~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEADERSHIP WIRED John C. Maxwell's FREE Semimonthly Newsletter Designed To Maximize Your Leadership Potential. September 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 17 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In This Issue: * Maxwell Moment – Think Big, Start Small * Leadership@Large – Surveying the Leadership Landscape * Book Review – Lasting Fulfillment * Quick Quotes – Act Now ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maxwell Moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THINK BIG, START SMALL By Dr. John C. Maxwell The first leadership conference I ever did was quite memorable— not because it was such a resounding success, but because it was so pitiful. I spent a week in Kansas City teaching leadership to a crowd of 17 people. Yes, you read that right. Seventeen people! Those poor folks didn't know what they were getting into—they sat there and listened to me from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. for five straight days. By the last day, I'm sure they hadn't learned a thing; they were just silently begging for me to stop so they could go home! That was more than 20 years ago. At the time, I had no way of knowing that I would eventually start my own leadership company and write numerous books about the subject. In fact, the only thing I knew for sure before the conference started was that I was going to lose $3,000 if I didn't cancel it for lack of participation. But I wanted to teach leadership, and I knew I had to start somewhere. So I went for it. When contemplating the pursuit of a dream or the start of a new venture, too many people are hesitant to begin because they can't comprehend the entire journey. If that's where you find yourself right now, don't expect to understand what it takes to get to the top. Just take the next step. There's no shame in starting small; in fact, if you don't start small, you'll probably never start at all. Why else should you start small? Here are three reasons: 1. It encourages you to get started. Accomplishing a small step helps provide the motivation you need to achieve the next step. Have you ever put off starting a project—revising your company's employee handbook, developing a new marketing plan, reworking your resume, learning a new computer program, or cleaning out your garage—because it was just too overwhelming? You know it needs to be done, but you keep thinking, "It's too big and it's never going to happen!" With that mindset, you're right—it won't happen. But if you break the project down into small pieces and tackle one at a time, the whole thing suddenly becomes much less daunting and much more doable. 2. It allows you to prioritize and concentrate. Mother Teresa once said, "If you can't feed a thousand, then feed one." That is profound advice for aspiring leaders. There are many capable people who could lead one but never do because they're too busy wishing they could lead a thousand. Starting small helps you concentrate on what you can do now—which often paves the way for bigger things later. 3. It provides the necessary step to take the next step. You only can expand your life if you're moving. As my friend Tim Elmore has noted, "You can't steer a parked car." When I talk about the importance of starting small, I'm not trying to dampen your enthusiasm or stifle your dreams. I'm simply giving you a practical way to address your current reality. Think big, but start small. Don't despise those single small steps. Just take them. As my first leadership conference proves, you never know where they're going to lead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leadership@Large ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WHAT MATTERS MOST Six years ago, Michelle Nichols' 8 ½-year-old son came down with what doctors thought was the flu. Eleven days later, he died of brain cancer. "Having a child die is a terrible, life-changing tragedy," Nichols, a Houston-based sales consultant and BusinessWeek's "Savvy Selling" columnist, wrote in a letter eight months after her son's death. "Tragedy takes away your breath and your confidence. It also clarifies what really matters and who we really matter to." "Savvy Selling" is geared toward helping sales professionals "sell more in less time." But a recent column, in which Nichols reflected on what her son's death taught her, holds insights for busy leaders in any profession who need a reminder about what matters most. Here are a few key points: * Get your "most important, highest-value" work done at work so you can devote yourself to enjoying your family at home. "You'll be rejuvenated and have additional energy, more creative solutions, and better stories to share with your customers," Nichols writes. * If personal debt is a stressful problem, "Buy less and pay off your bills," Nichols advises. "It's that simple. No one really cares all that much about your new car/house/boat anyway." * Get a hammock and use it regularly. Nichols even has a portable hammock to use inside. "It's like a mini vacation every time I lay in it," she writes. * "Don't wait for the 'perfect time' to spend with your loved ones." As Nichols can testify, "It never arrives." To read more, see: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/ jul2004/sb20040716_5357_sb034.htm?c=bwfrontierjul27&n=link1&t= email _________________________________________________________________ HEAD, HEART, HANDS You may not be aware of it, but the way that you influence others likely falls into one of three categories: logical appeals, emotional appeals, or cooperative appeals. "The most effective influencers know how to utilize all three approaches," says the Center for Creative Leadership's David Baldwin. "We call this influencing with head, heart, and hands." According to a recent CCL e-newsletter, logical appeals (the "head") "tap into people's rational and intellectual positions." When you use this type of influencing, you explain your reasons for a particular course of action objectively and logically. You present factual and realistic evidence, and your argument clearly shows why your idea is the best option. Emotional appeals (the "heart" in the CCL's influencing equation) "connect your message or goal to an important emotional motivator" such as a "person's feelings of well-being, service, or sense of belonging." For example, when you enthusiastically describe a task and express confidence in a person's ability to complete it, you are making an emotional appeal. When you make a cooperative appeal (the "hands"), you build a connection between "you, the person you are trying to influence, and others to get support for your proposal," the CCL states. This involves getting input from others about how to carry out your goals, "engaging credible people to help you influence others," and "thoughtfully responding to concerns and suggestions." To read more, see: http://www.ccl.org/CCLCommerce/news/ newsletters/enewsletter/2004/JULYhowdoyou.aspx?CatalogID= News&CategoryID=Enewsletter(Newsletters) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Book Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LASTING FULFILLMENT Just Enough: Tools for Creating Success in Your Work and Life By Laura Nash and Howard Stevenson (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2004) Go for the max. Reach for the stars. The sky's the limit. You can have it all. These slogans might sound good in a motivational speech or a television commercial for athletic shoes. But when it comes to helping people achieve lasting professional and personal success, they don't have much substance. The fact is, we can't have it all because "it" is infinite. And if we attempt to "go for the max"—single-mindedly pursuing wealth, prestige, position, material possessions, or the ultimate rush—we quickly find that there is no max; there's just "more." Though a myriad of voices in today's "extreme"-oriented culture suggest otherwise, true success cannot be gained by "putting your all into the One Right Target," Laura Nash and Howard Stevenson write in "Just Enough: Tools for Creating Success in Your Work and Life." Rather, they assert, enduring success results from a careful, ever-shifting balance among activities that meet four conflicting human needs: happiness, achievement, significance, and legacy. Balance is the operative word in this model. Nash and Stevenson, both of Harvard Business School, effectively show that focusing on only one need during a particular phase of life rarely brings fulfillment. "If you think, like many people today, that success is about delaying happiness while you achieve, and that the final point of success should be to put aside all effort and lead a happy life, you are unlikely to achieve real success or happiness," they write. Even people who understand the multidimensional nature of success often have difficulty figuring out what they want it to look like in their own lives because, according to Nash and Stevenson, they're pulled in too many directions by too many choices. "In an era that proudly proclaims 'no limits,' it is commonplace to feel trapped between contradictory possibilities, paralyzed by moving targets and unable to accommodate or even order all the opportunities," the authors write. Their solution to this exhausting problem doesn't lie in trying to be the best at everything or at one thing. Instead, it involves identifying your most important definers of success in each of the four categories (based on your values, current family situation, talents, interests, etc.) and then figuring out how to address each of those goals without shortchanging the others. As the book jacket states, the success strategy that Nash and Stevenson espouse is about "learning how to sort and scale and switch your energies to focus the right skills and perspectives on each of the four categories of success sequentially." The key to implementing this strategy? Limits. Although purposely placing limits on the pursuit of achievement or happiness might seem counterintuitive to today's "be all you can be" mindset, it is actually quite freeing. Just as well thought- out boundaries allow children to develop properly and speed restrictions enable busy highways to function efficiently, determining what is "just enough" in aspects of life that you view as essential and significant gives you the freedom to narrow down all the choices and work toward realistic goals that will bring you lasting fulfillment and allow you to have a positive, enduring impact on others. This talk of limits may imply that "Just Enough" is yet another call for simplicity in a fast-paced world. But there's nothing simple about achieving the kind of success that Nash and Stevenson describe. It's a complicated, highly individualized process, one that requires a great deal of self-awareness and soul-searching. "Just Enough" provides a well-researched, well-reasoned framework for this type of introspection, but don't expect to breeze through it in a day and come away with a seven-step plan for achieving lasting success. The book is most helpful when read slowly and carefully, during a time when distractions are few and you have plenty of time to think. While "Just Enough" contains valuable insights for leaders at any level and any season of life, it could be particularly beneficial for those who are so exhausted from trying to be the best at everything that they're struggling to succeed at anything. The book also provides affirmation for people who—despite raised eyebrows from colleagues and friends—chose to limit some aspect of their personal or professional growth in the past because they didn't want other important parts of their lives to suffer. If you want to get more out of your life, but you're not sure what that "more" should be, read "Just Enough." It will help you figure out what's enough—for now, for tomorrow, and for the rest of your life. - Review by Lois Flowers, INJOY consulting editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ACT NOW "We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once." - Calvin Coolidge "Never mistake motion for action." - Ernest Hemingway "An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied." - Arnold Glasow _________________________________________________________________ Leadership Wired is written by Dr. John C. Maxwell and is available via e-mail on a free subscription basis. You can subscribe at: http://www.INJOY.com/Newsletters. Questions about document transmission or editorial comments? Contact mailto:feedback@INJOY.com. 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