Leadership matters.

First off, I would like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and I'd also like to thank my teammates, especially Suzy and KCM! We gave up cable about a year ago so the girls would read more. It worked great up until the Broncos seasons started. Since then I've been listening to the games on the radio. I've never seen or listened to anything like it. I've been a Tebo fan ever since we signed him. The Broncos have had some rough times lately, but I'm crazy for the Broncos always and I always follow up if I miss a game and well lately I've listened to every minute. Then hit YouTube to ketch the highlights that I'd listened to. Listen to me I'm babbling, but if you've missed it, this thing that Tebo is doing here in Denver shouldn't be missed. Check out these links to witness his latest heroics and press conference that makes me want to put on some gear and play for the guy. These last eight weeks have been a little rough on yours truly spiritually and I woke up Sunday to my six year old daughter asking if I would take her back to church. This meant I would definitely miss most of the Broncos game, but I thought what would Tebo do? and the answer was obvious. Mary also came and we had an incredible time, together and in each of our perspective callings and classes. I got home and was able to ketch the fourth quarter, oh yeah and then I caught OT, again! The last six weeks have been uplifting to say the least, inspiring, fun and not just about Tebo, but about things that really matter, like God and family and friends and teammates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlJ2ShZYRDc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3dPkwvCD9A&feature=related

I saw time flying by so I grabbed my Blackberry and tried to take a few pictures of it.

I was driving from Beuno Vista to Leadville (about as far from home as I can get in my day), needing a rest and pulled onto a side road, crossed the tracks and climbed to a welcoming sunny spot along the river to get a stretch. I watched as the 4:30pm night time race across the valley from the Collegiate Peaks to right where I was standing. The Sun moves fast at 10,000 feet and I was acutely aware of the rapid pace of time. I pulled out my Blackberry and snapped off three pictures to see if I could capture this moment when I first saw it. Time flying by that is.

With the pace of time so great I some times find it hard to slow down and be in the moment. The only time we have to work with is the present. I searched out highlight scenes from the Peaceful Warrior that had helped me in the past and found a 10 minute clip that totally blew me away. Take it for what it's worth, but if you want some incredible coaching from Nick Nolte on clearing the garbage from your head and how to live life in the here and now, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF591hrRN9A

Top Ten Selling Strong Practices

Selling Strong Practices

#10 Sell yourself!

#9 Sell to win!

#8 Tell your story, in sales the best story wins!

#7 Sharpen the saw.

#6 Hustle!

#5 Plan a strong week.

#4 Know thyself.

#3 Laugh a lot with the people you love.

#2 Get fired up!

#1 Develop a grateful heart.

Motivation Soundtrack

http://pl.st/p/22624580619

My friend Thomas was a fellow Viking Hurler back in high school. He is now on his thirteenth visit to the south pole. Here are some incredible pictures he's been sharing! Inspiring!

Selling Strong Practice #10 Sell Yourself!

If you won't who will? Be your strongest supporter. You are selling yourself when you are selling anything. People buy from people they like. Let your customers in. Let them know who you are. It took me a while to figure this one out, but my doctors would ask me, "What's new?" I would jump on my sales message and tell them what's new about my product. What a dolt.

What's new. I'm new. A new man. This past weekend I went camping with my three girls and it was so great I must admit that I am a new man. It was so cold and I forgot my own sleeping, but my girls kept me warm. They were so brave. The sunrise was so bright. So warm. Revitalizing. Rewarding. A weekend like that makes a sales call like this a joy and an honor. I love it here. Do you camp? Check out this picture of a sunrise I will never forget.

Now that's what's new.

Selling Strong Practice #9 Sell to Win!

Life is a game. Play to win.

My Dad was a Champion.

My Dad always said all you need to do to be a Champion is win!

If you watch a group of kids playing basketball and they're not keeping score, what do you see? Long low percentage shot selection, trick shots, general lolly gaging. Not keeping score makes lollygagers. In that basketball game what happens when you start keeping score. Hustle. Competition. Strategy. Victory. Celebration! And best of all, NO LOLLYGAGERS!

Win!

Selling Strong Practice #8 Find your voice and help others find theirs. Tell your story. In sales the best story wins!

Blog. Post on Face Book. Tell your story. Who are you? What are you doing right now? What are you going to do next? And who you going to tell about it? Find your voice by speaking from the heart. When you tell your story with passion and believe in what you are saying people will listen. So know what you believe. Know what you stand for. Know what matters to you. Know what you know and what you don't.

Sell your story. In sales the best story wins.

Selling Strong Practice #7 Sharpen the Saw.

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my axe. -- AbrahamLincoln

Steven Covey's Seven Habits climaxes with this habits. Sharpen the saw. Improve yourself. Sharpen your tools. Hone your craft. Take the time to learn something new. I add share it with others. Learn then teach. Share your knowledge. It is the currency of the future. Start training yourself. Go back to school literally or figurative. Educate yourself. Read. Write.

When I was recently, temporarily separated from my company the thing I would have regretted most was that I hadn't taken advantage of all the benefits offered to better myself. So when I got a second chance in a modified version of my old territory  I decided to go for it. I went back to school online at the University of Phoenix. I am right now one week, and three six week courses away from a Maters Degree in Business with a concentration in technology management. As I write this I am realizing I am only posting as a way to procrastinate even more before doing what I need to do to finish the last week of the class I am currently taking. I have received a revitalizing education from the TRL library from work. The Tape Rental Library is awesome. CDs of everything from Steven Covey to Malcolm Gladwell, from Jack Welsh to Jim Collins, I recently had my annual review with my boss, I had reviewed twelve CDs in 2011! When asked about them I rattled off Blink, The Tipping Point, Love is the Next Killer App, From Good to Great, How Full is Your bucket?, Re-inventing yourself, The 17 Lies that Are Holding You Back and the Truth That Will Set You Free, The four Principles of Execution, Putting your Strength to Work, and the only one I didn't like, Power Speak. He said omg, what else have you been up to?
1. MBA
2. CMR
3. TRLs
4. Work
5. Play
I don't really know what's been going on with me lately. I think the more I've sharpened the saw the more I am able to cut. This has become an enjoyable process.

OK enough procrastination, I must now go write my part of the final group project and prepare for my final exam. Wish me luck.

Selling Strong Practice #6 Hustle!

My Dad always said, "Hustle is when you figure out how to make hard work fun!" Hustle can level the playing field. Hustle can overcome any limitation. Hustle is when you put in your whole heart and soul. Hustle is when you believe. Hustle is when you don't want to rest. Hustle is when you are on a roll. Whoever hustles most wins. Hustle is smart. Hustle is precise. Hustle waists no time. Hustle is when you say yes. Hustle doesn't hesitate. Hustle doesn't wait for permission. Hustle feels good. Hustle makes you strong!

What comes to mind when you hear the word hustle?

I played a lot of football and when I hear the word hustle I think of fumbles. Not the fumble itself, but what happens right after, mayhem. In an instant everything changes. The organized chaos stops and 22 men fight it out for one ball. Everyone HUSTLES for the ball. Its awesome! If you've ever recovered a fumble you know what I am talking about. Few victories are ever sweeter than one you had to really hustle for!

Don't work hard. Work smart. Don't work harder. Work smarter. Use you imagination and find a better way.

Stimulate your imagination. Inspire yourself. For me lately, appreciating the natural beauty of the landscape around me, snapping blackberries helped focus my imagination. The blog is the result.

Now go hustle up a win!

Shot some more blackberries onmywaytowork! My beautiful territory.

Selling Strong Practice #5 Plan a strong week

Sell Strong by filling your week with a lot of things that make you strong. Do things that make you happy. They make the arduous bearable.

Plan a strong day. Plan a strong week. Plan a strong month. Then work the plan.

Plan the strong day every day. Plan the strong week every week. And the strong month every, you guessed it, every month.

The strong day is planning in the present. What are you going to do now? And then, what are you going to do next. My partner who had been with Pfizer for 28 years told. If you wake up without a clue where you are going, ask your youself where can I go today andd who should I see where I can make the biggest impression? And then go there and see them.

Handle the whirlwind. Do something that moves you closer to the completion of all of your Biggies! (Big wigs) Wigs are wildly important goals and it is critical to only have 2 or 3 at a time. There are a lot of no biggies in the whirlwind. Deal with them. If you find it impossible to ride the whirlwind of all the things that must get done today to stay in business, you may be in the wrong business. I am not making light. I understand no biggies are not easy. Some no biggies can get you fired or put you out of business. This whirlwind is what keeps you where you are or blows you away. Apply the learning curve and figure it out. If you need help ask for it. But get the job done.

Now, what else can I do to really move things forward? It may be helpful to make the resolution of one of the more aggravating no biggies a Big Wig.

The strong week is critical in so many ways. Even God had his strong week in seven days. On the seventh day what did he do?  He rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day. To sell strong I believe you must not sell at least one day a week and make that day a blessing.

The strong month. You figure it out!

The truth hurts

My favorite wood box wisdom clipping

My Dad left me a wood box full of clippings he had collected over a very big life!

Love what you got, then use it.

My brother shot these pictures of the Maroon Bells near Aspen.

Selling Strong Practice #4 Know thyself.

Really know thyself. For me, everything changed when I took the Stregthfinder 2.0 test. I've been blessed by two consecutive bosses who were highly committed to strengths based management. Knowing your strengths. Knowing what you do well naturally. Knowing what makes you strong. Is a very powerful tool. My mentor recently said knowledge is powerful, self knowledge is empowering.

Do yourself a favor and use this tool to find your strengths: http://www.strengthsfinder.com/home.aspx

If you don't want to pay for Strengthfinder2.0 pass code, this site gives you free access to the predecessor to 2.0, the Clifton Strengthfiner for free!!!

These are some of the insights I was given:

My top 5 themes are Competitive, Woo, Empathy, Maximizer, Adaptability

Shared Theme Description

People who are especially talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against

the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights

What makes you stand out?

Because of your strengths, you automatically vied for the top ranking in contests and games

as a child. Reflecting on your youth, you probably remember being self-sufficient, assertive,

and/or bold. Instinctively, you are driven to be the very best. This explains why you continue

to forge ahead in the face of difficulties or even near exhaustion. When comparisons are

made, you yearn to be the winner. Your motivation to excel likely matches your need to be

declared trustworthy, knowledgeable, and accomplished. It’s very likely that you sometimes

work hard to reach specific personal or professional goals. These include, but are not limited

to, earning a pay raise, winning a promotion, receiving a degree, acquiring something you

value, or completing a certification program. Perhaps challenges related to status motivate

you more than others do. Driven by your talents, you sometimes outwit people by capitalizing

on your ingenuity — that is, your originality. When scores are being tallied, you might rely

on your talents to emerge the victor. By nature, you may join certain teams to enhance your

chances of attaining fame, fortune, power, prestige, promotions, or success. Sometimes you

do things to build up your resume.

It nailed me, "Your motivation to excel likely matches your need to be

declared trustworthy, knowledgeable, and accomplished."

Selling Strong Practice #3 Laugh a lot with the people you love.

I dare you to share some of these links and try not to laugh with the people you love. A good friend shared these pearls of musical humor and I've been laughin' ever since. I sing Eharmony with my three daughters. The NASCAR  prayer is my new theme song and I trully am thankful for my smokin' hot wife!

Lord I want to thank you for my smokn' hot wife! PG
Best NASCAR prayer ever!...3,000,000 hits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZnDt2wEFjk

E.harmony best ever...9,000,000 hits! My daughters' favorite. G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP4NMoJcFd4

The rent is too damn high!...5,000,000 hits! PG-13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg5SwyTvAHw

The bed intruder song...91,000,000 hits!!! strict R rated no one under 17 needs to see this! This means you Kayla!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw

Selling Strong Practice #2 Get fired up!

Think of the human spirit as a fire. It must be stoked and fed to keep burning bright. Take this YouTube tour and get fired up.

best commercial ever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQHvO8XyL1g

underdog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=5u9zzwQ2zO4

inch by inch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6acZOQsNkfk

rocky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN73LEvloZE

go get it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPnudujlBZI

happiness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=pCq7eGKcs-w

Selling Strong Practice #1 Develop a greatful heart.

Gratitude gives me strength!

After my father died my mother gave me several of his things. My favotite is his old wood box full of clippings. It took me six years to finally open it. I've been blogging about it and him at dumbdumbdaddyo.blogspot.com and call the pearls from it "Wood Box Wisdom" and I am so grateful for them.

I snapped this with my BlackBerry onmywaytowork!