6 Ways to Motivate Contribution. There are plenty of people who want to make a difference but haven’t put their vision into action. Contribution is tied to action. You have to actually do something to get anything done. A friend, author, and small business expert, Mark LeBlanc, says, “Done is better than perfect.” What a great statement. We can become paralyzed, because we want something to be perfect. I am all for excellence, but sometimes a line needs to be drawn between finished and perfect. Even while I worked on my book project, I thought of all the research that I had not shared. There are compelling stories coming out every day that are pertinent to this topic. At some point, good enough and done becomes better than perfect and not done.
Leadership Tips
8 Tips for Effective Listening | Trust in Leadership
Growing up on the farm as the youngest of six kids, I learned how to eat fast, talk fast, and interrupt my siblings. Listening has not always come easily to me, and I’m not alone. Effective listening is a fundamental skill of genuine success, and it’s hard to be great or trusted without it. The benefits of listening include more trust, better understanding, stronger marriages, happier kids, and increased respect at work. Still, being a good listener is hard work! Keep reading about tips for effective listening.
Personal Mission Statement – How to Create Yours
What is a personal mission statement? A personal mission statement is something to continually strive for. Everything you do in life should come back to your mission and your personal mission statement. If this is not the case for you, maybe it’s time to change your mission.
A Personal Life Mission Statement:
1. Gives focus.
2. Keeps us accountable.
3. Encourages us to do the best things rather than just the good things.
4. Simplifies our lives.
5. Increases productivity and morale.
Create a personal life mission statement based on your deepest convictions and beliefs. What are your objectives? What do you want to be known for?
For more self-development ideas, take a look at The Daily Edge
Own Your Day | The Daily Edge
Have you ever reached the end of a day and felt like you got nothing done? It’s a horrible feeling! Frustrating days like this leave us with a laundry list of people and circumstances that caused our unproductivity. Rewind the clock to your morning coffee and write down your current #1 push forward priority. Then write the numbers 1-5 and list the five most important tasks you can complete in order to come closer to accomplishing your goal. If you could do the frustrating day over again, chances are you would handle your meetings, conversations, and even your individual work time differently. A day in which you accomplished five specific tasks that brought you one step closer to an important goal is a great day.
How to Improve Conference Calls | Trust in Business
Have you noticed that the further from face-to-face we get the more challenging it is to build trust? Here’s a favorite from 2014 that illustrates.
Being Clear With Expectations | Trust in Business
Few things are as frustrating as working for a manager who gives you an annual review and tells you all the things she thinks you should have been doing during the past year. How is this information helpful now? The year is over. Why weren’t these expectations expressed earlier? If you are a parent, you know how important it is to communicate expectations with your child. So often, a clear communication of expectations will prevent both misbehavior and failure.
Insincere Apologies are Trust Killers | Trust in Leadership
I had a chance to sit down with the CEO of Compass Strategic Investments. For six months, he lived and worked in the Netherlands, so he had some cultural observations to share. One of the distinctions that he noticed was that Americans often make insincere apologies. When it comes to building trust, being able to say we’re sorry and doing it sincerely is an important skill. However insincere apologies, those made out of habit or indifference, are trust killers.
Godin & Sackner-Bernstein on Contribution | Trust in Leadership
What does age have to do with being a big contributor?
Einstein said if you don’t make a major impact in your industry before 30, you probably won’t.
Sackner-Bernstein shows research that disproves this, showing how previous similar explanations were based on a lesser understanding of the brain. In a nutshell, age is an advantage and we must not use anything to let ourselves off the hook for making a difference in society.
Leaders are Readers | Trust in Leadership
My grandmother was known for reading a book a day. I’m not exaggerating! As a matter of fact, she is famous in our family for reading all of the books in two libraries! She had the habit of waking at 4:00 in the morning to have quiet time to read. Grandma Esther loved to learn. Imagine what you could learn just by intentionally reserving time each day to read. I hope to instill this love of reading in my children as well.
The Impact of Compassion | Trust in Business
Who do you trust more, firefighters or mortgage brokers? Librarians or lawyers? Nurses or salespeople? One of the biggest reasons for trust is the perception that someone is concerned beyond themselves for the good of the whole. Firefighters and nurses care for others by nature of their jobs. But we wonder if the salesperson really has our best interest in mind. Don’t worry if you are in a less trusted line of work. Resolve to be among the trusted in your field. Show that you think beyond yourself; you will be unique and successful in your industry.
