In Pat Williams’s book, Leadership Excellence, he discusses the 7 Sides of Leadership. The fifth side of leadership is Competence.

Pat defines competence as “the ability to perform the leadership role in a highly effective way.” A leader of competence displays the attitudes, skills, abilities, and behaviors needed to function at a high level and to take the organization to higher levels of success.

Harvard business studies show that the biggest reason a customer stops being a customer is not pricing but “perceived indifference” on the part of the owner or an employee of the business.

What I mean by perceived indifference is when your customers think you don’t care about them and that they aren’t important to your business.

Most people have a difficult time accepting responsibility. We see avoidance of responsibility every day in both our personal and professional lives, at home, at work, and more.

It is important to always take responsibility for everything we do.

The salesperson who makes excuses might say:

'They said our price was too high'
'They said the competition had a better option.'

Every salesperson has an excuse for why they don't make the sale. It is only the professional salesperson who will, after the call, evaluate what took place and decide what he could have done better to have made the sale.

A few years ago I had the privilege to work with a great man, Vance Marris that spent 10 years as an executive at Walt Disney World Orlando. He mastered the service secrets of Disney and shared many with me and attendees of one of our Super Conferences.

Right now, I want you to consider that the most powerful influence you have in your life is the information that you are feeding into your mind.

If you want to produce different results in your life, then you have to think differently.Did you know that you can actually choose NOT to believe negative thoughts?

To nurture a different mindset takes practice, but as Albert Einstein said:

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.

Today, I want to talk to you about igniting the power of simplicity in your life.

Leonardo da Vinci said “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

If you want to discipline yourself and guarantee that you will move closer to your goals, then…

Never allow the things that matter less interfere with the things that matter the most.

I ran across a short paragraph this week that really struck a chord with me. So much so, that I wanted to share it with all of you. It stems from a simple saying from the Native American culture:

Have you found yourself putting off important tasks over and over again? If so, you are not alone! Many people find themselves trapped in the vicious cycle of procrastination which can lead to detrimental consequences in their career.

Fortunately, there is a solution to overcome procrastination BEFORE it consumes your business and your life.

This month more than any other, I find myself reflecting over the past decade by looking at ways that practicing gratitude has served me well. To me, gratitude is an action, and I have tried to apply it daily. I’m not perfect at doing so but I do it 5 to 7 days a week.