Proven ways to manage email overload

The emails you want (or need) are clogging your inbox and sapping your time. Try these techniques for taming the monster.

No matter if you're a manager, small business owner or salesperson, as technology expands email will continue to be an overwhelming presence in your day to day routine. In fact, when I conduct workshop for managers and salespeople, email overload seems to be an all too common thread.

Here are some ways to manage your inbox, save time, and conquer email overload.

·        Two-minute rule

It basically states that, if an email will take two minutes or less to answer, answer it and get it out of your inbox. If an email will take more than two minutes to answer, file it in your follow-up folder. Just be sure to follow up.

·        Email organization

One reason our inboxes become inundated with emails is that we don't have the proper organizational system in place. I have more than 20 folders for keeping track of messages. Start by creating a follow-up folder, a hold folder, and an archive folder. Having these three folders in place will help you to clear out your inbox and manage your messages more effectively. You can create a variety of folders to meet your needs.

·        Brevity

Don't worry about crafting the perfect reply; just keep your emails concise. Along with this, remember to craft a descriptive subject line that will help the individual determine what your email is about. (This will help with getting quicker replies, too.)

Example: "Question — About Advertising Prices." If you need to explain something in detail, where there could easily be a miscommunication, pick up the phone and give the individual a call. Sometimes email isn't the best tool for the job. 

·        Templates

No matter what your business, there will most likely be questions that you get asked over and over again. There are a couple of ways to solve this problem. You can create a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section on your website. You can also craft a template of responses that can be easily copied and pasted into the body if an email. By taking some time on the front end, you can save yourself loads of time on the back end.

·        Slowing down to read

Often we are in such a hurry that we end up skimming emails and missing important details. Slow down, and read the email in its entirety. Many times just by taking a few extra minutes to read thoroughly, we can clear up misunderstandings, reply with a more focused answer, and save time by following directions.

·        Creating an email schedule

If you keep your email open all day long, every time you get a new email, you'll be distracted from what you're doing at the time. Letting email distract you all day long is a huge time waster, not to mention that it is controlling how you work.

·        Unsubscribing

How much time do you spend deleting unwanted emails from subscriptions that you've outgrown, no longer need, or have been automatically been signed up for? Take a minute (or 15), go through your newsletter subscriptions, and unsubscribe yourself. Most companies have made the process easy, and it takes just a few seconds. If you must keep the subscription, set up email filters so the email is placed in a reading folder for later.

With any good plan, it will take a few weeks to make these changes a habit. Once you start taking control of your email, you will notice an increase in your productivity.

All the success,

Peter Mclees

A MILLENNIAL OFFERS 7 TIPS FOR ENGAGING MILLENNIALS

—BY PAUL ANGONE 

1. Stop Referring to Us So Much as “Millennials”

If you’re thinking and referring to the college students or twentysomethings in your classroom, office or home as Millennials, you’re already starting off on bad terms.
“Millennials” is marketing speak. It’s a broad-scope label, bound and gagged with so many stereotypes that it instantly puts bad tastes in everyone’s mouths.
Researchers will say Millennials are those born between 1980-2000, or 1983-2000, or 1985-1996, or…gosh who knows??

But the vast age range and the amount of change that has taken place within this span of time makes me offer a slight guffaw when trying to lump us all in together.
I was born in 1983. I made mixed tapes. I played Nintendo (and not because it was ironic). I didn’t have an email account until I was a sophomore in college. I didn’t have a cell phone until senior year of college. Yes I can remember exactly where I was when 9/11 happened, but I don’t think it became the collective generational rallying cry that events like the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, Woodstock, elicited.

Basically the vast array and scope of events, technologies, and individual experiences that have shaped this generation are too much to contain into the newest, scathing research article that polled 1,240 “Millennials”, so is somehow going to accurately describe all 80 million of us.
So stop with all the Millennial language. And stop with all the stereotypes. If you’re going to come at us with the angle of “entitled, narcissistic, and lazy” then that’s all you’re going to see.
Instead of referring to “those Millennials,” call them (enter their first names here)

2. Relationship First. Everything else Second.
Before you spell out office protocol. Before you ask for a volunteer, a sign up, or a purchase. Before you come downstairs with your agenda. Before you lay out the “this is how we do things here…” Even before that dreaded syllabus is handed out.

Build.A.Relationship.

Spend time with us before you try to lead us. Ask questions. Get to know our story and we will more receptively hear and understand yours.

3. Share Your Story (flaws and mistakes definitely included)
Whether you’re a  a manager, a president, or a parent, I think you’d be surprised how interested the twenty-somethings in your life are about your story. And not really about the successful parts.
No, they want to hear how you screwed up. How you don’t have it all figured out. How you’ve questioned, feared, and failed. They want to know what you’re currently wrestling with and the strategies you are using to overcome.

The age of the super-human leader with no flaws is dead.
Twenty-somethings don’t want leaders who are super-humans, they want leaders who are super-human. Have heart. And learn to speak from it. (tweet that)

Twenty-somethings want leaders who can admit their mistakes, ask for forgiveness, confess weaknesses, can you look you in the eyes and actually talk to you beyond the latest status reports and deadlines. Beyond what your “title” at work says you deserve.
You know, an actual human.

Twenty-somethings want to follow real people with real chinks in their armor who are still really moving forward.
They want someone they can trust and it’s your mistakes openly shared that become that great connecting point.

Vulnerability will beget vulnerability. Create a safe space for your college student or twenty-something to open up about their numerous fears by sharing a few of your own.
If you can’t honestly talk about your own struggle, then twenty-somethings, honestly, won’t listen to your solution.

4. Create Community and Clarity (and yes don’t skimp on the positive re-enforcement in the process) I hear from countless twenty-somethings all over the world who feel lost, confused, directionless, and most of all ALONE. I repeat, the most common phrase I hear is “I feel all alone.”
If your twenty-something (possibly living back under your roof) seems unmotivated, I’d argue it’s not stemming from laziness; it’s coming from a lack of purpose and place. They don’t know where they’re going or how they’re going to get there, and the fear,failure, and overwhelming anxiety is suffocating them.

Can you help them create a vision for their life? Can you help ask them important questions? Can you create a place where they really feel understood?

Can you create an environment that is fluid and flexible, that is more dedicated to the end goal than it is to policies, procedures, and “this is how we’ve always done things.”
As I wrote in my book 101 Secrets For Your Twenties, “The life of a twentysomething is that of a nomad. Picking up your tent and continually traveling to locate the herd and test the soil so that you can find the right place to land, the right place to call home.”

Can you create a place that feels like home? Can you create a work environment that gives a twenty-something room to grow, explore, be heard, and create?

If you make a twenty-something feel like they’re in a foreign country, they will continue to travel. (tweet that) If you make a twenty-something feel more isolated, they will be looking for the quickest way to escape.

And yes, they don’t want you to hold back the affirmation in the process, if it’s authentic. Twenty-somethings are struggling to figure out who they are and where they fit, and they could really use some positive affirmation from you. They will respond better to positive affirmation than they will to the negative or demeaning authoritarian leader.

5. Give Twenty-somethings a Place at the Adult Table (and don’t surround it with a bunch of barriers and flaming hoops of fire to jump through)
Too many twenty-somethings feel like they’re still sitting at the bright orange kids table using plastic forks, while the real adults decide the important matters.

I think a twenty-something’s biggest fear is insignificance. They want to have a role in something bigger than themselves.

Leaders, managers, parents and pastors – let twenty-somethings be a part of the bigger discussion.
Be confident enough in who you are as a leader to stop minimizing who twentysomethings are as followers and future leaders.

Sure twenty-somethings don’t have the experience others do, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t give valuable input based on their strengths and experiences. They see problems from a different perspective, with a different lens.

Let them be heard and they will want to stay. Don’t put a two-year-long obstacle course in front of a twenty-something for them to prove their worth before they can open their mouths. Or they will just start running a different race.
But I can hear you know – the twenty-somethings in my office think they know everything and won’t shut up about it!
Yes, the twenty-somethings in your office might need to learn more tact, humility and how to be better listeners. But wouldn’t you rather have employees who care enough to voice their opinions and fight for them, than the employee who really stopped working for you five years ago and causes no ripples whatsoever because they stopped jumping in the water a long time ago?

6. Practice “To The Point” Communication
My generation wants you to get to the point.
Blame it on technology. Write about those dwindling attention spans.
But I think it’s because we’ve grown up in a world where we’ve had to learn to be proficient at mega-messaging-multi-tasking.

So many headlines. So many emails. So many blogs and books. So many texts, messages, tweets, you name it. When you’re sending a twentysomething a message – whether a work email, text, or article, they are mentally putting it on top of their stack of messages to hopefully get to later. Like a Hollywood producer with a mountain of scripts on their desk, your message better be sizzling and too the point if it’s hoping to rise to the top.

And writing a verbose email is not the way to do it.Leaving a long voicemail is not the way to do it.
Having a bunch of meetings with numerous “key stakeholders” who all dance around the topic with verbal calisthenics, all trying to one-up each other with their verbal prowess, is not the way to do it. (I’ve been in too many of these meetings!)

For twenty-somethings, death by meetings is a terrible way to die.

7. Paint the Bigger Picture (and give us a brush)
In your office, home, or classroom, paint the bigger picture of where things are headed and the importance of the different steps to get there. Then let this generation grab their brush and imagine what their role could look like within it.

Give them goals and assignments placed within the context of the bigger picture. Tell the story of where your organization is headed and let the college students and twentysomethings enter into it. Let them see the purpose, impact, and importance of the work, and you’ll be surprised at the passion and purpose twenty-somethings bring to their jobs, to your church, and to your home.

The Real Source of Personal Change (And the role of the DiSC)

Cleaning out my office the other day - an odd thing in itself - I came across something even more unusual than the thought of me cleaning anything. 

It was the original DiSC Behavioral Profile my department and I did back in the early 90s.The chart showed that I was heavy in the “dominance” and “influence” areas with pretty much zilch in the “conscientiousness” and “steadiness” realms. It was apparently a classic “Inspirational Pattern.” This is what it looked like (over on the left).

According to the DiSC material:

• My goal is to control my environment by “consciously attempting to modify the thoughts and actions of others.”
• I’m adept at “identifying and manipulating other’s existing motives and directing the resulting behavior toward a predetermined end.”
• I influence others through charm and intimidation and become manipulative and quarrelsome under pressure.

Tell me something I don’t already know. The need to control things is something I know a lot about.

So why bring up this unpleasant bit of history? Well, it’s surprising how accurately that profile described the “me” of 18 years ago. And while there were some things I would have liked to change about my behavior at the time, the truth is that I didn’t change that much after I took the assessment.

Don’t get me wrong; I have changed a lot since then. But what the DiSC program revealed, only started the change in my behavior. I really began to change when my goals changed - for reasons we’ll get to in a minute - and I realized the behavior that had served me in the past was no longer effective.

That’s what this post is about: the difference between identifying behavioral characteristics, which DiSC and similar programs like Myers-Briggs are very good at, and actually doing something about it, i.e. modifyingbehavior, which is a whole different ball game.

The real value of behavioral profiles systems
Not only was the DiSC system spot-on, it also provided tips on how I can be more effective and showed my staff why I behaved like a crazy person from time to time. That said, I think the real value in the exercise was that, for a day, we all got to be on the same level discovering what each of us was really all about. I remember it being fun and disarming and the increased understanding did help us better communicate and work together as a team.

Even so, though DiSC system told me I could be a control freak under certain conditions, was deeply afraid of “being too soft,” and would be more effective by showing some “genuine sensitivity” from time to time, nothing really changed that much because I had a job to do and that was get results, not get all warm and fuzzy with my inner self.

What it really takes to affect behavioral change
In reality, it took a couple of pretty dramatic personal crises to get me to take a cold hard look in the mirror and decide that I wanted different things out of life. And to achieve them, I would need to spend some quality time actually getting to know others around me and myself and enjoy life. I needed some balance.

An employee who used to work for Intel’s former CEO Andy Grove - a guy who was famously tightly wound - once said that Grove became a much nicer and mellower guy after his run-in with prostate cancer. A manager I used to work for also softened up after a scary medical condition. That’s the sort of thing that motivates change.

You see, DiSC profiles may be eerily accurate, but they’re still pretty limited compared to everything you and I have going on under the hood. That’s because the architecture of the human mind is complicated. It’s actually a lot like an onion. 

And just like an onion, you peel a layer, cry, peel another layer, and wail some more. In other words, just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you go a bit deeper and find out you didn’t know a darn thing. The mind’s tricky like that.

You see, what it all really comes down to, the essence of how you and I behave on a daily basis, is a loop that actually goes something like this:

You can follow the loop for years, even decades, thinking everything’s fine. Then, one day, something happens - a crisis, an epiphany - and you realize that the results of all your efforts weren’t what you expected. So you change your goals and, well, your behavior won’t change overnight, but it’s a start.

To your greater success,

Peter Mclees, LMFT

Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

A Big MAC (donald’s) Life Lesson from Founder Ray Croc

A Big MAC (donald’s) Life Lesson from Founder Ray Croc

Thousands cover the landscape from New York to California, from Londonto Tokyo. It doesn't matter how young or old you are, chances are good that you've walked into one, most likely more than once. And regardless of what you think about its image and impact, no one can argue that McDonalds isn't a mega success in the world of business.

The point of this McDonalds's story isn't about what they serve over the counter each day, nor does it have anything to do with the debate over where these restaurants should and should not be located. No, this story is different.

It's one of dreams and inspiration. And the leading role is played by its legendary fountainhead, Ray Kroc.

With the World Series getting underway soon and the Olympics right around the corner, we are constantly reminded that greatness often begins at an early age. We hear of children becoming athletes only years after they learn how to walk, about young stars working decades to reach the pinnacle of their sport.

This theme, success being achieved by those who started at an early age, is found in much more than sport.

Busting the Myth

Entrepreneurs like Bill Gates of Microsoft and Phil Knight of Nike, both beginning their drive toward success at an early age, lead us to believe that all success follows this path.

And if success in life requires an early start, millions around the world have already missed their chance. But then a man named Ray Kroc comes along and gives us hope. He gives us proof that an early start isn't as important as a deep desire to make the most of our lives.

When most people believe their life is winding down and heading for retirement, Kroc was just beginning to create one of the most successful businesses in history.

To begin working toward his dream at twenty years of age would be quite amazing given the size and success of his company at the time of his passing. Thirty or forty years old would be almost ridiculous.

So how old was Ray Kroc when he took the first step toward growing McDonald's into a worldwide phenomenon?

52.

Even now I can't believe it. But it's true, and it gives hope to every single person out there who feels that their time has passed. As long as you're alive and breathing, your time will never pass.

But the history of Ray Kroc and his decision to achieve a dream late in life is about much more than age. It's about a lesson we all must learn if we are to be truly happy and successful.

What's the Real Lesson?

What I want to do with this post more than anything else is to get one point across: you must take all that you are at this moment and make the most of it.

Excuses about age, time, money, economy, and every other item we throw into the mix to help us feel better about putting our dreams on hold will end up killing our hopes for a happy and fulfilling life.

Ray Kroc teaches us that age is never an issue when it comes to getting what you really want in life. Use his story to inspire action if you are at an age when you felt that your time had passed. But this is only one example. If you look hard enough you will find a story like Kroc's that shatters every excuse we hide behind. People from every walk of life, facing extraordinary odds, have achieved great things and created truly amazing lives. Proof that you can do it as well.

Before I get to the heart of today's point we want to mention one of the most important aspects of goals. What if you don't know what you want? Few situations in life are as confusing and frustrating as wanting a happier, more successful life but not knowing how to make it happen.

More people than you think have trouble in this area, and it's because the majority of us have never been given the tools to uncover our true goals. There are specific steps you can take that will bring to light the goals that will give you everything you want and more.

An Exercise to Inspire Success

It's time to take what we have learned and put it to use. If you're human, you probably have a few excuses that you tell yourself about why you can't do something about your goals today. Perhaps the time isn't right or the time has already passed. Maybe the money isn't there or the people around you just won't support your plan. Whatever it is, we want you to make a short list of the most powerful excuses you tell yourself.

When you have them, we want you to do something a little different than usual. Instead of writing down all of the reasons why your excuses aren't true, we want you to act as if you're giving advice to a friend who has told you about his or her goal but ends it with the excuses you use for putting off following through. Think about it. What would you tell your best friend if he or she came to you and said...'I really want to (goal), but I can't because (excuse).'What would you say to change their mind? What would you say to motivate them past their excuses and onto success?

When you know what you would say to them, say it to yourself and follow through.

How Much Do You Want It?

The reason for this role reversal is simply that we are great at giving advice but rarely as good at taking it ourselves. By changing the roles you can get your best advice out of your head and hard to work for you and your future.

When it comes down to it, you've got to ask yourself how much you want to change your life, how much you really want to achieve your goals. If they are worth it, which we know they are, put an end to the excuses and follow Ray's lead.

Accept the facts of your situation and move ahead with an unwavering confidence. You may not end up selling billions of hamburgers to millions of people around the world, but you will do something much more important -you will live your best life.

Ray Kroc could have used his age as an excuse to pass by the opportunity that brought him unimaginable success. He could have shrugged his shoulders and lowered his head in defeat.

Instead, he grabbed life by the horns and plowed full speed ahead toward the dream he was unwilling to pass by.

To your greater success,

Peter Mclees, LMFT

Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

11 Positive Ways to Deal with Negative People

By putting in just a little effort up-front, you can better deal with the difficult people in your life. 

Theodore Roosevelt said, “The single most important ingredient of success is knowing how to get along with people.” 

Of course, Roosevelt never met that annoying guy in accounting you have to deal with every week, did he? And he certainly didn’t have your in-laws.

Funny thing, it seems that even the folks we find particularly difficult to deal with have friends, spouses, and social lives. So it’s clear that someone is able to get along with them. Why not us? By putting in just a little effort up-front, by taking the high road, you can better deal with the difficult people in your life. Here’s how:

1.      Identify their negativity

Just what is it about them that you find so “difficult?” Think back to the original situation when you officially classified them as such. Make sure that your assessment is the result of a pattern of demonstrated behavior, and not the result of a single interaction upon which you’ve been focusing. Once you’re sure there’s a pattern, come up with a few examples
.

2.      Think about their overall goals

They may be difficult, but they’re still human. They have goals and objectives, and in most cases “being difficult” is not one of them. Consider what overall goals are driving their “difficult” behavior. Is that guy in accounting who annoyingly nags you for additional receipts just trying to drive you nuts, or does his pending promotion require that he collect flawlessly accurate documentation? Sometimes reflecting on the goals that affect a person’s “difficult” behavior can provide enough insight to make them tolerable.

3.      Consider their possible fears

We all have fears, even if we don’t realize what they are. Some folks fear not getting work done on time. Others fear criticism. Or they are afraid they’ll be taken advantage of. These fears impact our behavior, even to the point of being perceived as “difficult” to some folks. If you consider that your “difficult” person actually has some fears that drive them, you might just see that person in a different light.

4.      Observe their strengths

Perhaps the office assistant is “difficult” at times, but she’s a little easier to take when you realize that her natural affinity for details and organization actually makes your life easier in some ways. Or think about your “difficult” team leader whose confidence and assertiveness enables her to successfully negotiate a deadline extension on your behalf. What strengths does your “difficult” person bring to the table and how do those strengths provide value to the organization?

5.     Look at the “flip side” of those strengths

Our strengths are positive, right? Most of the time they are, but sometimes they can be over used—and an overextended strength can be at the root of your “difficult” person. For example, self-confidence is a desirable strength. But when it’s overdone, we see that same person as cocky. To better understand your “difficult” person, assess what is annoying you and look for the strength behind it.

6.      Figure out their motivators

As Dr. Phil might say, “What’s their currency?” Is maintaining a harmonious family top priority
Or are they mostly driven by career accomplishment? Does their competitiveness define them
Or is it most important to them that everyone just get along? Is what motivates them contributing
to what you’re assessing as being difficult?

7.      Note their reaction to stress

Apply enough stress, and you’ll see a person’s behaviors change. Consider if the “difficult” behaviors you’re seeing are a result of stressful situations. Someone who inspires enthusiasm in others may become glib or appear superficial when under a lot of stress. Under stress, a supportive, dependable team player can become detached, inflexible, and even stubborn.

8.      See their perspective

Perform all of the steps above, and you’ll likely have a pretty good idea of that “difficult” person’s perspective on the world. And seeing that perspective brings some “aha” moments. “Oh, that’s why he got so worked up when I didn’t reply immediately….” Now, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t still exhibiting difficult behaviors that you might need to address at some point, but you probably understand them better now.

9.      Consider your own behaviors

Now that you’ve dissected the “difficult” person, you must consider your own behaviors and how that person likely perceives them. It’s never fun to think that we might be contributing to the problem, but you must take a look at the possibility that perhaps they see you as “difficult.”

10.      Empathize

This step is easy if you’ve actually done each of the prior steps. Once you see things through another person’s perspective and understand their behaviors better, empathy seems to come more naturally.

11.  Speak their “language”

Armed with new insights about your “difficult” person, adapt your communication approach to better match their perspective on the world. If they value accuracy and high-standards, responding to them from that view shows respect to their feelings. Making this effort can help you head-off conflict and avoid triggering the “difficult” behaviors they’ve demonstrated in the past.

These 11 steps take a little effort. You may be questioning why you should have to do anything—after all, he’s the difficult one! Well, a very wise person—who I at one time considered particularly “difficult”—once told me that I had a choice: I could take the short-term pain or I could take the long-term pain.

There are three roads we can take when dealing with others. The low road, the middle road and the high road.

The Low road is treating others worse than they treat us.

The middle road is treating other the same as they treat us

The high road is treating others better than they treat us.

Take the high road because it’s the most fulfilling one.

To your greater success,

Peter Mclees, LMFT

Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

A Profile in Positive Leadership

Jerry was the kind of guy you loved to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “IF I WERE ANY BETTER, I WOULD BE TWINS!”

He was unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason why we waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there listening to the employee and telling them how to look at the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive, up person all the time. How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, ‘Jerry you have two choices today. You can chose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim, or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes complaining to me, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can help them create a solution, I choose to help them see the positive side of life.’

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.

“Yes it is,” Jerry said “Life is about choices. When you cut away the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good or bad mood. If you find yourself with an attitude that is not what you want, you can choose another one. You can’t choose a positive attitude everyday. True. But you do choose some type of attitude everyday. 

The bottom line: It’s your choice how to live your life.”

I reflected in what Jerry said. Soon thereafter I left the restaurant to go to an out of state university. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?” I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door, Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared, I asked?” “Absolutely,” Jerry replied.

Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action.”

 “What did you do?” I asked.

 

“Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘BULLETS!!’

 Over their laughter, I told them, “I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”

 Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his nurses and doctors, but also, because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have a choice to live fully.

Peter Mclees, LMFT

Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

10 Surefire Ways to Create a Team of Winners

Want to be an excellent leader? A truly inspirational, effective agent of your team’s success? There is literally nothing harder – or more important – in the world of work. That’s why effective leaders are so rare in real life.

If that discourages you, them maybe you don’t have what it takes to lead after all. If it motivates you instead? Well, then, here are a few tips to take it from “in charge guy/gal” to “excellent leader !”

1. Repeat after me (to your team): “My job is to help you be successful by making your job easier.”

No, your job is not to give them the day off to shop while you finish up their work for them. But your job as leader – your only job, as leader – is to remove impediments and provide the tools for your people’s success. Take the obstacles out of their way and give them the resources so they can do the important work of your company: serving your customers!

2. Foster friendships among your staff.

After work socialization is important – it is! But nothing builds camaraderie and team spirit like shared success as the result of shared struggle. What’s your team’s greater goal? What significant challenges are you confronting that all of you can be proud of overcoming together?

3. Reward for the big things. And the medium things. And even the itty-bitty little things.

We like praise. We want recognition. One winner-takes-all vacation or mega-bonus for the year’s top performer is great and all, but how about a $5 Starbucks, or even a made-up certificate from your printer, because someone filed her report on time? 

4. Push them.

People of quality want to be good at their jobs. Kindly help them to improve. …Kindly, but maybe not gently.

5. Release the “Just Enoughers” to other “opportunities.”
We all know the “Just Enoughers.” Employees that do just enough to avoid getting fired. No one likes to work with slackers – except other slackers. Redeploy them sooner than later. As the old saying goes, “If it’s inevitable, make it immediate.”
 

6. Hire slowly and caaaaarefully!

Show your current team members and your new recruits that not just anybody belongs on your team. If you want to build an elite group, hire top performers. You’ll have to kiss a lot of frogs as you vet the talent pond.

7. Give them something important to get up for in the morning.

Remember number 2, with the part about shared challenges? Pick a lofty goal. Then make pursuit of that the rallying cry of your team. Change lives, change how business is done; don’t just settle to change who wins this year’s sales contest. 

8. Talk up your people to others.

Talk your team up to your peers, to their peers, to your boss and her boss and heck, to the security guard, too. Be proud of each of them, and share that pride with anyone who’ll listen. Word will filter back to them, and as it does, it will have have a major impact. 

9. Expect the world of them.

Establish with your team how highly you respect and admire them. Expect big things from them. They will live up to your image of them, no matter what it takes.

10. Be worthy of their effort.

Want to really be the best, most effective leader ever? Work to improve yourself every day, in every way that is important to your team’s success. In order to lead a group of champions to new heights, you as leader must be worthyof the team’s time and energy. And that’s a lot more than we have room for in one blog post.

You will never be as good as you can be as a leader. But every hour of every day, if you’re sufficiently devoted to the success of your team, you can improve. Keep at it, and your people will start bragging about you – to their peers, your peers, your boss and her boss. And yes, even to the security guards.

When it percolates back to you how admired you are by those you serve as leader… you’ll be infinitely prouder than if they told you themselves! 

All the success!

Peter Mclees, LMFT

Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/