Long time no write

Have you ever noticed that sometimes life requires you to stop doing things that you actually enjoy in order to do something you do not enjoy nearly as much?  Well, that is what has happened to me.  I actually enjoy writing a blog each week, sharing the blog posts of some noted and content-rich contributors, and just plain staying connected in a virtual way. 

However...you notice I did not say "here is my excuse"...sometimes life requires you to forfeit in the short term to achieve a potentially greater long term goal.  Choices, choices, choices!  Just like my cats:  Where you put your attention is where you get your results.

Here was my choice:  Continue to write my weekly blog or lay the groundwork for my newest venture The Crooked Road of Success inspirational media company.  The new venture won out.  My first book in the Don't Die series is out, many events are on the calendar -- well booked but not yet up on my public event calendar -- and trademarks and copyrights are filed. 

I've missed you even if you have not missed me.  Forty-six days into 2011 and a book is out, a TV segment has been filmed, a website built, the first Amazon sales completed and one fundraiser and four events booked.  Tired, yes.  Happy, yes.  Want to make me happier?  Buy the book!  Thank you.

Redefining Business Success

One of the many reasons I re-post Seth Godin’s blogs is because I align with the way the man thinks. I have reposted his entire blog on the subject of Rights and Responsibilities, yet his closing line once again hits square on all corners of the ever evolving definition of business success:

“If your success depends on sickening the poorest and least educated portion of your customer base (and the ones that buy the most from you), it's time to redefine success.”

I know this piece struck me because I continue to observe the negative effects of poor business practices within a business community I once owned a hotel in. You can get the feel of what is going on there by reading my post Be Careful What You Wish For.
What I enjoy about Seth’s post is that it focuses on a simple challenge I was taught not so many years ago. The challenge was: Speak in a way that I never use shame, blame or rationalization to explain anything. Now read Seth's blog:

Rights and responsibilities

Robert Bookman from the restaurant industry was quoted as saying that it would violate the free speech rights of restaurant owners if they had to post a health department grade of their cleanliness in the window.
More and more, businesses and businesspeople talk about their rights.

It seems, though, that organizations and individuals that focus more on their responsibilities and less on their rights tend to outperform.

You're responsible to your community, to your customers, to your employees and to your art. Serve them and the rights thing tends to take care of itself.

Another thought: If I worked at Pepsi, I'd be actively lobbying for the obesity sweet soda tax (a penny an ounce) being proposed in New York. Instead, in a no-surprise knee jerk reaction, almost everyone in the industry is lobbying like crazy to stop it. This is dumb marketing.

The benefit of a tax is that it affects you and your competitors at the same time, so you all benefit from doing the right thing, as opposed to having to compete against someone who doesn't care as much as you do.

Once people realize that excessive use of your product makes them sick and then die a long and painful death, it's probably time to stop lobbying and time to start doing something about it. This industry should stop thinking it is in the corn syrup delivery business (which brings nasty side effects along with it) and start focusing on delivering joy in a bottle. Lots of interesting ways to do that without giving up profits.

If your success depends on sickening the poorest and least educated portion of your customer base (and the ones that buy the most from you), it's time to redefine success.

Thank you,

Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success™
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com
http://www.YouTube.com/user/ServingSuccess
www.facebook.com/DrSuccessPhD

Natural Behaviors Part 2 of 3

This post continues a theme started by reading Seth Godin’s blog about jerks and doormats. Being considered a “jerk” may be the opportunity we all share regardless of our natural behavioral style. Yet feeling like a doormat or being referred to as a “doormat”, I will argue, is something only some behaviors experience.

Commercial: The easiest way for you to follow this conversation is to invest 10 minutes and $46.50 and take the Everything DiSC® Behavioral Profile. If you do not agree with the results, and you talk to me personally about your total disagreement, I will most likely refund your money. That is as close to a 100% refund I will give. If you play with me, you need to take some responsibility or you are just playing in the wrong game of life success.

Cliff Notes on DiSC: The Everything DiSC® behavioral profile is based on a theory that there are four main categories of behavior that people will exhibit. Those categories are: Dominance, Influencing, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. Most people are a blend of both the categories of behavior and the intensity. Most people exhibit one or two of the styles over the others. All people could choose to adapt to a behavioral style they don’t naturally exhibit, yet that choice should be made knowing that higher degrees of stress maybe experienced. It is harder to be a way that is not natural to you.

So why do I purport that only some behaviors would report feeling or being referred to as a doormat? Think of someone who you have observed as hard-driving, results oriented, direct, and firm and always in control. Think Donald Trump. Eva Peron. Leona Hemsley. Under what circumstances could you imagine The Donald being referred to as a doormat? Each of these individuals exhibits D, or a dominant competitive behavior. If you try to wipe your feet on them, I suspect they will (or would have during their lifetimes) found a way to crush you.

Then there are individuals who are the “rock of Gibraltar” types. These are the people you can depend on to be the go-to person to get things done and not rock the boat while they do it. General Colin Powell may have exhibited this behavior during his involvement in the George W. Bush administration. I cannot say it is his natural style, but his willingness to adapt when involved with others is an example of S or steadiness, patient, adaptive behavior. In my observation, this example is also an example how that behavioral style could become a doormat.

I personally adore Colin Powell and always wanted him to run for president, yet during his tenure as Secretary of State, I learned about how outstanding qualities can be taken to an extreme and become counterproductive. That is what is known in behavioral studies as “an overextension” of a quality. It is something every behavioral style and every character value can become subject to. That is why knowing how you behave naturally and what you value is such an important aspect of your personal development.  Reading and using the information in Seth's newest book, Switch, may also be useful. 

Thank you,
Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success™
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com
http://www.YouTube.com/user/ServingSuccess
www.facebook.com/DrSuccessPhD

Natural Behavior Part 1 of 3

I always pay attention to what I am asked to explain, or topics that keep reoccurring in client and friend conversations, or behaviors or thoughts that pop up in me that cause me to pause and take notice. Today I read a line from Seth Godin’s about jerks and doormats at work and I knew it was time to start writing about natural behaviors and why they are so natural.

Commercial: The easiest way for you to follow this conversation is to invest 10 minutes and $46.50 and take the Everything DiSC Behavioral Profile. If you do not agree with the results, and you talk to me personally about your total disagreement, I will most likely refund your money. That is as close to a 100% refund I will give. If you play with me, you need to take some responsibility or you are just playing in the wrong game of life success.

Good news about jerks: There is no behavioral style that is not a candidate for title of “jerk”. All behavioral styles: Those who tend to be driven by the need to control a situation, or those who are driven to use influence to get others to cooperate, or those who appear to be willing to adapt and go along to get along, or even those who appear to detach and set really clear boundaries, have the ability to be a jerk. However, how “jerky” someone may appear may say more about what got offended in my behavioral style than how much of “jerk” a person is really being.

Example: Two people with a lot of Conscientiousness (or High C) are working on a project. Both understand the others need to set clear boundaries for tasks and responsibilities and prefer to work alone on those tasks. Both understand the others need to be 100% accurate before moving ahead. Both understand the others need to have adequate time to process the project data and report when they feel completely comfortable. All of this is a complete exaggeration because rarely is someone a “pure” C. But play along with me. To each other, there is nothing “jerky” about wanting and operating in this manner.

Now imagine someone with a lot of Influencing (of High I) was working with that group. The first thing you might notice is that the two High C team members are thinking “jerk, jerk, jerk” and the High I member is starting every conversation with every friend and co-worker they have with the statement: “what jerks I am being asked to work with. They don’t want to get together for lunch and talk about the project, they have all this information but they don’t want to share it with management until they are 100% sure, and they don’t understand that to be successful you have to fire a lot of blanks until you hit a target.”

Now I have used a business example, yet every bit of this translates to your personal life situation. You can see it in your family members, your community involvements and at your kid’s school.

That is why behavior and knowing your behavior is so important. Seth closed his blog by stating, “Linchpins [the name of Seth’s great book and his reference to people who create and nurture networks] might be afraid, but they know precisely what they're afraid of. And then they do something constructive about it.”

Thank you,
Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success™
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com
http://www.YouTube.com/user/ServingSuccess
www.facebook.com/DrSuccessPhD

Seth Godin and Lemonade

There are a few blogs which I regularly follow. At the top of that list is marketing mastermind, Seth Godin.

Recently he posted a link to a film that explores in a very creative way the emotions of those fired or laid off and how they recreate themselves. The title is Lemonade – and it caught my eye since I was in the mist of developing a presentation with Branden Collingsworth. I featured Branden several times in 2009 since his story and how it acts it out is an example of not only how you make lemonade from life lemons – but how you create whole new drinks.
Here is the link Seth recommended. I recommend viewing it and following Seth’s blog.

Free inspiration and insight

The Lemonade movie is so professional, engaging and inspiring that you've probably already seen it. If not, here it is.

With appreciation, Andrea

http://www.servingsuccess.com/

Seth Godin's Blog

This information is too important not to take a quick break from my morning prayer and quite time to spread the word. Seth Godin is a master in his field -- marketing with integrity with a focus on new technologies. His blog, however, has so much good information, I recommend everyone sign up for it. Although he makes daily entries which I am not a fan of, his are short, to the point, and generally actionable.

Take today's entry as an example. You can change the words a little and the situation, yet this advise would apply to any part of your life and any relationship.

The relentless search for "tell me what to do"
If you've ever hired or managed or taught, you know the feeling.

People are just begging to be told what to do. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I think the biggest one is: "If you tell me what to do, the responsibility for the outcome is yours, not mine. I'm safe."

When asked, resist.

Dr. Success Challenge: Don't resist signing up for Seth's blog. www.sethgodin.com will get you there.