Archive for the ‘Teamwork’ Category

See the Outcome!

Posted by Ken on March 15, 2010

I recently heard a wonderful speaker named David Cook, who is one of the great sports mental coaches in the country. He had a really interesting theory about goal setting that I thought was worth sharing with you. He said when you go to set up a goal, whatever it is, you should try to see that goal in your own mind being accomplished. You need to see the outcome. Then you need to feel what it will be like once you’ve accomplished that particular goal, and get that feeling in mind. And then you need to trust that you’re going to be able to get there. He said the power is in the seeing it and the feeling it, and then just trusting the thing. So if you have a goal, whether it’s a business or personal goal, try to actually see yourself accomplishing it and feel like you’re going to feel once you’ve accomplished it—the smile on your face, the applause from other people, whatever—and then just trust it and set your sights on that goal. I think that is really interesting. In golf, he has a whole bunch of people who have “SFT” on their ball, so when they’re playing golf, they try to see every shot—what kind of shot are they going to hit, where is it going to go, how high and all—then get up and feel it, and then just trust the process. He said it really is amazing how it works on all kinds of goals. I was thinking about the great athletes competing in the Olympics—the ones who win have seen themselves crossing the finish line and accomplishing their goal ahead of time. Then they make their actions consistent with what they are seeing and feeling. I think it’s a really fascinating process: See it – Feel it – Trust it. Isn’t that interesting? Try it on one of your goals today.

Posted in Goals, Passion, Positivity, Teamwork, Trust | 2 Comments »

March Madness

Posted by Ken on March 8, 2010

Last week and this week we are having a “Blanchard March Madness” tournament here at the corporate office. Last week we had some individual competitions including HORSE and a Sharpshooter tournament, and this week we are having 3-on-3 games. Well, on Thursday we had the finals of the individual competitions, and do you know who won the sharpshooting contest? Yours truly! Ha! I made 16 out of 20 shots from the foul line. What a great time we had, and I couldn’t believe I beat all the youngsters here at the office!

It was interesting. I’m proofreading the second edition of The Mulligan that I wrote with Wally Armstrong, about golf and faith. There’s a lot of mental stuff in there too. Tony Robbins said that if you want to perform well, there are three aspects. One is focus—you have to see yourself doing well. And you know, I used to be a great foul shooter when I was younger, so I just saw myself pouring the shots in. Then Tony said you have to have the physiology—you have to walk like you know what you’re talking about. So when it was my turn, I just walked there like I knew what I was doing. And then Tony said you have to have a routine. So I bounced the ball and tossed it around the same way every time before I went for the shot. So I made 16 out of 20 at the line, which even surprised me.

I also read in there what we wrote about playing NATO golf—Not Attached To Outcome. So you’re not worried about your outcome, you’re just going with the flow. Last week we were at a program called Inspire San Diego. The guy who put it on was Greg Reid, who cowrote a book called Three Feet from Gold, which really built on the ideas from Think and Grow Rich, the classic book by Napoleon Hill. Just listen to this line from Napoleon Hill: “There are many things you cannot control, but you can control the only thing that really matters—your mind and your attitude. External forces have very little to do with success. Those who program themselves for success find a way to succeed even in the most difficult of circumstances. Solutions to most problems come from one source, and one source alone: yourself. You can do it if you believe you can. You control your destiny. Decide to live life to the fullest. You may be three feet from gold.”

That was fun. Life is a very special occasion, don’t miss it!

Posted in Commitment, Goals, Health, Life, Optimism, Passion, Positivity, Teamwork | Leave a Comment »

Doing Things Right

Posted by Ken on February 16, 2010

I have been thinking about how important it is to be caught doing things right. Some people think you have to be careful; you don’t want to praise people too much, because they’re going to get a big head. People don’t get a big head by getting caught doing things right. People get false pride and big heads because they’re not praised enough. And they start to crave it, and they need it, and they start to push and shove for credit. When I was a kid, I was so fortunate, no matter what I did there was always somebody there—my mom or dad or my sister—to give me an “attaboy” and tell me that I did great. I think one of the reasons why I’m able to keep things in perspective, if I happen to achieve anything, and laugh about it, is because I’ve been told I’m okay all of my life. So I don’t really need or crave it or need to push or shove for it. So I just wanted to say to you how important, again, it is to help people who are important in your life and give them an “attaboy” or “attagirl” and tell them that you love them and you care about them. Because what really makes people feel good in the long run is the belief about that. False pride comes when nobody pays any attention to you and you start to wonder if you’re okay. Everybody needs that pat on the back once in a while.

Posted in Feedback, Leadership, Relationships, Servant Leadership, Teamwork | 5 Comments »

Be an Energizer!

Posted by Ken on February 1, 2010

Do you know someone who is an energizer? When somebody is an energizer, when they come in the room, energy starts to increase. People’s energy picks up. Do you know other people who, when they come in, the energy just gets sucked out of the room? Ha! You know, there are people like that. Things just seem down when they come around. And those are the kind of people that you should be nice to, and love them, but don’t hang around them. The question is: Are you an energizer? Does people’s energy increase when you’re with them? When you come home, does the energy pick up or are you the wet blanket that just slinks in? I think it’s so important that you be an energizer and you gather people around you who pick up your energy. Because what really makes organizations great, and families great, is positive energy. And it takes energizers around people to make the energy come out in them, too. So that’s my message today. Be an energizer. When you come in a room, light it up! Make something happen. You don’t have to be an extrovert to do that. Just by your interest and your energy in terms of what you do can make a difference, people can see that, even if you aren’t being Mr. or Ms. Exuberant. Life is about positive energy. So energize people! Energize yourself!

Posted in Commitment, Happiness, Leadership, Optimism, Relationships, Teamwork | Tagged: energy | 3 Comments »

Excellence

Posted by Ken on January 11, 2010

Listen to this definition of excellence: Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible. I just think that is a really interesting thing - think about yourself and how you are doing in a caring scale, how you are doing in the risking scale, how you are doing in the dreaming scale, and how you are doing on the expecting scale. I really think that’s a wonderful definition of excellence. Be excellent today – care, risk, and dream and expect big.

Speaking of excellence… At the University of San Diego, my wife Margie and I teach a course as part of the Master of Science in Executive Leadership program. Our course is “Determining Your Leadership Point of View.” Your leadership point of view is really figuring out who you are as a leader, and sharing it.

There are seven aspects of it:

Who are the role models you had early in life that impacted your belief about leadership? Most people don’t talk about bosses; they talk about their mother or father, uncle or cousin, teacher or coach—what we call “lifelong leaders.”
What’s your mission in life? What are you trying to accomplish?
What are your values – what’s going to guide your behavior?
Based on those three things, what’s your leadership point of view—what are your beliefs about leading and motivating people?
What are your expectations of others?
What do your people expect of you?
How are you going to walk your talk? How are you going to model what you say you stand for?

It’s a fascinating process. We discuss this in Chapter 15 of Leading at a Higher Level. So if you want to find out more about that, get a copy of that book and read that chapter. If any of you haven’t developed a leadership point of view, I would like to challenge you to develop it. Then sometime, maybe in the first part of next year, sit down with your people and share your leadership point of view with them. Because it really does clarify expectations and who you are. It’s not about weakness; it’s about sharing who you are so other people can share who they are with you. It’s a wonderful process. And remember, it’s not just supervisors that should have a leadership point of view—all of you are leaders in some aspect of your life. You’re a leader as a spouse, as a father or mother, or as a volunteer. Anytime you try to influence the behavior of someone else, you’re engaging in leadership. Where did you get your image of leadership? I challenge everybody to develop and be able to share their leadership point of view.

Posted in Commitment, Education, Leadership, Relationships, Servant Leadership, Teamwork, Workplace Culture | Tagged: excellence, Leadership, USD | 2 Comments »

Bring Your Brain to Work!

Posted by Ken on December 10, 2009

I used to work with a fellow named Rick Tate, who talked about studying people who trained seeing-eye dogs. What they found was that they kick two kinds of dogs out of the program: The first kind were the ones who were completely obedient, who would do anything that the master said. That was really kind of surprising because you would have thought that the only ones they would kick out would be the ones who wouldn’t do anything that the master said. But they kicked out both kinds. The only dogs they kept in the program were the dogs who would do what the master said unless it didn’t make sense. They kept the dogs that could think for themselves. I think that’s what we as leaders should always try to do—get everybody to think for themselves. Sure, we have some guidelines, here’s what our policy is and all, but use your brains. You can imagine a seeing-eye dog with his master at the street corner, and the master says, “Forward,” and the dog looks up and there’s a car coming at sixty miles an hour. And the dog thinks, “This is gonna be a real bummer,” as he leads his master out into the middle of the street. So we want to empower people to use their brains – train them to do what the boss wants, or what the policies are, unless it doesn’t make sense. That’s really allowing people to bring their brains to work. So don’t get hit by a car! Use your brain today.

Posted in Commitment, Education, Goals, Leadership, Listening, Making Mistakes, Teamwork, Trust | 6 Comments »

There Is No Hall of Fame For Critics

Posted by Ken on September 21, 2009

A great comment I heard recently from our consultant, Tommy Moore, was: “There is no hall of fame for critics,” Ha! I just love that. A lot of times, people are really good at taking shots at what other people are doing. That’s not really very helpful. Redirection is so much different than criticism: Here’s something that has happened, here’s how it has impacted things, here’s what would really help next time, and I’m still excited about working with you. That’s really kind of a nice thing. But we also have to remember, if you do ever get criticism, that feedback is the breakfast of champions, as Rick Tate always used to say. The best response to any kind of criticism, if you get it, is: “Tell me more. Is there anyone else I should talk to? Oh, this is so helpful.” That will really blow people’s minds because you won’t be defensive or anything. You won’t get your ego in the way. Don’t criticize yourself or other people. Give ‘em a hug. That’s what they could really use.

Posted in Change, Conflict, Education, Feedback, Happiness, Health, Leadership, Making Mistakes, Optimism, Relationships, Servant Leadership, Teamwork | 1 Comment »

Get People Involved

Posted by Ken on August 24, 2009

There is an old Chinese proverb: “Tell me and I forget; Show me and I remember; Involve me and I understand.” The whole thing, I think, in dealing with change is how we can involve people. I think your intention should be to involve your people as much as you possibly can in how you are dealing with tough times. Just telling people something, and even trying to show them, doesn’t make as much difference as involving them. It doesn’t do good to do something to people; you have to do it with them. So involve people around you as you are dealing with different challenges. Life is a very special occasion if you realize you’re not alone. And as my friends Don Carew and Eunice Parisi-Carew have said for a long time, “None of us is as smart as all of us.”

Posted in Communication, Leadership, Life, Servant Leadership, Teamwork | 3 Comments »

Confidence in Your Team

Posted by Ken on July 6, 2009

There are always some wonderful lessons, I think, from sports. I remember back watching the L. A. Lakers playoff run. It was interesting because the Lakers were really down and out several times—they were losing by 12 at halftime, then they came back, then they got behind again. Right at the buzzer with four seconds to go, Derek Fisher throws in this long three-pointer to tie the score and send it into overtime. Then in the overtime he hit another really crucial three-pointer, and he had missed five in a row and hadn’t been playing very well in the other games. One of the things he said at the end was that Coach Jackson just kept on having confidence in him—because he’s a veteran. He and Kobe were playing together for years. And he said, “I believe in you, you get in there.” It just makes such a difference in people’s lives when you believe in them, even when they’re down. And then Derek came through when he needed to and he was so thrilled to help. But he said he wouldn’t have done it if the coach hadn’t continued to have confidence in him even when he was down. It’s an interesting thing—you just need to keep on pumping people up. So remember—keep on encouraging each other, even when things might not be going well.

Posted in Communication, Leadership, Life, Optimism, Relationships, Teamwork | 1 Comment »