Saturday, May 27, 2006

Art of the Start...Right Motives

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki
is about.... "cut the crap and tell me what I need to do."

He suggests 5 most important things the entrepreneur must accomplish.
1. Make meaning-- what will make the world better.
2. Make mantra--forget mission statements...too boring...create exciting themes. Take your theme and make a mantra out of it.
3. Get going--start creating and delivering your product or service.
4. Define your business model... how will you make money. Specific, simple, copy someone.
5. Weave a mat (milestones, assumptions, and tasks). Milestones you want to meet, assumptions on your business model and tasks that keep you on track.

Learn how to quickly, clearly, eye-openly pitch your niche.

The reason for a business plan is to get the team working together, considering important issues and finding "holes" before your dollars fall through them.

Get people "infected" like you and find rainmakers who can sell your vision before your product/service can prove itself... who are skilled to find where you will blossom and can sell through "not-proven-yet" resistance.

Provide a safe, easy, first step.

In addition to getting commited partners and finding capital trials, put in place ethics, decency and admiration.

The Art of the Start triggers you to reboot your brain. Thinking for a startup is different than thinking for an existing company. He covers these main start up themes in The Art of the Start. There's a difference for a start up compared to thinking in an existing business.

Positioning: finding a niche and dominating it.
Pitching: ten slides, 20 min. and 30 pt. font.
Writing a Business Plan: 20 pages of wishful thinking.
Bootstrapping: Staying with a college buddy instead of a Motel Six.
Recruiting: Sucking in people who "get it" and are willing to risk their careers for stock options.
Partnering: Piggybacking on others to increase sales.
Branding: Evangelizing in the trenches.
Rainmaking: Sucking up, down, across.
Being a Mensch: Helping people who can't help you.

For starting a business or mission, Kawasaki is interesting and inventive on how to go about it. He's very "real world" insightful. You can tell he's been out there.
http://artofthestart.com/ shares examples, templates and resources you can use.

Start with the right motives, intentions. What you will contribute.
The Prophet Ezekiel talks about the destructive forces of pride, self-centeredness..."I want it all. It's all mine." When this is a person's motives, they are headed for a downfall. ( Note Ezekiel 27-29)

Wealth, money, beauty, possessions, power--are the roots of pride.
History has it when there's pride, self-centeredness a person is building the path to destruction. When you want it all, want it all for yourself, you open the gates to total self-destruction.

This attitude was seen in big business leaders of large corporations that fell. They had it all and wanted more money, beauty, prestige, possessions, power. This led to pride, self-centeredness possessiveness. They admired themselves."I have all this. It is all mine.

"In reality, we do not own anything. It is all God's. We all leave it when we die, our children leave it when they die and it eventually goes back to its original creator.

So why do we exist?
To give what we have to others.
To continually be in a flow of giving and contributing.

It is like rain that comes from the skies, goes into streams, then into lakes, evaporates backup to the sky and it rains again. All we do circulates just like this. If it stays stagnate and is not flowing, it sours and becomes a poison to who drinks it.

Instead of getting and keeping it all, we were designed in the Spiritual system to be giving. It keeps flowing and keeps coming back fresh. Jesus said what you do for the least of these you do to Me.

Your business and possessions are not yours. You own nothing. It is not just for you. It is to be shared with all you know... your associates, employees, vendors, friends, relatives and especially the least of all who have no way of helping you in return.

Make your business this conduit of transition. From you to others in need. Make your business a conduit of transfer. Collect the produce of wealth that is ever expanding...don't hurt your self by trying to keep it all to yourself. Instead, be a Divine Delivery Boy for purposes of Spirit, Love of God to re-supply His Creation.

We all exist as care givers, care sharers with humanity. When we slip into the "this is all mine" syndrome, self destruction can be heard coming around the corner. Don't harden your heart, give, share, build up others.

If you give what you have, share with many and be the Divine Delivery Boy of God's purposes, you build up true riches. Your heart will be filled with love, joy, happiness. You will have many friends and happiness will surround you.

Jesus said to use money to make friends.
“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves.”
(Luke 16:9)

When we share, we make friends. The more friends we have the more wealth of rich relationships become an ever growing part of our lives.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Likeability to Love-ability

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Why do people like you?
Why is being liked so important?
Tim Sanders, author of The Likeability Factor, extensively researched being liked.
He found it is very important to have qualities of being liked as the nature of our society is changing.

We are moving from short-term to long-term in focus, functioning more interdependently and becoming less individualistic. It is essential to cultivate quality relationships, and be versed in dealing with a variety of relationships. In making it for the long haul, we need many believers from various influences around us in the process.

To be likable is the key ingredient to meet the new definitions of success... we want freedom to chart our course in life as we desire. If your life has inconsistencies, people will see or find out and your likeability will go down the tubes.

People tend to believe what they want to believe and they believe you more if they like you. Life changes, many variables now come into play that affect our lives. Just being the best or knowing the right people does not cut it.

The deciding factor on whether we leap the moon or live in gloom is our likeability.

What builds likeability?
Sanders outlines four aspects to likeability. When you have all four, people like you a lot and become invaluable partners with you in anything... friends, marriage, business pursuits, organizations, socially.... wherever interactions and relationships with people are essentially important. And with today's society which is intertwined, it is everywhere in everything.

Today into tomorrow-relationships with people is the essential factor... the Likeability Factor.

The four ingredients of likeability…
1. Friendliness. When we show "happy expressions" as we run into, pass or meet people. People like those who they feel like them. When you welcome people into your emotional space, receive them positively, they see this as friendly.

2. Relevance. Then when you connect, find common ground, the likeability factor continues its advance. Relevance "is the extent to which the other person connects to your life's interests, wants, and needs." Relevance has three levels, or degree's... contact, mutual interest and value. Sanders found a study that students who sat close to each other in school classes liked each other more.

3. Empathy. "When you see a person as friendly and relevant, then you wonder, consciously or unconsciously, if the person understands you." Empathy, goes beyond knowing or sympathy. It wants to know why and relates "why" he feels that way. By sharing a common experience, it creates a feeling of understanding.

4. Realness. If a person is friendly, relevant, expresses empathy toward you, the last component to be likeable is realness. Is the person genuine, truthful, accurate, authentic. When we see inconsistencies in realness, likeability takes a nose dive. The other factors lose significance and our connection to that person fades. Being friendly, saying I like you with a smile voice, connecting with a person in some way, pursuing understanding the person and being honest to who you are... result in people really liking you.

If a person starts out likable and then just one of the four factors begin to change... not as friendly acting, change of interests, not as understanding, or not honest or real... likeability begins to dissolve.

Sanders goes on in The Likeability Factor to lead you through processes that will increase your likeability factor. A self-assessment test is also included in the back of the book. Sanders is a contemporary expression of Dale Carnegie's classic How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Sanders website is... http://timsanders.com/

Love takes us a step up from likeability.
“…continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love.(1 John 4:7-8)

And the Spirit of God lives in you. (1 John 2:27)

In What Happens When We Die, they pointed out that those with near death experiences come back to life with a strong sense of kindness and service in their lives after the experience. Most said they had met Spiritual beings and that love was the prominent characteristic of the experience. The sense of love overwhelmed them.

When Spirit (Love) dominates our existence, especially when not manufactured by us, we love as the flow of Spirit continues constantly through us. We live and respond with rekindled kindness in all things. We are innately driven in a Spirit of Service... to serve others in need with love that is a natural part of our being.

When Spirit controls,
as the presence of us,
love is the flow that comes through us.

The Apostle John said that if we do not love our neighbors, we do not know God. (1 John 4)

God is love. God is Spirit.
When we allow Spirit to reside in us we love because that is the character of Spirit. Love dominates our existence. To love is more than a mandate, it is a characteristic of existence. It is who we are, we are naturally love... when in Spirit.

When Spirit is allowed to exist in us, even when a person is not friendly, we love them;
when person's life is not relevant to ours, we love them;
when someone even shows little interest or cares for us, we even love them,
when someone deliberately tries to deceive us, we still love them.

Love goes beyond likeability... love passes through all obstacles of relationship, acquainting, and getting along with others. Love continues to be kind, and serves regardless of how it is treated.

In any business, those who love are the best at customer service.They remain kind, patient, understanding even when they deal with someone who is not kind, patient or agreeable. Love is a fire that melts hostility and makes the way for forging relationships even when circumstances do not promote likeability.

Rest, flow and maintain a center of love in Spirit. You will always be likable and begin nurturing likeability to others who are not likable.

Love is an active Power Force that heals, builds and creates a platform for miracles to happen in life and in business.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

360 Degree Leader... whole life power

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

According to John Maxwell, we all can lead where we are.

In the 360° Leader, Maxwell emphasizes that leading is a personal decision and has little to do with formal positions and titles. It is a personal quality we all learn, develop and become. The first step is to learn how to lead yourself. You can start at any age (younger or older); and you can maximize it to its fullest potential in any circumstances.

So a person can Lead Up, Lead Across, or Lead Down. Most books are written on how to lead those below us. What stuck my interest was how to lead across, or how to influence peers. Here’s Maxwell’s advice on leading across.

Principle #1: Leading is not a one time event but an ongoing process that takes time. Take time to learn, understand, prioritize and complete the “Leadership Loop” as Maxwell calls it. The leadership loop includes a progression from caring to learning to appreciating to contributing to verbalizing to succeeding.

This translates as taking an interest in people, respecting people, adding value to people, affirming people, influencing people, winning with people.

Principle #2: Put fellow leaders ahead of competing with them. Learn to complement them and contribute by putting your strengths along side someone’s weakness.

Principle #3: Be a friend. Listen, be open and honest.

Principle #4: Avoid office politics. Look at all sides of an issue and avoid taking sides. Help each other understand another point of view, rather than staunchly defending a point of view.

Principle #5: Expand your circle of acquaintances. Start with people you know and expand into their circle of friends; expand beyond your area of expertise; meet people different than you; break through prejudices; get to know others you may have not previously liked; break your routine; and do other things around new environments.

Principle #6: Let the best ideas win. Yield to, acknowledge and commend others who have good ideas.

Principle #7: Don’t pretend you are perfect. Admit your own faults; ask for advice; worry less about what others think; be open to learn from others; and put away pride and pretense.

Maxwell also has more on the web on the 360° Leader.
http://maximumimpact.com/


A 360° person completes, complements and compliments others.

Spirit in us Completes us as whole people as God made us to be one. In Spirit we are One with Him.

The Spirit Complements our abilities to enhance them to great levels above normal human potential. We are made in the image of God but remain incomplete without His Spirit residing in us.

When His Spirit resides in us, our abilities take on a Spiritual dimension. We see outstanding results in our life effortlessly.

Then the Spirit Compliments us. It gives us hope and encouragement. It inspires and motivates us. It provides a supernatural vision of results and a never ceasing flow of visual thoughts that see results as His Spirit is prompting us to see.

With Spirit in residence, we then are complete as One.
Spirit Completes us,
Spirit Complements us
and Sprit Compliments us with inspiration to attempt the impossible.

Whereas in the past, we would not even think of some things as remotely possible. With Spirit we get Supernatural encouragement.

Spirit is built-in.
It’s functionally interactive.
It’s constantly in our lives, thoughts, emotions
and creating a never-ending personal energy.

Within us a building begins that raises us up to even greater levels…
when Spirit is One in us;
when Spirit unites as One with others.

We, in Spirit, complete other people. We complement them with our strengths reinforcing their weaknesses. But when our strengths unite with the same strength in another, we catapult as a team to do incredible things. The human function, combined in strength literally flings the two into abilities beyond this world.

When we verbally compliment others, we implant an ability in them. They perform what we tell them they will. When we build up others, they become empowered through what we say. The human spirit wants to fulfill the positive things people tell us we are and can do.

The Scriptures say,
"You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. 20 We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22,NLT)

With the Spirit intertwined among each other, we are the Holy Temple. The very Spirit of God lives in among us and goes before us.

This intertwining in Spirit is what gives us Supernatural potential
as co-creators with God.
God is Spirit.
God is the Great, Earth and Substance creating Spirit.

Spirit creates the material and directs the flow of the psychological. It transforms ideas to realities and seals connections between people.

So the highest levels of influence are those where
Spirit is One in the person with God's Universally expansive Spirit;
and where the Spirit of One unites with the Spirit of another,
also One in Spirit with God's Universally expansive Spirit.

The 360° person is complete in Spirit,
complements and compliments others.