Avoiding the tempation to cheat

Cheating is a temptation for everyone.  Unfortunately, we read about it and hear about it daily when another trusted public person is discovered as cheating.  I don't have to make specific references, you know the stories to which I am referring.

The ironic thing about cheating is that while it often gives instant reward, monitarily or otherwise, it is often short term and the the magnatude of the consequences are often much worse than the level of the rewards.

On the other hand, the reward of avoiding cheating is guarenteed to be greater than the benefit of cheating.  If everyone accepted this fact, we would all be much further ahead in this civiliation of ours.  It falls upon everyone's shoulders to avoid cheating and set the example of honesty for others.

Merry Christmas

This Christmas season means many things to people.  To some it is a time of joy and to others it is a time for reflection.  It is clear that the birth of Jesus has split time into two, BC and AD.  His birth is the most significant event in human history.

I hope that this Christmas season is a time that all Christians turn to Jesus as the source of their strength and the center of theif lives.  I hope that the impact and the magnatude of this enormous celebration brings clear realization that the birth of our Savior is intended for them.

On Christmas Day 2011 let us lift up the Holy Name of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  Forever and ever.  Let us live our lives during the course of the entire year in a way that truly reflects the importance of this day.

Merry Christmas

The Rocky River Reservation

This time of year, I would certainly prefer snow and skiing.  With that being said, it is hard to beat the beauty of the Cleveland Metroparks any time of the year.  Here is a photo from Christmas Eve 2011.  Merry Christmas to everyone!

The West Side Market

One of the real treasures of the Greater Cleveland area is the West Side Market.  This great establishment will be celebrating 100 years of excellent service to customers from the region.

The Market has a wonderful selection of meats of all kinds including chicken, pork, beef, sausage, lunch meats, brats, and more.  It is very difficult to decide which will be your favorite selection.  I have found it to be most helpful to me to patronize the same vendors over and over.

In the outer corridor, you will find fruits and vegetables in abundance.  The variety offered there will be second to none in the area.  In addition, you will find specialties like flowers, candy, and more.

The West Side Market is a great resource for all Greater Clevelanders.

Two Great Radio Stations

We are very fortunate in Cleveland to have two great radio stations.  One is WCLV 104.9 which is our long time classical music station.  I have been a listener for decades and thoroughly enjoy the music heard on WCLV. 

The other great station is our National Public Radio station which is WCPN, 90.3, the Idea Stream.  With NPR news in the morning and sindicated shows all day long, this is a real resource for Clevelanders. Saturdays are particluraly great on WCPN with Car Talk, What-do-ya-know, and the Prarie Home Companion.

Lock it in to WCPN and WCLV.

Cleveland is a great place to live

Cleveland, Ohio is really a great place to live as it has a real lot to offer.  There is a great article in today's Plain Dealer about things to do this season in Cleveland.

I know that we don't have very good sports teams right now.  In fact, we really don't even have a lot of reason for optimism about our Cleveland Browns.  The Indians and Cavaliers at least have some glimmers of hope.

But, all things considered, I wouldn't trade our Emerald Necklace, Art Museum, or Cleveland Orchestra for Super Bowls or World Series rings.  I wouldn't trade our rich culture and diversity for more wins on the playing field.  I still enjoy following our teams, especially the Cleveland Indians.

This is a wonderful time of the year here two with our moderate snowfall and moderate winter temperatures.  I consider myself lucky to be from Cleveland, Ohio.

A name change

I have changed the name of my blog from Advice From an Average Guy to Observations From an Average Guy.  I like to make observations but making them and positioning them as advice is more difficult.

I would like to share ideas and observations that I make from time to time with anyone interested in reading.  There are many ideas and observations that should be shared and I would really like to hear from anyone interested in sharing.

Happy Thanksgiving

Of course, we say thanks today for everything.  We are thankful for things that we are not even aware are blessings in our lives.

I guess that as long as we are thankful to God for everything, that covers it.  It is really not possible to count your blessings because there are so many.

I am also thankful for everyone in my life and I mean everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving and Thank You Lord for Everything!

Teamwork and truths about it

Many years ago, when I was coaching young kids in baseball, softball, and basketball, some people, mostly parents would say thinks that I though were curious.  They said things like "c'mon kids play together as a team" or "there is no I in team."

I thought back then that there is something fundamentally wrong about these statements and now that I am older and, hopefully wiser, I understand it a little better. 

Yes, teamwork is essential to success in sports as well as in business.  However, it is clear that all individuals have unique talent and sets of talents.  Bringing these talents together for a common good is the job of a leader.

In his book Go Put Your Strengths to Work, author Marcus Buckingham puts into works some of the notions I have had about teamwork.  In this book Marcus discusses some key myths about success and one of them specifically involves teamwork.  He states it like this:  Myth - a good team member does whatever it takes to help the team.

Truth - a good team member deliberately volunteers his or her strengths to the team most of the time.  Further, a great team member is not well rounded.  The great team is well rounded, precisely because each team member is not.

Well said, Marcus.

Your Strengths

The latest book that I am reading in the Strengths series by Marcus Buckingham is Go Put Your Strengths to Work.  As I have said often, we all have strengths.  Often we are not clearly aware of our strengths.

My advice is for everyone to understand their strengths and put them to use.  Whether it is in your personal life or in your career, you have the opportunity to utilize your God-given talents to improve your career, your relationships, and your overall life experience.

I recommend this series and this book.  There will be more reports as I read through it.

What's Really Holding You Back

When I saw a brief interview of Valorie Burton on a TV news show, she got my attention enough for me to buy her book "What's Really Holding You Back?"  I am very glad that I did.

I strongly recommend this book for everyone, especially if you feel that you are in a gap between where you are and where you want to be.  Even if you believe that you are where you want to be in life, I still recommend the book.

In this book, Valorie, gives chapter after chapter of great advice on gaining and maintaining balance in your life while moving forward with your career and your life goals.  She speaks of five main focus areas and they are:  your relationships, your career, your finances and resources, your physical health and environments, and your spiritual life.

If you are a Christian, you should find this book especially enriching.  You can find it at this link at Amazon.com or probably in your bookstore.

The Referral of a Lifetime

I recently read this book by Tim Templeton which is a very cleverly written book about improving your business relationships to change your fortunes.  It is a fictional setting but it offers many factual business ideas designed to transform the way that you interact with business partners, associates, customers, friends, and more.

Without gettng into a lot of detail, the author leads you to clearly examine your prospect list, organize them, and communicate regularly with them.  But it is a lot more than that.  If you are involved with customers, prospects, or relationships of any kind, I recommend this book.  http://amzn.to/nCm1T1

Just about every waking moment ...

... of your life offers you an opportunity to reach out to someone else and let them know that you care.  It will make a big difference to them.  Politics aside, differences aside, apprehensions aside, let someone know that you care by understanding them, by listening to them, by showing that you care.

Everyone needs others.  It takes an effort to understand others and to communicate even when it is difficult.  But we all need to have mentors and advisors and it may often be you.  So, don't miss the opportunity.

Your time is valuable ...

Many people like to be do-it-yourselfers.  Power to you all  I admire people who can fix things, and build things, and make all the arrangements for things all by themself.  These are talents.

Here is how I see it, though. Your time, every minute of it, is an investment.  If you feel that doing work by yourself around your home is the best investment of your time, then that is great.  If you feel that you need to take control of situations and see them through to finish and that works for you, then fine.

Just keep in mind, that every moment you spend trying to maximize your savings by doing it yourself, you are not doing something else that just could be a better investment of your time.  When you look at the big picture, always consider what the return on investment of your time will be.  Your time is actually more valuable than your monetary wealth.  Spend it wisely.

A great investment ...

One of the best investments that you make in life is being nice to other people.  I know this is true, not necessarily from my own behavior, but certainly from my observation of others.

If your standard operating procedure is to be nice to everyone on every possible occasion, you are the winner and your investment will pay great dividends.  Being nice is not always the default behavior for people, myself included, but when we make the effort it 1) feels good, 2) usually impresses others, and 3) usually comes back to you.

If you know people who are generally nice and kind to others, try to be like them.  Find out what it takes to be that way because when you make the investment of time and effort to be nice and kind to others, your investment will grow over time.

I don't need to define what being nice and kind to others means.  You already know that.

When is too busy ... really enough?

As I work with a variety of clients and co-workers, the repeated theme that I am hearing is how busy everyone is.  I get it.  I am too.

This is where balance is important.  We can work wire-to-wire while at work, after all, isn't that what we signed up for and isn't that what our employers expect?  Yes.

However, we need to deal with that busy work life with a balanced life.  We need to set aside our cares and worries of the work day at the end of each work day.  We need to spend a great quality of time at work versus great quantities of time at work.  Our days must be balanced with work and personal life.

This is not easy because employers demand a lot from workers today.  Don't overdo it!

Staying Focused

I believe that it is important for everyone to stay focused on what is important.  Staying focused among other things means staying focused on being your best self and working on your career.

I am amazed by the amount of controversy that is generated by certain recent news stories that have no bearing whatever on the majority of people. Yet, the news services decide what you should think about.

Rather, you decide what you want to think about.  If we put as much effort into our careers as we did on certain news stories, that would be great and we would all benefit from it.

Even political stories basically waste our precious time and attention.  We have no affect on most political decisions, so, why do we spend so much time thinking about and arguing about politics.  I have not been exempt from that either.

Think about the things that make you your best self and work on those things with passion.  That advice goes out to me too.

Customer Service

No matter what line of work you are in, you have customers.  Even if you don't deal directly with paying customers, your manager, co-workers, and direct reports are in some way your customers.

I am recommending Knock Your Socks Off Service for everyone because it offers great advice in dealing with people in general.  Many experts will tell you that you need to know what you want and know how to get it.  This book/CD goes beyond that advice.

Even if you really don't have customers, learning some tips on how to deal with everyone makes sense.  This is what I got from Knock Your Socks Off.  We all need help in working with others, especially customers, and facilitating relationships for optimum outcomes.  Give it a try.

Know that you have strengths

Everyone is gifted at something and everyone has strengths.  Do not allow others to always remind you of their strengths as if they are your weaknesses.  They are not, you just happen to have different strengths.

On the other hand, don't flaunt your strengths as if they are the weaknesses of others because they have their strengths also, they just happen to be different strengths.

The important thing is that YOU are good at something, YOU are strong at something.  Because everyone is gifted at something, you just need to remember what your strengths are and use them accordingly.  In fact, you should share your strengths.

TGIF

I have come to believe that I hear all to often that people are glad that it is Friday.  Now, I love my weekends too but if you find yourself saying "boy am I glad that it is Friday," you should seriously consider a career change.

If your job is that unpleasant that you are really only living for the weekend, that is sad.  Everyone should pursue a job or career that they enjoy doing. 

I love the story of people who say that they have never really worked a day in their life because they enjoy what they do so much that the pay is secondary.  They are getting paid to do what they love.  What a lofty goal.

Leader ..... Follower

Even if you are not a natural born leader, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be a follower.  I mean, of course, a follower of what other people are doing.

There is a form of following that I have come to think of as "the law of the jungle."  To me this means that everyone is doing it because everyone is doing it.  We all accept it because we have always done it this way.  Sometimes, this could be good.  Other times, it is very limiting.

In a book that I recently read by author, Matthew Kelly, he refers to every person becoming the very best version of his or herself.  Often, taking advice from trusted sources is a form of following that helps you to become your own best version.  Often, taking advice or following others leads you down the wrong path.

Still other times, simply following "the law of the jungle' leads you to become a very complacent version of yourself.  That is why I think that we need to assess every situation and decide if we are going to follow, lead, or just take our own path.

Life is full of these kinds of decisions.  I think that it is very important not to just to default to following.

Hometown Favorites

It really helps if you love where you live.  I am a life-long Clevelander. That's right, Cleveland, Ohio.  I grew up here, I went through school here, I even attended Cleveland State University.  I still live here by the way.

Part of what makes loving where you live work for you is to have some hometown favorites.  By that I mean favorite resturants, favorite parks, favorite bike rides, and so on.  We have that in abundance here in Cleveland.

Going to a favorite eating spot and ordering what you usually order makes you feel at home in your hometown.  Even walking or riding the same path gives you that same feeling.

So rather than complaining about where you live (and all places have negatives, really) think about what you love about where you live.  It will lift you up.

Learning

The more you learn, the more you can learn.  That sounds over simplistic but I believe that it is true.  Think about it, when you learn something, like how to cook, you realize how much that you didn't know.  Then, if you learn how much you didn't know, you might just be compelled to learn more.

No matter what the subject is, you have got to start somewhere.  You learn a little and realize that 'this is not so bad' and then you go on to learn more.  If you never take the first step though, the other steps will not follow.

The more you learn, the more you can learn, and the more you will learn.  It only makes sense.

Time is precious though.  Understand what it is that you want to spend time learning to improve yourself, and then get going.  Knowing more about something of interest should lead you to wanting to learn more.

Even though there are many options for learning, reading is still a top resource.  Better yet, you can still get books on just about any topic of interest at the public library.  Get books, start learning, and learn more.

Now Build a Great Business

As I work my way through this excellent book, Now Build a Great Business, it becomes more obvious that building a great business has a lot to do with passion and commitment to excellence.  No matter what obstacles lie in the way of your business success, passion and excellence will help your company to overcome them.

Recessions and competition are not the main obstacles to success.  Only ourselves stand in the way of success.  If we pay attention to detail and work on our business daily, we will have a much better chance to stay ahead of the competiton and work through downturns in the economy.

Every day is a new investment in building a great business.  Every decision and every business relationship can turn the course of our success.  I recommend this book for anyone interested in improving their business.

Vacations

For working people, vacations are important.  You don't necessarily have to go away on a trip, a cruise, or a planned excursion.  You should just get away from the job though.

If your company gives you vacation time, and most do, you should take it all.  Don't leave vacation time on the table at the end of the year.  It is very important, I think, that everyone has some downtime where they can just think about things other than their daily work assignments.

Even if you just do the things around your home, neighborhood, or city that you would like to do, take a week off and do them.  It is a great way to recharge youself and stay fresh on the job.

Take that vacation time.

Now Build a Great Business

One of my favorite business authors is Brian Tracy.  In his new book, co-authored with Mark Thompson, Now Build a Great Business, there is a wealth of information and ideas on that subject.

Even though I have only read half of the book so far, I will strongly recommend this book for any manager.  Despite all of what we might hear in the national media about the economy, and despite the many obstacles to business success, we can build a great business if we really work at it.

Tracy and Thompson offer lots of great advice in this book.  Check it out.

You are gifted at something

I like to play golf but I am only average on a good day.  I love skiing but realize that I am only an average skier.  Even still, I like doing these things but I know that they are not my best talents.  The good news there is that I only do these activities for fun and know that I will only be so good a them.

When it comes to your career, find out what your strengths are and utilize them for making a living.  This way, you will always be working from your strength.  Maybe your gift is working with and being compassionate with people.  There are careers best suited for this gift.

Maybe working with numbers and calculations are your strengths.  There are many careers involving these talents. 

It is very important to realize that you are gifted at something.  Find out what it is and take advantage of it.

Read, read, read

Reading in your area of professional interest for one half hour per day seems simple.  It may even seem like it will probably not produce results.  It will.

Get books and CDs on your profession and make this a daily habit.  You will be ahead of others in your profession simply by knowing more and having more ideas.  Give it a try.

Read, study, work hard, be your best

Work hard to be your best self.  Start with reading every day in the area that will help you the most.  Avoid activites that bring you down.

Everyone is gifted in some way and if you try your best to constantly improve to become your very best, it will pay dividends.  Invest your time wisely to reach your goals.

Don't just float along complaining about others and giving reasons why you can't succeed.  Only you can determine how successful you will be in your career and in all areas of your life.  No matter what your age is, you can enjoy improvement in what you do, so get going.

All you can do ....

All you can do is all you can do!  Given the concept that hard work leads to success, you must remember that there is only so much that you can do.  Hard work sets up the ability to admit, all I can do is all I can do.

If I know that I have given all that I can on the job and I meet with failure or worse, termination, I at least know that it was not me who let me down.  If you take that attitude, you will succeed, by the way.  Give 100% in all that you do and never fear failure.

If you do concentrate single-mindedly on all that you do, you will not need to worry about saving your job, your employer should be more worried about saving you.  An all-out worker is attractive to any employer and word gets around on how you perform on the job.

We are all limited in what we can accomplish.  Remember that because it is important.

More About Hard Work

I am more convinced than ever about the importance of hard work.  How do I define hard work?  Simple.  Concentrate your efforts all of the time that you are at work on the most important task at hand.  Concentrate single-mindedly on completing your assignments in a thorough and timely fashion.

What leads me to this belief about hard work.  Well, think about the things that you can and cannot control.  You cannot control your competition and you cannot control your co-workers' performance.  You certainly cannot control your company's management and their policies and decisions.

If you want to be successful, what is the one thing that you can control?  Answer, your own efforts.  We are competing every day for success.  In our competition with others, we might be underpriced, we might be mismatched by the size of the competitors workforce or the size of their funding, and we might be disadvantaged for other reasons.  Maybe your competion is smarter, or more experienced, or more outgoing.

The one thing that we should never be if we want to be successful is outworked.  Just like in sports competition, you should never be out-hustled, you should never be outworked in your profession.  Be honest to yourself in the assessment of your work efforts.  Give your best effort always!

Avoiding Anxiety

I really think that we can all do better at this.  So many situations in life cause us anxiety but part of the solution is what frame of mind that we bring to the situation.

Often, small problems can be easily fixed without anxiety but we often take that anxious route anyway.  Try to ease your angst by taking a calm approach to every situation you face each day.  Think of the people with positive mental attitudes and take a lesson from them.

Your positive approach will then rub off on others which will further empower your own self confidence and control.  Give it a try.  We can all do better.

Happy New Year

The economic forecast appears to be promising.  Most markets are recovering.  With that being said, it is at least reasonable to start this new year 2011 with optimism for your business and your career.

If you believe in New Year's resolution, now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity to list the things that you realistically want to accomplish.  Realistic is the key word because anyone can set high goals and give up after a few weeks or months.

If you establish some clear goals for yourself and your business in 2011, write them down, and visit this list often, you may be surprised at this tme next year on just how much you have accomplished.  So take a little time and write down your clearly defined and reachable goals for 2011.

Happy New Year

Success requires a team

Just like the old saying "it takes a village to raise a child," it takes a team for any business or organization to realize success.  It helps to have star players but for an organization to succeed year after year, it requires a great team with great leadership.

I am a sports fan and a very frustrated one because all of the Cleveland sports teams are suffering right now from bad records and failure.  At one time, our biggest rival in football was the Pittsburgh Steelers.  We love to hate the Steelers in Cleveland.

However, if you take a look at the history and record of the Steelers, you will find an excellent example of what I am talking about.  They have an excellent organization that takes great pride in success as a team.  They manage and optimize every aspect of their organization and thus they have realized great success.

The same is true in business.  It is the overall organization that must be great in order for any aspect of the business to experience year-over-year success.  The top management must be totally behind every facet of the business, behind every employee, and aligned with the goals of every division.

Success requires a team, and that includes ownership, top management, middle management, and every single employee.