June, 2007

Four Forgotten Factors of Success

Is your team ready to succeed?

By Tom Fife

We all have very different ways of looking at how we spend our time each day. Some folks believe that they are already prepared for success and they just need to let it happen to them. They really don’t “get the joke” that they are in charge of their life. Then there are the people who understand that they are privileged to work.

Think about how these four factors enhance or prevent you and your company from attaining the success you deserve.

First, ask the team, “Why do you work?” It still amazes me when people tell me that they have never thought about why they work. Nobody forces anyone to work; it is a choice. Some people tell me they work for money, food, insurance, and medical help. Some work to be a good role model for their family. Social acceptance, meeting new people, independence, opportunity, friendship, retirement, and security are players too. Personal growth, learning, or a passionate cause also count. Future generations will learn how helping others or being part of a team will keep them from being bored and allow them control of their own destiny.

Once we understand why we work, it will make a difference for most of us!

Second, ask “How do you prepare for work?” I like to find out who sets out their clothes the night before. Who sets an alarm clock and why? Does anyone make a list of what didn’t get done today so they can begin with that tomorrow? Were the calls made today or will it wait?  Is gas in the tank, or do they allow time for a fuel stop before work?

I can go on and on but the deal is that if we are not preparing for tomorrow before it gets here, we are wasting time. Those who have a regular daily routine are many times more ready to get things done. People who “take it as it comes” on a daily basis are floundering because of it. Who are the team members who come sliding into the parking lot on time to the minute? Who is late consistently? (They are usually the same ones who belong to the a.m. coffee club.)

Talk about how the team is adversely affected by this lack of preparation or forethought.

Third, ask, “What is your baggage doing to you and others every day?” Baggage comes in all flavors. It may be family, personal, health or financial problems. Outside influences may adversely affect us—morning traffic, TV shows, car trouble, a great win or loss by our team. 

Work baggage piles up too: It could be a difficult co-worker or customer, mistakes, a promotion missed, boredom or misunderstandings—not to mention those unfair rules!

Baggage can be debilitating to both a person and a company. Leave your work baggage at work and your home baggage at home. Take a few minutes to throw away your home baggage before you walk into work, as well as tossing your work baggage before you get home. Our days are spent much more productively and enjoyably without retelling our baggage stories to others—as if they didn’t have any of their own. Caution: You may spend your work day unpacking home baggage and the time at home sorting through work baggage. Neither one can help the other!

Last, and perhaps the most important is understanding what our attitude can do to any day. You can take the most brilliant employees—but give me those with good attitudes. As author Charles Swindle so aptly put it, “We can not change our past… we can not change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.”

These four factors have a real and dramatic effect on our success. Pay attention to why we work, prepare for work, lose the baggage, and brighten the attitude for a sparkling successful future.

If I can help, just holler.