Dr. Alan Zimmerman’s Personal Commentary:

5000 years ago, a set of books known as “The Pentateuch” called it “zeal.” 2000 years ago, another set of books known as “The Bible” called it “faith.” 70 years ago, clergyman Norman Vincent Peale called it “positive thinking.” 20 years ago, psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman called it “learned optimism.” 2 years ago, professor Shawn Achor called it the “happiness advantage.”

But when you do a Google search on these terms, most people seem to lump them together and simply refer to them as “attitude,” “positive attitude,” or “positive thinking.” There seems to be a general feeling … that whatever you call it … these terms have a lot to do with success in life and success at work.

And they’re absolutely right. As Achor writes, “Recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that … when we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work.”

Even the “Harvard Business Review,” on the cover of their January-February 2012 issue, featured a yellow smiley face with dollar signs as crinkles at each end of the smile. Superimposed on the face is the title, “The Value of Happiness: How Employee Well-Being Drives Profits.” Inside, the article proclaims: “Emerging research from neuroscience, psychology, and economics makes the link between a thriving workforce and better business performance absolutely clear.”

That’s why my program on “The Payoff Principle: How You Can Motivate Yourself To Win Every Time In Any Situation” gets such rave reviews. People not only learn ABOUT the power of positive thinking but leave knowing HOW to tap into that power. As Jan Moser, the Director of Administrative Services for Country Financial, reported, “Dr. Zimmerman gave us positive attitude skills that were applicable to all aspects of our lives … as leaders, managers, employees, spouses, and parents. We picked up some amazing tools that made us better people and more valuable to our company.”

The fact is …

1. If you’re not a positive thinker, if you don’t have a positive attitude, you’re in trouble.

Without this quality or passion, life and work become quite drab. Most everything becomes a “have to” instead of a “get to.” For example, the person who doesn’t have a positive attitude says such things as: “I have to go to work today … I have to call on another customer … I have to clean the house … or … I have to pay my taxes.”

By contrast, a person of passion says, “I get to go to work today,” because he knows that work is so much better than not having any work. A person of passion says, “I get to help another customer,” because she knows without her customers she wouldn’t have a business. A person of passion says, “I get to clean my house,” because he is thankful to have a place to live. And a person of passion says, “I get to pay my taxes,” because she is grateful that she makes enough money to even qualify as a tax-paying citizen.

The truth is, if you’re not a positive thinker, if you don’t have a positive attitude, NOTHING can make up for it.

Education can’t. According to historians, some of America’s worst presidents were supposedly the smartest and best educated. And some of the greatest Presidents, such as Abraham Lincoln, had very little formal education. A resume may get you through the door, but that’s as far as it will get you.

Talent can’t. The world is filled with talented people who never achieve personal or professional success. Watch a season or two of “American Idol” or “America’s Got Talent” and you’ll know what I mean. Talent that isn’t fueled by the proper attitude tends to fizzle out before the race is over.

Opportunity can’t. An opportunity may open a door for you, but without positive thinking you won’t make the most of your opportunity. In fact, it may never come to life. As professor Howard Hendricks said, “You don’t put live eggs under dead chickens.” But that’s exactly what negative thinkers do.

Other people can’t. It is very difficult to be successful without the help of other people … or at least be surrounded by the right kind of people. But even that won’t guarantee your success. A team with no heart … no attitude … and no passion … will not go very far.

There simply is no substitute for a positive attitude. It keeps you going when others quit. It releases an abundance of energy … an energy you don’t even know you have … and gets you through the toughest times. As novelist Karen Traviss puts it, “Faith keeps you going when there’s no logical reason to. In its way, it keeps life going.”

Bottom line? A positive attitude is the difference maker. So how can you get this difference maker in your life and in your work?

I’ve written extensively on the topic, in my book on “PIVOT: How One Turn In Attitude Can Lead To Success.”

Here are a few tips I recommend.

2. Keep your attitude stimulated.

You may know some people who say they’ve lost their interest in life. Not much if anything turns them on anymore. It’s just another day and another dollar. Chances are they’re doing very little to stimulate their attitude.

Other people think they’ve grown past the enthusiasms of their youth. They’re too old to maintain a positive attitude. Or they just don’t feel all that well. But chances are, once again, they’re doing very little to stimulate their attitude.

In reality, a positive attitude has no connection to age. At the age of 76, General Douglas MacArthur said, “You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair. In the central place of every heart, there is a recording chamber; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer and courage; so long as you are young. When the wires are all down and your heart is covered with snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then and only then are you grown old.”

Your attitude acts very much like a muscle. If you don’t stimulate or exercise a muscle, it atrophies. It weakens and eventually dies. And the same goes for your attitude. If you don’t stimulate it, it dries up.

If, on the other hand, you keep an active interest in life, you will maintain a powerful, effective, happiness-inducing positive attitude. I found that to be true with my Grandma Grace. Whenever I went to visit her, I would always ask if she’d like to get out, take a ride, go somewhere, see something, or do something … because I knew she was confined to her apartment, due to her age and physical limitations. Invariably, her response would be “No, I’m not feeling that well … or … No, I don’t really want to go anywhere.”

However, with a bit of persuasion, I always got her in the car, and her attitude changed almost instantly. She wanted to see as much as possible and didn’t want to miss a thing. I even persuaded her to accompany me on a trip to Norway at age 88, despite the fact she used a walker to get around. Her passion for life began to soar, and with her renewed interest in life and her positive thinking on the rise, she spent the entire trip walking without her walker.

To keep your attitude positive, keep your attitude stimulated. Keep on learning about the world, the people, and things outside of yourself. Get in the habit of looking forward to each day, wondering what new adventure will come your way.

And then…

3. Let your attitude play make believe.

I know; it sounds childish. But the most successful people use this technique and swear by this technique.

Muhammad Ali, the world champion boxer, says, “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. It you’re not, pretend you are.”

And Donald Trump, the world champion real estate developer, tells people, “Even if you haven’t encountered great success yet, there is no reason you can’t bluff a little and act like you have. Confidence is a magnet in the best sense of the word. It will draw people to you and make your daily life, and theirs, a lot more pleasant.”

So I advise you, picture yourself as being competent, effective, and successful. Hold that image firmly in your mind and do not let any self-doubt erase it. Soon, your mental picture will become your new reality.

You can do that if you…

4. Tie your attitude to a long-term value rather than a short-term emotion.

When I’m speaking to salespeople, I often tell them to “act” their way through a tough situation. If they’re in the midst of a sales presentation on a late Friday afternoon, for example, and don’t feel enthusiastic, they still need to “act” enthusiastic. They need to “act” like this is the most important sale of the week.

Of course, someone in the audience will always say, “Are you asking us to fake it? You just told us to be honest, sincere, and genuine in all our dealings with our customers. And now you’re telling us to ‘act’ enthusiastic whether or not we feel that way. I don’t get it. There’s seems to some kind of contradiction going on here.”

No there isn’t. There’s no contradiction whatsoever … if you tie your attitude to a deeply-held commitment rather than a passing emotion.

It’s what one clergyman had to learn. He wrestled with how he could stand in front of his congregation and speak about peace, joy, love, hope, and faith when he didn’t feel very enthusiastic at the moment he was speaking about those things. He didn’t feel authentic. And yet he realized, if he yielded to his immediate feelings, if he let his sagging emotions influence his professional conduct, he could not inspire or motivate the people he was called to serve.

The clergyman resolved his supposed “contradiction” by making an authentic choice. He chose to adhere to his calling rather than his personal emotions. He tied his attitude to something bigger and more important than his momentary feelings.

You need to do the same thing … whatever line of work you may be in. To get and keep a positive attitude, tie your attitude to a long-term value. If you’re in sales, tie your positive attitude to the quality of your product and the way it helps your customers. If you’re in leadership, tie your positive attitude to your belief in growing people. Tie your attitude to doing what is right and good, no matter what job you have. That way you can “act” genuinely enthusiastic and “be” thoroughly positive … no matter what you’re feeling.

Finally,

5. Cancel any negative thoughts that interfere with your attitude.

Getting and keeping a positive attitude is a not a once-and-for all proposition. It takes daily practice … but fortunately less and less practice as you master these skills.

Nonetheless, you still need to deal with the negative thoughts that come into your mind. Cancel them out. As Dr. Norman Vincent Peale taught, “Whenever a negative thought about yourself and your abilities comes to mind, immediately cancel it out as unworthy, untrue, and unrealistic. The more vigorously you cancel it out, the weaker it becomes, until it disappears altogether.”

Don’t give your negative thoughts too much attention. And don’t put yourself down as being too small or too weak. As Bette Reese notes, “If you think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito.”

Willie Nelson is right. Replace your negative thoughts with positive ones and you’ll start getting positive results.

Action:

Select two long-term values that are deeply held by you and tie your attitude to them.

It’s an important question.  After all, one of the key variables in your success or survival will be what your customers say about you.

To make matters even more challenging, when people have a bad experience with customer service, they tell 10 times more people about their bad experience than a good experience they’ve had in customer service.   And nobody can afford that kind of negative publicity.

There is good news, however. After fifty years of market research and billions of dollars spent on advertising, one thing is very clear. Positive, word-of-mouth advertising is still the cheapest and best way to grow your business.

The question is … how can you ensure that kind of positive word-of-mouth for your business and that kind of upbeat experience for your customers?  There are tried and true methods that have proven to work, and I’m going to give them to you this Wednesday, December 12th, at 2:00 p.m. EST (1:00 p.m. CST, 12:00 noon MST, 11:00 a.m. PST).

It’s been two years since I made an offer like this.  And the last time I did, Frank Zakravsky from Boeing said, “Thank you, Dr. Zimmerman.  This is a GREAT offer.  I thoroughly enjoyed the tele-seminar and listened to the recording in its entirely at least 3 different times.   Very well done!”   Remember the date is December 13, 2012 at 2:00 EST.  It will be an hour jam-packed with strategies that will delight your customers and your bottom line.

Click here to reserve your space in this tele-seminar.

“No one is big enough to be independent of others.” Dr. William W. Mayo, founder of the Mayo Clinic

List two ways you show your passion for winning.  What else could you do to show more passion?

Make every day your payoff day!

Dr. Alan Zimmerman Tel: 800-621-7881 E-mail: Alan@DrZimmerman.com

“Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can’t get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn’t even matter.” Gilbert Amelio, President and CEO of National Semiconductor Corporation

Dr. Alan Zimmerman’s Personal Commentary:

Do you want to be happy at home and successful on the job? Of course you do. And there are several things you can do to ensure those results. In fact, I’m in the process of writing my newest book on that very subject.

But let me give you a sneak peek. You will NEVER be happy at home or successful on the job if you’re not an effective communicator. And some of the latest research backs that up.

In a recent survey of government officials, a survey conducted by the American Management Association–Enterprise Government Solutions, the respondents were asked about their top training priorities for 2011. The survey people wanted to find out what kinds of skills and education would most likely lead to success on the job. The respondents said their top four priorities were leadership development, communication skills, supervisory training, and project management.

When the survey people repeated the study in 2012, their respondents said their top four priorities were leadership development, critical thinking, project management, and communication skills. There were some changes in their priorities, which was to be expected. But the interesting thing is this … almost every study for dozens of years has placed leadership development and communication skills among the four most important things you have to do … if you want to be successful on the job.

Just be careful that you don’t cop out and think the research does not apply to you. No matter what your job title is, you still exert leadership in some way or other and you still have to communicate in some way or other. These two top priorities are too important for you to ignore.

Well, I’ve written extensively on the leadership portion, and one of my most requested programs continues to be “The Leadership Payoff: How The Best Leaders Bring Out The Best In Others … And So Can You.” So let’s focus on a few things you can do right now to improve your communication competence.

1. Remember the fact that you are always selling something.

That statement may rub you the wrong way. Indeed, you may be like many people who object to the very word “selling.”

I hope you’re not one of them, because if you are, you are doomed to a life of ineffective communication. You see … the truth is, every time you and I communicate, we are selling. Some of us sell products. Some of us sell ideas. Some of us sell viewpoints. And we all sell ourselves. In every arena of our careers and our personal lives … management, business, education, health care, government, church, clubs, and our home lives … we are engaged in selling something.

Once we realize that, it suddenly hits home that we had better get serious about communicating effectively if we want to others to hear us, to understand us, and be influenced by us. It is the very essence of success … getting others to “buy into” or “agree with” what we have to say. It is the very essence of being an effective leader, manager, supervisor, team leader, team member, parent, or spouse. We all want our listeners to make decisions in our favor.

So what does that take?

2. Successful communication starts with a clear objective.

In other words, it starts with a bit of pre-thought. You don’t just spout off something without giving it a bit of thought. And yet that is exactly what ineffective communicators do. With ignorant pride they’ll say things like, “I just call it the way I see it … or … I just shoot from the hip.” That’s stupid.

An effective presentation or a meaningful conversation is always preceded by an objective. And it doesn’t matter if you plan on talking ten minutes or ten hours. Before you start talking, you need to think about who is in your audience and the effect you want to have on them. You need to be aware of what you want to accomplish in your presentation to a prospective client, or what you want to accomplish as you sit down with an employee to discuss his/her performance, or you what you want to accomplish when you sit down and have a talk with your teenager about the choices he is making.

One of the greatest orators and writers of the 19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The aim of all public speaking is to move the listeners to take action of some kind, action that they would not have taken in the absence of the talk.” I would say the same thing is true of all forms of communication. You need to be aware as to how you want to move the listeners … whether that be in their minds, hearts, or behaviors.

With your objective in mind,

3. Successful communication is characterized by passion.

As I coach various leaders, I tell them that people are more often influenced by the depth of their passion than the height of their logic.

Indeed, that very lesson was drilled into my head by my high school and college speech teachers. I remember when Dr. Sally Webb played recordings of speeches by Dr. Kenneth McFarland, who was considered the finest public speaker in America during the 1950′s to 1980′s. Even though his message of patriotism made perfect sense, I was much more enthralled with his passion. I couldn’t help but listen.

Years later, as a professor of communications, I read McFarland’s book entitled “Eloquence in Public Speaking.” The strange thing is … he gave very little attention to speaking techniques. His central message was that the key to effective communication is the passion that a person brings to his or her subject.

I saw how true that was when I listened to Wally “Famous” Amos speak. He started with very little in life but went on to build an extraordinarily successful chocolate cookie business. He was now devoting a great deal of his time and money on helping less fortunate people, especially those with literacy problems. His talk was excellent, but the main reason for its excellence was the fact that he spoke from his heart. He spoke with deep concern about the problem, not only for the people who were illiterate but also for the American nation that would lose its future and competitive edge if we allowed our kids to get by without learning how to read.

As a former speech professor, I could have critiqued his presentation. I could have shown him a few pointers on how to improve the structure of his presentation and the style of his delivery. He could have been more polished in some ways. But do you know what? None of that mattered. He was so passionate that every one of us listened with rapt attention.

Could the same thing be said about your communication? That you’re so passionate that people can’t help but listen and … hopefully … respond in the way you would like?

You will be able to answer to “yes” to those questions if you remember…

4. Successful communication takes place when you emotionally connect with your listeners.

Unfortunately, too many people don’t “get” this critical point. They don’t understand that we buy on emotion and justify with fact. And that goes from everything to buying a car to buying a President.

We may be very attracted to a certain car and we may really want a certain car. Indeed, we may end up buying it. But then we start to list all the reasons it was a good, logical, and correct decision. We can almost always find a few facts to justify our emotional decisions.

There’s no shame in admitting we’re emotional creatures and that our emotions have a powerful driving influence on everything we do, think, and choose. In fact, it’s foolish not to admit it. The truth is, if you want to reach, persuade or motivate people, you have to make emotional contact with them. I would even go so far as to say that the outcome of our next big election will be determined by which candidate does the best job of emotionally connecting with the American people.

Of course, a lot of candidates have to learn this lesson the hard way. Just look at some of the Presidential debates in the last few generations. It was generally agreed that Richard Nixon in 1960, Walter Mondale in 1984, and Michael Dukakis in 1988 won the debates … if you were listening by radio. But if you were watching the debates on TV, their opponents were considered the winners because they did a better job of emotionally connecting with their audiences.

Before the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy debate, Kennedy trailed Nixon in the polls 53 to 47%. So what turned that around? When Nixon arrived at the Chicago television studio for the first debate, he was haggard and drawn-looking, still recovering from a knee injury, the loss of 20 pounds, and not feeling well. During the debate, Nixon sweated profusely under the stage lights, streaking his makeup and revealing his five o’clock shadow. By contrast, Kennedy arrived at the debate looking calm, assured and dashing. He was tanned from a recent campaign swing through California and he looked animated and totally in control as he spoke. His relaxed style reassured the voters, who were tired of the Cold War that had been going on for so long.

And then on the campaign trail, Nixon tried to appeal to people on the basis of facts, records and statistics. He referred to his 173 meetings with President Eisenhower, his attendance at 217 National Security Council briefings, his 163 Cabinet meetings, his visits to 54 countries, and his extended discussions with 35 presidents, nine prime ministers, and two emperors. He had Kennedy beaten hands down when it came to experience.

But statistics are cold and cerebral. And so, the nation concluded, was Richard Nixon. America wanted emotional contact with its leader and JFK was happy to oblige.

To a large extent, your success on the job and your success in relationships will depend on your communication effectiveness. Don’t leave your communication skills to chance. The more you improve in this area, the better off you’ll be in every other area of your life.

Action:

Decide today that you are going to become a better, more effective communicator. Then write down 3 things you will do to accomplish that goal.

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”
Willie Nelson, country western singer

5000 years ago, a set of books known as “The Pentateuch” called it “zeal.”  2000 years ago, another set of books known as “The Bible” called it “faith.”  70 years ago, clergyman Norman Vincent Peale called it “positive thinking.”  20 years ago, psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman called it “learned optimism.”  2 years ago, professor Shawn Achor called it the “happiness advantage.”

But when you do a Google search on these terms, most people seem to lump them together and simply refer to them as “attitude,” “positive attitude,” or “positive thinking.”  There seems to be a general feeling … that whatever you call it … these terms have a lot to do with success in life and success at work.

And they’re absolutely right.  As Achor writes, “Recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that … when we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work.”

Even the “Harvard Business Review,” on the cover of their January-February 2012 issue, featured a yellow smiley face with dollar signs as crinkles at each end of the smile.  Superimposed on the face is the title, “The Value of Happiness: How Employee Well-Being Drives Profits.”  Inside, the article proclaims: “Emerging research from neuroscience, psychology, and economics makes the link between a thriving workforce and better business performance absolutely clear.”

That’s why my program on “The Payoff Principle:  How You Can Motivate Yourself To Win Every Time In Any Situation” gets such rave reviews.  People not only learn ABOUT the power of positive thinking but leave knowing HOW to tap into that power.  As Jan Moser, the Director of Administrative Services for Country Financial, reported, “Dr. Zimmerman gave us positive attitude skills that were applicable to all aspects of our lives … as leaders, managers, employees, spouses, and parents.  We picked up some amazing tools that made us better people and more valuable to our company.”

The fact is …

1.  If you’re not a positive thinker, if you don’t have a positive attitude, you’re in trouble. 

Without this quality or passion, life and work become quite drab.  Most everything becomes a “have to” instead of a “get to.”  For example, the person who doesn’t have a positive attitude says such things as: “I have to go to work today … I have to call on another customer … I have to clean the house … or … I have to pay my taxes.”

By contrast, a person of passion says, “I get to go to work today,”  because he knows that work is so much better than not having any work.  A person of passion says, “I get to help another customer,” because she knows without her customers she wouldn’t have a business.  A person of passion says, “I get to clean my house,” because he is thankful to have a place to live.  And a person of passion says, “I get to pay my taxes,” because she is grateful that she makes enough money to even qualify as a tax-paying citizen.

The truth is, if you’re not a positive thinker, if you don’t have a positive attitude, NOTHING can make up for it.

Education can’t.  According to historians, some of America’s worst presidents were supposedly the smartest and best educated.  And some of the greatest Presidents, such as Abraham Lincoln, had very little formal education.  A resume may get you through the door, but that’s as far as it will get you.

Talent can’t.  The world is filled with talented people who never achieve personal or professional success.  Watch a season or two of “American Idol” or “America’s Got Talent” and you’ll know what I mean.  Talent that isn’t fueled by the proper attitude tends to fizzle out before the race is over.

Opportunity can’t.  An opportunity may open a door for you, but without positive thinking you won’t make the most of your opportunity.  In fact, it may never come to life.  As professor Howard Hendricks said, “You don’t put live eggs under dead chickens.”  But that’s exactly what negative thinkers do.

Other people can’t.  It is very difficult to be successful without the help of other people … or at least be surrounded by the right kind of people.  But even that won’t guarantee your success.  A team with no heart … no attitude … and no passion … will not go very far.

There simply is no substitute for a positive attitude.  It keeps you going when others quit.  It releases an abundance of energy … an energy you don’t even know you have … and gets you through the toughest times. As novelist Karen Traviss puts it, “Faith keeps you going when there’s no logical reason to.  In its way, it keeps life going.”

Bottom line?  A positive attitude is the difference maker.  So how can you get this difference maker in your life and in your work?

I’ve written extensively on the topic, in my book on “PIVOT:  How One Turn In Attitude Can Lead To Success.”

Here are a few tips I recommend.

2.  Keep your attitude stimulated.

You may know some people who say they’ve lost their interest in life.  Not much if anything turns them on anymore.  It’s just another day and another dollar.  Chances are they’re doing very little to stimulate their attitude.

Other people think they’ve grown past the enthusiasms of their youth.  They’re too old to maintain a positive attitude.  Or they just don’t feel all that well.  But chances are, once again, they’re doing very little to stimulate their attitude.

In reality, a positive attitude has no connection to age.   At the age of 76, General Douglas MacArthur said, “You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.  In the central place of every heart, there is a recording chamber; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer and courage; so long as you are young.  When the wires are all down and your heart is covered with snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then and only then are you grown old.”

Your attitude acts very much like a muscle.  If you don’t stimulate or exercise a muscle, it atrophies.  It weakens and eventually dies.  And the same goes for your attitude.  If you don’t stimulate it, it dries up.

If, on the other hand, you keep an active interest in life, you will maintain a powerful, effective, happiness-inducing positive attitude.  I found that to be true with my Grandma Grace.  Whenever I went to visit her, I would always ask if she’d like to get out, take a ride, go somewhere, see something, or do something … because I knew she was confined to her apartment, due to her age and physical limitations.  Invariably, her response would be “No, I’m not feeling that well … or … No, I don’t really want to go anywhere.”

However, with a bit of persuasion, I always got her in the car, and her attitude changed almost instantly.  She wanted to see as much as possible and didn’t want to miss a thing.  I even persuaded her to accompany me on a trip to Norway at age 88, despite the fact she used a walker to get around.  Her passion for life began to soar, and with her renewed interest in life and her positive thinking on the rise, she spent the entire trip walking without her walker.

To keep your attitude positive, keep your attitude stimulated.  Keep on learning about the world, the people, and things outside of yourself.  Get in the habit of looking forward to each day, wondering what new adventure will come your way.

And then…

3.  Let your attitude play make believe.

I know; it sounds childish.  But the most successful people use this technique and swear by this technique.

Muhammad Ali, the world champion boxer, says, “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best.  It you’re not, pretend you are.”

And Donald Trump, the world champion real estate developer, tells people, “Even if you haven’t encountered great success yet, there is no reason you can’t bluff a little and act like you have.  Confidence is a magnet in the best sense of the word.  It will draw people to you and make your daily life, and theirs, a lot more pleasant.”

So I advise you, picture yourself as being competent, effective, and successful.  Hold that image firmly in your mind and do not let any self-doubt erase it.  Soon, your mental picture will become your new reality.

You can do that if you…

4.  Tie your attitude to a long-term value rather than a short-term emotion.

When I’m speaking to salespeople, I often tell them to “act” their way through a tough situation.  If they’re in the midst of a sales presentation on a late Friday afternoon, for example, and don’t feel enthusiastic, they still need to “act” enthusiastic.  They need to “act” like this is the most important sale of the week.

Of course, someone in the audience will always say, “Are you asking us to fake it?  You just told us to be honest, sincere, and genuine in all our dealings with our customers.  And now you’re telling us to ‘act’ enthusiastic whether or not we feel that way.  I don’t get it.  There’s seems to some kind of contradiction going on here.”

No there isn’t.  There’s no contradiction whatsoever … if you tie your attitude to a deeply-held commitment rather than a passing emotion.

It’s what one clergyman had to learn.  He wrestled with how he could stand in front of his congregation and speak about peace, joy, love, hope, and faith when he didn’t feel very enthusiastic at the moment he was speaking about those things. He didn’t feel authentic.  And yet he realized, if he yielded to his immediate feelings, if he let his sagging emotions influence his professional conduct, he could not inspire or motivate the people he was called to serve.

The clergyman resolved his supposed “contradiction” by making an authentic choice.  He chose to adhere to his calling rather than his personal emotions.  He tied his attitude to something bigger and more important than his momentary feelings.

You need to do the same thing … whatever line of work you may be in.  To get and keep a positive attitude, tie your attitude to a long-term value.  If you’re in sales, tie your positive attitude to the quality of your product and the way it helps your customers.  If you’re in leadership, tie your positive attitude to your belief in growing people.  Tie your attitude to doing what is right and good, no matter what job you have.  That way you can “act” genuinely enthusiastic and “be” thoroughly positive … no matter what you’re feeling.

Finally,

5.  Cancel any negative thoughts that interfere with your attitude.

Getting and keeping a positive attitude is a not a once-and-for all proposition.  It takes daily practice … but fortunately less and less practice as you master these skills.

Nonetheless, you still need to deal with the negative thoughts that come into your mind.  Cancel them out.  As Dr. Norman Vincent Peale taught, “Whenever a negative thought about yourself and your abilities comes to mind, immediately cancel it out as unworthy, untrue, and unrealistic.  The more vigorously you cancel it out, the weaker it becomes, until it disappears altogether.”

Don’t give your negative thoughts too much attention.  And don’t put yourself down as being too small or too weak.  As Bette Reese notes, “If you think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito.”

Willie Nelson is right.  Replace your negative thoughts with positive ones and you’ll start getting positive results.

Action:

Select two long-term values that are deeply held by you and tie your attitude to them.

“Transforming the people side of business … to help you get the payoffs you want and need”

Dr. Alan Zimmerman Tel: 800-621-7881 E-mail: Alan@DrZimmerman.com

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All you have to do is include the following notation along with the reprint of my material: About the author: Dr. Alan Zimmerman is a full-time professional speaker who specializes in attitude, motivation, and leadership programs that pay off. For your own free subscription to Dr. Zimmerman’s weekly “Tuesday Tip” newsletter, go to http://www.DrZimmerman.com.

Now some of you are facing the opposite problem. You are being forced to downsize your department, and you’re wondering how to keep your employees motivated in such an environment. There are some things you can do. Here are a few tips from my program on “The Productivity Payoff.” 

First, DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP. You did not cause these tough times, and you probably could not have predicted these tough times. That’s the very nature of change. It’s somewhat unpredictable. 

For example, who could have predicted the change in fashion? Do you remember when clothing tags were worn on the inside? Now it’s fashionable, the kids think, to wear them on the outside. 

Or who could have predicted the change in behaviors? Do you remember when safe sex meant your parents did not find out? Now some parents “equip” their kids for sex. 

Or who could have predicted the change in the marketplace? The great movie mogul, Harry Warner, couldn’t. In 1922, he said, “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” The founder of IBM, Tom Watson, Senior, couldn’t. In 1943, he said, “I think there is a world market for about five computers.” And Ken Olsen, the President of the Digital Equipment Corporation, couldn’t. In 1973, he said, “There is no reason for anyone to have a computer in his house.” 

So don’t beat yourself up for not being able to predict or prevent tough economic times. All that will do is deflate you, and you need to be out there motivating your colleagues. 

Second, remember your MOST IMPORTANT TASK IS TO KEEP THEIR HOPE ALIVE. You need to project an optimistic view of the future. Your colleagues need to know that you believe a better day is coming. But you also need to give a realistic assessment of the obstacles that must be overcome in order to reach that better day. 

That means you must KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES FULLY INFORMED. You must tell them as much as you can as often as you can. In downsizing environments, the levels of uncertainty run high amongst the employees. So you’ve got to reduce their confusion, even if that means sharing some bad news. As my tip says, the certainty of misery is better than the misery of uncertainty. 

People deserve and people need lots of information about what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what the next steps will be. And your information sharing has to be immediate. Not doing so allows the rumor mill to churn out any number of ridiculous stories that do nothing but increase stress and decrease motivation. So keep your people informed of each action that is being taken and the results of all previous actions. 

Fourth, TELL THE TRUTH. If you try to relieve the employees’ misery by saying things will calm down after the reorganization, you may be heading for trouble. You may be misleading your employees. The next time your organization announces a change, your employees’ trust will take a nosedive. Employees need to be taught how to handle the change, not be told it will soon be over. 

On the other hand, CONTINUE TO REASSURE YOUR EMPLOYEES WITH YOUR PRESENCE. Be visible. In times of change, seeing and hearing the leader is important. Too often the managers or leaders only meet with other senior people, or they disappear behind closed doors. Employees need to see and hear their bosses. So be accessible. Be available for questions. 

Dr. Bev Smallwood has done some fascinating research on “magnetic workplaces,” workplaces that do the best job of retaining the best employees. She has found that 60 to 70% of retention is directly linked to management behavior. In particular, managers that spend time with their employees, who build relationships with their employees, keep their employees. 

You can also reassure your people by reiterating your belief in them. Remind them of their talents. Let them know you believe in them and their abilities. 

Just don’t be crass about it. Don’t be like the one situation I heard about. The supervisor told her boss, “Here’s my list of reasons why I can’t run my department on this budget.” Her manager replied, “Well, here’s my list of people who can.” 

You can also keep your employees motivated if you CUT AND SIMPLIFY THE WORK. That’s the sixth strategy. If you’ve gone through downsizing, you’ve probably cut the workplace but not the workload. Something’s got to give. 

There’s a time when “doing more with less” makes a lot of sense, but there’s also a time when it’s just plain ridiculous. There comes a point when “doing more with less” is not only impossible, it’s absolutely demoralizing to keep saying it.

So what can you do? You can’t just pretend things are the same. But you can reorder priorities on a task by task basis. You can cut extraneous tasks, forms, and procedures. You can encourage your associates to take shortcuts in non-critical, routine areas to make time for more important items. And you can allow your associates to collaborate and figure out how the extra work will be handled. In fact, the sense of teamwork that comes out of collaboration can be a great motivator. 

That’s what Ameritech did. People from corporate headquarters went from office to office, from department to department, in one city after another. They would hold up several different reports and asked the field people if they needed these reports. By listening to their field people, they were able to cut out 6,000,000 pages of reports that no one needed and no one read. It made the field people feel empowered and recognized, but it also cut out a number of their less important tasks. 

No one likes to go through these tough economic times, and no one likes all the changes and sacrifices required by these times. However, you can do a lot to relieve the misery of uncertainty if you do the six things outlined today.

Action:  

Rank order the six strategies outlined in this article.  Rank them from 1 to 6, 1 being the strategy you are best at. Strategy 6 is obviously the one that needs the most improvement. 

Write out two action steps you can take this week to become more effective at strategy 6. Then take both action steps in the next week.

Click here to get a FREE PDF on another article I wrote about difficult times and information on my leadership program, “Journey To The Extraordinary” coming to Denver this June 21-22, 2012.

I meet a lot of people who hate conflict. They’ll do anything they can to avoid it because, in their minds, it’s never the right time to fight. I also meet a few people who will fight anybody anytime if they don’t get their way. Neither extreme is very effective. We all encounter both kinds and sometimes they are the difficult people we have to work with.  

If you want better results, CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTS CAREFULLY. In other words, know when to fight and when to withdraw. It’s not that difficult to figure out. 

Just ask yourself three questions. If you get a “yes” to each question, I would say you’ve chosen your fight carefully. So go ahead. Bring it up, talk it out, and work it through. 

The first question you ask yourself is, “DOES A THREAT EXIST?” Is that other person doing something that is getting in the way of your happiness or success? 

Perhaps a coworker is spreading false rumors about you. Does that threaten your relationship with other coworkers? It probably does. Or maybe your child selects a gross-colored shirt to wear. Does that threaten your success? Probably not. 

If you can say yes, a threat exists, ask yourself a second question, “IS IT WORTH A FIGHT?” Some things are worth fighting for, such as a happier marriage or more satisfied customers. Other things aren’t worth the hassle. 

One man told me of a year-long battle he had with his son. The father, a military man, despised his son’s long hair. They had several arguments over it, until one day the dad realized he had a good son. 

He said his son received good grades, had very nice friends, and never got in trouble. The teachers often commented on how much they liked his son, and indeed, he was an asset to the school. 

The dad told me that he suddenly realized that the more he and his son fought, the further they drifted apart. He realized he was losing his son over a haircut. It didn’t pass my second test. It wasn’t worth a fight, so he dropped that issue.

But if you can say “yes, a threat exists” and “it’s worth a fight,” then ask yourself, “IF I FIGHT, CAN I MAKE A DIFFERENCE?” If your experience tells you there is no way the other person will listen to you, there’s no way he’ll go along with you, then shut up. Don’t waste your breath. Don’t fight that battle. You’re going to lose anyway. 

Ask yourself these three questions before you get entangled in a conflict. If you do, you won’t be arguing with idiots, and you won’t be an idiot. You’ll be getting more positive results because you’ve chosen to do the right thing at the right time.

I go into great detail about dealing with difficult people at my 2-day workshop, “Journey To The Extraordinary”.  the next one will be in Denver on June 21-22, 2012. Click here for an outline of the program.

Dr. Alan Zimmerman

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More than anything else, the quality of your life depends on how you use or misuse your mind. 

Professional athletes know this.  In fact, they’ll tell you that their success or failure is 10% physical and 90% mental. 

The same thing goes for people in business.  I’ve received hundreds of letters from people who tell me they’ve moved from the bottom to the top in their industry.  Their success was partly due to the fact they got their rear in gear, but more importantly, they got their mind working for them instead of against them.

One such letter came this week from Matt Towers.  He gave me permission to share his story because it may help many of you out there.  And after you read his story, keep on reading … because I’m going to give you a goal-setting process you can use to bring about the change and personal development you want in your life.

In his words, “My name is Matt Towers, and I was fortunate enough to attend your ‘Journey to the Extraordinary’ experience years ago through my employer. Through your teachings, I have been able to gain a new lease on life.  I used to dread going to work, was obese at 290 pounds, and struggled to find the motivation to make any changes in my life. I had a negative outlook on my future, struggled with depression, and felt like a failure as a husband and father.”  

“Unfortunately, I didn’t put your teachings into practice right away.  Then a couple years later, I found your CD on the “10 Sure-Fire Ways to Become a More Positive Person” that you distributed at the ‘Journey.’  I made a commitment to listen to it over and over again in my car, wanting the information to sink into my subconscious, as I had reached a point in my life where I was fed up with feeling lousy all the time. For several weeks, I listened to nothing but that CD in the car, and I started to use the tools that you talked about.”  

“A few months after my total immersion into your material, we had an organizational change at work that put me on a new team.  In the past, I would have been pessimistic and pouty at the idea of having to start all over again, trying to move up the corporate ladder from the bottom.  But my new mind set saw it as an opportunity for personal and professional growth.  As it turned out, the leadership on this new team is second to none, and I am thankful for the good fortune I have of getting to work with them every day … which I didn’t know at the time I was re-assigned to them.”  

“During all this, my wife signed up for and began attending a nutrition and weight loss course taught by Pete Thomas, the winner of Season 2 of ‘The Biggest Loser.’  She convinced me to sign up for the next session, and I realized that now was the time to take control of my health once and for all.”   “I dug out my materials from your ‘Journey to the Extraordinary’ experience and what you taught us about how to take control of our minds. I knew I had to get my head in the right place before I could make positive strides in my career and my health.  After all, you made me realize that I am the one in control of my subconscious mind … even though I’d been living life the other way for years … with my subconscious mind in control of me.”

“I got serious about writing my goals as affirmations, just as you taught us.  I created the daily habit of telling myself positive affirmations, and I have been able to completely change my inner dialogue. Now, one year into this change process, I am down to 202 pounds. I got a promotion to a senior position on my team.  And starting this month, I will be teaching a new, 9-week course on nutrition and exercise called ‘Fit Families Forever.’  My outlook on life has never been better. I have a sense of purpose, and I can’t wait to help other people make positive changes in their lives.”

“For all of this, I owe you a big ‘Thank You.’  You taught me how to get my head in the right place … which gave me the tools I needed to make huge strides in my career and my health.   So again, thank you for sharing your knowledge with me. I am forever in debt to you for giving me the steps to set my goals, achieve my goals, and make positive changes in every part of my life and my work.”

Of course, I’m delighted … as well as humbled … to hear about Matt Towers’ success.  And I know you will experience the same kind of amazing success when you use the tools I teach at the “Journey to the Extraordinary” program … the next one being in Denver on June 21-22, 2012.  To learn more about the “Journey,” click here! 

But let’s take a moment right now to outline the steps Matt took to achieve his goals and create the personal development he wanted.

1.  Take an inventory of where you’re at.

Matt took an inventory and didn’t like where he was at.  He didn’t like his physical condition, his negative outlook at work, or his relationships at home.

And that’s where all good and meaningful change starts … with a personal inventory … and an awareness that things are not the way you would like them to be.

It’s what Simba needed to do.  If you remember the movie, “The Lion King,” the ghost Mufasa says to Simba, “You’ve forgotten who you are.  You are so much more than who you have become.”

The same thing could be said about a lot of people.  They are so much more than they have become.

To avoid that, I urge you to take an inventory to see where you’re at.   Otherwise, you’ll end up like the little boy who fell out of bed.  When his Mother ran to his bedroom, she asked, “What happened?”  The boy replied, “I guess I stayed too close to where I got in.” 

And then…

2.  Figure out what you want.

It’s absolutely critical that you figure out your goals or figure out where you’re going.  In fact, if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.

That’s why I tell people when I’m delivering my program on “The Payoff Principle:  How You Can Motivate Yourself To Win Every Time In Any Situation,” that one of the keys to the future is knowing exactly what you want from it. Click here to read more about it.  As soon as you know that, the future will start organizing your energy and your activities … and the world around you … to help you achieve your goals.

Unfortunately, too many people never give “goal setting” a real chance because they don’t know how important it is, or they can’t figure out why it should work.

Well, don’t dismiss this step as a bunch of baloney.  Alfred Adler, one of the greatest psychiatrists of the 20th century, wrote extensively about the “teleological” power of goals.  He argued that goals somehow helped create the very conditions that are needed for their fulfillment.

Put another way, once you have clear, specific goals, the future starts to pull you in that direction.  Author and journalist Arthur Koesteler said, “The pull of the future is as real as the pressure of the past.” 

So figure out what you want.  Set some goals.  Set some big goals.  And don’t worry about HOW you’re going to reach them.  In fact, as author Bob Proctor points out, “If you know WHAT to do to reach your goal, it’s not a big enough goal.”

Just follow Matthew Leake’s advice.  As one of my “Tuesday Tip” subscribers from the Edward Jones company, he tells people to “Fantasize” or get “A Dream of Fantastic Size.”  He writes, “Dream BIG!  And chase it like your life depends on it!”

The future will help you … IF you figure out what you want.  It’s exactly what Matt Towers did and one of the reasons he was so successful.

With that step in good shape, you must …

3.  Visualize your goals. 

It’s very important … because all goals are mind accomplished before they’re actually accomplished.  In other words, if you can see them, chances are … you can get them.  But if you can’t see your goals in your mind, if you can’t visualize your goals, chances are … you’ll never achieve them.

So take time to visit your goals in your imagination. Great athletes do.  Indeed, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, for example, attributed much of her success to this technique.

Retton says, “Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and to keep it lit.”  And the way to keep it lit is to fire up your imagination by visualizing your goals. 

When you do, your imagination gives you the motivation and direction you need. As Anonymous wrote:

“The Seed to Success is in Your Imagination”

Visualize all the things that you want in life.
Then make your mental blue print, and begin to build.
Your imagination can show you how to turn your possibilities into reality.
You must make every thought, every fact,
that comes into your mind pay you a profit.
Make those mental images work and produce for you.
Think of things not as they are but as you want them to be.
Don’t just dream, be creative.
The will to succeed springs from the knowledge that you can succeed.

About 10% of your power lies in your conscious mind … about 90% in your subconscious mind.  So get your subconscious mind to work for you instead of against you by visualizing the goals you want to achieve or the changes you want to make.

Along with your mental pictures, you also need to …

4.  Talk to yourself.

This was one of Matt Towers’ success secrets.  He learned at my “Journey to the Extraordinary” program the exact process for writing and using positive affirmations so he could get the personal development he wanted.  He learned how to talk to himself, and the results were stunning. 

After all, as Sonia Choquette says, “Behind every word flows energy.”  The more you talk to yourself … in the right kind of way … the more energy you will have to change your life or change your work. 

Again, great athletes know this.  Four-time Olympian Ruben Gonzalez kept telling himself, “No matter how bad it is, no matter how bad it gets, I’m still going to make it.”  It’s a great affirmation anyone can use.

And Apolo Ono, another Olympian, created an affirmation poem that he would tell himself over and over again.  He would say,

“Today 
It’s time.
Heart of a lion.
I will give my ALL.
Heart, mind and spirit
Together.
This is what it’s all about.
All the way to the end.
Today I will stand tall.
No regrets.”  

That’s very powerful stuff.  A few minutes of positive affirmations … like that …  each day … will dramatically improve your life and career.  I know.  Affirmations healed a crippling illness I once had.  Hundreds of letters from clients tell me how they overcame great obstacles, got better jobs, and transformed their relationships when nothing else worked — all through affirmations.

Finally,

5.  Apply diligent effort.

It would be nice to simply think positive thoughts to get everything you want in terms of change, goal achievement, or personal development.  It takes a bit more than that.  It takes some effort.

The good news is, “There are two things over which you have complete domination, authority, and control — your mind and your mouth.”  says educator Molefi Asante.  Matt Towers certainly learned how to do that by listening to my audio CD on “10 Sure-Fire Ways To Become A More Positive Person.”  He learned how to control his mind and mouth, and now he looks better, feels better, is doing better.

The other good news is … when you use the techniques listed above … when you apply the very powerful strategies taught at my “Journey to the Extraordinary” program, in addition to being successful in your change efforts and personal development goals, you also gain a tremendous amount of self-esteem.  As Abraham J. Heschel puts it, “Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.”

Action:

To start the transformation process in your mind and in your life, think about and talk about what you want for the next 24 hours.  Refuse to think, talk or dwell on things you don’t want. 

“Transforming the people side of business … to help you get the payoffs you want and need”

Dr. Alan Zimmerman
Tel: 800-621-7881
E-mail: Alan@DrZimmerman.com

Other Ways To Connect With And Learn From Dr. Z

Sign up for my blog if you want to follow my writings on a more regular and more personal basis just click here.

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All you have to do is include the following notation along with the reprint of my material: About the author: Dr. Alan Zimmerman is a full-time professional speaker who specializes in attitude, motivation, and leadership programs that pay off. For your own free subscription to Dr. Zimmerman’s weekly “Tuesday Tip” newsletter, go to http://www.DrZimmerman.com.

To learn more about attitude and SAVE $$$$$ on my book PIVOT click here! 

Watch my interview Clayton Morris on attitude, click here.

Or you could come to my next Journey To The Extraordinary.   Denver June 21-22, 2012

The Early Bird Saving registrations will be ending soon!  If two or more of you register together, you can save as much as $3000.

To learn more about the “Journey,” click here!

Or call Chris at: 239-273-7742

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  Doing The Right Thing Is The Only Thing That Works … In The Long Run
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The world is in desperate need of leaders filled with integrity.  And it doesn’t matter if you call it ethics in business or interpersonal relationships with your coworkers, customers, friends, and family members.  We are in desperate need of people who do the right thing. 

If you want to be a person of integrity, at home or on the job, I’ve found that you must do four things. 

1.  You’ve got to know what you stand for or you’ll fall for anything. 

One father did an especially good job of that … as reported in his story, “Brownies With A Difference.”  Unlike some parents who are hard pressed to explain to their children why some music, movies, books and magazines are not acceptable material for them to listen to or see, this father knew what he stood for.  And so he didn’t fall for the excuses most kids give their parents. 

His kids wanted to see a particular PG-13 movie.  As the kids argued, the movie had their favorite actors.  Everyone else was seeing it.  It only suggested  sex but never really showed it.  The language was pretty good, as there wasn’t too much cursing.  His teen-aged kids did admit there was a scene where a building and a bunch of people were blown up, but the violence was just the normal stuff.  It wasn’t too bad.  And, even if there were a few bad things in the movie, the special effects were fabulous and the plot was action packed. 

Even with all the justification the teens made for the PG-13 rating, the father still wouldn’t give in.  He didn’t even give his children a satisfactory explanation for saying, “No.”  He just said, “No!” 

A little later on that evening the father asked his teens if they would like some brownies he had baked.  He explained that he’d taken the family’s favorite recipe and added a little something new.  The children asked what it was.  The father calmly replied that he had added dog po_p.  However, he assured them it was only a little bit.  All the other ingredients were gourmet quality, and he had taken great care to bake the brownies at the precise temperature for the exact time.  He was sure the brownies would be superb. 

Even with their father’s assurance, the teens would not take any.  The father acted surprised.  After all, it was only one small part that was causing them to be so stubborn.  He was certain they would hardly notice it.  Still the teens held firm and would not try the brownies. 

The father then told his children how the movie they wanted to see was just like the brownies.  Our minds are fooled into believing that just a little bit of evil won’t matter.  But, the truth is even a little bit of po_p makes the difference between a great treat and something disgusting and totally unacceptable. 

The father went on to explain that even though the movie industry would have us believe that most of today’s movies are acceptable for adults and youth, they are not. 

Now, when the father’s children want to see something that is of questionable material, the father merely asks them if they would like some of his special dog po_p brownies.  That closes the subject. 

The story begs the question:  “Do you know what you stand for?”  As I tell people in my program on “Take This Job and Love It!,” if you don’t know what you value, if you don’t what you cherish, if you don’t know what you really, Really, REALLY believe, your only other alternative is to settle for less.  And you’ll end up with questionable ethics, a lack of integrity, doing the wrong thing. 

(To read about my keynote and seminar click here!) 

The 19th century poet and essayist, Walter Savage Landor, had it right.  He said, “People, like nails, lose their effectiveness when they lose direction and begin to bend.” 

2.  You’ve got to do the right thing … and sometimes the hard thing … when you’re tempted to do 
     the easy and wrong thing. 

I learned a long time ago that following the path of least resistance is what makes men and rivers crooked.  

That’s why lying, deceit and cover ups are so prevalent.  It’s often easier to do that than act with integrity.  And it’s often easier to make excuses or blame someone else for your failures or lack of performance than say something like, “I made a mistake … I’m sorry … Please help me understand … or … I need to change the way I do things.” 

I think Bill Moore, the principal of the Temp Control Mechanical Service Corporation, is right on target when he says, “We empower our employees to make decisions by asking:

1) Is it good for the customer? 
2) Is it good for TCMS? 
3) Is it the right thing to do?” 

Of course, the person who lacks integrity may try to cop out and make you think he or she just didn’t know what was the right thing to do.  But 5000 years ago, an ancient author by the name of Micah said, “O people, the LORD has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right.” 

In other words, Micah was saying that your Higher Power (whatever that means to you) has given you an inner ability to know right from wrong.  And doing business ethically is simply a matter of adhering to a system of moral values.  Make it your practice to never do in private what you would not want revealed in public! 

3.  You’ve got to be honest even though it may be inconvenient. 

As Isaac Asimov noted, “I don’t subscribe to the thesis, ‘Let the buyer beware.’ I prefer the disregarded one that goes, ‘Let the seller be honest.’” 

That same kind of honesty is what helped John Wooden become one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time and develop some of the best players (and people) of all time.  Wooden knew there was a lot more to basketball than winning the game.  When he and I keynoted a program together a few years ago, he told the audience the same thing he told his players.  He said, “Be prepared and be honest … What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player.” 

It’s impossible to claim that you live with integrity and have business ethics … if you’re dishonest. And it’s impossible to earn the trust of others if you’re dishonest. 

Mark Thompson, the head of the H. A. Thompson & Sons in Bismarck, North Dakota, knows that.  As he puts it, “In a small town, the word-of-mouth can kill you.  So for 104 years, we have relied on absolute honesty and treating our customers like family.” 

And just in case you don’t believe me, try this little experiment.  Go around saying one thing and doing another, seek personal gain above shared gain, withhold information, lie, tell half-truths, or become closed-minded and see how many friends and allies you have.  You will not be seen as a person who is doing the right thing, and you will not find good and healthy people wanting to work with you or live with you. 

It’s one of the reasons I get so upset with almost all of our politicians.  Instead of adhering to the doctrine of honesty at all times, they’ll say just about anything to get elected.  Ronald Reagan got it right when he said, “Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.” 

4. You’ve got to do what is right 24/7. 

In other words, business ethics or personal integrity is not a once-and-done proposition.  It’s a battle you face every moment of every day in every decision you make and every action you take. 

Kraig Haynes, the CEO of Haynes Mechanical Systems, teaches that to all of us his employees.  He says, “We’re constantly reminding every one of our employees that WE ARE dependent on our customers.  They are NOT dependent on us.  We NEED our customers … so we had better being doing the right thing for them 24/7, not just some of the time.” 

So the question is not how good you have become but how good you can be.  In fact, if you’re a person who is no longer anxious to do better, you’re done for.  Or as one person said, you serve people but you do not answer to them.  You answer to a Higher Power. 

The actor Robert Downey, Jr. has had to learn that lesson the hard way.  And he may still be learning.  But one rather insightful thing he said was, “I used to be so convinced that happiness was the goal, yet all those years chasing after it, I was unhappy in the pursuit.  Maybe the goal really should be a life that values honor, duty, good work, friends, and family.” 

The only thing I would change in Downey’s commentary is to remove the word “maybe.”  Our goal has to be a life that values honor and duty for sure. 

Action:

If your coworkers, customers, friends, and family members were to describe you, would their description include such words as “does the right thing, ethical, honest, and person of integrity?”

“Transforming the people side of business … to help you get the payoffs you want and need”

Dr. Alan Zimmerman
Tel: 800-621-7881
E-mail: Alan@DrZimmerman.com

Other Ways To Connect With And Learn From Dr. Z

Sign up for my blog if you want to follow my writings on a more regular and more personal basis just click here.

Follow me on Twitter for short bursts of brilliance just click here.

Reprint These Tips In Your Own Publication

I encourage you to reprint my “Tuesday Tips” in your own e-mail, online newsletters, or conventionally-printed publications. It’s free and legal … as long as proper credit is given.

All you have to do is include the following notation along with the reprint of my material: About the author: Dr. Alan Zimmerman is a full-time
professional speaker who specializes in attitude, motivation, and leadership programs that pay off. For your own free subscription to Dr. Zimmerman’s weekly “Tuesday Tip” newsletter, go to http://www.DrZimmerman.com.