Fear Of Failure? Success?
Some people are afraid they will fail, or even worse, they may actually succeed. As such, they don’t even bother trying to attain a goal. Such people lack belief in themselves and in their potential. In their mind, if they fail, everyone will think negatively of them. And if they succeed, people will be envious and think negatively of them. So it becomes a lose-lose situation no matter how they look at it. But realize that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Believe in yourself and your abilities and others will, too.
Understanding The Goal-Setting Process
Many people mistakenly believe that goal setting simply means putting a goal on paper, setting a date for completion, marking off checkpoints as they occur, and then starting all over again. Such a mentality hinders people from success, because a goal isn’t a one-time thing that you eventually scratch off a list. Setting a goal is really about changing yourself for the long-term. Goals aren’t short-term, quick-fix things; they are fixed and immovable destinations that show the world who you want to become or what you want to achieve.
Source: Douglas Vermeeren is an international speaker and best-selling author on goal setting and human performance. His most recent book, Amazing Success, combines more than 400 interviews with top achievers and highlights the attributes and similar patterns they followed to achievement. ]]> http://www.execmagazine.com/why-people-fail-to-achieve-their-goals/feed/ 0 http://www.execmagazine.com/freedom-use-it-or-lose-it/ http://www.execmagazine.com/freedom-use-it-or-lose-it/#comments Sun, 01 Jul 2007 21:43:23 +0000 admin http://www.execmagazine.com/freedom-use-it-or-lose-it/ This week, Americans celebrate our declaration of independence from British rule back in 1776. In the midst of the fireworks and ball games, we forget how courageous the signers of the Declaration of Independence truly were. By signing their names, they risked their lives for values and a vision they believed in.

It has always seemed to me that July 4th really ought to be a day for affirming our values and our highest aspirations.

In fact, let me re-phrase it for emphasis:

One of the great failures of modern life is that so many of us do not USE the freedom we have to create the life we want.

Take a moment to consider the freedoms you have right now:*** You have access to a world of education and ideas
*** Your public library has the greatest books ever written
*** You can live anywhere on earth
*** You can live with (or without) anyone you please
*** You can learn as much as you like
*** You can earn as much as you like
*** You can CREATE as much as you like!

And yet, as Thoreau wrote over 150 years ago, too many of us continue to live lives of “quiet desperation.”

I am appalled at the number of Americans who live “paycheck to paycheck,” using credit cards to survive! We are the richest, most educated, most financially literate people in history! Why do we live this way?

I am appalled at the number of people who do work they find boring or unsatisfying. You can change careers with a bit of education, a bit of networking, a bit of effort, and while millions of us “start over” every year, others stay in unsatisfying situations year after year after year. Why!?

I am appalled at the people who call or email me to say they have a dream they want to pursue, but they “can’t afford” a coach, or they “don’t know how to start,” or they “can’t rock the boat.” Folks, there are a million reasons to stay in a situation that is less than ideal – and if that is your choice I respect it – but don’t use the excuse that you “can’t” change it! That’s just wrong!

This week, we celebrate our “Independence Day!” We are also starting the second half of the year.

PLEASE – take time to review your most important goals, your highest aspirations and your biggest dreams, and if there are changes you want to make, then do so! If there are things you need to be doing, please begin.

Decide NOW to make the second half of 2007 your time of transformation and personal independence. Declare that you will USE your freedom to do what makes you happy, fulfills your destiny and gives meaning and purpose to your life. Do not “go to your grave with your music still inside you!”

I’m a firm believer in the power of small steps. It is rarely necessary to take big, dramatic (or risky!) steps, but it is always necessary to begin. Think clearly. Take notes. Talk with loved ones. Admit your dreams out loud, and if there are steps you need to take during the rest of 2007, start walking.

Source: http://www.philiphumbert.com  ]]> http://www.execmagazine.com/freedom-use-it-or-lose-it/feed/ 0 http://www.execmagazine.com/jack-trudeau-and-park-tudor/ http://www.execmagazine.com/jack-trudeau-and-park-tudor/#comments Wed, 06 Jun 2007 04:06:27 +0000 admin http://www.execmagazine.com/jack-trudeau-and-park-tudor/ I would like to hear your opinion.  These are all a bunch of good kids.

The former Colts quarterback Jack Trudeau allegedly hosted a party for Park Tudor high school seniors, providing the graduates with alcohol. But police broke it up, and arrested not only Trudeau, but students, as well. 

Sherrif Ken Cambell said, “When the young people at the party saw those officers, they fled, which led officers to believe that there was something illegal afoot. The officers went to the rear of the residence and saw open containers of alcoholic beverages, beer, rum and so on…

“When the young people at the party saw those officers, they fled, which led officers to believe that there was something illegal afoot. The officers went to the rear of the residence and saw open containers of alcoholic beverages, beer, rum and so on

“When the young people at the party saw those officers, they fled, which led officers to believe that there was something illegal afoot. The officers went to the rear of the residence and saw open containers of alcoholic beverages, beer, rum and so on

Personally, I think this has gone to far.  It reminds me of a group of people in Germany in the late 30’s and early 40’s.  What do you think?

I recently stated “There are no ‘leaders,’ only people who are recognized by others as persons with the ability to envision what might be and have the proclivity to take action to make that vision happen.”  They see what is and are able to see what might be instead. And these people who serve others in that effort, become recognized as “leaders,” after the fact.

 In almost any bookstore or library, one will find whole bookshelves devoted to leadership. And while they may not all have the key word leadership in their titles, they all cover various parts of the process, from individual character to change agent processes.

Some of the processes of leadership outlined in these books deal with such things as strategic planning, strategic thinking, how to be a change agent, tutorials on assessments, organizing, negotiating, creative thinking, business creativity and problem solving, including an old evolving process called TRIZ (Russian for “Theory of Inventive Problem Solving,”) newly discovered in the 90s in this country, through translation. There is even a book entitled Leadership for Dummies.

 Not-with-standing all of these more recent titles, the real leadership research I’ve seen, was done by F. E. Fiedler, E. P. Hollander, and others back in the 1960s through the 1980s. This was qualitative and quantitative research and analysis, while most new books seem to be based on anecdotal evidence (qualitative) but few seem to deal with the why of that leadership.  Given the proclivity for action, it seems that one would want to know why, not just how.

I don’t believe that learning the processes found in these books, while they may be steps to idea generation, productivity, change, or control, they do not necessarily bring us that recognition of being a leader, since that is something totally different than the being in charge of, or following processes. Even Deming and Drucker, I believe, would agree.

I remember during my high school days of telling people often in meetings that, “Maybe I’m different, but I really feel we should be doing this (or that).” These initiatives usually resulted in peers putting me in “leadership” positions. Along the way, I think someone suggested I sounded arrogant, so I dropped the, “maybe I’m different” thing, and in college I learned to ask questions instead, like, “What would it take to get these institutions together, since none of them seem to know the others exist?” The response was immediate; “We need to first have a meeting.”  And that was the start of several meetings and national conclaves that would result in the establishment of the national Association for Recording Sound Collections (ARSC), now in its 41^st year.

I’ve often wondered how all of my leadership posts came about and to what I could attribute my actions. What or how did I learn these “leadership” things that “leaders” do?  When visiting my daughter for Thanksgiving, I recognized a book title I had long forgotten in her library.  The book was William Danforth’s, I Dare You! This is a book I remember finding and reading in my father’s library when I was about 11 years old.  It was a bit different than some of the later editions, as each page had a specific Dare, e.g., I dare you to think creatively, I dare you to do courageous things, I dare you to achieve what others have not, I dare you to catch a passion for helping others, I dare you to share. It seems it is this last item upon which the following are based, and perhaps the authors have read, I Dare You also.

Servant Leadership is a more recent buzzword, and a title, along with other books such as, Strength in Servant Leadership; The Servant, and On becoming a Servant Leader. There’s also Paul’s Servant Lord… a book I ran across in the bookstore that reminded me of my espoused nutshell philosophy from high school and college days; paraphrased from the Bible, “To be Leader of men, you must first be servant of all.”  Finally, it would appear, many of us dummies are waking up to the fact that the directions to leadership have been in the Bible all along.

One of the ways I’ve learned to be a servant leader is to teach others how to do my job as well as theirs. This is done so the things that are supposed to happen when I’m gone will indeed happen. For some, this might seem a conflict of interest, because, if your teaching is well done, they won’t need you at some point. So why would anyone in business want to do that?  Well, we do that for our children and it’s called parenting. We do that for others outside our immediate workplace and it’s called mentoring and sometimes while volunteering, messianic. In the workplace it is called leadership. Danforth states, “a man who has made a success has a responsibility to those who are striving to make a success.”  Sharing and teaching others to become the best they can be is one way to be recognized as a leader…and also a way to enhance one’s own life.

Someone famous once said, “I’m a part of everyone I meet,” I would say, “I become a part of everyone I teach.” You and I can be, and often are expendable, either by edict or by choice in our jobs, but either way, to have left a person, group or organization with something better than what was, is what recognized leaders, indeed do.  How?  One commencement speaker suggests that to get anything done, “one has to first start.”

Perhaps people take action and become leaders because they ask, “Why not?” We all can be leaders. Why not…take the lead today, by serving another?

Mr. Jackson, owner of Trescott Research, is an Information & Library Consultant, Instructor of Research, Writer, Editor, and Musician.  He is publisher of the 4^th edition of Pioneers in Brass by Glenn D. Bridges, a book chronicling early 20^th century brass musicians.

Originally written © 2003; Updated © 5-29-2007

The moral of the story to high school kids going into college is this.  When you go out looking for your first job, you will likely be competing against 3-400 applicants, not just 50.  Your history of top performance can only be judged by your grades.  Employers want to know that you care about others and that you are reliable and consistant.  Prove that you have these qualities and you will have no problem finding a job.

Source:  Tom Smith, VP Sales, Quality Systems

Source:  Glenn Thorpe, President of Business Paladine Inc.