“How do you know if a man needs encouragement? If he is breathing.” -Truett Cathy, Founder, Chick-Fil-A
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Do you have stray gift cards laying around (or in your wallet) that have small balances left on them? Instead of throwing them away, considering sending them to GiftCardGiver.com and let them route them to a non-profit that can use them to benefit others. Here's an excerpt from their story: Four friends had an idea to collect gift cards and give them to people in need. They went to a gathering and asked 8 people how much money in unused Gift Cards they had in their wallets and walked away with $50 in Gift Cards to help people in need. GiftCardGiver.com was born. Gift Card Giver is a new form of giving. The Gift Card industry has risen to be a 60 billion dollar industry. Ever wonder how many gift cards are unused? More than 10%. That means billions of dollars are waiting to be used for good on Gift…
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Author Jon Gordon ("The Shark and the Goldfish" and "The Energy Bus") has a great blog post on "5 Things to do Instead of Complaining." The basic idea is this: we can choose how to respond to our environments. Here is the article: ********** I’ve been speaking to a lot of organizations around the country and the one thing I keep hearing from leaders and employees is that complaining is at an all time high. I’m not surprised. There are two main reasons why we complain. 1. We complain because we feel powerless. 2. We complain because it’s a habit. The economy has shaken a lot of people’s foundations and we feel powerless which leads to a rise in habitual complaining. So this week I want to encourage you to go on a complaining fast. Not because it will make everyone around you happier, although it will, but because it…
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Tom Peters has a good reminder for leaders: "They watch your feet, not your lips." Those we lead may listen to our words, but they also watch our actions. To the extent that our actions match our words, our leadership influence will grow and trust will increase.
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Greg Stielstra at the PyroMarketing blog has an interesting article entitled "Are You a Stuntman?" In it he explores the difference between people who fall and break a bone and stuntmen who fall and spring right back up. Why? Two basic factors: Surprise vs. Expectation Stopping the fall vs. Starting to land Those who get hurt by falling are usually those who never expected to fall. In other words, they are surprised by the fall. Because they are surprised, they are also unprepared. The life lessons are innumerable. Stielstra also does a good job building off the old joke, "It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop." As they are falling, stuntmen are planning how they will land. It might look ugly but it's planned and thought out. Take a trip over to the article. Read it and think about how to apply it.
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