March 15, 2011
My Fave 5: Books
Charles Barkley has his fave 5 numbers in his cell phone. This week I thought I'd share my fave 5 books based on categories. This list should change in the future, because personal development is essential to growing as a leader:
This is a must read for college students. Relationship marketing is the way of business. It's about who you know, not what you know. Your personal network = your personal net worth.
Rock coined the term "Neuroleadership." He studies leadership from a scientific point of view. Understanding how the brain works will help you be a more effective leader.
It's one thing to self-initiate change, but to get others to change is an entire skill in itself. Kotter focuses on one aspect of his change model to get the ball rolling in the right direction. Change isn't talking about it. Change is about doing it.
Have you ever challenged the myths of starting a business? Jason and David do. Less academic, more practical. Ultimately, there are no formulas for success. Yet, it's nice to know there are several ways to make it big.
As a graduate of a M.A. in Organizational Leadership, I've taken a multitude of psychological tests in my lifetime. The power of the StrengthsFinder is the application. Each person has their top 5 natural talents. The most successful people in the world (in any industry) maximize theirs on a daily basis.
Leadership starts with you. You can't take anyone where you haven't been yourself. Make personal growth a priority and teach others what you are learning. Leaders are readers.
March 7, 2011
Sticks & Stones WILL break your bones...
Words are powerful.
Did you know that your behavior is a direct result of your thoughts and feelings?
Thoughts = Feelings = Action(s)
Everything can be traced back to your thoughts. How you manage your thoughts determines how successful you are. The majority of your thoughts come from self-talk.
What are you saying to yourself?
Confidence is sensed through observation. It's in the way you walk. The way you talk. It's even in your body language. Why is that? It's because your behaviors link directly to your thoughts. Sure there are exceptions. For example, a narcissist overcompensates for his insecurity. Yet in most cases what your hear influences how you act.
If you are told at work, you are lazy, you'll probably act lazy.
If you're praised for working hard, most likely you'll continue to work hard.
Whether you're an entrepreneur, worker or student, what you fill your brain with will eventually ooze out in your behavior. Studies show that it takes a 5 to 1 positive to negative comment ratio to view yourself in a favorable light. Sounds like you better start caring about work environment and who you surround yourself with!
Better yet, positively affirm someone else.
March 2, 2011
Guest Post on Branding Yourself by Josh Allan Dykstra
In order to craft our personal brand and begin designing a successful and fulfilling life we start with three things:
STRENGTHS
We need to discover our strengths. To do this, use the Strengths Triangle. Our area for strength is where our Life Experience (stuff we've learned and stuff we've lived) intersects with our Passions (things that make us jump out of bed in the morning) and our Talents (innate abilities that can be done almost perfectly every time). For most of us, talents are hard to figure out through reflection so I recommend an assessment like the Clifton StrengthsFinder.
SPACE
Having the time to discover our strengths doesn't come easy, however. We need to carve out enough space so we can conduct a search into ourselves. Unfortunately, no one in our lives is good at giving us this space -- our jobs don't give it, most bosses don't give it, and life in general makes it tough to find. It's something we have to carve out for ourselves. Furthermore, there's the challenge of money; we can't focus on learning about what fulfills us if we're worrying about where the rent check is going to come from. Unless we're independently wealthy, we must find a way to manage our money and live as lean as possible during the process of discovery.
SENSEI
No one ever becomes successful on their own. To truly thrive we need to find a sensei. "Sensei" is a Japanese word made from two characters meaning "born before" and "one who teaches based on wisdom from age and experience" -- much like our concept of "mentor." The greatest leaders in the world all do this: they are mentored by someone and they mentor someone. We need a sensei to help us see our selves clearly--we can't do this accurately alone.
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