Hill believed that having a purpose or a plan is essential to attaining success. He advised readers to think their way through a failure, to view failure as a small part of a plan that will ultimately benefit them. If you analyze failure…see it as a plan with a purpose…it will prepare you for bigger challenges. In this way failure can only make you better because it prepares you for greater responsibilities.

Identify your life’s purpose and proceed with passion. Only you know what to do with it.

Hill’s official biography says he was born in a two-room cabin into wretched poverty. He began working at the age of thirteen as a reporter for small-town newspapers in rural Virgina. He later put himself through college. Meeting the powerful industrialist Andrew Carnegie and hearing his ideas led to Hill’s lifelong project, interviewing the most famous and wealthy men of all time (I will be touching base on this on a later post I have planned, using Tim Ferriss‘ approach discussed in The 4-Hour Workweek). What Hill learned from these men became the basis of his successful books.

An amazing fact is that Hill never mentioned the word “achievement” in Think and Grow Rich…he felt that readers would benefit most by discovering the keys to achieving their goals themselves as the result of his winning philosophy.

How do YOU transform your failures into success?

Failures That Fuel Our Future Success is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

According to John Wooden, famed basketball coach for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), resting on your “high horse” is a recipe for disaster. He made it a personal priority to review every detail after each game in order to continue improving as head coach. Wooden was just as interested in improving his performance when he was winning as when he was losing. His outstanding results prove his theory correct. The same thing applies to the business world. when it comes to high-performing companies…there is always room for improvement. While most good companies operate at a three or four sigma, the goal should be to be great…to be a six sigma organization filled with level 5 leaders. Six sigma requires a company to benchmark itself to the competition, analyze processes to pinpoint problems in order to come up with solutions, and reduce the amount of customer complaints. This will result in everything from better customer satisfaction indexes to increased market share. From the amount of time it takes to deliver an invoice, product or sale, return a phone call to client, or ship a container half-way around the world, time is money, and seconds can cost millions of dollars in profit.

To find out where the problems are…to see with both eyes, if you will…is the goal even if you’re already meeting great expectations. When you stop trying to improve, you do a disservice to yourself. Focus on what you can do to learn from yesterday and apply it today. Living in your glory is like seeing with only one eye, because remember: Even if you’ve just landed a big account or just won a championship game, there is still room to be better.

Learning More Once We Figure It Out is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

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General Patton wanted no part of bad strategy. When he was told to stand by and not advance, he sharpen and polish his troops by sending out small battle groups to keep the enemy guessing and on their toes.

When it comes down to being successful in business, a leader should make sure his or her “troops” have what they need to execute the grand plan, or that plan can quickly become a disaster. Whether you are selling automobiles to customers in a retail setting or delivering parts to an oil rig in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, how well you perform the task will indicate your level of success. On the flip side, great plans are ruined when the execution suffers. Bottom line…grandiose strategy plans won’t sell more cars, but solid customer service will. Listen to your customers, as for they are always telling you a story on how to keep them satisfied.

With that said, all of this reminds me of something Tom Peters wrote in A Passion for Excellence. In this book, he states that “Customers love being appreciated and hate supervisors who pull the disappearing act.” Heck, who doesn’t for that matter? Peters also stated, “Bad leaders are invisible, while good leaders demonstrate MBWA,” an acronym that he coined which means: “Managing By Walking Around.”

If you want to be informed about your company and provide useful direction to employees and managers, you need to get out of your office and change your focus from analyzing yesterday’s trends to witnessing the daily operation of your organization. By asking questions in the face of the day-to-day operations, you will get answers to problems you didn’t even know existed. By listening to other people within your team, you can give real input into the processes of your organization. By talking to customers, you’ll know if the business is hitting its target or just missing. Talking to a customer is much more valuable than looking at the results or marketing surveys.

So, the next time you want information…take a walk. Good things are sure to happen!

Managing By Walking Around is a post from: Geoff Snyder's Leadership and Team Collaboration Blog - Freedom to Think and Dream Big

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Leonardo Da Vinci found that nothing sucks the energy out of the human body and spirit more that complacency. After working years in sales, there were many days where I’d come home completely exhausted, wondering when the spark would fire back up and if I’d ever see it again. The truth is that I realized I constantly needed to refresh my spark on a daily basis. Staying on top of my game required for me to keep an active mind by continuously feeding it with new knowledge. New ideas inspire renewed energy and the will to take on new challenges.

If and when you ever see your job turning into a long-term sales career, make sure that you don’t let yourself get rusty by letting your mind go stagnant. Keep active and open to all new ideas. I mean, we have to give it to Leonardo Da Vinci for providing us with these words of wisdom: “Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses it purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen, even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.” You’ll find it to be contagious…your customers, clients, and your overall organization will feel your enthusiasm and respond positively.

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I absolutely love, love, love this quote! Now, don’t get me wrong…while learning the basics is important, it’s just as important to discover new and creative ways of doing the same old things. The real route to success is a combination of learning and creative thinking…not by conforming to the norm.

In his book, Purple Cow, Seth Godin’s message is quite simple: Be Remarkable. A purple cow is something counterintuitive, phenomenal, and exciting. His lesson is to put a purple cow into your business thinking, whether you are in marketing, production, or sales, so that you will attract the attention you deserve!

If you always follow the manual, it’s time to change your mindset. Creativity needs to be nurtured, and it’s hard to do so in an environment saturated by “business-as-usual” politics (this irks me…a lot), as well as disruptions of streaming e-mails and phone calls. To put yourself in a mindset that will encourage you to think outside the box, make an effort to tune out the outside world. And instead of just doing your job, give some thought on how you can do it differently. This way you just may change your organization, product, or service in such a way that nobody ever thought before.

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How can an ancient Chinese general be considered a business guru twenty-five hundred years later? By having written a book on military strategy called The Art of War. Business people from all industries have considered this little book a classic for their own development. The book covers the intellectual side of war and lays out a strategy for “psyching out” the enemy. Many a business mogul believes that Sun Tzu’s teachings are an indispensable guide for everyday life. Countless quotations are pulled from The Art of War are used not only by business people but by sport coaches, leadership gurus, and military personnel.

“Maneuvering for advantageous position” refers to the strategy that before you march toward your business goals, you need to have a firm plan as well as the flexibility to change those plans as your needs arise. You won’t just land in the place to take advantage of a good business opportunity by accident. But with a good plan, you can create your own opportunities. And if things change in your favor, you can modify your plans for an easier journey.

With that in mind, consider this quote that many entrepreneurs hang on the wall: “According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plans.”

I will be following up with a post regarding the marketing classic: Positioning which is written by both Al Ries and Jack Trout. This is a great book about communication within a marketplace that may appear overcrowded. I’ve read it several times over the years and have recently picked it back up for a refresher.

Also, I would like to thank Ted Coine for his recent blog post titled: “Management is War? Make that “Was.”“ This post reminded me of the legacy Sun Tzu left behind for us and how we carry his wisdom along with us today. If you have a few minutes, I encourage you to check out Ted’s blog. His current focus is on 21st Century Business practices and emphasizes leaders to incorporate new change in order to increase, or at a minimum, maintain employee engagement.

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Most of us have heard of Tony Robbins, the powerful motivational speaker and best selling author. Tony Robbins knows full well about a journey that involves changing and adapting. First, his family name isn’t even Robbins, it’s Mahavorick. And he was not always the buff presence he is today. Believe it or not, there was a time when he was overweight and depressed. But he got motivated (by another motivational speaker) and developed a unique neurolinguistic program that is the basis of his philosophy and teachings. His famous fire-walking seminars teach participants the strategies of control: mind over body and logic rules over pain.

His message is to always keep your wits about you. When unexpected obstacles block your path, use your head. Don’t let a little thing like a hot coal burn your feet. Keep walking, with your goal of completing the path uppermost in your mind. Later, you can look back and say, “Ouch! Boy did that hurt! But it’s over, and I won!”

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Find these people and stack your team with them. Then when you ask them to go the extra mile, you won’t have to worry about the task getting complete. Better yet, you won’t have to do it yourself because you’ll know it will be take care of.

When you are fortunate enough to have the get-it-done people on your team, let them do what they do best. Don’t request that they work on a report about a certain thing is used, and then right before they finish, tell them what the found. People with a track record of making things happen despise doing double work. They want to find out the answers for themselves.

Let these team players act as role models for other people who insist on jumping through hoops before they take on a task. Sooner or later, they will eventually learn: it’s best just to dive right in!

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To increase growth and employee engagement, take a hard, long look at the way managers are handling employee input. With today’s world being technology driven, “knowledge workers” need to be retained and challenged. When you continuously marginalize creative thinking within an organization, morale suffers greatly. Even the most highly motivated employees will eventually stop sharing their ideas. This then leads to turnover and a host of other avoidable problems.

A good leader should acknowledge the contributions of team on a routine basis, because as Warren Bennis said, “Leadership is the key to realizing the full potential of intellectual capital.” Get creative with recognition and it won’t be long before you will be swimming in intellectual capital.

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I’ve found this to be able to happen quickly when a manager gets to comfortable. maybe you want to talk about a movie you just saw or regale a colleague with a funny vacation story–everyday conversation shows your human side. That’s all well and good, until you slip inti discussing a risky topic like the attractiveness of a particular celebrity or his/her shenanigans at the city’s latest hot spot. Now the conversation includes potentially offensive material, the kind sure to be repeated by those listening or others within earshot. Soon you develop a reputation you don’t want.

Don’t use tact solely when you deal with people directly affiliated with your business. Show discretion during all professional conversations. Give the choice to berate an employee for a big mistake or build him back up now that the mistake is old news, you may well feel it’s within his job description to punish as a means toward correction. By taking frustrations out on team members you will undoubtedly reduce or eliminate any confidence that you’ve already worked hard at establishing.

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Building on your strengths makes sense because, ultimately, it will pave the way for a less stressful way to achieving your goals. First, you will have a proven track record that demonstrates the skills you already do well. Second, playing to your strengths allows you to experiment within your comfort zone. When trying to branch out and expand your business, it helps to know that you can build on what you have already done. Third, by relying on your strengths, you’ll find the inspiration to set attainable goals. By seeking more challenges, your leadership will inspire others to do the same.

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Each action that we perform in a relationship will either build it up or break it down. We need to be mindful of everything we do. If it’s said that we’re going to deliver something on deadline, we need to make sure to deliver it If we cannot make that deadline, it’s important to keep our client informed every step of the way. Follow though on every promise.

The more we show that we’re willing to invest in a relationship, the more meaningful it will become. Trust is built over the long haul, and our actions over time show volumes about our character and motivations. A one time effort to close a deal, get a sale or the client, even if it is dramatic and puts a big feather in our cap, it’s not enough. Enduring trust in a relationship can’t be faked and it’s rarely produced by a dramatic, one time effort. Build trust, keep it and nurture it.

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