One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears - by listening to them. — Dean Rusk

I heard that…and I agree!  As we seek first to understand we dramatically increase our ability to influence any outcome.  Kirk Out

Responses to yesterday’s T4D question “When is Less More?” were both profound and entertaining.   I never in my life dreamed that they would contain references to a DJ named Les Ismore, or Dust Bunnies or Elvis…but they did.  Thank you for your responses all of which are available on the blog site…with just a sampling of them offered here for your shared enjoyment.

Less sarcasm, cynicism and negative tone leads to more energy, enthusiasm, creativity and stronger relationships. ~ Steve

Less talking can lead to more listening.  This is especially helpful when managing employees or working with customers~  Stephen

Less is more when you finally realize that you already have everything you need to be happy with your life.  Bill LaVelle

Less is More…I think of “Do-ers”.  What I mean by this is, when you have a lot of talk/meetings about an issue but no one is doing anything about it.  No one is taking initiative instead they are wasting time and effort expanding on the problem.  Less talking, more doing.  Take initiative, Dog Poop Initiative is a good example :).  Your average work force would rather see you out on the floor, working with them, attempting to fix the issue vs just talking about it. So now I am going to do Less typing and more Work! ~ Chuck  (Thanks for the book plug Chuck

Less blaming and more personal accountability ( btw thanks for putting me onto the book QBQ) Less TV = more everything - family time, reading, playing, living Less stuff = more appreciating what we have Less me/I =more we/us ~ Leah Cashman

Wasn’t it Elvis who proclaimed “A little less talk and a lot more action?”  Shouldn’t we all have less analyzing/thinking/debating and lot more doing/executing? ~ Charles

(this one was very unique) Les Ismore was my radio DJ name back in the mid 90s.  “Less talk…More Music….now when I train it’s…”Less talk…More Doing with a little music mixed in to keep it light.”  ~ Chris

 Less money leads to more creative resourcefulness. Less time spent doing things like searching for dust bunnies means more spending time with friends, family, and in my case, in the garden.   Vernette

Less (INSERT NEGATIVE THING HERE) is more room for (INSERT POSITIVE THING HERE). For example, less anger equals more room for happiness.  ~ Jason

Less doesn’t always equal a “good” part of more…. Examples:

Less Love=More Hate

Less Money=More Debt

Less Health=More Disease

Less Trees=More Pavement

Less Recycling=More Garbage

Less Focus on Quality=More Mistakes

Less Information=More Assumptions

Change starts with one. I know that. And I’m with Charles who quoted Elvis. Let’s DO MORE so we can have LESS unrest for us and those we love ~ Keri (See Keri’s full comment on the blog site - yesterdays post)

Less is more when it involves: criticism, micro-management, sarcasm, envy, opinion-sharing, blame, grandstanding, email (including “reply all”) , doing company work on the weekend, negative self talk, social climbing, mean-spiritedness, losing un-used vacation time at the end of the year

Most of all, less is more when it comes to waiting to tell (and show) the people we care about how much they truly mean to us. Make it an awesome day!  ~Jim Schuster, PMP

Less is More - I think of the Bucket List - all those things you want to do “someday” but never take the time to do it.  Suddenly you are told you have Less time on this Earth than you thought - then you make More time to do the things that are really important.   All the other excess stuff that filled your life and time are no longer important. ~
LeeAnn

Less is more when the “more” makes no difference to the outcome. Example, does having more things really get you anywhere? Does saying more really prove your point? Do you need to shower someone with gifts, just to show them you love them? Will it make them love you more?  Simplicity is a wonderful thing. ~ Kate

Thank you again for sharing these wonderful bits of wisdom…. and without question this post would be less without more Elvis. Enjoy!

Is it?

Today I am inviting you to consider this very simple question.

“When is Less More?”

If you have a moment to share your answer I would love and appreciate it.   www.kirkweisler.com/t4d in the comment box

Kirk out

“If you possess something but you can’t give it away, then you don’t possess it… it possesses you.” —Frank Sinatra

Do you own stuff or does it own you?  What would you do, what could you do if everything you owned fit in a backpack?

I am reading 3 books right now…all about decluttering, simplifying, and minimalst living.  A few things have inspired me to read in this direction.  First and foremost my wife Rebecca who is a “chucker” who is anti-clutter and loves simplicity.  Next is the story of Ian Usher who sold everything he owned on e-bay… including the URL to his website that said he was selling everything he owned on E-bay.  http://www.ianusher.com/  And the story of Betsy and Warren Talbot a couple who wrote the book Dream, Save, Do about how they put together a plan to sell everything and live out their dreams with backpacks and passports.   http://www.marriedwithluggage.com/our-story/

Am I going to live out of a backpack?  No - but could I live with less stuff?  YES.  Rebecca and I just sold our beautiful home in Atlanta.  We are ready for a new adventure in an new city.   And as we began talking about where that might be - we also naturally began talking about what type of home we wanted to live in.  With Brittany going off to college and Jake soon to follow we knew we no longer needed or wanted a home with 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 5 acres and allnthe upkeep that comes with it.  (Though I will miss my garden, bees and chickens).   In fact Rebecca said, she would like to dramatically simplify….with a focus on more experiences and far less stuff.

When I walked through the house asking myself what is in that I really just had to have… the answer was “not much”… certainly not as much as it holds.  I could even let go of most of books (maybe) 

I don’t think we will be able to reduce it down to a couple of back packs like the Talbots…but what if we could?   Someone wise once said, “There is genius in simplicity”.  What do you need to remove from your life to find simplicity and uncover so you can recover your genius?

Kirk Out

PS by the way - the 3 Books are Dream Save Do , Getting Rid of It, and The Joy of Less (but I wouldn’t buy the Joy of Less again now that I have read it)

Progress in every age results only from the fact that there are some men and women who refuse to believe that what they know to be right cannot be done.
– Russell W. Davenport

Often you read a quote like this and you might immediately think of famous examples of Edison and the Light Bulb, Roger Bannister and the 4 minute mile, or putting a man on the moon.  This is of course a natural thing to do… at least for me it is.   But the trick is to personalize the principle and to attach it to a dream, vision or goal in your own life.  To break your own 4 minute mile barrier, take your own “first step” into a brave new world, and illuminate your life with innovation realized by believing not just wishing and by doing not just dreaming.

Example 1 - I wanted to have more energy (like I did when I was younger) and more creativity and clarity of mind .  I believed that I could…and that belief was strengthened through study.  The research strengthened the resolve and I knew it was right.  It was the right time (to act), it was the right thing (for me) and it was the right thing for my family and my future.  I juiced, it worked.  Believe it, Achieve it.

Example 2 - Back in the day (before I was a speaker, trainer, consultant) I worked in the world of “outsourced call centers”.  The reputation of this industry was low margin, low pay, low morale, and high turnover.  We refused to believe that what the industry accepted as the norm had to be the norm.   We instead believed we could create something much better by being smart and doing what was right. Treating people right with higher pay, better culture, a corporate university and more ownership for their outcomes. We did things for our people that no other outsourcer had done..   We did this not to prove a point…but because we knew it was right.  And the results of those right things were great culture, low turnover and the highest engagement scores in the industry. The other unforseen result was that the experience would be the foundation of everything I do today in my work with leaders and culture.

What can you do today that has the potential to improve all of your tomorrows?

What do you “KNOW” is right for you? What do you need to “refuse to believe” so you can make progress and achieve?

What ever it is… you better believe it or you will never acheive it.

Kirk Out

Next week I am doing some training in the great state of Utah.  I have programs on the evenings of Mon, Tues, all day on Wed with a flight home on Thursday.  If any of my Utah friends would like a heavily discounted customized half day session for your peeps on Monday, Tuesday or Thurs morning… just let me know. (May 20-23)

The week after that I am in Phoenix Monday- Thurs same offer to my friends there.

I am a big fan and student of Jim Rohn. What follows are a few quick highlights of lessons he learned from one of his mentors, Mr. Shoaff. This is followed by a few of his thoughts on leadership. I hope you enjoy his wisdom as Ih have.

Jim says….  My first mentor, Mr. Shoaff, over a five-year period of time before he died at age 49, taught me some extraordinarily simple things. He only went through the 9th grade in school. He never finished high school, never went to college, never went to a university. So he put his experiences and ideas in very simple language, which, I think for me - kid from the farms of Idaho - was so important. When I would say, “This is all the company pays.” Mr. Shoaff would say, “No, that is all they pay YOU.” I thought, “That is a new to look at it.” I told him things cost too much. But he said, “No, you can’t afford them.” Well, that was a new concept for me. He promised that if I would improve, then I would qualify for more money. So I learned that we don’t have to work on the company, we have to work on ourselves.

If it had been technical, I would have missed it. If it had been mystic, I would have backed away. But it was just basic, blunt “a-b-c” familiar stuff that I hadn’t thought of before. For me it was the beginning of what he called “personal development”.

Mr. Shoaff also taught me that life puts some of the more valuable things on the high shelf so that you can’t get to them until you qualify. If you want the things on the high shelf, you must stand on the books you read. With every book you read, you get to stand a little higher.

And the “biggie” that forever had an impact on me, “Success is something you attract by the person you become.” That phrase changed my life. Success is not to be pursued, but to be attracted by the person you become. Put your energy into becoming a better you, the best you. Learn the skills. Practice the skills. Attract the success.

These simple strategies and ideas helped change my life, forever, for the better. Thank you, once again, Mr. Shoaff.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Leadership/Management by Jim Rohn

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”

“We must learn to help those who deserve it, not just those who need it. Life responds to deserve not need.”

“My mentor said, ‘Let’s go do it’, not ‘You go do it’. How powerful when someone says, ‘Let’s!’”

“Good people are found not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, “We don’t teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice people.” Wow! What a clever short cut.”

“Managers help people see themselves as they are; Leaders help people to see themselves better than they are.”

“Learn to help people with more than just their jobs: help them with their lives.”

Thank you Brendon for sharing the top image with us.

Kirk

It was on this week (May the 6th actually) in 1954 that Richard Bannister, a 25-year-old medical student in Oxford, England became the first person recorded to have run a mile in less than four minutes. He finished the mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.  Until then, many thought the four-minute barrier was impossible to break and some even thought it would overwork the athlete to the point of death. It did not, of course. Bannister didn’t hold the record for long though. After demonstrating that it could be done he broke the psychological barrier for many other athletes who would break the four-minute barrier in his wake. He stands as a testament that the mind can subdue the body into false limitations, but with dedication and focus we can use the mind to our advantage to reach beyond those limitations and into higher strata of achievement.

I don’t personally identify with Roger Bannister ( I can’t imagine myself being the first to knock down significant world record barriers - which is probably a personal problem I need to deal with!)  But I can more easily identify with all those guys who broke the 4 minute mile after the mental barrier had been broken.  I know I have limits…and I also know that I have rarely if ever come close to reaching them…or realizing my potential.  Why?  Because of other limits….the ones I have placed on myself or have allowed others to place on me.  (Emphasis on “have allowed”).

What’s holding you back?

What limits have you placed on yourself or allowed others to place on you?

What would you do or strive to become if you knew you could not fail?

“If you want to reach a goal, you must ’see the reaching’ in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal” Zig Ziglar

Today’s T4D was inspired one posted in 2009 titled “Seek to become not to acquire.”

One day as my wife Rebecca was talking to a group of teens she said, ”Seek to become not to acquire.”  A strong compliment to her personal philosphy of being a human becoming rather than just a human being.

With a world that seems to encourage the acquisition of more and more things…. we may soon find that instead of owning things …our thing own us.  The move towards simplification is also a move towards freedom.  (I came across this interesting book… haven’t read it yet.)

“Seek to become not to acquire.”  — Just 6 words …. but 6 words that say and suggest so much.

I believe that these 6 words can have great meaning in the corporate context as well.    Some seek to acquire power, position, security or influence …. others realize those outcomes as a natural consequence of their personal development and becoming.

In our seeking to become rather than to acquire… we can free ourselves from the clutter of comparison, worry, and insecurity because we have replaced them with knowledge, confidence and strength.

While others go through the motions out of pattern and habit… let us stay in motion to create habits that matter.

Let us choose wisely to not just ”go through the day”… but to grow through the day.

Kirk Out

Anyone who has heard me present in the last 5 years has heard me say something to this effect… “Great Leaders Teach and great teachers lead.”  And one of the primary areas of their leading is in inspiring their people to want to learn for themselves.  (To grow and to change).

“Leaders shouldn’t be focused strictly on teaching; they should be strictly focused on learning.  Real education is about helping people learn.  And our job as a a leader/teacher is not to tell people what we know, but to get them as excited about it as we are so that they will want to know for themselves.  Kirk Weisler

Life’s great lessons aren’t just taught…they are caught.  The most effective teachers in any subject are often the most enthusiastic students of that subject.

Kirk out