Circle of Influence

I thought I’d write about the circle of influence. I’m not even sure if that is the correct term, but that’s what I’m using here.

As I sit here and think of the circle of influence for me, I’m amazed how big that influence is. Anything I do here at work can reflect on the A/R team, the A/P team, corporate accounting, administration, IT and payroll and those are the easy ones to identify. Then I’m also part of the MRB and Executive team and suddenly my influence touches another dozen people or so. Of course, Colliers Project Leaders is part of the publicly traded company Colliers International. Imagine the circle of influence there! There is also my family, immediate and extended. Each of my family members has a circle of influence, whether it be class members, teachers, friends or teammates on sport teams. I am a volunteer board member at CERF and hence, fellow board members, the employees and anybody else associated with that organization are all part of my circle of influence. Then there are friends, your neighbours and the community you live in. You might have a blog, or a big Facebook following, these would all be part of your circle of influence.

The point is, your circle of influence is probably much bigger than you’ve thought of in the past. So what you ask? Well, it’s important to remember that any and all decisions that you make could impact your circle of influence. Your lifestyle, your work ethic, the decisions you make, impact more than just you. So make the right decision, strive to do the best in all that you do and remember that life is full of choices. Choose to be the positive influencer, the motivating influencer or whatever you want to be, just remember…

Your actions will influence your circle.

To believe everything is too much, to not believe anything is not enough.

I thought I’d share an old German proverb this week:

 

To believe everything is too much, to not believe anything is not enough.

 

Have a balanced week, believe in what you can accomplish, but don’t just be a dreamer.

Have you heard the one about the boy and the pile of manure?

I’ll try to start this up again for 2015.

 

Below is one of my lost-way-too-early father in law’s favourite stories.

 

Let’s keep this in mind as we move from some of the difficult times we have gone through in the past and look forward to 2015 with renewed vigor, positivity and enthusiasm.

 

Have a great week!

 

It reminds me of the story about that little boy. Have you heard this story where, you know, a man walks by the barn and sees this little boy in this room filled with manure? And he’s [the boy] standing there and he’s digging, and he’s digging, and he’s digging. And the man says, ‘Son, what are you doing up to your hips in manure with that little shovel?’ The boy says, ‘Well, with this much manure around, there’s got to be a pony—and I’m going to find it.’”

World Cup Passion

After my last post Larissa sent me a PM and asked why I wasn't posting something tied to the biggest sporting event in the world. Great point, so here I go.


Whether you are a soccer (football, fussball, futbal etc.) fan or not, the one thing that is utterly undeniable is the passion that is generated during the World Cup. (Disclaimer - I am German born and hence have a slight leaning towards the performance of a particular team). The players' excitement, the fans' exhilaration and the announcers emotion - it is fantastic!
Did you see the Mexican coach after his team scored the second goal against Croatia?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHVfeFoVles


The Mexican goalie runs to the coach to hug him and celebrate with him, as does the rest of the team. Of course they hug the goal scorer and applaud the person that made the pass, but more interestingly they want to share the moment with the coach.


Forgetting the exhilarating and truly thrilling passion, is it not interesting how some teams rally around their coach, their leader? We have, of course, the players that push everybody away so that they can celebrate in the limelight by themselves, but much more exciting and rewarding are the players who want to share the celebration with the team and the leader.


What a culture that coach must have brought to that team!


While I may not want my leader to necessarily jump for joy and hug me every time I reach a goal, there is something to be said for having a team that will come to you to celebrate their success, because they know you will celebrate with them. What a rewarding environment that coach must have brought to that team.


So while you may not be able to do that much about your leader, the more important question is:


What kind of leader do you want to be?

The Power of Habits

I was listening to CBC radio where they discussed an extreme case of habits. An FBI agent had been practicing disarming an individual with a gun. It was the same procedure every time:

• Stay calm

• Analyze the situation

• Approach the suspect in a non-threatening manner

• Look the person in the eye

• Quick movement, point the gun away from yourself

• Twist the gun out of the hand of the person with the gun

Every single time the FBI agent would hand the gun back to the partner and they would practice this over and over until it became a habit.

One day, said FBI agent encounters a person with a gun on the street. The FBI does everything like the training; analyzing, staying calm, removing the gun and then…gave the gun back to the suspect.

How could this happen?

It was the habit that was formed in training, perform the manoeuver and hand the gun back to the partner to do it again. In the real world situation, based on the habit that was formed over time, the same happened again. The gun was handed back.

What can we learn from this? Building habits can be a powerful influence in our lives. It can be both positive and negative. If you have a bowl of ice cream with every dinner, before you know it, it has become a habit. No meal will feel complete unless you have the ice cream.

So I guess what I’m challenging you to do it is to look at your habits, identify the negative ones and define what positive one you’d like to implement.

Remove the negative ones from your life. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.

For the positive ones, schedule them every day into your calendar until they become a habit.

 

Best of luck!

Passion at work

There are some things that are so easy to be passionate about. One can get passionate about one’s spouse. It is easy to get passionate about one’s kids, watching them during their piano recital or playing with or coaching or watching them with their sports. My neighbour is passionate about his bicycling, he wears it on his sleeve and it is great to see! It is easy get passionate about hobbies and pastime activities; I love the freedom of my motorcycle!

That’s the easy stuff. How does one get passionate about or at work?  The number one way to get passionate about work is to start your own company in a field you love. You would put your all into it and it would be your passion. You would eat, live and breathe that company and your clients would benefit from it.

How about being passionate at the organization you work for? It is easy to push that responsibility off to someone else. I usually hear that senior management sets the corporate culture. If senior management isn’t passionate, how can I be passionate?

It’s all about attitude!

One person I work with greets me with a happy hello every morning and asks me how my evening was. Now there is a person who makes a conscientious effort to get up every morning with a smile on his face and greet a world full of opportunities.

So, passion can be generated internally and you have to generate it. If your organization is passionless, maybe it is up to you to create your own internal passion. I find passion infectious. Create passion in the little things you do and eventually the passion will take over you mindset. Try it. I think you’ll find you enjoy work more and so will others around you. If you can’t get passionate where you work, it may be time to move on.

Happy Easter!

I hope you have a great Easter weekend.


Spend the time with the family, contemplate what is important in your life and take the time to look ahead. Is your life how you thought it would be? If it isn't, change it! All the power is within you. All you need, is the first step. Do that this weekend.


Evaluate where you are today.


Look to see where you want to go.


See what it takes to get there.


Make the plan to get to where you want to go.


And most importantly...take the first step!


Have a great Ester weekend.