Tag: Quotes

Does Your Vision Do This?

Does your vision – personal, professional, or both – send a shiver down your spine when you think or talk about it?

What if it did?

What would it take?

As a professional speaker, a wise person once told me, “Jeff, if you look out at your audience, and they look bored, you’re boring them”.

To me, this means if I’m  bored with my thinking, and not motivated, excited or inspired enough, it’s my responsibility to take action.

There are many ways to figure this out.  It happened to me and I’m applying my best efforts to, as Gandhi said, “You must become the change you wish to see in the world”.

What about you?

Thank goodness it’s Monday.  Bring it on.  Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

What, No Pixie Dust?

A comment on yesterday’s jungle jeff post started me thinking.

His question to me was, “No Pixie Dust”?

It was “missing” from my personal Leadership Top Ten List.

He made a good point and I thought for a moment, “How could I have forgotten Pixie Dust”?

Then, just as quickly, if not faster, the answer hit me.

Pixie Dust IS Passion.  Period.

What’s Magic about the way Disney does things is their PASSION to:

  1. Create the highest quality products and services.
  2. To stay focused on why they are in business – to serve their Guests
  3. To stay disciplined to “keep their eye on the ball” – Quality

Passion IS Pixie Dust.

Always was.  Always will be.   Thank you Walt Disney for your vision.

By the way, Vision and Passion are my respective number one & two top leadership values.

Guess what’s number three?   Communication!

Looks like a coincidence, doesn’t it?  The harder you work, the luckier you get.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff  🙂

PS.  Does your own Vision send shivers down your spine?

PSS.  What if it did?  Can you comprehend that?  I hope so.  🙂

jungle jeff’s Top Ten List

jungle jeff’s top ten list:

Today, my personal Leadership recipe:

  1. Vision – number one, it must be compelling, and impossible
  2. Passion – passion is unlike yeast, we need a ton of passion
  3. Communication – more is better; daily
  4. Confidence – people love someone who believes “all the way”
  5. Structure – how great work gets done effectively, and quickly
  6. Teamwork – together, everyone achieves more
  7. Innovation –  fancy word for creativity; implementing creative ideas
  8. Measurement – you can’t improve what you don’t measure
  9. Results – this is why we are in business
  10. Fun – do what you love

Mix with courage, or, an indomitable will, and you have the opportunity to achieve what others say can’t be done.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff  🙂

Gain Knowledge in Amazing Places

Knowledge. Wow!  Some say, “Knowledge is power“.  Ever heard that phrase?

Next question, “Do you believe it’s true”?

I do, mostly.  However, just knowing is not enough for me.

And by the way, you can gain knowledge at parties, the Internet, and simply through experience.

Way more important though, is applying the knowledge.  Ya with me?

On July 4th, at a friends party, I spoke with a retired small business owner.   What got us talking was my question, “Do you run”? He certainly didn’t look 65 to me.  Not even close.

Anyway, I got some great small business tips from him:

  1. Number one, most important – be passionate about what you do
  2. Build long-term relationships;  never burn any bridges
  3. Deliver POS – Positively Outrageous Service

I asked another question, “I’ve heard that you either run your business or it runs you.  What do think of that”?

This led to a final, and critical message –Be prepared to work your life around your business.

In my 35 years paying taxes, I’ve worked in organizations where the leader said, “Run it like it’s your own business”. Heck, I used to try to inspire my direct reports with the exact same message.

It sure looks good on paper doesn’t it?  “Run it like it’s yours”. Until I did the math.

Searching the Internet for validation, I found various studies conclude anywhere from 50% to 80% of start-up businesses disappear within five years, with the majority within two years.

I paused.  Reflected on the significance.  And then acted on this knowledge in a dramatically different way than ever before, 18 months ago.

And to my surprise and delight, it’s made me a significantly better professional speaker.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂

Walt Disney & Roy Disney

Walt Disney and Roy Disney.  What a combination.  One of the key things that made them a great team was their differences.

Walt, in my opinion, was the modern-day father of creativity.   Roy, well, perhaps a financial genius. And both were very hard workers.

I think I met their reincarnations last night, on Sanibel Island.

I’ll call them Vince and Dirk.

Two men, both entrepreneurs, formed a small business partnership, and shared with me their incredible vision for their future.

What I love about Vince and Dirk is they represent, to me, seasoned business professionals who are capitalizing on these turbulent times, using technology and creativity, to position themselves for growth.

One watches every penny.  One uses enthusiasm to spawn creativity.  Both hustle and work incredibly hard.

I got excited just listening to their story.

If you told your story to a complete stranger, do you think that stranger would get excited about what you’ve done and what you are about to do?

I sure hope so.  Carpe diem, jungle jeff 🙂