Give Everything Your Best

Posted by lifesmartblog

Parents, educators, and mentors, how are the attitudes of the young people under your guidance? In our visits with businesses and educators, we hear repeated concerns over work ethic, disrespect, and a sense of entitlement. Too often, these attitudes are overshadowing the skills our young people are bringing to the table. Here’s a piece to help you help them…

One of history’s most admired people, Helen Keller, once said, “I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”

So, how high do you set your bar? If you were given a daily report card on your actions and accomplishments throughout the day, what would your grades be? Would you be proud of yourself and your performance—and more importantly—your attitude?

Each day, there are opportunities to use our time, talents, and unique skills to learn, grow, and serve—not just in our actions, but also with our attitude. It shows in the quality of our work and relations with colleagues and clients. It’s found in our families in our roles as spouse, parent, and relative. It’s in the times we spend with friends and those we serve. And, in our everyday interactions with others, whether we know them or not. The bottom line is this: Did you give your all to every aspect of your day?

Setting a high bar is especially important when associating with others—whether in our families, school, workplace, or in social settings. When we operate solo, our dignity and self respect are on the line. However, when we’re part of a collaborative setting, we have an added responsibility to contribute to the total effort. We owe them our best.

Here are my top ten indicators of an attitude of excellence: 1) high personal and professional standards of performance and behavior, 2) positivity, 3) enthusiasm, 4) dependability, 5) integrity, 6) humility, 7) motivation and work ethic, 8) kindness, 9) respect, and 10) resilience. What’s on your list?

If you are a teacher, parent, or mentor, how do you encourage the young people in your life to give their best? How would you rate in modeling the top ten? Here are some quick and easy ideas for encouraging students to give 110 percent with passion and resolve:

Create a personal report card for them. After completing a task (a team project, a sports game, a large chore around the house, a book report), ask them to fill it out and rate themselves not only on their performance, but their attitude. (Here’s a helpful article on receiving constructive criticism.)
Praise them for their efforts in all things, and stress the importance of positivity and determination, not just winning.
Ask them about a time they gave their best but didn’t take the prize versus when they didn’t give their best but still won. How did they feel after the outcome? .
Share your stories of times when you gave your best and how it paid off.
Have them do an honest self assessment of the top ten attitude indicators. In which are they a role model? Where is there room for growth?

Developing an attitude of excellence is a sign of a true winner. We won’t always take home the prize, but we can gain the admiration of others by giving everything our best.

Are You an Inspiring Team Player?

Posted by lifesmartblog

One of my most admired leaders, George Russell, always used to say, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” I have to admit I didn’t fully appreciate the wisdom of his words early in my career. But, in time I realized he was right. When you adopt George’s philosophy, you become a true team player and everyone benefits.

Teamwork is more and more the name of the game in the workplace these days. In the past, many people learned to perform a single skill and then continued it for many years. These days, however, creativity and innovation are more often what is needed in the workplace—requiring greater collaboration, flexibility, and interpersonal skills from workers.

Do you have what it takes to be a great team player in today’s economy? Do the young adults in your life?

My favorite spectator sport is basketball. To me, it’s the consummate team sport where character is revealed before our very eyes.

Some players clearly focus on individual scoring (often to the detriment of the team when they go overboard), and enjoy being in the limelight. Still others are known for their passing and defense and rarely receive the same fan attention. Yet, isn’t it interesting that, it’s the team with the best defense and passing that usually wins the championship? I believe there’s a message to be learned in this.

When I coached basketball, I gave special praise for assists, tenacious defense, and our unsung heroes. One young lady on our team, Jazi, as the perfect example. She may have scored only two points a game, but we were never the same without her! She was our best passer and shut down the finest guards with her incredible defense. Our victories against our toughest opponents often came from her defense rather than from our leading scorer. She was the consummate team player and unsung hero. I wouldn’t have traded her for the world.

In the NBA, the player that most comes to my mind is John Stockton, a retired point guard from the Utah Jazz. He’s the league’s all-time assist leader, which is a true sign of an unselfish team player. During his career, he handed out an incredible 15,806 assists to his teammates— truly an extraordinary accomplishment. It is rare in sports to see records that stand out like this, and it’s a testimony to John’s skill, unselfishness, and endurance.

Throughout your life, you’ll be in countless team situations, especially on the job. When these opportunities arise, focus on the team rather than on your individual contributions. Encourage them, praise them, mentor them, enjoy them, and show your gratitude toward them. Bring everyone up and your team will achieve great things. Your leadership will be liked, respected, and admired by others.

Can you see the difference on a team when players focus on mutual support and team effort, as opposed to seeking personal recognition? Please share your comments and stories with us; we’re always glad to hear from our readers!

Learn to Persuasively Market Yourself

Posted by lifesmartblog

Let’s face it. Most of us are not natural born salespeople. We generally prefer to go about our business and hope that others will automatically recognize our greatness. Unfortunately, it usually doesn’t work out that way.

In order to land that perfect job or win that prized promotion, you must persuade others that you are the answer! You need to become an effective salesperson of… YOU!

The good news is that is that marketing yourself is a learned skill. So if you feel a little inexperienced (or uncomfortable) about putting yourself out there, here are some pointers to help you get started:

· Make a list of all of your strengths, qualifications, experiences, and accomplishments

· Consider why they would be valuable to an employer

· Identify some personal stories that convey your attitude, unique achievements, and commitment to excellence

· Be prepared to convincingly answer questions such as:

o What value can you bring to the table?

o What are your strengths and weaknesses?

o Why should we hire you?

o What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishments and personal attributes?

o What motivates you?

o What are you passionate about?

o What are your most significant professional qualifications?

o What’s the most difficult challenge you ever faced, and how did you deal with it?

· Understand what the employer is looking for (qualifications, etc.). Consider how your assets address their needs. Think of yourself as the solution to their problem.

· Build a compelling resume that highlights your strongest accomplishments and competitive advantages

· Network with as many people as you can to receive endorsements and inside connections http://dennistrittin.com/view_blog.aspx?blog_id=139

· During interviews, be personable, confident but not arrogant, look your interviewer(s) in the eye, repeat their name(s), shake their hands firmly, listen intently, come prepared with questions, show an interest in their company and the job, ask for a business card, promptly send a handwritten thank you note, exhibit confident body language, be yourself, and smile. That’s all!

If you’re able to do the above, you can become successful at marketing yourself. Your ability to answer why you are the best person for the job is essential and not at all a sign of arrogance!

If someone asked you why you’re the best person for a job, would you be able to answer it with confidence, conviction, and humility? Please share your insights and experiences with us; we’d love to hear your comments below! And share us on your FB page or Twitter feed; we hope you’ll pass this along to your friends, family, and colleagues.

Build Your Winning Competitive Edge

Posted by lifesmartblog

When we compete at an early age, the stakes usually aren’t that high. Whether it was a pick-up game or a spelling bee, our world didn’t end if we lost. However, as we age, the stakes become greater. It becomes getting into the school of your choice, or landing your dream job where you have to out-compete a worthy list of candidates.

Like it or not, you’ll face many important competitive tests in life. Often, you’ll find these situations associated with your career. For this reason, it’s essential that you develop your distinctive advantages along the way. The more skilled you are at doing this, the more likely you are to win the job or that special promotion.

Our world is much more competitive than ever before. Gone is the day when our U.S. economy was built on manufacturing and manual labor with jobs that didn’t require a college education. In those days, workers were paid by the hour and there was little differentiation in wages. Our economy has become more service-oriented and knowledge-based, which has changed everything. Now, you have to demonstrate something special (i.e, skills, experiences, and achievements) in order to land the job and advance in your career. Together, these make up your competitive edge, and should include:

developing both skill-based and attitude-based competitive advantages. Together, they’re a powerful combination.
considering what would stand out about you to future employers during your eventual job search
going the extra mile to become better qualified through experiences and continuing education
taking every opportunity you can in these next several years to work, intern, and network. It’ll help separate you from the crowd.
if lacking a skill or a professional qualification, attacking it with full force
demonstrating an attitude of continuous improvement and a commitment to excellence
showing results and impact. Create great personal stories that will inspire employers. If you don’t, remember that someone else will—and they’ll wind up with your job or promotion!

You’ll gain two significant benefits from building your competitive edge. First, you’ll expand your skill set and become more marketable, promotable, and valuable. Second, it will show employers that you’re passionate about your work and are driven to perform. Give an employer a great skill set and a winning attitude, and you’ll be a success story in the making!

Help the young adults you know to evaluate: As you assess your skill set and experiences, what do you consider to be your greatest competitive strengths? What are your weaknesses? How can you maximize those strengths and strengthen the weaknesses?