The celebrations are over. The inauguration is done. We have a new President, and he has gotten to work. His mantra is change. He already has some new things in place. Change has happened. You don't have to like him or his politics, but you do need to recognize that he has begun to make things happen. How about you? Your celebrations are over - Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hanukkah and New Years. The inauguration for the beginning of '09 has happened. The ball has dropped. So, have you begun to put your plans in place for this new year? It's still January. It's not too late, but it is time to get started. If you wait, you will soon be hearing Christmas music again.
Let me tell you about some things I have done to put change in motion for my new year. Maybe it will stimulate you to put some new things in motion for yourself. To begin with, I am convinced I want to hear more from God this year. I want to spend more time listening and less time talking, although I want to pray more this year as well. I have started in the beginning with Genesis, and I am reading it again for the first time. I am reading it as though it is a letter directly to me from God. It is amazing to me just how many things I have never seen or heard before. I want to begin and end each day in His Word. There is an incredible blessing involved in waking up to Him and in going to sleep with Him. You might give it a try.
Physically speaking, I am working on my speed and flexibility. I have slipped into a rut with my workout efforts. I get the bare minimum done cardiovascular but that's not enough. I am convinced that my performance in life is enhanced by my personal sense of health and well being. I am diversifying my workouts with racquetball, tennis, stretching, push ups, and ab work. I remain committed to a three day per week regimen, but I am pushing toward a fourth day.
Relationally speaking, I am paying more attention to those I love. It is so easy to miss opportunities to be there for them. I am committed to becoming more creative in my support for all of them. I have to begin with them and where they are. I want to make effective contact with family and friends everyday.
Professionally speaking, it's all about connectivity. I am working hard to reconnect with my world. In many cases, it's about making connection for the first time. New contacts should be made everyday. I need to be alive and awake to new opportunity.
So, how about you? Have you launched into this new year with passion and purpose? It's not too late. Let this be your launching pad. Get started. Change some things. It really is time!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Consistency Is A Constant Challenge
Welcome to TappeTalk, a Purposed Connection Podcast by The Tappe Group. In the TappeTalk podcast, Consistency Is A Constant Challenge, Allen brings up the point that as humans it is difficult to consistently do the challenging things in life. Allen gives 10 suggestions for staying consistent in 2009.
Here are a few more words about choice from Steven Covey. Steven Covey is a former University business professor and a self help mogul. His first lesson for leaders is that they are products of their own choices. Another suggested reading is, Life Matters by A. Roger Merrill and Rebecca R. Merrill.
- Get Honest
- Get Specific
- Get Strategic
- Get Committed
- Get Accountable
- Get Started
- Get Creative
- Get Help
- Get Started Again
- Get Convinced
Here are a few more words about choice from Steven Covey. Steven Covey is a former University business professor and a self help mogul. His first lesson for leaders is that they are products of their own choices. Another suggested reading is, Life Matters by A. Roger Merrill and Rebecca R. Merrill.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
What Plans Have You Made?
More than halfway through the first month of 2009 how is your plan working for you? Assuming you created a plan to begin with, have things gone the way you planned? It is important that you stop now and consider how things are going. Getting started right is essential to the outcome you will achieve. Plans can be well intended, yet still lead to failure. There are several questions you might want to ask right about now. To begin with, how different are your plans for this year compared to your plans for last year? If you have made no changes in your performance plan for this year then you should not expect a different outcome for yourself. It is amazing how often we continue to do things the way we have always done them and expect to achieve a different result. What have you planned to change in your life and work performance this year?
With that question in mind, how will you know if things are working for you? How are you keeping score? What kind of indicators do you have in place? It is significant for you to have clarity about the success you are achieving while you are in the process of achieving it. From a life standpoint, what signals are telling you that you are growing spiritually? How about for your health and for your relationships? What numbers are you considering as benchmarks for your professional growth? Clarity is essential to confidence. How are you keeping score this year in your life and in your work?
And then of course, the really difficult question: How will you stay consistently accountable throughout this year? What kind of accountability strategy have you put into effect? Who is partnering with you this year to insure the integrity of your performance? It is so easy to make plans. The challenge comes in putting them into practice. I don’t believe consistency is natural. I don’t believe integrity in life is natural. If you don’t do it on purpose, it probably won’t happen. So, stop now and challenge yourself to make it happen. Ask someone to help you in the process. Seek out review. How are you going to stay accountable this year?
It is important to work the right plan. Stop now and make the necessary adjustments. Make this year a purposed creation. Choose to work your plan. Choose to pay attention to the score along the way. And, choose to stay accountable for your performance. Remember, the choice is yours. Stay purposed!
With that question in mind, how will you know if things are working for you? How are you keeping score? What kind of indicators do you have in place? It is significant for you to have clarity about the success you are achieving while you are in the process of achieving it. From a life standpoint, what signals are telling you that you are growing spiritually? How about for your health and for your relationships? What numbers are you considering as benchmarks for your professional growth? Clarity is essential to confidence. How are you keeping score this year in your life and in your work?
And then of course, the really difficult question: How will you stay consistently accountable throughout this year? What kind of accountability strategy have you put into effect? Who is partnering with you this year to insure the integrity of your performance? It is so easy to make plans. The challenge comes in putting them into practice. I don’t believe consistency is natural. I don’t believe integrity in life is natural. If you don’t do it on purpose, it probably won’t happen. So, stop now and challenge yourself to make it happen. Ask someone to help you in the process. Seek out review. How are you going to stay accountable this year?
It is important to work the right plan. Stop now and make the necessary adjustments. Make this year a purposed creation. Choose to work your plan. Choose to pay attention to the score along the way. And, choose to stay accountable for your performance. Remember, the choice is yours. Stay purposed!
Monday, January 19, 2009
The Ten Commandments For Business Success part 2
In the TappeTalk podcast, The Ten Commandments for Business Success, Allen references Donald Keough's book The Ten Commandments For Business Failure. In this book, he offers ten surefire ways to fail as a professional. In the following videos, Donald Keough gives more insight by analyzing the current financial crisis.
The Ten Commandments For Business Success
Welcome to Tappe Talk, a Purposed Connection podcast by The Tappe Group. How many of you intend to be successful in 2009? What do you intend to change in order to make that happen? Allen gives ten commandments for business success in 2009.
Monday, January 12, 2009
What You Have to Give
Welcome to another episode of Tappe Talk, a Purposed Connection podcast by The Tappe Group. How do you you approach life? Work? What are your expectations? Is your primary intention to receive or to give? Allen Encourages you to focus on what you can control. Here are the 10 suggestions Allen has for 2009:
1. Conviction
2. Purpose
3. Passion
4. Respect
5. Integrity
6. Discipline
7. Focus
8. Leadership
9. Team
10. Celebration
Download this episode (right click and save)
1. Conviction
2. Purpose
3. Passion
4. Respect
5. Integrity
6. Discipline
7. Focus
8. Leadership
9. Team
10. Celebration
Download this episode (right click and save)
What Difference Are You Making?
What difference do you plan to make this year? What would happen if your customers were interested not only in the service you provide but also, and maybe more significantly, in the value you represent to the world? What if your children were asking you to become more aware of the impact your choices were having in the world? It would seem that we are now living in that reality. Increasingly, we are becoming more aware as people populating this world. We seem to be more aware and concerned about waste and war. We seem to be more aware of the responsibility we have in the personal choices we make. What we buy, and from whom, is now a much bigger deal. In his book, Saving the World at Work, Tim Sanders suggests that we are now living in the "responsibility revolution". His suggestion is that we are now living in a time where people are actually taking their responsibility as world citizens seriously and they are seeking to connect with people who are like minded. So, how does that reality effect you?
To begin with, if you share this revolutionary sense of responsibility, it causes you to live each day with a new sense of passion and purpose. You are leading a parade each day. You are trying to bring an influence to your world that will make a difference. Making responsible choices is not easy. In fact, it is not natural. It has to be done on purpose. It will require more conscious response and less emotional reaction. So, each day brings new opportunities and with them new challenges. Every day becomes an important day to live both for the sake of the present and the future.
It also impacts the choices you make about the people you are going to choose as your team. I believe team involves anyone you depend upon for the success you want to achieve. So, where you work and with whom you work takes on new relevance. Your desire to make everyone on your team more successful becomes far more meaningful. You need them. They need you. The world needs the difference you are making. It is not just a job. It is not just a company. It is your commitment to life. It is your mission.
Finally, it greatly influences where, and with whom, you do business. It influences how you will spend your money because now it involves more than just you. In fact, each expenditure you make becomes an investment of sorts. It is an investment that has impact. We make purchasing choices that represent a vote for the causes and the companies we believe in and want to support.
So, join the revolution! Choose to make this year a purposed and powerful year . Take your place as a leader in your world. Make each day your own personal creation and contribution. Then, enjoy the sense of peace and significance that comes your way. Listen closely because you may just hear the applause of the world.
To begin with, if you share this revolutionary sense of responsibility, it causes you to live each day with a new sense of passion and purpose. You are leading a parade each day. You are trying to bring an influence to your world that will make a difference. Making responsible choices is not easy. In fact, it is not natural. It has to be done on purpose. It will require more conscious response and less emotional reaction. So, each day brings new opportunities and with them new challenges. Every day becomes an important day to live both for the sake of the present and the future.
It also impacts the choices you make about the people you are going to choose as your team. I believe team involves anyone you depend upon for the success you want to achieve. So, where you work and with whom you work takes on new relevance. Your desire to make everyone on your team more successful becomes far more meaningful. You need them. They need you. The world needs the difference you are making. It is not just a job. It is not just a company. It is your commitment to life. It is your mission.
Finally, it greatly influences where, and with whom, you do business. It influences how you will spend your money because now it involves more than just you. In fact, each expenditure you make becomes an investment of sorts. It is an investment that has impact. We make purchasing choices that represent a vote for the causes and the companies we believe in and want to support.
So, join the revolution! Choose to make this year a purposed and powerful year . Take your place as a leader in your world. Make each day your own personal creation and contribution. Then, enjoy the sense of peace and significance that comes your way. Listen closely because you may just hear the applause of the world.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Creating Purposed Change in 2009
Welcome to Tappe Talk, a Purposed Connection podcast by The Tappe Group. This podcast focuses on the purposed changes you should consider making in 2009. Listen as Allen offers 12 suggestions to help you produce a significantly better new year.
Download this episode (right click and save)
Download this episode (right click and save)
A Sense of Urgency
As you enter the year of 2009, how would you describe your approach? Casual? Confused? In his book, A Sense of Urgency, John Kotter discusses the nature of change in the 21st century. He suggests that change is no longer episodic in nature but rather that it is a continuum. It is now something that has become a part of your life challenge. So, exactly how will you change in ’09 and how urgently will you engage the process?
How does the word “casual” fit into your performance style? What if you hit this New Year with a positive sense of urgency? Kotter makes an important distinction between a positive and negative sense of urgency. The urgency being called for is not a frantic, fear-based reaction. Rather, it is a purposed response that is fixed in an integrity-based approach to living. There is not much room for waste. For managing leaders, ’08 has called for some challenging changes. People have been let go. People have lost jobs. However, managers I have heard from have suggested that many, if not most, of the people who lost their jobs were not performing people anyway. So, why would people who were not doing the job be on the job anyway? Leaders managing into ’09 and beyond must stay focused on performance responsibilities and realities. Non-performing people have no place on a professional performance team. Selling professionals know that their selling success depends upon the quantity and quality of people they consistently contact. Selling teams need to be built around professionals who choose to get, and stay, fit for the challenge. Casual is an approach that simply cannot characterize a 21st century life performance.
Confusion seems to reign as we enter ’09 and for good reason. We are facing this New Year with a new President and a deep economic crisis. We are still at war and people continue to be hungry and dying of thirst in the world. Global warming seems to be a reality and green strategies do not represent a quick fix. We have seen oil prices go out of control and then plunge to significant lows in a short period of time. We stay confused about the energy question. The stock market represents no marketable security and yet tax payers are being asked to make significant investment in failing companies who represent that insecurity. Capitalism and free enterprise have created destructive and criminal results. So, what do we do? We respond. We respond by doing the things we can do. We choose not to spend money we do not have. We choose not to become so focused on retirement for tomorrow that we become non-engaged employees today. We choose not to focus on accumulating wealth for ourselves when we see people close by living in a crippling poverty. We choose not to live as though we are entitled to be served and live with privilege. We choose not to sacrifice honesty on the altar of necessity. We respond. We respond by doing what we know we need to do today, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. We eat less. We waste less. We love more. We serve more. We learn more. We lead more. We choose not to play the victim. We choose not to make excuses. We choose not to blame others for choices we have made. Confusion is a state of mind. Clarity is the preferred option to confusion. Get clear about who and why you are. Then, respond!
So, what if you were to substitute clarity for confusion as you enter ’09? What if you have in place a plan for your life and work that keeps you on course? What if you seek someone out as an accountability partner who can help you stay clear about the important things? What if you choose to read something every day that helps you keep your mind straight? What if you get healthier than you have been in years? What if you get more connected to the people in your world? What if you become the leader your world needs you to become? What if you actively love and serve people more? What if you get clear about who God is and who you are and stay that way?
Let’s do it! Let’s not just talk about it. Let’s do it! Let’s make this year a benchmark year for our lives. Let’s respond to change. It won’t just happen. Let’s engage it with a sense of purpose. Life really does require an urgent response. Let’s give it one!
How does the word “casual” fit into your performance style? What if you hit this New Year with a positive sense of urgency? Kotter makes an important distinction between a positive and negative sense of urgency. The urgency being called for is not a frantic, fear-based reaction. Rather, it is a purposed response that is fixed in an integrity-based approach to living. There is not much room for waste. For managing leaders, ’08 has called for some challenging changes. People have been let go. People have lost jobs. However, managers I have heard from have suggested that many, if not most, of the people who lost their jobs were not performing people anyway. So, why would people who were not doing the job be on the job anyway? Leaders managing into ’09 and beyond must stay focused on performance responsibilities and realities. Non-performing people have no place on a professional performance team. Selling professionals know that their selling success depends upon the quantity and quality of people they consistently contact. Selling teams need to be built around professionals who choose to get, and stay, fit for the challenge. Casual is an approach that simply cannot characterize a 21st century life performance.
Confusion seems to reign as we enter ’09 and for good reason. We are facing this New Year with a new President and a deep economic crisis. We are still at war and people continue to be hungry and dying of thirst in the world. Global warming seems to be a reality and green strategies do not represent a quick fix. We have seen oil prices go out of control and then plunge to significant lows in a short period of time. We stay confused about the energy question. The stock market represents no marketable security and yet tax payers are being asked to make significant investment in failing companies who represent that insecurity. Capitalism and free enterprise have created destructive and criminal results. So, what do we do? We respond. We respond by doing the things we can do. We choose not to spend money we do not have. We choose not to become so focused on retirement for tomorrow that we become non-engaged employees today. We choose not to focus on accumulating wealth for ourselves when we see people close by living in a crippling poverty. We choose not to live as though we are entitled to be served and live with privilege. We choose not to sacrifice honesty on the altar of necessity. We respond. We respond by doing what we know we need to do today, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. We eat less. We waste less. We love more. We serve more. We learn more. We lead more. We choose not to play the victim. We choose not to make excuses. We choose not to blame others for choices we have made. Confusion is a state of mind. Clarity is the preferred option to confusion. Get clear about who and why you are. Then, respond!
So, what if you were to substitute clarity for confusion as you enter ’09? What if you have in place a plan for your life and work that keeps you on course? What if you seek someone out as an accountability partner who can help you stay clear about the important things? What if you choose to read something every day that helps you keep your mind straight? What if you get healthier than you have been in years? What if you get more connected to the people in your world? What if you become the leader your world needs you to become? What if you actively love and serve people more? What if you get clear about who God is and who you are and stay that way?
Let’s do it! Let’s not just talk about it. Let’s do it! Let’s make this year a benchmark year for our lives. Let’s respond to change. It won’t just happen. Let’s engage it with a sense of purpose. Life really does require an urgent response. Let’s give it one!
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