WorkPuzzle

I Thrive Under a Lack of Accountability

In last week's episode of "The Office," the character Michael Scott (the Manager) was under scrutiny by a new regional VP.  He called his top boss in New York and complained:

"It was my understanding I was not going to be managed."  He then tells his new boss, "I think I thrive under a lack of accountability."

The reason this is so funny is that it has become all too common.

There are some very positive, yet unintended consequences to the current state of affairs with regard to the economy.  One of them is that hiring and review practices will change significantly.

Over the past few decades companies have gotten fairly sloppy about their hiring and retention practices, allowing the measurement of peoples' productivity to fall by the wayside.  When money flows freely and growth occurs effortlessly, a great deal of fat (in the form of non-productive workers) is tolerated because the urgency to measure everyone's direct contribution to the bottom line doesn't exist.

As companies tighten to squeeze out profits there will be much greater pressure to demand that each person demonstrate their value to the company.  This will be achieved through greater accountability.  Employees will be expected to meet measured expectations toward helping the company achieve its goals.

Below par performers will be churned out faster and replaced with people who are a more natural fit and want to do their best.  I know some of you might believe this to be a harsh statement.  On the contrary - I believe that it is the most compassionate thing that you can do for your employees.  Deep down inside, everyone strives to exercise the best of who they are.  We all aspire to contribute to something bigger than ourselves.  We all want to be part of trying to attain that incredible goal.

Allowing people to stagnate and become complacent about their performance is to enable them to give up on themselves.  If they aren't wanting their performance to be measured they are either in the wrong position, or they have already given up on themselves.  And if they've given up, don't fall into the trap of spending too much time trying to save them.

More tomorrow...

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Posting Comments:  Have you ever posted a comment on a blog?  If not, you should try it.  It’s a fun way to get involved in the discussion and find out what others are thinking.  If you’re a shy person or want to maintain a higher level of privacy, just use your first name or a screen name.  Your email address will not be visible under any circumstances.  We’ll all benefit from hearing your thoughts.  To post a comment, click the comments tab below this posting.   

Play Time

We've focused on a lot of heavy subject matter lately, and as you may recall from the movie The Shining, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!" 

To avoid following in the footsteps of Jack Nicholson's famous character, we need to guard our play  time.  It's an essential way to keep our stress level under control.

Over the weekend, I was skiing in knee deep northwest powder with my 26 year old son.  You can't find better stress relief than that!  Perhaps a glimpse of Heaven?

We all need activities and hobbies that bring joy into our lives and lift our spirits.  If you don't have a hobby or interest that helps reduce stress, know that it's never too late to find one.  Follow this link to take a free test that might help you find a stress reliever matches your personality. http://stress.about.com/library/reliever_personality_test/bl_stress_reliever_personality_test.htm

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Posting Comments:  Have you ever posted a comment on a blog?  If not, you should try it.  It’s a fun way to get involved in the discussion and find out what others are thinking.  If you’re a shy person or want to maintain a higher level of privacy, just use your first name or a screen name.  Your email address will not be visible under any circumstances.  We’ll all benefit from hearing your thoughts.  To post a comment, click the comments tab below this posting.  

The Essence of Success: Lessons for Us All

Once in a great while, I meet someone who helps me see the world a little bit more clearly...someone who describes reality in a way that brings me to say, "That’s it!"  I appreciate an individual who can successfully boil down his/her quest for success into firm ground rules of thinking, believing, and living that resonates with what we know, but haven’t yet articulated.  The following is a prime and inspiring example of this.

The below letter was written by someone in my personal network who has asked to remain anonymous.  The author has, however, given me permission to share the content of his letter with the readership of WorkPuzzle.  This individual is anonymously providing financial support for a young man that has been selected for a learning-abroad experience, and the letter is filled with his heart-felt advice to this young man.

Side Note: This is a long letter, but is worth reading.  If you’re skimming emails or your RSS feeds and don’t have time to digest this, please come back to it later.  I would recommend reading this in one setting and taking some time to digest what it says. 

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"Dear [Name Withheld] ,

You’re probably wondering why I’m helping you in this way.  Well, last year I spent a lot of time in prayer contemplating my life.  If one phrase could sum it all up, I’ve come to believe that everyone deserves their shot – everyone.  So, God showed me that I could use my experiences by giving high-capacity kids a shot they might not otherwise have.

How any one individual defines their “shot” is really a function of how God has wired them.  For some, it may be auto mechanics, or flying planes; for others it might be teaching kids or trimming trees.  My ‘shot’ was Corporate America – I always wanted to be in business, even before I knew what business was.

I came from a horrifically bad family situation.  My ticket out was my education.  From the time I was about 8 years old, I dreamed of going to the University of Washington and proving to myself that I deserved a place at the table – I deserved my shot.  I was a prolific reader and knew that someday, if I worked hard, I could travel the world and see some of the places I read about.  There was nothing inherently wrong with the station my parents occupied – I just wanted something different.

Unfortunately, I got my wish too soon.  I was kicked out of my house in my senior year in high school – at 17 years old.  While I always got good grades and always had good jobs, I was a wild kid who hung out with the ‘wrong crowd’.

However, when graduation rolled around, I graduated with honors.  I didn’t say much in most classes, I just listened and watched.  I detested the lousy teachers (most of whom appeared lazy and incompetent) and figured that getting an 'A' in their class was my own form of revenge.

A lot has happened since then.  While my career has ebbed and flowed, I’ve had the good fortune to have worked in cities across the U.S. and across the globe.  I have friends who are far more successful and accomplished than I am, but through hard work I’ve been fortunate to work in or visit London, Rome, Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Manila, Munich, Salzburg, along with almost every major city in the U.S.  I have sat on the boards of directors of five companies, two of which were successfully sold, one of which failed and one of which is still operating.  One is just languishing.

I have lived the American Dream.  I’ve made far more wrong decisions than right decisions, but as one board member once told me, ‘Knowing what NOT to do is 90% of the battle.’

So, with all that said, here are some of the lessons I’ve learned-

1) Everyone Deserves A Shot – The quiet kid at the back of the class may just happen to be the best student – The quiet gal always working at her cubicle may have the best ideas – The guy who rarely says anything in the meetings may have the next big breakthrough – They’re just waiting for someone to ask their opinion.

2) Everyone Deserves The Truth– Even if the truth is that someone is not a good fit for their job, everyone deserves to be told the truth.  The truth avoids misperceptions, misunderstandings and a host of problems.  To be successful, you simply have to tell the truth – everyday to everybody.  The truth is the ticket to the dance.

3) People Need A Goal Bigger Than Themselves – Effective people don’t want a job, they want a goal that’s just a little bit impossible (vision).  They want a leader who can paint the picture of how to get there (direction).  They want a leader who will be honest enough to tell them they are off track (feedback).  And they want a leader who, when the goal is achieved, remembers to say, ‘Unbelievable – What you just did was impossible.  No one will ever be able to take that experience away from you’ (recognition).

4) Don’t Be Confused by Reality – In reality there is never enough time, money or manpower.  The competition is always stronger and the customers are always too reluctant.  Anyone can understand reality.  I really struggle with this – I see the world in terms of possibilities but find the world is populated mainly by people who see limitations.  Leaders don’t let reality get in the way of accomplishing great things.  Companies need people who will willingly sign-up to produce impossible results without sufficient resources – Those that do eventually fly first class to overseas meetings…those that don’t stay back at the office.  How bad you want the American dream?  Nobody is going to just hand it to you.  You have to earn it, young man.  That’s just life – Get it?

5) Be Presumptuous – Your customers didn’t ask you to bid on the bigger deal, your boss didn’t ask you to make that last phone call.  But if you want to be a leader, you will consistently exceed the expectations of your customers, bosses, employees and peers.  You will do the thinking for them.  You will spend more time brainstorming solutions than your competition.  When you’re asked to present “A”, you will do so better than anyone else, then you will politely ask if you can also present “B” and “C” and watch as the group registers amazement.  You will tell your people that they have not come up with an idea that’s truly worthy of them, then you’ll send them back to work and you’ll work them until you and they, together, come up with ideas that you are convinced no one else has thought of.  If you don’t have that feeling in your gut, you’re not done.  If you’re as bright as I think you are, then prove it – every time.  Because when you do, it will be YOU who gets the call.

6) Be Unwavering in Your Commitment to Excellence and Personal Integrity- Be humble, but be the best – Talk about excellence and honesty.  Talk about it so often you’ll want to throw up- if only to remind yourself of your own standards.  A leader’s role is to set expectations.  If you expect people to be the best and if you expect them to be honest, even average players rise to the occasions and dishonest people get left by the roadside.  Show me a well-run organization and I can guarantee you there is a leader who expects EVERYONE working there to be great.  The reverse is true.  As a leader, if you don’t expect greatness, you are essentially saying to those in your charge – ‘I don’t care about you enough to help you get better.’  I can’t tell you just how much I hate that attitude – Whether the leader thinks that in their mind or whether they simply communicate that with their actions.  It’s wrong.  Expect greatness and you’ll find it.

7) Match Your Skills, Choose Your Boss – Most interviewers are horrible at interviewing.  Your job in an interview is to satisfy yourself that the tasks you’ll be doing are a good match with your skills.  Just as importantly, your job in an interview is to determine whether the boss will help you develop as a person.  A bad boss will inevitably ruin any job- so make sure you interview him/her carefully- respectfully, but with discernment and wisdom.  Again, most interviewers are terrible at interviewing, so take charge, keep your mind sharp, ask questions and keep your answers short.  Above all, find a boss you can grow with.  This world is run by teams of people who hook up on various deals at various companies and then consistently produce results.  Find then build one of those teams – beginning with the selection of your first boss.

So, to sum it up – Find people who can contribute, give them a goal a bit bigger than they’re comfortable with, don’t let people tell why something can’t be done, work harder and smarter than anyone else, expect people to be great, insist on absolute integrity and find jobs and bosses that will help you grow.”

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I think this gentleman says it all – The “Essence of Success” is truly up to you!

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Posting Comments:  Have you ever posted a comment on a blog?  If not, you should try it.  It’s a fun way to get involved in the discussion and find out what others are thinking.  If you’re a shy person or want to maintain a higher level of privacy, just use your first name or a screen name.  Your email address will not be visible under any circumstances.  We’ll all benefit from hearing your thoughts.  To post a comment, click the comments tab below this posting.

Advice for Job Seekers

No one enjoys being unemployed.  However, there is a way to make this unpleasant circumstance work best for you.

Most articles on this subject focus on the tasks you need to perform to get back on track.  While there is a place for understanding appropriate action steps, these steps do very little good in the wrong hands.  There is a much more important problem to address first:  What’s going on between your ears will influence the outcome of everything you do!  

Research shows that 35% of unemployed persons will come out of their ordeal stronger and more physically healthy.  Do you see yourself as naturally part of that percentage?  If so, great!  You’re a resilient survivor.  If not, the good news is you can learn to be resilient too.  As a result, you will be highly effective in any current or future challenge.

The first thing you need to understand is that how we view adversity affects our potential for success, both during a challenge and in future employment.  It also impacts our health, longevity, and our risk for depression.

One researcher sums it up this way:

“It is the thinking style that determines resilience – more than genetics, more than intelligence, more than any other single factor” (Shatté)

To learn this yourself, you need to know how resilient people think…how you can adopt this mindset…and why it works.

Over the course of our lives, we have all developed methods of explaining to ourselves how the world works and how we fit into that schematic.  This is called your “explanatory style”.  The more flexible it is, the better off you’ll be.  Here is what I mean:

Your explanatory style can be viewed along three dimensions:  (1) Personalization, (2) Permanence and (3) Pervasiveness.  (Martin Seligman)

More specifically:

• Who is to blame?  ME / NOT ME (Personalization)

• How long will this last?  ALWAYS / NOT ALWAYS (Permanence)

• How much of my life does this affect?  EVERYTHING / NOT EVERYTHING (Pervasiveness)

People who have a ME / ALWAYS / EVERYTHING style tend to blame themselves and give up easily because they see situations as unchanging and all-encompassing.  These characteristics are found in people who engage in habitual pessimistic and helpless thinking.  Ultimately they tend to view circumstances as hopeless and become easily depressed.

Those with a NOT ME / ALWAYS / EVERYTHING style tend to blame others and take little responsibility for their role in the adversity.  They tend to respond to stresses by becoming angry and pointing fingers.  These people fixate on viewing everything that doesn’t go their way as a violation of their rights.  Because they see events as permanent and affecting numerous areas of their lives, a sense of futility often results for these folks.  These individuals waste precious time blaming the economy, their employer, or the person who took their job, and believe that they will never recover.

While a NOT ME / NOT ALWAYS / NOT EVERYTHING style is often viewed as the most “optimistic” explanatory style, it still is not necessarily an accurate or realistic view of a given situation.

For example, perhaps you do have some responsibility in your company’s decision to let you go.  (They didn’t lay-off everyone!)  The “not me” people won’t consider the possibility that, perhaps, they weren’t in a position where they could maximize their strengths, and had simply stayed with the status quo because it was comfortable and secure...until their lay off.

Ideally, you do not want to fall on either end of the spectrum, rather learn to view events as a continuum along these three dimensions.  The goal is to maintain a sense of “Realistic Optimism” by thinking as accurately and flexibly as possible about each situation you face – Learn to challenge your previous, more rigid way of thinking.

Reivich and Shatté describe Realistic Optimism as:

“The ability to maintain a positive outlook without denying reality; actively appreciating the positive aspects of a situation without ignoring the negative aspects.”

Realistic Optimism also involves working toward positive outcomes with the knowledge that successful outcomes don’t happen automatically, but are achieved through effort, problem solving and planning.

If you review my entries regarding the Science of Survival, you will draw many parallels to our current discussion.  As you may recall, Anxiety can be reduced by executing a plan and finding satisfaction in the small, yet significant steps toward success.

In the next blog, I’ll tell you why it works to adopt a thinking style that embraces Realistic Optimism, and eventually will boil it down to some concrete advice.  Sign up to get Workpuzzle delivered so you don’t miss it!

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Posting Comments:  Have you ever posted a comment on a blog?  If not, you should try it.  It’s a fun way to get involved in the discussion and find out what others are thinking.  If you’re a shy person or want to maintain a higher level of privacy, just use your first name or a screen name.  Your email address will not be visible under any circumstances.  We’ll all benefit from hearing your thoughts.  To post a comment, click the comments tab below this posting.

Valentine's Day Movie: When We Were Kings

A quick post today that could help you inspire your Valentine...

I know it doesn’t sound like the best Valentine's movie to watch, but my wife and I finally got around to watching the award winning movie When We Were Kings.

 It's more than a documentary about greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali. It is a celebration of the human spirit.

At this point, I would bet that most of the female readers are about to stop reading. What could a documentary about a boxer contain that you would enjoy?

Well, I can’t tell you too much, because I’d be giving away the spirit of the movie. But, I can tell you that my wife said: “that was a great movie”.

If you like good story telling rent it and send me a comment about what you have learned because of it.

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Posting Comments:  Have you ever posted a comment on a blog?  If not, you should try it.  It's a fun way to get involved in the discussion and find out what others are thinking.  If you're a shy person or want to maintain a higher level of privacy, just use your first name or a screen name.  Your email address will not be visible under any circumstances.  We'll all benefit from hearing your thoughts.  To post a comment, click the comments tab below this positing.

The Psychology of Being Laid-Off: Effort and Reward

As many of you know, we work with a lot of real estate companies.  More specifically, we help these companies design their hiring systems to significantly increase the number of candidates they are interfacing with on a weekly basis.

Companies hire us to do this work because, on the surface, it is difficult to successfully attract candidates into an industry that has been so battered and bruised in recent years.  To be successful, we must understand and apply the psychology of work. 

While there is some complexity to how this is done, one principle we observe continually is that people innately want a connection between the effort they put forth and the reward (compensation, recognition, perks, etc.) they receive for completing the job.

When the effort-reward connection is missing, talented people become frustrated and ultimately, dissatisfied with the companies they work for.  We constantly interface with people who have good jobs, excellent educations, and above average competencies, but are deeply frustrated that they are not rewarded for their efforts.

The real estate industry certainly attracts the people who most acutely feel this pain.  However, it should be a red flag to anyone who desires to preserve their job and grow their career.  Why?  Because businesses tend to value people they believe contribute directly to the organization’s success.  That value is communicated through a visible effort-reward relationship.

If you find yourself in a role where you don’t frequently get recognized (via compensation or otherwise), it is an indication that your contribution is not viewed as valuable.  This may lead to you being laid-off if your company needs to cut expenses.

To combat this situation, look for opportunities in your existing organization where your efforts can be noticed and rewarded.  Don’t wait for something to come your way—be proactive and seek out new responsibilities.  Like the principle of autonomy, this is a win-win for you and your employer.  Your personal sense of well-being will increase if you’re appropriately rewarded for your efforts.

If you’ve already been laid-off and you’re looking for a job, consider positions where there is a direct connection between effort and reward.  This may force you to look into some nontraditional areas of employment. 

If you’re willing to consider these nontraditional areas, there is a win-win here as well.  Lots of people shy away from jobs where their performance determines their paycheck.  This means there is less competition for these jobs.  If you’re motivated and “wired” to perform the tasks associated with the job, high performance in such a role can lead to job satisfaction beyond what you’ve experienced in the past.

7 Dating Tips from Dr. Dave (That Will Also Help You Be a Better Hiring Manager)

I’m not sure whether this discussion will help you more with your dating life or your potential success as a recruiter.  Since Dr. Phil seems to have a lock on all the sensational topics, I’ll continue to focus on the business side of psychology.  
 
Building a pipeline of talented people who are resilient and like to work hard is no easy task. We make it far more difficult when we forget the simple rules of interpersonal etiquette.  

A good analogy to appropriate expectations when recruiting is to remember the common dos and don’ts of dating (to make this read easier, I’m going to use female pronouns, since I’m a guy)

1. Get the guts to ask. Few people ever get married without first getting up the courage to ask someone out. This is also true in recruiting. Your first and only goal initially should be to get together for a brief time.
2. Ask about her. Don’t drone on and on about you. How many of you like to hear your date drone on and on about themselves without wanting to know anything about you? This is a bad sign. She’ll quickly know that you desire the relationship for your own purposes and care very little about meeting her needs.
3. Know your competition, but don’t put them down. There is nothing wrong with being confident about what you can offer, but be careful in being negative about the competition. If you began to slander your date’s friends, she will probably be disgusted by your lack of character and drop you like a rock. You can’t repel and attract at the same time.
4. Get the next date- but don’t ask her to get married. You would never dream of scaring your first date with an offer to tie the knot. She would freak out and never see you again! Move slowly with a constant assessment of where she is in the process of relationship building and proceed accordingly.
5. When you sense you know that you can meet her needs, ask for the commitment. There is a time and place to ask for the person to come on board and challenge them to do what is necessary to make the commitment, i.e. “forsaking all others”. Don’t chicken-out here. If she says no, you can still continue to date.
6. DO remember that, unlike dating (for most people), you can date several people at the same time. By having a way to track your full pipeline of prospects, you don’t have to feel terribly disappointed by any one reaction. Always have plenty of people who represent the entire “dating” process from first date to close.
   
7. Never treat people as objects. Treating people like objects is never a good idea. People have a sixth sense about this. If you’re dating a person who is fairly desperate for a relationship, she might put up with this for a while. But sooner or later, she’ll leave. Most people can sense that you have no interest in them beyond what they are generating for you and your organization.

By having a way to track your full pipeline of prospects, you don’t have to feel terribly disappointed by any one reaction. Always have plenty of people who represent the entire “dating” process from first date to close.

If you’re struggling with these concepts, you may need to do some remedial work to reset your framework for these types of interactions.

The first step it to examine yourself. Do you treat those who work in your organization with little regard for who they are as individuals? Or, do those around you know that you’re interested in their growth for their sake and the sake of the company?  If you’re unsure, ask a few people who you can trust to give you an honest answer. If you do have this tendency there is always a very simple rule of thumb to apply in every interaction. “How would I like to be treated if I were in the other person’s shoes?”

The second step is to consider whether you’re patient.   Remember that “impatience” is the fruit of pride. We want others to be patient with us.  We want others to be interested in our strengths and how we use them daily.  We want others to be curious about us as people who have lives outside of the office. It only makes sense to extend these courtesies to those around us.

If you want to build an environment of attachment and performance, you need to seriously consider how to shape your own strengths around the above solution. The real trick is keeping it up after the dating and during the marriage.

A Compulsion to Fix Things

This past weekend I was reminded of how I am cursed with a need to fix things.  This is a shame because I really don’t have the training to do so.

I’m not talking about psychology here;  I’m talking about things…household things.  For instance, during the first 18 years of my marriage I kept a clothes dryer “alive” that had been given to us when my wife and I were first married.  And, when it was given to us, it was already ten years old!

My initial commitment to a yearly ritual of reviving this old clothes dryer began with the poverty-driven need I had in graduate school to save cost or starve.  Out of desperation, I would extract broken parts and take them into the appliance parts supply store.   It was common for the counter guy to invite the entire staff out for a good laugh and history lesson about “the days when all parts were steel like this one.”

My compulsion continued long after it would have been less time consuming, more energy efficient, and well within my financial capabilities to replace the monster.   But, I was not to be defeated.  I simply had to fix it.

This past weekend my water heater began leaking. My wife and I actually had a fight over this ridiculous compulsion of mine to prove that “I’ve still got it”.  And, of course, the need to save a few bucks.

It took all of Saturday to do the research and all of Sunday to install it.  Around the Mashburn house that evening you could hear things coming out of my mouth like, “We’ve got hot water”, or ”Try taking a bath”.  It was like I had done something powerful and magic.  I think I felt manlier.

What does this have to do with recruiting, coaching or personal performance you ask?  Does this somehow apply to the subject matter of this blog?  I have no idea.  Maybe someone smarter and more creative could come up with some compelling esoteric description of how this could help you, but not me.  I was too focused on conquering my water heater over the weekend!

Will This Be a "Happy" New Year for You? Part 3

I hope that some of you have begun the process of identifying and pursuing your “ideal self.”  If you want to improve the way you recruit, coach, or manage those around you, it’s imperative that you do so.

As the owner of one large company aptly said,

“Continued learning and personal growth are essential for the evolution of a world-class leader.”

If you drag your feet and ignore this powerful exercise, you’ll miss a chance to improve your level of overall well-being in the upcoming year.

Some people resist these types of exercises because it makes them feel like they are admitting weakness or inwardly confessing that something is wrong with them.  The opposite is true.   Working on these issues is really an admission that you want to improve and that you have an “ideal self” waiting to be activated.   

My background is in Clinical Psychology. I continue to see clients in my private practice 2 days a week. Over the course of the last 21 years, I’ve logged well over 30,000 hours of psychotherapy with people having a range of difficulties. Regardless of the presenting problem, at the heart of each person’s transformation is the struggle to shed the “false self” (see my previous blog) and to pursue alignment between the individual’s ‘real self” and their “ideal self.”  

People undergoing psychotherapy build up layers of protection that make it very difficult for them to identify their “ideal self”.  These layers of protection are the result of adversity, trauma, or some other significant set of circumstances.   For these people, this process can be very long and painful.  But, it is rewarding.  I’ve consistently seen it free people to do things they could never have dreamed of doing before this transformation.

Let me give you an example.  Several years ago, a woman came to see me who had lived a life that resembles most of our nightmares. Her parents rented her out for child pornography films and threatened her life on several occasions when she resisted. As an adult, she had shown little respect for herself and was involved a several very abusive relationships.  Despite having an incredibly high IQ and natural artistic talent, she was working as a housekeeper when she started psychotherapy.

After several years of therapy, she began to sell her art work, discontinued all her abusive relationships, and began to form friendships with people who she had always believed were “better” than her. With continued growth, she later envisioned, developed, and is now operating a vocational school in Uganda.  This school is for individuals who have themselves lived lives of horror.  The purpose of this school is to equip these individuals to achieve what they didn’t think possible and work towards a decent living.

Of course, most people like you and me do not have to fight against such devastating circumstances, nor do we need the help of a psychologist to guide us through the process of identifying our “ideal self.” 

But, don’t lose the principle just because the scale of issue may be smaller in your own life.  Food is necessary to nurse a very sick person back to health, but it is also required for normal people to maintain themselves.   I’ve applied this process in my own life, and I've seen it produce changes in the lives of those around me.    Hopefully, you’ll give it a try as well.

Note:  New to Workpuzzle?  Read Part 1 and Part 2 on this topic to learn the process of identifying your “ideal self.”

Og Mandino's Christmas Story

In 1968, a recovering alcoholic and failed insurance salesman named Og Mandino wrote a Christmas story called The Greatest Salesman in the World.  This book was the result of several years of self-study and a single night of inspiration. 

Although the book was written 40 years ago, you can still walk into any Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy.  The book launched Og Mandino’s career, and he went on to write many more books, selling more than 50 million copies and became a very prominent public speaker.   

He died in 1996, but his legacy lives on.  If you’ve never read this story, pick it up over the Christmas holiday.  You don’t have to be a salesman to enjoy it.  In fact, I’m reading it to my kids in the evenings this week, and last night they said, “Dad, don’t stop reading now, we want to know what happens next!” 

I won’t spoil the story, but the basic premise is that a “lowly camel boy” named Hafid gets exposed to the ancient wisdom contained in ten secret scrolls.  By applying this wisdom, the boy goes on to build the greatest trading company of all time in the Middle East. 

The purpose of the book is to share the ten business/life principles contained in the secret scrolls. I’ve read this book several times over the last decade, and two of the ten principles have had particular impact on my life.   I’ll share those today, and hopefully you’ll be curious enough to read more on your own.

The Principle of Love:  purposing in your mind to show love to the people you meet and interact with on a daily basis.

"For [love] is the greatest secret of success in all ventures. Muscle can split a shield and even destroy life but only the unseen power of love can open the hearts of men and until I master this art I will remain no more than a peddler in the market place. I will make love my greatest weapon and none on whom I call can defend against its force.   My reasoning they may counter; my speech they may distrust; my apparel they may disapprove; my face they may reject; and even my bargains may cause them suspicion; yet my love will melt all hearts liken to the sun whose rays soften the coldest day.

…And, how will I confront each whom I meet?"   In only one way -- in silence, and to myself, I will address him and say, "I love you!" Though spoken in silence these words will shine in my eyes, unwrinkle my brow, bring a smile to my lips, and echo in my voice; and his heart will be opened. And, who is there who will say ‘Nay’ to my goods when his heart feels my love?"

The Principle of Perseverance:  purposing to focus on the long term, push through obstacles, and see difficulties and setbacks as necessary ingredients for  a successful life.

“In the Orient,young bulls are tested for the fight arena in a certain manner. Each is brought to the ring and allowed to attack a picador who pricks them with a lance. The bravery of each bull is then rated with care according to the number of times he demonstrates his willingness to charge in spite of the sting of the blade. Henceforth will I recognize that each day I am tested by life in like manner. If I persist, if I continue to try, if I continue to charge forward, I will succeed.

…The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning; and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach my goal. Failure I may still encounter at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies unless I turn the corner. Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail, I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult.

…I will be liken to the rain drop which washes away the mountain; the ant who devours a tiger; the star which brightens the earth; the slave who builds a pyramid. I will build my castle one brick at a time for I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.  I will persist until I succeed.”

In the end, you’ll learn how Og Mandino masterfully weaves these principles into the familiar Christmas narrative, but you’ll also get the opportunity to view it from a new perspective.  No doubt you’ll enjoy the story, but you may find some inspiration for the New Year as well.