Morning Motivator - A Message About War

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."
- Mahatma Gandhi

I try not to get too personal or too extreme in my MM writings, but I must say that today my ass is chapped! So hang on...

First, while a fiscal conservative, I am not a full fledged Republican. I am an American. Additionally, I am very appreciative that I get to live in a country where I am able to speak my mind, build my own success and choose my life's path. I am, however, extremely pissed off at all the people that bitch and moan about how bad the US is and how we need to keep ourselves out of the affairs of other countries.

I hear today, someone say, "I am not celebrating Veterans Day. We shouldn't even be fighting in these wars!" And yes, your buddy Zach, did say something. I told this obviously extremely liberal hippie, college kid that has no idea about liberty or sacrifice. He lives in a world where he can skip class and go to McDonalds to stand in line and bitch about affairs he knows nothing about. I told him, in other countries he would be shot for saying that! Funny... He said nothing in return.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP: Look, here is the deal... The liberties you have to Occupy Wall Street, start a business, even as far as having a child are provided by the many deaths of people sacrificing their time, safety and potentially their life so you can buy a new iPhone and complain about wars in a fancy coffee shoppe.

You may not like WAR - frankly, no one does -but it is a reality. It has been a part of human society since time began. It is not political, it is about survival. If you do not think that protecting your interests are important, then let someone come rob you or break into your home. Then see if you think protecting yourself is important.

Today is VETERANS DAY. Agree with war or not, you better go out and tell someone that has served THANK YOU. Give them a hand shake or a hug and let them know you appreciate their efforts to allow you to be free of tyranny, unfair taxation and torture. Lastly, if you think the US is really that bad. Try visiting another country other than any in the UK. Middle Africa, the Middle East or Eastern Europe are my suggestions. Good luck!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all our military and service people. I know I get to rant, because you made a choice to defend my right to do so. I hope I can honor you better one day soon.

Cheers,

Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - A Leadership Scapegoat

"Penn State has officially fired Joe Paterno."
-ESPN

Let me predicate this entire entry with the fact that what was done by the accused ex-coach of Penn State is deplorable and he should receive maximum punishment allowable by law. Let the lesson then begin...

Yesterday, coaching legend, Joe Paterno, of Penn State was fired for his "involvement" in a child sex scandal surrounding one of his former coaches. While I do not know the details intimately, I am aware that Mr. Paterno communicated "concerns" about his coach to his management, at which point, no action was taken. Sad, sad, sad...

As a result of the inaction of the administration, he is now being held liable in association with the acts that have been accused. So, what is the lesson?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP: Leadership is a responsibility to those you serve and those that serve you. As the leader of any organization, you will ALWAYS be held accountable for the actions of those you work with or the quality of work that they produce. Does that mean you should micro manage everyone and everything to ensure that nothing bad ever happens? No.

What you do need to be aware of is the quality of character you choose to associate with. No one likes to be judged. It is even worse to be judges by the actions of your worst associate. Your mom always said, "if you hang out with bad kids, you will be a bad kid too." Never has a greater truth been said.

Listen to mom. Listen to your gut. Pick your friends very wisely. Don't want to be a "sell out?" No one does, yet, no one wants to be held back by others. Personally, I like to hold myself to a very high level of standards and surround myself with people that I believe are better than me (or at least offer something of great value).

Choose not to heed that warning and you may just become the next Leadership Scapegoat!

Cheers,

Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - Sure, I’ll Pay 80% Taxes...

"Business is a trade of financial security for emotional security."
- Zachary Barker

Why is it that the "monday morning" politician always want to cut taxes - no matter what!? Do not get me wrong, I want to pay less taxes also. That is not from the fact that I think I pay too much in taxes... It is that I get too little in services!

The question we need to solve in our community is not HOW much we are paying, but what we are paying for. Are you getting excellent service when you go to the DMV? How about when you go to the parks... are they clean and well maintained? Are the streets being repaired in a timely fashion??

Would you complain less about taxes if you felt welcomed, appreciated and received exceptional service from your government??

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP: When you look at your business and your government, do you see similarities? What would you do to fix your governments services? Are you doing those same things in your business??

Success in business is often about an increased awareness of needs in the marketplace. Once you are able to identify the needs of the people -private or public sector - you can then fill those needs and create opportunity for yourself. What if you could create a service that would circumvent the DMV? What if you could skip the TSA lines at the airport - every time!? What if your were able to figure out a way to better educate children... even if it cost more!?!

People will pay. People will GLADLY pay more for better. Find ways to solve issues - public and private - then watch the opportunities explode!!

Cheers,

Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - Lets Never Agree

"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."
- Voltaire

Admittedly, I love politics. Actually, I love the interaction of individuals with different perspectives on what success looks like, how to support it with the people that they lead and then watch them take action towards achieving those goals.

The most credible of these groups is often found amongst an active Board of Directors. With great diversity in age and background, it is the collection of people with a common vision and very different paths for getting there. So, what would the worst possible thing be?

Agreement. Plain, simple, group agreement.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP: Some people hate the idea of confrontation. Others seek to find consensus prior to proposals. Me, I like to throw out the "anti-idea" and see how it changes the discussion. In a sense, I am a trouble maker...

Think of it like this. You spend your time, energy, money and resources on serving with Board of Directors. You get emotionally involved in the success of the group and have a personal investment of reputation riding on its success. If you are putting so much INTO this... why would you just show up, have zero debate or discussion, vote and leave? Frankly, if we do not have a difference in opinion - I DO NOT NEED TO BE THERE!

My belief is that my time and intelligence is EXTREMELY VALUABLE. I also believe they are limited. Thus, if I am going to spend them on something, I want it to be valuable also. Not something that would move in the direction I think is best, whether I was there or not.

Warning: Do not be an a$$hole for the sake of being one. However, make sure if no on else is willing to have the difficult discussion (whether you are for or against it), that YOU start it!

Great leaders are worried when everyone agrees with them.

Cheers,

Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - Stop, Relax, Breathe, Go!

"Electricity is really just organized lightning."
- George Carlin

Feeling overwhelmed? Are you so "in demand" that you are having trouble balancing all the actions? Is the stress of being a top producer starting to grind on you?

It is OK! Better to be overwhelmed than underwhelmed, right? It happens to the best of us anyhow.

It is not uncommon for high producing individuals to find moments of overwhelming activity. It is the result of high inputs with a bottleneck existing in their output systems. A great example is that you can roll out 1,000 cookies, but if you can only bake 25 an hour, you are limited by your baking. You can bring in all the business you want, but are limited by the ability to "cook it up and serve it."

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP: I continually discuss the nature of systems. The repeatable processes you define and work within continually in order to ensure quality and maximum productivity (ie. serving the best tasting cookies in the highest numbers).

Systems need analysis though. They require testing, sampling, stressing the workflow and continual tweaking. They require that you look at how effective it was last time and determine how it could be better this time.

In order to do so, you must stop, relax, breathe, then go! You must take the time to analyze, assess, implement and act. Simply put right? Simply done too!

Make sure you are dedicating the appropriate amount of time to working "on" your business (ie systems/processes) as you are "in" your business (ie sales and marketing). A good system will allow you the ability to achieve your role as an exceptional producer!

Cheers,

Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.