The Value of Lemonade Stands

One of the 24 Values In Action from Positive Psychology research is Persistence (Perseverance and Industriousness)(p.229).  This weekend I stopped to buy a glass of lemonade from two children in my neighborhood.  I had backed out of my garage and did not notice the lemonade stand until I was about turn the corner.  I pulled over – not because I needed lemonade – but because they had taken the time to ask their parents to set the stand up for them.

Lemonade stands are not something parents force a kid to do.  Generally, kids ask for help to put a stand together.  Asking for a lemonade stand does not mean you are necessarily industrious, but it does help you learn in a safe environment what it might take to succeed in life.  I live in a gated community.  I do not live on a heavily trafficked street, yet these two children decided to try, in the 100 degree heat, to sell their tasty libation.  They could have been in the pool, in an air conditioned family room watching television, or on the computer playing games.  Instead, they chose to put themselves ‘out there’ and try their hand at a small business. 

I like that for whatever the reason we live in a country with a ‘lemonade stand’ metaphor.  When some business person wants to prove they were industrious from a young age, they like to talk about the newspaper routes and lemonade stands they started. As they get older and traverse greater challenges in less safe business environments, there are lots of stories of turning ‘lemons into lemonade.’  The metaphor of turning something naturally sour into something sweet and enjoyable is the perfect metaphor for teaching resilience.  Resilience is the attribute that supports persistence, perseverance and industriousness.  We are never too young, or too old, to learn to build such great attributes. 

Happy Monday.  Thank you, Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD

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Two academic resources to check out:  Character Strengths and Virtues by Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman and Resilience by Karen Reivich

 

 

What Do You Value?

Dr. Success challenge: Review your checkbook and your calendar. What does how you spend your money and where you spend your time say about what you value in your life? Is the picture accurate?

I have been working with the following questions this week: What do you value? Where do you put your priorities?

Within the self-help community there is a saying, “If you want to know what a person values, look at their checkbook and their calendar.” I believe I first heard that from Bob Proctor.

When I was first confronted with these questions, I was deep into the study of behavioral traits. I thought I had found my calling -- learning and teaching others about how to master their behavior and then to teach them how to use the information to softly manipulate others. You did not read that wrong, I wish you did. Anyone who studied behavior in the 1960 – 1980s was being taught to first know themselves, then use the knowledge to manipulate those in their sphere of influence to do what they wished – in business that meant your subordinates and competitors and consumers. In your personal life it meant all the people you supposedly loved. The names of the programs did not even try to hide that fact. There was the Silva Method of Mind Control, Neuro-linguistic programming, and EST to highlight a few.

I have experienced all these programs and actually think they can be used as great development tools. Lucky for all of us, it is no longer respected to use information to manipulate others. The conversation in behavior and development has moved from manipulation to cooperation, from accountability (results) to responsibility (how you achieve results).

I have found an easy way to teach this materail and it with the use of the DiSC Behavorial Profile. This Spring marks the 25th year of my using DiSC. I guess you can say I value the information it has to offer. Find out for yourself.

Our New Cathedral

The book Be The Hero by Noah Blumenthal has been a big part of my life the last ten months or so. On January 30, 2010, about 80 lucky people in Las Vegas got to hear Noah present his thinking which is incorporated in the book. As you would expect, we spoke about his presentation and what follows is the blog he posted about that conversation. For those who enjoy his thinking you can follow Noah on his blog.

Our New Cathedral
February 1, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Where do we learn our values? Who teaches us what is important in life?

Some of these lessons come from our parents and our upbringing, but they continue to be shaped throughout our lives.

My friend Andrea Goeglein made an interesting observation. We were talking after a speech I had given to the Stillpoint Center for Spiritual Development in Las Vegas. She said that whereas people used to regularly attend weekly religious services and draw moral guidance from that experience, attendance in such services is dwindling. Instead people are spending more and more time at work, and we as a society are drawing more and more of our values from the company we keep.

This notion will undoubtedly scare some who see corporate America as evil. However, there is good and bad in every system. Some organizations bring out the absolute best values in their employees, their communities, their customers. I’m not talking about the official corporate values on the plaque in the lobby (e.g., teamwork, honesty, integrity). I wrote recently about why those values fail to stick.

I’m talking about the unstated values. What is important to your organization? Materialism? Relationships? Personal fulfillment? Winning at all costs? Shareholders over employees? Customers above all else?

If you don’t pay attention, your organization’s values will become your own without you even noticing. So sit up straight. Listen carefully. Services are in session

With appreciation to Noah for this contribution to a lifetime conversation, Andrea
Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success
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DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com