Throughout this lesson on leadership characteristics you have learned many things about improving your motivational leadership style. If you are a leadership speaker now you have plenty more things to talk about during your upcoming speaking engagements. For our last two Marine leadership characteristics or "traits" we will discuss.......
Loyalty and Enthusiasm.
Loyalty can also have many meanings. As a leader you want to be loyal to those who work for you. Take care of them every chance you get while at the same time being firm but fair and they will take care of you. Make it a point to know who they are, where they are from, what direction they are headed in life, how their family is doind ect. That is motivational leadership. Doing so will also develop a sense of loyalty in them for you and maybe even the institution depending on the circumstances. A good leadership speaker can definitely help with building loyalty to the institution, company or business. If you believe in the company and display that to them that will also greatly help.
Enthusiasm is pretty obvious leadership characteristic and it is kind of like endurance. If you drag your but and are not happy to be there your people will feed off of you and act the same way. If you are up beat they will be more up beat. If you are a complainer then expect them to complain and work slow. Sick days will also increase. Everyone has days where they don't feel like being at work. If you normally come from an enthusiastic motivational leadership style then they will know you are having an off beat day and may even have concern for you. When I need a boost I listen to my favorite leadership speaker Marshall Sylver on you tube. Make it a point to enrich the lives of everyone you come in contact with. Give them a genuine smile even if it is only to pay for your dry cleaning. Do this and good energy and good things will flow your way.
For more ways to improve your motivational leadership be sure to visit my web site at www.themaxgarcia.com
Until next time enjoy applying some of the Marine Corps leadership characteristics to your daily routine.
Showing posts with label leadership speaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leadership speaker. Show all posts
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Unselfishness, Courage and Knowledge by Max Garcia
OK, we are almost done this long lesson on the Marine Corps leadership characteristics or as we call them traits. By the time we are done you will be better prepared to lead in any capacity. This will also help you to develop more of a motivational leadership style. You will also be able to identify the good and bad in leadership speakers and bosses.
Unselfishness- This one seems simple but it is surprising how many leaders only care about themselves. Now of course we should care about the company, the institution, the production, our personal progression ect. BUT you must care about the welfare of your subordinates. If you don't show any compassion for their personal lives then they will give you the bare minimum. In the Marines the most junior guy eats first and the most senior Marine eats last. If there is a shortage of food the staff and officers will go with out. Troop welfare is something we practice on a regular basis with our hearts. Too many people think about what is good for themselves and nothing else. Remember to give your people a pat on the back, a break, a jacket if it's cold, the list goes on. They will completely have no respect for you if you don't do for them but always do for yourself. Of course they will die for you if you are of a motivational leadership style always staying firm but fair.
Courage- Most leaders lack in this dept of leadership characteristics. There are two kinds of courage. There is the type where a Marine, fire fighter or a police officer puts him self in danger for the benefit of others. More often though there is moral courage. The type to tell someone face to face they are wrong. The courage to stand up to your boss for the sake of those who work below you. The courage to correct one of your employees for wearing the wrong uniform or showing up late. The list goes on you get the point. Unfortunately most people set the rules but don't enforce them. I love hearing a leadership speaker preach about this. If you are a leadership speaker, talking about this will get heads rolling as managers will want to step it up.
Knowledge- Short and sweet, if you don't know your job how can you lead people in that field. If you don't know what you are doing then you need to have the courage to ask someone for help (even if they are junior to you). Focusing on leadership characteristics like this will make you more promotable and respectable. This is how you become the go to guy or gal. Reading technical manuals or standard operating procedures will help you gain knowledge ultimately improving your proficiency.
These should be enough to digest for a couple days as you incorporate them in to your motivational leadership. Good luck.
Unselfishness- This one seems simple but it is surprising how many leaders only care about themselves. Now of course we should care about the company, the institution, the production, our personal progression ect. BUT you must care about the welfare of your subordinates. If you don't show any compassion for their personal lives then they will give you the bare minimum. In the Marines the most junior guy eats first and the most senior Marine eats last. If there is a shortage of food the staff and officers will go with out. Troop welfare is something we practice on a regular basis with our hearts. Too many people think about what is good for themselves and nothing else. Remember to give your people a pat on the back, a break, a jacket if it's cold, the list goes on. They will completely have no respect for you if you don't do for them but always do for yourself. Of course they will die for you if you are of a motivational leadership style always staying firm but fair.
Courage- Most leaders lack in this dept of leadership characteristics. There are two kinds of courage. There is the type where a Marine, fire fighter or a police officer puts him self in danger for the benefit of others. More often though there is moral courage. The type to tell someone face to face they are wrong. The courage to stand up to your boss for the sake of those who work below you. The courage to correct one of your employees for wearing the wrong uniform or showing up late. The list goes on you get the point. Unfortunately most people set the rules but don't enforce them. I love hearing a leadership speaker preach about this. If you are a leadership speaker, talking about this will get heads rolling as managers will want to step it up.
Knowledge- Short and sweet, if you don't know your job how can you lead people in that field. If you don't know what you are doing then you need to have the courage to ask someone for help (even if they are junior to you). Focusing on leadership characteristics like this will make you more promotable and respectable. This is how you become the go to guy or gal. Reading technical manuals or standard operating procedures will help you gain knowledge ultimately improving your proficiency.
These should be enough to digest for a couple days as you incorporate them in to your motivational leadership. Good luck.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Integrity, Endurance and Bearing by Max Garcia
The next three leadership characteristics we will discuss are "integrity, endurance and bearing".
Integrity is a tough one but obvious. Some will simply say integrity is telling the truth. When it comes to motivational leadership I say it can be and is much more. Depending on what you are doing integrity can simply mean do you practice what you preach as a leadership speaker or boss. Subordinates love to talk trash about a manager that says do as I say not as I do because they require one thing but do the opposite like they are above the rules. For others, do you believe in the product you sell and swear by to make money? Do you even own it yourself. The list goes on.
Endurance is powerful one for motivational leadership if you use it to your advantage. Here's the thing, if it is a busy day, tough week, bad day ect and you are dragging your feet because you are tired as a boss you will lose. Your people will not respect you if you drag your but. How could you possibly expect them to work hard, fast and efficiently if you are a slug. The opposite is true if you are the opposite. That is why a good leadership speaker will be on fire with energy during his or her speech. People sub consciously feed off of each other. This leadership characteristic is very important for those in the military where physical fitness is also weighed heavily.
Bearing is our last but not so obvious rarely talked about of the leadership characteristics. As a leader you have to keep your cool no matter what kind of stress presents it self. You must use tact when dealing with those senior to you no matter how you personally feel. A person trying to practice motivational leadership can not take out his or her personal problems on the subordinates. A great leadership speaker once told me that nothing is ever good or bad. It just is. When you think that way it will be easier for you to control your bearing during times of challenge.
Integrity is a tough one but obvious. Some will simply say integrity is telling the truth. When it comes to motivational leadership I say it can be and is much more. Depending on what you are doing integrity can simply mean do you practice what you preach as a leadership speaker or boss. Subordinates love to talk trash about a manager that says do as I say not as I do because they require one thing but do the opposite like they are above the rules. For others, do you believe in the product you sell and swear by to make money? Do you even own it yourself. The list goes on.
Endurance is powerful one for motivational leadership if you use it to your advantage. Here's the thing, if it is a busy day, tough week, bad day ect and you are dragging your feet because you are tired as a boss you will lose. Your people will not respect you if you drag your but. How could you possibly expect them to work hard, fast and efficiently if you are a slug. The opposite is true if you are the opposite. That is why a good leadership speaker will be on fire with energy during his or her speech. People sub consciously feed off of each other. This leadership characteristic is very important for those in the military where physical fitness is also weighed heavily.
Bearing is our last but not so obvious rarely talked about of the leadership characteristics. As a leader you have to keep your cool no matter what kind of stress presents it self. You must use tact when dealing with those senior to you no matter how you personally feel. A person trying to practice motivational leadership can not take out his or her personal problems on the subordinates. A great leadership speaker once told me that nothing is ever good or bad. It just is. When you think that way it will be easier for you to control your bearing during times of challenge.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
More Leadership With The Marines part 2 by Max Garcia
Now, on to the next set of leadership characteristics. If you are a leadership speaker or anyone speaking at a seminar these 14 leadership characteristics or "traits" as the Marines call them will make great back drops for people to look at before and after you speak. Just exposing your lower level management and your hard charging employees to this material will breed motivational leadership where ever you work. The more people the better.
4) INITIATIVE - This one is pretty straight forward. If it needs to be done don't wait to be told, manager or employee.
5) Dependability...you may want to ask your leadership speaker to talk for a minute about this one. There is nothing more annoying than to tell your lower level managers to get something done only to be driving home wondering if they got it done. I like it when I have a manager I can depend on to the point where I do what I call "fire and forget". Like a missile that locks itself on to a target. You just hit the fire button and the machine does the rest. It is a great feeling when you tell someone to get something done and you just know you can consider it done. When I get the opposite kind of person I go from motivational leadership to authoritative style. In short, if I have to chase someone down and tell them to do something twice they are not getting the nice guy. If they show up late more than once in a long period of time, talk back, or wear a uniform that does not represent well, forget it, they will feel some heat and my motivational leadership style is out the window. I don't appreciate having to execute things on my "to do" list twice.
6) Our last of the leadership characteristics for today is Tact. Tact is also self explanatory but it's wide variety of meanings can make great guided discussions to get the audience to open up to a leadership speaker. Some people view tact as the leader having some respect when he talks to the subordinate. Others view this as the opposite, others think it means peers showing respect for each other. I personally think the most important meaning is that you can tell your boss what is on your mind, you can even tell him he is wrong. You just have to use tact or you will be the one who loses.
More to follow.....
4) INITIATIVE - This one is pretty straight forward. If it needs to be done don't wait to be told, manager or employee.
5) Dependability...you may want to ask your leadership speaker to talk for a minute about this one. There is nothing more annoying than to tell your lower level managers to get something done only to be driving home wondering if they got it done. I like it when I have a manager I can depend on to the point where I do what I call "fire and forget". Like a missile that locks itself on to a target. You just hit the fire button and the machine does the rest. It is a great feeling when you tell someone to get something done and you just know you can consider it done. When I get the opposite kind of person I go from motivational leadership to authoritative style. In short, if I have to chase someone down and tell them to do something twice they are not getting the nice guy. If they show up late more than once in a long period of time, talk back, or wear a uniform that does not represent well, forget it, they will feel some heat and my motivational leadership style is out the window. I don't appreciate having to execute things on my "to do" list twice.
6) Our last of the leadership characteristics for today is Tact. Tact is also self explanatory but it's wide variety of meanings can make great guided discussions to get the audience to open up to a leadership speaker. Some people view tact as the leader having some respect when he talks to the subordinate. Others view this as the opposite, others think it means peers showing respect for each other. I personally think the most important meaning is that you can tell your boss what is on your mind, you can even tell him he is wrong. You just have to use tact or you will be the one who loses.
More to follow.....
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
More Leadership With The Marines by Max Garcia
Now, we will talk about the different leadership characteristics and what they mean so you can begin to apply these with your motivational leadership style starting today.
If you are a leadership speaker these will make you look like gold if you mention them during your next speaking engagement. Most people are expecting a leadership speaker to talk about the same old things at training seminars. When you get up there and start talking leadership characteristics the Marine Corps way people will sit up straight and listen. Just posting these fourteen leadership traits up in the bathroom at work will inspire motivational leadership at the lowest levels. I know because I do exactly that at work. Guys need something to look at while they stand at the urinal why not something that will improve my company. Ok, lets get in right in to it.
1) Justice - this can have several meanings, you do justice not only by punishing or counseling those who do wrong to show that you mean business, you also do justice by making sure those who take care of you are recognized for their performance. This could mean an award, verbal comment, e mail, trophy, letter of appreciation, raise, gift certificate and the list goes on. I have pushed for people to lose a stripe and others to gain one in the same day. Your people must know that you will drop the hammer if you need to at anytime but they must also know you will take care of those who do right because you have their best interest at hear. That is motivational leadership.
2) The next leadership characteristic or trait is Judgement - this one is obvious you must be able to use good judgement on and off work. That means maybe not sleeping with any ones wife you work with, any of your subordinates or not getting too drunk and acting a fool at the company party. Of course there are many more examples too many to list, talking back, driving the company car recklessly ect.
3) Decisiveness - Any leadership speaker will tell you this....As a leader you must be able to make decisions with out wasting too much time. If you are a lower level manager and you don't have the guts to make a decision with out asking the boss first your people will ask another manager for guidance. It's that simple, you will lose credibility. If you are the big boss let those lower level leaders make decisions and support them on it (even if it is not what you would have done). It will pay off in the long run.
To be continued.....
If you are a leadership speaker these will make you look like gold if you mention them during your next speaking engagement. Most people are expecting a leadership speaker to talk about the same old things at training seminars. When you get up there and start talking leadership characteristics the Marine Corps way people will sit up straight and listen. Just posting these fourteen leadership traits up in the bathroom at work will inspire motivational leadership at the lowest levels. I know because I do exactly that at work. Guys need something to look at while they stand at the urinal why not something that will improve my company. Ok, lets get in right in to it.
1) Justice - this can have several meanings, you do justice not only by punishing or counseling those who do wrong to show that you mean business, you also do justice by making sure those who take care of you are recognized for their performance. This could mean an award, verbal comment, e mail, trophy, letter of appreciation, raise, gift certificate and the list goes on. I have pushed for people to lose a stripe and others to gain one in the same day. Your people must know that you will drop the hammer if you need to at anytime but they must also know you will take care of those who do right because you have their best interest at hear. That is motivational leadership.
2) The next leadership characteristic or trait is Judgement - this one is obvious you must be able to use good judgement on and off work. That means maybe not sleeping with any ones wife you work with, any of your subordinates or not getting too drunk and acting a fool at the company party. Of course there are many more examples too many to list, talking back, driving the company car recklessly ect.
3) Decisiveness - Any leadership speaker will tell you this....As a leader you must be able to make decisions with out wasting too much time. If you are a lower level manager and you don't have the guts to make a decision with out asking the boss first your people will ask another manager for guidance. It's that simple, you will lose credibility. If you are the big boss let those lower level leaders make decisions and support them on it (even if it is not what you would have done). It will pay off in the long run.
To be continued.....
Monday, February 15, 2010
Leadership With The Marines by Max Garcia
As a leadership speaker I always make it a point to teach the powerful leadership characteristics I have learned in the Marine Corps. If you are of a motivational leadership style you will enjoy learning and teaching these 14 leadership characteristics to your managers and subordinates alike.
The Marines call these leadership characteristics the 14 leadership traits, also known as JJ DID TIE BUCKLE (we will get to that in a minute). I learned these traits very early in my career as a young lance corporal age 19 (E-3) trying to pick up the prestigious Corporal. At the rank of Corporal you become a Non-Commissioned Officer with new leadership responsibilities. The rank is not easy to obtain or maintain. The lesson has served me very well as I firmly believe in a lead by example, motivational leadership style.
The fourteen leadership traits are as follows:
1)Justice
2)Judgement
3)Decisiveness
4)Initiative
5)Dependability
6)Tact
7)Integrity
8)Endurance
9)Bearing
10)Unselfishness
11)Courage
12)Knowledge
13)Loyalty
14)Enthusiasm
Notice the JJ DID TIE BUCKLE to help you remember them. If you are already practicing or teaching a motivational leadership style these will help you put a more definite name on what you already know. If you are just starting your career you will clearly be able to notice these leadership characteristics or lack of them in your co workers and managers. Keeping these in mind on a daily basis will also help prepare you to be a manager and eventually a leadership speaker.
The 14 leadership traits are somewhat self explanatory, especially if you are already a leadership speaker. We will discuss them more in depth next. For now become familiar with them and establish for yourself what you think each characteristic means.
The Marines call these leadership characteristics the 14 leadership traits, also known as JJ DID TIE BUCKLE (we will get to that in a minute). I learned these traits very early in my career as a young lance corporal age 19 (E-3) trying to pick up the prestigious Corporal. At the rank of Corporal you become a Non-Commissioned Officer with new leadership responsibilities. The rank is not easy to obtain or maintain. The lesson has served me very well as I firmly believe in a lead by example, motivational leadership style.
The fourteen leadership traits are as follows:
1)Justice
2)Judgement
3)Decisiveness
4)Initiative
5)Dependability
6)Tact
7)Integrity
8)Endurance
9)Bearing
10)Unselfishness
11)Courage
12)Knowledge
13)Loyalty
14)Enthusiasm
Notice the JJ DID TIE BUCKLE to help you remember them. If you are already practicing or teaching a motivational leadership style these will help you put a more definite name on what you already know. If you are just starting your career you will clearly be able to notice these leadership characteristics or lack of them in your co workers and managers. Keeping these in mind on a daily basis will also help prepare you to be a manager and eventually a leadership speaker.
The 14 leadership traits are somewhat self explanatory, especially if you are already a leadership speaker. We will discuss them more in depth next. For now become familiar with them and establish for yourself what you think each characteristic means.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Conduct Off Work by Max Garcia
As a leadership speaker, your conduct off work can and will affect your success in any business. Many people only think ethics and leadership characteristics apply while they are at work. The reality is that today is the information age. Your followers will know what kind of person you are off work. Word gets around fast. Don't be surprised if someone in your company sees you during your off time with out you knowing it. If you are acting outside the same leadership characteristics you preach and expect during the day your motivational leadership will lose credibility. People talk, I'm not saying it's fair but it's fact. It would be nothing in today's world for someone to e mail all their co-workers if they saw a leadership speaker acting like a fool outside the work place.
I once remember a work function we had where the senior man in the company sitting at the head table clearly had too much to drink. He kept making so much noise with his laughing and loud talking. It was a sight, it was funny. This is the same guy who preached leadership characteristics and ethics to us in such a motivational leadership style. He eventually had to be escorted by his staff away to avoid further embarrassment for everyone. I ran in to this guy several years later and that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw him. I couldn't help but to tell the people I was with. How is that for motivational leadership?
A leadership speaker of any kind must lead by example both on and off work.
I once remember a work function we had where the senior man in the company sitting at the head table clearly had too much to drink. He kept making so much noise with his laughing and loud talking. It was a sight, it was funny. This is the same guy who preached leadership characteristics and ethics to us in such a motivational leadership style. He eventually had to be escorted by his staff away to avoid further embarrassment for everyone. I ran in to this guy several years later and that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw him. I couldn't help but to tell the people I was with. How is that for motivational leadership?
A leadership speaker of any kind must lead by example both on and off work.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Pray before you spray by Max Garcia
If you are a leadership speaker of any kind, there is one ingredient you must include to ensure a successful speech.... PRAYER. I fully realized this just a few days ago when I spoke at the Non-Commissioned Officers leadership course at Marine Corps air station Yuma, AZ. It was an honor to be asked to give these young leaders some motivational leadership, and teach a little bit about leadership characteristics.
I must admit, this morning I was nervous to the point of nausia to speak in front of so many students and so many guest since it was at the graduation. There was a lot of high ranking officers and Sr Enlisted present. As a leadership speaker who harps on leadership characteristics and motivational leadership, I always pray before speaking to a group of people. If it is a longer presentation I will also pray several days in advance while in preparation, especially the night before. This time I prayed and asked God to expand my territory and give me the ability to enhance the lives and abilities of our nations leaders as their leadership speaker.
I know that prayer always helps but this time I really know that it did because I even prayed in the back of the room before getting introduced. I don't know how to explain it but something just came over me and powerful words of leadership characteristics and motivational leadership flowed like water out of my mouth. I was shocked during the speech myself. I also received incredible feed back from many high ranking Marines. Stay tuned to my website www.themaxgarcia.com as I am considering posting some of the speech up for view!
I must admit, this morning I was nervous to the point of nausia to speak in front of so many students and so many guest since it was at the graduation. There was a lot of high ranking officers and Sr Enlisted present. As a leadership speaker who harps on leadership characteristics and motivational leadership, I always pray before speaking to a group of people. If it is a longer presentation I will also pray several days in advance while in preparation, especially the night before. This time I prayed and asked God to expand my territory and give me the ability to enhance the lives and abilities of our nations leaders as their leadership speaker.
I know that prayer always helps but this time I really know that it did because I even prayed in the back of the room before getting introduced. I don't know how to explain it but something just came over me and powerful words of leadership characteristics and motivational leadership flowed like water out of my mouth. I was shocked during the speech myself. I also received incredible feed back from many high ranking Marines. Stay tuned to my website www.themaxgarcia.com as I am considering posting some of the speech up for view!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Patience and Leadership by Max Garcia
I know it can be so hard to be patient sometimes. Patience is one of the leadership characteristics most people lack. Most people choose to blame the employee or the boss for everything. This is not motivational leadership, this is simply not accepting responsibility.
A great leadership speaker once told me that an effective communicator takes responsibility for both sides of the communication. This leadership speaker named Marshall Sylver said "like it or not, it is your responsibility to communicate clearly, and it is also your responsibility to ensure the other person understood you correctly". That is motivational leadership.
The Marines took that one step further with the leadership principal that states "ensure the task is understood supervised and accomplished". When things fall through the cracks these are the type of leadership characteristics I bring up.
The leadership characteristics you choose to take on will make or break you and your company. People are quick to play the blame game in business. Businesses who encourage leadership characteristics like team player while using words like united we stand divided we fall, always bounce back. When you use motivational leadership over bull headed leadership people will want to work for you. A real leadership speaker will tell you that an effective manager does not have to use fear to get his or her point across.
A great leadership speaker once told me that an effective communicator takes responsibility for both sides of the communication. This leadership speaker named Marshall Sylver said "like it or not, it is your responsibility to communicate clearly, and it is also your responsibility to ensure the other person understood you correctly". That is motivational leadership.
The Marines took that one step further with the leadership principal that states "ensure the task is understood supervised and accomplished". When things fall through the cracks these are the type of leadership characteristics I bring up.
The leadership characteristics you choose to take on will make or break you and your company. People are quick to play the blame game in business. Businesses who encourage leadership characteristics like team player while using words like united we stand divided we fall, always bounce back. When you use motivational leadership over bull headed leadership people will want to work for you. A real leadership speaker will tell you that an effective manager does not have to use fear to get his or her point across.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Put Yourself In the Right Frame of Mind First by Max Garcia
It is essential that you start your day and continue your day in the right frame of mind. When you are in the right frame of mind you will get more things done and you will deal with challenges or disappointments more effectively. Here are some ways you can start getting more out of your life today.
Motivational Speeches to the rescue. Giving yourself a motivational speech out loud will make any situation better. I start my day mentally giving myself little motivational speeches. Usually I am too tired to say them out loud when I first wake up but if you can do that you will dramatically increase your happiness. A powerful Christian speaker by the name of Norman Vincent Peale says start every day by saying "I believe today is going to be a great day". Another Christian speaker by the name of Joel Osteen has amazing free podcasts I like to listen to while I run on my tread mil. After listening to his motivational speeches I feel like like the challenges in the back of my head are not so big after all. Really I feel like I can conquer the world after listening to him. It is a great thing to not only be able to learn about God and different verses in the bible but when it makes you feel unstoppable that is just the icing on the cake. I don't care to listen to a Christian speaker on the radio that talks about nothing but doom and gloom in the world.
Even as a leadership speaker myself I get discouraged sometimes just like anyone. As a leadership speaker your subordinates or audience will feed off of you. So when I get to work I will listen to something that empowers me. If you simply you tube affirmations for money, success, confidence or whatever you need. You can find plenty of things for free to listen to that will get you moving in the right direction. If you are a leadership speaker or boss in any capacity and you are grouchy don't blame your people when work is not happening the way you would like.
Motivational Speeches to the rescue. Giving yourself a motivational speech out loud will make any situation better. I start my day mentally giving myself little motivational speeches. Usually I am too tired to say them out loud when I first wake up but if you can do that you will dramatically increase your happiness. A powerful Christian speaker by the name of Norman Vincent Peale says start every day by saying "I believe today is going to be a great day". Another Christian speaker by the name of Joel Osteen has amazing free podcasts I like to listen to while I run on my tread mil. After listening to his motivational speeches I feel like like the challenges in the back of my head are not so big after all. Really I feel like I can conquer the world after listening to him. It is a great thing to not only be able to learn about God and different verses in the bible but when it makes you feel unstoppable that is just the icing on the cake. I don't care to listen to a Christian speaker on the radio that talks about nothing but doom and gloom in the world.
Even as a leadership speaker myself I get discouraged sometimes just like anyone. As a leadership speaker your subordinates or audience will feed off of you. So when I get to work I will listen to something that empowers me. If you simply you tube affirmations for money, success, confidence or whatever you need. You can find plenty of things for free to listen to that will get you moving in the right direction. If you are a leadership speaker or boss in any capacity and you are grouchy don't blame your people when work is not happening the way you would like.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Be Flexible in Business by Max Garcia
In the U.S. Marines, sometimes a leadership speaker will utilize a common phrase to keep the junior Marines motivated during times of uncertainty. That phrase is “Semper Gumbie” meaning, always flexible! This motivational leadership comes from the Marine Corps motto of “Semper Fidelis” or “Semper Fi” meaning always faithful. Being flexible is one of the most important leadership characteristics a leadership speaker should build on in any business. It never fails, every time there is a change in plans it is usually for the worst. When there is a change some leadership speaker will always crack a joke by saying “Semper Gumbie”. It is good motivational leadership but annoying at the same time. The reason for this humor is that no mission, task, or any daily work gets completed with out an annoying change.
One instance in Iraq our platoon got tasked with a mission that was supposed to take 72-96 hours. What this means to us is grab the bare minimum and leave everything else at the firm base. So now were talking maybe a sleeping bag or not, hygiene bag, minimal combat load of ammunition and a couple changes of clothes at the most. For such a short time out what is brought basically depends on how lazy you are that day. For some it may be just the clothes on their back depending on the leadership characteristics of those in charge.
Well, to make a long story short, after about four weeks we realized, just how flexible are job requires us to be. We started from the border of Syria and ended up going all the way to Al Fallujah with almost no parts, support, re-supply of ammunition, food, or clean clothes. Times like these challenged my motivational leadership and helped me to understand why Marines want to fight. We eventually made it back to the Syrian border to get showers and creature comforts after five weeks of 110 degree weather and nothing but each other. The moral of the story is that we were flexible for weeks making the mission a success. The same applies in business.
One instance in Iraq our platoon got tasked with a mission that was supposed to take 72-96 hours. What this means to us is grab the bare minimum and leave everything else at the firm base. So now were talking maybe a sleeping bag or not, hygiene bag, minimal combat load of ammunition and a couple changes of clothes at the most. For such a short time out what is brought basically depends on how lazy you are that day. For some it may be just the clothes on their back depending on the leadership characteristics of those in charge.
Well, to make a long story short, after about four weeks we realized, just how flexible are job requires us to be. We started from the border of Syria and ended up going all the way to Al Fallujah with almost no parts, support, re-supply of ammunition, food, or clean clothes. Times like these challenged my motivational leadership and helped me to understand why Marines want to fight. We eventually made it back to the Syrian border to get showers and creature comforts after five weeks of 110 degree weather and nothing but each other. The moral of the story is that we were flexible for weeks making the mission a success. The same applies in business.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Power of Technology and the Inspirational Speaker by Max Garcia
Is the ever growing speed of technology good or bad? For the last ten years of my life as a leadership speaker technology has completely changed everything. In some ways it has made life better, but in other ways it has made every day life nothing but stressful. From the Verizon Internet, to cell phones, to pocket personal computers, and on line colleges, I hope life does not get any faster for me. A well-known psychic and inspirational speaker named John Edwards once said that we live in a “Mcdonalds, want it now society”. Everybody wants everything “right now”. I have been no exception to that theory. Just today I stopped at an auto body shop to get estimates from an accident. After nicely asking if I could get the estimate done now, I mentioned the quote from the inspirational speaker and everyone in the office started laughing. The manager stated that he talked about changing the company motto to something similar due to the impatience of customers. I must say that technology did help me today, as I was able to fax the paper work to the insurance company of the driver at fault.
Sure it is nice to have a cell phone, but it’s not so nice when the boss can conveniently call you back to work on the drop of a hat. As a leadership speaker, now that I have a cell phone, I can’t live without it. I used to get several phone calls during the workday from the boss. Whatever the task, of course needs to be done “as soon as possible”. In the early 90s’, once the meeting was over and everybody went to work outside, if the company staff needed something else they had to drive out to the work spaces and look for that individual or wait until the next day. Those were also the days of handwritten paper work and verbal reports.
As a leadership speaker I prefer to use a pocket personal computer to take notes in the meetings and pass word to subordinates. It keeps everything very organized, holds all my recall rosters, blood type rosters, to do list, and phone numbers without messy papers. I know a wide variety of people in different professions use them for the same. A Christian speaker can easily keep track of what he has talked about to each group. This same Christian speaker can write his next lecture while waiting in line at the DMV. At the same time the Christian speaker may have to speak about the rise of internet predators, a very serious subject. Is technology growing too fast? We know that if the internet were to go away any inspirational speaker or Christian speaker would surely struggle. You decide!
Sure it is nice to have a cell phone, but it’s not so nice when the boss can conveniently call you back to work on the drop of a hat. As a leadership speaker, now that I have a cell phone, I can’t live without it. I used to get several phone calls during the workday from the boss. Whatever the task, of course needs to be done “as soon as possible”. In the early 90s’, once the meeting was over and everybody went to work outside, if the company staff needed something else they had to drive out to the work spaces and look for that individual or wait until the next day. Those were also the days of handwritten paper work and verbal reports.
As a leadership speaker I prefer to use a pocket personal computer to take notes in the meetings and pass word to subordinates. It keeps everything very organized, holds all my recall rosters, blood type rosters, to do list, and phone numbers without messy papers. I know a wide variety of people in different professions use them for the same. A Christian speaker can easily keep track of what he has talked about to each group. This same Christian speaker can write his next lecture while waiting in line at the DMV. At the same time the Christian speaker may have to speak about the rise of internet predators, a very serious subject. Is technology growing too fast? We know that if the internet were to go away any inspirational speaker or Christian speaker would surely struggle. You decide!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Motivation vs Brains in Sales by Max Garcia
Well, what would you rather have on your team, someone with knowledge or someone with lots of sales motivation but knows little about the sales business? In sales, we have several types of people, and each one of these people require different types of business speakers to unfold their potential through sales motivation seminars. I believe the ability or skill level lies within the sales motivation of that person. As always there are certain exceptions when it comes to level of education and learning ability. This is why a business speaker or trainer must know his or her audience ahead of time (we will talk more about that another time).
When it comes to selection for a billet in the sales department, some leaders select based on previous performance with total disregard for the sales motivation of that person. I used to work as a Drill Instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. For a short period of time my job was to identify recruits that were not physically strong enough to start recruit training and identify the challenged ones that still had potential. We would send the rest packing to physical conditioning platoon. Physical conditioning platoon kept them for several extra months until they either passed the physical requirements or quit. I would talk to each kid separately, and the first thing I would do is ask them if they would rather go home at this point or go to physical conditioning platoon knowing they would be in boot camp longer. Some recruits would instantly state they want to go back home to Mommy, while others will violently yell “No Sir” stating that they will stay longer if needed. My psychological trick was that the ones who genuinely seemed like they wanted to be a Marine got to come to my platoon to train, while the ones that wanted to just quit got dropped to physical conditioning platoon because I did not want their lack of motivation. Many times once properly instructed the recruits who came to my platoon uncovered their talent and ended up becoming good Marines. At the same time some that came in physically fit were unsuccessful because they had no motivation.
The same goes when sales speakers try to improve a company through sales motivation. Professional athletes don’t become the top five percent of the sport they play naturally. They have to work extremely hard for years and they have to have the right people help them get recognized. Many of them took lessons or received coaching there whole lives. That sounds like learning to me. I could care less how much “brain power” someone has if they don’t have a strong work ethic and drive. Whatever and whoever it is, good sales speakers can teach them if they really want to learn. You may want to think twice before hiring someone just because the have a certain qualification.
When it comes to selection for a billet in the sales department, some leaders select based on previous performance with total disregard for the sales motivation of that person. I used to work as a Drill Instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. For a short period of time my job was to identify recruits that were not physically strong enough to start recruit training and identify the challenged ones that still had potential. We would send the rest packing to physical conditioning platoon. Physical conditioning platoon kept them for several extra months until they either passed the physical requirements or quit. I would talk to each kid separately, and the first thing I would do is ask them if they would rather go home at this point or go to physical conditioning platoon knowing they would be in boot camp longer. Some recruits would instantly state they want to go back home to Mommy, while others will violently yell “No Sir” stating that they will stay longer if needed. My psychological trick was that the ones who genuinely seemed like they wanted to be a Marine got to come to my platoon to train, while the ones that wanted to just quit got dropped to physical conditioning platoon because I did not want their lack of motivation. Many times once properly instructed the recruits who came to my platoon uncovered their talent and ended up becoming good Marines. At the same time some that came in physically fit were unsuccessful because they had no motivation.
The same goes when sales speakers try to improve a company through sales motivation. Professional athletes don’t become the top five percent of the sport they play naturally. They have to work extremely hard for years and they have to have the right people help them get recognized. Many of them took lessons or received coaching there whole lives. That sounds like learning to me. I could care less how much “brain power” someone has if they don’t have a strong work ethic and drive. Whatever and whoever it is, good sales speakers can teach them if they really want to learn. You may want to think twice before hiring someone just because the have a certain qualification.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The Power of an Inspirational Speaker by Max Garcia
Through dedication, hard work, good luck and bad luck, any company can improve in any situation if they have a good inspirational speaker. Someone who gives good motivational speeches will not only create an up beat work environment, he or she will help the workers change their thinking pattern. When people shift their thinking from can’t, don’t know and try to we can, we will, we are the best it doesn’t matter what the odds are improvement must take place. We will take for example Andrew Grove.
Although he is not one of Intel's founders, Grove was a powerful force in the company almost from the start. Grove developed as a leadership speaker based on integrity. He is known by his employees as an honest person and a motivating boss to work for. Once during the 1980s hard times came when the company produced some products with flaws. Quickly Grove was able to discover untapped markets to help the company recover. Again in the 1990s the company was struck by major disaster when flaws were found in Pentium microprocessors. Once again Grove was able to react saving the company from possible failure when he launched the famous “Inside Intel” campaign. Of course he didn’t do all these things by him self. He had to deliver motivational speeches that would inspire the company to push forward. These are just a few testaments to Mr. Grove as a bold leadership speaker. The right inspirational speaker can get anyone to do anything. Regardless if we believe it or not motivational speeches are used on us all the time by politicians, commercials, and sales demonstrations.
Where most people would have folded, Grove inspired the company to be stronger. It was due to this time period that Wharton and Nightly Business Report named Andy Grove the "most influential" among the other Top 25 leaders profiled (Business week 1997). In 1997 Time Magazine named Grove “Man of the year”, the same year in which he became chairman and CEO of the company (Neff & Citrin 1999).
The lesson that we can learn from an inspirational speaker like Andrew Grove is that no matter how bad a situation is a company can recover if they have the right leadership speaker in place. A Marine Leader named Staff Sergeant Young once said: “It’s not how bad you “screw up”, “it’s how good you recover”. I respect that Mr. Grove was such a hard charger that he recovered remarkably from cancer at the same time as financial loss. Many people are hesitant to start their own business because they say things like: “it’s risky” “nine out of ten businesses fail”. Well to me that means if I start ten businesses one of them well make a million. You must be willing to make horrible mistakes, wealthy recoveries and learn from both. We all must keep in mind that no one makes it to the top and stays with out going through the hard times first.
Although he is not one of Intel's founders, Grove was a powerful force in the company almost from the start. Grove developed as a leadership speaker based on integrity. He is known by his employees as an honest person and a motivating boss to work for. Once during the 1980s hard times came when the company produced some products with flaws. Quickly Grove was able to discover untapped markets to help the company recover. Again in the 1990s the company was struck by major disaster when flaws were found in Pentium microprocessors. Once again Grove was able to react saving the company from possible failure when he launched the famous “Inside Intel” campaign. Of course he didn’t do all these things by him self. He had to deliver motivational speeches that would inspire the company to push forward. These are just a few testaments to Mr. Grove as a bold leadership speaker. The right inspirational speaker can get anyone to do anything. Regardless if we believe it or not motivational speeches are used on us all the time by politicians, commercials, and sales demonstrations.
Where most people would have folded, Grove inspired the company to be stronger. It was due to this time period that Wharton and Nightly Business Report named Andy Grove the "most influential" among the other Top 25 leaders profiled (Business week 1997). In 1997 Time Magazine named Grove “Man of the year”, the same year in which he became chairman and CEO of the company (Neff & Citrin 1999).
The lesson that we can learn from an inspirational speaker like Andrew Grove is that no matter how bad a situation is a company can recover if they have the right leadership speaker in place. A Marine Leader named Staff Sergeant Young once said: “It’s not how bad you “screw up”, “it’s how good you recover”. I respect that Mr. Grove was such a hard charger that he recovered remarkably from cancer at the same time as financial loss. Many people are hesitant to start their own business because they say things like: “it’s risky” “nine out of ten businesses fail”. Well to me that means if I start ten businesses one of them well make a million. You must be willing to make horrible mistakes, wealthy recoveries and learn from both. We all must keep in mind that no one makes it to the top and stays with out going through the hard times first.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)