Take a quick look at the video by none other than the Athletic director of The Ohio State University, Gene Smith.
His thoughts are very illuminating when it comes to trying to maximize your earnings.
© 2007, Hire Me Book.
www.HireMeBook.com
Attitude Is Everything
posted by Hire Me Book - E-Hire Me on Thursday, January 24, 2008
A nice piece appeared in the Peace Arch News about a recent speech that we gave on the topic of Hire Me and earning your rewards.
Take a look at what they had to say here.
Live large.
© 2007, Hire Me Book.
www.HireMeBook.com
Working on the Future
posted by Hire Me Book - E-Hire Me on Thursday, January 03, 2008
© 2007, Hire Me Book.
www.HireMeBook.com
Define T.E.A.M.
posted by Hire Me Book - E-Hire Me on Monday, June 25, 2007
"Blessed is he who has found his work." --- Thomas Carlyle (nineteenth century English essayist)
"When you were born, the world rejoiced while you cried. Live your life in such a way that, when you die, the world cries while you rejoice." --- The Dalai Lama
The world is begging for you to help out.
Begging and begging and begging some more. Help me. I need more disciples and more people that understand the meaning of this world and this life.
You see it is the lost causes that interrupt the true nature of finding, discovering, and living for the true causes of this world. The habitual, new world, phenomenon of material gain has clouded the vision of most of us and has rendered us useless.
People no longer live to aid a higher cause because they feel that gaining and adding cars, trucks, houses, and fine clothing is their real purpose. Where and when did this divergence get created? Why?
Today the modern person gets up early, misses lunch, works late, doesn’t truly take care of their physical state let alone their mental state of affairs, and then wonders why there is love lost, lack of energy, a loss of drive or desire for getting up in the morning, and major illness plaguing their lives. When described like this it seems easy to discover the reasons for these problems yet most of you in this situation will read this, hear the point, and then carry on with what you were doing; being part of the problem and not part of your solution. Hearing and not understanding the point.
What are you working for? What are you really most proud of?
A little glimpse into the everyday conversations around a bike store can give you a view of what really matters to most.
"I road further today than I have ever ridden before – it felt amazing breaking down that mental barrier of two hours in the saddle."
"I can’t believe I actually finished that Duathlon. I never thought I could do it."
"I rode that log like time was standing still and then Peter ripped it right behind me. It was like we were fifteen years old again. We were so proud of each other. It is going to be a great barbeque tonight."
"I'm training to complete my first triathlon."
"A trip through the Napa Valley on my bike was possibly my best trip ever."
No boats, no money, no housing costs or interest rates. No, these moments are people doing what they want and accomplishing things they never thought they could. People following their hearts and consuming themselves with a cause and a purpose. Physically empowering themselves to finish events, try new things, go further, and discover themselves.
This is where the journey must start for all of us. Discovering ourselves will allow us to gain the next level of understanding and to then help others and our world.
Here is the warning. If you do not discover that you are striving for the wrong things than you will find that you never end up satisfied and that pot of gold you thought so necessary will only become an anchor that is difficult to release. Money is not what you should want it is a by product that you may earn as you pursue your cause.
Just ask the Dali Lama if he thinks he is wealthy.
© 2007, Hire Me Book.
www.HireMeBook.com
A Cause
posted by Hire Me Book - E-Hire Me on Wednesday, June 13, 2007
last week we received an inventory from one of our co workers. first, let me explain what an 'inventory' is.
when people apply to our company, they are asked to submit a personal inventory describing (for themselves & to themselves) who / what & why they are the way they are. specifically we are looking for patterns of behaviors we will undoubtedly see and have to address. the theory is, if we can encourage people to reflect on their past, significant moments, and their own strengths and weakness origins, we will increase the likelihood of managing their talents through their term. knowing is half the battle.
does it work. 100%. what it does is challenge young people to look at themselves before we look... and comment. people are invited to share their inventories if they want and we begin by sharing ourselves so people understand what they should be looking for.
...back to last week. i received a copy of someones inventory and was blown away by how well it was written and also, how much this young woman had come through to make it to where she is now. what struck me as odd was how thankfully she reacted after sharing her story with us and having our support. it was as if we were giving her permission to be human, vulnerable, and exorcise her demons in a safe haven.
i thought about that long and hard because i have seen it before. giving someone permission. so many times we go through life and learn to fear people who say "no". no is a power word used by powerless people. remember, any idiot can say no, but only a true leader, entrepreneur, mentor, hero etc has the capacity to say "yes".
yes it is ok to be who you are. yes you will still be supported, in fact likely more now that we have a snapshot into areas we otherwise may not have known about. yes it's ok to make a mistake. yes you will be held accountable, but yes we will learn from it and move on. yes, you are still a great human and contributing member. yes life is tough. yes there is a lot of good in the world. yes there are people you can trust, yes yes yes yes yes.
keep saying & thinking yes. i can... i will.... i am and you will reach the promised land of self actualization in short order. you will be successful beyond your wildest imagination.
this isn't "the secret" talk... because the path to this fantastic discovery actually.
ISN'T A SECRET.
© 2007, Hire Me Book.
www.HireMeBook.com
You Have Permission.
posted by Hire Me Book - E-Hire Me on Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Ten years ago I attended a conference in which the key note speaker addressed the crowd in a frustrated tone. He actually stated that he was mad at everyone in the crowd for how little thay had acheived. While we on swim upstream consistently coach removing emotion from leadership in order that the focus remain on the message, his objective was acheived. Everyone thought about what he said and was about to say.
He continued by stating that the most difficult physical act anyone on this planet will ever overcome is learning how to walk. Most of us do this between our first and second year of life, and then, biomechanically speaking, life gets easier ever thereafter.
This is where we leave the message of Paul Chek (for now) and introduce the idium of "crawl, walk, jog, sprint".
To learn anything (physical, technical, intellectual, etc) we must start at the beginning. This (I hope) is not news to anyone. The reason we have to revisit this concept so often is because of those terrible words "yeah, yeah"
How many times have you (or your employees or your children) asked how to do something, only to listen to you draw the blueprint, and then do their own thing? The challenge of parents, teachers, coaches, and all other leaders is that we can never say, show, or teach soemthing just once.
Leadership, after all, is saying the same thing over and over (albeit using different methods and modes of communicating) until our pupil 'gets it'. Our objective is to teach others a skill and have them perform it at their highest ability (to have them sprint).
In order to sprint, we need to crawl, walk, and jog. If we miss a step, we affect the eventual outcome and the entire process. It's kind of like learning to give great public speeches before you learn to listen... people will eventually realize that you only care about your own message and not what the crowd wants to hear from you. They may dub you a 'windbag'.
If we learn to crawl, and master this ability, before we walk, job, or sprint, we will break the 10 second 100m dash (we will move our community, our industry, or our family and even our very existance forward).
Paul Chek (who you will recall gave the keynote address) only attained a grade 8 education, but he researched the science of physical training, and crawled for a long time before he put it into practice (I asked him and he's read over 500 books on the subject). He then walked for years (over 20) before he jogged (started his own business) and then sprinted (started his own certification and his students command $150/ hr for personal training).
Before you demand a sprint race from your pupils... ask yourself if you've taught them how to crawl. Have you taught yourself???
Don't "yeah, yeah" one step, and neither will they.
Stan Peake
© 2007, Hire Me Book.
www.HireMeBook.com
The First Step
posted by Hire Me Book - E-Hire Me on Thursday, June 07, 2007
If you are in a leadership position at your work, you might be surprised at how much people pick up from your body language, non verbal cues and general demeanor above your spoken word. Assuming the leadership position comes with the reality of heightened visibility and the challenge is to make sure with that visibility, resides a responsibility heightened awareness.
Last week I walked into a bike shop where I witnessed many great things coming together at once. The excitement was palpable and the energy was apparent as the team rushed to begin their day. Suddenly came a startling holler from the back 40 which instantaneously changed the mood for the worse.
There was shouting, and tension and a very directionless attempt at leadership from someone who didn't even look like they were involved in this ecosystem. Upon futher examination, it could be determined this was the owner / leader of the operations and as I watched the next 15 minutes, customers headed directly to the cash register, heads down trying to pay for their goods and get out ofthe store.
It clearly made everyone uncomfortable and reminded me of a mother yelling at her children in front of all their friends. Their friends really don't know what to do, the child is humiliated and the mother just keeps on walking unaware of the impression she has just left. Is this effective. Surely not. It simply creates a situation where the child doesn't bring his friends over to the house anymore. For starters, they don't want to come and secondly, the child is embarrassed.
The important point I took from watching this interaction, which is sometimes hard to see in your own situation unless removed, was that the leader needed to be aware, not only of her impact on the team, but the osmotic impact that carried over to the customers.
Remember, if you are leading, others will follow that lead!
© 2007, Hire Me Book.
www.HireMeBook.com
remember others are watching!
posted by Hire Me Book - E-Hire Me on Tuesday, June 05, 2007