Can we Reframe the Problem?

…. by Paul Shearstone

Overcoming Objections will always be at the heart of every sales encounter. Although the laws that govern human psychology and motivation never change, the same cannot be said for the ever-evolving objection-handling techniques that now require far more sophistication to satisfy the needs of today’s customer. A quick look in the rearview mirror clearly demonstrates that at times, even the experts, sometimes get it wrong!

In the 1960s and early 70s, selling courses like PSSI [Professional Selling Skills / Level I] taught us to “Ignore the ‘First’ objection”. The logic was, ‘at the beginning of a sales encounter, most customers will put out an objection – any objection – even if it isn’t valid, in order to provide themselves a certain feeling of control’. To dwell too much on the first objection was deemed by PSSI experts to be, time and effort, spent unproductively.

The fact is, it didn’t take long – less than a decade – for sales people to see the folly in this approach. That, in tandem with more knowledgeable buyers and more complex products/solutions, changes to this strategy was essential.

Dale Carnegie had a better methodology that respected every customer objection but also insisted that sellers, initially ask questions to expose any and all customer concerns first – then get the customer to [articulate] agree that 1) These challenges were all the objections that stood between the seller and the sale, and, 2) The verbalized objections were, in fact, legitimate. Then and only then, could the process of selling – satisfying these needs – go forward.

The good new is that today, much of Carnegie’s strategy is as valid an approach as it was several decade ago; in keeping with the basic mantra of successful selling, “Find out what they want… then… Give it to them!” That is, with one caveat, find out what they want First!

If this was all there was to objection-handling, though, every salesperson would be successful. Clearly, there is more to it than that. For example, what is the answer to a customer that says, “We are not in the market! ... We have no budget!” – [Full-Stop].
At this point, unsuccessful sellers get busy folding their metaphorical tents to make a hasty retreat because they find themselves bereft of a deeper understanding or skill-set required to overcome a sales-ending objection – ironically, before the selling process can even take place.

What is meant by this?

Simply, those of us, who have taken Social PSYC in university or college, understand that ‘to the degree a person articulates their position [bad or good] makes the chances of changing their mind, exponentially more difficult than it is if they never said a thing’. Psychologically, people want to save face, they don’t want to be manipulated or sold and therefore, quite naturally, dig their heels in once they have stated their position.

I am reminded of the expression, “A man convinced against his will… is of the same opinion still!”

Good sellers know this and they know other important things too, like:
1) There are ways to address objections like these, and
2) They must be handled delicately and professionally.

To better understand the mind of an elite seller, it is best to reflect on how salespeople process information like, for example: “We have no budget!”

Unsuccessful sellers interpret this as ‘there is no money, no where, no how’ – and then conduct themselves accordingly. Elite sellers, however, begin asking themselves, “What does the customer mean by no budget? Was there a budget that has been spent? Is there a budget that has been frozen? Will there be another budget – if so when?” etc.

The point here is,
1) The seller has not forgotten the need his/her product may satisfy, and
2) They understand that “We have no budget!” can have many meanings – each of which, with an opportunity to continue negotiations, albeit with one important fact, the customer must be allowed to Save Face.

So how do they do that?

One way is to: [Note: This part is not new]
1) Repeat the objection “You have no budget at this time” – which accomplishes two important, psychological steps:
a) The customer hears that the seller has heard and understood his/her objection [very critical] and,
b) “…at this time” – diminishes or lessens the objection thereby eliminating the Full-Stop scenario bringing the potential to go forward, back into play.

2) The second and perhaps the most important step is to openly ‘Validate’ the objection. Simply, agree that the customer’s objection is a valid objection – one with which you can sincerely empathize and agree with as being a challenge – in your mind, though, not a sales ender.
You could say something like, “Not having a budget at this time is a challenge and I don’t blame you for feeling the way you do [or words to that effect].

Note: By validating and agreeing with the concerns of the customer, we seem more sincere and trustworthy – which we are – allowing the essential Buyer-Seller bonding process to cultivate, especially since we both now, appear to have concerns in common.

Having accomplished all of this, the elite seller may say something like: “Can we perhaps, Mr/Ms Customer, reframe the problem?” or “Maybe if we look at reframing this budgetary dilemma in a different way, we may find an alternative solution.” or “Mr/Ms Customer, sometimes when I step back and reframe a challenge, I often find positive alternatives I’ve overlooked.”

One could go on but the important point here is, having bonded with the customer, having validated and minimized [in this case] the budgetary concern, we have allowed the customer to save face on his/her original sale-ending position, that in turn opens up a new positive dialogue with the express purpose of finding ways to overcome the objection – and there are many!

Financing may be an alternative. Split [corporate, inter-departmental, inter-budgetary] billing, renting, rent-to-own, rent-to-new-budget, conditional purchase financial installments, et al. Without a doubt, there are alternatives to a Full-Stop scenario. I personally live by the credo, “Where there is a will… there is a Relative!” Elite sellers look to solutions – not obstacles.

The Bottom Line: Objection-Handling is both an art and a science, requiring understanding, proficiency and practice. The goal is to instill a sense of empathy and sincerity for the challenges faced by our customers with an undaunted focus to allowing buyers to change their mind, whilst saving face.

The elite seller knows the appearance of sincerity, honesty and customer empathy is equally important to the need for the providing of sincerity, honesty and customer empathy. …Paul Shearstone 2003
__________________________________________________________________

Paul Shearstone aka The ‘Pragmatic Persuasionist’ is one of North America’s foremost experts on Sales and Persuasion. An International Keynote Speaker, Author, Writer, Motivation, Corporate Ethics, / Time & Stress Management, Recruiting Specialist, Paul enlightens and challenges audiences as he informs, motivates and entertains. To comment on this article or to book the Pragmatic Persuasionist for your next successful event we invite to contact Paul Shearstone directly @ 416-728-5556 or 1-866-855-4590 www.success150.com or paul@success150.com www.paulshearstone.com paul@paulshearstone.com .

Dignity – Salesmanship and the Beatle-card Close!

The competitive genre of salesmanship is based on a brotherhood that honors its members with respect, who, in turn, owe each other, uncompromising loyalty.” …Paul Shearstone 1997

Over the last few decades, I have watched as simple things like common courtesy and respect - the rules that govern basic human interaction - have deteriorated to levels the last generation would not have believed. Unfortunately, today we live in a world that makes icons of the Howard Sterns and Beavis and Butt-Heads, who in turn, lead the unfulfilled and misinformed, further astray.

Thoreau said that most people, “live lives of quiet desperation.” He said that, when they look in the mirror, they don’t like what they see. And sadly, that is how too many individuals subsist.
There is no clearer evidence, than in the way more and more salespeople are treated in business today. Professional sellers must be ever on guard for the fall-out from those who have lost respect for themselves and lack the moral grounding required to treat others with respect - especially the vulnerable.

The fact is, salespeople put their livelihoods, their dignity and their self-respect on the line, every time they meet a new customer. Salespeople are targets for those, bereft of civility, living unfulfilled existences. For these people the salesperson is someone to be taken advantage-of, if only to justify inner feelings of inadequacy. Nothing illustrates this better than my experience with Beatle-cards.

Many years ago, a very inexperienced young salesman in my twenties, I finally got an appointment with a customer with whom I’d been trying to meet for some time. The meeting was to take place the following Tuesday morning at 10:00am.

I arrived 10 minutes early, gave the receptionist my card, confirmed that I had an appointment with the owner and took my seat in a little waiting area outside his office.
Five minutes later, in walked another young salesman who went through the same routine. He handed the secretary his card and my ears perked up when I overheard him say that he also had a ten o’clock appointment with my customer. I listened carefully for the name of his company. Oh Great! I said to myself. He represented my biggest competitor. I got an uneasy feeling that something wasn’t right.

As I sat there, wondering if the customer had just made an error in scheduling, the other salesman sat down in the chair next to me. He too, appeared a little uncomfortable. I assumed he must have seen my card on the secretary’s desk. For the next five minutes, I calmed myself with the belief there had been a simple scheduling error and my customer would be embarrassed to find he had double booked two competitors. …Was I ever-wrong about that!
At precisely ten o’clock, the owner’s door opened and out emerged a large man who greeted both of us with a smile and said, “Gentlemen, you are here and on time. Please, [he gestured toward his private office] won’t you come in?”

I was in shock. I glanced at the other salesman to see he was looking at me with the same surprised stare. “Please!” the customer beckoned again, motioning to his office door and smiling even more. Something here was definitely not right, I thought, trying not to show my discomfort as I sat down in a chair in front of the owner’s desk.

The customer, still smiling, took his seat, handed both of us his business card, and said, “Gentlemen, I’ll cut right to the chase. You both want my business don’t you?” We hesitated a little, looked at each other and then said somewhat simultaneously, Yes, yes, we want your business.

“Good!” said the customer. “Then, he said, continuing, [as he opened his hands wide over his desk like some benevolent deity] COMPETE FOR IT!” ………We sat there stunned for a moment until he said, “Go ahead and say what ever you want! COMPETE FOR MY BUSINESS!”

There were few times in my life when I suffered from a lack of confidence. To date, I had never experienced a situation that confused me so badly that it left me unable to speak. That was, of course, until then. When again he said, with his disturbing smile, “COMPETE FOR MY BUSINESS!” I turned speechlessly toward my competitor for some kind of clarification about the surreal situation we found ourselves in.

To my surprise, he had already summed up the ‘task-at-hand’, which included the fact that I hadn’t, and, off he went! For the next five minutes, I sat there amazed, listening to the young salesman run-down my company, vilify my products. He likened me to a rip-off-artist. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing or the fact that the more caustic the allegations directed my way, the more the customer stared at me and smiled. He was getting a real kick out of this, I thought. This for him was entertainment!

Eventually, the salesman stopped talking and it was my turn to speak.

The customer looked at me and in a patronizing tone, said, “Paul, don’t you have anything to say?” And that’s when I suddenly became very calm and in control for the first time.

“Yes, I do have something to say Mr Customer. But, since I didn’t interrupt my friend over here, I’d like to say what I have to say, without interruptions also. “Not a problem!” said the customer with a look that suggested he was thinking, “Oh Boy!…Now the fur is really going to fly!”

And so, I began. When I was a boy, Mr Customer, I grew up in a relatively poor family. I’m not saying we went without food but my four sisters and I rarely had money for anything other than what was absolutely needed by the family for basic survival.

In the 1960’s, I was quite young and if you recall back then, the Beatles were very big. They had just come from England to North America and kids everywhere wanted anything and everything to do with the Beatles. There were Beatle-hats, Beatle-wigs, Beatle-boots, Beatle-sunglasses and, for the younger kids like me, there were Beatle-cards. All my friends had Beatle-card collections but I didn’t. My parents were more concerned about putting food on the table, than Beatle-cards. But that didn’t stop my sisters and me from wanting Beatle-cards – badly!

[At this point, the customer was quite confused, but he allowed me to continue].

Down the street from us lived three kids. By our standards, their parents had lots of money. So the kids had almost every Beatle item there was to have - Beatle-hats, wigs, boots, sunglasses and they had Beatle-Cards. In fact, they had so many Beatle-cards, the cards had lost their value.

Knowing that my family couldn’t afford Beatle-cards, those kids used to stand on our veranda - throw Beatle-cards on our lawn - and watch and laugh as my sisters and I fought each other for them. They would throw cards and laugh to see us scurry like rats to get something they knew we couldn’t afford. We knew what we were doing was wrong but we were young and we really wanted those cards badly, because they also represented a degree of ‘coolness’ my sisters and I didn’t have.

In an effort to grab yet another precious Beatle-card that landed on the lawn near the street, I remember pushing my five year old sister to the ground, so hard, that she rolled off our grass - nearly into the traffic! As she lay there crying, I suddenly thought, What am I doing? I turned to look at those kids – who at this point, were on the porch laughing - Laughing at my family and me. This, for them was entertainment.

Mr Customer, [I said through clenched teeth and slowly raising my voice] although I was only nine years old at the time, I made a pact with myself, right then and there – “I WILL NEVER LET ANYBODY - DO THIS TO ME AGAIN!”

At which point, I stood and said, I do want your business, Mr Customer. I then threw his business card, disdainfully, on his desk and said, BUT I DON’T STOOP FOR BEATLE-CARDS ANYMORE!

I turned, glared at the other salesman and made my way to the door. I know I took everyone by surprise, including myself, and I also knew the other salesman thought that by my leaving, he was sure to get the sale. I saw him grinning. I didn’t care, he could have the deal - I had my self-respect!

When I got to the door, I heard the customer shout, “Paul wait!” I stood motionless for a couple of seconds, my hand still grasping the handle. I wanted so badly to leave. “Paul please come back!” he beckoned, with a definite note of desperation in his voice. My heart still said, Go but my training began to kick in. I asked myself, What am I? – I am a salesman. What’s my job? – To sell. Did I have quota, yet? – No… not yet.

As I turned around, the customer barked at the other salesman. “YOU!” he said. “GET OUT!” The young man was flabbergasted [he thought he had won!] When he protested, the customer shouted even louder, “I said, GET THE HELL OUT!” He then, in a soft tone, spoke sympathetically “Paul, please!” as he hand-gestured me back to my seat.

Over the next few minutes, I lectured him for his unprofessional behavior – and he let me. I likened what took place to someone who would go to a carnival to see a poor, down-on-his-luck geek chew the head off a chicken for money, to feed his starving children! – and he sat there and took it because he knew he had earned it.

So what was the upside? Well, I maintained my self respect and I believe we, the customer, the other salesman and I, learned a valuable lesson about respecting others that day.

Oh, and another thing. I did sign a deal before I left his office … there was no argument over price.

**************************************************************************************

* The Beatle-card story is from Paul’s book: ‘Up Your Income! Solution Selling for Profitability’

Paul Shearstone is an International Keynote Speaker and Author. He specializes in Motivation, Selling and Corporate Resilience Training. For more information on Paul's keynotes and seminars, or to invite him to speak at your next successful event, we invite you to contact him directly: http://www.paulshearstone.com/ paul@paulshearstone.com 416-728-5556 / 1-866-855-4590.

Email and the Internet...The Corporate Double-Edged Sword!

Email is to process … what the internet is to information and business… Too Much!

On any given day when I start work, I can look forward to my morning ritual of sifting through one or 500 email spams I get due to my e-address being harvested from articles I write that find their way out onto the net. Most of the spam I receive are from caring individuals genuinely concerned about helping me with a serious problem I didn’t even know I had – I think you know what I mean.

To be fair, I should point out that surprisingly, my wife also receives similar emails from people just as concerned about her ‘appendage’ [one she and I have yet to locate] but one, nonetheless, our internet friends are quite convinced they can help her improve-upon if and when we ever find it!

People from Nigeria too, it seems, really need my help. It’s true! They sound so regal, being that approximately 110% of them are members of real Nigerian royalty and all. And I believe them! They say they want to give me money. How nice. In their unmitigated benevolence – rivaled, I’m sure, only by that of Mother Teresa’s - they want to put one or [insert Mike Meyers Dr Evil accent here] four-hundred-million-dollars – give or take, - into my personal bank account… for a price of course. And there are women, each morning, I don’t know and have never met who feel the need to E-communicate with me using opening lines like “Hello my dearest darling”… where were they when I was dating? lol

It’s not that I don’t have adequate spam protection software to filter out the three legitimate emails I wanted to receive from the hundreds obsessed with my ability to…ah… ‘maintain’… I do. The problem however, is simply that anti-spam software needs ongoing education and re-education, but even with that, often legitimate email inadvertently falls into the ‘Spam’ or ‘Spam Suspects’ folder requiring people like me, with absolutely no problem at all - honestly! - to take the valuable time to go through the spam. What a pain.

Everyone knows how frustrating and how much time is wasted in our lives everyday dealing with unwanted emails, never mind the vigilance required to ensure we do not make the dreaded mistake of opening that one email, perhaps the one that appears to be so benign and legit - “Hello my dearest darling” comes to mind - but is neither. The virus or worm I'm talking about is malevolent and infectious. And that is when the real waste of time begins, sometimes lasting for days, as you scramble to rehabilitate your computer, if, in fact, that option still even exists. Sometimes it does not and the data is lost forever!

Like it or not, email and the internet have changed us and at times, they are no friend to business. Email has become the ‘medium of choice’ for avoiding simple human interactivity. Inside the office, now vast amounts of information is sent and received by way of e-blasts that require no human-to-human contact but nevertheless, demands no small price in wasted productivity, time and profitability by workers, required to view and/or even respond to them. For example, is there someone in your office [more often in management] who, despite their sincere altruistic intentions, nonetheless, waste so much valuable corporate time because they feel compelled to share motivational stories, sayings and pictures they come across, with the rest of the company? Nearly ever office has one. Get back to work!

It is true, if you are not at your desk, the boss assumes you are not working. On the other hand, plunking away at your keyboard is not quite so obvious, is it? Think about how much corporate time is wasted these days by employees who believe they are masters at multi-tasking. You know who they are. They surf the net, send copious personal emails both in and outside the company – on company time – in addition to the text-mail and ongoing MSN chats that sit open all day on their desktop, beside the work the company is paying them good money to get done. Sadly, there is nothing funny about that.

If you are still sitting on the fence about the seriousness of this issue, here are some interesting, recent stats to consider:

Internet Usage Statistics – Workplace Source: http://www.netarmorsolutions.com/Info_Inet_Stats_WORK.htm
• More than 60% of companies have disciplined - and more than 30% have terminated - employees for inappropriate use of the Internet. (Source: The Center for Internet Studies)
• 27% of Fortune 500 companies have battled sexual harassment claims stemming from employee misuse and abuse of corporate e-mail and Internet systems. (Source: American Management Association)
• 70% of employees admit to viewing or sending adult-oriented personal e-mail at work. (Source: NFO Worldwide)
• One research firm, International Data, estimates the 30 to 40% of employee Internet use is not work related. (Source: International Data Corp.)
• Dow Chemical Co. fired 50 employees and disciplined 200 others after an e-mail investigation turned up hard-core pornography and violent subject matter. (Source: Associated Press)
• 25% of employees said they spent 10 to 30 minutes a day surfing non-related work sites, 22%, said they spent 30 minutes to an hour, 12% said they spent one to two hours online, while 13% admitted to spending more than two hours a day. (Source: Vault.com)
• Of more than 3,400 executives surveyed, 64.1 percent said that their companies have a formal office policy in place to help manage employee use of the Internet. (Source: Management Recruiters International)
• 37% of employees report that they search for jobs, 45% make travel arrangements, and 11% play online games while at work. (Source: Vault.com)
• 46% of online holiday shopping is happening at work. (Source: Nielsen//NetRatings)

Bottom Line:
Long after the humor subsides from emails that imbue circumspection for one’s athletic performance or lack thereof – and - long before that Nigerian cheque ever arrives in the mail, the gravity of the potential dangers email and the internet bring to bear on business, must be taken seriously. The fact is, the internet is a double edged sword. One side cuts though the competitive forces helping companies realize success, profitability and peak performance, the other, has the potential to cut a company right off at its knees. On a lighter note, as sure as you can be that Bill Gates is not going to send you five bucks, you can take what I’m saying, to the bank… just not a Nigerian one! lol
________________________________________

Paul Shearstone is an International Keynote Speaker and Author. He specializes in Motivation, Selling and corporate Resilience Training. For more information on Paul’s keynotes and seminars, or to invite him to speak at your next successful event, we invite you to contact him directly:
www.paulshearstone.com paul@paulshearstone.com 416-728-5556 / 1-866-855-4590.


Let Paul get your people refocused on Peak Performance… Guaranteed!


Professional Member Canadian Association of Professional Speakers

Stress is eating away at your Corporate Bottom Line!

There is a lot of talk today - but mostly talk - about the unprecedented financial impact stress in the workplace is having on companies and government-subsidized healthcare. The problem is clearly evident in employee absenteeism, turnover and long-term disability expenditures. The costs to some corporate sectors are absolutely staggering. So, How much is it affecting your corporate profitability and what are you doing about it?
________________________________________

Few executives today will argue about:
• How global, systemic and financially devastating stress can be, and,
• How it will continue to cripple governments and industries if steps are not taken to manage this crisis.

Sadly however, despite the fact that we all seem to be aboard the same bandwagon, in practice it appears that too few companies have, or are taking tangible, ‘results-driven’ steps to minimize this problem.

Often, CEOs and company owners become stuck for words for the answer to: “Tell me about your company’s strategy for managing the costs, due to employee absenteeism and long-term stress related disabilities.”

Maybe the trouble is, the alleged numbers regarding stress, are simply too big to believe or get one’s head around. In Canada last year legitimate sources purported that $20 billion was spent by governments and corporations, expressly on stress related issues. In 2005 ministries in the UK reported they invested 20 billion pounds. They also found that currently, fewer than one in ten companies in Britain have policies in place to tackle the problem despite the fact they estimate stress now costs the UK economy 10 percent of its Gross National Product. In the same time frame and not to be outdone, the New York Times wrote that the United States topped us all at $300 billion, paid out for issues involving stress.

Nevertheless, there are skeptics who legitimately question the accuracy of numbers such as these. That said, logic would suggest that even if the tallies are 50% inaccurate [which is highly unlikely] the numbers are still astronomical, suggesting in no small way that Companies, Healthcare and especially individuals, are paying too high a price.

Never wanting to pay more than they have to and in the footsteps of G. M. and Chrysler, in 2005, Ford signed an agreement with the UAW [United Auto Workers] to commit $3.5 billion to employee health care. Most of which, has been earmarked for stress related expenditures.


Are numbers like these still too far off the average corporate radar? Why don’t we step back a little and look at the stress epidemic using factors and parameters we already know to be true?

Both governmental and independent studies done over the last few decades have confirmed that it takes five to eight-times, the time, effort and money to hire and train a new employee than it does to rehabilitate an existing one. [The same can be said for the time, cost and effort required to obtain a new customer versus keeping one, but that’s another issue].

The fact is, these statistics have been proven and most managers see them clearly reflected in the corporate bottom line.

With that in mind, think about the added expense and/or lack of profitability a worker might present, if they are continually stressed on the job - incapable of delivering peak performance.

Those costs go up exponentially when employees are absent from work due to their inability, or more importantly, their ‘lack of training’ to cope with stress. Moreover, the corporate financial burden goes through the roof when a doctor determines the employee is too stressed to work, requiring, as already indicated,

1. A substantial cost to replace them, while they are allowed to convalesce at the company’s expense, [for an indeterminate amount of time] or, as most companies do,
2. Shift their duties and responsibilities to other employees thereby adding to their stress levels and potential for burn-out.

More often than not, however, it is the small business owner that pays the biggest price, proportionately, when they are faced with long-term disability issues and/or stressed employees.

So, is your company suffering from stress and is it affecting your corporate bottom line?

The answer to a question like this may not be all that hard to find. It is clearly evident the next time you go through your corporate front doors. There, you suddenly notice a new face answering the telephones and you think to yourself, that’s the fourth new receptionist we’ve hired in the last year. You wonder for a moment why the last receptionist quit, but only for a moment because you are extremely busy and there is work to be done.

As you stride through the company foyer, you gaze at the magnificently worded mission statements that hang proudly and professionally on the wall. Continuing, you make your way into the office area and pause for a second, taking in - perhaps for the first time - an honest evaluation of what you really see.

The words from the mission statement still fresh in your mind, you first experience surprise, then shock, when it becomes unmistakably apparent that a “Whack-a-Mole” management strategy, rules the day-to-day activities of your company - and - runs juxtaposed, almost in every way, to what’s pledged in the expensive frames adorning your corporate foyer.

If it comforts you, most companies today [with equally resplendent Corporate Mission Statements] follow a similar stress-inducing stratagem, despite the fact they may be reluctant to admit it.

Want proof? Any salesman can tell you that regardless of whether a product or service is the right solution for a company, you [the salesman] are nothing more than a “mole in the hole” to buyers and managers, single-mindedly preoccupied with whacking the heads off the problems requiring their attention ‘today’. So busy and stressed are they, something as simple as a courtesy return phone call, is not to be expected.

The strategy, therefore, for most sellers, is to do what it takes to be remembered when the ‘problem-mole’ rears its furry little head [the one your product or solution can fix] and you get the call…. and the metaphoric whacking continues!

________________________________________

So what is the Solution?

There are several factors that must be recognized to minimize the Stress-in-the-Workplace Problem.

1. Leaders must understand and accept the fact that stress is not going away for any worker at any level.
2. Dealing with stress requires the same attention given to all other corporate challenges and expenditures.
3. Long-term disability / employee absenteeism / Healthcare costs can and must be controlled.
4. To improve the corporate bottom line, employees must be given Resilience Training!

It is not uncommon to provide strategic education for employees and management to upgrade their skill set, thereby benefiting the corporation. This is a legitimate ‘investment’ endorsed by successful companies. It makes sense then, that Strategic Tools for Peak Performance, or more simply put, a proven stress management strategy designed to embolden the individual and/or group, should also be included in this line of reasoning.

Employees and management must be taught how to Recognize the factors that are at the root cause of their stress, whether it is on the job or in their personal life. It is interesting to note that most everyone admits they suffer from stress, but few have a real grasp or understanding of what it really is or the long-term physiological and psychological price they pay - other than the obvious. The net result: they can’t fix, control or minimize what they cannot identify or quantify.

What employees and management don’t need, is to attend seminars, workshops or keynotes that take them on mystical journeys to find “one’s inner-self”. For the workplace, that is simply smoke-and-mirrors. Despite the fact that some companies and government websites provide ‘Wellness’ information and training, too often they focus only on the given: eating properly, exercising right and getting enough sleep. There is no argument simple strategies like these are all well and good, but they are not ‘Coping Skills’. Stressed individuals – both in and out of the workplace – need a more structured, substantive ‘psychologically proven’ approach they can and must inculcate into their behavior to keep balanced, healthy and productive.

Remember that experts agree, much of the worry and stress we endure, is too often centered on flawed or incorrect information / evaluations. Nonetheless, these self-manufactured / self-interpretations are still psychologically real, in the mind of the employee, resulting in unnecessary worry and stress that affects Peak Performance.

Stressed employees [motivated by unchecked, negatively-perceived false information] can quickly become the cancer that often infects an entire company – costing corporations millions and billions in profit and unneeded healthcare overruns.

What workers and management do need then, is Resilience Training that includes proven, tangible techniques, designed to clearly identify and validate the causes for stress that challenge their health, happiness and peak performance. Much like sales or management training, it is a strategy or skill that must be taught and learned.

Learned also, are the strategic skills required to know how to Respond appropriately to the Recognized and authenticated challenges due to stress. Physiologists tell us that unresolved stress denigrates our health both physically and mentally and it is the major cause for just about every disease known to man.

UK based Health Charity [MIND] reported that workplace stress is now estimated to be the biggest occupational health problem in Britain after musculoskeletal disorders with one in five people claiming that they find work “very” or “extremely” stressful.

Those with Resilience training know that one of the many ways at their disposal to minimize or eliminate stress, is to employ a simple 3-step coping strategy.

1. Take immediate action to eliminate the problem. or,
2. Take immediate action to minimize the problem, or,
3. Simply surrender to the problem – accept that ‘what is…is’ - and set the stress free.

For example: If one is stuck in traffic, late for an important meeting, accepting and surrendering to the fact that, nothing positive can be accomplished by stressing over a situation that cannot be changed, immediately allows the person to separate them, from the stress related anxiety, maintaining a more healthy and positive demeanor, geared toward Peak Performance.

People today must also learn how to take these psychologically proven Resilience Skills and Resolve to make them part of their standard results-driven behavior. Resilience specialists understand that these techniques must be honed and practiced to derive the benefits they were designed to garner. If Tiger Woods needs to continually practice his fundamental golf skills for Peak Performance, would it not make sense that we too should adopt a similar positive Resolve for coping with stress?

Resilience training provides the framework for people at all levels to regain the degree of ‘control’ necessary to feel less stressed. Psychology 101 teaches us that worry and stress are byproducts of feelings of a lack-of-control. Knowing how and when to utilize proven [practiced] tools and techniques designed to identify [Recognize] causes for personal stress, is the first step in regaining control.

Knowing how to Respond appropriately – even if it is to decide to take no action at all – is a conscious, strategic, positive response that revitalizes feelings of control.

Resilience specialists also understand the subtle difference between stress and pressure. Simply put, not all pressure is stressful. In fact, pressure – positive pressure – is often the catalyst that drives Peak Performance.

For example: I read an article recently where a U.S. fighter pilot, upon completing a successful mission, turned his plane on its side and did what’s known as a fly-by, approximately thirty feet above the deck of the aircraft carrier.

In an interview later he was asked if he felt stress of any kind when he performed that maneuver. He said, the navigator sitting behind him in the plane and everyone else on the ship were all stressed by his acrobatics but not him, because he was the only one in ‘control’.

Think for a moment about the word ‘control’ and then about your employees. Take each group one by one and evaluate them based on this question: On a scale of one to ten, how would they rate their ‘degree of personal control’ on the job and how is it affecting their levels of stress, health and Peak Performance?

The Sales Team: 1_________________10
The Service and Support Team: 1_________________10
The Administrative Team: 1_________________10
The Management Team: 1_________________10

When you have tallied your results, ask some or all of them the same question… and then be prepared for the shock of your corporate life!
________________________________________

Having been a top salesman several times in a Fortune 500 Company and spending over twenty years on the front lines, I understand the importance of Resilience for Peak Performance. The fact is, no salesperson can make it to the top or even endure, without it. Never was the magnitude of Resilience made more clear to me than in 1990-91 when I suddenly fell victim to Bells Palsy and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - brought on by my inability at the time, to control my stress. It nearly devastated me and my family.

Now, a CFS survivor, with more than a decade in research, a book published about my ordeal, “Until You’ve Walked the Path” and soon, “The Resilience Formula, Strategic Tools for Peak Performance” [Green Onion Publishing - due out the end of 2006], I now dedicate my time and expertise to helping companies save money and healthcare costs, by teaching the proven principles and strategy of my R3 approach [Recognize / Respond / Resolve] The Resilience Formula.

The Bottom Line:

Stress is quite possibly the biggest challenge industries and governments face going into the 21st century. The financial ramifications are and will be, extraordinary. The question then remains, “What is stress costing your corporate bottom line and how will you address it?”

A good start would be to give someone like me a call. Perhaps, a simple no-cost corporate stress-analysis may just be what the ‘Peak-Performance-Doctor’ might order.

________________________________________
________________________________________

Paul Shearstone, International Keynote Speaker, Author and
Chronic Fatigue Survivor, is one of North America’s experts on
Stress-Reduction and Peak Performance.
His 3Rs Resilience Formula improves Performance & Profitability,
Saving companies and Healthcare, Money …Guaranteed!
________________________________________
For more information on this seminar or others Paul delivers, we invite you to contact:
Success 150 Group Inc
7305 Woodbine Ave. Suite 458 Markham On Cda L3R 3V7 B: 416-728-5556 or 866-855-4590
www.success150.com www.paulshearstone.com paul@paulshearstone.com

Can music really reduce STRESS?

…by Paul Shearstone

One need not know how to read or write music to understand and appreciate it or comprehend its unmistakable beauty and therapeutic benefits… Paul Shearstone 2002
…………………
In my research to find more ways to promote better health by relieving tension and stress, I happened on to a tape that spoke about the healing benefits of music. It turned out to be a wonderful tape. The motivational message was interspersed with Baroque symphony music, which proved not only a respite from what I had been listening to but it also provided a significant relaxing influence. We have all heard the saying, “Music calms the savage beast.” I discovered years ago, it most definitely did for me. For that reason, I began to experiment with all types of music.

I recalled that over the years whenever, I felt stressed, depressed or down, I would sit at the piano and begin to play. The first few songs were always slow and sad but with each new tune, they would get a little quicker and a little happier. Often, after about ten to fifteen minutes of playing, I would notice a marked improvement in the way I was feeling. Remarkably, I found I could actually play the sad feelings out of me with music.

No one has to remind me about how blessed I am to have been given the opportunity to learn to play the piano. Thanks mom and dad! That said, I still think about how unfortunate it is that everybody does not have a stress-relieving mechanism like playing an instrument for their times of need.

Nevertheless, knowing how to play a musical instrument is of no real benefit for anyone suffering from severe depression. As I pointed out in my book, Until You’ve Walked the Path, you know you are exceedingly depressed or suffering from chronic stress when you cannot or will not do the things that bring you the most pleasure. So it is comforting to know, music is always there and one need not know how to play an instrument to enjoy its health-promoting benefits. To paraphrase Martha Stewart, “That’s a Good Thing!”

Today I have an entire repertoire of music. Each song has been strategically handpicked for its stress-relieving qualities. Whenever I feel the least bit tired or depressed I will often play a few songs from the library in my computer.

I first determine whether I am feeling a little sad or stressed. There is a difference! My experiments with music-motivation have taught me there is also a difference in the way I remedy the way I feel. For example, if I am just feeling a little stressed from the workday, I can simply play a few sound bites from – what are for me – stress-relieving songs. Two of my favorite are, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin and “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life” by Monty Python. While I listen, I will consciously relax in my chair and breathe in and out, slow deep breaths of air. Often, I can recover from feelings of stress in only a few minutes and resume my work.

If, on the other hand, I am experiencing feelings of sadness, I have an another approach based on my observations from playing the piano. In my library of music, I have songs that have been specially selected for what I call, their ‘Sadness-Quality’. Simply put, they are sad songs that elicit sad feelings in me whenever they are played, especially when I’m already feeling a little sad. For example, Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Sun’ / Crystal Gayle’s ‘Don’t it make Your Brown Eyes Blue’ and/or Todd Rundgren’s ‘Can’t we still be Friends’. I have an entire collection of them to use strategically, not unlike one would use a tool – used in this case, as a means to bleed the feelings of sadness out of me as a first and deliberate step in a program to change the way I feel.

Sometimes it takes only a few songs and other times it takes quite a few before I can - now having practiced this many times over the years – instinctively feel when it is time to introduce a few ‘up-beat and motivational songs’ as a second step. I have plenty of them too. Uriah Heep’s ‘Easy Livin’ / Cumbawumba’s ‘I get Knocked Down, But I get Up Again’ are two that get to the fiber of my being and as such, when I have successfully leached the sadness out of me, they, along with others I’ve selected, serve to take me to the next level by promoting feelings of motivation and hope.

What is important to understand here is that music – the right music – can be used strategically, like a tool or a stratagem, to elicit a desired emotional response. Important also, is to know that what motivates me to be happy or sad, may not be right for you. Music is personal. The key is to do a little research on your own to determine the right music for you and then, have your songs categorized and ready - know where they are when you embark on what is a deliberate psychological strategy, proven to reduce feelings of stress and sadness.

I can say with confidence that this strategy is proven, not just from my own personal experimentations but also from some of the research I have done. For example, over the last couple of decades, I know that exhaustive studies were and are still being done on the positive effects of Baroque music and, in particular, music by Mozart. These studies are not just focused on Baroque’s stress relieving qualities but also for its ability to increase one’s ‘left-brain-right-brain’ activities and learning capacities. There is now a new global institute dedicated to what is known as “Super Learning” using music as a subconscious motivator.

The Bottom Line:

Too often, those of us lacking Peak Performance - suffering from sadness, fatigue and stress - overlook many of the natural ways human evolution has provided, to garner balance and harmony. The simple fact is, in music, we can find the right remedy, the right motivation and at the same time – stress-relieving - pleasure.




Paul Shearstone, International Keynote Speaker, Author and
Chronic Fatigue Survivor, is one of North America’s experts on
Stress-Reduction and Peak Performance.
His 3Rs Resilience Formula is based on proven
Personal & Corporate
Strategic Tools for Peak Performance
Paul works with companies & organizations to improve
Performance & Profitability,
Saving companies and Healthcare, Money …Guaranteed!

For more information on this seminar or others Paul delivers, we invite you to contact:
Success 150 Group Inc
7305 Woodbine Ave. Suite 458 Markham On Cda L3R 3V7
B: 416-728-5556 or 866-855-4590
www.success150.com www.paulshearstone.com paul@paulshearstone.com

Understanding Your ‘Real’ Problem

Most people live day-to-day worrying about all their problems when in reality; their biggest problem is… they think they ‘really have’ all those problems!

Everyone has heard the expressions, “We bring it all on, ourselves” and “You… are your own worst enemy!” Healthy-minded individuals - for the most part - acknowledge the wisdom in statements like these. So why then, do so many of us have difficulty [a problem] addressing and rectifying what is accepted and obvious? The answer may not be all that mysterious.

Problem solving, like other human behavioral activities, is an art and a science that is learned. The fact that some learn quicker or more naturally than others, is just a part of being human. Nevertheless, there are techniques and strategies people can learn to recognize and respond to life’s ongoing challenges.

Think for a moment about the biggest problems you face today. Stop what you are doing and allow yourself a couple of minutes to fully concentrate on the obstructions in your life that are causing you stress. [Note: Stress is the natural outcome from unresolved problems.]

That completed, step back from your thoughts to reflect and ask yourself: When you thought about your problems, was your mind focused on ‘The Problem’ – the ‘Result of the Problem’ [potential or otherwise] – or was it focused on the ‘Solution for the Problem’?

At this point, it may be helpful to do this exercise again.

Not surprisingly, those untrained or mentally unequipped to deal with problem solving, find that they focus single-mindedly on – are you ready for this? – the ‘Result of the Problem” [potential or otherwise]. Simply put, they allow incredible life-debilitating stress into their mind and thoughts regarding what they believe could, should, might or will happen as a result of the problem. This way of thinking serves only to denigrate the healthy and stress free mental state they could be experiencing and life has to share.

Emphasis on the words ‘Potential or Otherwise’ is another integral hallmark of the improper, albeit, natural way people invite stress to take hold of their life. Studies by psychologists around the world on human behavior confirm unequivocally, 90-95% of all that we worry about, never comes to fruition. It simply never materializes! All that stress and worry for situations that never exist.

Try and recall all the things you did, did not do or could not do for fear of outcomes from problems that never happened. Now look forward to determine what is likely to cause stress and hold you back in the near future – which brings us to the fundamental pitfalls of concentrating only on the ‘Problem’.

No one is sacrosanct [untouchable] from life’s challenges both large and small. Even the most successful among us have them. Recognizing now that unwanted stress is frequently caused by nonexistent problems, one can quickly learn to minimize negative thoughts by qualifying whether a problem is, in fact, a problem.

A simple way to do this is to write the problem onto a piece of paper. This act, in itself, serves to minimize most problems simply by seeing it in print. The second step is to write:

a) The very Best possible outcome – should the problem occur, and,
b) The very Worst possible outcome - should the problem occur.

Having done this, there are three ‘Stress-Diminishing’ Laws, one can consider and also take comfort.

1) The problem always looks less intimidating when it is in print.
2) 90-95% of all problems never come to fruition. Never materialize! and,
3) Should the problem be real and actually occur, the outcome is ‘rarely’ the Best outcome or Worst outcome you have identified on paper. It is always somewhere in the middle – inevitably closer to the more favorable expectation. That discovery, serves again to minimize most problems, putting them into proper perspective while at the same time, minimizing the stress level associated with it.

This proven process also engenders more clear and enlightened thought, allowing one to better focus on appropriate solutions. Furthermore, it is the characteristic of the trained problem solver. They are quick to Qualify / Quantify a given challenge, and then if it is determined to be real, immediately turn their attention to the solution - bypassing the added stress of fruitless, negative speculation.

In simpler words, they employ a self-talk mantra that plays out something like this: “Clearly, the problem ‘Is what it Is’ – So what am I going to do to fix it?”

The Bottom Line:

The secret to problem solving and stress relief lie in our ability to Recognize and Respond to REAL challenges - not wasting precious time and energy on manufactured, angst-ridden influences that may never arise. Those who learn to master this strategy, are reassured to realize that they have far less stress and fewer problems than they once speculated and worried so much about!

Saving Companies Money and Healthcare Costs

The Resilience Formula


Anyone can argue the accuracy of the Millions and Billions now purported spent each year by business and healthcare on stress-related illnesses and workplace absenteeism. Nevertheless, whatever the correct number is… it’s BIG! …and it is, in the Billions!

In a new global economy where every cent is crucial to corporate survival, governments and business can no longer afford to ignore this costly and ever-growing crisis.

The phrase Employee Burnout is common in this new millennium’s lexicon. Sadly, so is the phrase Long-Term Disability. What can be done about this?

Whether it’s stress on the job, at home or a combination of both, most everyone understands and accepts that responsibility and stress are simply a fact of life. What most people do not recognize, however, are important things like:

• What exactly causes personal stress and how it diminishes their quality of life,
• The [predictable] physiological and social, negative outcomes from uncontrolled stress, and
• The significance of learned Resilience and its relationship to Peak Performance!

Psychologists tell us that behavior of any kind – positive or negative - is learned through repetition. Learning to be more resilient is every bit as behavioral as learning to succeed. It is an integral ingredient for health, wellness and peak performance.

As one learns to Recognize the unfeigned motivations for their stress and imbalance, so too can they learn to Respond with strategic tools, designed to minimize the destructive aspects of stress. Breathing exercises, energy-management methods, psychological behavioral-triggers and priority-listing techniques are all integral parts of a proven Resilience Formula that teaches people ways to re-galvanize their time, focus and energy. It ensures an enhanced quality of life whilst saving business and healthcare, money.

The expression, Knowledge is Power, is redundant because most of us understand knowledge is rendered valueless if it is not put to use. A successful resilience strategy shares this same logic.

Having a clear grasp of how we are affected by stress and Recognizing its detrimental consequences, is in itself, the right first step. Learning new techniques and ways to minimize stress – what to do about it - for improved health-balance and increased productivity, is unmistakably, the correct way to Respond.

On the other hand, one must remember that stress never takes a holiday… then conduct one’s self accordingly. In keeping with knowledge and power, the most important part of a resilience formula, encompasses one’s strength of Resolve. An approach like this consists of a blend of a renewed psychological awareness in lockstep with real, tangible tools and techniques, expressly designed to control stress and garner Peak Performance.

To be successful, however, one must learn to inculcate these tools and techniques into their daily activities and Resolve to practice and hone what is, a life-balancing strategy. They must make it an essential part of who they are. Remember, good behavior is learned, as is successful behavior - accomplished only to the degree one can Resolve to make them a fundamental part of their subconscious mind. Moreover, making them habitual and without need for thought or justification.

Individuals looking to advance, invest a great deal of time and money in higher education. They learn tools, techniques and strategies designed to make them specialists in whatever discipline they choose. As a result, they transform themselves into valuable commodities [contributors] from which they, corporations and society, benefit. That benefit evaporates, however, the minute they lose focus and control - when they discover they are unarmed in life’s battle to stand Resilient against stress.

The Bottom Line:

Now, more than ever, companies and governments must take steps to invest in the lifeblood of what keeps corporations profitable and healthy – People. Millions and Billions… stand in the balance!

2006... Got Goals?

New Years is the time we clearly demonstrate just how undedicated and aimless we really are!



Ask anybody on January 2nd 2006 if they have New Years Resolutions or goals and nine out of ten will say, "Yes!" ...Ask the same people about their resolutions three months later and they'll look at you like a small goat discovering a new fence for the first time.

All good intentions aside, exhaustive studies have shown only 3% of the population engage in some form of goal-setting and only 1% on average, write them down.

Moreover, there is no small coincidence in the 1% that write goals down and the highest achieving, highest income-earning men and women around the world.

Setting goals is the genesis from which things great and not so great are accomplished. Read any book on achievement or watch the Biography Channel and see the quintessential message is clear: Goals = Success!

If it's that simple though, why then are most people so unsuccessful in the fundamentals of Real goal setting?

One legitimate answer may be, our generation is busier than any generation in the past. Life today is not static and our preoccupation with just trying to 'get by' runs juxtaposed to the activities needed for maintaining concentrated goal achievement. Fair enough.

On the other hand, these same studies, mentioned above, are just as clear on the real reason most people - the ones who bother to set goals - will never achieve them. They fail to write them down relying rather they be left to our memories to manage.

The Fact is: Your goals are future landmarks on paths created by You.

Goal experts, however, will be quick to point out, "Unwritten goals are nothing more than Wishes"... and we know the world is full of people with plenty of wishes. Go to any lottery office or anywhere they sell things like DotCom Stock. In one place, they wish they'd bought more, in the other they wish they hadn't bought any at all!

Real goal-achievement has so nothing to do with merely thinking of what we'd like to accomplish and everything to do with Not Forgetting.

As the young man once said, "My memory is the thing I use to forget with". If we buy-off on the precept, we are now the busiest, most preoccupied generation, it's no stretch then to believe the experts when they say, "Goals left only to memory are destined to fade like so many wishes".


*************************************

Before we look for the remedy to the goal-achievement challenge, it is important we understand the fundamental psychology of goal setting. That is to say, how it works.

Psychological studies on the highest achieving men and women demonstrate, people with clear, specific goals, immediately and by default, become psychologically Goal Oriented individuals. [No mystery there].

Since goals take place in the future, those with goals also by default become psychologically, motivationally, Future Oriented individuals.

Finally, since we can agree, we go to the trouble of having goals because we want to achieve them, another automatic psychological outcome is, we immutably become psychologically, motivationally, human-behaviorally and actively, Success Oriented individuals.

[To put that into perspective, we can all think of people we know who are naturally, ‘Failure Oriented’ individuals].

These hallmarks are known as the Three Unique Psychological Success Orientations - the stuff that governs everything we do in the present, the moment, the now, as we go about our lives putting people, places and things together to affect positive outcomes in the future, as it relates to our goals.

That is, however, if we don't forget them!

The good news is, the simple act of reviewing our goals and activities on a daily basis, serves, in and of itself, to ensure we don't forget them - thereby keeping them fresh, clear, specific and at the front of our mind.

As mentioned and psychological studies show, unforgotten goals quite naturally engender Unique Psychological Success Orientations that by default, impact in a positive way, our thoughts and activities as we go through our lives focused undauntedly in the moment on things we wish to accomplish.


The Bottom Line:

Those without goals, more often than not, find themselves directionless relying mostly on things like luck. Goal-Setting is only the first step. Constant Goal-Review is the activity that ensures Goal-Achievement and Success!

Succession Planning The Pros / Cons and Challenges … by Paul Shearstone

Part #1: The Art of Succession Planning


Succession planning, like any business acumen, is both an art and a science. That is to say, there are many proven strategies that can and must be followed so that successful transition can occur.

Too often organizations address the succession challenge through the rearview mirror. They wait for someone to step down or even worse, be removed. Then and only then do they entertain thoughts of who should succeed or what should happen next?

One of the reasons little forethought is given to succession is evident in the fact that it rarely appears in corporate business plans. Companies are diligent in forecasting-out 3, 5 and even 10-years but most of what they plan has more to do with finance, P&L, and product evolution with little or no emphasis on who or how future leaders will captain the corporate ship.

It’s no secret senior executives, especially those new to the position, see themselves as bulletproof. In their mind, talk of succession is analogous to talk about potential failure - they will be there forever - so they have little appetite for negativities like that preferring rather to concentrate on positive things like how they will make the company successful - perhaps in perpetuity?

International consulting firms like The Meta Group, take strong positions when they say, “The success of any corporate succession is predicated on the strength of the company’s business plan. Leadership change is integral to future corporate strategies and should be built-in. The success of which, however, [succession planning] hinges expressly on whether or not the architects have a clear understanding of three important criteria:

a) What will it take to keep the company Running and Profitable?
b) What will it take to Grow the company? and,
c) What will it take to Change the company?”

It is here we see more clearly succession planning is an integral part of a much larger stratagem, more complex, perhaps, than at first blush.

Senior executives understandably and as a rule, rise to the top based primarily on proven skills tacitly believed by corporate board members or company owners to be the stuff necessary to champion the needs of the corporation. In a perfect world, the corporate cream rises in a comfortable and timely fashion. But we don’t live in a perfect word. One could argue we live in a more imperfect world than we’d like to believe.

With that in mind, companies and industries the world over, are addressing the reality that a decade from now, their entire business landscape and corporate model will be unquestionably different! That said, company architects are [or should be] focused more diligently on grooming succession executives with respect to the strategic needs of running the corporation profitably in the NEW marketplace in the near future.

Clearly few executives get by today without a reasonable understanding of how to work a computer, the Internet, Excel, PowerPoint and so on. Just a few short years ago, it wasn’t uncommon for senior execs to rely totally on assistants for technical support - rendering their [exec] desktop computers as nothing more than entertainment devices showing pretty fish and flying toasters.

What will tomorrow’s corporate executives need to know? Will they need to be IT experts? Will an MBA Degree be enough? Will the future of the company demand a better understanding of Corporate Law – International or Domestic – Human Resources Issues, Strategic or Crises-Management expertise, Techno-Mechanical knowledge? … etc.

In order to groom the next generation of corporate management, planners must be absolutely clear on what [broad-based] tactical skill-requirements will be essential for corporate leadership and growth. A clear and unequivocal business plan in tandem with future leadership skill-set-deliverables are the integral ingredients necessary to ensure the success of leadership succession.

No one’s saying the CEOs of the future have to be experts in all fields or in all disciplines. As the Chinese say, “Man, who chases 2 rabbits, catches none!” Nevertheless, it will be increasingly important that senior exec’s have a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and disciplines for which they are ultimately responsible and therefore must manage.


Bottom Line:

Succession Planning is strategic, tactile and deliberate involving a clear understanding of how corporations need to change in lockstep with strategies designed to groom future leaders to meet the need. Successful ‘Transitionists’ understand Succession Planning is both an Art and a Science.






Part #2: Succession Planning?
... Not on My Watch!

At first blush, it would appear there is no shortage of Succession Planning Advocates convinced in theory, the importance and benefits of corporate Succession Planning. In practice, however, real succession planning - or the overt lack thereof - runs juxtaposed to principle. The important question then is, “Why?”

Clearly, the advantage of proper planning is believed by most to be no argument at all. But try telling that to some company owners or today’s high calibre CEOs.

Those who rise to power, especially in large organizations, do so because they possess what’s known as, the Royal Jelly. Most are born leaders with unlimited high energy, charisma and an innate psychological need to win, control and dominate. Although it would be easy for some to cast aspersions on such a profile, the fact is, these attributes are the stuff integral to power and for most of us, what we admire in our leaders.

Would it surprise anyone then, if those, predisposed to leadership and control, may find discomfort in succession planning? Simply said, any plan for succession, is a blueprint for the [call it anything you want] inevitable loss of power, control or prestige they worked so long and hard to achieve. After all, in the mind of a new CEO: They’re going to be there forever…and/or … If they leave, it will be by their choosing.

No leader is perfect. They all make mistakes. For them, the last thing they need is the added pressure of a motivated Heir Apparent waiting in the wings with a blueprint for a much anticipated and inevitable transition to power. Reining CEOs are not sacrosanct from the ambitions of the Would-be-Kings. The net result? No Succession plan.

Where there’s a Will… There’s a Relative!

Wish if we could that each successive generation spawn greater leaders than the last. Successful family-owned and operated companies face succession challenges on two fronts. Not every child of a great leader is blessed with the Royal Jelly. [Teddy Kennedy spring to mind?] More often the next generation, either because of or despite having lived a life of privilege, find themselves bereft of the right stuff and unequipped to lead. A good model for this is the British Monarchy. [Hang in there Lizzy!]

Succession planning for family-owned businesses can further be compromised if there are heir apparents from competing families. The right family heir to run the company may not [politically] be next in line and therefore succession planning is often avoided at all costs in order to circumvent a potentially divisive situation. Who will forget the bitter battle of two brothers for the McCain family frozen food empire?

Beware the Motivations of the Succession Planning Architect!

In ancient Rome, the Emperor Tiberius appointed Caligula to be his successor. A magnanimous gesture to say the least but not the real reason for his choice. Tiberius was more concerned about his own legacy - fuelled mostly by an unusually large ego.

By appointing Caligula, it was his hope the people of Rome would grow to hate the new ruler, to see him as the miscreant he was. They did. In so doing and at the expense of the Roman people, Tiberius believed he had done himself a great service by indemnifying an unquestioned personal legacy of benevolence and superior leadership.

Tiberius, however, didn’t corner the market on self-serving succession planning. For more contemporary examples we need only look at the recently replaced Prime Minister of Canada, The Right [Honourable?] Jean Chrétien and his agonizing Long Good-Bye.

Regardless of whether one voted for him or not, in a democratic society, the rein of any leader must eventually come to an end either by popular vote or for the good of the people. For dominant leaders it is understood that stepping down is never an easy decision to make or to do.

That said, the political winds of change are never transparent and therefore not unexpected for, in this case, Canadians, to expect a certain respectability or professionalism from their leader in the transition process. Sadly, the former Prime Minister now serves as the quintessential example of bad Succession Planning because in the end, who benefited? Canadians? His Legacy? His ego? ...How Tiberiunesque! Bad Succession Planning!


Part #3: Managing Change in Changing Times

Succession planning is at the heart of CHANGE. Whether to change is no longer an option for companies serious about survival. How to manage change -- and how little or how much -- are the challenges we now all must face.

The word ‘Now,’ however, is a misnomer. Change is not new nor is the need to address it. Granted, the pace of change may differ, but in the end, it’s just a fact of life or business. What is new is the way we cope with change [succession] and judging by the legions of zombie-like workers and stress related health-claims, it’s not a stretch to believe we’re not doing a very good job. Many companies today have a non-sustainable work environment. They are literally burning out their employees.

More to the point; the fundamentals of psychology, human behaviour and motivation have not changed, and likely never will. Any successful formula for change and managing that change must include support for these principles otherwise; the process is destined to fail.

Whenever asked to comment or speak to groups regarding a blueprint for successful change, I advocate the following:

#1: Understand that the success of any change is integrally linked to the ability of leaders to clearly identify, communicate and garner acceptance from those whose responsibility it will be to affect change.

#2: Educate all leaders regarding all attributes of change: Scope, Magnitude, Timing, Expectations, Accountability and Corporate Commitment.

#3: Employ a stratagem designed to clearly demonstrate:
a) All aspects of the organization are and were considered in the planning process for implementing change,
b) The importance of groups working as one complete entity for the success of projected outcome/s.

#4: Expect, recognize and communicate the message that there is and will be some discomfort in establishing a willingness / readiness for change, and, the importance of getting people to buy in to the new approach/s quickly.

#5: Identify immediately paradigm-shift-specialists or transformation-champions who are by nature unafraid of change. This elite group of Change-Leaders will serve to lead those who experience trepidation. Understand the critical psychological importance for workers to see ‘leaders’ – other than management – buying in to the vision and benefits of change whether it be process or leadership.

#6: Establish a team approach that incorporates and delineates all stakeholders in the change process. Share power with Change-Leaders to expressly encourage the implementation and acceptance of change protocol and practices that undoubtedly come with new leadership. Appreciate the importance for speedy implementation to ensure people never lose interest or motivation.

#7: Make specific plans, but encourage individual participation in contributions designed to embolden the new plan. Those who feel they have ownership in the success of the plan out-perform those who feel out-of-control with it.

#8: Invest strongly in strategic training and staff development. Training programs should include progressive developmental sessions in tandem with one-on-one coaching strategies to ensure that employees’ development is in sync with corporate change criteria and new leadership direction.

#9: Recognize that change has varying emotional effects on managers as well as subordinates. Managers sometimes need help in developing a measured understanding of new practices. They must be prepared for execution-lag, with progress often (temporarily) taking a backward step before improvement is realized. It is psychologically important leaders know the company expects them to take a longer view and realize that the company understands some changes take time and need not be forced.

#10: Know that the fastest way to effect successful succession / transition and corporate acceptance is through ample recognition and reward. Too often, reward-based incentive programs are only given to sales teams at the expense of potential gains from enthusiastic contributions of other groups satisfied with – in most cases – simple recognition.


Succession Psychology : Change-Ideals versus Change-Management

Succession-Leaders must understand the difference between the motivating factors of altruism and the human-behavioural laws of change in actual practice -- or as the old cliché goes, “When the rubber meets the road.”

Looking at it another way, when Johnny marches off to war, he does so for unselfish reasons. He believes in good versus evil and sees himself on the side of the angels. Altruism is a powerful motivator, as evidenced by any brave man or woman willing to leave the comfort and security of their home and family to go to war to defend what’s believed to be, universal principles, - knowing they may be called upon to pay the ultimate sacrifice with their lives.

On the other hand, their intentions, however noble, quickly take a back seat the minute the first battle begins and bullets start to fly. Success and survival instantly depends on two factors:
a) How well they – each individual – serve their group, and,
b) Whether the group prevails.

In business, successful companies embrace the motivating power of altruistic principles but understand altruism has a short lifespan and is used accordingly. Too many unsuccessful leaders think things like a good Mission Statement or a Good Cause will carry the momentum needed to see organizations through the sometimes arduous tasks of leadership succession and change. They won’t.

Enlightened leaders support the fact that it is natural for people to do things for personal gain – and there is nothing wrong with that – but the challenge is and will always be to ensure individuals see that any personal gain can only come by means of their contribution to the success of the group through the support of the new regime.

To be clear, when Johnny comes home from the war, he is not decorated strictly on how many enemies he killed, nor is he promoted based on what the enemy thinks of him. He is decorated and promoted by way of what his leaders and group think of him, which is based on how they believe his individual efforts contributed to the success of the group’s mission.

Similarly, business people do not rise based on what customers think of them, but rather on what those who work along side them [managers and colleagues alike] think of their individual contributions to the company – especially when asked to support / implement strategic change involving succession strategies for the good of the company and its ultimate success.

Bottom Line:

Succession Planning is an integral part of what binds and brings balance to business, politics and even our personal lives. Like most disciplines, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Nevertheless, like death and taxes, it is unavoidable and will come one day on our watch. What still remains our choice is how we handle it when it’s our time… That too will reflect in our legacy.

This Generation’s Stress and the Resilience Factor…

Who among us hasn’t had a conversation with a pre-baby-boomer [senior] who didn’t take pleasure in pointing out that their generation was made of sturdier stuff compared to ours?

“We never suffered from depression and stress!” they say. “We accepted what was, sucked it up and soldiered on…. We never had time for ‘nothin’ else!... You kids today aren’t as tough as we were!”

Sound familiar? The important question then is, are they right?

At least on the surface, things like, stress and depression were far less prevalent ‘back-in-the-day’ than in our time. Why? Is it because that generation suppressed their stress and tried not to let it show? Was it, like divorce, something you just didn’t do back then? …Maybe.

Did their generation have less stress to deal with than ours? The current common belief is we are the most stressed generation the world has ever produced but try convincing any WWI or WWII Vet that they don’t know stress in all its ugly forms. They clearly do! Nevertheless, there are fundamental differences in the way they and we handle the problem.

For example, we know today that PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] is real and emotionally devastating. In there day, they called it ‘Shell Shock’… and they also called it something else – LMF - which stood for LACK of MORAL FIBER.

It’s not up to me to say which generation’s approach is right, only to highlight the differences.

Another point pre-Boomers like to make is, our generation doesn’t know how good we have it.

Senior: “In our day, we didn’t have money, we had to make due. We found ways to entertain ourselves and we were happy!”

Whether they were happy or not is debatable. The fact that they had far less money than we, is not. So it is here, I believe, we can put this fundamental difference under the microscope to track and determine whether they may, in fact, be right and, how something a simple as money, may be at the root of this generation’s moral decay and its impact on the Resilience Factor.





The Baby Boom Generation

Fact: The 1980s ushered in the greatest increase in personal wealth compared to any generation in the history of man.

Along with wealth and disposable income, came ‘Choice’. Unlike the previous generation, Boomers suddenly had unlimited choices to make because they could afford to – and they did. Boats, cars, large homes and lavish lifestyles were all possible thanks to nouveau riches.

New choices also allowed attitudes and behaviors to change. Boomers no longer had to ‘make do’ or find ‘inexpensive ways to entertain themselves’. They could afford to do whatever they wanted and when they got tired or bored of that, they could simply do something else.

If things got a little too tough, Boomers could easily abandon them and move on. Included in that were things like jobs, careers and education. The move to convenience – away from challenge or discomfort - clearly demonstrated, the paradigm shift separating the mindset between the Boomer generation and the one before. The need to ‘suck it up and soldier on’ was no longer necessary. Money took care of that.

Although the 1990s leveled the playing field a little, the dye was already cast for this generation’s new attitude. Even corporations had changed their way of thinking. Gone were the loyalties to employees – once a given. If things weren’t the way the company wanted it, change it, regardless of who or how many it affected. Loyalty was only to be given to one’s self.

The Fallout:

“There is a price to be paid for everything my son.” my Dad would drill into me as a lad. “The scales always balance”

It would appear the scales are indeed on the move. Statistics Canada reported that in 1999, $12 Billion was spent on stress-related illnesses and employee absenteeism. The New York Times reported September 2004 the same problem was costing the USA $300 Billion a year and in 2005 the UK estimated its annual costs to be in excess of 12 Billion pounds. Although anyone could argue the accuracy of these reports, what can’t be argued is whatever the correct figure is… it’s BIG!

The bigger question, though, is why is it happening? Why are so many people in this generation negatively affected and unable to cope with stress?

There may be two good reasons:

1) Without question, we are the most stressed generation the world has ever seen. The need for both parents [where there are two parents] to be in the workplace to make ends meet, longer hours on the job, daunting responsibilities, unrealistic deadlines, global competition, lack of corporate loyalties, unemployment, increased drug and crime rates…. the list goes on.

The net? We live in unprecedented stressful times.

2) This generation lacks the Resilience Factor! In just over two and a half decades, the emphasis on the pursuit of what’s ‘pleasurable’ leaves in its wake, a generation bereft of resilience-training and turpitude. Simply put, there has never been a time in human history when stress was not present. How to deal with it is, and will always be, a learned skill. Some people learn quite naturally on their own. Most of us, however, rely on others – parents in most cases – to teach it to us. Nonetheless, it has to be learned.

Could it be that the current working single-parent phenomenon - also unprecedented – in tandem with two-income families have preoccupied the lesson-givers and the next generation is now ill equipped? Absolutely! But the problem still systemically exists in this current generation. Have we, over the last twenty-five years forgotten how to be resilient? Yes… but better put, we have learned more, how ‘not’ to be resilient. Let me explain.

Trained psychologists tell us that behavior of any kind [positive or negative] is learned and it is learned through repetition. The last generation focused on things like, stiff upper lip, soldier on, turning ones cheek and in Churchill’s words, “Never, Never, NEVER SURRENDER!” That generation believed it, lived it and learned to be Resilient because of it.

Compare that to a generation that followed whose newfound wealth and ability to choose, allowed them to learn new ways to live, that meant Resilience training was suddenly off the radar. Add to the mix, unprecedented daily stress and responsibility, more uncertain competitive times and the picture suddenly becomes clear – we are unarmed – we lack the Resilience Factor.

This generation was told that it is okay to show one’s feelings, be upset, angry or sad. I can’t argue with that logic but I can if people are not also taught proper boundaries - how to qualify, quantify and rebound to natural negative emotions. That is the other important half of the lesson. My Dad always said, “Control your Downs and your Ups!” Resilience is the ability to bounce back, to cope. It has so everything to do with learned healthy boundaries and control.

The good news is the same psychologists tell us that behavioral modification is possible and it is achievable at any age.

There are breathing techniques designed to control blood pressure, reduce stress. Behavioral Triggers are excellent ways to immediately transform one’s negative thoughts and actions. Stress Minimization exercises and techniques, Music, Power-Talk, all blend together to reduce stress and bring more balance and harmony into our daily lives. Moreover, the better news is, anyone can learn these strategies and without question, they WORK!

The Bottom Line:

This generation and the one to follow can learn a lot from generations past. What they did instinctively, are the building blocks we can use on a conscious level to embolden ourselves in this new, more competitive and stressful world – saving companies and healthcare systems Money! The success of our health and happiness lies in the strength and quality of our Resilience Factor!

.................................................................................................................................

For more information and how to order Paul’s new book, “Until You’ve Walked the Path”
please visit www.paulshearstone.ca

“Every day millions of people struggle valiantly with the pain of CFIDS and Depression... the very real physical pain and the excruciating psychic pain of the soul. Paul gives both voice and face to their pain. More importantly, he gives expression to their courage, resilience, and valor. By his account of his own remarkable journey, he gives hope to the millions of others who are still on theirs".
Karen Liberman
Executive Director, Mood Disorders Association of Ontario

Q “What can I do to improve my job-interviewing skills?”

Whether you’re a student job seeker or a polished and proven executive, the first thing you must come to terms with is, “Regardless of the position you seek, you are now in sales!” The product you are selling is YOU! The interview is your opportunity to differentiate yourself in the eyes of your customer [the interviewer] when compared to your competitors [other job applicants].

Successful companies today, are focused on building what’s known as, corporate “Unique Value-Add Propositions.” Simply put, a unique value proposition is designed to differentiate companies / products and services, by making a decision to do business with you, an easy one. This is accomplished by means of removing the risk in customer’s minds through obvious value-add.

So before you go into an interview, ask yourself, “What is my unique Value-add for this company? What can I say, do, or show, that will separate me from all other candidates?” And, “How convincing am I?”

There is no secret that in many cases today, the most qualified, are not always the ones hired. Sadly, many qualified individuals lose out on opportunities expressly due to their inability to distinguish themselves [in the interview] by showing unique value-add. You may then ask, “How does one construct a value-add interview?” The process is surprisingly simple.

#1: As quickly as you can, write down all the words that describe your unique strengths that relate to the position to which you’re applying. [Note: Five words are not enough. Try for at least fifteen / you may also ask others for their input].

#2: As quickly as you can, write down all the words that describe your potential weaknesses as they relate to the position to which you’re applying.

#3: Turn each word into a sentence or statement. It does not have to be complicated. For example, if one of your strength-words was, “experience” – you could simply say, “I am experienced.” [Note: Do the same for your weaknesses list as well].

#4: Take each sentence / statement, and turn them into a question. “I am experienced” becomes, “Why am I experienced?”

To answer the question, “Why am I experienced?” inexorably brings to light your real Value-Add. From a selling point of view, ‘being experienced’ may be true, but it is only, however, a fact. “How specifically, am I experienced, and, How it will therefore benefit the new company,” is the real Risk-Removing, Unique-Value-Add-Information needed to showcase your talents.

Knowing the answers, ahead of time, to questions like, “Why is [this] a potential weakness for me - for this position?” is equally integral to the success of any interview.

For more detailed information on Interviewing Skills, visit [www.s150.com]. On the ‘Speaker Profile’ page, is a hot-link to “The Art of the Interview” There you can order [$5 Admin-Fee] a 55-page booklet that guarantees better interviewing results. It details the specific types of questions trained interviewers will ask and the reasons why they ask them. The do’s and don’ts of a good résumé’s as well as ways to better prepare mentally for an interview are also there in a comprehensive easy to read format.

Remember that in business, The degree to which you cannot provide a unique Value-Add Proposition is in direct proportion to the degree you hurt yourself, your company and your industry. In any job interview, You are the company. The product you’re selling is YOU!

Job Hunting: “It’s still the First Impression stupid!”

In the 1992 USA Presidential election, political strategist James Carville hung a sign in Bill Clinton's Little Rock campaign office that read, “It’s still the economy, stupid.” His intent? Simply to keep everybody focused on the most important issue of the day. History clearly demonstrates he was right and George Bush Sr. was soundly defeated.

The lesson to be learned from this is that even the most important among us; the inarguably qualified, are still not immune to a potential to overlook the obvious.

When it comes to job-hunting, nearly everyone’s heard the mantra; You never get a second chance to make a first impression. True words to be sure - the importance of which, few will argue. Nevertheless, too many of us fail to appreciate how critical and how important the first impression really is.

Need proof? Try a little experiment of your own. Sit down at a local mall or somewhere there are people to pass by you. Assume for a second that every person you see is more than qualified for whatever job you want to imagine. Your task is to look at each person and decide whether you would offer them a job or not.

Strange as it may sound, you’ll find yourself saying things like, “That Person? Definitely not! Him? Maybe. Her? Not sure. That person? Without question!” and so on.

The fact is, you can evaluate people and the reason is, we ALL do it subconsciously ALL the time. It’s intrinsic to fundamental human interaction regardless of who we are or where we come from. Ironically, we couldn’t stop engaging in this activity even if we wanted to.

The chilling part of doing an experiment like this comes with the realization you could and were making INSTANT value judgments based solely on first impressions that, if it were in the real world, would have significant consequences [positive or negative] on the lives of those you’ve judged – and it only took you a second! Would it be too Carvillian of me to point out, “It’s still the First Impression stupid!” for success in the practice of job hunting?

Reflecting on my own experience as a trained recruitment interviewer for a Fortune 500 Company, first impressions colored nearly every interview. That’s not to say people were hired strictly on the way they looked but rather to point out those who made poor first impressions put themselves at an obvious and avoidable disadvantage from the get-go.

There is another misunderstanding as it relates to first encounters. A first impression has so nothing to do with having to look like a movie star and everything to do with Looking the Part.

Clearly few of us can compete with Britney Spears and I’ve never seen Brad Pitt looking back at me whenever I look in the mirror. The important aspect to understand here is that we must take what ever genetics has given us and then work diligently to a) ensure we make the best of it, and, b) make certain our appearance is convincing.

Professional actor Dustan Hoffman has played many convincing roles ranging from a gangster to a woman. Aside from his obvious acting talent, what made him credible was how he appeared. A dress and makeup were essential for his role in Tootsie but hardly believable for his part as the Savant in Rain Man.

We can learn another lesson from actors. Practice, Practice, PRACTICE! Long before any actor steps on stage or in front of the camera, considerable time and effort has gone into rehearsing for the role expressly to achieve one thing – Believability!

Actors look for guidance from other actors and directors in a focused effort to improve their presentation. Would it make sense we do the same if our comport; how we look, walk, talk, sound and appear - in the span of a few seconds - may make the difference in getting a job or not?

The Bottom Line:

Too often the barriers that challenge us for success in anything are indeed fundamental, obvious and avoidable. In job hunting, we’d do well to observe James Carville’s minimalist approach and remember, “It’s STILL the First Impression stupid!”

What’s causing my Depression and Fatigue?

Chronic Fatigue and Chronic Depression are absolutely systemic in our society today. Recent studies done by the AMA and CMA purport one in four people in North America are suffering from some form of chronic fatigue or depression and it’s expected eight out of ten of us will experience similar afflictions in our lifetime. But numbers like these don’t speak to the cause and only tell half the story.

In June of this year, my new book entitled, “Until You’ve Walked the Path” hit the bookstores. In it, I chronicle my own real life battle and recovery from CFS [Chronic Fatigue Syndrome]. I am pleased to say that from the responses I’ve received, the book has touched many people in a positive way, both those suffering from the disease, as well as caregivers, looking for new ways to aid the afflicted.

In conversations about CFS, the one question I am asked the most is, “What’s causing My [their] chronic depression and fatigue?” Followed by, “Is it just stress?”

I’ll admit I am not a doctor and have no medical training, however, I have done a fair bit of research over the last decade and I am a real CFS Survivor. That said, it is my belief there are three fundamental ‘Camps’ if you will, that can cause depression or fatigue and it is absolutely essential to determine what camp you are in to expedite speedy recovery.

Camp #1: CFIDS [Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome]

CFIDS is the new acronym for most immune dysfunctional disorders which covers a broad base of causes and outcomes. More specifically, the factors that can bring on CFS are viral. In my case I was diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr Virus [EBV]. Another common virus known to cause CFS is the ME Virus [Myalgic Encephalomyelitis]. An outcome associated with CFS sufferers is Fibromyalgia; an excruciatingly painful disease that effects all the muscles and joints in the body.

I could go on but the important point to understand is that most of what causes ‘Real’ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is most often viral. These viruses attack the immune system causing acute un-wellness, fatigue and depression. Stress is another immune-weakening phenomenon and is often a major cause for CFS. On the other hand, motivators like post viral infection – as it was in my case – is known to be much of the cause because of the damaging consequences it can affect to an otherwise healthy immune system. One outcome is Depression and Fatigue.

Camp #2: Mood Disorders

Mood disorders are perhaps easier for most people to understand. Not the diseases themselves but rather the fact that there are commonly known diseases like: By-Polar, Manic-Depression and Schizophrenia, to name but three. We all know they can cause behavioral – often unpredictable -changes in those afflicted. Another outcome is Depression and Fatigue.

Camp #3: Substance Abuse

Whether it’s drugs or alcohol, [prescribed or otherwise], many people fall victim to their affects that over time, can clearly evolve into conditions of un-wellness.

Stress-relief is often the reason for those who use drugs and alcohol on a regular basis and one need not be addicted to experience many of the health deteriorations that ultimately come about. Another outcome, of course, is Depression and Fatigue.

By now you may be seeing a bit of an assertion I am making in this article which now compels me to make two important points:

1. Depression and Fatigue can be outcomes from many different motivators.
2. It is critical for sufferers to seek out immediate professional help in determining precisely what is causing their fatigue and depression.

I have seen too many people needlessly wither away with diseases like these, never getting the right help. Many of them try to hide their problem and shrink into the shadows because it’s not a glamorous disease and for the most part, is still a little misunderstood – even by many in the medical field.

My advice is to find the right medical specialist who deals specifically with what’s causing your fatigue and depression. Understand that no doctor can be a specialist at everything and that the medicine, treatment and care for someone with Schizophrenia would be entirely different from what’s required to treat someone with substance abuse or a viral infection. The specialist would be just as different.

It’s also vitally important for those afflicted and caregivers alike to know that there is a short window of opportunity in getting diseases like these under control. That is to say, from my observation and experience, the longer one goes without proper diagnosis and treatment, the harder it is and less likely it is, recovery can be achieved.

Chronic Depression and Fatigues is not something one chooses to have and treatments like “Suck it up soldier!” or love deprivation do not work. Ignoring it works even less.

The Bottom Line:

What’s causing Your Depression and Fatigue could be many things. You need to align yourself with the right specialist, the right medication and the right treatment As Soon As Possible!

The good news? You can recover from it and you can triumph over it! I am living proof.

2005... Got Goals?

Ask anybody on January 2nd 2005 if they have New Years Resolutions or goals and nine out of ten will say, "Yes!" ...Ask the same people about their resolutions three months later and they'll look at you like a small goat discovering a new fence for the first time.

All good intentions aside, exhaustive studies have shown only 3% of the population engage in some form of goal-setting and only 1% on average, write them down.

It should be noted that there is no small coincidence in the 1% that write goals down and the highest achieving, highest income-earning men and women around the world.

Setting goals is the genesis from which things great and not so great are accomplished. Read any book on achievement or watch the Biography Channel and see the quintessential message is clear: Goals = Success!

If it's that simple though, why then are most people so unsuccessful in the fundamentals of Real goal-setting?

One legitimate answer may be our generation is busier than any generation in the past. Life today is not static and our preoccupation with just trying to 'get by' runs juxtaposed to the activities needed for maintaining concentrated goal achievement. Fair enough.

On the other hand, these same studies I mentioned are just as clear on the real reason most people - the ones who bother to set goals - will never achieve them. They don't write them down relying rather they be left to our memories to manage.

In my soon to be released Thought Book, I wrote:

Your goals are future landmarks on paths created by You.

Goal experts, however, will be quick to point out, "Unwritten goals are nothing more than Wishes"... and we know the world is full of people with plenty of wishes. Go to any lottery office or anywhere they sell things like DotCom Stock. In one place they wish they'd bought more, in the other they wish they hadn't bought any at all!

Real goal-achievement has so nothing to do with merely thinking of what we'd like to accomplish and everything to do with Not Forgetting.

As the young man once said, "My memory is the thing I use to forget with". If we buy-off on the precept, we are now the busiest, most preoccupied generation, it's no stretch then to believe the experts when they say, "Goals left only to memory are destined to fade like so many wishes".


*************************************

Before we look for the remedy to the goal-achievement challenge, it's important we understand the fundamental psychology of goal setting. That is to say, how it works.

Psychological studies on the highest achieving men and women demonstrate, people with clear, specific goals, immediately and by default, become psychologically Goal Oriented individuals. [No mystery there].

Since goals take place in the future, those with goals also by default become psychologically, motivationally, Future Oriented individuals.

Finally, since we can agree, we go to the trouble of having goals because we want to achieve them, another automatic psychological outcome is we immutably become psychologically, motivationally, human-behaviorally, actively, Success Oriented individuals.

[To put that into perspective, we can all think of people we know who are naturally, Failure Oriented individuals].

These hallmarks are known as the Three Unique Psychological Success Orientations - the stuff that governs everything we do in the present, the moment, the now, as we go about our lives putting people, places and things together to affect positive outcomes in the future as it relates to our goals.

That is, however, if we don't forget them!

The good news is, the simple act of reviewing our goals and activities on a daily basis, serves, in and of itself, to ensure we don't forget them - thereby keeping them fresh, clear, specific and at the front of our mind.

As mentioned and psychological studies show, unforgotten goals quite naturally engender Unique Psychological Success Orientations that by default, impact in a positive way, our thoughts and activities as we go through our lives focused undauntedly in the moment on things we wish to accomplish.


The Bottom Line:

Those without goals, more often than not, find themselves directionless relying mostly on things like luck. Goal-Setting is only the first step. Constant Goal-Review is the activity that ensures Goal-Achievement and Success!

Lego Laws for Life

Just about everybody owns or has owned a bucket of Legos in their time. There’s no denying the fun they provide for a child or even for an adult, which is why, many Lego collections are passed down from one generation to the next. These brightly colored blocks of joy serve to challenge our creativity and imaginations. They act as an empowering influence on our lives in that they almost beckon us to transform them into anything we want or can imagine.

Michelangelo was never short on imagination despite the fact he knew nothing of Legos. On completion of the Pietà [one of his greatest works of art] he was heard to have said, “The work of art was always in the block of marble. My job,” he went on, “was to chip away at the unneeded bits of stone to reveal the creativity and beauty within.”

It’s not a stretch to believe that if Michelangelo were alive today, he’d no doubt see similarities in a simple box of Legos. He may have pointed out; the art is always in the bricks… the challenge is to assemble them to reveal a thing of beauty.

How true - but where’s the relevance?


Lego Law #1: With Legos, There are No Restrictions!


Metaphorically speaking, Lego Law #1 in tandem with Michelangelo’s rationale clearly demonstrate a similarity to human beings and the laws that govern life.

Each one of us – without exception – is blessed at birth with creativity and imagination. To be fair, we’re not all blessed equally but there are still no limits on what we can do with the gifts we’ve been given. Although I could wax on for days about this , simply put, humans, like Lego, possess the fundamental building blocks to accomplish almost anything we want or can envision. And from Michelangelo’s perspective, the beauty [we all have the power to create] is already within us. We just have to chip away at life to find it.

Lego Law #2: Legos need Sunlight!

No imagination, beauty or creative works of art will ever come to fruition if the Lego collection is under a bed or in the back of a darkened closet. That is to say, to create great works of Lego art, one must liberate them from the dark to the light so that then – and only then – steps can be taken to build structure from inspiration and imagination.

How sad it is that most people go through life keeping their creative building blocks in the darkness of their mind. Henry David Thoreau noted, “Most people live lives of quiet desperation.” Like hidden Legos waiting for new creative opportunities, human beings innately possess the fundamental building blocks for improvement that sit patiently for new marching orders to express themselves.

Lego Law #3: Don’t be Afraid to Tear Down and Start Again!

Parents are often taken aback to see children destroy a Lego creation they worked hours on to complete. Psychologists are quick to remind parents, the act of destruction is both developmental and healthy. In the end, children learn better and more innovative ways to construct their ‘Lego-ations’.

Not surprisingly, the most successful men and women from all walks of life will attest to the fact that success of any kind results from the act of teardown and rebuild. The psychological motivation for this is not rooted in ongoing feelings of dissatisfaction or lack of accomplishment but rather a positive belief in the vital need to improve through renewal.

On the other hand, whether it’s Legos or Life, a complete teardown and rebuild is not always essential. In Legos, the addition of two imaginary jet engines may be all that’s necessary to turn a plane into a JET – and the same is also true for life strategies. Sometimes a fine-tune is all that’s required. The trick is, recognize it and don’t be afraid!

Lego Law #4: Lego Art Becomes an Immediate Target!

Don’t ever expect your childhood siblings to share in your Lego vision. The fact is; little brothers and sisters are always ready to help you expedite the Lego Law #3 ritual - especially the ‘Teardown’ phase. Experienced Legoists learn quickly to protect their creations to ensure they continue to reap the rewards of their hard work.

So too in the laws of life! Those who toil upward attract uninvited scrutiny on all they do as a result of their undaunted dedication to success. To dare to stand apart from the crowd, to embark on an uncharted course, to risk everything by tearing down to rebuild – opens one up to green-eyed interpretation and unexceptional ridicule.

For the true Legoist, it is risk that fuels the fires that creates the new and improved work of art. For high-achievers, risk fans the flames of passion, which, in the end, is what separates them from those who are destined to sit, uncomfortably, on the sidelines – having already put away their proverbial Legos!

: How important is it to stand apart from others in an interview and how difficult is it?

Any professionally trained interviewer can verify these questions are the most asked by people involved with job-hunting. How important is it? Absolutely vital! … How difficult is it? Not hard at all.

I can demonstrate the importance with a true story from my book ‘The Art of the Interview’.
[*Now on CD-ROM]


In the early 1980s I interviewed a young man who, in our meeting, began to quote information pertaining to the company he was applying. He cited the previous year's corporate gross revenue figures, the number of employees’ country wide, projected new product launches and other related information. Needless to say, I was impressed. He got the job.

In retrospect, although I tried to be unbiased, when comparing him to the other candidates, his knowledge of the company [The Company I worked for and Loved] colored in his favor, the whole interview. My impression was he had spent much time researching the organization which showed considerable interest and effort on his part. Not one of his competitors had done so.

Months later, I asked him where he’d done his research to find so much about the company. He smiled and said, “Remember our meeting was scheduled for 2: PM that day and you were running 15-minutes behind?” I nodded affirmatively. “Well, as I sat in the reception area waiting for you, I noticed, among the magazines on the coffee table, a Corporate year-end report in which, among other things, contained the company's complete history. Fifteen minutes gave me plenty of time to ‘research’ the company.” [And then he grinned]




This story is true although the important lesson here is; he did something so simple, that in the end, made such a huge difference. He beat out twenty other candidates - many of whom had more impressive credentials than he. The fact remains, when the moment counted, and with little effort, “He was Impressive!”

You may think me a little adamant as to the importance of this point. The fact remains, ‘Little Things’ can make ‘All the Difference’. For other examples of this we need only look at Olympic athletes.

The runner that crosses the finish line 1/100th of a second faster than the next wins Gold. A Gold Medal can mean the difference of millions of dollars in future endorsements.

One might ask; Is this Gold Medal winner ten times faster or better than the second runner? No, he is only 1/100th of a second faster – the length of a pencil. Decades of training and practice to become a Gold Medal winner, a celebrity and a multi-millionaire all came down to 7-inches – When It Counted!

For us, the other important factor to remember is that when interviewing for a new job, there is no Silver Medal, second place, so to speak. We either get the job or we don’t!

The Bottom Line:

Although it’s easy to see the task of standing apart in an interview, a little daunting. It is, nevertheless, absolutely integral to anyone’s success in today’s Unique Value-Add driven marketplace whether it’s products, services and/or especially when it relates to us. In the end, we are all trying to make a sale. Potential employers must buy-off on the value and uniqueness of us.

The good news? Standing out in a ‘Huge' way is rarely necessary and often we find, standing out a 'Little' - not all that difficult.

Good Job Hunting!

Until You've Walked the Path 

Go ahead… Toss the Starfish! …by Paul Shearstone

There is an old story that tells of a man walking along a beach when up ahead in the distance, he catches sight of another man acting strangely. As he gets closer, he notices the man is picking things up from the sand and throwing them into the water.

Upon reaching him, he sees the objects being tossed are starfish, stranded on shore by the retreating tide. Curious about his intentions, the first man asked, “What are you doing?”

“I am saving these starfish,” he replied. “They won’t survive in the sun until the tide returns.”

Totally taken aback by this statement, the first man said, rather indignantly, “Aren’t you being a little silly? Do you not realize how many hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of starfish there are in the sea and that by throwing a few back will make absolutely no difference at all?”

The second man said nothing but was unfazed. He picked up yet another starfish and threw it out into the waves. He hesitated for a moment, then looked back the first man and said, “I just made a difference for that one.”


It is an old story but a good one and it still serves to remind us – or maybe just me – of several important life lessons.

Given the unrest in the world of late and the day-to-day pressures, people endure; it comes as no surprise that too many of us have become conditioned to seeing our lot in life from a jaded point of view. We learn to accept the notion that we, as individuals, have no real control and/or that in the big scheme of things, what we do or influence, doesn’t really matter. As a result, we tend to retreat psychically, so as not to deal with conditions we believe beyond the realm of our control.

The net result is we act in ways in keeping with a defeatist’s outlook, or to borrow a phrase, to see the glass Half Empty. Almost everybody can think of people they know that fit this profile – perhaps even they themselves.

The starfish story serves to underscore the importance of a basic human psychological need for people to find balance and purpose in their daily life.

One could argue about who benefited more, the starfish or its benefactor. At the risk of sounding a little ‘out there’, we might ponder the question; in this example, whose life was made better? An answer might be that the starfish’s life was saved but that the man, albeit on a small scale, found ‘Purpose’ and no doubt, the feeling of satisfaction that comes from doing something good for others.

Although it would be easy to dismiss this observation as being a little academic or foolish, psychologists, nevertheless, will tell us that genuine feelings of - in this case, doing something simple but good – automatically influence one’s physiological chemistry. Simply put, when we feel good, our body produces endorphins that stimulate our brain and vital organs, which in turn, helps promote better health, pleasure and improved life-balance. We have all heard the expression, It is better to give than receive. Believe it!

Granted, the starfish example is a simple one, but the premise or law still holds true for human interactions more complex. For those who possess ‘Purpose’ – even marginally – find they are more in control than out. The fact is, they cannot be directionless if they have a ‘Purpose’.

Many find purpose in their job or career. They do not dread the work they do; they embrace it and benefit from it. In the workplace, they are a pleasure to be around. People, who find purpose in family, are apt to achieve enjoyment, satisfaction and pleasure in their own life – but only in the pursuit of their purpose, achieved only by serving others – which brings us to perhaps the most important point.

A generation ago, purpose-based coaching was more structured, finding bedrock in the traditional family unit, educational and religious institutions. We were all taught the Golden Rule: “Do unto others”. Sadly, however, we now live in different times. The traditional family unit has changed. It might even be broken. Religious institutions play less of a role with a greater number of people and today’s work environment is more challenging, complex and stress-filled than ever before.

The result? Near epidemic numbers of people suffering from depression and health related breakdowns. A world filled with too many individuals bereft of passion, purpose and self-fulfillment. As Mazlow once said, “Most people live lives of quiet desperation”.

Therefore, what can we learn from the starfish scenario? Two things.

1) The act of saving the starfish, in the end, brought greater benefit to the man than the starfish. “It is in the GIVING or the doing that we help ourselves!” Our reward? Purpose… A reason for being.

2) The Contagion Factor: Although the starfish story clearly demonstrates a moral, benevolence and wisdom, it stops short of casting light on the ultimate outcome from such an activity. It is no stretch to believe that the second man may have been inspired. In so doing, he may reevaluate his own jaded outlook, and wish to emulate the kindness he’d witnessed.

We know that an unselfish act serves as its own lesson and motivates others to react in kind. It is infectious! It is also circular or better put, “What goes around, comes around”. It brings with it, renewed purpose, balance, hope, health and satisfaction.

So go ahead… “Toss a Starfish!”

"Hope for the Helpless!"

One might think that because I am a Chronic Fatigue Survivor, caring for others battling this insidious disease, would be easy. Sadly, that is not the case!

In my book “Until You’ve Walked the Path” about my struggles with CFS, I refer to Danny, a good friend of mine that made a miraculous recovery from years of Chronic Depression. With the right medication and treatment from the Homewood Clinic, Danny finally found his way back to the light and put his depression behind him. That was a decade ago.

Recently, I received news that Danny had slipped back into a depressive chronic state to the point where he needed hospitalization. For whatever reason, Danny had decided to go off his medication.

In a tiny white hospital room on the third floor with no TV, no pictures and barely enough space to hold a single bed, I visited my friend. He had already been there for a week. He looked terrible!

Our conversation was strained and mostly one-sided. I understood and empathized due to my own firsthand experience with his condition. When one is that depressed, simple conversation is often a chore. Nevertheless, I persevered or more aptly put, we persevered.

While we talked, I found myself reminiscing the feelings I had back in the early 1990’s when doctors knew little about what was once coined the Yuppie Flu – a disease most people at the time had trouble believing was even a disease at all. Malingerers! That’s what they thought we were. How more wrong could they have been?

I remembered how fatigued and depressed I was and how difficult it was to articulate the gravity of my condition to others. And, for those fortunate enough to have never experienced ‘Real’ depression believed the tough-love “Suck-it-Up Soldier” to get over a little despair should surely work – shouldn’t it?

No… it never does.

As my conversation with Danny grew more one-sided, I found myself trying hard to be patient and even harder to hide any sign of impatience from him. It was then I caught my reflection in a tiny mirror on the clothes cupboard door in his room. Seeing the look on my face made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I had seen that face before. That distinct, exasperated expression, I had witnessed years ago on the faces of my family and caregivers who loved me enough to genuinely want to help, but felt so totally helpless in their efforts to do so. And, after all that, there I sat, this time, fortunately, on the other side of the fence, but nonetheless, feeling equally helpless in my efforts to help my friend.

Chronic Fatigue / Depression does not limit itself to the individuals who suffer from it. It also takes families, friends and loved ones hostage, rendering them unwitting victims to its demoralizing affects.

What makes this all so potentially worrisome is the recent statistics from studies done by the AMA and the CMA that purport: One in four people in North America are currently suffering from some form of Chronic Fatigue and/or Depression and eight out of ten of us will do battle with these diseases in our lifetime. Many will give up and lose the battle.

…………………………………………………

On a more positive note, those afflicted with these challenges “Can” recover. I am living proof. Clearly, specialists today are much better at diagnosing and treating these problems as is the success rate from medications now widely available that can be tailored to suit the express needs of any individual.

The most important advice I can give is for sufferers to seek out the right specialist IMMEDIATELY! Time is of the essence when it comes to chronic issues like Fatigue or Depression. The longer one takes to address the problem with the right treatment, the longer and more difficult it is to recover from it.

The second most important issue for those affected or those caring for it, is, Don’t Ever Give Up Hope! If you address the problem with the right prescription and management, renewed health – the experience of simply ‘Feeling Normal’ again – is achievable. I promise you!

As for Danny, he has a challenging road to recovery ahead of him. Where he is now and the medication he’s receiving is the right solution for getting him back to where he needs to be. It won’t be easy for him or his caregivers, but it will happen. He / they, have done it before.

My advice to caregivers is, the best medicine for your friend or loved one is your patience, your understanding and your steadfast belief that they can and will get better. Remember that the Helpless will look to you, to embolden their Hope!

Paul Shearstone is President of The CFIDS Foundation of Canada Inc.
He is an International Keynote Speaker, Author, Writer, Motivation, Corporate Ethics,
Sales, Time & Stress Management Specialist.

Paul enlightens and challenges audiences as he informs motivates and entertains.

To comment on this article or to book Paul for your next successful event we invite to
contact Paul Shearstone directly @ 416-728-5556 or 1-866-855-4590
www.success150.com or paul@success150.com



For more information and how to order Paul’s new book, “Until You’ve Walked the Path”
please visit www.paulshearstone.ca [also available at www.Amazon.ca and www.Chapters.ca]

“Every day millions of people struggle valiantly with the pain of CFIDS and Depression... the very real physical pain and the excruciating psychic pain of the soul. Paul gives both voice and face to their pain. More importantly, he gives expression to their courage, resilience, and valor. By his account of his own remarkable journey, he gives hope to the millions of others who are still on theirs".
Karen Liberman
Executive Director
Mood Disorders Association of Ontario