
by Anne Alexander
Let’s say you’re the CFO of a real estate development company in Houston.
Let’s say you and your team has been working their tails off for many months.
Let’s say it’s an absolutely gorgeous spring day, in the low 70’s, no humidity.
Well, if you’re like this client of mine (who gave me permission to share this story), you’ll get a “wild hair†and close up shop for the afternoon and take everyone to the zoo!
My client, let’s call her “Jane,†and 14 of her staff went on a spur of the moment “field trip†to the zoo. They had an absolute ball! After all, it’s not every work day you get to pet four inch cockroaches and ride a carousel with your colleagues.
Jane also gave some funds to a few of her staffers to buy animal toy gifts from the gift shop. The next day everyone got one of these as a memento for their desk to help them remember the fun they had.
This little outing gave her staff a huge morale boost. They had a great time and got to connect with each other on a personal level. Jane used to do more of this when her staff was smaller, but like many of us, over the years, some of those good habits had slipped.
The next morning, her staff came to her office and gave her flowers and a thank you card. One of them commented that “you throw the best staff meetings!â€
If you have a staff, when was the last time you celebrated with them, maybe even for “no good reason� If you work solo, you still need to get out and have some fun, refresh yourself with something out of the ordinary.
In The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner, one of the best selling leadership books of all time (and my leadership bible), one of the five leadership practices is called “encourage the heart†and one of the two corollary commitments of that practice is to “celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.â€
This is exactly what Jane was doing last week when she took her team to the zoo.
“Community may not be the stuff of ordinary organizations, but it is the stuff of great ones, ones with strong cultures,†said Kouzes and Posner.
What can you do this week to celebrate your company culture and your team?
See you at the zoo!
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Anne Alexander, president of Authentic Alternatives, Inc., based in Fort Collins, CO, works with business owners and managers all over the U.S. to develop strategies and systems that dramatically increase their bottom line profits. Visit the Good Business Blog to read more articles from Anne and other Good Business Experts!
As you can tell by now, I love the mixture between sports and business. For in many ways, they both require very similar characteristics and disicipline to be the best! So, here’s a clip of Philadelphia 76ers Owner Pat Croce. There are 3 or 4 clips here, but I particularly want you to pay close attention to the first one.
How many times a day do you use the word should? Every time you use that word and not do it, is a time when another hungry, passionate and driven competitor is note saying - they’re doing! How committed are you toward being the best? Everyday that goes by where your committment level is less than 100% is a day wasted. You “should” commit 100% today and every day or save everyone a whole lot of grief and do something you will commit yourself to, because you believe in yourself enough to do it.
There you have it - right between the eyeballs! Take action today and knock the should out of your vocabulary forever.
Jeff Levin
Napoleon Hill continues to be one of the most influential people of all time. His book, Think and Grow Rich, written in the early 1900’s focuses on the essentials to being successful. There are “subliminal” messages throughout the book and if you are where you need to be in life to get it, you will notice these signals & learn what the true meaning of “Rich” is.
I found this clip to be a piece you can spend 5 minutes and reflect about your true intent, refocus & then, of course, push forward toward your dreams! Enjoy!
Be Awesome!
Jeff Levin
Online Entrepreneur
Founder of GrowthPOD.com
The I Promote You. You Promote Me! Network
If this clip doesn’t light a fire in you, then I highly recommend you reconsider your decision to be in leadership - as a business owner.
This video is a clip from the movie “Any Given Sunday” where Al Pacino gives a speech to his beaten down, broken team to either come together and fight or die!
Are you willing to fight for the life of your business? Are you willing to die for your team?
Well, many in small business don’t feel like they have a team because most don’t have paid employees. However, their team are people even more near and dear to them. They are their wives, their husbands, their children, their brothers and sisters who all contribute in one way, shape or form, because they believe in you!
Do you believe in yourself enough to lay your life on the line for your business? If so, then this piece will resonate well with you. If not, I challenge your motives for being in business! Because if you aren’t willing to die for your cause, then why would anyone else want to take a chance on you? If you are not giving it your all and selling the others around you that they are in fact on the right path, on the right team, how do you expect them to give their life and devotion to YOUR cause!
As you’ll learn from the clip, you can turn your fate around by focusing on the “inches". Your fate good or bad, is 6 inches in front of you. That’s the difference between life or death! Take one wrong step and your life could end. Take one right step and your life will begin!
What are your 6 inches to success? We would love to be your support for helping you achieve your goals! After all, your life depends on it!
Good Luck!
Jeff Levin
Online Entrepreneur
Founder of GrowthPOD.com
The I Promote You. You Promote Me! Network
I recently watched this inspirational message from Michael Jordan that really sums up what it takes to be the BEST at what you do. I am a firm believer that you are either training to reach the top or you’re training to fail. Everything in between is an excuse for why you aren’t the BEST.
Every minute that goes by making excuses, is a minute where your competitors that LIVE to be the BEST are putting the finishing touches on their next marketing campaign at midnight or waking up in the wee morning hours to build knowledge and prepare for an awesome day of growth.
As a business leader you were born to change the world. It is your responsibility to give it your all to make a difference. Do you think Michael Jordan did it for the money? Or did he want to let the world know all about Michael Jordan and put his stamp on society as the BEST ever?
It’s amazing how when you focus your drive on bigger intentions, people want to be associated with you, they want their picture taken with you, they want to pay lots of money to come and see you, they want to be there just in case you do something legendary!
Are you driven to be legendary or are you like the majority of business leaders chasing money?
Make it your choice to draw the line in the sand and leave the excuses behind. Be the Best … Stop Making Excuses.
Jeff Levin
Founder, GrowthPOD.com
The I Promote You. You Promote Me! Network
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