Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Commandments of a Great Culture
From the Leadership Advisor blog:
Organizational culture has a similar set of commandments that aren’t excuses for punitive action, but rather a set of suggestions that will help create harmony and a healthy atmosphere within your organization. No divine punishment if you ignore them, just the punishment you create for yourself if you choose to ignore them.
Many folks have a view of the Ten Commandments as nothing more than a laundry list of things you shouldn’t do because God will be mad at you. Oh…and I think there is some smiting in there too. I have a little different view of them. If you set aside the religious implications most people struggle looking past, they are some great suggestions for living in harmony with one’s self, those around them and to have an overall healthy environment.
Organizational culture has a similar set of commandments that aren’t excuses for punitive action, but rather a set of suggestions that will help create harmony and a healthy atmosphere within your organization. No divine punishment if you ignore them, just the punishment you create for yourself if you choose to ignore them.
Listen without interrupting
So many times we act like we’re listening, and in one sense we are. We’re listening for that ever elusive breath the other person takes so we have the opportunity to slather them with our opinion. Often times it isn’t in response to what is being said, but just so we can be heard. Listen. Your culture depends on it.
Discuss without accusing
Many times we have differences of opinions or things don’t go perfectly. Sure someone may be at fault, but unless it’s absolutely necessary (or you’re absolutely sure), what point does accusing someone make? If there is a consistent issue with lack of ownership, you can address that privately and respectfully. No sense in making finger-pointing a part of your culture. It rarely accomplishes anything except contempt and division.
Give without sparing
One of the biggest misconceptions about giving is that people will take advantage of you. Sure, some will but the majority will be grateful for your generosity and respect you for it. Netflix offers unlimited paid vacations. Yes, I said “paid”. There are about 1% of companies who are doing this now. For those who have transitioned to this have only seen 2%-3% increase in vacation time taken.
Reflect without stopping
Of course this doesn’t imply you should constantly be in a reflective state. It does mean that you should do it regularly. It’s so easy to become task driven that we lose almost any and all sense of awareness of ourselves or those around us. Don’t just know what is happening, consider why it could be happening as well. Ask questions and refer to commandment #1.
Answer without arguing
It’s going to happen sooner or later that there is a significant gap between your opinion and that of a colleague, boss or ancillary. Arguing is more about proving the rightness of your perspective than trying to find what is right for the situation…objectively. If you think arguing is effective, you should watch more sessions of the U.S. Congress.
Share without pretending
In a word…authenticity. Share things with others without pretenses or hidden agendas. Share your ideas. Share your concerns. Share your appreciation. Share your passion. Share your enthusiasm. There is something magical about the vulnerability of sharing. Keep in mind the awkwardness of over-sharing. No one cares about how gassy your dog can be.
Enjoy without complaint
Will there be things you absolutely don’t like? Count on it. Why is it we think it’s more appropriate to capitalize on the negative than the positive? Celebrating the positive isn’t some naive Pollyanna view of the world. It’s purposefully choosing what you magnify in your environment. We all have a responsibility to the culture we want and to the others who share it.
Trust without wavering
People will disappoint you. Stop expecting the opposite all the time. The “I’ve been burned before on this” excuse is lame and cowardly. There…I said it. We have all been burned. By that logic, no one over 35 should ever trust anyone. Let’s get beyond our own discomfort and show people we actually give a rip about them and have enough grace to let them screw up.
Forgive without punishing
How many times have you seen passive aggressive behavior in the workplace because someone just won’t let something go? It’s awkward and destructive and destroys the culture of the place. Forgiveness isn’t ignoring what happened. It’s talking about it like adults and choosing to move on in spite of what happened. Come to an agreement or an understanding. That only happens through dialogue.
Promise without forgetting
A man/woman is only as good as their word. Truer words were never spoken. Flippant promises done in the heat of the moment or in a fit of zeal are the beginning of the end for most folks. This is especially common for new leaders as a way to try and gain favor with a new or difficult team. When you make a promise, write it down. Put a timeline on it and add it to your calendar or task management system. Your culture will thank you for it.
So, what are your thoughts? Is ten enough, or should there be a few more “Culture Commandments”?
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Ways To Inspire Others
From the Leadership Freak blog site:
Seven Proven Ways to Inspire Others
*****
You make a difference by inspiring others to make a difference.
Here’s how:
1. Stop fixing.
If your passion for excellence and success drives you to constantly fix people, stop it. Problem centered fixers invite self-protective restraint in others.
2. Compassion wins.
The pursuit of personal gain and glory doesn’t inspire, it threatens. Inspiration occurs when others believe you genuinely put them before yourself.
3. Share frailties.
The frailties you’re working through inspire others to work through theirs. Avoid whining. Focus on hope, progress, and benefit.
4. Leverage weaknesses.
Your weaknesses are inspirational opportunities, especially if you’re loved. For example, acknowledging your inability to create systems gives place for system builders to step up.
5. Be great.
A life dominated by weakness and frailty never inspires. Bring positive value.
Value is determined not by what you tear down
but what you build up.
6. Believe in others.
“The people who influence you are the people who believe in you,” Henry Drummond. Rise above the failures of others by believing in their future. Those who believe in others inspire others.
“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great,” Mark Twain.
7. See potential.
Potential motivates. See what could be not what is. People who believe in their potential dare to act. For example, a friend of mine is trying to earn a place in the Navy Seals. You don’t try that without believing in your potential.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
*****
How can leaders inspire others?
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
US is #1 In....
From the Make it Your Career blog:
- America has the highest incarceration rate and the largest total prison population in the entire world by a good margin.
- There are more car thefts in the United States than anywhere else in the world by far.
- Of all the major industrialized nations, America is the most obese. Mexico is #2.
- The average American drinks more than 600 sodas a year - the most in the world.
- U.S. corporations sell more fast food and more soda than anyone else in the world by a wide margin.
- Nobody watches more television per week (28 hours) than Americans do. Although to be honest, people living in the UK are tied with us.
- The United States leads the world in credit card fraud.
- The United States has the highest percentage of one person households on the entire planet.
- The United States has the highest divorce rate in the world by a good margin.
- The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world by far.
- There are more school shootings in America than anywhere else in the world.
- The United States has the highest child abuse death rate in the world.
- There are more "deaths by reptile" in America than anywhere else in the world.
- The United States has the most lawyers per capita in the entire world.
- The United States produces more pornography than any other nation in the world.
- Americans take more prescription drugs than anyone else in the world.
- More is spent on prescription drug advertising in America than anywhere else in the world.
- The percentage of women taking antidepressants in America is higher than in any other country in the world.
- More people have been diagnosed with mental disorders in America than anywhere else on earth.
- The United States has the highest rate of illegal drug use on the entire globe.
- There is more credit card debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
- There is more mortgage debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
- There is more student loan debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
- The United States spends more money on government schools than any other nation on earth does.
- U.S. citizens spend more time in school than anyone else in the world. So why are so many of us dumb as a rock?
- Nobody in the world gets more plastic surgery done than Americans do.
- The United States leads the world in eating disorder deaths.
- According to nationmaster.com, the United States has the most total reported crimes in the world by far.
- Nobody has more airport security thugs groping women and children than America does.
- The United States spends much more on health care as a percentage of GDP than any other nation on the face of the earth.
- The United States has the most complicated tax system on the entire planet.
- The United States has the most laws on the entire planet.
- The United States spends more on the military than the next 12 nations combined, and yet the Obama administration is considering plans to unilaterally slash the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenalby up to 80 percent.
- The United States has the most foreign military bases in the world by far.
- The United States exports more arms to other countries than anyone else in the world.
- Americans spend more time sitting in traffic than anyone else in the world.
- Americans spend more money on elections than anyone else does in the world by a very wide margin.
- Every single year, the United States has the largest trade deficit in the world by far.
- The U.S. government wastes more money than any other government on earth does.
- The United States has accumulated the biggest mountain of government debt in the history of the world.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
It's Not The Economy For Newspapers
From The Atlantic:
You sometimes hear it said that newspapers are dead. Now, $20 billion is the kind of "dead" most people would trade their lives for. You never hear anybody say "bars and nightclubs are dead!" when in fact that industry's current revenue amounts to an identical $20 billion.
So the reason newspapers are in trouble isn't that they aren't making lots of money -- they still are; advertising is a huge, huge business, as any app developer will try to tell you -- but that their business models and payroll depend on so much more money. The U.S. newspaper industry was built to support $50 billion to $60 billion in total advertising with the kind of staffs that a $50 billion industry can abide. The layoffs, buyouts, and bankruptcies you hear about are the result of this massive correction in the face of falling revenue. The Internet took out print's knees in the last decade -- not all print*, but a lot.
Don't just blame the bloggers. For decades, newspapers relied on a simple cross-subsidy to pay for their coverage. You can't make much money advertising against A1 stories like bombings in Afghanistan and school shootings and deficit reduction. Those stories are the door through which readers walk to find stories that can take the ads: the car section, the style section, the travel section, and the classifieds. But ad dollars started flowing to websites that gave people their car, style, travel, or classifieds directly. So did the readers. And down went print.
The decline is stunning. "Last year's ad revenues of about $21 billion were less than half of the $46 billion spent just four years ago in 2007, and less than one-third of the $64 billion spent in 2000," Mark Perry writes. In the next few years -- and hopefully, in the next few decades (I like print!) -- we'll see papers and magazines continue to invest in their websites and find advertising and pricing models that support journalism independently. Otherwise, one hopes that rich people continue to be fond of paying for the production of great writing on bundles of ink and paper.
So the reason newspapers are in trouble isn't that they aren't making lots of money -- they still are; advertising is a huge, huge business, as any app developer will try to tell you -- but that their business models and payroll depend on so much more money. The U.S. newspaper industry was built to support $50 billion to $60 billion in total advertising with the kind of staffs that a $50 billion industry can abide. The layoffs, buyouts, and bankruptcies you hear about are the result of this massive correction in the face of falling revenue. The Internet took out print's knees in the last decade -- not all print*, but a lot.
Don't just blame the bloggers. For decades, newspapers relied on a simple cross-subsidy to pay for their coverage. You can't make much money advertising against A1 stories like bombings in Afghanistan and school shootings and deficit reduction. Those stories are the door through which readers walk to find stories that can take the ads: the car section, the style section, the travel section, and the classifieds. But ad dollars started flowing to websites that gave people their car, style, travel, or classifieds directly. So did the readers. And down went print.
The decline is stunning. "Last year's ad revenues of about $21 billion were less than half of the $46 billion spent just four years ago in 2007, and less than one-third of the $64 billion spent in 2000," Mark Perry writes. In the next few years -- and hopefully, in the next few decades (I like print!) -- we'll see papers and magazines continue to invest in their websites and find advertising and pricing models that support journalism independently. Otherwise, one hopes that rich people continue to be fond of paying for the production of great writing on bundles of ink and paper.
I used to think it would be many years before print media went virtually away. Then I was given an IPAD, as millions of others got this past year. Newspapers and magazines will continue to have a presence in the electronic world, but if you work for a paper company that depends on the printed world, you should be afraid if your company is not rapidly moving to another product.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
What Do You Read?
From the Bradwarthen blog:
1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The Washington Post is read by the people who think they run the country.
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country, and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country, but don’t really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country, if they could find the time — and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a poor job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who is running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country, but need the baseball scores.
10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure if there is a country or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped, minority, feminist, atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy, provided of course, that they are not Republicans.
11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
12. The Memphis Commercial Appeal is read by people who have recently caught a fish and need something to wrap it in.
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