The Problems Start Tuesday!  

If you own or manage a business, you’d better sit up and take notice at the plans being made for the week ahead.  [And what I am about to say here is not out of bitterness or sour grapes.  It is out of common sense.  It is out of respect for those Americans whose vigilence and acts of bravery have given us the freedom to be able to speak out and challenge abusive leadership no matter its source.]

     So, Is it just my imagination (isn’t that a song?) or doesn’t it seem inappropriate (like taking poverty-stricken people to a casino) and inauspicious (not conducive to success) AT THIS PARTICULAR STRESSED-OUT TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY to be spending so frivilously and lavishly for Presidential Inaugural celebrations? 

     Okay, maybe it’s just me.

     Am I dreaming that Joe-the-plumber Americans have been rocked back on their heels with worries about how to take a more fiscally responsible personal and business spending path right now?  Am I alone seeing that most Americans appear to be clutching their pocketbooks like never before?  Or am I just fantasizing all this?

Why would ANYone with a conscience (hmmm) who is about to take control of the planet’s most powerful country, including all the ingredients that determine our nation’s economic well-being –or state of dissipation as the case may be– think for even two (2) seconds that over-spending for such self-aggrandizement and self-serving ends is an okay thing to do? 

     Do you think it’s okay?  I certainly don’t.  I don’t believe your’re “entitled” to a honeymoon when your family is starving just because you ran a successful political campaign.  And I believe we are obliged to question the man’s judgement. 

     What would ever make the new president think he is endearing himself to those he’s been chosen to represent by pissing away (pardon the term; it’s the most accurate I could muster) their hard-earned taxpayer dollars? 

What makes it okay to lend mere lip-service and tacit approval-by-avoidance to skyrocketing forclosure and bankruptcy levels then turn around to hold an extravagant party to celebrate oneself with cash wrenched from our wallets and our children’s piggybanks and our aging parent’s fixed incomes? 

     You don’t believe it?  Here’s a perfect example (and you won’t hear much about this from the idolizing, fawning, he-can-do-no-wrong mainstream media): Teetering on the precipice of financial collapse, the State of Maryland is reported to be coughing up ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS for inaugural expenses. 

     The list of how many millions of dollars are about to be wasted is exceeded in shamefulness only by the list of dire financial circumstances surrounding the States that are being arm-bent into donating. 

Here’s a question:  Given the sorry state of America’s economy, if it was YOUR inauguration, do you think YOU might forego some of the megamillions of dollars worthy of pomp and circumstance and direct some (or heaven forbid, all) of the funds earmarked for partying into some high need areas? 

     Small business incentives, for example, could serve to create jobs.  Many self-sacrificing, battered, struggling military families could use their own “bailouts” — cash for food, transportantion and heating fuel (with apologies to Internet inventor Al Gore whose global warming theories . . . well, you can finish the rest of that sentence) would take America a great deal further than a week-long bash!

     On top of the points I made in a recent post here. . . that we are now faced with the two top leaders of our country possessing zero (0) business experience between them and, correspondingly, no appreciation for entrepreneurs being the ultimate catalysts of change . . . we are also forced to stand by helplessly watching Tuesday’s shameless splurge of outrageous expenses that could be better used to save lives and buysinesses.

     You own or manage a business?  Beware!  Stay alert!  Don’t get hurt!  We are on our own more than ever before.  Let’s keep our shoulders together and move forward as a unit of influence.  We are, after all, here to leave our marks on the world, aren’t we?  We have to make opportunities from the problems we face, the REAL problems , , , the ones that start on Tuesday.   halalpiar

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 128 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

You’ve only one year to live.

What do you do with yourself?

Your business?

     Far-fetched?  Hopefully, yes.  But possibly, no.  It’s often been said that all of life is simply preparation for death, and that all we ever do from the moment of birth, is begin to die.  That’s admittedly some pretty heady philosophical stuff that many of us shy away from thinking about. 

     But is it worth considering? 

     Of course (unless, that is, you have little or no regard for yourself, your business, your family and friends, in which case –assuming you are reading this– you are probably a hermit in a cave with a laptop, and it’s probably time for you to rub some sticks together and begin thinking about what’s for dinner!) 

     Okay, back to serious for a minute, what are the first three things you think of in answer to each of the two headline (in dark red) questions above?  What do you think about your answers?

     What about if those questions followed a revised headline statement that said: You’ve only 6 months to live . . . ? 

     Would your answers change?  How?  How much?  And what if the headline statement only gave you one day? 

     This exercise can be very useful in the thinking process of establishing both life and business priorities (as well as delegating, and decision making) because whatever your responses may be, they serve to push the envelope.  It’s hard to imagine choosing to spend time doing tasks of avoidance, and harder still to imagine assigning lesser values to the tasks that are most important. 

     By forcing your focus on this for a minute or two, you can almost always prompt yourself to assess and evaluate situations and options (especially stressful ones) more realistically.  You will certainly make yourself more productive (the way you are the day before you leave for vacation?) more often. 

     Yes, yes, I know, you might rather join the hermit hunting down some berries and a squirrel to BBQ.  (I’ve heard the furs can actually be quite warm, assuming you’ve managed to save them from a few dozen meals’ worth, and sew them together. Okay, Gorilla Glue.)

     So, give it a chance (not the squirrel fur!).  For a grand total of about 2 minutes of applying your mind to such a “what if” circumstance, you stand to gain a finely-tuned and highly accurate appraisal of what’s important and what’s not, and what should be tackled in what order.  It sure beats dusting file tops, alphabetizing your DVD’s, and counting out-of-state license plates in a parking lot!

     “Bah!  Dis exercise is nuttin’ so revealin’,” you might exclaim. 

     Okay, so take it one more step.  You with me?  Get a piece of paper out (I know, you don’t own any paper; well, borrow a piece!) and write out your own obituary notice.  Ah, now there’s a challenge.  Notice what you mention first and second and third (and last) about your life.  Pay attention to what you have to say about you.  THAT’s what’s important!                halalpiar  

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 114 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

The best New Year’s Day 

message I can share

with you comes 

. . . from one of my life’s heroes, Dr. Wayne Dyer.  It’s a 10-Point Pursuit Plan that I’ve dressed up a bit for the occasion, for your business, for your SELF, and to share with your family.  If you succeed at making only HALF of these actually work consistently, I GUARANTEE that this coming year will be as happy, healthy and prosperous for you as humanly possible. 

DO YOUR SELF, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR BUSINESS A FAVOR and read these ten points aloud to yourself.  Write them down.  Carry them in your wallet/pocketbook/briefcase.  Tape a copy to your bathroom mirror, your dashboard, your computer workstation, inside your desk drawer, your workout bag, your refridgerator, the closet bar that holds your hangers. 

READ AND RECITE before you go to bed, when you wake up, and any other time you can squeeze it into your day.  You will positively amaze yourself with the results after just 21 days, and it’s FREE!!  Go for it!

1.   Want more for others than you do for yourself.

2.   See yourself already having what you seek.

3.   Be an appreciator of everything in your life as much as you can throughout each day, every day.

4.   Stay in touch with your own and other positive human energy sources, and laugh as hard and often as you can. 

5.   Understand resistence, and help yourself and others to go with the flow.

6.   Imagine yourself surrounded by the conditions you want to produce.

7.   Understand the path of least resistence.

8.   Practice radical humility.

9.   Be in a constant state of gratitude.

10.  You can never resolve a problem by condemning it. 

If you think you’re going to give up on this, don’t start it.  A little bite will only leave a bad taste.  If you think you have what it takes to get your act together and take it on the road, if you think you have enough self-discipline to follow and practice the behaviors these 10 points suggest, you will positively succeed — even against all odds.  Remember these 10 points are all about behavior.  Behavior is a choice!

If you need reinforcement or reassurance, be in contact: Hal@TheWriterWorks.com (“BLOG 10” in subject line)             halalpiar 

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 113 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

What are you

waiting for?

I know.  You’re waiting for a parade.  The doctor?  Next Christmas?  Someone else to go first?  Your parent’s approval?  Your boss’s approval?  A work order?  5PM?  Lunchtime?  Vacation?  Your birthday?  A full moon?  High tide?  Rock bottom?  Another way out?  The Mets to win the World Series?  The car in front of you to get out of the passing lane?  Your child to become President?  Your Father to strike oil?  A winning lottery ticket?   

If you answered “YES” to any of the above, or anything even remotely resembling any of the above, you are too filled with excuses to make a success of yourself.  I can’t help you.  You need a shrink.  Happy New Year and come again sometime.

Now.  Who’s left out there?  Anybody?  Good.  Well, then there’s still hope after all.  If you’re truly not waiting for some event or some person in order to move forward with your life –and especially your business pursuits– then odds are you’ve just been procrastinating. 

Putting stuff off is okay sometimes.  It happens to all of us.  But if you don’t want to end up like those I dismissed in the second paragraph, you might need to give yourself a smack alongside your head or (if you can figure out how to do it) kick yourself in the butt, and get yourself in gear!

How much more productive can you bewith your waiting time (you know. . . bank lines, traffic lights, bridges, RR crossings, commuter trains, subways, boats and buses, the dentist, MVB)? 

Next question: what’s in your pocket or briefcase or pocketbook right now? 

If your answerdoesn’t include a pen, paper, or laptop, or a cassette recorder (remember those?) or cellphone (no, not to call that hot date for after dinner suggestions, but perhaps handle a few business calls that don’t require extensive note taking) or blackberry (no, not to text message –er, sorry, txmsg– cousin Bertha to see what time she’s headed for the local gin mill, but perhaps to send yourself some notes of ideas you get so you needn’t carry them in your head?) or digital camera or pocket pad or sticky notes, or a book to read . . . the answer to the first question is that you can be a LOT more productive.  [Hint: These are all tools or avenues of productivity except as noted!]

I know peoplewho’ve put together complete photo essays standing in line at the post office.  I know highly acclaimed writers who write as many street and business names down as they can see while stopped at red lights (that they can cherry-pick from later when they’re seeking character and location names for their works of fiction).  I know an engineer who says he stimulates his brain by sketching vehicles and machinery while waiting for trains and bridges.

The point is, like the old Schlitz Beer commercials used to proclaim, “You only go round once in life!” (Well some maybe do a few trips, but most of us . . .) and we all only conveniently remember how short lifetimes can be when someone close to us passes away. 

SO . . .

• Stop with the delays, excuses, nonproductive and unproductive waits. 

• Stop staring into space wishing you were somewhere else. 

• Stop bemoaning the lousy delay experiences and start DOING the stuff you’ve been saying, “Well, someday, I …” TODAY is “SOMEDAY”! 

Some action is always better than no action.

And, by the way, remember that it’s ALL YOUR CHOICE because all of behavior is a choice.  So choose to march shoulder-to-shoulder with time. 

Make the most of it. 

Make your mark. 

Make a difference.  

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SKIM, MEMORIZE, CHEW,

DIGEST, OR JUST DELETE ~~~ 

Here’s a short list of what I think were some of my best blog blurts for 2008.  If something strikes you and you want the whole story, just go to Archives in far right column and click on the month, scroll (and if the dates not showing, just click on next at bottom of the page)!

Anyway, here’s a compilation of hot headings . . . stuff that makes you think about where you are and where you’re going which, on the cusp of a brand new year, is probably a good thing for all of us.  A few more tomorrow.  But for now: 

1) Think and

2) Laugh and

3) Have a great (and safe!) New Year’s Eve!   halalpiar

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — ’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.”  Mark Twain  5/1/08

“The solution to any group or organization problem lies within the group or organization that has the problem…No one knows you better than you…Knowledge is strength”  5/2/08

“Write a billboard–7 words or less with a beginning, middle and end, and be persuasive–that encapsulates what you want to express before you express it in a letter, business plan, print or broadcast advertisement, sales pitch, speech, short story, editorial, script, sermon, novel, poem, email, chapter…”  5/6/08

“If everyone in your company knew how to deal effectively with customers, you wouldn’t need any customer service reps!”  5/18.08

“A sale is made or broken in the first 10 seconds, and there is no such thing as a second first impression.”  6/1/08

“OPEN MINDS OPEN DOORS!”  6/4/08

“If you think your head is worth $24.95, buy a $24.95 helmet!”  7/8/08

“Life is more like baseball than any other sport!”  7/11/08

“Do you have all your marbles but can’t find the playground?”  8/6/08

“You ARE your attitude!”  8/15/08

“Your every action, your every thought, is your CHOICE!”  8/19/08

“We do best what we most enjoy!”  9/7/08

“Besides that they suck, meetings waste time; hold your next meeting STANDING!” 9/16/08

“Hustle your muscle — SOME action beats no action!”  9/24/08

“People need to be rewarded and motivated at the level of what’s important to them at the time.”  10/5/08

“The sooner you accept the ugly fact that you have to be a salesperson, doctor, the healthier your practice will be!”  10/10/08

“You have a stableful of race horses that act like they came from wagon-train school?”  10/13/08

“I’m tellin’ you, ball, next pitch . . . you gotta be a strike!”  10/20/08

“Just go to the basement and make more money!”  10/24/08

“Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”  Dr. Wayne Dyer 10/29/08

“Take two talkwalks, get a good sleep, and call me in the morning!”  11/8/08

“Where laughter fails to heal, it never fails to ease the pain.”  11/13/08

“Sleeping With The Boss?”  (Family Business Ups & Downs)  11/22/08

“What one thing could you be doing better?”  12/1/08

“I coont efen spel untreeprenewer, an’ now I are one!”  12/6/08

“EVERY purchase decision is emotionally-triggered!”  12/12/08

“Is what you’re doing right this very minute taking you to where you want to go?”  12/27/08 

… and thank you, worldclass #1 novelist Dean Koontz for being such an authentic, inspiring, and upstanding human being! 

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 111 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

STOP business deaths

and staff infections NOW!

     By now, all of us know, or have heard (or we believe instinctively) that the majority of hospital deaths, complications compounded or initiated by staph infections can be traced back to caregiver professionals and support staff not properly and frequently enough washing their hands. 

     Who woulda thunk it?  Such a simple thing.

     Well, not only is it true, but I believe it’s even truer (though never researched) in business.  It’s no secret that the majority of business failures, corrupted products and innefective misguided staffs and services come from poor management. 

     Management (even when it’s more task than people oriented) is all about interfacing, interacting, and encountering.  It’s about keeping a clear and receptive mindset.  Open doors open minds!   

     Now I’m not talking about hot water, soap, scrubbing and towel drying.  I’m talking about:

1. Closing your eyes for just 10 seconds (perhaps 5 if you’re telemarketing, and not at all if you’re driving!) before and after every customer/employee/vendor/investor encounter,
2. Taking a deep breath (to focus and maintain blood pressure) and
3. Mentally (imagining yourself) washing your hands, like a doctor between examinations. 

     For many who try or maintain this practice, it helps to go through a 2-3 second physical action of simply rubbing your hands together.  The action sends a reinforcing mental message to your brain.

     EVERY meeting, conference, phone call, email, letter, overnight delivery, and text message exchange, you are after all being a doctor, aren’t you? 

     You ARE examining, aren’t you? 

     You ARE listening, exploring, considering, assessing, recommending, deciding, weighing, evaluating, checking and re-checking, sizing up, assuring and reassuring, projecting, planning, strategizing, and predicting, aren’t you?

     And what happens to your brain when you’re on the fly and go straight from one encounter to another without –it sometimes seems– even breathing?  Go on, answer this last question.  I’ll wait.  Okay, and how does that stress translate to your body? 

     Headaches, backaches, toothaches, stiff neck, upset stomach, constipation, diarrhea, short temper, edginess, leg cramps, burning eyes, skin rash, urinary infection, or worse — cancer, heart problems?  Bottom line: is it worth it? 

     TRY THE 10-SECOND APPROACH for just one week –the first week of 2009 is a perfect test period.  Try it and see what happens. 

     Here’s what you’ll get:  IF you’re honest with yourself and IF you actually follow the presecription, you will be more tuned in to each person you communicate with; you will be noticeably more productive; you will GUARANTEED feel better – mentally, physically, and emotionally; you will more positively affect others around you. 

     Put reminder notes around you, or a sign over your desk, or stuck to your phone and computer screen.  Ask a co-worker, friend or associate to ask you: “Did you wash your hands?” before and after you turn a doorknob, before and after you lift and replace your phone, start or end your meeting . . . improvise here; just keep making the effort. 

     You will, I promise, astound yourself!     halalpiar

Okay, we’ve got one last Christmas-Business-Politics thing to say, and it’s best summed up by this high level laugh (and maybe cry too!) “C-SPAN Coverage” of Santa in Washington . . . definitely worth the check-it-out!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxBl9BXLom4

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 109 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

Is what you’re doing right this

very minute taking you to

where you want to go?

     You run your own business, or a number of businesses.  You know who you are.  You know you’re an entrepreneur but you don’r readily admit it.  (Why?  Some other time.)  Right now, what matters is that you step back for the couple of minutes it takes to read this, and pat yourself on the back.

     What’s the reward backpat for?  You deserve to appreciate yourself for believing in yourself.  And you should probably get a medal for keeping your ego in check enough to engage the “missing ingredient” help you need from those with the expertise to excel at the tasks you never mastered.

     You haven’t been squirreled away this holiday season assessing your past business moves and decisions and carefully designing your next gameplan strategy for 2009.  I know this because I know if you are truly the stuff entrepreneurs are made of, these are things you do weekly, if not daily or hourly. 

     While others are racking their brains with planning exercises, you are busy testing and trying new ideas and new twists on old ideas.  You do this trial and error thing all year long because there’s just not enough time to take your advisory board on a retreat weekend, or lock up in some hotel room for days on end talking each other’s brains out. 

     That’s time that could be spent doing it, right?   

     In fact, odds are you hate to think about or plan anything farther out than about 60-90 days.  You prefer not thinking past 30!  And you’d rather get in and out of a convenience store with breakfast to eat while you drive than to sit down in a restaurant for more than 15-20 minutes, or at home where you’d have to waste time cleaning up after yourself, except maybe on Saturday or Sunday, when you can move a little slower. 

     Shopping excursions you actually enjoy are probably limited to Staples or Office Max, and to Lowes or Home Depot.  I say all this just to let you know I get it.  I got it.  And, you, as independent a cuss as you may be, are not –surprise– alone.  I’ve been working with entrepreneurial whack-o’s like you most of my life because I love the challenge, high energy, enthusiasm, and turn-on-a-dime response level.

     What’s important to know is that YOU, and others who fit chunks of this profile I’ve outlined, are the catalysts in society that in fact make the world go around. 

     If it was not for you and other dreamer/doers we would surely no longer be a (at least partly) civilized nation on this fragile planet.  There would be no industry or marketplace or culture or technology to speak of.

     Now with all this positive fluff floating around, it’s also important that –to be and/or continue to be successful– you maintain a balance with reality.  This means you need to be forever vigilent about  recognizing one extremely critical entrepreneurial business factor. 

The foundation of your business rests squarely on shifting sands, and the stability of your enterprise is only as strong as your ability to remain flexible enough to shift when the sands shift. 

     Those who entrench themselves thrive only in corporate environments that lack this balance and awareness.  And you can only maintain your own ability to go with the flow by staying focused on which ways the moving targets move. 

     Is what you’re doing right now with your business growth, development, and presentation of itself (how it communicates its messages) keeping a step ahead of the pace within the universe of business you’ve chosen?  Is what you’re doing right this very minute taking you to where you want to go?

     In other words, for example: Are you making the best possible most-in-demand kinds of pizzas with the best possible ingredients for the market you most want to capture and presenting them at the price and service level that will usher in the sales you need to generate the profits you want? 

     REMEMBER:  Shifting sands work just fine when you’ve got a four-wheel drive vehicle, can deflate and inflate your tires according to how packed the surface is, have a couple of pieces of planking with you in case you get stuck, and are constantly monitoring wind, tide and precipitation (where appropriate), temperature and other weather conditions.

     Stay alert.  Don’t get hurt.  Build bridges, but don’t burn them.  Make sure the risks you take are “REASONABLE.”  Always imagine a “worst case scenerio” before you act. 

Remember your energy and the people around you in your life are your most importanat assets. Protect them by keeping on top of your stress, not under it!

halalpiar

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See Nov 29th post (Nov Archives, far right) for New Year’s contest prize and rules – Then GO FOR IT!  Emails to Hal@TheWriterWorks.com with “SOUNDS OF THE SEASON” in the subject line.          # # #

Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 108 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

What one thing

could you be doing better? 

     Before you start accounting for any business downturn you experience by blaming swings in the economy, in the stocks and bonds markets, in real estate, in interest rates, in politics, in government, in international relations, or anything else beyond your immediate control . . . STOP!

     STOP and reassess what IS within your immediate control that you’re not doing as well as you could be doing. 

     The odds are (assuming you’re willing to be honest with yourself) that one thing, if not THE one thing you could be doing better has something to do with communication.  Possible?  Or am I just imagining things?

     If you’re still with me, it seems fair to say that you probably agree that you and your employees could do a better job of communicating.  If that’s the case, then the liklihood is great that you and your employees most need to do a better job of listening.

     When you can become a more active, more effective listener, you set yourself up to be more in control of your business and better equipped to guide it through difficult times.

Take this little test . . . 

If you were the boss, choose one of the four choices offered (only one choice really works!) as to how you would most likely respond to the following situation: 

Disgusted with all the resistence given to suggestions offered, the disgruntled employee storms out of a meeting on how to increase sales, complaining loudly, “What the hell’s the point of coming up with innovative ideas around here anyway?” 

Should your response be A, B, C, or D?

A) “Don’t worry; you’ll come up with another good campaign.”

B) “I understand; I have trouble getting new ideas across myself!”

C) “Sounds like you’re discouraged about trying to change things.”

D) “Can’t you re-think key aspects of the campaign and present it again next week?”

     If you answered A, B, or D, you chose a type of reponse that 99% of managers would have used.  While each shows good intentions (A is reassuring; B is sympathizing; and D is questioning) — they all represent roadblocks to effective communication with the troubled worker. 

     If you chose C, you may have an edge in effectively handling employee complaints.  A, B, and D represent expedient but totally nonproductive responses.  What’s going on?  Most bosses are in too much of a hurry to make the problem go away and aren’t willing to use active listening skills. 

(Test and conclusion from an American Airlines in-flight magazine article by Gage and Beuford)

     Partly because it takes more time, effort and energy to listen carefully and most people find it difficult to believe that it’s worth the effort.  Partly because most people (maybe even more than 99%) have no training in how to be active listeners. 

     When an employee complains, the instinct of almost all managers is to dispense with the problem as soon as possible.  These expedient kinds of responses are natural, but they don’t get to the heart of the issue, and, in fact, often deepen the employee’s feelings of not being understood, appreciated or accepted.

     Experiment:  Take one entire day and try to listen harder.  Make notes to yourself about what you think you really hear.  It certainly can’t hurt; it doesn’t cost a penny; and you might be surprised.    halalpiar 

Tomorrow: Active listening best practices that can impact your bottom line immediately

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See Nov 29th post (below) for New Year’s contest prize and rules – Then GO FOR IT!  Emails to Hal@TheWriterWorks.com with “SOUNDS OF THE SEASON” in the subject line.  # # #

Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 83 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

With all this fowlness in the air

     Okay, so I’m thinking if he looks like a turkey, and moves herkey-jerky like a turkey, and gobbles like a turkey, he’s not a duck! 

     Regrettably, however, because mixed feather-beds can be confusing when it’s time to get some sleep, the talkative new leader of all the other turkeys has managed to exercise his powerful gobbling to attract some duck followers as well. 

     With all this fowlness in the air, it’s surprising to hear the turkey leader hasn’t been able to find adequate appointees to the upper echelon of turkeys . . . strong active turkeys who get the pecking orders straight. 

     No, instead, the new turkey boss has thusfar selected a scrawny gaggle whose get-things-done qualifications flutter aimlessly around their experiences of having already spent themselves trying to appease the whims of their past leaders.

     This collection of left-limping turkeys he plans to surround his nest with, is, I suppose,  better, in a way, certainly, than the unscrupulous and anti-flying creature contingent of past associations, but not much better. 

     The top turkey’s choices are also hardly satisfying, or instilling of confidence to those who feed them.  Though, alas, the turkey chieftain resolutely declares his choices to be “fresh faces.” 

     This means that all the turkeys in the land –and that bunch of misdirected ducks– will accept the appointee collection on (fresh) face value.  [And turkeys, you may want to remember, are not among those creatures God has blessed with great-looking faces!]    

     Perchance the turkey boss has forgotten these worn out fresh faces were spent years ago accomplishing nothing in the footsteps of their then do-nothing turkey leaders?  Who exactly are we talking about here? what past leaders? you may ask. 

     Oh, please, surely you know.  Remember the one who was preoccupied with the varied uses of Cuban cigars that were –like other similar products– tried but never inhaled?  And still he hangs around like arm-candy under his turkey-wife’s wing.

     Or, then there was the homely peanut farmer who turkeys, ducks (even pigeons) wish would just go back to quietly tending (shelling and salting?).  Surely those products of his would be more appeasing to elephants on the cusp of a stampede than his meddling insistence on beating the bushes to stir up the natives. 

     [Maybe none of the other turkeys have told the ex-turkey boss, or the new one, that elephants can’t “reach across the aisle” when the turkeys on the other side are all swinging machetes?]   halalpiar

# # #

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DO I HAVE TO DO

EVERYTHING MYSELF?

     How many times have you made (or heard) this complaint?  One reason new businesses fail is that the entrepreneurial founders feel like they have to do everything themselves, or else . . .

     Or else WHAT? 

     Or else it won’t get done right?  What is “right”?  Who says what is “right” and what is “wrong”?   

     Don’t you really mean to say that “No one else will do this task the way I would do it”?  Well, Sherlock, that’s probably close to 100% true in every instance! 

     It’s not likely ANYone will ever do ANYthing exactly the way you would because no one else could possibly be as motivated as you because it’s not her or his business.  It’s YOUR business. 

     So what’s the next best way to deal with things?  If you’re lucky and have been careful in recruiting and hiring, you should be reasonably able to expect that someone else really should be able to do whatever task that’s asked of him or her, and be able to get it done in a manner that you should be able to live with (assuming that the end result is the same as it would have been had you done things your way). 

     But, you know what?  If you can’t tolerate someone else’s method (assuming the other person’s time and expenses are not totally out of whack), you need to either get on with doing the task yourself and not bitching about it, and realizing you’ve stumbled onto a roadblock to your business’s growth . . . or turn your business over to someone else and go get another life. 

     Delegating is not easy when you’re used to doing everything yourself, but your business can’t grow if you can’t get others to get the job done. 

     Delegation requires encouragement, training and back-up support, and incentives.  Small frequent rewards work wonders.  So does a physical pat on the back for a job well done (regardless of whether it was accomplished in exactly the same way you would have done it or not), a handwritten note, recognition in a news release or on a plaque or certificate, or a special bonus or reward that fits that person’s needs. 

     Only you can decide what motivates best and you can only do that by getting to know what makes each individual tick!  That means you need to get to know those who work for and around you well enough to help them achieve what’s important to them!       halalpiar

 Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 45 days ago (inside a coffin) that previously appeared at the end of each daily post, that now has it’s own home: Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the lead headline link!