BULLETIN #1 – 2009

START THE YEAR OFF S.M.A.R.T.

Whoever said, “Procrastination is the thief of time,” was right.  We keep postponing, promising ourselves we’ll do better.  Be honest, how many of last year’s resolutions did you keep?  This year do things differently.  Make your goals S.M.A.R.T.  In other words, make them:

(S)pecific:  Get up early, have your quiet time, start the day in a relaxed, refreshed mode.  Make time for your family, exercise, eat right and retire each evening at the same time.  Your body will appreciate a rhythmic cycle and you will feel your best.

(M)oderate:  Tackling more than one project at a time dilutes your focus and makes it harder to stick with.  When you start too much you finish too little.  Start small and build on your successes by mastering and maintaining one thing at a time.

(A)chievable:  Don’t try to swallow the whole elephant in one bite.  Baby steps are the name of the game.  Talk in terms of what you will do instead of what you won’t do.  For example, instead of saying, “I’m not going to be so critical,” say, “Today I’m going to look for something good in everybody I meet”

(R)ecordable:  You can’t manage what you can’t measure.  Documenting your progress (or lack of it!) makes you accountable, shows how far you’ve come and what you need to work on.

(T)ime-specific:  Review your goals weekly (or daily if you’re struggling).  That way you can trouble-shoot early and change direction when necessary.

Come on, make up your mind, get up out of your ergonomic, hi-tech, padded, comfy chair and go for it!!!

BULLETIN #2 - 2009

How to Build a Strong Team

Many of us would rather settle for achieving less, than put up with “people problems.”  But fulfilling a great dream usually means having a great team.  And great teams are made up of people with strengths – and weaknesses.  Seldom do we succeed on our own efforts.  Others stand with us in loyalty, friendship or dedication.  So, do you know who belongs in your life?

CARING FOR PEOPLE

If you don’t genuinely care about people they’ll sense it and they won’t stay with you.  If you have a high turnover in your relationships (professional and personal) that could be your problem.  Even your best team members will go through times that affect their performance.  They can get so stressed out that they just want to quit and find a ‘mindless’ job.  How many of your team members are on meds to calm their frazzled nerves?  Do you even know what stresses them out?  Here’s a helpful prescription for the stress that goes with people-problems.  Write it down on a 3x5 card and read it regularly.

“Love cares more for others than for self”

TEAM SUCCESS

The success of strong teams is driven by two things: (1) a foundation of honesty and integrity (2) a sense of belonging.  On good teams, players extend trust to one another.  Initially it’s a risk because your trust can be violated and you can get hurt.  At the same time they are giving trust, each team member must conduct themselves in such a way as to earn the trust of others by holding themselves to a high standard.  When everyone gives freely and bonds of trust develop and are tested over time, they begin to have faith in one another.  They believe that the people next to them will act with consistency, keep commitments, maintain confidences and support each other.  The stronger their sense of belonging becomes, the greater their potential to work together.

All teams have disagreements.  The leader of a large business writes, “Let’s not pretend we never disagree.  We’re dealing with 16,000 employees and the stakes are high.   Let’s not have people hiding their concerns to protect a false notion of unity.  Let’s face the disagreement and deal with it in a good way.  The mark of community is not the absence of conflict; it’s the presence of a reconciling spirit.  I can have a rough-and-tumble meeting with someone, but because we’re committed to each other we can leave, slapping each other on the back, saying, ‘I’m glad we’re still on the same team.’” 

An important key to building a strong team is being open to new and different ideas.  One of your greatest dangers as you become older (or more successful) is that your thinking can be institutionalized – which is just another word for “fossilized.”  To remain successful you must create an environment in which the free exchange of information and ideas takes place.  If people had not been permitted to try things we’d still be travelling by horse and carriage, dining by candlelight, and dying a lot earlier from preventable diseases.  It is said that knowledge is doubling every five to ten years.  That lets us know how much we didn’t know – when we thought we knew it all.

We must honor what we’ve learned by building on it but we never stop asking, “Is there a better way?”  Champions don’t ease up because they are ahead of the competition; they’re still accelerating as they cross the finish line.  The competition keeps you sharp.  You need them.

Irish singer Bono said something worth noting:  “I would be terrified to be on my own as a solo singer…I surround myself with…a band, a family of very spunky kids and a wife who’s smarter than anyone…you’re only as good as the arguments you get.  So maybe the reason why the bad hasn’t split up is that the people might get this:  even though I’m only one quarter of U2, I’m more than I could be if I was one whole of something else.”