Rick Baker Thought Posts
Left Menu Space Holder

About the author

Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

E-mail me Send mail
Follow me LinkedIn Twitter

Search

Calendar

<<  May 2012  >>
MoTuWeThFrSaSu
30123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031123
45678910

View posts in large calendar

Recent Comments

Comment RSS

Spirited Definitions

by Rick Baker
On Feb 21, 2012

Action: things people do, and there are only 3 types - Good Habits, Bad Habits, or New Things

Change: the arrival of New Things

Client: a person who receives value from you and pays you for that value

Commander's Intent: (1) the commander's stated vision which defines the purpose of an operation, the end state [Sanjay Mishra] and (2)the unmistakable core of the message [Chip Heath & Dan Heath]

Confidence: what you feel and think when you believe you have what it takes to excel, do well, or at least handle the task and situation at hand.

Conversion: the measurement that confirms the rate of success of an intentional Action [the cause] performed to accomplish a desired result [the effect]

Courage: self-inflicted mental and moral strength to act in the face of fear, difficulty, and criticism; the ‘Great Enabler

Creativity [in business]: using Intuition and imagination to deliver value to Clients

Definite Purpose: the business Leader’s Vision, implemented in accordance with the business Leader’s Personal Values/Master Rules & directed at satisfying Ideal Clients’ needs

Ego is the part of the Mind that causes us to do what feels good to us or looks good to others

Emotions: Paul Ekman’s 7 characteristics:

  1. Signals: Emotions are mental states, most of which exhibit consistent visible cues.
  2. Automatic Appraisal: Emotions occur automatically and very fast...1/4 second.
  3. Lack of Awareness: Consciousness plays little role if any...most emotions are opaque to consciousness and thought. Nature did not want us to be able to consciously control emotions. However, thoughts can re-trigger emotions.
  4. Not Unique to Humans: Other animals exhibit the same emotions as humans. There is no human emotion that cannot be seen in at least one other animal.
  5. Short Duration: Emotions can last for extremely short periods (seconds) or longer, but they never last longer than a day. (longer-lasting ‘states of mind’ are defined as moods)
  6. Conscious Awareness of Emotions is a Skill: using special exercises, it can be developed. We can become skilled at self-monitoring, being present, and self-regulating. We need to explore the motivation and intent behind our emotions. Knowledge and skill around motivation and intent will help us understand and control our emotions.
  7. Emotions can get us into trouble..."I lost my head". In fact, Ekman thinks emotions do present-day humans little, if any, good. Emotions, all of them, are vestiges of evolution.

Entrepreneur: 3 forces drive Entrepreneurs:

  1. Entrepreneurs have this burning feeling inside them…a Need To Achieve something. I describe it as "a wanting".
  2. Entrepreneurs have a desire to create and Build Things Of Value.
  3. Entrepreneurs have a need to Be Recognized As Different – a different type of contributor.
These are defining internal forces driving An Entrepreneur.
 
In addition, An Entrepreneur is a business leader who:
  1. Recognizes, uses, & develops People Strengths…first in self and then in others,
  2. Clicks with other People [has self-control & a pleasing-enough personality], and
  3. Is ready, willing, and able to lead change…first in self and then in others.

Essence: the singular attribute that makes a person, place or thing what it fundamentally is, which it has by necessity and without which it loses its identity.

Focus: to control one’s attention and thoughts then actions to align with goals [this definition developed with Lorie Saxby PhD]

Genius:  a person who possesses the ability to get beyond his/her emotions, regardless of his/her character, and the ability to remove/minimize mental noise, with the result the genius’ mind is free to fully concentrate under the guidance of a focused purpose.

Goal: a desired result: 

  • That is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bounded [SMART] and
  • That has considered the tangible and intangible Action, Conversion, Repercussion, and Emotion required for its attainment.

Habits: thoughts, feelings, and actions that are repeated

Habits [Bad]: do not contribute to our betterment and do not take us toward our Goals

Habits [Good]: contribute to our betterment and take us toward our Goals

Imagination: the source of creative power: creating images in the mind, picturing things in your mind's eye

Initiate: to commence thought or action aligned with goals [this definition developed with Lorie Saxby PhD]

Innovation [in Business]: arranging old concepts, ideas, or plans into new combinations to solve customers’ problems or satisfy customers’ needs

Inspire: to exert an animating, enlivening influence on; to encourage, impel & motivate; to excite and impart motion; to bolster Focused Action

Integrity:

  • When you know your Personal Values and
  • When you can express your Personal Values in writing [showing how you think the think] and
  • When you can talk with others about your Personal Values [talk the talk] and
  • When your Actions are consistent with your Personal Values [walk the walk] and
  • When you acknowledge your think-talk-walk errors and strive to not repeat them

…then you have Integrity.

Intuition: William Duggan’s 3 types

  1. Ordinary Intuition is a feeling, a gut instinct
  2. Expert Intuition is snap judgments, when you instantly recognize something familiar
  3. Strategic Intuition is not a vague feeling, like ordinary intuition. It is slow, clear thought which works in new Situations

Justice: giving and receiving of equal values [James Allen]

Knowledge: information and understanding related to interacting with people, or the details of your business and industry sector, or the details of your role

Leaders: People who possess deep & Vivid Vision and use it to help other People experience improved lives

Manipulation is when you get a person to do something for your good [Zig Ziglar]

Master Rules: 5 to 7 simple, clear, top-down rules that reflect the core values of the business leader

Mind: the personal Essence, which uses energy and information beyond that of the organs of thought and feeling

Monitor: to observe the thoughts and actions of self and others in responses to self [this definition developed with Lorie Saxby PhD]

Motivation is when you inspire a person to do something for their own good [Zig Ziglar]

Networking is meeting new people and re-meeting people in a business or social context with the purpose of delivering and receiving value [this definition developed with LinkedIn Friends]

New Things:  anything a person does that is not a Good Habit or a Bad Habit

Organize: to think about systematic, integrated actions required to achieve Goals [this definition developed with Lorie Saxby PhD]

Plan: to formulate, set, and commit to Goals [this definition developed with Lorie Saxby PhD]

Positive Attitude or Positive Mental Attitude means enjoying a predominance of positive Emotions and having a predominance of positive thoughts, which align with personal Goals...and it means having the ability to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

Process: an arrangement of circumstances that makes things happen in certain ways [based on edward de Bono's definition of 'System', which is a synonym of Process]

Regulate: to bring Integrity and order to the thoughts and actions of self [this definition developed with Lorie Saxby PhD]

Repercussion: the positive or negative result that follows an Action

Shift: to intentionally replace one thought or action with another [this definition developed with Lorie Saxby PhD]

Situations: a snapshot of an instant in business life…the people, the ‘props’, and the immediate environment

Skill: learned and practiced competence of thought or Action; a Good Habit

Strength: consistent near-perfect performance of an activity...with passion

Strength = Talent + Knowledge + Skill [Marcus Buckingham]

Talent: any recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behaviour that can be productively applied [Marcus Buckingham]

Thick Skin: a state of Mind containing an optimal balance between Ego [which is kept under control] and Confidence [which is kept high, but not too high]

Values & Personal Values:

  • the qualities, standards, and principles a person desires, admires, and aspires to
  • the driving forces, which influence a person’s thoughts and actions
  • the driving forces, which influence the character a person presents to other People

Vision: holding the Mind's-eye picture of the thing you desire, seeing beyond the things that are and conceiving and idealizing what can be, and communicating the desire you idealize to other People

Tags:

Definitions - Spirited Words Defined | Spirited Leaders

Inspire People - Grow Profits!

by Rick Baker
On Jan 25, 2012

Two Facts:

  1. When it comes to doing business, inspired People generate better results.
  2. Business Leaders can inspire their People.
Another even-more-important Fact:
  • You can expand your ability to inspire the People who follow your Leadership.
 This is an accurate statement, regardless of how well you inspired your People in the past.
 
The keys are:
  1. Accepting the fact People will need your injection of Inspiration: they need and want that from their Leader.
  2. Working at it: taking specific inspiration-actions designed to accomplish specific inspiration-results.
Wise folks have taught this throughout the ages.
 
Here is one example: about people who are struggling, in 1926, Robert Collier1 wrote:
 
"For men and women like them do not need "Charity" - nor even sympathy. What they do need is Inspiration - and Opportunity - the kind of Inspiration that makes a man go out and create his own Opportunity."
 
Everyone struggles from time to time.
 
The People who follow your Leadership will struggle from time to time.
 
So - from time to time, your People will need an injection of Inspiration.
 
As a Leader, you can assume or hope somebody else will deliver that injection of Inspiration. Or, you can embrace it as part of your role.
 
Spirited Leaders will choose to embrace it.
 
 
HOW?
 
There are many ways...1-Page Tools are really helpful.
 
***
 
Spirited Leader's Definition of INSPIRE2:
  • to exert an animating, enlivening influence on
  • to encourage, impel, & motivate...to excite and impart motion, to bolster focused Action
 
 
 
Footnotes:

Time for Learning!

by Rick Baker
On Dec 23, 2011

Do you spend enough time Learning?

Do you view learning as knowledge sharing?

Do you view learning as knowledge creation?

According to experts1, learning is essential to Leadership.

Leaders with Good Judgment Are Committed Learners

  • They constantly evaluate their own performance.
  • They seek knowledge and build on experience.
Knowledge Creation for All Constituencies Is an Explicitly Stated Goal
  • Operating mechanisms support teaching and learning.
  • Judgment capacity is a key leadership development target.
Customers, Stakeholders, the Larger Community Are Tapped for Input
  • Everyone teaches. Everyone learns.
  • Front-line employees are the new knowledge workers.
That's how Tichy and Bennis introduce the importance of learning in the business sector.
 
Learning is one of Spirited Leaders' Values....part of our corporate culture.
 
We approach Learning this way:
  1. Learning must be embraced naturally...curiosity is the best starting point.
  2. Learning must be life-long...the fun of it must not diminish with age.
  3. The majority of learning must be aimed at understanding and communicating with People.
  4. For your work, focus much of your learning time on specialized knowledge.
  5. For your work, concentrate specialized knowledge around your talent themes.
  6. For your work, use specialized knowledge to hone your skills.
  7. For your work, learn cutting-edge theory...and learn even more about practical things.
  8. For your work, learn how to tap into your creativity.
 
 
Footnote:
  1. 'Judgment - How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls', Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis (2007)
 
 
 

Tags:

Definitions - Spirited Words Defined | Spirited Leaders | Values: Personal Values

Character & Courage

by Rick Baker
On Dec 22, 2011

An excerpt1, about Character & Courage:

 

To Sustain Good Judgment, a Leader Must Have Character and Courage

  • Character provides the moral compass.
  • Courage produces the results.
People With Character Have Clear Standards
  • They take responsibility and hold themselves accountable.
  • They value self-respect over public esteem.
Maintaining Standards in the Face of Obstacles Requires Courage
  • Character without courage is meaningless.
  • Courage without character is dangerous.

 

Spirited Leaders values Courage. I mean Courage is our highest-ranked personal/corporate Value. The above excerpt...well, we could not say it better ourselves...so we embrace and 'relay' the wisdom of Tichy and Bennis.

 

Footnote:

1. An excerpt from 'JUDGMENT - How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls', Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis, 2007

Tags:

Definitions - Spirited Words Defined | Spirited Leaders | Values: Personal Values

Having Values, Delivering Value, & Recruiting Great People

by Rick Baker
On Dec 6, 2011

Everyone knows personal values influence people's behaviour.

Most people know the interplay between people's personal values create culture, including the culture at their business place.

Some people understand and agree personal Values lead to business Culture, which must be Communicated well. When that's done it leads to the generation of Value: Value for the business [profit] and Value for its people, its Clients, suppliers, shareholders, etc. At Spirited Leaders, we call this concept VCCV. If you desire business success then the best starting-point, the strongest driver, is Personal Values.

Values-Culture-Communication-Value.

We speak about the many ways VCCV adds potency to business. 

Consider, for example, the function of Recruiting Great People.

In a 2011 Canadian Corporate Culture study, 85% of respondents indicted that cultural fit is more important than necessary skills when hiring1

When you are hiring a person to join your business you must work to understand whether or not they will 'fit in' your business Culture.

That means at least 3 things:

  1. You must understand our business Culture and the details of its embedded Values and your rules [our Master Rules],
  2. You must understand the employee-candidate's personal Values, and 
  3. You must determine whether or not the employee-candidate is compatible with our business Culture.
And, if you are not in a position to complete the first step then you do not know your business Culture.
 
If that's the case then that's the first thing to remedy.
 
If you are the Leader at your business then you must remedy that immediately.
 
Here is a link to get you started Leaders Personal Values Fuel Everything
 

Footnotes:
  1. Waterstone Human Capital, "2011 Canadian Corporate Culture Study"

 

 

Tags:

Master Rules | Spirited Leaders | Values: Personal Values

The Master Rules - Part 2

by Rick Baker
On Dec 2, 2011

Part 1 of The Master Rules can be summed up just the way my 2nd boss taught it to me: He who carries the gold makes the rules.

Part 2 of The Master Rules is about the importance of setting over-riding rules to help people understand:

  1. HOW things are to be done and
  2. HOW & WHAT the Right Things means when it is used in that admonition `Do the Right Things` and other admonitions like `Managing is about doing things right - Leadership is about doing the Right Things`.
The Master Rules are simple, clear, top-down Rules.
 
The Master Rules reflect the core values of the business leader. 
 
Every successful business has a culture, wrapped around high-quality core Values.
 
At successful businesses, those core Values act like an internal compass, which helps keep People comfortable. That comfort derives from the fact People feel - not just think, People feel - comfortable about their Actions and about their Situations.
 
When People feel comfortable and guided their action is offered with more enthusiasm and their performance is more productive. And, business is more successful.
 
The purpose of The Master Rules is to provide the guidance which sets the stage for People comfort and People Action.
 
 
Here is one example, close to our own hearts.
 
One of Spirited Leaders` Values is Labours of Enjoyment & Enthusiasm. At Spirited Leaders, we want our People to at least enjoy their work. We know People who enjoy their work perform more and better Actions. We also know enjoyment precedes enthusiasm. When People enjoy Actions they are much more likely to be enthusiastic about repeating those Actions. We also know the feeling of enjoyment is closely linked to personal strengths: when personal strengths are engaged People feel good.
 
One of Spirited Leaders` Master Rules is Embrace Strengths! When People know one another`s personal  strengths and then work in harmony to put those different personal strengths to best use the likelihood of Labours of Enjoyment & Enthusiasm increases. That is one example of how our Master Rules mesh with our Values
 
 
Footnote:
 
At a prior Thought Post we explained Commander`s Intent underpinning Goals. The Master Rules are conceptually similar to Commander`s Intent...that`s a topic for another day.
 
 
 

Recent Posts


490 Dutton Drive - Suite C6 - Waterloo ON N2L 6H7 - phone 519-886-6522 - fax 519-886-8795
Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.