Overcome The Wall Through Goals

See if this sounds familiar.

It's halfway through the year. Time for a goal review. No surprises - in good shape on some, and hitting the Wall on the tough one or two. Unfortunately, those one or two always include really important stuff. They're goals that have to be met. And yet, every time a certain point is reached this Wall gets in the way. It's a Wall you can't see, it's built of things like fear of failure, fear of unworthiness, fear of lack of ability, fear of fear, lack of resources and commitment - things that keep accomplishment from occurring.

The Wall and worthy goals go together. Sometimes it's so tempting to set easy - to - reach standards of performance. But setting goals that don't demand stretch means accepting the status quo - the great demon of progress and success.

Notice how the Wall only appears on the truly important, demanding, stretch goals? The goals that spell real progress, real success and real accomplishment? The Wall saves itself for the really important things.

Talk to any championship athlete in any endurance sport about the Wall. Some describe it's effect as being hit by a fist, others describe it as an irresistible force - hard to define, but even harder to move through. Every athlete has experienced it - the top ones have somehow fought through. And at the end of their challenge they are changed people - they have a sense of their capabilities that they did not have before. They have used their goal to go from hope to belief to a level of personal confidence they never knew existed.

Talk to a Navy SEAL who has endured their training and succeeded in graduating, and you will talk to a person who has found new limits to their physical and mental endurance. And they know they can go longer and further with less than they had ever imagined. They know their mental toughness made the difference - even the best conditioned will fail without the ability to keep their heads down and take one more step. One more step toward their goal.

Few of us will have the opportunity to experience what the world class athlete and the Navy SEAL experience - on a physical level. But we all have the opportunity to experience the Wall and overcome it on the mental level - the level the athlete and the SEAL agree is the most important for success.

Back to the Wall keeping you from your important goal.

Banging your head against the Wall doesn't work - it only feels good when you stop. Trying to visualize what it will feel like when you get through it gives good feelings, but feeling have never carried the day. Avoiding the Wall with activity and little"goals" and stuff that isn't that important helps for a little while, until you wake up at 3 AM and realize all that sound and fury really didn't mean much. Telling yourself that the Wall isn't really that important and turning your back on it doesn't help - all you're left with is an empty feeling of failure - of being less worthy and less able. Going around it and avoiding the challenge leaves the same feeling. And the longer you do these things the bigger the Wall becomes.

The athlete and the SEAL will both tell you that on their journeys there came times when they just wanted to lie down and quit. But they didn't. They took one more step. The same thing with your worthy, tough, goal. One more step may not seem like much but by the time you've reached the stage where one more step is important you've already come most of the way. Since you can't see over the Wall, you don't know how much longer your journey will be. So you have to remain convinced of the value and contribution of the goal - it's what sustains effort in the worst of times.

So take one more step - with the end in mind. And then another. Focus on the truly important and don't question your ability and worthiness - that's a destructive habit of thought. Recommit to the important stuff. And watch the Wall move, or crumble, or slowly reduce in size. Walls don't just disappear - just like bright flashes of inspiration rarely occur that save the day. The hard work of one more step overcomes the Wall.

And on the other side of the Wall you will find your own success - and transformation - and change. The reward of hard work and accomplishment provides the energy for continued success.

Review your goals today. Make sure you have a goal worthy of the Wall. Then persist. Be changed and grow by overcoming your Wall. You will be in the top ten percent when you do. I guarantee it.

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 2008 All Rights Reserved

Turn Negative Expectations Into Positive Outcomes

People keep disappointing me - they don't act as badly as I expect them to. I hate to admit it - but that happens all the time. It happens when I hide my negative expectations - and behave as if everything was going to be positive.

An example:

I was on a walk and a group of young men were headed toward me - late teens - four of them - walking shoulder to shoulder. There was not going to be enough space for me to stay on the sidewalk unless one of them gave way. My negative expectation was that they would make it difficult for me - it's happened before. As I got close to them, I smiled and said " How you doing?" They answered by asking me the same question. They also moved and gave me room to stay on the sidewalk.

I reflected on that little scenario, and was kind of ashamed that my expectation was that they would give me a hard time. But I felt good that - even though I didn't feel optimistic - I acted it. And the result was a pleasant exchange and we all went on our way.

How often do we let negative expectations cause negative behavior? How often do we let negative expectations create negative results? If you're like me, it's more often than I like to admit. And yet, when I work to overcome negative expectations and project positive behavior, I am pleasantly surprised. Things end up better than I expected.

What I've learned is to spend more time on positive behaviors, and less time trying to dwell on the reasons for negative expectations. How to do that?

The first step is awareness. After years of fine tuning our expectations based on our personal experience, the media, generalizations and a host of othet inputs, we act based on some really imbedded beliefs. The behaviors we adopt seem to happen so automatically we don't realize them. And those behaviors are the architects of our outcomes. Start building awareness by listening to yourself. Do you hear negative messages about how things will turn out - a sales prospect that won't buy, a proposal that will be rejected, an invitation extended but refused? If you do - and almost all of us do, you've got some expectation and behavior work to do.

Now that you've identified a negative expectation, it's time to create a positive behavior to overcome it. Look back at the sales call, the proposal, the invitation and see what could have been done to project a behavior that expressed a positive outcome. Perhaps that question that started "Would you like to-----?' could be stated differently. That proposal that apologized for the time it took to present it would have been better served with a statement of benefit. Perhaps that sales call that started with a thank you for your time could have started with a positive statement of value to the prospect. The point is to replace behavior based on negative expectations with behavior based on what we desire to be the outcome.

The next step is to learn from the result of the positive behavior - help the outcome challenge the beliefs and biases that led to the negative expectation in the first place. But don't try to over analyze where the expectation came from. Use the time to create and reinforce positive behaviors. Done often enough, the outcomes of the positive behaviors will change expectations. That's what's so great about having your actions lead your expectations.

Then do it again - and again. I guarantee positive results. I know a smile and an engaging question - "How are you doing?" work wonders with contacts. I learned it by forcing myself to use it - again and again. My expectation of people contacts has changed for the better - through my own positive actions. So will yours.

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

Qualities of Resourceful Leaders

Resourceful leaders get more done with available resources than less resourceful managers. It results in outcomes that far exceed expectations. It's critical for organizations challenged by competition, technology, suppliers, customers and the economy.

The ability of an organization to leverage their resources to provide excellent service, to meet and exceed commitments and to move forward technologically is a huge competitive advantage. Some organizations just seem to do a better job than others - one of the main reasons is resourceful leaders - at all levels.

What are the qualities resourceful leaders share - regardless of position within an organization?

We asked our clients - here's what they identified as eight essentials for resourceful leaders.

1 - The ability to create commitment - to get resources aligned and working toward a common goal - and a goal that is well understood. It's a "we're all in this together" approach. It's identifying and communicating a common cause that is worthy; that all can contribute to; and that results in individual and group recognition.

2 - It's being open to possibilities - wherever they may come from. It's taking inventory of what has gone before, rather than reinventing the wheel. NIH - (not invented here) thinking is unacceptable. It's engaging the people in the process - getting the best thinking and commitment of the internal experts.

3 - It's knowing success is not measured in energy expended or dollars spent, but in results. Results that come from SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant/Realistic and Time Framed. It's using goals to create expectations within the organization - from the top to the people who do the work.

4 - It's having an abundance mentality - the belief that there is plenty for everybody - you just gotta go and find it - and be open to finding it in the most unusual places. It's having the willingness to share - information, resources, credit, recognition. Collaboration skills and behaviors are essential.

5 - A resourceful leader always starts with the questions: "What do I Have?" and "What can I do with what I have?"

6 - Resourceful leaders know that simpicity is key to effective action and that complexity is the enemy of resourcefulness.

7 - It's the belief that the impact and contribution of the cumulative knowledge and effort of an effective team will always exceed that of any single person.

8 - Resourceful leaders listen and amend and learn and apply on the fly. They know that plans rarely survive the first contact with action - they value plans as a first step, and as a measure for progress and change.

Resourcefulness is part of the behavior and motivators of leaders; it exists in organizations where it is appreciated and rewarded. It's not just seen in crisis or projects - it's an everyday behavior. But it needs to be recognized and rewarded for it to grow. And the most fertile place for resourcefulness to grow is in a results oriented, goal directed environment.

Imagine how much more effective you and your enterprise can be by encouraging the development of these behaviors and beliefs and skills. Start today to develop a more resourcefulness friendly environment - and be amazed at the talent that you already possess.

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 Increase Your Personal Energy

Successful people have an energy about them. It's one of their most valuable resources. We asked many of the most successful people we know where they would put energy on the scale of requirements for success. All placed it in their top three. They were not talking just about physical energy, but about that hard to describe internal energy - in fact, when pressed, almost all placed internal energy above physical energy in terms of critical attributes.

How do they get and maintain their high level of personal energy?


Here's what they told us about creating personal energy.


The first thing is understanding that a high level of personal energy is a critical success factor, and then placing a high value on the things that create it - and treating the things that reduce it as enemies to success.


It's knowing that personal energy comes from within. There are external sources of stimulation that can add to energy in the short term, but the real source of personal energy is inside.


Optimism, and thinking in terms of opportunities creates personal energy. Pessimism and consequence thinking can suck the energy right out of anyone - even the most optimistic.


Good health - both physical and mental - provides the platform for high personal energy. Taking care of that health is critical. At the same time many highly successful people have overcome very difficult physical and mental issues to create the energy necessary to succeed. That's where optimism and opportunity thinking are so very critical.


It's getting up and acting that creates energy. One of our leaders attended a Hugh O'Brian Leadership Seminar when she was in high school. After the seminar she was asked what was the thing she remembered the most. Her answer was" To be enthusiastic you must act enthusiastic." Having actions control emotions creates personal energy.


Curiosity - a sense of discovery - wanting to know more - and then taking action to gain knowledge - creates personal energy. It's a key way to stay out of a rut. And remembering that the only difference between a rut and a grave is a rut's longer.


It's drawing inspiration from the accomplishments of others - and drawing strength from what they had to overcome to succeed. Reading biographies of successful people is a way many of our leaders create and renew their energy.


It's overcoming fear - today. And overcoming that little voice-demon that sits on everyone's shoulder and says "take it easy" and "be careful" and "this could be a mistake" and 'be afraid."


It's laughter and finding joy in everyday things. It's great to be able to laugh at a good joke - it's absolutely terrific to smile at the little child holding their mom's hand.


It's positive relationships - the kind that add optimism. And it's avoiding toxic relationships - the kind that pull down, create pessimism and destroy energy.


It's giving without keeping track of payback. Years ago one of our leaders was given a terrific piece of advice. "If you want to make a friend, let them do something for you." It works. We all - or at least most of us - want to give - to help.


It's realizing the toughest thing to do is to start - but once in motion, good things will and do happen. A very fit friend tells me the hardest part of a session at the gym is driving there. Once there, the exercise takes on a life of its own. Same thing with all kinds of things.


It's realizing that personal energy is a variable - from day to day the level of personal energy varies. But exerting the discipline to keep personal energy competitive on even the toughest day has its own rewards. Keeping the promises we make to ourselves creates energy.

A personal experience one of our leaders had illustrates that point.

She was working out at a gym. She'd had a bad day and wasn't feeling particularly optimistic or happy or opportunistic. As she worked to meet her time and distance goals, it became apparent that she was really laboring. The thought of just quitting started to be attractive. Then it struck her just how much her mental state of mind was impacting her level of physical performance. Her results that day were a good 10% less than normal performance. But at the end of the workout, she felt really good about overcoming those negative emotions to accomplish something she had promised herself she would do. That little demon perched on her shoulder had been trying to tell her to "give up", to "try again another day." She ignored it. A small victory. It'll be back, but she knows she can overcome it. That realization felt good - felt energizing. Action guided emotion.

Take a few moments - right now - and assess your level of energy. Then pick out one of the ways our leaders use to increase their energy levels. Laugh, smile, think about an opportunity. Discipline yourself to take action, and have that action control your emotions. Be prepared to be amazed at how your thoughts and actions can and will lift your energy level.

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 Andrew Cox 2008 All Rights Reserved

Organizational Silos- How To Deal Effectively With Them

I was driving through dairy country in Virginia, and the silos at every farm reminded me of a client I was working with at the time - a successful manufacturing company undergoing change. They had organizational silos - much tougher to deal with than the ones on the farm. But they do share certain characteristics.

The company had been successful for many years, but new competition and new technology were forcing change. Their organizational silos were big obstacles to change.They were firmly in place, and while their occupants were convinced of the need for change, they were just as firmly convinced change was needed in all the other silos, but not in theirs. Whenever the call for increased productivity, problem solving and collaboration went out, each silo responded individually - by working harder - more hours - more volume. It got a lot busier, but not a lot more effective.

It wasn't until the silos were changed that real change and growth could take place.

The CEO realized that all silos have two things in common - first, they keep things in - and second, they keep things out.

There is one other thing the vast majority of silos share - the only way to get anything into them is through the top - or, sometimes, through the bottom. Nothing gets in through the sides.

One way for that to change is to knock down the silos, but the longer they've been in place, the tougher that is to do. And they have real value to most enterprises - they're not necessarily bad. And when they are knocked down, all hell breaks loose - so it isn't done very often.

My client placed a high value on their silos - they were structures that had been effective and provided the kind of organization and order that focused people on their work. That kind of order has a high value - as it should. And the silos were full of good, experienced people who knew their jobs, and took pride in them. But when organizational silos create barriers to collaboration, to outside the box (or should we say silo) thinking, to looking at new and innovative solutions to competition and innovation, then they have to be dealt with.

My client decided on a strategy that kept the structures, but poked holes in the sides - letting ideas and communication and problem solving circulate through different levels - and creating opportunities for peer to peer and cross functional activities to occur. It wasn't easy, but it was effective.

The key steps taken to make this happen were :

The CEO communicated expectations. He made it very clear in communications and actions that the way internal business was conducted had to change if the business was to survive and prosper. He communicated the pressing need for change. He then communicated what he saw as the structure that would be developed to make that happen.

The top 5 goals for the business were made known to every one of the 1500 employees.

Company and functional area performance to the top 5 goals was reported to all on a monthly basis.

Cross functional and problem solving teams were established and trained in team development, dynamics and communications.

A close analysis of approval chains was made with the objective of eliminating as many low value - added steps as possible - and putting as much responsibility as possible at the most effective operating level.

Every functional head was required to make cross functional activity part of every employees responsibilities. Either as part of a team, or through temporary assignments, or through transfer to other functions.

Every functional head was required to communicate their contribution and issues to the whole organization. This was done using teleconferences and meetings, an internal E Zine, and face to face meetings

The effect was that the silos grew closer to each other - and became interdependent. It worked well enough that the business found solutions that kept it competitive and growing. And they found them inside the organization - the place where 95% of the answers to organizational issues can be found. And just as importantly, it created a new set of behaviors between silos that allowed skills, experience and capabilities to be used on an interdependent basis. Much higher leverage of human capital was created.

Silos don't have to be knocked down. While "organizational silos" is most often spoken as a negative term, it doesn't have to be. Respecting and valuing structure while creating opportunities for leveraging the talent in organizations can be the single most effective that can be done to gain competitive advantage.

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

Eleven Ways Leaders Create Focus

Focus is a key Personal Skill of successful people. The ability to bore into the most important things and stay attentive and focused on them, and continue that behavior as a means of solving problems, contacting prospects, writing a report, preparing a presentation, doing an analysis, maximizing the value of a meeting, is key to success. Focus maximizes time - it results in more being done in less time.


And yet, for most people, acquiring the Personal Skill of focus seems impossible - too many distractions, too many things and too little time, too many impositions to even think of focusing on one thing for any period of time. The result is that a lot of decisions are made with superficial research, at best. Even the most important decisions get short attention - or get set aside, all in the name of not enough time.


You won't hear the highly successful using the excuse of too little time. They take the time - they make the time - they treasure their time - they refuse to let their time be dribbled away on "stuff."


How do they do that?


We asked the most effective people we know how they can seem to get so much accomplished. Here's a summary of the advice they gave us.


1 - Be selfish with your time and be rewarded with focus and time to be generous. Guard your time against the many intruders that would consume it to no effect. Once that's done, time for focusing just seems to appear. And time to be generous in giving to others appears as well.


2 - Know what's most important to you - that day. If you can't state what are the most important things to you - for that day - you can't possibly maximize time and create focus. Goals are critical to creating focus and effectiveness.


3 - Live your life in "day tight compartments." Dale Carnegie made that suggestion in his book "Stop Worrying and Start Living." What does that mean? Don't waste time on yesterday, don't waste time on tomorrow - spend your time - physically and emotionally, in today. Wall off all those things that try to intrude that aren't important today. Focus on today - exclude all other things. Make today it's own day tight compartment


4 - Create trust wherever you can. The more trust people have in you, the more time you will have to focus on your most important things.


5 - Eat the frog first. Brian Tracy - in a book of the same name, advises that the frog - the most important thing you have to do today - be the first thing attacked every day. Failure to do that results in constant looking over your shoulder and anxiety - both are robbers of focus.


6 - Ask! Ask for help, ask for resources, ask for information, ask for cooperation. And be a giver and a taker - in equal measure.


7 - Train yourself to focus. Use an hour as your time block and spend an uninterrupted hour on focusing on the most important thing. Be amazed at the end of that time to see how much progress you have made. Extend that focus exercise to your other top goals. The skill of focusing and giving undivided attention for an hour is a top 10% skill - it gives enormous competitive advantage.


8 - Learn to say no. If you're not enthusiastic about doing something you won't do a good job. And that will corrode trust, and create anxiety, and lead to interpersonal issues. Plus, being a martyr to someone else's needs is really unattractive - and unappreciated. If you've ever tried to really focus on something you didn't feel good about, you know what a waste of time that is.


9 - Be realistic. Everyone has a boss. It may be that on any given day very little time will be available for focus on important stuff. Other things get in the way. Treasure that one hour that is available and spend it focused on the most important thing.


10 - Don't confuse busy with focused or effective. Often all busy is is a way to avoid the truly important.


11 - Be a respecter of the time of others. To the extent that you want your time respected, you gotta respect the time of others. If you don't respect the time of others, you're a taker - and nobody likes or respects a taker.

Start today - in this particular "day tight compartment" - to develop the Personal Skill of focus. Start with goals - and then translate them into daily goals and tasks. Watch your effectiveness and accomplishments soar.

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

Ten Ways To Ensure Your Goals Are Leading You To Success

Success, energy, passion and commitment are created by success - success at accomplishing the goals we have set for ourselves, and the goals that others have set for or with us. Nothing is more powerful than accomplishment.

Many of us never seem to complete all the goals and tasks we set for ourselves on a daily and weekly and monthly basis. We tend to focus on what we didn't do, rather than on all the things that got done. The effect of overbooking ourselves is that we probably get more done, but the price of never meeting all of our own commitments can be very high.

The price is high if the effect of constantly falling short of our own goals and expectations results in self criticism and a feeling that we don't measure up. And the result is less energy, less commitment, less goal setting. And we did it to ourselves.

It's a balancing act between - on the one hand, stretching and keeping a high level of energy and commitment and confidence in ourselves and - on the other hand, getting discouraged because of our own self imposed failures.

That's why the goal formula - SMART - is so important in setting goals. SMART, it stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time specific, helps us protect against the burnout and discouragement of setting goals that are beyond stretch - that are out there with dreams and ideals - nice to think about but no help when it comes to accomplishment - today.

Here are ten ways you can ensure that your goals are leading to your success, and not to your discouragement:

1 - If you constantly end the day with a sense of frustration because you didn't meet all your goals and plans for that day - and celebration of what was accomplished is pushed aside by frustration - it's time you changed your thinking. And working harder isn't the answer.

2 - Few goals, no more than three to five, are better than many. Having many goals is often the result of confusing intention with action. Many goals can be a sign of not wanting to make the har.d choices required by priorities.

3 - If you use a daily task/goal list, after completing it, take the least important third of the items and put them in the trash. Stop overbooking and when you do get all the things done you committed to do, treat a "fun to do" as a reward for a day well done.

4 - Create short term goals that represent progress and then focus on it. The problem with the big, long term goals is that they are so far away that progress is hard to sustain. Example. If you want to do 12 pullups as a goal, and right now you can't do one, perhaps a short term goal of one will set you on the way to 12.

5 - Treat your goals as mileposts on a journey, rather than a destination. Every step can be celebrated; every step gets you closer to your dream; but celebrate the journey to keep commitment and energy positive.

6 - Don't be reluctant to modify your goals when your instincts and actions tell you that that is a wise thing to do. Remember, insanity is continuing to do the same things and expecting a different outcome. That's true with goals. Maybe the goal of pushing for 15 sales calls in a day is less important - and attainable - than 5 quality interviews in a day. Realize it's the results that count.

7 - Give yourself, and others, credit and recognition for small victories. You know, the call you made that you had been dreading; the presentation that your team gave even though they dreaded having to give it; the analysis that wasn't good news, but had to be reported; the irate customer that was helped. Others may not know the price you paid to do those things, but you know it. Give yourself a pat on the back for courage and commitment.

8 - Be flexible. In a perfect world we may have control of our time and how it is spent. In the real world, stuff happens. Deal with it - don't see "stuff " as an imposition, just do it. Then get back on track, even if the track has taken a sudden right turn.

9 - Realize that you are probably your own worst critic. That's good - that's bad. Use your self criticism constructively - that's good. Hand wringing and regret for things not done is bad - real bad. And while I'm not a student of the brain, have you ever noticed how we tend to soak up the things that didn't go right much easier than we reward and recognize ourselves for the good stuff?

10 - Keep an Accomplishment Log or Journal. Every day write down what you accomplished and feel good about it.

Goals guide us and help us succeed - and help us know what success is. Keep them positive and reinforcing, and watch your own success grow.

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