SG Leadership NextGen

EXPECT THE BEST

Your attitude toward life determines life's attitude toward you. How you think affects your approach to the success journey in a powerful way

• What I believe about life determines
• How I perceive life, which determines
• What I receive from life.

If you expect the worst, you will certainly get it. If you expect the best, even when negative circumstances come your way - and they will because a positive attitude doesn't stop them - you can make the best of it and keep going.

If you talk to people in the top organizations across the country, the higher you go, the better the attitudes you'll discover. A Fortune 500 study found that 94 percent of all the executives surveyed attributed their success more to attitude than any other factor. That just goes to show you that if you want to go far, have a good attitude.

A good attitude makes it possible for you to be successful. It gives you fuel so that you want to pursue your purpose, grow to your potential, and sow seeds benefiting others. It can give you the staying power to improve. But it also makes the journey more enjoyable along the way - no matter where it takes you. As former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, "Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

positive mindset, success mindset, winning attitude, mental strength, personal growth, positive thinking

START SMALL

What you are going to be tomorrow, you are becoming today. It is essential to begin developing self-discipline in a small way today in order to be disciplined in a big way tomorrow.

1. List five areas in your life that lack discipline
2. Place them in order of your priority for conquering them
3. Take them on, one at a time.
4. Secure resources, such as books and tapes, that will give you instruction and motivation to conquer each area.
5. Ask a person who models the trait you want to possess to hold you accountable for it.
6. Spend fifteen minutes each morning getting focused in order to get control of this weak area in your life.
7. Do a five-minute checkup on yourself at midday
8. Take five minutes in the evening to evaluate your progress.
9. Allow sixty days to work on one area before you go to the next.
10. Celebrate with the one who holds you accountable as you show continued success.

Remember, having it all doesn't mean having it all at once. It takes time. Start small and concentrate on today. The slow accumulation of disciplines will one day make a big difference.

self discipline, daily habits, consistency mindset, personal growth, success habits, productivity tips

self-discipline, daily habits, consistency mindset, personal growth, success habits, productivity tips

HAVE A HIGH OPINION OF PEOPLE

The opinions you have of people in your life affect them profoundly. Dr. J. Sterling Livingston, formerly of the Harvard Business School and founder of the Sterling Institute management consulting firm, observed, "People perform consistently as they perceive you expect them to perform."

A reputation is something that many people spend their entire lives trying to live down or live up to. So why not help others up instead of pushing them down? All people possess both value and potential. You can find those things if you try.

positive leadership, people development, leadership mindset, team motivation, personal growth, emotional intelligence

TAKING A LOOK IN THE MIRROR

A few years ago, when I travelled to New Zealand to do a conference, I stayed in a hotel in Christchurch. One evening, I was thirsty and started looking for a Coke machine. When I couldn't find one, and I saw a door marked "Staff", I figured I'd go in and see if anyone in there could help me. I didn't find a hotel worker or a drink machine there, but I did observe something interesting. As I approached the door to go back out into the hall, I found that the door had a full-length mirror with the following words: "Take a good look at yourself. This is what the customer sees." The hotel's management was reminding employees that to fulfill their purpose, they needed to take a look at themselves.

And that's true for us too. Psychotherapist Sheldon Kopp believes "all the significant battles are waged within the self." As we examine ourselves, we discover what those battles are. And then we have two choices. The first is to be like the man who visited his doctor and found out he had serious health issues. When the doctor showed him his X-rays and suggested a painful and expensive surgery, the man asked, "Okay, but how much would you charge to just touch up the X-rays?".

The second choice is to stop blaming others, look at ourselves, and do the hard work of resolving the issues that are causing us problems. If you want to have better relationships with others, then stop, look in the mirror, and start working on yourself.

self awareness, personal growth, leadership mindset, self improvement, emotional intelligence, accountability mindset

HIRE FOR SKILL AND EXPERIENCE

Back when I thought that attitude was everything, I tried to hire people with the best attitudes and figured I could get them up to speed in their skills. Now that I am older and more experienced, I realize that I had things backward. Now I hire primarily for skill and experience. Here's why: When it comes to talent and skill, a person can grow only a limited amount. On a scale from one to ten, most people can improve in a skill area only about two points. So, for example, if you are naturally a 6 as a leader, you may be able to grow to an 8 if you work at it. However, if you are a 2, you can work as hard as you want and you will never reach even average. The old saying of coaches is true: You can't get out what God didn't put in.
Attitude, however, is a different matter. There is no growth ceiling. Even a person with a 2 attitude can grow to become a 10. So even someone whose attitude isn't the best can turn that around.

On the day that I decided as a leader to hire only people with successful track records to key positions in my organization, my professional life changed. The entire team became more productive, and my organization began going to another level. That's not to say that I began hiring people with bad attitudes; I didn't. It wasn't an either/or decision. It was a both/and decision. Competence, experience, and positive attitude are a winning combination.

hiring talent, leadership hiring, employee skills, team building strategy, business leadership, high performance hiring

DO YOU MAKE OTHERS BETTER?

How do your teammates see you? Are you an enlarger? Do you make them better than they are alone through your inspiration and contribution? Do you know what your teammates value? Do you capitalize on those things by adding value to them in those areas?

Becoming an enlarger of others isn't always easy. First, It takes a secure person to add value to others. If you believe deep down that helping others somehow hurts you or your opportunities for success, then you'll have a hard time enlarging others. But as Henry Ward Beecher insisted, "No man is more cheated than the selfish man." When a team member unselfishly enlarges others, he also enlarges himself.

DISCONTENT WITH THE STATUS QUO

I've told my staff before that status quo is Latin for "the mess we're in." Leaders see what is, but more important, they have vision for what could be. They are never content with things as they are. To be leading, by definition, is to be in front, breaking new ground, conquering new worlds, moving away from the status quo. Donna Harrison states, "Great leaders are never satisfied with current levels of performance. They constantly strive for higher and higher level of achievement." They move beyond the status quo themselves, and they ask the same of those around them.

Dissatisfaction with the status quo does not mean a negative attitude or grumbling. It has to with willingness to be different and take risks. A person who refuses to risk change fails to grow. A leader who loves the status quo soon becomes a follower. Raymond Smith, former CEO and Chairman of the Bell Atlantic Corporation, once remarked, "Taking the safe road, doing your job, and not making any waves may not get you fired (right away, at least), but is sure won't do much for your career or your company over the long haul. We're not dumb. We know that administrators are easy to find and cheap to keep. Leaders - risk takers - are in very short supply. And ones with vision are pure gold."

Risk seems dangerous to people more comfortable with old problems than new solutions. The difference between the energy and time that it takes to put up with the old problems and the energy and time it takes to come with new solutions is surprisingly small. The difference is attitude.

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TEACHABILITY

Leaders face the danger of contentment with the status quo. After all, if a leader already possesses influence and has achieved a level of respect, why should he keep growing? The answer is simple:

• Your growth determines who you are.
• Who you are determines who you attract
• Who you attract determines the success of your organization.

If you want to grow your organization, you have to remain teachable. When I was a kid growing up in rural Ohio, I saw this sign in a feed store: "If you don't like the crop you are reaping, check the seed you are sowing." Though the sign was an ad for seeds, it contained a wonderful principle.

What kind of crop are you reaping? Do your life and leadership seem to be getting better day after day, month after month, year after year? Or are you constantly fighting just to hold your ground? If you're not where you hoped you would be by this time in your life, your problem may be a lack of teachability. When was the last time you did something for the first time? When was the last time you made yourself vulnerable by diving into something for which you weren't the expert?
What kind of crop are you reaping? Do your life and leadership seem to be getting better day after day, month after month, year after year? Or are you constantly fighting just to hold your ground? If you're not where you hoped you would be by this time in your life, your problem may be lack of teachability. When was the last time you did something for the first time? When was the last time you made yourself vulnerable by diving into something for which you weren't the expert?
continuous learning, leadership growth, personal growth, growth mindset, self-improvement, leadership mindset

continuous learning, leadership growth, personal growth, growth mindset, self improvement, leadership mindset