Four Lessons of Self-Knowledge for Leaders

Reblogged from 10,000 Startup Hours – David Cummings:

One of the approaches I like about Warren Bennis and his theories in the book On Becoming a Leader is that he puts the impetus on the leader to go out and better himself. There’s nothing handed to you — whether it’s proactively finding a mentor, reading books, or learning from peers, the onus is on you. In the book the author offers up four lessons of self-knowledge for leaders (pg 52): One: You are your own best teacher. Two: Accept responsibility. Blame no one. Three: You can learn anything you want …

Simple and to the point!

Top 5 Ways to Get Over Writer’s Block

Reblogged from Life and Laughter:

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I spend a LOT of time writing. Whether it’s my Life and Laughter column, an article for a magazine or newspaper, a press release or this witty blog, I’m ALWAYS trying to come up with interesting topics, fun words, brilliant sentences, blah, blah, blah. But there are SOME days (I call them “weekdays”) when my brain doesn’t engage and I stare stupidly at my computer screen, watching that irritating cursor blink in my general direction. Mocking me. Writer’s Block.  For some reason, the voices in my head …

Very helpful adive to writers but can be adapted to many other jobs too!

10 Ideas for a Different Kind Of Date

Reblogged from LifeBytes…Real Stories:

Dinner. Check. Movies. Check. Hike. Check. Wine Bar. Check. Movie. Check again! Planning a date is hard. It takes work, time, interest, creativity and some logistical capability. It is always good to step outside the box of boring and embark on a date that is different and fun and memorable. I don’t want to hear any excuses. Yes, you can do it. Just try. Relax. Take a deep breath and let your mind wander. It will stumble on some bad ideas, but am sure a few good thoughts will lead to some praise worthy …

What’s The Rush?

I often find myself watching the progress of a program on my computer and lately I have been asking myself ‘why are you watching this when you can do other things while it finishes?’

Another example is at traffic lights (robots in South Africa) – you see people edging forward when it’s red. In cities with public transport – people cannot stand still when the transport is expected.

What are we waiting for? What is the rush? The computer will finish what it is doing for you in its own time – not yours? We all know that the Microsoft minute is not actually a minute and can range from seconds to multiple minutes. The transport will arrive soon enough. If it does not – it is not your fault and it is out of your control. No one can hold you accountable for those situations.

Next time you find yourself in the situation as above, try and relax. If you can do something else while waiting – do it! Take that long needed toilet break, make that cup of coffee or just sit back and take a breath and chill out for that time. If you are waiting for transport, look around you.

While you are waiting for something or even someone try the following:

1. Try and notice things around you. Even in an underground train station, there are things to watch and notice.

2. If you are fortunate enough to have music, have a good song going. Dance if you want.

3. People watch. There are 7 billion people in the world so this is always an option.

4. Are you waiting in an office? Take 10 seconds to memorize the space around you. Close your eyes and paint the picture of the space around you.

 

Before you know it, it will be time to go.

Just Hold On!

You have got to hold on. Hold on to whatever or whoever you have. Over the last year or so, I have been through a very rough time.

Go back to the rough times in your life and

I can guarantee that there was / is a constant something or someone. It may seem strange and you can disagree and argue all you want. When you analyse it enough there is a constant. Find it.

Find it and hold on. Find it and all you have to do is very simple. You have got to just hold on it.

In my rough time, it has been my family and few close friends. Some of them are close but some of them are a long way away. Distance does not matter here. Sometimes it was only a phone call or a Skype call. Whatever it was that told me that my family were there for me (us) in support, I will hold onto that.

Finding out what you have to hold onto also creates an opportunity to be supportive to others during rough times. Again, it may be small but, to them, it may mean the world.

Holding on to simple things is sometimes the only thing you have but it will make a huge difference in the way you handle a rough patch in life.

Weight For It

The first edition for the New Year in any running or cycling magazine always has a buyer’s guide of all the latest models and latest developments in the sport. (I am sure other sporting magazines have the same – I can only say for sure about these two). Due to the society we live in, we all want the latest and greatest design and technology.

In cycling, everything is about weight. The lighter the bike, the less weight the rider has to drag up and down the hills. It makes perfect sense – if nothing else changes – instead of a bike weighing 8 kg, a bike weighing 7.5kg would go faster.

I do a little bit of cycling relative to some cyclist but I ride enough races to see one thing. There are cyclists who ride a bike worth R40 000 (roughly in Dollars: 4000 and Pounds: 3500 ). Jealous – hell yes.

The question I ask is this: why did they buy the bike when they are 10 – 35 kg over weight? The weight difference and the aerodynamic technology are certainly wasted by the excessive weight riding the machine. I do agree that the likes of Contador, Cavendish and Wiggins and Co and even some club cyclists anywhere will benefit from the bike. I am not questioning their motives but the motives of the people that need to lose the excess weight before spending excess cash to save 200 grams of weight.

I do agree that there is a great feeling riding a bike with the latest technology because they offer a great riding experience. However, there is a point where the cost outweighs the benefits derived from the bike. It is far easier to find fault in your bicycle (or whatever equipment) than to honestly look at yourself and agree that you could do with same weight loss before your bike does!

No one likes to do it but more cyclists should.

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Tips on Saving Energy

Cutting back unnecessary energy use is an easy way to keep your hard earned money in your pocket. Here are some suggestions you can do at home, at absolutely no cost to you.

1. Let the sunshine in.

Open drapes and let the sun heat your home for free (get them closed again at sundown so they help insulate). Especially useful in South Africa!

2. Rearrange your rooms.

Move your furniture around so you are sitting near interior walls – exterior walls and older windows are likely to be drafty. Don’t sit in the draft.

3. Keep it shut.

Traditional fireplaces are an energy loser – it’s best not to use them because they pull heated air out of the house and up the chimney. When not in use, make absolutely sure the damper is closed. Before closing the damper, make sure that you don’t have any smoldering embers. If you decide not to use a fireplace, then block off the chimney with a piece of rigid insulation from the hardware store that fits snugly into the space (dampers don’t shut fully without some leaking).

4. Eliminate wasted energy.

Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms. Unplug that spare refrigerator in the garage if you don’t truly need it – this seemingly convenient way to keep extra drinks cold adds 10-25 percent to your electric bill. Turn off kitchen and bath-ventilating fans after they’ve done their job – these fans can blow out a house-full of heated air if inadvertently left on. Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning to prevent up to 8 percent of your furnace-heated air from going up the chimney.

5. Shorten showers.

Simply reducing that lingering time by a few minutes can save hundreds of gallons of hot water per month for a family of four. Showers account for 2/3 of your water heating costs. Cutting your showers in half will reduce your water heating costs by 33 percent.

6. Use appliances efficiently.

Do only full loads when using your dishwasher and clothes washer. Use the cold water setting on your clothes washer when you can. Using cold water reduces your washer’s energy use by 75 percent. Be sure to clean your clothes dryer’s lint trap after each use. Use the moisture-sensing automatic drying setting on your dryer if you have one.

Try it – you have everything to gain and nothing to lose!

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Everything

Everything you have done, everything you have experienced has brought you to the point where you are right now. It is a pretty simple statement but it needs to be looked at. Everything you have done and experienced has prepared you for what you are about to do.

Let’s look at few examples: a professional golfer stands on the first tee in a tournament. Before this moment, he has hit 10 000′s of practice shots and done exercises to prepare him to be able become better. Practiced for hours on end without anybody watching to prepare for this moment.

A singer stands up front of an audience to give a performance that will make her career and set her up with contracts for a long time. Before this moment, she has sung countless bars of music in countless places. Practiced for hours on end without anybody watching to prepare for this moment.

The examples are every one’s life. Yours and mine. They do not only have to apply to a Hollywood style come back or meteoric rise to fame and fortune. The difference is how we use ‘everything’. We can use it in 2 ways:

1. We can focus on the negative aspects or ‘bad things’ OR

2. Use the whole experience to focus on the positive aspect in order to become ‘better people’

I will use my year of 2011 and show how to apply the above points.

I held 3 jobs that did not work out,

I only cycled about 1 800 km the whole year – pretty dismal distance from a ‘cyclist’,

I failed more subjects than I passed in terms of studying

And I weighed more at the end of the year than the beginning.

Pretty bad points that I could easily focus on. Easy to point fun at IF you do not have the facts behind these facts and the positive aspects to my year.

The facts behind my year:

The first job was a contract position that was not renewed, the second I left in search of better opportunities and the better opportunity retrenched me.

I only cycled that distance for a few reasons. I had hand surgery that kept me out for 2 months at least.

The Positives:

I am now a father to a perfect baby girl.

I am married to an amazing wife, AND

We have an amazing support structure of friends and family.

The positive experience account for the cycling studying not going to well.

So how am I going to use the year that was 2011? By following the second point above in the following way:

1. Analysis what happened during 2011. Most things were pretty much cause and effect for me so this is pretty simple.

2. Plan the year ahead carefully. Take all events into consideration (obviously as much as is available)

3. Use the support structure I / we have to maintain an even keel throughout the year.

4. Be flexible. Things happen and cause things to change so being able to chop and change (only when necessary) is a very good tool to have.

5. Enjoy life. It takes work but it’s worth it! I love my wife and little girl and intend on enjoying them all the time I have them around.

It is never too late to use your ‘everything’! How are you going to use your ‘everything’?

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Every Colour is the Same

I am South African and have lived in Durban, South Africa all my life. I love this country. Whatever you have read about South African history is probably not great and inspiring and I wholly agree. I am fortunate enough to be of an age that did not really feel the full force of the apartheid era and the massive wrong events that occurred.

Having said that, one very important life lesson that living in this country during the post apartheid era, is the fact that every colour of skin is exactly the same. I have grown up in a church that was multi-cultural from before I was born. The upbringing I was taught at church was re-inforced when South Africa started changing in 1992 and officially in 1994. I was able to look at all colours as people and not as a ‘white’ or ‘black’ or ‘indian’ person. This has been instrumental in my life. It is now a way of life to speak to all people everywhere I go and work regardless of pay grade or colour.

This thinking had to be taught to me but is natural in children in this country now. this is an amazing lesson that every person on this planet can learn from. just under 2 year ago, my in-laws maid had a baby girl and a couple days later their first grand child (my niece) arrived. The maid brought the girl to work for the first little bit and they got to know each other a bit. 2 years later, the maid brought her little girl to play and they played for a full day, without question of colour or background or anything. they created havoc and chaos and loved it!

This was also highlighted in an earlier guest post on this blog “A Smile is the same in every language” 

When does colour start to matter to them? Why should it ever matter?

Personally, I think it should never matter. I think you should be valued on who you are as a person and not the colour of your skin or social standing. I am against the promotion of ‘people of colour’ just as much as I am against ‘white’ people being promoted because of their skin. IT IS WRONG! If the person has the credentials then they should get the job.
All people have bigger problems to worry about than the colour of each others skin.

How Are You?

Good morning, how are you?

I am good, how are you?

That’s good. I am good thanks.

 

How many times a day is that said across the globe? Millions, possibly billions, I would suspect. Yet, how many times is this actually said?

Good morning, how are you?

I am sick as a dog. How are you?

That’s good. I am good thank you.

 

Very few people actually start their conversations this way with an intention of listening to the answer. It is used more as a conversation starter and seldom anything more.

We are in fact ALL GUILTY of this at one stage or another. Some people are more guilty, if there is such a thing.

There are times when we intentionally do listen to the answer, of course. Examples are; when you talk to or visit an old friend or meet people face to face.

This behaviour can make or break a relationship. I get really upset if someone does not listen to me. If this were to happen during an important business call or meeting – it may well break the deal or be the difference between yes or no. On the other side of the coin, if people do listen to me, I am immediately warmed to them and it builds a stronger bond without them really trying!

Think about it for you personally – you want to be heard and for people to listen to you, right? Do you listen to others? Really? Try listening to others more carefully next time.

Do unto others as you would have them do to you!