Difficult to sell an excuse factory.
Karl Edwards
Author: Karl Edwards
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Listen In -> Paying Attention to Attentiveness #3: Attentive to Problems
Problems crop up when we least expect them. Problems break through where we least expect them. Problems don’t time themselves well, don’t identify themselves forthrightly, and don’t come with solutions printed in the back of the book.
Not only are problems difficult to anticipate, if they are not spotted early on, they can spread like a cancer.
In this week’s show, Claudia and I discuss attentiveness to problems.
Paying attention becomes a crucial skill when it comes to spotting problems early on. Earlier than later. Early, while there is still time to take decisive and corrective action before extensive damage is done.
Listen in.
Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
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Social Nation by Barry Libert
One of the “worlds” that is changing faster than it is staying the same is social media.It can feel daunting trying to catch up with what is happening in social media before it has morphed into something else again.
And how many of the experts on the topic are little more than early and lucky entrants? All their “how-to’s” are no longer applicable because we are no longer early in the process nor is everyone lucky.
Then comes Barry Libert, who in his collaborative work, Social Nation, gives us a great overview of best practices, primary perspectives, and strategic keys.
Seven Principles for Building Your Social Nation
If you are new to social networking, then you will love this book. Libert lays out a wonderful frame of reference for thinking about the skills, processes and purposes of social networking as a component of one’s business strategy.
Those already interacting heavily on the web might find much of the content (more…)
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Quote to Consider: Good Thing We’re Complex
“A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes but to get into accord with them, for they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world.”Sigmund Freud
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Karl Shares Six Words… #9
“What policy?” the accountant stammered nervously.
Karl Edwards
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Listen In -> Paying Attention to Attentiveness #2: Attentive to Changes
Imagine being in the vinyl records business and being caught off-guard by the advent of compact disks. Or being in the compact disk business and being caught off-guard by the mp3 player.If you weren’t paying attention, you’d simply be out of business now. In the first case, literally out of business because the vinyl record business has all but disappeared.
In this week’s show, Claudia and I discuss the crucial importance of paying attention to change.You’ve heard the saying, “Change is the new constant.” When change is always happening, only the alert can adjust in a timely manner.
Keep doing your 5- and 10-year planning, but by all means don’t ignore what going on around you in the mean time! Your may succeed in building a video rental store in every neighborhood right when someone else succeeded in connecting television sets directly to the internet.
Listen in.
Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
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Loving Monday: Attitude Infection
Have you ever come to work to find someone in such a good mood that you can’t help but feel better yourself?Their attitude is infectious. Their mood, their outlook, their demeanor, their disposition, their frame of reference, whatever it is… you find yourself being drawn in and carried along.
It’s fun. It’s refreshing. It’s a breath of fresh air in a stuffy and claustrophobic work world. It’s an unexpected gift.
What if you were that person today?
What if you made a decision—right here, right now—to bring the gift of a fun-loving, hard-working attitude to work today? That you would be extra positive, extra appreciative, extra helpful, extra conscientious… you take it from there with what you might do.
The idea is simply to choose to be the source of the upbeat attitude infection.
Nothing off the charts, simply an extra measure of good attitude. Not every day, just today. Not as some sort of grandiose mission, but more like giving a special, unexpected gift.
Instead of donuts, flowers or coffee, your gift would be your attitude.
Think about it. Think about trying it. Right here, right now.
On your side,
– Karl Edwards
Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.
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Quote to Consider: Success Beyond Reach
“Many people have the ambition to succeed; they may even have a special aptitude for their job. And yet they do not move ahead. Why? Perhaps they think that since they can master the job, there is no need to master themselves.”John Stevenson
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Thought Leaders Unpacked -> Clutch #2: Discipline
“Discipline is almost always a battle against yourself.”If there were one character quality or virtue that I both recognize my own need to develop and feel motivated to develop, it would be discipline.
Paul Sullivan illustrates the power of discipline for withstanding, keeping a level head, and sticking to one’s game plan in the midst of enormous pressure. Having the ability to perform under pressure is, of course, the premise of his book.
His stories are strong and persuasive.
Having conceded that, what I think is called for at this point from us reading is an honest personal assessment about how close (or, more likely, far away) from these examples we are in our own mastery of a character quality such as discipline.
It can be easy (I know it is for me) to want to identify with the “hero” of the story. In principle, I heartily agree with all that was said and done by these masterful practitioners. You’re nodding too, I can tell.
The issue, though, on the path toward mastering discipline is how to learn the skill and developing it to the depth of a reliable character quality.
Here we probe beyond the scope of our text.
What exactly are we trying to develop when we speak of discipline? What is involved in becoming more disciplined?
The results are enormously attractive and the outcomes are hugely impactful.
But we are reading of people who have spent a career, if not a lifetime, building, honing, and refining their capacities to exercise discipline. These are not quick (more…)
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Karl Shares Six Words… #8
Wisdom nudges frantic toward the door.
Karl Edwards