#powerthoughts

The true stewardship of a woman lies not in what she has, but in how she affects the lives of others.
Rheba Washington-Lindsey Quotes

Power Thought Coaching:

I’m like anyone else and I have days where the only balance sheet I see is the one that shows what I have and what I don’t have yet.  We get to be reminders to each other of the ways in which we matter and how we make our lives count for something.  How are you affecting the lives of others?  How do you want to affect the lives of others and what do you need to do to fill that gap?

Your partner in saying ‘YES!’ passionately to life,
Tracy Phaup
http://www.tracyphaup.com

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The Last Word on Power: Re-Invention for Leaders and Anyone Who Must Make the Impossible Happen by Tracy Goss

“Today’s leaders are reinventing everything but themselves, and this is why so many attempts to revolutionize business fail. The last word on power is the key method in reinventing executives so they can take on “a mission impossible” based on a course designed and run exclusively for the past fifteen years by Tracy Goss. Do you want to do work that is worthy of your time and talent? Do you want to make your mark on your company, industry, community? Are you dissatisfied with the fact that reengineering, quality improvements, and other changes never make a lasting impact? Then you need to go beyond the techniques of improvement and learn the skills of being extraordinary.

The power to be extraordinary is not one we are born with. It’s not the power to fix what’s wrong or improve what’s right. It is a power one learns in a course that for the past fifteen years has been designed and run exclusively for top executives by consultant Tracy Goss. For the first time, Goss makes her coursework available to the general reader in The Last Word On Power. Goss’s unique methodology shows how “you can put at risk the success you have achieved for the ‘possibility’ you can be.” She positions executives to take on the future they dream about. She teaches how to behave differently so you can be free of constraints from the past. She shows how you can be at home in an environment in which you are constantly surrounded by threats, and how to transcend the ordinary so that you can make the impossible happen. Her work has resulted in important life changes and organizational reinventions throughout the world. ”
Buy it now from Amazon.com

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Coaching Your Kids to Be Leaders: The Keys to Unlocking Their Potential
Pat Williams

Coaching Your Kids to Be Leaders by Pat Williams, Foreword by John Wooden

As senior vice president of the Orlando Magic and former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, Pat Williams knows how to nurture young talent and instill the passion, commitment, and determination necessary to become a champion. After conducting over 800 interviews with leaders at all levels—little league coaches, high school athletic directors, college professors and business professionals—Williams has learned even more. As an NBA executive, Williams drafted and molded leaders such as Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Maurice Cheeks and Julius Erving. Twelve of his former players have become NBA head coaches and seventeen have become assistant coaches.

At home, Pat Williams’ family was his own personal team. As the father of 19 children, fourteen adopted from four foreign nations, Williams discovered the keys to motivate his children to become tomorrow’s leaders in the military, athletics and business. In COACHING YOUR KIDS TO BE LEADERS: THE KEYS TO UNLOCKING THEIR POTENTIAL, Williams distills his wisdom into Seven Keys to Effective Leadership. Williams says, “It is up to us as parents, coaches, teachers, pastors, youth group advisors, and mentors to inspire and motivate young leaders to build these seven qualities into their lives.” COACHING YOUR KIDS TO BE LEADERS is the essential guide for all adults who work with and care about young people. Based on his own personal experience and over 800 interviews with today’s leaders—such as General Tommy Franks, Joe Torre, Newt Gingrich, Governor Jeb Bush and Bobby Bowden—Pat Williams shows how adults can motivate and inspire children to avoid common pitfalls and negative peer pressure to become leaders in every area of their lives and succeed in all their future endeavors.

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22 Immutable Laws of marketing

22 Immutable Laws of Marketing:  Violate Them at Your Own Risk by Al Ries and Jack Trout

Library Journal describes this book as…

“Ries and Trout, authors of some of the most popular titles in marketing published during the last decade continue the same breezy style, with lots of anecdotes and insider views of contemporary marketing strategy. The premise behind this book is that in order for marketing strategies to work, they must be in tune with some quintessential force in the marketplace. Just as the laws of physics define the workings of the universe, so do successful marketing programs conform to the “22 Laws.” Each law is presented with illustrations of how it works based on actual companies and their marketing strategies… The book is fun to read, contains solid information, and should be acquired by all public and business school libraries. ”

My notes on what I found to be of particular interest…

The 22 “immutable” laws of marketing:

1. The law of leadership: you want to be first in a category rather than “best” in a category.
2. The law of the category: if you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.
3. The law of the mind: even more important than being first in the marketplace is being first in the mind.
4. The law of perception: perceptions count for more than products.
5. The law of focus: owning a word in the prospect’s mind is the most powerful thing there is in marketing. For instance, “kleenex” with paper tissues, “google” with search on the internet, or “xerox” with copiers.
6. The law of exclusivity: two companies cannot both own the same word in the prospect’s mind.
7. The law of the ladder: your strategy depends on where you are on the ladder. On top? One rung down? Your product’s location on the ladder determines what strategic options are available to you.
8. The law of duality: with time, all markets become two-horse races.
9. The law of the opposite: if you are aiming for second place, your strategy is determined by the market leader.
10. The law of division: with time, a given category will split, and become two, or more categories.
11. The law of perspective: the effects of marketing are not immediate and need time to be effective.
12. The law of line extension: the pressure to extend a brand is irresistible, causing what was once a tightly focused product to be a thinly spread line of many products.
13. The law of sacrifice: in order to get something, you must be willing to give up something else.
14. The law of attributes: for every attribute, there is an opposite effective attribute
15. The law of candor: when you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive. The example given is of Avis admitting that they are number 2 in rental cars.
16. The law of singularity: for every situation, only one move will produce substantial results.
17. The law of unpredictability: “unless you write your competitor’s plans, you can’t predict the future.”
18. The law of success: “success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure.” Never stray too far from your customers.
19. The law of failure: failure is to be expected and accepted, so don’t be afraid to take risks. You must also be ready to cut your losses when confronted with failure, however.
20. the law of hype: your situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press: “When things are going well, a company doesn’t need the hype. When you need the hype, it usually means you’re in trouble.”
21. The law of acceleration: “successful programs are not built on fads, they’re built on trends.”
22. The law of resources: “without adequate funding, an idea won’t get off the ground.”

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Abraham Lincoln really was born in a log cabin. The fact that he went on to become President — and to lead the country through the most difficult period of its history — is truly remarkable. It is even more amazing when you consider what it took to be an important leader in the middle of the nineteenth century. Although we hear a lot about people like Lincoln or Andrew Jackson or Ulysses S. Grant — people who came from nothing to wield great power — these were most definitely the exceptions that proved the rule. Moreover, the rule was, most successful people started out with all the advantages.

Financially, it was much harder to get rich a hundred and fifty years ago than it is today — and if you failed, it was much harder to get back on your feet. There was no safety net from the government or from anywhere else to make sure that you did not go hungry. In those days, it was every man for himself.

With that in mind, let’s look for a minute at some of the things that Lincoln faced and overcame. You have probably seen lists similar to this, describing Lincoln’s failures, but I’d like to go through it again in order to make some important points, which we will take up immediately after the list. As you are reading this list, I’d like you also to think of setbacks you have faced in your own life, and how you responded to them.

In 1832, Lincoln was working in a general store in Illinois when he decided to run for the state legislature. However, the election was some months away, and before it took place, the general store went bankrupt and Lincoln was out of a job. So, he joined the army and served three months. When he got out, it was time for the election — which he lost.

Then, with a partner, Lincoln opened a new general store. His partner embezzled from the business, and the store went broke. In addition, shortly thereafter, the partner died, leaving Lincoln with debts that took several years to pay off.

In 1834, Lincoln ran again for the state legislature, and this time he won. He was even elected to three more terms of two years each. During this period, however, Lincoln also suffered some severe emotional problems. Today he would have been categorized as clinically depressed.

By 1836, Lincoln had become a licensed attorney. At that time, a law degree was not required to pass the bar exam, and Lincoln had been studying on his own for years. He later became a circuit-riding lawyer, traveling from county to county in Illinois to plead cases in different jurisdictions. He was one of the most diligent of all the lawyers doing this kind of work, and between 1849 and 1860 he missed only two court sessions on the circuit.

In 1838, he was defeated in an attempt to become Speaker of the Illinois legislature, and in 1843, he was defeated in an attempt to win nomination for Congress. In 1846, he was elected to Congress, but in 1848, he had to leave because his party had a policy of limiting terms. In 1854, he was defeated in a run for the U.S. Senate. In 1856, he lost the nomination for Vice President, and in 1858, he was again defeated in a race for the Senate. Yet in spite of all these setbacks, in 1860 he was elected President of the United States.

What can we learn about leadership from looking at this chronology? To me, the most remarkable thing is how every time Lincoln failed at something, he was soon trying for something even bigger. After he lost his seat in the state legislature, he ran for the national congress. After he lost a bid for the Senate, he tried to become vice president — and after he lost the Senate race again, he ended up President of the whole country.

Lincoln saw himself as a leader long before anyone else did — and this is the first key to his leadership genius. He may have failed many times, but somehow he always failed upward. He was propelled by a sense of mission, and he was willing and able to do whatever it took to get that great mission accomplished.

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