Category Archives: Personal Values

You Always Have a Choice

brian smith-pld, Coaching, Coping with Stress, Enduring Principles, Leadership Development, Management, Mentorship, Personal Development, Personal Values, Personality Types, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, Teacher, Uncategorized

Attitude – your attitude is 100% in your control. It’s a choice that you and only you get to make 100% of the time. Only you get to decide how you are going to react in any given situation. Only you get to decide when you’ve had enough. Only you get to decide if you don’t have the strength to carry on – to start again on a new path or stay the course. The only difference between those who succeed and those who don’t are in the choices they make. You are the boss of you.

Worth Remembering … “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have discovered 10,000 ways that do not work”. – Thomas A. Edison

I love playing golf. There is just something about it that appeals to me. I think it’s the ultimate game of risk and reward. I can either go for the green in two by taking it over the water and missing the sand trap or bail and take the safer shot by avoiding the water and reaching the green in three. I’m a high handicaper. I know if I don’t take chances and stretch myself I’m never going to improve my score. In a lot of ways golf imitates life. You can either play it safe or take a chance and go for the green in two.

Worth Remembering … “If you want it – go for it. Don’t always play it safe or you’ll die wondering”. – Unknown

If you aren’t taking chances and making mistakes then you aren’t growing. Growth happens outside of your comfort zone. We are the result of our choices, nothing happens by chance. Wishing and hoping won’t make it so. If you aren’t happy with where you are then you need to make a choice. In the words of Larry Winget – “Shut up, stop whining and get a life. Your success is your own dam fault”.

Don’t despair. All is not lost. You always have a choice. Take a chance and go for the green.

Copyright (c) 2020. Brian Smith – Power Link Dynamics. To find out more about Brian and what he can do for you and your organization visit his site: https://briansmithpld.com or send an email: brian@briansmithpld.com

Would You Work For You?

brian smith-pld, Coaching, Enduring Principles, Ethics, Leadership Development, Management, Personal Development, Personal Values, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, Soft-Skills Training, Teacher, Uncategorized

choices-2[1].jpgThink of a manager or leader that you admire. What was it about the way they managed or led others that you liked? If you had to list 5 things that they did well – what would you put on that list? Once you’ve completed your list think of a manager or leader that you didn’t like. What didn’t you like about the way they managed or led? The good news is we are not born knowing how to manage or lead others. It is a learned behaviour. Now that you’ve experienced working with a good and not so good manager or leader, you can decide what kind of manager or leader you want to be.

Successful managers or leaders understand the value of the people they work with. They understand it takes a team effort to be successful. Successful managers or leaders are FOCUSED on people. They understand that if you can’t communicate and interact with others then you can’t manage or lead.

Successful managers or leaders are:

Friendly: Someone who can smile and say hello. Someone who enjoys being around people and helping them be successful. Someone who can make everyone feel important.

Observant: Someone who can recognize those who need help and those who don’t. Someone who doesn’t micro-manage the process and gets out of the way and lets you do it.

Consistent: Someone who is consistent in the way they apply policies and procedures. Consistent in the way they manage people and situations. Someone who is fair and treats everyone the same.

Understanding: Someone who is empathetic. and tries to see things from the other person’s point of view. Someone who doesn’t jump to conclusions and waits to get all the facts before making a decision.

Sincere: Someone who truly wants others to be successful. Someone who genuinely feels and believes what they say. Someone who is not dishonest and hypocritical.

Energized: Someone who is enthusiastic. Someone who looks and acts like they really want to be there. Someone who understands that enthusiasm is contagious and will be your biggest cheerleader.

Dependable: Someone who understands that if they are going to talk the talk they must walk the walk. Someone who understands that whatever they say they are going to do – you can depend on them to do it.

Are you ready to get FOCUSED on being the best manager or leader you can be? Your future depends upon it.

Copyright (c) 2019. Brian Smith – Power Link Dynamics. Not to be reproduced without permission. To find out more about Brian and what he can do for you, your management team and your organization visit: https://briansmithpld.com or contact Brian by email: brian@briansmithpld.com

The Way We Manage is Changing – Are You?

brian smith-pld, Coaching, Entrepreneurship, Leadership Development, Management, Mentorship, Personal Development, Personal Values, Personality Types, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, Soft-Skills Training, Teacher, Uncategorized

management-training-1[2].jpgI’m old enough to remember working in the 1960s. (Yes – I’m that old.) Back in those days, you didn’t question authority. When management told you to jump – the only question you were allowed to ask was how high. Social Psychologist Douglas McGregor branded that style of management as Theory X. Management believed that people were inherently lazy and needed to be bullied or brow-beaten into performing their work. Unfortunately, there are still managers out there who use that style in an attempt to motivate their workforce. Times have certainly changed. What you need to decide now is – will the management style that got you here – be the same style that will get you to where you need to go? Would you work for you?

There’s been a dramatic shift in people’s attitudes towards work. Worker’s wants and needs have changed. For the newest generation, life outside of work – is just as important as life at work. Today’s managers and business leaders must manage differently to keep pace with that change if they want an engaged and productive workforce. Productivity is still the name of the game and that equation will never change. Management’s role is to minimize input and maximize output. Unfortunately downsizing, another word for layoffs and thin margins have put added pressure on managers to hold the line on the expense side of the ledger while still growing the profit side. In order to accomplish both managers must switch from being task-focused to people-focused.

Daniel Goleman, in his groundbreaking book – Working with Emotional Intelligence, said it best. “We are being judged by a new yardstick: not just how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well we handle our selves and each other”. If you can’t make an emotional connection with the people you work with and interact with, you stand little chance of managing or leading. The good news is that managers and leaders aren’t born – they’re made. You can learn how to communicate and interact more successfully, build collaborative teams, problem solve, negotiate win-wins and motivate others to perform at their personal best. It just depends on how willing you are to change. Trust me – If you don’t, you’ll go the way of the dodo bird and dinosaurs.

Copyright (c) 2019. Brian Smith-PLD. Not to be reproduced without permission. To find out more about Brian and what he can do for and your organization visit: https://briansmithpld.com

Selling is a Contact Sport

brian smith-pld, Coaching, Competitive Advantage, Customer Service, Enduring Principles, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Leadership Development, Networking, Personal Development, Personal Values, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, Soft-Skills Training

People Love to Do Business with People They Like

People love to do business with people they like and trust. How do you get people to trust you? Trust is a by-product of building those all-important relationships. Some people are better at it then others, but you can learn how. First you need to establish rapport. Find out what they like to do outside of the workplace and use that to strike up a conversation. Do they have a hobby? Do they enjoy cooking, tending to the garden or watching sports? Once you have established a rapport comes a relationship. You can’t build a relationship until you have established a rapport. Out of that relationship comes mutual respect. Others will not respect you until you have built a relationship. If they respect you – they will trust you because they believe you have their best interest at heart. Once they trust you – more than likely they will go along with what ever you recommend.

Copyright(c) 2019. Brian Smith-PLD. Not to be reproduced without permission. To find out more about Brian and what he can do for you are your organization visit: https://briansmithpld.com