Posts in Meandering Genius

Faith and Start Ups

Business Consulting Life Meandering Genius Organizational Commitment Strategic Planning Take A Leap Wednesday

Faith is a huge factor in your success of your new startup. You must believe in what you’re doing and that you will be successful.

Three years ago, my wife and I bought a run down horse farm in Bulverde TX. Our vision was, and still is, to create a “premier equestrian destination.” Officially, we had our Open House two years ago and we’re still running Fine Print Farms today.

I remember back about a year and a half ago, I was over at Cowboy Church, next door. The pastor was talking about “being called by God to do something in life.” The lady sitting next to me asked me, “What did God look like, when he asked you to buy that broke down farm next door?” My response, “Suprisingly like my wife!”

Trust me…we’ve had some significant rough patches and we will have more. Our faith of our vision has often been tested. Our faith will continue to be tested!

In any and all startups, you need three things:

🔭 A VISION of what your business will look like in the log term.

🔒 A BELIEF that the vision will come true.

🕯 And FAITH in your belief of that vision.

You will be tested…and it will be hard. Everytime you’re tested, close your eyes, picture your vision, and believe. Have faith in what you believe!!!

Who Am I — Success Incubator

Business Consulting Change Management Leadership Life Meandering Genius Organizational Commitment Process Improvement Promotion Tuesday Strategic Planning

Your success is my success…I’m a success incubator!

In the early 90s (Air Force cop), I got involved in quality. In 1998, I retrained as a fulltime internal coach and consultant. I was always the problem solver, so I moved from job-to-job every couple of years.

When I retired from the Air Force, I really wanted to help people–the business person. I created my own consulting business, Crosscutter Enterprises. Crosscutting is a jeweler’s way to bring out the brilliance of a diamond–I crosscut your business.

A month later, Booz Allen Hamilton (top 10 consulting firm) called me about a job they hadn’t posted and I hadn’t applied for. My interview was more of when can you start. Over three years, Booz changed and I left to work again with business people who need my help.

A month later, USAA called offering a contract. A month later, the exec I worked with told me he was going to hire me at the end of my contract–he did. For seven years I led four strategic engagements.

Today, I’m back…looking to work with you–businesses that need an expert to help them grow and solve problems.

Let me be your success incubator!

Time to feed your brain!

Life Meandering Genius Motivational Monday Music Nature Tips

Happy Monday!

There are four positive chemicals that improve your mood and health. They are Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, and Endorphins. Here are eight simple daily habits to feed your brain — start them today!!!

🥛 Switch out one caffeine drink a day with a glass or bottle of water.

🚶‍♂️ Park far away from entrances and walk into work or the store.

🕤 Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than you currently do and get a little more sleep.

🎶 Listen to music at least once every day.

💨 Take five minutes every day to do deep breathing — clear the mind, slowly inhale, hold it, slowly exhale … repeat.

🤗 Hug someone once a day…a partner, a family member, a friend, even (possibly) a stranger. Just hug at least one person every day.

🐴 Pet an animal once a day. Personally, we have horses, donkeys, dogs, and cats, so I have no problem with this. But try to pet an animal once a day.

🤣 Read something that makes you smile or laugh every day…consider getting a joke-a-day app or something.

Do these very simple things every day and your mood and health will improve. No need for drugs or expensive programs. Just take little steps to feed your brain!

Positive Thinking

Life Meandering Genius Stuff Success Sunday

I don’t know how many of you have ever played golf. I personally love the sport.

It’s just you and the course.

It’s also the kind of activity that will really mess with your head if you let it. Golf is all about positive thinking.

In golf, like everything in life, it is important to visualize your success. Good golfers have a routine that includes standing behind the ball. The really good golfers aren’t just lining up their shot; they’re visualizing their shot. They’re picturing, in their mind, the ball’s flight through the air, where it will land, and the course it will take prior to coming to rest.

This is positive thinking at work. The positive thinking book, The Secret, is based on the belief of the law of attraction, which says that thoughts can change a person’s life directly. If you learn to harness the power of positive thoughts, you’ll attract more positive circumstances.

Misery Loves Company – Like Attracts Like

We spend too little time appreciating our joy and the joy of others. We tend to believe that thinking positively and being happy is not a habit. You need to rewire your brain with the power of positive thinking. Gratitude makes us happier. It floods our brains with dopamine, the chemical that has the potential to drown out our negative thoughts and anxious feelings we carry throughout the day. Gratitude invokes the law of attraction.

Throughout this week, I encourage you to take the opportunity to show your gratitude to others at least once a day. Practice your own positive thinking and visualize your week of encouraging the success of others every day. Whether it’s your family, friends, or co-workers, make an effort to recognize them for what they do.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Business Consulting Meandering Genius Start-up Saturday Strategic Planning Tips

Recently, I was talking to a Branding Coach at a networking mixer. She said, her most difficult challenge in working with new business clients is that they don’t even know what business they want to be in.

Many people dream of starting their own business … striking out on their own as an entrepreneur. However, they don’t really know what they want to be when they grow up.

There are so many challenging questions that start-ups face, but this one is daunting.

Here are a few ideas … I would love to hear yours:

▶️ Take what you do today, and turn it into your own business. You know you’re already good at it. You can create a side-hustle or create your own company.

▶️ Turn a hobby into a job. I love golf, and about 15 years ago, I came up with a pretty neat business model around the sport.

▶️ Buy into an existing business. There are many franchise opportunities that exist. Also, businesses are always being sold by others for various reasons. If you don’t know what you want, take a look at what already works that you can buy.

Consider four things when starting out on your own. 1. You love what you do. 2. You are good at it. 3. People need it. 4. People will pay for it. At the center of these four, is PURPOSE.

Stop Dumbing Down Your Work!

Business Consulting In Your Face Friday Leadership Meandering Genius

I’m not sure who started teaching leaders that “less is more.” I have watched the move away from presenting and providing detailed information about an issue, project, effort, etc. Today, we’re sharing so little detail on the item that leaders don’t have enough information to make sound decisions.

This is a terrible trend! This is creating a culture of employees only doing enough work to provide three bullet points on a single slide–the result of an organization becoming “PowerPoint Deep.”

Leaders think they’re too busy to need all the data and information to make a decision. The higher you go, the less detail. I’ve attended training classes on executive level presentation. We expect people to be brief and concise in their message to the point of obliterating the facts.

Stop!

Leaders — get out of their glass tower, walk around, and really understand what’s going on. You need to see the data and research. You need to understand the problem. Otherwise, the culture you’re setting is that no one that works for you understands the work. Why would they go to the trouble of researching a subject, collecting data, and analyzing the findings if the you aren’t going to look at it?

What is your culture like at work?

Business Consulting Leadership Meandering Genius Organizational Commitment Strategic Planning Thoughtful Thursday

Gallup reported, in August, employee engagement at its highest in nearly 20 years: 34% of U.S. workers engaged. That still leaves 66% disengaged. What is your culture like at work? Do the words like: positive, motivating, challenging, exciting, energetic, and rewarding describe your office? Or would you describe it more like: toxic, controlling, complacent, corrupt, backstabbing, and unhealthy?

Where does culture come from? Leader and employee behaviors create cultures over time. Statements like, “That’s the way we do it here,” reflect an accepted culture. Artifacts on the walls often represent a culture at work.

Good cultures are measured and cultivated. They begin with assessment of the values being represented every day in the office. Then the desired culture is codified in values for the organization with a description of the expected behaviors. These behaviors are actively monitored and measured. Leaders hold everyone accountable.

An example is when the US Air Force created their values of integrity, service, and excellence. Then they documented them in their Little Blue Book.

How does your organization define its culture? Have they documented their expectations? Do they live by them?

Take A Leap Hump Day

Business Consulting Meandering Genius Process Improvement Strategic Planning Take A Leap Wednesday Think Big

Happy Hump Day!

Voltaire said, “Great is the enemy of good.” While Cardone said, “‘Thinking big’ simply isn’t enough.” Which statement do you believe?

What is your passion? Are you living it? Are you aiming low and hoping to hit the mark? Are you accepting the status quo…the, “We’ve always done it that way,” or “That’ll never work?”

Taking a leap doesn’t mean completely throwing out the old for something totally new and scary! You can take the leap, just by doing one thing a week that scares you. It might be enrolling in a new college class, taking a different route to work, parking in a different location, or even eating at a new restaurant.

Taking a leap is a way to hijack your sedentary brain and shock it into awareness. Wednesdays are perfect days for taking little leaps. Simply start doing one thing different that improves your work or life.

What’s your one thing this week?

Innovation

Why Stop Now?

Books Meandering Genius Publishing

J. K. Rowling, the famous author who wrote the Harry Potter series states that she won’t write about Harry anymore.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bustle.com/p/jk-rowling-explains-why-there-wont-be-any-more-stories-about-harry-potter-8900613/amp

Being an author (Not of get stature), I question this. Ok, maybe Harry’s story has been told and there’s really nothing to add. However, what of the rest of the world and characters surrounding Harry Potter and Hogwarts?

In an immersive realm like Harry Potter, the opportunities are endless to expand on facets that no one ever considered. What about the Flight of Vox — this self destructing Phoenix that was owned by the Headmaster of Hogwarts is bound to have a series of interesting tales as he went through life bursting into flames and rising from the ashes.

I’m sure that there are some pretty interesting stories around the world outside of Hogwarts that Nomag’s have never seen. In Fantastic Beasts and in the Harry Potter series, we learn of other schools, which obviously have other stories.

Ok, J. K. (love the initials by the way), let Harry rest and retire. But, don’t stop now. In your mind is a world many have only glimpsed at. Bring it more to life and who knows what will happen?

Volunteerism

Creating the customer condition

Leadership Meandering Genius

Last week I encountered a very interesting customer situation. It was early morning and I was getting some breakfast at a cafeteria-style place at work. The short order cook clearly was not in a good mood. He was making orders and serving them up with a “I could care less” attitude. I watched him for a few minutes until I requested my items. He simply asked, “What can I get you?”

I placed my order and took my breakfast items. It was a simple encounter and I honestly didn’t think anything of it at that moment.

I got my coffee (self serve) and went to the register to pay. Here, the lady working the register was energetic, excited, and pleasant. She was very excited that it was a Friday.

I smiled and greeted her, paid my bill, and wished her a great weekend.

As I sat and ate my breakfast, I started to reflect on what just happened. In a matter of just a few minutes, two customer service workers drove in me a condition of response. Their attitude toward their work, affected my attitude toward them.

I never addressed the cook politely or said please and thank you. Yet, I was super polite to the lady on the cash register. In both situations, they created my customer condition.

If you ever wonder about the experience your employees create for customers, this was a perfect example. It took me several minutes of reflection to actually notice what had happened to me in this encounter. Imagine my day, if the cook had been the last person in the process and I went to work then versus after the lady at the cash register.

Through their actions and attitude, your employees create a customer condition. Something to think about.