SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-128-joyful-art-of-business-series-steve-jobs-legacy-lesson-stay-hungry-stay-foolish.html

SHOW NOTES: This episode is part of our JOYFUL ART OF BUSINESS™ series! Our episode topic is, “Steve Jobs: Legacy? Lesson? Stay Hungry/ Stay Foolish?” 

Few business leaders are widely known. Even fewer receive an outpouring of emotion for their work. Fewer still are publicly mourned. Steve Jobs is one of those who left a legacy. What lessons may we learn from his journey through life? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/books/steve-jobs-by-walter-isaacson-review.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 

He said, “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. […] Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. […] Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish” (http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html)

What is your analysis? Let’s share!

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-127-management-magicians-series-how-much-of-a-leader-does-a-manager-need-to-be.html

SHOW NOTES: Our MANAGEMENT MAGICIANS™ series is dedicated to those exceptional few who step forward to serve as the most effective managers possible (they make it look like magic)! In this episode, our topic is, “How much of a ‘Leader” does a ‘Manager’ need to be?”

What’s the answer? 0? 100? Imagine a four year old child as a leader over a 34 year old manager of a household (aka parent). The four year old decides what to eat, when to go to sleep, what to wear, etc.. All the 34 year old manager does is conduct the tasks to carry out what the four year old has decided (drive them to the restaurant, pay for things, etc.). The 34 year old asks the four old to do things (i.e., for permission to leave a restaurant, wear a coat, go to bed, etc.). This is not only an imaginary scenario. It is a reality in many households. Sad.

Definition of Leader-

“b (2) :  a person who has commanding authority or influence”

Leader. (n.d.). Retrieved June 3, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leader

Definition of Manager-

“a :  a person who conducts business or household affairs

b :  a person whose work or profession is management”

Manager. (n.d.). Retrieved June 3, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manager

NOTE:

Leader = What?

Manager = How?

A power vacuum will not persist. Someone else will take leadership authority if the manager does not. 

If you do not want to be a leader, decline and refuse all management positions (in business and in household affairs). If you do want to serve as a manager, you must also take the leadership power position.

What do you want?

SITE: http://www.courtneyanderson.com/swca-episode-126-hr-heroes-hangout-series-whose-side-is-hr-really-on-employer-or-employee.html

SHOW NOTES: Our HR HEROES HANGOUT™ series is dedicated to the unsung heroes that ensure that organizations achieve and sustain maximum human capital competitive advantage! In this episode our topic is, “Whose ‘side’ is HR really on? Employer or Employee?” 

HR is a glamorous and exciting field (it really is) where every single aspect of an organization is addressed. It deals with money (compensation, promotions, benefits, etc.), power (promotions, etc.) and respect (the concept of being valued). Our HR HEROES understand that they are not a peripheral “administrative” entity but are instead the very heart of the organization! 

I have been asked whether our show topic is a “trick question.” It is not!

Tips:

Law = What You Have To Do

Policy and Procedure = What You Have Decided to Do (organization specific)

Ethics = What You Should Do

HR is on the ‘side’ of what is best for the organization itself. 

1) Ask, “What’s the rule? [Law first, policy and procedure next and finally ethics].

2) Ask, “What is going to provide the best outcome for the organization as a whole (especially regarding longevity)?”

Let’s explore whose side HR really is on in an exemplary organization (full of HR HEROES)!

This episode is part of our JOYFUL ART OF BUSINESS™ series wherein we explore how to combine the positive benefits of our professional endeavors (“business”) with the overall positive emotional return on our efforts (“joy”). Our episode topic is, “Separate the probable (what is most likely to happen) from the possible (might be able to happen).”

Definition of Possible:  “able to be done

: able to happen or exist

: able or suited to be or to become something specified

Full Definition of POSSIBLE

1

a :  being within the limits of ability, capacity, or realization

b :  being what may be conceived, be done, or occur according to nature, custom, or manners

2

a :  being something that may or may not occur

b :  being something that may or may not be true or actual

3

:  having an indicated potential ” 

Possible. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/possible

Definition of Probable: “likely to happen or to be true but not certain

Full Definition of PROBABLE

1

:  supported by evidence strong enough to establish presumption but not proof

2

:  establishing a probability

3

:  likely to be or become true or real ” Probable. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/probable 

STOP ruminating about what is possible (because anything is possible). START making decisions based on what is probable.

In the MYTH WARRIORS™ series we are targeting ideas to begin to assess whether they are credible or not (i.e., they are a myth, fallacy or even a lie). The topic for this episode is, “You are not a helpless victim.”

Helpless definition?

“: not protected : not able to defend yourself : unable to do something to make a situation, task, etc., better or easier : not able to be controlled” Helpless. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/helpless

Learned helplessness definition? 

“[L]earned helplessness, in psychology, a mental state in which an organism forced to bear aversive stimuli, or stimuli that are painful or otherwise unpleasant, becomes unable or unwilling to avoid subsequent encounters with those stimuli, even if they are “escapable,” presumably because it has learned that it cannot control the situation. […]Seligman coined the term learned helplessness to describe the expectation that outcomes are uncontrollable. [...P]rior learning can result in a drastic change in behaviour and seeking to explain why individuals may accept and remain passive in negative situations despite their clear ability to change them.” Learned helplessness. (2014). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1380861/learned-helplessness

Potential solution?

"Optimistic people tend to interpret troubles as transient, controllable, and specific to one situation. Pessimistic people, in contrast, believe that their troubles last forever, undermine everything they do and are uncontrollable.” http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-19/features/sns-201302191830--tms--pagliarictnrp-a20130219-20130219_1_negativity-state-lotteries-helplessness

This episode is part of our FINANCIAL FIERCENESS!™ series! This episode is, “Why am I always living paycheck to paycheck even when I get salary increases?”

Budgets?

Be cautious about budgets. People may create “ideal” (or fantasy) budgets. The goal is attaining and sustaining financial independence so you need to increase your income (and income producing assets) and lower your expenses. 

The title of this episode states that there is already more income yet they are still paycheck to paycheck. Thus, we should immediately focus on expenses. Remember, the path to financial dependance (aka “broke”) is to spend more money when you earn more money. Instead, you must simultaneously work to increase income (or revenue) while decreasing expenses. Focusing on decreasing expenses, you must do the opposite of the inclination (i.e., I got a raise so I can get the bigger satellite package, etc.). 

Money Days?

This is my term for when I go through all of my expenses and cut costs (or increase my money that I have possession of). I take all of my required expenses (utilities, etc.) and my desired expenses (cell phone, etc.). I usually take 1-3 of the total list on each Money Day and do the following:

-Call the vendor.

-Have a timid demeanor.

-State, “I am not able to afford this. Will you please help me lower my bill?”

-I tell the customer service agent that I don’t want to cancel my service but I am just unable to afford it. If they do not make any acceptable reductions, I will then go to the cancellation department (usually an agent trained in retention of customers who will be able to offer better savings to me).

-Add up all of the money that I have saved each Money Day!

I have paid myself money that I was giving away and I am now moving closer to attaining and/ or maintaining financial independence!

This episode is part of our JOYFUL ART OF BUSINESS™ series wherein we explore how to combine the positive benefits of our professional endeavors (“business”) with the overall positive emotional return on our efforts (“joy”). Our episode topic is, “Other people's craziness has not managed to make me crazy.” - Lucille Clifton

Here is the full quote in context: ”I do not feel inhibited or bound by what I am. That does not mean that I have never had bad scenes relating to being Black and / or a woman, it means that other people's craziness has not managed to make me crazy." (http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2012/10/poetry_punctuated_with_poise.html)

I referenced a $400 million USD investment fraud in the show and it was about Marc Dreier (http://www.cnbc.com/id/42572204  or    http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2009/11/marc-dreier200911).  

About the author of the quotes: Lucille Clifton was born June 27, 1936 and died on February 13th, 2010. Her first book of poems, Good Times, was rated one of the best books of the year by the New York Times in 1969. Among many prestigious awards, she won the National Book Award, for “Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000”; the 2007 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize; and the Frost Medal, from the Poetry Society of America. (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/02/remembering-lucille-clifton.html) (also, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/arts/17clifton.html?_r=0)

In our HELP! SITUATION SPOTLIGHT™ series, we shine the light on challenges that community members have shared with me. This episode is, “People tell me that I am ‘too intense!’ What should I do?” 

“Full Definition of INTENSE

1

a :  existing in an extreme degree

b :  having or showing a characteristic in extreme degree

2

:  marked by or expressive of great zeal, energy, determination, or concentration

3

a :  exhibiting strong feeling or earnestness of purpose

b :  deeply felt”

Intense. (n.d.). Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intense

Solution Process?

What are the negative outcomes? 

What are the positive outcomes?

Are there more negative or positive outcomes?

If you have more positive outcomes than negative ones, you most likely need to “find your tribe” (change your location to be around people who share your zeal, passion, and intensity). If you have more more negative outcomes than positive ones, you may need to reexamine your behavior to confirm if you are “too intense” or you are instead “too insecure” and are insulting and offending people out of your fears (change your behavior to be healthy and respectful of yourself and others).

Let’s explore this topic!

In the MYTH WARRIORS™ series we are targeting ideas to begin to assess whether they are credible or not (i.e., they are a myth, fallacy or even a lie). The target for this episode is, “We cannot create what we can’t imagine.”

Imagine: “Form a mental image or concept of:”  (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/imagine) Create: “Bring (something) into existence:” (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/create?q=create)

Are we able to bring something into existence that we are unable to form a mental image or concept of? No. 

One of the challenges in my mentoring and coaching practice has been working with clients who put up the wall, “I don’t know how to do that!” Once a client states that they have not done something and do not want to do something it is virtually impossible to move them forward toward meeting and surpassing their purported goal. A client states, “My #1 goal is get a full time job with great benefits.” I am excited for them! Then they state, “I am exhausted with the games and lies in job interviews. It is all a big game and I am sick of of it. I refuse to complete one more job application. I refuse to submit another resume.” Okay.

If a person is not going to form a mental image of themselves as a successful job applicant and they refuse to engage in any action to bring their goal into existence, will it happen? It could. Someone could bring them a “perfect” job! It is possible. It is not probable. The client does not imagine themselves as a “successful” job applicant (only a “failure” who wastes time on interviews, applications, cover letters, etc.). 

This is not a myth. So, you need to start imagining yourself surpassing your goals!

This episode is part of our EDUCATORS’ EDEN™ series wherein we explore the paradise that the most passionate, creative and committed educators create for themselves, their students, peers, administrations and institutions! This specific episode is, “Teaching the Overachiever!”

- Overachievers have their own internal standards and expectations for what is “good enough.” Sharing data with them regarding collective class performance will help assure the overachiever that they are performing “well enough.” They often do not understand how atypical their individual expectations are (relative to the average student performance) and are often worried that everyone else is “doing better” than they are. Any anonymous class data that helps them better understand the real life performance of their peers will be helpful for them.

-They will usually self-identify (detailed questions, requests for clarification, sit at front of classroom, reach out prior to the start of class start with questions and concerns, etc.).

-Educators must calibrate their interaction to ensure that they are “challenged” and are not bored. Supplemental content, are additional interaction are methods to keep them engaged.

-They are fastidious regarding requirements and grading feedback. Educators must provide high quality and quantity feedback. 

-CAUTION: Some overachievers may be unrealistic regarding “perfection” and/ or may be self-critical. They need support and guidance helping them place activities in context (e.g., grades do not define you, have fun, etc.). 

The overachiever may pose novel questions that enrich the educator skill set. Embrace your overachievers! Ensure that you are explicit, transparent, consistent and customized with all of your content, communication and interaction with this set of scholars!