2010 March

I feel SPRING in the air!

It’s always an exciting feeling when that early warm weather first arrives. We all know that feeling… people seem happier to be alive, the business outlook gets better and everyone displays a positive outlook on the world. Isn’t it amazing how our emotions dictate how successful we feel on any given day. If a nice spring day can evoke a positive outlook in a person, can a leader do the same?

Absolutely! But first the leader must decide on his or her outlook. You can control the way you feel. You do not need a sleepless night or a disagreement with your spouse to dictate how you “feel” about it. Managing one’s own feelings is the key to happiness. I was shown this secret over a year ago. I was taught how to change my negative feelings in 60 seconds. I can tell you my life has changed for the better. Oh, I’m not perfect, but I’m better than I was a year ago.

If you know me, you would know that I was already a very positive guy; however, I admit I would sometimes become impatient and frustrated. These emotions would affect how I treated others. I learned, though, that events have no meaning. People give meanings to events. A rainy day doesn’t have the same effect on me as it once had. Mondays, once my least favorite day, are now my favorite—the start of another week to positively impact people’s lives. Happiness is a choice and I choose happy. How about you?

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Choose happy! Please join me April 27th at 3 p.m. for the About Me Card World Premiere at the Meyer Theater in Green Bay. I guarantee you will leave this event feeling great! Reserve your space… bring friends!

My Oscar Moment

What do Coca Cola, SuperValu and Prophit Marketing have in common? They have all been selected at some point to receive the prestigious honor of being named Festival Foods Business Partner of the Year! On Monday night while attending Festival’s annual three-day Festival College, I watched Mark Skogen, President and CEO, walk to the podium to announce the award, just as he does every year. Only this year, for the first time ever, he announced our name. Wow, it was like winning an Oscar. For the first time in my life, I was struggling for what to say. My body was trembling as I approached the stage to accept this wonderful acknowledgement.
I did feel awkward accepting the award because every Prophiteer contributed in bringing me up on stage that night. It was the wonderful and talented group I am privileged to work with who serve the Festival organization with pride and excellence every day. I was on cloud nine Monday night and it reminded me how wonderful it feels to be recognized. We get so busy day to day that we sometimes don’t see the individual efforts by so many that lead to an excellent product or service. I like to think I properly recognize people but I know I too get “caught up” and have work to do in this area.
I’ve heard it said that your paycheck is your right but praise is a gift. For those of you who have been reading Wisdom On Wednesday for the past year, you know that I’ve committed the last three years of my life to research the root of a person’s happiness. I’m proud to say that on April 27th at 3 p.m. at the Meyer Theater in downtown Green Bay will be the About Me Card World Premiere (info@aboutmecard.com). Will you come and join us for this major event?  Let us save a spot for you! Imagine knowing how to communicate effectively with someone with a click of the mouse! It’s here and we’re going to show you how it works.
Mother Theresa said, “People crave appreciation (and respect) more than food.” A pretty good authority wouldn’t you say? Make it your personal journey to enrich another person’s life by appreciating and respecting them. The journey will be your reward.
Joe Kiedinger
ACTION PLAN: Sign up for our free event as we introduce to you the most powerful respect tool every created… The About Me Card!

Words empower great leaders!

I think we would all agree that what you do is your character. You can tell your kids not to smoke, but if they see you smoking everyday guess what they may be doing later in life? What you do is your character; however, how you say things is key to becoming a great leader. What starts wars … words! Are you in the race to become a great leader? Great leaders have the ability to communicate uniquely to each unique individual in their care. We are all wired differently and like to be communicated to differently. Some folks are detailed-oriented while others only want the big picture. Some folks may want you to lighten up while others may prefer you to be more serious. What kind of leader are you?

I’m not suggesting you change who you are. That would not be authentic. However, when communicating one-on-one with an associate it’s important that you respect the way this individual would like to be approached. Don’t you wish there was a magic wand that you could wave over a person and have their rules for engagement suddenly appear! Well, there is! OK, it’s not a wand. It’s an automated web-based software I invented called the About Me Card program. The World Premiere will be held April 27th right here in Green Bay. The event will be like an Apple IPad introduction. There will be a live band, performers, and most importantly the people who are using the program and seeing great results.

You will witness how with the touch of a button you will get the words a person needs to hear to connect with you. You will learn how to connect with someone in 60 seconds, resolve conflict and reduce tension in the workplace. You will also see the future of the About Me Card with About Me TEEN and About Me Kids. Imagine knowing the motivations of your seven-year-old—knowing how they like to be treated and how you can support these motivations. Even more amazing … connecting with a teenager! I just had a “WOW” moment with my 14-year-old son this weekend based on his About Me Card.

You don’t want to miss the introduction of this groundbreaking technology that has taken three years to develop and automate!

Joe Kiedinger

Success!

I love books and I love learning. I get in these moods when I run to the bookstore and purchase 10 books at a time. I’m not a library guy. I need to possess them! The other day I stopped by the local bookstore and hit the magazine racks. I looked at INC and Entrepreneur magazines and then found one called SUCCESS. This month’s issue has author Jim Collins on the cover. He wrote the number one business book in the world, Good to Great. If you’re looking for inspiration, grab this month’s issue of SUCCESS. I’m definitely going to become a subscriber.

This month’s issue has the following leadership experts: John Maxwell, Mel Robbins, Jim Cathcart and Tony Hseih (Zappos) to name a few. Tony was named SUCCESS 2009 Achiever of the Year. A great choice. Tony started the online shoe sensation Zappos and sold it to Amazon.com for $1.2 billion. Not bad for a few years work! He’s still acting president. His philosophy: Create Fun, Deliver WOW!

Currently Tony is on a quest to better understand the art of happiness. I love it! He says in the article, “The thing we realized this year that sort of ties everything together is that customer service is about making customers happy, and the culture is about making employees happy. So, really, we’re about trying to deliver happiness, whether it’s to customers or employees, and we apply that same philosophy to vendors as well.”

Tony has a culture of Servant Leadership (how I label it). If you like this message, go to the website: www.mondaymm.com  There you’ll find my interview with Servant Leader guru, Jim Hunter. Jim has written books that have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide. He is all about creating a Servant Leadership culture based on leadership and accountability.

Are you out to be a manager or an exceptional leader? If you subscribe to Wisdom On Wednesday, I’m guessing you’re the latter. If that’s true, keep learning and keep improving!

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Get that SUCCESS subscription!

Where is your focus?

I would like to tell you a true story of a bit of wisdom I received from one of my Process Managers regarding a client we’ve been working with for about 16 months. It all began with our Uncovery process, which we used to uncover a lot of gold nuggets for this client. Uncovery is the process of interviewing a good cross-section of employees, management and owners as well as some clients and “uncovering” strengths that are taken for granted by the owners and management team. We take these “gold nuggets,” as we call them, and develop these strengths into a winning strategy for the future. In this case, the strategy was very different than what the owner had surmised going into this process.

We began developing all the tools needed and implemented the strategy. A couple of new clients were brought into their fold and then about a year and a couple of months later a very large client came knocking with a very large order that has since developed into a fruitful long-term partnership. I asked my Process Manager, “So, what was it that led to the sale? Was it the new website, the magazine ads, the trade shows… What?” He responded, “Their focus.”

He reminded me. There is no one thing that determines success. It’s the overall focus of the leadership team and associates who are focused on a particular strategy and doing small things everyday that led to the big hit. It’s so true. Have you ever had business come to you out of the blue that happened to be the perfect client? Almost always that is no accident. It’s because you focused on it.

Ah yes, the great power of focus!

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: What’s your focus? Write it down and share it with others. Don’t have one? Open it up to your associates and get ready for an interesting discussion.