I really like my friend B. J. Gallagher’s little book called Staying the Course. B. J. says, “Our journey in life is about progress, not perfection.” (Boy, isn’t that true.) “It’s not about doing one thing 100 percent better, it’s about doing a number of things one percent better each day. Progress is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Most days we measure our progress in inches, not miles.” (That’s feedback, that’s the breakfast of champions!) “What matters most is showing up for your life, whether you feel like it or not. Ask yourself, ‘What two or three things can I do today that would move me forward?’” (That’s a very good question—what could you do?) “You’d be amazed at how much distance you could cover by taking it in increments. The little things add up. The inches turn to miles and we string together our efforts like so many pearls. Before long, look what you have—a whole strand. Ahhh—beautiful!” So, what can you do today to keep going? To keep making a difference for your customers and for each other? Remember, things are about progress. One thing at a time. One small step can change your life. So take that step today.
Leadership
Get People Involved
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.”
Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions
You know you’ve heard me talk a number of times about “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” This is a saying that Rick Tate, who used to be a consulting partner with our company, often said. People in sales constantly get feedback. They know how well they are doing by whether it’s a “yes” or a “no.” Other people with different jobs don’t get feedback as much as they want. That’s why it’s so important for us to reach out and thank people—particularly people who are in jobs where they can’t always count what they do in terms of numbers or anything like that. Because it really does feel good. I remember as a young man, cutting the grass—that was always a great pleasure—and then sitting up on the porch, sipping a beer and looking out to see what I had done. That’s immediate feedback.
So life is a special occasion, but it’s also nice to have something to do once in a while where you get feedback on results. So continue today to reach out and thank other people for the work they do—give them some feedback so they can feel good. Remember, people who feel good about themselves produce good results, as well as people who produce good results feel good about themselves. It’s all based on feedback.
Smile and Move
A couple of weeks ago I ran into a guy by the name of Stan Parker. An interesting guy. He has a new little tiny book called Smile and Move: A Reminder to Happily Serve. Here’s what he says:
How to smile: Wake up. Show others you care by giving attention to their needs. Be thankful. The opportunity to serve is a gift, not an entitlement. Be approachable. We’re at each other’s service and contact is where it starts. Complain less. We have work to do. Smile. Really. It’s where pleasantness begins.
How to move: Start early and go long. Get lost in your service to others. Exceed expectations. Dismiss mediocrity. Expect more from yourself. Have a sense of urgency. Predict and pre-sweat the details for others. Be resourceful and resilient. Service is about giving someone what they need, no matter what.
So I kind of like that: A Reminder to Happily Serve. And I love the quote he has in the back from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Write it in your heart that every day is the best day of the year.” I hope you’re having a really fabulous day. Thanks for being happy. It’s a special occasion.
Grand Canyon University
I was recently at Grand Canyon University in a strategic planning meeting with several different organizations, as this university moves forward in their drive to be excellent both online and on their campus. One of the things I learned is that within the year, all the online students at GCU will not have any textbooks they have to hold in their hands—all of their books will be available online. They’re contacting all the textbook companies and doing this. There are so many interesting changes because of technology happening, and how you offer information and what you do with it and all. It’s so great to have a university working with a publishing company and publishing their own materials and having access to students in ways we never even thought about. I remember the first computer when I was growing up was the calculator, and that was a big deal. Then when I was a doctoral student, we finally got a mainline IBM computer that was two stories high with cards you had to punch to put your data in. And now, I can’t even pronounce all these things—you can Twitter, and you can doddle, and you can dabble—ha! And you can find out everything online. I mean, the kids going to school now, when they write their papers they don’t go to an encyclopedia, they go online and chat and talk with each other. So we need to get up to speed with all this technology. So if you’re an “old fogey” mentality like me, forget it! You have to get with it! Change is upon us—change is with us. Life is a very special occasion—it just never happens to stay the same. So have a great day and have fun learning in all kinds of new ways.
How We Lead 