Reality Check.

Seth Godin strikes again.

Sometimes you don’t need a budget

Most of the time, people don’t want a refund or a bonus. What they really want is for you to hear them and to do the right thing. What if every manager and every customer contact in your organization bought into that?

Here are some things you can do that don’t cost any money (but they certainly require effort):

Treat your employees with care and respect

Be consistent in your actions

Keep your promises

Grant others their dignity

Give credit

Take responsibility

When wrong, offer a heartfelt apology

Don’t be a jerk

Take the time to actually listen to people

Volunteer to handle the issue

Care

 – Seth Godin, 3/13/2014

 

What’s Your Passion?

This could easily be a 2000 word manifesto on what drives us and how we identify our “passion.” In all aspects of life, it seems to be one of those buzz words… “Just follow your passion,” but really how do we know. What is MY passion?

I am a firm believer that our passions vary based on our many roles. I guarantee your professional passion is a bit different from what you consider it as a parent, partner, and friend.

So how do we know… what is it that motivates us, fills us up?

I don’t have the golden ticket, but Simon Sinek of “Start With Why” is damn close.

Early this week he posted a blog just one sentence long: “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion.”

In the words of my hilarious friend; #boom

Ask yourself, are you stressed or in love?

#20 – Customer Service

All I want is to feel like you give a shit.

Some of the best advice is short and sweet.

#19 – #humpday

I rang in 2014 with close friends and fun times. However, Geico had a different plan. A genius plan.

We all remember the “Mike, mike, mike, what day is it… Hump Day!” commercial that went viral in minutes and is now a common salutation for any Wednesday.

New Year’s Day 2014 landed conviently, for Geico, on a Wednesday aka Hump Day. SO how to they capitalize? Sponsor the New Year’s Eve countdown on multiple major networks such as ABC, NBC, and Fox and add a simple hashtag to keep the conversations all about them… and voila #humpday is born.

These are the types of details that we sometimes quickly oversee when we focus solely on checking the box and not the long term effects of our projects. Just SHIP IT is definitely my motto, BUT before shipping even becomes an option the project better have more than a one and done purpose and more longevity than that brown banana you through in your lunchbox this morning.

Thank you Geico for reminding us to slow down and take the blinders off. The next time you are running full force and head down on a project ask yourself, “Is this the next #humpday?” If the answer is not, why?

#18 – The Agitator

“The Agitator.” That was a nickname given to me recently by a very respected friend and mentor. At first I questioned the meaning and how it related to me, I am not an “agitator”… I am not a Maytag washing machine, I don’t stir stuff up…Oh wait, I sure do and am darn proud of the fact.

Taking a step back and looking at the definition of agitate I found that this nickname may just be the perfect fit after all. According to my handy Dictionary app, agitate means “to force into irregular action, to move to and fro, to disturb or excite emotionally, to consider on all sides, revolve in the mind.”

In order to change the world for the better, improve relationships, coaching, leading, and ultimately the success of a business we have to be constantly “agitating.” Never settling for the status quo, always stirring the calm with questions like “How can we get better?” and “What can I do differently today to teach and lead instead of command and direct?”

Armed with the power to challenge, stir, and change, I join an elite group of Thought Leaders (you know, like the Avengers, only we don’t fly and carry a big hammer…well most of the time) in an effort to never stop learning, coaching, and communicating.  Here’s to 2014.

Priceless – #16

Simon Sinek, Seth Godin, Avinash Kaushik, Mitch Joel, Malcolm Gladwell, and the list goes on… all experts in the field of modern business philosophy or as I like to refer to it, “Think Why”.

These individuals have made an impact in my professional and personal life. I am a fan, but also a student of their modern school of business and relationships.  Yes, these individuals have many differences but what is more important to highlight is what they have in common.

Creating change doesn’t take millions of dollars and multiple Harvard degrees; it takes just one thing… the ability to never recognize the status quo as reality.

Let me explain. Like a scientist uses research to formulate a hypothesis we (creators of change) use the past as a foundation, use the present as our spring board or challenge and the future is where we set our target. Creators of change see the future as a blank canvas rather than a pre determined color by numbers.

By all means learn from the now and embrace today but don’t let it determine the art you create tomorrow. May your creation be bold, bright, and most of all priceless.

 

Day #5- Quick but not Easy

Today’s lesson comes from Seth Godin. His message is simple and spot on.

This is a favorite of mine that I reference often. Like many times before, it rang true today.

The quickest way to get things done and make change. Not the easiest, but the quickest:

Don’t demand authority.

Eagerly take responsibility.

Relentlessly give credit.

Enough said.