Rick Baker Thought Posts
Left Menu Space Holder

About the author

Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

E-mail me Send mail
Follow me LinkedIn Twitter

Search

Calendar

<<  November 2024  >>
MoTuWeThFrSaSu
28293031123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
2526272829301
2345678

View posts in large calendar

Recent Comments

Comment RSS

A Definition of Integrity

by Rick Baker
On Jul 29, 2010
After being inspired by Stephen Covey* and others, and giving it all some thought, I have come up with and adopted the following…
 
Definition of Integrity
  1. When you know your Personal Values and
  2. When you can express your Personal Values in writing [showing how you think the think] and
  3. When you can talk with others about your Personal Values [talk the talk] and
  4. When your actions are consistent with your Personal Values [walk the walk] and
  5. When you acknowledge your think-talk-walk errors and strive to not repeat them
…then you have Integrity.
 
*a link to Stephen Covey

Tags:

Definitions - Spirited Words Defined | Values: Personal Values

Sales Tweet #9

by Rick Baker
On Jul 29, 2010
Sales Tweet #9 Successful people pick up and return more phone calls. Don’t ignore successful people. Call one today.
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
On average, I believe successful people return more phone calls and return more email messages than people who are not so successful. Here's why I believe that: (1) it aligns with my personal experiences when I leave messages, (2) successful people are more organized than less successful people so successful people have more time to do things like return phone calls, (3) successful people are more open-minded curious than less successful people, and (4) successful people expect good news while unsuccessful people expect not-so-good news.

Tags:

Beyond Business | I'm too busy! - I don't have time! | Thought Tweets

Roles in Business…what Gerber & Covey have taught

by Rick Baker
On Jul 28, 2010
Stephen Covey & Michael Gerber have provided great advice…and much of it overlaps…these two ‘gurus’ have presented similar messages but they have expressed them in different ways. Here, I am referring to Dr. Stephen R. Covey…the father of Stephen M.R. Covey [who is continuing the family tradition of using the name ‘Stephen’ and teaching business folks].
 
About roles in business…Gerber and Covey each set 3 levels:
 
Leaders [Covey] or Entrepreneurs [Gerber]
 
Set the Vision
Set the Mission
Set Overall Corporate Goals
Are proactive not reactive
Define Success
Then what do they do?
  • They provide Hands-Off Latitude [Covey]
  • They oversee The Mapping [Gerber]
Managers
 
Follow the Leader’s Instructions on Goals
Report Progress to the Leader/Boss, at agreed-to Timing
Their levels of Delegated Authority range from Go-fer [the minimum] to Results Reporting [ the maximum]
Create the Maps…to take the business from “Here – where it is” to “Goals – where it wants to be”
Organize, Prioritize, Establish and Document Process, & Supervise People, who are called: 
  • Technicians [Gerber]
  • Producers [Covey]
Technicians [Gerber] or Producers [Covey] 
 
Understand the Goals
Do the day-to-day Work
Are Specialists in their selected areas
Follow Instruction
 
This outline of roles, whether applied to business roles or to roles in not-for-profit organizations, is a good benchmark.
 
From time to time, I like to refer to this Covey-Gerber benchmark.
 
It aligns with Seeking Simple…:
  • role clarity removes ambiguity
  • role clarity improves the hiring process
  • role clarity improves the performance-review process
  • role clarity removes inefficiency and duplication of effort
  • role clarity ensures all the bases are covered
  • role clarity creates a starting point for decisions [example - who to invite to brainstorming sessions]

Tags:

Delegation & Decisions | Seeking Simple!

Sales Tweet #8

by Rick Baker
On Jul 28, 2010
Sales Tweet #8 Today. Measure meeting talk. Talk no more than 30%, Listen at least 70%…especially, when trying to sell.
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
David Sandler taught this to his sales students. It applies not just to sales but to all conversation. Limiting the amount we talk is closely linked to Listening. It is also closely linked to our ability to keep our emotions in balance.

Tags:

Communication: Improving Communication | Sales | Thought Tweets

A Contrarian Thought on Creativity

by Rick Baker
On Jul 27, 2010
Creativity often does not survive addition.
 
That is – when we attempt to add one person’s creativity to another person’s creativity it is possible the sum of the parts is much less than the whole. In fact it may be less than either of the parts.
 
Creativity (1+2)  <  Creativity 1 + Creativity 2
 
When one person’s creative gifts meet another person’s creative gifts in an effort to join to create greater things it is possible creativity shrinks rather than grows.
 
I think it is far more likely that creativity shrinks.
 
Truly creative people are able to keep their left brains* in the proper place…that is, they don’t just keep their left brains left of center where they belong but they also keep their left brains silent and minding their own business while their right brains fire away creatively.
 
For the truly creative person that just happens.
 
For everyone else it is a task…often a huge task. In fact, for most people keeping the left brain minding its own business so the right brain can perform at its best is such a huge task it is a full time job.
 
There is no room to add more work…like trying to keep someone else’s left brain where it ought to be.
 
Our left brains are so pervasive…it is like they are inclined to undo right brain stuff whenever they encounter it. So, despite our desire for creativity, we regularly see many left brains attacking the output of right brains…and the result is stifling experiences.
 
That’s often what happens, so:
when creativity is the goal we must learn to keep our left brains in check.
 
*Footnote: This is not to say the workings of the human brain are actually so simple they can be defined in terms like right brains handle everything creative while left brains handle everything logical. On the other hand, to the extent this common wisdom may or may not be true…this contrarian thought may or may not be true.

Tags:

Sales Tweet #7

by Rick Baker
On Jul 27, 2010
Sales Tweet #7 By 9:45 tonight, write down the funniest things that happened today. Share one with a Client tomorrow.
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Humour is a truly unique human attribute. Humor interests people. Humour connects people. And, some claim humour can invigorate health, cure disease, etc. So, humour is a relationship-building tool…it is one of the strongest tools for relationship building.

Tags:

Humour | Sales | Thought Tweets

Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.