Inspire Me (April 2007)

True stories, quotes and information on inspiration, leadership and kindness to provide hope and direction in your life.

The Star Thrower
by Loren Eiseley

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a figure in the distance. As he got closer, he realized the figure was that of a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, "What are you doing?"

The youth replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean. The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

"Son," the man said, don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can't possibly make a difference!"

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, "I made a difference for that one."

The Tipping Point Of A Great Leader

What does the movie Coach Carter, the book The Tipping Point, and great leadership have in common?

Every Executive I work with wants to be a good, positive, and strong leader. When I ask them what they would like to change in order to make their life easier they often say things like, "it would be great if my team could think more independently to make the best decisions possible WITHOUT me
involved!"

But how do you do that? In order to answer that all we need to do is look at the above question because the answer is right there.

One of the most fundamental and pivotal points of a great leader is one most people hate to take on. It is the one ingredient that makes a huge difference between great parents and just okay parents. It is what makes a team stick or fall apart.

That one ingredient is consequences. It means that as a leader you have to have standards that you will NOT compromise no matter who is asking. It means that you have to follow up to make sure the standards are held up by all people. This can be very painful to do!

What I rarely see Executives do well is have direct consequences for poor behavior. In the movie Coach Carter each player had to sign a contract. The contract required them to have an average GPA of 2.3 while the state only required a 2.0, wear ties on game day, to participate in all
classes and to sit in the front row.

The players thought these demands were not fair and the parents even stood up and said these are ridiculous standards, yet Coach Carter stayed firm. Even his boss, the school principal, thought he was being too "harsh."

They all thought his standards were too high because they weren't the "average." Coach Carter replied that "these are student players. The first word in there is student and that's what I expect them to be."

Coach Carter took a job at Richman High School where only 50% of all students graduated and only six students out of every one hundred went on to college. That was a standard when he arrived. Parents, teachers and the school principal all told him that he was there to coach basketball and
nothing more.

As an Executive you will often face people feeling you are unfair because your "standards" are too high. They will push you to lower them. And often, like in the case of Coach Carter, it could be your boss that tries to get you to lower those standards.

When you have pressure like that it becomes even easier to let go of your consequences for not following the standards.

That is the first step to mediocrity.

In the book "The Tipping Point" Malcolm Gladwell proves over and over how ONE little thing can be the tipping point that sends a neighborhood to crime and violence. If one house has a window boarded up it is only a matter of time before crime creeps in to the neighborhood. Stopping the fare jumpers instead of going after the big criminals helped turn the subways around and reduced crime.

So check your own scoreboard. What are your standards? What are you willing to do to support those standards? What consequences will you FAIRLY and JUSTLY enforce to make sure
ALL PLAYERS know the standards and follow them?

For this next month, challenge yourself to focus on ONE standard you would like to see followed in your company and set about implementing it in your company. Then just sit back and watch the positive ripple effect.
____________

Anne Warfield
Impression Management Professionals

Don't Stop Now!

It was a sultry Saturday, July 2002. Hundreds of onlookers gazed at the participants in the annual track and field event in Durham, North Carolina.

Parents, friends, and spectators sat under colossal umbrellas shielding from the blazing sun, while restlessly shifting on the rigid and uncomfortable aluminum bleachers that surrounded the stadium.

At nine years old, she came running full speed and straight ahead, leaving everyone else behind while completing her 440-yard race. With arms outstretched, she crossed the finish line and victoriously walked off the track exhausted -- and a conqueror. Truly, she was the winner because
everyone else in the race was -- what seemed like miles behind.

Listening for the cheers of family and friends, she heard none. There were no victory cheers, no clapping, and no smiles. Instead, her supporters were yelling and motioning for her to keep going, because she had not won the race. Her race was not complete, because she stopped too soon! She stopped 12 feet before the official finish line!

Onlookers were stunned. Supporters' heads dropped and then emotions flared as outcries of disgust and blame rang throughout the stadium toward the event timers. "You're standing at the wrong line," someone yelled at the event timer. "You misled her into thinking that you were at the finish line," someone else shouted.

What had really happened? And, who was really to blame?

The true winner -- or so she thought -- did not complete her race. The true winner was in fact, not the winner at all.

Perhaps misguided by the event timers standing 12 feet before the finish line, she stopped, thinking that she had won. In her mind, she was the winner -- but according to the rules, she was not.

Trailing her, another runner crossed the official finish line and won the race. Why, because evidently, she knew what the goal was and was not going to stop until she reached it.
She did not allow distractions to stop her. She did not allow anyone to mislead her. She was not going to stop until she was indeed the WINNER!

What goals must you reach to be declared the winner in your life? What distractions must you ignore or get rid of to reach your goals?

Whatever your goals are, it is up to you, and no one else to reach them. Whatever the distractions are, it is up to you to honestly and wisely deal with or do away with them.

If you want to live a purposeful and fulfilling life, then wisely and wholeheartedly do what you must -- but don't stop until you reach them. Don't stop now!
_______________

Audrina Jones Bunton is a genuine Motivator on a heart-felt mission to encourage and inspire people to live life purposefully and fulfilled.