A leadership development resource
from the Institute for Leadership Excellence & Development Inc.
Volume I
Number 5
On the Horizon This Month:
Personal Instrument Panel©
A powerful tool to radically improve your ability to stay on track.
Special Offers from the
Institute
Don't just pay to bring a speaker in. Use Andy's
unique Five Phases of Real World Learning©
to make a difference for the long term.
Leadership Tools
Brainstorming in your future? Need to improve your presentation skills? Here's help!
Interview with an Expert
: Zig ZiglarWork life balance wisdom from one of the best ever: Zig Ziglar.
Leadership Links
Links to articles to help your personal and leadership development.
This is one of the best tools I've purchased in the last 12 months. Every leaders has to do planning, brainstorming, and facilitating. This tool is a MUST in your software library. Click on the box above to get it now!
[Personal Instrument Panel©] [Special Offers] [Tools] [Zig Ziglar] [Links] [I LEAD Online]
Welcome to this month's edition of
Horizon Time! Have you found work life balance to be a struggle? If so, this month's edition is designed for you!-
The lead article this month introduces you to a powerful tool to stay on track as you seek better work life balance. It can not only help you stay on track, but it can help your projects as well!
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Two critical leadership competencies are the ability to be innovative and to clearly present your ideas publicly. Check out the Leadership Tools section for two highly recommended ways to develop these competencies.
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Did you know that most people only remember about 10% of what they hear in a "typical" training class or keynote speech? Don't let that happen to you! Check out the Special Offers feature to learn how my Five Phases of Real World Learning© will help your organization learn for the long term!
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Finally, I'm honored to have Zig Ziglar share his timeless lessons on work life balance in this month's Interview with an Expert.
If you don't have time to take this all in now, print the newsletter out by clicking here to view the printer friendly version and enjoy it when you have more time.
Let me encourage you to forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues. They can join you and other subscribers on six continents who read
Horizon Time each month! As always, my commitment is to help you and those you influence become excellent leaders, and I would love to include your friends and colleagues in the learning.Have a great month!
Andy Kaufman
Speaker, Author, Coach
President, Institute for Leadership Excellence & Development Inc.
How to Create an Early Warning System for Work Life Balance
By Andy Kaufman
Jon’s head hits the pillow with a thud. Another day has come and gone…seemingly in a second. As he tries to drift off, his mind is filled with the blur he remembers as today. He slept in too long so he didn’t have time to exercise like he had wanted to. At work he was greeted by 45 new e-mails added to his already overloaded inbox and a week’s worth of interruptions before lunch. He barely remembers the afternoon, though he does recall losing his cool with a team member that brought some bad news. And he winces as he remembers how grouchy he was with his wife and kids when he finally made it home—late again. As he struggles to get past the regrets of the day, he promises himself, “That won’t happen again.” But deep down he knows that’s a hollow refrain he’s sung before….
Eric stares out the high-rise hotel window, overlooking the late night Los Angeles skyline. It’s Day 3 of a 4 day business trip. He’s not sure what he dislikes more: Not being able to attend his son’s baseball game tonight or the fact that his son doesn’t even seem to miss him being there. 70+ hour work weeks with extensive travel is taking a toll on his family, and on Eric. “I can’t sustain this pace,” he tells himself. “But how do I get off the train?”
Sheryl can’t believe the constant noise as she spends another night in room 308 of St. Francis Hospital. She’s recovering from cardiac surgery that saved her life after she collapsed at work two days ago. Sheryl started her career as a hard worker but over the years had grown into another workaholic at her growing company. Earlier this evening her doctor provided an update and strongly recommended she make significant changes at work and home to better manage the stress in her life. If she doesn’t, she might not be so lucky next time. As she tries to think over the noise of the place, she asks, “How did I get this far off course?”
I’m guessing that John, Eric, and Sheryl did not purposely set a course for where they are tonight. Somewhere along the way they got a little off course and didn’t realize it. Perhaps it was the winds of chasing a dream or the tide of reward & recognition. It might have been the pounding waves of fear & uncertainty that caused them to take their eyes off the compass, but regardless, they’re now headed for dangerous rocks and not sure how to turn the boat around.
Though your story is different, I work with enough people struggling with this issue that I am confident there are areas in your life that you’re sensing are off course and heading in a bad direction. How do you get back on track and stay there, despite the winds, tides, and waves of life?
The answer lies in a sailing story from a few a years ago. Once a year I go on a sailing outing up in Door County, Wisconsin with my friends Jim, John, and a few other invited guests. The waters of Green Bay make for a great backdrop for a weekend of relaxing and solving the world’s problems. There are great places to dock for the night, and we can typically navigate by sight since we know the area so well. One year, however, was different. We knew the forecast called for intermittent rain, but it wasn’t until we were out quite a ways that we started experiencing a cold, driving rain, lightning, strong, gusty winds, and tall, crashing waves. Between the rain and patchy fog, we were suddenly faced with not being able to navigate by sight. We probably would have been pretty worried except for three beautiful letters: G-P-S! With a map, a destination, and a Global Positioning System-based instrument on board, we knew where we were, where we wanted to go, and how to get there.
Knowing where you are is a critical concept in sailing, in projects, and in life. Since the experiences of work and life can fog up our vision, most of us need help to get a more objective understanding of where we are. I encourage people to create a Personal Instrument Panel© to help them stay on course. We need instruments to help us know when we’re off course as early as possible instead of waiting to until we hear the hull crashing into the rocks. For example, I’ve learned to trust my wife Sara. She can read me like a book and know if I’m off course. If Sara tells me she thinks I’m off course, I’ve learned to believe her even if I don’t realize it myself. I’ve also learned that if I’m short-tempered with my kids when they’re simply acting their age, it’s a “yellow light” that I could be off course. If I start failing to achieve the daily physical, intellectual, and spiritual goals I’ve set, a siren goes off to let me know things are not going well. How about you? How do you know when you’re off track?
Here's my May challenge for you. Take some time in the coming weeks to develop your own Personal Instrument Panel©. The Personal Reflection Questions below will help you do this. Your panel can be as simple as a set of bullet points on paper or in a Microsoft Word document. The key is to identify some areas and monitor the panel regularly. To give it real power, I challenge to share your panel with someone who will hold you accountable by asking you face-to-face how you’re doing.
Incidentally, the instrument panel idea works for projects and teams as well. Well written objectives with regular review help provide early indicators when things start going bad. Consider using the Team Questions with your team to identify how you can avoid hitting the rocks. Early warning systems to notify you when you’re off track are invaluable to an organization seeking to build a reputation of reliable delivery.
Jon, Eric, and Sheryl have some serious work ahead of them to get turned around. There are some areas that you and I do as well. Only you can choose where you want to head, but I strongly encourage you to take the Personal Instrument Panel© idea to help you stay on course once you set it. Have a great month!
Personal Reflection Questions
1. What’s an example of where you ended up way off course in an area of your life?
2. Looking back with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, what were some early warning signs that could have been picked up that you were heading off course?
3. Who knows you well enough to know when you’re off course in one or more areas of your life? Would they actually confront you if they saw you heading off course?
4. Consider inviting one or more of the people from the previous question to a lunch or dinner. Talk to them about this concept and how you really want them to help you stay on course. Be open to what you hear back.
Team Questions
1. What are some examples where our team has ended up significantly off course?
2. Looking back, what are some consistent early warning signs that we’re missing or ignoring?
3. What can we do to our processes (start, stop, do more of, do less of) to help us pick up on those signs next time?
Questions about Work Life Balance or the Personal Instrument Panel© concept? Feedback? Click here to share your thoughts! Thanks!
Need Help Leading During Hard Times?
In April I led a session at the Software Development Conference on "Managing Your Team in Hard Times". It was a highly interactive session that provides powerful insights into the challenges of leading in these difficult times, as well as practical ideas to help you address them. Now the audio of this session is available for you to purchase.
Your purchase starts with 80 minutes of the very highly rated conference session. In addition, you get a copy of all the slides, including more than 30 bonus slides that were not covered in the session. And, to help you squeeze the most benefit out of those bonus slides, I went to the studio to record another 80 minutes or so of audio on another CD!
So, for about the cost of a very nice lunch, you get two CD's packed with the session content plus all the bonus material--almost 3 hours of development ideas to listen to and learn from. You can use it for your personal development, let members of your team listen to it, or play it during a staff meeting. Take advantage of this limited time opportunity to learn how to lead during hard times! Just click the "Buy Now" button below to get your copy! Your satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed! If you don't find this well worth your investment of only $19.95, just return the CD's and I will refund your money--no questions asked. Click the "Buy Now" button below to place your order!
Opportunities to Help You and Your Organization
Grant:
"Hey, remember that speaker we had last August at the off-site? You know, the
one who talked about the 10 Simple Steps to Mastering Change?" Bill:
"Is she the one that told the story about the dog and someone moving
his dog food?" Grant:
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right. But I can't for the life of
me remember any of the steps!" Did you know
that most people only remember about 10% of what they hear in a "typical"
training class or keynote speech? Think about that for a second....
Organizations pay many thousands of dollars to bring in speakers and only six
minutes of each hour is actually remembered. Ouch! Don't get me
wrong....I love to get crowds excited about a topic as they
get engaged into the energy of a large group presentation. But I learned
years
ago that if I really want people to benefit for the long
term, my approach has to be far better than "typical". I offer clients
a process I call The Five Phases of Real World Learning©:
Assessment
Design
Delivery
Reinforcement
Accountability In the
Assessment phase, I use a variety of paper and electronic tools to assess
where your organization is currently at. The
Design phase then
heavily customizes the program (or series of programs) specific to the
individualized needs of your organization. The
Delivery phase is where the
customized content is provided in large or small group settings in a
dynamic, engaging, interactive way. (It's important to note that I don't allow
"attendees"! If you sit in one of my delivery sessions,
you're a participant!) You then have the option of implementing a
variety of Reinforcement and
Accountability strategies to make sure the
learning is actually retained and put into practice. The
Reinforcement phase utilizes either audio tape/CD's, online
content, or one-on-one mentoring/coaching to reinforce what was learned
during the Delivery.
The Accountability phase allows you to get customized reports that provide you
hard numbers on who is following up, their progress, and the overall change
in behavior in the organization. Some
organizations decide to just engage me to do Delivery. That's fine. If
you do that, you will get excellent content delivered in an engaging way.
People will thank you for bringing me in. However, if you want
learning that really sticks--that really penetrates your organization in
the real world for the long term--The Five Phases of Real World Learning©
are the best option
for you. Participants
from previous sessions say things like: “Very realistic,
very applicable to our projects. Great class! I really enjoyed it!”
Pharmacia “Real-life,
common sense” approach. U.S. Patent and Trade Office “Andy was
credible and spoke from experience.” McKesson Corp "Appreciated the
interactive approach, humor, and strong messages of the presentation."
Cognizant Technology Solutions, Inc. “Very
impressive! I never once glanced at my watch all day!” Microsoft "Practical
advice with relevant techniques!" Information Resources, Inc. "Would love to have
had a longer session!" Cognizant Technology Solutions, Inc. "Glad I was able
to attend, and look forward to sharing the information with my co-workers."
University of Arizona "Thanks! Very
worthwhile!" CNA Let's add your
organization or association to the list of satisfied, learning
organizations! Below is a list of powerful, practical learning that
you can bring in-house to radically transform your organization. For
each topic I can wrap The Five Phases of Real
World Learning© around it to deliver powerful change for your
organization. Key Business
and Leadership Skills "The Keys to
Getting Real Performance Improvement.... in the Real World" “Ten Critical
Skill Sets Every Leader Must Develop in their Organization” “Ten Critical
Skills to Navigate Your Way to the Top” “Key Lessons of
Indispensable Leaders” "The Keys to
Leading in Difficult Times" Productivity
and Work/Life “How to Get Back
in Control of Your Life” “How to Be Known
for Getting Things Done” “How to
Juggle it All While Reducing Stress” “Get a Life! How
to Get Balance Back in Your Work and Home Life” Managing
Change “How to Stay On
Course in Business and Life” “Navigating the
Winds of Change” “How to Lead
Change” Project
Management “How to More
Reliably Deliver Projects” “Project
Management Excellence: Lessons from the Front” Which of these
look like they were made for your organization or association?
Contact me today
to find out more and to get this powerful learning into your organization,
in a way they'll remember it long after the actual presentation!
As with all my learning sessions, I personally
guarantee your satisfaction.
Contact me today
to get started!
Need a Speaker on a Different Topic?
If you have a need for a top quality speaker or trainer on a subject that I do not cover, I can still help! Contact me right away and I can connect you with some of the best communicators available today! A good way to save time finding a speaker for a particular topic is to work with my friends at the Speaker Resource Center. Click here to send an email to Nancy, Jenny, or Rob. These people do nothing but find the perfect speaker for your needs. Tell them Andy sent you!
By Andy Kaufman
Who was the best manager you ever had? Can you think of them by name? What is it that they did that contributed to them being the best? When I ask this of people, I often hear things like, "He was trustworthy." "She cared about me as a person." "He stretched me." "She was a great communicator." "He was a creative problem-solver."
This month I'm zeroing in on the last two issues: communication and creative problem-solving. As I work to turn managers into leaders, I see these two areas as being a key differentiator.
Communication
Some people just seem to have been born with the ability to stand up in public settings and clearly articulate things such that people understand, buy-in, and take action. I now make a living doing that, but you may be surprised to find out that this isn't due to some gene I was born with! Less than 10 years ago I couldn't stand before a group of 10 people without being totally freaked out! I was so nervous that I couldn't sleep the night before a presentation.
Yet it was clear to me then that this was something that must change if I was to progress in my career, so I set out to radically improve my presentation skills. As I received great teaching and a lot of practice, the intense stage fright turned into the passionate enthusiasm that I'm known for today. And in the process my career soared from being a Manager to a Director to a Vice President to a business owner, professional speaker, and coach.
Improving your public speaking skills can add jet fuel to your career as well!
I've recently found a group that would have saved me years of development if I would have known about them back then. It's called the Bill Gove World Famous Speech Workshop, and it has been instrumental in training many of the world's highest paid professional speakers, such as Brian Tracy and this month's Interview with an Expert, Zig Ziglar.
But you don't have to aspire to be in my business to benefit from this session! You can check out their web site at www.govesiebold.com. It's packed with pages of tips to help you improve your speaking skills. Plus you can sign up for their workshops, purchase powerful presentation skills products from their store, and more! I have had multiple conversations in the last week with Steve Siebold who now runs this business and I cannot speak highly enough about the value you will derive from these resources. Check them out today at www.govesiebold.com!
Creative Problem-Solving
Around four years ago I was introduced to a brainstorming and facilitation technique called mind-mapping. It's a very right-brained process of breaking down a problem or issue, and I have found it to be light years beyond the bullet point or outline approaches I had used in the past.
Though I won't go into the details of mind-mapping here, I'm asking you to trust me on this: Learn how to mind-map!
Once you do, you'll learn that it's helpful to have a tool to capture the results of the process. I have grown to love a tool called MindManager from an organization called MindJet. Whether this is the first time you've heard about mind-mapping or you're a seasoned pro at the technique, you'll find this tool to be a powerful way to leverage the power of the technique. I have referred many people to this product who come back later with overwhelming gratitude!
Personally, I think it's a must-have tool for any leader who has to regularly brainstorm solutions, ideas, etc. To learn more about MindManager, click on the image below.
As you incorporate these Leadership Tools into your personal and leadership development, please let me know how you benefited from them! Enjoy!
Recommended
Reading
Below are some top reading
recommendations for your personal and leadership development.
Many readers enjoyed January's interview with David Allen. Click on the cover above now to buy his excellent book Getting Things Done.
Interested in getting a better understanding of how to re-engage your organization? This is the book for you! Click now on the cover above to add it to your collection.
Interview with an Expert: Zig Ziglar
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It's truly a pleasure this month to share an interview I recently had with Zig Ziglar, the world's most recognized name in motivation and training. Zig is known around the world for his unique style and insights into the topics of personal development, sales, leadership, and much more. His prolific writing and extensive speaking has shown him to be insightful, influential, and a man of solid gold integrity. With this month's focus on work life balance, I wanted to get the perspective of a man who has lived the topic for many decades. AK: First of all, Zig, thank you for taking time to share your insights with our subscribers. I know this has been a very busy time for you personally, so we appreciate you making time for this. |
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ZZ: My pleasure, Andy. This is a topic very dear to me. AK: An important aspect of a balanced life is maintaining proper expectations. What does work/life balance look like, Zig?
ZZ: If you were to ask a thousand people what they seek most in life, after pondering it for a moment most of them would eventually (after they’ve considered wanting to be rich, happy, healthy, etc.) acknowledge that what they really seek is a balanced life so they could have more of the things money will buy and all of the things that money won’t buy.
AK: What
do you see as some of the greatest challenges to living a more balanced
life right here in 2002?
ZZ:
AK: Between your speaking schedule, running Ziglar Training Systems, and your personal involvements, finding a balance that works for you and your family must be real challenge. What are your personal secrets to staying as balanced as possible?
ZZ: Andy, I have to confess that I have no personal secrets. It simply revolves around what is important now, and since each phase of my life is important now, I deal with them in somewhat of an orderly fashion -- if not on a daily basis, certainly on a weekly basis. Since relationships are such an important part of all of our lives, and in most cases the most neglected area, I make doubly certain that my relationships with my wife, children and grandchildren are tended to on a very regular basis. It requires a plan to do these things.
AK: During this turbulent economy, many people are wondering how they can better prepare themselves to be more secure during difficult times. I believe many of my subscribers will find your new "Thriving in any Economy" session quite valuable. What are some key things they would take-away from attending that session?
ZZ: One way to respond would be to consider what would keep people from attending the seminar in Little Rock. Number one, I suspect that some people might think, “I’ve already been to all of the seminars. I need to put what I already know into action.” Another thought might be, “I’m unemployed and can’t see spending money and a day listening when I should be out seeking a job.” Third, “I’m not certain the time and money investments would be justified.” And a fourth could well be, “I can’t imagine sitting all day in a seminar!” Five, “I listen to Zig Ziglar in my car every day and have read his books -- what else can he teach me? I’m not familiar with Flanagan and Dhanam, so I have no idea what they will bring.”
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| Zig, thank you again for taking time to
share your insights with our subscribers.
If you are interested in learning more about the "Thriving in Any Economy" seminar Zig referred to, please visit www.zigziglar.com. |
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Recommended Services
Below are some companies whose
services I recommend for your consideration.
I've been very impressed with this supplier. If you're between jobs, it is helpful to have business cards with your contact information. Why not get them free? Click on the image above to find out more!
Each month I include links to help in your personal and leadership development. Here are the links for this month!
"Worthless meetings: Rest in peace", by Jeff Wurio, Microsoft bCentral. I really enjoy reading Jeff Wurio, and he dishes up a very practical prescription for handling this top time-waster.
"What Makes a Good Boss", by Jeff Wurio, Microsoft bCentral. Here's another nice piece from Jeff for managers who are seeking to improve their effectiveness. A quote: "for every natural [born leader], there are just as many top-flight bosses who got that way by attending management classes and seminars, reading books on effective leadership...."
"Everyday Leaders: The Power of Difference", by Debra Meyerson, The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Non-Profit Management. There was a time in my management career that I only wanted to surround myself with people like me. Big mistake that too many of us still fall into. Check out Debra's take on "tempered radicals", the everyday leaders organizations need in order to thrive.
Carol Kleiman articles at chicagotribune.com. This nationally-syndicated business columnist has a great pulse on the issues facing leaders in the workplace. This link takes you to her most recent columns. If you're not already reading her work regularly, take this opportunity to start!
"Putting Spirituality to Work", by Charles D. Kerns Ph.D., M.B.A., Graziadio Business Report. Character, faith, work, leadership. How do these relate in the workplace? "The terrorist attacks of September have certainly raised questions about priorities and values in life, including life at work. People who might have been unwilling to discuss values other than "the bottom line" are now openly talking about how people treat each other and what values are most important."
Want to save some money on the price of ink jet replacement cartridges? Click on the image above to find out more!
Horizon Time is written by Andy Kaufman and is available via e-mail or on the Web for free to all registered subscribers. You are invited to forward this newsletter to anyone interested in growing their leadership skills!
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You can contact Andy by phone toll-free at (866) 88 I-LEAD (866-884-5323), or by e-mail at andy@i-leadonline.com.
Editors and Newsletter Writers! Would you like to use some of the
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You may by including the following credit line:
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Special thanks to Ed Pawlak, Paul Bibler, Bernie Ostrowsky, and Deb Gustafson for their insightful editorial review.
Horizon Time contains hyperlinks to web sites operated by persons other than the Institute for Leadership Excellence & Development Inc. (I LEAD). Such hyperlinks are provided for your reference and convenience only, and I LEAD is not responsible for the content or operation of such web sites. A hyperlink from Horizon Time to another web site does not imply or mean that I LEAD endorses the content on that web site or the operator or operations of that site. You are solely responsible for determining the extent to which you may use any content at any other web sites to which you might link from Horizon Time.
Copyright © 2002, Institute for Leadership Excellence & Development Inc. (I
LEAD)