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Wooo Wooo : Training Yourself To Stay Plugged In

Posted on July 30, 2012 by The Leadership Mints Guy

By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to help you to stay connected to all parts of your organization. Reading time: 3:10.

Woooo….Woooo…Woooo!
Can you hear it?

Woooooooo…..Wooooooo!
Can you see it?

Oh yes you can if you are 8 years old again.Turn back the clock with me.

There I am watching my choo choo train snake around the Christmas tree. This was no ordinary choo choo train. It came with scenery that you could set up, trees, and houses and yes even city lights. Wow. City lights.

But then suddenly, ominously, mysteriously those lights flickered and went out and so did my enthusiasm. I was so sad and mad. Everything seemed plugged in.

Why isn’t my train running? The lights on our Christmas tree were on so I knew the electricity was on. The switch on my train was on. But nothing was moving. Everything seemed dead. And I felt like crying or screaming. I was having a bad day.

But then my dad saved the day.

He found a loose wire underneath the track. He showed me how to apply an electrical connector so that wire would stay connected. I twisted that orange connector that looked like a long jelly bean.

Then suddenly those lights beamed in all their splendor. And then I heard my train erupt back to life and once again my train whistled Woooo…..Woooooo……Wooooo. I was so happy.

That little electrical connector made such as impression on me for its ability to keep all parts connected and to assure that productivity is plugged in and continues to deliver power that today I use those electrical connectors as a symbol of the connections that leaders make to keep their organizations running.

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Filed under: Trust | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Choking On a Silver Spoon

Posted on July 27, 2012 by The Leadership Mints Guy

By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to help you appreciate the value of manual labor. Reading time 2:15

The dichotomy was strident: a pristine well-polished, manicured politician vs. a grimy, scrappy dirty-finger nailed coal miner. And the leader is? Yep you guessed it – the coal miner.

Even John F. Kennedy –the well manicured politician—learned something about emotional intelligence in particular and personal leadership in general from that coal miner — a lesson that all leaders need to heed:

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

It happened during the 1960 presidential campaign. Kennedy met the coal miner one day during a campaign swing in West Virginia.

Kennedy wore his $1,000 suit and a $100 haircut . The coal miner wore ragged overalls and coal dust smudges on his face that could not cover the wrinkles of working in the mines all his life. Continue reading →

Filed under: Perception | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Give “Bad” Employees The VIP Treatment

Posted on July 25, 2012 by The Leadership Mints Guy

By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to help keep talented employees engaged . Reading time: 6:37.

The retail clerk energetically raced into work and eagerly awaited taking charge of his cash register.

He couldn’t wait to start serving his customers with a personal banter that turned the tedious jobs of both the shopper and the cashier into something more fun. He was good at what he did and everyone around him – his bosses, his peers, and his customers—knew it.

Business was slow on this early Sunday morning. His cash register would remain silent—at least for now. His magic wand – the scanning device—would not dazzle anyone right now.

With no customers in sight, he began sweeping and cleaning his cashier’s station. But there wasn’t any magic in that and he got bored. He needed something to do. His boss noticed.

The boss asked his star performer to abandon his cashier role and serve as a greeter at the main entrance. There were still no customers to greet but at least he would have a chance to interact with everyone who came into the store. And maybe create some magic.

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Filed under: Conflict Management | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Speak Loudly & Carry a Sledgehammer

Posted on July 23, 2012 by The Leadership Mints Guy

By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to help you inspire with more than words. Reading time: 2:12.

The founder of the McDonald’s hamburger empire was fuming mad. Ray Kroc was so hot that you could have grilled a Big Mac on his forehand.

The Golden Arch patriarch wanted his store managers to spend more time with customers in the front of the store and less time sitting on the wooden chair in the office in back of the store. He sent each store manager a hand saw and a message: “Saw off the back of your chair.”

Apocryphal or not, the story illustrates Kroc’s passion to continuously improve performance, a passion that is the crux of leadership that embodies, embraces and espouses a can-do, will-do, spirit, energy and drive.

The saw-off-the-legs-of-the-chair story also illustrates a key skill of the most inspiring leaders: They speak loudly and carry a big stick (or saw), especially in steering an organization through culture-busting change.

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Filed under: Emotional Intelligence | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Watch Your Language Or Be Em Bare Assed

Posted on July 20, 2012 by The Leadership Mints Guy

By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to broaden your global perspective. Reading time: 2:45

President Kennedy said he was like a donut

In England, you overhear this conversation between a young couple leaving a restaurant. The guy says to the girl: “I will bring a torch with me and knock you up in the morning.” In plain English, he was saying that he would bring a flashlight over to her house when he called on her in the morning and awakened her either personally or by phone.

Language barriers can be embarrassing.

Even the President of the United States once told a crowd of Germans in what was then West Berlin that he was a pastry. John F. Kennedy was trying to say that he was a Berliner (“Ich bin Berliner.”) Instead he said “Ich bin EIN Berliner. The next day editorial cartoonists had a lot of fun depicting talking donuts although scholars have noted that technically

It is instructive that even though Kennedy’s rendition was correct, the media still played up the perceived gaffe. The media at the time preferred not to focus on the accuracy of the President’s observation that he was a Berliner even though he literally did not reside in or come from Berlin. But no matter.

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Filed under: Perception | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Changing Times: Nothing is Forever

Posted on July 20, 2012 by The Leadership Mints Guy

By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to strengthen your spirit of change agentry. Reading time 2:37.

Nothing is forever. Even Niagara Falls stopped flowing for 30 hours beginning on March 29, 1848 when ice jammed up the river.

Nothing is forever. The walls of Egyptian Tombs are covered with hunting scenes of the pharaohs spearing lions or big game. But today the Nile Valley has no big game and the Sinai is a dry desert.

Nothing is forever. That’s why the most effective leaders I’ve known embrace change as the only constant, other than death and taxes.

No wonder that leaders mount a sense of urgency to continuously improve particularly in the face of the status quo when everything seems to be going just fine.

Nothing is forever. Just ask the 85 largest companies in the United States in 1917 who were NOT among the top 100 companies 80 years later, according to Forbes magazine.

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Filed under: Attitude | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Uncorking Diversity in a Bottle of Wine

Posted on July 18, 2012 by The Leadership Mints Guy

By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to enhance your appreciation of diversity. Reading time: 3:36.

The fine wine glasses looked conspicuously out of place, especially at 9 am in a team project room. The team leader was pouring what seemed to be white wine as his team members assembled for their next project update meeting.

“Yes, I know it’s still early but I think a toast is in order,” the team leader said.

He served the filled wine glasses to his seven team members who all looked at him like he just had a nervous breakdown. Alcohol in a project room or anywhere on campus was against company policy. And besides it was 9 in the morning. Most folks were still on their second cup of coffee.

The team leader smiled and said, “No, no. It’s just water.” Now everyone thought the team leader had snapped. The team leader took a sip and then he offered his toast.

“I’ve always been intrigued that you can make white wine from a red grapes,” said the team leader, hoisting his glass to showcase the clear liquid with a tinge of lemon food coloring.

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Filed under: Creativity | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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