Thank Goodness It's Monday #293

EXCUSE ME …

I HATE TO INTERRUPT …

BUT COULD YOU PLEASE READ
THIS MODEST ITEM

ABOUT ASSERTIVENESS?

Timidity – like that expressed in the headline – is a trait surprisingly common even among individuals who seem decisive and sure of themselves.

Many community leaders and workplace managers – even the most accomplished – display tentative, apprehensive behavior from time to time. And as a result their ability to lead, and the effectiveness of the people they hope to lead, suffers in some form or degree.

I was reminded of that the other day when, hot on the heels of “Fashion Week” in New York City, I heard a story that went like this:

The head of the dress division of a well-known fashion house had trouble sticking to decisions. But as production and promotion deadlines drew near, he decided to increase the prices of the firm’s spring line. His associates, well acquainted with his vacillation, asked him if that was his final decision.

“Of course it’s final!” he snapped.

But the next day …

An industry acquaintance put a bug in his ear that the new prices were not competitive.

So he changed his mind.

Then the firm’s founder, hearing of the newly “lowered” prices, sternly advised our waffler that their dresses had always competed on quality, not price.

So the division head changed his mind again.

And his associates threw up their hands.

What causes timidity and indecision like this? We could probably go off on a deep and long discussion of the psychology of such indecisiveness, concluding that the source can be found in the childhood habit of submitting to a dominant parent. So when, as a grown up, that person has to play a role of authority, he or she reverts to ingrained timidity and submissiveness.

And we’d often be close to the truth. In an introspective moment our fashion division head said (paraphrasing and condensing here): “I’m a grown man. I’m seriously good at the manufacturing process and have an eye for style and color. But out of my comfort zones I often feel like an inadequate child, and I probably come across that way.”

So sufferers know, at some level, they’re not acting properly and in the best interests of the enterprise. And often they’ll attempt to break the mold with the unfortunate result being aggressive and rigid “my way or the highway” behavior.

TGIM Takeaway: Ideally managers and leaders are neither timid nor dictatorial. They have the confidence to act democratically and to respect the opinions of others. They get their input from many sources, consider their own doubts and concerns, and make a decision.

Then – unless circumstances change significantly – they stick to that decision. They know that uncertainty and vacillation are signs of weak leadership, and they make every effort to be strong.

If you, like many top managers, have traces of timidity in you, what can you do about it?

TGIM ACTION IDEAS: Here are four suggestions:

#1: Send the soup back if it’s cold. Practice acting assertively. Say something if someone tries to get ahead of you in line. On the job or in the community at large, make a point of expressing your opinion more forcefully.

First person case in point: Recently, in a not-inexpensive restaurant, I was served an exotic entrée that seemed to me too salty, but I attributed that conclusion to my inexperienced palate. My companions, knowing I can sometimes be hesitant about such things, urged me to send it back. I did, and received, with an apology, a revised version that was much more to my liking. And I felt better about myself.

#2: Act, don’t just react. Start small. Try being more decisive on a modest scale. Stop vacillating. Care, even if you ordinarily tend to “I don’t care...” Weigh all the available facts, get the opinions of others, then make up your mind and don’t change it. Then work up to more important decisions.

Case in point:  Say where you would prefer to go for lunch. If others balk at making largely insignificant decisions such as which supplier to use for office supplies pick a source and commit to it. Soon you will be seen as a stronger decision maker because -- ta da! – you will be.

#3: Watch your language. Be direct; develop a knack for straight talk.

Avoid language that portrays weakness, indecision or uncertainty.

Case in point: Instead of saying, “I think I like the second approach,” say, “I like the second approach.” Instead of saying, “Maybe we should get Tim’s advice,” say, “Let’s get Tim’s advice.” Instead of saying, “I don’t think so,” or “Let me think about it,” say, “No.”

#4: Be aware of your tone and body language. Speak clearly and confidently. Hold yourself erect and stand firm. Avoid slouching, lowering your head, talking while walking away, nodding in meek agreement.

Practice, practice, practice. Low tech: Practice speaking before a mirror. Welcome to the 21^st Century: Make digital recordings. Then evaluate yourself, and try increasing your display of confidence and assertiveness. Be dramatic. Act if you must.

Think it’s over the top? You’re too modest. Share the ramped-up version with a few trusted confidants and see what they think of the new you, tiger.

One last point: If any of your coworkers or connections suffers from timidity, invite them to try the above suggestions.

Hold on …

Wait a minute ...   

That last paragraph’s way too mushy.

Let’s rephrase, assertively:

One last point: Share this message with someone you know who could increase their effectiveness and move up in the world by becoming more confident and decisive.

Got it? Good. Now put it into action.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  “To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying ‘Amen’ to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.” Novelist, poet, essayist and world traveler Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894) said that.

News of the World

Qaddhafi.
Qaddafi.
Gaddafi.
Kaddafi.
Qadaffi.
Gadaffi.
As difficult to spell as he is to overthrow.
(From the 23FEB2011 New York Times "Crib Sheet" by Henry Alford.)
Made me smile despite the struggles there.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #292

WHAT ARE WE CELEBRATING …

COMMEMORATING …

OBSERVING …

ON PRESIDENTS DAY?

Presidents, obviously.

But what the heck does that really mean?

And what are we supposed to do about it, other than shop for bargain mattresses? (Does the emphasis on mattress sales come out of the “George Washington slept here” tradition?)

What, in part, prompts these questions for me is that bright and early two Fridays ago (February 11) I dutifully dragged my household garbage out to the curb for what I expected would be the regularly scheduled pickup.  

Arriving home on Friday night, I discovered there had been no pickup. Grumbling, I dragged the fully loaded cans back to their secure storage place to prevent the nocturnal critters from strewing the contents about.

Checking the town schedule I became aware that the Friday pickup had been postponed because the Public Works employees were observing their Lincoln’s Birthday holiday. (Abe’s actual birthday observance fell on Saturday).

And, BTW, they’re off again today for Presidents Day.

So, as I said, I’m wondering just what this holiday’s about?

The answer: It’s complicated.

In a nutshell: President’s Day (or Presidents Day, or Presidents’ Day – your punctuation choice) is the bungled attempt of the federal government – encouraged by travel professionals some say – in 1968 to implement a Monday Holidays Act.

Essentially the day’s a Washington’s Birthday observance with heavy overtones of Lincoln and, in some parts of the vast country, more than a nominal brush at any other Presidential notable you want to acknowledge.

So what are your plans for today? Being a federal holiday, federal offices, schools, post offices, and many banks are closed. But almost all private businesses and stores are open. That means that, for a good many folks, it’s business as usual.

If you’re not among the “working” today, I guess one sort of patriotic thing to do would be to go shopping to stimulate the economy and support your working-today friends and neighbors.

Or, if you have parental responsibilities and your junior achievers are available, you might involve them in something presidentially historic.

Or you might just have a day of leisure.

Or test your Presidential knowledge.

• How many presidents of the United States have there been?
• Can you name them?
• In order?
• How many former presidents are still living?

But hold on a TGIM minute. What if Presidents Day is not about a man or men (so far) but a concept of leadership?

TGIM Takeaway: Then we have something to celebrate.

While we traditionally imagine George Washington nobly turning down the opportunity to become King of America, the facts are, even before the lead-the-new-nation opportunity arose for General Washington, the individual who presided over the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary period and under the Articles of Confederation had the title President of the United States in Congress Assembled.

And guess what: That was often shortened to President of the United States. That job, however, had little distinct executive power.

With the 1788 ratification of the Constitution, a separate Executive Branch was created.

At its head: The President of the United States – straightforward and without qualification or limitation.

Now we’re talking “Executive Power.” Compared to the “President of Congress” designation, this presidential title was a major understatement of the actual role empowered to the office by the Constitution. But the deliberate choice of words can be understood as a purposeful effort by the Founding Fathers to prevent the head-of-state position from becoming monarchial, with the accompanying potential for abuse of such power.

A president's executive authority under the Constitution, tempered by the checks and balances of the Judicial and Legislative branches of the federal government, was designed to solve several political problems faced by the young nation and to anticipate future challenges, while still preventing the rise of an autocrat.

So today – Presidents Day 2011, when people around the world still valiantly strive for what American citizens have enjoyed for over two centuries -- let’s celebrate, commemorate and observe the Founders’ idea of a presidency as well as the individuals who filled the presidential position and continued to shape the job and the republic.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Assume your “glorious burden.” That’s what the presidency has been called.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Take an oath to use your “Executive Power” wisely, justly and democratically. Become the commander in chief … head of state … principle diplomat … and political leader of the constituents who elect to put their faith and trust in you.

And as you do, be guided and inspired by the best efforts and successes of the 44 individuals (5 living) who thus far have cared for our fragile democracy and steered us safely to this day.

And even if you can’t name them all in order and/or don’t celebrate … commemorate … or observe a Presidents Day ritual --

Enjoy the day. (And remember that regular curbside pickup resumes tomorrow.)

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  “I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my Country.”  George Washington wrote that sentiment in a letter to Henry Laurens, dated January 31, 1778.

Thank you for a very enjoyable game

WATSON, MEET HAL

AND EVERYONE,

MEET THE REAL WATSON

Remember the movie 2001 – A Space Odyssey? Some highly regarded movie authorities consider it among the greatest movies of all time, if not of its era. (It was released in 1968.)

It certainly changed the way many movie goers thought about science fiction films, space exploration in general and the way humans and computers relate.

One of its featured “stars” was the computer HAL – a nearly sentient computer who turns out to be the malevolent antagonist in the movie. He understands (or misunderstands) his programming in a way that causes him to turn against the flesh-and-blood humans he’s been designed to assist.

See it if you haven’t.

Then consider this:

2001 – A Space Odyssey is a late-60’s movie with a story line that certainly did not come anywhere near the reality of 2001. Actually the reality of 2001 – or 2011 – does not equal the future the movie and the human geniuses behind it -- Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke -- envisioned. While the man vs. machine aspect of the production drives much of the movie forward, the reality of mankind in space is currently stuck in near-earth orbit.

I, for one, would like to see earthlings get back on the humans-in-space, extra-terrestrial exploration track.

But that’s not my point today.

This is: It’s a decade beyond 2001 and we’re currently wowed at an IBM supercomputer that can compete with a high degree of success at the TV game show Jeopardy.

Named “Watson” in tribute to Thomas John Watson, Sr. who laid the groundwork for IBM becoming one of the original computing powerhouses, the game-playing machine is powered by 10 racks of IBM Power 750 servers, running Linux. It uses 15 terabytes of RAM and 2,880 processor cores.

And in the game of Jeopardy, this configuration proved to be a formidable power.

• It equaled its human competition in the first round.
• It held the humans to 5 correct answers in the second round.
• And yesterday it trounced the humans, “winning” 3 times more than its nearest rival, Ken Jennings.

Still --

This Watson’s no HAL.

And as amazing as the fictional HAL was intended to be—

Even HAL was no flesh-and-blood Thomas J. Watson. Impressive though it was, we’re still a long, long way from a machine mind that equals the real deal.

Why?

The real Thomas J. Watson Sr. made it crystal clear when he spelled out the IBM philosophy in a motto consisting of one word:

THINK

Watson Sr. concluded, “All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.”

Obviously, as evidenced by the remarkable achievements of the Jeopardy-playing Watson, THINK remains a part of IBM's corporate culture.

That’s what the IBM people who conceived of and created Watson have been busy doing since 2005 (about the same time Jennings, the record 74-time winner, was making his Jeopardy mark.)

But “think” is not what Watson does. At the end of the day, all Watson does is compute. And it’s taken many years and millions of dollars for that platoon of IBM technologists to bring about what they have.

Not that it’s not worthwhile. Don’t get me wrong. I’m impressed with the accomplishment and agree that it’s an extremely useful and important step in the technological advancement of humans.

But that’s just the point:

Watson is a human accomplishment. People -- thinking people -- made this happen. And it’s likely that only people will drive this sort of advance for a long time to come.

• People with hopes, and dreams and fears.
• People with feelings and emotions and all the illogic that confounds their daily comings and goings.
• People who can be courteous, considerate, generous – or not.
• People who laugh and cry and fall in and out of love, whatever that is.
• People who fight and struggle for what they think is right, even against insurmountable odds.
• People who ponder the unknowable and have the ability to know when they need to seek more information to gain more complete knowledge and understanding.
• People who are stubborn and certain, even when they ought not be and who are uncertain and reluctant when it behooves them to press onward.

People like you and like me. Imperfect people. Not machines. People who are perfectly imperfect.

Watson can learn, it’s true. But it’s machine learning. Calculate probabilities. Compare and contrast. Adjust when new input is received.

But taken on its own, learning isn’t thinking. And it doesn’t necessarily lead to understanding, a most necessary human component of the process.

A predecessor of Watson was Deep Blue, a chess playing machine. Deep Blue learned the rules of the game well enough and could calculate the many-but-limited outcomes of chess moves quickly enough to routinely triumph over human masters of the game.

And as the plot develops in 2001 – A Space Odyssey, the highly advanced HAL plays chess with an astronaut, Dr. Frank Poole, who he’ll later allow to die.

The scene goes like this:

Dr. Frank Poole: [as he studies the chessboard] “Let's see, King... anyway, Queen takes Pawn. Okay?”
HAL: “Bishop takes Knight's Pawn.” 

Poole: “Huh, lousy move. Um, Rook to King 1.”

HAL: “I'm sorry, Frank, I think you missed it. Queen to Bishop 3, Bishop takes Queen, Knight takes Bishop. Mate.” 

Poole: “Huh. Yeah, it looks like you're right. I resign.” HAL: “Thank you for a very enjoyable game.”

Poole: “Yeah. Thank you.”

In this victory, and in many of his interactions with humans, HAL shows a politeness and expresses emotions he has been programmed to use but clearly does not fully comprehend. (He quite often prefaces hurtful acts or accounts of his behavior with “I’m sorry ….”)

So, please –

THINK about all this: No doubt Thomas J Watson Sr. would have been proud of the namesake Watson’s game playing accomplishments. But he would be prouder still of the humans who made it happen in a way that captured the public attention. And he would be proudest of those who would do the hard work of applying this tech to solving the problems of the world.

Thank you for a very enjoyable game.

P.S.  True or False? In 2001 – A Space Odyssey, was the name HAL based on a one-letter shift from the name IBM?

False:  Both Arthur Clarke and 2001 director Stanley Kubrick denied it, although IBM did provide technical advice to the movie makers and product placements can be spotted in the movie.

Clarke has written: “HAL stands for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer. However, about once a week some character spots the fact that HAL is one letter ahead of IBM, and promptly assumes that Stanley and I were taking a crack at the estimable institution ... As it happened, IBM had given us a good deal of help, so we were quite embarrassed by this, and would have changed the name had we spotted the coincidence.”

Thank Goodnesss It's Monday #291

VALENTINE’S DAY WISDOM

FROM VINCE LOMBARDI

It’s Valentine’s Day. (As if you need to be reminded.)

So let’s talk about Vince Lombardi.

Huh?

Yes, that Vince Lombardi.

The National Football League's Super Bowl trophy is named in his honor. And yes, the Green Bay Packers just won the Super Bowl and he’s probably best known as the head coach of the Packers during the 1960s. And yes, you’ll pay premium prices to see the play Lombardi on Broadway this season. Or perhaps you saw the recent HBO movie about his life. Or you’re counting on Robert De Niro playing Lombardi in an upcoming big screen project.

Or maybe, having pulled into the rest stop named for him on the NJ Turnpike near the Giants/Jets Meadowlands Stadium you, like me, claim a New Jersey connection.

But what’s that got to do with Valentine’s Day?

Bear with me.

About that Jersey connection: As you may have noted, the offices of Alexander Publishing (modestly referred to here as “World Headquarters”) are located in Englewood NJ.

From our conference room windows we can gaze across our little Depot Square Park, over the tracks and past the repurposed sort of Victorian-looking railroad station, at the spires of St. Cecilia Catholic Church which, for years, also offered the community a parochial high school.

The coaching legend began there. In 1939, Vince Lombardi accepted his first football-related job as an assistant coach at St. Cecilia’s.

At age 26, Lombardi also taught Latin, chemistry, and physics for an annual salary of under $1700. And, the local story goes, as a bachelor he shared a boarding house room across the street from the school with the St. Cecilia’s head coach at the time, his old college football teammate from Fordham, Andy Palau.

So, although I’m only a moderately enthusiastic or knowledgeable fan of professional football –

I’m a Vince Lombardi Fan by geographic proxy.

And also – being in the thick of the self-improvement, motivation, inspiration business – I can spout any number of bits of –

Legendary Lombardi Wisdom

You probably can, too --

• “Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.”
• “Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is everything.”
• “Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time.”
•  “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”
•  “If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?”
•  “Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser.”
• “If you can accept losing, you can't win.”
• “We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time.”
• “It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up”
• “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
• “If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.”

Whew! Tough talk, right?

And while the fire-up-the-team locker room mentality might be effectively applied to certain Valentine’s Day type relationships, it’s not very romantic, is it?

But there’s a Lombardi quote I find surprisingly appropriate to the day.

Lombardi also said: “Mental toughness is humility, simplicity, spartanism, and one other … love. I don’t necessarily have to like my associates but as a man, I must love them.”

And he continued –

“Love is loyalty; love is teamwork.

Love respects the dignity of the individual.

Heart and power is the strength of your cooperation.”

Interesting, right? A statement about love, obviously rooted in the man’s football coaching fundamentals, and indicative of the kind of devotion he inspired and how he made that happen.

Kinda tough love. No pink cherubs … or heart-shaped boxes of candy … or expensive flowers … or lovey-dovey poetic sentiments per se.

TGIM VALENTINE’S DAY TAKEAWAY: In this season of over-commercialized sentimentality about an ethereal ideal of love, isn’t it a pleasant surprise to find a simply stated universal standard that we might all be well advised to live by. If we worked at our relationships with the single-mindedness that Lombardi brought to his devotion to football, perhaps we, like Lombardi, would never suffer a “losing season.”

One final note about Lombardi’s personal relationships: While they were preoccupied with football, and his family life in particular had exceedingly stormy passages, he lived his “love is loyalty” philosophy. Vince Lombardi is buried next Marie, his wife since his St. Cecilia coaching days, in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown Township, New Jersey.

That’s my gift for Valentine’s Day to all the folks I have loving feelings for – including you.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  “When I speak of love, I am speaking of the force which all the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality.” Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968) said that.

GEOFF STECK leads Alexander Publishing & Marketing, a company he formed in 1986. The core AP&M mission: To create and publish leadership, sales mastery, self-improvement and workplace skill-building resources and tools. The focus: Areas such as business communication, staff support, customer care and frontline management. Geoff also puts his corporate and entrepreneurial experience, independent perspective, and skills as a catalyst to work for other firms (ranging from multinational corporations to more modest operations), not-for-profits, and individuals who have conceived or developed programs or initiatives but are frustrated in getting them implemented.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #290

 HOW TO INDULGE AN EGO

Ego is a Latin word meaning "I."

Ego is also one of the three fundamentals in Sigmund Freud's model of the psyche. (The Id, Ego and Super-ego.)

And Ego was what my next door neighbor, an 87-year old practicing Freudian psychiatrist named Larry, named his fishing boat.

Larry died recently after a long post-operative struggle.

I was the last person to go fishing with him on Ego. He called me from his summer home on Long Island Sound in the late summer, several days before his surgery, to ask if I would accompany him. He figured it would be his last fishing expedition of the season. With the clarity of hindsight I’m fairly sure a part of him recognized that it might be his last outing altogether, but I didn’t think much of it at the time.

We had a great weather day for most of the excursion and a good – not great – day of fishing. We got back to the dock just before a storm broke. We cleaned our fish, divided the catch, and then headed for a hidden gem of a lobster-roll shack for a meal before parting.

A couple days later, back in New Jersey, we chatted in a neighborly way across the backyards before he entered the hospital. And that was it.

I’m no expert at psychiatric principles or analysis, and Larry and I seldom talked “shop” because, with the confidential aspects of his practice, there was little he could share. But here are a few things I’ve learned, in part from fishing with a guy who names his boat Ego.

The Id acts according to the "pleasure principle," seeking to avoid pain or un-pleasure.

The Ego acts according to the reality principle. It seeks to please the Id’s drive in realistic ways that will benefit it in the long term. So that’s why, if you really like fishing, you bother with all the stuff that goes with having a fishing boat (and you name your boat accordingly).

The Super-ego aims for perfection. It’s that part of the personality that includes the individual's ego ideals, spiritual goals, and "conscience" that criticizes and prohibits drives, fantasies, feelings, and actions; a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt. (I once asked Larry, if he bought a bigger boat, would he have to name it Super-Ego?)

TGIM Takeaway: Ego makes a significant difference – the difference between theory and practice … between wishful thinking and real life ... between the way things work and the way you would like them to work … between what others can teach you and what they can’t.

In life there are as many egos running around as people you know.  And since these TGIM messages are about getting stuff done in life, you should understand that you better take ego into account.

● A lot of deals get done simply because someone’s ego is involved – so involved that, psychologically, he or she can’t bear not getting it done. So –

TGIM ACTION IDEA #1: A person’s ego, even an imperious one, may be your strongest ally. If you can read the ego, understand its impact on what you desire, then control it by either catering to it, poking it, or finessing it, you can get your desired outcome from many interactions.

● The size of someone’s ego is often very easy to figure out. (Mark McCormack, who was characterized as “the most powerful man in sports” when he managed the likes of Arnold Palmer, used to say “Most successful businessmen are one giant ego with a couple of arms and legs sticking out.”)

But a giant ego doesn’t necessarily mean a strong ego.  In fact it often indicates the opposite; someone who needs to be assertive because of a low self image.

Dealing with strong egos tends to be fairly straightforward since these are usually people who are willing to take reasonable risks, don’t second-guess decisions and, so, are the quickest to get things done. 

And a small ego doesn’t necessarily indicate weakness. Many of the most effective people are quite low-key.

Weaker egos that operate with lower expectations of themselves are a bit harder to read. That makes it harder to determine your next course of action. Best bet: If you wish to go forward, accept that dealing with them will take more time and that you may well accomplish less.

TGIM ACTION IDEA #2: Make your best case, then watch what happens next.

Once you determine the strength of a person’s ego, you can move forward by addressing a range of more practical questions such as:

ü  Does he deal with facts as they are or as he would like them to be?

ü  Is she consistent?

ü  Is he “up front” or does he prefer to operate from behind a curtain?

ü  Is she direct and forthright in her answers?

ü  How quickly does he make a decision?

ü  Once she has made a decision, does she vacillate?

● How secure is this person? That’s at the core of the ego-assessment questioning process. A person’s “security quotient” has a direct bearing on how they behave in most situations.

ü  Will he be reasonable or stubborn?

ü  Will form be more important than substance?

ü  What excesses and vanities will come into play?

ü  Is she likely to say one thing then do another?

ü  Does he prefer to deal face-to-face, or take a more circuitous route?

TGIM ACTION IDEA #3: Be aware of and respond to the other person’s ego, but don’t be trapped into challenging or confronting it. To get to consensus with least difficulty, it is much easier (and far more effective) to acknowledge and understand its impact on your position and use this information to your advantage.

● One final ego issue:  In a solicitous, guiding way Larry would probably want to remind us there’s one more matter of ego we should concern ourselves with:

Nothing blocks insight into other people

more than our own ego.

TGIM ACTION IDEA #4: Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses and how likely these are to color your reaction to others. It’s virtually impossible to be effective if your conclusions about what makes someone tick are based on your ego-centric view rather than an objective assessment of where their ego issues reside.

Finally: When it all seems a bit too much, perhaps you should go fishing.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  “Egotist: A person of low taste, more interested in himself than me.” Ambrose Bierce (1842 – 1914) contrived that definition for his Devil’s Dictionary.

GEOFF STECK leads Alexander Publishing & Marketing, a company he formed in 1986. The core AP&M mission: To create and publish leadership, sales mastery, self-improvement and workplace skill-building resources and tools. The focus: Areas such as business communication, staff support, customer care and frontline management. Geoff also puts his corporate and entrepreneurial experience, independent perspective, and skills as a catalyst to work for other firms (ranging from multinational corporations to more modest operations), not-for-profits, and individuals who have conceived or developed programs or initiatives but are frustrated in getting them implemented.

Hop to it!

A RED ENVELOPE FOR YOU

Welcome to The Year Of The Rabbit. You may know that, based on an ancient system of astronomy and astrology, the 15-day festival that marks the so-called Chinese New Year begins today.

You may also recognize some of the traditions that will be observed over the days ahead to welcome good luck and happiness.

Not surprisingly, many are customs that would fit in any cultural context at the beginning of a New Year. People dress in finery to represent contentment and wealth. Homes are scrubbed clean. Rooms are decorated for the holiday.

Other traditions are unique. The room decorations are paper lanterns and flower blossoms. Walls are adorned with the Chinese characters -- 恭喜发财

-- is one simplified form – roughly equivalent to “Happy New Year” and transliterated in some places as Gung hay fa choy in Cantonese.

Dragon-dance parades snake along streets with clashing cymbals and firecrackers exploding to ward off evil spirits. Children and single, unemployed adults look forward to receiving red envelopes stuffed with cash from elders.

As the “elder” co-creator with my buddy Eric Taylor of the Empowerment Group’s Best Year Ever Program! I feel obliged to commemorate any “New Year” observance and tie it to our message that –

Anytime is the right time to begin Your Best Year Ever!

So, although you may not be a child or unemployed single, here’s --

A Red Envelope for you.

Sorry, no cash. (Awwww!)

But in the spirit of these blog posts and TGIM messages, I believe that “Sharing An Idea” is a time-proven strategy that’s –

More valuable than money. Think of it this way: If I have a dollar and you have a dollar, and we give our dollar to one another, we each still have only a dollar. But --

And it’s a Big BUT: If I give you an idea, and you give me an idea, then we each have two ideas that we can contemplate … be inspired by … work on with our individual talents … and craft into something even greater than the original inspiration.

So let’s get back to this idea of astrology and universal truths.

According to the astrological aspects of the holiday, babies born in a Year of the Rabbit are expected to have the following traits:

They are gracious, good friends, kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, tender, self-assured, shy, astute, compassionate, lucky, and flexible. On the “down” side they are also said to be moody, detached, superficial, self-indulgent, opportunistic, and stubborn.

Were you born in a Year of the Rabbit? You probably don’t know. But you also probably felt that some of the characteristics – especially the positive ones – fit you.

Now for me, almost any astrological stuff is –

Beyond understanding. Yet I do look at my horoscope in the ink-on-paper newspaper. I’ve got the daily Libra popping up on my computer home page.  And I read the transmitted wisdom with the fascinated knowledge that there is guidance to be gleaned in the cryptic messages (although that it is celestial and unwavering universal is highly suspect to me).

I figure, at the least, horoscopes are well-intended advice. I’m certainly open to that. So that leads me, at this auspicious new beginning of the Year of the Rabbit, to this –

Catalyst Collection Takeaway: “We are wiser than we know.” Ralph Waldo Emerson said that in 1841.

How does that relate to today? We all would want the positive characteristics of those born in a Year of the Rabbit as well as last year’s Tiger and the Dog (my Chinese astrology birth year; I looked it up) and the other nine Chinese astrological animal signs. And who wouldn’t want to embody the best parts of Libra, Scorpio, etc., etc.

YEAR-OF-THE-RABBIT ACTION IDEA: If we’re wise enough to know what characteristics are desirable, then we should be wise enough to set our own course in raising our skills in those areas in order that we might become all that we might become.

Our fate is not in the stars. The future is in our own hands. Self-improvement is the precursor to all improvement. Start today. We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work. There’s never been a more auspicious time.

Gung hay fa choy!  Get started on Your Best Year Ever! NOW.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com  

P.S.  Here’s a phrase some young children and teenagers use as a New Year Greeting -- 恭喜发财，红包拿来 – which, I’m told, translates as "Congratulations and be prosperous, now give me a red envelope!”　

It's Groundhog Day -- Again!

GREETINGS FROM GOBBLER’S KNOB

THINK IT’LL BE AN EARLY SPRING?

In Groundhog Day -- the popular 1993 movie -- Phil Connors (Bill Murray’s weatherman character) declares:

“This is pitiful. A thousand people freezing their butts off waiting to worship a rat. What a hype. Groundhog Day used to mean something in this town. They used to pull the hog out, and they used to eat it. You're hypocrites, all of you!”

It’s meant to be funny, of course. If case you haven’t seen the movie, here’s a quick plot summary:

An egotistical weather man for a local Pittsburg station is sent, for the fourth year, to Punxsutawney, PA to cover the Groundhog Day weather forecasting "rat." He makes no effort to hide his annoyance and frustration. Trapped in town overnight by bad weather, when he wakes the “following” day, he discovers that it's Groundhog Day -- again.

And again.

And again.

First he uses this to his advantage, then comes to the realization he’s doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the same people do the same thing every day. Only he can initiate change and only he knows and recalls the information gained in each repetition. So --

• At first he takes purely self-serving advantage of his situation and knowledge.

• Then he dreads even this advantaged life and tries to prevent the “next” day from occurring to him.

• Finally he opens his heart, seeks a goal for his repeated existence and begins a path of daily self-improvement that he hopes will enable him to act as a benefactor for others.  

• Eventually, Connors/Murray enhances his own human understanding which, in return, makes him an appreciated and beloved man in the town.

The cycle of repetition is finally broken when he’s able to profess true love to the woman he’s been unsuccessfully attempting to seduce.

Awww. If you’ve seen the movie -- and many, many have – you know it exhibits both an acidic humorous take on life and a sanguine sentimentality.

According to director Harold Ramis, most of the times when he tried to explain a scene to Bill Murray, Murray would interrupt and ask, "Just tell me - good Phil or bad Phil?"

So what’s the point? On one of the repeating days Phil passes a man in the hallway of the place where he begins each of his days and has this exchange:

Man in Hallway: Think it'll be an early spring?

Phil: Winter, slumbering in the open air, wears on its smiling face a dream... of spring. Ciao.

Man in Hallway: Ciao.

Phil’s “observation” is a quote, not attributed, from Work Without Hope a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The stanza (without the flippant “Ciao”) continues:

And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,

Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.

That poetically sums up Phil’s situation. And, if you knew the poems’ conclusion, also hints at the movies’ conclusion.

Catalyst Connection Takeaway:  Coleridge ends his poem with this observation:

And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?

Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve,

And hope without an object cannot live.

Today Punxsutawney Phil (and Northern New Jersey’s own Essex Ed) did not see their shadows, foreshadowing an early Spring.

[February 3 Correction: According to today's local paper Ed DID see his shadow although his "cousin" in nearby Staten Island, NY did not.  (Because I, roughly 15 miles away from Ed's Essex County home did not see my shadow, I assumed he did not.) I suspect that many in winter-weary NJ may now agree with the "rat" designation.]

Whether (weather) this is or is not so, I don’t think “the rat” or we can reliably expect. But, at this nearly midpoint between the darkest and brightest days of the year, we can and should be guided by the Groundhog Day movie and its Coleridge reference.

Only you can initiate change. Work toward your objectives filled with hope.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  Movie Music Trivia Fun Facts: Each of Weatherman Phil’s repeated days begins at 6:00 AM with the clock radio blaring Sonny and Cher’s “I’ve Got You, Babe.” On the morning of the “breakthrough” day that won’t be a repeat, when the alarm goes off, the song begins in a different place. The movie’s closing song is "Almost Like Being in Love" from Brigadoon, a musical which also dealt with a village trapped in time.

GEOFF STECK leads Alexander Publishing & Marketing, a company he formed in 1986. The core AP&M mission: To create and publish leadership, sales mastery, self-improvement and workplace skill-building resources and tools. The focus: Areas such as business communication, staff support, customer care and frontline management. Geoff also puts his corporate and entrepreneurial experience, independent perspective, and skills as a catalyst to work for other firms (ranging from multinational corporations to more modest operations), not-for-profits, and individuals who have conceived or developed programs or initiatives but are frustrated in getting them implemented.