I was reading about some research into workplace bullying in hospitals. This piece included a case study from an Australian hospital. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/21/5/189#SEC2
In an environment where health providers throughout the world face increasing shortages of skill employees, the cost of workplace bullying is magnified. The issue can be that bullying is a hidden disease. Often it takes places without the perpetrator actually being aware that they are engaged in bullying behavior. This is a reflection of poor development amongst managers. Front line managers in particular should be at the forefront of identifying incidents of bullying and provide a bully-free role model.
In this research, 38% of people interviewed reported being the victim of workplace bullying. A further 40% reported being witness to workplace bullying. These are significant numbers. It is possible they are conservative reports; certainly the percentages will be higher in some organisations than others. This suggests bully is a feature of an organisation's culture. Where workplace bullying is actively discouraged the message is one which demonstrates such behaviour will not be tolerated.
The cost of workplace bullying can be high. The direct cost may be measured in turnover and failure to attract the best people to work in an organisation. The cost of prevention is lower than the cost of allowing bullying to take place.
The first stage in prevention is education and awareness. Regrettably many of our normal social behaviours are bullying behaviours - and therefore not considered out of the ordinary. Staff at all levels need to be made aware of various behaviours and the impact these may have on other people.
Following on from education is a process whereby all managers are seen to be developing and reinforcing a culture free of bullying. This begins in the CEO's office. If the CEO bullies senior executives or middle management or any staff member, then the message is clear. Bullying is acceptable. It is the way we do things around here.
All other managers should make an effort to demonstrate to their team members their understanding of the signs of workplace bullying and show by their actions they will be proactive in stamping out such behaviours. It goes without saying, almost, that they to should avoid such bullying behaviours themselves in their dealings with staff.
John Coxon & Associates has created an in-house program designed to reduce the costs created by workplace bullying. This program is a mixture of management consulting, workshopping and ongoing management coaching. To discuss the program telephone +61 3 5561 2228 or email admin@johncoxon.com.au
Why have we done this? Simple, we view this as a management behavioural issue. We work with managers to help develop effective management competencies. In your organisation, this issue can be resolved only when your management team take responsibility for their behaviours.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
www.johncoxon.com.au
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Turnover is good
I 'borrowed' the headline above from an article by Molly Rowe at HealthLeaders Media. I hope Molly will not be to upset as I want to expand upon, and add my own perspective, to an article Molly wrote early in 2008.
Why would turnover be good? Especially in these difficult times with looming labour shortages forecast. The key is to hire the best people for the job. Those that have the right attitude as well as appropriate workplace qualifications. The key is to hang on to these people, come hell or highwater. Get rid of those with low skill levels and a lack of desire to learn new competencies or processes - they are a deadweight around the neck of efficiency. These people are the ones you want to turnover, fast and soon. In a difficult economy the most difficult people to get rid of are the deadweights. These people do not contribute to your organisation in any meaningful manner - in fact they contribute to its lack of effectiveness. These people stangle your organisation. They mire it in mediocrity. The contribute towards the turnover of good people - the very people you need to retain.
Why do we hire deadweights? There are a number of contributing factors. One is that many managers have poorly developed recruitment competencies. They assume to much, they do not ask relevant questions during interviews. A qualification is not a passport to competency - all a qualification does is get someone into an interview. Managers fail to follow up with properly conducted reference checks. Yes, applicants will always seed their reference list with supportative people. Use this technique. Say to the referee, "this person tells me they were involved in achieving xyz . . ". What are your recollections of this event? Listen for the gap between the applicants version and the referees version. There is no point in discussing with the referee stuff that is contained in the application - dig deeper and search for anomolies. Discovery of an anomoly doesn't automatically make an applicant unsuitable - it simply points you to areas for further discussion and exploration.
My point? Good employee relations begins at the recruitment stage, right at the beginning. Before you even advertise. Know what you want from this person. Understand the type of person you want. (Try involving existing staff in this process). Clearly define the role, expectations, responsibilities and outcomes. More tomorrow, where I will talk about some of the successful strategies we have employed when recruiting on behalf of clients.
Welcome to 2009. I trust all those that join us on our journey had an enjoyable festive season, however you celebrate it and we look forward to travelling onwards throughout the year.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
www.johncoxon.com.au
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Why would turnover be good? Especially in these difficult times with looming labour shortages forecast. The key is to hire the best people for the job. Those that have the right attitude as well as appropriate workplace qualifications. The key is to hang on to these people, come hell or highwater. Get rid of those with low skill levels and a lack of desire to learn new competencies or processes - they are a deadweight around the neck of efficiency. These people are the ones you want to turnover, fast and soon. In a difficult economy the most difficult people to get rid of are the deadweights. These people do not contribute to your organisation in any meaningful manner - in fact they contribute to its lack of effectiveness. These people stangle your organisation. They mire it in mediocrity. The contribute towards the turnover of good people - the very people you need to retain.
Why do we hire deadweights? There are a number of contributing factors. One is that many managers have poorly developed recruitment competencies. They assume to much, they do not ask relevant questions during interviews. A qualification is not a passport to competency - all a qualification does is get someone into an interview. Managers fail to follow up with properly conducted reference checks. Yes, applicants will always seed their reference list with supportative people. Use this technique. Say to the referee, "this person tells me they were involved in achieving xyz . . ". What are your recollections of this event? Listen for the gap between the applicants version and the referees version. There is no point in discussing with the referee stuff that is contained in the application - dig deeper and search for anomolies. Discovery of an anomoly doesn't automatically make an applicant unsuitable - it simply points you to areas for further discussion and exploration.
My point? Good employee relations begins at the recruitment stage, right at the beginning. Before you even advertise. Know what you want from this person. Understand the type of person you want. (Try involving existing staff in this process). Clearly define the role, expectations, responsibilities and outcomes. More tomorrow, where I will talk about some of the successful strategies we have employed when recruiting on behalf of clients.
Welcome to 2009. I trust all those that join us on our journey had an enjoyable festive season, however you celebrate it and we look forward to travelling onwards throughout the year.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon & Associates
Taking You from Frontline Manager to CEO
www.johncoxon.com.au
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Were taking a break
It's that time of the year. Were taking a break for a couple of weeks. Shutting up shop to relax with friends and family over the festive season and take the opportunity to recharge the batteries. To all those that have followed our blogs throughout 2008, we thank you and we are humbled that you would chose to travel with us on our journey. We trust you all enjoy the festive season and we look forward to meeting up with each of you again in 2009.
John Coxon
John Coxon
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
MBA - Useful or Useless?
The November issue of Insite, the Aged Care industry newspaper has a feature on management. On its front cover it asks the question whether an MBA is purposeful or pointless for executives in the aged care sector?
I would like to take a slightly broader perspective than the aged care sector. Let me state first up that I dont have an MBA or even an undergraduate degree. While I have studied a variety of University level diplomas and courses, I have tended to get my education from the University of Hard Knocks. There are many, especially amongst those that have invested in higher degree level education, who would view my comment as being cynical. They would be wrong. I am totally in favour of continuous learning. The process of learning is more important than the channel used to learn.
More importantly, I believe than the actual qualification, is the reason why one believes the qualification is necessary. The often quoted outcome of MBA level education is that it teaches people critical analysis skills. Maybe. My question would be this. Does it teach people how to apply those skills in the real world of constantly changing environments and pressure to perform? Looking around the world at present and seeing the impact of the economic crisis and prior to that the meltdown of the dot-com era, I get a sense that those with the education somewhat lacked the ability to apply their learnings in a practical manner.
Some have a tendency to believe the qualification actually qualifies them to perform a certain role. Nothing could be further from the truth. Interestingly enough, research worldwide suggests the majority of current CEO's tend not to have post graduate level education. They got where they are by experiential learning and applying common sense. In future that balance will change, I believe, increasingly more CEO's will have higher tertiary education. This will not be because they need it to do the job, it will be a result of increasing numbers of people completing post graduate university degrees.
For those that enjoy the structured learning of University, and I did, then completing post graduate education may well be a good option, though a reasonably expensive one. The cost has to be recovered at some point and the question has to be asked whether the benefit is equal to or greater than the cost? In my case I have always been busy getting on with the job to find the time to learn how to get on with the job. I have also made a lot of mistakes and I am sure many of those would not have been made, or the impact may have been less, had I spent more time with colleagues in a more formal learning environment. Equally I could have made less mistakes had I spent more time seeking guidance from mentors already in my fields of endeavour.
This serves to illustrate there are many different ways to gain an understanding of issues - and that is what higher education provides, a broad understanding. It also opens your mind to different perspectives.
Just this morning, one of the people I follow on Twitter posted an item about free university education.
This intrigued me so I took the time to look through some of the offerings. I looked at the course material for a program on advanced strategic planning. Read it, enjoyed and decided it didnt add a lot to my current level of understanding, gained from 35 years of practical experience.
This is not a rejection, or a criticism of the course or its producers. For someone else, without my practical experience, such courses offer a cost effective means of learning at a higher level. For those that might be considering this option, I will offer this insight. While attending University in the past I have found many of the lectures only so-so. Where I have gained the most is from interaction with individual lecturers and with other students. While face to face interaction is preferable you can replicate this interaction online.
Would I hire someone with an MBA level degree over someone with experience and able to demonstrate understanding and the ability to achieve? Probably not. Would I hire someone with practical experience and and MBA over someone with just practical experience? Probably so. Would I use degree level education to filter out applicants for a position? Never. When I help clients hire, I am looking emotional competencies and a demonstration of continuous learning. We can develop all the other competencies over time.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
I would like to take a slightly broader perspective than the aged care sector. Let me state first up that I dont have an MBA or even an undergraduate degree. While I have studied a variety of University level diplomas and courses, I have tended to get my education from the University of Hard Knocks. There are many, especially amongst those that have invested in higher degree level education, who would view my comment as being cynical. They would be wrong. I am totally in favour of continuous learning. The process of learning is more important than the channel used to learn.
More importantly, I believe than the actual qualification, is the reason why one believes the qualification is necessary. The often quoted outcome of MBA level education is that it teaches people critical analysis skills. Maybe. My question would be this. Does it teach people how to apply those skills in the real world of constantly changing environments and pressure to perform? Looking around the world at present and seeing the impact of the economic crisis and prior to that the meltdown of the dot-com era, I get a sense that those with the education somewhat lacked the ability to apply their learnings in a practical manner.
Some have a tendency to believe the qualification actually qualifies them to perform a certain role. Nothing could be further from the truth. Interestingly enough, research worldwide suggests the majority of current CEO's tend not to have post graduate level education. They got where they are by experiential learning and applying common sense. In future that balance will change, I believe, increasingly more CEO's will have higher tertiary education. This will not be because they need it to do the job, it will be a result of increasing numbers of people completing post graduate university degrees.
For those that enjoy the structured learning of University, and I did, then completing post graduate education may well be a good option, though a reasonably expensive one. The cost has to be recovered at some point and the question has to be asked whether the benefit is equal to or greater than the cost? In my case I have always been busy getting on with the job to find the time to learn how to get on with the job. I have also made a lot of mistakes and I am sure many of those would not have been made, or the impact may have been less, had I spent more time with colleagues in a more formal learning environment. Equally I could have made less mistakes had I spent more time seeking guidance from mentors already in my fields of endeavour.
This serves to illustrate there are many different ways to gain an understanding of issues - and that is what higher education provides, a broad understanding. It also opens your mind to different perspectives.
Just this morning, one of the people I follow on Twitter posted an item about free university education.
This intrigued me so I took the time to look through some of the offerings. I looked at the course material for a program on advanced strategic planning. Read it, enjoyed and decided it didnt add a lot to my current level of understanding, gained from 35 years of practical experience.
This is not a rejection, or a criticism of the course or its producers. For someone else, without my practical experience, such courses offer a cost effective means of learning at a higher level. For those that might be considering this option, I will offer this insight. While attending University in the past I have found many of the lectures only so-so. Where I have gained the most is from interaction with individual lecturers and with other students. While face to face interaction is preferable you can replicate this interaction online.
Would I hire someone with an MBA level degree over someone with experience and able to demonstrate understanding and the ability to achieve? Probably not. Would I hire someone with practical experience and and MBA over someone with just practical experience? Probably so. Would I use degree level education to filter out applicants for a position? Never. When I help clients hire, I am looking emotional competencies and a demonstration of continuous learning. We can develop all the other competencies over time.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Workplace stress and burnout
Work related stressors have repeatedly been identified as contributors to workplace stress and burnout of staff at all levels. See Spooner-Lane, R. Dr. 2007.Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol 25. No. 1 and also some excellent publications available from Australia's National Research Centre on AOD workforce development (NCETA).
The research clearly defines work related stressors as being an unsustainable workload, role conflict, role ambiguity, a physically demanding work environment and the impact of continuosly dealing with other people's concerns. NCETA's research shows that young and less experienced managers are more prone to stress and burn out than their older, more experienced colleagues. While this may be good news for those that stay the distance, the same research also showed that younger managers and workers were more likely to move out of the health sector as a result of these work stressors.
Which simply serves to illustrate the potential cost. Stress and burnout of staff increases the operational costs of your organisation through increased absenteeism, additional staffing costs, poor customer engagement leading to low quality service delivery.
According to NCETA's research there is evidence to suggest organisational issues and demands rather than the challenges of working with people in need, that have the greater impact on stress and wellbeing. (Skinner, N., & Roche, A.M. (2205) Identifying and preventing burnout in AOD managers and supervisors.National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.
The cure here, if we might use that term, is for organisational management to take a holistic approach to reducing workplace stressors. It is not sufficient to focus only on the individual employee; instead the focus should be on the root cause of the stress, and on removing the root cause. Contact John Coxon to arrange a meeting to discuss how this issue may be addressed in your organisation. We can bring a very highly experienced project team of three people to work on this issue immediately. It could save your organisation a lot of money and angst.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
The research clearly defines work related stressors as being an unsustainable workload, role conflict, role ambiguity, a physically demanding work environment and the impact of continuosly dealing with other people's concerns. NCETA's research shows that young and less experienced managers are more prone to stress and burn out than their older, more experienced colleagues. While this may be good news for those that stay the distance, the same research also showed that younger managers and workers were more likely to move out of the health sector as a result of these work stressors.
Which simply serves to illustrate the potential cost. Stress and burnout of staff increases the operational costs of your organisation through increased absenteeism, additional staffing costs, poor customer engagement leading to low quality service delivery.
According to NCETA's research there is evidence to suggest organisational issues and demands rather than the challenges of working with people in need, that have the greater impact on stress and wellbeing. (Skinner, N., & Roche, A.M. (2205) Identifying and preventing burnout in AOD managers and supervisors.National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.
The cure here, if we might use that term, is for organisational management to take a holistic approach to reducing workplace stressors. It is not sufficient to focus only on the individual employee; instead the focus should be on the root cause of the stress, and on removing the root cause. Contact John Coxon to arrange a meeting to discuss how this issue may be addressed in your organisation. We can bring a very highly experienced project team of three people to work on this issue immediately. It could save your organisation a lot of money and angst.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Monday, December 1, 2008
Working with Millennials
If you manage a hospital, an aged care facility or a medical centre where should you be looking for lessons on how to manage your future staff resource? Try McDonalds. Why not talk to the military? The AFL or the major managment consulting firms. Why? Because these organisations are key recruiters of young millenials. What are millenials? This is the generic term used to describe those moving into the workplace. They will be your future management team.
Here is a newsflash. Baby Boomers are a dying breed. Now I don't mean that in the sense they are becoming extinct. Well actually, they are, even though the end is still a long way off yet. I mean it in this way. There are approximately 300,000 Baby Boomers remaining in the workforce in Australia and New Zealand. They will have all exited the workplace by 2030.
On the other hand, millenials, those born in the past twenty five years represent 50% of the population and will be the workforce of the future. Those from Gen X are currently moving into the management ranks as we speak. Those from Gen Y, now aged in their early to mid-20's already have their eye on the top spots and following only a decade or so behind them are those currently in primary school.
Ok, so you're a Baby Boomer, you're currently in the workplace and aged 50+. Your in survival mode. You are hanging on for grim death to every rung of your hard-earned, hard-fought for, career ladder. You can almost smell the roses of retirement. This is not really your problem is it?
Wrong. it is your problem. The bright young things moving into management are not going to wait for you to retire. They are going to force you to learn how to work with them or they will run all over you; leaving one question only to be answered. Why is that person still working here?
You need to develop the ability to form relationships with the younger managers and workers. How? Lesson #1. The up and coming managers crave feedback, constant feedback. Not superficial feedback, not platitudes, they don't lack self confidence. They can see right through bullshit. They have high expectations of themselves and of others. They want to know that what they are doing is of value and is a valued contribution. They want to know how they contribute. They do not want to be preached to or instructed. They want to learn, from good teachers, able to guide them through a process of discovery. Are you able to do this?
They are tech savvy, having grown up online. Their network of friends and contacts are online, in communities and social media spaces. These networks are trusted; it is where the next breed of managers go for referrals. They get their information online. They obtain feedback and info from multiple sources. Their confidence comes from the size of the contact group. Are you online? Are you on frontpage? Do you have a professional profile on LinkedIn? Are you following or being followed on Twitter? Do you have a blog? Do you even understand what I am talking about here?
Media have portrayed millenials as being self-absorbed and in a hurry to get places. To a degree many of these portrayals are based on fact. We cannot change the characteristics of the next generations. Let's not waste time trying to achieve the impossible. Instead let's learn to work with them. Instead of telling them what we believe they should be, let's ask them what they would like to be. Then we can put in place processes to achieve that while also achieving the needs of the organisation and of yourself.
My advice to those aged 50+ and still in the workplace. Develop the ability to become a coach, a facilitator, a mentor and a teacher. You have knowledge and experience. Delivered in an appropriate manner, there are 3 million people coming into the workplace over the next twenty years and they all need what you have. Do this and you will retire happy, satisfied and value beyond your wildest dreams.
Like to know how to develop the ability to lead and teach? Join our Managers as Coaches program for 2009. Go to www.johncoxon.com.au/workshops.html to download an info kit.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Here is a newsflash. Baby Boomers are a dying breed. Now I don't mean that in the sense they are becoming extinct. Well actually, they are, even though the end is still a long way off yet. I mean it in this way. There are approximately 300,000 Baby Boomers remaining in the workforce in Australia and New Zealand. They will have all exited the workplace by 2030.
On the other hand, millenials, those born in the past twenty five years represent 50% of the population and will be the workforce of the future. Those from Gen X are currently moving into the management ranks as we speak. Those from Gen Y, now aged in their early to mid-20's already have their eye on the top spots and following only a decade or so behind them are those currently in primary school.
Ok, so you're a Baby Boomer, you're currently in the workplace and aged 50+. Your in survival mode. You are hanging on for grim death to every rung of your hard-earned, hard-fought for, career ladder. You can almost smell the roses of retirement. This is not really your problem is it?
Wrong. it is your problem. The bright young things moving into management are not going to wait for you to retire. They are going to force you to learn how to work with them or they will run all over you; leaving one question only to be answered. Why is that person still working here?
You need to develop the ability to form relationships with the younger managers and workers. How? Lesson #1. The up and coming managers crave feedback, constant feedback. Not superficial feedback, not platitudes, they don't lack self confidence. They can see right through bullshit. They have high expectations of themselves and of others. They want to know that what they are doing is of value and is a valued contribution. They want to know how they contribute. They do not want to be preached to or instructed. They want to learn, from good teachers, able to guide them through a process of discovery. Are you able to do this?
They are tech savvy, having grown up online. Their network of friends and contacts are online, in communities and social media spaces. These networks are trusted; it is where the next breed of managers go for referrals. They get their information online. They obtain feedback and info from multiple sources. Their confidence comes from the size of the contact group. Are you online? Are you on frontpage? Do you have a professional profile on LinkedIn? Are you following or being followed on Twitter? Do you have a blog? Do you even understand what I am talking about here?
Media have portrayed millenials as being self-absorbed and in a hurry to get places. To a degree many of these portrayals are based on fact. We cannot change the characteristics of the next generations. Let's not waste time trying to achieve the impossible. Instead let's learn to work with them. Instead of telling them what we believe they should be, let's ask them what they would like to be. Then we can put in place processes to achieve that while also achieving the needs of the organisation and of yourself.
My advice to those aged 50+ and still in the workplace. Develop the ability to become a coach, a facilitator, a mentor and a teacher. You have knowledge and experience. Delivered in an appropriate manner, there are 3 million people coming into the workplace over the next twenty years and they all need what you have. Do this and you will retire happy, satisfied and value beyond your wildest dreams.
Like to know how to develop the ability to lead and teach? Join our Managers as Coaches program for 2009. Go to www.johncoxon.com.au/workshops.html to download an info kit.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
Friday, November 28, 2008
Defining success
I've been thinking a lot lately about the definition of success. Everyone has their own interpretation of what success is, and what it is that successful people do to achieve their success.
One of the things that intrigue me most is how often others use 'financial success' as the definition of success. Is this the only true indicator of success? Certainly for some its an outcome of being successful. What about those that achieve success without it resulting in personal wealth? Are they any less successful for it? I don't think so.
I believe success is something one has to work at, regardless of how one defines it.
Success doesn't happen by chance. That is good luck. Success happens because someone makes a decision to actually do something. Taking action is the difference between those that achieve success and those that only talk about doing so.
Success is not a 'big bang' event. It doesn't happen all at once. Achieving success is an incremental process. A process of doing something, over and over again. A colleague of mine refers to this as the 1%er's. These are the people that do 1 new or different thing every day.
Furthermore success is iterative process. This means you have to keep trying. Rarely does success occur on the first effort. Like top sportspeople, success is achieved by practice and more practice. Every attempt is a part of the learning curve. Success takes time and requires patience.
The other aspect that seperates those that are successful from those that are not is the ability to bounce back from setbacks. Many successful people have failed more often than they have succeeded.
So what is my advice to you. Keep trying. When you fall down, pick yourself up and try again. Keep learning and . . .
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
One of the things that intrigue me most is how often others use 'financial success' as the definition of success. Is this the only true indicator of success? Certainly for some its an outcome of being successful. What about those that achieve success without it resulting in personal wealth? Are they any less successful for it? I don't think so.
I believe success is something one has to work at, regardless of how one defines it.
Success doesn't happen by chance. That is good luck. Success happens because someone makes a decision to actually do something. Taking action is the difference between those that achieve success and those that only talk about doing so.
Success is not a 'big bang' event. It doesn't happen all at once. Achieving success is an incremental process. A process of doing something, over and over again. A colleague of mine refers to this as the 1%er's. These are the people that do 1 new or different thing every day.
Furthermore success is iterative process. This means you have to keep trying. Rarely does success occur on the first effort. Like top sportspeople, success is achieved by practice and more practice. Every attempt is a part of the learning curve. Success takes time and requires patience.
The other aspect that seperates those that are successful from those that are not is the ability to bounce back from setbacks. Many successful people have failed more often than they have succeeded.
So what is my advice to you. Keep trying. When you fall down, pick yourself up and try again. Keep learning and . . .
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Blog: http://healthsector.blogspot.com
Blog: http://nfp-management.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johncoxon
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Join John Coxon on Facebook
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