Balance is not a myth

iPhone 6s Plus box labeling
Seemingly insignificant details. Closer inspection tells the story that this phone is intended to replace my iPad. Why? The iPad doesn’t fit in a pocket.

 

Balance is not a myth. To balance today’s posts, this one needs to remain at only two sentences.

 

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This website is about our career health. To leave this site to read today’s post on my home health website, click here.

Over managing brand building 101

iPhone 6s Plus and accessories
It was here for a week before i opened it this morning.

 

Apple has been named the world’s most admired company for the past eight years. Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, would like for Disney to hold that designation. Bold dream for Bob.

Both companies over-manage their cultural details. Details that no customer is aware of. Why? Because it’s the internal engine – customers don’t care how it works, they just know they love that it works better than anything else they’ve ever experienced.

What does this mean for any of us mere humans?

It means we can study and learn. And from learning, apply.

Thirty years as a Disney career insider. Seven years as an Apple customer and another 17 years as an “organizational cousin” by virtue of Disney Pixar Studios.

Some simple notes from the secret recipe…

Over managing your brand building 101:

Think inside the box.

Build your box’s four sides with:

  • vision (to be)
  • mission (to do)
  • brand (to feel)
  • customer (for whom)

Additional recipe “secrets”:

Values: These are for internal use only – how employees treat each other

Purpose: A single, unifying goal for every employee, every level

Founder’s story: Usually a hero’s story – connect emotionally to something bigger than self

Milestones: There are many – use them strategically to weave your story

Language: Special, powerful, unique, words that are part of the culture

Symbols: Same as language but applies to icons

Traits: Unique characteristics that you do better than others in your space

Behaviors: Demonstrable, and easily recognizable: a by-product of traits

i could go on, but this is a good place to stop (for now).

 

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This website is about our career health. To leave this site to read today’s post on my home health website, click here.

He asked when was the last time i looked at his website

jeff noel blogs

    Five daily blogs for 2,300+ consecutive days.

 

i asked him yesterday, “When was the last time you looked at my website?”

The hunch was correct.

It was before (and maybe never) i spent $700 to meet him in person.

He came highly recommended.

There is only so much i can do.

An entrepreneur should be ready for anything, including the obvious:

  • You will need to work harder than you have in the past
  • There are no guarantees
  • In the absence of direction from others, create your own

Without his appreciation for me “not quitting my full-time career” for six years while building an entrepreneurial business “in my spare time”, it’s going to be easier for me to be unimpressed with anything that looks like the lack of initiative on his part.

 

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This website is about our career health. To leave this site to read today’s post on my home health website, click here.

Career regret is a rite of passage

Candy counter
Easy choice.

 

Vegetable counter
Tough choice.

 

There are too many things that need-to-be-done to ever get to the want-to-get-done pile.

Our life inside the corporate machine consumes our time. We become polished at remaining calm under the constant work pressure. This unrelenting pressure ultimately beats the dreamer out of us.

Gone are our youthful ideals about how to thrive and contribute to work that matters.

And along this well-worn path, we sacrifice regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and adequate rest – all in the name of climbing the ladder.

 

__________

 

This website is about our career health. To leave this site to read today’s post on my home health website, click here.

Life’s a…

90-year olds
Last night, two 90+ year olds, and a pup (a 60-year old).

 

Life’s a _______.

Fill in the blank.

Are the words or phrases we contemplate negative or positive?

Truth be told this is how we approach everything in our life.

Easy to deny.

If we deny it, it’s a huge and nagging blind spot.

It takes guts to go against the herd mentality.

We accelerate our personal leadership decline when we start taking it easy.

 

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This website is about our career health. To leave this site to read today’s post on my home health website, click here.