Learning from reading has been a theme in the last few messages. Today I am launching an Amazon Bookstore to help you find books that will help you reach your goals.
I hope you will post comments about the books and tell us what you are reading.
http://astore.amazon.com/businessbooks101-20
Monday, September 17, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Learning From Others
In addition to learning from reading, I learn from talking to other people. The trick is finding people who know what I need to learn when I need the information. Many people call this "Just in time" learning or information. The internet brings a lot of information, and it is such an interactive media that it affords real dialogue.
When I have face-to-face meetings and conversations, my learning is faster because I can ask questions and interact on more levels. I have some writing projects in process. As the projects progress, I needed information faster than I have been able to acquire it through reading. So I joined a local publishers group. I have learned more in a few meetings of the St. Louis Publisher's Association than I read in the past year. They even helped me decide which books to read next.
Remember to look for a variety of ways to learn. When you set a goal for yourself, see if you can identify any local and/or online groups or communities that can help you accelerate your learning. Group coaching can be effective for similar reasons. Consider gathering a group of people to form around meeting goals. The group can have common goals, or the group can help the members achieve individual goals.
When I have face-to-face meetings and conversations, my learning is faster because I can ask questions and interact on more levels. I have some writing projects in process. As the projects progress, I needed information faster than I have been able to acquire it through reading. So I joined a local publishers group. I have learned more in a few meetings of the St. Louis Publisher's Association than I read in the past year. They even helped me decide which books to read next.
Remember to look for a variety of ways to learn. When you set a goal for yourself, see if you can identify any local and/or online groups or communities that can help you accelerate your learning. Group coaching can be effective for similar reasons. Consider gathering a group of people to form around meeting goals. The group can have common goals, or the group can help the members achieve individual goals.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Blogging Much?
How much BLOGGING is enough?
Everything has a learning curve. I always start learning by READING. I am working my way down a list of articles right now that a friend suggested.
Blogging Articles 55 Must Reads
I hope you will find these interesting. How do you start learning something new?
Everything has a learning curve. I always start learning by READING. I am working my way down a list of articles right now that a friend suggested.
Blogging Articles 55 Must Reads
I hope you will find these interesting. How do you start learning something new?
Saturday, June 30, 2007
When to Hire a Business Coach article in Entrepreneur magazine
When do you think you would hire a coach? The June article in Entrepreneur magazine has a story about deciding when to hire a business coach. Coaching can involve training, but it is more than training because it helps people apply the new knowledge and assess how well they are progressing toward their goals.
Enjoy the article in Entrepreneur and then come back to talk about it. Here is the link to the article: http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2007/june/178522.html
Enjoy the article in Entrepreneur and then come back to talk about it. Here is the link to the article: http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2007/june/178522.html
Friday, June 15, 2007
Choices and Accountability?
“Choices and Accountability”
A teacher friend recently described this two-word recipe for success in life. This fine teacher spent years teaching young men and women how to make wise choices and accept personal accountability. The teacher fostered accountability with peers and mentors to assure that the students’ choices were wise. He also used relationships to verify that the students’ actions and the words matched up to produce the students’ stated and intended outcomes.
This “Choices and Accountability” recipe is a lot easier to see at work in the classroom than it is in adult life. One reason is that the classroom has good feedback systems and metrics that make accountability easier to create/understand. Without a source of evaluation, most people will find it hard to experience success. I did not say they would not succeed, but that they would lack the experience of succeeding.
We thrive on the experience of success. Students, who begin to work hard, receive improved grades. The ability to watch their grades increase can motivate them to work harder to achieve higher and higher goals and to learn to accomplish more in their learning. In this feedback rich environment, they also become smarter and better educated.
Adults find it harder to experience success. Fewer and fewer feedback systems allow adults to assess accurately how well their choices are working. Many adults end up trying to experience success based on income. The logic goes something like – “if I work hard, if I am bright, capable, talented, gifted, etc. then I will be rewarded with income and positive feedback/attention.” How many hardworking, talented good-hearted people do you know today who do not seem to receive recognition or compensation that reflects what they pour into life?
Is this vicious cycle of working harder and harder a sign of failure? People engaging in this kind of cycle certainly do not have an experience of being successful. That does not make it failure. It might make us think about the two-word recipe though. What choices lead us to give more and more while we receive less and less in return? Whom do we become accountable to when we enter into a cycle of low return? Will “Choices and Accountability” lead us to a more fulfilling and satisfying life?
Share your experience.
A teacher friend recently described this two-word recipe for success in life. This fine teacher spent years teaching young men and women how to make wise choices and accept personal accountability. The teacher fostered accountability with peers and mentors to assure that the students’ choices were wise. He also used relationships to verify that the students’ actions and the words matched up to produce the students’ stated and intended outcomes.
This “Choices and Accountability” recipe is a lot easier to see at work in the classroom than it is in adult life. One reason is that the classroom has good feedback systems and metrics that make accountability easier to create/understand. Without a source of evaluation, most people will find it hard to experience success. I did not say they would not succeed, but that they would lack the experience of succeeding.
We thrive on the experience of success. Students, who begin to work hard, receive improved grades. The ability to watch their grades increase can motivate them to work harder to achieve higher and higher goals and to learn to accomplish more in their learning. In this feedback rich environment, they also become smarter and better educated.
Adults find it harder to experience success. Fewer and fewer feedback systems allow adults to assess accurately how well their choices are working. Many adults end up trying to experience success based on income. The logic goes something like – “if I work hard, if I am bright, capable, talented, gifted, etc. then I will be rewarded with income and positive feedback/attention.” How many hardworking, talented good-hearted people do you know today who do not seem to receive recognition or compensation that reflects what they pour into life?
Is this vicious cycle of working harder and harder a sign of failure? People engaging in this kind of cycle certainly do not have an experience of being successful. That does not make it failure. It might make us think about the two-word recipe though. What choices lead us to give more and more while we receive less and less in return? Whom do we become accountable to when we enter into a cycle of low return? Will “Choices and Accountability” lead us to a more fulfilling and satisfying life?
Share your experience.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Keeping Score
Spring training for baseball is coming to a close as the season opens. Maybe your resolutions are in Spring training mode and now you are ready to make the lifestyle changes that will let you win the season of games.
How do you keep score? In addition to using a defined process that lets you gather feedback to evaluate how well you are performing, you also need a way to keep score.
Coaching can help people define the processes that work for them and also identify meaningful ways to keep score and win.
How is your game?
How do you keep score? In addition to using a defined process that lets you gather feedback to evaluate how well you are performing, you also need a way to keep score.
Coaching can help people define the processes that work for them and also identify meaningful ways to keep score and win.
How is your game?
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Process Approach
The New Year is off and running and this is a great time to evaluate your resolution progress. Are you where you want to be? What process do you use to evaluate your progress toward any goals?
If you use a process approach, you will be more productive in reaching goals and evaluating progress. In every field and organization the idea of "process" enters discussions of how to do anything well. It isn't enough to make widgets, we need to define the process of making them and have readily available information about the processes so we can understand the process better and thereby improve processes further. The hope is that this will add value and produce better widgets faster and less expensively.
In your own life have you tried to use a process approach to the goal you want to achieve? What widget is on your list of resolutions that you would like to effectively identify a process for achieving the goal and being able to continuously improve that area of your life even after you reach the goal?
Think "How" do I do that, how can I reach that, how can I understand what holds me back, how, how, how...
If you use a process approach, you will be more productive in reaching goals and evaluating progress. In every field and organization the idea of "process" enters discussions of how to do anything well. It isn't enough to make widgets, we need to define the process of making them and have readily available information about the processes so we can understand the process better and thereby improve processes further. The hope is that this will add value and produce better widgets faster and less expensively.
In your own life have you tried to use a process approach to the goal you want to achieve? What widget is on your list of resolutions that you would like to effectively identify a process for achieving the goal and being able to continuously improve that area of your life even after you reach the goal?
Think "How" do I do that, how can I reach that, how can I understand what holds me back, how, how, how...
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