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The Fastest Way to Be a Success

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The fastest way to be a BIGG SuccessIt will probably sound a bit odd, at least at first.

It’s certainly counterintuitive, at least in part.

But it is the shortest distance between where you are now and the BIGG success that you dream about.

It requires you to be able to hold two conflicting ideas in harmony. So what is it?

Eliminate possibilities while keeping your options open.

Eliminate possibilities

When it comes to choosing your path through life, you are inundated with choices.

Every idea seems like a good idea. But most of them aren’t.

The key to reaching BIGG success as fast as possible is to eliminate your choices as quickly as possible.

We learned this from a venture capitalist. He said his job is to “get to no as fast as possible.”

Then you can move on to the next idea. Keep going until you have trouble saying no.

Then you can focus on the few ideas that are truly gems. Did you notice the key term in that last sentence?

Focus. That’s the reason to eliminate possibilities – to allow you to focus your precious resources on a few great ideas at a time.

Keep your options open

Now you’re ready for the conflict. As you develop the idea, you will gain more information.

Just what you needed, right? You did such a good job eliminating possibilities. Now you know more so you have more.

And that’s good news. It’s how you will deal with the unexpected.

BIGG success is about entrepreneuring your life. As an entrepreneur, you know you can’t predict the future. You create it.

You create it. with creativity. Your creativity helps you see new options to get to BIGG success faster.

Creativity. That’s what this second part is all about. It keeps you from hitting your head up against the same wall over and over.

Creative focus will help you reach BIGG success!

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Leadership and Racial Conflict

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We caught up on some shows over the weekend. Survivor Redemption Island was one of them.

Entrepreneurial leaders occasionally need to diffuse a tense situation. Jeff Probst, the host of the show, provides an excellent example of just how to do it in this episode.

In case you don’t watch the show, we’ll provide a brief background. There are two tribes. They have now merged but are definitely not unified. They operate as separate tribes day-to-day.

One tribe’s rice, which is the main food source on the island, got maggots in it. They picked the maggots out but the rice was on a blanket on the beach. It was attracting moisture.

Philip, who happens to be African-American, approached the other tribe to see if his tribe could put their rice in the other tribe’s rice container. Steve, who happens to be Caucasian, rejected.

A heated argument ensued. The race card was played.

Jeff Probst squarely took the issues on when the castaways all met for tribal council. We’ll grant you that this is reality TV. However, we can’t recall a better example of a leader removing the emotion from a situation.

If you want to see it done, watch the Rice Wars episode of Survivor Redemption Island. (The tribal council with Jeff begins at the 31:35 mark.)

Here are the lessons we took away:

Build goodwill before you need it

Without the goodwill he has built up, Jeff probably would not have been able to pull off what he did. You have to build goodwill before you need it so, when you need it, you have a reserve from which to draw.

Listen attentively

Demonstrate your willingness to listen attentively to the divergent points-of-view. You weren’t there. You’re investigating. So talk little, inquire much.

Follow-up carefully

As you get information, clarify it. But make sure you do it in a non-threatening way. If you show favoritism of any sort, you won’t be successful in diffusing the conflict.

Find out what happened…exactly

You want the facts. You want to know precisely what sparked the conflict.

Seek points of understanding

You may not be able to reach an agreement. However, if you can understand what created the problem, you can articulate that without the emotion of the situation.

Look for the crux of the problem

In this case, Philip perceived a comment by Steve as a personal attack – not just on him personally, but on his entire race. It’s the crux of the problem. You need to know it in order to diffuse the situation.

Sum it up

Jeff was able to sum up the problem. You could see that both of the parties involved agreed with his assessment. You could see relief on the faces of all the castaways.

As an entrepreneurial leader, you will be confronted with conflicts between your people. Follow this model to diffuse even the most emotional situations.

The Rice Wars episode of Survivor Redemption Island offers an excellent model to diffuse even the most emotional situations.

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When Life on Your Own Terms Creates Conflict

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problematic.jpgBigg success is life on your own terms. We recently talked about how empowering it is to define your terms.

We got a great comment by Andrew R. Timms about this. He says, “… just because we decide on our terms doesn’t mean the rest of the world is going to agree or accept them.”___

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Andrew raises a very good point. It’s something we need to keep in mind as we seek bigg success …

What do you do if life on your own terms creates conflict with the people around you?

Andrew goes on to say that, in some cases, a person may think that your terms are keeping them from living their life on their terms. He suggests that we assume that they’re right! Then we’re at least common ground. Now with that in mind, we can explore solutions that work for both of us.

That’s an excellent suggestion. It’s Stephen Covey’s “Seek first to understand.” We have a personal example of this.

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marylynnBefore we were married, we both talked about our career goals. I was in radio and life on my own terms meant growing as a broadcaster and sharing my talent with more and more people. That meant moving to a larger market.

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georgeI was in business for myself and teaching part-time at our local University. I loved what I did, but my businesses were here as was my part-time gig. Life on my own terms meant growing without moving.

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marylynnThese weren’t the only factors at play, but they were definitely part of the equation.

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george
So we had conflicting terms and we started looking for solutions.

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marylynnThat’s when the idea for Bigg Success came up. It allowed me to broadcast to the largest audience I could imagine – the whole world!

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georgeIt allowed me to expand my business without moving. The conflict forced us to work together to find a solution. Because of that, we both found a better opportunity than we would have had otherwise. That’s synergy!

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What if you can’t find common ground?

We were able to find a solution that allowed both of us to live our lives on our own terms. But what if we weren’t able to do that?

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marylynn

Let’s say I was determined to stick with radio.

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georgeEarlier, we alluded to the fact that there were other factors at play in how we got to Bigg Success. And Mary-Lynn, I think what you saw in the future of radio is one of those factors.

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marylynnYeah, the industry was, and is, going through some significant changes. I felt like there was a lot less opportunity for me to really grow like I wanted to, if I stayed in the business. But let’s pretend that wasn’t the case. I would have had to move for my next bigg opportunity and, George, that would have meant a long-distance relationship for us.

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Life on your own terms isn’t idyllic

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georgeNow that’s not how either of us defines life on our own terms. But there’s an important point to understand here – life on your own terms isn’t idyllic. It involves setting priorities. A long-distance relationship may not be consistent with life on my own terms. But I’d rather do that than not have a relationship with you at all, Mary-Lynn.

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marylynnWe’d both be living life on our own terms, career-wise, but obviously not the way we would prefer in our personal lives. Sometimes you can’t have it all and you just have to accept that.

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It’s a timing problem

But here’s the key – we may have to accept it for now. In the meantime, we keep looking for solutions and opportunities that get us to our ideal life, to life on our own terms. In most cases, it’s a timing problem, not something we have to accept for our whole lives.

We’re talking about the closest of relationships here, the relationships on which you place the highest priority. In other relationships, the dynamic may change as a result of living your life on your own terms. You’re willing to accept that because you know you’re headed for bigg success!

What do you do when your terms conflict with others?

You can share that with us by leaving a comment below, calling us at 877.988.BIGG or sending us an e-mail at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com. Thanks Andrew for your thoughtful comment. And thank you for reading our post today.

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Would you like more tips and tools to live your life on your own terms?
Subscribe to the Bigg Success Weekly – it’s FREE!

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Join us next time as we help a member of our community who’s looking to get back into the workforce after an extended time off.

Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

 

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
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Crisis Creates Opportunity for Great Leaders

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maple_leaf_foods_logo
Recently, food-borne illness was found to have caused the death of eleven Canadians. After a thorough inspection, it was concluded that the problem originated in a plant operated by Maple Leaf Foods.

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At a press conference, the President of Maple Leaf Foods, Michael McCain responded:

"Certainly knowing that there is a desire to assign blame, I want to reiterate that the buck stops right here. This week, it's our best efforts that failed, not the regulators or the Canadian food safety system. I emphasize: this is our accountability and it's ours to fix, which we are taking on fully. We have and we continue to improve on our action plans."

Honesty builds goodwill

It was so refreshing to see a leader step up and accept responsibility in an incredibly difficult situation. The report on the conference says you could see the pain in his face. He was completely honest. He took a hard stance and accepted full responsibility.

In today’s legal environment, it’s harder than ever for executives to accept this kind of responsibility. Lawyers often advise against it because it costs money. But it builds goodwill because people appreciate people who stand up and do what’s right without regard to the cost.

The 3 phases of a crisis

We found a great special report, Crisis – A Leadership Opportunity [pdf]. It discusses the three phases in the lifecycle of a crisis:

Preparation
During this phase, complacency has set in. As problems boil to the surface, leaders often ignore them to avoid any conflict. This failure to respond early leads to the crisis.

Emergency
Now the threat has been ascertained and the very existence of the organization may be threatened. Leaders direct all their energy to eliminate the immediate threat.

Adaptive
All possible attention has been given to crisis. There has been an urgency to get to the source and take corrective actions. With the crisis still at the top of everyone’s mind, now is the time to make the changes necessary to prevent the crisis from happening again. People are receptive and open.

However, many leaders fail to take advantage of this opportunity. Instead, they push the organization back to the status quo. The result? The crisis returns!

The report [pdf] goes on to discuss the seven essential success strategies for leaders in crisis. It also discusses two famous cases of leadership in crisis – Johnson & Johnson’s handling of the Tylenol poisonings and Rudy Giuliani’s response immediately after the events of September 11, 2001.

We highly recommend that you check out this fantastic resource. It will help you learn to adapt to little problems so they don’t become a major crisis. 

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Here’s another great resource –
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Next time, we ask, “Are you solving the problem or the symptom?” Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

 

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00248-102208.mp3
ttp://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00248-102208.mp3

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5 Questions to Ask Before You Work with Your Spouse

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By Bigg Success Staff
06-15-08

Work – Life Balance

spouse 

Here’s a way to integrate your personal and professional lives – work with your spouse. It’s a great way to spend time together while building a business and your careers.

Of course, just because you have a happy marriage doesn’t mean you’ll have a successful partnership. Not all couples can or should work together.

So how do you know if it might work for you? Sit down with your spouse and have a frank discussion about the following questions about your personal dynamic.

How did previous projects go?
Look at projects you have done together in the past. Two common ones are building a house or tackling a major home remodeling. These projects can be very stressful so they make a good test of how you will handle the rigors of business. 

Was it a smooth process?
If things went smoothly, that may be a good sign that you are cut out to work together. Business partners have to be able to get along to get ahead. You need a large degree of harmony if two people are going to work well together.

Do you agree too much?
If you agree about everything, one of you isn’t needed! Disagreement on how to proceed often leads to a better strategy than either partner originally imagined. It’s good to disagree; it’s bad to be disagreeable. That leads to our next question.

Was it rife with conflict?
As we just said, a certain level of conflict is good. However, if you fight each other every step of the way, it won’t work. Don’t even try to go into business together. You may consider each starting your own business, but you shouldn’t work together.

How did you handle conflict?
If you had a little conflict, that’s good. Now think about how you handled it. Were you able to discuss issues rationally? Did you reach an agreement on how to proceed? Were you both able to move on once you did? If so, you may be a good fit.

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