Morons beware. I don’t use moron in my vocabulary, because it sounds derogatory. However, using it in a blog title is catchy and gutsy. In business, who doesn’t like that combination?
“The death of education and the dawn of learning”. (can you identify the “morons”?):
Bob Dylan said it best, “He who’s not busy being born, is busy dying”.
Betting nine out of ten will not watch this video. Nine out of ten don’t exercise either. Nine out of ten spend more than they earn.
Not judging. Just stating simple probability. Only the mediocre are at their best all the time.
If not today, when. The clock is ticking. Carpe diem, jeff noel
Spoke a week ago about overcoming addiction. and that I’d elaborate on that. Not quite ready too.
Meanwhile, thought I’d layer on another challenging situation I’ve worked through. Overcoming disability.
Not ready to elaborate on that either.
It almost makes me angry, the vibe I get from people who think I have no idea what darkness and dispair look like. What impossible odds look like. What fear and self-doubt look like.
I can almost hear people say, “You talk a good talk Jeff, but you have no idea what I’m going through”.
We have a saying in the small Pennsylvania town I grow up in, “Bullcrap”!
Writing this makes me stronger. Hope reading it makes you stronger. Carpe diem, jungle jeff
You know how you get to be an expert? I certainly didn’t. Because I , and so few others, stick with anything long enough and passionately enough to master it, let alone become the teacher.
That’s when you start becoming the expert. When people come to you to learn.
What does it take to be a social media expert? Here are a few of my guesses:
Have at least 1,000 blogs posts to be taken seriously
Be on Google results front page for all your websites
Host multiple blogs
Post daily (say five per day)
Generate millions of hits annually
Use the big social media tools
Be on the curve for the newly emerging tools
Make money and change lives
Have fun
Have guts
Have decently thick skin
Be prepared to work hard and stretch yourself
I don’t make anything up. That’s part of my personal brand commitment.
Audacious ain’t it? Maybe even antagonistic? Perfect.
Because I understand completely how Disney operationalizes it’s culture.
“Culture is what people think and do, without thinking”. — jeff noel
One of the easiest ways is to use traditions. Our Country does. All great Countries do. So if it works for Countries and for Companies, why couldn’t it work for individuals?
Here’s a You Tube video describing the power of a simple “family tradition”:
Our son will always remember our Twistee Treat tradition. Always? Guarantee it. How?
Because of the repetition. Why do we celebrate holidays year after year? It gets ingrained into our being. It’s who we are.
When that happens, people do things without even thinking. It was Monday, in Lahti, Finland. I was there representing Team USA at the Masters Track & Field World Championships.
Even with all the distractions, I knew it was Monday and that meant Twistee Treat day. Maybe this is so simple it’s flying right over your head.
Until I understood this phenomenon, I could not break through to greater success. Carpe diem, jungle jeff
Disney has taught me to analyze my leadership values. And more than that, to analyze my leadership behaviors.
Funny thing is, my values and my behaviors were contradictory.
The other funny thing, I was clueless. Seriously clueless. The origin of the phrase blind spot comes from the fact that everyone can see it but one person – they have a blind spot.
Plus, everyone else is chicken to say anything, because confrontation is uncomfortable, and many times, ugly.
Who wants that? Who needs that? Not me. Not you. No one is lining up for that kind of stress.
So I confronted myself. It was not ugly, but is was uncomfortable. And then it was impossible. I had suspected it for years, but only casually, because the truth would mean I had dramatic life-altering changes to make.
I’ll tell you more tomorrow, or maybe later this week. We’ll see. For now though, carpe diem, jungle jeff
Biggest blind spot? You really want to know? It’s embarrassing actually.
What makes it embarrassing is the fact that I was so clueless about it. Seriously clueless.
To teach is to learn twice, and as I worked hard to apply what I was teaching (1999-ish), an epiphany appeared.
By the way, it’s likely that I hold some sort of State or National record for epiphanies.
It has been a life changing event for me. Life changing!
Tomorrow, I’ll share it. Sometime soon, why not give some consideration to a huge change you need to make, but are clueless you need to make it.
Oh, I get it, this is uncomfortable, and I’m full of garbage, right?
Anyone remember the Disney movie, Miracle? The athletes literally hated their coach. Yet their coach had them do something that no one had done in twenty years.
Click here to get a taste of how a jerk helped an team of non-superstars do the impossible.
PS. If you didn’t click on the hyperlink Miracle, you owe it to yourself to do it now. Unless you’re a chicken$h!t. Carpe diem, jungle jeff
In 2000, I began teaching world-class Leadership Excellence to others, and a key life lesson was revealed to me in the form of an epiphany.
While I judge myself on my intentions, everyone else judges me on my behaviors.
What a wake up call this proved to be. (and the hidden message in this post is it’s the exact same for you)
To make a long story short, our son’s name is Chapin. His name was partially inspired by the Harry Chapin song, “Cat’s in the Cradle“, from 1974.
He’s going to turn out just like me. This is why it’s critically important I am obsessed with being a good and decent person.
It’s the same in business too. We’ve all seen leaders, who are too busy to notice key things – just like the father in the song – and therefore lack the awareness to set a better example.
I’m sure you’ve got nothing to worry about though.
Carpe diem, jungle jeff
PS. I’m not claiming to be a perfect leader by any stretch of the imagination. Do claim to be proactively searching and addressing my blind spots.
Thought representing the USA at World’s and stepping out on The Ledge, were impossible.
Disney has helped me realize the only limitations I have are those I impose upon myself. In passing this on to our son, I am reminded, “To teach is to learn twice”.
