What Will You Be Known For?

I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger today.  You may recall he is the guy celebrated as a hero when he safely landed a plane in NYC’s Hudson River after having all of his engines fail.

Overall, the article is very inspiring and I enjoyed reading it.  One thing that really struck me, however, was one of  Sully’s quotes in the article:

"We need to try to do the right thing every time, to perform at our best," he says, "because we never know what moment in our lives we'll be judged on."

  That is a very poignant comment, isn’t it?  It was also very timely for me, as I’ve been thinking about similar things in my own life lately.  You see, I’ve done a huge variety of things in my career but, as I change roles I sometimes find myself a bit “typecast” based on one person or another’s view of what they believe I’m best at based on their limited experience with me. 

At a certain level, I’m flattered that they think I’m adding value in a particular area, but in other ways I feel short changed because my talents aren’t being fully utilized.  My default behavior is sometimes to just “live with it” though I am making more of a conscious effort to do better “PR” so I don’t get minimized.

OK… enough whining - what are my takeaways from the thinking triggered by Sully’s quote?

• You can’t always pick what other people will value you for an remember you for, so try to do things you can be proud of whenever possible.  That way, no matter what someone else picks to tag you with, it’ll probably be OK.
• Just because you feel like your “highest and greatest” moments aren’t being noticed, doesn’t mean you’re not adding value.
• It takes a lot of work to overcome typecasting, if you can at all.  So ask yourself, “Is it worth it, or can I live with my typecasting?”
• You can honor the past, but you can’t live in it.  If you don’t like the present, work on how you can change things in the future.

Of course, the other side of the coin bears thinking, too:  Are there people I’m typecasting in the same way?  How would I even recognize it if I were? Hmm…

Introspection – Powerful Stuff

In my last post, I mentioned I’d been doing a lot of introspective thinking lately but what I didn’t mention is that I’ve had help with that.  My friends at Whakate sent me an advance copy of their Introspection Handbook and I have been putting it to good use.

The book (published as a PDF) has an accompanying workbook.  The two artifacts work together to guide you through a process that takes you through various aspects of your life experiences, attitudes, and what not.

You start with the ever-popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test to get a better feel for how you’re wired (Whakate has an online version of this test to get you going).  There are also some in-depth materials about your type – very helpful whether you’ve done the MBTI before, or not. 

As you go through the book, you are encouraged to analyze your thoughts around different scenarios to help you figure out what’s working and what’s not in each area.  They may be a little tough to see on the diagram at right  but the areas are:

Personality Assertiveness Values Script

Influence Goals Journal

As you can see, “You” are at the center and this book is about helping you understand yourself better and getting more deliberate about how you live your life and influence the world.  As my wife often says, “You need to teach people how they should treat you.”  This book will help you in that journey.

I must say, the results I’m getting are better than I expected.  I am also finding some things I don’t really like about how I’ve done things in the past, and am working to improve myself so I get better at them in the future.  Not a bad outcome from a book, eh?

If you’ve been avoiding that objective look in the mirror or you want to spend more time analyzing how you’ve gotten where you are, I highly recommend this book.

By the way, it helps to set aside some “quality time” and put yourself in the right frame of mind to get the most out of this book.  When I first read it, the book didn’t really resonate with me as much.  However, I revisited it following a disappointing setback and found it to be just what I needed.

[Review] Success Mapping

I read a lot of books.  A lot of them are just good information to build my knowledge in a certain topic area.  The best ones are those that inspire me to take action, and Arlene Johnson's "Success Mapping" is one of those books. 

The subtitle of the book is "Achieve What You Want…Right Now!" and, while I think that's a pretty bold promise, I think Johnson's book pays it off.  This book takes a step-by-step approach to guide you through the process of challenging yourself, setting goals, and building out the texture to make those goals feel real to you.  This all culminates in the creation of a detailed execution plan with milestones and check-ins.

What's the big deal about this book?

I know, I know…there are a lot of books that help with setting goals and making plans.  "So what makes this one different?," you might ask.  In my opinion, one thing that sets this book apart are the excellent 'worksheets' throughout the book.  They take the concepts Johnson explains in her book and make them concrete and actionable.

I'm using the worksheets as I go along, and have found them to be very powerful in getting me to show my work around the ideas bouncing around inside my head.

The worksheets alone are worth the price of the book (I'm not kidding - the worksheets are sold in standalone form - check out the prices and you'll see that the book is a bargain).

Not just idealism

The other thing I like about the book is it tackles Obstacles head on.  What I mean is it spends a fair amount of time taking the reader through an examination of various obstacles to success, and helps you create plans to mitigate the risks those obstacles represent.  This basically means you can go into execution mode with your eyes open, and that you've already thought about contingency plans if one of these obstacles appears in front of you.

There is also practical advice on how to garner the resources you'll need (financial, people, skills, etc.) to achieve your successful outcome.

I recommend this book to anyone who's pursuing a goal (or who has lots of ideas but doesn't know where to start.  While the book is definitely biased toward business people I think the concepts presented can apply to any goal you may have in your personal life, as well.

You should also check out the Success Mapping web site, where you'll find book excerpts, additional reference materials, and audio & video clips.  And best of luck creating your personal success map with "Success Mapping!"

It's more than just the game

In watching my kids and the various sports teams they are involved with, one thing is apparent:  the athletes that put in extra time to develop their skills fare better in the game.

Some of the athletes on the team rely solely on scheduled practices to get them ready for the game.  In other words, they do what is required and not much beyond that.

In contrast, the "high performers" on the team tend to do more than that, such as practicing skills & drills on their own time, doing conditioning and weights to strengthen themselves, etc.  These “extra” activities make those players better athletes in general and you can see that in their performance on the field (and they also tend to experience fewer injuries).

There is something to be learned there about business, too.  Are you a “show up for practices and games” kind of person, or do you work on your skills, conditioning, and other aspects of self-improvement away from work? 

For me (while I’m not always consistent about it), this kind of extra conditioning involves reading, attending webinars / seminars, benchmarking with other people to share skills, and things like that.  It also involves trying out different skills in other environments such as some of the scouting, church, and other teams I’m involved in (it’s much safer to try out a new “influencing others” play in volunteer roles, and it can be fun).

What about you?  How do your sharpen your saw away from work?  If you have any best practices to share I’d love to hear them.

Marketing in the Time of Cholera

Just finished reading a book by a friend of mine, Mark Gaydos, who’s chosen the provocative title, “Marketing in the Time of Cholera: : 6.5 Fundamentals for Thriving in a Toxic Economy.” Mark’s an industry veteran in marketing, as well as a university instructor on this topic, so he really knows his stuff.

Mark’s premise is that you don’t have to create some wild, crazy, Kanye West-like incident to stand out in the market, and that “marketing fundamentals” can guide you on where and how to invest for maximum success and revenue influence from marketing programs.

The book is very instructive regarding how to view your marketing programs from the customer’s perspective, and what kinds of metrics and indicators you can use to measure your success.

The book include sample analyses of marketing programs, examples of effective & ineffective web sites, banner ads, newsletters, etc. which help illustrate how to take a customer-oriented marketing approach.

The best news?  The book is free, and Mark doesn’t even ask for your email address (I guess he’ll make it up in volume…) 

You can download your free copy at the Marketing In The Time of Cholera book site, where you’ll also find a couple of videos in which Mark discusses how the book can help you.  Enjoy!