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Leading To A Preferred Future
Last month's edition of Footprints and Monuments illustrated a parallel between leadership in the face of disaster and the voyage of the Apollo 13. As you will remember, an explosion on board forced the crew to circle the moon without ever landing on their prized target. Obviously, they didn't have the preferred ending to their trip in space. But they did get home alive, and were very happy about that. This month's edition is a continuation of last month's. We will explore in detail what it means to have a committed team that refuses to lose, a team that constantly thinks outside the box, and a team that focuses on a preferred future. It will provide you with skills and ideas to help you develop your own preferred future. It will do this with another parallel - stockcar racing. Stockcar racing is one of my favorite sports, and has been most of my life. I have spent hours sitting on a hard bleacher watching 43 drivers race at speed exceeding 200mph, and doing it just inches from each other. It is a sport that has evolved from a bunch of moon-shiners showing off their "beefed up" cars to now a multi-million dollar industry full of high-tech computerized equipment. In the middle of all these high-powered engines, fast turns, and million-dollar paychecks are some basic principles to help you develop your preferred future. Below are five of those principles first explained in racing terminology and then made applicable to your life. Mental Preparation In a driver's mind, the race has to start before he ever arrives at the track. The driver and his team have to be mentally prepared to endure whatever it takes to win. That's the No. 1 priority, the No. 1 goal: Win! Losing is not an option! In order for you to win, or overcome your day's challenges, you must be mentally prepared. I have found that mental preparedness and success in my day comes from...
Sound Car Every racetrack is going to have its peculiarities and a different set of challenges to overcome, but the driver and crew must identify them beforehand and factor that information into the set-up of the car. Adjusting the car to each track is the single, greatest challenge, week-in and week-out, for every driver and team. Every piece of equipment on the car must be thoroughly checked. The engine has to be lovingly massaged by every member of the crew that works on it. By the time that green flag drops on Sunday afternoon, car, driver and team must be as one and as close to perfect as possible. The better we stick to our priorities the more successful we will be. If priorities are what keep us heading in the right direction, then our plans are the equipment that must be adjusted and analyzed with a fine-toothed comb. The old saying is true, "If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail." Track Position Track position is the key of keys when it comes to winning a race. The secret to establishing track position comes down to risk. While the crew chief can keep the driver posted on what his car can do, knowing when and where to do it is still left up to a driver's instincts. Trying to pass a car that's going the same speed is very difficult. You need the right combination of timing, knowledge of the track and risk. Track position in racing is just as important as being in the right position at the right time in life. It has been said, "It is not what you know, but who you know that counts." That may very well be true, but if you are not in the right place at the right time it does not matter. So the question is, "How can you be in the right place at the right time to capitalize on an opportunity?" The answer, at least for me, is to focus on preparing for the opportunity instead of always looking for the opportunity. I am of the opinion that if you prepare well enough the opportunities seek you out. Then, when you get an opportunity, go at it with a refuse to lose attitude. Pit Stops Making up time on the track, only to give it back in the pits, is one of the surest ways to stay out of Victory Lane. While most pit stops routinely take between 15 and 20 seconds, and might only occur four or five times a race, they can combine to total the most significant minute in a three-hour race. A pit stop in your life is R&R, rest and relaxation. Move of us live lives going Mach 3 with our hair on fire, and love every minute of it. However, pit stops are the key to life's success. Just like in racing, the pit stops in our lives are short and few in number. But they are extremely important. Also, as in racing, our pit stops must be intentional, planned out, and effective. The goal of each pit stop in our life should be to refuel our tanks, clean our view of life, and provide strength enough to over come life's challenges. Luck If luck is where preparation meets opportunity, then bad luck is where preparation meets circumstance. More times than not, cars involved in accidents really did nothing wrong. They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (circumstance). It is inevitable that a certain amount of bad luck will take place in every race. I don't know about you, but this sounds just like my life. I have found that bad things do happen to good people, and that good luck shines just as often. Many times it is our perspective and attitude towards things that makes all the difference. We find in the following scripture, taken from the book of James, that life is full of up and downs, but all can work for our benefit. James 1:2-5 - 2. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3. because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (NIV) Thanks for reading, and I hope that one or all of these keys will help you win life's race today and assist you in achieving your preferred future. Footprints and Monuments is a free monthly leadership and motivational e-newsletter. No names receiving this e-newsletter are sold or distributed to any other source. You are encouraged to forward this monthly article to anyone in your address book. To un-subscribe please reply back with "Un-subscribe" in the subject field. About The Author Jeff Earlywine - www.jeffearlywine.com
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RELATED ARTICLES
Leading To A Preferred Future Last month's edition of Footprints and Monuments illustrated a parallel between leadership in the face of disaster and the voyage of the Apollo 13. As you will remember, an explosion on board forced the crew to circle the moon without ever landing on their prized target. Obviously, they didn't have the preferred ending to their trip in space. But they did get home alive, and were very happy about that. Staying Informed Key For Your Team We exist in such a rapidly-changing environment. Technology is moving along so quickly it seems things change with the blink of an eye. So how do you anticipate changes that directly affect your team? Being informed is the key that can unlock the door. But, how do you stay informed and minimize information overload? Winning Teams on the Football Field and in the Office Teams, teams, teams. They're all the rage these days. Whether you love-em or loathe-em, you'll have to learn to live, not only with them, but within them. You career will depend on it. Here are five strategies for building a high-performance team. Conflict Is Cool Having experienced more than my fair share of conflict over the years, from street fighting to more sophisticated law cases, I have become an avid student of the subject of Conflict Resolution. My bookshelves are full of literature on the topic and the public library is thinking of charging me for overuse. Effective Team Building Part 1 - Another Brick in the Wall! The first in a series of articles giving a slightly different viewpoint on effective team building, condensed from an original seminar presented by the author, John Roberts. John is a Freelance Training Consultant and director of JayrConsulting Ltd. Part 1 deals with selecting and building the initial team. The ideas expressed are personal opinions built up from many years of experience in the Electronics/Aerospace industry, the Armed Forces, the Telecoms industry and the Training industry. There is no suggestion of this being a 100% solution applicable to or workable in all situations, but it is aimed at getting people to think outside of the norm and question the 'normal' way of doing things. Team Development in the Little Leagues A grassy field, two nets, a soccer ball and some playful youth is the ideal setting for a little league soccer game. You may have recalled yourself of a time when you observed these little league events. You enter a spacious field of green, housing numerous miniature soccer fields all lined up next to each other, and young athletes running after a ball. You may have been more overwhelmed by the abundance of children playing, rather than the actual soccer game itself. But what you can appreciate from this is the sight of children utilizing their endless energy and their parents and relatives rooting for them from the sidelines. Building Teams -You see it everywhere A college football team has it. A corporation has it. Even a growing family has it. These three organizations share a common desire to build their prospective teams. For example, a college football team continually needs to bring in new players to replace the graduating players. A corporation builds its team to help it grow and meet the needs of clients. Young, married couples who are having children are building their own family teams. Each of these results has a different outcome. In the end, the goal is to work together, help each other, and collectively reach a higher level of performance. Whatever team you are currently involved with, it is surprising at how much organization is needed to build a great team. Furthermore, the following teams have their own equally important approach as to how they successfully build their prospective teams. People Are The Heart Of Your Organization Do you let your people express their thoughts about the roles and responsibilities they have in your organisation? Don't just take it for granted that everything's fine because no one complains. Secrets of Successful Teams To be a success is not always to be a success individually. In fact, most of the time we achieve our successes as part of a team. That is why I want to devote this issue to the secrets of successful team. Joy and Laughter in the Workplace: Lessons From the Land of OZ Turbulent Twisters Cross-Cultural Communication: Grin and Jump In! Multiculturalism is a reality in North America and for those of us who do business globally. The US has more legal immigrants yearly than all the other countries in the world combined. Also there are vast cultural differences among "native" North Americans living in the US and Canada for several generations, as you know if you've done business with a New Yorker (better be quick!) or with a Texan (better stand at a 90degree angle to your male companion). 5 Reason Why Team Has A 4 Figure Income Trust: A Critical Factor to Your Teams Success True or false? Teams that practice good teamwork contribute to an organization's success. Intercultural Team Building Internal business structures have been radically transformed over the past few decades. Changes in areas such as communication and transportation technology and shifts towards global interdependency have resulted in companies becoming increasingly international and therefore intercultural. Effective Team Building For Organizational Success "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." -Andrew Carnegie You, Your Team, and Your Coach The grand purpose of coaching is to help your managers, the people they manage, and your organization make the transition from where you are to where you want to be. What Every Manager, Parent, and Teacher Should Know About How to Unify Employees, Families, & Youth Project Head Start has been successful not only for the youthful students, but for the teachers, supporting staff, and families as well. My first job while still in college was as a Teacher's Assistant during the summer of 1968. Years later I was a Mental Health Consultant with Head Start in the US Virgin Islands. Although a bit bias, I have nothing but respect for Project Head Start and their teachings. Team Building Part 2: Honesty is the Key! The second in a series of 2 articles giving a slightly different viewpoint on effective team building, condensed from an original seminar presented by the author, John Roberts. John is a Freelance Training Consultant and director of JayrConsulting Ltd. Part 1 ( Another Brick in the Wall ) dealt with selecting and building the initial team. Part 2 deals with the culture that need to be in place to run the team really effectively. The ideas expressed are personal opinions built up from many years of experience in the Electronics/Aerospace industry, the Armed Forces, the Telecoms industry and the Training industry. There is no suggestion of this being a 100% solution applicable to or workable in all situations, but it is aimed at getting people to think outside of the norm and question the 'normal' way of doing things. Hand Out Warm Glows Do you remember how you felt after your last interaction with another person either on the phone or face to face? That person - it could have been a customer, a colleague, a salesperson, a friend or even a member of your family. Did they make you feel good, uplifted and more positive, did they leave you feeling neutral or did they make you feel down and more negative. If You Can?t See It, They Won?t Do It Recently, while developing a customer service program, I asked my client to provide me with detailed descriptions of behaviors he wanted his team members to engage in. He called me back a short time later and told me that his department heads were having a difficult time with the assignment. They knew what the employees were doing wrong, but they couldn't put into words what excellent performance looked like.
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