Can I get a witness?

Question from our website: Chris, our company does not treat employees very well. Do you have any advice I can pass along to change this negativity?

Thomas J. Watson, former IBM chairman, hit a grand slam with this: "I believe the real difference between success and failure in a corporation can very often be traced to the question of how well the organization brings out the great energies and talents of its people."

There is nothing, and I mean nothing, more important than relationships and people (employees are top of that list)

Now that you know this, my question back: What are you going to do about it?

Set the Tone!

Set the Tone!



One of the area's of my business and my life I am examining is the tone. It's been a great process to go through and very revealing. I think those that produce great results intentionally set the tone. Great leaders set the tone. And then great leaders examine the tone to make sure it is consistent with the purpose.

As I young man, I had the absolute privilege of working for a NFL team, the Miami Dolphins and working for the All-Time leader in wins for a coach in Hall of Fame Coach Don Shula. I learned so much from him and regard him as one of the best leaders I have ever known. One of the biggest lessons I learned from Coach Shula was on tone. Coach Shula set the tone...and it was crystal clear to not only players and other coaches, but to the entire organization! So clear in fact, that the fourteen year old ball boy got it! Tone is critical for success.


When I went through this, I found some area's where I was entirely too relaxed and others where I was entirely too rushed. All of this has allowed me to set a new more effective tone. Here are some of my notes:

• Crisp is the goal
• John Wooden and one of my favorite quotes on tone: "Quick but don't rush."
• Smooth
• Clean
• Relational
• Purposeful and Intentional
• Sharp
• Clear

Look at your tone. Examine. Be intentional.

Go Back to Your Vision!

In times of chaos and uncertainty, always revert back to your VISION!

It's your vision that gives you the passion and emotional fortitude to plow forward in these times of uncertainty.

VISION:

• Your Purpose
• Why? to everything...why are we doing this? why is this needed? why did we start this? why is this needed?
• Intentionality! to everything
• Pay Attention
• Passion
• Spirit...(nothing stronger than team spirit...do you have it?)
• Guts

Go back to your vision today. It will be the best r.o.i. you can do. By the way, if you don't have a vision, you are missing the boat. Also, if you can't answer the quesitons with your vision, that should tell you something huge.

Why...

Starting with the vision and working down to everyday tasks, ask yourself why are you doing what you are doing. Force yourself to do the mental push-ups and completely answer this question in these many different areas.

This could dramatically change your world!

The key is to have very deep and profound WHY's! More to come on that....

But first, ask yourself the above question. If it's hard to answer, that tells you something very important and you should be able to clear out a ton of noise.

Identify Best Networking Opportunities

Networking is one of the most important skill sets to master. Those that are experts in networking have a huge competitive advantage in not only the marketplace, but also life as well.

Jesus was the best at networking to ever walk the planet. It came naturally to him. For others of us, we have to work at it and make networking very much intentional.

With that, network on purpose and with passion. A great exercise I do is the draw 3 circles on a page and inside each circle, identify key people or key organizations that could really make things awesome for you!

After that, we will write on how to make an intentional plan to grow, develop. or start those relationships.

But the first start is to identify!

Intentional Learning

What are you learning today?

Do this: Take 10 minutes today and write a list of things you are actively and intentionally learning...

So many of us fall into R and R....ruts and routines! Why do most people settle for mediocrity? Look around and you will see it all over:

• Mediocrity in relationships
• Mediocrity in marriages
• Mediocrity in careers
• Mediocrity in business
• Mediocrity in daily work

We can change this. How? Learning new things. But the problem is most don't put intentionality to learning. Make a list of what you are intentionally learning today. Well worth your time. (by the way, if this is difficult to make that list....that tells you something!)

Go Susan Go!

I dreamed a dream...

Talk is Cheap...

In today's marketplace chaos, one theme keeps coming back time and time again as we talk with so many people...Talk is Easy but Doing is not!

Here is what we see:

• Today, we find very little action in the marketplace
• Great intentions but no execution
• Lots of theory but short on reality
• So much Wait and almost no Go
• Everyone is Aiming but Nobody if Firing away
• All Defense (cuts, expenses) No Offense (adds, revenues)

It's time to change!

The best road, and the road that nobody is taking looks like this:

GO FOR IT TODAY!

MAKE IT HAPPEN TODAY!

ACTION! EXECUTION! GO TIME! Why Not? Increase Revenues... Get New Business
Sell Something to Somebody Today! (everything else is secondary) Let's change today!

Question submitted

Question submitted on my website: Chris, what issues or ideas are you working on in your business? I want to see if there is anything I can grab from you and put in my business.

• More writing and articles. One of our key principles is Be Seen and Be Heard! In other words, we are working on branding and marketing through relevant articles.
• New programs. We constantly aware that we need to be Interesting and Entertaining! And that means aggressively having new stuff to talk about. Look, how interesting and entertaining is Six Sigma in today's marketplace? Not very is right! I am not saying it doesn't work or not meaningful, in fact, it is....but it's 1990 type stuff. We are continually re-inventing our programs and speeches to stay relevant! We are either Distinct or we will be Extinct! So we are writing new seminars and speeches all the time.
• Along those lines, we are looking for new ways to Change. What got us here won't get us there....the only way we can get to our "there" is to change! Plus, I hate ruts and routines. I want to be comfortably uncomfortable and never fall into the trap of comfort zones. I have a list of changes I want to consider and then implement. Example: Meet someone new every single day and ask how you can help them.
• Outline for a book project.
• Working on a weekend seminar...Business Retreat and Think-Tank....at a great resort in central Texas for business leaders and those in the marketplace to Transform their Business!
• Pick up the pace on reading....there is so much to learn that can help me. I have to increase the number of pages I read per day.
• Re-define Priorities with a focus on those that are deep impact (starting with the eternal.)
• RELATIONSHIPS! ....make new ones and improve existing relationships with intentionality and purpose. To me, there is nothing more important than relationships on this planet (see most famous picture of earth taken November 10, 1967)
• Finally, Superbowl weekend for Christians as Easter is here...Finally, I am working on improving my relationship with Jesus! See priorities above...Is there anything more important than that? Not for me! Have a great Easter to all!

Teddy and Tate Tapken

I am in Houston speaking at a convention for a couple days. Having a rockin' response to our message of Hope, Action, Execution, and Attitude in today's marketplace!

But I have to tell you, I miss my boys! I can't wait to see them tomorrow night.

Good vs WOW!

Good vs WOW!

How many times do you settle for just being good when you are capable of WOW?

We see so many examples of company's and leaders who are settling for good when they can do much better and they can achieve WOW! stuff. We see this much more today when times are more difficult....way too much settling for just being good in today's marketplace. Here is what is looks like:

• Just good marketing
• Just good employee relations
• Just good customer experience
• Just good products
• Just good innovation and creativity
• Just good production and work product
• Just good communication
• Just good leadership
• Just good team work

Just good but not WOW!

Don't let good rob you from WOW! Make sure you and your organization are not settling for being just good when you are capable and can reach for WOW!

Homework: Intentionally analyze every part of your business and ask yourself if you achieved the WOW standard. If not, what can you break and change to get to WOW? Then make a plan to hit the WOW standard in every part of your business....especially focus on the Basics. The great companies execute the Basics with a WOW standard every single time!

No Shortcuts

8% of significant net worth is obtained through inheritance or lottery

92% of significant net worth is achieved through hard work and out hustling the rest of the world

It's not about some business botox....or secret to success. or searching for the fountain of youth.

It is about:

• Working hard....out hustle your competition
• Working smart...out thinking your competition
• Having a purpose and vision to your business/life
• Setting goals to achieve the vision
• Great Time Management...don't ever waste time
• Evolve or Erode..If it ain't broke = BREAK IT....change today
• Master the Basics...The secret sauce in business is that is NO SECRETS! Do the basics every single day better than your competition
• Attitude is everything
• And finally how about this: Sell something to somebody today! Just go out and sell something today...what would the marketplace and economy look like if we all just did this?

We all need to get going...

We all need to make it happen....

We all need to get busy gettin' busy!

How to get paid more money...

A question came in from this website on how to get paid more money. The big thing to grasp is this: You get paid for providing value to the marketplace.

High Value to the marketplace = High Pay
Low Value to the marketplace = Low Pay

The bank teller doesn't get paid as much as the bank president. Same bank and same employer writing the checks. Why does one get paid more than the other? The value brought to the marketplace!

To get paid more, you need to provide more value to the marketplace. Simple as that. Ask yourself this: What value am I bringing to the table? If there is not much there, then you need a plan to bring more value.

How can I do that?

• Training
• Learning more
• Working on yourself (bring better attitude, better team player)
• Marketing
• Take on more work

The second issue is this: Are you effectively marketing yourself to maximise value and pay? The people that get paid well are awesome at marketing themselves to "highlight/sell" all that they bring in value.

Finally understand this: If there is nothing special about your work, there will be nothing special about your pay either! Be interesting and entertaining in your work, bring huge value, market yourself as special, and watch the chips start to add up!

Street Retreat Follow Up

Mobile Loaves and Fishes Street Retreat 2009 was certainly amazing if not life changing for me. A group of 20 or so of us literally were homeless for a weekend. We were dropped off in downtown Austin at 5 pm on Friday and had to live and survive until Sunday; with no food, no money, no credit cards, no phone...nothing but our clothes on our back or backpack. I ate in the shelters and slept on the blacktop of a bare parking lot. But most of all, I met some incredible new friends! (both the homeless as well as the fellow participants)

I have had several emails on wanting to know how the Street Retreat went last weekend and what take away was from the experience. I apologize for the delay but it took me a couple days to de-compress and gather my thoughts. So here they are:

• Little things make a huge difference so just take small actions...a simple bottle of water changes the entire day for a homeless person. Because the homeless issue is so big and so complex, I know many people that don't know what to do... so they don't do anything. But I want you to know that the small things really matter!
• Giving Time is Huge! Many of the homeless friends I met, simply wanted to talk. Look... every single one of us want to matter in the is world. We all want to contribute in some fashion. The homeless are the same. They want to matter. But, due to many factors like absence of any family or addiction, nobody has listened to the homeless. I think mountains can be moved if we simply just listen and give some time to the homeless.
• Everyone has a story...we just need to take some time and care about "their" story.
• Sleep deprivation is a huge issue. I have been asked so many times: Why don't they just go get a job? Well, it's not that simple. One of the big issues is that the homeless are tired. They experience massive sleep deprivation. With 2 nights....only 2 nights, I was exhausted! I got about 4 total hours of sleep. Imagine never having a good nights sleep...well that is reality for a homeless person. Try this: For 1 night, just sleep outside in your backyard and tell me how you slept. And that's only about 5% of a homeless persons night.
• Love em Up! Love is the strongest four letter word ever created. We simply need to intentionally love em up!
• Hope! We need to provide hope to the homeless. Hope in life getting better. Hope in brighter days are ahead. Hope in a job. Hope in a having their own place. Hope in providing for themselves. Hope in their Faith!
• God is present! One of my biggest take aways is the strong presence of God in the homeless. These people, despite incredibly bad living circumstances, have strong faith and a powerful belief in Jesus! Incredible. If you live in Austin and you want to see mountain moving faith, go to Church Under the Bridge (at 7th and I-35)
• Action Action we need Action! You can make a huge difference today. But it takes action. Since this is a complex issue, I suggest teaming up with experts like Mobile Loaves and Fishes. They flat out GET IT! Give money, give time, and give your resources to MLF...I promise it will be put to great use to solve this problem.