Self Promotion - Essential to Success

"Self promoter - me? You mean like Don King, Paris Hilton, rappers, TO, O'Reilly, Al Franken, movie stars- those kinds of people? That's not me - I'm uncomfortable talking about myself - I let my work speak for itself."

People - lots of them - have that conversation with themselves every day. Only problem is that in most cases, your work doesn't speak for itself - it can't, without some help. And the only person that can give the help is you. No amount of "a-wishin, a -hopin and a-prayin" is going to change that for the vast majority of us.

When someone compliments you on work you have done, do you give it an "Aw shucks, it wasn't that much"? Trust me, if you say it wasn't much, people will believe you. Modesty is a virtue but it can also be a handicap.

How can you promote yourself, demonstrate your value, and do it without looking like your own best cheerleader?

The first thing you have to do is accept the fact that you are - in fact - your own best cheerleader.

The second thing you need to do is perform - produce results, exceed expectations, volunteer for special assignments, accomplish.

And then make your accomplishments known to the people that count.

How do you do that? Set a structure that provides visibility. Create goals - share them - have the appropriate people help with setting goals - and then exceed them. Set up regular report points - allowing you visibility and progress reporting. Set up opportunity and jeopardy meetings to review progress and pinpoint problems and their solutions. It's the best kind of self promotion. And then be the cheerleader for the people who helped meet the goals. Share the credit for accomplishment with your workgroup.

Rather than seeing promoting yourself as a negative behavior - see it for what it really is -a critical skill and behavior.

Start today.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

Think Outside The Box - The Key Is Acceptance

I used to get really frustrated when I was asked to think outside the box. Outside the box? Hell, I'm was having a hard time thinking inside the box - whatever that means. I saw it as one of those catchy, trendy, vague statements with little value.

Then it came to me.

Thinking outside the box has enormous value - in every part of my life. And it's easy. All it takes is a shift in behavior. Not a big shift, but a significant one.

And that shift is driven by Acceptance - the belief that allows me to to accept as valuable the contents of other people's boxes - and the belief that lets me see the boxes of others as different - not better or worse - than my own.

The following is a conversation between Me and some interested Box People..

Box People: What a concept! You mean all I have to do to think outside the box is to accept the content of other boxes and share mine with others? Yeah! That's it! Hold on a minute. If it's that easy, why don't more people and organization's do it?

Me: Well, you gotta realize there are a whole lot of boxes flying around out there. Every one of us has a lot of different ones, every organization has a whole bunch of them, every part of every organization has a whole bunch of them. And most people and organizations are really comfortable with the SQ - the dreaded Status Quo. And the SQ is the arch enemy of Acceptance. Remember when you tried to stuff one of your boxes into a new situation - remember how it was received? I suspect Acceptance wasn't one of the outcomes.

Me: Some time ago I wrote a blog on the most feared words in business. The words are a question -"What do you think?" The blog is written as a conversation a manager has with himself as he goes through change in his company and career. It is meant to illustrate just how difficult this change in habits of thought can be - but also how negative the consequences of not doing it can be. You oughta read it.

Box People: OK. So let me understand. To think outside the box, all I have to do is accept and jump into other people's boxes. But all those other boxes were built - like mine - with the belief that they're right, and that the Status Quo is OK - a place of comfort. So those boxes have pretty tight lids - they probably won't let me in!

Me: Maybe yes, maybe no. There is always the risk that some may be shut tight. But if you really want to think outside the box, and gain the enormous benefits that comes with that skill, you gotta take some risks.

Box People: Well, you're the one writing this piece. How about some advice on how I get started so I can get at least some of those benefits.

Me: Here's some suggestions to start you thinking outside the box:

• Accept that you have biases that make it hard for you to accept input from other people - identify your biases and work hard to get rid of them. They are the single biggest thing standing in the way of out of the box thinking
• Accept the beliefs and behaviors of others as being as valuable and legitimate as your own. Stop judging and start listening.
• Open yourself to possibilities. Put "That will never work" and "We tried that and the wheels fell off" thinking behind you.
• Accept the question" What do you think?" and make it part of your own behavior.
• Accept that most people will resist or be skeptical or cynical about this kind of behavior. Their boxes don't like to be changed and challenged.
• Believe your world will change for the better as the outcome of this behavior.
  
  Box People: That's a whole lot of challenging stuff, I gotta think about it.
  
  Me: There's that Status Quo at work. Start - today
  
  Written by Andy Cox, PresidentCox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com; Copyright 2007, All Rights Reserved

Observation - A Critical Personal Skill

Observation skills are critically important to success - in any dimension. They're also often ignored and not developed.

A story:

I was hiking in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve and coming down a steep, rocky, narrow path. Approaching me from below was a young woman, baseball cap pulled down over her eyes, dark sunglasses, hydration backpack, and IPod firmly stuck in her ears. I stepped aside to let her pass - hikers ascending have right of way - I said "Hello," and she went past me - within inches of touching me - without seeing me!! Or at least without acknowledging me!! Wow - two people, close enough to touch, no one else around, and not so much as a nod.

Just what does this have to do with observation skills? A lot. This hiker was so into her own zone that nothing around her could enter her consciousness. The birds singing, the green of spring, the warning rattle of a rattlesnake, the crunch of boots overtaking her, the beautiful blue sky - none of it could penetrate her "zone." I see that a lot. Mountain bikers, hikers, runners- all with earpieces firmly in place. Intent on their journey - oblivious to their surroundings except for what is right in front of them - and in danger of missing all kinds of messages. Observation? Other than their own heart rate, miles covered, calories burned, goals met, times elapsed, mountains climbed, Gatorade consumed, how they feel - they could be in a dark tunnel as far as any further observation is concerned. Too bad for them - they miss all kinds of critical inputs that could help them grow and develop and enjoy the process of gaining physical fitness.

I see that behavior in all kinds of places. I call it the cocoon behavior.

To the extent that we close ourselves off from the unfamiliar; from things that would challenge us; from things that make us think; from things that disagree with our beliefs; from things that can stimulate our senses, we create our own cocoon - that safe place where we can exist unaffected by all the stuff that swirls around us. Some people call it focus - I think not.
.
If you want to be world class in anything, you gotta develop the skill of observation - seeing the world around you and seeing it every day, in every way, and make observing a habit of thought. The price of success is shedding the cocoon - observing the world in all its variety, learning from it, and taking that accumulation of inputs and putting them to use in decision making, in using our intuition, in building relationships.

A suggestion. We all need to gain or regain our sense of wonder about new things. Take a different route to work, buy a different newspaper, listen to a different news show, take a run over unfamiliar territory, hike in the woods or mountains - without your IPod, try a different routine at the gym. And observe through all your senses. Gaining observation skills is an active, exciting process. It's best accomplished by sensing - as if for the first time - the world around you, and then seeing more than you saw the last time.

Try it - today. Become an active observer of life - and gain greater success - in whatever way you define success.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com WEbsite: www.coxconsultgroup.com Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

Intuition - Make Yours A Powerful Tool

Intuition can be your best resource. Talk to most successful people and they will tell you it is what leads them to their decisions. Good thing, since most decisions are made with incomplete knowledge and the often conflicting opinions of others. Coming up with a good decision under those circumstances is one of the most valuable and sought after attributes in a leader.

Intuition is really the skill of assembling - over time - as much usable information from as many sources as possible and then interpreting and arriving at a decision – sometimes this process is very complicated, sometimes it isn’t.

Intuition can be a two edged sword. It can work, or it can fail. Think of the selection of people. How often have you seen people hired strictly on intuition – and then fail? How often have you seen the most scientific of selection processes fail to pick the best candidate – the right person for the right job? No wonder some leaders still use the “throw them up against the wall and see if they stick” method of selection. Might as well, they think, doesn’t seem anything else works much better.

The more open you are to challenges to your beliefs, the more powerful and effective your intuition becomes - and the more you trust it. Think about it – are your beliefs stuck in a rut, where you look for things that confirm your existing beliefs, or are you constantly challenging your beliefs, knowing that they are the results of your perceptions of events, and not necessarily the truth.

Too many challenges to your beliefs and you lose that decision making skill (the "bring me more information" syndrome), and too little challenge leads to the same decisions being made on the same set of beliefs, without regard for changing circumstances. It’s a balancing act – and successful people know that.

Ask top leaders if their intuitive skill has grown over the last five years and they will answer yes - in every case. The added experience of the last five years has allowed them to change and modify certain beliefs, and in doing so they have added even more power to their intuition. Ask less successful people the same question and the answers are varied: some feel they have used their experience to grow, others are locked in tight to their beliefs, and aren’t likely to budge – even if the results of their decisions indicate a different direction should be considered.

Your intuitive skill is the direct result of all the inputs you have received and how you interpret and perceive those inputs. To keep this powerful tool growing requires a dedication to openness, challenging your own beliefs, seeking out opportunities to grow and accomplish and a willingness to modify or change beliefs and behaviors and attitudes.

Fire up your own journey of discovery with a new author, a new social group, a new skill building seminar, a new perspective on your faith, an inventory of your beliefs. The more you do that, the more your ability to make effective decisions and take appropriate actions will grow. You may not even recognize your intuitive growth - but the people that count in your life will. I guarantee it.

Start today.

Written by Andy Cox President

Cox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

Now Why Did They Do That?

If you really want to drive yourself crazy, just try to figure out the motives behind the actions of others. I was reminded of just how futile that can be while listening to many of the talking heads as they discussed the motives behind many of the tactical and strategic moves by different candidates. They get paid for it – and still they're wrong most of the time.

Very few things can create more issues and problems than trying to get at the motives for many of the decisions and actions of people at work. How often can you recall deciding someone did something for Reason A, only to find out someone else thought the very same action was taken for Reason B, and another thought it was for Reason C. Only later did you all find out that the real reason – Reason D – was so far from what you all had thought that you were astonished, or disappointed, or embarrassed.

Trying to determine motive is a habit of thought – a bad habit of thought. It wastes your time and energy in arriving at conclusions that are almost always wrong – and have little positive value. What a path to personal failure!

How do you avoid this trap that can have such a negative impact on your success? Work hard to stop trying, and take things as they are – deal with what is in front of you, and not with what you think someone’s motive might have been.

A story about staying in the moment:

A Buddhist monk being chased by a tiger. He came to a cliff and grabbed the one vine hanging over the cliff, and started to lower himself down the vine. Looking down he was terrified to see another tiger waiting for him at the bottom of the cliff. He was trapped. As he hung there, not sure what to do, he noticed two things: a mouse that was busily chewing on the vine that was his sole support It was just a matter of time before the mouse chewed through the vine and he would fall to his certain death.. He lacked the strength to reach the mouse. The other thing that he noticed was a small strawberry plant – growing out of the cliff. On it, and within easy reach, was one perfect, ripe strawberry. What do you think he did?

Answer: He ate the strawberry, and it was delicious! End of story.

I suggest you remember that story the next time you look beyond what is in front of you – remember to deal with what you can see and what has been given to you – and don’t waste time on conjecture. You will be more successful for taking that approach.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved