Power of Finishing Strong

As I have stated in my “About Me” page I am a senior graduating in May of this year.  As that date is quickly approaching it gave me a reason to stop and reflect on my past four years and what I have learned from all of it.   If there is one thing I have learned in the past four years, it is the power of finishing strong.  I have found that it can be easy or even relieving to coast to the finish line, but the problem with this is you can fall short without even knowing it.  In a track race, the runner does not stop and simply touch the tape; they finish as fast as possible and break the tape.  We should be doing the same thing in our lives, no matter what the goal is or how close we are to the finish line. 

With finals the only thing standing between me and a degree, I have found it necessary to still study to finish the semester out with the best grades that I can.  The reason for this is one finish line in life is simply the start of the next race or project.  Finishing strong helps propel you into the next stage and getting a jump on whatever comes next for you.  Finals are little more than a formality for me now, but I want to break the tape not just coast to the finish. 

Another important note about this is the fact that many times in life the last few days of a project are the most important.  When working to put on an event the last few hours before the event are the most hectic.  That is why you must finish strong, mailing it in right at the finish line does not bode well for the success of the project you are working on.  In a business setting, the last few days usually is when the little details are being finalized and ironed out and as we stated in the power of paying attention, the little details usually make all of the difference in a project.

So the next time you are about to finish a semester or a project, remember to break the tape by remembering the power of finishing strong.

Power of the Pause

Today we will pick back up the power series of posts.  If you are new to the blog or the power series, I would encourage you to take a trip into the archive to start at the beginning.  Even though most posts could stand-alone, I still encourage you to read some of the other posts in this series of posts.

Now is an exciting time for Millenials.  Every single day more and more Millenials are ascending to the ranks of management and most will face a very similar challenge.   The challenge is Millenials like to do things fast and that is not always a manager or leaders best friend.  With social media and an always-connected lifestyle, every decision is made fast, and for a manager that can mean deciding on the first solution that comes to mind.  For programmed decisions or decisions that have been made in the past or have a set path to follow, fast is fine and actually beneficial.  Many programmed decisions are delegated to subordinates and do not require a managers attention.  For that reason, many decisions that managers face are non-programmed decisions, which should require some thought before making a decision. 

The first thing to do when faced with a non-programmed decision is to take a pause and think about your options.  Many Millenials have a fear of looking silly or stupid when taking too long to answer a question.  I can say from experience that it can be uncomfortable to not have an immediate answer for a subordinate, but it is more uncomfortable to give a coworker a less than ideal answer because that decision could have long-term repercussions more than being uncomfortable for a few seconds by pausing.  It is better to take a moment and be uncomfortable then to make a poor decision.  Another thing about taking a pause is it gets easier the more you do it.  By pausing every time you make a decision, it becomes easier to make ideal decisions.  Taking a pause is an idea that is derived from Major League Baseball where umpires are instructed to pause before making every call on the bases.  This is so if they think about a call it looks the same as when they know what the call is.  This keeps the look the same whether the call was close or not.  The same can work for a manager when faced with a decision.

Take a second, take a breath and start making better decisions today with the power of the pause.

Recent Rewind

Recently, I have been a little busy and have been unable to regularly update my blog, so today I will simply give a rewind and update of some recent activity on the site.   

One of the best posts from this past month was a post revisiting one of my first posts, the Power of Encouragement.   This post, like many of my posts, includes a story from my personal life, and in this post, the story is from a different perspective than the first one.  I would encourage you to read both of these posts with the original post being linked here, and the revisited post being linked here. 

In total, I have written three posts that belong in my power series in the last month.  All three of these articles are fairly strong, but perhaps the best post was the Power of “Why”.  The Power of Paying Attention feeds off of this post as well, but the Power of “Why “sets the stage for the next part of my power series.  I would encourage you to follow this link here, and if you like, what you see, please consider reading the next two posts in the series.

While I have not been writing blog posts recently I did publish an e-book.  Compiling many of my posts and articles and synthesizing them into a set of coherent thoughts took some time, but the resulting text was very rewarding.  It is a quick read and I believe it contains some great information for a young leader just getting started in their leadership journey.  If you would like to get a copy of this book, please feel free to contact me via my contact page which is linked here. 

I have a few more posts in the works so stay tuned for more content in the next few days. 

Power of Positivity

The next entry in my series on power is the power of positivity, which can have a huge impact on your life overall not just in your work.  The power of positivity is easily controlled by an individual, in how they choose to display their emotions at work.  While it might take some serious emotional labor at first, like any change in life, it will become easier with time and practice.  Emotional labor is when the emotion you feel is not the emotion you display, because this takes mental ability to repress the felt emotion.  Being positive is important for a few reasons and it is definitely worth the emotional and mental labor.

The first reason positivity is important is because of the phenomenon known as emotional contagion, which is the spreading of one person's emotions to those around them.  If someone you work with is having a bad day, you can help them by being positive.  The same goes for customers, by being positive in your interaction with them you can give them a positive view of the company you work for.  The bottom line is no one wants to deal with someone who is always in a bad mood, so by being positive you can spread that to those around you and improve your team morale.

Emotional contagion aside being a positive person increases your personal power and influence.  This is because earlier we said no one wants to work with a negative person, but the opposite is also true, in that people want to work with a positive person.  This works to increase your influence, which is a key part of leadership.  By being positive in stressful situations you can help to create a sense of calm, which makes difficult situations easier to navigate.  Being positive will not be easy as there are a lot of stressful and negative things that happen to us on a daily basis, but being positive will definitely be worth it, especially when you find yourself as the leader of the team.


To support my endeavor and get some great products you can visit my CafePress shop here where I have products from thermoses to mugs to office supplies

Power of Paying Attention

The Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden once said, "It's the little details that are vital, little things make big things happen."  This is especially true for leaders and anyone in any organization looking to make the jump into leadership.  People reveal the most important facts in the smallest of details and the better you become at understanding and using these details the better you will be as a leader.

The power discussed here is personal power, and if you are new to the discussion on power please browse through the archives and perhaps the best place to start is here, where I explain the various powers at play in an organization.  Paying attention to the details of a conversation gives you insight into the person you are conversing with.  These details can help you evolve a working relationship with that person and connect on a more meaningful level, which is an important step for any leader.  By getting to know the people you work with and how they do things and what things they are especially good at you can benefit the whole team by leveraging each individual's best qualities. Developing meaningful relationships is an important step in gaining personal power and it comes from paying attention and listening intently.

Another way that paying attention adds to your personal power is in sales, whether it be retail, fast food, or any other kind of selling.  Knowing what your customer truly wants is easy to garner through simply paying attention to them during interactions.  From having their order ready to knowing how to greet them makes the customer feel special and adds to customer loyalty.  This also adds to your personal power by being able to connect with customers, which is something anyone around can see.  By paying attention, you can increase your power while really connecting with the people you are around the most.  Do not just go through life, be an active participant and as Coach Wooden might say pay attention to the little things in life.

Power of "Why"

As I was on break at work the other day, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed when a quote from John Maxwell caught my eye.  The quote goes like this, "The person who knows how will always have a job, but the person who knows why will always be the boss."  This got me thinking about how this has worked in my life and in my experience.  The more I thought about it the more the message made sense and I want to share that with you here now.

The truth about this quote is that rarely will a manger freely tell someone why something is being done.  This keeps the power with the manager, both manager and subordinate know how, but the manager holds the power in the why.  There are a few ways to figure out the why, with the first being wait long enough at the job and listen and eventually you might hear or figure out the why.  That option might not be enticing to most people, so here is a better plan, simply ask, "Why."  Questions like, "Why do we do this in this particular way" or "Why do we do that and not this," do many different things for you both as a subordinate looking to advance and even as a manager.

The first things asking why will do for you is show you care about what you are doing.  If you only take orders and produce, like the quote states, you will always have a job, but if you want to be more than a worker, asking questions to find out the why is a good place to start.  Another thing figuring out the why can do is allow you to think of better or more efficient ways to do something.   This is always important for people looking to climb the ladder, because people who bring key ideas to the table are the most valuable.  One more thing the why does for you is it begins to shift some of the power to you by means of increasing your personal power.

Another truth, more in general is that millennials more than any other generation want to know the why.  Many people in previous generations were fine with doing what they were told, but in an increasing phenomenon millennials want to know why they are doing things.  This is something I learned from coaches I have worked and talked with who have coached for many years.  Increasingly as a coach, you must be prepared to tell them why they are doing something to get the intended results.

The next time you find yourself in one of these situations, no matter which side of the conversation you are on, remember the power of "Why"

Millennial Leadership

Recently I stumbled upon a blog post that relates closely to what I like to talk about here on my blog.  This blog post was discussing millennials in leadership positions, and while a millennial can be a person of varying age from 30 to 15, we choose to focus mostly on the 25 and under leaders.  Many Millennials are moving into management positions for the first time and this trend will only continue as more workers from previous generations retire. 

This article takes a hard look at some of the questions facing the current leaders of today’s companies.  This post is unique in that it examines this idea from the side of a business looking at a millennial manager, where as I write from the view of a millennial manager.  Looking at the same things from both sides of the issue makes for a more well rounded view of the topic. 

One interesting point that the author makes is a point about salary.  From the viewpoint of the business he states that millennial leaders know what they are worth better than any other generation and will be adamant about getting that for their services.  This is an interesting point because from the point of view of a millennial, I can relate to this idea, and it makes perfect sense.  I had found a way to communicate effectively with every coworker I worked with before I became a manager and this led to me being able to communicate with each person in a unique way.  This is adaptive communication that the author talks about.

One of the most interesting things is how in-tune most, millennials are with the communication process and using soft skills mixed with emotional intelligence.  This will serve this generation well as workers, but will be of extreme importance when these millennials make the jump to being manager.  You can find this great post here, and follow the writers on twitter for updates when they add exciting new leadership content to their blog.