Author Archive
How does today impact tomorrow’s success?
Posted by: | CommentsEveryone wants to have a good day, but not many people know what a good day looks like – much less how to create one. And even fewer people understand how the way you live today impacts your tomorrow.
Have you ever asked someone what he was doing and heard him respond, “Oh, I’m just killing time”? Have you ever really thought about that statement? A person might as well say, “I’m throwing away my life,” because, as Benjamin Franklin asserted, time is “the stuff life is made of.” Today is the only time we have within our grasp, yet many people let it slip through their fingers. They recognize neither today’s value nor its potential.
If we want to do something with our lives, then we must focus on today. That’s where tomorrow’s success lies. But how do you win today? How do you make today a great day instead of one that falls to pieces? Here’s the missing piece:
The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.
It all comes down to what you do today. Now I don’t mean your “to-do” list. Nor am I asking you to adopt a particular kind of calendar or computer program to manage your time. I’m focusing on something bigger. I want you to embrace what may be a whole new approach to life:
Make the decision once, then manage it daily.
There are only a handful of important decisions that people need to make in their entire lifetimes. Does that surprise you? Most people complicate life and get bogged down in decision-making. My goal has always been to make it as simple as possible. I’ve boiled the big decisions down to twelve things. Once I’ve made those twelve decisions, all I have to do is manage how I’ll follow through on them.
If you make decisions in those key areas once and for all – and then manage those decisions daily – you can create the kind of tomorrow you desire.
Successful people make right decisions early and manage those decisions daily.
Here are the twelve areas where I make decisions and then manage them on a day-to-day basis:
- Attitude: Today’s attitude gives me possibilities.
- Priorities: Today’s priorities give me focus.
- Health: Today’s health gives me strength.
- Family: Today’s family time gives me stability.
- Thinking: Today’s thinking gives me an advantage.
- Commitment: Today’s commitment gives me tenacity.
- Finances: Today’s financial decisions give me options.
- Faith: Today’s faith gives me peace.
- Relationships: Today’s relationships give me fulfillment.
- Generosity: Today’s generosity gives me significance.
- Values: Today’s values give me direction.
- Growth: Today’s growth gives me potential.
This post is adapted from my book Today Matters, which approaches each of those decisions in greater detail and offers practical advice on how to make them early and manage them daily.
From the archives: How to know you’re out in front
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been blogging here for just over three years, and this week I was looking at some of my past posts to find those that were the most helpful to people. This one seemed to have a very positive impact. I hope it serves you. (And the comments on the original post were at least as beneficial as what I wrote. Click here for the original post and comments from 2010.)
When You Get Kicked in the Rear,
You Know You’re Out in Front
Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “Criticism is something you can avoid easily—by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” Obviously, that isn’t an option for anyone who wants to be successful as a leader.
Good leaders are active, and their actions often put them out front. That often draws criticism. When spectators watch a race, where do they focus their attention? On the front-runners! People watch their every action—and often criticize.
Since criticism is a part of leadership, you need to learn how to handle it constructively. The following has helped me to deal with criticism, so I pass it on to you.
Know yourself.
Do you really know yourself? Are you aware of your weaknesses as well as your strengths? Where do you fall short as a person and leader? Not sure what your weaknesses are? Ask five trustworthy people close to you. They’ll be able to tell you where you come up short.
Know the criticism – and the critics.
When you receive criticism, how do you tell if it’s constructive or destructive? (Some say constructive criticism is when I criticize you, but destructive criticism is when you criticize me!) Here are the questions I ask to get to determine what kind of criticism it is:
- Who criticized me? Adverse criticism from a wise person is more to be desired than the enthusiastic approval of a fool. The source often matters.
- How was it given? I try to discern whether the person was being judgmental or whether he gave me the benefit of the doubt and spoke with kindness.
- Why was it given? Was it given out of a personal hurt or for my benefit? Hurting people hurt people; they lash out or criticize to try to make themselves feel better, not to help the other person.
Stay open to change.
Let’s assume you now know yourself pretty well. You can tell when a criticism is way off-base; maybe it’s directed more at your position than at you. And you know when a criticism is 100% legitimate because it’s about a weakness that you’ve already discovered.
But what about the gray areas? The criticisms that might hold a grain of truth? A good leader stays open to improvement by:
- Not being defensive,
- Looking for the helpful grain of truth,
- Making the necessary changes, and
- Taking the high road.
Accept yourself.
Jonas Salk, developer of the Salk polio vaccine, had many critics in spite of his incredible contribution to medicine. Of criticism, he observed, “First people will tell you that you are wrong. Then they will tell you that you are right, but what you’re doing really isn’t important. Finally, they will admit that you are right and that what you are doing is very important; but after all, they knew it all the time.”
How do leaders who are out front handle this kind of fickle response from others?
The Serenity Prayer, made famous by Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs, gives direction in this area:
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
If you have endeavored to know yourself, and have worked hard to change yourself, then what more can you do?
Forget yourself.
The final step in the process of effectively handling criticism is to stop focusing on yourself. Secure people forget about themselves so they can focus on others. By doing this, they can face nearly any kind of criticism—and even serve the critic.
I try to live out a sentiment expressed by Parkenham Beatty, who advised, “By your own soul learn to live. And if men thwart you, take no heed. If men hate you, have no care: Sing your song, dream your dream, hope your hope and pray your prayer.”
As leaders, we must always be serious about our responsibilities, but it isn’t healthy for us to take ourselves too seriously. A Chinese proverb says, “Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves. They shall never cease to be entertained.”
***
My friend Joyce Meyer observes, “God will help you be all you can be, but He will never let you be successful at becoming someone else.” We can’t do more than try to be all that we can be. If we do that as leaders, we will give others our best, and we will sometimes takes hits from others. But that’s okay. That is the price for being out front.
From my files: Mistakes
Posted by: | CommentsI haven’t shared any favorite quotes here in awhile. Today’s selection comes from my file on Mistakes. I hope they inspire and encourage you. And if you want to keep them for future reference, try my filing system to record them.
You miss 100% of the shots you never take. –Wayne Gretzky
The fellow who never makes a mistake takes his orders from someone who does. –Herbert Brocknow
Most of my advances were by mistake. You uncover what is when you get rid of what isn’t. –R. Buckminster Fuller
The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. –Thomas Carlyle
All discoveries in art and science result from an accumulation of errors. –Marshall McLuhan
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. -Albert Einstein
Mistakes are painful when they happen, but years later a collection of mistakes is what is called experience. -Denis Waitley
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. ~Elbert Hubbard
Finding the “want to”
Posted by: | CommentsMany years ago, I read about a survey of workers in the United States, who were asked if they could work harder on the job than they currently were. 85% of those surveyed said that they could. And more than half claimed that they could double their effectiveness “if I wanted to.”
I don’t know about you, but I want the people that I lead to “want to” be as effective as they possibly can all the time! And I want them to always give 100 percent of their effort.
The good news is that I believe that the people on my team DO work to the best of their ability. As I thought about my team and saw how hard they worked in comparison to the statistics, I wondered to myself, what makes John Maxwell Company staff “want to” double their effectiveness?
I believe it’s because team members receive five things from the leaders:
1. Relationship. My organization has been blessed with some exceptional people. It starts at the top with the CEO of the John Maxwell Company, Mark Cole, who has a real talent for connecting with his team. He truly practices what I preach when I tell people to reach for a person’s heart before asking for their hand.
2. Ownership. John F. Kennedy once said, “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” I believe team ownership depends on a clear vision cast by the leader, which spells out their contribution.
3. Reward for work. Recent generations have gotten used to being rewarded just for showing up. But what really motivates achievers are rewards that are tied to production.
4. Pride. This is a direct result of ownership. When a team member understands how his contribution matters, and makes that contribution, the natural outcome is pride in the work. You can increase that pride by always offering recognition for a job well done.
5. Confidence through equipping. Harvey Firestone said, “It is only as we develop others that we permanently succeed.” Beyond casting vision, a good leader equips his people and helps them to grow. This adds value to their lives and sets them up for success.
Every leader wants a team that enthusiastically does the job to the best of their ability. More than that, we want our people to go “the extra mile.” I’m blessed to be able to rely on a leader like Mark Cole, who makes sure our John Maxwell Company team benefits from relationship, ownership, reward, pride, and confidence. And team members respond by doing their best work.
I believe that if you provide your team with the above five gifts, then they are more likely to “want to” offer you their best in return.
Cultivating a Positive Attitude
Posted by: | CommentsEnglish heart surgeon Martyn Lloyd-Jones asserted, “Most unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself rather than talking to yourself.” What kind of voices do you hear? When you face new experiences, does a voice in your head say you’re going to fail? If you’re hearing negative messages, you need to learn to give yourself positive mental pep talks. The best way to retrain your attitude is to prevent your mind from going down any negative forks in the road.
To improve your attitude, do the following:
Feed yourself the right “food.” If you’ve been starved of anything positive, then you need to start feeding yourself a regular diet of motivational material. Read books that encourage a positive attitude. The more negative you are, the longer it will take to turn your attitude around. But if you consume a steady diet of the right “food,” you can become a positive thinker.
Achieve a goal every day. Some people get into a rut of negativity because they feel they’re not making progress. If that describes you, then begin setting achievable daily goals for yourself. A pattern of positive achievement will help you develop a pattern of positive thinking.
Write it on your wall. We all need reminders to help us keep thinking right. Alex Haley used to keep a picture in his office of a turtle on a fencepost, to remind him that everybody needed the help of others. As incentive, people put up awards they’ve won, inspirational posters, or letters they’ve received. Find something that will work for you and put it on your wall.
Allow yourself to dwell only on the positive
and not the negative today.
