Category: Uncategorized

When Leading Do the Opposite of This

Scott Asai4 Comments
Rarely do I use a negative example to illustrate my point, but in this case you can learn how to lead by doing the opposite of Mike D’Antoni.
Currently (unfortunately) he is the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and from the perspective of a die hard fan, this is the most underwhelming season I’ve ever witnessed.
Using him as an example, here are 5 ways to become a better leader by avoiding his mistakes:
1) Lack of direction – In sports, I’ve never seen someone change their lineups as much as Mike D’Antoni. One game a player will start the game and the next game he never plays at all. When roles aren’t clearly defined, people get confused. 
Leaders need a clear vision that people can follow. Once the goal has been decided and your team has bought into it, stick with it. Results follow when there is a clear plan. “Without vision, people perish.”
2) Poor relationships – When Mike D’Antoni got hired, one of the first things he did was force his system on the players instead of creating a system around the talent on the team. He rubbed a lot of veteran players the wrong way right off the bat. Just because you’re the leader doesn’t automatically mean people want to follow you. 
Leaders build rapport and eventually trust with people by asking them for input and listening to their goals. Engagement is a result of feeling appreciated, valued and heard. Engaged people perform better.
3) Passive-Aggressive – Every chance D’Antoni has to complain to the media he does. He consistently blames his players and drags them under the bus without hesitation. It seems like he’d rather vent about his players than actually talk to them. He deals with conflict by ignoring it. 
Leaders communicate directly with the person. Conflict is inevitable and unless confronted, it lingers and builds up. As a leader, be the bigger person and talk about what’s wrong. When you resolve conflict and move on everyone wins. 
4) Emotional roller coaster – D’Antoni loves to overreact and blow things out of proportion. He loves to identify problems, but rarely has any solutions. Since he is so moody, it has a negative effect on the team. Players think it’s acceptable to point the finger instead of taking ownership for areas they can improve upon. 
Leaders need to be a calming presence. If you want to be a leader, it’s more important that you “show” your team before you “tell” them anything. People observe and follow the leader’s example. 
5) Stubborn – D’Antoni has to be the most closed-minded coach around. No matter how many analysts, players or experts point out the flaws in his philosophy, he continues to repeat them expecting different results (that’s called insanity folks). Once you stop learning as a leader, it’s all downhill from there. 
Leaders need to be open to suggestions. That doesn’t mean you do what everyone says, it means consider all options, then choose the best one. A humble leader knows there is always more to learn, so he stays flexible and agile, almost re-inventing himself over time. 

Having leadership positions over the past 15+ years and being a huge sports fanatic, coaches have the single most influence on a team’s outlook. Since coaches are leaders, they have the ability to bring out the best in people’s performance and character. It is a privilege to lead people and “with great power comes great responsibility.” As a leader, focus more on the “we” than the “me” and you’ll accomplish great things together.  

The Downside to Knowing What You’re Great At

Scott Asai1 Comment

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Guest Post by Ben Arment
I’m a huge proponent of the idea that you are the BEST in the world at ONE thing. It’s more niche than you realize. In fact, the practice of it probably doesn’t exist right now. You’ll miss it if you keep trying to fill conventional roles.
But when you finally figure it out, it will change your life. You’ll never apply for another job again. When people think of your craft, your name will immediately come to mind. You will OWN a category. You will become the benchmark.
There’s a downside, however, to finding your great gift to the world.
It’s that you have to acknowledge that you’re not any good at the other stuff.
When I quit my PREVIOUS occupation, I had a two-year funeral for myself because I had spent the past 10 years training for it and striving at it.
I had to finally admit that it wasn’t working. And there was nothing flippant about that realization. It tore my soul out. I experienced an identity crisis.
The hard truth is this – you have to start with what you’re NOT good at in order to find out what you ARE great at. And for this, you only need to look around.
Is there fruit on the branches?
If you say you want to be a leader, are people following you?
If you say you want to be a writer, do people clamor to read your stuff?
If you say you want to be a speaker, do they flock to listen to you now?
I fear that – even in writing those questions – we will find another way to deceive ourselves with the answer. We’ll spin it to accommodate our current aspirations.
(If you’re starting to become defensive about a particular desire, pay attention to it. You might be onto something.)
As you seek your ONE great thing, be prepared to bear the weight of grief. It’s no easy thing to put aside what you’ve spent years pursuing.
But when you find it, it will be worth it. For there is nothing better than expressing what you were designed to do.

More Than a Connection

Scott Asai3 Comments
To succeed in today’s world it’s more about who you know than what you know.

Why? Because our society is interconnected so your social capital matters.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the more friends you have on Facebook, followers on Twitter or connections on LinkedIn increases your chances to land your dream job (although it doesn’t hurt).

Remember though a connection is simply a contact. That could mean you went to high school with them, met at a network event or found them online.
Challenge yourself to go deeper than that. 

Think quality over quantity. It’s less about “how many” and more about “how well.” 

As a naturally more introverted person, I used to think it was about passing out business cards or being a Chamber of Commerce member.

It wasn’t until shifting my mindset from “networking” to “relationships” that things changed.
If you’re “networking” there’s pressure to sell yourself quickly.
If you’re “building relationships” the focus is more about getting to know the person and strengthening the bond over time. 
If you want to start making “friends” instead of “contacts,” be more concerned about giving than getting. 

Over time your investment will pay off…because a friend is more than a connection can ever be.

5 Tips for Keeping Your Email Inbox Under Control

Scott Asai1 Comment

Guest Post by Charles Lee

Reading and responding to emails can become quite overwhelming. Unless you’re a person who doesn’t have a problem with ignoring everyone trying to communicate with you, you’re probably going to want a system to deal with your growing inbox. How do you do it?

Here are some simple tips that can help you reduce the number of emails sitting in your inbox:

Unsubscribe from any unnecessary email lists and notifications. While it is somewhat of a hassle to unsubscribe from unwanted email lists (especially those you never signed up for), take 20 seconds to do it. Don’t tell yourself that you’ll unsubscribe next time. If you find yourself hitting the delete button without reading these updates, that probably means that you don’t need to be on their email list. Unsubscribe and see your inbox number dramatically decrease. Also, be sure to turn off any unnecessary notifications from the various social platforms you participate in, especially if you find yourself checking in throughout the day anyways.

Move longer conversations to calls. I find that moving an email conversation to phone calls is a great alternative to going back and forth. A quick phone call is often much more productive and efficient than 10 emails asking for more clarity.

Give yourself a time limit for responding. Deadlines tend to motivate action. Give yourself a deadline for responding to emails. Also, give your self a mini-deadline for each time you sit to write email. For example, I give my self 30-45 minutes each time I sit to respond to email. I find that I am far more productive when I know there’s an end time.

Find the app. For emails from brands offering deals, see if they have an app for their latest sales and go to it when you want to browse offerings. The truth is that the majority of emails from these brands don’t have items you actually “need”. This will also help you limit your spending!

Create a filing system only for certain kinds of emails. Many of the emails we get are for record keeping or future reference. I tend to only put these kinds of emails in folders (Most email clients allow you to make folders to help you organize your inbox.). I try not to put emails I have to respond to in these folders. Once emails go into these folders, it becomes far more difficult to remember to get to them unless a clear need arises. Therefore, I keep all my emails that I need to respond to in my inbox. This helps me to stay actionable and responsive.

I’ve been able to keep my inbox fairly low or at zero by using these methods. What are some ways that you keep your email inbox to a minimum?

Be MASTERMINDful

Scott AsaiLeave a comment
What is a Mastermind group? 
A group that provides collaboration, feedback and accountability for your goals.
How can being in a Mastermind group benefit me?
Mastermind group participants act as catalysts for growth, devil’s advocates and supportive colleagues.

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Basically being part of a Mastermind group is committing to be held accountable for the goals you set. It’s also a great way to receive perspective and feedback from others. 
Each person has an allotted time to share, receive feedback and then state their goal(s).
Personally I’ve been a part of a Mastermind group before and this is the format we used:


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1)    What are you working on?
2)    Describe your current challenge. What do you need help with?
3)    What is your goal to accomplish before the next session?

 

When you set your own goals, it’s easy not to accomplish them because there’s no accountability. You’d be amazed at the increase in goal accomplishment when you know you have someone checking up on your progress. 

Successful people get stuff done. Even if you’re highly self-motivated, there’s synergy in a Mastermind group. The collaborative brainpower is larger than if you worked alone.

Your success is directly affected by who you surround yourself with. If you want to be more successful, join a Mastermind group.

What Makes Apple Work

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Guest post by Josh Allan Dykstra

A couple months ago, the lead designer of Apple, Jony Ive, did a rare interview where he talked about why Apple does things the way they do.

Apple doesn’t behave the way they do to increase market share, raise the stock price, make the company bigger, or boost profits.

No, the reason Apple does things they way they do is for one simple reason:

To make a better product.

Jony says that if Apple can’t make something that’s better, they won’t do it.

This remarkable simplicity is a big reason why Apple is so successful. They have this “noble cause”* which allows them to say “NO” to the millions of pathways that don’t end up at a “better product.”

The truth is, unless we can say “NO” to the majority of good things, we’ll never find the great things.

Your noble cause doesn’t have to be “making a better product,” but you do need one. Try these questions on to figure it out:

* What’s the big problem your group is trying to solve?
* How will you somehow make the world better?
* If your organization were to disappear tomorrow, what hole would be left?

More than ever before, leaders and leadership teams must focus on prioritizing and making decisions — saying “NO” to the good in order to say “YES” to the great. If you want this for your group, a relentless focus on WHY you do what you do is unavoidable.

3 Stages of Stuck

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Guest Post by Ben Arment
My guess is that when it comes to pursuing a dream, most people get stuck in one of these holding patterns:

 1. Don’t know where to start.

The learning curve is too steep.
Never done anything like this before.
Are intimdated.

2. Can do the work, but don’t know how to launch it.

It takes money they don’t have…
Connections they can’t make…
Just waiting for a breakthrough.

3. Launched but hasn’t taken off.

It’s bringing in little to no revenue.
Seems to be ignored.
The equivalent of a box of unsold books in the basement

The good news is – there’s a way. There’s always a way.
And finding it is your necessary rite of passage.

Franchise It!

Scott AsaiLeave a comment
The Franchise model is one of the strongest business models out there, but why? 

How does a single location become multiple ones and reach a larger geographic area?
The short answer: a repeatable system.
All successful businesses are run by an organized system. A single business location multiples when processes are documented and recorded. Basically every activity is written down in a handbook so it can be taught to someone else in the future.
Once this training manual is completed, the systems can be taught to new employees. Remember the “…for dummies” book series? They teach the basics so you can do it on your own. The more simple, repeatable steps there are, the easier it is to replicate. Clear instruction leads to easy implementation.
To open another location, follow the steps above and repeat!
In one of my favorite business books “Built to Sell” the author illustrates how to make your company sell-able. Your goal might not be to sell your business, but you’ll never know how much it’s worth until you build it to sell. When you streamline your processes by documenting them, it gives your company the opportunity to scale and function without your direct involvement. To all you control freaks out there, this concept may be scary to consider, but if your idea is dependent on your participation it will never grow to reach its potential without the help from others. 
As a new father, think of your business like a child. It’s your responsibility to train and guide him/her to be independent enough to launch and leave the nest. 

There are plenty of successful franchises around to learn from. You don’t have to copy what they do, but study their model to build your own franchise!