Inspiring Excellence » Motivation

People Want To Be Heard

Francis Kong — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:24:26 +0000

Would you like to have more creative ideas for your business? Talk to your front liners and not just your managers.
Use the five magic words that would work wonders: “I would like your opinion.”
Studies show that simply asking for another’s opinion significantly enhances your positive image of that individual. People want to talk and they want to be heard.
So may I have your opinion as well?

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BUILDING MOMENTUM

Francis Kong — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:34:30 +0000

A fisherman from the city was out fishing on a lake in a small boat. He noticed another man in a small boat open his tackle box and take out a mirror. Being curious the man rowed over and asked, “What is the mirror for?”

“That’s my secret way to catch fish,” said the other man. “Shine the mirror on the top of the water. The fish notice the spot of sun on the water above and they swim to the surface. Then I just reach down and net them and pull them into the boat.”

“Wow! Does that really work?”

“You bet it does.”

“Would you be interested in selling that mirror? I’ll give you Php2,000.00 for it.”

“Well, okay.”

After the money was transferred, the city fisherman asked, “By the way, how many fish have you caught this week?”

“You’re the sixth,” he said.

That’s a fine catch and the word for this is MOMENTUM.

Have you ever watched a basketball team scores continuously every time they do down the court, forces the opponents to commit turnovers maybe three times in a row what would the opposing coach do?

He would call a time out.

And why does he have to do this? Because he wants to break the “MOMENTUM!”

When someone tells you they’re “on a roll,” that’s momentum.

When the sales are coming in, money is pouring in that’s momentum.

When the invitations continue to come and every time you give a performance the reviews are all so positive that is momentum.

When you’re consistently beating deadlines on a project, that too, is momentum.

So now you have a big project and so many people are involved.

How do you build momentum to keep your team on course and accomplish your intended goals?

May I offer a couple of suggestions?

The philosophy behind momentum is to first understand that you build momentum by accumulating small successes. Doug Firebaugh says: “The secret to Momentum in life can be found in the word Momentum… you create it Moment by Moment…”

The bigger the project, the bigger is the payoff as long as momentum is there.

So here are a few suggestions:

1. LET MOMENTUM BE PART OF YOUR PLAN

Have everyone know that the entire team will push all speed ahead once they know how to create momentum.

2. TARGET A FEW SMALL WINS

These may be initiatives that do not cost much, easy to carry out, does not meet much objections and a few small wins give your team the starting push to get momentum going. Choose these small projects, get them done because this is your way of telling the team that you are now on the move.

3. LET SMALL WINS LEAD TO BIGGER GOALS

The reason why suggestion number 2 is crucial it is because you gain the energy and the zeal and most importantly the optimism to be able to tackle bigger goals. But may I suggest that you focus only on important thing and not too many of them. Trying to do too much at once may cause a diffusion of focus and demoralization in the group. You need at least 1 big win to be able to tackle some more.

4. CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS

Once you see the successes coming in celebrate publicly. Send e-mails, put it on your company newsletters, congratulate everyone in your team and make sure their bosses are copy furnished. Praising people publicly is one of the best non-monetary motivational tools you can use that prepare them raring to do more and achieve even bigger goals.

It takes a leader with a grand vision to be able to achieve great success.

Peeking through a peephole is no way to stay motivated when you’re moving toward a goal. The big picture is important. The leader with the big dreams–big goals–big rewards–big faith—is the one who can keep his people moving through obstacles and fatigue and discouragement.

Study Jesus in the New Testament and find out how he discipled a handful of rowdy disciples and had them achieve great things that turned the whole world upside down.

Best leadership lesson ever if you were to ask me.

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Do Not Retire. Re-fire!

Francis Kong — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:20:32 +0000

A Harvard University research study involved two groups of 100 Harvard graduates between the ages of 65 and 75. The 1st group retired at age 65 while the other group continued to be employed for another 10 years. In the first group – those who retired at 65 – 7 out of 8 were dead by age 75. In the second group of 100 men who continued to work – only 1 out of 8 was deceased by age 75. According to Gordon Botting, “The Stew Pot”, 04 ’98.
Good people do not retire, they re-fire.

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ALWAYS GO WHAT IS RIGHT

Francis Kong — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 06:53:10 +0000

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”1

This special story today found in the web site “Daily Encounter” was written by Commander Eric J. Berryman.

The USS Astoria (C-34) was the first U.S. cruiser to engage the Japanese during the Battle of Savo Island, a night action fought 8-9 August 1942. Although she scored two hits on the Imperial flagship Chokai, the Astoria was badly damaged and sank shortly after noon, 9 August.

About 0200 hours a young midwesterner, Signalman 3rd Class Elgin Staples, was swept overboard by the blast when the Astoria’s number one eight-inch gun turret exploded. Wounded in both legs by shrapnel and in semi-shock, he was kept afloat by a narrow life belt that he managed to activate with a simple trigger mechanism.

At around 0600 hours, Staples was rescued by a passing destroyer and returned to the Astoria, whose captain was attempting to save the cruiser by beaching her. The effort failed, and Staples, still wearing the same life belt, found himself back in the water. He was picked up again, this time by the USS President Jackson (AP-37), he was one of 500 survivors of the battle who were evacuated to Noumea.

On board the transport, Staples, for the first time, closely examined the life belt that had served him so well. It had been manufactured by Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, and bore a registration number.

Given home leave Staples told his story and asked his mother, who worked for Firestone, about the purpose of the number on the belt. She replied that the company insisted on personal responsibility for the war effort, and that the number was unique and assigned to only one inspector. Staples remembered everything about the lifebelt, and quoted the number. It was his mother’s personal code and affixed to every item she was responsible for approving.2

When we always do what is right, the person we help the most in many ways is our own self and that of our loved ones.

So many people miss this. They go to work everyday without any purpose or meaning in life.

So why do you think there are many people bored with their work? Maybe because they are not really working. They are simply pretending to work. This is why one company came up with an innovative policy that says: “You pretend to work and we will pretend to pay you.”

Do what is right all the time.

Never allow complacency to creep up on you.

Develop yourself into a life long learner and keep on growing. This is the only way you begin to open wide better opportunities for growth.

As I come into contact with many of the real and successful winners in life whether they be in the field of business, profession or academe, they all tell the same story. No matter how humble their beginnings may have been they all were faithful in what they were doing.

This is why faithfulness is a virtue that you and I should not forsake.

And we are developed more in this area when we remember that in everything we do, it is for God’s Glory.

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HOW DO YOU GET THROUGH A CRISIS

Francis Kong — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:20:58 +0000

Our country has gone through many kinds of crisis. Crisis that are both man made and considered acts of God. Which in my opinion is a very bad term. Why is it that we call a sad natural catastrophe an “act of god” and then when times are good and victorious we credit it to ourselves? Maybe this is something we should think about.

Anyways…. We have a very strange way of getting through the different crises that have came our way.

A few days after typhoon Ondoy, I joined a relief operations group and we rode a small Bangka and visited the far places of the flooded areas in order to distribute relief goods. Guess what I saw? Water that has gone beyond house roofs with people practically staying on top of their roofs yet you still see a smile on their faces.

They say that as a people we are resilient and I think we are. But being resilient alone does not make us stronger. We need to evaluate the experience, learn from it and be determined to prevent the same problem from occurring in the future. This is why this material I got from the Internet really made me laugh. It is entitled: “21 Thoughts to Get You Through Almost Any Crisis.”

Now here is a warning. Do not take this material seriously. This is part sarcasm part plain humor. Following this material will be totally disastrous so take this as something humorous and again, do not take it seriously.

Here is the material.

21 Thoughts to Get You Through Almost any Crisis:

1. Indecision is the key to flexibility.

2. There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation.

3. Happiness is merely the remission of pain.

4. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

5. The facts, although interesting, are irrelevant.

6. The careful application of terror is also a form of communication.

7. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

8. Things are more like they are today then they have ever been before.

9. Anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for. That’s bad.

10. Everything should be made as simple as possible but no simpler.

11. Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate. Oh how I believe that.

12. I have seen the truth and it makes no sense.

13. Suicide is the most sincere form of self-criticism. And it’s the biggest cop out too.

14. If you think that there is good in everybody, you haven’t met everybody.

15. All things being equal, fat people use more soap. Now that’s being politically incorrect.

16. If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

17. One-seventh of your life is spent on Monday.

18. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

19. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.

Comedienne Lucille Ball says: :The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.”

Again, do not take this seriously. Of course all form of lying is sinful. But here is the key. When you go through a crisis, pray. Never forget that God is in control. Keep your mind clear and put your trust in God. This is the only part of the material that is serious and truthful.

So learn the lessons.

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PRODUCTS OF THE PAST

Francis Kong — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:23:39 +0000

A teacher arranged her young students into a circle. She then went around the circle and asked each one a question.
“Robert, what sound does a cow make?”
Robert replied, “It goes ‘moo.’”
“Albert, what sound does a cat make?”
Albert said, “It goes ‘meow.’”
“Oscar, what sound does a lamb make?”
Oscar said, “It goes ‘baaa.’”
“Noel, what sound does a mouse make?”
Noel paused, and said, “Uhh … it goes … ‘click…click!’”
This is the age of technology
There was a time when mouse used to be a rodent and windows were fixtures inside your home. Today you have mouse, wireless mouse, mouse that operates with radio frequency, track pads is replacing the mice. Disruptive technology is here to stay. There was a time when it took a long time before a new product is accepted in the market place. Today the market eagerly awaits the launching of the next big thing in technology
I was giving a seminar then and people began to smile, some were giggling and a lot more of them began laughing. I asked, “What’s going on?” One brave soul responded and said, “Francis, you said we need to read books and we need to listen to tapes. But nobody listens to tapes anymore.” “Oh boy, “ I told myself, caught in a time warp. How could I have missed that?
After giving a talk, one lady approached me and said, “Francis I love your talk. Have you recorded it in a cassette?” “Cassette?” I half smiled but that’s exactly what happened to me. The only difference is that I said, “Tape.”
This makes me think. What has happened to the products of the past? The hits? The wonders? The breakthrough technology that made the world marveled? Products like:
The video recorder? (Circa 1983) The one with the flashing 12:00? Never figured out what that function was for anyway.
Brick (circa 1990) – I remember my first cell phone was a phone named ANTEL. Compare the size of that today to the newer ones my first cell phone was as small as my Coleman Water Jug. You charge the battery for 8 hours and you get to use it for only 2.
Cloning (same time) – The biggest worry at that time was not virus but cloning in an Analog platform not digital.
Let’s go back – way back. Remember phones had party-lines and you fight them all the time?
What about Caller ID (circa 1995) – Staring at a number that came in and you shock the callers by knowing it was them.
And for those who first saw the light in a hospital after 1990, a quick fad then was called the DAT. DAT stands for Digital Audio Tape. Sony Corporation introduced this in the mid-1980’s. This replaced the old cassettes that really lasted many years.
And the CD’s came into the picture and is now losing ground to Ipods and MP3 Players. A couple of years back I remember entering the last 2 days of Tower Record’s existence in America and everything in there was sold for just $2 and less. Today online music purchasing gains momentum everyday.
My son plays the drums for a popular band. He says that their first hit became a hit without a CD. It was placed on line and people here and even in places as far as Belgium and Germany listened to it.
Products of the past. I wonder why as I think about them the same products bring back memories of events tied to the same.
And what about future products?
I read about scientists and researchers developing the next generation paper battery. A supercharged battery that can be bent, rolled, twisted and cut to size like a piece of paper. It looks like the next great thing; a breakthrough technology which becomes today’s hit would in a short span of time quickly turn into tomorrow’s museum piece.
May I make a suggestion? Don’t be too much of a hurry in having to HAVE that new toy. You spend a great deal for it and then a few months later that “new” thing will be left with just the “thing” when the novelty of newness is gone. Just because you are using an old cell phone does not mean you’re second-class and old. It may mean you are frugal and practical that’s all.
Somebody says: “The world is getting complicated. Somebody just gave me a battery operated paperweight.” And you’re probably asking, “Paperweight? What’s that?”
Don’t let technology complicate your life. Live it simply but live it to the full. With or even without the latest technology.

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ANGER

Francis Kong — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:49:09 +0000

What does it take to turn a person into a Judas? What motivates someone to betray deep-seated loyalties? Unresolved anger and resentment, for one thing. Consider the story of Earl Pitts, FBI agent turned Soviet spy.

According to Evan Thomas in Newsweek, Pitts was raised on a farm in Missouri and was recognized as a Future Farmer of America. His parents said they disciplined him firmly but fairly. He was a captain in the army who regarded himself as a patriot. Even today he is described by his wife as a “good man.”

So what happened?

After getting his law degree and serving as a military policeman for six years, in 1983 Pitts realized a lifelong ambition by going to work for the FBI. In 1987 he was assigned to the New York office, and there his troubles began. He did not see how he could afford to live in the Big Apple on his $25,000 a year salary.

Thomas writes, “Morale in the office was poor, and petty cheating on expense accounts was rampant. Burdened with debt from student loans, Pitts had to ask his father for a loan. He felt humiliated. Pitts later told a psychiatrist that he was ‘overwhelmed’ by a sense of rage at the FBI.”

One morning he came up with the idea of spying for the KGB. That way he could kill two birds with one stone: he could solve his money problems and get back at his bosses. He later told a psychiatrist, “I was shoved by the bureaucracy, and I shoved back.”

Over the next seven years Pitts worked as a Soviet spy and for his services received $224,000. When he was finally caught and convicted, the judge sentenced him to twenty-seven years in prison. At his sentencing the judge asked him point-blank why he had become a traitor. Earl Pitts replied, “I gave in to an unreasonable anger. ”

Never allow anger to fester. Deal with anger as God prescribes.

Here is another story:

Shirley Belleranti shows the negative impact of anger on our most important relationships:

I remember one summer day when my ten-year-old son and a friend were getting a pitcher of lemonade from the refrigerator. I’d spent hours that morning scrubbing, waxing, and polishing the kitchen floor, so I warned the boys not to spill anything. They tried so hard to be careful that they innocently bumped a tray of eggs on the door shelf. Of course, it fell, splattering eggs all over my clean floor.

The boys’ eyes widened with alarm as I exploded angrily. “Get out of here now!” I shouted, while they headed for the door. By the time I’d finished cleaning up the mess, I had calmed down. To make amends, I set a tray of cookies on the table, along with the pitcher of lemonade and some glasses. But when I called the boys, there was no answer—they’d gone somewhere else to play, somewhere where my angry voice wouldn’t reach them.

Anger separates us from those we want to be near. Anger shatters intimacy.

It sure does.

Do not let the sun go down on your anger that’s what the Bible has to say because the Author know the stuff we are made of. God has given us a mind to use and we need to use that mind to educate our moods.

I sure appreciate the fact that God does not blow His top the way I do.

It takes a lot of discipline to be able to deal with anger emotions but we simply have to deal with it correctly.

Just remember this. Anger can sure be an expensive luxury. And we simply can’t afford it.

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Mastery and Discipline (video)

Francis Kong — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:42:27 +0000

Transcription of the video:

I wanna talk to you about mastery. Have you ever heard of Yo-Yo Ma for cello, Itzhak Perlman for violin, and all of these guys that we look up to? You know what? Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers says the magic number is 10,000 hours of practice. Practice, practice, practice. There’s a word for that, it’s called Discipline. Now, I have never met any successful businessman or professional or anybody else who has gotten to the place where they are today and we look up to them without going through the same process.

Now lets talk about mastery and discipline. What are they? They are interconnected. You cannot have one without the other. In other words, you schedule yourself, you go through the chores, you go through the things you may not like to do but you got to do. And then you build up to the level of expertise. Discipline is key to mastery. Don’t you forget that.

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MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL

Francis Kong — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:35:32 +0000

Mirror Mirror on the Wall is a story adapted by Louis Lapides from Still More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks, Wayne Rice, and it carries a potent lesson we all must learn. Listen to this.
A scientific researcher assembled ten unsuspecting volunteers for a psychological study called the Scar Experiment. The participants were separated into ten different cubicles equipped without mirrors. The purpose of the study was to observe how people would respond to a stranger with a marred physical appearance, such as a facial scar.
Using Hollywood makeup tricks, the scientist put bloody and gruesome scars on each volunteer’s left cheek, and displayed the new “scar” to each participant using a small handheld mirror. After glancing at their marred image, the mirror was taken away.
The researcher’s final step was to inform each volunteer that some finishing powder needed to be placed on his/her scar to prevent it from smearing. In reality, the researcher used a tissue to wipe off the scar. But the volunteers still believed they had the awful scars on their faces.
Each individual was sent out into the waiting rooms of different medical offices with instructions to notice how strangers responded to their appearance. After the appointed time, the ten volunteers returned to the scientific researcher and all shared the same report. In their encounters they noticed that strangers were ruder to them, less kind and stared at their scar. Regardless of the removal of the false scars, their unhealthy perspective on themselves affected how they thought others saw them.
In contrast, the scars and pain we carry inside us are hardly ever obvious to everyone on the outside. We make them visible by our actions towards others. If we see ourselves as unlovable, worthless and defective, we will often respond towards individuals in an unloving, insecure and discouraging manner. Meaningful and trusting relationships become very difficult to form.
It is surprising to learn a positive self image does not come from how we look on the outside, but on how we feel on the inside. In order to have a lasting, healthy view of self, we must base our worth upon God’s unconditional love and value of us.
King David sings, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-and how well I know it!” (Psalm 139:14) (NLT). Through a personal relationship with our Creator, we can find healing of those inner scars and deep wounds that hinder us from enjoying fulfilling relationships. There is no need to worry about what other people think of us when we know God has already placed His highest worth on our lives.
Do you have scars in your life?
I am sure you have as I have and not only that.
Life can be cruel. Adversities come. Friends you love and trusted betray you, business partners you work with for so many years cheat you but those scars can be laid down at the feet of Christ.
I have news for you. You and I have scarred Christ too with the many sins we’ve committed. Yet He forgives us. Receive His forgiveness so we may learn to forgive others and most importantly learn to forgive ourselves.
Elmer Lehman says: “We have been forgiven by God much more than we have ever been accused by others.” But my favorite author Max Lucado says it even more clearly: God doesn’t just forgive, he forgets. He erases the board. He destroys the evidence. He burns the microfilm. He clears the computer.
Mirror Mirror on the wall? Never forget this lesson.

[1] story adapted by Louis Lapides from Still More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks, Wayne Rice, Zondervan Publishing House. Pg. 79.)

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Francis Kong — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:55:55 +0000

Charles Sheldon says:”Good resolutions are like babies crying in church. They should be carried out immediately.”
Rather than doing New Year’s resolutions, do “Daily Resolves” instead. It’s the daily DISCIPLINE of doing what you resolve to do every day for the rest of the year; and the rest of your life that counts.

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