Many, many years ago, I remember my mum saying to me:

“Whatever you end up doing son, always ensure you buy the best shoes you can afford and keep them clean. You can tell a lot about someone through their shoes.”

That statement has stuck with me for the past 30 years and I adhere to it, even today.

Photo coutesy of JakoJellema

I clean all my shoes weekly without fail.

I keep them in their original boxes.

I never wear the same shoes for two days running.

At the weekend my favourite shoes were repaired; new sole and new heal. The cost of the repair was higher than buying a new pair of shoes (well some shoes, anyway) but they are my favourite and they are so comfortable.

Then I thought…this is the second time the shoes have been in for repair in only a few months.

Why?

Well it is plain and simple.

I Manage My Teams And Staff By Walking About

I go and visit the teams throughout the organisation.

I talk with the staff.

How Much Time Do You Spend With Your Staff?

Whatever your answer was – it was not enough.

You need to double the time.

Your staff expect you to be available for them and you have to ensure you are, as often as possible. Obviously, there are times when you cannot be, such as holidays and meetings, but the rest of the time, you should make sure you are available.

Accolade Or Complaint

Every morning I go out and talk to my staff, listen to them and see how things are. Before hand, I find out if any particular member of staff has delivered a great piece of work to a customer, or has received a customer accolade or complaint.

If someone has, I mention it.

If it is a complaint or a bad service, still support the member of staff.  Find out ­how to improve the service next time and ensure it does not happen again.

The last thing they need is the Manager reprimanding them, unless it is a performance issue and it keeps happening, then that is different, you do need to act.

Make Your Shoes Work As Well

Sometimes you will be accountable for staff that are in a different location to you. No problem. Firstly ring them, talk to them, and secondly, when you visit the site, make sure you visit the staff.

Another time my shoes do their stuff is when I ‘go back to the floor’.

Learn from your staff by seeing what they do each day. Shadow them and see what tools and processes they have to work with. See the tasks they have to do. You will be astonished with what they have to put up with. Then put a plan together to remove their frustrations and obstacles they have to deal with each day.

As a Manager, you need to be present for your staff. They will want to see you and they will want to ask you questions.

Therefore, get yourself a great pair of shoes and start walking and talking.

What is your most useful Manager's tool?

By the way, my First-Class Managers Course now includes a 10-week Audio Management Coaching Course as an added bonus and is cheaper than a pair of shoes!

Be warned – this posting reveals who has been ‘fired’ from the sixth episode and the rest of the post is only my observation and opinion based upon 60 minutes of edited TV, nothing more.

“She could not organise her way out of a paper bag”

“She could not organise a p**s-up in a brewery”

Did you see episode 7 of The Apprentice and the total disorganisation of one team? Due to the team Leader? Yes, but I did not see her team suggesting ways to improve the debacle.

The task: Fly to Morocco and buy 10 described and detailed items as cheap as possible. The team that spends the most money buying the 10 products wins.

Sir Alan (SAS) chose the Team Leaders. Lee was one, Jen was the other. It was their first time as being the Team Leaders.

Jen’s approach:

“Right, what we got to do? Oh, shall we just go”

No plan, no strategy, no research, just scattergun approach. Totally out of control.

Lee’s approach:

Motivate the team.

Research.

Agree accountabilities.

Which team is going to win?

Do I need to answer? It is obvious, isn’t it?

What a team!

Jen’s team also had the clueless Michael, the backstabbing (and nasty) Jenny, the lose-cannon Claire and the drippy Alex.

I do not like any of them and I would not offer any of them a job. I know I said last week Claire could win and I still think that but I would not employ her. She is a total lose cannon. She goes off, does her own thing and has not once of ‘team work’ inside her.

Here's Jenny and Michael asking a stall holder to pray
while he kills a chicken to make it Kosher!

Lee’s team just show you do not have to be a nasty, backstabbing, manipulative individual to be in business and win.

In fact, all of the team members on Lee’s team are much nicer individuals.

The Board Room Debacle

Jenny lied.

Michael lied (and threw his toys out of his pram!).

Jen blamed everyone else other than herself.

But Jen had to go and she did. Her Management approach was amazingly bad.

I see both Alex and Michael leaving very, very soon.

As recently posted, I read The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.

This is my first posting in a series of where I share my personal actions as a result of reading the book.

The book concentrates on how to reduce your working week, how you can work from anywhere and how you can become rich, so you can do the things you really want to do.

The book asks: “What Do You Want?”, “What Are Your Goals?” and suggests one way to help you decide is to ask yourself “What Would Excite You?”

It got me thinking.

I have worked full-time each and every week for the past 28 years (except holidays!).

If I could reduce my working week and had unlimited money, what would I do? What excites me?

Based on that scenario, it is actually quite hard to decide what I would do.

Tim offers help by stating list things you dream of having, being and doing.

I would love to have:

• A huge house with uninterrupted views of the sea with an added spa and sports complex, and a personal cleaner, garner, driver cook and trainer

• A brand new Audi R8

• A slim healthy body

• A complete set of new clothes worth $50k for my new slim, healthy body

• A $100m Management Business

 I would love to be:

• A great cook

• A great artist

• A number one selling author

• A world famous public speaker

I would love to do:

• Travel around Europe in my new Audi R8 staying in first-class accommodation

• Spend a year travelling around the world, first-class

• See all the wonders of the world

• Visit Las Vegas and come home $1m richer

• Professionally sing in front of thousands

Am I dreaming big enough?

Why don’t you share your dreams – it may help others.

Go on.

Besides being the CEO and founder of Turning Point, Inc;  Maxwell Publishing's  bestselling author; an internationally recognized Internet marketing and publicity expert; and an award-winning keynote speaker,

Kathleen Gage also takes her Spiritual walk seriously. She has been on a conscious spiritual quest for over three decades. With a thirst for knowledge and a deep desire to more fully understand one's purpose, Kathleen has traveled to locations around the globe, read, listened to and studied various spiritual and religious practices.

With a belief that we all have an important contribution to make to our own life and the lives of others to improve one's quality, Kathleen is dedicated to enhancing levels of awareness in herself and others.

http://www.dailyawareness.com/

This posting is insipred by this Seth Godin's post.

Since reading The 4-Hour Work Week I have been reducing the number of meetings I attend. No-one has yet complained. For the next month only attend 50% of the meetings you are invited to and see if anything happens, other than you'll have more time to do other things!

Be warned – this posting reveals who has been ‘fired’ from the sixth episode and the rest of the post is only my observation and opinion based upon 60 minutes of edited TV, nothing more.

What an utter shambles. Can I say that again? What an utter shambles. It feels good saying that and I am referring to the latest episode of The Apprentice.

Both teams were dreadful. I believe the ideas in this show were some of the worst ever, in the history of The Apprentice!

No common sense from any of the delegates.

There, I said it. What do you think?

The task: Create a new occasion for a greeting card and sell the idea and the cards to three top retailers.

Sir Alan (SAS) chose the Team Leaders. Kevin was one, Michael was the other.

Kevin Shaw

Michael Sophocles

Kevin’s team for an occasion card was ‘Save The Planet’, an environmental card.

So who is going to buy and send a card which is preaching about what you should do about the environment.

And then the best part of the show. Jenny who came up with the idea of the ‘Environment Greeting Card’, was so passionate about saving the planet and said, “I don’t buy cards because of the impact on the environment” (or similar words to that!). What? Did I hear that correctly? You, Jenny, thought of the environmental card idea and you wouldn’t buy one? Fire her on the spot, PLEASE.

Please, please let me know if you would buy one of these ‘Environment’ cards.

Raef in Michael’s team found a gap in the card market. Buy someone who is single a card.

Now, who is going to give someone a ‘singles’ card? Rub it in, why don’t you.

Everyone else gets a lovely valentines card, I get a ‘well done for being single’ card. Well, thanks a lot my friend – that has really cheered me up.

After the design of the cards, both teams had to pitch to the retailers to ‘sell’ their cards.

Kevin said he wanted to take ‘some kind of responsibility’ and decided he would do the pitch. It was a disaster.  He should have picked the best person to do the pitch – that is taking responsibility.

When you manage a team, always, always, always use the strengths of the individuals around you.

Remove your own ego. Jenny or Claire should have delivered the pitch.

Raef did a decent pitch to his retailers and the singles card was slightly better than the environment card.

Therefore, Kevin’s team lost.

Not only did Kevin make the mistake of doing the pitch himself, he did not take Jenny into the Boardroom with him. A big mistake, which cost Kevin his life in The Apprentice. I am convinced SAS would have fired Jenny.

So who can win this years Apprentice?

Well no one really stands out and I think this year’s delegates are far worse than previous years delegates, don’t you?

Therefore, in my opinion, who could win:

Claire – strong, driven, creative, decision maker

Raef – respected, charismatic, confident, great talker

Lee – confident, easily builds relationships, gets things done

 

Lee McQueen

Who do you think will win?

http://www.themarketingmindset.com/

It is a question I hear repeatedly from my subscribers…

“I am struggling to make progress to meet my goals. How do you suggest I make the right progress?”

photo courtesy of Denn

So you know what you want and you have all these good intentions, right? Lose weight, gain weight, stop smoking, start exercising, get a new job, earn more, find a partner….

Gain weight?

Yes, that’s right gain weight. Anyone know someone who would like to gain weight? I do. My wife. She would love to put on a few kilos but she can’t. No matter what she eats, she never puts on weight. The bitch! And if you are reading this, darling, I love you.

So back to all these good intentions and plans.

So, why don’t you start some of them? I tell you why. Because you don’t really want to achieve them. Honestly, you don’t. You think you do but, believe me, you don’t. Otherwise you would have started by now.

The ONLY way you will achieve your goals is if you are naturally passionate about them. That passion is deep inside you.

You can’t make the passion up. You have to want to achieve your goals so much you will do anything to achieve it.

Maybe you have started, have you?

How easily are you distracted?

You are on a diet and you are invited out to the fancy new restaurant in town. What picture does that conjure up in your mind? What words does your inner voice say to you?

“You must go, the food is wonderful and you can always exercise a bit more the next day”

Or

“Remember you want to be slim. Don’t go”

A good friend of mine used to smoke. He decided to give up. He could no longer afford to smoke. Within one day he had given up. No cutting down, no patches, just 20 a day to none. He has not smoked for 21 years.

His passion and determination for not smoking was bigger than the benefit he got from smoking.

So what are your goals?

Do you really, really want them?

Use these ratings:

1 being “not too sure if I want it”

through to

10 being “NOTHING is getting in my way, absolutely NOTHING, my sole purpose is…”

And on a scale of 1 to 10, rate your passion on each of your goals.

Any 9 or 10’s?

Yes, then that is great. You can only succeed.

Anything lower than a nine then you are not going to ever reach your goal. I hope I am wrong and let me know if I am.

Anything lower than a 9 and you will be distracted, you will find excuses not to do things, you will easily be  knocked off track and I guarantee one thing:

“You’ll start tomorrow”

By the way, I have just updated The Great Successful People Package as I have added a new extra bonus which helps you progress towards all your goals.

Wii Fit is here in the UK!

However, I do not have a Wii and the Internet says you cannot get one for love or money, here in the UK.

The Wii Fit game is even rarer.

But I want one, NOW!

It is Saturday morning. “Come on” I say to my wife (Joy), we need to get to the shops and see if we can buy a Wii and that new game, Wii Fit, everyone is raving about.”

“Why don’t you just ring a few shops to see if they have any?”

Good idea I thought! Joy is so logical.

I rang the first shop. The telephone line is busy. Great! Everyone else is ordering before me! Blast it!

I ring another shop. The phone is ringing. I feel nervous and excited. Will they have any Wii’s? Oh, I do hope so!

“Yeah” said the voice on the other end of the phone with the passion of dealing with yet another excited customer wanting a Wii.

“I don’t suppose you have any Wii consoles do you?” I say grimacing and awaiting a disappointed reply.

“Yeah, we’ve got loads”

“What about the game, Wii Fit?”

“Loads of them as well”

“Great, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to get one today. The internet says you can’t get one for love or money”, I say excitingly.

“Don’t believe all that rubbish – just hype”

“Shall I reserve one?”

“Up to you, we have got loads”

I reserve a console and a game because there might be a stampede, you never know.

Town. Buy Wii and Wii Fit. Hurry home.

My wide and I set it up. It is easy.

With Wii Fit, first thing you do is pick a character – basically male or female and they are all slim. Then you enter your personal details - height, age. Then carry out a few ‘balance’ tests.

Then you get your personal results.

I am ‘obese’ and the little male character becomes very fat.

I have a body age of 61.

“There must be something wrong with it. Trust us to have a faulty one”

I am 47 and about 8 kg overweight. I know I am a little overweight but obese – no way.

Joy is laughing, almost wetting herself.

Joy’s turn.

Slim character chosen, height, age entered, ‘balance’ tests complete.

Joy is ‘ideal’ and a body age of 50.

She is 47 and very slim.

It has spurred me on.

I have completed all exercises everyday so far. I got up at 5.30 today to complete them. I exercised for 30 minutes.

Exercises include yoga, balance tests, aerobic and muscle building. As you do more time on the Wii Fit and get better at each exercise it ‘unlocks’ more game s and exercises.

I am competitive so this will be good for me.

I shall do my next body test next week and keep you updated on my progress.

Mind Think Success helps people Shift Their Thinking in order to Shift Their Life. Information and tools on brainwave technology, meditations, hypnosis, self help and more for Mind and Thinking Developments are the main focus and passion of this site.

The objective of Mind Think Success is to research on tools that will help anyone who is interested to change their thinking and alter their subconscious mind to obtain success in life.

I invite you to come visit my blog at
http://www.mindthinksuccess.com