Monthly Archives: August 2014

Are you Byte-Lingual? The power of technology and productivity.

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Learn the language of technology to become more productive (save time) every day; become byte-lingual.

How would you rate your overall “fluency” with your technology and tools? You use your email system and SMART phone every day; what would the impact be if you learned one new productivity feature each week for a year?

Three Ways to Become Byte-Lingual

Seek Micro-Improvements. Saving YouTube learning videos to my computer to watch later, programming special “shortcuts” in to my smart phone and learning the speed keys across my most frequently used applications alone saves at least 15 minutes a day.

Observe others. Years ago, I watched someone download a YouTube video to their computer, edit the parts of the video they wanted to show in a meeting, and then import that video clip in to their PowerPoint presentation. That one hour changed my life; I save about 2 hours each presentation I create (plus, no more headache of having to be “online” during every client presentation).

Watch Online Video Tutorials: Visit video (or product) websites to learn about the product (service, program, etc) you’re interested in. Watch these “bite-sized” videos, and learn more…faster. Also, consider leaving a tip (or a question) in the comment area below!

For more ideas, visit: http://wmck.co/byte-lingual

Using tools, applications and gear more effectively, you could be saving anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes of time…every day. Imagine of your team of 5 people had 120 hours of “extra” time this coming year. What would you be able to get done?

Frances Hesselbein: What 4 American Presidents have said

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Are you an influential leader?

What causes a person to think of herself or himself as a “leader?”

Look out at the community you live and work in and identify those brave enough to stand up and say, “I am a leader.”
This month, Get Momentum members around the world have the opportunity to learn from one of our country’s greatest leaders: Frances Hesselbein.

Now, just because you haven’t heard of her yet doesn’t mean you can skip this email.
I can give you just a few reasons you’d want to sit down with her - “knee to knee” as she says in our video interview available exclusively to Get Momentum members - and partake of the wisdom she so willingly shares.

* She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

* She has received more than 20 Honorary Doctoral Degrees

* She has written 3 books, and edited 27 books in nearly 30 languages

* FOUR American Presidents have recognized her as one of our country’s greatest leaders

The Get Momentum Theme for September:

“You: The Influential Leader”

As your Productivity Coach, I spent more than 6 years getting to know Frances, and just 50 minutes interviewing Frances. I’ve watched that interview three times this month, and I’ll share three things I’m sure of:

- Influence: “Who” we spend time with changes “what” we believe is possible. If you’re going to be a better leader, you have to spend time with the most influential people.

- Community: The groups we lead (family, friends, colleagues, communities) want to follow us…if they trust us.

- Leadership: Today is the most important time in history for us to step up and BE leaders.

And, a BONUS…Ready?

- Productivity: There is a myth that we need to “do” anything more; truth is, “Leadership is a matter of how to BE, not what to do.”

How would YOU like to learn from a mentor, a teacher, a leader and a (newfound) friend who has more than NINE DECADES of experience?

She’s willing and able to share her perspective on how we can be better, and in less than an hour you’ll have the information and inspiration you need to make a difference.

 

*** Members of Get Momentum ***

Sign In at: getmomentum.com and look for the following highlights during this month’s Success Profile video w/ Frances Hesselbein.

18:13 - The “who” we spend time with WILL positively & negatively influence how we are as leaders.

21:31 - How “love” changes everything from a leaders’ perspective.

24:44 - More than ever - in the current political and economic world we live in - THIS is the most important thing to emphasize…

29:11 - How “where we come from” is more important than we may think.

31:49 - How one conversation in a Presbyterian church put Frances in charge of a few girls, and…

… how that ultimately led to her being asked to serve as the CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA (1976-1990).

Saving the Day — and Your Psyche

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You know those days that go “Productively Weird?” A meeting you’ve looked forward to gets cancelled. You feel stressed out and stuck. You don’t have the motivation you know you need. When you’re out of it, do you know how to get back?

How Do You Know If It Matters?

It’s important to stay balanced between overwhelmed and uber-productive; getting things done can’t be the only goal, you’ve got to experience the feeling that momentum provides. You’re engaged, you’re proud of what you’re doing, you’re being the “You” that others can count on.

Even with a plan (or elegantly organized list of to-do items), days can still go weird. There are 5 things you can do to reset your brain to get that next task done. Oh, and these work for any kinds of tasks: The creative ones and the more analytical, left-brained to-dos.

After you read through these ideas, add a 6th way that you reset yourself and ensure setbacks don’t sabotage your day’s productivity level.

Get Ready to Get Things Done #Better Than Ever Before

Any of these 5 approaches can save your psyche for maximum performance at a moment’s notice:

1. Rethink what you DO manage. (Hint: It’s NOT time.) You don’t finish a day and recount what you did minute-by-minute. Instead, you reflect back on accomplishing a project, a presenting information effectively and making a sale, or even hearing back about a budget issue, etc. Managing yourself implies you know what to do next and you’re ready to engage. Mentally, flip-forward to the end of the day and ask yourself: “What are some of the things I’d like to have done?” Big ones, little ones, everything in between … then, see if you can set yourself up so that when things go weird, you focus on taking action.

Continue reading →

Meetings - they could be #Better!

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Recently, I spoke for a group of academic surgeons at MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, Texas. Throughout the workshop, I asked these world-class leaders to think about how they manage their time, organize their priorities and enhance the productivity and workflow of all their colleagues and staff. After that session, I have shared many dozens of emails and a few phone calls with participants.

One woman said that she had implemented several ideas from the course, and even read through several sections of the book, Your Best Just Got Better (download Ch. 1 for free right here; listen to an audio version of the book over here).

Less than a week later, I sat down with one of our Get Momentum premium members in New York City for our monthly leadership-coaching session. I looked at her calendar (she used Microsoft® Outlook®) and realized that just taking 9am-5pm, Monday through Friday in to consideration she had SCHEDULED 32 meetings throughout the week…I knew I had to give her some information to cut that by 10-20%.

The Secret to a Well-Run Meeting

Here is a guide book called Effective Meeting Tips you can use to schedule, prepare for, manage, and follow up with meetings better than ever before. Please let me know how you benefit from these ideas.

Oh, and if you’d like to see  a video with THREE things you can do to be more effective in the next meeting you attend, please view…

 

 

One more thing… Have you scheduled a meeting about YOU lately? Invite 2-3 of your mentors/coaches/teachers to meet you over a breakfast or #CoffeeChat. Then, prepare to present on (and hear their feedback) these three topics:

  • What is one of your specific goals for the next 90 days?
  • What do you feel is in your way of achieving it?
  • What is the specific help you need to achieve that goal?

If you’d like to see what we do at Get Momentum, click here for an entire module JUST on the topic of moving further, faster…

“3 Ways to Improve the Mentoring Process” (at Work and in Life)

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Today’s webinar focused on 3 things you can to to improve the mentoring process. As you think about the next 4 months of your year, consider the conversations you’re planning to have - and the conversations you need to have - and how they will lead you to your next version of yourself.

It’s important to begin by asking yourself: “Why?” That is, why do you want to be better, to engage more, to achieve a next level of success. It’s not just enough to hope that things will work out. Waiting until you can sign up for another training course, or hoping that you meet someone, or trusting that you know enough already…These are all sure-fire ways to have to wait WAY too long to get what you want.

Here is the slide deck from today’s presentation…

 

 

Create a loyal cadre, mentor the up-and-comers

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Good morning from Ojai!

So, today is “Town Hall” day here at Get Momentum HQ. From 9-10:30AM, Jodi and I presented on this month’s theme -

You: The Influential Leader (non-members, click here to find out more)

During that presentation, I shared the getAbstract Website landing page that has a “knowledge pack” of book summaries you can read. Imagine, in less than 30 minutes, you could pull in ideas from 4 different books all about how to improve the way you go about the mentor/mentee relationship process. (Oh, by the way, Get Momentum members receive a 90-day free subscription to getAbstract - that right there is worth $90.00)

Members who’d like to access that Knowledge Pack of books, just click here

(I mentioned today is Town Hall day… There’s ANOTHER webinar scheduled to begin in about an hour, over at www.WillYouMentor.me … you’re invited!)

Mentors: Do you ask these 3 questions?

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Recently I shared a newsletter with the www.WomackCompany.com community, outlining the three most important questions a mentor can ask their mentee, or a mentee can prepare to ask their mentor.

Are you regularly meeting with the mentor?

One of the easiest ways to move from where you are, to where you want to be, is to surround yourself by people who are moving in that direction - someone you can learn from, that is what I call a mentor. Not that they will give you every step to take in a checklist form, but being able to sit down with someone who has forged the path ahead of you will allow you the opportunity to throw questions on the table, and listen to stories and return.

Over the past decade or more, I have been able to align myself with mentors in both my personal and my professional lives. I can say that my business has grown, and my marriage is more successful, because of spending time with people successful in those two areas. For example, before Jody and I got married, and this is going back more than 15 years, we made a commitment to each other that we were going to spend up to seven dinners going out with successful, happily married couples.

In all transparency, finding that many people who were both successful in their professional lives, and happy with their personal lives, proved to be quite a challenge. Now, we did it, and as a result we have information and stories to look back on as we look to our future. Okay enough about personal examples, here are those three questions I wrote about for entrepreneur magazine a while back. I will list the questions here, and you can read the full article by clicking here.

The Three Questions to Ask

1. What is one specific goal for the next 6 months?

2. What exactly do you feel is in your way of achieving it?

3. What is the very specific help you need to achieve that goal?

Step up, create your breaks, and expand the comfort zone

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You could be a little further along than you are right now. Consider the facts - you’ve worked, and you’ve worked and you still aren’t where you want to be.

Yes, of course, a lot of what you have is good. You’ve got a job, friends and family. But, there are some bigger things you’ve been putting off. Right?

You’re not achieving the MOST success that you want to experience.

There are times when you have tried and failed. You KNEW what to do, but things didn’t pan out the way you’d hoped.

So, now is the time to step forward and experience the success you’re looking to achieve. To be better. To achieve more. To earn it.

Look, you don’t need any more frustration. You certainly don’t need to be motivated. You’re already inspired to change things.

What you need is the information AND the action-set to make those changes.

Things like this don’t need to “take more time.” You don’t need to “try harder.”

If you’re done pretending that all you have is all you want, if the idea of “Momentum” interests you, you’re in a great position. I remember long ago when I first learned about the concept of a “comfort zone.” A teacher showed me that once expansion occurs, we hardly ever go back to our original state. And, one way to push on that comfort zone is to challenge what you accept “as-is.”

You and I have both been around the block enough times to know that we will get knocked down. It is in our getting back up that things really make the move forward. Imagine if you had a plan, information and a list of actions you could use to continue to get back up.

If you knew that you could attempt challenging situations AND you’d be able to get back up if there is a setback, what EXACTLY would you take on? I’ve read the book, “Do the Work” by a guy named Steven Pressfield 4 times this year - yes, you read that right - because every time I read it, I get MORE information about how to get back up.

As a result, I’m facing bigger challenges, taking bigger risks, and achieving greater successes in my work AND in my life. So far this year, I can say the following:

  • My business is more sustainable.
  • I’m more in love with my wife than ever.
  • I feel more healthy than I have in years.
  • My friendships are growing, I’m closer than ever to friends around the world.

I hope you’re hearing this as you’re reading it: It’s your time. You have got to surround yourself by/with the information AND the network that will boost your levels of success. You’ve gotten this far by using what you know; if you’re going to go further, you’ll need to know more.

Stop doubting. Stop thinking you’ll have more time later. Stop convincing yourself that things are “just fine.” It’s BECAUSE you’re doing fine that you have to ask yourself how you’re going to do more, do better, and do bigger. No, not for you only; for your family, for your community, for the bigger picture.

It’s time to step up, to create your own breaks, and expand your comfort zone.

We need you….

Who Are You Arguing With?

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After a two-day trip to New York City, I flew back to LAX on the 10am out of JFK. Reflecting back on the programs I facilitated and writing I did, I have a question for you:

Are you arguing with the right people?

Throughout a day, it’s easy to experience conflict - whether that’s with someone else, or with your own overwhelmed mind telling you what you “should” be doing - and wonder, by the END of the day if anything really got done. Look, if you’re going to argue, look on the bright side…and, do it better. When you wake up tomorrow morning, look out the window and see something anew…

As a gift to myself, I planned for 5 “episodes” on the 6-hour flight…

  1. Read three chapters of a book
  2. Watch a movie
  3. Eat lunch
  4. Update my weekly decompress (link here)
  5. Take a nap

The prompt for this post came early in the movie (The Bourne Ultimatum) when Jason is being chased by a Russian police officer, turns the tables on his pursuant who pleads, “Please don’t kill me.”

Jason answers, “My argument is not with you.”

I had to pause the movie, that quote was so powerful in that moment.

Consider the arguments you have, and the people you have them with…It really could provide you with insight (and perhaps motivation) to take action toward making things better - in life and at work.

I’ll share with you the two arguments I recommend you have, and the most important person to argue with. This month at GetMomentum, we are studying the overall topic of Self Leadership; we are focusing on the mentor and sponsor opportunities you can create to Work Smarter, Think Bigger and Achieve More.

1. Argue For Your Routine:
One of the mentor’s roles - you DO have a mentor, right? - is to watch what we do (up close, or from afar) and make sure we recognize what works and how we can do more of it, most effectively.

2. Argue Against Your Routine:
And now, switching to the role of the sponsor - you DO know the difference, don’t you? - is to watch what we do (usually, from afar) to create opportunities for us to step in to that are new.

3. Argue With Yourself:
Your only role, from a perspective of self-leadership and personal influence, is to identify the most current version of the vision of your life. You’re living, right this very moment, the largest effect of the strongest, most-recent vision. So, I wonder about two things:

A) Was the vision a positive one?
B) Is your current experience what you want?

Jason Bourne was beat-up, bloodied and sleep-deprived and he knew very clearly who his argument was NOT with.

I believe in order to do that, he had to have done the pre-meditation necessary to have some kind of a filter. He had a vision of what he wanted true, and took massive action after massive action to make it so.

How about you? Are you ready to argue and create a life of purposeful engagement?

Welcome to GetMomentum.