Zig On…Tying Your Shoes

By Zig Ziglar

Roger Crawford was sixteen years old before he could tie his own shoes and even then it was Velcro that made it possible.  But he excelled in other areas like sports, becoming a star tennis player.  While in high school he was a championship player, winning over 95% of his matches.  He continued at nearly the same pace in college and has succeeded as a pro.

You can look at Roger and see that he has a “handicap.”  As Roger explains it, however, most people’s handicaps cannot be seen, but they’re just as real and in many cases more pronounced than his.  Roger was born with one leg missing from the knee down.  He doesn’t have normal hands complete with four fingers and a thumb.  As a matter of fact, he has only two extensions from where fingers normally are and yet he uses those two extensions to accomplish some remarkable successes.  Roger is one of those people who don’t complain about what he does not have, but rather makes full use of what he does have.  This is the attitude which enabled him to become the first severely handicapped athlete to compete in a NCAA Division college sport. 

Roger doesn’t pretend it’s been easy, but then life is seldom easy for most of us.  Today Roger Crawford is one of the most effective public speakers in our country and a very successful published author and family man.  He speaks to companies almost literally all over the world and they range from the Fortune 500 to the trade and educational associations.  My suggestion to all of us is to adopt more of the Roger Crawford attitude.  I believe that if we do, I really will SEE YOU AT THE TOP! 

Zig Ziglar is known as America’s motivator.  He is the author of 29 books and numerous audio and video recordings.  He brings his message of hope to thousands on the stages at the Get Motivated Seminars.  See him in action!

Quote

The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won’t work – if you won’t.        ~Zig Ziglar

3 Ways to Be a Positive Leader

By Jon Gordon

In a world filled with busyness and stress I find that too often leaders can act like hard-charging, fast-driving bus drivers that have a vision and goal within their sights and they’ll run over anyone–even their own employees–to reach their destination. I know this well because early in my business career I was that kind of leader and I have had to work hard to change my approach.

I realized that any hard-charging leader can create success in the short term, but it would take a positive leader with a people and process-driven approach to build a successful organization for the long term. As John Maxwell said, “If you are all alone at the top, you are not a leader. You are a hiker.”

No one creates success alone. To win in business, you must win with people. Running over people will only get you so far. To create true and lasting success you must nurture and invest in your people. Here are three essential ways to do this.

 1. Care about them – The main question every employee in every organization is asking is, “Do you care about me; can I trust you?” Employees want to know if you care about them. If you do, they will be more likely to stay on the bus and work with you. Employees are more engaged at work and will work at their highest potential when their manager cares about them.

 2. Develop a relationship with them – Author Andy Stanley once said, “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” Far too many managers and leaders share rules with their people, but they don’t have a relationship with them. So what happens? The people rebel, and they disengage from their jobs and the mission of the team. I’ve had many managers approach me and tell me that my books helped them realize they needed to focus less on rules and invest more in their work relationships. The result was a dramatic increase in team performance and productivity. To develop a relationship with your employees, you need to build trust, listen to them, make time for them, recognize them and mentor them.

 3. Appreciate them – The main reason people leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated. For example, Doug Conant, the CEO of Campbell Soup, has written more than 16,000 thank-you notes to employees in the past seven years and created a very positive business in the process. It’s as easy as saying (or writing) “Thank you.”

It’s a simple truth: When you care about your employees and the people you work with, they are more likely to stay on the bus and work harder, with more loyalty and greater positive energy. In turn, they are more likely to share their positive energy with your customers, thus enhancing service and the bottom line. The greatest customer service strategy has nothing to do with customer service, but it has everything to do with how you treat your employees. If you model great service, they will provide great service.

Remember, leadership is not just about what you do, but what you can inspire, encourage and empower others to do. Instead of running over the people in your team/organization, invite them on the bus with you and engage them to help you create an amazing and successful ride.

Jon Gordon is a speaker, consultant and international bestselling author of several books. His latest release is Soup: A Recipe to Nourish your Team and Culture. Jon helps individuals, organizations and teams develop positive strategies for enhanced leadership, teamwork and sales performance. Learn more about Jon and his latest book at www.Soup11.com.

 
Success 2.0

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June 15, 2010
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Ziglar Recommends

My friend and international bestselling author Jon Gordon has released a new book that I think you’ll find quite useful. It’s called “Soup: A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture” and it’s about how to create a winning team and culture of greatness.

It’s a quick entertaining read that will give you some really practical insights on:

**How culture drives behavior, behavior drives habits, and habits deliver results.
**Creating relationships that are the foundation upon which successful careers and winning teams are built.
**Building trust, creating unity, and enhancing team engagement (amongst your staff, volunteers, etc).

To celebrate the launch, Jon is giving away a free downloadable SOUP ACTION PLAN with the purchase of a book today. The Action Plan is a 32-page document that will help you apply the strategies and principles from within the book. Details on that offer and more about the book can be found at http://www.jongordon.com/soup-promo.html

Word of the Week

Ephemera
Noun
“e fem er a”
Some things short-lived or of no lasting significance.
I collect ticket stubs, gum wrappers and other ephemera.

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