Making it in Today's World - Lil Change of pace but Great Read

Not quite what I normally do but this is a good read no matter where I may be in life in 30 years assuming I am alive of course.


http://www.firstresource.org/viewArticle.aspx?id=236
Making It in Today's World

by Nick Burkholder

As hungry and demanding as we are for answers and solutions, we often look past or even reject simple facts and analyses. The tried and true barely get any consideration. Invariably many of the solutions that we do choose to embrace are like the latest fad: They don't sustain us for long and we often come to regret the experience.

In order to identify the proven and lasting principles of individual performance I went back to the executives that I surveyed for the Executive Career Guide. These six principles have served them well in the intervening years:

1. Validate your sources.

Don't buy the book, attend the seminar, or retain the consultant unless there is supporting documentation or research.

2. Read

Whether an iPad, netbook, ereader, smartphone, your computer, or plain old fashion print, reading is still the fastest, most efficient way to assimilate information and foster new ideas.

3. It's not the system, it's the user. It's not the vendor, it's the buyer. It's not the structure, it's all about execution.

It's all up to you. Exploit what you have. If you are considering changing a system, vendor, or structure it's even more important to exploit and understand what you have before selecting a replacement.

4. Track your performance.

Your performance should be based on specific customer driven objectives which include quantifiable outcomes or results. These measures constitute your own personal score card and you should monitor them to both improve your performance as well document your contributions.

5. Communication is everything.

You might as well communicate, if you don't the people you work with will inevitably waste a great deal of time filling in the blanks - and will probably get it wrong..

6. Make everyone a Star.

Recognize that everyone at every level can be a Star: Every single person - from the disabled part-time mailroom clerk to executive vice president with the Harvard MBA. You can start making people Stars by understanding and recognizing their performance. This should include measurable objectives which each individual can use as a guide to continually improve their own performance.

Professional success is a never ending challenge but these six lasting principles of individual performance have served executives well both in the best, and in the most uncertain, of times.

Read the unabridged version here.

Nick Burkholder

Under the Rocks

"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny." Patrick Overton, author, educator and speaker
Submitted by First Resource subscriber Pam Allen, SPHR, Vice President of Human Resources, Sage Products, Inc.

"If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you." Justice Louis D. Brandeis

If you have a meaningful quote or tip that you like to share, Tell Us

Who/What?

There is a common English word that is nine letters long. Each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains an English word - from nine letters right down to the last letter. What is the original word, and what are the words that it becomes after removing one letter at a time?

and

A shop sells apples at $1 each. Each of these apples are wrapped in a special wrapper. You can trade 3 of these wrappers for 1 apple. If you have $15, how many apples can you get altogether?

Think you know the answers? Please contact Joy Anderson by Tuesday May 18th. One correct answer will be randomly selected to receive a copy of any current bestseller. You must answer both questions correctly to qualify. Look for the solution and winner in the next Weekly.

Answer to last week's Who/What:

1. When all the paint was stripped from the outer walls of the White house for the very first time in the 1980s how many coats were removed?
42

2. Who was the first presidential jogger?
Theodore Roosevelt. He jogged around the Washington Monument daily.

3. What famous early American once boasted: "I can't say I was ever lost, but I was bewildered once for three days"?
Frontiersman Daniel Boone.

4. In 1933, how much did a night's stay in a double room cost at the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City?
In 1933, a double cost $9; a single, $6; a suite, $20.

5. What was the only product ever promoted by Elvis Presley in a television commercial?
Donuts--the commercial, for Southern Made Donuts, was aired in 1954.

Timothy Carroll, Director of Information Systems and Telecommunications, Visiting Nurse Association of Central New York, Inc., Syracuse, New York, was randomly selected from 35 correct answers. He chose Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer by Margot Morrell, Alexandra Shackleton & Stephanie Capparell as his prize.


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