Personal Development and Motivation …Week In Review for July 11, 2015

ICYMI….Here are some of the best-of-the-best articles and posts for this week in

Personal Development and Motivation

How Successful People Make Smart Decisions

5 Proven Natural Remedies for Anxiety

7 Ways to Gain Credibility in the Workplace 

16 Crazy Psychological Facts You Need To Know About Yourself 

What would you like to hear about each week?

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Personal Development and Motivation!!

Corporate Ethics....Hiding Behind The Inc.

Is there really such a thing as corporate ethics?  I mean, can a company actually do anything?  In fact, is there really such a thing as a company...in terms of a conscious, living entity capable of taking independent action? 

Despite the fact that they have attained the right to free speech somewhere along the way, a corporation is nothing more than a piece of paper.  Written in the right format, signed and sealed by the right people and filed in the right place.  Ironically, the very purpose of these filings is to be able to identify who, in fact, was operating behind the facade of a fictitious name.  To make the individuals behind them accountable in some manner.

So, when we talk about corporate ethics, we're really just talking about personal ethics...period.  All actions come from the individual.  When a person acts in the name of the company, they are still acting as a person and should be taking direct responsibility for whatever decisions they make.  Somehow though, people feel and act differently when they can hide behind the corporation.  As if somehow, an action they would never consider taking with a friend or family member, is judged by a different standard. As Tom Hanks said in You've Got Mail...'Just keep telling yourself, it's just business....it's not personal....'

Today, corporate ethics appears to be nothing more than a sad, pathetic oxymoron.  Pretty words, written by some corporate image firm, to give that all-important perception of an ethical, corporate conscience.  But only a person can take...or choose not to take...an action.  After all, it's only people, organized into this artificial entity called a company, competing with other people organized as a different company, serving still more people in some way or another.  Apparently corporate ethics has become so rare these days, there even seems a need to give out "good conduct' awards...for not behaving badly.

I often wonder, before making any decision, if we imagine having to openly justify that decision, how much more ethically our decisions might become.  In the end though, it simply comes down to deciding how we want to treat other people.  What we are willing and capable of doing to other people....in the name of business.

What are your thoughts on corporate ethics?  Is there really a difference between individual and corporate ethics?  I'd like to hear from you on this.

What Was The Plan Again?

A plan should be specific, realistic, measurable, written....and above all, it must be reevaluated periodically.  How often you reevaluate really depends on a number of factors.  And there are actually several reasons to review your plan regularly.

When I was working full-time and trying to finish up my engineering degree, my plan was longer term and there were only two or three milestones a year.  So reviewing my progress and evaluating the plan could be done one or twice a year.  However, most plans need it more frequently.  And reevaluating your plan is probably the greatest challenge for most people!

Personal plans are typically longer term and don't need as much "tweaking" along the way.  Since they usually involve career paths, education and training as well as financial decisions, an annual or semi-annual review should be fine.  Of course, when something in your life changes suddenly, it may be critical to review your plan at once.  Chances are, changes will need to be made! 

Business plans however, need to be much more fluid...and therefore must be reevaluated more often.  Of course, you DO have a plan...right?!  And I mean a written plan...realistic, measurable, etc, etc.  If not, you might just want to get on that one pretty quick!  The old Ben Franklin quote..."If you fail to plan, plan to fail"...is as true today as it was then.

In real estate, I would actually review my marketing plan at least every 60 days.  Over the last ten years, the real estate market changed so often and so drastically at times, a plan could become obsolete overnight.  

Another important reason to review your plan periodically?  To make sure you're still following it!  Strange as that may sound, there have been times that my day-to-day strategies had somehow gone off course.  So even though my plan hadn't changed, I was no longer following the path to make it successful.

Lastly, and maybe the least likely thing people do with their plan, is to make sure their decisions are always in line with it.  Particularly in business, events can come at you fast.  Along with those events can come incredible opportunities.  We can be sorely tempted to jump at one of these opportunities...and it may truly be a great money-making endeavor.  However, sometimes a good opportunity takes us in the wrong overall direction and actually takes us away from our plan....away from our goals.  So it's important to evaluate any significant opportunity with respect to the plan...to stay on point!

 

To sum it up, the three important steps you can take to reach your goals are:

1 - Have a specific, written plan.

2 - Periodically review your plan.

3 - Make sure major decisions are evaluated with the plan in

     mind.

How well do you plan?  Are you able to reevaluate your plan on the fly...and do you weigh your decisions against the plan?  I would like to hear your thoughts.

Common Sense....Another Endangered American Species

We're always hearing the phrase "America is a nation of laws".  We certainly have enough of them!  The question really becomes, do we follow the letter or the spirit of the law?  For as long as I know personally, we have seen lawyers arguing the fine points or the phrasing of a law.  Successfully nitpicking over a comma or a word that could possible cast some shadow over the guilt (or innocence I suppose) related to some infraction...to tumultuous applause for their 'brilliance'.

It seems we all get lost in the argument over the letter of the law, often to the total neglect of it's spirit...what the law was intended to do.  Ask any 'common man' whether a particular action is contrary to the spirit of a particular law, and chances are they will know who is right and who is wrong in a matter of minutes...or hours...or maybe days if the matter is complicated.  We use to call that 'common sense'.  

Unfortunately, common sense appears to be another disappearing quality on the American landscape.  Worse still, it doesn't appear to be missed!  The latest frenzy over the Confederate Flag is just one more example.  This article by the Digital Journal, The Confederate flag — Heritage, history, subjugation of a race, goes through an exhaustive look at the history of the flag.  The real question though is...who cares???!!!  Not that the article isn't excellent in what it does or that we shouldn't care about the history, but we miss the real point.  It's not about whether the flag is part of history/tradition...it's about what it means to the vast majority of Americans.

Whatever the history of this flag...and the fact that it is actually the Battle flag for the Army of Northern Virginia...is irrelevant. Why it was created...what the original intentions may have been...why the war was fought...are all irrelevant.  What is relevant is what the flag means to people now.

The swastika was a symbol of good-fortune or well-being for 5,000 years, and still is to some people today.  However, what it means to most of the world is vastly different from those meanings of the past.  Few today would argue that a swastika on a flag would be acceptable for any reason.  A symbol of oppression, hatred, violence can never be tolerated on anything official that represents a free people anywhere.  Can you imagine the response of Americans if a swastika appeared on the flag of a foreign nation?

Yet, we are having a conversation about a symbol that has almost the same meaning to many Americans.  When we accept this representation at any official level, we are empowering that symbol and the people who cling to it.

Individuals are free to believe what they will in America.  Even if those beliefs run contrary to the very fabric of our nation.  However, when a person cannot stand and deliver that opinion openly...when they rely on sophist arguments and deception to defend these symbols, it reveals the very fact that they do know precisely what this symbol represents...as well as the fact that they fully intend to foster this hatred and violence and disunity.

We cannot repress the opinions of the individual, no matter how vile we view them.  It underlies the very freedoms we hold at the heart of our nation.  However, we cannot either, allow these same vile opinions to take on even the appearance of state support..lest it empower these same vile individuals to action.

Common sense tells us the official representation of the Confederate Battle Flag is wrong.  You can argue otherwise for weeks or years or the rest of your life.  It will not change the fact that this flag offends the vast, vast majority of Americans.  To paraphrase former president Ronald Reagan..."Take down your flag Nikki Haley".  The time has long passed to do so.

What do you think?  Does the meaning of the flag matter or is it's perception by people the important issue?

Feedback...How Important It Is and Mistakes We Make in Evaluaing It

Reading this post, The Feedback Loop by Solo, reminded me of how important feedback really is.  It also reminded me of how difficult it can be to tell the difference between good feedback and bad feedback.  

First, good feedback is not necessarily positive feedback....and vice-versa.  In fact, negative feedback...just like failure in general...can teach us more about what we need to improve than positive feedback.

The greatest challenge is identifying what is actually beneficial feedback as opposed to someone just spewing negativity.  As a general rule, if there is something specific in the feedback, it's worth thinking about.  And here's where most people will typically have difficulty, we have to be honest in evaluating that negative feedback.  If we are, it can help step up our game with a new perspective.  That's not to say that we need to address every issue brought up.  Sometimes we do things for specific reasons that the commenter is unaware of...and sometimes it's just a matter of taste.

In this sense, there are two basic mistakes to avoid:

Trying to please everyone -  We all know, intellectually, that we can't please everyone.  However, there's a human need that inclines us to try.  After all, no one likes rejection!  Unfortunately, it can't be done.  No matter how hard you try, someone will always hate something abut what you do.  Stick to your purpose and to your style.  In the end it will gather you a stronger following and continued growth.

Playing to your base - Or as I like to think of it, 'The Gallagher Effect'.  For those who've never heard of him, Gallagher was a comedian with a very particular...and peculiar...style.  Over time though, his work started to pander to his core fans and each show became more and more identical to the last one.  In the end, there was nothing new to see....growth had stopped.  The danger here is by guiding yourself only by the positive feedback you risk becoming stagnant in your work and your ideas.  'Playing' the same thing to the same audience.

 

So in the end, feedback really is our friend.  The most important thing we need to learn about feedback is how to tell the real stuff from the fluff...and how to be honest enough with ourselves to make maximum use of it.

Success or Failure Is Not The Measure of Your Decision Making Process

We are all guilty in one respect or another, of determining the measure of a decision by it's success or failure.  That seems obvious, right?  It happens every day in sports, business and our personal lives.  It happens in life and death situations....law enforcement...the military.

We look at the outcome and determine if someone made the right decision or not.  The fact is we rarely evaluate the decision itself...which is the only true measure of how sound our decisions really are.  Actually we should be using the same process to make the decision that we use to evaluate it.

Questions we should be asking: What are we trying to accomplish?  What options are available to us?  What are the chances for success of each option?  How much risk can we afford to take, regardless of the reward potential?  Unfortunately many of the factors that can affect the outcome are actually out of our control.  New products or processes may appear.  Technology can suddenly change (who remembers "pagers"?). Markets can shift unexpectedly.  In the end, you can only weigh those factors we do know or can anticipate, or have some control over.

Failure is failure though!  We live and die by that credo.  But we still need to evaluate the decision making of our people...our peers...and most importantly, ourselves.  How many times do we look at our past decisions and ask "Why did I do that?".  We kick ourselves for choices that appear to be wrong because they failed.  In truth, if we dig deeper and look at the situation from the standpoint of what we knew then, it may be that we made the best decision based on that situation.  And vice-versa...the quickest road to failure is to attribute past success to good decision making, when in fact, we just got lucky.
 

Now I know, Napoleon is noted for asking, upon the recommendation of promotion for one of his generals..."Yes, I know he's good....but is he lucky?".  And there are definitely times where good fortune can make all the difference.  We've all heard....'you make your own luck'.  Perhaps though, making your own luck is all about making smart decisions to begin with.