jungle jeff

Click here to see list on Top 10 Social Bookmarking Sites on the Web. Social networking has many tools, and many challenges. There’s an ocean of competition, but technology makes for smoother sailing.

Don’t ya just love technology?  The more we do something, the less fearful we are of it.  That’s one of the key drivers that makes many people want to try something new – to lessen fear.

And that’s one of our key accountabilities as a leader, isn’t it?  To lessen fear.  Carpe diem.

PS. Skyped a friend in South Africa yesterday.   Wasn’t exactly fearful of it, but had never done an International video chat before. Now I wonder why I waited so long.  It was ridiculously easy.

jungle jeff Leadership 101 Tip:

“Leadership  - Inspiring others by the courage of your own example”.

This is the essence of what I personally believe is the ultimate leadership definition.

Perhaps the best way to fully understand its meaning is to re-read it, think deeply about it, and ultimately, evaluate our own “daily examples”.  This would lead us to a “personal leadership score”.

We would base our “score” on our daily leadership example.  And our basis should be brutally honest.

It seems, to me, that on days where I don’t need much courage, I’m probably not a very good example.  Hope today is a courage-filled day for all of us.

Rosa Parks was not out to win a popularity contest.  Was she?

She also was not the first to refuse to give up her bus seat for a white man.  But thank goodness she did on December 1, 1955.  She was 42.

• Where did her courage come from?
• Why did she demonstrate it?
• Did she have a plan?
• What was she prepared to give up?
• What did she think she’d gain?
• Was she scared?

Rosa Parks is one of my heros, inspiring  me to use courage for the right reasons.  So today I commit to asking  the same questions.

And, by the way, it’s not a popularity contest.  Courage rarely makes you popular until years later.

Indescribable?  Completely.

Meeting with a writer this morning after Church.  We’re collaborating. I’ve written somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,300 jeff noel blog posts, from five individual jeff noel blogs.  Began writing consistently six months ago.

He agreed to read every single Mid Life Celebration blog post prior to today’s meeting.  While it wasn’t required, I decided to do the same. Wow.  It’s pretty inspiring content, because it is written by a common man.

Here’s an example from August 1st, entitled “Indescribable“.

Hope you day is, well, Indescribable!.

My friend is a small business owner.  He’s been in business for over 30 years.  Yesterday he told me, “This is the worst I’ve seen it”.

No one is coming into his store.  He has gotten creative and started, for the first time ever, going out looking for business. If business won’t come to him, he’s going to go to it.

I congratulated him on being successful for so long, and mentioned I started an LLC in January, and the odds are (overwhelmingly) stacked against me. In fact the odds are stacked against anyone starting a (small) business.

History and statistics don’t lie.

What to do?

Figure it out.  Failure is not an option.

History and statistics do not lie.

T-shirts.  We all have a few.  Some of them are part of who we are.  A form of self expression.  They are usually priced right, which is why many people have too many.  Plus, it’s difficult to part with them.

The other day, while driving in Central Florida, a man was wearing a t-shirt that caught my attention.  It read, “Shut Up And Push“.

Instantaneously, this led me to wonder about the slogan and how it applies to business.  This is the way my crazy mind works.

In today’s economic crunch, in addition to doing all the daily things we always do, there are two other line items that demand our attention.  Number one – worry about the future.  Number two -prepare for the future.

If you think about it you will realize, the future is extra work, but only if you focus on it.  Not to mention, the future is hard work, but only if you focus on it.

What I decided I need to do is, “Shut up and push“!

John F. Kennedy said, “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining”.

Manner of Speaking WordPress blog.  It’s a good one.  Click here to check it out.

If you have no interest in Public Speaking, that’s ok.  May I offer this different perspective for still paying attention to this jungle jeff blog post?

As a Professional Speaker, sometimes a “sports story” is appropriate. There are people however, that will immediately turn off and tune out.  Why?  Well for starters, they’ll say things like:

• “I don’t like sports”.
• “I never played sports”.
• “I don’t watch sports”.
• “I hate sports”.

So let me just say this, when I tell a “sports story”, it’s not about sports, it’s about excellence.  When I blog about public speaking, it’s not about public speaking as much as it is about passion, and the pursuit of excellence – in any endeavor.

That’s why you should pay attention.  “You can observe a lot by watching”. – Yogi Berra

Motivation is like a meal.  Seriously.  But we all forget.

Should an Annual Conference’s motivational effects last all year?

Should monthly meetings keep teams inspired all month?

Weekly meetings?  Will the excitement last all week?

Daily meetings?  All day?

After breakfast, most humans are ready to be nourished again at lunch. Even after two decent meals, most are ready for a third meal in the evening.

We even throw in snacks to help sustain us. Why?

Because motivation, inspiration and excitement begin to subside within hours, just like meals.

Do you have any idea what this means to you and me as effective leaders?

It’s hard to say a lot in only a few words.  It seems my blog posts have gotten three to seven sentences too long lately.

Studying Disney the way I have since I was a child watching Walt Disney on TV in the early 1960′s, has taught me to always be evaluating service and product delivery.  Always.

In turbulent times, it’s even more challenging to be proactive – everyone is insanely busy.  Daily evaluating gives way to just surviving.

Every single day, our son sees me check GoDaddy web statistics.  He knows which days are great and which are average. The last two have been average, after a record setting day.

He just turned nine and I’ve already put him to work.  Walt Disney’s father, Elias, put Walt to work early with a newspaper delivery business.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.   Carpe diem, jungle jeff

PS.  Oh, and one more thing, what is now considered an “average” day, used to be “record breaking” day. Funnier still, it was the same for Walt Disney.  Still is, actually.

Excellence is not a risk free journey.  Nor is excellence guaranteed, even if you work desperately hard.

I know first hand.

And what I have learned, and in many cases, relearned, is that the road to excellence has no finish line.

We are never at a place where we are finished.

These are lessons Walt Disney learned and worked to his advantage.

Now, I’m teaching our son the key insights of a brilliant man – Walt Disney.

Walt Disney’s ideology taught me how to go from one push up a day ten years ago to the 2009 WMA Masters Track and Field World Championships last week.

My son has seen me apply so many Disney strategies to getting and staying healthy, that he is also inspired to be excellent.

Who wouldn’t want that for a child?

Carpe diem, jungle jeff

PS.  Tomorrow, an insight on the recent change in direction here at jungle jeff.  Some of you have commented and I’ll share a sneak peek tomorrow.