Mindset and Motivation Archives – Page 15 of 17

27 Nov 2009

Information Overload – Blink

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:20:16-06:00November 27th, 2009|Categories: Books and Courses, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation, Technology|

Your brain processes things at two levels: conscious and subconscious (not unconscious).

Conscious thought demands information, cost and benefit analysis, pros and cons. We demand more information. But more information does not equal understanding. Understanding vast amounts of information is very difficult. You can still draw the wrong conclusion, especially under stress.

Worst of all, decisions take a lot longer to make. What if we make a mistake? If I just had a little more information I could make a risk free decision. Analysis paralysis. You can also make a wrong conclusion and stick to it because that is what all the […]

20 Nov 2009

Great Leadership and Management

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:20:20-06:00November 20th, 2009|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Mindset and Motivation|

The age old discussion around what is the difference between great leaders and managers continues.

Marcus Buckingham in "The One Thing You Need to Know" sheds a little light on this.

Great managers are focused on maximizing the performance of the people they manage by developing talent. Great managers are catalysts… speed up the reaction between each employee's talents and the company's goals. They are motivated by helping people grow.

Great leaders rally people to a better future. The focus on the future and the drive to accomplish something new/better is what drives a leader.

Some people have both traits […]

17 Nov 2009

Learning from Experience

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:20:34-06:00November 17th, 2009|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

I have a country neighbour who decided to put up a fence. They acquired those 6 foot high by 8 foot long, pre-assembled solid fence panels and proceeded to put the fence up using 4×4 posts set in dirt every 8 feet.

It gets really windy in this region. Howling windy. And they are located in an unsheltered lot.

They got about 8-10 panels up before the first wind and rainstorm struck from the north. The next day we saw part of the fence leaning at a 45 degree angle, a bobcat (tractor) holding part of the fence up and a bunch of boards holding […]

13 Nov 2009

What Does the Other Person Really Want?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:20:51-06:00November 13th, 2009|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Mindset and Motivation, Sales|

We often go into a situation with preconceived notions about what we want and what the benefits are to the other person or organization.

This applies to partnerships, client relationships, vendor relationships, employee-employer relationships, and personal relationships.

Don't jump to the solution until you really understand the problem.

Otherwise your hammer will make everything a nail.

How do you get this understanding?

You ask and then… listen.

Simple in concept? You bet. Hard for most of us to pull off consistently? Certainly or the world of relationships would be a lot simpler.

Business Owners

What are your personal goals? Does your role in the business align with your […]

11 Nov 2009

Mirror Mirror on the Wall (Self Reflection)

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:21:05-06:00November 11th, 2009|Categories: Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

In the last few days I have been looking at myself. Who I am and who I want to be.

You can look in a mirror and see your reflection, but that is just the outside appearance that the rest of the world sees.

If you start looking around at the people in your life and the strength and quality of your relationships you see a different reflection.

You were born into your family. You don't choose those relationships but you choose how you manage them.

You get to choose your spouse and vice versa. Same with friends, business partners, etc.

Then you can […]

1 Nov 2009

It’s Not You, It’s Me.

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:21:34-06:00November 1st, 2009|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

When relationships go through a rough period or break-up there is a tendency to cast blame. That blame is either directed at the other person or yourself depending on your personality and a variety of other factors.

The problem is that both reactions are driven by strong emotions.

In business you can do the same thing. Every time something goes wrong you can look for someone or something to blame.

However, this does not actually do you or the business any long-term good. Your customers really don't care about excuses. They care about results.

You need to be able to look at yourself in […]

27 Oct 2009

Is Opportunity Knocking?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:21:39-06:00October 27th, 2009|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

A while back one of our mentors reminded me of something very significant.

"Big opportunities don't come very often so don't let it pass you by."

Today we met with Andrew Barber-Starkey of ProCoach Success System again. My lesson today was to make sure your business passion matches your life purpose or is part of your strategy for achieving your life purpose.

So the question then becomes do you have plan for your life? If not then how would you know if an opportunity is a match for you?

Of course, finding your purpose or meaning in life is […]

15 Oct 2009

Honesty in the Real World

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:21:58-06:00October 15th, 2009|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Mindset and Motivation, Sales|

In the last few days I have personally witnessed 2 companies (other than ourselves) deal with annoyed customers.

Honesty

In the first case (no names, my blog is not about embarrassing others), the owner of the company had to deal with a customer that was upset about a missed deliverable. This occurred while we were meeting with him. What impressed me about it was his attitude. Yes, he was genuinely upset about his company's process failure… but he was not embarrassed about it or trying to cover it up with the client or with us. Honesty goes a long way.

Too Much Success

The […]

18 Sep 2009

Two Robins and Some Lessons

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:23:22-06:00September 18th, 2009|Categories: Current Events, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

Earlier today I was watching the birds in our yard. They are starting to gather together in greater numbers as they get ready to start migrating. It was interesting watching them dart through the air and how they interacted.

As I was getting ready for work, I heard a big crash.

I went back to the window to see what was going on and two robins were laying beside the glass on our deck. In their high speed acrobatics, they had missed that fact that it was glass and not a normal opening.

One of the birds eventually got up and was still […]

19 Aug 2009

Those Pesky Customers

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T12:25:05-06:00August 19th, 2009|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Mindset and Motivation, Sales|

Ever have one of those days where customers (internal or external) keep derailing something you want to get done?

If only they would go away, life would be simpler and you could accomplish all your projects.

Yup, no customers would be perfect.

No customers, no distractions… no revenue… no business.

POP!

The trick is not in making your customers go away. Unless you have no intention of growing you actually want more happy, satisfied customers receiving something they need. Your business depends on it.

So the trick, is setting up your business so you can do both; and I don't mean working 16 hours a day.

You need to […]