Message of the Day - Smoke Alarms

Good Morning,

 

This week was a sad week for bookstores. 2 of the 4 Borders stores in Louisville is closing. The one by my office is one of them. So I went a few last times to pick up some final gifts and such. I found an audio tape by Jerry Doyle, Conservative Commentator and Radio Host for what ended up being $1.00. I remember Jerry Doyle for his role on Babylon 5, and I had seen him at conventions and met him before so for $1 what could I lose. So far, I am really enjoying listening to his book on take “Have you seen my country lately?”.

 

In listening to the second CD, he talked about letting his stardom from Babylon 5 get to his head. That he would vent about some scene or lines he had problems with to his manager, his PR agent and everyone who he effectively paid for his being an actor. Everyone agreed with his rants and what he felt were wrongs. He then called a friend of his, a retired military no-nonsense kinda guy who while Jerry was ranting, was silent. When Jerry paused, his friend asked ‘are you done?’. Jerry said no, and his friend told him to put on his space suit, speak his lines, get his paycheck and then hung up on him.  To Jerry it was an alarm going off, and he changed gears.

 

Jerry also shared a conversation he had with one of his mentors. He asked how Michael Jackson and Mike Tyson could they have earned millions if not more, and to lose it all. His friend said that they didn’t have smoke alarms.

 

Jerry explained smoke alarms are people who tell you how it is. Not like his manager or PR agent who were simply ‘yes-men’. Like his friend who hung up on him after Jerry saw that he was getting a big head about his acting.

 

I am blessed to have several smoke alarms in my life. My wife, my best-friend Howard, several other friends and even my boss.

 

Think about it. I work in a professional office and share a blog of some five hundred messages over 5 years, published a book on self improvement. Put me on a team with some first time supervisors and a few with some more experience, and it may appear to be a mismatch. If I do not watch myself, I could think that I was all that, that I was something special and lord it over my peers.

 

My peers and friends cheered my accomplishment, but also treated me the same as the day before my book was published.

 

I am an average guy, who happens to be good as some things, great a few and terrible at others (painting for one, don’t EVER ask me to paint ANYTHING).

 

When I forget this and see myself as more than I am , I prepare myself for a fall back to reality.

 

It is because I have smoke alarms who I listen to. I don’t pull out their batteries and ignore them.

 

Do you have any smoke alarms in your life who help keep your feet on the ground when your head is in the clouds?

 

If you do, thank them.

 

If you don’t….put new batteries in, or get some.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

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Message of the Day: There is ALWAYS time to say Thank You!

Good Morning,

 

We live in a fast paced, never ending, action filled world.

 

I know, nothing you didn’t already know.

 

While we try to tread water and keep up. In doing so there are plenty of opportunities to forget or overlook the small, yet important things in life.

 

So we lose the time to stop and smell the flowers. Worse, we lose the human interaction we once had.

 

Today, when coming back from lunch, I saw a stream of people coming out of the elevators, into the lobby and heading out to the street, holding their blackberry’s up close to their faces.

 

They were tuned out of the world, and tuned into whatever was on the screens. They did not talk to each other, look at each other, smile at each other, they just looked into the small screen.

 

More and more people are getting ‘connected’ and losing touch with human interaction.

 

Where does that end?

 

Do we just stop talking to each other and just plug into some always on digital world?

 

Hell no. Not for me.

 

I find the time to say hello. To say thank you. To give someone a compliment.

 

And if I can’t find the time, I MAKE the time.

 

I could get some more work done on a spreadsheet, respond to a few emails, etc., or I could invest some time pouring myself into helping others.

 

There is ALWAYS time to say thank you.

 

And if you haven’t and you know you need to, then DO IT.

 

DO IT NOW!

 

Don’t lose your soul to modern electronics and the endless rat race. Hold on to your humanity and INTERACT with others who are right in front of you.

 

Rant over.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

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Message of the Day - Strength in Symbols

Good Morning,

 

My current read is Bob Russell’s new leadership book “Transition Plan: 7 Secrets Every Leader Needs to Know” (http://www.amazon.com/Transition-Plan-Secrets-Every-Leader/dp/0982720491). Bob Russell is the founding pastor of the South East Christian Mega-Church in Louisville, Kentucky (with over 24,000 members). The place so large that it is often referred to as ‘Six Flags over Jesus’.

 

Bob talks about the importance of a strong transition plan from one leader to the next and how that helps take the organization to the next level. We have all heard tales of successful and not so successful transitions in organizations. Like Jack Welch and GE where he spent close to 9 years choosing his successor, Jeff Immelt.

 

One section of the book talked about symbolism and how much more memorable a symbol is than any number of words, no matter how well spoken.

 

In the final act of turning over South East Christian to his successor, Bob Russell actually handed a baton over to his successor as the symbol of transferring leadership. People who went to that sermon will have a hard time remembering what the sermon was about, or what was said, but they will remember that symbolic gesture of passing the baton.

 

How can we, then, utilize the power of symbols to strengthen the message we wish to share?

 

One way is to have a signature move or phrase or something about us which is the key message we wish to impart.

 

Last weekend while at a training session for Boy Scout Leaders, one of the sessions was about tying knots. The man who taught us the knots wore two ropes around his shoulder, tied in fisherman’s knots by his waist. He carries them everywhere. He is known as the Knotman and when people see him, they see the ropes with the knots on them. When people see him, they remember the knots that he taught them how to tie, just from that symbolic gesture of wearing the ropes with knots.

 

In one of my past roles, I was remembered as always greeting people, either hello or goodbye. It was considered my ‘signature move’. People knew I cared because of that symbolic gesture I did each and every day.

 

What is the message you wish to convey?

 

How can you turn it into a symbol or symbolic gesture which will burn the message into the minds of those around you?

 

For me, it is for people to read my messages, see my name or face and think about how they can Learn and Grow Daily!

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

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Message of the Day - Learning is Not a One-Time Exercise

Good Morning,

 

Comedian Steven Wright once said, in his monosyllabic style, “I don’t walk my dog anymore. I walked all at once”.

 

It’s kind of like the concept of learning is to some people. They go to school and learn, then to college and learn, and once they graduate, they have done all their learning. They won’t go back to college, they won’t pick up a non-fiction book or industry magazine. They are done learning. Outside of one the job learning, they are done.

 

What do you think their prospects are for their futures, if they feel that they are done learning?

 

Years ago that could have been fine. You finish high school or some college and you go to work and stay at your job for 30 – 40 years and retire.

 

Those days, for the most part, have gone the way of the Dodo.

 

High School Diplomas are a must, and Associate Degrees are considered to be little more. It is almost becoming a trend where Bachelor’s degrees are a dime a dozen and Masters Degrees are the new Bachelors.

 

This says that learning, and even continued learning is important to upward mobility and even survival in today’s hyperactive workforce.

 

Some of you will say that you cannot or will not go back to college. That is fine, but the point is not so much getting letters to add to your name on your resume or email signature, rather, it is a call to continue learning and growing.

 

Read a book, read some blogs, read some magazines, go to some seminars, there are some great companies and groups linked on my blog site (http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com).

 

Like an organization which is not growing, it is dying, people are the same. If we are not stoking the fire of our brain by learning, then we are effectively shutting it down and letting it die.

 

If you don’t know what to do to help yourself learn and grow, let me know and I can point you to some basic steps you can take.

 

Remember, learning does not stop when you get the degree or when the training program ends. Learning should only end when our lives end, and not a moment before.

 

Get out there and learn!

 

Enjoy

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

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Message of the Day - Stop and Smell the Leadership

Good Morning,

 

As previously mentioned we all can lead from different levels within an organization, team, etc. We can lead downward, side-to-side and upward. In some cases we do multiple simultaneously.

 

But have you stopped to look at the different leadership roles we have in our day to day lives. I mean, just list them out and look at them.  As an example, here are most of my leadership positions:

 

·         Husband

·         Parent

·         Son

·         Brother

·         Nephew

·         Church Member

·         Friend

·         Godfather

·         Uncle

·         President, Scottish Society of Louisville

·         Chairman, Customer Contact Center Network – 2011

·         Board Member, Stewards Staff

·         Committee Member, Scout Troop, BSA

·         Team Leader, present company

·         Team Member, various roles and teams at work.

 

So here is a group of leadership positions which run the gamut of front line grunt all the way up to big kahuna and all the way in between.

 

In each of these roles, I address the people I work with differently.

 

In effect, I use different leadership skills to do the job at hand, be it being a team member at work, or the president of an organization.

 

Each of you also has our own lists of positions where you have the opportunity to lead from different levels.

 

And if we want to be the best we can be, it is something we should spend some time learning about and growing.

 

No matter where anyone is in life, we are leaders.  We can be better leaders often by just stopping and smelling the leadership that we are giving those all around us.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

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Message of the Day - Give me Innovation!

Good Morning,

 

A few weeks ago I took a one day seminar presented by my friends at the Continuous Improvement Center (www.thecicenter.com) on how to be more innovative and indispensable. The president, Dale Gibbons, himself led the class and it was full of good information and new ways of thinking about things. Since the seminar, I have applied some of the new information I learned to my work and my team, and have even shared some of the innovation tools with team.

 

Knowing me, Dale listed off a few books that he knew I would love to dive into, and this message is about one of them. My current read is “Innovation is Everybody’s Business” by Robert B. Tucker (http://www.innovationiseverybodysbusiness.com/).

 

Right in the beginning of the book are the four I-Skill Principles. Where I-Skills refers to Innovation Skills.

 

PRINCIPLE 1: Innovation is not something you do after you get your work done; it’s how you do your work

PRINCIPLE 2: Innovation is about more than inventing new products; it’s about figuring out how to add value where you are

PRINCIPLE 3: You can innovate in any job, in any department, in any organization

PRINCIPLE 4: Innovation is about taking action

 

I have been thinking about the first I-skill and trying to understand how to make it better work within my life. The challenge is that I am an innovative person to begin with. I often question what I see and annoy others with strange perspectives on situations we are all facing together. I do that to help me get a bigger picture of what is going on, and also because I can be real loopy at times.

 

In applying the first principle, we need to change the fundamental nature of how we do our work. It is not so much that we look at it and think how could this be done better, it is more looking at something and imagining the possibilities. Like Michelangelo who saw the statue of David inside the block of marble. But, to truly apply this principle, we need to do this with all facets of our lives.

 

As an example, in my morning routines, I get up, get shoes on, go feed the cats, put on a coat, take the first dog, Dulce, out to mailbox where the newspaper is waiting and then take her back and put the second Dog, Bo, on his leash and take him out for a longer walk. Due to my leg, I wanted to maximize the amount of time walking Bo, our 100 pound pit bull/ Lab mix. So now, when I go out to get the paper, I bring both dogs, one on the leash, and get the paper and bring the first one back. A new simple approach makes Bocefus happier in the morning with more walk time, without causing me to spend more time doing it.

 

Keeping an open mind and looking for possibilities is the key for learning and applying the first I-Principle.

 

Give it a try!

 

Enjoy

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

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Message of they Day - Connecting with Others

Good Morning,

 

We live in a world with over six billion other people. It is hard to imagine that many people. Millions maybe, but not billions. Yet, in our world, we, through the use of technology, have been slowly losing the ability to connect with other people.

 

·         We text instead of talk.

·         We plug in and tune out rather than engage in a conversation.

·         We find ways to avoid looking at other people for some seeming fear of having to say ‘hello’ or something terrible like that to them.

 

At one point in my career, I was told that one of my strong areas was saying ‘good morning’ to people. I was a bit offended when I heard that thinking that anyone could say ‘good morning’ to others. Apparently, though, that is not the case.

 

This morning when getting coffee, I said ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in the same sentence, peppered with a ‘yes Ma’am’ or two. The lady barista told me how rare it was to hear those words any more.

 

What is happening to us when saying ‘good morning’ and ‘thank you’ are the exception and NOT the norm?

 

I know there are people out there who know the power of connecting with other people. I even read a true story in my latest read, ‘A Rose for Reuben’ about how connecting with another saved a life.

 

A Rabbi who had to work in a field to help pay his bills due to working for a small congregation used to see a stately man walk by every day. He greeted the man every day “Good Morning Herr Muller”, which in turn the gentleman responded with “Good Morning Herr Rabbiner” and raising his hat.

 

And so this went on for some time, until the war came. The Rabbi was eventually captured and taken away to some holding area. When lined up to find out his fate, whether to be sent to harsh work or to his death, he saw his old friend, now a German Officer, walking up the line, making the life and death decisions for each prisoner.

 

Taking a chance, the Rabbi said “Good Morning Herr Muller”, and out of habit, the response came “Good morning Herr Rabbiner”.  Then followed the recognition, of who he was talking to. Herr Muller then helped the Rabbi by sending him to a much less dangerous prison, and ultimately, the Rabbi survived the war.

 

Some may call it fate, some God’s grace, but part of it was certainly connecting with someone, even with something as simple as a ritualistic “Good Morning”.

 

You may never hear from or see another person again, but if you do, do you want their remembrance of you to be the person who ducked and slid out of the way to avoid eye contact, or that person who smiled, opened the door for them and said ‘Good Morning”?

 

Do you know the names of the people you see every day? The security guard at the front desk where you work? The parking lot attendant where you park every day? Sadly, most of us don’t.

 

It’s not that hard, honest. In my walk to work I often walk through a hotel where I park. One lady who cleans the halls and bathrooms is there most days. I saw her name badge and simply started saying ‘Good Morning Miss Janice’. It startled her a first, but now she gives a big smile and says good morning back each time. As I said, it is not hard.

 

Lets practice.

 

Right now.

 

Practice by saying ‘Hello’ or ‘Good Morning’ to your PC or Cell Phone or wherever you are reading this email.

 

Now that you look and probably feel silly, you may realize that it wasn’t that hard. And I bet it put a smile on your face too.

 

Try it again, but this time, say it to a person. If you are a bit fearful of talking to others, move up to a stuffed animal or cat, and work your way up to humans.

 

It could save your life.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

http://learnandgrowdaily.com  Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

502-533-9336