Helping Others Reach Their Goals

In an organizational context, there are may connections between our work and helping others reach their goals. Consider:

- It is our responsibility and opportunity as a leader to help others reach their goals.
- As members of teams we have the chance to help others reach their goals.
- As a trainer you are in a unique position to help people reach their goals
- When serving Customers, by definition, if in only a small way that is what you are doing.

Perhaps because of all of these factors, I have been ending emails with "Let me know how I can help you reach your goals in 2007" for a few days now. Since doing so, several interesting things have happened.

1. On the day I decided to make this a regular part of many emails, I sent a note to a colleague and friend, ending it that way. Her response included: "Oh baby - I love that question "please let me know what I can do to help you reach your 2007 goals". That's awesome and right back atcha." She added that a friend of hers had asked her the same question the day before and was also resolved to ask people that question everyday.

2. I added it to my basic email signature yesterday, and a person I didn't know emailed me a question. My inclusion of that line caused him to send a note asking for some help which I was able to provide. (It also led to me finding out that one of my articles was reprinted in a very visible place I was unaware of).

3. Several people have replied, asking me what they can do to help me.

4. Perhaps more important than these occurrences is that I am now much more consciously focused on helping others reach their goals. Not only is that good business, given the business that I am in, but it feels great.

I urge you to ask this question of others in your own way in the coming days. And let me close by saying...

Let me know what I can do to help you reach your goals in 2007.

What We Can Learn From Rosie and The Donald

It is hard to avoid it - even if you don't read the tabloids or watch tabloid TV, you probably know that Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump are having a spat. If you need a recap you can go here. I call it a spat, but they'd call it a conflict.

And in the "conflict" is where there is at least two lessons for us.

Lesson 1: If you want to resolve a conflict, you must know where the conflict comes from, and what is in it for the other person to remain in conflict.

In the case of Rosie and Donald, I don't believe they want to get out of this conflict (or really, that it is really even a conflict) at all. What is in it for both of them is the same thing - publicity.

Rosie replaced Meredith Vierra on The View, and while ratings have gone up (I heard last night), the publicity certainly helps. Donald get publicity for his Miss Universe brand, and the fact that the on-air tussle comes when the new season of The Apprentice is arriving, makes it all the better.

Lesson 2: If the other person doesn't want to resolve the conflict, don't escalate it.

Improve Your Results with a BIG Goal

Today is the final in my series of Seven Ways to Improve Your Professional Results in 2007 (or anytime). The first six suggestions are:

- Create more energy in your life.
- Commit to better working relationships.
- Project a contagious, positive attitude.
- Talk less, listen more.
- Mentor someone.
- Keep a journal.

I've never been very good at those "which five CDs would you want on a desert island?" kinds of questions and so I'm not sure I could pick just one of these suggestions, but I could make a passionate case for today's suggestion:

Set a big goal.

The reason this one might be the most important is that if you set a big goal, the other suggestions might well become tactics to help you achieve that goal.

Simply setting a goal would be a good tactic, but setting a big goal is a better tactic. If you have, in the past had trouble getting started, read this article - it will help you take away all of your excuses.

Your goal could be about your application of one of the other suggestions above, but more likely it will be about a skill you want to develop, a financial position you'd like to be in, a possession you'd like to acquire, a promotion you'd like to secure, or any of 1000 other things.

Whatever your goal is, setting it provides you greater focus and raises your intention for success. That is fine.

But if you really want to accelerate your results, make the goal big. Make it outrageous. Stretch yourself beyond where you think you 'should' be.

Create a goal worthy of your potential.

Then go out and achieve it.

You can do it.