The Right Moves

Leaders need to have the right attitude, or the leadership will fall short.
Leadership is giving...inspire vs. require...work done "with" people vs. work done "by" people.

1. Give up on perfection, make it better.
2. Believe you have more in you.
3. Falling is not failing.
4. Never make excuses.
5. Compare up.
6. Train people "who" to be,  before telling them "what" to do.
7. Train on skills;  you can't teach personalities.
8. Do what your best self longs to do.
9. Surround yourself with people who acknowledge your progress and challenge you to do better.
10. Let go of the past, strive to improve the future.

"When looking at four ounces of water in an eight ounce glass, the pessimist will say its half empty, the optimistic says its half full...the leader says-----thank you for the water."

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Are You Boring?

Researchers at the University of Chicago asked students to rate 43 boring behaviors. Here are the top eight. They'll earn you the label of being "chronically boring": *

• Complaining about one's own problems (health, finances, relationships) and not being interested in the problems of others.
• Talking constantly about trivial things, always including unimportant details, and repeating tired old jokes.
• Showing no emotion, failing to make eye contact. and talking in a monotone.
• Seriousness- never smiling, joking, or making light of things.
• Tediousness, especially talking too slowly.
• Low participation. Never joining in conversation and always just going along with what is being said.
• Distracting behavior, including frequent use of expressions such as "you know" and "just saying".
• Self-centeredness. Always talking about your own life, experiences, and interests.

Credo to live by: "Be interested first, then you will become interesting."

*Teamwork notes
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Business Fundamentals...Don't Leave Home Without Them.

From the book, The Last Lecture...author Randy Pausch reflects on his "old school" football coach.

On the first day of practice, we were all scared to death. Plus he (the coach) hadn't brought along any footballs. One kid finally spoke up for all of us.
"Excuse me, Coach. There are no footballs."
And Coach Graham responded, "We don't need any footballs."

There was a silence, while we thought about that...
"How many men are on the football field at a time?" he asked us.
Eleven on a team, we answered, So that makes twenty-two.

"And how many people are touching the football at any given time?"
One of them.
"Right!" he said.
"So we're going to work on what the other twenty-one guys are doing."

Asked yourself the following question:  What are the three basic business fundamentals?
Not sure?  Contact me at bobgambone@bobgambone.com for the answer.



“Copyright (11-26-2011) by Robert V. Gambone Sr.”

I Really Worked Hard at That!

Really?  when you hear someone say that, what does that mean?  I'm sure we've all said it and heard it.

Working hard- does that mean long hours? Sweating profusely? Experiencing physical pain? Maybe becoming mentally exhausted?

Or... It's hard work because I really don't like to do it.

Or...I really do like it, and when I work hard I feel pleasure...maybe even want to reward myself, or expect someone else to reward me?

Is your definition of hard work the same as someones else's definition?  Probably not.

Do you deny yourself hard work? Do you deny that you ever work hard?  I often say, I never work hard because I love what I do...but I can still work hard,  right?

SO...are you expecting an insightful answer from me about what "hard work" really is?

Sorry....that would be hard work.
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Vince

*** Reader's Poll Favorite***

His name was Vince. I met him one day at the Burger King while eating lunch.

Vince approached me and asked, “Excuse me, are you the Store Manager of the new Giant Eagle over there?”

I then introduced myself and Vince went on to tell me his story.

“So are you guys hiring?...I need a job. I am a retired executive from US Steel, my wife passed away about two years ago and my kids are spread across the country.
I fly out every weekend to visit them, so I can work Monday through Friday.
You know I miss working. A man can only play so much golf, I am really getting bored, …I need a reason to wake up in the morning.”

Vince was a tall man, wearing a wrinkled non-matching jogging suit and sporting a 3-day beard. I felt sorry for him, he really looked like he needed a job and the story he told me, well that really seemed a bit far-fetched, so I hired him.

Vince came on board and worked Monday through Friday 7:00 to 11:00am pushing carts and greeting people as they entered the store. He really loved his job; smiling and saying thank you, talking to customers, keeping the place clean, and I felt good because I gave this guy a job.

About 6 months later Cindi, my office manager, came to me, “Bob, the Payroll dept. called and said they need Vince to cash his paychecks.” Well I was really surprised, Vince?...the guy who needed a job so bad, not cashing his paychecks?!
“How many paychecks hasn't he cashed”? I asked Cindi.
Cindi looked right at me and said, “Bob, Vince has not cashed a paycheck since he started 6 months ago!”

I pulled Vince aside and inquired about the paychecks. Vince politely replied, "I'm sorry Bob, did I get you in trouble? I will put them in the bank tomorrow, thank you."

At that moment I realized, I did not give Vince a job, he gave me a life lesson.

"We all need a reason to wake up in the morning"... thank you Vince P.

Handling Personal Problems on the Job

All of us come to work some days with a personal problem or concern on our minds. When my father was dying of heart disease, I was challenged to focus. We wouldn't be human if we could completely "turn-off" our personal lives the moment we started work each morning.

How can we separate our personal lives so we can carry on effectively at work with the assignments at hand?

Start by asking yourself, "Is there anything I can do right now to correct this personal problem?" Sometimes there is.

When you've determined that nothing can be done to solve a personal dilemma at work, try plunging into the task you are doing. For many people the greatest temporary relief is to get their minds as far from the problem as possible...at least until that time when something can be done.

The problem will still be there later...and the time away from it may help you gain perspective you need to deal with it later.

 "I have found that the best way to handle personal problems is to look them right in the eye, and also to make sure I have my reading glasses on first." --- Anonymous

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Pessimistic People

Pessimistic people always see the downside.
The other day a good friend of mine shared a story:

Seems there was this duck hunter who needed a new bird dog, so he found a dog that could actually walk on water to retrieve the duck.

Shocked by his find, he was sure none of his friends would ever believe him.

He decided to try to break the news to a friend of his, a true pessimist, and invited him to hunt with him and his new dog.

As they waited by the shore, a flock of ducks flew by. They fired, and a duck fell. The dog responded and jumped into the water.

The dog, however, did not sink but instead walked across the water to retrieve the bird, never getting more than his paws wet.

The friend saw everything but didn’t say a single word.

On the drive home the hunter asked his friend, “Did you notice anything funny about my new dog?”

“I sure did,” responded his friend. “He can’t swim!”

True pessimists never change, it is founded into his or her culture. No matter what strategy you may use to bring out the "optimist" in them, its never works. "Culture eats strategy for breakfast"- Ivan Misner

Leaders recognize this pessimistic culture, accept it, and move on...sometimes using it to his or her advantage.

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