Big Is The New Small

en-tre-pre-neur: a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business,
usually with considerable initiative and risk.

Many people have a desire to become a flourishing entrepreneur; however only a small percentage are successful. Successful entrepreneurs exhibit 2 key characteristics: a.) They are willing to put forth considerable initiative  b.) They understand they can’t be successful without a willingness to take considerable risk.

Do you want to be a successful entrepreneur?  Get up, Step up, Show some initiative and be ready to take some considerable risk.

Is it really that simple?  Share your thoughts!

I’m a connector, and I love connecting people to people and people to opportunities.  What I mean by that is that I love connecting like-minded people to other like-minded people.  I also love connecting great people to mutually great opportunities.

I feel that we’re made to connect, as we are connecting beings.  Even introverts have a desire to connect with people; they just appreciate their time, space and alone time.

It’s important to be a connector of people, as these connections help the world go around.  Some people-connections lead to great job opportunities for others.  Other people-connections lead to college students choosing this university or that university.  Then you have those connections that lead to meaningful relationships that eventually turn into a marriage.

Some of the most meaningful people-connections are those connections that lead to people far from God visiting a friend’s church, or hearing a friend witness. Those connections ultimately lead to an intimate connection with Jesus and a life that’s forever transformed.

No matter how you slice it, connections matter — Be a connector.

Do You Think Being A People Connector Is Important?  Share your thoughts and experiences?

No matter how you slice it, encouragement means more than you know.  There are tons of success stories that were inspired by someone encouraging someone with simple words like this, “You have what it takes.”

I remember reading an article in Southwest Airline’s Spirit Magazine about Baltimore Ravens Offensive Tackle Michael Oher that brought truth and reality to this very thing.  Michael is the famous NFL player whose life inspired one of my favorite movies “The Blind Side.”

Michael mentioned how he remembered his 4^th grade teacher Ms. Logan saying, “Can’t never could and ain’t never would.”  He also said he remembered later on in his schooling times when he thought about giving up Miss Sue would say, “You can do it!”  Those simple words were empowering and still impact him today.

For as long as I can remember I have remembered my mom telling me, “Son, you can do absolutely anything.”  Each and every step of my life that I had questions, whether it be college, grad school, starting businesses, big-time leadership roles, being the youngest prison warden in the country…  When I had questions and doubts my mom never had doubts.  “Son, you can do absolutely anything.” 

Throughout the years I’ve had mentors that have said some version of the same thing.   This encouragement coupled with a genuine belief that God is saying, “Son, you can do anything” has made a believer out of me.

As a result, I always try to be a genuine believer in most everyone that I get to work closely with.  One of the pastors that I used to work with told me that I was “Barnabas” to him and that attribute of encouragement saved his career and ministry calling.

It’s pretty amazing how this simple cycle works – I believe in others and in return they believe in themselves.   I have been accused of believing in people too much and I’ll take that criticism any day.  Fortunately, I worship a God that believes in His children too much.

Encourage someone today…  It Means More Than You Know.

Do you make it a habit to encourage others?  Do you know someone that does a great job of encouraging?  Share your thoughts and experiences.

Belief in people is of paramount importance as it relates to the success that they will have.  As a matter of fact, believing in others is the fuel that propels them down the road to success.

What should you do when those around you don’t believe in you?  

You should find a different group of people to surround yourself with.  If the people that don’t believe in you are friends and family, limit your interactions with them, tell them they’re wrong and more importantly prove them wrong.

“Some are destined to succeed, some are determined to succeed.” ~H.H. Swami

You tend to become who those closest and most important to you think you will become. Choose those that are most important and closest to you wisely.

Share your thoughts and experiences with both sides of this coin.

I have lots of thoughts each and every day, as a matter of fact all of us do.  There is varying research that suggests how many thoughts a day the average human has.  Some research indicates that 100 years ago the average number of thoughts was 5,000 a day and today humans think around 55,000 thoughts per day.  I guess we have a lot more to think about in this overly stimulating age and time.

I’m not sure what the accurate number of thoughts per day is, however I’d be inclined to think that I’m more aligned with the 55,000 thoughts a day number.  I would also say that many of the thoughts that I have are ideas, dreams, visions and more ideas.

As a consultant the general deliverables for my clients primarily deal with ideas, connecting those ideas to strategy and moving that strategy into reality.  The “always on” thinking works perfect for the way that I’m wired, because I’m a thinker and thinking is how I orient my world.  I literally had 10 different business ideas, strategies, thoughts and aha’s on my drive home today.  I got home did some research and realized that a couple of them didn’t make sense and I will pursue the others further.

That’s the beauty of having many thoughts is the fact that you weed out the ones that need to be weeded out and you act on the others.  The more ideas you have the greater opportunity for some of those ideas to be great ones.

The beauty an idea is the fact that it forces you to wrestle the question of, “Is this idea good, bad or indifferent?”  Often times a bad idea has as much value and opportunities for learning as a good one.  Ideas all have potential, it’s what you do with those ideas that determines whether or not the potential of a particular idea is realized.  Potential unrealized is just potential.

What Is An Idea Worth?  The idea itself is not worth much.  The strategy, thoughts, wrestling and process of massaging that idea into something special is worth lots, maybe even million$ or gazillion$.

There are tons of success stories that simply began with an idea that was developed into something very special.   What Is An Idea Worth?  It depends on what the person that has the idea is willing to do with it?

Got Ideas?  Share your thoughts.

Leadership, Leadership, Leadership…  it seems to be the point of discussion no matter what the subject is. If you turn on SportsCenter you might hear about Tom Brady, Kevin Durant or Kobe Bryant’s Leadership.  If you turn on any national news station you might hear about the leadership or lack there of, for the Republican candidate hopefuls or President Obama.  If you look in your social media streams you will see someone sharing a leadership quote or recommending a leadership book.

Everyone is always talking about leadership, many people are writing about leadership and everyone wants to be a better leader.  Leadership expert and author John Maxwell has written countless leadership books and has sold over 19 million copies – a great illustration that people desire to become better leaders.

It doesn’t matter how many leadership books you read, how much leadership intellect you have or if you have obtained an awesome leadership role.  The Cold Hard Facts About Leadership are this:

• 1. If your actions don’t inspire those around you to be more, do more and believe in themselves more; there is a good chance that you are not leading.
• 2. If you are more focused on how you’re perceived than you are developing others and helping those around you win; you’re not leading.
• 3. If you are unwilling to change or lead from the “my way or the highway” standpoint; you’re not leading, that’s called dictating.

Delusive leadership gets delusive results.  Keep it real, care about your people and help others win.  The end result will be better team members, a better organization and an overall better product for the consumer.

Share your thoughts, opinions or experiences with these Cold Hard Facts About Leadership?

I watched the game last night and so did many of you.  LSU got beat and The Alabama Crimson Tide Are The BCS Champions.  Other than who was the better team last night, below are 7 Life & Leadership Lessons From The BCS Championship Game.

• 1. Don’t live off of yesterday’s successes.
• 2. Nerves can positively and negatively affect your performance. (don’t get too nervous)
• 3. There is an advantage of being the hunter as opposed to the hunted.
• 4. Just because you get defeated doesn’t always mean your opponent is better.
• 5. There is always room for improvement in both coaches and players.
• 6. It’s not about X’s & O’s, it’s about Jim’s & Joe’s. (Coaches coach & Players play)
• 7. Sometimes your opponent is just downright better than you.

There is an old saying that defense wins championships…  Alabama confirmed that last night.

There is a new saying that I’m making up right now: bad offenses lose championships…  LSU confirmed that last night.

Share your thoughts on these 7 lessons.  Add some to the list or share your thoughts on the game.

As coach Les Miles was interviewed by Erin Andrews on his way off the field at halftime.  He was asked, what he’s going to do get his offense that’s not clicking going in the second half.  Les responded with the quote below:

“We had cadence issues, fumbled snaps, every possible mistake was made… What’s gotta happen at this point is we have gotta chunk that and do things that we came here to do.” ~Les Miles

I’m writing this post during half-time of the game where Alabama has just hit it’s 3rd field goal and lead Les Miles’ Bayou Bengals 9-0.  I don’t have any idea what the outcome will be; however I do know that Coach Miles’ advice doesn’t only apply to football, it’s the story of life.

When things are going wrong and every possible mistake is happening, you gotta chunk that stuff, get focused and do what you came to do.  A key element is during the interview Les Miles didn’t seemed to be worried and was as cool as the other side of the pillow.

Chunk it and do what you were created to do!

Have you ever found yourself in a group, on a team, in an organization or in a situation where “Everyone Is Thinking It, but No One Is Willing To Say It.”  Most of us have been in those situations and sometimes there’s even a little internal chuckling that goes along with the thoughts.  The internal chuckling, rolling of eyes and secret non-verbal codes are the beginning of more serious and detrimental behaviors.

These types of environments will always impede individual and organizational growth.  The bottom line is this: “Mr. & Mrs. Autocratic Leader, You Are Killing Your Team.”

On the contrary, some of the most thriving organizations in the world have cultures where everyone is thinking and saying the same thing.  Creating this open, honest and safe culture always begins and ends with the CEO, Senior Leader and or Executive Leadership Team.

If you want to know if you have one of these “can’t speak” environments, simply ask.  If you find yourself in a culture where people can’t or don’t speak up, it’s time for you to do something about it.  It’s time to speak up, lead up and be a catalyst for fostering a culture of mutual thinking and speaking — a culture of success.  If you’re a senior executive, work hard to ask the right questions, to create an environment of openness and a culture where people don’t have to hold their tongues.

Of those who say nothing, few are silent.  ~Thomas Neiel

Share your thoughts and experiences with these types of environments.

Individuals and businesses are always trying to find ways to increase their level of success.  This drive and will to succeed leaves folks scouring around trying to find advanced methods to foster success. This search for success leads to trying many of the latest greatest ideas from their industry.

Some will try a new idea a month, others will come back from a conference and implement ten new ideas and some may make drastic changes as a result of an article or book they’ve read.

Some of the greatest success stories and brands that other’s are trying to mimic are built on a couple of good ideas.  Not 5, 10 or 20, but rather a couple of good ideas. As a consultant I’ve had the opportunity to work with organizations ranging from Fortune 100 Corporations to Personal Brands.  No matter who I’m working with, my goal is to help organizations and individuals come up with and implement couple of good ideas.

If you want to succeed and you want your brand to be successful, stop trying to come up with a million ideas and simply devise and implement a couple good ideas.

You Only Need A Couple Good Ideas.