways, it doesn't matter unless everyone understands and accepts who the customer is FIRST. Take the time, it matters.

Keep this out in front, right along with your mission statement. Know your mission, know who your customer is.


To that end.....

#ListeningMatters - Guest Blogger, Steve Heston

“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.”

- Unattributed, so I’m taking credit…(Steve Heston)

Them’re some powerful thoughts, right there.

“Creative force?” “Unfolding and expanding?”

Powerful, indeed!

If our goal is to draw closer to someone, to help create their new futures and fulfill their needs and wants for their lives, careers and outcomes, listening is a powerful tool. If our goal is to evolve and change with the times and lead in a meaningful manner, listening creates us. Each of those pictures – drawing closer to, interacting with a creative force and being, literally unfolded, expanded and created for tomorrow – excite me.

Let’s make it easier for others to move toward us. Let’s make it easier for us to move toward one other. Let’s really listen. Let’s make a difference.

Steve Heston
www.TheHestonGroup.com
 

#ThinkingMatters

Thinking about thinking. Thinking about having good margins in my day. thinking about the importance of prayer. Thinking about how much I pray. Thinking about how much I don't pray. Thinking about the processes I use to be more productive. Thinking about the processes I think about and don't use. Thinking about my schedule today. Thinking about yesterday. Thinking about making and difference. Thinking about making a profit. Thinking about decisions. Thinking about paths. Thinking about being told I think too much. Thinking about learning. Thinking about discussion group at CRU yesterday. Thinking about mastermind group yesterday. Thinking about sharing at life group last night. Thinking about the lesson on prayer...thanks Brook! Thinking about 2 big things from page 141 last October were Planning and Listening. Thinking about need to listen more. Thinking about looking for opportunities to shut-up. Thinking about need to get on with today.

To that end........Lord, help me to think more critically and to cause better actions.

#ThinkingMatters

...as a man adapts his mind to that regulating factor,

he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition,

and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts..

- James Allen in "As A Man Thinketh

On #ThinkingMatters

- Set aside time to "think" everyday
- Be determined to think right things
- Have a special place to think
- If needed, develop a process to help you think (certain music, cup of coffee, your enviornment, pen and paper)
- Write thoughts down (including those after you've drifted..what were you thinking about when your mind wondered)
- Gather good input during today to think about tomorrow
- Spend time with good thinkers
- Reflect on your thinking

(from "Today Matters" by John Maxwell)


To that end....

Sacred Work: Maturing

We tend to judge others based upon actions, ourselves upon intentions.

In a short conversation with Jim Butt (@JimButt3) on Friday he said "It's good to see how you've become more alive with your Christian walk in the last 2 years."

I was thankful, but also a bit stunned. Was he saying I wasn't always this forthcoming? I thought it was well known by anyone around me for very long that I was a believer. But, thinking about the period in my life when Jim and I met, I realized what he was saying. My feelings were I've been this way for years. My thoughts instantly jumped to a different period when we regularly talked about glorifying God through policies and procedures, prayed before meetings and even had people leave the company because of our beliefs. When I took someone to lunch, anyone, I'd say "I hope you don't mind but since I'm paying, we're praying." And I bought a lot of lunches in those days!

But....that was more "before" when I was a CEO with 8-10 direct reports and over 400 hundred employees. Things changed, surroundings changed, people within my daily circle shrunk. Two years ago I was trying to find myself, my dream and a new plan.

My mission has been intact; make a difference (Colossians 1:28,29) but I was struggling with how to do that in my new role. Ha! I wasn't sure what my new role was. Sometimes one day-at-a-time was just too long. I wasn't as open with my testimony as I had been. John Piper says "God is most glorified, when I'm most satisfied, in Him." I'm afraid I was not well satisfied.

But, that's when "the rubber meets the road" and one learns to put one foot in front of another, pause, pray, reflect and let life catch up. Those are the times we learn to be, in the words of John Eldridge, "alert and oriented x 5." Or not.

I thankful for these times, all times, God wants me to "....search the matters out" (Proverbs 25:2) and I know now that as much as I was worshiping Him and searching Him out before, I'm closer to Him today. God has led me through new times and my heart, soul and mind have been strengthened.


Thanks for the compliment and reminder Jim.


To that end.....blessings and God's mercy.

PS...this is a repost of post at http://godandworkmatters.blogspot.com/
 

Winning Habits are....

Wikipedia defines Habits as routines of behavior that are repeated regularly, tend to occur subconsciously, without directly thinking consciously about them.

Dictionary.com defines Winning, in adjective form as successful or victorious acts, or the noun as the act of a person or thing that wins.

So, Winning Habits would be "subconscious behavior that routinely brings about successful acts without consciously thinking about them."

What Winning is not;

1. Winning is not about IQ, and while talent helps, it is not always necessary

2. Winning is not necessarily about starting out with more money

3. Winning is not about luck

4. Winning is not about education

5. Winning is not about being in the right place at the right time

There is a fine line between success and failure. Whether it is golf, football, or wall street, it is only a few strokes or points that separate the winners from the rest of the field.

Successful people win by developing good habits and disciplines...and never giving up. I said....NEVER GIVING UP.

Ben Franklin, at the age of 19, felt there were 13 virtues important to him and until his death at 76 he worked on improving one each week. His virtues were self-control, silence, order, determination, economy, productivity, truthfulness, justice, moderation, cleanliness, peace, chastity, and humility. For 57 years he worked on developing better habits surrounding these virtues; 228 times he paid specific attention to each of his virtues.

Undoubtedly this focus developed subconscious habits and greatly influenced his success.

What habits and disciplines are influencing your success? What habits do you need to develop "over" others you already have?

To that end....develop good habits and WIN!

Intelligently cultivating thoughts

The workplace is today the most strategic arena

for Christian thinking and influence

- Doug Sherman and

William Hendricks

It's a powerful claim to declare the workplace to be the most strategic arena for Christian thinking and influence. Seriously, if it's true, where's the evidence of this activity? Thinking and influence become two very powerful words when combined with "and."

In his classic As a Man Thinketh James Allen writes "Man's mind may be likened to a garden , which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continues to produce their kind."

I've been challenged this week, from a stage, but also by my own thoughts to

• think
• cultivate
• produce

My prayer today is, in the spirit of Colossians 1:28 and 29, that I'd think about life and purposefully cultivate my thoughts. I pray that I come to really realize the potential God has given me and that I'm able to influence others to dream, think and reach their potential.

To that end

Takeaways...so far

At the John Maxwell Team Certification event in Orlando. Incredible. Here's some take aways...so far -

Surely, there is at least one step you can take right now that will move you in the direction of the star you're shooting for. - Paul Martinelli

Things have to change in you for things to change for you. - Christian Simpson

If you fail to go within, you will fail to go without. - Christian Simpson

Be wise about you read, listen to and watch, as there is a direct correlation between what you put in your head and what comes out your mouth. - Roddy Galbraith

Remember, man does not live on bread alone: sometimes he needs a little buttering up. - John Maxwell

Every day we have the power to choose to be in harmony with what we say we want and who we say we want to be. It's  always a choice. What will you choose. - Melissa Malueg


To that end.....

Anticipation, and hope

Hope is waking a dream

- Aristotle

This weekend went a bit slower than normal. I mentioned to Cathy last night how slow yesterday had gone. My world is usually going so fast at times that I have a hard time paying attention. Not the past few days. Maybe that law about "pausing, reflecting and letting the life catch up works!" !!

It went slower, and yet I've had a lot of anticipation leading into today. I've been planning for today for a long long time. Not that I knew when today would come, or what the day was, but I've been looking forward to it for a long long time; and tomorrow also, and the rest of this week. The anticipation and desire to participate in this week were so strong, and I didn't even know the details nor the actual time it would come about, that I actually quit following Tweets about it two years ago.

I realize the anticipation, the hope, has been based upon a dream that's been developing for a long long time ago. I'm not exactly sure when it started, but it's become clearer and clearer since October 20, 2012.

To that end...........hope for the dream

Proven Behavioral Characteristics of a Good Salesperson

Selling in today’s market requires more than good hair and a firm handshake. It requires an ability to market, sell, and consult all at the same time. The Internet has created droves of highly educated consumers who need direction in choosing the most appropriate products or services, but who do not want to be “sold.”

Do you have empathy? How well do you recover from rejection? Do you communicate well? And how is your confidence?

Experts say that to succeed in sales and marketing, you need to have the right balance of the following characteristics; Empathy, Integrity, Creativeness, Time Management, Self-Esteem, Math/Logic and Dependability.

If you're struggling with your sales and marketing efforts you are likely hampered by being too high or too low in at least one of these areas.

Be sure and sign-up for our newsletter and/or watch our LinkedIn and Twitter postings to receive notice of FREE webinars to learn more about these important behaviors.  

Enlarging tents and strengthening those around you

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, 

do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes."

- Isaiah 54:2

I've read Isaiah a few times but have never really camped-out on this verse before. In a meeting last week with John Robertson, CEO of LeadershipID / Align3Cubed, John (@jrobertsonlead) mentioned Isaiah 54:2 and it's stuck with me.

Colliding with that this morning have been thoughts around The Law of the Inner Circle. I looked up what Maxwell says about applying that law:

1. Who do I seek out for advice, turn to for support and/or rely on to help me get things done? (some are employees, but they are also family members, networking partners, others)

2. Am I doing the following with these inner circle members?

• Spending extra time to mentor and develop relationships?
• If appropriate, giving them extra responsibility and place higher expectations on them?
• Again, if appropriate, giving them credit when things go well and holding them accountable when they don't?

Enlarge my tent, stretch my curtains, lengthen my cords, strengthen my stakes - great application in which to apply The Law of the Inner Circle.

To that end....

Without guidance, a people will fall, but there is

victory with many counselors - Prov 11:14

You can teach an old dog new tricks!

You're never too old to learn and never too young to teach.

- Les Brown

I heard Les say that on a live training call a couple of weeks ago and it has meant so much. Not just that I've learned to learn better, but the young part.

How wise is that!
..never too young to teach!

I'm not "old" yet, but I'm much older than many of the people around me and it's so important to remember I can learn so much from them. Whether they know it or not, I'm asking questions, I'm learning.

Last night, talking to Evan Jenkins with @TiffsTreats and Christine Evans. What a learning experience! They asked good mortgage questions that caused me to dig a bit and then we got into a good conversation about social media and Hootsuite.

Never too old to learn, never too young to teach and never too old to learn from the younger.


To that end.....