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Motivational Thought
"Some people like to be miserable.
Don't take it away from them."
-- Wolf J. Rinke
Action Step
Most of us have a very difficult time changing ourselves,
let alone others. So focus all of your energy where you can make a difference
and endeavor to become the best you can be. And spend the absolutely
minimum amount of time with negative people.
Source: Wolf J. Rinke, Make it a Winning Life Perpetual
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What follows are articles from
my "CRY WOLF" column. Enjoy!
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Chase Your Passion, Not Your
Pay
How to Keep Good
Employees
How to Develop and Maintain
a Positive Attitude
Top 10 Stupidest Mistakes
Managers Make and How to Avoid Them
Dear Wolf,
I've been in sales for the past 12 years and getting
a bit worn out. What should I do to succeed faster?
Signed,
Worn-out
Glad to hear from you, Worn-out. Research tells us that only 19% of
the US population loves what they do. Twenty five percent hate it! And
the rest, could take it or leave it! Unfortunately the people who either
hate or are neutral about their jobs will find it difficult to succeed,
regardless how hard they try or how long they work at it! How about
you? Are you passionate about what you do?
Here is how to find out. When your opportunity clock rings in the
morning, are you anxious to get up and go to work? Are you excited to
be in sales? Do you love what you do? (Note I said love not like —
there is a big difference!) Do you feel privileged to be able to do
what you do? Does work seem like play to you? Are you wondering why
you are being paid so well? Do you actually look forward to work, at
least four out of five days each week? Why not a 100% of the time? Because
there is no perfect job; every job has some aspects that you will not
care for.
For example, I am a professional speaker, and love what I do. At times
I have so much fun at it that I wonder why I am being paid so well for
it. It almost seems that I should be paying the audience. But there
is a down side to public speaking. It is traveling, especially airline
travel, (I call it cattle herding), and being away from my wife, my
two wonderful daughters, and Wolfsburg. So, for me, traveling is the
other 20 percent. That 20 percent is the price I happily pay to do the
things I really love to do. (That's why my Superwoman, that's my wife
of 30 years, tells others that I speak for free, but you have to pay
him to travel.)
Here is another way that you can find out if you are passionate about
what you do. Assume that you have just won the big one in the Lottery.
Six million dollars. What the heck. We're dreaming here, so lets make
it 10 million! Assume that you've gotten everything you have always
wanted to do out of your system. You've bought that dream house, purchased
the Rolls Royce, gone on that once in a life vacation, set aside enough
money for the rest of your life and everyone of your loved ones. Having
put that behind you, ask yourself: What will I do now with the rest
of my life? And what ever pops in your head, that's what you should
start pursuing right NOW!
Don't have the skills nor the education? Not to worry! First of all
be sure to keep your current job. (Unless of course money is no object
for you. In that case quit your current job right now). Make time to
get the skills and the education. Watch less TV, go to fewer ball games
so you can go to school in the evening and study on weekends. Do what
ever it takes to prepare yourself for your dream job. After you have
prepared yourself, work part time in your dream job. Can't get paid
for it? Volunteer. Do what ever it takes, pay any price, make any sacrifice,
just do it. Once you are certain that you have found your passion, give
up your day time job. Not getting paid as much as in your former job?
Not to worry. Just stay with your dream job. I've finally learned after
38 years that overnight success takes a long time. But I've also learned
that once you chase your passion, not your pay, you will make more money,
much more money than you have ever thought possible. Want proof? Look
around you at the people who have made it to the top in their chosen
profession. I bet you that virtually all of them, love what they do.
And by the way it does not matter what profession they are in, because
there is no such as thing as a "glamour" profession. A friend of ours
lives in a $1.5 million mansion and has more money then he'll ever be
able to use in his life-time. His profession? He is a plumber! Yes,
he does own a plumbing contracting company, but most importantly he
is passionate about what he does. On the other hand I can introduce
you to many a lawyer or physician, who do not care for what they do,
and who have trouble paying the mortgage.
In short, finding something that you are passionate about, something
that will seem like play to you will "turn you on," and will enable
you to function at full throttle. As a result you will succeed faster,
and live a happier, healthier, and more prosperous life!
© 1999 Wolf J. Rinke
Source: Wolf J. Rinke, PhD, CSP is a management consultant, professional
speaker, and author of 12 books including The 6 Success Strategies
for Winning at Life, Love & Business, Deerfield Beach, FL: Health
Communications, Inc., 1996, $12.95). Available in bookstores, from Amazon.com
or by calling (800) 828-9653. Dr. Rinke can be reached at 410-531-9280,
e-mail wolfrinke@aol.com or on the internet at www.wolfrinke.com.
For lots of powerful tools that will enable you to live a happier,
healthier, and wealthier life click on the "Make
It a Winning Life Products" page.
Dear Wolf,
How can we keep good help?
Signed,
Lupe Villarreal
That's a million dollar question, Lupe! A global answer to your question
is: build a positive organizational climate just like I have explained
in detail in my new book: Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies
for Building High-Performance Organizations. But let me give you
something more specific to get you started. Probably the single biggest
thing that you can do to make sure that you keep your good team members
is to take a look at how well you have tied rewards to performance.
In other words, are you making "carrots" work for you instead of against
you?
How to make carrots work against you
In spite of the powerful outcomes associated with effective reward
systems, the stark reality is that most reward systems are simply screwed
up in most organizations. And according to an Academy of Management
Executive update, things have improved very little over the past twenty
years. The reason, according Steven Kerr, is that we reward A while
hoping for B. Here are several examples for you to evaluate to make
sure that you are not perpetuating these common mistakes in your organization.
We want . . . But reward
— teamwork — individual performance
— collaboration — competition
— productivity — "showing up"
— risk taking — not making waves
— trust — people "telling" on each other
— candor — "yes" men and women
— innovative thinking — conformance
— total quality — getting orders out on time at any cost
— to exceed customer expectations — adhering to policies
and procedures
— "rightsized" organizational structures — adding staff
— employee involvement — speed
— empowerment — tight control
— learning organizations — lean training budgets
How to make carrots work for you
Now that you know what not to do, here are the five steps to
make sure your reward system produces the tangible results you and your
organization want:
Step 1: Establish Reasonable and Fair Objectives
Make sure that they are easy to understand, measurable, and tied to
specific goals you and your organization want to accomplish. Have people
compete against themselves or against standards. Avoid having people
compete against each other within the same organization. The reason:
if there is a winner, there will be a loser. And losing demoralizes
people, and demoralized people are more likely to quit. Also make sure
that the goals and objectives are perceived as attainable by the majority
of your team members. If they don't think they can achieve them, they
won't even try. An obvious, but often overlooked strategy to accomplish
this is to involve people in the goal setting process for your organization.
Step 2: Measure the Right Objectives
Make sure you are measuring what you want to accomplish and what team
members can have an impact on. Typically managers measure global indicators,
such as sticking to the budget, over which many team members have little
control. Your team members have no reason to stretch if they can't influence
the outcome. It's better to measure such things as customer satisfaction,
because everyone has a customer, and everyone can have an impact on
customer satisfaction measurements.
Step 3: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Let your team members know how they are doing more often than you
think is necessary. Distribute status reports using a variety of media.
Make liberal use of charts and graphs. Remember, a picture is worth
a thousand words. And if they don't understand it, no, they are not
dumb, you have not explained it very well. And be sure to make performance
information public. Yes, both the good and the bad. Just exercise double
caution to make sure that your information is accurate, especially any
negative information. When the enthusiasm wanes, it's time for more
communication. In other words, tell people more, and more often than
they want to know.
Step 4: Offer the Right Stuff
Make sure that awards and incentives are important to your team members.
For example don't be like one of my clients in Chicago. They offered
a free parking space to the employee of the month. Unfortunately it
did not mean much to most employees. Why? Because most used public transportation.
How can you figure out what people really want? Are you ready for a
"startling revelation?: You ask them! Or better yet, involve them by
inviting employees to become members of an awards team. Give the awards
team a budget and watch them create magic!
Step 5: Celebrate More, and More Often Than You Think Is Wise
All human beings move themselves in the direction of pleasure, and
move away from pain. So if you have trouble keeping your great team
members, ask yourself and them how much fun they are having at work.
Whenever you have a chance, celebrate achievements and performance.
Having fun is what this is all about. So do it up right and do it as
often as possible! Do it in front of team members, and be sure that
the rewards are proportionate to the achievements. If the energy wanes,
it's time for more celebration and pep rallies. Remember: "If it's fun,
it gets done."
Follow this five-step model and more of your great team members will
stick with you for a longer period of time!
© 1999 Wolf J. Rinke
Wolf J. Rinke, PhD, CSP is a management consultant, professional speaker,
and author of the new book Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies
for Building High-Performance Organizations (Achievement Publishers,
Clarksville, MD, USA 1997, $24.95). Available in bookstores, Amazon.com
or by calling (800) 828-9653. Dr. Rinke can be reached at 410-531-9280,
e-mail wolfrinke@aol.com, or on the Web at www.wolfrinke.com
For lots of powerful tools that will enable you to achieve
dramatic improvements in performance, productivity, and profitability
visit our Winning Management Products page.
How
to Develop and Maintain a Positive Attitude
Dear Wolf,
As a single Mom and working woman, struggling to
balance my home, financial and family responsibilities, life gets very
discouraging at times and depression sets in a lot. What advice could
you give me to help me through my daily trials?
Signed,
Karen Roman,
Karen, I feel for you! For many of us life is really tough! Or as
a friend of mine put it: "Life is a 'bear' and then you die." Well,
lets not get that dramatic, because there are specific things you can
do to help you maintain a positive attitude when daily struggles seem
to get you down.
WHY ATTITUDE?
I want to talk about attitude because from very personal and painful
experiences I have found that for success in all areas of life, attitude
is much more important than aptitude. People who cultivate consistently
positive attitudes expect great things...work hard for those things...and
are more likely to achieve them. In fact, research by psychologist Martin
Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania revealed that optimistic
people are happier, healthier and more successful than those with a
negative outlook on life.
A new branch of medicine—psychoneuroimmunology—studies the
relationship between mental attitude and health. Physicians have found
that a positive attitude can result in faster recovery from surgery
and burns...more resistance to arthritis and cancer... improved immune
function, and yes help you live a healthier, happier and even wealthier
life! The reason for this is that our brain-produces substances—neuropeptides—which
transmit chemical messages that direct our immune system. When you think
positively, these messages enhance our immune system and enable us to
stay healthy. On the other hand when you are depressed, they tell your
body, Why bother? As a result we get even more depressed and it becomes
a vicious cycle.
HOW TO DEVELOP AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
It's important for you to recognize that a positive attitude does
not pop into your mind by itself. How you feel is a decision you have
to make every day. If you feel down, you must force yourself to look
around and find something to feel good about. One way I have found very
helpful, is to start out each day in a positive way. Here is how:
 Use a clock radio
that plays music that is soft and pleasant to wake you up. Don't use
a loud alarm clock.
Allow yourself
enough time to prepare for the day's activities at a civilized pace.
Don't get up at the last possible moment.
Think of three
specific things you can be grateful for while sitting on the "throne."
Do this every day! Don't worry about how original you are.
Keep a positive,
motivational book in your bath room near the throne. (A great one is
Make it a Winning Life: Success Strategies for Life, Love and Business,
by yours truly. Another is any of the Chicken Soup books by Jack Canfield
and Mark Victor Hansen). Any time you feel down, turn to an inspirational
part and give yourself an instant pick-me-up.
Think about the
positive things you expect to accomplish today. Don't listen to news
of the world's problems or worry about your own problems while you are
getting your day started.
Eat a healthy breakfast.
Don't drug yourself with only coffee or cigarettes.
If you read the
paper while eating breakfast, skip the negative "stinking thinking"
news. Skim the headlines to keep yourself informed. Read the comics
before you put the paper away, and be sure to make yourself laugh. Yes,
I said MAKE yourself laugh!
Find something
positive to say to your children and be sure to tell them how much you
love them before they or you leave home. Don't pick on them as the last
thing you do before you see them off to school.
As you go about your day's activities, become aware of your thoughts.
Any time a negative thought, anger, or sadness creeps into your mind
substitute a positive thought in its place.
When you think positively about yourself, you work harder at what
you want to do—and give up less easily. You make a better impression
on others, which encourages them to help you.
When you think more positively about your colleagues, employees, spouse
and children, you build stronger and more productive relationships—leading
to greater success at work and at home.
This is really important because your mind can only hold one thought
at any one time. It can be a positive or a negative thought. It is YOUR
choice. Don't give that choice to anyone or anything else!
SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
Nothing enhances a positive attitude more than success., so regard
success as the normal state of affairs—and the lack of success
as the exception.
* Prepare for the worst, and expect the best. Life is tough. For example
my Superwoman, that's the young lady I have been married to for 29 years,
has had cancer twice in her life, and twice in the same part of her
body. But if you met her you would never know it, because she is one
of the most positive people I have ever met. Be sure to mentally prepare
yourself for life's down turns, because there are going to be many.
Even more importantly be sure to always expect the best, because most
of the time you and I get what we expect, at least over the long term.
Remember it's not what happens to you, it's what you do about it that
really counts.
* Avoid perfectionism. Very few things are perfect in this world,
so be sure to recognize that falling short of perfection, even making
mistakes, is not failure. It's a lesson learned. Learn it, and then
get on with life. Remember that there is no such thing as failure—only
outcomes. If your efforts produce an outcome that is less successful
than you had hoped, don't say, I'm a failure. Instead, say, I'll change
what I did wrong and next time I'll do better.
* Focus on the future. You can't change the past, but if you decide
where you want to go in the future, and how you want things to be different
in the future, you will give yourself the best chance of getting there.
Always aim high, and you too will master your daily trials more effectively
and make it a more positive and winning life.
© 1999 Wolf J. Rinke
Source: Wolf J. Rinke, Make it a Winning Life: Success Strategies
for Life, Love and Business, Clarksville, MD: Achievement Publishers.
Available in bookstores, from Amazon.com or by calling (800) 828-9653.
Dr. Rinke can be reached at 410-531-9280, e-mail wolfrinke@aol.com or
on the internet at www.wolfrinke.com.
For lots of powerful tools that will enable you to live a happier,
healthier, and wealthier life click on the "Make
It a Winning Life Products" page.
Dear Wolf,
How can I build a more positive and energizing
organization?
Signed,
Bobbie Jordan
Great question, Bobbie, especially since my new book : Winning
Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies for Building High-Performance Organizations,
addresses that question in depth. Since we have limited space, I will
focus on the top 10 things managers do that gives them just the opposite
of what they want, so that you can avoid making these mistakes.
10. Mistrust employees
If you consistently mistrust all employees you'll be correct 3% of
the time. Not very good odds, are they? If on the other hand you trust
all of your people all of the time, until they prove you wrong, you
will be right 97% of the time! So why not go for a sure thing? It will
have incredibly positive results in your organization.
9. Spend too much time in the office.
In my seminars I like to ask managers: How many of you have no problems?
Of course there are no hands raised. Then I ask: Who has the answer
to your problems? If you said customers and employees, you are ahead
of me . So what are you doing in your office? Certainly not finding
answers to your challenges! To do that, you have to spend at least 66%
of your time practicing Management By Walking Around (MBWA).
8. Satisfy customers.
If you satisfy your customer you'll be out of business soon! Why?
Because only if you get your employees to exceed the customers expectations
will customers remember you and your organization. Otherwise they will
forget you. And if they do that, they will not think of you the next
time they select a service provider.
7. Catch employees mess up
But, you protest, I thought that's what managers get paid for? Only
if you are from the "old school" and only if you want to reduce your
effectiveness. The reason is that over the long run you, the manager,
get what you expect. So if you want to have a more positive high energy
organization then you must focus your energy on catching people do things
almost right. And the way you do that, is to manage by appreciation,
not by exception.
6. Spend too much time with trouble makers
Quick grab your calendar. Now figure out what proportion of your time
you spent with "slackers" during the last three days. If you spent more
than 5% of your time with slackers, you are messing up. Why? Because,
what you pay attention to, is what you get. If you want a positive,
high performance organization, then you must spend the majority of your
time with the people who deliver that.
5. Spend too little on training and human resource development
Research tells us that high performance organizations (5%) invest
between 3.5-5% of payroll in human resource development, education and
training. (29% invest only 1/2%; 29% 1/2-1.5%; and 21% invest 1.6-3.5%).
Actually there is not a lot of magic here: If you want your organization
to get better, your people have to get better!
4. Hoard power
If you want to increase your power, you must master the art of giving
it away. And if you are not giving it away, you are not growing people.
Even though this sounds obvious, a recent Wall Street Journal article
reported that in 1997 30% of employees felt that their interests were
ignored by managers who were making decisions that effected them. ThatÕs
up from 25% in 1996. Remember to always push decision making down to
the lowest level!
3. Downsize
Managers are overdosing on downsizing. Why? Because it is one of the
fastest way to improve the bottom line. And if that happens managers
get bigger bonuses and more pay. Voila, lots of incentive for more downsizing.
Research however, shows that over the long run, downsized companies
are less profitable! For example a 7 year University of Colorado study
showed that companies that downsized had doubled earnings over a 3 year
period. However, the same type of companies that did not downsize had
quadrupled their earnings over the same period. In short, you gain the
competitive advantage through people, NOT by getting rid of them.
2. Make work painful
Do you like to have fun? I bet you said yes! So how come, many managers
make work painful. So unbearable that 25% of employees in the U.S. hate
their job, 56% could take it or leave it, and only 19% love it. Only
if you create a climate where people have fun and want to come to work,
will you be able to achieve extraordinary performance with ordinary
people.
1. Provide equal rewards to everyone.
The #1 stupidest thing managers do is to provide equal rewards to
everyone. It violates the most important management principle of all
time: tie rewards to performance. Only if you do that will you be able
to create the type of organization you desire. So take a look at you
reward system and make sure that the positive, energetic, high performance
team members get rewarded and recognized more often, and more generously
than your slackers!
There you have it, 10 mistakes to avoid if you want to build a more
positive and more productive organization.
© 1999 Wolf J. Rinke
Source: Wolf J. Rinke, PhD, CSP is a management consultant, professional
speaker, and author of the new book Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe
Strategies for Building High-Performance Organizations (Achievement
Publishers, Clarksville, MD, USA 1997, $24.95). Available in bookstores,
from Amazon.com or by calling (800) 828-9653. Dr. Rinke can be reached
at 410-531-9280, e-mail wolfrinke@aol.com, or on the Web at www.wolfrinke.com
For lots of powerful tools that will enable you to achieve
dramatic improvements in performance, productivity, and profitability
visit our Winning Management Products page.
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