| |
| |
|
Leadership Information |
|
|
|
Why the Squirrel Kept Winning!
I had the good fortune (or misfortune depending on your climate perspective) of living in Minnesota for ten years. The Summers were beautiful, Fall was spectacular with the changing colors of the leaves on trees and winter was,?well, damn cold. My neighbor, Harold was a nice old guy who had retired many years ago who hibernated all winter but loved to garden during the summer. The only time I saw Harold come out of his house was to put some bird food in the feeder he'd setup on his tree in the front yard. Every year, as winter began to set in, I would see squirrels all around our front lawns gathering food. They'd scurry around digging and prodding hoping to fill their jowls with some food and return to their hole. One day I saw Harold putting some metal sheets around the base of his tree where he kept his bird feeder. I didn't understand why until another neighbor explained to me that Harold was trying to keep the squirrels from eating the bird food. By putting the metal sheets around the base Harold thought the squirrels wouldn't be able to climb up the tree. The next morning, the food was gone. Later that week I saw him wrap a jagged funnel around the base of the tree. It looked like those funnels dog's wear around their neck so it won't bite or lick its wounds. Well imagine one of those wrapped around the tree with the wide part pointing down with jagged edged. It looked like something out of a Frankenstein flick. Yet, the next day, the food was gone. The following week Harold figured he'd put the bird feeder on a string and hang it from the tip of one of the branches. I believe his thinking was that the squirrel couldn't go out to the edge of the branch because the branch wouldn't support the weight thereby not allowing the squirrel to get to the feeder. Next day, you got it, the food was gone. This battle between Harold and the squirrel went on for at least the 10 years I was his neighbor. I wanted to tell Harold that his attempts were futile and that he would never win this 'War of the Feeder'; but I didn't say anything. I just watched. It was cheap entertainment. As this was happening, I started thinking about how unfair the match up was between a man and a squirrel. I didn't feel sorry for the squirrel...I felt sorry for Harold. Although Harold was stronger and smarter than the squirrel, he lacked the one quality that would guarantee him victory, focus. You see Harold thinks about ways of preventing the squirrel from getting the food on occasion, when he has time. The squirrel on the other hand has its mind on getting that food 24 hours a day. The squirrel's very survival depends on it. Survival brings about, not just focus but an intense focus on solving a problem by removing an obstacle. Unless Harold shows that same level of 24 hour commitment and intensity, I have my money on the squirrel every time. Success is not about who is stronger. Success is not about who has more money. Success is not about who has a better GPA. Success is about who is more focused and committed to achieving their objectives. You, the reader, can compete with any person no matter who they may be. The only thing you have to do is commit yourself to focusing in on the very subject that interests you. When you focus in on one thing, like the squirrel, all of your mind's resources are directed at attaining your objective and obtaining your rewards. With focus, you begin to take in more information quickly because you're interested in learning, you want know everything. You are consumed by your focus to succeed! Harold was not an expert in stopping squirrels; it was a task that needed to be done and he attended to it when he had time. The squirrel on the other hand became an expert at bypassing obstacles and solving problems because he focused all its attention on obtaining the end goal, food. In today's market, too many people want to be generalist (i.e., good at a lot of things or jack of all trades but master of none). But the market DOES NOT REWARD generalists, they REWARD experts. The market wants people who are good at doing a particular task; an expert. You want job security? Become an expert in your field of expertise. How do you become an expert? Like the squirrel, you focus. Harold was 92 and died the year we moved from Minnesota. I don't know how long Harold fought the 'War of the Feeder' but as I drove off on the last day I looked back and saw a squirrel scurrying around the front lawn still trying to get to the bird feeder that still hung from the tree. Harold was gone but the squirrel was still around, still strategizing and still focused. The squirrel had won! Please forward this article; share it with a friend who needs it. Victor Gonzalez, top Hispanic motivational speaker and author of "The LOGIC of Success". For more info go to: www.thelogicofsuccess.com or by email victor@thelogicofsuccess.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Leadership - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
To be, or Not to be (Average)? When is hate OK? When it's the feeling you have toward average. Let me make this point clearly and without reservation. Leader is Not a Title There is a steady flow of information in the form of books, articles, white papers and training all in the context of [ "what is leadership" or "how to develop a leader"]?. In this issue, I will avoid those two questions and write about two others that I believe might be on the minds of a lot you readers and they are:Why does better leadership make a difference? andHow does better leadership achieve those differences?If you ask yourself and others the first question, why does better leadership make a difference? the answer will most likely be because better leadership creates high performing teams with strong sense of personal and collective power. Leadership Skills - 10 Ways to Beef Up 10 Ways to Beef Up Your Leadership SkillsHave you ever heard someone say, "Actually, I have to admit that I think I am really bad at managing other people. My staff all hate me and I'm incapable of doing my job". 10 Smart Ways Leaders Can Bring Out the Best in Others You are a leader. Everyone is a leader. Why the Squirrel Kept Winning! I had the good fortune (or misfortune depending on your climate perspective) of living in Minnesota for ten years. The Summers were beautiful, Fall was spectacular with the changing colors of the leaves on trees and winter was,?well, damn cold. Leadership Tips From My Dad Lee (L.B. The Three Faces of Leadership This article was published in the Nov. 2003 edition of Hamilton, Ontario's BIZ Magazine under the title "Leadership's Triple Crown" LMWhat does it take to be the head of a small business, a department manager, or even a corporate CEO? The effective director isn't one persona but three: a Visionary, a Manager, and a Mentor/Coach. Getting Things Done, Without the Sweat! How do you get your people on your side? And once their on your side, how can you get them to do anything you want? It's a skill that we all want. Nothing's better than leaving the hard work for someone else! But how?Do You Have It In You?Getting what you want and deserving it are two totally different things! Do you think it's reasonable to order a task onto your subordinate? Do you think it's acceptable to call up a friend only when you want something? Or how about being nice to someone just to butter them up but ignore them otherwise?No way! No fair!What would you think if someone treated you like that? Well this happens all the time. Get Angry And Then Get Results Leadership is not about winning a popularity contest, it's about getting great results. To do so, leaders must challenge people not to do what they want to do but what they don't want to do. Always Be Open To Learning "We should not only use all the brains we have, but all we can borrow." -Woodrow WilsonLeave it to a child to remind you of the importance of humility and the willingness to learn from everyone. The Seven Secrets to New Age Leadership Did you ever notice that In our American culture, we have the tendency to look outside of ourselves for leadership? That's a trap. Isn't it time we looked inside ourselves to see how we can be the leader we want and need to be in the 21st century? I certainly think so. 5 Tips to Help You Win Big & Become a Village Hero A few years ago, I returned to my impoverished village in Haiti. Many in the village came to see me-the tiny and diseased child they didn't expect to make it. Effective Leaders are (#2) Technical SET CLEAR AND REASONABLE OBJECTIVES FOR THEMSELVES AND OTHERS: Plan? Plan? Plan? Managers need to do their homework. Effective managers know that setting objectives, outlining the steps required to achieve them, and delegating tasks appropriately to each staff person are all necessary components of bringing a project to fruition. Listening Like a Leader Our studies of the most effective people in corporate America show that the top 2 percent are effective not because they executed best practices well. They did not make the most phone calls or have the best processes. Quality Leadership The Lakota tribe of Native Americans has no word in the language for "I" or "me," only "we" or "us." Mahatma Gandhi insisted on traveling in third class carriages (on the train)because, as he explained, 'there is no fourth class. Managing Monsters in Meetings - Part 3, Drifting From the Topic Although new ideas lead to creative solutions, they can be a challenge when they interrupt or distract the work on an issue.Approach 1: Question the relationship to topicWhen new ideas seem inappropriate, say:"That's an interesting point (or question). Rationalize Success Away I was invited to do a Leadership workshop at a well known Fortune 100 company out in New Jersey. The all day event was geared toward their new crop of interns. The SAMMER Test: Leading People To Get The Right Results At the Right Time In The Right Way As a leader, you do nothing more important than get results. But simply getting results can be easy. A Whack Up Long Side The Head Of Human Resources: The Leadership Imperative When we perceive the simple center in the seemingly complex, we can change our world in powerful new ways.Albert Einstein perceived the simple E=MC2 in the complexities of physical reality and changed the history of the 20th century. Leadership Styles and What We Need For the Future: By definition a leaders leads a team to take action in favor of the vision.The most well know methods for assessing leadership styles, such as DISC, have outlived their usefulness!· Are leadership styles really captured in a neat questionnaire like DISC that measures Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness?· Can we predict the leaders from the profile that DISC generates?· Can we test great leaders and say people with the same profile will have similar success?It seems the answer is less obvious.
|
| home | site map |
| Web Site Development - Search Engine Marketing: Dream Team Media |
