The tide will return by Alen Cohen

A coaching client told me about a friend of hers who was freaking out because “the economy is never going to recover.”I suggested to her that her friend was suffering not from economic distress, but simple nearsightedness. Of course the economy is going to recover. Thinking that the economy will never return would be like standing on an ocean shore watching a wave break on the beach and anxiously exclaiming, “There will never be another wave!”There is always another wave, and the tide always comes back in. Everything in the manifest universe functions in cycles. It’s all about frequency and vibration, crests and troughs. Economics is no exception. The economy goes up and it goes down. The stock market goes up and it goes down. Real estate goes up and it goes down. For every up there is a down and for every down there is an up. To believe that when it is up it will stay up and when it is down it will stay down is quite the short view. People who recognize the wave nature of life are not disturbed when things change. Smart people do not resist or complain about change; they capitalize on it. In the 1970’s during the “gas shortage,” people were selling their big gas-guzzling cars and buying little economical ones. At that time I read a newspaper article about a fellow who was buying Cadillacs for ridiculously low prices because he expected that the time would come again when gas would be plentiful and there would be a demand for Cadillacs. Sure enough, the oil companies “found” more gas, the price of fuel plummeted, and the price of Cadillacs soared. The man was an entrepreneurial visionary. (Translated to today’s market, we might say that a visionary would recognize there are other sources of energy besides oil, and place his or her chips on the tide of commerce flowing in that direction.) In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, lots of people were afraid to fly and travel, and the tourist industry suffered badly. Many tour agents threw up their hands and found other careers. In the spring of 2002 I read an article in a Hawaii newspaper about several tour agencies that were thriving. In the midst of the doldrums following September 11, they were planning trips for the following spring. They realized that at some point people would feel more confident and want to travel again, and these tour agents would be waiting for them and have trips for them. That’s exactly what happened. While the tide of tourism was out, they were preparing for its return. They were the only agencies thriving at that time. One of my favorite models of vision in action is portrayed in the film, Tucker, the Man and His Dream, based on the true story of Preston Tucker. In 1947 Tucker developed an automobile many years ahead of its time, with a range of features that have since become standard equipment. Because his invention posed a threat to the auto manufacturers in power, Tucker was squashed and falsely accused of crimes.In the midst of his trial, Tucker doodled. When he was acquitted, Tucker showed his wife the sketches — schematic plans for a new kind of refrigerator with the potential to revolutionize the industry. Tucker wasted none of his precious time. Why bother with a trial when you can be creating things that will change the world? I am also inspired by creative entertainers who see beyond appearances. Mel Torme, for example, wrote The Christmas Song (“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. . .”) in the month of June, when there was no Christmas, snow, fire, or chestnuts. Oscar Hammerstein, partner in the legendary musical team of Rogers and Hammerstein, composed his magnum opus, The Sound of Music, while he was dying. While his body was withering, his spirit was soaring. He was not distracted by the appearance of limitation. While one tide was going out, another was coming in. An economic downturn, or recession, is an intrinsic piece of a greater progression. Abraham-Hicks notes that, “This economy is planting seeds of desire, intention, and invention that will make the economy stronger than it ever was.”Likewise, Native Americans would purposely burn down certain forests because the area needed cleansing, and the forest that grew back would be healthier. There is a wisdom in apparent destruction, which paves the way for ultimate construction. I once saw a sign posted at a road construction zone, “The inconvenience is temporary. The improvement is permanent.” We are going through a period of temporary inconvenience. We can moan, complain, criticize, and blame, or we can take a breath and flow through it. Just keep watching the ocean, and you will find that the next wave is not far behind the last one.

problems with no shows

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.
Abraham Lincoln

Happened again today, candidates not making it to the interview, have to say it is one concept that has always bugged me. When you think about it, person wants to change a job, spends the time putting their CV together, and getting references, going on the web or in the newspaper- and looking, then spending the time to find the position or recruiter. Then the recruiter goes through the trouble to screen, interview and check the candidate. The client goes through the trouble to read the CV and make the arrangements to see the person.

And the candidate does not show.

What I can't figure out is why. why waste every one's time with all this if you are not going to show?

what's the point?

Would seem if a person actually wanted to succeed in life they would go so far then, actually do it. Maybe fear, or panic, or hysteria of change.

The problem is it really make s the candidate look bad, the recruiter look bad, and the client gets annoyed.

Failed

“I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed; and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying." (Tom Hopkins)

It is a quote used by a gentleman who trains sales people. It is also used extensively by bodybuilders- who train to failure, meaning the body cannot push or pull the weight anymore. There is a similar Thomas Edison quote about “I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work”.
We all fail, getting that job we thought was perfect, getting that raise, retrenchment... etc. We get hundreds of emails everyday with stories on what is going wrong, and we feel for people.
I heard from three of my clients last week why they are giving up on some of the larger internet job search portals as they all seem to be spilling out the same candidates.
I get calls from candidates who go for jobs, and ask me what they did wrong...
I had one client last week tell me his organization would stop using us because two of the candidates we had screened, background checked, called on the day of the interview, sent an SMS to and did even sent directions to did not show up because their car broke down.
You failed, we failed...
That’s it plain and simple.
Next big statement is SO WHAT...
If you have gone to failure then maybe it is time to see what growth comes out of it, instead of spending time in the comfort of feeling sorry.
We have the unique opportunity to actually evaluate ourselves. To learn from what we did and what we need to do better next time.
Here’s to you who tried and failed. Today’s failure is tomorrow’s success

percent rules

80/20 Rule/Pareto Principle: Generally speaking, the 80/20 Principle says that most of our results come from a small portion of our actual work, and conversely, that we spend most of our energy doing things that aren’t ultimately all that important. Figure out which part of your work has the greatest results and focus as much of your energy as you can on that part.

Spend 50% of your working day on tasks that advance your long-term, life goals, spend 30% on tasks that advance your middle-term (2-years or so) goals, and the remaining 20% on things that affect only the next 90 days or so.

Percent rules , these are form a page about 50 things to do to get things done faster, and although I used to be a huge advocate of these- sometimes I am not now.

When I was in a different world there were all sorts of words that were thrown out there- justification, enabler, fronter, all excuses for why things did not start or happen.

It seems now that instead of giving reasons why we cant start, we must "work smarter" or provide better value for money.

Really, there is a time and place for all this, I have even dedicated a part of my life to be a qualified quality person, learnig all sorts of quality and business plans.

From all this I learned that the majority of time it simply is people are not working, doing, or producing.

so sometimes it is better to concentrate on actually doing,l nothing will be right untill it is started

FISH -

On a visit to Seattle, Christensen observed how animated and happy the employees at Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market were in their work. They filled orders by flinging fish to each other, inciting laughter from the customers and compliments about their throwing/catching abilities, or commiseration if they missed. Employees would often invite customers to join the fun. The Pike Place employees gave their complete attention to each of their customers and ensured each had an enjoyable visit.
Christensen realized that not only were the workers making a routine errand fun for themselves and their customers, they also were selling tons of fish. He constructed the FISH! Philosophy from his observations of Pike Place employees, arriving at four key concepts:
Play
Make Their Day
Be There [for Coworkers] (Often referred to as "Be Present" This is more to do with giving your full attention to a task or individual.)
Choose Your Attitude
The resulting FISH! film was translated into 17 languages and spawned a series of spin-off book titles, including Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results which has been translated into 34 languages. Many companies and organizations have paid to introduce the FISH! Philosophy to their workplaces

was one of the managment training progreams that swept America, then even in the places- England (barr one very forward thinking Marketing manager ((David))- where customer service was not what they were know for. It became a way of looking at the workplace.
Mostly comprised of having a good time at work, having fun with clients and customers, and co-workers it was so straightforward and simple that it became almost a mantra.
today, being Friday, is a good day to start....

ATTITUDE

by: Charles Swindoll
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.