OK, so it may be that winter is inching ever closer. Here in Alberta, winter usually makes an early entrance. So it was particularly enjoyable to be invited to go sailing today. My friend, Phil, offered us a chance to join him about his sailboat for the day. The invitation came Friday night at Phil's house as he played host to folk-singer/songwriter Gregory Hoskins.
While listening to CBC Radio a few months ago, Phil responded to the CBC's request for people interested in hosting a series of living room concerts over an eight-month period. Well the first concert was held Friday night and Gregory Hoskins was outstanding. The intimate crowd of fifteen were treated to an evening of incredible music and entertainment. (I now look forward to the next concerts.)
Anyway, today the sun shone brightly. The breeze was light but enough to fill the sails and the relaxation and bright, warm sunshine were welcomed.
There were plenty of opportunities for honest discussion, profound thought and thankfulness that an opportunity for sailing was not squandered by a busy schedule.
This got me to thinking that simple things like good friends, good times and good fortune should never go unnoticed. We are, in Canada, one week away from our Thanksgiving Holiday. If we can take the time to reflect on what we have, what we've accomplished and the quality of people we surround ourselves with, we should have clear sailing for life.
However all is not easy in sailing. Depending on the wind to get you where you need to be can, at times, be frustrating. Also, the wind can easily blow you off-course. The secret to sailing is that there will always be a small series of corrections to get you where you're going. Trust the wind, the sails and the skipper and you will sail clearly.
Oh, and by the way, YOU are the skipper in your own life.
Kevin Burns
Attitude Adjuster, Performance Strategist,
Author, "Trust The Process" Guy
Toll-free 1-877-BURNS-11
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Employee Tip #7 - How To Work For A Jerk-Boss
Michael and I have known each other for about fifteen years. Recently, he has been dabbling in the area of personal development. Not his. Yours. He is a personal coach and seminar leader who is getting ready to publish his first book.
While he has been incredibly busy conducting his coaching sessions and workshops, he has been maintaining his full-time gig as a department supervisor. That's not really a difficult task to juggle when you have a good sense of who you are and why you are here. But now, things are in a bit of flux. Seems his boss has a problem with him making the world a better place by helping people to have more confidence and live a better life. (I guess that's threatening to someone who manages by fear and intimidation.) Michael's boss has asked (no let me rephrase that - dictated to him) that he had to start sorting out what his priorities are going to be even though his activities have never impacted company time or responsibilities.
(Note: Michael conducts his coaching sessions in his own evenings off of company time and takes personal holiday days to conduct any seminars he might be engaged to do. But when he's at work, he's at work - committed.)
There was a time in my early days when I believed that every boss I had ever worked for was a graduate of the same Jerk-Boss School. Sadly, Michael's boss got the diploma.
As we ate lunch, it became abundantly clear that the secret to working for a Jerk-Boss is to ensure that you have a good sense of who you are, be well versed in your own ethics and values, set a standard for yourself and not allow yourself to be pushed around even once. If you let any of these items slide just once, you have set a precedent and a standard for the future. You must also be willing to put your foot down and say, "No. That is unacceptable."
So what's the secret in getting yourself to that place? Well, you are going to need to have confidence and conviction about who you are, what value you bring and what your strengths and weaknesses are. There are many ways to achieve that but every single answer requires some work.
Ultimately, you are responsible for working on you. Learn something that makes you a better person, employee, communicator, parent, spouse, whatever. Read the books, go to the seminars, enroll in personal development courses, find a personal coach who can help you develop a new blueprint for your life and then make the new learning a priority. It really is simple. But it takes work.
If you could read a chapter in a book each day that makes you better in some way, if you could listen to a CD of something educational for fifteen minutes each day, if you would ask people who are already modeling the confidence you would like to have how they do it, you would be well on your way to successfully tolerating the abusive behaviours of tyrants and jerk bosses.
I did say it was simple. And it is. But it requires you to work at it. Do the work and you will get the benefit.
Remember though, that there are people in your life (sometimes it's your boss) who will take every chance they have to try and tear you down, especially if they see that you are accomplishing things that they can't fathom or understand. You see, in their insecure minds, if they tear you down, it somehow magically elevates them. The problem is that these very small-minded people are threatened by you because when you self-improve, you show them what could have been done with a little effort. And that, to a tyrant, is not only threatening but embarrassing.
So, what are you going to learn today?
While he has been incredibly busy conducting his coaching sessions and workshops, he has been maintaining his full-time gig as a department supervisor. That's not really a difficult task to juggle when you have a good sense of who you are and why you are here. But now, things are in a bit of flux. Seems his boss has a problem with him making the world a better place by helping people to have more confidence and live a better life. (I guess that's threatening to someone who manages by fear and intimidation.) Michael's boss has asked (no let me rephrase that - dictated to him) that he had to start sorting out what his priorities are going to be even though his activities have never impacted company time or responsibilities.
(Note: Michael conducts his coaching sessions in his own evenings off of company time and takes personal holiday days to conduct any seminars he might be engaged to do. But when he's at work, he's at work - committed.)
There was a time in my early days when I believed that every boss I had ever worked for was a graduate of the same Jerk-Boss School. Sadly, Michael's boss got the diploma.
As we ate lunch, it became abundantly clear that the secret to working for a Jerk-Boss is to ensure that you have a good sense of who you are, be well versed in your own ethics and values, set a standard for yourself and not allow yourself to be pushed around even once. If you let any of these items slide just once, you have set a precedent and a standard for the future. You must also be willing to put your foot down and say, "No. That is unacceptable."
So what's the secret in getting yourself to that place? Well, you are going to need to have confidence and conviction about who you are, what value you bring and what your strengths and weaknesses are. There are many ways to achieve that but every single answer requires some work.
Ultimately, you are responsible for working on you. Learn something that makes you a better person, employee, communicator, parent, spouse, whatever. Read the books, go to the seminars, enroll in personal development courses, find a personal coach who can help you develop a new blueprint for your life and then make the new learning a priority. It really is simple. But it takes work.
If you could read a chapter in a book each day that makes you better in some way, if you could listen to a CD of something educational for fifteen minutes each day, if you would ask people who are already modeling the confidence you would like to have how they do it, you would be well on your way to successfully tolerating the abusive behaviours of tyrants and jerk bosses.
I did say it was simple. And it is. But it requires you to work at it. Do the work and you will get the benefit.
Remember though, that there are people in your life (sometimes it's your boss) who will take every chance they have to try and tear you down, especially if they see that you are accomplishing things that they can't fathom or understand. You see, in their insecure minds, if they tear you down, it somehow magically elevates them. The problem is that these very small-minded people are threatened by you because when you self-improve, you show them what could have been done with a little effort. And that, to a tyrant, is not only threatening but embarrassing.
So, what are you going to learn today?
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Boss Tip #13 - Switch Drivers
It's not hard to imagine. You've probably done it yourself. You're on a cross-country car trip with the family. After ten hours or so, and just a couple of bathroom breaks in that time, you've decided that you can't drive anymore. You look over to the passenger seat where your spouse has been sleeping through the last three hours of driving. You are exhausted. Your spouse is refreshed. So, you switch off.
There comes a time in every manager's career where he or she hits that same wall: goes as far as he or she can on the tools they possess and then that's it. In order to take the company or department to the next level, the boss is required to switch off with someone who knows the road, has the desire to get there and possesses the capabilities to lead the team to the next level.
Dr. Laurence Peter, in his 1968 book The Peter Principle, wrote the following: In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
Well, surprise, surprise, that includes bosses too. It is the responsibility of the boss to recognize that he or she has taken the team as far as he or she can and then get ready to get out of the way. Sadly, this is not how it ends up working out. Sadly, in an effort to continue to collect a regular paycheck, many bosses end up sabotaging the growth of the business by staying in the bosses seat well past the level of their own competence. And in doing so, the business starts to decline. The boss is then forced to downsize some of the people who helped make the company what it is and the boss will do everything else except solve the problem. The solution: trade in the boss for someone new.
The smart boss, the benevolent boss, is the one who steps out of the way of the business progressing beyond his or her capabilities, finding a suitable successor and then either staying on to oversee specific projects or finding a new company that he or she could help move forward.
It's at a crucial time like this that the difference between managers and leaders becomes glaringly obvious. A leader will lead until he or she doesn't know the way anymore and then will look for someone who can lead beyond where they are. A manager will attempt to convince everyone else that he or she can lead beyond where they are. In likelihood, there are people who are on the team who could take the reigns of power and move the company forward but the manager is in the way.
My friend Phil had a conversation with me about this a few weeks ago. He is planning to find a way to step aside of his own business and prepare for semi-retirement. As he said, "I figure I've got three years to get out of the way or the people who are most capable of running this company will become discouraged and leave. If that happens, then the business isn't worth much to someone else to buy because there'll be no one left to run it."
So, are you in the way of your own company's future success? Think about it. Be honest. Then do the right thing.
There comes a time in every manager's career where he or she hits that same wall: goes as far as he or she can on the tools they possess and then that's it. In order to take the company or department to the next level, the boss is required to switch off with someone who knows the road, has the desire to get there and possesses the capabilities to lead the team to the next level.
Dr. Laurence Peter, in his 1968 book The Peter Principle, wrote the following: In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
Well, surprise, surprise, that includes bosses too. It is the responsibility of the boss to recognize that he or she has taken the team as far as he or she can and then get ready to get out of the way. Sadly, this is not how it ends up working out. Sadly, in an effort to continue to collect a regular paycheck, many bosses end up sabotaging the growth of the business by staying in the bosses seat well past the level of their own competence. And in doing so, the business starts to decline. The boss is then forced to downsize some of the people who helped make the company what it is and the boss will do everything else except solve the problem. The solution: trade in the boss for someone new.
The smart boss, the benevolent boss, is the one who steps out of the way of the business progressing beyond his or her capabilities, finding a suitable successor and then either staying on to oversee specific projects or finding a new company that he or she could help move forward.
It's at a crucial time like this that the difference between managers and leaders becomes glaringly obvious. A leader will lead until he or she doesn't know the way anymore and then will look for someone who can lead beyond where they are. A manager will attempt to convince everyone else that he or she can lead beyond where they are. In likelihood, there are people who are on the team who could take the reigns of power and move the company forward but the manager is in the way.
My friend Phil had a conversation with me about this a few weeks ago. He is planning to find a way to step aside of his own business and prepare for semi-retirement. As he said, "I figure I've got three years to get out of the way or the people who are most capable of running this company will become discouraged and leave. If that happens, then the business isn't worth much to someone else to buy because there'll be no one left to run it."
So, are you in the way of your own company's future success? Think about it. Be honest. Then do the right thing.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
What Would Happen If ...
I stopped by Tim Horton's today on my way home from speaking in Camrose, Alberta. There's nothing like a great cup of tea for the drive home. It's kind of heartwarming and almost comfort food - well, to me anyway.
Here's the point: as I entered the restaurant, a young girl of seventeen or so was being interviewed for a job. She sat up straight, made good eye contact, had a smile on her face and wasn't rattled by the interview process at all. As a matter of fact, she seemed like she had it all: a good work ethic, confidence and ability to handle the tasks.
I thought to myself that I would be pleased to be served by such a person.
Perhaps that's the answer: perhaps the customer should play a part in the interview process before someone is hired for a job. If, as a customer, I am pleased to be served by an employee, I think I would be prepared to return to that business to be served again.
After all, in the service industry, it matters more that the customer is happy and not so much the employer right? Perhaps the owners of some service industry establishments could use a little attitude adjustment when it comes to hiring staff anyway.
Think about it this way: the customer is revenue and the employee is expense. Shouldn't revenue play a part in who gets hired? Just a thought. I'd be pleased to be served by her. Perhaps my next time in Camrose I will.
Here's the point: as I entered the restaurant, a young girl of seventeen or so was being interviewed for a job. She sat up straight, made good eye contact, had a smile on her face and wasn't rattled by the interview process at all. As a matter of fact, she seemed like she had it all: a good work ethic, confidence and ability to handle the tasks.
I thought to myself that I would be pleased to be served by such a person.
Perhaps that's the answer: perhaps the customer should play a part in the interview process before someone is hired for a job. If, as a customer, I am pleased to be served by an employee, I think I would be prepared to return to that business to be served again.
After all, in the service industry, it matters more that the customer is happy and not so much the employer right? Perhaps the owners of some service industry establishments could use a little attitude adjustment when it comes to hiring staff anyway.
Think about it this way: the customer is revenue and the employee is expense. Shouldn't revenue play a part in who gets hired? Just a thought. I'd be pleased to be served by her. Perhaps my next time in Camrose I will.
Monday, September 17, 2007
What we did with $20
OK, for those of you curious as to what happened with the found $20 bill, we managed to raise just shy of $200 for Regan and his family. I cut the cheque and Meghan is shopping right now. By the way, thank you to all who made a donation to this young African boy and his family. This was fun and kind of warms the cockles of your heart doesn't it. It does especially if you know exactly where the cockles are.
Here Comes A New Attitude
How many times have you ever said about someone you either work with or were served by, "That guy could sure use an attitude adjustment?"
I've said it. You've said it and I am choosing to make it my mission to instill that attitude adjustment in as many people as I can over the next few years. Now before you go and get all bent out of shape about it, think about what an attitude adjustment really is. It is nothing more than a revelation that what you are doing isn't working and to stop doing what doesn't work and start doing what does work.
When you change your attitude, you change your mind. When you change your mind you change your behaviour and consequently change your results. Simple no?
I have been delivering attitude adjustments for the past ten years and I have written my newest book on attitude. I completed writing it over the summer and my editor/publisher Gwen has it right now. The forthcoming book (my seventh book) is titled, "Go Ahead. Give Me Attitude!"
It will be coming out (hopefully) before Christmas in both paperback and hard cover. There will be an audio compendium as well (sort of a book on CD). Watch for it. I will make a lot of noise just before it comes out ... trust me on that one.
I've said it. You've said it and I am choosing to make it my mission to instill that attitude adjustment in as many people as I can over the next few years. Now before you go and get all bent out of shape about it, think about what an attitude adjustment really is. It is nothing more than a revelation that what you are doing isn't working and to stop doing what doesn't work and start doing what does work.
When you change your attitude, you change your mind. When you change your mind you change your behaviour and consequently change your results. Simple no?
I have been delivering attitude adjustments for the past ten years and I have written my newest book on attitude. I completed writing it over the summer and my editor/publisher Gwen has it right now. The forthcoming book (my seventh book) is titled, "Go Ahead. Give Me Attitude!"
It will be coming out (hopefully) before Christmas in both paperback and hard cover. There will be an audio compendium as well (sort of a book on CD). Watch for it. I will make a lot of noise just before it comes out ... trust me on that one.
Sweet Summer Sweat
Yes I know it's been some time since I wrote. That doesn't mean I haven't been thinking ... or doing ... or planning ... or making changes. The summer was actually quite busy.
In April, I had the opportunity to address Health Expo West in Vancouver. There was a professional photographer at the event who fired off several photos. I was rewarded with these shots by email one day. Nice dark background, great lighting, excellent photo contrast and there I was, being shot from below and my face looked like it was the size of a pumpkin... just a little less orange. My first thought was, “Where the hell did my neck go?”
Jeez, I don't remember getting that fat. Wow, sometimes it takes a moment of honesty to really see the true picture. The picture, or pictures, I did not like. Something had to be done and had to be done quickly. I needed to give myself an Attitude Adjustment.
My friend and fellow speaker, Ken Larson, thinks I'm an “all or nothing” kind of guy so it was no surprise to the fitness freaking, health-drink swilling, king of the gym (that would be Ken), that I would embark on a fitness program that promised the following: “You will not sit on a couple of little machines and magically lose weight. You will work. You will hurt. You will sweat!”
I started the ninety-day program July 15. This past weekend, sixty days into the program, I am happy to report I have lost twenty pounds so far. I have not sat upon any machines. I have done more push ups, pull ups, chin-ups, jump-ups and wind-ups than I can even count. No pharmaceuticals. No starve-oneself diet and no sugar. Just real wholesome food and a little simple math (calories in versus calories out – need to have more calories expended than what I take in – see, simple math).
It will probably be another thirty to sixty days before I'm down to my fighting weight. Once that happens, I'm coming after you to give you an attitude adjustment. Don't make me do that.
In April, I had the opportunity to address Health Expo West in Vancouver. There was a professional photographer at the event who fired off several photos. I was rewarded with these shots by email one day. Nice dark background, great lighting, excellent photo contrast and there I was, being shot from below and my face looked like it was the size of a pumpkin... just a little less orange. My first thought was, “Where the hell did my neck go?”
Jeez, I don't remember getting that fat. Wow, sometimes it takes a moment of honesty to really see the true picture. The picture, or pictures, I did not like. Something had to be done and had to be done quickly. I needed to give myself an Attitude Adjustment.
My friend and fellow speaker, Ken Larson, thinks I'm an “all or nothing” kind of guy so it was no surprise to the fitness freaking, health-drink swilling, king of the gym (that would be Ken), that I would embark on a fitness program that promised the following: “You will not sit on a couple of little machines and magically lose weight. You will work. You will hurt. You will sweat!”
I started the ninety-day program July 15. This past weekend, sixty days into the program, I am happy to report I have lost twenty pounds so far. I have not sat upon any machines. I have done more push ups, pull ups, chin-ups, jump-ups and wind-ups than I can even count. No pharmaceuticals. No starve-oneself diet and no sugar. Just real wholesome food and a little simple math (calories in versus calories out – need to have more calories expended than what I take in – see, simple math).
It will probably be another thirty to sixty days before I'm down to my fighting weight. Once that happens, I'm coming after you to give you an attitude adjustment. Don't make me do that.
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