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Archive for the ‘Personal Performance’ Category

Fall of the Berlin Wall Statue

While President Ronald Reagan famously called for the end of the Cold War with his now famous line, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”, during a recent visit to the campus of Texas A&M University, I found an amazing artwork giving credit to President George H.W. Bush (“41″) for his pivotal role in the actual tearing down of the Berlin Wall.  The Berlin Wall, as you may recall, was perhaps the world’s most tangible representation of the separation of East and West during a very tense time in global politics.

While President Bush did not attend Texas A&M University, it is home to the Bush Presidential Library and has become his adopted collegiate home.  It is a place full of reminders of the way America was, in the proud years following WWII. Texas A&M was founded as a land grant school.  Many of the traditions of the school are rooted not only in it’s “A”gricultural moniker, but also the “M”, which stands for “Military”.      A great number of the military traditions started so many years ago on campus remain very much alive today.

If you have ever visited College Station, undoubtedly, you have encountered some very friendly folks. Proud of their school and its traditions, students, alumni & faculty alike smile at strangers visiting this piece of true Americana.

Growing up, I found something comforting about President Bush.  Perhaps it was that on some level, he reminded me of my maternal grandfather.  They both served in World War II. They both had an easy, yet commanding demeanor.  There was a kind of quiet confidence and strength about them.  Traits that many people would be well served to learn from today.

So often, while speaking to conference attendees or facilitating training sessions designed around team building, customer service, and project management, I am floored with how people seem to have forgotten how to simply relate to one another.

This week, pay special attention to how YOU communicate to relate to those around you.  Are you guilty of barking orders, or do you build up your co-workers, customers and vendors.  For your organization to thrive, you need all three.  If you don’t like what you notice….try something new.  You’ll see the results on the bottom line.

Consistently, when people ask me “how can I get people to see me as a leader?”, I ask them a simple question. “Why should they?”  If the answer suggests it has something to do with their own benefit, suggest they consider their teammates’ points of view.

If you are like most leaders, undoubtedly you are in a continuous mode of learning.  And, if you are on the path to achieving the success you deserve, I certainly hope you are also unafraid of failure.  Yes, that’s what I said: UNAFRAID OF FAILURE!

In pursuit of his efforts to convert electricity into light, Thomas Edison has been quoted as saying “I never failed. I only found 10,000 ways that didn’t work.” Dare I suggest it was attitude, not necessarily know-how that created the lightbulb.

Take a look at how you are approaching growth of your own business, climbing the ladder of success, or giving to people around you.  If it’s all for your own benefit (e.g. a sale, self-promotion, doing it “your way”, or the like), you are most likely walking past a dollar to pick up a dime.

This week’s challenge is to think about how you can help eliminate “pain” or take away other people’s problems with solutions you are able to provide.  When you stop selling a product, you begin providing solutions.  People PAY for solutions because they are too lazy or lack the expertise to solve the issue themselves.

Repeat after me, “The solutions I can provide my clients/customers are more valuable than the products I sell.”

Share how you are beginning to see things differently below.

Last week, I left you with a challenge. Did you accept it?  Why or why not?

A few years ago, I accepted a challenging assignment as an investment representative inside a community bank…only I didn’t realize how difficult a task it was going to be when I showed up for work that first day.

I was the fifth representative in as many years to occupy that desk.  Ironically, management saw the office as a “five year old business” when it fact, it was only a collection of pieces of “five, one-year businesses”.  Collectively, there was $2.9 million in assets and from looking at the client files, it was impossible to tell which accounts were still open, which were long ago closed, or how any decisions had been made for each client.  My charge was to turn it around.

My first day was just before Independence Day 2001.  The financial markets were still uncertain following the investment bubble which had popped only 15 months earlier, clients were skittish, and to make it worse, the world as we knew it (financial or otherwise) completely introduced a “new normal” that fateful day in September—only 90 days into my new assignment.

It would have been easy to throw my hands in the air, declaring the task impossible, and not many people would have blamed me.  Not having many other options of where I might take my talents (financial firms were in “protection mode”), I decided to dig in and make it work.

Three years later, almost to the day, the book of business I’d inherited was now $12.5 million in asssets and produced a more predictable and stable annual revenue than ever before.  The markets had been against me.  For 18 months, my co-workers didn’t believe I’d actually stay (no other representative ever had). Management refused to offer more support or strategic direction than to tell me simply to “just keep doing what you’re doing and don’t worry about the rest of the department”.   The success (and the rocky road I traveled to find it) can almost completely be attributed to my own deliberate focus on relationships with clients and co-workers.

In the midst of significant roadblocks, true leaders will emerge and success will shine, if they continue to focus on the relationships with everyone around them.

Until the next blog posting, I challenge you this week to complete this phrase OUT LOUD at least once per day:

“Today, I will focus on customer / client/ co-worker relationships by __________________________”.

Be deliberate.  Be honest.  Let others hear about what you notice in the comments below.

In just the past twelve months, I have enjoyed the opportunity to facilitate conversations with leaders all across North America and the Caribbean.  These people represented publicly traded & privately held companies; for profit & not-for-profit ventures; volunteer & paid roles; governments & government agencies; some with many years of experience & others who were green in their positions.

No matter how one might describe their positions and organizations there are, in my observation, two areas that all leaders seem to struggle with at one time or another.  I kept hearing stories, reasons, justifications and just plain ‘ol excuses from “leaders” as to why they just couldn’t connect with their “subjects”….and that’s when it hit me.  The problem, about 89.9% of the time, is rooted firmly in issues of communication and business relationships.

Over the coming weeks, I’m going to shed some light on how you can avoid the pitfalls holding back so many other people, so you can enjoy the success you have earned and should be sharing with those around you.

I challenge you to copy down the following idea and review it each day for a week.

“Leadership is not a title, it’s a show of respect which occurs only when people choose to follow .”

After a bit of a hiatus, I traveled this week to Dumas High School in Dumas, TX to deliver a couple of presentations to the Junior and Senior classes.  I’ve been a presenter for Monster.com’s Making It Count Programs for about three years, a relationship I’ve had much fun with!  We had a great time, and the students there were fantastic!  ( CLICK HERE to link to the video montage of the presentation created by the folks at the local online paper, High Plains Observer-Dumas.)

Watching the video, I found myself smiling, laughing, and re-enjoying the time I spent there…at work!

Sure, when I headed to the airport the day before, it was just like one of those days when you aren’t looking forward to the commute.  Once in the air, though, I opened up the blank, leather-bound journal my wife gave me not two weeks ago on our wedding day.  With the gift, she’d included a note of instruction that I was to use that journal to capture the plans and dreams in my head, and begin putting them into action. So I started writing…

As the sun set over the horizon (it’s a beautiful sight to watch through the window of a plane at 31,000 ft), I was settled in with my iPod, pen in hand, and before I knew it, I’d written about 6 pages of ideas which have become the early draft of my business plan for the coming year.

The next time find yourself dreading your commute, turn up an old album you haven’t heard in a while, settle in for the ride, and open up your mind to ask, “How can I make today count?”.

Last week, I had the distinct honor of presenting to a community bank in Oklahoma for their officers and personal bankers.  A bank with over 108 years of history had invited me in to deliver a motivational speech about change- a topic they have placed an emphasis on for the past several months.  Over the past few months, multiple trainers and consultants have delivered their material to many of the same people.  This time, however, something was different.  There was a CONNECTION.

By being introduced as a nationally known consultant with a 14+ year career in banking and financial services, my audience decided before I had spoken a word that I was “one of them”.

Throughout the presentation, I was able to share real stories of overcoming tradition, change, and unexpected challenges to find success.  I connected with some of the very pain their organization is experiencing today, and left with them some very specific NEXT STEPS they could put into action by the end of that day to set them on a course to success!

Think back to a time when you were in an audience and felt as though YOU truly connected with a presenter. Or, more powerfully, think of a time when you presented to an audience/your team/organization with which you sensed a noticeable, positive, connected energy.  What was it that made it so magical?

When I teach on leadership, I often say the two most important ingredients for achieving success are DESIRE and KNOW-HOW.  Following the feedback of last week’s presentation, however, I believe there is one more: INSPIRATION.

EXERCISE: This week, write down the names of three people who inspire you.  Next, write down as many descriptive terms about those people, being specific to focus on their observable actions and behaviors you admire most. Finally, consider how you can begin to make changes to your own actions and behaviors others see when they observe you.

By taking on the above challenge, the leader within you will begin to emerge in an entirely new way.

Cooksey’s Challenge:  Reach out to the people you listed in the exercise above and share with them what you admire most.

As 2009 rolls to an end, I have to say I’m pretty impressed. Looking ahead to 2010, I’m even MORE optimistic than I imagined just a few short months ago. It is times like these that opportunities are seized by the astute, leaders rise from the ranks of “the people”, and those who are on the verge of greatness are lining up their next remarkable move.

Early in my professional career, a supervisor once described me as “always seeming to be getting ready to get ready”. Every time since when I have felt like my career was stalling, I hear her voice echoing those painfully honest words in my head and it fires me up to take action.

During the 4th quarter of this year, I’ve been working on a project for one of my largest clients delivering job search skills to out of work people of a very large county in Southern California where the unemployment rate is nearly 15%! From PhD’s to a few folks re-entering the workforce after incarceration and every kind of person in between, I have met some amazing people. No matter their background, nationality, education level, or tax bracket, this project has reminded me of some fundamentals of success that will always exist:

1. Attitude determines opportunity.
2. Opportunity is all around us each day.
3. Each day brings another day for us to adjust our actions (and attitude).

Please don’t think I mean to suggest change is easy…it isn’t. However, in each of the boot camps I have heard stories of attendees who took specific action as result of the conversations we had in class. Something convinced them to change their behaviors and perspective on how to find a job. In at least two cases, those who took immediate action by implementing some new techniques secured a firm job opportunity BEFORE THE END OF THE FOUR DAY BOOT CAMP!

When you know deep down it is time to try something new and break away from old habits that aren’t bringing the success you desire, don’t wait until you are “100% ready” to take action. A good friend once told me, “When you are 80% ready, try something new. You can’t make necessary adjustments or try a second time until you have done it once, first!”

During this holiday season, take some time to enjoy what you enjoy in your life today, and I challenge you to consider making some bold moves in the year to come and unlock the remarkable success you really deserve! You won’t regret it.

Want to be held accountable? Post 1-3 goals you WILL ACHIEVE in 2010 as a comment to this post. We’ll follow up with ya!

This past week, I continued to CONNECT with people, leading classes of a Job Skills Boot Camp in Riverside, CA.  We covered stress management tips, resume tricks, and interviewing techniques for interviewees to help them stand out in this employers market.







How ready are YOU for unexpected change in your own career?  Will you land on your feet?  Stay connected by signing up on our website!  (It’s that fancy box on the left….and, it’s FREE!)

You’ve heard me say time and again how much “success” is such a subjective term. Perception is a powerful aspect of how we as people and professionals (as if those are two different things) are viewed, it is amazing to me how many of us still miss the point from time to time.

Just this week, I was invited to visit a networking event with one of my clients, whom I have networked with for years. My travel schedule makes it tough for me to be a regular member of a group that meets weekly, but I figured it could be a fun way to meet some new people. When it came time for my 60-second commercial (as a guest I was granted 120-seconds), I glanced down at a few notes I’d scribbled on an index card and just started talking. They laughed. They smiled. We connected. Isn’t that the goal? At the end of the meeting, several people in the group requested the opportunity to meet one-on-one over coffee to learn more, and one fellow even handed me a referral AT THE MEETING!

Here are a few tips to get the most out of any networking opportunity. Try these the next time you walk into a room full of strangers. You never know where your next opportunity or client will come from:

1. BE CONFIDENT – You are who you say you are, if your actions are confident. You are a subject matter expert for what you do…ACT LIKE ONE! [Need help in this department? Visit a local Toastmasters club!]
2. TELL A QUICK STORY – Which do you think is more memorable: a) “Hello, my name is ______ and I work for _________.” or b) “**insert a quick 30-45 second story about how you solved someone else’s problem**:..
3. LET THEM KNOW HOW TO GET MORE INFO ABOUT YOU – Two great ways to do this are: a) direct them to YOUR website (ask them to connect with you on a professional, social networking site like “LinkedIn” or if your organization has a “Fan Page” on Facebook, direct them there or b) Tell the audience to ask the person who invited you to the meeting to tell them how you successfully worked with them! What’s better than a live, word-of-mouth success story from a CLIENT!?

Above all…If you don’t have any business cards (hey, sometimes we forget them or run out)…make sure to get one from everyone in the room and make it a point to follow up with each one directly! Anyone remember the hand-written note? It works! Now…get out there a find some business!

I had a chance to see the “Get Motivated” tour in Tulsa, last year, at the BOk Center. I’ve seen a lot of tweets today from you about the “GM” stop in Oklahoma City.

Please leave your thoughts and comments below. I’m planning to follow up, myself, but want to hear your comments first!