More importantly, do you know when to not get in there and muck about?

I had an instructor once who spoke about the difference between delegation and abdication. She really helped me understand the difference between rolling up your sleeves only when I needed to and always putting yourself in a place to have to.

Delegation – Assigning duties to someone, providing parameters and having them meet scheduled milestones.

Abdication – Assigning duties to someone, and getting mad when the result doesn’t turn out the way you secretly wish it did.

What’s the key difference? Set expectations.

For instance, when I was in charge of Marketing for my Toastmasters District, I would have to delegate Demonstration Meetings for prospective clubs (groups that wanted to start a new club). I let the lead know how many people and what roles needed to be filled, gave some advice on certain skill sets, and required them to provide me a draft agenda three weeks out and a final agenda two weeks before the event.

If they missed the first milestone, I could roll up my sleeves and help them finish the draft (getting the last few volunteers to sign up). That way we didn’t miss the second deadline, or have a poorly planned event.

Rolling up your sleeves at the right time can help your team be more successful, and setting the right parameters up front can make sure you only have to do it when absolutely necessary.

For me, I just bought and set up a new site that I plan to launch by 1 June. My next “if I had time” task is to create 3 videos, one as a promo for the site, one as the initial lesson for folks that sign up and also the second lesson.

Take that next item on your list and figure out how to chop it down and get it done.

Tonight I’m writing the script for the promo video.

What is your next step? Go!

About 200-300 people filled a local church to here Willie speak on attitude. Specifically, Willie talked about the need to take on an Attitude of Excellence. He said there were 5 simple steps. But before that, we heard 7 principles that I thought were just as important:

1. Don’t panic – remember, this to shall pass
2. Don’t buy into the gloom and doom
3. Don’t let your pride poison your prosperity. He told the story about having an MBA … a Mob and Bucket Attitude – willing to do the hard work to have success…this is not personal and it is not permanent…get over it…if its legal and moral, it’s honorable work
4. Don’t stop thinking about the power and possibilities of tomorrow…keep one eye on the problem and one on your dreams
5. Be proactive…don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it. 
6. Be creative
7. Be prayful — actually number one. He saved it ’til last because he doesn’t want us to just pray and do nothing else.

The 5 simple steps?

1. Wake up and dream
2. Show up … They only lane where there isn’t any traffic is the extra mile. If you do the things others won’t do, you’ll get things that others won’t have. – Les Brown
3. Stand up – become the leader of one. Become a life long learner…read more books. Commit to one per month.
4. Step up – to the plate and swing for the fences. Go all out. The doctors can give you the diagnosis, but God gives you the prognosis.
5. Make up your mind to win.

Change is good when your attitude is great
Your best is yet to come

I looked at the clock at the top of the iPad, and noticed that in the last few minutes, Willie had been speaking for over an hour. Yeah, he was that good.

In his wrap up, he quickly ran through the steps: Wake up, Show up, Stand up, Step up and Make up…your mind to be successful. When you think about it that way, doesn’t it make sense?

Willie was awesome, and worth the side trip on my way to Joplin for the weekend. If you aren’t familiar with him, I’d say take a look at http://www.williejolley.com and see for yourself.

I recently saw this quote, from Sir Richard Branson. The second line is what caught my eye – it’s easy to be cynical…much harder to be successful.

After seeing Rory Vaden speak about success this weekend, this idea made a lot of sense to me. What do you think? Do we take the shortcut of being cynical more often than we should? What opportunities are we passing up when we choose the easy path in the short term?

Why cynicism seems easy:

1. It gives us an out. We can dump the responsibility somewhere else, so the failure isn’t our fault. This also means the success doesn’t get to be ours either. After all, trying is a risk, while blaming a poor economy, not enough time or not having support removes all of the risk.

2. It’s popular. How often do you hear your friends taking the easy path to cynicism rather than doing the work to be successful? “I know people who work out but don’t look any better”, “my boss likes so-and so more, so she I know she won’t give me more responsibility” or “just because you write a book doesn’t mean anybody will buy it!” These are all real concerns, but in the end they are ways to avoid the chance of success for the certainty of the status quo.

3. Pain avoidance. The thought of doing something big and then failing can be scary. We know the pain will be great and we know we’ll hear, “I told you so!” from our friends. Cynical comments like, “I know I’ll never get published” allow us to substitute a small pain now for a potentially bigger one later. Bonus: Our friends will usually support our cynicism better than they will our attempt at success.

Now that you know this, what can you do about it?

- Lead by example. You probably don’t want to replace all of your friends just to avoid cynicism. The good news is that many of your friends will probably be willing to support your attempts at success, if you’re willing to support theirs. If you change the “why bother” to “let’s do it!”, chances are they will follow your lead.

- Make the decision. Of course, you have to decide to make the changes that will lead to success. Rory calls it “Taking the Stairs“. However you want to think of it, you may need to make a conscience decision to make a change (or changes) to see success. Change the question in your mind from “Should I?” to “How can I?”Stop thinking about if or should, and start thinking that you will, and just focus on how.

- Follow through. Once you’ve decided to make the change, you need to keep it up . Don’t burn yourself out with 20 changes by next week. Keep focus on the decision you’ve made and use that momentum to stay on your path to success. If possible, have an accountability buddy who will keep you honest about your progress.

Cynicism may seem easy now, but it always leads to less success in the future. If I had listened to those voices (“who will read it”, “am I good enough”, “who cares”), I would have never created this blog two and a half years ago. I’m not making milions (yet), but I am doing something I enjoy. What about you?

Are you substituting cynicism for a shot at success?

Editors Note: I saw the quote mentioned here: http://jorgensundberg.net/content/top-10-personal-branding-quotes-those-who-made-it.

Rory’s concept of “Taking the Stairs” is all about finding success. Rory likes to say, ” Success means doing things you don’t want to do.” He uses the comparison of taking the stairs vs. the escalator as a metaphor for choosing the more difficult path now to yield the better life in the long term.

This is not about fitness, it’s about success in every aspect of your life. Rory used some great personal examples and stories in his presentation. Many were also in the book, including other interesting and inspirational tales.

He started by discussing how pervasive procrastination can be in our lives (“we live in a ProcrastiNATION”). This probably isn’t news to you. But when he provided some eye-opening, and specific, figures on what the cost can be in the workplace (on Page 11 of the book) that grabbed the audiences attention.

He broke down procrastination into 3 areas, classic, creative avoidance, and priority dilution. These are from the third principle – The Magnification Principle of Focus:

Classic – Consciously delaying what you should be doing (who hasn’t been there?)
Creative Avoidance – Unconsciously filling the day with menial work in order to be busy being busy – also called distraction
Priority Dilution – (un)consciously delaying by allowing your attention to shift to less important tasks – also called interruption

He told us that “Attention Span isn’t as important as Intention Span.” Sometimes we have to remember that, as his mother told him, “enjoying it is not a requirement of doing it.”

He went on to talk about 3 of the other 6 principles in the book:

1. The Paradox Principle – Rory discussed how taking the easy route in the short term (i.e. the escalator) led to long term difficulty. More importantly, he provided examples of how short term difficulty (i.e. the stairs) can lead to long-term ease.

2. The Buy-In Principle of Commitment – the most important aspect was how we need to shift our attitude from asking, “Should I?” to “How will I?”

6. The Perspective Principle of Faith – Rory gave a powerful story of how one seemingly negative event in history actually led to him being where he is today, which I won’t ruin for you since it is also in the book.

His other points: Integrity, Schedule and Action have similarly well-written stories. If you’re a fan of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, you’ll find many of the principles to be similar.

What I like about Rory’s take is that it isn’t quite so business-centric as Covey, and as a speaker I can identify with his stories and experiences. He puts his points into words many people can identify with. ”Success is never owned; it is rented – and the rent is due every day.”

I also liked his definition of intellectual dishonesty (page 115) – Allowing someone to believe something you know to be not true. I’ve heard it referred to as “a lie of omission”, but I think “intellectual dishonesty” crystalizes the concept better.

Even if you aren’t ready to change your whole life and blow by the escalators, you can use just one or two principles here and see results. He’s still touring, so if you can see him in person, that would be ideal. If not,  pick this book up on-line or at the store and read it today.

Rob’s Rating system (bolded, the rating is)
Buy now at full price (although it’s already discounted on-line)
Buy if you get a discount
Wait for the paperback
Wait for someone else to be done with the paperback
If you’ve read my review, you got the gist of it

Editors note: I first met Rory in 2009, and consider him to be a friend. That being said, I recommend the book not for that reason, but because it was worth recommending.

Also: Here is my 2009 review of his first book, No Laughs to Know Laughs.

Last week I had the opportunity to hear author Paul White, coauthor of the book The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace with Gary Chapman. His presentation was titled, The True Value of Diamonds.

He started by discussing the value of diamonds. Looking beyond the shiny and pretty, you’ll find Diamonds are used extensively in industrial settings because of their strength and intrinsic value. He drew a tangible comparison between the value of a diamond as a hard-worker, and the differences between a shiny employee and one with intrinsic value to the organization.

Paul used references from his best-selling book, and really struck a chord when he discussed the differences between recognition and appreciation.

You probably agree with 69% of those in corporate settings that don’t feel that their recognition programs make them feel appreciated. Paul gave us the key reasons why this is true:

Focus: Recognition is focused on Employee Behavior. Appreciation is focused on Employee Behavior, Character and Intrinsic Value

Objective: Recognition is designed to Improve Performance. Appreciation will not only Improve Performance, but also Support and Encourage the person.

He also spoke about the Relational Direction (Top Down vs. Any), Goal (Good of the Company vs. Good of the Company and the Person), and Relationship (Organization to Employee vs. Person to Person).

Why don’t those organizational programs work?
- Generic actions
- Group based
- Infrequent
- Organizational (not personal)
- Not perceived as genuine

How do you do it better? He gave us an overview of the 5 Languages of Appreciation:

Words of Affection – verbal communication that is positive and timely
Quality Time – focused attention – could be lunch, social, or just 15 minutes in your office to vent
Acts of Service – get their computer to work right, help with clean up – note: Ask first!
Tangible Gifts – not bonuses or compensation, this could be a card, movie tickets – #1 choice is food
Physical Touch – spontaneous celebration – high five, fist bump, even an actual pat on the back

Each is detailed well in the book (affiliate link). He also discussed what we should do to use the correct language in the right situations.

1. Know your default language – that is, which one works best for you.
2. Observe
3. Get an assessment – there is a tool in the book, and some free resources here.

Simply put, I was bummed when his hour was up. He was entertaining and made very interesting and relevant points about recognition. If you’re in a position to recognize others (work, school, non-profit, etc.) his concepts will be an eye-opener for you and your organization.

I haven’t finished the book yet, but after hearing him speak and what I’ve read so far I easily recommend the book. Take a look yourself.

More than once I had to put the book down to make some notes or go and do something as the author suggested. There is a consistent thread about your Conditions of Satisfaction. This drives much of the discussion in the book, and is an insightful way to think about whether or not you’re getting what you want out of ________ (a project, job, life, etc.)

What’s great about this book:
It’s well organized. The information is provided in short chapters. This worked well for me since I tend to think about what I read. When I’m presented with information I can use, I stop and make a note, send an e-mail or take some other action. Short chapters make it easy to take a quick break and pick up where you left off.
The real-world stories and examples from others made the advice feel real and helped drive the author’s points home.
The 118 concept is a great take-away  - Grab their attention in the first 8 seconds, then sell them in then next 110 seconds. There’s a specific formula for putting this together that you can use right away.
If you haven’t read much on change, this makes a great first book. Lots of topical coverage and interesting examples.

Limiting Factors:
If you weren’t sure before reading this, you’ll learn multiple times (I stopped counting) that the author also wrote a book called The Mirror Test.
The sports analogies seem a bit off. In one case, an american football analogy morphs into the business lesson, and is concluded with the need to “swing and swing hard, not bunt safely.”
If you’ve read multiple books on change, this one may not feel like a revelation to you. But you’ll still get a fresh perspective on change.

Great Quotes:
“Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good”
“You can’t be cool and look like Elmer Fudd”
“What’s your 118?”
“A brand is nothing more than a promise delivered”

Recommendations:
This book is an excellent eye-opener, and if you find yourself struggling with nay-sayers and other obstacles to change, then this book is a must read. Of course, unless your the one human out there who doesn’t need to change to stay competitive.

Rob’s Rating system (bolded, the rating is)
Buy now at full price
Buy if you get a discount (of course, it’s already discounted on-line)
Wait for the paperback
Wait for someone else to be done with the paperback
If you’ve read my review, you got the gist of it

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/mcgrawhillprofessional?sk=app_129982580378550

Note: This was a different experience, because the publisher (McGraw Hill) contacted me, said they had read other book reviews I’ve done and asked if I would read this book and post a review on Amazon. I’m telling you up this so there’s no misrepresentation. I’d post this review whether or not I recommended the book.

Recently, I ran a brainstorming session (Facilitating Discussion manual, project #2) at my Toastmasters club. The problem we were discussing was “Toastmasters Training”, and I was looking for input on what they, our club members, were most interested to learn. Toastmasters has a plethora of prepared topics we can use, ranging from 10 minutes sessions to four hour seminars. Plus, we have some experienced members capable of creating some awesome sessions on their own.

As luck would have it, one of those members had just presented a Leadership Excellence Series module on Resolving Conflict, so I had a great example to point to right off the bat.

Did they ask for Team Building, From Speaker to Trainer, or Organizing your Speech? Nope. Nearly every idea in the brainstorming session centered on one theme: helping new members understand (and benefit from) Toastmasters. The topics?

1. Orienting new members to the club
2. How to run special events (contests, open houses and our annual Christmas Party)
3. How to use the club, district and TI websites
4. Toastmasters organizational structure (Area, Division, etc.)
5. How to be a Mentor (for new members)
6. Goal setting for members

Also, they mentioned a need for a more robust welcome packet and some type of display of our member’s progress (see an example here)

Next step: I need to turn this into usable information for my club. That is, how do we meet this need? Goal Setting, Mentoring, and Orienting New Members each have modules that can be downloaded (free). In fact, there’s even supporting articles for some topics, such as mentoring.

Here’s the initial plan I will submit:

1. Split Orienting New Members into multiple sessions
   1. The Toastmasters Education Program (successful club series)
   2. Meeting Roles and Responsibilities (successful club series)
2. Split How to run special events into two sessions
   1. 12-15 minute session on Club Contests – related article here
   2. We  will need to develop a 12-15 minute session on special events (open houses and parties) – there’s a related TI manual called, Put on a Good Show.
3. Split the How to use the club, district and TI websites into three sessions
   1. Using TI’s website to manage your profile, order items and find information
   2. Using the Club website
   3. Using the District website (calendar and resourses)
4. Discuss the Organization structure, including the service chart and WHQ Org Chart. Could be a 5-7 minute speech, including projects 7 or 8 from the CC manual.
5. Deliver the Mentoring module (successful club series)
6. Deliver the Goal Setting and Planning module (leadership excellence series)

We will need to get a volunteer for each session, and work with the VP Education to schedule these periodically, like one per month. I think this is very doable.

Running a brainstorming session with your club can be an eye-opening experience. In a short 21 minute session, I compiled enough information from my club to make the plan above.

Do this at your club, and you can find out what your members have wanted and it may allow you to better support them in their goals.

You may not find the same request in your club. But if you go in with an open mind, you’ll find what your club needs and you can make a plan to support your members. Give it a try! Leave a comment with the results.

Editors note: This has been reprined from the District 22 Blog

Now’s the time of year when we look at where we are, where we’d like to be, and why did my mother do this to me???

Ok…Freudian issues aside, how can we look forward to a positive 2012?

Start with a look at yourself. Look at these categories and ask yourself, “Where am I?”

1. Education - do you have the degree you want, the skills you need or the abilities that will get you ahead? How can you bridge the gap in 2012?
- Take a class. No you don’t always need a degree to make a difference. Pursuing a degree puts you ahead of your peers, plus as you finish each class, you know new stuff. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.
- Read. Find your pace and bump it up a notch. Read a book once a year? Now read one every three months. If it’s already once every three months, up it to every other month. When you can, go with one a month. Look at “My Favorite Books” on the right side of this page for some ideas, or just browse your local library and/or Barnes & Noble (where I am right now).
- Join Toastmasters. Yeah, you saw it coming. No better way to improve your speaking, leadership and networking skills.

2. Job - I lovw the quote that 20 years of experience is usually just one year repeated 20 times. If you find that you fit into a similar category, what are you going to do about it?
- Take some additional training at work. Online or in person, most companies offer classes that can improve your skills. Take advantage of them.
- Look at the education options above. They apply at work in many ways.

3. Family - If you could make one change that would make your family life better, what would it be?
- Be specific! Don’t say “spend more time with the kids.” Try, “dedicate one hour on Mon/Wed/Fri to teaching my daughter to speak French.” or “Take my family out to a movie at least twice a month.” You get the idea?

2012 doesn’t have to win any awards for “best stresser” if you take a reasonable approach to setting that next resolution. You don’t have to bridge that gap from where you are to where you want to be in just one year. Take a look at wh

What’s the difference? I think that it is a decision that the club makes. Either A, you choose to treat 20 as a finish line (i.e. “we just need to get to 20 in June to make distinguished”), or B, you treat 20 as a minimum for having a successful club all of the time.

What are the pros and cons? Well, in option A you trade doing less work marketing for doing more work running club meetings and other functions. You may have an easier time getting speaking slots, but fewer folks are getting experience and the pool of great evaluators is small. If a few people miss a meeting, your speaking to a small audience and probably doing double (or triple) duty.

In option B, you do more work publicizing and marketing the club, and also a little more work scheduling. More members means more speakers, more evaluators, and more people having fun. It’s surprising how contagious that can be.

So how do you get from A –> B? There’s a simple (but not easy) process:

1. Decide to do it – it seems to take about four dedicated members to get the group on board.
2. Make a plan – how will you market your club? Website, Company paper, Library bulletin board, etc.)
3. Set the example – give manual speeches and invite guests
4. Hold your members accountable – don’t be harsh, but ask how they are approaching others, and how they are doing on their goals
5. Have fun!

Getting to 20 isn’t the finish line. Treat it like your minimum and you’ll see just how successful and FUN your club can really be!