You greet people everyday. You say “hi” in all sorts of ways.
In this edition of Got A Minute? I offer one strategy that can dramatically change the tone of your conversations – and it starts with your greeting.
Go ahead and hit play. It’s only a minute long. I bet you’ve got that much time to improve your influence.
Got A Minute? #2 – Compliment Before The Question
Got A Minute #2 from tim milburn on Vimeo.
We’re busy people. I get that. So I have one question for you…
Got a minute?
Most people do. Even if they don’t, they’ll often say, “I’ll get to it in a minute.” Everyone has a minute.
With that in mind, I want to introduce a new video series I will be producing and posting on this site called: Got a minute?
This one-minute video will offer a simple principle with a practical action step. I am going to give you tips and tools to increase your influence. This will help you to be a better leader.
Here is Got A Minute? #1. It’s called “Written Is Remembered”
One of the questions I get asked is: What do student leaders have to do to be considered a “student leader?”
Great question. I actually wrote a short ebook (pdf) on the subject: STUDENT LEADER – 35 Ways To Put The Leader In Student Leader.
Here are three of the ideas in the ebook.
Which is better: to accomplish eight things that people would consider a “3″ on a scale of 1-10; or accomplish three things that people would consider an “8″? People are impressed by excellence. Mediocrity is so average that others don’t even recognize it. A great illustration of this is juggling. I can juggle three balls pretty well. People watch me juggle three balls and they think, “Wow, he’s a good juggler.” But the moment you throw that fourth ball into the mix, there are balls all over the floor. Over and over, I drop the balls. When people see this they think, “Man…we need to find ourselves a new juggler.” It’s your call. You can say “yes” to a lot of things or just a few things. But the more you carry, the more you dilute your chances of being excellent.
When you, as a student leader, agree to a deadline, you are making a promise. When you miss your deadline, you aren’t keeping your promise. Deadlines are typically necessary because other people are relying on the work you are doing. Deadlines are expectations that work will be done. If you want to impress people, get your work done before a stated deadline. The time to negotiate a deadline is when you’re creating or accepting it. Try this: Push a deadline out a bit further and then turn your stuff in early. People will think you’re amazing, organized, disciplined, dependable, and a valued member of the team.
For most people, the ability to predict the future with 100% accuracy is only a wish that will never come true. Life has a way of happening. Circumstances mess up the best strategies and plans. When you find yourself with an unforeseen obstacle, let somebody know. If you’re going to be a little late – tell someone. If you’ve got a problem, be honest about it. When your list of “If’s” starts growing…make sure you’re communicating. The worst thing that a student leader can do is to withdraw, thinking that she can handle everything on her own. When people are kept in the loop, then they’re not surprised. People like surprises for birthdays and holidays. But they don’t like surprises when all of a sudden you’ve blindsided them with your inability to meet expectations or commitments. The rule of thumb is: as soon as you know let someone else know.
Want to read the other 32 ideas? Download the ebook with my compliments.
In just a few short weeks, we will begin the process of selecting and electing new student leaders. We have a variety of ways for students to get involved on our campus. But there are some students who want to do a little more. They don’t want to simply be involved, they want to be influential. They are already thinking about stepping in and stepping up for one of our student leadership positions.
I always have my eye out for potential leaders. The process is more of an art form than a science. I want to be able to identify those students who appear to rise to the top and exhibit some natural leadership abilities at the start. Potential is often hard to spot if you don’t know what you’re looking for. For some, it might be helpful to know what you’re NOT looking for. This might be as important as knowing what you ARE looking for.
Here are seven types of student leaders I try to avoid. Continue Reading…
It may feel like a loss is based on one play. But it isn’t.
It may seem like the pain of losing will never fade. But it will.
It may look like you can’t bounce back. But you can.
Just came across this recording of Ray Lewis, middle linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens and easily a Hall of Famer, speaking to his teammates after their loss to the New England Patriots this past Sunday. The Patriots go to the Super Bowl. The Ravens go home. The Ravens lost by three points. What makes it even harder to swallow is that they looked like the better team throughout the game. Listen in.
It’s easy to lead a winning team. Everyone likes to be on a winning team. But losing exposes who you really are. When a team loses, you get to see what kind of leader a person really is.
The truth is, crisis can build character. But it also exposes it. I love what I saw out of Ray Lewis. Respect for that guy continues to grow.
UPDATE: Got a link to the Ray Lewis speech unedited.
Somewhere…someplace…someone is stepping down from a leadership position.
It’s not because they didn’t do their job right. It’s not because they went over budget. It’s not even because the majority of people no longer followed their leadership anymore. It’s something else.
There is a growing percentage of leaders who have to step away from leading others because they failed to lead themselves well first. They had all of the right capabilities but they lacked the character to sustain their leadership.
The truth is, you can be a leader with poor character…just not for very long.
In our quest to find authentic leaders, we want to follow someone who is the person they claim to be (both in public and in private). We not only want a leader with good character, we want someone with consistently good character. Continue Reading…
Have you ever found a story that is so good that you created a blog post – simply to share the story?
I have. This is it.
The focus of this story (which I believe is true) deals with change. While most paradigm shifts within history used to take thousands of years (bronze age, silver age, iron age, etc), now they take place in less than a decade. The truth is: change is coming no matter how hard you fight against it.
Here’s the story: Continue Reading…
Put on your chemist hat because I’d like to introduce you to RHODIUM.
Rhodium is a rare, hard, silvery-white, lustrous metal . It is highly reflective and extremely resistant to corrosion. It is not attacked by most acids. Rhodium appears on the periodic table with the atomic number 45 (don’t you just feel smarter knowing that?!).
One of the most important leadership lessons I’m learning and teaching right now is influenced by this precious metal. You might not be familiar with Rhodium unless you’ve recently purchased some jewelry made of white gold. Rhodium is used to both protect and add brilliance to white gold. Rhodium-coated white gold is better protected from scratches, tarnish, and makes it look more white and bright.
Basically, Rhodium enhances other elements.
Now I know you’ve heard of the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) and perhaps you’ve heard of the Platinum Rule (do unto others as they would have done unto them). I would like to offer The Rhodium Rule…
The Rhodium Rule focuses on leading yourself in such a way that it enhances the lives of others. Continue Reading…
