Failure

I don’t normally use negative words (much more use them as titles to my articles), but I thought a “negative” word will catch your attention today.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” - Thomas A. Edison

What an encouraging quote from one of the best minds, if not the best mind, in human history. Though nobody wants to fail, we can’t deny the fact that failure is part of life. However, we can turn our failure/s into success.  It is just a matter of perspective and conditioning our mind to learn from failure and therefore turn it into success. Great inventors like Thomas Edison encountered failures prior to a successful invention.

To turn failure into success, requires a change of heart and mind; a change of character.

1. Be optimistic. Find the good in every bad experience. Thomas Edison did not say that he failed 10,000 times in his experiments. Rather he said that he found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Such attitude gave him the enthusiasm and optimism that he will soon find that one thing that will work.   Note that optimism is not limited to a few people as a personality trait; optimism is a choice. Optimism may not guarantee immediate positive results but optimism leads to greater motivation and stronger character.

2. Be responsible. It is human nature to put the blame on other people when we fail.  It is easier to point a finger to people or to circumstances rather than admitting our fault. But if we don’t accept the responsibility of our failure, we will not benefit from the learning opportunity it brings. Since you think it is not your fault, you will tend to forget about.  But if you accept your part as someone to be blamed for the failure, you will think about the failure seriously and you will learn from it. Accepting the responsibility of the failure is the mark of a mature person, one who be trusted to learn from the failure and keep trying.

3. Be resilient. Failure is unavoidable. When you encounter failure, learn from it, and then move on. Don’t wallow on your failure; don’t let it stop you from attempting great things. Get up and start all over again. To test if you have really moved on, check your behavior. Are you comparing yourself to other people? Are you justifying that your circumstances were harder than theirs? Are you rationalizing? Are you convincing yourself and others that you have good reasons for not getting over past failures? Are you isolating yourself? Are you avoiding the people and the issues and continue to feel sorry for yourself? Are you still trying to fix things or looking for solutions to issues that can no longer be changed?

4. Be action oriented and face your fear. After a failure, try again even if you feel some measure of fear. Face your fear and your worries. Believing that failure is inevitable and that it can be an instrument to success is not enough to achieve success.  You need to take action on that belief and take a step forward again in pursuit of our dream. Doing so will enable you to learn from your failure and make progress.  

I hope you agree with me that failure is not a “negative” word after all because after failure comes success if you know how to use said failure to your advantage.

Thoughts for the Week

I hope you had a good start with your week. I am just checking in and would like to give you some random thoughts to perk up your week.

It is said that positive thinking works.  When you think you can (confidence), you surely will. However, I would rather have it the other way around.  Be sure you are competent (quality performance) and confidence will follow. Do not be over confident; be humble.  As the good book says, “Humble yourself and the Lord will exalt you.”

Money is the acid test of a person's character. You can peak into a person's soul by watching his attitude towards money. If someone borrowed money from you and then he vanishes and never contacts you again, it was probably worth that he disappeared from your life. Once great men have fallen because of their insatiable desire for money. They lost their greatness because of greed. Learn to use money and never let money use you.

Wealth is not defined by the amount of money a person has but a person's simplicity of wants. A person can be considered wealthy when he or she has fewer wants. A contented person is a wealthy and happy person. 

True happiness cannot be bought. True happiness is not found in things but true happiness is anchored on healthy relationships.

Don't be contented with your abilities. Increase your ability to earn money by increasing your value and skills.  Know how to increase your income by improving yourself, your competence, your knowledge and most importantly your character. 

You can't please everybody.  Some people may criticize you unfairly. As long as you are at peace with God and you know that haven't done wrong to anyone, let them criticize while you sleep soundly.

Hope these random thoughts will add value to your week.

  

What is Your Leadership Style?

I would say 99% of single moms are working moms.  They either have their own business or are employed.  There are not so many lucky single moms who live off the funds of their ex or are rich enough themselves not to worry about their finances.

Having observed these wonderful women, I thought of writing about the leadership styles that helped these single moms reach the pinnacle of success in spite of their not so happy past. It takes character to stand up when you fall down, dust off the pain and straighten up your life. These single moms are indeed leaders!

Some of the leadership styles that I saw in action are:

1) Visionary
The visionary supplies its team with the dream that energizes them. She sees farther into the future than others; sees opportunities more quickly than others, and sees bigger possibilities than others can think of. She is able to see threats faster than the rest of her team and is able to analyze where and how to direct or lead her team.

2) Directional
Directional leaders point the way to the vision. They make certain that the team stays on the track and they can immediately spot when the team is veering away from the vision.

3) Strategic
Strategic leaders evaluate the present situation and then gather the resources needed at each stage of her business' journey. She understands the process step by step. She is able to view her business in a macro level, seeing a number of contingencies.  As a result her business is is seldom blindsided.

4) Managing
She knows priorities, the people who can make things happen and leads these people to do what they are good at. She sets objectives and creates metrics to measure performance. She is very focused in her goals. 

5) Motivational
She firmly believe that people are an organization’s most valuable assets. She constantly encourage others and sets a visible example for others to follow. She knows the key players and how to encourage these players. She understands what drives the organization’s primary influencers and she uses that information to provide personalized incentives to them.

6) Shepherding
She gives extraordinary care to the players on the team. She is easy to talk, knows her team members well, is sensitive to their needs and emphatize with their concerns. She leads with the heart and have a servant attitude that uplifts everyone around them.

7) Team – building
She has a natural ability to see how people fit together so that their strengths complement one another. She possesses strong relational skills and readily connect with her team. She has very little ego and usually highlights the accomplishments of others.

8) Entrepreneur
She is a  self-starter.  She views risk as an opportunity. A calculated risk taker, she values possibility more than security. Unafraid to fail, she's resilient and bounces back from defeat more quickly than others.

9) Reengineering
She does not shy away from problems. She enjoys cleaning up a mess and repair damage. She identifies outmoded systems and corrects them. She never settle for the status quo, constantly looking for ways to upgrade and improve operations.

10) Bridge-building
She is a great negotiator. She works well with people and networks continually. For her, compromise as a dirty word but rather a necessary step to move the team forward.

What is your leadership style?

The Power of Social Media

Use the power of social media to help and not to destroy people or your legacy. Social media help us help people.  A simple positive post on Facebook and Twitter will brighten up someone’s day, will refresh and rejuvenate people in their work.

When Facebook was not existent, business organizations used traditional advertising to get their messages across. Today, almost all business organizations use the power of Facebook to get its message across to its customers and even to its employees at almost no cost to the business owner.  Business organizations must realize the power of social network platforms; ignorance of the power of these platforms means loss of business opportunities or worst, a sure path to obsolescence and irrelevance. Technology is so pervasive you cannot and should not avoid it.

 Even parents must consider this thought. The moment you consider social network platforms, computers or the Internet as enemies, your children will shut you off.

When you use social network platforms (take note, I said “when” not “if” because it is now a must to use social network platforms for whatever need you may have), you must be responsible in what you post. Do not be like other people who post something in their Facebook status or micro-blog through in their Twitter account without thinking much about what they post.  When you do this you are making a huge mistake. Words are powerful; just because they come in digital form do not mean they are of less value. Some people over-express or they just want to be doing what most people are doing with no care in what they do. With the popularity of Instagram, they take pictures of almost everything, often doing this without careful thinking.

Always be careful when you post.  Your work and your business are personal to you and you should use the digital space to share your thoughts with the hope to inspire people to become better.

The phrase “Content is King”, though I believe has been overused in the digital world, is very true.  Do not use the digital platforms to cuss, curse, post obscene contents or just exhibit rudeness without even thinking about the repercussions. Remember that whatever you post will leave permanent digital footprints that will never go away. In fact the digital world will cause your post to be virally shared and reach a lot of people in a short time causing the negative results to expand exponentially.

Also caution your children to be more careful and responsible in whatever they post.  In the name of “fun” they may post pictures with tattoos all over their body pointing with their middle finger and then using expletives all over the place. This brainless exercise leaves something permanent such that one day, should these careless young person apply for a job, HR people will surely see their antics and doubt whether they will be a good fit for their companies.

Before posting anything, ask these 2 simple questions:

1. Will this content stand the test of time?

2. Will my children (and their children) be proud of this post?

 

These 2 simple questions will make you avoid use of bad language, attack individuals, badmouth brands, slander, accuse or make up stories against businesses and companies. Your character is put at a test here. Apart from your reputation you must be concerned with the legacy you want to leave. Several years from now, your future family members might be able to search your archive and get to read what you have published. Would they be proud of you or would they be ashamed of you?

 

Your own line persona reflects your true character. Do not make false claims. Do not lie. Do not use technology to spread false rumors as you will be remembered digitally and who you really are will be exposed for all to know. God knows of course but now, the whole world would too; that’s the power of social media.