Practice Paying Attention

We live in the age of distractions.

Texting, surfing, and multitasking have become a way of life. Unfortunately, listening, focusing, and staying engaged are on a downward turn.

It's cool to text in the middle of a busy meeting. Suddenly you're connecting with someone outside the drab meeting and really enjoying yourself. You can read your e-mail while you're on the phone, or text while you're driving. You can do so much more now than any person could have done just 10 years ago.

...and that's part of the problem.

Folks don't really listen, they don't really hear, and they certainly don't comprehend what is being said. All of this actually hurts productivity a great deal.

The tools aren't the problem. It's our inability to stay focused in the moment that hurts performance. All of the modern electronic technology devices and social networking tools are similar to the old-fashioned Cracker Jack Box. There's bound to be a good surprise in there somewhere and so we keep dismissing the topic of the moment to search inside our iPhones, Blackberrys, computers, and so on.

Practice staying focused on one thing at a time.

The individual who can stay focused over an extended period of time has a far greater chance of developing extraordinary skills, delivering extraordinary performances, and achieving extraordinary results. To develop the skill of focusing, practice paying attention regularly. When you're talking with your spouse or children or parents or friends, practice letting go of everything else and really listening to the other person. When you are reading a story, focus on just that story. Test yourself after the conversation or after reading the passage and see how much you can recall. Modern technology is cool, but practice using it in a focused manner, not an omnipresent way.

Surround Yourself with Positive Influences

Be ruthless about who you allow to influence you.

Make a list of everyone you let influence you in the past month. This includes authors of books and articles, individuals on radio and television shows, work colleagues, customers, prospects, friends, neighbors, family members, and anyone else who influenced you in the past month.

Next to each person's name write down whether the person was a positive or negative influence on you.

A positive influence helps you see what you are capable of achieving, provides insights on what you can do to achieve your desired results, and/or offers some form of encouragement for you to consider toward achieving the desired outcome. This isn't about "happy talk." Rather it's about receiving constructive input that increases your chances of success in the future.

A negative influence tries to convince you that you are not capable of achieving meaningful results, provides reasons why you will certainly fail over the long term, and/or offers some form of discouragement for you to consider toward giving up on your aspirations. This isn't about "tough love." Rather it's about receiving sarcastic, cynical, and demeaning input that decreases your chances of success in the future.

Once you see who the positive influences are in your life and who the negative influences are it is up to you to consciously step away from the negative influences and toward the positive influences.

Know What You Know

Go to the bookstore and buy a blank journal.

In that blank journal write down what you know about management, leadership, communicating with people, building a brand, etc. Put down on paper how you would approach different situations. This takes time. Add to it one to two hours a week.

For the past six months whenever I had time I've gone back to what I know and I've written it down. I reread the three books I've written, I watched six hours of videos of my speeches, and I went through every Learning Guide I've created over the past three years. I wrote down every idea that I've taught or written about since 2004. Now I can see what I know.

After you write down what you know, start to actively use what you know. Don't leave a good idea from your past laying on the desk. Use it.

Afer you know what you know and you have used what you know, then add to what you know.

Far too often, I have found people constantly wanting to add to what they know before they really have taken the time to know what they know and to use what they know. Strengthen your foundation of practical knowledge first, and then look for ways to build on it.

Stretch Before Exercising

For years I jogged and played racquetball without stretching at all. And for years I have terrible problems with my back. Never quite made the connection between those two until months of work with a chiropractor. After all the tests and all the work on my back he showed me a few basic stretches. Now I warm up, stretch, exercise, warm down, and stretch again. Voila. My back has been dramatically better.

If you feel you are wasting time as a manager in meetings, try stretching before you exercise. Prepare for the meeting by studying relevant information, crafting questions you want to ask during the meetings, clarifying how you will answer those questions, and identifying the purpose of the meeting for you. Just showing up at meeting after meeting without preparation can cause back pain, headaches, and an overall feeling of intense frustration.

Competing in a Global Economy

Sometimes we make business more complicated than it needs to be.

A few nights ago I gave a lecture on "Ideas for Competing in a Global Economy" for a Global Communications class at Fontbonne University. I told a story about needing a jacket and shirt at the last minute for a meeting. I called up the Nordstrom's store on Michigan Ave. in downtown Chicago and they kept their store open later so I could get the clothes. Then I told them how the Nordstrom's in St. Louis had a shoe shine salesman who carried my shoes out to my car so I could hold on to my three-year-old son Ben's hand.

I asked them what ideas from that story they felt were important for competing successfully in a global economy.

One student said, "Be willing to go the extra mile."
Another said, "Empower your employees to take care of the customer."
A third one said, "The people you hire will make all the difference."
And the fourth one, and my favorite one, said, "A genuine act of kindness goes a long way."

Competing around the world is the same as competing in your own city. Go the extra mile, empower your employees to create and deliver value, hire people who will provide the type of value you want to be known for delivering, and remember that a genuine act of kindness goes a long way.

Let's Get It Right This Time

January 4, 2010.

New slate, new decade, new approach. Or rather I should say back to a very old, basic approach. Let's see if we can sustain our focus for an entire decade this time. No shortcuts, no "gold rushes" for homes or tech stocks or even gold for that matter.

1. Identify the purpose you want your organization to fulfill.
2. Make sure your decisions going forward support that purpose.
3. Identify the values you want guiding your behaviors and the behaviors of the people in your organization. Do it in collaboration with your employees, but maintain the final decision-making authority. Hold yourself and others accountable for adhering to these values.
4. Study your customers and desired customers closely. Identify what would be of value to them.
5. Create and deliver that value.
6. Charge appropriately so that your price fits within the value they are receiving and allows you to make a profit.
7. Let your customers and desired customers know of the value they can receive from your organization.

That's it. Stay focused for a decade and watch what can happen.