Month: April 2014

2 Comments Posted on Coaching, Ownership

Perform Under Pressure by Jim Johnson

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Proud dad moment here. My 8 year old son – who was incredibly shy a year ago – has grown so much in the past 12 months. Tonight he faced a pressure situation and did not fail to perform.

He plays little league baseball. It was the bottom of the 5th inning. 2 outs. Runners at 1st & 3rd. A storm was about to roll in. Winds were blowing from left field and gusting over 15 mph. My son came up to bat. The score was tied.

After a ball and then a strike, my son hit a single and the runner on 3rd scored!

He knew the game was on his shoulders. He stepped up, concentrated, and performed when it really counted.

I’m beyond proud. Not only for the win, but for how he handled himself under pressure. He learned how to perform under stress. He did the basics and followed through.

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Doing & Being Anyway…by Jim Johnson

You know these people at work. They live under the radar. But more than that, they get special recognition and even rewards for things they do when many others in the organization consistently are doing the same thing. They get promotions. They get or give themselves new titles. They undermine the company culture, but somehow they are seen as the “darlings” of the executives.

Truth: doing the right thing and being the right person does not guarantee you will win at work. You’ve been around long enough to know that life is not fair and sometimes, you end up on the short end of the deal.

Question: is living up to standards, achieving and exceeding goals, being professional and mature…is it all worth it?

Quick answer: YES! Refusing to live and act to the lowest common denominator is worth it! Doing the right thing and being the right person is always right.

It is not easy, but it’s worth it. You know that. I know that.

Being reasonable with unreasonable people is difficult.

Being certain in an uncertain work environment is difficult.

Living up to standards while others around you are trying to constantly redefine the standards to make sure their behaviors fit it…that is difficult.

While I’m not that old, I have learned some things about folks who seem to “get by” and get ahead for all the wrong reasons. It will not last forever. It won’t.

Doing the wrong thing and being the wrong person will create:

* the lack of trust from others. That leaves that person having to constantly look over their shoulder as alliances change.

* the lack of respect from others. They become a joke behind their backs.

* the manipulation of the numbers, goals, results (or at least the understanding of those things), and that will not last.

* isolation. The wrong people end up alone or with very few around them as other “followers” get tired of the games that get them no where. Followers don’t always win in these situations. It’s usually about the “wrong” leader getting ahead and no one else.

* a removal from power. When those around the wrong people have had enough, actions can be taken to remove that person from power.

The choice is yours. Do the right thing and be the right person. Looking in the mirror with no regrets is healthy and will lead to success. It will.

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You are Your Own Business by Jim Johnson

You are your own business. I heard this from a favorite radio personality, Charly Butcher of WOWO radio. Have you ever thought of your job that way?

Most of us probably live our lives at work fairly passively. We do our jobs, and expect the paycheck. We get assignments, we’re assigned projects… we just do our jobs.

But what will set you apart from others at your office who have been living just like you?

It basically comes down to being actively involved in your job rather than being a passive participant.  What if you took a different approach to your job?

Look at you as your own business.

– Act as though the money you spend is your money. Will you use that resource the same?

– Protect your personal brand. Always be aware of your working relationships.  Pay attention to how you communicate and interact with others.

– Find efficiencies that will make you more effective and will allow you to bring more value.

– Increase sales and revenue. Businesses do not thrive if revenues disappear. Exceed your goals. Find new revenue streams. Understand which delivery channels are performing and which are not.

– Champion innovation. Read. Think. Experiment. Inquire. Try something new. Interact with other innovators.

Think about this idea. Try it. I think it can transform how you approach your work and will improve your results.

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Nine Unseen Qualities That Create Exceptional Leaders by Jeff Haden

Good leaders look good on paper. Great leaders look great in person; their actions show their value.

Yet some leaders go even farther. And they’re even more successful not because of what you see them do… but because of what you don’t see them do.

Where the best leaders are concerned, what you see is far from all you get:

1. They forgive… and they forget.

When an employee makes a mistake — especially a major mistake — it’s easy to forever judge that employee by that one mistake. (I know. I’ve done it.)

But one mistake, or one weakness, is just one part of a whole person. A rare few people are able to step back, set aside that mistake, and continue to see the whole employee. They are also able to forget that mistake, because they know that viewing any employee through the lens of one incident may forever impact how they treat that employee.

And they know the employee will be able to tell.

To forgive may be divine, but to forget can be even more divine.

2. They transform company goals into each employee’s personal goal.

Good leaders inspire their employees to achieve company goals.

Read the rest here: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140212130137-20017018-nine-invisible-qualities-that-make-a-few-leaders-exceptional?_mSplash=1

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Conquer! by Jim Johnson

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Last week my family and I were in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One of the many activities we experienced was ziplining.  It was a first for every single one of our family members.

As we were preparing to head up to the zipline course, my wife and I talked about the concern we had for our youngest – my son, Karsten.  He has had a history of being afraid of trying something new – especially things that would challenge him directly.

But to our surprise, when it came time to head out on the course, Karsten stepped up to be first in line. He jumped off the first platform and flew down the zipline without any problems at all. Throughout the entire experience,  he was excited. I think he knew that he was actively conquering a fear.

I learned a lot from my 8 year old son that day. There are lots of times in life when we face new challenges and new experiences. But instead of standing petrified on a platform, many times it’s just better to jump and trust the mechanisms that you have in place and just go with it.

I told my son that he was a role model for me that day. He just smiled.

Truth be told, I think I was the one who was the most afraid of the experience. But I conquered my fear, jumped off the platform, and zipped to a new adventure.

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