Jennifer Elliott Blog

In my opinion this poem is one of the most powerful and impactful I have ever learned.

Every time I am thinking about making a decision I am reminded of this poem and the magic that comes from my commitment. Most time there is no real evidence that a decision or a commitment will work and yet that is exactly what commitment is all about.

Commitment by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy the chance to draw back always ineffectiveness.

Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans.

The moment one definitely commits oneself then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.

A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Begin it now. –

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

When you take the time to learn it your life and your capacity to make decisions will be transformed.

Leadership is always important and yet not urgent until there is a crisis.

This article was inspired by an article in Human Capital Magazine

Inspired by an article – Leaders are drowning, not waving:

In The Human Capital Magazine

  We have a huge convergence crisis on us at the moment. Developing leadership skills has been neglected by the majority of business to date and now that we are in a financial crisis we find there is no one who really knows what to do.

 The leadership crisis we are facing today has been riding what has become known as the tidal wave of the GFC. Now it is too little and to late for many companies and leaders to survive the disaster. What is required right now is clear decisive leadership from truly inspirational and well put together individuals.

 The problem is that leadership is a function of character and not a prerogative of position or a birth right. For far to long businesses have neglected the training of their up and coming leaders and developed their essential leadership skills. The development of true leaders is done over time with clear intentional practise.

 If leaders and managers are over stressed and generally out of their depth right now then a two day retreat on stress handling or “assertive recession strategies” is not going to work. What is required as a matter of urgency is a commitment to a well thought out leadership program where the participants are coached and hand held through the current crisis for over 12 months.

 Leadership has just made it into the urgent and important quadrant.

 Developing leaders requires a significant investment of both time and money. Personal engagement of the individual leaders is critical and yet it is common for business owners and CEO’s to be heard complaining and blaming their people instead of looking at their own leadership first.

 What is required is the personal engagement of the CEO and business owner first. When they personally to developing their own leadership skills we are able to truly address the leadership issues across the entire organisation and definitely not before.

 Leadership programs tailored to assist the leader to deal with the “stuff” on the table today. Redundancies, moral boosting and productivity increases in a shrinking and retreating market are the function of the true leader. Leaders must also at this time have the courage and skills to deal with the “smelly stuff” under the table and seeping out the doors of the executive board room.

 We all know that when the going gets tough the tough get going and dealing with performance issues and the stress of declining profits quickly and efficiently is the name of the game. We can all welcome the extreme challenge we are facing right now as the pressure and stress of the downturn is giving many of us a much needed wake up call.

 The wake up is that leadership is a function of character and to be a great leader we must first be a great human being.

 This article was inspired by an article in Human Capital Magazine

Written by Jennifer Elliott CEO of Integrity and Values.Com with a team of licensees delivering Leadership in Action.

The Only Cultural Transformation Program That I have Ever Seen Work.

Last Monday I had the great pleasure of sitting down with two committed and powerful women representing a large international company in their Sydney office. My wonderful PA Melinda took their call two weeks earlier and arranged the appointment. She said, “I think you should go and see these people, they asked for you by name and they sound really good.”

So off I went, full of enthusiasm and expectation to the appointment. Now this is a really serious company with multiple levels of security at the front door, wiz bang scanning and appointment checking, all the stuff that truly big business has.

As I am going up in the lift I am wondering about how we got the appointment. Who in the world has recommended me so that the doors of this big company are opening for me. Well we shook hands and sat down in one of those glass bowl meeting rooms. We did the card exchange ritual and I couldn’t wait.

Bursting with expectation and wondering what had been said about me and my work I seized the moment and asked…

“So before I start, who has said what about me and my work that has you want to see me?” What happened next was one of those magic moments in business we all wait for. One of the women said,

“We have a guy working here in one of our senior roles and he said that you had run the only cultural transformation program that he has ever seen work.”

I said “Wow, did he really say that!”

So then I asked his name and recognised it immediately. Ten years ago David was a junior executive working with a large IT company in North Sydney. I can’t wait to catch up on the past 10 years of our lives and thank him sincerely for the referral.

Just filling in the past ten years will be fun. We will be sharing funny stories about what happened then and also about how the work we did has changed both of us.

Now let me tell you what the point is of telling you this other than to brag about my 10 year’s on referral.

Do the work you love and love your work. This will enable you to build a business that stands the test of time. Right from 1989 to the present day my life’s work has been dedicated to changing people in business, one conversation and one business at a time.

David’s referral this week reminded of the importance of finding my passion and sticking to it. I’m looking forward to hearing his story of how the work I do has transformed his life.

From the outside looking in it may seem easy and that I am lucky in having built a training business that I am immensely proud of.
Let me assure you the opposite is true. Just like you and the thousands of people I have worked with over the years. It has been very tough at times to meet my mortgage payments, find the money for my staff pay roll and hold onto my commitment.

My message for you today is…

Live long in the “David” moments of joy and recognition for a job well done.
Stay true to your vision even though it is not easy.
Because you and I have the courage to stand the world is a better place for us all.

Jennifer Elliott

Committed to creating extraordinary leaders in
business one conversation, one business at a time.

www.integrityandleadership.com

Clarity Leads To Power

Driving along in the car a few days ago I was abruptly stopped by an absolute emergency. Not a car crash, a police road block or even a tree across the road. In fact there was no one and nothing on the road in front of me at the time and yet this was an absolute emergency.

The emergency was “an emergency of my own mind and creation.” I was listening to James O’Loghlin, one of my favorite ABC Radio personalities, I just love the man. I have never met him of course and yet I feel like he is one of my very best friends.

What my friend James does, and he does it so well, is that he lives his passion. Here is a man who truly loves what he is doing and he shares his gift as an ABC radio and TV personality with all of us. I’m sure James has a long list of fans just like me who’s lives are enriched and made better every day through what he loves doing.

He reminds me of me, of course. Now that may sound a bit much and even over the top and yet those of you who know the truth, know what we love in others is what we love in ourselves. I like to dream that I too am a TV and Radio celebrity and James you are truly my hero.

So let me get back to the point here …

James is having a wonderful time interviewing a man who has written award winning movies and plays. In response to a question where he is asked about the difficulties of being so clever and skillful in his craft, as he has to have a complex and detailed knowledge of human behaviour and then incorporate this knowledge into the script and still tell a story that appeals to everyone.

Wow what a gift, the gift of the truly masterful script writer who can take all the ingredients complexities of the behaviour of parents, children, drunks, inspirational leaders, political thugs, villains and saints then tell a story that is heartfelt and moving which changes the way we all think. 

Now that is truly a great gift and that is what James was talking to him about. So what is the secret to great success and ability to get across such a powerful message?

This is what caused my emergency and pulled me to a screeching halt. I went into a panicked frenzy, desperately searching around for my note pad so I could scribble down these words of wisdom quickly before I forgot what he said.

So here it is…

The greatest level of teaching is to bring clarity to people through your work.

There are so many university professors and academics in the world with such awfully complex models and ideas about human behaviour that they are the only ones who understand what they are saying.

My job is to bring clarity to you, my students and my audience thorough stories, exercises and activities. What I do is take the complex and make it simple.

My job is to give you the power that clarity brings. In other words Clarity leads to power.

So thank you to James O’Loghlin and thank you to your famous script write for reminding me that my greatest gift in working with executives in leadership across Australia is to give them the power that clarity brings.

CLARITY LEADS TO POWER.

Jennifer Elliott – Committed to creating extraordinary leaders in business one conversation, one business at a time
http://www.integrityandleadership.com/

In Search of the Holy Grail of Marketing

Nowadays, I am on the quest for the sales and marketing Holy Grail. You know the one. A magic switch that I can turn on or off whenever I need new prospects knocking at my door begging for my services and happy to give me lots and lots of money.

Every now and then I think, I have found it – and then as if by magic or divine intervention, it is gone. So back to the quest, going to networking functions, meeting people in airplanes, knocking on doors and signing people up to my training and programs the good old fashioned way.

Just yesterday it dawned on me that I might never find the Holy Grail of Marketing.

What I also realised is that given any chance of a sale with any half reasonable prospect, I will keep that relationship alive for ever.

Six years ago I met with a business prospect in Sydney and just yesterday we agreed in principle to start working together.

Now this work is likely to be worth well in excess of $100,000 in the next 12 months and even five to ten times that the following year.

So I ask myself, what is different or unique about me. Why is it that I hear people in business moaning and complaining about how tough things are? Some of these people are my clients, colleagues and licensed users of my Integrity and Values products.

Sometimes, I want to scream at them because they just don’t get it !!!

Some of them are so hungry they behave like desperate ruthless hunters and gatherers. Others stay in their offices and would rather moan to you and me than pick up the phone and call a prospect.

I reckon, W. Edwards Demming, probably one of the greatest business minds of the last century nailed it. Most people in small business don’t have a system. They don’t have a simple and reliable system to keep track of all of their sales activity.

Demming said 96% of failure can be laid at the feet of your lack of a system.

So here is what I say… 

“You are not stupid, lazy or incompetent. The problem is simply that you don’t have a system that works.”

MacDonald’s gets young semi literate kids to work, produce and sell a consistent and reliable hamburger that is almost inedible. They do it on time and to the same standard every day of the year all over the world and they can only do it because they have a system.

So here’s the go.

Get a system that works; I use a program called Goldmine to keep my relationships working and maintain my contacts. I write this Blog and I send emails to the customers I love.

I send letters and hand written notes to special people because they have done special things for me. I even send bottles of wine to some special people who refer me to other prospects.

I could go on and on about what I do and I know you have heard it all before. The point is you are where you are right now because of the system you have, or the lack of one, and how well you follow that system.

In finishing, I have not given up my quest for the Marketing Holy Grail.

That magic switch that I can turn on or off whenever I need new customers and prospects knocking at my door, begging for my services and happy to give me lots and lots of money.

I know I am getting closer and closer every day and until then I will be focusing and doing only what works.

What works for me is working the system I have and letting my Goldmine program tell me what I am doing today and who I am going to talk to.

Jennifer Elliott – Committed to creating extraordinary leaders in business one conversation one business at a time.
http://www.integrityandleadership.com/

URGENCY  -  How To Get it and
Keep a Sense of Urgency

With a sense of urgency, you will be invigorated, you will need less sleep, you will feel younger, you will become more attractive and most of all you will get what you want faster.

So here are a few tips on the subject with a really interesting, bottom line ending to the article.

So let’s start with the end!

This is the Bottom Line End Piece of this Article …

Here’s the kicker and the most important point:
… You don’t need a deadline if you have a mission!

One of the greatest complaints I hear from executives and company owners about their people is regarding urgency. How do you create it, condition it into yourself, get it if you don’t have it and better yet how do you get others to get it if they don’t have it?

1. Control the environment. You have to create a space that supports the urgency without abuse. Celebrating wins. Create games. Have Fun!
2. Operate on a team where there is a lot of accountability to the group. To condition urgency, peer pressure and peer support are the fastest ways for everyone to get it. Remember it takes more than one to create synergy.
3. Have a Code Of Honour that supports optimal performance. You are going to turn up the heat and you have to be sure that the rules are clear. The rules have to:
   - support the behaviour that supports the goal,
   - support the team,
   - and prevent people from bailing out
4. Set the boundaries. Don’t give yourself or the others a lot of latitude to think or wander. Set the time frames, the requirements, the rules and even turn your projects into games that you can score.
5. Make it competitive. By doing this, it allows everyone to benchmark their progress against others. You are able to see where you stand in the running at all times and know exactly what you need to do to improve.
6. Set a deadline. This is the most important!! The closer the deadline, the higher the urgency. Set the goal line and make sure that everyone on your team knows it as well. Setting a deadline for yourself is no big deal, but if you have to answer to a group…that is a big deal. That is why the classic Monday morning sales meeting is so powerful. Everyone has to produce every week because they have to show their results to everyone else…every Monday!!
7. Repeat and immerse in the project. Use these criteria in your training, your work and in every project that has importance and meaning to it. If you discipline yourself to operate in this kind of an environment for say…12 weeks… you will begin to rekindle that natural sense of urgency that you had as a kid when you set your mind on something. You will be invigorated, you will need less sleep, you will feel younger, you will become more attractive and most of all you will get what you want faster.

But here’s the kick and the most important point:
…You don’t need a deadline if you have a mission!

Those who are truly on a mission, have a natural sense of urgency. They have something they see, feel and are passionate about what they want to manifest. Their frustration lies in the fact that their ideas, vision and expectations move faster than the reality around them. They are therefore always pushing. They are only sometimes impatient, but always have urgency.

This One Is All About NICE, It’s Quick & Short

I have a special video of a part of our leadership program for you that is only 3.43 minutes long and it could very well change your world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5w_LN83FK4&feature=channel_page

If you or someone close to you is “Too Nice,” they are paying a high price and you really must see this short clip now to see why.

By “Too Nice,” I mean, too forgiving, too laid back and too easy going.

This short video of mine is sure to make a big difference.

So even if it’s not you, but someone close to you and they are being way “Too Nice” then just send them the link and get them to see for themselves what price they are paying.

I just love Dan Kennedy, the marketing GURU from the USA. He says a couple of really great things in one of his books called

“How to Succeed in Business by Breaking all the Rules”

“The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth” … But not in the foreseeable future.

“Mind Your Manners” … but the barbarians are past the gate and getting all the gold

Coming soon I will be posting more online video from my powerful Leadership Program. Please use them and let me know how you go. I love to hear from you with and you wins and your challenges in being a great leader in business.

Stay well and I’ll keep you posted

Regards
Jennifer Elliott
Committed to your success and truly making a difference to leaders everywhere

Check out the Leadership Program Intro at 
www.integrityandleadership.com

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

“If I am so committed to everyone else having a business and a life that works, how come mine is not that great?”

Well the truth is not always easy to face at times and I know there are times when I’ve just wanted to crawl into in a hole and disappear. So you are not the only one when it happens to you.

It seems that every day we are dished up the Global Economic Crisis at breakfast, Unemployment for lunch and Recession dinner. Just what we need right now to drive the panic even further is a really bad case of Swine Flu.

Now, if you are addicted to doom and gloom, what ever you do, don’t read this any further.

What I have for you is positive and uplifting, life changing and powerful. Because it is in the face of adversity we find out who we really are.

Just one week ago I attended an evening event with Dr John Demartini (he was featured in Movie The Secret) and here is my message to you about maintaining you personal power.

Regularly seek out the people and places to support you to be great. Dr Demartini has some real magic in his material and I just love my ideas being challenged and hanging out with positive people going places.  

Just go along and hang out for a while and you will be inspired. I left with a CD they gave me just for coming along. I have listened to it 5 times so far and I am pumped.

Another tip I’ll give you is this…

When you run a coaching session or a training event, give your clients homework that gets them to listen to the material, any book, CD podcast or video that keeps them in the positive and uplifted state of anything is possible.

And do it yourself at the same time. Now that’s really out there isn’t it.

So here is the bottom line….

I learned this one 27 years ago and it’s still working today …

If you want the results that successful people get then do what they do.

Regards
Jennifer Elliott
Committed to Your Success
PS Check out the Leadership Program Intro at www.integrityandleadership.com

Recently I was at the National Speakers Association of Australia (NSAA) national conference. It was truly the best NSAA conference I have been to in 20 years and I had a great time catching up with all of my speaking buddies.

Dr Stephanie Burns was there filling us all in and what she had been doing since last time we saw her. She is an amazing educator who taught me over 19 years ago and as a raving fan of her work, I still mention her material and techniques in my presentations today.

Now days I sometimes catch up with past students of mine out there still using the material that I was able to pass on to them over 15 years ago.

Now here is my point, some people actually remember what you said to them many many years ago. They remember because you were passionate about your message and because you were truly being you. You were solidly connected to your passion at the time and offering up pearls of wisdom that had them take action and change their lives.

So my question to you is this, how do you teach people stuff, and I mean real meaty chunky get your teeth into stuff that lasts over 15 years and have them remember it and what you said and how much it impacted them.

My answer is simple and yet at times very difficult to maintain.

Stay on track and focused to your passion. No matter what financial hurdles and family upsets you encounter, stay on track with your passion.

That’s right, and I didn’t say it was going to be easy now did I.

The NSAA conference reminded me that I have seen a lot of people come and go and yet those who remain are truly connected and passionate about what they do.

There is nothing better for me than to sit in at a conference 19 years after the event and hear my teacher fill me in on the huge gap, tell me what she is doing now and next in her world of education.

I know I need it and I’m sure you do to. A reminder of the lives we have changed and that the world is a better place because you took the courageous path to follow your passion.

What ever you do, please find the courage to follow your mission and purpose with passion and vitality.

If you feel like you are falling off the rails, call me and I’ll pick you up, write to me and I’ll write back or talk to me next time we meet and I will listen.

Regards

Jennifer Elliott

PS Dr Stephanie Burns is hinting she will be doing more training soon. Check her out and get on her mailing list at
www.stephnaieburns.com