▼ Great leadership is the key to success.

Great communication is the key to great leadership. 

Think of any great leader in modern time: Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr, and John F. Kennedy come to mind immediately. 

They were powerful leaders because they could inspire people to follow them. 

It was their ability to articulate their vision that made them successful in achieving their goals.

▼ In your organization you must be the leader who inspires the team to great heights. 

To get them to follow you, be sure they are listening to your values and your vision, and then establish the right environment for them to thrive and grow.

✔ Values

When I mention values, everyone nods their heads as if of course, Kerri, that’s obvious. 

But, when I check up on this piece, I find the last time they discussed their values – personal and professional – with their team, was often in the interview before their people were even hired.

You must clearly know your personal values and your organization values to lead effectively.

 For example, do the answers to these questions come readily to mind?

✔ Personally:

1. What do you stand for?

2. What is most important to you?

3. What would you like your life to demonstrate?

4. What is your personal mission in life?

✔ Professionally:

1. What do you stand for?

2. What are you willing to do to get new business?

3. What are you not willing to do?

4. Do you have a professional mission statement?

▼ Quality leaders don’t change their values over time or to achieve short-term success. 

Consistent core organizational value systems form the strong foundation for long-term success.

▼ A simple definition is that your values are the rules by which you play the game. 

A well-defined value system makes all decisions easier and encourages your team to go where you lead.

✔ Vision 

It’s easy to say you have a vision for your business. 

It’s your lifeblood. You know it inside out. 

Writing it down is the next step. Sharing it widely with your team is imperative too. 

Even more importantly, your vision for the business must provide a unifying picture so that everyone on the team – regardless of job function – can see exactly where you’re going and the importance of their role in getting there. 

Therefore, the clearer the concept and the clearer (i.e., short and simple) the message is, the more likely you, and your team, can achieve the goal. 

Your vision needs to answer three questions. 

And it must answer those three questions for everyone on the team.

1. What do we do?

2. How do we do it

3. For whom do we do it?

As Jim Collins proved in his book, From Good to Great, this is not a 30 minute, one meeting exercise. 

This requires 100% participation. 

It can’t be a top-down decision. 

It must be iterative and inclusive.

✔ Environment

Andrew Carnegie said: 

“You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.” 

When you understand what is at the core of your team members, you can serve them and allow them to reach their full potential. 

Value their uniqueness. 

Your team members are your internal customers. 

You must treat them at least as well as your external customers. 

This is the highest level of customer service.

▼ Shape the right work environment and you’ll have loyal team members to lead. 

That means, you have to create a work environment that respects each person, appreciates them and rewards their effort, and encourages an openness to change. 

Make it a safe environment, one which encourages trying new ideas. 

When you unleash personal creativity, each team member has a stake in the outcome. 

It’s an environment that promotes growth at all levels. 

Combine all three elements and you have a formula for inspiring greatness and leading to breakthrough success. 

Do it now!

▲ Change requires power.

Any kind of change is a formidable challenge for most people.

Yet the Lord asks us to change from our old ways and do things His way.

Not an easy task!

▲ In your daily world, especially in this hectic instant access global culture where technology changes by the minute and you have to be adapting constantly, change is inevitable.

You are being pulled in diverse directions and the older you get the less elastic you become.

You get in the habit of doing things a certain way and become less tolerant to external demands to alter our lifestyle.

Modifying learned responses to habitual routine tasks often causes stress and anxiety, especially in older persons.

▲ However, when the Lord requires you to change your lifestyle,

He not only gives you the power to do so, but the result is a much more powerful you!

Some people say they love the Lord but refuse to make a commitment because they’re just not “ready” yet!

If only they realized that with the Lord everything goes smoothly, peacefully, and painlessly! Yes! Really!

▲ It’s your love for Him that prompts you to make adjustments .

All you need to do is lay your life before Him and ask Him to fashion you into a precious vessel for His use.

You cannot change on your own.

He is the potter, you are the clay.

The clay just lies there as a lifeless lump on the potter’s wheel while the master twists and turns it until it is just right.

All that is required of you is a willingness to want to be like Him.

▲ The more readily you give yourself fully to Him the more instant the transformation.

Suddenly they don’t seem so important any more.

When you were in the world your mind, alienated from God through ignorance and blindness, prompted you to do things your own way.

Once you know the Truth, you will want to put off all the vices and let your mind be washed by the Word.

▼ The first area that we look at is that of Personal Attributes.

This is a blend of knowledge, expertise, and competencies, encapsulated in the approach, the behaviour, of the leader. 

In organisations of all sizes and in all sectors, public and private, these characteristics are key to effective leadership. 

The essential personal attributes are as follows.

▼ Behaving Ethically, 

by: learning about the ethical issues and concerns that impact on your business sector; 

adopting a balanced, open-minded approach to the ethical concerns of others; considering the ethical issues and implications of all personal actions and organisational activity; 

raising and discussing ethical issues before proposing or agreeing to decisions; 

resisting pressures from the organisation or its partners to achieve objectives by unethical means.

▼ Thinking Strategically, by: learning and understanding how the different functions, physical divisions, and layers, of the organisation should work together: 

understanding the complexities of, and the changes happening in, the external environment, and considering how the organisation can best respond the these; 

understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation, 

and the opportunities and threats facing it; understanding how the strategic objectives are influenced by all the current and forecast influences that will impact on the organisation; 

understanding that the operational objectives and targets must be in line with and support the strategic objectives of the organisation; 

being aware of and responding to the behaviour of current and potential competitors.

▼ Supporting Corporate Goals, by: helping to create and communicate a vision which can be understood and supported by people at all levels; 

helping others to understand and contribute to the strategic goals; 

giving visible personal support to the strategic direction and specific goals set by the organisation.

▼ Communicating Effectively, by: being responsive to messages and signals from the internal and external environments; 

making effective use of communication channels from and to all levels within the organisation; pro-actively encourage the exchange of information within the organisation, 

and amongst suppliers, customers and partners; listening to others, including those with opposing views, carefully and thoughtfully; 

selecting personal communication styles that are appropriate to the different situations and audiences.

▼ Gathering Information, by: establishing multiple channels and networks which generate a constant flow of information, 

from within and outside the organisation; regularly and consistently gathering, 

analysing, challenging, and using the information gathered.

▼ Making Decisions, by: establishing a consistent approach to the analysis of information; drawing on personal experience and knowledge to identify current and potential problems; 

consider a range of solutions before selecting the final one; ensuring that the selected decision is feasible, achievable, and affordable; considering the impact of the decision on all stakeholders, 

at all levels, before approving implementation.

▼ Developing Effective Teams, by: appreciating the contribution of others, at all levels in the organisation; ensuring that individuals and teams are kept informed of plans, 

developments and issues that will affect them; ensuring that individual and team development schemes are given appropriate priority; 

providing personal support for the implementation and maintenance of development activities for individuals and teams at all levels.

▼ Behaving Assertively, by: understanding and responding to personal roles and responsibilities; adopting a leading role in initiating action and decision making; 

taking personal responsibility for decisions and actions; being properly prepared for involvement in activities and events; being confident and professional in dealing with change and challenges; 

refusing unreasonable demands; defending and protecting individuals and teams from unfair or discriminatory actions; remaining professional in manner at all times.

▼ Concentrating On Results, by: contributing to the establishment of an organisational culture that demands high standards and high levels of performance; focusing on objectives and planned outcomes, 

at all times; dealing with issues and problems when they arise; planning and scheduling personal work and the work of others in ways which make best use of available resources; 

delegating appropriately; giving personal attention to the critical issues and events.

✎ Managing Yourself, by: reflecting regularly on personal performance and progress; pro-actively asking for feedback on personal performance; 

changing personal behaviour in the light of feedback received; 

being responsible for your own personal development needs.

✎ Presenting a Positive Image, by: adopting a leading role in initiating action and decision making; 

behaving in a professional manner at all times; 

being open-minded and responsive to the needs of others; visibly working towards personal and career development goals; 

adopting an ethical approach to all personal and organisational activity; 

being supportive to colleagues; demonstrating fairness and integrity at all times.

▼ In Summary: these essential attributes are many, and difficult to maintain consistently, but they are the attributes needed by, and expected of, our business leaders. 

The size of the organisation, the business sector, whether public or private, is of no consequence. 

The leaders of all organisations should be role models for others, be visible champions of high standards of professional and ethical behaviour, 

be leaders who others in their organisations can be proud of, and be leaders that competitors are envious of. 

Not many of these characteristics are imbued in our leaders by default. 

They have to be learned, can be learned, and should then be continuously developed and enhanced. 

With these personal attributes in place, and being demonstrated in behaviour and actions, business leaders will be more effective and more successful.

▲ Goals are of vital importance in our lives. 

Many of us spend our lives without any definite purpose, simply drifting from place to place. 

Setting goals help us to focus our lives and to advance confidently in a definite direction. 

Without them, I don’t think our lives can truly be complete.


▲ If you are looking for proof of the importance of goals, you need not look any farther than two pivotal studies on success and goal-setting, one completed by Yale University and the other by Dr. Lewis Terman of Stanford University.


▲ In the first study, Yale University kept track of their graduates during a 20 year period and found that the 3% who set goals were worth more financially than the entire 97% of the students who did not!


▲ In the second study, Dr. Terman of Stanford conducted a study of 1,528 students all with IQ’s above the genius level. 

His study found that intelligence had nothing to do with success and financial acumen but that goal-setting did!


▲ So now we know that goal-setting is vitally important to our success, but how do we do it? 

I first recommend that you take a day or two (longer if needed) to spend some time meditating about your passions in life. Start to make a list. 

Some wise men recommend that you try to write down 100 goals for your life. 

Lou Holtz, the tremendously successful football coach at Notre Dame and more recently at the University of South Carolina, said that while still in his teens he wrote down over 100 goals for his life (one of which was to coach a college football team to a National Championship – which he did). 

A few years ago at about the age of 60, Coach Holtz had achieved every single goal he had written down. 

So he had to write another 100 goals and I’m sure he’ll get those before long too!


▲ I recommend that you try to write 100, write them out and break them out into long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals. 

You can write your own definition of the time periods involved, but I would recommend that short-term is up to 5 years from now, mid-term is 5 to 15 years from now, and long-term is 15+ years.


▲ Now that you have goals, you need to start taking advantage of them! 

This is where most would-be goal-setters fail. 

Anyone can write a goal, but I’d wager that if you asked 10 goal-setters what their short-term goals were after a week of setting those goals, that 9 out of 10 would not be able to answer!


▲ You need goals in your life in order to achieve your dreams and have the success you desire. 

But just as important is a system for keeping your goals constantly in your mind. 

We’re back to using affirmations and mind-imagery!


▲ After you’ve written out your 100 goals, take all of them and write them in the form of 100 affirmations. 

Example, if your goal is to earn enough money to take your wife on a second honeymoon to the Caribbean, then you could write: 

“I am enjoying the company of my wife in the Caribbean sun by January 1, 2020 with the money that I gladly save and invest for my benefit!”


▲ Then, follow the advice of Rod Moore of Self Management Systems who said:

“Each morning, the first thing you should do is spend 5 – 10 minutes and invest it in programming your mind to go get the goals you have set for yourself.

By doing so, you are imprinting or programming your mind each day to focus on what you want. 

By doing this consistently your sub-conscious mind will begin to manifest your desires into your life.”


▲ What I’ve found works best for me is to review my short-term goals daily, and then once a week review the mid-term and long-term goals making adjustments as necessary to the term of specific goals.

I find that this keeps me focused on achieving the goals with the shorter term without forgetting about the goals on the horizon.


▲ I want you to be tremendously successful and I believe that you will be with the techniques and exercises that we’ve discussed. 

Be a goal-setter, but don’t just set them and walk away. 

Set them and follow them and achieve the success you deserve! Until next time!

♡  There is a difference but what constitutes a life and what constitutes a lifestyle is pretty ambiguous.

One thing that seems pretty clear to me is the lifestyle is observable while a life can have many internal aspects to it. 

A lifestyle can include people, material things, environments, how we spend our time, energy, and money. 

A life includes things like our beliefs, our values, our commitments, our soul’s dream, and our vision. 

If you choose a lifestyle first you could wind up with an empty fortress. 

If you choose the life first, you will design your lifestyle to support the life.


♡  Since most of us already have a lifestyle, and a default life, we usually have to do some redesign work. 

Choose a life and then redesign our lifestyle.

 It is possible that the lifestyle you currently have will never support the life you truly want to live. 

It is possible the lifestyle you currently have has many supporting structures and only minor renovations need to occur. 

It is possible that you are a highly intuitive person and your lifestyle is in perfect alignment. 

I know very few people who fall into that category. 

My dad does but what I notice about him, is he and my mother made a conscious decision to structure their lives around their spiritual values. 

They made that decision early in their marriage and lived true to it. 

Now it’s interesting that my parents are actually old enough to be my grandparents, (my mother is no long living) and I noticed that many earlier generations were not given to having transformational conversations so learning was a very different process then than it is now. 

The fact that we have e-courses and teleclasses and magazines and tons of books that are created to help people learn to live more meaningful and personally fulfilling lives represents a shift from how things use to be.


♡  As we evolve we begin to look at various aspects of our lives for congruence to our values and commitments. 

The disparity shows up with exclamation marks behind them and sometimes our response is discouragement and self-disappointment. 

We act as if we should have known better when the truth is how could we have known better? 

So the first thing to get over is 

“I didn’t know” and then after we get over that we come to “but I know now…now what?”

It takes a courageous person to see this and then set their intentions on bringing integrity into their life so that their lifestyle gives them a life that serves their higher self. 

You will notice some people trying to work around it, pretending it doesn’t matter that their lifestyles don’t measure up to their core values.


♡  The real problem is once you see the inconsistency, not doing anything actually makes things worse and you lose ground really fast. 

It cost you big time to keep that inconsistency in place. 

You can’t be with yourself and be at peace in your life. It wears you down like water will wear down a mountain over time. 

Your life will devolve instead of evolve. 

If that is not a price that’s too high to pay, I don’t know what is. Just think about it and choose wisely the path you will follow.

✎ No question big decisions are what determine the direction of our life, and, as such, they deserve maximum attention and commitment once taken. 

However, this evident truth should not bring us into the mistake of caring too little about the small decisions.

I refer in particular to those small decisions that we repeat very often in a mostly automatic way, and so form our habits.

✎ If a decision is small but is systematically repeated, the idea that it is small is in fact an illusion. If the result we get is the sum of all our decisions and actions, small but repeated decisions take their part too.

For example, if you have the habit to procrastinate, and replace it with the habit to do first the things that you dislike most, this is likely to have a major impact on your life.


✎ Moreover, bad habits often regard “small” weaknesses that we have.

We believe we get more results by pressing on our points of strength than by working on our weaknesses, and this is another reason why we are likely to give little importance to some habits. 

That belief is true in most cases, in my opinion.

However, there are also instances (and I am sure you know which ones are for you) where it is an unresolved weakness that keeps us back from growing.

✎ Bad habits for which we do not care control a part of our life.

Everybody wants to gain power on the “external” world, but the first and essential power is on ourselves.

✎ To win a bad habit, or to introduce a new positive habit, we need to make an initial investment: this is for the time necessary for the decision/behaviour to become automatic.

However, this does not necessarily mean that you need to make a “painful effort” to change your habits.

The kind of feeling you associate with the process of working on your habits depends on the significance you give to the experience you are doing and the results you expect to obtain.

✎ If applicable, you can dedicate the next few days just to change one habit, and focus only on that one, all the time you can.

This will help you capitalize on the fact that often the same amount of energy if concentrated in a small time brings better results than if spread in a longer time.

Another way to is to immagine a dialogue with the habit you want to change.

You can keep on discussing in a friendly way till your habit is “convinced” that it is not acting according to your best interest, so the change will appear as a natural necessity.

✎ However you decide to deal with your habits, do not forget to dedicate them the attention they deserve.

☑ Think about the situation .

I’m sure you’re familiar with and I’m equally sure that it’s caused you a truckload of frustration and dejection.

And don’t worry, you’re not the only one it’s happened to, it happens to millions of others and it happened to me too – on far too many occasions to include here.

☑ Do you remember a time when you’d really had enough of your situation in life? 

Maybe you were sick and tired of servicing debt after debt. 

Perhaps you were bored with your job and had a burning desire to do something more exciting. 

Or maybe it was just something you wanted to do, a big adventure or learn a new skill or get together with someone you fancied like crazy.

☑ You made your plan. It was detailed too, and you were absolutely determined that nothing would stop you. 

You had a burning desire to get what you wanted, to change your life for the better and enjoy the feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment success would surely bring.

☑ To help you achieve your goals, you invested in self help books, courses and CD’s. 

Maybe you attended a couple of seminars? 

You said your affirmations, you wrote down your goals and you recited them every morning and every night, just like all of the gurus say.

☑ Surely nothing could stop you?

Nothing!

And yet, something did. 

Despite all of your good intentions and investments, the goals you so badly wanted to achieve just didn’t happen. But how could this be? 

After all of your efforts, how come you didn’t get what you wanted? 

You were unstoppable, you were determined – what stopped you?

☑ Honestly, this happened to me time after time and I’m sure it’s happened to you, yes? 

Well, here’s why you and me both have endured this frustration.

☑ When you consider making changes to your life, changes that will bring an enormous amount of happiness, fear will rise up like an angry storm and fill your mind with negatives, all beginning with “What if…”.

☑ What if things go wrong, what if you get rejected, what if you fail, what if you run out of money, what if you don’t like it, what if, what if, what if! 

Your fear knows you are putting yourself into a new situation, a situation that will open you up to various risks and it does not like this one little bit!

☑ Fear will do everything in its power to stop you from leaving the security of your comfortable life. 

It knows that if it persists enough with these negative possibilities, you won’t even take the first step towards your goals. 

Result? 

You continue in the same way, you don’t achieve your goals and you don’t change your life for the better.

☑ I’m going to share with you a very powerful way to get over this obstacle that your fear continually puts in front of you. 

And it’s so simple, you will be amazed at how effective this technique can be! 

But don’t let its simplicity deter you from putting it to use.

☑ Whenever you have these negative thoughts in your mind, use the power of indifference by using two words: 

“SO WHAT.”

☑ For example, when you have a thought that says something like: 

“What if I start this new IT course and I’m no good at it. I’ll look like a fool and I’ll have wasted time and money.” 

Just say:

“So what? 

I’ll give it my best shot and maybe it won’t be good enough but so what?”

☑ Another: “She’s absolutely gorgeous but if I go over, 

I might screw up or she might tell me to get lost and I’ll look stupid.”

“So what? If she does, then so what, her loss I’ll get someone else.”

☑ It’s so powerful because you’re indifferent to negative outcomes. 

You do your best to get what you want but if it doesn’t work out, if others don’t like it, if others laugh at you then SO WHAT?

☑ As soon as I used this technique I made rapid progress and I urge you to try it, it will help you conquer fear and take the first step towards your goals.