Taking a Stand in the Desert

***This blog post is dedicated to my MUSE***

Don't try to change people who are:

Ungrateful

Unhelpful

Unruly

Unkindly

Unloving

Unambitious

Unmotivated

and especially if they make you feel...

Uncomfortable

Trying to change these people is like Taking a Stand in the Desert...you've got no where to go my friend, it's a lose-lose situation.
                   
Here's 5 Lessons from Dan Rockwell (paraphrased)

 P.I.G.S  - People Ignorant of Gaining Success

1. With P.I.G.S. you'll get bacon, but never eggs.

2. Training won't help. If you want eggs, find some chickens.

3. Rewards won't help P.I.G.S. act like chickens.

4. If  P.I.G.S. can't take you where you need to go, replace them with chickens, or buy a new farm.

5. Even if you could convince P.I.G.S. to go to chicken heaven, they wouldn't thrive and neither would you!

Time for a change....GET OUT OF THE DESERT!

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Back of My Boyfriend's Harley

"I get my best ideas when I'm riding on the back of my boyfriend's Harley!" ~ Linda H.

I know... sounds like the lyrics of a bad or maybe even good country song. The point is, we all need to find "that place" where we can open our mind to fresh new ideas. We all have that magic place, we just need to go there more often and then take action. 

I am guilty,  and I am sure you may be at times, of coming up with ideas and then being fearful of implementing them or at the very least sounding them off a trusted advisor. 

Why? Maybe we are afraid of what people will think. Or doubtful that the idea may even work? 

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Great minds discuss ideas. Weak minds dismiss them". 

John Keynes reminds us that "Ideas shape the course of history, especially our own."

So go to your "idea place" more often. Whether it is on the back of a Harley, your daily run (mine), sitting on your porch, or whatever works for you... go there, take that idea and share it, try it, just don't let it die. 

"Remember, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten. If you want to arrive at a new destination, you need to take a new path." ~ John Maxwell

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Change? 1-2-3

Frank A. , God rest his soul, was the best "back-room" manager and the best leader when it came to changing the culture.

I first met Frank in the early '70s working third shift at my first Giant Eagle.

He was often transferred around from store to store to train and motivate the night stocking crews.
One of the first things he did when he went to a new store was to clean, scrub and wax, and paint the backroom.
" You got to show them that you have arrived." Frank would always say. "Physical changes first, something they can see... then after you get their attention, things will start happening."
It worked! I saw it for myself. After Frank arrived in our store, production dramatically improved.

Are you looking to make a changes in your business? Continuous Improvements?

Whether you have employees or are an army of one. Home office or brick and mortar.
Implement the following

Three steps for successful " physical change".

1. Change your appearance: new hairstyle, new clothes, loose weight, etc..

2. Change your work environment: start meeting at a different location, redecorate / remodel your office.

3. Never ever use the word "change". Call what your doing "continuous improvement". (Only leaders like the word change.)

Three steps for "Leadership Changes"

1. Ask more questions, listen more-tell less

2. Encourage ideas from the newer employees and non managers

3. Be willing to admit mistakes

In the words of my old friend Frank... " You don't have to ever say we are changing things around here... just show them that the improvements work and change will follow."

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