ADAPTABILITY IN ACTION

[Pravin Kumar]

Adaptability in Action

In a way, human beings behave like bees. If you place several bees in an open-ended bottle and lay the bottle on its side with the base toward a light source, the bees will repeatedly fly to the bottle bottom toward the light. It never occurs to them to reverse gears and try another direction. This is a combination of genetic programming and learned behavior.

Put a bunch of flies in that bottle and turn the base toward a bright light. Within a few minutes, all the flies will have found their way out. They try all directions – up, down, toward the light, away from the light, often bumping into the glass – but sooner or later they flutter forth into the neck of the bottle and out the opening.

We often allow ourselves to become locked in our present circumstances – even if we are unhappy and really want to be reaching in a new direction. What we’re doing may make us miserable, but at least it’s familiar. One of the most important factors in achieving personal success is the willingness to try things out, to experiment, to test new grounds. In fact, this is the only way to learn and progress: trial, error, feedback, knowledge, trial and success. It is a far better thing to try to succeed and fail, than to do nothing and succeed.

This week:

* Try it
* Change it
* Do it

Stop stewing and start doing!

Motivation from Within by Denis Waitley

Motivation is a contraction of motive and action. An inner force that compels behavior, it comes from within, not from any external circumstance. You know where you’re going because you have a compelling image inside, not a travel poster on the wall, a financial statement with a big bonus, or a slogan in the hall. The performance of many externally motivated individuals begins declining as soon as they win contests of one sort or another. I’ve personally witnessed this among Super Bowl champions and World Cup teams that lost the incentive to maintain their excellence after winning the cup, the honors, and the cash.

If you’re really committed to peak performance and leadership, you must motivate yourself from within. Studies of achievers show that inner drives for excellence and independence are far more powerful than the desire for wealth, status or recognition.

The Inner Drive
Behavioral scientists have found that independent desire for excellence is the most telling predictor of significant achievement. In other words, the success of our efforts depends less on the efforts themselves than on our motives. The most successful companies, like the most successful men and women in almost all fields, have achieved their greatness out of a desire to express what they felt had to be expressed. Often it was a desire to use their skills to their utmost in order to solve a problem. This is not to say that many of them did not also earn a great deal of money and prestige. William Shakespeare, Thomas Edison, Estee Lauder, Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey, Sam Walton and Bill Gates all became wealthy. But far more than thoughts of profit, the key to their success was inspiration and inner drive by creating or providing excellence in a product or a service. All were motivated by the desire to produce the very best that was in them.

Go for the Inner Applause
The late Ray Kroc, a former neighbor of mine who founded McDonald’s Corporation when he was in his 50s, stressed the importance of people working for the inner satisfaction, not just for the money. Ray said most people find it difficult to associate applause with their work when they can’t hear literal applause—but the important applause should come from within. It is the faster heartbeat, the pride and satisfaction of accomplishment.

Kroc told the University of Southern California’s Business School that the first thing a business executive needs is love of an idea.

If you don’t love your concept, drop it. If you prostitute yourself at an early age by taking a job where the money is, you’ll be working for money all your life. Loving their work is particularly important for younger people. If they lose that love early, they may never grow to anywhere near their potential for self-actualization.

Hire People Who Have Empowered Themselves
An inner drive for excellence motivates you always to be the best you possibly can in whatever you do. Leaders and managers should take special note here. They must be careful in their use of external motivators—money, perks, prestigious offices and titles—in trying to inspire their team members and employees. Enduring motivation must always come ultimately from within the individual.

That’s why empowerment and vision are so crucial to team performance and quality. Their power and their vision, not those of the leader, must compel team members. Interviewing potential members, you should look for internally motivated individuals who hold their work important for its own sake, who love their field or their industry, who seek the exhilaration of testing their limits and contributing to the world. Be wary if they show more interest in your compensation package than in their contribution package.

Commit to achieving peak performance and leadership, by motivating yourself from within!

Seeds of Greatness

Winning Is

Winning is never whining.

Winning is coming in fourth, exhausted but excited, because you came in fifth last time.

Winning is being glad you’re you.

Winning is a feeling, there is no ceiling.

Winning is beginning, and by beginning, the game is half won.

Winning is all in the attitude!

Bring Added Value by Connie Podesta

WHAT ADDED VALUE DO you bring to your job that directly contributes to the financial stability, success, and growth of your organization? If your manager asked you this question, how would you respond? Would your response be persuasive? Your ability to demonstrate through performance and behavior that you are a vital part of the team can determine your future employability.

Decision-makers are often overwhelmed with demands. As a result, they are often unaware of your positive contributions. Negative things come to their attention first, so you need to demonstrate and document the value you add. Don’t expect your boss to notice your extra work, additional training, creative ideas, and special projects. You may be enthusiastic and intelligent, communicate effectively, exhibit strong leadership skills, embrace change, work efficiently, and possess technical competence and strong interpersonal skills—yet still find yourself unemployed simply because you fail to persuade your boss that the skills, ideas, and commitment you bring to your work are vital to team success.

Help make money:
If your organization is committed to making a profit by providing top-quality products and services along with extra value to its customers, then you must show how your job contributes to that pursuit.

Organizations make money by retaining current customers and bringing in new customers. Your value will be related to the positive impact you have on these goals. If you do not have direct customer contact (either servicing existing customers or attracting new customers) or work for or with those who do, your job may not be perceived as vital.

The customer ultimately determines the ability to make a profit. As Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, said: “There is only one boss—the customer. And he can fire everybody, by spending his money elsewhere.”

This means that you must be 100 percent committed to bringing in new customers and keeping the ones you have. Make the customer your focus daily by doing your job in a way that will have a positive impact upon those who deal with customers. You must bring added value in the form of profits by focusing on the impact on customers.

Stand Out in a Positive Way:
You stand out when you add value to your job and your decision-makers know who you are and what you do. Your presence must be felt in a positive way and linked to the contributions you personally make.

Many people argue, whine, and complain about their jobs, duties, customers, equipment, and co-workers. If you attract attention by being negative, don’t be surprised when you lose your job! Negative attention does not help. People should associate your name, face, and expertise with positive feelings about your work, your teamwork, your customer commitment, and the value you bring.

Do your customers, co-workers, and supervisors know who you are? And if they do, would a discussion about you and your work be positive and favorable? Are you essential to your organization’s growth? Are you the one person your company should retain and never let go? Even if all your answers are yes, you still need to document your contribution. You don’t need to brag or boast, but you do need to maintain a healthy self-confidence and blow your own horn a bit to sell yourself. You should be able to say: “I do some very special things for this organization. I should be recognized as someone they need to keep because of the added value I bring to my job. It’s up to me to let them know how and what I contribute.” Have a positive attitude, and soon your energy and enthusiasm will help motivate your colleagues and customers.

Communicate assertively and work cooperatively in team settings. Be flexible and accept change when a new idea seems appropriate. Let your employer know how you can best help increase productivity and profitability. And keep your negative thoughts, complaints, and energy to yourself. To stay employed, determine how you bring added value and discover ways to share or demonstrate your value with those in charge. Think of the ways you can help make money, save money, inform management about your accomplishments, and position yourself as a valuable and vital employee. Once you determine these factors, you can answer the all-important question: “What added value do you bring to your job that contributes directly to the financial stability, success, and growth?”

ACTION: Prove your value to your organization.

[symulhaque]

To be success in life, firstly you should try it, then you should change, finally you should do it..