Leaders Use Goals To Know When More Becomes Less

Leaders use goals to know when more becomes less. Leaders know there is a place where further effort, energy, knowledge, people resources and money don't really add much additional value. In fact, more of anything after a certain point may be stealing from other requirements. Leaders know time, money and effort, by themselves, are really inefficient measures - results are what count. And knowing what results are needed avoids the "more is less" trap.


Leaders know "more" can keep you stuck in the same place long after you've achieved most of what's really needed. "More" creates a comfort zone based on activity that tells us there is more to be learned - more to be prepared - more to be added. Leaders know that that comfort zone is an illusion, and that goals create action - they keep us from fooling ourselves into believing activity is accomplishment.


A personal example of what I mean:


Whenever I need information - for a client, a prospect, an article - I really dig in and search all kinds of resources to become really prepared. My searches have the potential to lead me deeper and deeper into a subject - or wider and wider into alternative subjects or information. The opportunities for research are endless - and so tempting. That must have to do with my high Theoretical value. I really value information for its own sake. I feel like I'm really accomplishing things as I acquire more and more knowledge. More is better - or is it? Problem is - even the most expert of experts have to set research aside - and act - if they are to become better known, better appreciated and better compensated. And if the search for "more" gets in the way of acting, then "more" is definitely less. I protect myself from that trap through goals.


Another example from my vast archives of "more" not being better:


An exercise I do daily is a hand grip exercise. I started doing it about five months ago when I felt my grip needed strengthening. I use the kind of gripper that has a spring that is squeezed until the handles touch. At the beginning it was a real effort to reach 30 reps for each hand. My goal was to reach 60 reps for each hand. I'm now up to 90 reps for each hand, and I hold the 90th rep for 60 seconds. I know I can do more if I persist, but I don't. Why? I'm way beyond my goal and I think I've reached the point where more is not better - the additional time I could use on this one exercise can be better used on something else - like converting my 24 pack abs into a six pack. In this case I've decided more would be a poor use of my time and energy. Now for the abs.......


On a work level, how often are we persuaded that more is better? In some cases, more is definitely better - like in more quality sales calls. But in other cases, like gaining more information before acting, or spending more time on preparation, more may be less. And that's where goals come in. Goals that measure results, not effort, create a climate of action - action to reach a measurable goal. And then consciously assessing the value of exceeding the goal.


Leaders know the biggest enemy of "more is less" is perfection. Perfection may be a worthy striving, but many careers have gone down the tubes by letting perfect get in the way 0f good. When taking more time to prepare for that perfect presentation, when just one more test may yield the data to make a perfect product, when the acquisition of knowledge, or money, or expertise, keeps action to meet a goal from happening - more is less.


In Harry Beckwith's book - "How To Sell The Invisible," he says "Don't let perfect get in the way of good." When I'm tempted to take the time and effort to make very good become perfect, I stop. And if I'm convinced that what I have done is very good, I tell myself to stop seeking more, and I act to complete whatever it is I'm doing. And how do I figure out what is very good? Goals.


In creating goals, resist the temptation to create them based on the best of intentions. Base them on hard headed, clear requirements to meet the larger goals of the enterprise. Can they be an improvement on performance levels already attained? Of course. But know when to say "enough," and go on to other equally important goals. Defining "enough" is the secret leaders use to ensure "more" doesn't become less.


Take a look at your own goals, habits of thought, behaviors and attitudes. Identify where you can use "more is less" in defining your own actions and success. I suspect you will find, in your analysis, that there are areas - right now - today - where you can change so that perfect doesn't get in the way of good.

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

Focus On Creating Possibilities To Achieve Success

Focus on creating possibilities - it's the way to achieve personal success and organizational success.

That conclusion came to me the other day - a day I fooled myself into believing was highly productive. I had been busy - worked hard - got a lot done. But I didn't feel like I had really accomplished very much. I had organized, managed, read, prepared and drafted a whole lot of stuff - but something was missing.

Have you ever had that feeling? Worked your butt off and got so much done - great way to fool yourself into thinking what you did was really important. And yet you felt something was missing.

If you accept that interdependence is the highest and most effective form of working and accomplishment, then spending a whole day on independence just doesn't make it.

I read a book on cold calling by Stephan Schiffman called " Making It Happen Before Lunch." In it he says: " Dwell in possibility, there is always a door somewhere waiting to be opened." What a great thought!

That's when I put my finger on what was missing - I hadn't created any possibilities for myself. I had made things more organized, more accessible, more updated, more effective - but I couldn't count a single possibility created that day. Not one.

It occurred to me that I have lots of days like that. I'm highly organized and have a high Theoretical value and attitude. I know that about myself. They are good things, but they can be traps, as well. It's so easy to seek out more information - for its own sake. It's so easy to be sure everything is in its place. Not bad things - unless they take up the space that should be reserved for creating possibilities.

For me a possibility is that first step created by action that may result in being of service to a client - to helping them increase their success in selecting, retaining, developing and enhancing the performance of their people. It could be helping a manager become a leader. It could be helping a person or organization to plan and implement change. It's hard to create those possibilities while I'm organizing, reading, acquiring, preparing.

Focus on possibilities, in my case, requires overcoming or controlling my instincts and attitudes. It doesn't mean abandoning what I like - gaining knowledge and keeping things organized. It does mean creating a habit of thought of focusing on possibilities - honest to God possibilities. Finding those doors Schiffman talks about, then opening those doors and walking into a opportunity to be of service to people and companies.

We all have to create our own possibilities - for some it's second nature. For others - like me - it's definitely a learned process.

How to do it?

Start with optimism. It's so much easier to believe in possibilities as an optimist. That's a challenge for about 70% of the population - the 70% that have a habit of thought that thinks consequences rather than opportunities.

For all the pessimists, start every day with the thought that something good will happen today - if you make it happen. Keep telling yourself that.

Once convinced that there are doors waiting to open - whatever that means to you, then carve out the time and energy to find those doors

Create goals that keep you focused on possibilities. Make a promise to yourself that every day you will take an action - or actions - that will create possibilities. A phone call, create and post a blog, a website posting, a Letter to the Editor, a lunch with a long lost friend, a call to a complete stranger, asking a friend for help. But in every case - reach out!

Write down your accomplishments when you create a possibility - then see how many of those possibilities you created can be made into opportunities, then into relationships.

Build on your success. Be convinced that the more possibilities you create, the more doors are going to open - and think about how great it will be to step through into opportunities.

Don't ignore what you are drawn to - trying to be what you're not creates enormous stress. Make what you are drawn to do part of your possibility goals.

Realize that every day new possibilities can be created - they are there for the asking - what an exciting idea! 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: acoxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog; http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

How Do You Know When You've Quit?

How do you know when you quit? Sounds like a pretty stupid question! You know you quit when you stepped off the track without finishing the race -when you stopped doing something that you wanted to complete - when you resigned from a job that you wanted. Any number of actions - or lack of actions - tell you that you quit.

Not that quitting is necessarily bad. A poor fit in a job, an opportunity to move ahead in a different organization, physical illness or injury - all can be good reasons for quitting.

But there is another type of quitting that isn't so good. Cormac McCarthy, in his new bestseller The Road, has a quote that describes what I'm talking about. "When your dreams are of a world that never was or never will be and you are happy again, you will have given up."

What does that mean? Here's my interpretation. Dreams are funny things. They can inspire us, they can create successes. They can be a beacon for moving forward. They can lead to goals, action and accomplishment

But they can also be the source of false hope. When you catch yourself dreaming about what could have been, what should have been, or what might be, and those dreams occupy your mind, and you feel good about them - but no real action is taken to make them happen, you are in the act of quitting - of giving up.

Examples would be the person who dreams of winning the Lottery as the means to financial salvation, while continuing to dig a deeper financial hole for themselves. Or the sales person dreaming about how great it will be when he has new clients, but isn't doing the hard work of cold calling. Or the writer who dreams of her great novel and how good it will feel, but doesn't do the writing. Or the student who dreams of being a doctor, but doesn't do the academic work to get into college.

Rudyard Kipling, in his poem, IF, says, "If you can dream, but not let dreams become your master." What a perfect description of where dreams belong in our lives.

But often dreams do become our masters. It happens when they substitute for accomplishment and action. It happens when they allow us to feel good about the past, the present or the future, without having to deal with reality. And so we feel happy. And we've quit. And we probably don't even know it!

It's a habit of thought - this act of dreaming. That's good. Habits of thought can be worked with - replaced with new habits. It's hard, but success lies in self discipline, and the application of our considerable resources. Dreams without action take away from our bank of resources - they divert resources to what never was and never will be. It's like making a withdrawal with no value - like destroying our personal resources.

Review your own habits of thought. Ask yourself three questions: Do your dreams focus on the future - do they build on what has already happened - do they inspire you to action? If you can answer yes to those questions, good for you. If you answered no, focus your mental energies on the dreams that can happen - the world of possibilities. You can save a little corner of your thoughts and dreams for the improbable, but get to the place where your dreams result in yes answers to those three questions. You will achieve more, and who knows, those improbable dreams of the future may become more probable.

Written by Andrew 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/

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

Goals, Opportunities for Success and Paying Our Dues

What are the paths that come together to provide opportunities for success? How will we know when they come together? Will we be ready to recognize opportunity and act to succeed? What can we do to prepare for those opportunities? What does paying our dues really mean?

Here's a big part of the answer:

"It has been written that so much of life is preparation, so much is routine, and so much is retrospect that the purest essence of anyone's genius contracts itself into a precious few hours."

That quote is from "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" by James D Hornfischer. A book about the heroism of the small ships - destroyers and destroyer escorts - in the Battle of the Samar Sea in World War II. It's a true story of heroism, duty and honor. It's also a story of paying dues.


I hadn't thought about success in those terms, but so much of that quote speaks to success - in all parts of our lives. We all go through preparation, routine, and learning from our experiences and then, in a relatively small space of time, all that we are - our particular genius - comes together to contribute to our success. And, based on our willingness to seek out and accept opportunities, it happens again and again - and every time, the possibility of success is greater - based on the increase in our particular genius.



In sales, think of all the cold calls, all the presentations, all the demonstrations, all the lead chasing, and then, the opportunity to make a sale - and all the work done comes together to make that sale - or not. In either case, that event becomes preparation for the next opportunity, with a better chance of success - particular genius made good - made better. Dues paid.


In project teams, think of all the meetings, commitments, research, experiments, communications, proposals and presentations - and then the outcome that the particular genius of the team has created results in the successful completion of the project - and the seeds of particular genius increase for further success. Dues paid.


In people selection, think of all the recruiting approaches, process improvements, all the interviews, interview training and assessments, and then, the particular genius that results in the acquisition of the people needed to be successful. Dues paid.


In entertainment, think of a favorite singer or musical group - then think of all the rehearsal, all the one night gigs, all the travel, all the No's, that came before the hit song - the particular genius created by all those steps, and then success. Dues paid.



The story is told of Picasso sitting at an outdoor cafe' and being approached by a woman who asked him if he could draw a sketch of her. He did. It took five minutes. She asked how much she owed him. He told her $5000. Shocked, she protested it had only taken him five minutes. He corrected her - it had taken him 30 years to reach this place in his life as a painter. Dues paid.


How do we develop particular our genius - and pay the dues doing it?

We need to start with the end in mind - know where we want to go.

Get a dream, envision success, set goals, and then identify those things that will point us to our goals - in terms of preparation, learning from experience, taking care of the day to days - but always with the end in mind. Pointing our particular genius at what is important to us - and then focusing on that worthy goal. Doing that - keeping that focus - paying dues - creates success. Not doing that let's genius disperse over too many unimportant things - and causes it disappear in a flurry of busyness.

When our goals tell us that opportunity is in front of us- when our intuition has been honed by challenges and risks; by decisions made and their outcomes; by routine; by experience and preparation and by looking back as well as forward; then our particular genius puts us into action, and we succeed.

We succeed because we pay our dues to meet our goals - and in doing that we expand our particular genius.And paying them has nothing to do with how long we have lived, or how long we have been in a job, or how much seniority or time in grade we have. It has to do with focus on the important few, and placing proper value on the unimportant many.

Start today - check your own goals and how you use the routines, the preparation and opportunities in your own life. Check to see if what you do drives you toward the further development of your particular genius. Know that within you resides a genius unique to you. Bring it out - do it with goals, with preparation, and retrospect and routines - so that, when those opportunities occur, the outcome of your actions is success.

Written by Andrew Cox, President

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

The Biggest Challenge To Change - The Status Quo

Creating change, accepting change, making change work, being rewarded by change - all are resisted by that condition called the Status Quo. And most of the time we don't even realize it.


A story to illustrate my point:


I was out hiking in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve - one of my usual routes - and thinking about the subject of change. As I came to the place on the trail where I always stop and drink some water, and prepare for the climb forward, it hit me that every thing about this hike was predictable - and that felt good. But, at the same time, I had my eye on a distant trail that looked pretty challenging - but every time I thought about taking it, I would rationalize my decision by telling myself I didn't know where it went, I needed to get back in an hour, I had lots of alternatives that I had already discovered, ..... My feet kept me on the same old trails - every time. In my defense, I do have five different trails that I take at different times - it's not as if I only have one.


But I know people that have been hiking and jogging for years, who wouldn't thnk of trying a different trail.


With a conscious effort, I turned my feet to the new trail, and away I went. The desert is a funny place - it looks so blank -but it isn't. Go around a bend and a new view presents itself. Go further and a narrow trail to the top of a mountain shows up. A particularly beautiful tree or cactus - a saguaro with a really distinctive shape - a coyote that crosses the trail - all reward the senses when seen for the first time.


My exercise in challenging my personal status quo had a great reward - a new trail to add to my alternatives - a fresh view of an old friend that is full of surprises. And I had overcome my resistance to change - if only a little.


The status quo is a subtle enemy - it presents itself in little ways. And it presents itself day after day - it always will. And when the challenge of change is imposed on us, all those little acts that have reinforced the comfort of doing the same things the same way can keep us from accepting and benefiting from change - we see it is an intrusion on our comfort zone.


How to overcome the effect of the Status Quo? I challenge you to examine just one way you do things - it doesn't matter what. Then do it a different way - just to see what happens. And every day after that, try to seek out change in your own life. The practice of looking for and trying new ways can be one of the most powerful personal skills you can have. Honor the status quo - routines are important in every life, but routines can also create an illusion of comfort, and it is an illusion.


Another story:


I just finished checking the status of articles I post on www.submityour articles.com. I check to see how many views and downloads have taken place since I posted them. I noticed a symbol on my summary page - what could that mean? Inspired by my new quest to try different things, I clicked on it. The result? I found a way to check statistics on all my articles more quickly. Wow - that's neat! A little triumph in my ongoing battle to challenge my personal Status Quo.


Try it yourself - do it today - it will enrich your life. Look for those little discoveries that can make life, careers, relationships that much more meaningful. It will prepare you for those inevitable changes that hit all of us - sometimes without warning - and make dealing with them an advantage, rather than a threat.

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

Ten Steps To Hiring The Right Person For The Right Job

Hiring the right person in the right job, whether through recruiting from outside, internal transfer, or internal promotion is, by far, the most difficult and rewarding challenge facing most organizations. It always will be. It is also the greatest opportunity to increase the effectiveness of any organization. Here are Ten Steps any organization should take to improve their batting average in this most critical part of their enterprise.

Step 1. Start with the end in mind. Start by answering the question " What would be the perfect match of candidate to job requirements?" Get specific - talk about the job, not the person. Determine the best possible skill, experience, industry knowledge, education and accomplishment combination that would make the best possible candidate. Ask the people with knowledge of the position - the stakeholders - to provide that information - in a structure where it can be captured. Don't let the applicant pool create the job requirements.

Step 2. Get to the heart of the matter: since success is most often created by the right mix of behaviors, attitudes and values, and personal skills, get the stakeholders to identify what mix of those three elements are needed for success in the job. This step becomes increasingly important at higher job levels. There may be a Job Description, but most of those documents simply aren't designed to capture that kind of information. And few are dynamic enough to reflect changes in content. This requires a structured approach to identifying those elements. It can be done - and done well. And if it is done well and becomes a part of the process used to select, it will increase success - a lot.

Step 3. Expand the pool of applicants: the Wall Street Journal ran a first page article on symphonies that had been plagued with a shortage of qualified musician candidates. One symphony started a " blind audition." The candidates played the audition music from behind a screen - the interviewers couldn't see them - but they could hear their music. Funny thing happened - lots more qualified candidates were identified. No more knockouts on gender, race, brand of instrument, hair style, school ties, appearance, fat, skinny, et al. Make sure your organization isn't knocking out people that can "play your music" at the beginning of the selection process.

Step 4. Train a team of stakeholders so they can effectively evaluate candidates in the interview phase of selection. Most organizations do no training in evaluation skills - big mistake. If you have had more than your share of mistakes in selection, continuing to do the things done in the past and expecting a different outcome doesn't make much sense. Provide the interviewers with full information on the position, and assign each interviewer specific areas of evaluation.

Step 5. In 99% of cases, no applicant will be a perfect fit. Define the "must have's," "good to have's," and "nice to have's" before the interview process. Don't let the interviewers rationalize those requirements based on the available applicant pool.

Step 6. Supplement interview evaluations, reference checks and other information with assessments to help define fit. If you currently use assessments, audit their effectiveness and the degree of trust and application they really have. There are great assessments and assessment processes available - the status quo is not a good reason to continue to use what was used in the past.

Step 7. Act quickly, decisively and with purpose in the selection cycle. Nothing impresses top candidates more than a process that communicates organization, purpose and decisiveness.

Step 8. Should the hiring manager say the candidate selected for employment is "the best we could find, " continue to look. That rationalization has caused more selection failures than any other.

Step 9. Select the person that the organization, based on objective measures and intuitive feelings, is convinced is the right person. Then help them succeed - but stay close - no people decision is ever 100% accurate. The best thing to do in a mistake situation is act on it as soon as it is evident that a mistake has been made. People in the organization will know within two weeks to three months if a mistake was made. Unfortunately, in many organizations, it takes a year or more for the "leadership" to acknowledge the mistake and act.

Step 10. Create a final feedback step in the selection process to evaluate what could have been done better or differently. Have successful hires participate in that evaluation.

Ten steps - sounds like a lot - it isn't. The organizations that use the Ten Steps in this process are much more successful in their selections than the ones that don't. If you can see ways to improve your own process by using all or some of these Ten Steps, then get rid of the status quo and change - 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; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/

Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved

Managing Goals - Sometimes You Gotta Trim The Tree

Managing goals and trimming trees. What? Let me tell you, I'm a goal junkie. I'm constantly setting goals for all kinds of things in my life. They are all SMART goals - they meet the criteria for good goals - I know how to do that. The only problem is my wants always exceed my gets. And that's a problem. How many of you have the same problem? Too many goals - too little time - too many unmet goals that have the ability to demotivate. You know what you want - you know how to get there - but the results simply do not meet the intentions.

A story about trimming trees:

I have a tree in the backyard. A Palo Verde tree - absolutely beautiful. Green trunk, delicate leaves, many, many branches and, like many desert trees, it's covered with hard, sharp thorns. Tough to trim without my becoming a pincushion - so it didn't get trimmed.

Up until last year it had lots of foliage - even in the driest months. Then something happened, and this year there are any number of small and large branches that are dead - dry as a bone. There is still some foliage, but not what it had been. The tree looks like it's dying. We increased the water, and some of the branches flourished, but many others didn't. I trimmed the outer branches, and removed a lot of the dead growth - but still no real progress.

Finally I consulted an arborist to see what to do. The arborist took one look at the tree and knew exactly what had to be done. He could see that the tree had grown without any trimming, and that every branch that popped out just grew. It had adequate water, and all those branches became major limbs of the tree - demanding nourishment. There must be 15 or twenty limbs that are creating this beautiful pattern of unrestrained growth. Only problem is that the tree's root structure can't support that much foliage - this is a desert tree, adapted to a low water environment. The result is going to be the death of the tree - unless hard decisions are made and the number of major tree limbs are reduced to no more than 5 to 7.

Since talking to the arborist, I've stood back and then circled that tree any number of times, and now I know which limbs to remove to get down to 5 to 7 major branches. Looking back, if it had been trimmed periodically it wouldn't need this kind of major surgery. Once the trimming is done, I will have a tree that won't look so good for a while, but that will flourish as it recovers from its foliage overload. The arborist told me if I hadn't sought out somebody with knowledge of the type of tree, its structure and needs as well as its growth habits, and then followed the advice given to reduce the burden on the tree root structure, within two to three years the tree would be dead, or blown over by one of the violent summer storms we get in Phoenix.

Now that major surgery is being done, I promise to trim it every six months, and not let this situation occur again.

What does this have to do with goals?

I sat down to review my goals for the first half of the year and wasn't too pleased with my accomplishments. Oh sure - I had gotten a lot done, but there were so many things I had included as either goals or as action items that my list of the things I completed looked pretty puny next to the list of things I wanted to get done. Then it occurred to me that my goals and that Palo Verde tree had a lot in common. And just like that tree, my goals had grown to the point where I could no longer sustain and meet them. I had gotten myself to the place where I had put too much on my plate at one time, and was busily trying to support too much with too little.

My goals had become so numerous that many were wilting on the tree - they were undernourished. And yet, I was working my butt off to support this wild growth, and not being successful. Luckily, I'm stepping back - like the arborist did for me - and taking a really hard look, and cutting back this thicket of goals to 3 to 5 major goals that I can support. I will be better for it - and more successful - and able to support more things in the future, but first I have to trim the tree - keep the 3 to 5 most important goals as the most important goals, and then work them - hard. Nourish the major branches - and in doing that, allow for stronger long term growth.

Take a look at your own tree of goals, along with your thicket of must do's and have to do's - and if you see too many branches for your resources, trim - and trim aggressively so you can focus on success in the main things.

Do it today - the beginning of the second half of the year is a great time to adjust, reengage, reevealuate, and come out of 2007 with success in the truly most important things.

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