Have No F.E.A.R.

William Shakespeare wrote, "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." What are you afraid to attempt? The old acronym for F.E.A.R. ... False Expectations Appearing Real can sometimes come into play as we doubt our abilities, resources or sanity. Now, sometimes fear is a good thing - for me, a fear of skydiving seems healthy. But, when fear and doubts get in the way of our goals and dreams we should take a second to realize what is at stake.

For me, William Shakespeare's little quote is just the trick. I started by carrying the quote around in my wallet. Whenever I doubted myself or was afraid of attempting something, I would pull the quote out and read it over to myself. Pretty soon I had the quote memorized. Now when I have those moments or when a particular project gets tough, I repeat the quote to myself. This simple affirmation encourages me to focus on the outcome... the "good I oft might win." That simple pause and visualization of the "end in mind" can make all the difference and provide the courage to take the next step.

Make 'Em Laugh

A simple lesson from the classic movie, "Singin' In The Rain." Three of the main characters in the film are tired and faced with a challenge at work. Donald O'Connor's character jumps into action, singing and dancing one of Hollywood's greatest numbers, "Make 'Em Laugh." All of this in an effort to cheer up his friends and colleagues, Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds.

Is it time for you to jump into action and make some of the performers in your circus smile? What can you do to bring a smile to people's faces and lighten up a day? You don't have to be Donald O'Conner doing flips and jumping through walls. Here are some ideas:

• Buy a box of bagels on the way to work and celebrate, "Aren’t you glad it is Wednesday? day."


• Rent the movie "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" on St. Patrick's Day and watch it while eating corned beef and cabbage.


• Set up a "Nerf Hoop" in the office and play a mini 3 on 3 tournament during lunch. Nerf Hoops are great for games of "HORSE" as well.


• Celebrate "Talk Like a Pirate Day." Pass around a list of pirate language key words and phrases. Watch parts of the movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean" at lunch. Create an iPod playlist of pirate music and play throughout the day. If you need a list of songs, email us and I will let you know my favorites.


• Hire a comedian from the local comedy club and ask them to do a 30 minute stand up routine for a "stand up meeting." Or, if you are on a budget ask everyone to bring one of their favorite jokes and share it. Keep a book of clean jokes on your desk and bring out when needed. You'll be amazed how many people will come to your office and pick up the book when they need a smile.


• Create a bulletin board where employees can post humorous articles, jokes and pictures.
  Record the Super Bowl commercials and show them on the Monday after. Let everyone vote for their favorites.


• Celebrate "Rivalry Week" and encourage people to dress up, decorate and celebrate their favorite teams. Make sure you keep it friendly.

To quote another favorite movie – Mary Poppins: "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find that fun and snap – the job's a game." (Just a Spoon Full of Sugar). Be creative. It doesn’t have to cost money or take a large amount of time. Take some of your ideas and try it at home and in your relationship ring as well.

Starbucks-Change In Practice, Not In Purpose

In our training programs we regularly emphasize that while purpose does not normally change, the acts conducted to carry out that purpose often do. A strong example surfaced in the coffee industry last week.

Starbucks introduced "instant coffee." Perish the thought. What about the "experience" of purchasing coffee from a Starbucks location? The baristas who serve you. The ambience... the cool music that is normally playing while you wait for your brew. They already had whole bean coffee you could have at the office or home. Wasn't that enough of a departure? It might seem that they had lost sight of their purpose. Maybe not.

While the unique experience (and some would say taste) of Starbucks coffee is definitely part of their purpose, one must not forget profit as another element of it. With their new VIA line of instant coffees, people can now replicate at least some part of the experience almost anywhere. Their marketing material states: With Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, you can have great coffee anytime, anywhere and any way you want. Also consider this: According to an article in Businessweek, the instant coffee industry outside the US is a 20 billion dollar industry-with no Starbucks presence.

I would imagine that few people will use VIA to supplant the genuine experience, but instead will use it when they can't have the full experience. And that means people will partake of the product MORE often-which means higher profit for Starbucks. And once again, purpose is fulfilled.

On what change to your lineup are you "brewing?" If it will help you better accomplish your purpose, maybe it's time to "pour" it into your lineup.

A Round "To It"

Have you ever delegated a task to someone only to have them say (verbally or non-verbally), "I will do it, when I get around to it?" Or, has it been awhile since you gave an assignment and it still hasn't been completed? Here is a solution. Create a sheet of round stickers that have the words, “To IT” in the middle of the circle. Next time they say, "…when I get around to it," hand them a sticker and say, "Here is a 'Round To IT,' now will you get it done?"

OK, that might be a bad idea. You might end up with the sticker on YOUR forehead, because you can easily offend someone that has too many acts in their circus at the moment. The point is, when you delegate a task, it is important to set expectations and do some negotiating of when the task can and should be accomplished. Don't expect someone to guess when you expect something to be done. Let them know what type of priority it is and where it might fit in an already large list of demands. Remember, you are the ringmaster of the timeline. They are the ringmaster of the task.

Focus on Key Values

Focus. Our lives are full of distractions. There are so many opportunities and so many demands on our time. Typically it isn't a matter of not having anything to do but of making the decision of WHAT to do.

Organizations create mission and value statements, tag lines, buttons and badges with a few key thoughts or concepts of what is important and what they want employees to focus on: "Customer First", "DIRTFT" (Do IT Right The First Time), "Save Money," "Clean, Fast and Friendly," "Safety Now" to name a few. When decisions need to be made or some action needs to be taken the organization typically measures the potential response to the organization's focus. Thomas J. Peters & Robert H. Waterman, Jr have said, Excellent companies focus on only a few key business values…. The focus on a few key values lets everyone know what’s important.

Apply this strategy to your life. Do you have a personal mission statement that you measure against your focus? Does the mission statement include each of the 3-rings of your circus? Are you measuring your daily activities and focus against that mission statement? What if we change the Peters/Waterman quote to say, "Excellent individuals focus on only a few key values…The focus of a few key values lets everyone know what’s important". Maybe we need to go as far as creating a button or a badge to remind us: "Super Dad!", "Results Driven", "I Choose to Be Happy", "Physically Fit", "Friend." What would your button say?