How To Hire The Right People

"The first thing you have to do is hire the right people." Have you ever heard that profound piece of advice? Of course you're going to hire the right people - if you know who the right people are. If that's the case, why isn't more time spent defining what the job requires of the right person as the first step in any talent selection?

If you Google the keyword phrase "hire the right people" you will get 76,000 responses. If you Google the keyword phrase "hire the best" you will get 872,000 responses. You will find the great majority of responses deal with ways to evaluate candidates. Lots of information on tools - checklists, questions, how to structure an interview, how to write a job description, recruiting practices, and so on. But very few of those 948,000 Google responses address the key question - How to define the best person for the job - the right person for the job - based on the job, not the applicant?


Most organizations focus on the technical benchmarks. education, experience, industry knowledge, certifications, level of accomplishment and contribution, recommendations - hard information of high value - fairly easily obtained. And so these technical benchmarks and the intuition of the interviewers become the basis for the selection decision.

But the benchmarks critical to success or failure are often treated with a few statements about working in teams, ability to communicate, listening skills, sense of humor, and so on. Hard to define, describe and agree on. So the benchmarks that make the difference in success and failure - ever more so the higher up in the organization the job is - remain only vaguely identified - certainly not agreed to by the interviewers. And that is the weak link in the selection process.


It doesn't have to be that way. The stakeholders of the job, the people that have done the job, the people to whom the job reports, the peers the job works with, all have knowledge of the Behaviors, Personal Skills, and Motivators that make the difference between success and failure. Getting that information in a form that could be used in selection has been a real challenge. But now there are tools and processes that can benchmark Behaviors, Motivators or Attitude and Personal Skills that those in the know feel are necessary for success. And those benchmarks can then be used in the selection process - to see how candidates measure up to the job, not to some measure of "good enough," or "best we could find." And let's face it, no person will bring the ideal profile to the job. The benchmarks can then be used to develop the person selected so they can be more successful, quicker.


Intuition is the force guiding most selection decisions. But intuition is influenced by many different inputs, as well as the biases created through life and work experience. By adding to intuition the benchmarks of Behavior, Personal Skills and Motivators, and the consistent application and comparison of those benchmarks to the selection process, intuition can be much more secure in its decisions. And that leads to commitment toward the person selected - and that's a good thing. The "throw them up against the wall and see if they stick" approach can be replaced with a commitment to success. And when that happens, turnover goes down, retention and productivity go up. And the right people for the job - the best people for the job - strengthen the organization.

With so much more talent available, it's a good time to examine selection practices to ensure the right people are being selected for the right jobs. It's tempting to hire the best people - whatever that means - out of a large talent pool. But it's critical to select the best talent matched to the right job for that talent.


If you would like more information on how to benchmark jobs in your organization, and multiply the success of your selection efforts, give me a call.

Cox Consulting Group, 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 2009 All Rights Reserved

Ten Behaviors For Success In A Business Downturn

A lot is written about what to do after losing a job, but what about the people who don't lose their jobs, but are faced with the results of business slowdowns - layoffs, reduced expectations, salary freezes, greater responsibility with fewer resources and the uncertainty of what's next?

In every economic downturn and resulting workforce reduction, the internal dynamics of organizations change. Everything takes on more importance - every behavior, mistake, judgment, comment gains importance way out of proportion to its value. Contrasts become much sharper. The meetings get longer - the demands get sharper - the expectations higher - the disappointments felt more deeply, and the blame game swings into action. It shouldn't be that way, but in most companies - even the best managed - workforce reductions brings home the feeling that it could happen to me. When that happens, survival trumps opportunity, safety trumps optimism, and a sense of humor has to be muted -unless the person with that sense of humor be seen as not serious - as not a player.


For many people in todays workforce, the depth and severity of this downturn is outside their experience.


So they ask if it's time to slam the hatch shut and hunker down and wait it out, or go out and look for a job, or start a business. What other alternatives are there? What can be done to not just survive, but prosper in a downturn?

Plenty - in behaviors, attitudes and personal growth. That may not seem obvious, but the choice of how to deal with a temporary setback is a personal one. And the effect of using this stressful time as the time to develop personally and professionally adds value throughout a career.

Here are ten success behaviors that can make the difference between losing, just surviving or succeeding in economic downturns.



1 - Do the work - every day. Downturns often lead to people spending way too much time on conjecture and surmise. Avoid those people - and make sure your own behavior doesn't become counter productive. I have a friend who has a saying framed and placed right where everyone can see it. It says " Don't let the bastards wear you down."


2 - Start by valuing what you have and stop wasting time mourning the loss of what was. And recognize that the boss may have had to fight hard to keep you, and now is not the time to complain about pay, assignments, or all the other issues that people reductions create. Make sure any and all conversations are positive and understood in the way they were meant to be understood. It's easy in these times of bad news for one person's suggestion to be seen as a complaint.


3 - Keep your eyes open, your ears tuned, and your mouth shut. Deal with what is - not what you might think it is, or what motive you think was behind decisions.. Your opinions and judgments are probably (90%) wrong anyway - so why waste time on them?




4 - Help a friend that lost their job. Giving and showing concern means a lot to them and even more to you. Acting without regard to getting is tremendously liberating, and the rewards for it may be in a lifelong friendship and other rewards that can't even be imagined at this time.


5 - Update your resume. Chances are that it hasn't been touched since the last time you changed jobs. Be impressed by how far you have come from a value, skills and contribution basis. If you're not impressed with your increase in value, skills and contribution, get in gear and grow!


6 - Seek self development. Even in the worst of downturns, the opportunities to grow your skills is available. An example: Don't like to speak in public? Join Toastmasters - do it on your own time. It isn't expensive and it will increase value faster than almost anything else you can do. Same goes for working in volunteer organizations - the personal skills that can be gained from working in non profits and volunteer groups have tremendous carryover value to work. Reach out to do something you have never done and never thought to do. It's stimulating. Be sure to stay current on the trade publications for your industry and/or your areas of expertise.

7 - Be a problem solver. Ever notice how many people are always ready to identify a problem, but seem to disappear when the talk turns to solutions? The problem identifiers seem to come out of the woodwork during downturns, but the problem solvers are the ones who grow - and they are a scarce commodity. And being a valued scarce commodity in a downturn - or anytime - is definitely career advancing.



8 - Inventory what you're good at - what others say you are good at - as well as what you feel are your strengths. Then build on those strengths. In downturns it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking in terms of scarcity - of what you don't have. All that does is lead to negative thoughts about self worth and ability.



9 - Stay in touch with people who you see as successful and centers of influence - at work and in your personal life. Learn from them - become a center of influence yourself. Read Harvey Mackay's book "Dig The Well Before You're Thirsty" on the importance of building relationships - and doing it every day, not just when all hell is breaking loose.



10 - Seek out things that provide motivation and inspiration. I have a friend who listens to bagpipe music on the way to work every morning - says it pumps him up - gets him ready to hit the ground running. Avoid people and programs and situations that provoke anger and negative emotions.



Come to think of it, these ten behaviors are valuable all the time, not just in a downturn. But they do take on added importance when times are tough. Take the time - right now - to see which of these success behaviors have value for you - and which ones need some work on your part. And then make this challenging time a time of personal growth. It will prepare you for the good times that are just around the corner.

Written by Andy Cox, President
Cox Consulting Group, 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 2009 All Rights Reserved

How To Increase Your Personal Value

Your personal value is the most important value you can create. Unfortunately, 7 out of 10 people in the US underestimate their personal value. It's easy to do - without even knowing it. It shows up in invisible ways - in risks not taken, jobs not applied for, opportunities not identified, relationships that never occur. It shows up in negative self talk - like "I could never do that!" or "I'm just a ------."



There are so many messages given since childhood : "don't bite off more than you can chew, " be careful," " don't stick your neck out," " only speak when you're spoken to," " know your place," "don't work too hard." "the more you do the more will be expected of you," what makes you think you're so special?" "don't be stupid." After years of being bombarded by those limiting messages, it's not hard to understand why so many of us undervalue our abilities and our worthiness.



One of the other effects of all those messages can be to let others create our value. If the highest order of our personal goals is to please and satisfy others - to respond to those messages - we can never place the real value we should on ourselves.



Having a limited view of our personal value can be a good thing - if it makes us strive harder to achieve. And for many it does - many of the top leaders and most successful people use their feelings of "not quite good enough" as a way to motivate themselves to show just what they can do. Unfortunately, for many, this same feeling of "not quite good enough" results in not taking risks, not reaching out for opportunities. The result is that personal value stagnates - and being "not quite good enough" becomes a way of life - a firmly embedded belief.



So how can we increase our personal value - in our work, our family, our relationships? Here are methods, tools and beliefs we all can use to better understand and increase our personal value:



Start with this exercise:

Write down all the successes and challenges you have met and overcome. If you're not used to thinking in terms of your own successes, or if your beliefs have been shaped to where you question your own worthiness or ability this may take some time. Write down as much as you can, and keep coming back to it. This is strictly a personal exercise, and is not the place for humility. Begin to notice what happens when you write down positive successes in your life. A lot of today's challenges and opportunities start to look a lot more doable when compared with what you have already accomplished - and there are so many more accomplishments and successes than you realized! Your energy picks up as you begin to realize just how much value you have created.

Create goals for the important things. It's amazing just how many really important accomplishments and successes are never really identified because people didn't take the time to define define them - in writing. Make goal setting a habit.

Start a Success Diary. Force yourself to write down all the things that went right - that you accomplished on a daily basis. Become positively accountable to yourself. Writing down what you did well becomes something you look forward to doing every day. And the more you do it - the more you want to do it.

Replace perfect with good. Nothing limits a sense of personal value more than having the belief that only perfect is good enough.. That belief creates an impossible barrier to accomplishment. Nothing's perfect - striving to do better is what motivates.

Be realistic, but stretch that realism to set the course for accomplishment. Tell yourself "This is a stretch, but it's what I want to do, and I'm going to go for it!" The only way to add value is to reach beyond where we are right now - and that requires a level of risk. Risk and increasing value go together.

Realize the most common assumption people make that keeps them from realizing their true value is the assumption that many other people share the same skills, abilities, experiences, beliefs, attitudes and personal skills that they do. Nothing could be further from the truth. Creating our own value requires the belief that we are truly unique - we are, you know.

Realize that we all feel fear, we all get nervous, we all are insecure in our ability to overcome problems and create solutions. A saying I read years ago said " Be kind to your fellow man - we all have our private hells to deal with." Knowing that even the most self assured, attractive, apparently successful people share fear as an emotion, and have their own baggage of doubts, can help us overcome our own.

Many of us tend to undervalue our accomplishments and experience and put ourselves in small niches. Realize how valuable and broad your accomplishments really are! Good examples are men and women coming out of the military – great experience – but many see themselves as much more limited than they really are. Realize that behaviors, attitudes and personal skills are transferable - and represent the greatest opportunities for success in any job.

Take an inventory of all the value added actions that exist around what you do. Example - A young manager volunteered to take on a one time project for his employer. He was named Project Manager - in addition to everything else he had to do. He discovered project management skills - that he had in abundance - were scarce. He always assumed that others had what he had - a bad assumption. He ended up taking his skills and putting them to work in a business where project management was a core competency. He prospered.

Realize that fears and doubts and negative issues will not go away - they reappear every day. They are one of the engines of accomplishment. Facing them and dealing with them - and in many cases succeeding - and in others failing, but continuing to persist, adds value.

Start today on your journey of discovery of your personal value. Start with the exercise of writing down all the things you have accomplished, succeeded in and overcome in your life. Be prepared to be amazed at yourself.

Written by Andy Cox, President

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

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

How To Earn Respect

There's a secret to gaining respect - one that I had the good fortune to learn early in my career - and from a most improbable source. The secret to getting respect is to give respect.

Read on to see how that lesson was taught to me by a very special person.

Early in my career I was Branch Manager of a temporary help service. The largest part of our business was done in the Labor Division. The workforce was made up of day laborers - men who had fallen on the hardest of times. They were paid by the hour, and could receive a daily draw against wages earned. For most of them, working and getting the draw was the difference between having food and shelter or going hungry and sleeping in the Mission - or worse.

Every morning at 5:30 AM our office would open, and in would file the men looking for work.There were as many as a hundred who waited, drank free coffee, and hoped to be assigned and dispatched to a job. Many were assigned - some were not.

Early morning was a time when lots of bad things could happen - anger at not getting assigned - anger at perceived insults - anger at competitors for the same job - anger at life - and anger at being treated poorly by the full time staff. The result had been a number of fights, knifings, and one attempted shooting. Those problems resulted in a decline in business. I was sent there to correct the situation.

Our product was the labor that these men performed. It was definitely in our best interests to maintain a positive relationship with our own people. Unfortunately, many men left for jobs feeling angry, patronized and disrespected. Some never showed up at their assignments, others walked off the jobs, some forged their time tickets.

Observing the situation for a week I could understand why the men felt that way. They were patronized - they were treated as the bottom of the barrel - they were not given any reason to feel valued. And when one was publicly humiliated - and that happened too often - they all felt that humiliation. The only thing most of these men had left was a shred of self respect - or at least the need to feel respected. When that need for respect was abused, when it was not recognized, bad things happened.

The first step to change occurred when my boss gave me a sign to put up in the office- visible only to the full time staff. It said "There but for the grace of God, go I." A constant reminder of the thin line between good fortune and bad fortune.

And then we set up four rules that full time staff were required to follow:

1 - Every man who showed up for work, regardless of his condition or qualifications was to be addressed as "Mister" followed by his last name. First names could be used once the person was known. The use of any abusive name, description or nickname was prohibited

2 - Any discipline would be done confidentially, and without the use of abusive and demeaning terms

3- No assignments that were known to be unsafe would be accepted

4 - Assignments would be given on the basis of length of service, ability, past performance and availablility.

Those were the rules. Some full time staff had a problem with these simple rules - they were replaced.

Into this environment walked a man named Riley Bentley. Mr Bentley was an African American - like about half of our workforce. He was big, muscular and an intimidating looking and acting man. He had a silver earring long before they were popular, and he had a "keep away from me " manner. He was sober, he had no problem filling out the application, he looked you right in the eye. He was hired. From the first day, every job he was sent on resulted in excellent reports. He would come back every night, get his draw, and leave. No talk, no socializing - nobody messed with Mr Bentley.


He worked for us for about six months, then, like so many others, he stopped showing up. We had customers tell us if he came back they wanted to know - so they could get him back. Hard to imagine a man with his capabilities and no obvious vices not having a full time job.

After a three month absence, Mr Bentley walked back in. I was running the Labor Office - it was hard to get and keep full time staff who would obey the rules and treat the men properly, and when they left or were fired, I filled in. I was glad to see Mr Bentley and I told him so. He had lost some weight, but he was still the strongest, hardest working man we had. One night, Mr Bentley came back to the office just before 6 PM - closing time. He looked me right in the eye and said I could call him Riley. I said that he should call me Andy, and we shook hands on it. He walked with me to my car after I had closed up - I asked him if he needed a ride - he said no and kept walking. That became a regular thing. He would arrive at the office just before closing time after working hard all day - and then chat with me and then walk me to my car and head off into the night.

And then Riley was gone - and I hoped he had found a full time job - he deserved one.

A few months later Riley was back, thinner, but still as strong as ever. I noticed he perspired a lot, even though it was fall and cold and he did not wear a jacket. While he was gone we had gone through two new full time staff - and I was back to opening and closing the Labor Office. Riley resumed coming in every night and spending time leaning on the counter and looking out to the street while we talked and I took care of business. Part of the business was paying the men in cash. We kept a large sum of money in small bills for that purpose. We had a safe but it was so busy during the after work hours that the money was in the safe, but the safe was kept unlocked. Anyone could have come in and held me up. Riley could have turned me upside down and taken the money and there would have been no way for me to prevent it. I think Riley read my mind. One night he told me the reason he always stayed until I locked up and why he walked me to my car was to thank me for showing him respect - and his thanks was to provide me with his personal protection. I was ashamed for my concerns - and glad I had Riley - our office was in a very tough part of town.

Riley worked a few more weeks - he seemed to be in distress when he came in at night - perspiring heavily, shivering, but he persisted. He would not discuss his physical condition, and he would never accept a ride or any other kind of help.

And then he was gone. A few weeks later one of our regular men came in and told me Riley had been found in his room - in a chair - and he'd been dead about a week. I was stunned, and saddened, and sorry about the loss of my friend - because we were friends, in our own special way. Riley had given me his protection as his way of expressing his respect. I had given him respect because it just made sense - on a personal and business level, to recognize the humanity of our people. I was repaid a hundredfold for that by Riley.

Ever since that time, Riley Bentley is in my prayers - and he always will be.

Riley taught me the secret to gaining respect. The secret has stayed with me since that time. It's pretty simple. The secret is you get respect by giving respect. I will be forever grateful to Riley for that lesson.

There are other elements to gaining respect, such as keeping your word, making good on commitments, honoring what you promise. But aren't they all part of giving respect? I think so - giving respect is the cornerstone to getting respect.

In your own life, take the time to recognize people that you may have passed by. There's a saying " The true measure of a person is how they treat someone who can do them no good nor any harm." We all can profit from remembering that saying, and making it part of our daily self talk and behavior. And if you're really lucky, maybe you'll find a Riley Bentley in your life.

Start today.

Written by Andy Cox

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: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

Eight Bad Assumptions We All Make, and How To Remedy Them

Assumptions have the potential to get you in trouble - big trouble. The assumptions that are the subject of this article are the ones we make based on our own behaviors, attitudes, and skills. We start by assuming that others think, act and have skills similar to our own. In fact, each of us is so unique that assumptions based on behaviors, attitudes and skills will result in being wrong at least 70% of the time.

An example:

A client had a manager who was highly intelligent, very energetic, demanding and always looking for new approaches to problems. Not a bad combination of attributes in a manager. He was also firmly convinced of the rightness of his ways. The business he was managing was in crisis - it needed firm direction. The problem was the frequency of new initiatives. He would direct his limited staff to new issues requiring action and resources on a weekly basis. The stretched thin, survival trained staff did all that they could to keep up -but they invariably fell behind. Lots of balls in the air - lots of activity - no additional resources. The manager assumed that since he had instructed his people on what to do that they were doing it - and they were afraid to tell him the truth.

He assumed his people would act the same as he did when his boss told him to do something. He would make his bosses request his first priority, and do whatever had to be done to get it done. He assumed his people would do the same when he made the same kind of demands.

That was a bad assumption.

He was very proud of all the things he was doing to turn this business around, and for the first few months, progress - measured by activity - was good. And then the cracks started to show. Shipments delayed, quality issues, turnover of critical people, earnings estimates missed. His response was to turn up the pressure to get the things done that he had assumed were either done or well on their way to completion. He was stunned to see that very little had really changed. His people were bogged down - too many balls in the air - too many things to focus on. He was fired.

So much of what had happened could have turned out differently, if he had assumed less, and verified more.


What follows are eight of the most common assumptions we all make in our work- every day. They have the potential to be fatal to our careers. The assumptions, a short narrative and a suggested remedy for each follow.

Assumption 1 - My boss and I are on the same page.


The newer the relationship, the better the chance that this assumption is wrong. Often very wrong.

Remedy - Ask your boss to write down the 3 to 5 most important things that you must do , and you do the same. Exchange your answers -being in agreement on 2 to 3 out of 5 is very good.


Assumption 2 -My people and I are on the same page.


Once again, the newer the relationship, the better the chance that this assumption is false - and really dangerous.


Remedy - Do the same thing with your people that you did with your boss - do the boss thing first.

Assumption 3 -I shouldn't have to ask.


Why not? Every one else has to. The very idea that other people should know what to do or how to act is so far from the truth that many, many relationships are destroyed by the assumption that someone should know enough to keep you from having to ask.


Remedy - Ask. If asking sticks in your throat - and it does for a lot of people, read the "Aladdin Factor" by Victor Hansen. Terrific book

Assumption 4 -People will do what I tell them to do.


Not necessarily. There are lots of reasons that they may do something other than what you anticipated. More pressing work, a misunderstanding about what is to be done, conflicting priorities, you name it, it exists.


Remedy - Create goals with the end in mind. Then communicate the goals, then hold regular updates - formally or informally, depending upon the culture of your organization.

Assumption 5 - People see things the same way I do.


Not true. Put a group of people in a room - show them the same picture. Watch the different interpretations, conclusions, ---. And yet they were all in the same room - given the same instructions - looked at the same thing. Amazing.


Remedy - Create goals that clearly state the result and the steps to take to reach it. Involve the people who will participate in meeting the goal in the development of the goals.

Assumption 6 -My managers have all the freedom they need to accomplish their goals.

Probably not. Reminds me of a highly experienced manager hired to run a Canadian acquisition of a US. His boss, the CEO, told everyone he had complete authority. Actually, he couldn't approve even a $10 expenditure without corporate accounting's approval. As soon as that became apparent, he lost a lot of influence with his people. The CEO said accounting had to be involved. His idea of involvement, the new manager's and the accounting department's take were very different. It never got resolved. The new manager resigned after 6 months .

Remedy - This is where the bureaucracy needs to be checked carefully. The boss assumes their people have the same approval and indirect reporting relationships and understandings as they do. Not. The boss needs to lead in developing effective, consistent working relationships up, down and sideways for their people.

Assumption 7 -People who speak with conviction are experts on the subject. Not necessarily.

Often the person speaking the loudest and with the most conviction is in fact drowning out the real expert who doesn't share the same behavior profile.

Remedy - Make sure all have the opportunity to voice their contribution. Be skeptical of all inputs until all the players are heard. Don't let anecdotal feedback overly influence the decision. How often have we all heard about the mysterious "they" that said something and it got play way out of proportion to its value and substance? Check any newspaper for examples of that dynamic.

Assumption 8 - People will see the same opportunity the same way I do.

No they won't. In fact, roughly 70% of the population will see consequences and problems before they see opportunities - if they see them at all. That leaves 30% that may see things the same way you do - not a high percentage. Both consequence and opportunity people are valuable, contributing people in every organization - value both inputs.


Remedy - Be sure to communicate what you see as the opportunity in terms of your people's interests. And be sure to listen to and value the issues and problems the pessimists will bring up - better to get them on the table than have them fester in the group without recognition or resolution.


Assumptions can be the biggest hurdle every manager and leader has to overcome in their career. Assumptions made about them, assumptions they make about others, all have low probability of being accurate. Start by checking your own thinking against the 8 assumptions stated in this article. Then act to replace them with goals and comunications that align effort with expectations. Start today.

Written by Andy Cox, President

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

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

Increase Success In Evaluating People

How do you increase your success in evaluating people? Education, technical skills, experience and industry knowledge can be defined and verified. But most people don't succeed or fail because of those elements of who they are. Most people succeed or fail based on how well their mix of values, attitudes, behaviors and personal skills fit the situation. And the higher one goes in an organization, the truer that becomes. How to get at that information when evaluating people for selection, promotion, team involvement and personal and organizational development?

Experts and successful leaders all share a little known fact about human behavior, and use it in evaluating people. They know that every one of us believes other people will act, react, understand and judge as we would - given the same circumstances. That is not a correct belief - but it is a belief.

Professionals use that information to gain insights into what people really believe, how they will behave, and what personal skills they value. Being able to do that is a secret to success in selection, relationships and leadership.

How do you do that?

Example: With a candidate, ask them to provide a situation where something was done - preferably work related. Then ask him/her the who, what, when, where and why questions about the situation and how it played out. Here's the secret: rather than ask them about their role, ask them about the roles, actions. motives, values of others involved in the situation. Be ready to gain insights and information about the candidate as he/she reflects on the attitudes, motives, behaviors and skills of others. The key is that we all tend to think that others act, judge, assume and possess many of the same skills as we do. By asking about a third person you do the following:

- People tend to be freer in providing their opinions, assumptions and judgments when it is directed at someone other than themselves.

- By speculating on the motives, judgment and behaviors of others, the candidates are telling a great deal about themselves. And if they won't speculate, they're still telling a lot about themselves.

A story to illustrate how this technique can be used:

A company undergoing substantial change in its behavior toward its employees, as a result of a crisis, was attempting to hire a Chief Operating Officer who would be critical to the success of the behavior change. One of the principal concerns of the new CEO was that the person hired would reflect the behaviors and beliefs that would be critical to the change. Old habits and values die hard, and the organization had a lot of very valuable, experienced people who had prospered in a very authoritarian, compliance, do what you're told to do, micro-managed culture. The culture envisioned by the CEO was very different. Open communication, trust, people as our biggest asset, less stove pipes, more cross functional teams, encourage innovation, high leverage,of talent were all part of his vision.

As the CEO interviewed each of the top candidates for the position, they all agreed with his vision. All were able to provide examples of how they had either built or maintained that kind of culture in their past jobs. All agreed the vision of culture the CEO had was the way to go. Personal chemistry was good with all the top candidates. Their references were excellent. How to pick this critical person to lead change?

The CEO decided one last round of in depth one on one interviews was in order. The focus of the interviews would be on better understanding the candidates own behaviors, attitudes and personal skills. And he would do that by engaging them in conversations about the behaviors, skills and attitudes of other key people the candidates had worked with.

Key questions he asked each candidate included:

Why do you think that person made that decision?
What do you think motivated them to make that decision?
What do you think that decision was based on?
What would you do if you had been in their shoes?
How do you think he/she should have handled it?
Were they successful in that situation? What made them successful?
What kept them from success?
How did the people affected by the situation handle it?
Who was to blame for the situation? Who got the credit/recognition?

The CEO was looking for attitudes, values, behaviors and acknowledgment of personal skills that he felt were critical to the culture change process. By having the candidates evaluate the behaviors, values, and personal skills of others he was able to better understand the candidates own unique mix of values, behaviors and skills. What came out of that last round of interviews helped him make what is always - after all the dust has settled - an intuitive decision. But an intuitive decision based on a much greater understanding than by simply evaluating candidate responses to questions about themselves.

Can this approach be applied at other levels in an organization? Of course.

If you are using assessments to evaluate people for selection, check to see if they provide you with these kinds of insights. If they don't - or if they are too complex to be applied in the real world, look for assessments that can help. They exist, I can assure you.

In addition to assessments, hiring managers and their support people can develop the expertise to make this approach a key part of their selection and development process. People have beliefs that come out in their perception of the behavior of others. A good example is the high control micro manager. There is a very good chance that a high control person has a value that places low trust on others, and that person assumes others feel the same way. Interviews can peel away the responses that the candidate feels are expected, and get at their beliefs - the belief they express through their opinion of others.

Another example is the person who uses blame in a response to a question about others - either to defend or to place fault. You can bet that person will be a blamer, regardless how they may portray their own behavior in an interview.

It's important to get the candidate to tell you about themselves, but it is equally valuable to get them to tell you about their evaluation of others - it tells you so much about them. Use this key to increase your success in dealing with people in all kinds of situations.

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: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

Procrastinators - Nine Steps To An Easy Day

As a followup to "Procrastinators Never Have an Easy Day," let's talk about steps to take to achieve that easy day - that day when accomplishment and achievement are reached - when the overhang of things waiting to be done is manageable, and guilt and remorse are replaced with optimism and confidence. That sure sounds good - and it can happen - starting today.

The first step is to imagine what that easy day is going to be like - that day when things are under control, when the taxes are done - on time, when the boss offers congratulations on the completion of an assignment that exceeded expectations, when fear is overcome and the result of a project was a really, really good outcome. Start with the end in mind - in this case replacing the behavior and habit of thought of procrastination that serves so poorly and creates negative emotions with a behavior and habit of thought that creates the reward of freedom to grow and learn and test limits - or the freedom to fall asleep under a tree with no cares of the world. The rewards are in reach - believe it. Start this journey with the Reward - whatever that may be - in mind.

Step 2: Replace intent with action. Replace talking about the "what if''s" and the "when I get to it's " with Action on what is truly important, and pressing, and proximate, and fearful. As Brian Tracy says in Eat That Frog- "Swallow the frog first." Or, if you choose, " attack the bear in the room before it gets any bigger." Do the things you don't want to do first. Save the really neat stuff to do as a reward.

Step 3: Don't think too much. The curse of the intelligent is being able to see all kinds of alternatives, combinations and permutations - to see all kinds of consequences and possibilities, and become frozen in place with too many options. Pick out a course of action and go for it. If the first "ready, aim, fire" doesn't hit the target, it probably came close. Adjust and "ready, aim, fire" again. But make the adjustments as a result of action. If the second course of action doesn't hit the target, it got closer. Persist with action.

Step 4: Replace the codewords of the procrastinator. Words like "tomorrow," and statements/beliefs like "good things come to those who wait," "anything worth doing is worth doing right," "it'll take care of itself" and "I need more information/preparation." Great phrases, but not for procrastinators - they only reinforce the tomorrow habit of thought of procrastinators. Listen to your self talk, and replace those kinds of phrases that create a tomorrow mentality. Today is all that has value - tomorrow will never come for many, many people.

Step 5: When faced with a project, replace the procrastinator's first question and thought - "When is this due?" with "What can I do today to get this going?" Consider meeting a due date for what it is - a failure to exceed expectations.

Step 6: If something simply can't get done when a date is imposed, challenge the issue. If that doesn't work, manage the project to keep others aware of progress. Never ever let the boss get ambushed with a date not kept - even if he/she really deserved to be embarrassed by their unreasonable demands. To your boss, passive agressive behavior is infuriating, frustrating and dangerous - survival may happen, but trust will be gone.

Step 7: Focus, focus, focus. Complete whatever the big things are. Don't let up until they're done. Don't let the little things intrude - be very wary of the demands of others and their impact on completing the most important things, Develop the ability to say no - politely, constructively and firmly. And make sure the big things are really the big things. Nothing is more frustrating than to be working like crazy on thin things - and not knowing it. That's where goals - shared goals are so important.

Step 8: Realize that a conscious decision to delay something because of the importance of other things is not procrastination. Realistic and accurate prioritizing is a skill - an essential survival and success skill.

Step 9: Consider pretty good as better than perfection - because it is. Realize that by the time you burst into the room with the perfect solution - if there is such a thing - someone else has already acted with a good enough solution, and another opportunity to contribute has been lost.

Lastly, take these nine steps one at a time - the trap of too much at once is a real trap - it ends up causing nothing to be accomplished.

Take whatever step seems right - then ACT! Do it - 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

Self Criticism - Constructive Skill or Destructive Habit?

Self talk is one of our most powerful tools for growth, or for reinforcing those two worms - "I'm not worthy" and "I'm not able." Constructive self criticism is a positive, skill building habit of thought. Destructive criticism - berating ourselves for all kinds of things - just beats us down - it just keeps telling us we're not worthy, or not able, or both. And we do it to ourselves!

So how do we ensure our self talk is helping us? Try the following:

Which of the these questions are you more likely to ask yourself?

What could I have done better? What did I learn? What can I take from this experience to do better next time?

or

You dummy - why did you do that? I wish I'd said ---! I really blew it!

One set of questions deals with possibilities and growth. The other is beating ourselves up - you can almost hear the whip cracking.

If you're working to improve your self esteem, and at the same time improve your skills, experience and accomplishments, you gotta be conscious of the kind of criticism you direct at yourself. The next time you start to criticize yourself be sure to ask if the criticism is really necessary – is it constructive – does it have the potential to improve your performance – does it encourage you - does it celebrate your accomplishments? If you can answer yes to those questions, everything is OK. If you can’t, if you spend a lot of time looking in your own rear view mirror and not liking what you see, I suggest this exercise to help you break one habit and replace it with another:

Write down five constructive criticism questions. Use them to ask yourself about your own behavior, skills and accomplishments. Paste them everywhere - read them every day - answer them every day - do it for thirty days.

I guarantee, at the end of thirty days, you will have started to replace negative self talk with positive self criticism and a greater understanding of yourself - Personal Skills of the top ten percenters.

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

Encourage Thinking Outside The Box - A Tool

Thinking outside your box is a critical Personal Skill - one that will make the difference between success or failure. The critical skill is really about accessing the thinking of others to help see what possibilities lie outside your own world of thoughts and beliefs and biases.

Try this exercise to get the "out of box" juices flowing with the people you deal with.

Draw a square 1 foot by 1 foot. Divide all four sides into 3 inch increments. Connect the markings opposite to each other. You now have a large square with 16 little squares inside it - a checkerboard pattern.

Ask how many different squares can be seen in the checkerboard. The first answer is usually 16. Then someone will say 17 - then eighteen - then 19 or 20. That will only happen if you, as leader of this exercise, show an expectation for a larger number than the first answer - which is usually given quickly and with some conviction. Stay at it - keep asking how many squares others see. Engage everyone in the answer. The number of squares will continue to increase. With a lot of encouragement your group may get to 24 to 26. Not bad - but there are 30 squares of various sizes that can be identified in the checkerboard.

See how many people try to work alone. See how many include others in their discussion. When the group has just about exhausted the possibilities, tell them the answer. If someone gets the answer, ask them to describe the squares - so that others can gain knowledge.

The point? The group was probably willing to accept the 16 or 17 or even 20 squares that were stated quickly. Had they done that, they would have left 10 or so squares unidentified. Can your business afford that? Does that kind of dynamic happen to you often? Make those points as a means of pointing out how very important it is to challenge quick answers - how very important it is to share thoughts - how very important it is to encourage - or demand - that people expand their perceptions and look at things through the eyes of others.

There's balance required in this process. Winston Churchill once said "It's important to have an open mind, but not so open that our brains fall out." The same is true when it comes to thinking outside the box. But in at least 95% of the cases where groups attempt to reach for the best answers, many of the members simply don't share or contribute their inputs. The last thing you have to be concerned with is any brains falling out of open minds.

I suggest to you that the critical Personal Skill leaders bring to thinking outside the box is the skill to draw out and value those hard - to - get - at inputs from others.They're the difference between seeing 20 boxes or 30 boxes. Which is better for your organization?

Try this tool with your group - do it 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

Coopyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

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

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

The Most Feared Question In Business

What follows is a conversation - one that happens all too often in business. The status quo, how managers have been trained, what got them to where they are, and business realities all play a part in this conversation. Listen to our fictitious, but all too real manager as he or she has this ongoing talk with themselves.

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"What Do You Think?"The boss said I should try that question with my people. Uh oh, if I ask that question I might get an answer that I don't like, or that I have to act on, or that provides information I need to communicate, or that makes me communicate a response. I really don't want that - Why won't people just do what they're told, and let it go at that.

No one ever asked me "What do you think?" I'm supposed to do this because the Boss said we're one big family and need to respect opinions and access everyone's experience to help pull us out of this hole we are in?

You know, I've worked for companies for over 20 years, and I've always done what I was told, I've been a good soldier, a hard worker, and I 've always got the job done. That's what I'm comfortable with. That's what got me promoted. And now I'm asked to throw all that out the window and start a touchy feely approach to getting things done.This idea that some snot nosed college grad I juast hired can come in here and tell me something is pure BS. They gotta pay their dues - just like I have.

Besides, if I start to ask "What do you think?" I 'm going to lose control of my people. I've always prided myself on having the technical knowledge and problem solving skills to keep ahead of problems. All they gotta do is what I tell them to do. What's so tough about that? Besides, if I change how I behave, they won't know what to do - all I'll do is confuse them.

Of course, since we downsized and I lost 20 percent of my people, it's gotten a lot harder to stay on top of things. I've had to work harder, and smarter and longer. Then I look at the lazy bums in my workforce - still leaving at quitting time - like always. Yeah, they got done what I told them to do, but you'd think they would stick around. We're in trouble, and we need every one to pull a bigger load - why don't they ask for more work? I shouldn't have to ask "What do you think?"- they should be coming to me! I'll impose a manadatory 10 hour day to get their attention, that's way more effective than a "What do you think?"

It's been a week since I announced the 10 hour day. Well, that went over badly. Wow! It really got me some problems around here! The Boss wants to see me. Something about leveraging my assets? Apparently somebody in my group complained. What the hell? How am I going to impress on these people the severity of our problems if I can't even demand more of their time? Wait till I find out who did it - I'll squash them like a bug!

Well the Boss made it short and sweet. He didn't want any more problems coming from my group. Told me to use a better approach to leverage my assets. There's that word leverage again - all it means is I have to work harder. He told me to ask "What do you think?"I told him I would do what I could do, but with us falling behind, and the two people that just quit and I can't replace, I didn't have time for a lot of talk.. He said he didn't want to hear about my troubles - just get it done.

I took action right away. I pride myself on going right at things - take action and worry about it later. Well, nothing changed - I didn't think it would. I tried - I had a meeting with all my people. I stood up in front of them, crossed my arms, told them what I expected from them, then asked them "What do you think?" I've never asked that before, and sure enough, nobody had any thoughts. That should put that to rest.

It's been a month since the last meeting with my people. I've been working like crazy - hardly ever get to see my wife and kids. But if that's what it takes, so be it. My boss got let go last week and a new Business Unit Manager has been assigned - a young guy. He says things have to change, and we all need to be on the same team, and we need to keep our eye on the ball. Hell. I don't even know what game we're supposed to be playing. I'll just keep banging away - and things will get better.

Two weeks since my boss got canned, and today I got notice that my workgroup is being reassigned and there is no place for me - I think that's called being fired. I really didn't see this coming. I thought keeping my shoulder to the wheel, my eye on the ball, and my feet firmly planted on the ground and then working in that position would keep me employed. It's all politics. I wonder if I have an age discrimination complaint? My wife isn't going to like this.
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A cautionary tale - but all too typical. Managers who can't ask the most feared question in business can't be successful in businesses that require commitment and that value the "collective genius" of their people. And the companies that don't value individual contribution and commitment - the compliance companies - the "My way or the highway" companies - just keep disappearing - either through behavior change or through ownership change or bankruptcy.

Practice your "What do you think?" question, and how you deal with responses. 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

There's Plenty For Everybody - Believe it

Can you remember a time when you were really proud of what you had accomplished, and when you told a friend you got a less than enthusiastic response. - perhaps even an envious response.

I remember when my wife and I bought our first new car - a convertible - and our next door neighbor's first comment was " Well, at least our car's paid for." Nice. Scratch them from the list of friends. Envy or jealousy are really ugly behaviors - they so diminish the person guilty of them.

Stephen Covey, in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People talks about an "attitude of plenty." About believing that there is plenty of everything for everybody, and the success of another in no way diminishes us. Stephan Schiffman, in his terrific book on telephone sales, titled Make It Happen Before Lunch says" Dwell in possibility - there is always a door somewhere waiting to be opened."

If you think like Schiffman and Covey, there will be no room for the envy and jealousy that makes so many people smaller in the eyes of others - and most importantly, in their own eyes.

What's sad about the people who don't have the beliefs of plenty and possibilities, is that they believe everyone else thinks like they do. So when they do have a success, they find it difficult to accept the congratulations of others at face value, because they know, if the roles were reversed, they would harbor envy and jealousy.

Whether it's possessions, promotions, winning at a sport, or some other area of accomplishment, feel good for the success of others. Use it to inspire yourself to achieve. And if you catch yourself thinking in terms of being diminished by the success of others, tell yourself there's plenty for everybody - then go out and get some. Do it - 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

Your Response Says So Much About You!

Did you ever watch a football or basketball game and see the player who responded to a foul end up being the person penalized. And did you notice how little weight the explanation that the other person started it carried with the ref?

It may not be fair - but it's the way it is - whether in sports, politics, or business.

One of the most important Personal Skills anyone can have is the skill of responding effectively to a foul - bad press, verbal abuse, misrepresentation. Your maturity and purpose and focus are all on display when you respond, so choose your response carefully.

In the recent flap between Trump and O'Donnell, I see O'Donnell becoming the victim, and Trump the heavy, even though there is little argument that O'Donnell started it. Maybe the idea that any publicity is good publicity has kept them at it, but in our non-celebrity lives, the lesson to learn is to not let our own conduct diminish us in our own eyes and in the eyes of others - regardless of the provocation. This doesn't mean to not respond - any time you ignore provocation that matters you become diminished. It does mean that you choose your response carefully. The Personal Skill is being able to control emotions and measure how important it is to either act or to simply ignore the provocation.

It isn't easy on a late Friday commute when some idiot cuts you off on the freeway not to respond. But don't. At the worst, responding could result in you ending up dead; t the least, feeling like an ass.

When you choose to respond, first make sure its worth your time and energy. Then, apply the twenty four hour rule. Ninety five percent of conflict can be dealt with within twenty four hours - rarely does a provocation that matters call for an instant response. Why twenty four hours? It gives you time to let reason take over and rule over emotions, and then plan your response. And when you do that, you ensure your own effectiveness and maturity. For the other five percent of responses that must be done immediately, take a deep breath, deal with the issue and not the person, and regardless how personal the provocation, deal with it rationally. Easier said than done, but critical to your success. Talk to yourself about remaining calm and choosing a mature response - and remember that a few seconds of silence before responding can be very effective in draining emotion from the situation.

Remember, how you respond says more about you than it does about the person creating the conflict - stay above pettiness and personalization and gain respect - from yourself and from others!

Written by Andy Cox, President

4049 E ista 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

You Can't Be Believed If You're Not Heard

Right now - today - there is more ability, intelligence, expertise and experience that never gets heard than ever before in our history. What a waste!! At the same time, there is more BS being spewed by more non - experts than ever before!!

We see it every day - in the news, in meetings, in conversations we have. How often have you witnessed a speech or presentation and become absolutely convinced that the real experts are in the audience - not at the front of the room?

Have you ever noticed how the person with the most conviction tends to be believed - even if they are not the most well informed? People value conviction in communication - they will follow conviction. Meanwhile, buried in the conversation is someone who has so much more of value to say - and yet they don't. How can we get that skill and ability to speak with conviction?

So what do we do about it?

First, we encourage ourselves, and the people we know, to become effective communicators. We encourage ourselves and others we know to gain the skills and ability to communicate effectively. For most people, the fear of public speaking is one of the top three fears in their lives - right up there with death and taxes. By public speaking I am including any conversation where three or more people are gathered to discuss, defend, learn, debate , brainstorm, propose - i.e. communicate.


Second,adopt the belief that it is our obligation, our duty to share our knowledge with others, and in doing so to help others make their own decisions based on accurate, timely, complete - as - it - can - be information.

Third, let me share a personal experience. My wife and I joined Toastmasters a few years ago. I didn't think it would be of that much value to me - I'd been doing presentations for years. I joined as a way to encourage my wife to gain skills. My wife gained skills and confidence, and so did I - in spades. Today my wife gives presentations as part of her work - the largest group she has talked to was composed of 300 complete strangers. My largest group of complete strangers was about the same size. We still get butterflies before speaking- sometimes worse than others, but we have overcome our fears and used our skills to listen, educate, inform, influence and sell. Incidentally, we have no stake in Toastmasters - we receive no benefit in any way from this writing. We just know that it is one very effective tool to open your own doors to greater skills - skills and abilities that can be life changing. Perhaps Dale Carnegie or the National Speakers Association or a local group are more suited to your time, temperment and goals.

Do it - find a way today. Start now. Start by believing in your opportunity to help others through sharing your unique blend of knowledge, experience and insights. Then reach out for tools that will turn your belief into action.

Written by Andy Cox, President

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

All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2007

Personal Clarity - Essential to Success

Clarity is one of those strange things - you think you have it and then, when you try to put your finger on something, you find it's not there - or it's close, but you can't really grab it - whatever "it" is.

Why should you care about this thing called Clarity? Because the more accurate your view of the world and the more accurate your understanding of yourself, the more effective and successful you can become. Achieving Clarity isn't for everybody - and that's your competitive advantage. Most people that want to be leaders won't pay the price to get high levels of Clarity.

My most recent battle with clarity is going on right now - with myself, as I try to get my goals for 2007 down to the action level. You know, those dreams that you want to see come true - but to have that happen, you gotta act. And as you translate dreams to goals to action, it gets kind of fuzzy. And fuzzy is the enemy of success.

I go through this exercise much more often than I would like to admit. Wouldn't it be just great to be able to just go for it? To act!!

But to act without clarity and purpose is, most often, futile. One of the things I know about myself is that I have to know where I want to go in order to get there. That's my External Clarity - how clearly I see where I am going. The more clearly I see my goals and dreams and how to get there, the better the chances that I will succeed.

But our External Clarity has a powerful partner - our Internal Clarity. The Clarity that has to do with how clearly we see ourselves. This is the arena of self esteem, confidence, introspection and extroversion - the place where we feel worthy and able - or not. This is the realm of self talk - how we view others, our expectations of our own performance and the performance of others, our willingness to take risk and to believe in our abilities - the place where optimism or pessimism or a combination of both reside. This is where we are critical of ourselves - or not. Our perceptions and beliefs in ourselves reside here. What's interesting is that some of the most successful people I have ever worked with don't think highly of their own worth and ability, but they have taken that as a challenge and worked hard to meet tough goals and to take risks and opportunities to prove their worth and ability. Others with low regard for themselves stay safe, don't put themselves at risk and are satisfied with much less than their real capabilities would have allowed them to achieve. Others are so optimistic and think so highly of themselves - the " He/she is a legend in their own mind" people, that they often fail because they are incapable of imagining any downside to whatever they do.

Internal Clarity is tough to determine, but there are ways to get a clearer picture of where you are. 360 degree feedback - if done right - is a great way to get solid feedback; asking trusted friends and family to help you get a clearer picture of yourself can be very effective; assessments of Personal Skills that include detailed measurements of Internal and External Clarity have helped many leaders and emerging leaders; your performance review process at work can help. While all these tools can be a great help, you still have to be able to look in the mirror and ask yourself questions that help you gain Personal Clarity.

How you achieve a high level of Clarity is a very personal matter - the advantage to taking the time and effort to reach a clear picture of the world outside yourself along with a clear picture of your inner world is that it gives you tremendous leverage and competitive advantage. Knowing who you - are the good, the bad and the ugly - is the first step to 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 andycox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved

Two Things To Do Today To Succeed

After writing and posting the three actions to take for success blog yesterday, I met a person who I will describe as impressive, until we shook hands. Left me cold with the fish grip and no eye contact. Wow! What a first impression!

I've been reading a book called The Aladdin Factor by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. A terrific book, particularly for us strong, silent, independent types who think we are required by some law of the universe to do things ourselves, and not to ask for help, because that would be a sign of weakness.

So what are the two things we can do today to help us succeed?

The first is check your handshake. It's amazing how many people, male and female, give the limp shake. It shouldn't come as a surprise that a limp shake gives the impression of low energy, of lack of interest, of lack of confidence. At the same time you're checking your grip, check out how you make eye contact. A limp shake with no eye contact is a sure turnoff to successful people. They might respect your technical talents, they may respect your accomplishments, but I guarantee they will not want you to represent their organization to other organizations, to "A" player candidates, or to any other influential person or organization. Use a mirror to practice your eye contact, your smile, and your words of introduction until they become second nature. Practice your handshake with a friend - preferably someone with a good, strong , non - finger - breaking grip, and make a firm, brief, full hand shake a habit. And use it with both men and women. Do it now.

The second is to ASK! The biggest part of The Aladdin Factor deals with asking for what we want - in life - in business - in relationships. Read it - it will change how you look at independence, as opposed to interdependence. Covey, in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People talks about the three stages of development - dependence, independence and interdependence. I don't know about you, but I was brought up to believe independence is the highest stage of development. It isn't. Interdependence, working with others in so many ways, gives us leverage in our lives. If we don't ask for help, for advice, for checking our handshake - if we can't do that, we cannot reach that highest level of development. Read this book - do the exercises - ask. It will change your life.

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: andycox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2006. All Rights Reserved

Three Things To Do Today to Succeed

These three simople actions you can take today occurred to me while I was leaving the gym behind one of the slowest walking, grim people I have ever seen. And it was right after I listened to Chris Mathews of MSNBC on TV while exercising.

I guarantee if you take these three steps good things will happen to you.

Number 1. Be a "Fast Walker". Stride with purpose. Be in a hurry to get everywhere. Check your pace today. If you find yourself walking more slowly than your fellow workers, speed up. Nothing says low energy like a "Slow Walker" Nothing communicates energy and purpose more than a fast pace.Do it today!

Number 2. Speak with conviction. Without getting into the politics of Chris Mathews, he speaks with conviction. Have you ever noticed how people will listen to and believe people who speak with conviction and with a direct manner that can be heard. Are they necessarily correct, or the most expert person on the subject? No! But most people find comfort in conviction - they want to believe they are listening to an expert. So if you are like me, always looking for more knowledge before speaking out - or speaking out and qualifying what you say, you're not getting heard. Listen to yourself - change - you've got a lot to say - speak up, speak out, let people know what you think! Do it today!

Number 3. Give yourself a facelift. Smile! It's amazing what a smile does to relationships. It transforms people - it makes them more approachable - it makes them appear successful - it says " I'm doing good". People want to identify and associate with people who feel good about themselves. Check your image and your manner. Ask people how you look to them. If your "Force Field" screams "Stay Away" then change your message - smile. I don't mean walking around with an insane grin on your face, but making a smile as much a part of your persona as other emotions. It's amazing how little effort it takes, and the return is tremendous!

Be a fast walker, speak with conviction, smile - what a combination!! Do it 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: andy@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved

Negative Expectations - Beliefs That Keep Us From Asking For What We Want

Somewhere along the way many of us developed negative beliefs about asking for what we want. Perhaps we believe that asking is a sign of personal weakness. Perhaps a sign of dependency. Perhaps we don't feel we are worthy of asking. Perhaps we feel that people that ask for things are imposing, and since we feel that way, others must feel the same way.

Many of these limiting beliefs - and they are limiting - result in our believing that to ask is to set ourselves up for refusal - failure - embarrassment - loss of self respect and esteem. And so we only ask if and when we have no other choices left. And often we are disappointed, because in asking we start with negative expectations - that we will fail - be refused - and that is exactly what we get. Have you ever heard the saying " You get what you believe you will get'? If we're thinking failure, we will get it - and in getting it we reinforce the negative expectations of asking.

So what do we do with this giant anchor fashioned from our own thoughts? An anchor that keeps success at arm's length - too far away to really reach, but close enough to feel it is in our grasp - if only ----.

What if we could put aside these negative expectations about asking - for just a day? How liberating would it be to think that upon making that phone call asking to see someone, it turns out they are not just willing, but happy that you called, and want to see you as much as you want to see them. A dream? Perhaps. But is it any less of a dream than the dream of refusal - of rudeness - of "No"? And isn't a positive expectation so much more fun - more energizing - more able to lift us up and keep us going?

How do we create these positive beliefs? We start by listening to what we tell ourselves every day. And fight back every time we hear ourselves telling us to slow down, to protect ourselves from disappointment, to criticize our preparation. Our minds can be changed - we can believe in positive outcomes. It starts by telling ourselves that positive outcomes will happen to us - the possibilities of success are at least as great as the negative thoughts we have had in the past.

Start today - start with the next negative outcome that your mind creates for you - realize it is no truer than the opposite, positive outcome. Then let your actions be guided by opportunity - it is so much fun - and energizing, and driven toward 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: andycox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2006. All rights reserved

The Power of Keeping Track

I am constantly battling my weight. I'm always chasing that elusive "ten pounds" that so many of us just never seem to get around to losing. Unfortunately, that "elusive ten" sometimes balloons to twenty pounds - or even a little bit more.

You know when that happens? It happens to me when I decide I don't want to spend the time to keep track of what I eatand drink. I reach a point where I am convinced that I know - from past experience and from past keeping track - how much I can eat and what I can eat, so why spend the time on recording what I already know?

This last time I made the decision to stop recording what I eat, I gained ten pounds in the following ninety days - ten pounds that becomes more and more difficult to shed as I get older. No big change in eating habits - no change in exercise habits - just a little bit here and a little bit there. I'm back to keeping track, and I see where those little snacks and larger portions that I kidded myself into believing would have no effect did add weight.

Keeping track keeps me honest to myself. It keeps me accountable for my own behavior - for my own choices. I don't have to share the records with anyone else - just with myself. I find when I do that, good things happen - probably because I am dealing with reality, and not with selective memory - that ability to only remember the high spots.

If you're dealing with weight, or any of a thousand other challenges and goals, keep track. Write down what is most important to you and then keep track of how you are progressing toward where you want to be. It doesn't have to be an involved process - keep it simple so you persist in recording.

In my experience, and the experience of many, many succesful people, keeping track is the most important single thing you can do to reach where you want to be. Do it - today.

Written by Andrew Cox, President, The Cox Consulting Group LLC

Ph:602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: andycox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website:www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2006, All Right Reserved