Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category

Are your decisions based on your present or your future?

Posted: September 23, 2013 in Finances, Leadership, Success
Tags: , , , , , , ,
2

I had a chance to hear Claude Hamilton talk in Kitchener yesterday, and part of what he said was so profound that I have to share my interpretation of it. Understanding the concept I’m about to share can drastically change your life.

There are three time frames to consider: your past, the present, and your future.

The first thing to consider is where you are in life right now. How much money do you have, or how much debt are you in? How much of your time do you own, and how much is owned by others? To explain that last part, take my situation for example; I’ve sold 40 hours a week of my time to my employer (if you don’t count lunch breaks and travelling) for a certain amount of money – this means he owns that time and not me. How many friends do you have, and how good of a friend are they? How fit are you health-wise?

The answers  to those questions is simply the way things are right now in the present. You can’t change the present. Everyone is where they are in life because of what they did in the past. You can’t change anything in your past to make anything different today.

Since you are where you are because of past decisions, you need to start making decisions with a different level of thinking if you hope to change anything. If you are worse off today than you were in the past, then to not change your thinking means your life will actually get harder. (more…)

The 5 Laws of Decline – (#3) Gresham’s Law

Posted: September 2, 2013 in Economics, Freedom, Leadership
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

GreshamWe have been discussing the 5 laws of decline detailed by Orrin Woodward at the end of his book ‘Resolved‘, and in his and Oliver DeMille’s book ‘Leadershift‘.

In our look at Bastiat’s Law, we saw how people do the least amount of work possible to get what they want, which includes nothing and theft. Add to that Sturgeon’s Law, and we know at most 10% of the people in charge will stand up to that law and do what is right, even if the easier way is available.

That leaves at least 90% of politicians and leaders to fully embrace Bastiat’s Law.

It would not be surprising if you were convinced that the numbers are even worse than that. With the 3rd law of decline, I would be on youre side in that argument since it brings out the worst in a company; and in a country’s leaders as well. It is also always in action when you have Bastiat’s Law showing it’s teeth; in fact it feeds Bastiat’s Law, making Surgeon’s Law even a smaller percentage.

Gresham’s Law

Orrin Woodward takes his 3rd law of decline from Thomas Gresham‘s view on what happens to money. In the book ‘LeaderShift’, he describes it like this:

Thomas Gresham, an English financier, first elaborated Gresham’s Law as it pertains to money. He taught that when a government uses force to support one kind of currency over another, the bad money drives out the good.

But Gresham’s Law applies to more than just money. In short, when a bad behavior is rewarded, more of the bad behavior will be done, and that in turn will drive out the good behaviors.

In the leadership field, this is displayed when bad behavior is rewarded. For example, if someone can sit at their desk all day watching movies and get paid, this will cause others to choose this simpler method of making money (plunder).

Rewarding bad behaviors either converts others to plunder or drives them out of the company as they seek a firm that rewards people based upon productivity, not plunder.

Gresham’s Law: When bad behavior is rewarded, more of the bad behavior will be done, and in turn will drive out the good behavior. (more…)

The 5 Laws of Decline – (#1) Sturgeon’s law

Posted: August 9, 2013 in Economics, Freedom, Leadership
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
1

Theodore SturgeonIn ‘Resolved: 13 Resolutions for Life‘, Orrin Woodward first introduced us to his five laws of decline; showing how if we are not aware of them, our life, our organisation, and our country, will suffer the consequences.

In ‘Leadershift: A Call for Americans to Finally Stand Up and Lead‘, Orrin and Oliver DeMille go through these laws more in relation to a country. Although these laws apply to everything, and all business leaders should be aware of them for their companies sake, it’s in relation to our nation they really hit home. You may not mind if a company goes under because of these laws, but you will certainly mind if the country does.

As not everyone will go out and get those books, we will go through some of the key concepts; let’s ensure as many people becomes aware of them as we can.

For some of these laws, left on their own, things might not be too bad, even if it’s still a problem. The real issues come when all of these laws are left unchecked; which is often the case since one usually leads to another.

Today we will take a look at the first law of decline.

Sturgeon’s Law

Theodore Sturgeon was a science fiction writer who defended his genre when it was being criticized for being full of crud; that it didn’t keep up with the times and new technology. Sturgeon’s reply was to point out that 90 percent of it was indeed crud… just as it is in everything.

That is Sturgeon’s law: 90% of everything is crud. (more…)

Make it your reason; not your excuse

Posted: July 14, 2013 in Leadership
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
2

It’s been a long time since I posted anything, and you can blame that partly on not being able to sit down in front of my computer and partly on my lack of leadership over the last few months.

Maybe a little bit of history is needed to explain what I mean.

Back in February I had an operation to remove a Pilonidal cyst, which threw things out of whack for me. In the beginning all was good. There was a business meeting the night of my operation, and since I was out of the hospital, I went to it, even though I was told there was risk of feinting if I stood up for a long period of time after the operation (I couldn’t sit). Everything was ok though, and I was fired up as it was Joce Dionne giving a presentation.

Things went downhill after that. I was getting infections in the wound for the next 3 months, and it wasn’t healing. This is probably due to the fact that I never took any time off of work since they don’t pay me if I don’t go; I had no sick days left due to being in the hospital for crohn’s disease last fall. (more…)

A LeaderShift: What we need in our country today

Posted: April 30, 2013 in Economics, Freedom, Leadership
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

LeaderShiftIt’s time for power to go back to where it belongs; to the people. With politicians and the business elite making all our decisions for us, we are losing our freedoms each and every day, and our standard of living goes down with that loss.

LeaderShift, by Orrin Woodward & Oliver Demille, is a call for people to stand up and become who they need to be in order to take back our freedoms and prevent it from being lost again. It in no way supports Republicans, nor does it support Democrats; it supports the American people (and Canadian if you read it from my perspective).

It is written in the form of a business parable about the United States, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this is just for Americans. There are a number of proposals put forth in the book that could drastically change the way we run our society, and the principles behind them can be applied to any country.

It all starts with the Five Laws of Decline; If these laws are not addressed in the frame-work of a company or a nation, they will become its undoing. Leadershift will go through the details of how they apply to a nation, but the reasoning will become obvious as you go through them.

1. Sturgeons Law – 90% of everything is Crud (this includes workers, leaders, politicians…) This means that 90% of the people running for office (and being elected) can’t be counted on to do the right thing. Thankfully the other side to this law is that 10% of the people out there are good leaders. We just need to allow them to come forth.

2. Bastiats Law – People will do the least amount of work possible to satisfy their wants. This means that if someone can get what they want without doing anything or by getting someone else to do it for them, they will.

3. Gresham’s Law – When bad behavior is rewarded, more will occur; The good ones will be driven away. Through this law, If you need to be corrupt to get ahead in an organization (or country) those that aren’t corrupt will not even enter the field; if they are already involved, they will likely leave. They do not want to be bad people, and will not be part of something where they feel they will need to do something wrong. At the same time, Those that don’t mind doing something wrong will be much more likely to do so since they will be rewarded for it. (more…)

Being Awesome

Posted: April 12, 2013 in Fun, Leadership
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
3

thumbs upI was approached by a gentleman at work yesterday, and was told I had to stop telling people I’m awesome. At first I was a little taken aback; thinking here is one of those guys who is always negative and can’t stand other people being in a good mood.

In any good book on leadership or personal development, it will go through the importance of having a good attitude, and how important it is to respond with something extraordinary when asked ‘how are you’ or ‘how’s it going’. It will also point out how some people will not be completely receptive to this, and we should not let it bring us down.

So now when someone tries to put down my awesomeness, I have a lot of fun!

I was told that I have to change what I say, because when someone refers to the word awesome, my name always comes up. He tried to you use this as a negative about me, but how would you like to have your name tied to the word ‘awesome’? I thought that was awesome!

He then explained to me how I was misusing the word and that I couldn’t be awesome. I told him if he preferred, I could start being amazing, great, super, fantastic or even phenomenal with him, but I wanted to know what was wrong with being awesome. (more…)

The Slight Edge Principle

Posted: April 4, 2013 in Finances, Leadership, Success
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
5

The Slight Edge by Jeff OlsonSuccess in anything is easy. It’s doing small and simple things continuously over time. The problem: these simple things are easy not to do.

I just finished reading ‘The Slight Edge’ by Jeff Olson, which I now consider to be one of my top 10 favorite books. The main point of the book: Success is easy; but so is failure. What is great is that we have the freedom to choose which path to take.

As we’ve gone through many times before, true success requires personal and professional development. Be careful here though; reading one book like ‘The Magic of Thinking Big’ or attending a leadership seminar is not enough. If it were, you would see many more successful people in the world due to how many leadership books get sold and how many people are attending leadership seminars.

Success requires reading good books on success, and listening to good information. It also requires the slight edge principle that Jeff Olson tells us about.

The slight edge is about doing simple things consistently over time. (more…)

Why We Need a LeaderShift

Posted: March 22, 2013 in Economics, Freedom, Leadership
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
3

I just finished reading two articles by Orrin Woodward, on the subject of his and Oliver Demille’s soon to be released LeaderShift book, and I just have to share them. The first is an introduction to a book Orrin is currently writing, going through the history of past civilizations and pointing out what can be learned and applied from them. The second is more about what the LeaderShift book itself is going to accomplish.

Enjoy the articles below the awesome trailer for the book!

Why America & Western Society Needs a LeaderShift

The following is a portion of the introduction from a book I am working on about Western Society. LeaderShift is less than a month away from release and Oliver DeMille and I are pumped about it. However, there is much more to share on this important subject than can be contained in one book. The Quest for Concord is as old as Western Societies existence and has been attempted in every society since the Greeks. The LIFE Business intends to educate people on their history so we can ensure we protect the freedoms we enjoy for our posterity. Today’s reading is not light, but I promise if you take the time to read and comprehend, it will help you understand the pressing issues going on in today’s society. (more…)

Lean Six-Sigma Green Belt Achieved – Use It In You’re LIFE!

Posted: March 18, 2013 in Leadership, Success
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

green belt certificateI’ve finally given my presentation on my Lean Six-Sigma Green Belt project, and it was a huge success. I can now be proud to say that I’ve got my Green Belt. The only sad thing is that it’s just a term, and I only get a certificate; no belt for me 🙂

For those of you not familiar with the term, Six-Sigma is a set of tools used to improve processes. It’s about implementing Kaizen after Kaizen to make things better.

Kaizen is Japanese for continuous improvement. It’s about continually doing small improvements that over time compound, bringing a company or a process from good to great.

What I loved most about it, is how it compares to what LIFE teaches about life.

Consider this: Six Sigma projects follow a project methodology inspired by William Edwards Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle.

There are 5 phases to this: (more…)

New TOP 100 List and Paying it Forward

Posted: March 15, 2013 in Fun, Leadership, Success
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

I finally did it! I put my top 100 list in order!

I also removed a couple things, and replaced it with things that mattered more to me. The main change I made was due to watching the film ‘Pay it Forward’ again a few months ago. It got me thinking how awesome it would be to do stuff like that for random people.

I’m going to give them something they really need, or do something for them that will get them through a bad situation. The stipulation I put on myself for this, is that the value will have to be around $10000 or more.

Imagine what it would be like to find someone who needs a very important surgery but can’t afford it. Maybe I can help someone who was in a car accident and who got screwed over by the insurance company’s small print. Maybe it will be someone who got stuck in another country, and has no way to get back to their family.

I don’t know what it will end up being, but I’m going to apply the slight edge principle to my life, using the LIFE Business, to be ready when the time comes. My post on what the slight edge is all about is forthcoming in the next few days. Stay tuned… It’s AWESOME!

And yes… I will ask them to pay it forward when they have the opportunity 🙂

Older Entries
Newer Entries