Don't bank on these guys, Bank on YOU

I've been railing against idiot bankers for a while now. Wall Street was driven by greed, dishonesty, and dishonor. The salaries paid were obscene and their arrogance amazing. I don't really care what happens to the bankers. In fact, I'm more than a little ticked-off that so many of them have walked away with fat bonuses over the last three years and we found no way to get that money back.

What depresses me is what happens to the average person. Many employees have seen their 401K retirement funds decimated by the greed, stupidity, and arrogance of these so-called "Masters of the Universe". Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE capitalism and the free-market, but this 3rd standard deviation of it was nothing but an obscene aberration.

And the worst is yet to come. Management around the world are having to take radical cost actions to survive. If you talk or listen to CEOs all over the world and no matter what business they are in or in what geography, when you ask them this question, "What's your most important resource?", they always have one answer - their people. But, at the first hint of trouble, the first thing that many of them do is get rid of them, indiscriminately and usually starting with the innocent in the middle and at the bottom, rather than at the top where in most instances the blame lies.

Last week in the U.S., mass layoffs reached their highest level since the recession month following the September 11 attack. Unemployment hit 6.5 per cent in October, the highest rate since 1994. No industry is immune. Chrysler laid off 6,825 people last month, 25 per cent of their workforce. The once mighty Goldman Sachs laid off 3,250 people, 10 per cent of their workforce. Poster child Yahoo laid off 1,500 people, 10 per cent of their workforce. And Merck, once all-powerful in the pharma world, laid off 7,200 people, or 12 per cent of their workforce.

My view is that one of the roles of business is to make the world a better place for everyone. The way it does this is through innovation and ideas that create jobs, not by high-falutin', fancy-named pseudo technological financial instruments which destroy wealth, hope, and dreams.

That is why our business is GREAT. It’s yours. You’re in control. Its destiny is entirely in your hands—and that’s great. Do it!

I LOVE Sport(s)...Any sport

I LOVE Sport. The compeition, the effort, the agony, the winners and losers. The collective focus. The TEAM.

Sport touches everyone.

A recent study I read about on sports and happiness says that having a winning NFL football team boosts the wallets of a city's inhabitants by a full $120, making harder workers and bigger spenders, while increasing happiness and self confidence.

Even if your team is not winning, sports fans remain dedicated, sometimes even obsessed. This is because following a team is a pure example of an emotional connection; an experience that is part frustrating and part exquisite pride and happiness.

We all love the feeling of community, the emotional tug on the heart-strings, the hope that maybe, just maybe, this will be the year.

It's a dream of hope that springs eternal! As a fan, what you experience is Loyalty Beyond Reason, and as a sports fan I know exactly what this means! What truly matters in the end is performing, not simply winning.

There is a connection that irrevocably binds fan, team and sponsor, look at how we, as Kevin Roberts would say, inpires Loyalty Beyond Reason around a sports team. These are ideas that can grow value for one and all: fans, brand marketers, sponsors, managers and boards.

1. Share a dream. One Team, One Dream. Sponsor, owner, player and fan. A mission isn't going to light up the ball park. Feel like a family, play like a team.

2. Connect with emotion. Ditch rational-based marketing and move people to your cause.

3. Move from Irreplaceable brands to Irresistible. Lovemarks.

4. Check in with reality. Do you just want to be respected, or loved and respected?

5. Use Mystery, Sensuality and Intimacy--the three secrets.

6. Seal it with Sisomo. Hand your brand over to fans and connect with the family of screens. They'll take good care of it!

7. Perform at Peak. Create the conditions for Flow. Just like the best sports people, find the zone where passion and harmony put you at your best.

Once you've got Loyalty Beyond Reason, you're all fans. The great thing about fans is that they all face the same way and dream the same dream.

Turn that group into a winning team and scientists and economists say it's worth $120 each and bundles of happiness, which is priceless.

Which all confirms what husbands have always known and wives have feared for years.

Watching sport is good for you.

This can apply to any company....or cause.

FREDA

Let me introduce you to FREDA. She's smart and knows exactly how to get what she wants. You ask FREDA how to accelerate your business to full throttle and she's right there with the answers. I refer to FREDA every day. Whenever you face a challenge, friends like FREDA are money in the bank.

FREDA, for those of you who haven't met her already, is an acronym. Focus, Re-invention, Execution, Distribution and Accountability. These five inspire a perfect storm of the perfect attitudes and habits. They're exactly what we'll need to make the best of the changes that are heading our way. Complacency and "it'll be OK" are history.

FREDA is the future. Give serious thought to how FREDA works in your Business.

Focus.

It's important for everyone to focus on the special contribution they can make. All of us are better than some of us. Musician, teacher, secretary, nurse, bricklayer, all we need is anyone with a better idea - a world-changing idea - about how to make a difference.

Re-invention.

The twenty-first century truth? To be world-class is no longer enough. To secure our future we have to change from world-class to world-changing. There are more than 190 countries (let alone companies) on our planet and several have recently made the leap to become world-changers. Think of the Dubai/Mumbai/Shanghai nexus.

Execution.

Lovemarks is a big idea that works across all levels. I have seen small businesses and global companies executing Lovemark programs to achieve super-premiums. A great example is Yemen where the leading mobile network MTN has implemented a Lovemarks program. The result? Preference for MTN has grown to 42 per cent of all mobile users, and this despite the fact that its nearest competitor is 40 per cent cheaper! We all need a Lovemarks strategy, and fast.

Distribution.

Steve Jobs of Apple got it right when he said, "Great artists ship". We're in the distribution business, but we have to do it and the rest also--and very well.

Accountability.

The role of business is to make the world a better place for everyone. This means being accountable for the environment, the economy, our social structures and our culture. It's time to shift the focus of accountability from setting limits to embracing possibilities. The conviction that companies can help change the world has to be driven by individuals, not by government or souless big companies.

So Howdy FREDA--get to know and "use" her well.

A Postcard?

Never underestimate an intimate gesture.

How often in your life has it been something seemingly small that has had the most powerful emotional impact?

We all have our own stories. The hand on your shoulder when you needed a human touch; the letter that expressed what matters most at just the right moment; the invitation to a family gathering when you were feeling despondent and alone.

And I'd add the postcard that turns up in the mail and simply says "I was thinking of you" (I got one recently). In today's digital world of email and texting there are a lot of ways we can connect with friends and family, but the traditional postcard (or handwritten note) seems to be holding its own and indeed experiencing something of a revival.

The Guardian notes that in the UK, 135 million postcards were delivered in 2006, 30 million more than in 2003.

Why is a nineteenth century idea like the postcard thriving in the twenty-first century? Yes, it's certainly Intimacy, plus I think a brilliant helping of Mystery and Sensuality.

Specifics? The Mystery of trying to work out who the postcard is from. A signature scrawled across the printed caption is often impossible to decipher. The Sensuality of a stunning image selected with you and your taste in mind, and the Intimacy of a handwritten message.

I make a point of handwriting comments on as much of my mail as I can for the same reason. My Montblanc fountain pen is one of my Lovemarks and I believe its inked messages have far deeper resonance than the many emails I send.

There's the surprise of handwriting in our increasingly digital world, but there is something direct and personal in this special connection between writer and reader - hand to heart.

In a world of dumb mass mail-outs, there is a lot to be learnt from the simple postcard.

And I mean more than putting some fake 'personalized' Post-it note on the top of an article. Real-ness and Intimacy is something you can't fake. People take it personally or they don't.

There's no half-way house. You have to reach out and trust your intuition about what will be welcome. But DO IT.

Global Convention

In a word....OUTSTANDING, FABULOUS, SHOULD-A-BEEN-THERE!  

Yes, I know that is more than one, but wow--it was outstanding.

The company really outdid themselves and thus created a significant problem for themselves simultaneously--HOW to top this one?  That's their problem, but ours is to use such a great show for our benefit, to grow this business.  The way is easy--get out there and share the word.

The setting, the presentation(s), the RECOGNITION, the vision--all top-notch.  You really should have been there.

So now we get to work and build and prepare for Thailand in 2010!  

I'll be there!

Spaghetti Happens

I learned a VERY good lesson recently—that is: “Spaghetti Happens”.

Whenever I wear a white shirt—freshly cleaned, ironed, and crisp—looking sharp…. Spaghetti happens.

When I wear such, I (for some reason) always end up having Spaghetti for lunch, and no mater how careful I am, I ALWAYS will spill some on it, thus getting the nice “Red Dalmatian” effect—Guaranteed!

So it is with life. We’re ready, we’re prepared, we have a great plan…. then… “Spaghetti” happens—stuff that we didn’t want or anticipate or even that makes a mess comes our way, no matter how careful we are.

The key isn’t to “Stop Spaghetti”, you can’t—I’ve proven that. The key is to expect it, to not be (overly) bothered by it and HAVE A PLAN TO CLEAN YOUR SHIRT (or even a new shirt) ready.

In planning parlance… have a Plan B. It isn’t prevention, but rather (your) response that is the key to a happy and productive life. 

Obviously, learn to do all you can to prevent, but after you’ve done all you can….Spaghetti (still) happens, so don’t let it kill your day… move quickly to Plan B and don’t worry.

Problem is, I still love Italian food….Here’s to lasagna

The Happiness Challenge

The old management rule to measure what matters is a good one. The problem is that the stuff that matters is always the hardest to measure, but we can't let that stop us. Let's measure up, rather than measure down.

For example, the dream of happy people contributing to a healthy planet: We have metrics for the healthy planet part, but we are still inventing how you measure OUR happiness and we are still working out how to increase it.

A recent article reported a study showing that in spite of a significant raise in their standard of living, people were no happier than they were 30 years ago, and i many cases much less.  All these "labor-saving" devices have done is increase our stress and, thus,  lower our happiness. So while we've got measures of our living standards coming out our ears, as happens so often, we seem to be pointing in the wrong direction.

Here are four factors that can help make us happier:

1) Be of service to something larger than yourself.
I often draw on a great thought from philosopher Daniel Dennett: "The secret of happiness is to find something bigger than yourself and then to devote your life to it."

2) Experience "flow," or full engagement, on a regular basis.
This is one of the fundamentals of Peak Performance. Flow happens when people are unleashed and inspired against their Dream. And what a Dream the aspiration to make the world a better place is! My friend, Professor Bruce Jackson head of the center for the Advancement of Leadership at UVU, is a expert on this--great stuff--expect his book shortly.

3) Show your gratitude to the people in your life.
Simple, direct and action-focused. If we all followed that one sentence, the self-help publishing industry could pack up and go home to look after its own friends and family. Live thankfully.

4) Have at least three people who are emotionally close enough to share your life with.
And if you're lucky, it might be more than three.

Be HAPPY

Blue Ocean Phooey

There have been a lot of discussions lately in certain circles on some latest “flavor-of-the-month” business books. And while neither bad nor destructive—as they at least get people thinking--it is fair to say that the downside to such can also be a little dangerous (or at least, sub-optimal).

Slavish adherence to such pop-culture-style tomes can be troublesome—especially as they become a part of the culture of an organization. They are, generally, far too simplistic and usually not based on the actual research or data, but rather on other's interpretations of such. They get one thinking, which is good and a start--but not deep enough. Complex problems (and most problems are complex, as if the were easy they’d be solved already and would not longer be problems right?) in life and business usually are not solved with cute phraseology, simple ideas, and clichés.

One such example of this is the recent business book “Blue Ocean Strategy”—which suggests, in simplistic terms, that a business needs to get out of the “Red Ocean” (full of competitors and “blood”) and into the “Blue Ocean” (a unique place for the organization where it can generate above-average return in some nirvana-like state). Sounds great! But it is overly simplistic on a number of levels.

For one example: Because you were "good" once, you may have some unique idea or product or service that gets you into Blue Ocean, and thus you’ll make above-average returns for a period. GREAT! But that will soon disappear—your competitors aren’t stupid (they compete with you after all). THEY WILL FIND SOME WAY TO FOLLOW YOU! Then you’re back into RED (and REALLY RED this time) Ocean.

By thinking just a little more beyond this superficial level, what you really need is not Blue Ocean, but WHAT GOT YOU INTO THE BLUE OCEAN—innovation, re-invention, newness, being ahead of the pack. This is a constantly learning (and evolving) organization. THAT IS WHAT IS REQUIRED--it's an attitude, not a "product"--it's an organization's DNA or style, not a "new thing." Then you not only can you get into "Blue Ocean", but more importantly, YOU CAN STAY THERE. You keep moving the ocean as you move—your competitors can’t keep up.

It is a continually learning (and for that matter unlearning) organization that is the key—continually growing, testing itself, reinventing itself (not afraid of itself) organization that matters, not some trendy new and ultimately arbitrage-able product, or service or idea. It is the ability to CONTINUALLY have such that is the key.

So here’s to Blue Ocean!

Don’t get me started on “The Butterfly Effect…” We can do better than that too—just got to think deeper than a veneer level of thought.

Rock on…

Hope is not Audacious!

Contrary to what some politicians would have you believe... HOPE is necessary, Hope is even a right!  There is nothing "bold" or "daring" about it.

EVERYONE needs (and should) have HOPE!

Recently (and quite rightly) management in Japan has decided to re-invest the company there under the theme of "Health, Freedom, and Hope."  This line has always stirred my soul as a mission worth investing one's-self in.  I love everything else that's been done, but this line has always held a special place for me--for it is who we are!

HEALTH, Check, we got that through our world-class products,  FREEDOM, Double check--we got that--in fact the many facets of Freedom (time, money, lifestyle etc) are all here--especially the one that I completely underestimated--only having to work with those that you WANT to.  

But HOPE, that is one that is usually ignored, and certainly underestimated, but probably the most important.

When I was growing up, the worst criticism one could make of another was that he was a "no-hope-er"--he had no hope either for himself or others in him.  What a  terrible thing to call someone, what a terrible place to be!

We all need HOPE.  Hope Springs eternal.  It drives us to do what is required.  It is a motivating force,  it is a force for good!

It is necessary, and we can deliver it!

Never underestimate HOPE.  Nothing "audacious" about it!

Traveling

I love it!  Not really, but I must confess I do really enjoy meeting new people and seeing new and different places.  But the "getting there" part and certainly being away from home is no fun.

The last week or so I have been in Phoenix, Pittsburgh and now am in Nashville. The former and later were business--working with "good people" and the middle was purely fun and family (the high school rugby team I help coach (which my two older boys are in, qualified to go to the National Championships--but all the "boys" came along)--we went and made it all the way to the championship game, but we lost--so they did well--second in the nation--and that ain't all that bad!  They did well.

What a  GREAT business we are in--we get to meet good people, only work with those we want to, have fun all the way along and also help others make their lives better (and ours also, as a consequence, in the process). 

With summer now upon us, and all the school year-end "stuff" over with, I'm taking more time for the family.  If trips are needed (and they are) I'll take one or more of my kids (or maybe even the whole family) along.  That certainly makes "business trips" much more "fun."

Anyway, have fun,... be good,... work hard.

Stretch & Grow

I remember reading somewhere that Roald Dahl, the brilliant children's writer who created Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, used to sit down and sharpen about thirty pencils every morning before he began writing.

It always sounded to me like he was putting off the evil moment when he would have to stop thinking and actually do something, but what it was, of course, was a habit. Maybe a habit dressed up as a good luck charm, but a habit nonetheless.

The truth is that habits get bad press. The label "creature of habit" doesn't exactly bring to mind the most active or entrepreneurial human being. Yet it is often habit that saves us from danger - checking the traffic before we step out onto the road, for instance. Habits often work under the radar so we don't get driven crazy by having to make hundreds of routine decisions.

In The Open Mind and at Professional Thinking Partners, Dawna Markova looks at the processes we use in decision-making and how we form habits.

Anyone who makes decisions as a job knows that what you are really doing is casting aside possibilities, as well as settling on a way forward. I expect that is why some creative people are such terrible decision makers--they just don't want to give up the potential of different possibilities and make a choice. Nice work if you can get it.

Markova says we make our decisions in one of four ways: analytical, procedural, collaborative and innovative. But because we have standardized the way we test our ideas before applying them, guess which two have taken a back seat? You're right. Analytical and procedural dominate; collaborative and innovative take a back seat.

How does this happen with almost everyone? Because we tend to repeat what worked in the past. That gives us three zones to operate in: comfort, stretch and stress.

Most of us are familiar with comfort and stress but by stretching and learning about new things, getting out of your comfort zone and pumping up the curiosity, you can put your mind into the collaborative and innovative zones, and start creating new habits.

Markova also suggests a way to use the stress mode that rings a bell with me - Kaizen, the Japanese commitment to small continuous improvement. It sure worked for Toyota.

So try putting a little mental stretch into your life and move toward thinking innovatively and communally. To use a phrase that I have learnt as a new father, now incredibly knowledgeable about baby clothes - stretch and grow.

What does “GOOD” mean?

I’ve had a lot of requests since my last blog entry to define what I mean by “good”—so here is a short quiz to help define that:

As Dr Pausch has said:

“Works and plays well with others:

                        Do you tell the truth?

                        Are you good at apologizing (properly)?

                        Do you wait and expect that people will show their good side?”

In my words:

Make a promise AND keep it.  Do you do what you say you’ll do?

If you get an email or voice mail, do you respond to it, THE SAME DAY?

Do people want to be with you—not just pretend to, but also really want to?

Do you always “leave something on the table” for next time at negotiations?

Do you REALLY believe in “win/win?”

Do you “live thankfully?”

That’s my definition.  Happy for you to have your own, that’s OK.  But HAVE ONE and be good!

(Good) PEOPLE:

I know it sounds like a BGO (Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious) but people--good people--are the key to this business and the enjoyment of life per se.  I have just finished a series of meetings in the South East US, followed by the South West, and the Bay Area, and now am in Japan starting an Asian leg.  And everywhere I go I am impressed by so many good people! They are not only good at what they do (skilled), but more importantly, "good" (at heart), and also just good to be around.  As a consequence, they attract other "good" people and their business grows and flourishes.  As opposed to "not good" people that no-one  wants to be around and who create a suction of all joy, fun, success and desire.

Prior to becoming a Distributor I had focused on (and sold) all of the benefits of this business (or so I thought)--Time (check; got that), Money (check; got that), Freedom (check; got that), Check (check; got that) but the one I missed entirely was the blessing (and it is that) of only having to work with people that you want to.  The corporate world can be draining, no question.  Mostly, I believe, because in many cases you have to work with or for someone for whom you have no respect or simply don't like--because they are not "good."  I don't have to do that and I LOVE it!

So here's the question:  "Are you "good?"  Good at what you do (skilled), but also, and more importantly, just plain "good?"   Do people want to be around you?  Do you attract other good people?  If so, GREAT; if not, let's work on that...

Here's to GOOD people.

Aaron

Welcome!

Welcome to my Blog!

This new to me, so you'll have to bear with me, but it should be fun and informative.  

My goal here is to keep you updated, inform you as we move long, and provide any (general) help I am able to.

Stay Tuned....

Kind regards,

Aaron