Father Stephen Howell:

Everything is either from God, through God or for God.


Stephen Covey:

Abundance Mentality - From the Principles of Leadership book - the good of the whole

Sharpening the saw - from the Seven Habits... continuous learning and improvement.

Jim Lynch:

1. It's easier to be critical than to be creative. Remember that the next time you make a critical comment.

2. If you are going to come to me with a potential problem, then also bring at least one potential solution.

3. You should spend 15% of you work time on personal PR. If no one knows what you are doing then you will never be recognized and rewarded.

4. You should always be thinking of your next job or work goal and be moving towards it at all times no matter how slowly.

5. You life is balanced by four major quadrants: Your Work, Personal, Spiritual and Financial  life. It is ok to change one or two of these at a time, but it is not healthy for you or your family to change all three at once. For example: Getting a new job, moving from Massachusetts to Oregon and having your first child (I did this and would not recommend it again). If you do have to make a major change in all four then be prepared for a very stressful period and try to be patient and understanding.

 

 

Are you a Climber, a Camper or a Quitter?jhttp://www.peaklearning.com/documents/PEAK_news_siliconValley.pdf

 

http://www.touchthetop.com/

 

Black and White vs. Shades and Colors

 

Some people see things a binary decisions: black and white, on or off, 0 or 1. Other people see more options and view decisions in shades of gray or different colors.

When dealing with other people, whether your employees, managers, customers, partners or stakeholders it helps to understand how people will view your presentation and work. This will determine how you present to them and what results they are expecting from you.

The challenge is that if you see things in colors and your manager is seeing only black and white, then there will be a disconnect in expectations and perception of performance.

For example, most finance and accounting people see things in binary views only. You need to incorporate this into your interactions with them.

 

 

Own Your Data

 

Every day you produce content that is used by other people, teams and systems. You need to be the owner of what you produce and be responsible for it.  You need to understand what the numbers, metrics and content mean and whether it makes sense. So if the numbers don't look right then you need to find out why.  

 

Don't just be a drone and run the report and send it out.  Ask questions about what the numbers are telling and see what can be done to improve the numbers.  Also if the numbers look good, you want to highlight that and describe why they are improving.  This will help you and management as well as the customers of your content and data.

 

Discuss, Debate, Decide and Commit

 

 

Do You Struggle to Make Conversation? A Menu of Options for Small Talk.

January 28, 2014

 

 

 

Small talk can be a big problem. I want to be friendly and polite, but I just can’t think of a thing to say.

Here are some strategies I try when my mind is a blank:

1. Comment on a topic common to both of you at the moment: the venue, the food, the occasion, the weather (yes, talking about the weather is a cliche, but it works). “How do you know our host?” “What brings you to this event?” But keep it on the positive side! Unless you can be hilariously funny, the first time you come in contact with a person isn’t a good time to complain.

2. Comment on a topic of general interest. A friend scans Google News right before he goes anywhere where he needs to make small talk, so he bring up some interesting news item.

3. Ask a question that people can answer as they please. My favorite question is: “What’s keeping you busy these days?” It’s useful because it allows people to choose their focus (work, volunteer, family, hobby). Also, it's helpful if you ought to remember what the person does for a living, but can’t remember.

4. Ask open questions that can’t be answered with a single word.

5. If you do ask a question that can be answered in a single word, instead of just supplying your own information in response, ask a follow-up question. For example, if you ask, “Where are you from?” an interesting follow-up question might be, “What would your life be like if you still lived there?”

6. Ask getting-to-know-you questions. “What internet sites do you visit regularly?" "What vacation spot would you recommend?” These questions often reveal a hidden passion, which can make for great conversation. I'm working on Before and After, a book about habits, and one side benefit is that I have an excuse to ask people about their good and bad habits, and their answers are inevitably fascinating. Plus people enjoy talking about their habits.

7. React to what a person says in the spirit in which that that comment was offered. If he makes a joke, even if it’s not very funny, try to laugh. If she offers some surprising information (“Did you know that the Harry Potter series have sold more than 450 million copies?”), react with surprise.

8. Be slightly inappropriate. I can’t use this strategy, myself, because I don’t have the necessary gumption, but my husband is a master. Over and over, I hear him ask a question that seems slightly too prying, or too cheeky, and I feel a wifely annoyance, but then I see that the person to whom he’s talking isn’t offended–if anything, that person seems intrigued and flattered by his interest.

9. Watch out for the Oppositional Conversational Style. A person with oppositional conversational style (I coined this term) is a person who, in conversation, disagrees with and corrects whatever others say. If you practice this style of conversation, beware: other people often find it deeply annoying.

10. Follow someone’s conversational lead. If someone obviously drops in a reference to a subject, pick up on that thread. Confession: I have a streak of perversity that inexplicably makes me want to thwart people in their conversational desires–I’m not sure why. For instance, I remember talking to a guy who was obviously dying to talk about the time that he’d lived in Vietnam, and I just would not cooperate. Why not? I should’ve been thrilled to find a good subject for discussion.

11. Along the same lines, counter-intuitively, don’t try to talk about your favorite topic, because you’ll be tempted to talk too much. This is a strategy that I often fail to follow, but Ishould follow it. I’ll get preoccupied with a topic -- such as happiness or habits -- and want to talk about it all the time, with everyone I meet, and I have a lot to say.