Archive | July, 2008

Compelling Campolo

14 Jul

Yesterday, while visiting Lake Junaluska Assembly, I heard Dr. Tony Campolo speak. His message centered around a recent study of older Americans. Campolo reported that older Americans had been asked this question: “What would you do over or differently if you could live your life again?”  These were the responses:

- I’d risk risk more

- I’d reflect more

- I’d do more things that make a difference long after I am gone

Of course, he gave lots of humorous and compelling commentary to back up these points. In reality, it matters not what Campolo thinks about these things. What matters is what you and I do as it relates to risking, reflecting, and making a difference.  As I pondered his comments, it seemed like those things added up to a RICH life (and after life) to me.

Action: Ask someone you meet today who might be in their latter years the question above. I’ll award the best question (and your answer to the question with either a copy of my book Jump Starts Wit and Wisdom to Super Charge your Day or if you are a local lurker or looker two tickets to see Grease at the nostalgic Tennessee Theatre). Deadline: Monday July 21st 5:01 pm! 

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

The Value of a American Life

11 Jul

When I was VERY young, I remember watching Lee Majors as the Six Million Dollar Man. Back when that show was popular, six million bucks was BIG money. Apparently, the “value of a statistical life” in 2008 is worth 6.9 million (just under a million dollars more than what it cost to ”rebuild Lee Majors, making him stronger, faster…” in the 1970′s). This according to todays Boston Globe which reported the Environmental Protection Agency numbers.  Okay. SO, I guess we are all multi-millionaires! But wait, the article also reported that we aren’t worth as much as we were five years ago. In fact, we are officially worth a cool mil LESS than we were in 2003. I guess if you are a professional athlete, an aging super model, or a celebrity past their prime that may be true. I may be kidding myself but shouldn’t we at least be smarter than we were five years ago? I mean really – one million dollar drop in five years? How did that happen? I guess we all have consumed a bit of ”reality” TV since 2003 which could almost make us worthless! Pondering this value has left me in a quandry and I am not sure what to do now. So I guess I will be a Survivor and become an Apprentice so I can be Smarter than a Fifth Grader. Together we’ll watch My Big Redneck Wedding.  

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Partyan event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

Marriage bliss

10 Jul

I read about a cool idea in the July issue of Guidepost magazine. New Yorker Meghann Stepan and her fiance John want people to spend a lot of dough on their wedding gifts for their upcoming marriage. Not for them but for charities like Safe Horizon, Improve Your Life Skills and others. Through an organization called changingthepresent, wedding guests will make donations to charities that Meghann and John support. Cool huh?

So if you are thinking about getting married and don’t want the oft used fondue set, the Ginzu knife set, or the Ronco Bamboo steamer, join John and Meghann and ask for something that keeps on giving – a gift for someone else. I am so inspired I want to get married again (to the same woman of course). 

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

 

Lions and tigers and housing crisis and mortage defaults, oh my!

8 Jul

This story makes me feel greedy for wanting a house with one more bedroom and bathroom for my family of seven. Buried behind all the news of John McCain, Barack Obama, the summer Olympics, and Nicole Kidman’s new baby  is this story posted on www.CNN.com today. Thanks to my friend Charles for emailing me the link (Charles, if you read this in the next 60 seconds and email me the names of ALL seven dwarfs, you’ll win a brand new car!). Anyone else want to play?

Here’s the story:

Hannah’s Lunchbox was created by the Salwen family in Atlanta, Georgia, as a way to make a small difference in world hunger. Our belief is that we have more than we need while others don’t have enough; so we decided to sell our beautiful, large home (that’s a picture of it on the left side) and move into another one half the size and half the price.  We are giving half the sales price of our old house to a life-changing program run by The Hunger Project that is helping hundreds of thousands of people in Africa  move from poverty to self-reliance.

What financial worry do you have today? How could you think “differently” about it? You MIGHT not want to sell you house and give the profits away BUT there’s probably something you could do that would help others. Let me know what you are thinking…

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

I am America

5 Jul

I was born in Revolution, July 4, 1776, but my revolution was about freedom for all, not just the privileged few. The blood lines of the world run through my veins because I stand for freedom for all – regardless of race, creed or national origin. I am three hundred million souls and each one represents the past, present and future of my freedom.

 

I am Washington at Valley Forge, Paul Revere’s ride, Lincoln at Gettysburg and Ike praying on the beach before D-Day. I cherish the memory of those who died protecting my freedom at the Alamo, Pearl Harbor, the cold slopes of Korea, the steaming jungles of Vietnam, the dusty sands of the Middle East, and the concrete streets of New York City.

 

I am computer chips in the Silicon Valley, steel mills in Pittsburg, furniture factories in High Point, skyscrapers in New York City (a couple are missing), and Mom and Pop businesses all across my map providing the very backbone of my free enterprise system.

 

I am sandlot baseball games in Ohio, playground basketball in Harlem and kids shooting marbles in Elba, Alabama.

 

I am children enjoying Disney World in Orlando, Universal Studios in Hollywood, and ThunderRoad at Carrowinds in Charlotte.

 

I am Babe Ruth, Yankee Stadium, the World Series, volleyball on Carolina beaches, High School football in Texas, tennis at Forest Hills, and golf at the Augusta National. But, I’m also T-ballers in ballparks all across the land, dreaming of “hitting it out” for the first time.

 

I am Bill Cosby, Jay Leno, David Letterman and funny stories being woven around crossroad country stores to remind us not to take ourselves too seriously.

 

I am Mark Twain and the mighty Mississippi, kayakers on the rapids of the Colorado River, a fly-fisherman on a trout stream in Montana and Sunday rafters on the Nantahala.

 

I am the Ballot Box, the Bill of Rights, the bald eagle, the voting machine, the City Council, the Mayor, the Governor, the Congress, the President of my 50 states seeking to implement government of the people, and printed on my currency is my motto, “In God We Trust.”

 

I am America. I stand for freedom. It’s really your freedom handed down from those who have gone before you. Celebrate it, cherish it and pass it on to a world looking for freedom.

 

(This was in a church bulletin from Longs Chapel United Methodist Church in Waynesville, NC).Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

 

Giving and Receiving

3 Jul

This week, I have once again been reminded about how giving trumps receiving.  I am in Colorado Springs, CO and camping near Garden of the Gods. The reason I am here enjoying this beautiful place is because of the generousity of new friends MJ and Mike Coon. About a year ago, I was speaking at CUNA CFO conference in Phoenix. As participants were walking in the room, I happened to notice Colorado Springs on the name tag of one of the attendees (MJ). After my keynote speech, MJ and I were talking and I told her I would be speaking for paralympians at the US Olympic Training Center   about a month later. She suggested that I might want to stay for the weekend after my speech (which I did with my 11 year old son). We had a blast and had a RICH experience riding the COG train to the summitt of Pikes Peak, watching Paralympic hopefuls in training, and going to dinner and attending their church with MJ and Mike (I ate my very first fish taco in Colorado FAR from the ocean – I am still not sure what type of fish it was).  Mike and my son told jokes all through dinner. MJ and I watched in astonishment as each joke reminded one of them of another.  A friendship was born.

MJ and I continued our relationship by emailing back and forth.  Then I was a keynote speakers for the Credit Union Executive Society annual meeting in Steamboat Springs,  Colorado in March (I spoke for an hour and a half then skied with them for a few hours then spoke again at the end of the day). On that trip, I saw MJ and Mike again.

They became more and more convincing that spending time here would be incredible for my family and me in the summer. So here I am with my family, camping in their camper enjoying the wild life, hiking around Pike’s Peak, starting each day with morning bike ride around Garden of the Gods, visiting the Olympic training center, horse back riding and more. It’s been a blast. They know how to give and even rejected my attempts to buy MJ a day spa gift certificate and Mike a brand new motorcycle fish taco and a joke book. Instead they insisted that IF we wanted to do something, we make a donation to a charity that they suppport…anonomously. I came here for vacation and am leaving with RICH memories AND a valuable lesson about hospitality, generosity, and giving.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

Pragmatic Optimism

2 Jul

Guest Post by Doug Van Dyke, President of DVD Consulting Incorporated.

When I think of Living Rich I think of thinking positively. If one reads or listens to mainstream media these days, it would be easy to become convinced that the world is fast coming to an end. I believe otherwise. We live in a fascinating time, in a country that is rich with possibilities. Many people however have misplaced their sense of positivism.

Recently I had a client engage my services to facilitate a strategic planning session for their leadership team. They forwarded a list of their most pressing issues. Also, they voiced their concerns about changes going on in their industry. Their list of issues contained eight nicely arranged items, each followed by a brief supporting comment. As I scanned the list I read six items that my client had no control over. Items such as, the state of the economy and high fuel prices peppered their list. Contrarily, the list contained only two “real” items – things they could control. In addition, what surfaced during the planning session were a host of opportunities that were being overlooked because their team members were so stressed-out about a bunch of things they could not control.

Perhaps we could all use a little review of five items that I believe are particularly important. If this gets a little preachy, I apologize unreservedly. Indulge me, please.

  1. Honestly assess the business environment. When Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, was at the peak of his career a journalist asked a GE executive what made Jack so good. The executive stated: “Jack possess the ability to see things the way they are.” In other words, Jack Welch was not swayed by pie in the sky projections, nor was his enthusiasm dampened by negative media comments or uncontrollable events. Seek to emulate Jack and see things the way they are, not the way they are painted by the media or pundits.
  2. Stop worrying about things you cannot control. Gas prices are kinda high. Segments of the economy are hurting. Segments of the economy are flourishing. International tension seemingly abounds. Can you control any of these things? If you can, call me. Now.
  3. Focus on what we can control. We can control our work ethic, our ethics in general, effective communication with our team, and hopefully our behaviors. This is where we need to focus our energies: squarely on items that will impact productivity, efficiency, and morale.
  4. Look for opportunities. In Mandarin, the literal translation of the word crisis is “danger/opportunity.” From a standpoint of thoroughness do we need to examine the danger related to situations and the business environment? Of course we do, it is good strategic planning to ponder as many angles as possible. What I frequent observe though, is many leaders fail to think creatively about what opportunities may be lurking. In addition, by focusing on danger and hazards that are out of our control, business people are losing their sense of optimism.
  5. Practice pragmatic optimism. A note to all of my fellow entrepreneurs: it is our great sense of optimism that allows us to flourish. Let’s face it. If you are not a bold faced optimist you would have never started your own business. What I mean by pragmatic optimism (and this is not from Webster’s) is this:

Pragmatic Optimism: Maintaining a positive state of mind and acknowledging that the world offers an amazing amount of opportunities, while embracing the relevant realities of your business situation.

So what happened to the leadership team that engaged in the strategic planning session referenced in the beginning of this narrative? Well, after a little soul-searching, they jettisoned their head trash surrounding events and situations which they could not control. In addition, they created an action plan – a segment of which is shown below:

  • Consistently embrace pragmatic optimism.
  • Help our team members fully understand that all is not gloom and doom.
  • Be coaches and educators in order to provide visionary leadership that showcases individual strengths and team opportunities.
  • Acknowledge that hurdles to our success will arise.
  • Acknowledge that we will ultimately succeed – we always do.

In closing, I quote Henry Ford, who many years ago said: “One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his greatest surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t.”

Be well, and think positively!

Doug Van Dyke is an executive coach, speaker, training expert, and pragmatic optimist. His forthcoming book is entitled Leadership Simplified. To have Doug facilitate or speak at your next event call 941-776-1121 or visit www.dvdconsulting.com.

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