Driven Associates

Living in Community

2011-05-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” - Jane Howard

It’s a funny thing, on one hand we want to compete with each other; to be in the top of the class, to win the scholarship, to climb the corporate ladder faster, to be the best parent, to have the best retirement, golf score, yard, or antique car. On the other hand we desperately need each other; to work together, to have a tight knit community, safety in numbers, collaborating for friendships, family, and a better life together.

Even though, competition exists at all phases of life, as we mature, it’s encouraging to see that competition seems to give way more and more to community, relationships, and authenticity. It’s not about impressing others or reaching higher successes, but finding more ways to be significant in our communities and with the ones we love.

In many ways, a business can personify this philosophy of community. Businesses are micro-communities and it’s truly incredible bringing people, ideas, and fun together. Weaving the community together into the tapestry that is each organization.

A tight knit community always contains these 3 “C’s”:

1. Communication that is open and has spirit of learning
2. Coordination of events, ideas, and people all working together for a better life.
3. Cooperation as an attitude of curiosity and willingness to learn and work towards common goals.

A tight knit community contains these 3 attributes*:

1. Care as the active concern for the physical needs of others
2. Responsibility as caring for the higher needs of others
3. Respect as allowing others to grow at their own pace

It is the desire of great leaders to be an incredible resource to their organization/team and work to bring success, even more opportunities for significance, and doing it all in the spirit of building a truly tight knit community.

After all; call it a family, a community, love for others, or whatever you want. We all need it.

Enjoy Life!

Jon Bohm
Owner-Coach- Speaker
Driven Coaching
jon@drivencoaching.com
623.505.9330
www.drivencoaching.com
www.jonbohm.com
Building priceless leaders and stellar organizations.
* Care, responsibility, and respect is a great concept from Joseph Jaworski's book Synchronicity

6 Do's and Don'ts for Organizational Communication

2011-01-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

"Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprang up." Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

3 "Do's:"

1. DO: OVER-COMMUNICATE Vision and Values. It doesn't matter if you think everyone has heard it or knows them. 99% of the time the executive team thinks they have beat it into the ground and the rest of the team couldn't tell you what they are.

2. DO: COMMUNICATE THE SELF EVIDENT - or, at least if it's a Core Value. Many leaders tell me they don't need to communicate positive attitude, friendliness, excellence, or integrity. And after all, these are their handpicked team. However, core values shape the culture, and communicating them drives the values from a list on the wall to culture that can be experienced. For example the Declaration of Independence; "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,..." Some things may not be self evident later- and that is precisely when they are needed most.

3. DO: COMMUNICATE WITH YOURSELF - Strange but true. We communicate in our mind about our external factors and internally how we feel about ourselves all the time. Actually, at the alarming rate of 60 million bits of information per second. Be intentional and positive about what you are saying to yourself. The organization will pick up on (and believe) what your attitude and body language are saying faster than your words. What is going on in your head will effect your message.

3 "Don'ts:

4. DON'T: FOLLOW THE "3 TIMES MODEL"- I have seen many times where people from some antiquated speech class are told this "Say what you are going to say, say it, and say what you said." Argh! Please stop doing this. We live in the information age and don't need to be told what you are going to say- just say it. And don't follow it up by telling me what you just said, I know... I was there, I will wonder if you were.

5. DON'T FOLLOW THE PREACHER'S MODEL - If you visit church, you will most likely find it is still customary to sit and listen as the preacher speaks for a period of time and then the congregation goes home. I don't know why this is still the custom or why it ever became one in churches. But in organizations, this is a bad idea. Nobody wants to be preached to or at. Communication is a 2 way street and learning through lecture is the least effective style of learning there is. Find a way to create a 2 way street, even if you have to give a speech. Texting, comments on social media, and asking questions are all easy ways to turn a lecture into something more effective.

6. DON'T IGNORE THE HUMAN ELEMENT - Many meetings in 2010 existed of tough conversations, and decisions that involved cutting, trimming, or furloughing people. Sometimes this bad news must be communicated, but ignoring or not placing a high value on the human emotion as it's communicated will destroy the culture and morale faster than lighting the place on fire. Never speak until you know what others are thinking, feeling, and experiencing before you open the can of communication.

Happy Friday!

Make it a great weekend and cheers to better communication in 2011!

Jon Bohm

5 ways to keep your Comfort Zone from Smothering You

2010-11-19T12:27:00.001-08:00

"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them." ~ Ann Landers

My family and I were on vacation in California, and it was the time of year right before fall when the vacation crowds are gone and the pool is on the edge of being too cold to swim in and enjoy. The water felt great in the mid afternoon, but once the sun went down it started to feel borderline icy. You know that scared feeling and anticipation you get on the edge of a pool when your anticipating the water might be cold enough to take your breathe away and you are about to jump in?

Well, don't jump in dummy? Right? Easy fix. I agree, except I had an excited 4 year old and 2 year old that had been waiting to go swimming with their Dad all day. This stinks. So, I knew I was going in, and before I could count to "1" my 2 year old was in the pool, it took her breathe away and she started swimming and having a ball. And splash, just like that my 4 year old was in and begging for me. Do you remember your younger days when your comfort zone was big enough to handle a cold pool? I do, vaguely. But, somewhere along the line I only started swimming when it was a perfect 85 degrees. I got so used to the comfort of warm swimming water in AZ, my comfort zone had shrunk in so far that I probably would not even be able to swim, at all, in my old state of New York. It's just too cold.

A funny thing happens if we aren't paying attention, just like a frog will not jump out of a pot of hot water as long as the temperature raises gradually, we get stuck in a forever shrinking comfort zone. We all do it, it's part of being human; to seek the comfortable, to walk the path of least resistance.

It used to be easy to jump in cold water, meet strangers, interview for a new job, run a mile, get involved at great risk to yourself for a leadership role, ask your spouse out, tell your friends they mean the world to you, stand up for yourself or someone else, put yourself out there, take a financial risk, or any risk at all for that matter, and the list goes on.

When did you quit jumping into cold water? What has your shrinking comfort zone stolen from you? Playing with your kids, a chance at a better life, new friends, passion? Whatever it is, it's probably more than you are willing to admit.

Here are a few things you can do to expand the comfort zone:

1. Jump in and quit thinking. We "over think" everything as adults. And often without progress.

2. When all is said and done. Be the one who did more than was said. Quit talking about what you will do someday and start being the one who did it, and then talk.

3. Do one thing every day that pushes you off the edge. You know when your on the edge. So, everyday jump in once for a few minutes - meet the stranger, take a risk, do the unexpected, ask for the raise.

4. Play. You can always find ways to play and have a good time. The older we get, it seems the more intentional we have to be, but you can do it. Have fun with life, even when the environment you're in doesn't seem to be "play friendly."

5. Pick up a new hobby. Even if it doesn't stick, pick it up and look at it anyway. Cooking, art, outdoors, biking, running, games with friends, pogo sticks :), support a cause, volunteer, and you get the idea.

Expanding comfort zones nationally and encouraging you to jump in before you get too comfortable to enjoy life,

Jon Bohm

Top 10 Rules to Dressing Professionally

2010-11-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

Realizing this is a giant rabbit hole, here are some absolutely basic and crucial things to understand when it comes to dressing professionally in a way that can help you move your life and career forward. Sorry ladies, I'm not qualified for you, but I will get a post for you in this area as well.

After seeing many leaders and executives fail at these 10 basic rules, here are some things to keep in mind next time you are shopping.

My top 10 list for guys:

1. Dress for the position you want, not the one you have. Poise and style go a long way towards promotion/sales/ influence. However you feel about that from a fairness standpoint, it's reality.

2. Never wear pleats or cuffs on your slacks. Sorry, to those who disagree. People argue this with me all the time, but pleats and cuffs have been out with everything else you left in 1993. I don't know why anybody is still selling these to unsuspecting guys.

3. Never wear a white undershirt that can be seen under a dress shirt or even a polo. Time to invest in some v-necks.

4. Your shoulder seam should be right at the top of your shoulder or at most a half inch from the top of your shoulder towards your hand. Oversized shirts make you look sloppy and unprofessional.

5. Wear fitted shirts whenever possible. A fitted shirt has been sewn to remove material from the back and sides of the shirt so that you don't end up with a bag of extra material around your belt or midsection. Fitted shirts will slim you down and broaden your shoulders. If you have extra weight you are carrying around your midsection you may need a little more room.

6. Sleeve length should hit the bottom of your wrist when your arms are hanging at your side. This allows a nice watch to peek out and keeps extra material from bunching and making you look sloppy.

7. Your belt, watch, and shoes all need to match. Brown shoes means a brown leather watch and brown belt. Black shoes mean a silver or black watch and black belt. Make sure shoes belt and watch all match stylistically as well. In other words, if you wear a formal pair of shoes, then wear a formal belt and "dress" watch with it.

8. Never, ever, ever, never, ever wear a tie with a short sleeve dress shirt. Dwight Shrute (see above). Enough said.

9. Shine your shoes. If you didn't learn this in the military, from a Dad or friend, go to a nice department store like Neiman Marcus and the shoe dept. can give you a tutorial. Or, click here.

10. Don't wear cuff links with a casual pair of slacks. The general rule is if you don't need to dry clean your slacks, don't wear cuff links with your shirt.

10.5 The bottom of your slacks need to rest barely on the top of your shoes with no more than an inch of material in the left in the length. Again, extra material = sloppy and unprofessional.

Bonus information:
There are many different styles of collars when it comes to dress shirts. Each one is appropriate at different times.

Never wear more than 3 colors at a time. Patterns need to be different and can be mixed and matched if done correctly. Generally a lighter, or more pastel, colored shirt should be worn with a tie that goes with it, but should not match exactly.

Best advice ever! Are you ready? If you are not the average sized guy. For example, taller than 6'4" or shorter than 5'5"- find a great tailor near your home. If he/she tries to put you in pleats- run away and find another tailor. Always wear clothes that fit. Being tall (I'm 6'5") is not an excuse to wear clothing that doesn't fit.

If you are wearing a tie, your pocket cloth should match the dominant color in the tie.

Hope that helps you move toward your goals and not away from them.

Enjoy Life and Shop well!

Jon Bohm

P.S. Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharped dressed man.

Cleaning Up

2010-10-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

Quick question: You walk into a room and you see that the room is flooded. On the far wall a sink is running on full blast and there is a mop leaning against the wall. What do you do?

This is the same scenario I see at many companies I walk into, and there is one of 3 choices that is actively being pursued:

1. The entire team is mopping like crazy - "this economy!" "run faster and work harder" or we will never get this cleaned up!

2. They walk in the flooded room- look around....and then leave. It's too much of a mess, let's just close the door and go back to sticking our head in the sand.

3. They turn off the faucet. Then they mop like crazy.

The choice is yours as you lead your organization. I recommend turning off the faucet by finding the root cause of negative results, behavior, or culture. To change behavior without changing the root cause is going to require a lot of mopping for a long time... in wet clothes. Nobody likes that.

Is it time to clean up your organization or life? Is it time to turn off the running faucet?

Making wet businesses dry,

Jon Bohm

Beware of Re-creating your Past

2010-09-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

Be careful of going back to what you once were instead of moving forward to what you have yet to become.

Like water, we have this incredible tendency to sub-consciously settle into the groove, the path, of least resistance. The only problem with this is that it only has one result, re-creating the past.

Many leaders have been leading in the same place, same position, same expectations, and same challenges for so long that this groove is created. A groove that steals passion and innovation one small piece at a time. We feel it sneak up on us like the cold at night. Slowly we find ourselves unchallenged and resting in this emotionless zone of the doing what we have always done.

We can wake up and make the change now, realizing that it's never too late to be who you might have been . Or, we can settle in and wait until we are fired, forced out, or no longer have the passion to be productive. Only to look back, and realize the powerhouse we could have been, the changes we could have made in the world, or the dreams we could have realized for ourselves or our family.

The Cure is in the way you plan and therefore, the way you lead:

Make decisions based off looking where we have been - Result = Re-create the past
Make decisions based off of looking at our present circumstances - Result = Re-create the past
Make decisions based off looking to the future - Result = Forecasting the future
Move your actions and life into the future and act now, how you want your future to be - Result = Creating and Controlling your Destiny

The choice is ours to make everyday, rely on circumstances and the groove to guide us to the future or decide your own path now and move forward to where you have never yet been.

Beware the gravitational force that is always trying to pull you back to where you already were.

Walking into the wonderful unknown,

Jon Bohm

The Next Generation

2010-08-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Most students entering college for the first time this fall—the Class of 2014—were born in 1992. For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Bert Parks, and Tony Perkins have always been dead. Each year, Beloit College puts together a list of "cultural touchstones" that affect the lives of students entering college in 2011. The faculty uses it as a reminder to be aware of dated references. Here are some of our favorites:

1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.

2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.

3. Al Gore has always been animated.

4. “Caramel macchiato” and “venti half-caf vanilla latte” have always been street corner lingo.

5. With increasing numbers of ramps, Braille signs, and handicapped parking spaces, the world has always been trying harder to accommodate people with disabilities.

6. John McEnroe has never played professional tennis.

7. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry.

8. Doctor Kevorkian has never been licensed to practice medicine.

9. Fergie is a pop singer, not a princess.

10. They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone.

11. Leasing has always allowed the folks to upgrade their tastes in cars.

12. Unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides.

13. Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive.

14. Czechoslovakia has never existed.

15. Second-hand smoke has always been an official carcinogen.

16. J.R. Ewing has always been dead and gone. Hasn’t he?

17. Rock bands have always played at presidential inaugural parties.

18. Beethoven has always been a good name for a dog.

19. Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine.

20. They've always been able to blast off with the Sci-Fi (SYFY) Channel.

You can view the complete list at www.beloit.edu/mindset. Are you guilty of being "dated" in your dealings with the younger generation? These folks will soon hit the workforce so be aware of language you may want to change.

Thanks to my friends at Resource Associates Corporation.

Looking to the future,

Jon Bohm

Leading up the Ladder

2010-08-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Tom Landry, the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, once said something that may be true of nearly any motivator: “I have a job to do that is not very complicated, but it is difficult: to get a group of men to do what they don’t want to do so they can achieve the one thing they have wanted all of their lives.”

At what point does someone become the type of leader that is worth millions to an organization or team? What does it take? There are many answers to that question that we could use to describe someone like Tom Landry, Jim Boeheim, Phil Jackson, John Wooden, or one of my current favorites Ken Whisenhunt.

One thing, they all have in common, is that they have the ability to motivate people and players to higher performance- to fight through pain and achieve at the highest levels of their potential.

This requires conquering 3 levels of leadership.

1- They have climbed to the rung of leading themselves - this means they know who they are, they like the person in the mirror, and they have become confident internally with what they know they can do. They have the capacity to truly care for others and confident in the circle of people that care about them.

2- They have climbed to the rung of informal leadership - this is the behind the scenes leadership, locker room conversations about life and leadership, inspiring others through conversation and small group huddles. They can rally energy in others when they walk into the room.

3 - They have climbed to the rung of formal leadership - they can drive a team/organization by grabbing the energy of everyone involved, they recruit, train, develop, and strategize to surround themselves with smart high performing people and then rally the team to the cause.

A leader who has climbed this 3 rung ladder is the type of leader that an organization can not pay enough, support enough, or give enough too. They are truly priceless in a world of insecurity, disorganization, and dispassionate living.

Which rung are you on? Are you priceless to your organization? You can be, the secret is ....it never happens on accident.

Creating Priceless Leaders -

Jon Bohm

Business Owner today -Entrepreneur tomorrow

2010-07-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

"Nothing is so successful that it can't be mismanaged. If you lose sight of what you are doing, it could be here today and gone tomorrow."- Jim Pohlad (Owner of the Minnesota Twins)

What are you doing? Whatever you do to pay the bills or take care of the family, what are you doing it for? Money, kids, to make a difference? This is a very important question and the answer to which must be kept front and center, or it will be gone.

Often, when business owners started their business they new they were doing it to build a better life, have more time, make a difference, etc. But, along the way they became not only the owner but the CEO, CFO, COO, manager, supervisor, and sometimes even the hourly wage worker. The ideals of a better life get swallowed with working harder and surviving and paying the bills. Without much thought, just like that, you can lose sight of what you got in this for in the first place. Same thing with being a Parent, a coach, or a teacher.

Since I can't speak to everything in a short blog, here is an overly simplified model to entrepreneurial success:

Solve the $ Step - If you don't plan and save to get far enough ahead to invest in others and better systems you will be left spending everyday and hour (every dinner with your spouse) not thinking about anything, except, how can I make more $ so I don't go out of business. Some people stay at step one their entire life- this is very sad to me as a coach.
Solve the time step - Use the money you saved or set aside in step 1 to buy yourself more time. Hire, delegate, create, and build new time saving systems.
Use the time you bought for yourself to find inspiration, new ideas, better ways of doing things, and creative energy to build your life and/or your business to new heights.

Where are you stuck? Which step is next? How are you going to get to the next step?

Of course, I'm here to help you do that. Just never lose site of what got you in this in the first place. Have fun!

Enjoy Life!

Creating Entrepreneurs everyday,

Jon Bohm

Can't Change the Game? Change the Players.

2010-07-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

Playing a game as kids there is always someone who would bend the rules, make up new rules, or re-create the game on the spot if it benefited them. Man, did you hate that or what!? Unless, that was you ruining the ability to play fair for the rest of us.

We were always told - you can't do that! We hated on them and we called unfair or conspiracy, depending on how many people were trying to change the rules.

Now, here we are all grown up and those that have figured out how to change the rules of the game to benefit them are the winners. As an entrepreneur, if you can change the way the game is played - kudos to you- do it. Google, Facebook, online magazines, Tivo, Apple, netflix, etc. have changed the rules in their industry. In one way or another they are making the world play their game. And just like when we are kids - the people that hate you for it feel like you are making them lose and those that benefit love your influence.

But, what about most of us? Are we game changers? I hope so, we try to be. But, often we don't get to change the rules. We have to play the game by whomever is changing the rules.

So, we will have to pick one of 2 options:

Take our ball and go home= you will no longer be playing the game, or refusing to play the game will often get your boss to send you home as well if the marketplace doesn't send you home first.
Realize if you can't change the game- change the players. Starting with you.

In today's marketplace the rules are changing everyday.

Are you going to take your ball and go home or worse get sent home?

Or are you going to change the players starting with you?

If you think your industry isn't changing- beware you are probably inches away from being sent home.

If you can't change the game - change the players.

Changing players in every industry everyday,

Jon Bohm

Learning from LeBron

2010-07-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Or, maybe I should say learning from LeBron's choices and circumstances surrounding his move to the Miami Heat.

There is a lot of media surrounding what LeBron did, how he went about it, and even speculation on why he didn't tell Cav's owner (Dan Gilbert) before he announced to the world his decision to leave the Cav's and move to the Heat. The aftermath is hurt and broken relationships as bridges of trust and loyalty burn to the ground.

No matter what, how, or why LeBron did what he did. One thing is for sure- any loyalty that may have existed between LeBron and and the Cav's is gone, and any relationship that may have existed between Gilbert and LeBron is also gone.

So, was it worth it for LeBron? For Gilbert? Who knows? And only time will tell.

The takeaway from all of this is that loyalty is good business. From Gilbert's perspective, had he fostered a deep loyalty in LeBron, it's more likely LeBron would still be with the Cav's. And, if LeBron had fostered loyalty and relationships with the team and Gilbert he would be more marketable, and he may have left without burning the bridges so many fans were standing on.

Loyalty exists when expectations are exceeded, period. What we can learn from LeBron is at the end of the day- relationships, loyalty, and expectations is the basis for decisions made in business. Sure money is an issue, contracts, and price all get into the game. But relationships, expectations, and loyalty trump every time sooner or later.

Obviously, LeBron's expecations either grew or were never met with the Cav's (he took a pay cut to go to the Heat.) Gilbert's expectations either grew or were never met with LeBron (LeBron accomplished nothing towards a championship). This causes a relationship breakdown and loyalty comes apart at the seams.

Is your business exceeding expectations? Are you creating loyalty and relationships among your internal and external customers? Do you even know?

In your personal life it's the same way. Marriage? Friendships? Work life and piers? Are you exceeding expectations?

Our challenge is not in how, what, or why other people do what they do. Rather, our challenge is where we set the bar in our own life, and how high we are willing to jump to create loyalty and relationships that will eventually trump everything else... sooner or later.

Exceeding expectations,
Jon Bohm

Reinventing Yourself - What next?

2010-07-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential, for the eye which , ever young and ardent, sees the possible.- Soren Kierkegaard

I was hanging out with my 4 year old son the other day and I was impressed with the excitement he finds in all the little things in life like learning a new word, understanding how something works, the adventure of playing in the backyard, and eating a new food. His energy and adventure is contagious. As we get older, and we have lived a full life and tried everything under the sun. We can have the tendency to write off all the things we don't like and embrace what we do enjoy, this causes the excitement and passion for life and new adventure to fade.

For example, I would love to get my pilot's license and then fly the country in my own airplane. This is an adventure and it would be an incredible thrill for me. My Dad, on the other hand, has had his pilot's license - he has been there and done that. The excitement has worn off, so what's next? Maybe for my Dad it's time to get some buddies together and build their own plane, time to take a passion and reinvent it. Re-create it with fresh perspective and new skills.

Once you have traveled the world, fought in 2 world wars, lived, loved and know yourself well. What is left? What excitement, challenge, and fervor for life and adventure is there? Maybe it's time to re-invent yourself?

Is it time for you to get some new energy from an old passion? Is it time to date your spouse again? Renew your vows? Check an item off the bucket list? Build something? Find a new talent? Or maybe the greatest reinvention is to plant seeds off your tree of experience into the life and mind of someone else?

Enjoy this true story:

Anna Mary Moses loved to do needlework. She had been enjoying it since before she was married. But as she began to get older, she started to lose some of the dexterity in her hands through arthritis. By the time she was eighty, she could no longer perform even the simplest stitches. Therefore she decided to try something different—painting. The brushes were easy enough to handle, even with her arthritis, so she took it up full time, mostly painting farm and country scenes.

One day a traveling art collector stopped for a bite to eat in her town and saw her pictures in a drugstore. He decided that he liked them, and in a very short time the name of Grandma Moses was known throughout the art world. Although Grandma Moses didn’t even start painting until she was eighty years old, she was able to create over fifteen hundred works of art in her lifetime. She had an international following, and prominence as a world-class painter.

All this because she was forced to quit her favorite pastime and take up a new one.

Success cannot be measured in time, or what anyone else thinks. It's personal and powerful when you are reaching your own goals. Never stop learning, dreaming, and re-inventing the wonderful life you have been given. The world is a playground, and there is always something new to explore. Sometimes the greatest exploration is done inside your own mind and life.

Dream it, find it, and live it. After all... this is YOUR one shot at life.

Jon Bohm

A Star is Born

2010-07-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

"Many an opportunity is lost because a (wo)man is out looking for four-leaf clovers." ~ Anon

I was reading my son is bedtime story and it happened to include an interesting story about how a star is born in space. It requires 3 major elements for the star to be born; gas, gravity, and timing. Read more about the science behind this here.

What a great metaphor for each of us. We all want to be "stars" in our own world, family, industry, or peer group. We want to make a difference to bring the right things together and maybe the biggest motivator - we want to be recognized for it. We want to shine, brightly!

It's easy to think that this is a function of luck.

If I had their background, looks, luck, than I would be a star too
If I had bought when they bought I would be rich too
If my daddy owned "x" company I would be in the right circles
If my kids were born without that disability

The more I work with people in a behind the scenes capacity with widely successful people the more I realize there is no four leaf clover, there is no lucky situation, and there is no lottery ticket. The magic bullet to success doesn't exist.

What appears to be lucky timing or lucky resources is not luck at all - it's simply preparation, passion to find resources, and the ability to expect opportunity (timing.) 3 ingredients that happen out of purpose and direction. To the skeptical outsider it appears to be lucky. But, it's not.

You want to be a star? 3 simple ingredients must exist to shine brightly -

1. Prepare yourself to become who you want to become. You want to be a star, act like one, now.

2. Find your passion and you will find the resources. Trust me, if you want it badly enough you will find the resources- or they will find you.

3. Look for opportunity with an expectation, a certainty of someone who knows the sun will rise tomorrow.

Stars are born everyday, in every economy, industry, and family. The only question is: will YOU look inside for the opportunity and put the ingredients in place or will continue to look for four leaf clovers and lottery tickets?

Expecting great things for you!

Jon Bohm

Are you Haunted?

2010-06-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a feeling or a thought you couldn't get away from? Like it was haunting you?

We typically think of this as a bad thing that occurs after a tragic experience or from the pain of a previous choice. But, I have found that most of the dynamic, driven, and high performance people are haunted by something.

Something that salts their life with passion, purpose, and drive that goes deep within them and pulls their emotions off the sideline and into the game of life.

I have a stress dream (nightmare) I had when I was battling cancer in which I was dying and all of the dreams I had for my future were dying with me, untold speeches, unwritten books, unchanged lives, and a mediocre life for myself. That one nightmare changed my life forever, it has haunted me ever since. I can't wake up and live without urgency, passion to make a difference, and emotion that drives me to an extraordinary life. It is my "why" to get up in the morning and it haunts me every day of my life. That nightmare was a gift that keeps on giving.

Do you have something that haunts you? That drives you to passion, purpose, that gets you actively and emotionally living your life? If not, find it. Look for it in daily life when you find yourself engaged, enraged, or just happy. Be haunted by your future successes and the fantastic life you have waiting for you, however you measure it.

George Eastman, inventor and founder of the Eastman-Kodak Company, often said that he never set out to become rich. Nor was it specifically his intent to promote photography. Eastman had lost his father while he was still young, and he was forced to watch his mother struggle to provide the bare essentials for George and his two sisters. Memories of his mother mopping floors and washing clothes for other people haunted George like a bad dream throughout his life. Consequently, he vowed to make enough money so that his mother would never have to work again. - One Minute Motivator

Actually, he made millions, and he revolutionized photography—but his real goal was to make a comfortable living for his mother. And that is the power that compassion for another can have.

May we all be so blessed to be haunted by compassion.

Enjoy YOUR Life!

Jon Bohm

Dog Cakes on the Path to Success

2010-05-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

"Your sweetest successes always come after some of your most sour mistakes."

Confusing a mistake for a failure is a common thing to do. We often (mentally or emotionally) think and feel that a mistake or a trial and error is a failure to some degree, but really it's just a part of your next success.

You haven't failed until you quit making mistakes, and therefore quit moving forward.

A client of mine told me a great story of Saturday pancake breakfasts at his house growing up. His Dad would be up earlier than everyone else and his Dad would start to make pancakes for the family. The smell would fill the house and by the time they got up, there was coffee brewing and a giant stack of perfectly golden pancakes. The family dog was normally a beggar, but never begged on Saturday mornings. Because, as it turns out, every Saturday before the family was up- Dad would burn the first batch of pancakes, which he gave to the family dog. These were the "Dog Cakes."

The "Dog Cakes" had to be made, they had to burn the oil off the pan before you could ever get to the golden brown beauties that came next. The "Dog Cakes" were a right of passage, an important part of the journey towards a perfect pancake.

When you start a new venture, launch a new product, make your first cold calls, try to connect emotionally, give a speech for the 1st time since high school, or anything else- be ready and willing to have some "dog cakes." But, don't confuse a few "dog cakes" with failure.

"Dog cakes" are not failures, or even mistakes, they are a part of the process to the perfect success. Don't be afraid of them. Don't run from opportunity because of them. Rather embrace them.

Believe me, your greatest successes will come after a short stack of "dog cakes." The faster you burn the oil off the pan the faster you will taste sweet success.

Hungry for Life-

Jon Bohm

The Choice YOU have to Make Today

2010-05-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

I went for a hike in some of the mountains near my house the other day and it got me thinking about all the comparisons that can be made between a hike in the mountains and life. One in particular jumped out at me.

When I started my hike, I had to choose which path I would take. The trail map showed a rating for each trail based on:
Ruggedness of terrain
Elevation height
Elevation change
I chose, as I often do in life, to take the most challenging trail. I want the one with the highest peaks and the lowest valleys, I want the one with the hardest trail that can take my breathe out of my lungs and replace it with a burning sensation, the one that makes my legs ache and burn. But, this trail also offers me the greatest breathtaking views, the greatest sense of accomplishment, and the greatest overall rewards.

We have to make this same choice everyday. If you get married you are choosing a path with much higher highs and much lower lows than a single person will have. If you open a business, likewise higher highs and lower lows. If you step out and volunteer to give that speech, to write that book, to handle that challenging situation at work, to commit to a workout program, to ask that person out...you get the idea. Anytime we choose to step into the ring and pick the rugged trail in life with the most elevation change, you are picking a different life than the majority of people who are simply content to go for a stroll on a smooth flat path that will never experience the breath taking views nor the pain of the climb.

Which path have you chosen in your life? Which path will you choose in the future? Which path will you take today?

As for me, call it a curse, but I have to take the rugged trail to the top, the view is just to amazing to pass up on.

See you on the trail, I hope to see at the top!

Enjoy the Climb!

Jon Bohm

Get Your Mail Read

2010-03-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

6 Tips for Making Sure Your Emails are Read AND Understood

(Thanks to Resource Associates Corporation)

Email is a fast, efficient method for communicating, and it does have its pitfalls. People are bombarded with so much information that they are naturally looking for shortcuts, which can cause confusion, frustration, and lack of understanding. Here are 6 tips for avoiding those pitfalls:

1. Keep it VERY short - People receive so many emails on a daily basis that they've taken to skimming to get to the good stuff. Get to the point and give them very little to skim.

2. Be VERY clear - Get in the habit of reading through your emails BEFORE you send them. By being sure that you understand the content, the recipient is more likely to understand it as well.

3. Put your key point in the Subject line - Resist the temptation to build up to a conclusion when you write. Get to the point right up front and the reader will have an easier time understanding the reason for your email. Don't be afraid to go into detail in the Subject line.

4. Include only one task per email or number the list - Assigning one task per email increases the likelihood that your recipient will respond appropriately. If you require your recipient to take multiple actions, assign a number to each task, i.e. "Please respond with the following: 1. Your contact info. 2. The time you want me to call."

5. Mind your cc's - If you are sending an email to multiple recipients and require them to take action, be very clear as to whom is to do what. When you send to more than one person, one recipient can assume the other recipient(s) will respond.

6. Emails are not the place to argue - It is very easy to misunderstand others and be misunderstood when communicating via email. If you sense that a recipient is getting emotional about an email, do yourself a favor and pick up the phone. Many times you can avoid a needless email argument and save a ton of time.

Enjoy Life!

Jon Bohm

Somebody SAVE me!

2010-02-02T13:42:00.000-08:00

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” ~ Sven Goran Eriksson

The fear of failure is a sub-conscious courage eater. It will rob you of passion, paralyze your mind, and urge you to give the responsibility for success to someone, or something else.

Have you ever felt that thing in the back of your conscious mind that wants you to run away, the moment you see the possibility that you could fail? We all have it. I think it's purpose is to keep us safe, which would be fine, if we still lived at our parent's houses with everything we need supplied by someone else in a perfectly safe world that was free from disease, pain, and suffering of any kind.

Since that is not the world we live in, and since our world is not SAFE. We have to come to grips with the reality that there is no avenue of retreat, we must arm ourselves. We must prepare mentally to live in the absence of safety, to live in a dangerous world with the possibility of failure forever lurking at the back of our subconscious mind, telling us to retreat.

What happens when the fear of failure is nagging you, and your subconscious is telling you to retreat? Our first instinct is often to scream "Save me" to anyone willing to listen.

Business owners yell "save me" to marketing firms and coaches
Mom's yell "save me" to school programs and babysitters
Personal finances yell "save me" to financial planners or bankruptcy attorneys
People in need yell "save me" to anyone willing to listen
Sometimes big businesses yell "save me" to government
Sometimes government yells "save me" to taxes

Don't get me wrong I am all for asking for help, collaboration, gaining partners, and teams. The difference between asking for help and yelling "save me" is this; asking for help implies that I am emotionally and mentally keeping the responsibility for my success and I simply want to team up, or ask for your help as a part of the effort to succeed.

Whereas; Yelling "save me" implies that I am giving you the responsibility for MY SUCCESS. And this will allow the fear of failure to destroy you. We can never give the responsibility for our own success to anyone. We can delegate, we can collaborate, we can orchestrate, and we can simply get help. But, if we give the responsibility for success to someone else, we have lost the war. We have retreated, and we have lost all influence in our success, guaranteeing failure.

So next time you feel that fear of failure begin to creep up on you, stop and make a plan. Stop and think about how to attack. Become even that much more committed to owning the responsibility you have to your own success.

And only then, ask for help and collaborate towards your success with marketing firms, coaches, attorneys, school programs, friends, government, and anyone who can help.

Don't be a victim to the fear of failure, be an OWNER of your own success.

Owning it daily,

Jon Bohm

Reflect back and plan forward....

2010-01-15T09:04:00.001-08:00

2 weeks into the New Year, are you rolling? Are you on your way to making 2010 truly better than '09?

The start of a new year is always a great time to reflect back and plan forward. Here are some great questions to springboard that thinking. (Remember; you're more likely to achieve something if you plan for it and write it down, so ... get your pens ready! Here goes:

As you reflect on this past year, what were your two or three most significant accomplishments, breakthroughs, and/or achievements?

1.
2.
3.

Looking back over the year, what (if anything) blocked or held you back as you moved toward your goals/objectives?

Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently? (While we can't change what was, we can use this input/learning as we move forward.)

As you look forward to next year, what are your three most significant goals that you wish to accomplish within the year? What will be different? How will YOU be different?

1.
2.
3.

What are the top two or three things about your business that you most want to be different next year?

1.
2.
3.

What two or three changes do you most want to see in your personal life?

1.
2.
3.

What do you want your practice/business to look like one year from now?

What actions are you prepared to take to reach your goals and objectives next year?

Having gotten clear on what you want to achieve next year, the next step is to develop the strategies and actions that will move you to reaching your desired outcomes. And if you don't yet have a coach or an accountability partner to keep you on track ... GET ONE! (... we happen to know a few good coaches!)

Let's prepare to make 2010 our most exciting, rewarding, and personally fulfilling year!

Enjoy Life!

Jon Bohm

(Adapted from my friends at Resource Associates Corporation)

Networking 101- Add Value!!!!

2010-01-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

Every group contains 2 types of people, "givers" and "takers."

Givers are always focused on what they can give to help others, to make the world a better place, to grow their business, to have bigger impact, and to add value.

Takers are always focused on what they can take to help themselves, to make their little (I emphasize little) world a better place, to grow their business, and add value to themselves. The irony is that by doing so, they lose value, shrink their business, and lose influence in the world.

Networking can be hell or it can be heaven. It just depends on who you are networking with... "givers" or "takers."

Take this little allegory as an example:

A man spoke with the Lord

about heaven and hell.

The Lord said to the man,

"Come, I will show you hell."

They entered a room where a group of

people sat around a huge pot of stew.
Everyone was famished,

desperate and starving.

Each held a spoon that reached the pot,

but each spoon had a handle so much

longer than their own arm that it could not

be used to get the stew into their own mouths.

The suffering was terrible.

"Come, now I will show you heaven,"
the Lord said after a while.

They entered another room, identical to the first -
the pot of stew, the group of people, the same long-handled spoons.
But there everyone was happy and well-nourished.

"I don't understand," said the man.
"Why are they happy here when they were miserable
in the other room and everything was the same?"

The Lord smiled.
"Ah, it is simple," he said. "Here they have learned to feed each other."- Heaven and Hell, The Real Difference by Ann Landers

If you want to be a great networker, grow your business or life, make more money, reach your dreams, and have a bigger impact than you have to learn to be a giver and network with other givers. Which one are you?

An honest test: 1. Make a list of everything someone or something has done for you. 2. Now, make a list of what you have done for others.

How can you add more value to the world and your clients? Answer that everyday and watch your success explode.

Be a giver!

Jon Bohm

New Year + Focus = New YOU!

2010-01-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

"I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they do their lives. Perhaps that's because escape is easier than change."

- Jim Rohn

2010 is here! I hope you are as excited as I am!

I don't mean to be over excited, but as a cancer survivor, I take every milestone as a chance to celebrate life. What it means to be here for 2010 is more than words can ever describe. So congratulations...YOU are here for 2010 as well!

If you are anything like me, you are expecting 2010 to be your best year yet. Not just because 2009 seemed to have so many challenges for so many people, but because you are continually BECOMING a better person-who brings more value and good to those around you-every year. That is exciting!

I have a few things planned for this year. I have a new plan to be a better coach, father, and husband. I have Financial, Family, Friends, Fitness, and Fun goals that I will be working toward. All of them require resources and mental shifts from where I am now to where I will be by the year end. What about for you? What do you have planned for 2010?

Whatever it is, I'm sure it's a laundry list to some degree--similar to mine. Do you know the best way to insure hardly any of it happens? I do...DON'T focus on any ONE thing.

I have recently taken up bird hunting which is great fun and great food :) (Sorry bird lovers.) When I walk within 10 feet of the right bush I can see 20 doves come out and fly all over the place. I have about 2 seconds to take a shot. What I have found is that if 20 fly out, I hardly ever walk away with even ONE!!! I see them, I hear them, I get crazy excited and I don't seem to have enough time to pick ONE out of the crowd. So, I take a random shot and nothing happens. BUT...if I walk near a different bush and only ONE flies out...then I'm having dove for breakfast!!

The New Year will be the same for me, and I bet for you, if you have 20 goals all flying out of YOU at the same time. You will be lucky to walk away from 2010 with even one goal completed and in the bag.

We have to FOCUS, focus, and (I will say it again) focus. We will have to pick ONE goal out of the crowd and take a shot, before we ever move on. So, here is a practical and easy guide I recommend for making 2010 be productive and successful in BECOMING a better YOU:

Make a list of the top 5 things you would like to change about you, or your circumstances. (For me, I'm starting with getting back in shape)
Answer this question; "If you could change one thing in your life that would have the greatest positive impact on your life in 2010, what would it be?" Do not move to step 3 until you have a confident answer for number 2. Many of my clients say something with the five "F's" (Financial, Family, Friends, Fitness or Fun) for number 2 in some way. What is yours? Got it?
Ok, now number 3 is to separate that goal from the crowd, and make it specific and put a time frame on it. What will you do and when will you do it?
Now, put everything else on the shelf, and set your sights on only that one change.
Ask yourself; What do I have to know? What do I have to do? Who do I have to become? for that goal to be in the bag by the date I set?
Go get it! Protect it, focus on it, resource it. Do not rest or look at another goal until you achieve it.

Although for me, goal achievement is an art that requires skill, time, commitment and usually some professional help, the take away that I want you to get (which is 90% of the process) is to FOCUS on that one thing.

I am convinced that one of the biggest reasons that so many people live in mediocrity with so much available in our world, is because so much is AVAILABLE that we lose focus.

A new year is here. The pages are blank for 2010. It is time to write the first page. Pick one thing--only one thing--and FOCUS on it until completion. Then move onto the next thing until completion, and so on. Write the greatest story of your life...ONE page at a time...in 2010.

Live a great story!

Jon Bohm

YOUR personal, business, and strategy coach

When You are in a funk... H.A.L.T

2009-12-28T22:49:00.000-08:00

Anger is a secondary emotion. You have to kill the root.

On a regular basis I have a client or a friend, kids, or myself that have a day you could put in the funk category. A day when you are not firing on all cylinders so to speak.

Have you ever had a day like that? We all do? The occasional emotional setback. No big deal, right?

Depends, I guess on the day. If you spend your day in a funk instead of landing that new client it could have long term effects. I tell every client I have, if you are going to be an entrepreneur you have to embrace the fact that you don't get the luxury of a crappy attitude, self pitty, or even a funk for very long if at all.

So, how do we avoid the funk? How do we keep the funky day from becoming a funky week, month, year, or your life? I can't cover it all in a little blog post but I will give you this. In almost every situation when you find yourself in a funk it's because 1 of 4 things; you allowed yourself to become too:

H.ungry

A.ngry

L.onely or

T.ired

Next time you feel yourself slipping into the funk, stop (halt) and ask yourself; "Am I too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired?" The answer is yes 98 % of the time. So, stop and fix it, or take regular daily checks to keep the funk at bay.

It turns out my Mom new how to keep the funky days at bay with sleep, the right diet, good friends, and emotional health. And that alone can be a great New Year's resolution.

Happy New Year and Cheers to the good life.

Live a great story in 2010!

Jon Bohm

PR, Tiger Woods, and you...

2009-12-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

“There are 2 primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist or to accept the responsibility for changing them.”- DENIS WAITLEY

Did Tiger mess up? Yes. I think we would all agree, especially his wife, "yeah, he messed up."

But, that is not really the question we have to wrestle with the question we have to wrestle with is "Now what?" What do we do as sponsors, what do we do as the public with an icon, forerunner, and elite hero like Tiger when they mess up?

We know better than to crucify someone for messing up, we know we don't ever want to be the one to be casting any stones, because we know that we all mess up to one degree or another. We know that forgiveness is stronger than bitterness and we know that to love someone's strengths and despise them for their mistakes isn't love at all. And we love our heroes, don't we?

So, how do we handle this? How does Tiger handle it? How do we avoid it? And how should we think about it?

As for "how does Tiger handle it?" The experts and press have beat this one to death. We all know, he needs to step out front and own the fact that he is a hero and continue to act like a hero by taking responsibility for it. But, that isn't our call, is it? This whole things is actually none of my business. All we can really think about is how are we going to deal with it? How should the sponsors deal with it?

I have found, I deal with it in a very simple way. I hope and pray he finds the right help to get healthy and live a great life with or without golf. I hope he finds the people and the tools to reach deep and get healthy emotionally so he can enjoy this one chance at life we all get. And money isn't the answer, we all know that. Happiness come from within, and clearly Tiger needs to reach within.

So, that leaves really only one question left to deal with. What do the sponsors do? What do you do? To support or not support those products? or Tiger in front of the kiddos?

As for me, as a consumer, I don't buy products because of who sponsors them. So, I won't NOT buy them based on who sponsors them either.

As for the sponsors, what a tough decision! They have one of the greatest athletes to ever live partnering with them to promote their livelihood. Incredible. But, I don't see how they can still use him as a sponsor, it's down right ironic how difficult it will be given the nature of Tiger's bad decisions. Woods’ sponsors include Gillette, Gatorade, Accenture, Nike and AT&T. So here is why I don't think they can keep him. Wood's apparently had multiple sexual affairs with a wide range of women over a large portion of the country or maybe event the world and listen to the tag lines of each of his sponsors:

Gillette "The Best a man can get."
Gatorade "Is it in you?"
Accenture "High performance. Delivered."
Nike "Just do it."
AT&T "More bars in more places."

It's unbelievable isn't it? Almost hilarious, and I'm probably missing a few good ones. When you build a brand, your company will rise and fall on how much positive attention the consumer is willing to give to you. So, of course attracting attention is half the battle and the other half is keeping it positive. If it's not positive, then you can't keep something in your brand.

So, in the balance of standing on the rock solid foundation of a great product and the thin ice of public opinion, where is your brand? You have a brand whether you know it or not. Personally you have one. When I google your name, what do I find? Your business definitely has one. So, how strong is your brand? Or better yet, how much positive attention does your brand get? How much negative attention needs to be dealt with? It may not seem like a big deal, but it is. It's the unspoken piece to the puzzle every company needs to pay attention to. It is directly connected to your success personally and professionally.

Do you dress? Speak? Act? Walk? Type? Live? as the person you are becoming? As the person or company want to be? Does the world see the real you? Does it see your company in the right light? Is it a pretty picture, or could it use some polishing. Sometimes a little polish goes a long way.

Give us a call if it's time to get some positive attention or do some polishing.

Live the dreams you have imagined! No nightmares allowed:)

Jon Bohm

Giving During the Holidays - Some Ideas

2009-12-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

"There is just something about the way we are as humans, we will never find deep satisfaction focused on ourselves, it's not until we plant the flag of focus outside ourselves that we can find true fulfillment." Me

A trusted person who has demonstrated the ability to give and focus on others gave me some ideas for serving others and finding fulfillment during the Holidays, please comment and add your ideas to the list!

Some possibilities:

1. Deliver meals on wheels so the person who normally does that volunteer work will have more time with their loved ones

2. Invite someone who will be alone to participate in your family's holiday celebrations

3. Take time to go visit a friend who has become homebound due to age-related or health challenges

4. Consider giving time or a gift in the name of your children or grandchildren who may already have their needs well supplied.

5. Consider giving a Shelter Box in the name of your family - then share with them the news of where your family was able to make a real difference when the box is finally placed

6. Call those family members who are separated by miles - especially those in the older generations who have already lost some of their siblings and many of their dear friends

7. Share a few fond memories of "how it used to be" with your children and grandchildren - too often this history is lost and the bridge between generations is damaged

8. When you prepare those family favorite dishes, make copies of the recipe to have available for those who enjoy it.

9. Give everyone you meet a warm, friendly smile!

10. Take time to follow your spiritual traditions and be true to the moral compass your faith brings to you.

11. Find a way (phone programs, gift boxes, letters, etc.) to send to our troops all around the globe who are separated from loved ones during the Holidays.

12. My personal favorite. Start a new program that feeds those who need it, food, clothing, and gifts.

I would love to hear your ideas as well. Merry Christmas!

Enjoy Life!

Jon Bohm

Are you living a STORY?

2009-12-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

Are You Living a Story worth telling?

I am in the middle of a great book by Donald Miller "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years."

Great book, and it's all about "story." What makes a great story? What makes a story worth watching, reading, or even living?

It got me thinking about my life..... am I living a story? Would anyone watch it as a movie? Would anyone read it? Does anyone care? Or, would I have to add a bunch of things to my boring life to make it a real "story?"

I have concluded, I am living a story. I don't know that anyone would watch it, but it is an epic story. What about you?

Are you living a story?

Every great story meets the following criteria:

It has a character that wants something so bad that they are willing to overcome any obstacle, run through any wall, and conquer any mountain to get it. Without that, you don't have a story. You are the character in your story, are you on an adventure towards something you want? What is it? Are you willing to overcome the obstacles to realize your dreams?

Every story starts with a look into the character's life and mind. The story shows you that the character is a "good" person, a person making in a difference in some way. Why? Because, nobody cares if the character wins in the end if we don't know they are a "good" person, making a difference. Are you making a significant difference? Does the world see an impact because of you in some big or small way? Do people want you to win in the end? Do people rally around you and your cause? Or, are you standing idly by?

In every story the character doesn't really and truly make changes towards the life they want until something makes them move. Someone loses a job, loses a spouse, loses an opportunity, loses a life, a friend, or focus and they are finally forced or driven to change. Are you saying you want to do, see, get, or be someone someday? What is it? Why don't you have it yet? Are you waiting for an event to make you move? What has to happen in your life before you are willing to go after the life you want? What can you do to make it happen now?

Just some thoughts. So, are you living a story?

Let me tell you; I want you to win in the end. I want you to make a move now. I want you to want something so bad you begin to really, really live a story.

The pages are blank moving forward, it's time to start writing your own epic. If you need help putting pen to paper and make your move, just give me a shout. After all, you only get one time around on this life? Don't stand idly by.

Live YOUR STORY-

Jon Bohm

What do you WANT?

2009-11-12T12:19:00.000-08:00

Living your entire life always doing what you SHOULD can give you a safe predictable life that leaves you completely disappointed in the end because you never answered the honest and simple question of “What do I WANT?”- Jon Bohm

What do YOU want?

I mean really what do you want, not what you SHOULD want, but what do you really WANT?

Sometimes those things are the same. I should go to work today and I WANT to go to work today. Great! That is an important distinction. When you live your life the way you should instead of the way you want your heart, emotions, desires, and mind are sitting on the sideline as you live your dutiful existence moving through the motions without passion.

What are you doing in your life that you SHOULD be doing?

What are you NOT doing that you SHOULD be doing?

I should go to church. I did go to church because I SHOULD.

I should go home and hang with my family. I did go home and hang with the family because I SHOULD.

I should make that sales call. I made the call because I SHOULD.

I SHOULD take my spouse out. ETC. ETC.

What is it that you do without emotional passion and desire because you SHOULD?

Now, don’t take me wrong I’m not saying we all need to ignore whatever we SHOULD be doing. Instead of ignoring, we have to make the mental and attitudinal shift to quit saying I SHOULD and change it to I WANT to do this.

Most of the time it’s as simple as catching your self in the middle of a SHOULD and simply replacing the word SHOULD with WANT. It’s time to get YOUR passions and emotions off the bench and into the game of life.

The bottom line is you have an incredible life to live. Start living it because you WANT to and stop living it because you SHOULD. It’s time for YOU to get emotional involved in YOUR life. If you need help making the switch, please contact me anytime!

May we hit the ground living the life we WANT to live today!

Enjoy Life!

Jon Bohm

Money, Money, Money

2009-11-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

“Money Defined: An article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except Heaven, and as a universal provider for everything except happiness. Money is a wonderful servant and a terrible master.”- Anonymous, published in the Wall Street Journal

What is your definition of Money?

It's been said that if money doesn't buy happiness for you, then you simply don't know where to shop.

What about you? Do you know the power of money? Does your money work for you? Does your money serve you? Or... do you serve your money?

Every entrepreneur, investor, or professional has to answer this question with careful certainty. Money can't be ignored it has to mean something to you.

The bottom line is you are using your money or your money is using you.

Are you using your money:

As a score card?
As a tool to living your best life?
As a tool to help others?
As a tool to make more and buy time?
As a tool to making our world a better place?

Or is your money making a "tool" out of you:

As a slave to the "grind" so you always make more of IT at any expense?
As a tool to the system of working in the "rat race?"
As a slave to the never ending search for security at the expense of opportunity?
As a slave to the never ending search for self worth in things and stuff?

Obviously the list goes on. Test yourself; does your money buy you more time? a better quality of life for you and those around you? does your money make a positive impact on your community or the world? bring you personal satisfaction? a better life?

If you can't honestly say yes to at least 4 of those, it might be a good time to check who is serving who?

Money can be an incredible passport to anywhere and just about anything, and one of the most powerful tools to making a positive impact on people and our planet.

Or...

money can be a powerful force that keeps you a slave to the intangible quest for happiness. Constantly slaving to the idea that if you can just get more you will find happiness and satisfaction. Of course, the big secret is that happiness is found deep within yourself, never in a certain amount of money or anything else. The choice is yours. And you don't have to be rich to make that choice, often people in debt have a harder time viewing money as a tool than the affluent, but it's still your choice.

No matter how much we have it can always be used by us or it can use us. Choose wisely and with certainty.

May we all make more money and use it as a tool to make the greatest positive impact we can on us, our friends, and the world.

Find happiness in you first. Then see money for what it really is, a big tool.

Enjoy life!

Jon Bohm

Emotion is the Difference

2009-10-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

"Success is not driven by knowledge or skill, but by the emotional desire to achieve. We do not run on fuel from our head but rather fuel from our heart." - Jon Bohm

Have you ever wondered what separates the world's greatest performers from the rest?

What is the defining thing that makes someone successful? We have the tendency to answer that question in terms of skills, or knowledge, or luck, or circumstances. But, I have found it is not any of those things, those things play a role of course in the big picture, but none of those things are the defining difference.

Many studies have shown that the world's top performers usually had a sibling or several siblings that were more talented, had more knowledge, more skill, and better circumstances than they did and yet they are not the one's that became the best. Actually, you could probably think of several people you know yourself who were given opportunity, money, the education, and had the talent to do amazing things and yet have found themselves in and out of re-hab or living in the land of mediocrity somewhere.

Often, it's those who came from difficult circumstances and past hard knocks, lower skills, and less knowledge that find a way to the be the best. You can probably think of a few people you know in your industry. In case you need help thinking of some examples; Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, George Eastman, and the list goes on.

And of course, there are many world class performers that have come from very privileged backgrounds as well. But, thats my point. Their background, circumstances, skills, and knowledge is not the difference. It is the emotional drive above all else that makes the difference- every time.

Think about your life, ever tried to accomplish something that never happened, but would have changed your life had you been successful? A choice? An opportunity?

What stopped you from success? Make a list.

I'm guessing your list is full of circumstances, missing knowledge, lack of technology, lack of money, lack of time, lack of some kind of resource. Although those may be legitimate missing resources it is not why you didn't get it done. You didn't get it done because at the deepest level, you didn't want it badly enough.

You didn't have the emotional drive to get it done. That drive, that passion and emotion at the deepest level is what will get it done. You will find a way, you will be convincing enough, you will take the time, spend the money, learn the knowledge, and hone the skill.

Am I right? If you wanted it bad enough would you have done it? Be honest.

Yes, you would've. You might not know how, but you would have figured it out.

So, enough about your past let's look to the future. What do you want? What do you want to go, see, do, or become?

How bad do you want it? You better find some emotion if you want to be world class. At the end of the day it's emotion that drives you from the land of mediocrity.

Enjoy life today!

Jon Bohm

The Most Powerful things in Life are SIMPLE BUT NOT EASY

2009-09-28T12:29:00.000-07:00

"Everyone needs someone to help them take action on the simple things in life, because simple is not EASY."- Jon Bohm

In high school I wore a baseball cap that had the name brand "SIMPLE" on the front. SIMPLE is a great clothing and shoe manufacturer. I had a boss that would always make fun of me for wearing that hat. His jokes always themed around the idea that to be simple is to be slow... and basically a moron.

As you can imagine, I'm over it now- ok I still have a little resentment :). As a matter of fact, I couldn't disagree with that assumption (that "simple" means you can't even tie your own shoes) more! The mark of a brilliant person is to be able to take complicated ideas and make them simple enough to be useful and practical.

The greatest things in life are simple:

Love
Friendship
Compassion
Making Money
Saving Money
Starting a new healthy habit in the New Year
Quitting an old unhealthy habit
Staying active
Eating Healthy
Improving your quality of life
Raising truly great kids
Developing greatness in others
Making the world, or at least your world, a better place

Maybe, as you were reading that list you started to disagree with me? What do you think? Simple? Is it simple to love your spouse? Is it simple to raise great kids? Is it simple to make money? To eat healthy, make the world a better place....etc?

Of course. It is SIMPLE. However, it is NOT EASY. Somewhere a long the line I believe just about everything in our culture has confused simple with easy.

For example, if you want to stop smoking it's not complicated. All you have to do is not put another cigarette in your mouth, don't light it, and don't puff on it. This is not rocket science. If you want to eat healthy all you have to do is put healthy food into your mouth, chew, and swallow. Again not rocket science. But NOT easy either.

So, let me ask you. If you could change anything in your life and improve on some things, what would you change?

Take a moment....ok got it?

Now, let's be real honest, is it a simple change?

I would be willing to bet all 3 of those things could realistically change in the next 12 months. Could they? If so, than why haven't you changed them already? What is getting in your way? What simple thing has become complicated or difficult and why?

Let me ask another question? Are you becoming more and more, everyday, the person YOU WANT to be in the future? Are you pulling your future into your present? If you are stuck in a rut, or if you know what simple things you need to change, than change them and don't make it complicated. Or, reach out for help. I help people every single day accomplish SIMPLE but not EASY things that they never thought were possible!

If you need help, reach out.... to family, to friends, to a professional like myself, or all the above and get your life moving. Just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy, and it doesn't give you an excuse to just keep saying that "someday" I will be different and quit smoking, start a business, love my spouse better, make more money, etc."

Enjoy your life and make changes NOW, because "Someday" never comes without changing things NOW.

Jon Bohm

Key Questions when Hiring a Coach

2009-09-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

"If you would attain what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you were pleased with yourself there you have remained. But once you have said, “It is enough,” you are lost. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing; do not stop, do not turn back, do not turn from the straight road." — St. Augustine

It's about time I gave some advice on what to look for when hiring someone to help you move your life and business forward. Some great questions:

Are they a good fit for you? Do you like them and trust them?
Are they results focused? A lot of people will charge you good money to listen to you. But, will they help you actually achieve the results you need in your life and business? Knowledge is NOT power- APPLIED Knowledge is power.
Do they have legitimate names and numbers of people you could call to see if they are truly good at what they do?
Are they focused on long termdevelopment of you and your life, or is it short-term training that you will have to try and remember?
Do they help you get past the obstacles in your life and business or are they just focused on your goals?
Do they help you in life and business? Or do they just focus on one or the other?

A couple pitfalls that are easy to fall into are:

Often people want to make sure the coach they are looking
at has extensive knowledge in their industry, but a good coach
can help you develop your skills and attitude in a field they
may not even know much about. If you need training look for
a good consultant or mentor. Although, some coaches do very
well in both roles.

Often people will look for a coach with the most degrees.
But, degrees do little in determining whether someone is
good atmotivating, inspiring, developing, and applying the attitudes
and action of others.

Sometimes people think they have it all figured out and
don't need help. We all need help, every good coach will hire
coaches themselves and they are always focused on life long
learning.

TigerWoods has three coaches and he is the best in
the world. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you have arrived.

Cheers to always moving forward with some collaborative help!

-Jon Bohm

Lighting the Fire of Success

2009-09-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

You get the best results from others not by lighting a fire beneath them, but by building a fire within." - Bob Nelson

I want to ask you a simple question today. What drives you?

What really gets you going? What makes you so excited you can't sleep? What makes you so angry you would run through walls to stop it? What do you care enough about that you would sacrifice for it? Where is your fire?

Don't say money. Money can be a score card. Money can be tool to be used to stoke your fire. Money can be something that opens opportunities, provides influence, or invests in a cause you care deeply about. But, what is that "cause?"

What is your "Cause?" What is your "purpose?" Everyone has a purpose just like everyone has a heart. What's yours?

This may surprise you, but I hire a personal coach every year to help me grow personally and professionally just like all my clients hire me, and my coach turned me on to a powerful story of a man named Ralph Metcalf (above on Right). Read about him on Wikipedia or in the history books, but something you won't read is that Ralph Metcalf had a stated purpose statement for his life. For Ralph it was "to honor and serve his country." That is why he ran in the 1936 Olympics against Hitler's German squad, this is why he volunteered to fight in World War 2, and this is why he ran for congress at a time in our country when it was obviously difficult for a black man to gain a seat in politics. Bottom line... his purpose statement was his "Fire within."

What's yours? Find it. Breathe it. Live it. Or, call someone who will help you dig it up and get to really living on "purpose." After all, if you want a fire you have to fuel it and you have to light it, before you ever feel the heat.

Make the next stage of your life a magnificent obsession, rather than a meaningless odyssey.

Enjoy Life and LIVE today!

Jon Bohm

Is it the Wise thing to do?

2009-08-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

"Everyone can learn from one of 2 teachers, you can learn from either wisdom or consequences." -Adapted from Wayne Cordiero's book Divine Mentor

When it comes to ethics how do you determine how far is too far? How close is too close? When have I crossed the line?

We have to answer this question thousands of times everyday, don't we?

When I have a conversation and they ask about someone else's "business."

When my wife asks me if these jeans make her butt look fat.

When I have a chance at my second helping of desert.

When I have the opportunity to own a mistake that wasn't mine, or rat out a fellow employee.

When I count my strokes on the golf course...after all I had to move it there was a stick in the way.

Or...

A little white lie on my taxes.

A little "innocent" flirting with someone else's spouse.

A little extra bragging or "padding" the old resume.

Whatever it is, we have that choice to make everyday and often we make our decision by asking ourselves this question; "How far can I go?" That's a fair question isn't it? After all we can only go so far. But, I think this question, more often then not, leads us to learn from the great teacher "Consequences." "Consequences" is an excellent teacher, but it has a mean after taste and takes a lot longer to learn from than wisdom.

To avoid learning from consequences and learn from "Wisdom," on the front end don't ask; "How far can I go?" Instead ask "Is this the wise thing to do?"

In changing the question you ask yourself you will pull yourself back from the dangerous edge of consequences and find yourself operating and learning from wisdom in every ethical situation I can think of.

May we all learn from the great Teacher "Wisdom" and avoid the pain and hurt that always comes with consequences.

Enjoy Life ...live Wisely!

Jon Bohm

Be a Stuntman...not a Dare Devil

2009-07-12T17:20:00.000-07:00

I am a lucky, lucky person. - Evel Knievel

Are you a lucky person? Or are you unlucky?

Have you ever noticed that how much luck someone has is directly proportionate to how much risk they are willing to take?

Why do some people have the midas touch?

While the touch of so many others seems to turn things into ashes? Have you ever noticed that some people just seem to be luckier than others?

Take scenario one: you become a "dare devil" and jump out of a perfectly good airplane with no plan, without the knowledge, and without the hard work in preparing for your jump. If you survive, well than, you are lucky, maybe even miraculous to some degree.

However, take scenario 2: if you plan and bring a parachute, than you learn how to use your parachute, and you work hard to prepare for your jump on the ground or in a wind tunnel than your odds of being lucky and surviving are dramatically better than the first scenario.

In both situations you jump from the same plane. In both situations your risk is the same. But in scenario number 2, your chances of getting lucky are very high. Because, you planned your risk with meticulous work like a stuntman who strategically thinks his stunt through, not a daredevil who just jumps.

So, what about business and getting lucky?

The entrepreneur that takes a gamble and opens a widely successful business in the worst recession our country has seen since the great depression, lucky?

The investor who fires his financial planner and takes matters into his own hands, and turns a profit of 40 k a week instead of losing it when everyone around him told him to "Buy and hold." What do you think, lucky?

The stay at home mom who opens her own on-line store, only to get so many orders she can't keep up. Lucky?

My answer is....Yes, very lucky.

However, my definition of luck has an equation. Luck doesn't happen to everyone. Why do some people seem to be luckier than others?

Over the years of working with many people, in many industries, I have found what I believe to be the equation to how lucky an organization or person may become. I trust it so much, that I consider it to be a fortune telling equation on how lucky someone will be.

Stop and think. What is a new adventure or thing you may want to try? Ok, got one in mind?

Using a scale of 1-10. 1 being poor and 10 being excellent. Rate your future idea in each of the following categories:

1-10 - How much risk is involved?
1-10 - How strategic have I been? And how many resources have I put into my plan for success?
1-10 - How hard have I worked toward my success?

After honestly rating your new venture in each of the above categories, you have a possible 30 points available. Simply add up your total score and divide it by 30 and that is the percentage I give you on getting "lucky" and succeeding.

It is a law of the universe. The more you risk, the better you plan, and the harder you work... the "luckier" you will be. Is it possible to get "lucky" with a 10% chance? You bet. But, you can increase your odds of getting lucky in every situation with some hard work, high tolerance for risk, and a great strategic mind.

So, how lucky are you? I guess it depends on how bad you want to be lucky. And how much effort you put into increasing your odds.

It seems to me... that the harder I work, the better I plan, and the more risk involved, the luckier I am.

May you become one of the "luckiest" people around, and when all the unlucky people watch your life, they just won't be able to understand why YOU are sooo lucky.

Enjoy Life!

Jon Bohm

Be the Mother of Invention

2009-07-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had an idea about something and thought to yourself, "Someone should invent that!"

Well, maybe that someone should be you? I am not an invention expert by any means, but I have some clients who are are inventing and re-inventing all the time. And, I'm willing to bet that everyone has at least one idea in their lifetime that could make you fabulously wealthy.

So, what do you do when inspiration strikes? Here are a few steps I was able to gather:

Write it down dummy. How many ideas have I forgotten that were brilliant if I could just remember! When ideas show up...capture them on paper or computer ASAP.
Do a Patent search at google.com/patents. You can see drawings of other people's ideas and dig deep to see what makes your idea different.
Get your invention "Patent Pending" ASAP at uspto.gov/web/forms/index.html - From what I have gathered you describe your invention and and create some drawings with a nominal fee your invention is officially "Patent Pending" and you no longer have to guard it with your life.
Ask around. Now is the time to voice your idea and start your market research. Is it a viable invention. Will people pay money for it? Is it profitable?
When your Patent is approved (can take up to a year or 2) you can use a patent attorney that can be quite pricey or you can do it yourself as in step 3. Fees will range around $1500 for you to do it yourself or around $20 k for a patent lawyer.
Market it and sell it yourself or try to sell your patent license to someone else. Usually a company.

The curiosity of what to do with a great idea was killing me. I hope you found it helpful to. Or start researching yourself at inventorsdigest.com/resources

Happy inventing! There are a lot of needs in our world, we need to invent some great ideas to take care of so many tough situations.

Enjoy Life Today!

Jon Bohm

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

2009-07-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Self-Fulfilling prophecy is a tough concept to understand. But if you can tap into your capabilities and then see and understand the potential you have. Then, remember the reasons you have to believe in yourself, you will in fact conquer your biggest fears and accomplish what you say you can.

But the opposite is true all the time. If you say you "Can't" then you most definitely will not.

William Purkey tells a great little allegory concerning the value of feeling good about ourselves:

A mouse ran into the office of the Educational Testing Service and accidentally triggered a delicate point in the apparatus just as the College Entrance Examination Board’s data on one Henry Carson was being scored.
Henry was an average high-school student who was unsure of himself and his abilities. Had it not been for the mouse, Henry’s score would have been average or less, but the mouse changed all that, for the scores that emerged from the computer were amazing—800s in both the verbal and quantitative areas.

When the scores reached Henry’s school, the word of his giftedness spread like wildfire. Teachers began to re-evaluate their gross under-estimation of this fine lad, counselors trembled at the thought of neglecting such talent, and even college admissions officers began to recruit Henry for their schools.
New worlds opened for Henry, and as they opened he started to grow as a person and as a student. Once he became aware of his potentialities and began to be treated differently by the significant people in his life, a form of self-fulfilling prophecy took place. Henry began to put his mind in the way of great things. . . Henry became one of the best men of his generation.

We can apply this concept to our every day life and business in simple ways. When we have a week, a day, an hour, or a conversation that goes bad we will begin to "Self-talk" at an alarming rate and in that moment we have a tendency to say some negative things about ourselves, our abilities, our products, our ideas, or our companies. Of course none of these things are usually true but in that moment that couldn't be more real.

Using a simple tool called "Affirmations" is an easy and simple way to combat the negative self talk that could arise during a work day.

Affirmations are an expression of the person you know you need to be to achieve the results you want.
An affirmation is a self-fulfiling prophecy that should be placed in a place you can read them daily- in the car- in the bathroom- at your desk - on the office wall- etc.

"I am a great sales person"
"I like to eat healthy"
"I make 500 k a year"
"LIfe is Good"
"Today is an awesome day"

Let me encourage you to write 3 and only 3 affirmations on a 3 x 5 card and read it 3 times a day.

Use the following criteria to write a great affirmation:
-Make it 1st person
-Present tense
-Positive
-Within your realm of belief

I know most of us automatically picture the Saturday night Live Skit and think this can sound a little hokus pokus, but it works. And in my world if it works and gets results then it has value.

I dare you to try it and watch your self talk, self image, and results change for the better!

After all life IS Good and it's just getting better!

- Enjoy Life Today!
Jon Bohm

Connecting Emotionally

2009-06-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

“Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim.... when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.” - Martin Luther King Jr. 1963 - Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Have you ever been around someone who was really, I mean really, able to walk in your shoes? Not just say they understand, but really feel what you feel? That is the secret of compassion.

I once heard a friend say that being heard is so close to be loved that most people can't tell the difference. How well do you listen to those in your life? How well do you feel the pain of your prospects? How good are you at feeling what others feel?

Often, when I am working with a team of sales people they want to know how to "Close" better or "sell" better. But, the greatest sales secret in the world is to be a great listener, practice compassion, ask great questions, and walk in your prospect's shoes. When you can feel what they feel then you are connecting emotionally with their issues.

In a sales situation it is tempting to talk a lot and show the prospect how much you know about your product. And think you are closing the sale, you couldn't be more wrong. Your prospect doesn't care how much you know about your product, they care how much you understand their problem, pain, or challenge.

You can't learn about someone's pain or walk in their shoes by talking. So close your mouth and start listening, or better yet, start feeling what they feel.

A good system is to never tell anybody anything (especially about their situation) until you know these 3 things:

What are they thinking?
What are they feeling?
What are they experiencing?

...in this situation. After you have asked enough questions, clarified enough answers, and felt enough of their pain to understand their situation thoroughly-only then should you venture out on the limb and dare to explain that what you offer is a good fit for them.

The decision to buy something is not logical it is an emotional decision that has to be justified logically. It wasn't until our country truly felt the pain of segregation that people justified changing the culture. Thanks to great speeches that allowed a hate filled and hurt society to see, and more importantly feel, the pain it was creating.

May we all learn to get outside ourselves long enough to feel what those around us feel. Connecting with each other emotionally is the greatest tool to there is to helping people change.

Practice the white magic of listening and see your relationships and profits grow!

Enjoy Life today!

Jon Bohm

Just Jump already! What are you waiting for?

2009-06-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

"Leadership is doing what everyone else says they will do."

What have you said you "will do?" Climb a peak, sky dive, forgive, love, settle down, build a company, chase a dream, travel the world, or something else?

Let me ask you, what are you waiting for? More money? More time? More courage?

Whatever it is, it's probably just an excuse to put your real living off for another day, another year, or another lifetime.

Every year I take a group, of anyone who wants to go, Skydiving. My trip was this past Saturday (National Cancer Survivor's Day). We had a great group and a great jump. It can be a life changing experience and everyone who goes loves it. Especially once they get to the ground.

But, if I went Skydiving with everyone who told me "I would love to do that!" "I've always wanted to go!" A thousand people would have jumped by now. My question to them is "what are you waiting for?"

What is your I've always wanted to ____________.?

Take my dream vacation?
Start my own business?
Forgive that family member?
Write a book?
Get engaged?
Learn to play the guitar, ride a motorcycle, etc?
Go Skydiving?

What are you waiting for? Whatever it is, it's very likely a poor reason to put your dreams on hold. It doesn't matter if you are 23 or 73, you really don't know how long you have to drink up every drop of life you can. Waiting is rarely a good idea. Waiting is the same thing as making the decision not to do it. Either way, you're not doing it.

As a cancer survivor I've realized life is too short to be waiting for a better time. Your life...my life is now. Take that dream vacation every year. Put a plan in place to start that business, write that book, go skydiving. We only get one time around - one shot at this life- What are you doing with yours?

Enjoy Life now,

Jon Bohm

Believe YOU can then SEE it happen

2009-06-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

Some things have to be believed to be seen. ~Ralph Hodgson, The Skylark and Other Poems

One of the greatest facts of human behavior I have seen in all the people I work with is that if you think you can...you can. And if you think you can't...you are right about that too.

Working with athletes ranging from Pro- Golf to Basketball- it is true that if you can't visualize and really believe that you can make that putt, hit the shot, or nail that drive you just won't do it. Sometimes the greatest hurdle stopping us from achieving the life we say we want is simply our own ability to BELIEVE WE CAN.

What about you? What is a success you want in your life? Do you believe you can do it?

Sometimes we have habits of thoughts that stop us. Maybe from your family, an old coach, a past experience, something we made up out of thin air that stops us from believing we CAN.

Do any of these habits of thought stop you:

You have to have money to make money
Being wealthy is not Spiritual
I don't deserve it
My family didn't raise me to care about money
I don't have those talents
Getting your Masters is a long hard road.
I'm not smart enough

The list goes on. They are all lies, all roadblocks to keep you from the critical step of believing you can, should, or will do it.

Sometimes things have to be believed to be seen. Practice BELIEVING, have a lot of FAITH in God, in you, in your abilities. But believe it and then you will see it.

May we BELIEVE we can and experience the abundant life you have available even if you can't see it just yet.

Enjoy Life Today!

Jon Bohm

Helping others "Get it"

2009-05-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

"One of the marks of true greatness is the ability to develop greatness in others." - JC McCauley

Are you developing "Greatness" in those around you?

We have a tendency to roll our eyes when someone doesn't "get it," don't we?

Especially when it's at work. After all, they are there because they have a job to do that requires a certain level of competency and commitment.

It's easy as a leader, whether as a supervisor, manager, or executive leader to have a tendency to "write off" your subordinates who don't seem to really get it as well as you do. And you're right, they don't usually get it as well as you do, and many of them probably aren't working very hard at "getting it."

But, let me challenge you to look at your roll as leader a little different. When did you get it? You weren't born naked into this world "getting" it. And you probably didn't "get it" on your own. Someone showed you, circumstances brought it to your attention, a piece of inspiration, or friend lead up to the point when you finally got it. Maybe, you worked really hard to get it. None the less, you got it at some point.

I want to challenge you as a leader to view your position as a platform to help others "get it." Can you bring the right circumstances? The right attention? The right inspiration? the right culture of hard work? So those around finally get it? After all, if they get it, we can stop rolling our eyes and probably make a lot more money, have more fun, and find some new colleagues that operate at the level you wish they would.

A parent that helps their kids "get" the value of an education, the manager that helps their employees "get" the value of a smile or customer relationships, the CEO who helps his board "get" what this business is really all about, the Pastor that helps his congregation really "Get" what it means to be spiritual, these are truly great leaders.

Because greatness is not measured in the small boundaries of your inner world, but in your ability to develop greatness in those around you.

Make the next stage of your life one of "Greatness" that makes our life, business, and world a better place.

-Jon Bohm

"Make the next stage of your life a magnificent obsession, rather than a meaningless Odyssey."

Defeated is Temporary, don't make it Permanent

2009-05-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

“Being defeated is often only a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.” – MARILYN VOS SAVANT – Recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records Hall of Fame for the highest recorded IQ.

Do you ever wake up and just feel “defeated?”

We all have days that are “bad” days; we lose a deal, an employee or friend doesn’t make a crucial phone call, the bid goes to someone else, the news station says we will “never” recover, your phone is on the fritz, you feel sick, find out bad news, or get chewed out by the boss. Etc. etc.

This is the crucial moment where we have to make the decision to accept things the way they are at this moment and be “defeated.” Or we take the other option which is to accept the responsibility to change our circumstances.

In High School people would always tell me that I would never play in the NBA. I accepted that as truth and just let that dream die. As it turned out, 4 of the 5 of my High School starting team went on to play Division 1 college hoops and some went to the NBA.

I learned a valuable lesson, “don’t ever let someone, anyone, tell you what you can’t do.” Sure the odds can be stacked against you, sure it may not seem possible, and it doesn’t matter. You decide what you will accept as truth, you decide what you can and can’t do, you decide to accept responsibility for your life and circumstances and let everyone else “accept the way things are.”

You see, life is not made up out of whether bad things will happen or if bad days will come, because they will. Life is made out of those situations when someone decides to either be temporarily defeated or permanently destroyed. We kill our own dreams, nobody else can do that for us.

As for me, I will guard and protect my dreams and own the responsibility for making them happen. How about you?

-Jon Bohm

Be, Know, and Do your way to Future Success

2009-04-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

"What we KNOW, and what we DO, can not be separated from WHO we are."- Jon Bohm

So, do you have your dream list?

Are you clear about what you want in your future? If not, read the last few posts and build a list of the places, things, people, life you want to experience.

Once you have climbed the hill of building your dream list, then you have a clearer picture of where you want to go. But dreams, much like sand, have a tendency to slip through our fingers if we don't hold onto them tightly.

A friend of mine spent years living what he thought was his dream to be a great Trial Lawyer, and indeed he was excellent. He had great knowledge, and he did everything need to be excellent in his lawyer role. But, it stressed him out everyday, he didn't like who he was becoming each day. Instead of becoming more loving, understanding, and emotionally connected to those around him he became colder more distant and focused on the task at hand instead of the people at hand. It wasn't WHO he wanted to be. I may even argue it wasn't WHO He really was in the first place, but rather a dream, that somewhere along the line he allowed to separate himself from who he wanted to BECOME. Not just what he wanted to KNOW and DO.

I am convinced that KNOWING WHO we are is one of the biggest factors to achieving real success towards our dreams. What about you? Do you know WHO you are?

Here is a simple exercise to help you find out: take a dream, don't pick a hazy dream, pick a crystal clear dream you can feel, touch, and almost taste it's so clear.

Ok, got it?

Now ask yourself in order to achieve that Dream:

Who do I have to BECOME?
What do I have to KNOW?
What do I have to DO?

Do you like what you see? Do you like who you have to BECOME? Achieving a dream can never just be about what we know or what we do, it has to be about becoming the person we really want to be.

What about you? Are you currently living out a path to a dream? Are you becoming the type of person you want to BE? If the answer is no, then I highly encourage you to take another look and begin chasing another dream. Don't lose yourself in chasing dreams. Use dreams to find who you really are.

And if you need help, I can help you put all the pieces together and find your purpose, chase your dreams, and become who you REALLY want to be- maybe find WHO YOU REALLY are.

-Jon Bohm

Be a Dreamer

2009-04-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day, or in the red fire on a long winter’s evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nourish them through bad days until they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true.
— Woodrow Wilson

Have you ever felt like there was more to this life? Like you have something big coming but you you can't really describe it? Do you have a Big Dream? Could you describe it? Or, maybe it's deep in your subconscious and you feel it, you know it's there.

After working with many people in a behind the scenes kind of way, I don't think I have yet to meet a person who doesn't have a dream, a big dream. Maybe you can't describe it, maybe your not even aware enough to know what it's about, but it's there. Somewhere, but there.

What about you? What is your dream? What do you want to see, feel, travel too, touch, have, or experience. Everyone's dream is different.

One of the most worthwhile things I have done is made a list of at least 100 dreams. I don't need them anchored in reality, just dream and keep adding to it. In that list of dreams I begin to see patterns of things that I value. Family, sunshine, health, the basics. And then out of nowhere I have tapped into a part of myself that I don't get to see everyday (and some never see.). The part of me that finds inspiration, a passion for life, a drive to be significant to myself, my family, and the world.

Often we play too small, don't we? We are conditioned by our present circumstances, the news, things we have heard growing up, to stay inside the safe comfortable place that doesn't dream about becoming President, writing a book, being a world changer. Our big dream is stifled by "reality." And somewhere most people let there big dream die.

What about you? Did your big dreams die? Could you revive them today? There is something truly powerful about dreaming about the future, escaping present circumstances, with what could be. And then driving our life towards those dreams.

I am adding to my dream list today and encourage you to do the same.

Make a list of at least 100 dreams or give it 30 minutes and add 25 to it every week until you reach 100.
Then go back and see what really tugs at your soul, your passions, what drives you?
If you had to narrow it down to your top 5 most important to you, what would they be?

Write those dreams down, could they combine to one? Does it pull at that passion you have?

Can you turn it into a goal? Can you put a time table on it?

Now, the big question, will you be brave enough to in the words of Woodrow Wilson to

"..nourish and protect it through the good days and bad until you bring them to the sunshine and light which comes ALWAYS to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true."

Consider yourself warned, circumstances and people WILL mess with your head, but they can't mess with your heart and your passions. Nourish that dream, we were not meant to stay comfortable and safe, we were meant to live, to dream, to make a difference.

The difference between success and failure in most lives is simply the difference between quitting and not giving up. Don't give up on dreaming, dream BIG today. And be significant.

- Jon Bohm

Find Your Passion for Productivity

2009-03-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

Did you know that more points are scored in the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter of a football game then in the other 3 quarters put together? This is often used to prove the point that all of us work better with a deadline. Which is a fact.

However, I think it is more than that. Have you ever felt like you had the time to accomplish something, but you didn't have the energy? You lacked the physical energy, emotional energy, spiritual energy, mental energy, the motivation?

Energy in life is a resource that is often more valuable than time itself. You see, time is made of not only hours and minutes, but energy. So, whether you are playing football or working in your office you know you have to last a certain period of time mentally, physically, and emotionally.

A runner knows that if they only have to run 100 meters they can run 10 times faster than if they have to run 10 miles. The final 2 minutes of a game represent the last 100 meters. The time when you leave it all on the field. When you quit saving energy and let it all go. When results are all that matters and conserving energy doesn't.

I have found it easier to be more productive, and turn out better quality work from a team by giving them short deadlines followed by a break. For example, if you are an author, try to write fast and focused for 5 minutes, then stop and break, before coming back for another 5 minute session.

I know a lady friend of mine who consistently runs under a 4 hour marathon by running for 5 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. I have seen this applied to concrete companies and insurance agents alike. If you pay people by the hour, it encourages them to work slower and longer. If you pay people based off productivity, it encourages them to work smarter and faster. Which is an asset to any team or organization.

I am convinced that hourly employees can work half the time and accomplish the same amount of work. Often higher quality work, if they are given a shorter deadline with twice the pay.

Still not convinced? Try this, tell your team one day that they can go home at lunch time and get paid for a full day if they complete the full day's work by noon. See what happens. I would love to hear how it works out.

Of course, if you are a retail shop, a fast food restaurant, or any place where you have store hours, then sending them home at noon is not an option. But, what if they were rewarded with a break after taking so many orders, ringing up a certain number of customers, folding so many boxes or clothing, then would productivity increase? You bet it would.

It is time for our world to quit thinking hours and start thinking productivity. After all:

“You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.”– Jim Rohn (American Business Philosopher, Author, and Speaker)

Article by Jon Bohm

Are you Visionary?

2009-03-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

“To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to do.” - Kahil Gibran (1883-1931)

So, let me ask you? Do you know where you want to be in 3 years? 5 years? 10 years?

That can be a very challenging question in today's ever changing environment. As seen in Did You Know 2008. A world like this requires Visionary people and Visionary Leadership.

If you have ever worked at an organization that was lead by reactionary leaders who were always deciding their next move based of the past instead of where they want to be in the future, then you understand how detrimental it is.

But, let's look at this on a personal level for a moment.

What do you want your life to look like in 5 years?
In 3 years?
In 18 months to a year?

Sadly, it's a fact that more people spend time planning a 2 week vacation than they do their life or their business. This is sad because that means life is simply just happening to a majority of people instead of them taking ownership and definitive action towards the life, love, friendships, and successes they really want.

So, what do you want? Where would you like to travel? What would you like to see? Who would you like to become? What would you like to accomplish? What type of friend, spouse, sibling, spiritual person would you like to be. The first step is dreaming about these questions.

Build a list of at least 50 (a hundred would be better) and write them down. For some it is much more difficult then it sounds, but everyone enjoys it.

I encourage all my clients to have an on-going dream list that they can add to, and see accomplished. A simple exercise with often huge results.

Take this study from Yale for example:

There is a famous study involving graduates of Yale University from the class of 1953. The students involved in this study were asked if they had a clear, specific set of goals for their future, and if they were written down with a plan for achieving them. Only three percent of those interviewed said that they did.

Twenty years later the researchers went back and interviewed the surviving members of that class. They discovered that the 3 percent with specific written goals had achieved more in financial terms than the entire other 97 percent put together. They also seemed to be happier and more “together” in every way.

Pretty amazing right? After you build a dream list and write it down you may realize it's not as amazing as you once thought. Do you know where your going? Do you know WHO you want to become? Is it written down?

It is far less productive in life to focus on where you have been than it is to focus on where you are going. As you discover your future aspirations, you may even discover something about your own heart and passions.

Enjoy the journey!

-Jon Bohm

Responsibility = Power

2009-03-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

"With GREAT power comes GREAT responsibility." - Uncle Ben in Spider-Man

What a great quote. This is one of the great life changing "Laws of the Universe."

It is true just like gravity is real.

Although, I think a truer statement would be that with "GREAT responsibility comes GREAT power."

It is true in any organization I have worked with, the person who takes on the most responsibility is also the person with the greatest influence in the company. This does not necessarily mean that it is the person with the greatest position or authority. It means the person with the most influence is always the person who takes the greatest responsibility.

It is a fact of life. Test it for yourself. Think of an organization you really know well. Not one you read about in Fortune Magazine, but one you really know the players in.

Who owned the least amount of responsibility?
Who owned the most responsibility?
Who had the most overall influence and power?
Who had the least influence and power?

I hope I made my case. But, just in case, let's test it again.

Everyday in life, we have the option to either be a Victim or to take responsibility for our lives, for our actions, for our families, for our organization, for our country.

The more we move toward the Victim mentality the more power and influence we lose. The more we move towards responsibility the more influence and power we gain.

Application:

Scenario: You are at work and you are getting chewed out because your department dropped the ball somewhere. You have a choice to take ownership of that error or "pass the buck" and throw your team "under the bus." It is a simple equation, if you take responsibility you will gain influence, if you pass the buck you will lose influence. If you "pass the buck," it becomes clear that you are no longer the person your boss needs to talk with to get better results in the future, because you demonstrate it is "out of your hands." Therefore, you lose the influence to make things better.

When all the employees in an organization understand this, then everyone is fighting to take ownership and responsibility, the "buck" is no longer passed, and everyone works together to find solutions and take ownership of the success of the organization. This is a powerful organization.

You can apply this same situation to your life, your family, or our political climate in America. If we play the victim, we lose power and influence and transfer responsibility and therefore, influence to someone else.

So which one will you be? You have a choice take ownership, or give up your influence and power. It's that simple. So Uncle Ben is correct, but maybe he should have said "If you want POWER than take RESPONSIBILITY."

- Jon Bohm

Why do we fall?

2009-01-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

"Why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."-Bruce Wayne's Father in Batman Begins

I was fortunate today to have a conversation with a friend of mine who competes in the grand daddy of all triathlons the IRON MAN. The IRON MAN is a grueling race where each competitor swims 2.4 miles (3.9 km), a 112 mile (180 km) bike and 26.2 mile (42.2 km) marathon run.

The Ironman Triathlon, or The Ironman Triathlon World Championships, is both the original triathlon and the annual world championships of the event, held annually since 1978 in Hawai'i. It was made famous by its grueling length, harsh race conditions, and television coverage.

This is my friend's dream to compete in the World Championship. Why would anyone do this? For many reasons. Some simple reasons, some complex. To raise your kids with a picture of the type of Father who knows how to work hard and chase dreams, to inspire others, because someone once told you it was impossible and I had to find out, to an addiction, or simply to stay in shape. And a million others.

But, I think the most compelling reason is because you want to learn. How do you know if something is impossible for you until you try it? Think about it logically, how much do you really know about yourself until you try and fail. Until you try and succeed. Until you try and see what inspiration may come of it. The point is you don't learn anything until you are willing to try and run the risk of failure.

When you were a kid, how many times did you fall before you learned to ride your bike? How many times did you babble before you learned to talk? How many times did you fall before you learned to walk? To ride a skateboard? To pass a test? Give a speech? You get what I'm saying, right?

You fall because you learn to pick yourself up. And in that moment when you learn to fight, to endure, to never give up, to pick yourself up and try again is the moment inspiration is born- the moment Victory is experienced- the moment you become someone who is changing the world, or your sport, or your family.

This is why stories like that of Lance Armstrong are so amazing and inspiring.

But why is it that the older we get the more we do everything we can to avoid failure? We used failure to learn everything we know up until then, and all of sudden we don't want to ever be in a spot where we can fall. We avoid falling at all costs.

But, may we always remember that Victory can only be experienced when there is a possibility of defeat. May you and I be World Changers, next time someone tells you something is impossible may we have the courage to try it and find out. Because sometimes falling is the only way to learn, the only way to inspire, and the only way to taste the sweetest victories.

And in my experience - impossible is nothing- trying is everything- because trying is learning. You may be surprised at what you can accomplish, but you have to try and never- never- give up to find out.

The person saying it can't be done is often surpassed by the person doing it. Which one will you be?

-Jon Bohm

Leaders Grow Leaders

2009-01-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

"You've got to have great athletes to win, I don't care who the coach is. You can't win without good athletes but you can lose with them. This is where coaching makes the difference." - Lou Holtz

The longer I work with great leaders the easier it is to spot them. You know who great leaders are because they are surrounded by great subordinates.

When you walk into a business, a team, an organization of any kind and see highly motivated well operating systems and people you know a great leader or leaders is near.

Being a leader means more than just having authority it means having influence, the power to motivate, the power to build high performance teams. Great leaders pick influence over authority any day. They understand that the person who brings the most clarity and emotion to the challenge becomes the leader, and at that moment who has the position of authority means very little. Great leaders have always know how to rally people to their cause, to invoke and spread excitement, emotion, and passion to others.

Great leaders:

Attract great people
Recruit great people
And build great people

When you are looking to be a part of a new job, new organization, new relationship of any kind. Test the climate of the group. Are you surrounded by high performance people or does it feel more like the "dysfunction junction."

Excitement is probably the most transferable human emotion on the planet. It is hard to be in the presence of someone who is excited and not feel it or react to it in some way. Great leaders transfer emotion and passion to others.

A mentor of mind once told me before I was about to speak to a large crowd that if I wanted to transfer excitement and emotion than I would have to feel it 10 times greater than I wanted them to get it. In other words if I want the audience to "bleed" I would have to "hemorrhage."

Do you "hemorrhage" an excitement that motivates? Inspires? Attracts? Recruits? Builds high performing people in your life, family, or business? Do people pick up what you are laying down in your sales job? Do people feel your passion for life?

If not. Then I encourage you to look into at least one of these 2 areas:

Do you have something, anything, that one thing that gets you out of bed in the morning? I mean really gets you jazzed? If not, then find something that does and learn to make money at it.
If yes, then let it out! Express it! Be you! Do you feel shy about expressing a new idea- your products- your business- life in general because others don't share your joy yet? Well...thats the point. That is why you have to help them feel it. That is why you are in a position to lead. Everyone doesn't "get it" yet, that is exactly why the world needs you to help them.

Great leaders reach out to optimize not only their own skills but the skills of all they run into. Spot great leaders by the team they develop- become a great leader by being contagious with your passions.

-Jon Bohm

If at 1st you don't succeed...

2008-08-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

If at first you don't succeed, so much for Skydiving. - Henry Youngman

I get excited this time of year because I am planning my fall skydiving trip. I will make a group reservation, invite everyone I know, and all 3 of us will jump. Just kidding, it is usually a group of around 25, out of the hundreds I invite.

Now, of course, the cost may stop some. But mostly cost is just a bad excuse to mask the fear of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

Why is skydiving so scary? We do other scary things all the time. We can drive down a 2 line highway passing total strangers at a combined speed that would equal hitting a stone wall at 12o mph all day. We can fly in a jet liner at 30,000 feet over oceans and through storms at 500 mph. We can ride a motorcycle down the freeway at 85 mph. But, for some reason it is hard to jump out of a plane with a trained professional. I might add, this trained professional has at least 1,000 jumps under their belt. They have amazing equipment, and it has a lower fatality rate than any of the above mentioned activities.

This is not an advertisement for Skydiving, but simply to motivate you.

I think the fear of skydiving is rooted often in the fear of not being in control, in the fear of failure, fear of the unknown, and in the fact that it looks scary. Sound familiar? This is exactly why every business owner should jump at least once in their life. It forces you to face the 4 biggest fears of any new entrepreneur:

1. Afraid you will lose control

2. Afraid of failure

3. Afraid of the unknown

4. It looks scary

What if? For one day a year, you conquered your biggest business and life fears?

It is true. "If at first you don't succeed...so much for skydiving." But in business, only those who fail are truly moving forward. If you are not failing, then you are probably not trying anything new. There is nothing to be afraid of in business. Rather, there are simply things to prepare for, work smart for, and work hard for.

Fear is simply a door. That once you kick down, will unleash your potential in life and business.

I challenge you to find some ways you can grab the fear in your life by the neck, throw it to the ground, and walk on past to your dreams and goals.

-Jon Bohm

What do your actions say about you?

2008-08-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

"Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them." ~Aristotle

Research tells us that more than 55% of face to face communication is body language. 15% is tone of voice, and the other 30% is words that are actually said. But, the often not mentioned statistic is that your actions override your words, your tone, and your body language 100% of the time.

If you want to know who someone really is, than you have to watch what they really do.

I really enjoy mountain biking. And one story I will never forget is when I met a guy, let's call him "Biker Bob," at a bike shop. And as we talked, he told me about all his gear, his amazing skills, his experience in the swiss alps on the race tour, etc. Later that day I went biking down a ski mountain with Biker Bob. Biker Bob was passed by everyone, including me and at least 3 other guys that had no idea what they were doing. We all finished the trail and waited a good 10 minutes for Biker Bob to come stumbling out of the woods.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. Biker Bob had a lot of gear, a lot of talk, and a lot of confidence. But Biker Bob did not have the skills, the action, or the results to match it up.

You can look the part, talk the part, and have the confidence of the part. But your actions and your results override talk and confidence any day.

Dave Barry (a great humor columnist) once said that if you go out to dinner with a "nice person," and they do not treat the waiter nicely, than that person is not a nice person.

I couldn't agree more Dave.

3 Question Reality Check
1. Do people you encounter know what you believe by what they see you do?
2. Are your actions saying good things or bad things about you?
3. Have you thought about how that could impact your business results?

Simple I know. But, a profound reminder to work on your actions and who you really rather then all the work on image and words that is so easy to focus on.

-Jon Bohm

Control Your Goals

2008-08-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow them where they lead.
— Louisa May Alcott

We have aspirations. We all set goals. When we go to the grocery store and set goals on what to buy or how fast we can finish and get home. At work we can rush to be done at 5 pm, and set goals to be home by a certain time. We set goals to be out of Iraq as a country, or who we think should be in a political position. We set goals to live a great life and make big money.

Bottom line is that it is easy to set goals and much harder to achieve them. As a matter of fact, we can set a goal in 3 seconds to make a million dollars, or win the Olympics, or fly to the moon. But setting a goal is not helpful unless we can take action to achieve those goals. Often a goal simply turns into "wishful thinking." Because, those goals are for the most part out of our hands. Don't get me wrong, we can dream and work to achieve them, which is very valuable, but whether or not you achieve them is not always directly in your control. But other things are.

For example, a salesperson can set a goal to sell 1 million in product in 6 months. But, the salesperson doesn't really have control over who buys or how much. Therefore, the goal is a great dream and an excellent target, but not a goal. It is too easy to brush it off later as too high, or out of your hands, or the economy took a dive.

A good goal is always in your control. A good goal is achievable and measurable. Which means the salesperson, although they can't control who buys and for how much, they can control how many calls they make, how many presentations they make, how much time they spend sharpening their skills and product knowledge, how much networking they do, and how well they remain motivated and prepared. A good goal is something that is in your control, and you treat it as non-negotiable. You view them as something that you can do, and will do each day before quitting time. Never letting yourself out of it by way of excuse or laziness. Because, after all, it is in your control and you either do it and get closer to your success, or you don't do it and move further away from your dreams.

No action is neutral when it comes to achievement. Every action is either bringing you closer or further away from where you want to be.

Goals are not wishful thinking, like they are so often used. They are much more valuable then that, they are your key to moving forward, out of the Status Quo and into seeing your dreams become reality.

That type of goal leaves you with no choice but to take action. When goals are in your control, they keep you out of the clouds and into moving toward your dreams one achievable and measurable step at a time. Dream big, and then take action to achieve your daily goals.

It is easy to know where you are, sometimes it is easy to know where you want to be. But the real challenge is found between now and then. This is where success happens, in daily achievable activity set to the measurement of a goal.

May you see your highest aspirations in the sun and start walking, or better yet running toward them each day when you wake up. Dreaming is easier done in bed. But reward and success is found up and moving toward the sun.

-Jon Bohm

Response Time

2008-08-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

Riddle: 5 Frogs are sitting on a log. 4 frogs decide to jump off. How many frogs are sitting on the log?

Answer: 5 frogs. Deciding to do something and actually doing something are 2 different things.

I was having some short and rapid discussions today. I realized I really didn't have time to go through a lot of thinking processes before I responded. I simply had to respond. And this is a common occurrence for us all the time. We are in situations where we don't have the luxury of following the normal response pattern of stimulus, thought, and response. And we are simply stimulus - response.

This happens when you are playing sports and your body just responds quickly to a ball or other player's movements, when a fighter jet pilot has to respond to a situation, when a kid runs in front of your car, or when your foot comes off the gas and onto the break as you drive when you see a police car- whether you were speeding or not. But it also happens in conversations, business deals, and arguments with a spouse. It is in these moments that you don't have time to answer the way you always should, or the way you want other's to perceive you. In these moments you answer from who you really are. You answer from passion, emotion, instinct, and conditioning.

So, if you hear a great speaker, read a good book, or go to a conference. Unless you are able to understand a concept, internalize the thought, and then practice the behavior, all that knowledge will do you little good when you need it most. The split second decisions and words that come from inside your reservoir of true knowledge and passion, they are developed. You can shape them and mold them so it changes who you really are. Then, in those split second moments, you don't have to think or try, but simply BE... who you really are.

What are you doing to develop who you are personally, professionaly, socially, emotionally, physically, or spiritually?

May I encourage you today to set aside 30 minutes minimum a day to read a book, listen to audio, talk with a friend that challenges you, or whatever you may find to develop who you are. Seek to truly understand, Internalize it, and apply it.

What better thing could you possibly build into than a better, truer, and more authentic you?

- Jon Bohm

Who I am Today.

2008-07-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

Some things have to be believed to be seen.

~Ralph Hodgson, The Skylark and Other Poems

Have you ever stopped just to think about how you became who you are? Not simply what you do, or how many kids you have (we all know how that happens), but how you came to view the world like you do, how you came to think like you do, how your personality and self image came to be?

I have read so many self improvement books, tapes, speakers, and surrounded myself with successful people just to realize that none of that can make me become who I need to become to achieve what I would like to achieve. They are valuable, they are inspirational, they are helpful, but they are simply knowledge and virtually useless unless I can apply it to me and use it to change something about who I am becoming.

The type of change that truly changes people and gets results is never theory, or simply reading, it comes from experiencing and from doing. From living out who you are becoming.

This is why so many people can go to a conference, or a training, and hear a great speaker who is successful beyond imagination in your industry, and still leave virtually the same as when you went in. The wildly successful speaker tells you what they did and how you can do it in your business too, so why can't you do it too? The answer is often simply that you are not him. You are you.

His processes of thought and action may not work for you, and that speaker has developed themselves to succeed and then lived it. You can hear it, you can know it, you can think it, breathe it, and eat it for lunch, but until you develop your understanding of you and take action to apply nothing changes.

People will often ask me "how do I make more money," and the answer is you have to become worth more. That involves more than reading a book or going to a conference. More than knowledge and understanding. It means action, it means living it, it means taking the sometimess hard steps to change and become worth more.

It means more than knowledge it means:

Character
Courage
Action
Endurance
Knowing yourself and knowing others
Dreaming and Vision
Excellence
Balance
Belief in what you haven't seen yet
Living through the storm long enough to see the sun come out
It means listening and having an open and creative mind
etc.

It means you have to develop the intangibles, the things that you know about you - that nobody else knows, it means facing the demons, and developing who you really are, not simply what you do.

Are you developing the intangibles, the stuff that makes you who you are today and who you will become tomorrow?

To put it simply - To have, you must first become.

- Jon Bohm

Self Evident Truth?

2008-07-29T23:35:00.000-07:00

This is how humans are: we question all our beliefs, except for the ones we really believe, and those we never think to question. ~Orson Scott Card

Today I had a great conversation with a client and friend about what things are truly self evident. The thought was posed that if something is a common truth to all humans, then as an organization you really shouldn't have to write it down, and if you did write it down, well, that speaks negatively of your organization.

A couple extreme examples might be:

If you have to put, "Do not murder fellow employees" as part of your values. Well, then you have a very scary place to work considering you actually have to list that on your values.
Or, if you are ever watching the news when they uncover a case of child neglect, and they find a witness or passer-by to give their thoughts on the situation and the passer-by responds with "I take care of my kids!" loudly and proudly as if they should win some kind of reward. And all of us watching at home are thinking, well of course you take care of your kids, right? I mean what parent has to proclaim that kind of obvious value?

So, if an organization puts honesty as a Core Value, is that the same thing? I mean, isn't that obvious? We don't have to write that down... do we?

I would argue that very few things, if anything, is so self evident that we can avoid to communicate it as a truth.

As an organization your Core Values are things that are non-negotiable, the very moral compass all decisions are measured by. Which means that if honesty is a core value, and the CEO tells the secretary, to tell a caller, that he is not there, then the board would have to fire their CEO.

Values are things you hold onto, whether they are a strategic advantage or disadvantage for you to do so. You hire and fire based off of them. When an organization views values for what they are, as non-negotiable, then honesty usually falls right off the list.

So, are values really that self-evident that we can avoid writing them down and assume they are commonly known? Unfortunately, a resounding "No" is my response. It is not merely enough to have them, but they must be clearly and regularly communicated, no matter how common they may seem.

One of the greatest examples I have found of Core Values is in our Declaration of Independence as it states; "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." and what followed became the very basis for what America is. Those values are stated to be "self-evident" by their very authors. Yet, they had the forsight to write them down and clearly communicate them. May we learn from their example, both in our organizations and personal lives.

-Jon Bohm

Reality Vs. Negativity

2008-07-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

Carole Doi was born during WWII in one of America’s internment camps for Japanese Americans. She grew up in America and married a man of Japanese descent. They were thrilled when they had a little girl.
At birth, however, the child’s feet were severely twisted so that her toes faced inward. Carole was determined to help her baby grow up to have a normal life, so she decided that the child’s feet would not ever be an issue in her life. They bought her orthopedic shoes, and encouraged her to build up her feet and legs. They even supported her when, at a young age, she wanted to try out ice skating.
The hard work and encouragement paid off. In 1992, these proud parents watched as their daughter, Kristi Yamaguchi—the little girl born with the twisted feet—won the Olympic gold medal for ice skating.- Excerpt from the One Minute Motivator

Staying positive and focused on your dreams can be a daunting and difficult task. You have to have an iron will, thick skin, or be oblivious, right?

I often hear people say I am a realist, I don't always look at the positive. Well, so are Kristi Yamaguchi's parents, that really happened. Focusing on the negative doesn't make you a realist, it simply makes you negativist.

Right now, because of the state of our economy, people are so quick to say why everything is failing. That is simply not reality, everything is not failing, and in every slow economy at least one company in every industry finds a way to rise to the top. The difference is while so many are saying why things don't work, can't work, and why it won't happen (easy to do, there are always a lot of those reasons), there are those succeeding, who are saying why things do work, why they can happen, and how they will make it work.

Will you shape the reality of what happens to you through the negative or through the window of positivism? Both will become reality, one is just more helpful than the other.

Since the time we were kids we are told:

"Don't bite off more than you can chew"

"Don't go where you're not wanted"

"Don't talk to strangers"

One of the biggest things I deal with when helping professional sales people is call reluctance. And can you think of any 3 worse phrases for a sales person to think then the above listed phrases?

How many sales people start their days by listening to the news or reading the paper about who died, got shot, or robbed, and how bad the economy is? Is it any wonder how easy it can be to be negative?

That is why forming habits of thought that are positive and affirming your strengths, the good you see in the world, and good you see in yourself is on of the most powerful things we can do.

Everyday we can choose the positive or the negative, for the sake of the known world, may we always choose the positive. Then we can find a way we can make it work, look for reasons why it will happen, and then work smart to see it become reality.

Making the sun shine on cloudy days with you-

Jon Bohm

Habits and our Unknown Pleasures

2008-07-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

If you would attain what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you were pleased with yourself there you have remained. But once you have said, “It is enough,” you are lost. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing; do not stop, do not turn back, do not turn from the straight road.
— St. Augustine

Have you ever wondered where it is that you took that wrong turn?
Often when you take a wrong turn it is very hard to find your way back, and as St Augustine says, "you are lost."

Habits can keep you lost. They are incredibly powerful things. You have habits of thought that shape your attitude and personality. You have physical habits that shape your body and health. You have spiritual habits that feed or can starve your soul. We all have them.

The questions is, why are habits so hard to start at some times, and so hard to end at others?

Have you ever had a habit you wanted to get rid of but couldn't seem to stop doing or thinking it? You want it gone, but it just doesn't go away. There are some reasons for this phenomenon, but the bottom line is that every habit, whether good or bad, whether wanted or unwanted gives us some sort of pleasure.

Let me share a short story about a person you have probably met before. This person is always letting everyone at his workplace know how hard he works. He often stays late and he he arrives early. He makes sure everyone knows that he is putting in the extra hours. You may even feel like he is a star employee and you're just not that committed.

This person who works so late and so hard is really finding pleasure in it, because he finds his importance by letting everyone know what a great worker he is. This person may not even want to stay late, he may not want to make a big deal of his hard work, but yet he does. One day he decides to quit, but he finds it to hard to go home on time, to keep his mouth shut about his hard work, and thus continues in his role as the employee who works the longest hours.

But if you take that person and help him set goals to be around his family more, and he sees how important it is for his kids to have their Dad around. Then he can replace the pleasure of feeling important at work with the pleasure of feeling important at home.

The moral of the story is if you have a habit you want to break, then ask yourself:

-What pleasure am I getting from this bad habit?
-How can I replace that pleasure with something healthy?
-Address the obstacles that could keep you from making the change, and write out the action steps you need to take to get past those obstacles and on the road to breaking the habit, or better yet replacing the pleasure.

You unfortunately will have a very difficult time simply stopping a bad habit, you have to replace the pleasure first. If you want to stop smoking, address the pleasure. And in comes more food, more gum, more toothpicks, or Nicorette.

If you are always late, is it because you enjoy taking your time leaving the house? Is it because you like to arrive fashionably late and make an entrance? Is it because you hate to feel rushed so you show up when you feel like it? Is it because you enjoy skipping small talk and the awkward feeling of arriving to a social event when nobody else is there?

Identify the pleasure you get and replace it. if you enjoy taking your time before you leave the house; then get up earlier and take it slow- make some coffee, take a long shower, have breakfast, and then roll out nice and slow but on time.

If you arrive late because you like to make an entrance; then dress sharper, meet more people once you arrive, memorize some good conversation starters, and look for other positive ways to stand out besides being late.

Habits give us pleasure, no matter how small it may be, identify the pleasure then replace it with something enjoyable and personally satisfying. Then grab those nasty habits by the neck and throw them to the ground.

-Jon Bohm

Comparison Trap

2008-07-24T23:08:00.000-07:00

Success is to be measured not by wealth, power, or fame, but by the ratio between what a man is and what he might be.
— H. G. Wells

By what measuring stick do you measure yourself?
How do you measure if a business, or staff, or even if you are being successful?

Success is often measured by how the boss feels about you at any particular moment. Have you ever had a job when you felt that way? You just never know, for sure, if people are pleased. If you are getting "it done," unless someone is patting you on the back. But then, is it the right person patting you on the back? Do you have people that are telling you the truth about your performance, or just trying to keep the waters calm?

All these questions build insecurities and inevitably lead to comparing yourself to the closest availble persons in your field, in your life, in your class, in your work place, in the local paper, or across the globe. Often this leads to thoughts that you won't be successful unless you can be better than whomever you are comparing yourself to at that moment.

After all, it only makes sense, right? When you apply for a job, you are compared. When you play in sports you are compared to the other team. When you place a bid you are compared either by value, price, service, or political gain. If we are always compared it only makes sense to compare yourself to others, right?

I would say wrong. And this is why. When outside influences compare you they are making a judgement, a gamble, on who will do the best job. They are not measuring your future success, they don't know that yet. They are simply judging your past achievements and guessing on the future. Developing who you are is the process of pulling your future successes into your present. That can only be done by you. And when you are measuring success by what you know you are capable of, not by what someone else placed your value at.

The best definition of success (I believe in this principle so much I use it with all my clients) is the continuous achievement of your own predetermined goals that are stabilized by balance and purified by belief.

Let that sink in for a minute, and ask yourself. Do you have predetermined goals? Are you reaching them? Are they inline with your beliefs? Are they bringing total success to all areas of your life, or just one or two?

If you can make that your model for success, then you can, and will escape the comparison trap and begin pulling your future successes into your present.

Remember the person in the mirror knows what you are capable of, and reaching to develop that person always pays the biggest ROI.

- Jon Bohm

Believe What you See?

2008-07-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

“Always walk in a place like you belong — and most people will believe you do!”
—Ed McMahon

I am becoming more and more convinced that the secret to becoming great is surrounding yourself with thoughts and people of greatness.

It seems that the more someone is told they are stupid, or they are too short, too tall, too nerdy, too athletic, "too" anything to do swhat they want to do, the more they are going to believe that those "too this or that" statements are true.

If someone with a small nose is told consistently they have a large nose they will start to believe it is true.

And conversely if you are told that you are great, or handsome, or beautiful, or successful you will eventually believe that. People will believe whatever is in front of them the most.

This is the same reason that your friends will determine the quality and direction of your life. Because when around your friends, you see your friends certain qualities and life directions more than anything else.

So this begs the question, what are you seeing the most in your life? Is it negative thoughts and directions, statements, and feelings? Or are you surrounding yourself with positive statements, affirmations about who you know you are, and more importantly who you know you can become?

Because you will believe whatever you see the most. We need to see truth and visualize who we know we can become. Then we need to put it in front of our face more than anything else. Surround yourself with great people, thoughts of greatness, and then go to sleep dreaming about who you can become. And you will eventually be walking in greatness like you belong, and the rest of the world will know we are standing in the presence of greatness.

“The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”
- William James - The Father of American Psychology

Motivation and the Blame Game

2008-07-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

Awhile back in the Peanuts cartoons, Snoopy had broken his right leg. And with his white cast, while he was hanging out on top of his dog house, Snoopy began to think about his situation and said; “My body blames my foot for not being able to go places. My foot says it was my head’s fault, and my head blames my eyes. My eyes say my feet are clumsy, and my right foot says not to blame him for what my left foot did . . .” Snoopy looks towards the audience and confesses, “I don’t say anything because I don’t want to get involved.”

Today while speaking on motivation and habits of thought to a group of professionals we had a dialogue about motivation. Motivation has 3 arenas it can really be generated from:

1. Fear/Force: This type of motivation is external and it is temporary. When a manager forces their people to work late hours or do something unexpected, or else! This type of motivation will only work while the manager is standing over their people. And since it is external, it becomes temporary, and as they say; "When the cat is away the mice will play."

2. Incentive: This type of motivation is the most common motivation source I find in business. Often companies use incentive bonuses, trips, rewards, or recognition to provide motivation for reaching a particular level of production or sales. This is also external and temporary. Which means when that incentive is gone the motivation to keep up the same level of work is also gone.

3. Attitude: Or habits of thought, is a type of motivation that is both internal and permanent. Which means, when it comes to performance or excellence your attitude (which is controlled by you) is your source for motivation.

When either Fear/Force or Incentive are removed, people will begin to blame and point fingers at the lack of force or incentive as the reason for a lack of motivation. Things begin to slow down, and eventually people and managers get tired and just like Snoopy want to avoid the whole thing and stay out of it.

But the managers, companies, employees, or individuals who can successfully develop the attitudes of themselves, and those around them, will find the secret to permanent motivation and a true and pure way to avoid the blame game.

When we are motivated by our own internal attitudes there is nobody left to blame, no more excuses to make, and no more responsibility to dodge. We are forced to take ownership of our thinking, our attitudes, and our motivation.

Behavior is always shaped by attitude, change the attitude and begin the process of improving results.

-Jon Bohm

The Dream Menu

2008-07-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

"We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day, or in the red fire on a long winter’s evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nourish them through bad days until they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true."
— Woodrow Wilson

Besides winning the lottery, very few people will ever grow bigger in their successes than they can dream. Dreaming is a developed skill. You have to be able to stop and visualize in your mind's eye what it would be like, feel like, and taste like to reach your dreams.

To build a great dream inventory try to start small and let your dreams build on each other.

Start by opening the door to the closet of your mind. Have fun. Let yourself go. Add to your dream inventory regularly.
Get out a sheet of paper and list everything you've ever wanted - to go, to do, to have, to become. Take off the blinders of possibility and probability. Throw out the filters of whether you need it, deserve it, or are worth it.

Start a page of dreams. Every great accomplishment starts with a seed, an idea, a dream.

After you build a list of 25-50 dreams you have a menu of things to choose from. And when the time comes for you to order, then you can decide whether your appetite calls for a full-course meal or a snack.

But you can't hardly order without a menu, so pull out the stops and dream big.
- Jon Bohm

With Ears Wide Open

2008-06-30T23:07:00.000-07:00

“To be able to listen to others in a sympathetic and understanding manner is perhaps the most effective mechanism in the world for getting along with people and tying up their friendship for good. Too few people practice the ‘white magic’ of being good listeners.”- Oliver Wendell Holmes

I went through a drive-thru burger joint today, and as I was speaking with the cashier by means of the telecom something hit me. First of all nobody likes that crazy telecom because it is like speaking to the Mars Rover. But one thing any good cashier does well is "active listening."

"Active Listening" is simply listening to what a person says with enough purpose to repeat back to them in your own words what you heard them say. In the drive-thru, sure this is important, but in relationships it is a necessity. And very few, I mean very few, people do this well.

I once heard someone say that being listened to is so close to being loved that most people can't tell the difference. When was the last time someone really listened to you? To how you were thinking about something, what you were experiencing, or what you were feeling?

When was the last time you truly listened to someone yourself with enough intent to actually repeat back what you heard, and make sure you understood. Not to take an order at a drive-thru, but because you care. I have noticed that very few people do this very well at any function. Your ability to simply talk to others about what they are thinking, feeling, and experiencing will give you a distinct advantage among your competition.

Have you ever had a salesperson try to get you to buy something who never listened to you, never found out what you needed, and demonstrated they didn't care enough about you or your situation to listen? If you have, I can almost guarantee one thing; you didn't buy.

Whether you are a sales person, a supervisor, a minister, a counselor, a spouse, parent, friend, coach, or simply buying your gas we can all pay forward the biggest free gift available to personal interaction. The gift of listening with your ears wide open.

-Jon Bohm

Think and dream, sleep and dream, live your dream.

2008-06-27T22:47:00.000-07:00

John Killinger tells of the time when W. Clement Stone, the Chicago financier and philanthropist, was asked how he had done so much in his lifetime. Stone’s reply was this: “I have dreamed. I have turned my mind loose to imagine what I wanted to do. Then I have gone to bed and thought about my dreams. In the night, I have
dreamed about them. And when I have arisen in the morning, I have seen the way to get to my dreams. While other people were saying, ‘You can’t do that, it isn’t possible,’ I was well on my way to achieving what I wanted.”

It has been said many times that the person standing on the sideline saying it can't be done is often surpassed by the person doing it.

Behavioral scientists will tell you that in your formative years, between 6 months and 5 years, our basic personality is formed. The way we view the world and understand how we interact with our surroundings. The interesting part about that bit of information is that close to 80% of everything we heard was negative:

"Sit down"
"Be quiet"
"Don't talk to strangers"
"Children should be seen and not heard"
"Don't touch the stove"
"Don't run on the pool deck"
"No rough housing"
etc.

And it only makes sense. Our parents had to keep us safe. But this is one of the reasons so many people spend time saying why something can't work, why it won't get done, why it's impossible, or not worth it. Rather than thinking why it will work, how they will figure out how to make it work, and how they will do it.

And although we can't take all the negative out, we can add positive in to our personality. One of the most powerful ways to combat that negative conditioning is to dream. Dreaming allows us to think about how we will accomplish something, that something amazing will happen, and it allows us the freedom to step out from the negative and think of ways to make your dreams reality.

But if we don't dream, there is often nothing left to think about other than how and why things don't work and are impossible.
Dreaming makes the impossible tangible, and is often the first step to making our dreams reality.

So today, dream of what you want to do, go to bed thinking about your dreams, at night dream about your dreams, and tomorrow wake up and begin to achieve those dreams. It's a good first step.

-Jon Bohm

Are you cost-put or throughput minded?

2008-06-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

I have always been a swing for the fences kind of guy. As my wife tells me all the time "Either go big or go home!"
This can be a bad way to live sometimes. For example if I haven't swung a golf club in a year I have a tendency to still go play 36 holes my first day, and try to hit the longest drive of my life. Needless to say, my chiropractor makes some great money off me the beginning of golf season.

But it can be a great way to live as well. Some of the most successful baseball players in the world consistently have around 2 times as many strike outs as they do home runs. Every 3rd time Hank Aaron or Barry Bonds would come to the plate they would hit a home run. The other 2 times they would strike out and have a seat on the bench. Success for a home run hitter is nothing short of hitting a home run. Which means they do not come to the plate with their manager asking them to just bunt. They do not come to the plate to swing shyly and play conservative baseball. They come to the plate to swing for the fences. Nothing short of success is aimed at. This comes with some consequences. They strike out a lot. But man, they do excel when they connect.

This mentality can be referred to as "throughput." In business a "throughput" mentality means that you do not step into the batter's box shyly, you step in ready to swing hard at every good pitch. It means you will do whatever it takes to succeed. You are not interested in merely surviving. You want to thrive. You will spend whatever you have to spend, you will work as hard and as smart as you need to work, you will step out of your comfort zone and put your head through a wall if thats what it takes.

The opposite of "throughput" is "cost-put." A "cost-put" player is asked to bunt. Their only goal is to not "strike out." They aren't trying to thrive. If they can simply survive and make it to a base, then they are happy. This player steps into the batter's box shyly, they play conservative, and simply try not to fail completely. This mentality has some advantages: they strike out far less, they become an expert at playing "it safe," and if they survive they are still on the team. But it also comes with some disadvantages: They will never ever hit a home run, nobody will ever know their name, and they will never know what it's like to make the money the home run hitters make or feel the rush of thriving in their sport.

In business a "cost-put" mentality says "How can I save money, cut costs, and just survive." They play conservative and they strike out far less.

Let's take a restaurant for example. This restaurant has 50 tables but only fills about 25 of them.

A "cost-put" mentality says "How can I sell those 25 tables, move into a smaller place, and cut costs across the board?"

A "throughput" mentality says "How can I fill those tables to capacity? I will spend whatever I have to spend, work as hard and as smart as I have to work, and will settle for nothing less than success at what I set out to do."

Which mentality will survive? Which one will thrive? Which one will strike out?

Which mentality are you? Are you "cost-put?" Or are you "Throughput?"

I guess that really depends on whether or not you want to survive or thrive.

I recommend swinging for the fences. Life is too valuable and too short to merely survive. You must find a way to thrive. And in my experience the businesses just trying to survive very rarely do. And the businesses that will settle for nothing less than success often thrive and almost always survive. Because, even when you strike out once, or twice, you still get in the box the 3rd time to hit the home run.... after all, you will settle for nothing less than success.

- Jon Bohm

Feel the Heat..

2008-06-25T22:47:00.001-07:00

Watching big, "Lake Effect," snow flakes fall from a winter sky in Upstate New York is a beautiful thing. Landing on thick oak and pine branches and floating down onto the window sill would make a great winter day. And to top off a great winter day we would make a fire and read a book as the fire crackled and the snow fell outside.

A real fire takes at least 2 good logs an hour, usually more, and if you really want it to put out some warmth you have to add twice that. It is a pretty obvious thing to anyone who has made a fire that you won't feel the heat until you put some wood on the flames.

In the same way you have to put some "wood" on the fire of your business or life before you see growth, profits, and feel the heat. "Wood" could mean books, training, advertising, marketing, sales training, management development or supervisory training. And if you need any of those things be sure to give me a call. But all those things are only good if they are aligned with the strategic direction and plan of the organization.

Wood that really puts out the heat means you have to strategically plan what you need to accomplish, develop your employees to align with that plan, and then set goals and execute that plan in a systematic way that maximizes your resources to see the bottom line improve.

Occasionally I meet business folks who say they will plan their business when they have time, or develop their sales force after they improve their bottom line, or we will align the organization after we get through this quarter.

That sounds just as silly to me as saying, "I will add some wood to this fire once this fire starts putting out some real heat." In business, planning and executing strategic goals is not a "chicken and the egg" thing. It is the difference between "success and failure."

Happy Planning!
-Jon Bohm

Training will Pay off

2008-06-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when the economy slows down, the temptation of a business or as an individual is to cut back on training and development of ourselves or our employee's and supervisors. When the opposite is often a better strategic decision. When things are slow, what better time could there be to use that extra time to train your people to be ready to rock and roll when things pick up?

Pick up a book, invest in training, set goals and develop a strategic plan to pull you out of the slow economic turn.

In 1942 the U.S. sent the first consignment of Mustang fighter planes to England for the RAF. Very little actual training was given to pilots in those days: the extent of their pre-flight instructions for the new plane was a pat on the back and a few words of encouragement. However, the new Mustangs were so much hotter and faster than previous ones that 3 out of the 5 pilots assigned to the plane were killed trying to make the transition.

Proper training is essential for good productivity. The time spent on learning a new job or technique will be more than made up for in the amount of work accomplished through knowledge.

1) Do your employees and supervisors have the proper skills to carry out their jobs successfully? How could you train them to work more efficiently and independently?

2) How might you benefit by having a more knowledgeable and highly skilled team?

3) What could you do to develop and enhance your own knowledge of your business or field?

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

2008-06-23T16:00:00.001-07:00

Self-Fulfilling prophecy is a tough concept to understand. But if you can tap into your capabilities, visualize the potential you have, and remember the reasons you have to believe in yourself, then you will in fact conquer your biggest fears and accomplish what you say you can.

And the opposite is always true. If you say you "Can't" then you most definitely will not.

William Purkey tells a great little allegory concerning the value of feeling good about ourselves:

A mouse ran into the office of the Educational Testing Service and accidentally triggered a delicate point in the apparatus just as the College Entrance Examination Board’s data on one Henry Carson was being scored.
Henry was an average high-school student who was unsure of himself and his abilities. Had it not been for the mouse, Henry’s score would have been average or less, but the mouse changed all that, for the scores that emerged from the computer were amazing—800s in both the verbal and quantitative areas.

When the scores reached Henry’s school, the word of his giftedness spread like wildfire. Teachers began to re-evaluate their gross under-estimation of this fine lad, counselors trembled at the thought of neglecting such talent, and even college admissions officers began to recruit Henry for their schools.
New worlds opened for Henry, and as they opened he started to grow as a person and as a student. Once he became aware of his potentialities and began to be treated differently by the significant people in his life, a form of self-fulfilling prophecy took place. Henry began to put his mind in the way of great things. . . Henry became one of the best men of his generation.

We can apply this concept to our every day life and business in simple ways. When we have a week, a day, an hour, or a conversation that goes bad we will begin to "Self-talk" at an alarming rate. In that moment we have a tendency to say some negative things about ourselves, our abilities, our products, our ideas, or our companies. Of course none of these things are usually true, but in that moment they couldn't be more real.

Using a simple tool called "Affirmations" is an easy and simple way to combat the negative self-talk that could arise during a work day.

Affirmations are an expression of the person you know you need to be to achieve the results you want.

An affirmation is a self-fulfiling prophecy that should be displayed in a place you can read them daily- in the car- in the bathroom- at your desk - on the office wall- etc.

An affirmation should be:

In the First Person
Singular
Positive
Present tense
and Stretching

For example:
"I am the best salesperson in my department."
"I have the best product in our industry"
"I am an excellent Mother/Father."
"I have the best value in our industry."

This simple exercise can be a little uncomfortable or feel silly at first, but trust me, it can change your attitude and your world.

Don't let negative "Self-talk" destroy your goals!

-Jon Bohm

Coasting...

2008-06-22T21:54:00.001-07:00

To reach the port of success we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it—but we must sail, not drift or lie at anchor. — Oliver Wendell Holmes

I pushed the button on the dash to my Jeep today that allows me to keep track of my ever increasingly valued gas mileage. As I drove, I could watch my mileage go up and down, depending on how heavy I was on the peddle and how much coasting I allowed the car to do.

The thing about it was, that even when I let the car coast on flat ground or up a hill it really didn't help my mileage all that much. The only time I really saw a rise in my mileage was when I was coasting down hill.

I tell you this story because it reminds me of myself at times, and so many people I have met in my life. Tomorrow is Monday, and I am gearing up for the work week. As I prepare, I realize even on Sunday night I have a choice. A choice to coast through the week, or put the peddle to the metal. And just like my Jeep, I realize that you can really only coast downhill. So unless I am willing to watch my career, my impact on the world, and my family life go down hill, I better not be doing any coasting.

Be Driven and accelerate your potential this week.

- Jon Bohm

Keeping the Lane Full

2008-06-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

The worst answer available to a question of "Why?" Is just another answer that demands another "Why?"

Like when you were little and your Mom would say "Because I said so." or:
"Because you are supposed to."
"Because your manager asked you to."
"Because it is what we have always done."
"Because your boss will get a great bonus." etc.

Those aren't answers to anything. When you are leading your life or your team--do you have a clear and compelling goal, vision, or passion inducing reason for you or your team to come and work everyday?

Imagine this-

It’s an average day at work. You come home dead tired. After collapsing in your favorite chair, your spouse reminds you that tonight is your bowling league night. So, after about an hour’s rest, you go to the lanes.
Once there, you bowl for hours and throw that 16-pound ball about a hundred times, and you feel great. But think of this: if you have the manager remove the pins from the lane, how long do you think your energy and interest would last? After about four or five throws, you would be pooped and ready to go home and into bed.

Set yourself a goal. If you have a goal to reach, you will be given enough drive to achieve it.

In today's workplace a paycheck is not hardly enough to keep most employees. If a paycheck is your answer to "Why?" then your turnover will be high.

To help set some pins in the lane for you or your team ask yourself:

1. What is the big picture that we are a part of?

For example - If you make plastic bottles for Pepsi, your big picture might be to make the best soda available for consumption at ball games, at parties, at picnics and hotdog stands all over the region! You are making the world a better place one bottle at a time. As opposed to, "I put bottle "A" in blower machine "B" all day, so that I get my paycheck and go home."

2. What recognition can you give your team for a game well played?
For example: An announcement, a reward, or a bonus.

3. What "team" or "family" can you create around your work place? Do the supervisors get invited to afterwork social activities with the managers? Can you create a night out once a month that benefits team development? Or, is the Christmas party only for the managers?

4. What productivity incentives can be applied to the work day? For example: The most succesful contractor I know sets a goal before his crew every morning. If the crew completes that goal they go home. It could be noon or it could be 10 pm, it's up to them. But if they finish by noon, they get paid for the full day. His crew gets more done in a 1/2 day then most crews do in 2 full days.

It's a matter of keeping the lane full of pins.
-Jon Bohm

If it's worth doing...It's worth doing it poorly.

2008-06-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

Risk an ugly result and innovate!

This morning I saw an actual balloon pilot aviator's license from 1906 signed by Orville Wright himself. An icon and amazing man died this past week. He had spent a majority of his life in aviation, dating all the way back to seeing the first planes take flight.

It often blows my mind to think back on what a 100 year old person has experienced. They have seen more than my mind can imagine. They have felt, seen, and touched things that I can only read about.

And they know some things that many people today don't understand. One of those things, I believe, is the value of first time dreams, innovation, and trying something that often comes out not working very well or risks operating like a bucket of bolts.

So often business owners are gun shy about trying things that we fear may not come out well. But how well has anything that was every worth a shiny penny ever started off brilliant? Innovation doesn't start that way. It starts in Henry Ford's garage looking like an old lawnmower, or on an ugly tan piece of plastic that you give away because nobody wants to by a computer with an "apple" on it, or with 2 brothers building a bicycle with some sheets spread out running down the beach in North Carolina.

Business guru Tom Peters tells about a businessman whom he admires whose motto is “anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” “The logic is impeccable,” says Peters. He points out that the plane the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk was nothing to write home about. Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone was not exactly up to Bell Lab standards. Yet if Bell hadn’t foisted that piece of junk on the world we wouldn’t have a vast communication network that can instantly link anyone on this planet, and if Orville and Wilbur hadn’t gone for lift-off with that bucket of bolts down at Kitty Hawk, we wouldn’t have 747s.
Peters goes on to say, “I emphasize the point because the number one failing that I see in small and large organizations is the failure to do stuff. . . In an environment where we know nothing for sure, the only antidote is, to quote my old man, ‘Don’t just stand there. Do Something!’”

Taking the time to risk failure and doing something beats using the same old thing or just standing around any day!
One of the advantages of a soft economy can be that you find yourself with some more time. So don't just stand there- do something- risk an ugly result, and innovate!

- Jon Bohm

Adversity: Friend or Foe?

2008-06-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

What if your greatest success in life was birthed from your darkest moment, your scariest challenge, or our biggest fear?

Adversity is your greatest friend or your biggest enemy, it all depends on how you deal with it.

I don't know what adversity you may have gone through in your life, but we all have it in one form or another. For me; surviving cancer was my greatest adversity. As tough as it was, and as much as I wouldn't wish it on anybody, I am grateful for what I learned; as well as how it shaped me into who I am today.

And strangely enough am not alone in that. On many occasions I have heard other survivors say they were thankful for the experience. Adversity makes us face internal obstacles that we would never have overcome otherwise, it makes us face external obstacles that we wouldn't have had the strength to conquer without that experience. Obstacles and adversity simply become hurdles on the track of life, that once you clear each hurdle you are that much closer to becoming who you can and want to be.

Here is a true story of just such a situation:

Anna Mary Moses loved to do needlework. She had been enjoying it since before she was married. But as she began to get older, she started to lose some of the dexterity in her hands through arthritis. By the time she was eighty, she could no longer perform even the simplest stitches. Therefore she decided to try something different—painting. The brushes were easy enough to handle, even with her arthritis, so she took it up full time, mostly painting farm and country scenes.
One day a traveling art collector stopped for a bite to eat in her town and saw her pictures in a drugstore. He decided that he liked them, and in a very short time the name of Grandma Moses was known throughout the art world. Although Grandma Moses didn’t even start painting until she was eighty years old, she was able to create over fifteen hundred works of art in her lifetime. She had an international following, and prominence as a world-class painter.
All this because she was forced to quit her favorite pastime and take up a new one.

May adversity never be a roadblock, but simply a hurdle, that once cleared puts you that much closer to achieving your goals.

-Jon Bohm

The Land of Status Quo

2008-06-17T22:25:00.001-07:00

Change is a funny and powerful thing.

Have you ever noticed that when you or someone you know tries to break away from the "Land of Status Quo" into the "Land of Positive Change and Rewards" things can get difficult?

It is often like a bucket of crabs. When one tries to escape all the other crabs work real hard at pulling them back into the bucket. And so it is with people. When someone tries to break out of the status quo and make some real positive and big steps in the right direction, you can find yourself with some discouraging thoughts and questions as you are sucked back into the bucket.

You’ll start hearing things like:
• What are you doing?
• Why do you want to do that?
• Stay here where you belong.

As you face even more obstacles, you’ll start getting noise in your own head. You might hear yourself saying things like:
• What am I thinking?
• Can I really do this?
• This is a lot harder than I thought.
• Is it really worth it?

The Noise often gets so loud that many return to the "land of status quo" in disappointment. But when you can push through the noise and get to the "land of positive change and results" you will begin to enjoy the rewards of your hard work. And other people in the "land of status quo," who were watching you break out, often find themselves inspired to do the same. Before you know it, you are leading change in the most powerful way, by example.

Back during the days of the space race, Wernher Von Braun gave a lecture on the subject of putting a man on the moon. When his lecture was finished, he asked for questions.
A woman’s hand immediately shot up: “Why,” she asked, “can’t you forget about getting people on the moon and stay home and watch television like the good Lord intended for you to do?”

Change is what carries us into the future. If you can’t change, you will be stuck in the past.

Some questions for personal reflection:

1) Are you worrying over something you can’t change? What can you do to “let go”?
2) How might a change in perspective or outlook improve your team’s productivity?
3) What are the changes you’d like to make in your lifestyle? List the benefits of changing and the steps you’d need to take in order to change. Find people who will support you.
4) How might you be an encourager to a friend or colleague who is trying to make a change?

Change is Good.

2008-06-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

How do you view change? Is it positive or negative?

Unfortunately many businesses view change as negative. Which means as a leader you have to find ways to address change in a positive way and keep your team moving forward. Change can be a great competitive advantage. But to exploit change to our advantage, it is important to understand why change is often resisted. So here are 4 major reason change is resisted.

1. The first is FEAR. Fear is internal; it’s in our head. There’s a saying that I am fond of, “Fear is the great crippler of human potential.” There’s also an acronym that uses the letters F, E, A, and R that defines what fear is. The acronym stands for “False Evidence Appearing Real.”

2. The second reason people resist change is because of EGO. The need to be right is a powerful human need. It’s a common problem with leaders, managers, and business owners.

3. The third reason why people resist change is to avoid CONFLICT. Because when you try to leave all the people back in the “Land of Status Quo,” you’ll create and get some conflict. It’s not fun, so many people just avoid it all together.

4. The fourth reason that people resist change is LACK OF PURPOSE. Without a sense of purpose, people become stagnant and complacent. People get burnt out.

As a LEADER of yourself and others:
1. You have to overcome your own fear and help others overcome theirs by helping them change their mental attitudes that hold them back.

2. You also have to make sure that your EGO doesn’t get in the way. By being open to new and different ways to view things, as well as being open to the feedback and insights of others, you create an atmosphere where change is not an “I’m right and your wrong” mentality.

3. Of course, conflict is best handled through proper communication. It sounds simple on the surface, but we all know that it’s not.

4. Finally, you have to develop a sense of purpose, for yourself, and your team. What’s your vision for the change? Is it something that everyone understands and has a stake in?

Today… you have to be open to change to lead, and your organization needs to constantly change and evolve to survive. Think about all the changes that we must deal with. Technology continually changes. Customers continually change. Markets continually change. Competitors continually change. Why should our organizations be any different. CHANGE OR DIE: it’s been said so often that it sounds like a cliché, but it’s true.

In today’s world, we face more change in a year then our grandparents faced in a lifetime. It can be overwhelming; it can be scary; it can be frustrating, or it can be EXHILIRATING. Regardless of how you view change, the fact remains that it is very real and it will not go away.

With such rapid changes going on around us, we must find some way to comfortably accept change and actually benefit from it.

In his book, The Renewal Factor, Robert Waterman says, our “willingness to understand and exploit change is a powerful competitive weapon.”

When you can view change as good, then you will already have a competitive edge on the market, and when you can roll change out in your organization by addressing the above major reasons of resisting change then you will reduce turnover of both your teams and your customers.

May we view change as a great strategic partner.

Action Figures

2008-06-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

As a kid I had GI Joe's, teddy bears, and transformers. But nothing was as awesome as the super hero action figures that moved when you pushed a button. All the other toys were good to look at, but they didn't really do anything.

Relating that to business and life seems strange but I have to tell you that action is the biggest difference between success and failure on just about any given day. How easy it can be to allow obstacles like email, phone interruptions, a lazy morning, the desk top shuffling of papers, or hour long desk cleaning ritual, that keep us from actually doing anything that generates revenue or improves life. We can have some emails and clean desks to look at, but we didn't really do anything.

Success comes when we can address the obstacles that keep us unproductive- find a solution for those obstacles - and then take responsibility for what actually needs to get done. So instead of throwing our hands in the air and saying I can't get it all done "I had too many emails;" we find a solution for that obstacle and take responsibility for our own lives and results.

Columnist Herb Caen wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle sometime back: “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

- Jon Bohm

Character Traits of Leadership

2008-06-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

Take a moment and think of someone you really admire as a leader. What character or personality traits do they have? Go ahead, take a moment to build a mental list.

What did you come up with?
Could those qualities be developed or do you have to be born with them?

If these traits are so easy for us to identify, and they can be developed, why isn't everyone a great leader?

Can you have great leadership traits and still not be a leader? I will try to answer that question with the following incredible story:

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter's legs and slammed his sorry butt against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

Peter had a lot of great leadership traits; courage, goodwill, curiosity, compassion, adventure, etc. But, Peter lacked the most important defining ability of a leader, the ability to get great RESULTS.

No matter what character traits you have, if you don't get results you are not a leader. Building character in your team is good, and important, but it doesn't guarantee results. You can make a leader out of anybody if you are able to help them plan, set goals, and achieve results.

Likewise success doesn't just happen. It happens when we plan, set goals, and make it happen.
-Jon Bohm

Values and the Man in the Mirror

2008-06-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today I was engaged in some conversations about helping a non for profit organization make more money. I heard some creative ideas about ways to help bring more money in the doors. But as creative as some of those ideas are, they can stretch the values of what an organization is actually in existence for in the first place. I was reminded how our values in life, business, and finance are always with us. They are always available to stand strong or be pushed to the side for something else at a moments notice.

I am in business to help make this world and everyone I work with better, and better is always a word that puts values over money. May we be encouraged to place values over money in every decision, so that at the end of the day we can look the person in the glass, square in the eye, and experience the satisfaction that comes from seeing that reflection smile with contentment.- Jon Bohm

THE GUY IN THE GLASS

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn’t your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Whose judgement upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and “chisel” a plum,
And you may think you’re a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the guy in the glass.

- By Dale Wimbro

Something to "Live For"

2008-05-30T23:17:00.000-07:00

In Arthur Miller’s great play "Death of a Salesman," Willy Loman’s wife cannot understand why he should have committed suicide, especially at the time he did. For the first time in 35 years they were just about free and clear. He only needed a little salary, and he was even finished with the dentist. But a friend says, wisely, “No man only needs a little salary. When a person’s dreams and goals and purposes in life are destroyed, that person is destroyed. We not only need something to live on, we need something to live for.”

I have run into many people in my life that for one reason or another eventually begin to make statements that are so negative about life, that they begin to sound suicidal.

Sometimes business owners say things like:
"If this market doesn't turn around my life is over."
"I wish I was dead so I didn't have to think about how to recover this business."
Or "Life just isn't worth living."

I know this is negative, but unfortunately things like this are said everyday. And even more sadly, people believe those statements so much that some even follow through. This is a tragedy of tremendous and unimaginable proportions because it can be avoided.

When someone says life isn't worth living, what they are really saying is that they don't have a single goal that is worth striving for.

We are all unique, and that makes us valuable. No matter who we are, what we do, what we look like, where we go, or whether our business fails or succeeds. You are the only you this world will ever see, and when you are gone, the world has lost something so unique and special it is truly impossible to replace.

And when you bring something unique to the world's table, there will always be at any given point in time, something you can make a positive difference on, someone you can add value to, or some goal that is worth being alive long enough to see realized.

May I just encourage you that in a soft market, or in the midst of unthinkable debt, perceived failure, or even if you don't have something to "live on" you always have something to 'live for." Take a moment and find it, and when that goal is realized, find the next one.

YOU ARE THE ONLY YOU, THIS WORLD WILL EVER SEE, and that is a Strategic Advantage if I ever found one. Never stop dreaming, and find what drives you.

- Jon Bohm

Is Knowledge Power?

2008-05-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

As I grew up through the ranks of education I always understood that my learning, my education, would be the gateway to success in life.

And I have seen in life and business that it is no longer an option to be a life long learner. It is necessary to succeed, to stay connected to people, and to prosper financially. If you come to my Blog you will always be drinking from a flowing stream and never a stagnant pond.

The amazing thing about knowledge is that in and of it's self, it is totally useless, unless we pause to apply it.

But it's tempting to read book after book, article after article, idea after idea running through your mind, and yet leave your life and business completely unchanged.

It can be hard in life to pause after a chapter in a book and set goals to apply the knowledge. It can be hard to see or hear of the achievements of someone we know and pause to set a goal to write a letter of congratulations. It is easy to hear about a way we can get involved in helping make the world a better place, but so hard to pause and set a goal to get involved.

How easily we think things like "Wow, that's a great idea, I should;
-Call
-Write
-Get involved
-Jump in
-Apply myself to that theory
-Apply for that job
-Spend purposeful time with my kids and spouse
-Bring that idea to my boss
-Sign up for that race
-Or put that dessert down

But, how hard it can be to take the time to pause and creatively and intentionally apply it to our lives. How sad if the world remains unchanged as so many ideas, opportunities, relationships, and money float into the sky like a balloon off the wrist.

May we be the type of people that make pausing and applying habits in our lives, that change us, and the world for the better. Leaving all those around us truly refreshed by the flowing streams that never stay the same long enough to become stagnant.

Knowledge as it turns out is not power, but rather knowledge that is followed by a pause and application is.

- Jon Bohm

Be Driven

2008-05-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

My 2 year old son is in the stage of conversation that he asks "Why?" to everything.

As much as that is cute and annoying at the same time, it really is a good question.

To be Driven according to Webster is to be propelled forward or motivated by something. That, in essence, is the "Why" we do what we do.

For example, when I ask CEO's, or really anyone, who have a goal in mind. It is often; to reduce cost, make more money, reduce turnover, increase customer loyalty, maybe run a marathon, or lose weight. But the better question my son knows well, "Why?"

Why, or so what if you did make more money?
What would it really mean for you if you increase the bottom line?
Why put all that work into losing weight or running a marathon?

At the end of the day all things that really make an impact on us, our family, and the world have to "Be Driven" by something greater than simply making money, losing weight, or reducing turnover. I like to see those things happen more than most, but unless we are motivated and propelled by real meaning and passion, we will never reach our full potential to leave a lasting impact on the world and the next generation. Dare I say we will never reach our full potential to make money either.

At the beginning of each day we must "Be Driven" but what really matters.
What drives you?

- Jon Bohm

What is Leadership?

2008-05-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

"The quality of leadership, more than any other single factor, determines the success or failure of an organization." - Fred Fieldler and Martin Chemers in Improving Leadership Effectiveness

What is your view of leadership?
What makes a good leader?

I talk to CEO's who consistently say they know what their people need to do, so why can't they do it?
I also hear things along the lines of "I pay great money to have great leaders, so why can't they lead?"

A lot of times the inability for people to lead is wrapped up in our definition of a leader, and we are defining and hiring based on faulty assumptions of what leadership actually is.

4 Faulty assumptions:

Some people believe being a great leader is possessing certain attributes. Often the same attributes the hiring manager or supervisors value, like great people skills, fun to work with, charismatic and motivational, high energy, smart, or even someone with a big company name in their history profile.

Some people believe that being a great leader means that you were promoted from a position as a "Super worker" in your company to a new position of "Supervisor" only to find out that "Super workers" don't often make great "Supervisors."

Some people try to train leadership into their supervisors or managers thinking that if they could just attain these certain personal attributes than they would become a great leader.

While others, having tried all the above with little success, determine leadership is born and not made. Some have it and some don't.

But what makes someone a great leader is his or her ability to set goals and ACHIEVE DESIRED RESULTS - nothing more and nothing less.

And that type of leadership is a system of developing people to get the results the organization needs. It can come in all shapes and sizes, all styles and personalities, and it guarantees success in the organization.

Leadership is no longer about possessing certain personal characteristics, but about setting goals and achieving desired results.

- Jon Bohm