Work (and compete) to your Differences!

Work (and compete) to your Differences!

Dr. Nido Qubein is a modern day “renaissance man”. Immigrating from the Middle East at a young age, he came to the USA penniless but not without considerable resources, namely his own drive to succeed! He eventually became a successful entrepreneur, author, award-winning speaker and currently serves as the president of High Point University – an institution he has transformed from a second tier private college to one that has become preeminent. Therefore when I have the opportunity to hear him speak, I usually pay attention!

One thing I heard him say recently really got me thinking out loud about competitive advantage. He said, we should work (and thus compete) to our DIFFERENCES! Now you have heard me say (if you ever heard me speak) or write, again and again, that we should work to our strengths versus our weaknesses! I still believe that but Dr. Qubein presents us with an intriguing strategy.

It is our DIFFERENCES that help us stand out. It is our DIFFERENCES that separate us from our competitors. It is our DIFFERENCES that contribute to our value added proposition. Again, you can see this play out time and time again in the marketplace. Apple is so competitive because they produce products that look and function very differently from their competitors. The most successful music artists are ones that produced a sound and vibe that no ever had before – just think of Jimmy Hendrix, the Beatles, even Lady Gaga! Again, their strengths were not in doing what everyone else was doing better, their success was in doing it differently!

Granted, it is a logical jump to make that our differences are based upon our strengths (so I am really not contradicting myself!), but think about the following:

• Are you messaging and highlighting your differences?
• How do your differences differentiate you from others in the same line of work?
• How do you know you are not just doing what everyone else is, just doing it better?
• What are your unique talents, skills, and competencies?

I think about this a great deal. There are many people out there serving as professional speakers, trainers, and coaches. What makes me different? Primarily, it is the fact that I cannot be humorous by script. I prefer to improvise based on the energy of the audience. People tell me I have a quick wit so my hope is that skill and gift creates a unique audience experience so each talk or training is always different.

That is just one example but what is yours? As always, if I can help you Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you. Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization!

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

www.outloudinc.com

www.facebook.com/outloudinc

www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner

Shattering the Myth of Instant Success!

Shattering the Myth of Instant Success!

In today’s world of Reality TV, You Tube, and On-Demand everything, it is easy to fall in the trap of thinking that success can be easy and spontaneous. Allow me to pop that thought bubble! The danger with such thinking is that we think instant success is such a real possibility that we never do anything to earn it! Or in a fortunate case that we receive a great opportunity, we are rarely prepared for it.

Currently I am reading Today Matters by John Maxwell. The basic premise is to shatter the myth of instant success. Success comes in small steps we make every day, not in leaps and bounds. Far too many people think success is possible if we just:

• Wait long enough
• Wish hard enough
• Search thoroughly enough

The problem is that kind of thinking makes achieving success as some kind of external event versus internal effort. The point is success is built daily which is why TODAY MATTERS! Success is not a future event that will come to us. We must run to success every day. Just think about the shows American Idol or The Voice. You might think those young contestants just started last week. The truth is that those that make the final rounds have been performing and perfecting their art for years prior. They are living examples of the old joke “It took me over 20 years to become an overnight success!”

So what choices are you making today that will create your success tomorrow?

• Are you growing?
• Are you leading out loud?
• Are you learning?
• Are you reflecting?
• Are you collecting skills and experiences?
• Are you helping others be successful?

As always, if I can help you Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you. Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization!

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

www.outloudinc.com

www.facebook.com/outloudinc

www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner

Creating Focus with One Word, for One Year.

Creating Focus with One Word, One Year.

Recently I had the great opportunity to accompany 40 graduate and undergraduate students to the World Leaders Conference held in West Palm Beach, Florida. Now if you ever tried to organize that many students, it is a lot like herding squirrels because cats are too tame! Seriously, this was an incredible time of growth both for me and the students. The focus of the conference was on building Servant Leaders and we were able to hear in person speakers such as Dr. Ben Carson, pro quarterback Drew Brees, leadership expert Ken Blanchard, and many more.

At the conference, author and motivational speaker John Gordon introduced a fascinating tool to drive personal and organizational FOCUS. Essentially, the strategy is to pick ONE WORD to act as a theme or direction for one year that will drive efforts, focus energy, and affirm values. For instance, John gave the example of his word for the current year was “RISE”. To him, it meant rising above challenges to flourish, grow and achieve as well as bring others along the way. Obviously, this got me thinking out loud about what my ONE WORD would be. I looked around at all the wonderful young people I was with and landed on the word “multiply” as in I want to use this year to multiply leaders. This goes beyond just throwing out opportunities, it is about INVESTING in young (and maybe not so young!) leaders to help them flourish and teach others.  

What could your ONE WORD be? This is not easy to do but try first to create a short description of what you WANT TO DO this year and then boil it down to ONE WORD and FOCUS efforts on that theme. That one word must have meaning to you but I have listed some examples below:

• Grow
• Move
• Impact
• Thrive

To learn more about the World Leaders Conference, visit http://www.worldleadersconference.com. As always, if I can help you Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you. Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization!

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

www.outloudinc.com

www.facebook.com/outloudinc

www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner

Masterminds:A powerful professional development strategy.

Masterminds: A powerful professional development strategy.

More and more the business and organizational development literature has highlighted the concept of Mastermind Groups. Originated by author Napoleon Hill over 70 years ago, mastermind groups are intact groups that meet on purpose for a purpose during a defined period of time. Not to be confused with a task force or ad-hoc group, mastermind groups focus the power of peer mentoring for professional learning and growth.

Specifically, mastermind groups are made up a small group of 7 – 10 like-minded individuals that want to spend a defined period of time, usually 6 to 12 weeks (meeting once a week), to focus on a specific area of professional, personal or organizational development. This may include a very deep dive into a leadership book designed to increase capacities, using cross functional knowledge to develop a business strategy, or even gathering resources to address a local community issue.

Mastermind groups can have a designated group facilitator or that role can rotate around the group. The key is that everyone who is invited to join must agree to be faithful in meeting attendance and any assigned tasks. Mastermind groups take many different forms but there always has to be a clearly defined purpose in order for the experience to remain relevant for all members.

Regardless of the group content or focus, the advantages are common including:

• Accountability Partners
• Advice or Problem Solving
• Networking
• Collaboration
• Idea Incubators

I am qualified to lead mastermind groups on some of the most recent and relevant work produced by John Maxwell and his company. This can be done either in person or using technology to keep everyone connected and meeting in real-time. Please access the Out Loud Strategies website below for the Learning Systems offered.

As always, if I can help you Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you. Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization!

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Co-Founder – Out Loud Strategies

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

www.outloudinc.com

www.facebook.com/outloudinc

www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/williamfaulkner