"Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear."
Anthony Robbins
The Most Important Quality of a Top Employee
By Michael Masterson
To an outsider, it might have seemed a very easy choice. Good Guy Greg, one candidate for the job of heading up the project, was very professional, a tough negotiator, dogged, determined, and principled. The other candidate, Slightly Shady Sam, had a reputation for being tough on his employees, hiring his friends… and he was rumored to take kickbacks.
Which would you choose?
I chose Slightly Shady Sam. And I’ll tell you why.
Although Sam had several bad habits and was suspected of being dishonest, he had one overwhelmingly good quality: He was completely focused on making the project successful. He had his own particular idea of what that would look like (there were bells and whistles on it that I wouldn’t have put there), but it was a vision that I could see working.
Almost everything he had done on the project so far - including some tough treatment of employees - was done with his goal in mind. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t love everything about the project he’d create, but I was equally certain that if I let him do what he wanted, he’d get the job done. Some eggshells would be broken in the process, but the project would succeed, profits would be made, and eventually everyone associated with it would be happy.
I had a different feeling about the "better" candidate, Greg. Although he was very competent in many ways, I found much of his behavior to be inexplicable and/or wrongheaded. He developed staff loyalty by treating some of his employees better than others. He made decisions that were tough on customers - especially when he decided those customers were "problems."
Ultimately, I developed the theory that instead of being focused on the project, this "good" executive was really focused on himself as a key person in it.
He was, to put it bluntly, a political sort of person. To me, "political" means "power-oriented." And a political executive is one who thinks he can achieve his objectives by amassing power. He does that by organizing his world into allies and enemies.
Stanley Bing, the author of Sun Tzu Was a Sissy, sees the working world that way. But I don’t think that sort of approach works. In fact, the idea that you must destroy people, property, and ideas to succeed in business is both stupid and misleading. Business is - or should be - about creating things, not destroying them. And businesses succeed when they stay creative, when their leaders are never satisfied with "the way it’s always been done" and are on the lookout for new ways to make the business better and newer.
Because Greg believed in amassing power instead of profits, the decisions he’d make were sometimes miles away from what made sense to me. When I discussed my perspective with him, I could almost hear him thinking with contempt, "You say that because you are weak and not willing to fight."
Meanwhile, I’d be thinking, "Hey… our job is to get this job done with as little friction as possible. Why fight all these petty battles when victory can be had by being more accommodating?"
For a while, I tried to get both executives to work together on the project, but that proved impossible. Their behaviors and attitudes were simply incompatible. So I had to choose one of them to be in charge - and it was not an easy decision.
I felt better about things the moment I moved forward and did it. But that good feeling wasn’t because I was sure I had made the right choice. It was mostly the relief I felt in not having to negotiate what had turned into daily altercations between the two.
Which candidate would have worked out better, I’ll never know. But I do know that I find it impossible to put someone in charge of a business who is not completely focused on that business. If you work for me, you can’t be motivated by personal power. I don’t expect you to be perfect, but I do want you to be devoted to the goal.
This is such an important lesson in business, yet so many very competent people never learn it. They waste their careers working 24/7, making alliances and breaking them, starting fights and taking bruises - only because they are operating under the illusion that business is about power and power is about protecting themselves and fighting with others.
It’s so much easier to achieve your goals when you focus on them and not the obstacles - perceived or real - that stand in front of them.
______________________________
Get an Anti-Aging Boost From Strength Training
By Craig Ballantyne
Every day, I receive spam e-mails from marketers trying to sell me "Human Growth Hormone" boosters to help prevent aging. HGH does have anti-aging properties, but you don’t need to buy anything to increase your own levels of it. There’s a natural way to do so.
It’s called strength training.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina found that when they compared the amount of growth hormone released as a result of a 30-minute aerobic exercise session or strength training, significantly more was released with the strength-training workout. So if you are looking for a way to fight aging naturally (and increase fat burning while you’re at it), don’t neglect strength training as part of your exercise program.
The best strength-training exercises to use are multiple-muscle and total-body exercises, such as step-ups, lunges, and squats. You can do these with your bodyweight only, or while holding dumbbells in both hands.
Do three sets of eight repetitions two to three times per week. And add a pushing exercise, such as push-ups or dumbbell chest presses, to get a fast, total-body workout that builds muscle, burns fat, and boosts growth hormone.
[Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men’s Health magazine.]
______________________________
It’s Good to Know: Antibacterial Products
You probably use antibacterial products - including hand soap, household cleaners, and sponges - to keep yourself and your family safe from germs. But overuse of these products can lead to the development of "superbugs" that can’t be easily killed by antibiotics and have the potential to spread disease.
The problem, say scientists, is that antibacterial products leave a residue behind. The residue continues to kill weaker bacteria, but allows a small subpopulation that has immunity to reproduce at will.
(Source: CNN and Scientific American)
______________________________
Word to the Wise: Ostensible
Something that’s "ostensible" (ah-STEN-suh-bul) - from the Latin for "to show" - appears to be true, but is not necessarily so.
Example (as used in an article in The Economist): "After an epidemic of yellow fever in 1798, in which coffins had been sold by itinerant vendors on street corners, [Aaron] Burr established the Manhattan Company, with the ostensible aim of bringing clean water to the city from the Bronx River but in fact designed as a front for the creation of New York’s second bank, rivalling [Alexander] Hamilton’s Bank of New York."
Michael Masterson
__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2099, 07-20-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.
Anthony Robbins
The Most Important Quality of a Top Employee
By Michael Masterson
To an outsider, it might have seemed a very easy choice. Good Guy Greg, one candidate for the job of heading up the project, was very professional, a tough negotiator, dogged, determined, and principled. The other candidate, Slightly Shady Sam, had a reputation for being tough on his employees, hiring his friends… and he was rumored to take kickbacks.
Which would you choose?
I chose Slightly Shady Sam. And I’ll tell you why.
Although Sam had several bad habits and was suspected of being dishonest, he had one overwhelmingly good quality: He was completely focused on making the project successful. He had his own particular idea of what that would look like (there were bells and whistles on it that I wouldn’t have put there), but it was a vision that I could see working.
Almost everything he had done on the project so far - including some tough treatment of employees - was done with his goal in mind. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t love everything about the project he’d create, but I was equally certain that if I let him do what he wanted, he’d get the job done. Some eggshells would be broken in the process, but the project would succeed, profits would be made, and eventually everyone associated with it would be happy.
I had a different feeling about the "better" candidate, Greg. Although he was very competent in many ways, I found much of his behavior to be inexplicable and/or wrongheaded. He developed staff loyalty by treating some of his employees better than others. He made decisions that were tough on customers - especially when he decided those customers were "problems."
Ultimately, I developed the theory that instead of being focused on the project, this "good" executive was really focused on himself as a key person in it.
He was, to put it bluntly, a political sort of person. To me, "political" means "power-oriented." And a political executive is one who thinks he can achieve his objectives by amassing power. He does that by organizing his world into allies and enemies.
Stanley Bing, the author of Sun Tzu Was a Sissy, sees the working world that way. But I don’t think that sort of approach works. In fact, the idea that you must destroy people, property, and ideas to succeed in business is both stupid and misleading. Business is - or should be - about creating things, not destroying them. And businesses succeed when they stay creative, when their leaders are never satisfied with "the way it’s always been done" and are on the lookout for new ways to make the business better and newer.
Because Greg believed in amassing power instead of profits, the decisions he’d make were sometimes miles away from what made sense to me. When I discussed my perspective with him, I could almost hear him thinking with contempt, "You say that because you are weak and not willing to fight."
Meanwhile, I’d be thinking, "Hey… our job is to get this job done with as little friction as possible. Why fight all these petty battles when victory can be had by being more accommodating?"
For a while, I tried to get both executives to work together on the project, but that proved impossible. Their behaviors and attitudes were simply incompatible. So I had to choose one of them to be in charge - and it was not an easy decision.
I felt better about things the moment I moved forward and did it. But that good feeling wasn’t because I was sure I had made the right choice. It was mostly the relief I felt in not having to negotiate what had turned into daily altercations between the two.
Which candidate would have worked out better, I’ll never know. But I do know that I find it impossible to put someone in charge of a business who is not completely focused on that business. If you work for me, you can’t be motivated by personal power. I don’t expect you to be perfect, but I do want you to be devoted to the goal.
This is such an important lesson in business, yet so many very competent people never learn it. They waste their careers working 24/7, making alliances and breaking them, starting fights and taking bruises - only because they are operating under the illusion that business is about power and power is about protecting themselves and fighting with others.
It’s so much easier to achieve your goals when you focus on them and not the obstacles - perceived or real - that stand in front of them.
______________________________
Get an Anti-Aging Boost From Strength Training
By Craig Ballantyne
Every day, I receive spam e-mails from marketers trying to sell me "Human Growth Hormone" boosters to help prevent aging. HGH does have anti-aging properties, but you don’t need to buy anything to increase your own levels of it. There’s a natural way to do so.
It’s called strength training.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina found that when they compared the amount of growth hormone released as a result of a 30-minute aerobic exercise session or strength training, significantly more was released with the strength-training workout. So if you are looking for a way to fight aging naturally (and increase fat burning while you’re at it), don’t neglect strength training as part of your exercise program.
The best strength-training exercises to use are multiple-muscle and total-body exercises, such as step-ups, lunges, and squats. You can do these with your bodyweight only, or while holding dumbbells in both hands.
Do three sets of eight repetitions two to three times per week. And add a pushing exercise, such as push-ups or dumbbell chest presses, to get a fast, total-body workout that builds muscle, burns fat, and boosts growth hormone.
[Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men’s Health magazine.]
______________________________
It’s Good to Know: Antibacterial Products
You probably use antibacterial products - including hand soap, household cleaners, and sponges - to keep yourself and your family safe from germs. But overuse of these products can lead to the development of "superbugs" that can’t be easily killed by antibiotics and have the potential to spread disease.
The problem, say scientists, is that antibacterial products leave a residue behind. The residue continues to kill weaker bacteria, but allows a small subpopulation that has immunity to reproduce at will.
(Source: CNN and Scientific American)
______________________________
Word to the Wise: Ostensible
Something that’s "ostensible" (ah-STEN-suh-bul) - from the Latin for "to show" - appears to be true, but is not necessarily so.
Example (as used in an article in The Economist): "After an epidemic of yellow fever in 1798, in which coffins had been sold by itinerant vendors on street corners, [Aaron] Burr established the Manhattan Company, with the ostensible aim of bringing clean water to the city from the Bronx River but in fact designed as a front for the creation of New York’s second bank, rivalling [Alexander] Hamilton’s Bank of New York."
Michael Masterson
__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2099, 07-20-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.
posted by Oak Stone at 7:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home