Can 1 + 1 = 3?

It’s the new reality for the new millennium.

How can you achieve greater results with fewer resources?

How can you increase your company’s bandwidth and decrease your exposure?

It’s about partnering, virtual offices and viral relationships.

Here the sum of the parts is greater than the whole (1 + 1 = 3).

Here’s an executive summary: Click here to read

Michael Vick Accepts Plea

 

I was hoping the brotha didn’t do it. Didn’t you?

But, apparently Vick was guilty as charged. He accepted a plea bargain to avoid being tried in court http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7146976.

He was the #1 draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons. He was a top performer. He had it all.

Then, he got sacked by his own behavior!  

 What’s the lesson for us as the Corporate Athlete or Entreprenuerial Tri-Athlete? Its to keep our standards high and our behavior beyond reproach. It’s to do right, so things don’t turn out wrong. Its not about perfection. Its about excellence and ethics. 

Here are 77 stories on Vick: http://topics.cnn.com/topics/michael_vick

What’s your opinion on the matter?

SALES OR MARKETING?

Recently, I read an article about a business owner business that was trying to grow efficiently and effectively. She needed to hire new talent, but wondered whether she’d get the best return on investment by hiring a sales person or a marketing person. What do you think?

 Her conclusion is that she needed to hire both. I agree. You see, need to push and pull. Sales is our push to create opportunities in the marketplace by prospecting. And marketing is our pull to create awareness in the marketplace by positioning. You need to push and pull!

Check out the article:

USA TODAY Article on Sales or Marketing 

Coaching Excellence – Remembering Bill Walsh

Recently, the sport of football lost one of it’s finest coaching – Bill Walsh. He was the coach for the San Francisco 49ers and led them to three Super bowl victories in the 1980’s. Here’s an excerpt from an article about Bill:

The essence of Bill Walsh was that he was an extraordinary teacher,” commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

“If you gave him a blackboard and a piece of chalk, he would become a whirlwind of wisdom. He taught all of us not only about football but also about life and how it takes teamwork for any of us to succeed as individuals.”

Read more here:

USA TODAY Article on Bill Walsh

Q: How can you WIN MORE and Lose Less in Business…and the business of life?

A: GET COACHING!

The Corporate Athlete. The Entrepreneurial Tri-Athlete

As you may know, I wrote the book called Step Up!

As you may also know, I love sports analogies. I saw one I couldn’t resist while reading the USA Today. The USA Today was commemorating its 25^th by reviewing the top 25 NFL Players within that period. Check out their list:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-top-25-series.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Here’s the reality about results whether you’re a corporate athlete, entrepreneurial tri-athlete or a professionals athletes…you must raise your Standards, align your Talents, conduct superior Evaluations, Prepare properly and Unleash your Potential. You must Step Up!

These are the 6 steps that make 80% of the difference in winning vs. losing in business and the business of life. Step Up! is the acronym for excellence. Your competitor has stepped up, should you?

Get LinkedIn and HookedUp!

Recently, I’ve received lots of invitations from business friends to join LinkedIn.

So, I began to ask “What is LinkedIn?” and “How can it help me get hooked up?!”

Well, I found someone that helped me ask both these questions.

I think it can help you too.

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/ten_ways_to_use.html

So, consider joining LinkedIn and Get HookedUp!

The Results Challenge

Recently, I delivered a talk in Chicago to the IWLA.

The gist of my talk was that we all want to transform their performance and results. And often, we know what to do, but we don’t do what we know. You see, the results challenge is really the challenge from within.

 

Think about it. Results happen twice. First on the inside, then on the outside. Consider these stories of personal transformation as evidence of this fact and inspiration to step up to the next level in business and life:

She lost ‘a person and a half’

Speaking of transformation and stepping up, here’s a fun “before and after” photo of me.

JOB SECURITY

We see headlines like these almost everyday:

US: Dell, Motorola, IBM announce new job cuts

Citigroup reportedly eyes 15,000 job cuts

Report: Circuit City Plans More Job Cuts

Security. Some people marry for it. Banks want it before granting loans and business professionals are looking for it. Everyone wants security, but where can it be found? Most business leaders would agree that there’s only one place where job security can be found and it’s inside of you. This is the only real source of security in business. And once this inner security is attained it must be maintained by improving ourselves everyday. We must improve each day if we expect to stay on top because when things stop growing they start dying.

Think about it. Everyone expects his company to grow, but have you considered that you can grow as fast, if not faster, than your organization? Are you keeping up or ahead of your company’s rate of growth? The reality is that your company’s must investment in business research and development each year. These investments are aimed at creating competitive advantage in the marketplace and financial security. Should you emulate your company by investing in the personal research and development of yourself each year?

 

Are you the CEO?

“With all the emphasis in the business press on the highest-level executives, it is easy to overlook the need for each employee to be his or her own CEO.”

That’s a quote from the Dean of Business Peter Drucker.

Let’s face it. We’re working in a highly competitive market where individual performance is the difference between organizational profit and loss. This means that you must step up and become the CEO (Chief Excellence Officer) of the privately owned company called you. Your mission? It’s to win more and lose less in business. Your method? It’s to achieve excellence in all endeavors. Your models? Well, check out this list of the Fortune 500 women CEOs. These ladies know that individual excellence precedes organizational achievement.

Top vs. Avg. Performers

 

Why do some individuals and organizations succeed, while others struggle?  What is the #1 differentiator between top and average performers?  

Many may debate this, but I believe there is one primary differentiator – a superior commitment to excellence. If you examine the best, Google, Tiger, Buffet, LeBron, Apple, then you’ll find one common denominator a passion for excellence.  

How do you know if you possess high standards? Here’s a key – look at your results. If you’re not exceeding the expectations of your boss, clients or yourself, then your standards of excellence may be questionable. The good news is, your standards will get you the results you want. The bad news is, same thing – your standards will get you the results you want. See, the results you get are in direct proportion to your concept of excellence. 

If “pretty good” represents excellence to you, then that’s what you’ll get. But, if you want superior results, then you must set superior standards.  Why?  Because your results are always in direct proportion to your standards. Superior standards produce superior results. Average standards produce average results. It’s just that simple.  

Do you agree?