Are You Giving A Gold Medal Performance?

Was this week your best effort? Seriously. Did you give your absolute all to the work, projects or commitments you had before you this week?

This week many of the sports I have been following like soccer, tennis and volleyball concluded their competitions. Watching the teams and individuals alike put their hearts on the line for a chance to win gold is simply inspiring to me. You know as the athlete walks out on that field or court for that gold medal opportunity it's a culmination of a lot of hard work, personal sacrifice and gritty determination. Heck just to be on that stage has to make all the effort, all the struggle and all the countless hours of preparation for that particular moment, that shot, so absolutely worth it.

Sure not everyone will walk away with gold; someone always has to lose. However its better to take your shot and give yourself the opportunity to win than to never be there at all. Pick any athlete in these Olympic games and ask them if they thought they had put themselves in the very best possible position to win. I bet without a doubt even those who lost at their particular event would say I had my chances and gave myself at least the opportunity to win. In the end that's all they could ever ask for.

So you might be thinking what in the world does this have to do with me and my work? To which I would say everything. We all have the opportunity before us to take our lives to that gold medal level every day. Through out actions, our efforts and the connections we make each of us has a chance to put in our very best performance. Some weeks we'll come out on top. Other weeks not so much. But just like an Olympic athlete, you never get that gold medal shot unless you are putting yourself squarely in a position to go and take it.

So I ask you again....

Was this week your best effort? Seriously. Did you give your absolute all to the work, projects or commitments you had before you this week?

If not, why not?

The good news is you have an entirely new week ahead of you. Don't waste it.


Ripple On!!!

Don't Forget To Feed Your Online Connections

We live in a connected world where most of us are online just about every waking hour of the every day. Whether it be connection through email, instant messaging or a colossal number of social networking applications like a BLOG, Twitter, Facebook or Myspace, most of us are continually plugged in. That means when we are online the impressions we make "in the cloud" are every bit as important as how we would want to be perceived face to face.

Through our online personas our ability to build and strengthen our connections and ultimately our personal and professional networks grows exponentially. I won't claim to be an expert in the Web 2.0 movement but I can tell you since bringing my BLOG online and participating in various web oriented sites/communities the sphere of my network has grown incredibly large. That is both incredibly fun and exciting but a bit scary too.

You see when you meet someone online there is a reasonable set of expectations for how to care and feed that "virtual" relationship. Much like in real life when you meet someone new, you have to build a connection to that person and find reasons to continue to engage, otherwise the relationship will wither away and die. When you meet people online the importance of doing that is magnified because the relationship is purely virtual; there's no smiling personality or person to person contact to fall back on. You are in essence dots on a screen (or perhaps a really cute avatar or picture) and it takes work for those online connections to grow and for a real relationship to develop.

Just because you can't see the other person doesn't mean the value or importance of their contribution to your life or business is any less meaningful. Take the time and make the effort to grow those online relationships and watch your personal and professional network blossom.

Starbucks Don't Bribe Me - Engage Me

So last week I had a meeting at...where else? You guessed it. Starbucks. I arrived early as per my typical m.o. and proceeded to order a Venti Pike's Roast from a delightful young woman with a pleasant smile. She asked me how my day was going and rang my purchase up with speed and efficiency.

As she handed me my coffee and my receipt she said, "Be sure to hang onto this this receipt. If you bring it back in today between 2-5 this afternoon you get two dollars off an iced beverage of your choice But it's only good for today."

To which I remarked, "I'm curious, why is Starbucks offering this? They have never done this before."

She smiled and remarked, "Um yay, we aren't very busy in the afternoons and its a promotion to get more people to come back in during the day." Then she said something that utterly amazed me. "I guess we need the business."

I was flabbergasted. Starbucks needs the business? They need more foot traffic in the afternoons? So much so that they created a promotion to incentivize their morning customers to come get their caffeine fix in the afternoons?

At first glance it looks like a brilliant marketing promotion. Rather than get my money once during the day, they know they can actually get more money from me again later in the day if they give me incentive to come back. Even with the discount my purchase of a tasty iced or frozen beverage would net them about the same revenue as they earned from my single coffee purchase. No doubt a unique approach on the surface but perhaps a symptom of a much deeper problem - one that I have been trying to help Howard Schultz with already.

How to get Starbucks to engage their customers on a level so meaningful to them that they not only want to come in more but they will want to spend more when they do.

I have a plan Howard. One that doesn't require gimicky discounts or time sensitive offers.

Offer still stands. I'll buy the first cup!

Ripple On!!!

Get The Back Story

One of the things I have enjoyed about this year's Olympic games is hearing the back story of the athletes. I find myself enjoying the stories almost as much as the games themselves. Whether it be the overwhelming odds that an athlete has had to overcome or the passionate pursuit of an Olympic dream, each athlete has a back story. It's the back story that allows you to see them for who they are as individuals, not just as the athlete.

NBC has done a great job of sharing a wide variety of stories about athletes from across the globe. Whether it be the former Russian gymnast Oksana Chusovitina who left her country to get her son treatment for Leukemia and now competes for the German team or our own Dara Torres who at age 41 is defying odds and winning medals. It's the stories that grab your attention, tug at your heart and make us invested as an audience. The human drama of which each athlete has had to endure at some level to get to the Olympics is not only fascinating but is inspiring and motivational.
Point To Ponder:

We all have a back story ya know? Every single person you have in your life has hopes, dreams, personal triumphs, etc.. In order to be an effective connector it's your job to dig deeper and discover the back story. It's the back story that often gives you the biggest insight into the people you want to get to know or just get know better.