Earlier this week I began building a list of my favorite learning from last year's blog entries. Picking up from where I left off:
6. Ben Hess wrote that he had attended the funeral of a good friend, Roger Shaeffer, who had passed away at the age of 88, after a short bout with cancer. Here is what he learned from Roger (The Benefits of Success, June 2009):
a) Success means making those around you better individuals.
b) Success means encouraging those around you.
c) Success means being generous and thankful.
7. Your brain can't grow without failure (The Benefits of Failure - Part 2, June 2009): In The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle provides multiple examples of this, and describes the neuroscience of brain growth. He has convinced me that I must seek out new challenges where I will fail...if I want to grow.
8. Do less talking and more listening (Following Up With Candidates In Your TalentPipeline, June 2009). Dale Carnegie once recognized:
"You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."
9. Develop The Confidence Formula (The Confidence Formula, Oct 2009):
Confidence = Self-efficacy (the belief you can reach your goals) + Optimism.
10. Remember... your best customers are your agents. They are the ones who will bring in the revenue. So, from the time a prospective candidate first calls, through the interview process, and long past their hire date, each agent should be treated like a valued customer and partner.
11. Always question assumptions...they may be flawed (Lessons Learned in Moneyball, November 2009). Measure everything. Taken from Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael M. Lewis.
12. Loyalty to customers and clients will improve your happiness and theirs (The Case For Loyalty, November 2009):
“Fulfillment only comes when we give of ourselves to others. Loyalty, like love, is not something you get but something you give. But, like love, giving loyalty, over time, through difficulties and trials, leads to mutual loyalty. And it leads to relationships that are a profound source of satisfaction and happiness that cannot be built in any other way.” (Why Loyalty Matters, a recent book written by Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy)
The last two entries in WorkPuzzle have been intentionally brief, so that you can take the time to reread past entries if necessary, and make plans to improve in some of these areas. I have already promised myself greater attention to a few of these items in the coming year.
We look forward to learning, along with you, in 2010.
Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.
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