Risks Anyone?

Any crazies out there, looking for risk? Risk avoidance is an international mantra that seems to be part of our genetic structure. However, most of the time, risk and success are the same distance and if you can't travel to risk, you sure can't get to success. Most of us have at least one memory of when we jumped a bit ahead of the crowd, eased out of our comfort zone and, with terminal dry mouth, took a bit of a punt. The risk was not physical. It was just that we might fail or look silly or be noticed! Wow....big risk. Risks present themselves each day if not each moment. A little push each time is just what you need. The results can be surprising. Here are some help:

Lead Like a Coach

Coaching is helping people to learn as they work and nudging them as they think out solutions, wrestle with issues, discover ways of doing things and face challenges. Of course, there is also the red faced howling hockey coach style of yesteryear but maybe we've passed that! Today's leaders often talk about coaching but the truth of the matter is many don't really want to share with others what they consider their own competitive advantage. And, of course, others haven't a clue as to why they have been successful as they are as introspective as a flashlight. Coaching helps the coach too. Makes you think a bit and ask some questions about your own performance. But beyond this, you build stronger persons in your organization with competencies needed in the job as well as the capacity to take responsibility. And there is no delay between the "nudge" and the application. It's all applied and hands on...the best of learning. Mind you, if each time they face a problem, they go to you for solutions, they will develop a dependency that will just cripple their own growth! So, how do you coach them so soon they won't need you and learn to coach others?

Whatever Your Dream is, Go For It

Closet dreamers...awake! Forget Miss Wormwood from Grade 3 who forbade dreaming in class. Climb out of the casket of nose-to-nose reality. Dig out those old dreams, dust and polish them, get them up where you can see them again...and do it NOW! We are buried in security, stability and safety and political correctness. Shoulder to the wheel...nose to the grindstone....butt sliding down the razor blade of life! Wolf Blitzered into daily terror, millions of people have given up on their dreams or just forgotten the endless patterns of clouds. They go through life doing the same dreary thing day after day. It is familiar and there is comfort in what is familiar and the only difference between a rut and the grave is the depth. The "what ifs" of fear utterly defeat the "what could bes" of dreams and we retreat in a grumpy shuffle back to same old, same old. As early as childhood, we're taught that dreams, desires, passion are not to be trusted. And we pass on the same to our children as we repeat the often remembered fear-scripts of those that think that idle hands are the devil's playthings or dreaming is for scoundrels. How do we get dreaming again? Here are some ideas...such stuff as dreams are made on...read more

Be the Star of the Party

Have you ever been in a gathering and find yourself with nothing to say? Making small talk with someone you just met is not really rocket science but getting the first words out is really tough for some of us. It's more than just the tired opening line. But with a little planning even the "damp-hand, mouth-filled-with-cotton-wool" brigade can get the ball rolling. Take a deep breath...and try doing these:

Find someone who is just as lost as you are. In gatherings, there are always several who are not part of conversations. They're shy too, or just new to the group. So, this is target 1. Swallow hard. Start with " Hi....I'm....(don't choke on your name...just the first name too so you don't do a Hi, I'm Smill Bith!)...read more

How to Make Ten Thousand Mistakes and Keep Going

For many of us, failures are crippling. Even the fear of failure can freeze us like a rabbit in the headlights. And yet, when you look at the lives of many great people, you almost always read of the failures that marked their lives and the twisting of destiny to turn these disasters into success. With luck, this starts you thinking of your own catastrophes! Good. Pick them apart. Don't wallow in them like a piggy in mud. Scratch at them to see what happened and what you can learn. Pain avoidance says, "Close that door now!" But if you've had the agony and learned nothing it's like paying the price and not getting anything in return. So, we just let the status quo be. At least, there is comfort in stability. But as time goes on, you start losing confidence to do anything. The cocoon thickens. Life is passing you by but you are safe. You're really not living, jut serving time. Not a great scenario.

It's time to deal with failure. Part of the hand we are dealt in life is the failure card. Only those who have stopped living will not commit mistakes. Everyday will be laced with little mess-ups as we mistakenly play that card. And, without trying to sound like a marine sergeant, "it ain't how far ya fall...it's how fast ya get up!" Here are some tips to keep going.

How to Make Yourself Attractive to Employers

You have to have a little bit extra!!! Employers today are looking beyond basis technical skills and knowledge. Don’t be taken aback by some of the questions most will ask in interviews. One nervous applicant for a skilled techie job was really surprised when asked if he knew how to wash dishes. He hesitated thinking why he was being asked this question...too late!!!! Yes, indeed. Employers are looking for attitudes that will make a difference in how you apply the technical skills and knowledge required in the job. They look at your attitude towards work, towards your colleagues, towards challenges, towards clients, towards on-the–job flexibility. Yes, they look for attitudes, habits and skills you may just have taken for granted. Here are some of those most employers value.

Positive attitude towards work. You probably can claim you do your work well. But for employers, this means more. It is responding quickly to other demands that pop up unexpectedly. If you think of your work as just a 9 to 5 activity, then don’t expect any reward from your employer. You can expect to be in that 9 to 5 rut forever and the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth! If you are one of those who only show you work hard when the boss is around, watch out. Supervisors know the workers…and the fluffers. Most importantly, your own self- respect will erode. Once you lose your self-respect, you also lose your drive to improve and the whole house of cards collapses.

Positive attitude towards everyone…most especially yourself. You may be one of those or have met one of those fellow fluffers who cozy up with the superiors and are mean to those placed under them. If you are one of these, time to change. Build up a more positive self-image. Start with eradicating bad mental habits and start developing a healthy noggin. What goes around, comes around…remember that. Everyday, practice seeing only the positive in others, seeing opportunities in the situation you are in rather than whining at things you can’t stand about work or other colleagues. Build up your colleagues in front of your supervisors. In meetings, encourage efforts of people. Recognize the good things others have done. Take responsibility for mistakes or shortcomings and take the necessary steps to improve your behavior. As you keep becoming positive, everything you do becomes more uplifting as well...Read on

The Family Photo Hero

Say cheese! One, two, three, click! If that is as far as you have gone as a picture director, it's time to upgrade your skills and lunge through the boredom threshold! Don't be one of the million passive picture takers. Look at your pictures. Your camera is not just there to record some memories or places you have visited. It is a creative tool to have real fun with, not a Xerox machine clomping out copies of everyone else's ho-hum, ho-hum. Your camera is a magic canvas and brush to capture the lights and shadows in museums, temples, mountains and heritage sit. You can make these places sing the songs of their own history if you see your camera as your orchestra, not your tape recorder! People, too, have so much drama in them. As for people pictures...wow....you can snare that rare moment of panic or anxiety or sheer joy and exhilaration at the view in front of them or the look of love and kindness, of wonder and bewilderment or even of secret conversations as you focus on faces of people in one corner of the party hall. Come on, have some fun. You are Picasso of the pics!!!! Here are some tips: