Category: Development

November 22, 2010

Being Proactive about Habit 1 – Be Proactive

There are a lot of aspects to Habit 1, Be Proactive.  The most important aspect to me is that “if there is a will, there is a way;” whatever I need to improve about myself, I can with discipline and humbleness. Constant self-improvement has been vital for me to be successful in my business and personal life.  I had to improve on a lot of things.  Many of them were quite hard. Initially, my biggest obstacle was my speech.  I […]

November 8, 2010

Are we making the same mistake as Winnie the Pooh?

The book begins, “Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin.  It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is a another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.  And then he feels perhaps there isn’t.” When I read this seventeen years ago to my daughter, I thought “I am […]

October 18, 2010

Chile’s miners—free at last

Rescue efforts for the 33 men trapped in Chile’s San Jose Mine have come to a triumphant close with the recovery of the last miner, Luis Alberto Urzua, the 54-year-old foreman credited with helping the men survive 17 days before they were discovered. Their 69-day ordeal—the longest entrapment in human history—is finally over. I marvel at how the world has united behind these brave men and the Chileans determined to save them. Live video from within the mine and hourly […]

October 14, 2010

Lessons From a Humble Hero

I was deeply moved when I heard the story about Victor Perez, a Fresno man who rescued an eight-year-old girl from the clutches of a kidnapper last week. After spotting a pickup that fit a description aired on the morning news, quick-thinking Victor gave persistent chase, eventually forced the suspect to stop and helped free the young victim. We can learn from Victor’s decisive actions that fateful morning. An unemployed construction carpenter, Victor had seen hard times, laboring in the […]

September 29, 2010

The importance of customer loyalty

Sales is an extremely competitive industry with customer loyalty being the end goal. That’s why it so important to treat each interaction with a current or potential customer as an investment in that relationship. Did you know that 87% of customer said they would stop doing business with a company after a negative experience? And of those  84% said they would share their negative experience with others. On the other hand, 58% said they would recommend you to others after a positive […]

September 27, 2010

Doing Things Right or Doing the Right Things?

My son and I recently met Jerry Sanders, the founder of AMD – a computer chip manufacturer and one of the giants in the history of Silicon Valley. Jerry was telling us that people often confuse “doing things right” with “doing the right things.”  He said it was vital to “do the right things ” as doing the wrong things right ends in failure and burnout. Peter Drucker makes the same point in The Effective Executive.  So how do you […]

August 12, 2010

Learning Is More Important Than Results

I had a conversation with an employee the other day concerning self-development.  He believed it was vital at this stage in his career to get to the next level and asked me for my advice.  My suggestion was for him to have an intense student mentality right now and to ask for and follow suggestions from his mentors, whether he agrees with the advice or not, as long as he feels the advice is ethical. Why follow advice that you […]

June 21, 2010

Having Faith in Yourself

No matter much you struggle, you cannot lose faith in yourself. The great ones don’t. Lakers commentator Mychal Thompson during Kobe Bryant’s struggles in Game 7 of the NBA Championship. The Lakers fought and clawed in Game 7 to become the 2010 NBA Champions. It was a big win for all the Lakers, but no one wanted it more than Kobe Bryant. Kobe wants to win for his teammates and for his legacy to become one of basketball all-time greats. […]

June 7, 2010

Coach Wooden

Coach Wooden was voted by sports writers as the greatest coach of any sport in the 20th century. His UCLA teams won 10 national championships, by far the most ever. But it was not these successes alone that made his such an amazing man. It was his values- what he stood for: The Importance of Marriage and Family, Integrity and Character, Sacrifice and Teamwork. Preparation, Preparation and Preparation. Focus on the Effort, not the Results.

May 28, 2010

What we can learn from Artest – Goat to Hero

Last night, in Game 5 of the Lakers vs. Suns, Ron Artest made a heroic shot with no time on the clock to win the game.  I was fortunate to be at the game and see this exciting play in person. Before that shot, Artest was the goat.  He had a horrible game.  With about 57 seconds left on the clock he made a bad decision in taking a shot and was booed by the crowd.  Phil Jackson, the Lakers […]