Give a Little – Get a Lot!

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In browsing a recent copy of Success Magazine, I found some alarming percentages. The data was presented in a very positive article describing how the Success Foundation’s goal was to provide personal-development content and programs to more than 10 million teenagers. This material will provide the fundamental life-skills and personal-development philosophies necessary for success in school and in life.

I highly commend the Success Foundation for its ambitious efforts as there’s obviously a tremendous need for such programs today. Our young people today are facing challenges we never dreamed of dealing with. They can certainly use the cooperation and support offered by such a campaign. If you’d like to learn more about this extraordinary endeavor, simply visit: http://successfoundation.org/.

Reading about ambitious initiatives such as this one renews my faith in at least a small portion of this country’s leadership. I can also understand how such an inspiring venture might intimidate some people. One might think: “How can I, as an individual, compete with such a massive effort?” Well, there are two answers to that question. First of all, you can’t compete. Second, you don’t need to compete. Let the large programs deal with a group of 10 million teens. They’re much better equipped to do so. However, why not attempt to make a difference in the life of just one or two teens? There are so many creative ways to do so, and the need is so great today.

As we’ve mentioned so many times in previous blog articles, mentoring is indeed a noble cause and can generate extraordinary results. If your efforts caused a young person to rethink his or her future, graduate from high school and go on to college, start a business, or just strive to perform to their full potential, there’s the potential to change lives, reverse negative trends and improve communities.

Consider the research by the Success Foundation which discovered:

  • More than 40% of young people doubt they can achieve their goals.
  • 70% wish they had more opportunities to help them fulfill their dreams.
  • Fewer than 60% feel a sense of purpose.
  • Fewer than 65% are motivated to achieve.
  • Fewer than 30% feel they have skills like planning and decision-making.
  • 25% of all public high school students fail to graduate on time, if at all.
  • 50% of African-Americans and Hispanics fail to graduate on time, if at all.
  • 85% of adolescents who get training in success skills graduate on time, resulting in a 50% drop in welfare dependency.

Think of the impact YOU, as a mentor, can have on a young person, a family, and even a community! Over the years, I’ve had the privilege and opportunity to speak to parent groups, civic organizations, and teacher in-services on a variety of mentoring possibilities. Our young people need to be exposed to leadership skills, basic life skills, communication skills, job skills and personal-development philosophies which will assist them in their quest for success. Prior to attending our sessions, many were unaware of how they might contribute support and assistance.

For additional suggestions on how YOU can make a difference today as a mentor, review our previous articles: Pass the Torch and Mentoring Magic: Take a Moment – Make a Difference.

Discuss this life-changing potential with your organization, church, neighborhood, or civic group and offer much-needed leadership at this crucial time in our history. Take a minute, change a life!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

National Belt-tightening Continues

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I often wonder if we live on the same planet or in the same dimension as those within the beltway in Washington. Don’t they have access to the same newspapers and magazines that we do? Do their TVs have no news channels? Do they not visit the areas they represent? Do they not hear from those they supposedly serve?

I’m constantly hearing the top leadership in the nation, from both parties, tell us that “We are not in a recession!” or “Thing’s are looking up!” or “It’s only a matter of time” or “Elect us and we’ll change things!”

If you have eyes and ears, it doesn’t take long to discover that few people in this country agree with these claims. Let’s take a look at a few of the situations which may contribute to these feelings:

  • The most recent AP poll declared that “81% feel America is headed in the wrong direction!”
  • Detroit’s own home town newspaper recently produced a glaring headline that dominated much of the front page. It read: “Auto Sales Plunge to Worst in 15 Years!”

Major Job Cuts Continue

Airlines

Northwest Airlines says that it’s cutting an additional 2,500 jobs; Delta Airlines is cutting 4,000 jobs; Continental will cut 3,000 jobs; United Airlines is trimming 950 pilots; Air Canada is cutting 2,000 jobs; Air Tran is cutting 300 flight attendants and 180 pilots, ATA announces 260 job cuts, and Frontier Airlines cuts 600 jobs. Can you imagine how difficult it will be for these airlines if times gets tough?

Siemens

Many people have heard the name Siemens but few realize how much it impacts our lives here in the U.S. The Munich-based conglomerate is improving America’s infrastructure through technology and innovation in medical, power, automation and control, transportation, information and communications, lighting, building technologies, water technologies and services and home appliances. Siemens employs 70,000 employees in the U.S. and 400,000 worldwide. In a bid to streamline its operations and deeply cut costs, Siemens plans to cut 16,750 jobs, accounting for 4.2% of its workforce worldwide. The industrial conglomerate said the cuts would include 12,600 administrative jobs as well as 4,150 positions at other units.

Steve & Barry’s

Here’s a discount retailer that took the world by storm just a very short time ago. It arrived on the scene with a storybook history offering customers from coast to coast quality products at tremendously discounted prices. Steve & Barry’s offered several lines designed by such celebrities as Sarah Jessica Parker, Amanda Bynes, Venus Williams, Stephon Marbury and the WWE. Industry experts said the “perfect storm” of a poor economy, razor-thin profit margins, growing too fast too quick, and too many celebrity relationships combined to cause this unexpected calamity. The company, with 275 stores in 40 states, opened 10 new stores this year and had plans for at least 10 more in the near future. To learn more about Steve & Barry’s storied beginning, simply click on Little-known Facts about Well-known Businesses – Steve & Barry’s.

Starbucks

Here’s another shocker. After years of ambitious expansion, the coffee retailer plans to close 600 U.S. stores, most of which were opened only in the last two years. Starbucks says it will try to place affected employees in neighboring coffee shops.

Rite-Aid

The third largest drugstore chain in the U.S., operating more than 5,000 stores in 31 states with 116,000 associates, Rite Aid announced that it will be closing 28 stores and re-evaluating dozens of others that aren’t earning their keep. This action comes at a time when Americans are used to seeing Rite-Aid seemingly open a new location on every corner.

Foot Locker

With income down 78% last year, this gigantic shoe retailer is running for the hills. Formally known as the Venator Group, it evolved from merger of the F.W. Woolworth CO. and Kinney Shoes. It operates 3,785 stores in 20 countries. After announcing the closure of 274 stores last year, Foot Locker recently added an additional 140 stores to that list.

Disney Stores

The Walt Disney Co. announced earlier this year that it was assuming management of 220 Disney Stores in North America that had previously been run by Children’s Place. It plans to close 98 of those U.S. stores and two in Canada.

Linens ‘N Things

Employing 7,500 employees, the #1 large-format retailer of home textiles, housewares, and decorative home accessories in the U.S., boasts 571 stores in 47 states and six in Canadian provinces. Earlier this year it announced a Chapter 11 filing followed by plans to close 120 underperforming stores.

All I can say is that it’s a good thing for these companies that we’re not in a recession. Did you note a hint of sarcasm there? We’ll all be better off when leaders in key positions stop denying the current crisis and start taking action to address it.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Little-known Facts about Well-known Leaders – Larry Page and Sergey Brin

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Most of those NOT born in a barn have certainly heard of Google. However, the two young men responsible for the world’s largest Internet search engine may not be as well-known to many. Known by those in the technical community as “Geeks Gone Wild,” Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are No. 32 ($18.7 billion) and 33 ($18.6 billion) respectively on the 2008 list of Forbes list of the world’s billionaires.

Obviously, things weren’t always that way. The co-founders first met as Stanford University graduate students in computer science in the summer of 1995. Sergey was in a group of potential new students which Brin had volunteered to show around the campus. They actually weren’t very fond of one another until they found a common interest retrieving relevant information from large data sets. They went on to co-author what is widely considered their seminal contribution, a paper entitled “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine.” The paper has since gone on to become the tenth-most accessed scientific paper at Stanford University.

In August 1996 the initial version of Google was made available, still on the Stanford University website. Although they don’t quite qualify as a “rags to riches” story, they did share a humble beginning by renting a garage in Menlo Park, California, for $1,700 a month. Today they boast four core buildings, fondly called Googleplex, in Mountain View, California, totaling 506,317 square feet as well as branch offices all over the globe. This complex must be seen to be believed. We’ll tell you more about this unique culture in a future article. The original two employees now lead a staff of about 17,000 full-time employees.

That growth is a result of the fact that this dynamic duo have virtually cornered the search engine market, holding about 58% of the market while their next two competitors, Yahoo and Microsoft, hold 22% and 9% respectively. Even if these two competitors were to join together they would still trail Google by 27%. They also extended ad business into TV, cell phones, and various online venues; they bought Web video portal YouTube for $1.65 billion last year and recently partnered with EchoStar, LG Electronics, Salesforce.com.

Page and Brin ran Google as co-presidents until 2001 when they hired Eric Schmidt to become Chairman and CEO of Google. Now that Google is the world’s entry point to the Internet, Google plans to become the world’s dominant advertising broker, the world’s dominant social network, the world’s dominant mobile supplier, and the world’s dominant product of alternative energy. Talk about ambitious goals!

Now let’s take a look at the co-founders individually:

Mikkhailovich Brin

  • Mikkhailovich (Sergey) Brin is a 35-year-old Russian-born American entrepreneur.
  • Brin was born in Moscow in 1973 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1979 at the age of 6 with his mathematician parents. His father gained work as a mathematics professor at the University of Maryland and his mother went on to work at NASA.
  • He attended grade school at a Montessori School in Maryland, received further education at home, attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School, and enrolled in the University of Maryland to study computer science and mathematics, where he received his B.S. degree in 1993 with high honors.
  • Brin began his graduate study in computer science at Stanford University on a graduate fellowship from the National Science Foundation. He earned his Master’s degree in August 1995 ahead of schedule in the process of his Ph.D. studies.
  • Brin has also received an honorary MBA from the IE Business School.
  • Brin expressed interest in the Internet very early on in his studies at Stanford. He authored and co-authored various papers on data-mining and pattern extraction. He also wrote software to ease the process of putting scientific papers often written in TeX, a text-processing language, into HTML form, as well as a website for film ratings.
  • While studying for his Ph.D., he met Lawrence Page and went on to work with him on a project to organize the Internet and improve the way people search for information. They first nicknamed the project “BackRub” as it relied heavily on the number and relevancy of links pointing to a website.
  • Brin has appeared on television shows and many documentaries, including Charlie Rose, CNBC, and CNN. In 2004, he and Larry Page were named “Persons of the Week” by ABC World News Tonight. In January 2005 Sergey Brin was nominated to be one of the World Economic Forum’s “Young Global Leaders.”
  • In 2007, Brin was cited by PC World as #1 on a list of the “50 most important people on the Web,” along with Larry Page and Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
  • In May 2007, Brin married Anne Wojcicki in the Bahamas. Wojcicki is a biotech analyst and a 1996 graduate of Yale University with a degree in biology. She co-founded 23andMe, a personal DNA genotyping service.
  • He is also an investor in Tesla Motors, which is developing the Tesla Roadster, a 221-mile-range battery electric vehicle. He has also placed an order for the Roadster. It is reported by Conde Nast Portfolio that Brin drives a Toyota Prius.
  • In June 2008, it was announced that Brin had made a $5 million investment in Space Adventures, the Virginia-based space tourism company. His investment will serve as a deposit for a reservation on one of Space Adventures’ proposed flights in 2011. So far, Space Adventures has sent five tourists into space.
  • Brin currently holds the position of President of Technology at Google and has a net worth estimated at $18.5 billion as of March 9, 2007, making him the 26th richest person in the world and the 5th richest person in the United States. He is also the fourth-youngest billionaire in the world.

Lawrence Edward Page

  • Lawrence Edward “Larry” Page is a 35-year-old U.S.-born American entrepreneur.
  • Page was born in Lansing, Michigan, in 1973 to the late Dr. Carl Victor Page, a professor of computer science and artificial intelligence at Michigan State University and one of the University of Michigan’s first computer science Ph.D. graduates, and Gloria Page, a computer programming teacher at Michigan State University. Page is also the brother of Carl Victoer Page, Jr., a co-founder of eGroups, later sold to Yahoo! for approximately half a billion dollars.
  • Page attended a Montessori school in Lansing, Michigan, and graduated from East Lansing High School. He holds a B.S. degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan with honors and a Master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University.
  • While at the University of Michigan, Page created an inkjet printer made of Lego bricks. He was also a member of the solar car team and served as the President of the HKN, a national electrical and computer engineering honor society.
  • After enrolling for a Ph.D. program in computer science at Stamford, Page was in search for a dissertation theme and considered exploring the mathematical properties of the World Wide Web. His supervisor encouraged him to pursue this idea, and Page later recalled this as the “best advice I ever got.” He focused on the problem of finding out which web pages link to a given page, considering the number and nature of such backlinks to be valuable information about that page.
  • Sergey Brin soon joined Page in his research project, nicknamed “BackRub.” They developed the Page Rank algorithm and realized that it could be used to build a search engine far superior to existing ones.
  • In 2007, Page was cited by PC World as #1 on the list of the 50 most important people on the web, along with Brin and Schmidt.
  • Page is also an investor in Tesla Motors, which developed the Tesla Roadster, a 250-mile-range battery electric vehicle.
  • Page currently holds the position of President of Products at Google and has an estimated net worth of $18.5 billion, placing him at rank 26 on Forbes’s list of the richest persons in the world, together with Brin.
  • The World Economic Forum named Page as a Global Leader for Tomorrow, and The X PRIZE chose Page as a trustee for their board.
  • Page married Lucinda Southworth at Richard Branson’s Caribbean island, Necker Island, on December 8, 2007.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Whew! Let’s Take a News Vacation

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I recently made the challenging trek to Lost Wages, Nevada (also known as “City of Lights” – “Glitter Gulch” – “Sin City” – “The City That Never Sleeps” – oh, and Las Vegas) to speak at an annual meeting. It was 110 to 112 degrees every day! New casinos were going up everywhere. There was no sign of recession or depression anywhere.

I’ve been coming to Vegas for decades, and while it looks different every time you get off the plane, some things simply never change. This town is full of gambling devices … roulette wheels, crap tables, slot machines, and wedding chapels!

I personally don’t drink or gamble and seldom have time to make it to pool side at these events so I skipped the obligatory “Cooks’ Tour” … getting baked in the sun, stewed at the bar and burned at the crap tables!

One of the challenges for anyone flying from east to west is the time change. It’s interesting to leave Detroit at noon and arrive in Vegas at 1 p.m. It certainly doesn’t feel like a mere hour of flight time and, of course, it isn’t. The non-stop flight is actually 4 hours and 11 minutes, which feels more like 4 days and 11 hours. Add the hour you must arrive early prior to the flight, another hour for the usual delay and the eternity between touching down and actually arriving at your gate, and you’re pushing close to 7 hours.

I learned long ago to come prepared by bringing my laptop and the enormous stack of magazines and newspapers I review weekly to keep current on business news, political situations, and world events. However, on this particular trip I think I may have overdosed on negative news. In the future, I think I’ll be limiting myself to just a few sources a day. Here’s some of what I learned on this trip.

12,000 Laptops Lost Each Week! (624,000 Per Year!)

A new study by the Ponemon Institute estimates that about 12,000 laptops are lost every week (based on interviews with officials at 106 American airports). That same study revealed that half of all the business travelers surveyed said they fly regularly with important information on their laptops. Most of them—more than two thirds—don’t use any type of security system in the event that laptops are lost or stolen. Eventually, one of those laptops is going to be loaded with our Social Security numbers and names. I wonder what they do with all those computers?

Growing Trend

The Wall Street Journal reports that many small towns and community colleges are switching to four-day workweeks in an effort to help employees cope with the rising gasoline prices and could soon be joined by some larger local governments. Expect to see this trend become the norm if something isn’t done about oil prices.

Waterless Washing Machines?

BusinessWeek reports that researchers at Xeros, a British company linked to the University of Leeds, have developed a machine that washes a regular laundry load using as little as one cup of water, about 1% of the 10 to 15 gallons a typical washer requires. The machine uses tiny plastic chips and a bit of detergent to rub dirt from clothes, which emerge virtually dry—and extremely clean. According to research, washing machines in Britain alone consume about 120 million gallons daily, enough to fill 145 Olympic-size swimming pools!

Bye-bye, Billy

In one of the most carefully orchestrated transitions in corporate history, 52-year-old Microsoft Chairman William H. Gates, third richest man on earth, walked away from his day-to-day duties at the company he co-founded. He plans to spend more time working on philanthropy. He will continue to play a key role in Microsoft’s biggest long-term technical bets.

Going to the Dogs

Real estate baroness Leona Helmsley apparently earned her famous nickname, “The Queen of Mean,” by the way she treated her staff. However, following her death, she left instructions that her estate, estimated to be up to $8 billion, be spent on the care and welfare of dogs. The Humane Society of the U.S. and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said they will be suggesting programs for applying the funds in the most productive method.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Success Is in the Reframe

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Last month, I had the privilege of speaking to a group of young people who were preparing to move on to the next plateau in their lives after graduation. On my return trip home from the Florida panhandle, I had a layover in Atlanta. My plane was delayed due to local storms so I grabbed a bite to eat. Like most airport restaurants, they had several TV monitors mounted on every wall. Waiting for my meal, I checked my e-mail on my laptop while glancing at the news headlines on the TV monitor.

For some reason, I happened to catch a commercial from start to finish. I’m not what you would call a commercial-lover. In fact, whenever possible, I fast forward through the majority of them. I obviously didn’t have that option in the airport, and I’m actually thankful for that fact. I watched a one-minute commercial which left me with a tear in my eye, a smile in my heart, and a valuable lesson on my mind.

It was so captivating that I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. There was a young boy about 7 or 8 years old standing at home plate on a deserted baseball field. He had a big smile on his face and a baseball cap askew on his tiny head. He held a bat on his shoulder with one hand and a baseball in the other. With enthusiasm he yelled, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” as he tossed the ball into the air, swung the bat, missed the ball completely and fell to the ground. He jumped up, replaced his dusty hat, picked up the ball off the ground, repositioned his bat and said, “Strike one.”

Again, with enthusiasm, he yelled, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” as he tossed the ball into the air, swung the bat, missed the ball completely once again and fell to the ground. Again, he jumped up, replaced his hat, picked up the ball off the ground, repositioned his bat and said, “Strike two.”

Again, with a little less enthusiasm, he yelled, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” as he tossed the ball into the air a third time, swung the bat with all his might, and once again missed the ball by a country mile as he fell to the ground. This time he got up a little bit slower, replaced his dusty hat, left the bat in the dirt and sadly said, “Strike three!”

He stood there at home plate dusting himself off with a sad look of shame and disappointment on his face. Then, as the camera closed in on his face, you could see his frown change to deep thought as he raised his eyes to the clouds in the bright sunny sky.

His facial expression quickly changed from deep thought to total joy as he tossed his hat high into the air and screamed as loud as he could, “I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!”

Now there’s a young man who has obviously learned the true value of a simple “reframe.” I wonder how many times, we, as adults, could share that same joy if we’d just put forth an effort to look at things differently … a simple “reframe.”

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Ya Get What Cha Give!

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Everyone claims to understand the significance of communication and the critical role it plays in any successful venture. Why then do we see so many disasters attributed to the lack of or poor communication? Marriage, politics, warfare, negotiation and business success all hinge on the ability to converse with one another.

There are many aspects to productive communication, but the following two are essential factors which have the potential to make or break any situation: respect and empathy (identification with and understanding of another’s situation, feelings and motives).

Think about the following Generational Gem the next time you want a positive communicative outcome based on respect and empathy.

A man and his wife had been arguing all night, and as bedtime approached neither was speaking to the other. It was not unusual for the pair to continue this war of silence for two or three days. However, on this occasion, the man was concerned; he needed to be awake at 4:30 a.m. the next morning to catch an important flight, and being a very heavy sleeper he normally relied on his wife to wake him.

Cleverly, so he thought, while his wife was in the bathroom, he wrote on a piece of paper: “Please wake me at 4:30 a.m. I have an important flight to catch.” He put the note on his wife’s pillow, then turned over and went to sleep.

The man awoke the next morning and looked at the clock. It was 8 a.m.! Enraged that he’d missed his flight, he was about to go in search of his errant wife to give her a piece of his mind, when he spotted a hand-written note attached to his pillow right next to his head.

The note said: “It’s 4:30 a.m. Get up.”

RESPECT and EMPATHY!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Project Feature Creep

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Professional Speaker Jeffrey W. Drake has made presentations on subjects such as communication styles, creative problem solving, goal setting, leadership, project management, stress management, teamwork, and time management.This article is the fourth in an occasional series on project creep. The focus of this article is on feature creep, something closely related to scope creep.

Our custom-designed “Project Management: From Concept to Completion” seminar contains many basic tools for project managers. A topic area that seminar participant can easily relate to is project creep.

There are many excellent books on project management available in the marketplace. One particular book, Effective Project Management by Wysocki, Beck, and Crane, very clearly addresses the project creep area and focuses on the topic of feature creep.

In the previous article on project scope creep, you will see a brief description of scope creep. Feature creep is the same as scope creep except that feature creep is initiated by the provider rather than the client. When I was involved in a software design project, the programmers or systems analysts would think of a new feature or service not indicated in the project requirements. One of the team members decides to include a little extra feature because it adds value to the project and the end user. The client didn’t ask for the feature or service but they get the feature anyway.

About Jeffrey W. Drake

Jeffrey W. Drake, Ph.D., is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Jeff has made presentations ranging from leadership to empowered teams and project management to communication styles for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, and manufacturing. For more information on Jeff's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Pause to Say “Thanks”

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The following short test should cause you to pause and hopefully think about one of the more important things in your life. Grab a pad and see if you can answer these questions. You might be surprised.

  1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
  2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
  3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
  4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
  5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
  6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is none of us remember the headliners of yesterday … and these are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields! But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

  1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
  2. Name two friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
  3. Name three people who have taught you something worthwhile.
  4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
  5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
  6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier? The lesson? The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.

They are the ones that care. If at all possible, take a moment from your busy schedule and offer them your thanks and appreciation—while you still can.

Then proceed to attempt to get yourself on someone else’s list … mentor, teach, share. You’ll feel as good about your effort as they will.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Payback Is Hell!

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When we usually hear evidence of irony, it’s connected to a negative example. That just seems to be the way things work. However, once in a great while, we come across an example that brings a smile of content and satisfaction to our lips and tremendous delight to our heart. The motives may vary but the results remain the same. This is one of those wonderful stories.

A highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically stricken by a bus and killed instantly. Her soul arrived at the Pearly Gates, where St. Peter welcomed her by explaining: “Before you get settled in, we have a little problem … you see, we’ve never had a Human Resources Manager make it this far before and we’re not really certain sure what to do with you.”

“Oh, I see,” said the woman. “Can’t you just let me in?”

“Well, I’d like to,” said St Peter, “but I have higher orders. We’re instructed to let you have a day in hell and a day in heaven, and then you are to choose where you’d like to go for all eternity.”

“Actually, I think I’d prefer heaven,” said the woman.

“Sorry, we have rules …” at which St. Peter put the HR Manager into the downward bound elevator.

As the doors opened in hell, she stepped out onto a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club; around her were many friends — past fellow executives, all smartly dressed, happy, and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played a perfect round of golf and afterwards went to the country club where she enjoyed a superb steak and lobster dinner. She met the Devil, who was actually rather nice, and she had a wonderful night telling jokes and dancing. Before she knew it, it was time to leave; everyone shook her hand and waved goodbye as she stepped into the elevator. The elevator went back up to heaven where St. Peter was waiting for her.

“Now it’s time to spend a day in heaven,” he said.

So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing, which was almost as enjoyable as her day in hell. At the day’s end St Peter returned.

“So,” he said, “you’ve spent a day in hell and you’ve spent a day in heaven. You must choose between the two.”

The woman thought for a second and replied, “Well, heaven is certainly lovely, but I actually had a better time in hell. I choose hell.”

Accordingly, St. Peter took her to the elevator again, and she went back down to hell.

When the doors of the elevator opened, she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends dressed in rags, picking up rubbish and putting it in old sacks. The Devil approached and put his arm around her.

“I don’t understand,” stuttered the HR Manager, “Yesterday I was here, and there was a golf course, and a country club, and we ate lobster, and we danced and had a wonderful happy time. Now all there’s just a dirty wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable.”

The Devil looked at her and smiled. “Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you’re staff.”

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Are We Just Talking Change?

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Television, radio, books, magazines, newspapers, billboards, seminars, the Internet (sites and blogs) … everywhere you look you’re hearing about change! All the Presidential candidates are preaching change from coast to coast, but do you really think you’re going to see it?

On one hand, I see examples of change every single day. I can’t and won’t argue that point. In fact, I’ve shared many of those changes in this very blog and will continue to do so.

On the other hand, there are many areas in which change has been, for a very long time, predicted, preached and promised but obviously not practiced.

For instance, as we pass the $4-a-gallon gas milestone, we’re hearing a great deal about the importance of energy independence … almost as though this might be an entirely new concept. However, let’s take a glance back a few years and see how other great leaders viewed the subject of energy independence. Remember, these are the words of some of the most powerful leaders on the face of the earth.

Richard Nixon in 1974 said:
“We will lay the foundation for our future capacity to meet America’s energy needs from America’s own resources.” (We didn’t.)

Gerald Ford in 1975 said:
“We cannot afford continued delays. We cannot afford prolonged vulnerability to foreign producers. We must act.” (We didn’t.)

Jimmy Carter in 1979 said:
“We are the generation that will win the war on the energy problem and in that process, rebuild the unity and confidence of America.” (We didn’t.)

Ronald Reagan in 1962 said:
“Energy independence is the best preparation America can make for the future.” (We didn’t.)

George H. W. Bush in 1990 said:
“The Congress should enact measures to increase domestic energy production and energy conservation — in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil.” (They didn’t.)

Bill Clinton in 1998 said:
“We have it in our power to act right here, right now. I propose $6 billion in tax cuts and research and development to encourage innovation, renewable energy, fuel-efficient cars, and energy-efficient homes.” (We didn’t.)

George W. Bush in 2007 said:
“We have got to do something about our dependence on oil — for two reasons. It provides an economic and national security risk and makes it harder to be wise stewards of the environment.” (We didn’t — for either reason.)

Those are fantastic sound bites from seven previous leaders, and you know McCain and Obama are making even stronger statements in light of current economic conditions and the fact that they know they must say something in order to get elected.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind of a sound bite our next President adds to this list of ritual rhetoric. Of course, don’t forget every member of Congress who echoed empty promises to usher in a meaningful energy policy. If we had a barrel of oil for every broken promise made by a Washington politician — we’d be energy-independent!

This is another prime example of a Knowing-Doing Gap … this one may never be closed. Our leaders know we should be taking action to establish energy independence. They even know how to do it as we have a variety of viable options. They know what the consequences will be for us if we don’t take action soon. Yet they do nothing but talk. This happens to be one Knowing-Doing Gap which must be closed — and soon!

As you review the statements above you must admit that there’s been very little change in this area over the last 34 years … regardless of which political party was in charge.

Now take a look at this newspaper editorial that depicts why stress levels escalate.

“The world is too big for us. Too much is going on, too many crimes, too much violence and chaos. Try as you will, you get behind in the race, in spite of yourself. It’s an incessant strain to keep pace … and still, you lose ground. Science empties its discoveries on you so fast that you stagger beneath them in hopeless bewilderment. The political world changes so rapidly you’re out of breath trying to keep pace with who’s in and who’s out. Everything is high pressure. Human nature cannot endure much more!”

Again, not everything is impacted by change. This editorial appeared in the Atlantic Journal on June 16th, 1833 … 175 years ago! One might think it was written yesterday … demonstrating that while many things change — some things simply don’t!

Education, experience, intelligence, budget, research, innovation — all are meaningless unless properly applied to the challenge at hand. We have the resources. However, for some reason we have yet to utilize them and, as a result, are witnessing increasingly negative consequences. One must wonder what it’s going to take before our nation’s leadership initiates action to close this critical Knowing-Doing Gap.

Sadly, these Knowing-Doing Gaps also exist in our organizations, businesses, and communities across the nation. At the moment there seems to be a great deal of knowing and very little doing in far too many areas of our society. It’s going to take individual action at many levels to initiate a collective turnaround of this devastating trend. Why not be one of those individuals?

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.