May 14, 2012

Be A Courageous Leader

Posted by Matthew Dent under Leadership | Tags: , , , |
1 Comment 

The third decision for success is courage.

Courage is the ability to confront fear, danger, pain, uncertainty, or intimidation.  Courage is acting in spite of fear.

When was the last time you were courageous?

Do you have a fear of attending a new school, quitting your job, public speaking, challenging the status quo, or networking with others? These are common fears that don’t go away on their own; you must overcome them.  The majority of people avoid these insecurities but those who confront them, realize it’s not as bad as they had thought.  It actually never is, however, if we let fear control us, we create excuses and become complacent. On a daily basis we make choices to either become better versions of ourselves through self-evaluation and improvement or make excuses to justify our shortcomings; we must choose.

Choose to lead. Do you have the courage to see yourself as you really are?  By being honest with yourself, you will discover your weaknesses and from there, have the ability to improve.  Profit from your mistakes by learning from the experience. Spend more time analyzing and improving upon your limitations, less time building excuses to cover them.  We create false realities, find distractions, and busy our lives with anything and everything to take up time.  Be courageous, become a person of action, and have the courage to lead.

We’ve heard the popular quote, “Pain is only weakness leaving the body.”  Leaders are only leaders because they work through the pain and become better versions of themselves.  Too often we settle for less by creating excuses and allowing fear to paralyze our growth.  Coping with our inequities and the fear to change can seem to be the easier and faster solution; but in reality, we prolong a stagnant status quo.

Having the courage to lead is the third of seven decisions for personal success we learn about while reading the Traveler’s Gift written by Andy Andrews. I pulled this benediction from the book and believe we can learn something from it:

“I am a person of action. I have the ability to encourage and inspire others to greatness.  Leading is doing. To lead, I must move forward. Many people move out-of-the-way for a person on the run; others are caught up in his wake.  My activity will create a wave of success for the people who follow.  My activity will be consistent.  This will instill confidence in my leadership. I have the ability to encourage and inspire others to greatness. I am a person of action. I am daring. I am courageous.  Failure exists only for the person that quits, I do not quit.”

I would love to hear what you think… Last time you made the decision, did you create an excuse or did you have the courage to see yourself as you really are?

CRUX:   Spend more time analyzing and improving upon your limitations, less time building excuses to cover them.  Be courageous, become a person of action, and have the courage to lead.

 “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” -Albert Einstein

 

April 10, 2012

Be Patient, Seek Wisdom

Posted by Matthew Dent under Leadership, Motivation, Visionary | Tags: , , , |
Leave a Comment 

The second decision for success is seeking wisdom.

I really struggled with writing this post on seeking wisdom; I wasn’t quite sure about the best direction to communicate my perspective, and suddenly, it came to me.  Over the last few years, one word that has stuck with me is “patience.”   I have spent the last couple years really trying to understand and improve upon this weakness or should I say lack of wisdom.  I believe wisdom comes from having patience and patience gives us wisdom.

One year ago, while I thought I was efficiently conquering my daily priority list, I was presented with a personal lesson on patience. You see, I had been seeking some specific information and it was a top priority (even though it wasn’t quite a top priority to everyone else involved).  I received an email containing the information that I had been waiting for and began writing a letter in response.  I finally had the missing link and I was ready to react to the email.  I felt a sense of urgency as if I was writing- my emotions set the momentum (it was like preparing for a battle).   I had been looking forward to the email and replying to it all day.  That being said, it was suggested to me that, “we should sit on that information for a couple days, we have some time.”  I sat there for a moment before it hit me; by practicing patience, I can learn and grow from this situation more than reacting to it.  It was if I started viewing things from a new perspective; a calm, patience and confident wisdom.

Sometimes we get too caught up in finding our answers too quickly and respond without really understanding the value of the knowledge we gained.  Be patient and be in the present moment; you never know what you might be missing if you are looking too far ahead.  It was that day that I began processing information differently.  I slowed down and became more productive by practicing a greater understanding of patience.

You maybe a gifted driven individual but if you don’t take time to be in the present and reflect, you are going to miss out on a lot.   Sometimes things just don’t happen quite as quickly as we would like, but don’t become discouraged, keep pushing on.  A friend once said, “the longer you have to wait, the closer you are to what you are patiently waiting for.”   “A study of over 25,000 people showed that those who succeed in an outstanding way seldom do so before the age of 40.  More often they do not strike their real pace until they are well beyond 50.  Such great achievers as: Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and James Hill were all well past 40 before they really succeeded.  Biographies of industrialists and financiers are filled with evidence that the period from 40 to 60 is most productive.” -Napoleon Hill

Seeking wisdom is the second of 7 decisions for personal success we learn about while reading the Traveler’s Gift written by Andy Andrews. I pulled this benediction from the book and believe we can learn something from it:

“I will seek wisdom. Knowing that wisdom waits to be gathered, I will actively search her out.  My past can never be changed, but I can change the future by changing my actions today.  I will change my actions today! I will train my eyes and ears to read and listen to books and recording that bring about positive changes in my personal relationships and a greater understanding of my fellowman.  I will listen to the counsel of wise men.  The words of wise man are like raindrops on the dry ground.  They are precious and can be quickly used for immediate results.  By counseling with a wise man, I add his knowledge and experience to my own and dramatically increase my success.”

Do I seek wisdom? Am I patient? How can I improve?  These are just a couple questions we should ask ourselves daily to stay on track.  I would love to hear from you…What do you think?

CRUX:  Wisdom comes from having patience and patience gives us wisdom. By counseling with a wise man, I add his knowledge and experience to my own and dramatically increase my success.

“When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” -Alexander Graham Bell

 

June 17, 2010

What Motivates You?

Posted by Matthew Dent under Leadership, Motivation | Tags: , , |
[5] Comments 

What motivates you?  It maybe a corner office, wealth, influencing others, or to reach a level others have failed to accomplish.  Motivation is NOT a behavior, however, it strongly influences our behaviors.  I would define motivation as the psychological source of personal energy that drives you to succeed.  There are many types of social motives, however, three of the underlying social motives are: achievement, affiliation, and influence.

The need for achievement can be described as a way to do something quicker, better, easier or simply more efficient.  The thought pattern of achievement motivated people may include: out-performing someone else, meeting or exceeding self-imposed standards, striving for unique accomplishments, and thinking about long-term career connections.  When I think of achievement I am driven to succeed by self-imposed standards I have set for myself.  Recognizing your driving force to achieve will allow you to control the force that ignites your fire.  Just remember to not cut corners when striving for your goals and avoid becoming an ineffective manager by only worrying about the results. 

What motivates you to affiliate?  The core concern behind affiliation is establishing, maintaining, or repairing relationships.  Two types of affiliation exist; you may have a genuine interest in others or you may just want to belong.  I enjoy networking, engaging in conversation, and  maintaining relationships.  If affiliation motivates you, you may also be concerned with  disruption of relationships and also characterize group activities as social or friendly.

What drives you to influence?  The goal underlying influence motivation is a concern with having impact, with reputation and influence.  Influence motivation is also called power motivation.  When individuals combine their ability to achieve with the ability to influence you will see a leader born.  Whether the drive to influence is for personal or social gain people like having a leader.  Having the ability to not only achieve but influence will create followers and in turn increase your ability to influence.   

I would love to hear what motivates you.  Are you driven to achieve, affiliate, and influence?

CRUX: Determine what motivates you whether it is achievement, affiliation, or influence.  Understanding what keeps you going will allow you to flip the switch and ignite your fire.  

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim to high and falling short; but in setting our aim to low, and achieving our mark.” -Michelangelo

 

March 4, 2010

Networking Excellence- 3 Ideas for Success

Posted by Matthew Dent under Communication, Leadership, Relationship Building | Tags: , , , , |
[6] Comments 

Previously, we set the ground work for establishing connections and maintaining rapport as an effective starting point when it comes to networking.  When most people hear the word networking, they may think of a local chamber commerce meeting or a cocktail party, boring small talk, and just what to use when leaving early. However, networking is how most people get clients, find employees, a new restaurant spot, a place to vacation, and most importantly it is the basis for developing relationships.  Regardless if you are an introvert or extrovert, you can be successful at networking. It is just a matter of figuring out your style.  What is your philosophy on networking?

How do you feel about meeting new people? Do you dread the thought? Or, do you look forward to engaging conversation everywhere, all the time?

The main underlining message behind networking is building bridges.  Setting out to make a good first impression is always important when meeting someone for the first time.  Try smiling, it is contagious.  People recognize positive energy, just be genuine and consistent with who you are and others will be encouraged to engage in conversation. There is no need to be over the top, rather it is more about doing the small things that really matter.  For example, a friend of mine was walking into his local chamber of commerce meeting and held the door open for the person walking in behind him.  This simple gesture led to a conversation and potentially will lead to having a new client.  More importantly, a bridge was formed.  You never know who you might meet on a given day; you should be ready to set yourself apart from the others.  Be authentic, but standout!

Go out and ask questions but remember to listen.   Asking questions and getting to know someone is a very easy way to network. In return, be ready to answer questions about yourself in a confident yet humble manner.  You might want to have a line rehearsed about who you are and what you do.  Don’t make it robotic and be yourself; the more you do this the more natural it becomes.  Take this time to practice listening and follow the steps of becoming an active listener, it will take time but you will improve.  I know you may start daydreaming about how great your weekend is going to be and may miss an entire conversation but if all else fails when it comes to retaining anything from the conversation, at least remember their name.  People like hearing their name, pay them a compliment by remembering their name.  Master listening and you will set yourself apart from others, unfortunately most of us are too busy wanting to speak we forget to listen.  Nobody ever said it was going to be easy and it requires a lot of work but with a little practice we can master this skill.

I think the hardest part of networking is maintaining the relationships we have established.  Do you ever sit back and wonder what happen to a co-worker or college roommate?  When this happens to me, I find ways to reconnect and then practice keeping in touch.  A simple text message, email, or phone call goes along way yet it usually gets passed up because we are too busy.  The social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, & Linkedin have simplified this process for you.  It may take you a few hours to get these platforms up and running but after that you just need to check back periodicly. This is probably the easiest way to network with people.  It just takes a little time and you can make that happen, right? Taking the time to put out a little effort  lets others know you really care.  Stop making the excuse, there is no reason to lose contact with a friend or co-worker.  Do the little things that will keep you in touch.

CRUX: Take every opportunity to set yourself apart from others.  Do the little things like building bridges, listening, and making an effort to keep in touch.  This takes work and practice but focusing on others will ultimately lead to a chance for you shine.

“Success in life, in anything, depends upon the number of persons that one can make himself agreeable to.” -Thomas Carlyle

 

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 38 other followers