“Every Major industry was once a growth industry filled with entrepreneurial excitement, fresh ideas and unlimited growth potential. The reason this ends is not because the market is saturated but because there has been a failure of leadership and management” Harvard Business Review-Marketing Myopia
“Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business”-Zig Ziglar
Listening to a complaining customer is difficult, but extremely important to show that you care about them and their problem. First listen and show empathy and then take action to fix the issue! Then go back and ask for continued feedback on how your doing. Show the customer that their input helped you fix the issue or process or product delivery and they will develop into a very loyal long term customer! It is the customer that complains that wants to stay with you! IF they don’t complain, you know they truly aren’t going to stay with you.
You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand”-Woodrow Wilson
One of the most difficult things to do is to forgive someone…. Or Is it? One reason why forgiving someone is so difficult is because the person not wanting to forgive wants to maintain the control over you. Or so it may seem. Another reason why it is so difficult to forgive someone is because you have not realized your own wrong doing in the situation. Or, maybe you have not realized that you have sinned before God and you think God has not forgiven you so you cannot forgive someone else? Well, when you forgive someone who has wronged you, you are actually gaining more control over the situation and not less. You actually release yourself from the person who has wronged you when you forgive them. Have you ever heard the saying: Unforgiveness is like: “You take the poison expecting the other person to die”? This may sound ridiculous, but when you don’t forgive another person for what they have done, God says that he will not forgive you for your sins and you actually end up taking the poison that you had intended for the person who has wronged you. So, think about someone you are holding a grudge against today and call them up and forgive them! And watch how your life improves!
Happy New Year to all of you! Have you always wanted to become the best version of YOU? Well lets start off the new year right! In previous posts we talked about setting goals and developing a personal mission and vision statement for your life. This is very important work, but you first have to DISCOVER your WHY? You have to discover your PURPOSE! God put you on this earth and designed you in such a way to accomplish great things for His Kingdom. But first, it is God’s dream to have a personal relationship with you. He wants you to call him Father! And for this reason, it is important that you have a conversion story! This is the time for you to take a different road. A time for you to do a U turn and find your true purpose. Perhaps you have heard others talk about their “Damascus Experience”? This is the time when once they were heading in one direction in life and now, they are heading in a different direction. I love the story of the Apostle Paul’s encounter with Jesus. It is told 3 times in the Book of Acts (9:1-18, 22:1-16, 26:1-18). So how does this apply to you? Well, the fact is God wants to see every person on this earth have a Damascus road experience. Perhaps not as dramatic as the Apostle Paul’s experience, but the experience that God has planned for you. He wants us to turn and experience a spiritual re-birth. God wants all of us to have a life changing experience with Jesus. (John 1:12, 2 Corinthians 5:17). This is the only chance we have for finding a life of PURPOSE.
With all of the scandals going on today, I rest in knowing that ever since the beginning of man, these things have been going on because we live in a fallen world. Racism, sexual immorality and all of what we are hearing about on the news today is rooted in one cause:”Spiritual Death”. And when someone is dead spiritually, (and we all are before undergoing a spiritual download) we all do and say things that we should not. But why is it so important to receive a “spiritual download” in the first place? Well, we all need forgiven and we don’t have any means to do this unless we accept God’s free gift-his spiritual download! After we receive this free spiritual download, God launches a massive continuous improvement in our life! He begins to show us our OWN sin, our own betrayal and our own MESS that we have created! That doesn’t mean we are now 100% sinless, it just means that He is working on us each and every day and cleaning up the MESSES we have made in life! So, with Christmas right around the corner, ask God for this FREE SPIRITUAL DOWNLOAD and watch how your life improves beyond AMAZING! USE THIS CODE WHEN ASKING: “JESUS, I am a sinner, please come into my heart and clean me up”.
One of the most frequent questions I receive when working with clients is:”How to I figure out my purpose in life? What is my personal or life’s mission? The key to determining your life’s mission is to begin with the end in mind first. The first thing I recommend is to think about how you want to be remembered in life. What two or things would you want written on your tomb stone for all to see. Perhaps you want to be a great father, great husband or great business partner. Perhaps you want to be a great teacher, or professor or preacher. However you want to be remembered in life is where you begin. If you are still having trouble with this, think about what what motivates you and what your passions are and what people often ask you to do. This is an indication on what is important to you and can lead to clarity in determining your life’s mission. Now, break down each of the two or three ways you want to be remembered into monthly goals or action steps that you need to take to achieve that result. Don’t waste your time trying to live someone else’s dream for your life. Determine your purpose and life’s mission and do something towards it each day.
With Thanksgiving tomorrow I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful day with family and friends. Here are a few tips to make it even better!
1. Less is more! It is better to go into the day with a feeling of gratitude verses high expectation. Less eating, less talking and more active listening will help you have a happy ending.
2. Look for the good qualities in everyone! It is very easy to find issues with family and friends, but make a commitment to only focus on the good qualities in everyone. Don’t let anyone take you down the wrong path and start an argument. RESIST RESIST and concentrate on the good qualities in everyone.
3. Get dressed up a little! I know that this isn’t a popular theme, but putting on your best clothes gives the entire party a “lift”. It dresses up things and sets a more elegant atmosphere for everyone. Nothing is worse than seeing someone look like they should be working in the garage sitting across from you on Thanksgiving!
4. Before you go, pull out the Bible and read God’s word. Nothing provides more insight into how to have a successful Thanksgiving.
5. Put out the candles! A beautiful table setting with real candles lit makes for better and warmer discussions! Think about the mood and the atmosphere of coziness!
6. Be Thankful for what you have! No matter what you have, be thankful and try to put that into all of the day’s discussions!
Okay, just some simple TIPS for having a great day indeed! Happy Thanksgiving All!
For 30 years, I have worked with people, trying to influence people to work towards the goals of the company trying to put the right butts in the right seats and on the right bus going in the right direction. We call it strategic alignment and it is a critical component of executive success. Here are 20 habits of CEO’s that work against that alignment according to Marshall Goldsmith in his book “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”:
1. Winning too much at all costs, 2. Adding too much to each and every conversation, 3. Passing judgment on others before understanding, 4. Making destructive comments and needless sarcasms, 5. Starting with “NO”, “BUT” or “HOWEVER”, 6. Telling the world how smart you are, 7. Speaking when angry, 8. Negativity or “let me explain why that won’t work”, 9. Withholding information, 10. Failing to give proper recognition, 11. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve, 12. Making excuses, 13. Clinging to the past, 14. Playing favorites, 15. Refusing to express regret, 16. Not listening, 17. Failing to express gratitude, 18. Punishing the messenger, 19. Passing the buck, and 20. An excessive need to be “ME”-exalting our faults as virtures!
Isn’t this the 10 million dollar question? When I ask people what they really want in my work, there is often a blank look on their faces. Many tell me they want material possessions, many talk about being financially independent of their jobs, but from my work with hundreds of people in these past 30 years, people are searching for their “why” in life. I call this finding purpose in life. Isn’t that what we are all trying to figure out? When we find our purpose in life that gives us clarity and when we have clarity, we find energy to pursue our goals. When we realize our unique Godly design, we begin to see how our gifts and talents help and inspire others. When we find our WHY, we find the reason we EXIST. And when we find the reason we exist, we begin to fulfill our MISSION in life. And when we start to live out our MISSION, we have a new VISION in life on how we will fulfill our purpose.