The first step to improving any area of life, career or business is to first acknowledge that there is something to improve. You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.
© Goldzone Education. All rights reserved.
People lie for a variety of reasons. According to a study conducted by Dr. Bella DePaulo, the average person lies once or twice a day and over the course of a week, deceives about 30 of the people they interact with. This does not include the lies we tell ourselves. Some of the reasons people lie are to:
- gain power
- gain status or improve one’s position (impress others)
- avoid conflict
- avoid an unpleasant truth about themselves
- avoid admitting mistakes
- diminish or suppress someone else
- avoid hurting someone’s feelings
- avoid anger
- avoid responsibility
- gain respect or admiration
- gain self-worth
- be liked
- maintain the status-quo, hoping everything will pass unnoticed
- gain something of value
Many people focus on lessons, mistakes and what they don’t want. The most empowering point-of-view is to focus on what you want and to ask yourself questions that would lead to bridging the GAP.
© Goldzone Education. All rights reserved.
We are used to thinking of financial assets and liabilities, and yet there are so many other areas of life that this concept applies to (or adds to or takes away from). This is especially true of people. The key is to surround yourself with people who are assets – not liabilities. We all know who the liabilities are… the people who take all the attention… the people who cost more than they produce… the people who complain about the same things and never do anything about it…
We are not suggesting that you think of all the people in your organization in purely financial terms. That would be cold and possibly callous. People do have value that is more than money alone. Having said that, an organization exists to add value, and people have roles within that organization to add value to the stakeholders. How do you add value if you are a liability?
Adding value is all about being an asset. In every interaction you want to be an asset – not a liability.
© Goldzone Education. All rights reserved.
Consider the chart below: Seven Types of People. As a general rule most people tend to spend most of their time in one primary zone or level. Yes, from day to day, week to week, a person can change and rise up and down this scale. In other words when a person changes for the better, they move up. The opposite is also true: when they change for the worse, they move down.
Understanding this chart and the other charts of the Optima Zones allows you to predict the results people will get from life, career, business and relationships. It also allows you to identify where you are at, so you can change what you need to change in order to improve your results.
<< click on the chart to enlarge >>
© Goldzone Education. All rights reserved.
This is an incredible movie about leadership, inspiration, and unity.
A little known Generalized Principle is “EXPANSION LEADS TO EXPANSION, CONTRACTION LEADS TO CONTRACTION.” This is similar to “WINNING LEADS TO WINNING, LOSING LEADS TO LOSING.”
The more you win, the easier it is to win. Most of us have experienced getting on a winning streak where one win leads to another, and each successive win becomes easier and easier.
Think about how you can apply these Generalized Principles to win more often – and to expand the things you want, while contracting the things you do not want…
© Goldzone Education. All rights reserved.
It is interesting that the world’s largest beverage company is still producing cans with Bisphenol-A. Commonly known as BPA, the chemical is used in many plastics that have been found to leach into the liquid contents. The FDA discovered it could cause many medical problems including cardiovascular disease, liver disease and diabetes.
Many organizations have recalled products using BPA – but not Coca-Cola. Don’t get me wrong – I am not anti-Coke per se.
What interests me is that it’s taking the shareholders pushing a resolution to encourage the company to remove BPA from Coke cans. There can be only one conclusion as to why Coke is lagging the industry with regard to BPA…
Read the Shareholder Resolution here >>>
If you are interested in this subject, check out this site for a list of 2010 Shareholder Proxy Resolutions, where the shareholders are promoting changes in various companies via resolutions >>> and also a short description of Shareholder Activism >>>
This movie is a few years old now (2006), however, it is as awesome as ever!
Based on the true story of Chris Gardener (played by Will Smith) who goes through a series of soul-sickening failures and defeats, missed opportunities and screw ups. He manages to not let anything stop him… to not complain and let any considerations get in his way… in the end, he succeeds. Wow, very inspiring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xcZTtlGweQ
This is an awesome movie and an excellent example of leadership in action. Inspired by true events…
The story starts with John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) whose two young kids have a deadly disease called Pompa. They are not expected to live longer than a year or two at the most. Heartbreaking… But John decides to do something about it. He goes to see a doctor and scientist named Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) whose research about the disease could be helpful.
In the end, John helps Stonehill finance his research, in hopes of making a cure…
The question of leadership is that often times it is real life situations that demand that we step up to take the lead on something – rather than wait for someone else to do something about it.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUCXtdTlUrk]