Big Is The New Small

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?

Just imagine if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had Twitter or other social networking applications at his disposal, his message would have been even more world changing.  He was known as one of the best orators of his day and one of the top in the history of the country.  The exponential impact of his sound bites and oratory skills would have been extremely powerful with a tool like Twitter.

I believe we take for granted the fact that our message, story, voice and thoughts can literally be globally shared at our leisure and by the push of a button.  This year in the United States we set aside Monday, January 16th. to honor the life of a civil rights leader, pastor and social justice martyr.  MLK positively impacted the US and the world in so many ways, I think it’s great the US has an official holiday in his honor.

My wife and I are in Atlanta and in honor of MLK Holiday we will visit the Atlanta Memorial and the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church that Dr. King pastored.  It will be a great way to bring a different context and memory to the MLK Holiday.  This year I thought it would be great to share some of Dr. King’s memorable quotes that could have easily  been tweets. Not only are they tweetable at (140 characters or less), they are all short enough to be retweetable (122 characters or less).  Quotes can have such power, as a matter of fact I used a number of Dr. King’s quotes to illustrate some power points in my book.

25 Retweetable #MLK Quotes

• 1. Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or darkness of destructive selfishness. #MLK
• 2. A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. #MLK
• 3. To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. #MLK
• 4. Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. #MLK
• 5. I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. #MLK
• 6. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. #MLK
• 7. The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. #MLK
• 8. We are not makers of history. We are made by history. #MLK
• 9. We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now. #MLK
• 10. We must face the sad fact that Sunday morning when we stand 2 sing, we stand in the most segregated hour in America. #MLK
• 11. In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. #MLK
• 12. We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. #MLK
• 13. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?” #MLK
• 14. The measure of a man isn’t whr he stands in moments of comfort, but whr he stands @ times of challenge & controversy. #MLK
• 15. If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live. #MLK
• 16. Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.  #MLK
• 17. We must use time creatively — and forever realize that the time is always hope to do great things. #MLK
• 18. The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.  #MLK
• 19. The time is always right to do what is right. #MLK
• 20. I have a dream my 4 little children will 1 day liv in a nation whr they will not B judged by the color of their skin. #MLK
• 21. Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see. #MLK
• 22. Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. #MLK
• 23. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. #MLK
• 24. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. #MLK
• 25. When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative. #MLK

There are so many more tremendous quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  These are just 25 retweetable quotes that have stood out to me over the years.  Please share your favorites from the above list or any other #MLK quotes that you like.  If you can share them in 120 characters or less, please do so.   This will allow them to be retweetable.

Happy #MLK Holiday!  Please take a few moments on #MLK Holiday to share some quotes, watch a speech, serve in the community, attend the parade, talk to your family about his impact over dinner, communicate to your team that you value the holiday and what Dr. King stood for…  Do something!

Some time ago, I remember taking a trip to Nashville.  While in Nashville, I had the opportunity to have lunch with the former CEO and Now Chairman of The Board of Thomas Nelson Publishing Michael Hyatt.

Not only was Michael the CEO of Thomas Nelson, he’s an avid blogger and Social Media enthusiast.  In my opinion he’s one of the best in the business as it relates to high-level CEO leaders understanding the “how to” and the “importance of” leveraging social media for their organization and building of their personal brand.

During the course of our conversation we talked publishing, leadership, a little politics and all things social media.  As we were talking we both agreed on the implications of Twitter and how it’s changed the view of people.  By changing the view of people, I’m referring to the fact that Twitter let’s you view people in 3D.  Grab your 3D Glasses and let me explain.

I came up with these 3 particular dimensions of Twitter that in my opinion are the key elements in understanding what Twitter is all about — what Twitter is all about from the perspective of leverage, influence, relationships and connection.

Twitter allows us to see people in the following 3 Dimensions: Personal, Professional & Thought.  

1. Personal Dimension- The Personal Dimension is the dimension of Twitter where individuals share things about life and family, and is filled with many twitpics, yfrogs and LOL’s.  This is the dimension of Twitter where personality really pops out to the world of Twitter.  This dimension is most important and sets the tone for how the other two dimensions come into focus.

2. Professional Dimension- The Professional Dimension is the dimension that allows you to share expertise, experiences, thoughts, visions, trends, happenings… in your area of professionalism.  This is the dimension where the social media professional shares all things social media, the doctor shares all things medicine, the stay-at-home mom shares all things mommy, the pastor shares all things ministry and so on.  The personal and professional dimension will definitely have some overlap.

The professional dimension is the dimension where business twitter accounts should always remain.  It’s not pragmatic for business twitter accounts to share information from the personal dimension.  I other-words @starbucks  should not be tweeting about mowing the lawn, unless they are mowing the lawn and drinking a cup of Starbucks.  Starbucks should be tweeting about all things Starbucks Coffee and all things Starbucks Coffee Customers.  Unfortunately, some business twitter accounts get this one wrong all the time.

It’s important to understand that your followers may view your professional dimension a little broader than your professional role.  For instance Michael Hyatt is not just viewed as the CEO of Thomas Nelson, but also as a Social Media Expert, Blogger and Leadership Guru.  In this dimension I am viewed as a Pastor, Blogger, Social Media Guy, Leadership Guy etc.  If you want to know how the Twitter World views you, simply take a look at the categories of Twitter Lists that people have placed you in.

3. Thought Dimension- The Thought Dimension is the dimension that deals with cognition.  Cognition—being the mental process of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, thinking, reasoning, and judgment.  This is the dimension that releases what’s going on inside of your head.  This dimension is filled with random quotes, random thoughts, the sharing of information that you have read or opinions that you may have.

The Thought Dimension will have overlap with both the Personal Dimension and the Professional Dimension.  I gather the most useful information from the Though Dimension.  @RevRunWisdom  has mastered the thought dimension. He is one of the most retweeted individuals on Twitter and 100% of his posts originate from this dimension.  Again, I love to share and receive from this dimension.  My life philosophy is this: dream BIG. think BIGGER.

In order for an individual to have a well-rounded and effective Twitter experience, they must be able to see Twitter In 3D.  All three dimensions must be present.  Personally I think a Twitter Profile should outline these three areas in order. For instance, here is how my twitter profile reads: Husband, Father, Leader, Pastor, Speaker, Consultant, Author of #ChurchDiversity, #OKC… Al Gore invented the internet and I invented the #FistBump on Twitter!

Now You Can See, Twitter In 3D.

What Do You Think?  Share your thoughts regarding the 3 Dimensions Of Twitter.

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!

When it comes to opportunities, there are types of people – Waiters and Makers.  Not referring to waiter from the more traditional sense of waiting tables at a restaurant, but from the perspective of someone who sits around and waits.

Think about waiter from the early 14th century definition, where a waiter was a watchman or attendant and their primary duty was to sit around and watch.

Again, when it comes to understanding how people interact with the opportunities of life, there are two types of people - waiters and makers.

• Waiters – those who sit around and wait on the opportunities to come to them.
• Makers – those who create opportunities and make opportunities happen.

When opportunity knocks the waiter sits around waiting for someone else to open the door and that someone else is the maker whose ready to make things happen.  When opportunity knocks, answer the door.  If opportunity doesn’t knock, kick the door down.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ~Seneca

Seize the opportunity!

Are you a Waiter or a Maker?

The announcement of Kodak going bankrupt was a shocker.  Not a shocker because you couldn’t see it coming, but a shocker because yet another once iconic, innovative brand is on life support.  This has been a work in progress for quite some time, as there were front-page newspaper articles in the late 1990′s showing that Kodak had to lay off 10,000 employees. (Writing on the wall)

There are definite reasons why these companies are dying and those same reasons contributed to the failure of other predeceased brands.  American Airlines – Bankrupt, Yahoo – Up for Sale, RIM Blackberry - Stick A Fork In Em’ and Sears is closing stores around the country.  The list of these major brands that will soon be a part of the history books continues to increase.

How can these brands find themselves in the grips of extinction?  The same way that you, your organization, church, non-profit or name your favorite brand can end up in the same place.  You should see a developing theme as most are in the same vein.

10 Reasons Why Kodak, Blackberry, Yahoo & Other Major Brands Fail

• 1. Inability to Innovate - Unable to produce new, noteworthy and fruit producing ideas.
• 2. Inability to Stay Ahead of The Times - Only look at the here and now, no forward thinking.
• 3. No Adjustments - Not adjusting to the market place or technology of competitors.
• 4. Uncle Rico Syndrome - Just like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite was living off of his 1983 successes, many brands are living off of yesterday’s wins.
• 5. The Top Stays The Same - Unwillingness to change the key leadership players (especially in upper management).
• 7. Inbred Syndrome - Only hire from within and unwilling to bring outside folks with fresh eyes and fresh perspectives into the fold.
• 8. Reluctance to Take Risks - Playing it safe for a prolonged a period of time can be detrimental.  Most brand success stories have many instances of taking risks.
• 9. Refuse to Surround Themselves With and Retain The Best - Letting key players leave without creating opportunities for them to stay.  Some of the best innovations from high profile brands come from key players that were acquired from another brand.
• 10. Unwillingness To Change - They simply want things to be the way that they used to be.

I was on my way to a meeting last month and I drove by this bench billboard advertisement.  I thought it was clever, edgy, effective and it caught my attention.  I decided to take a pic and now I’m sharing it with you.

Share your thoughts on this advertisements or other clever advertisements that have caught your attention.