Walk

Walk

We’re quick to judge.  We’re even quicker to offer our own opinions or suggested solutions to our friends’, families’, partners’, coworkers’, boss’s, or customers’ problems.

It often comes from a great place; a place of love and genuine compassion, but we’re quick to preach rather than teach.  We often jump straight to pitching our solutions before learning more about the issue or challenge others are facing.   

We often want to help so much that we immediately offer our own suggestions to others' problems, right away.

OneMoreStep Thought: Rather than jumping right to the part where we “provide” our thoughts, suggestions, and solutions…what if we simply took a walk with the people who need it?  What if we slowed down, took some time and focused on them, and just took a walk…first asking questions, then most importantly listening to their concerns.

Everybody has "stuff".  Everyone could use some advice from time to time.  The advice we offer may be profound.  However, the time we give and the moments we share are what mean the most to the people around us at home and at work. 

Taking a walk with them, asking thought provoking questions, and actually listening to them leads our friends, family, coworkers, and clients down a path of self discovery.  And those magical self discovery moments are often a byproduct of quality time and good old fashioned conversation as opposed to profound advice or "pearls of wisdom".   

The only thing better than self discovery is when great leaders truly lead us to it.  We appreciate it…and we never forget the feelings of positivity, optimism, and inspiration. We all of a sudden believe that things just may start looking up...and that's a beautiful thing.

Before giving advice, suggestions, or solutions…go OneMoreStep.  Take a walk with them.  Spend some time asking questions and leading them down a road of self discovery.  They just might appreciate the walk more than any piece of advice we could ever offer.   

In fact, the walk is often times all they needed from us the first place. 

W e, not “me” is more productive, collaborative, and meaningful than the inverse

A sk questions, staying interested in them vs. trying to come across interesting

L isten carefully, attentively, and respectfully…sometimes that’s all it takes & it makes the difference

K eep looking up…better days are not only possible; they become a reality when we believe

Have a great day.

Taylor

This post was inspired by Judah Smith’s message at The City Church in Kirkland, WA on July 29, 2012.  Judah is one of the most dynamic, engaging pastors in the United States…and he’s one of the best speakers I’ve ever had the good fortune of experiencing LIVE. 

Take a quick spin through The City Church’s website and watch the Seven Mile Walk message by visiting the links/sites below.

www.thecity.org

http://thecity.org/message/the_seven_mile_walk

Credit vs. Benefit & Who Cares...

Credit vs. Benefit & Who Cares…

We work so hard, for so long, for so many people: our bosses, Guests, Clients, Customers, Family Members, Friends, & Coworkers.

We wonder if anyone really cares about the work we’re doing?

Naturally, we all want to get some credit for our work.  It’s nice to hear nice things, and we all love to get noticed.  We aspire to be known for our great ideas, countless hours of hard work, and most of all, our performance.  Yet the opposite often happens – we don’t get to bask in our glory and/or someone else takes the credit for our bright ideas or claims responsibility for our own excellence. 

And…we’re right back where we started, wondering, who really cares about the work we’re doing?

Negative thoughts show up, take over, and consume our very being at home and at work. 

 Insert OneMoreStep Thought HERE 

What if we focus on the benefit?  What if everyone just focused on the people, the processes, or the very organizations that would truly benefit from our work? 

Rather than focusing on who gets the credit, what if teams and leaders of teams put the emphasis on the impact…the actual benefits – the competitive advantages realized, the inspiration, the assistance, the time saved, the relationships made, the money saved, the individuals whose careers advance – all because of the work people do.

What if you and I go first…as we devote our time and energy, we focus on the benefits vs. who gets the credit?  If we can sustain this approach consistently day in and day out, over time everything eventually gets exposed.  Over time the people around us: our bosses, our organizations, our teams, and our family members to whom we pledge our allegiance will all reach their full potential and enjoy success. 

And it will be to our credit…

As for who really cares about what we’re doing…it’s the people who benefit from the very work you and I do.  The people we inspire.  The people we assist.  The people we help advance.  The people whose lives we impact, just by doing what we do. They're the ones that care.  That's enough reason to go OneMoreStep...

So we should focus on them instead of ourselves in the first place.  We should focus on the "who", "whom", or "what" that actually benefits...right from the start.

As for who gets the credit...who cares!

Have a great day.

Taylor

FRED Friday...Meet Augusta Scott, the Zappos Coach

FRED Friday…Meet Coach Augusta Scott, the Zappos Coach

Left to Right: Augusta Scott (no relation), Me, & Robbie Richman

Zappos.com is changing the game…

They’re in their 13^th year of wowing Guests/Customers/Clients with their exceptional service levels and the www.Zappos.com experience.  They do it by first and foremost creating a culture of happiness among their employees.

What I love most about their company is not only what they’re doing or how they’re doing it…but I also really love why they’re doing it and the who behind the why….the people that are doing what they do.  They’re all a bunch of Freds…

Zappos.com’s corporate culture, story, and Tony Hsieh’s book – Delivering Happiness – is literally sweeping the nation, especially in corporate America.  Companies are falling all over themselves, trying to learn more and more about how they can achieve Zappos-esque levels of employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and most of all, profitability. 

Most companies, once they find their niche, and begin to crush it…they keep everything close to their vest so as not to give away their secrets.  Not Zappos.com.  THEY GIVE AWAY ALL THEIR SECRETS!!!  Tony Hsieh, the CEO, wrote a NY Times Best Selling book about the why’s and how’s, and Zappos literally gives the book away at the conclusion of their FREE tour of their corporate headquarters in Henderson, NV, where they also showcase, display, and tell more stories all about how they do what they do. 

They know that culture can never really be duplicated…and as Robbie Richman, the culture architect who helped create the Zappos Insights arm of the company, told me, “we should share what we want to keep.”   Zappos truly shares the love…and love is everywhere in the Zappos family.

Why?  Because they simply believe they can inspire a culture within their own company that can inspire other cultures and people in other companies…that can and will literally change the world.  Powerful, awesome, fun, intriguing, and to all of that I say, WHY NOT!

Augusta Scott is the Zappos Coach.  She is the internal, on-site company “coach”.  She helps Zapponians with…anything…yes…anything they would like to improve in their lives; personally or professionally.  This is just another way Zappos shows love to their team members. 

The program is designed to keep the employees happy, feeling productive; feeling like they matter, and feeling significant both at work and in their personal lives.  The idea is that if Zappos team members can work through some of their trials, tribulations, issues, and/or personal/professional goals with Augusta, that will free up their mental capacity to really crush it, in their roles at work.  As an added bonus, they get to achieve (or at least work toward) making their dreams come true…personally & professionally.  That…is truly a happy thought.

After meeting Augusta Scott, in person, I am truly inspired.  The coaching program is great.  The Zappos company culture is game-changing, and I’m truly fascinated by their business model.  However, I’m inspired by the love, passion, and commitment with which Augusta Scott, the Zappos Coach, approaches her craft, her trade, her calling, as a life coach…to be such a positive influence to her team members. 

She cares.  She takes an interest.  She holds them accountable.  She pushes them.  She takes pride in leading others in their own self-discovery journey, which allows them to truly reinvent themselves. 

Augusta makes it clear…her role as the Zappos Coach isn’t about her at all (despite her charisma, charm, and innate ability to inspire).  It’s all about everyone else.  We can all learn from Zappos and Augusta, that in order for a company or organization to grow, its people, the individuals that make up the organization, must first be given the opportunity to grow. 

Just as we learn from Mark Sanborn’s book The Fred Factor, the story of Fred the Postman - we all have the ability to reinvent ourselves every day.  If Fred the Postman can put that much creativity and passion into putting mail in a box…how much could you and I reinvent our businesses?  How much could you and I reinvent our lives?

Augusta Scott, the Zappos Coach, helps her fellow team members at Zappos.com reinvent themselves personally and professionally, every single day.  As a result, Zappos.com is doing what their CEO, Tony Hsieh, set out to do…they’re reinventing corporate America by first creating a culture of happiness among their team.

We can all unleash the extraordinary potential that resides in us, as ordinary people.  That is the essence of The Fred Factor…and nobody can keep us from being extraordinary, and that's the beauty of going OneMoreStep at home, at work, and in our communities. 

I asked Augusta why she and Zappos share so much of their why’s & how’s of their culture with other companies…and why she loves her role as the Zappos Coach.

She said, “I’m here…I’m just here for them…to make a positive difference for one person at a time, one day at a time…”

Thanks to Augusta Scott, Robbie Richman, and Tony Hsieh of Zappos.com, for inspiring us to not only reinvent ourselves, but to also inspire others to do so…

Have a great day.

Taylor

“For me, my role is about unleashing what people already have inside them that is maybe suppressed in most work environments.” – Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com

What is FRED Friday?

In my favorite book, The Fred Factor, Mark Sanborn tells an inspiring story of how a man named Fred goes OneMoreStep after OneMoreStep in his role as a Postman for the United States Postal Service.  I love this book.  Since my mom sent it to me in 2004, I've purchased the book for friends, coworkers, and girlfriends...I've even purchased and hand delivered copies of the book to several executives at both Wynn Las Vegas and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Fred Friday is a series in which the OneMoreStepRevolution blog will showcase a real life "Fred" on select Fridays.   Reading The Fred Factor definitely leaves us with a desire to to be more Fred-like ourselves, but I also love looking for Freds.  Freds are everywhere. I love it when I experience a real life Fred.  I'm inspired just as I am every time I re-read the book.  I thought it would be fun to spread the magic of Fred to our OneMoreStepRevolution community.  Enjoy... 

Only Time Will Tell...

Only Time Will Tell…

Time…it means different things to different people…

Some OneMoreSteps come to mind around the topic of TIME…

Spend Time

We’re busy people, in a busy society.  When we hit the virtual pause button on the tediousness of life and actually spend time on the stuff that really matters, positive things happen. 

If we think about things that really matter – family, friends, relationships, our passions, our hobbies, or the hot buttons at work – we should consider: when was the last time we actively pursued spending time on any of those things that really matter. 

When we spend time on what truly matters, we will make a true difference that matters…100% of the time.

Save Time

People around us at work – our Guests, our clients, our staff, our leaders, and our owners…all have one thing in common with us.  They have 86,400 seconds in their day, as do you and I.  No more…no less…a consistent daily allotment of time to do with what they wish; same for you and me. 

We’re busy, just like they are.  How often do we feel as though we’re “running out of time” or “just don’t have time” to do ‘this’ or ‘that’?  Too often. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if people actively, on purpose, cared enough about us to go OneMoreStep in some capacity to save us time?  Yep…it would be awesome. 

So…why not go first?  Save ‘them’ time.  Actively pursuing opportunities to save others time adds value to them, their lives, and their experience at home or at work. 

They’ll not only appreciate it, they won’t forget it.  We will have saved them time, when nobody else took the time to care.  We’ll be the difference.

Make Time

The number one excuse, across all people, in all walks of life, in all nations under God…has to be – “I just didn’t have time.”  Or perhaps I’m being overly dramatic…but it’s probably my number one excuse.  It’s my go to…is it yours?

Bottom line, if we want something bad enough, don’t we tend to figure out a way, somehow, to make it happen.  Usually the first step toward progress in anything is a conscious decision to pursue it…to make time. 

The extent to which we buckle down, dig in, and make time certainly leads to better days and a series of achievements relationally, personally, professionally, and emotionally.  Make time for the things and people that truly matter.  Decide to do so…

Once upon a time is now…our stories are being written everyday.  We’re writing them, with each decision we make.  Your story…My story…our legacies as leaders, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, friends, coworkers…and people, are all a function of what we’re doing with our time, TODAY. 

Spend time on what matters.  Save time for somebody else.  Make time for the important, meaningful matters in life.

How great will your story be?  How great will mine be? 

How we choose to use our time, today, will ultimately tell the tale.  Only time will tell…spend time, save time, & make time…TODAY.

Have a great day.

Taylor

One for the road…

Make it QUALITY TIME

Spending the time…saving the time…and making the time is good.  The ultimate OneMoreStep, however, is to not only make time, but to make it QUALITY TIME.

By quality, I mean - uninterrupted, devoted time to the ‘other’ person without texting, emailing, or talking over them. Focused attention. 

Quality conversation, during quality activities while not only expressing our own meaningful thoughts, feelings, and emotions…but also actively listening for clues from others can really make the difference.  When we listen, we realize how we can be of service, how we can help, how we can encourage, and how we can make a positive impact…

Go OneMoreStep, today, and spend some quality time with or for somebody else.  If and when we do that, we not only make their day, we experience better days ourselves.