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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Neither Donate Nor Collect Negativity

by Rick Baker
On Jul 25, 2011
How many times have you heard the saying, 'misery enjoys company'?
 
Apparently, this is widely-accepted as a fact of the human condition. And, it has been accepted for quite some time.
 
Many years ago, I argued that ‘company enjoys misery’ too. I mean, some people get a kick out of knowing others are worse off…as if being less worse off than those unfortunate creatures is a consolation prize. But, I do not argue that anymore. I mean, aside from making the point clear again here in this paragraph I do not argue that anymore.
 
But, I will argue the following points.
 
For one reason or another, lots of people have the habit of sharing their stories of woe.
 
If we sat these people down and asked them if sharing woes is a Good Habit or a Bad Habit I expect the vast majority of people would state, “That’s a Bad Habit”. They might even add, “People who spend time dealing with stories of woe are doing nothing positive or constructive. Those discussions do not bring people closer to their personal goals or to their business goals.”
 
People know the time is wasted.
 
People know that damage is done.
 
Yet, people do it anyhow.
 
And, some people do a lot of it!
 
The Bottom Line: Negativity consumes a great deal of people’s lives. It consumes a great deal of business people’s work-lives. It may be consuming a great of your followers’ work-lives.
 
Every one of us engages in negativity to some degree.
 
The Leader’s challenge is to minimize that negativity.
 
Again, the Leader enjoys a unique opportunity – leading by example.
 
Leaders can lead by example by making a conscious effort to refrain from collecting other people's garbage. Leaders must also work to refrain from dumping garbage on others.
 
This is one area where leading by example is absolutely within the Leader’s control: the Leader has an exclusive opportunity to send out visible signals of self-confidence and interpersonal harmony.

Tags:

Attitude: Creating Positive Attitude | Leaders' Thoughts | Habits: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things

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“Running the Business Run”

by Rick Baker
On Jul 15, 2011
You: the Leader
 
The Situation: The business is in a start-up mode, or a re-directed mode, and everyone seems to be struggling too much.
 
Preamble: You don’t know whether you should:
  • send everyone home so you can concentrate on getting some work done or
  • crack the whip
  • take another shot at leading with passion and inspiration
As you are just about to make the right choice, the following thoughts hit you…
 
Running a business is a different thing than talking about running a business.
 
Consider ‘talking the talk’ and ‘walking the walk’.
 
Running a business is, by the words themselves, definitely something more than ‘talking the talk’. In fact it must be something more fast-paced than ‘walking the walk’. Nobody says, “Hey, let’s go and walk a business.” People always say, “Run a business.” Just taking the words as they are, ‘running a business’ must be about ‘Running the Run’. That’s more than and better than either ‘talking the talk’ or ‘walking the walk’.
 
‘Running the Run’ is clearly cranking it up a notch.
 
‘Running the Run’ is about giving the business an out-of-the-blocks chance to get over the 80/20 Business-Failure hurdle. It is about giving the business a fighting chance to be there for the tough race that lies ahead.
 
Like any other ‘race’, ‘Running a business’ is about mental toughness. It is about training. It is about competing. It is about understanding what it takes to win. It is then about doing what it takes to win.
 
‘Thinking the think’ is the right first step: Napoleon Hill, for example helps in this area by showing us how to spend time obtaining the value of thought and autosuggestion.
 
‘Talking the talk’ can be a good next step too: Muhammad Ali, for example, showed the link between thought and talk and results. He said, “I am the greatest.” Then he proved it.
 
After ‘talking the talk’, ‘walking the walk’ is a required next step: consider the great leader Mahatma Gandhi.... now that guy was a talker and a walker. And, from what I know about him, he ranks as my favourite lawyer.
 
But, ‘Running the Run’...that’s where the rubber hits the road. Actually, that’s more than a just a metaphor. That’s double entendre...maybe even triple.
 
"Running the Run"…now these 4 fellows could really run the run…
  • Achilles (who got the eternal fame history tells us he craved)
  • Roger Bannister (who did what was impossible…he broke the 4:00 minute mile)
  • Forrest Gump...not only did that guy get lots of money, but even though he acted a little strange everybody seemed to really like him and he ended up getting an Oscar for it.
  • Terry Fox...A Canadian inspiration…got himself on a coin. Not many Canadians have done that.
With that running the run inspiration completed.....
 
Are you prepared to do what it takes to ‘Run the Run’ for your business?
 
I mean: Do you really want to run your own business? As Napoleon Hill said, is your desire white-hot, burning? Or is that just talk? Just a wishful dream?
 
Nothing wrong with dreaming....as long as you know and admit you are asleep while it is happening.
 
White-hot desire….tough to sleep through that!

Tags:

80/20 Rule | Attitude: Creating Positive Attitude | Hero Worship | Leaders' Thoughts

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Do you believe in the concept "Mastermind"?

by Rick Baker
On Jun 23, 2011
I don’t mean the ‘Mastermind’ you find when you look up the word in a dictionary…which yields something like ‘a creative person who directs a project’.
 
I mean the ‘Mastermind’ described by Napoleon Hill in his classic motivational book ‘Think and Grow Rich’ and in his other writings.
 
In summary, Napoleon Hill defined Mastermind as the ‘new mind’ that is created when two or more people work together in perfect harmony toward a shared goal.
 
Napoleon Hill gave credit to Andrew Carnegie. He said Andrew Carnegie planned and used a Mastermind to generate his enormous business success. Apparently, when interviewed, Henry Ford confirmed he had used the Carnegie ‘formula for success’ to generate his enormous business success. Both Carnegie and Ford were among the richest and most-powerful business men of their time.
 
And, assuming the records are accurate, we can conclude each of these 3 men – Carnegie, Ford, and Hill – believed when 2 or more people work together, in perfect harmony, toward a common goal they generate an intangible force that can be likened to another mind. And, the power of this new mind is available to all the people in the group.
 
And…these 3 men were not alone in this thinking. Other tremendously successful business people, politicians, and people in other disciplines believed in the power of the Mastermind as Napoleon Hill defined it.
 
Thomas Edison believed it and ‘lived it’.
 
Alexander Graham Bell also believed it and used it to his advantage.
 
Do you believe it?
 
Do you believe in the concept Mastermind?

Tags:

Hero Worship | Leaders' Thoughts

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Sales Tweet #237

by Rick Baker
On Jun 14, 2011
Sales Tweet #237 LinkedIn is a sales tool - join Groups where your Clients are members…that's a way to prospect.
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
The value of LinkedIn is the value it captures around Strong Links [1st Contacts] and Weak Links [2nd and 3rd Contacts]. There is an argument to be made the most value exists around Weak Links. Weak Links such as 2nd and 3rd Contacts under LinkedIn are prospecting territory. More about Weak Links.

Tags:

Leaders' Thoughts | Thought Tweets

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Sales Tweet #229

by Rick Baker
On Jun 2, 2011
Sales Tweet #229 Is it possible people are not inspired to 'play the game of work' because they think they cannot win?
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Some very competitive people, perhaps most very competitive people, will only play games they think they can win. That applies to work roles too. So, it is important to ensure the right people are in the right roles working on the right goals and doing the right tasks.

Tags:

Leaders' Thoughts | Thought Tweets

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General Rick Hillier visits Waterloo Region Home Builders Association

by Rick Baker
On May 25, 2011
I had the pleasure of attending Canadian General Rick Hillier’s presentation at the recent WRHBA lunch.
 
What an interesting military leader! What a clear message!
 
“If you are or want to be a leader then remember one thing – people. Focus on people.”
 
General Hillier talked about process, technology, structure, and organization.
 
But he was emphatic about the most-important thing...“focus on people”…
  • Choose people well
  • Give them credit when they do things well
  • Your job is to free up people…their bodies and their minds
  • One person can make a difference!
  • Perpetual optimism translates into the emotion - Passion
  • People outside your company can help…don’t limit yourself
  • When there are dark days go back to the basics – focus on people.
General Hillier also talked about Action:
  • Leaders Actions speak loudly
  • Take Actions to back up your words
  • Look them in the eye!
General Hillier talked about “being yourself”…he told many stories…and the stories confirmed our famous General has quite a sense of humour.
 
As our General Hillier told one story [about relaying the affection of a young Canadian girl to her soldier sweetheart in the Middle East] I couldn’t help but think about General George Patton. U.S. General Patton had a profound sense of duty and honour. During World War 2 he was disciplined for ‘roughing up’ one of his soldiers who, apparently, did not live up to Patton’s high standards for courage. General George Patton was a leading strategist who illustrated more than enough action to back up his words. Yet, his reputation is tarnished by what was considered to be excessive force on his own people. Our Canadian General Hillier took a different approach during his 35-year career. Certainly, ‘times have changed’. And, that may explain some of it. However, when people are in the battlefields, as our forces are now in Afghanistan, I expect the most-important things, the ‘human conditions’, have not changed… the people still experience the fears, the fatigue, the stresses of warfare as a big part of their daily life.
 
We owe much gratitude to the people of our armed forces…for the risks they take and the work they do to ensure freedom and fairness in our country and around the world.
 
And, we owe much gratitude to our General Rick Hillier for the top-notch service he provided during his military career and the uplifting messages he now shares with leaders in our Canadian communities.
 
Let’s follow General Hillier’s advice: “focus on people”.

Tags:

Beyond Business | Leaders' Thoughts

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