Posts Tagged ‘add value’

The Difference You Make

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

My new book is coming out shortly. And more information on that and some free chapter downloads soon.

Here is why I mention this. I wrote the book to offer a process to help you know yourself, find your fit and transform your world. Another way to say that is to help you see the difference you make. It is presented as a story of two kids in college – and how they learn the five rules for a really great life. It presents this thinking:

Each of us has the ability and responsibility to invent our life. We are given amazing gifts – known as our talents and passions. We are all different; your gifts and mine are not the same. The reason for this is shared in the great quote, “we don’t get harmony when we all sing the same note.” We are all different to add to and invent an extraordinary world. When we know our talents and passions, we can bring our best to the world. But if you don’t know what you are great at and love to do, how will you share your best? Or, how will you make a difference?

So as I get the book ready to share this new approach, I ask you to start to consider what difference you make each day:
o Whose world is better because you are part of it today?
o What is one great thing you do that changes your life or someone else’s life for the better?
o What can you share today that will make someone happier?
o What can you share today that will make someone better?
o What did you learn about yourself today that reminds you of what a difference you make?
o What passions do you have that help us understand our world and connect better with others?
o What does the world need that you do well?

To make your greatest difference you must first know yourself. From your gifts, you can find where you have the greatest impact and what you can bring to the world. This is meant to be practical. Be yourself. Be great.

What difference can you make today?

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it and contact me to learn more about the five rules for a really great life.

Are You A “Value-Builder”?

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Is that how your manager would identify you – value builder? Do they see the great impact you make in the workplace? You know in tough times, those who add the most value remain.

NY Times columnist and author Tom Friedman calls them the “untouchables” – those employees who add so much value to a company that they are untouchable when it comes to layoffs. Is this you?

To be noticed, appreciated and retained, employees must take full personal responsibility for creating significant, unique and results-oriented value for the organization.

To improve your impact and to add value to the workplace, develop each of these four areas:

1. Know your organization. Be familiar with your organization’s purpose, mission and value statements. This shows your effort to understand the business and to use this information to regularly make decisions that positively affect the organization’s performance.
2. Know your strengths. Each of us is good at some things and not at others. To stand out in the workplace, you must be able to know what you are intrinsically good at – what your talents and strengths are – and then work in roles that allow you to fully develop and exploit these talents. Play to your strengths.
3. Take initiative. Step up and take responsibility to help solve the organization’s problems and maximize its opportunities. Be visible; be vocal.
4. Focus on the bottom line. Know the impact of your ideas and propose things that make a difference. Track your contributions. Think numbers; think metrics and financial performance.

We are in a new period of employee accountability; you own your ability to get noticed in the workplace. Stand out in the workplace; play to your strengths, find the opportunities and drive the bottom line. This is how to become “untouchable.”

For more information click on “For Employees/Job Seekers” and the “Hunt for Opportunities” on www.LiveFiredUp.com. See my Power Performance blog on www.Bizmore.com for more practical performance information.Small Business Resources

Life Is Not A Rental Car

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

How many of you wash and vacuum a rental car before returning it to the rental office? Not many I imagine. The reason is – it is not yours.

You always take better care of things that belong to you.

Okay, life. After all it is yours and don’t we take better care of things that belong to us? If so, I have a couple of questions for you – and be honest:

Do you exercise often and eat well to treat your body right?
Do you connect to a higher source or appreciate the planet to treat your spirit right?
Do you read, think and learn to treat your brain right?
Do you choose your friends and loved ones carefully and honestly to treat your heart right?
Do you know your talents and strengths to treat your job and life right?

You are not in a rental here – this life is yours.

Take Action: Spend some time with yourself to see if you treat yourself like an owner or a renter. How you live today sets you up for the quality of life you will have later. You own it, so treat it right.

If You Blend, You Lose – So Stand Out

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Employees and job seekers you must Stand Out! Remember that we are inundated with distractions in our high-tech and high-distraction world. If you blend, you lose. If you look like everyone else, they don’t remember you. Being invisible is no way to get a job or keep a job.

Employees: In today’s workplace, many employees are still nervous of layoffs…and rightly so. An unemployment rate that keeps rising and an economy that slow to recover are forcing companies to continue employee layoffs. The best way not to be laid off is to become what author and NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman calls the “untouchable” – untouchable from layoffs because you consistently add value, stand out in effort, innovation and commitment. Click here for his Op-Ed.

So, if you have a job – how do you become the “untouchable” – the “invaluable?” Don’t wait for someone to create this for you. Create it yourself. Do it now.

Job seekers: Great companies are always hiring. Smart companies know there is great unemployed and available talent because of the recession and they are rebuilding their teams to be stronger than ever. Keep applying to jobs that match your talents and play to your strengths (you are more competitive for these jobs). And when you interview, be sure you stand out. As hiring managers interview many people, you must be the one they see as the right fit, and the one they remember (for the right reasons). For guidance, see my 10 Rules For A Great Interview.

Now is no time to blend. Stand out and get hired. Stand out and get noticed. Either way, stand out.