WOWNOW

Hi Everyone

Since a very young age I have had the belief that it is beneficial to read at least one book a month. I don’t think it matters if it is fiction or non-fiction, both feed and expand your mind – which is great.

Over the years I have read many books, some in print and some as audio books – while I am sure the “experts” would argue books in print form are better than audio, I believe both formats have their place, as will eBooks have theirs. Regardless of the format if it helps me grow and learn – I believe it is a good thing.

So three non-fiction must read books, as recommended by me are below. I ask everyone I mentor to read each of these books – I can always tell those that have done so without even asking, as their professional behavior shifts upward if they have read them.

The Pursuit of WOW! by Tom Peters

I first read this book when I was 13 or 14 and many of the lessons and ideas from this book have stayed with me throughout my career. The sub-title of the book is every person’s guide to topsy-turvy times.

Fundamentally this book will get you thinking about how you can deliver greater experiences for your staff, customers and colleagues.

The author, Tom Peters, is a renowned author having published a number of high grossing books, is a sort after event speaker and has served in the US Armed Forces and worked with companies such as McKinsey & Co.

I truly believe that this book will get you thinking!

From Good to Great by Jim Collins

I first became aware of this book when a manager of mine shared an abridged version of the book with me. This book is an evidenced based book explaining what common threads exist between those companies that make the leap from good to great and how you might implement those ideas in your own organization.

This is another one of those books that gets you thinking about your personal leadership style and the leadership that exists (or otherwise) around you. I ended up buying this book in audio book format, after buying the hardcover version, so I can easily get a refresh of the book anywhere that I am.

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

My recommendation of this book does not come through any allegiance (or otherwise) to The Democratic Party of the United States of America. I make the recommendation because I believe the book is a great example of what having a dream, a hope, a determination to make a difference can make.

Love him or otherwise, President Obama is a passionate man with convictions and I believe that following your passion and convictions is always a good thing. Also an understanding of how President Obama communicates may assist you in becoming even more inspirational in your communication.

At the end of the day I make these recommendations because I believe these books to have been positive influences on my life, if you do read them I would love to hear your thoughts on them.

Do you have a book (non-fiction) recommendation for me? Send it to me via twitter or email.

Thanks for reading.

JB

Hi Everyone

Recently I was watching a movie and their was a line in it where the actress said “I know you’re successful because …” The actress went on to list off a number of things, houses, cars, etc and it got me thinking about success and the expectations of what society place on us, or should I say that we let society place on us.

I feel success is a very individual concept, that is to say what I believe is successful is likely to be different to what you may define success as.  I also believe that success can be situational, for example a successful life can be void of a successful career and vice versa.

While writing this blog I decided to do a picture search and found this one.

Of course google returned heaps of results but I liked the simple message of this photo – Success is a journey not a destination.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while you will know I believe in having a bias for action. By its sheer nature, this means that at times not everything will work out perfectly. In fact many leading business consultants such as Tom Peters and Peter Drucker believe that it is through this bias of action that we will learn quicker and progress on the journey of success faster.

So how do I define success – to me success is the movement towards achieving individual personal and professional goals. I feel that this definition compliments my view that success is something for the individual to define and not for society to dictate.

But how does your personal definition of success influence your behaviour? If for example you think success means someone that has the 6 figure salary, nice car, etc does this stop you from socialising with someone because of your assumptions about their success?

My Mum and Dad, from a very early age, would tell me not to judge a person by the clothes on their back or the car that they drive, but rather by the person that they are. The message was simple, don’t judge a book by its cover, for me this applies to success as well.

I personally believe that interacting with people from diverse backgrounds enriches my life and I encourage you to do the same.

So I am wondering how do you define success?

Take care

JB

Hi Everyone

It’s been a busy time since my last blog, train travel not quite being the same as bungee jumping, did you read it? I hope so and that you got something out of it.

So over the past week, for various reasons, I’ve been speaking to people about life in general. Specifically about my belief that life is a journey of discovery and experiences which by its sheer nature means there are going to be times when you make mistakes, times when you feel great senses of accomplishment as well as every range of emotion there is.

If we fundamentally agree that life is a journey of discovery and experiences, why do we give ourselves such a hard time when we slip on a goal or personal commitment?

For example when I decided I was going to give up chocolate for a month and then only days later had a chocolate bar I could have been really hard on myself but instead I focused on the positive, which was going x number of days  without chocolate.

The above example may appear trivial but if only we applied the same level of positivity to any situation, how would your self talk change, motivation and self-confidence improve?

The next time you find yourself being hard on yourself I challenge you to ask yourself the following questions;

1. What is the positive in this situation?
2. What did you learn from this experience?
3. How can I use this to help me move forward?

Three simple questions to help you realise that it’s life and that there is always something positive from the situation.

Have a great week, can’t wait to hear your thoughts.

JB

Hi Everyone

I hope you have been keep well since my last post.

You will recall that my previous post started to explore the concept of new years resolutions and how easy it is to achieve goals if you simply start with a plan, chunk it down in to bite sized portions and have a bias for action –to be blunt that means getting off your ass and doing things to achieve your goal.

I have had some feedback that while this can work for some goals, like a new job or reducing debt, it’s not really practical for the big dreams, if you will your big audacious goals.

I can’t talk for everyone but my personal experience is that the bigger the goal, the larger the dream, the greater the importance of developing a plan on how to get there.

For example in 2007 I crystallized that one of my goals was to start regularly speaking at corporate conferences. I was so open about this goal I included it in my 2007 vision statements   (http://jasonbradshaw.com.au/vision/vision.html) .  I made it known to everyone that this was a goal of mine.

This public disclosure was just one part of my journey of achieving, what appeared unachievable at the time. In fact it wasn’t until 2009 that I really could put my hand on my heart and say that I had made significant progress on this goal.  You will recall that through 2009 I spoke at a number of State and National Conferences and I am already booked in to an Asia Pacific Conference later this year where I will be presenting on Social Media.

While I haven’t built my public speaking career to the extent I am well on my way – its all because I believed that my dreams can come true if I work at them.

Get clear about your goals and over time, with focus and a plan I know you can also achieve them – no matter how big they are.

Have a great weekend!

JB

This weeks podcasts have included
-    Hope, Dreams & Actions
-    Don’t just care-take, lead.
-    Have a bias for action.
-    Don’t hold yourself back.

The theme this week has been regarding my fundamental belief that you need to have a bias for action.

When I look at some of the people that inspire me Nelson Mandela, Rudy Giuliani, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey and so on they all share one thing (at least) in common – a bias for action. They set goals and move towards them as a matter of daily life.

This doesn’t mean that they, you or I need to make great leaps each day but that we have a plan that has regularly achievable steps that helps us move towards our goal attainment.

The key here is both the plan and a genuine commitment to achieve the plan with an understanding that any motion forward, towards the goal, is better than inaction.

As our life experiences grow we quite often get caught up in the need to be right or to have all the ducks lined up before we move forward. This is in contrast to kids, take a baby for example, when they go to make their first step they aren’t held back by the possibility of failure or being wrong they just keep on trying until they can walk.

What is stopping you from walking, jogging, running towards your goals?  What can you do right now to move towards your goals?

If you’re not sure what to do why not start by building a simple plan and picturing what achieving it will look like and feel like. Your plan doesn’t need to be sophisticated it can simply be a list of steps, tasks if you will, that you need to complete and by when to achieve your goal.

Finally don’t beat yourself up if at first you are slow or even behind on completing a task, over time the momentum you build will help you make up any lost ground and before you know it you will have achieved your goal.

Finally if it’s better to have loved and lost than never have loved all -  it must also be true to have tried and not succeeded is better than have never tried at all.

I would love to hear how you have achieved your goals, so feel free to drop me a note.

Have a great week.

Jason Bradshaw