Two Birthdays and a Month of Ideas

It began a couple of years ago with a saying here, a quote there, a thought thrown in for good measure. Now it’s something I do daily on Twitter.

Here are some highlights from July 2013

Happy 146th Canada! Happy 237th USA!

Can you clearly articulate your values? Diligence is the mother of good luck. Now is what matters. Don't wait to make that decision.

Success will go to those with the best questions, not those with the cleverest answers. Tom Asacker

Share your ideas, that’s where they grow. Shortcuts are often figments of our imagination. Feed the passion, starve the fear.

Courage is an acquired taste, like caviar. Erica Jong

The key to successful business is to celebrate diversity of thought. The most powerful force ever known is human cooperation. Jonathan Haidt

Where will you make a difference today? Leadership doesn't appear on a business card. The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. Tony Robbins

That idea you keep putting on hold is ready to ship. Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present. Jim Rohn

We're all allowed to our opinion but it's just our opinion. Now is all we got.

Are you ready?

We can't change the past. Let's learn and move forward. It begins with an idea.
What we do with it is key.

Don’t let anyone tell you it can't be done. Successful innovation is a team sport, it’s a relay race. Quyen Nguyen

The right people who belong in your life will come to you, and stay. Wu Tang

Be you and do your own thing. 

Our perception can often get in our way. The game is a lot more enjoyable when you're trying to do more than just make money. Tony Hsieh

The best way to start is to start.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

caratechnology

Fueling the Passion

Synonyms include enthusiasm or obsession, zeal or excitement, fervor or infatuation but it can be crushed like a bug on a windshield in seconds. I see it in the enterprise, with clients, colleagues, friends and family. The work day is simply a “means to an end” which is a horrific way to spend a third of our life. Ideas are pushed down toward the lowest common denominator while good enough becomes the gold standard.

Leadership is crucial when passion is present because it must be mined and carefully protected. Passion is the reason a woman born of poverty in a shack in Kosciusko, Mississippi became one of the most successful television personalities of all time.

Airplanes and Light Bulbs

Obsession is what fuelled a man to try thousands of ideas until he found a way to harness light. Infatuation was the genesis of an idea by a man with dyslexia to create a global brand which features an airline, a media company and a private island.

It took zeal for the returning founder of a computer company to use innovation rather than budget cuts to help his creation realize the largest profits in its history.

Ladders and Climbing Gear

Passion isn’t about owning things or having money. It isn’t about beating someone or market share. It's about running toward your purpose. Look at your team, the people around you, those you connect in business and through the social web along with your family and your friends. Embrace and cherish their passion.

Corporate governance, strategic policy and revenue generation are all part of work life. But without passion, we would never had heard of Winfrey, Franklin, Branson or Jobs.

There's nothing ordinary about passion!
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

debwhite

The Endless Supply Chain

My passion is to help leaders become better leaders, companies to be more collaborative, and guide the communications process that loosens the boardroom constraints. But I've been thinking a lot about the sales process lately.

Yes, we're "all in sales", but I'm referring to a career that has defined metrics. You sell, you survive. You don't sell, your commission is affected. You park your laptop on a desk in the “sales department” kind of sales. You have numbers you need to hit this quarter, kind of sales. You eat what you kill, kind of sales. Your job is business development aka revenue, kind of sales.

Is it all about the numbers?

I believe we are all in the supply chain and we are all part of the sales process but this is the actual department that is saddled with bringing in the actual money. The support system is the rest of the organization because sales as we all know does not begin or end with the invoice.

If your function is overseeing a sales organization - put the spreadsheets down and help your people with the people part.  Leadership and culture drive the behavior that will improve your corporate heath. So for just one week don't mention numbers. I know that sounds counterproductive but try it for one week. Focus on people, relationships, passion, solutions, and see what happens.

To anyone in sales – you have my gratitude and respect.  
To anyone who doesn't think they are in sales – look again.

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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

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Shiny Things

Make your numbers, finish that task, meet that deadline, the cycle continues as we race to some unknown finish line that keeps moving in the wrong direction. Our impatience is creating less efficiency. The faster we go the slower we get things accomplished.

Matt Killingsworth has been studying what makes us happy and explains some of his findings in his TEDx Talk. This video is only 10 minutes long so hopefully your mind won't wander too much.

Squirrel!


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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

Assumptions and Humans

We live in a plug-in-play world. The gadget comes with an instructional manual but few (none) of us take the time to read it. Our collective impatience is too strong. We want to open the box and start using it. If there’s a problem, we’ll call someone or research the answer online. But what do we do when we can’t figure out how people work?

There is no owner’s manual with human interaction and relationships. Decades of experience can only give us a guide but each person is wired and motivated differently. We can’t simply apply one rule for all. Yet often the business world tries to do just that.

Leadership is Complex

If you have kids, you may have taught them how to ride a bike. At first, you put on training wheels, and then over time you raised them off the ground so your child could slowly learn how to balance.

Then the day came when the training wheels were removed. You may have stood nervously as they started to pedal off without your help or the help of two extra wheels. That’s trust in them, the system, and yourself. You gave them the tools but eventually had to let them find their way.

Survey Says

You hear claims such as; “millennials behave this way” or “women don't like that” which are a dangerous generalizations. Marketing companies try and predict habits and companies attempt to guide behavior but it won't help with your day-to-day personal and professional relationships.

Data won't provide a shortcut to human behavior. 
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

shutterstock

Making Decisions

A choice can require additional data or more time. Members of the team need further deliberation to make an informed call. The customer has to check budget allocations. You're unsure it’s aligned with the overall strategy.

Waiting can be justified but excuses can also be the reason we wait. Some decisions require time, others aren't made because we're in the way.

Lead or Follow?

We look for leadership to be decisive and crisp. It’s about helping people get better, keeping everyone on track, and getting stuff done. But it isn't always smooth in real life.

Some say the most successful people make quick decisions, refine, and move forward in the time it takes most people to move at all.

Here’s some inspiration as we deliberate

The only person you really have control over is yourself.
Deborah Reber

The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.
Tony Robbins

When you make the right decision, it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks.
Caroline Kennedy

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
Peart, Lee, Lifeson

The best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing,
and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Theodore Roosevelt

Peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one.
Rita Mae Brown

Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.
Brian Tracy

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let's decide!
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

venturebeat

Starting is Easy

You can feel the anticipation, the excitement, the yearning for possibilities. The idea is taking shape and being refined and advanced toward something real. What if, is moving rapidly to can when. Others are gathering around the idea with their own refinements and thoughts. Momentum and excitement build.

In the "olden days" it was called "starting a business" now in some industries like high tech it's called a start-up. It sounds so perky and fun, doesn't it? I've been involved in start-ups and it can be frustrating and exciting, scary and fulfilling. They haven't all gone well but something keeps making you go back and try again.

After the Honeymoon

It’s six months in and the idea has morphed several times, there is yet to be any revenue and finances are dwindling. Long hours can no longer be fueled by espresso. Promises of stock options and some day aren't landing as strong on the team. This is not reserved for pesky start-ups. IBM, Xerox, Yahoo, Apple, Zappos, and thousands more have pivoted and changed direction. And it rarely (never) goes smoothly.

But we have the attention span of a three-year old. We meet the first challenge and we pull the pin. It’s much easier to think of a cool idea than see it through. And we're all guilty of leaving half-baked ideas in the oven because it got hard or we couldn't get others to help move them along. Money, time, excuses, we have them all at the ready.

Starting is easy, delivering is the tough part. 
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

horseracingnation

Do You Unplug?

It's summer in North America and millions are enjoying some time away. It's a chance to take in the warmer temps and spend some time with friends and family. It does the mind and body good to take a break from it all.

But with the exception of vacation or the odd sick day, when did you last spend an entire 24 hours completely unplugged? No technology, no meetings, no deadlines, just time to clear your head or as I suggest to all my clients - think time.

Reboot and Recharge

What would happen if you didn't check email for a day or attend a meeting tomorrow or not return that call until next week? The sun will come up, life will go on, and in fact, you may even be more rested and sharper to deal with deadlines after some time away.

Leadership is about delivery and results but in order to be sharp for the team, the project, and the company, we all need to step off the treadmill once in a while.

Something to not think about on your vacation.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

blissology

Are You Happy at Work?

We are stressed and overwhelmed. Information and deadlines are coming at us faster than our minds can comprehend them. Multitasking has become the new badge of honour. And being busy is apparently a good thing.

The reason why unhappiness in the workplace has become an epidemic may not be about the work. It may not be those around us. It may be the attitudes we bring to our work. Leadership and culture are key components to how well we enjoy what we do and with whom we do it.

The numbers prove it

Overwhelming data show our relationship with the people around us profoundly affects our work and careers but it's what each of us brings to the relationships that remains the key element.

Shawn Achor is a psychologist who shares his experience with happiness, work, people and the magic of unicorns.

Find time in your busy to watch this.


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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

Lattitude | TED | Shawn Achor

Keys to Being an Extraordinary Leader

René Carayol is a broadcaster, columnist, business and leadership speaker and author. He outlines three key elements of leadership in a compelling TEDTalk you should watch with your team.


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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

René Carayol | TED

10 Things

Ten things you should know about yourself.

• Don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done
• You were born to lead in your own way
• The best time to start is that place between tomorrow and yesterday
• If it doesn't help you grow, get rid of it
• You have all you need to succeed if you look hard enough
• The choice is yours
• There are people in your life right now ready to help you if you ask
• You will never get it perfect
• That idea you keep putting on hold is ready to ship
• You don’t have to listen to naysayers
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

lexblog

We Stand On Guard for Thee

Today is Canada’s 146th birthday. Since this site has visitors from more than 180 countries, as a proud Canadian, I thought I’d share some fun facts about our country.

Canada’s name comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word, kanata, which means village or settlement. We use the metric system, most of the time.

We are saying about, not a boot. Canadian Graeme Ferguson co-invented IMAX.
The longest highway in the world is the Trans-Canada Highway which is over 7,604 kilometers or 4,725 miles. Toronto is the 30th most populated city in the world.

We prefer using the word couch over sofa. The baseball glove was invented in Canada in 1883. Canada has the world’s smallest jail in Rodney, Ontario which is 24.3 square meters or 270 square feet.

Wayne Gretzky, Michael Buble, James Cameron, Jim Carrey, Alex Trebek, Celine Dion, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Mike Myers, Justin Bieber, Leonard Cohen, Steve Nash, Ryan Reynolds and William Shatner are all Canadian.

Canada boasts a 99% literacy rate. The average life expectancy at birth is 81.16 years – the sixth highest in the world and more than 83% of Canadians have internet access compared to the US at 78%.

Silverware is called cutlery. Sorry is a perfectly acceptable response and often our default one. The country has the longest coastline in the world and Canada represents the world's 11th largest GDP.

We have butter tarts, poutine, and ketchup chips but maple syrup is not our national beverage – Google if you must. Canadian Thomas Ahearn invented the electric cooking range in 1882.

Canada has the fourth lowest population density index in the world with just over 34 million people in the second largest country in the world by land mass at approximately 9.9 million square kilometers or 3.8 million square miles.

There have been 22 Nobel Prize laureates from Canada and it's in the top five producing countries of gold, copper, zinc, nickel, aluminum, and natural gas.

Soda is referred to as pop. Canadians James Till and Ernest McCulloch are credited with the discovery of the stem cell.

Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith. Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world. Canadians consume an average of 23.4 pounds of cheddar cheese each year.

Now you know.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.

canada