Enhance your Career, Life and Relationships

Why Exercising is no Longer an Option?

2011-08-03T01:40:00.000-07:00

Summer in its midst with its intolerable heat and various events such as outings, parties, weddings, and holidays that involve food and drinks, make this time of the year an excess in relaxation time which aches our bodies, kills our mood and affects our health. Meanwhile going to the gym or doing any kind of exercise is like serving a hard labor sentence. In order to show you that exercise is no longer an option but a necessity that should become a lifestyle, we have compiled 5 reasons to motivate you to turn exercise into a habit:

To read the full blog log on ideasgrp.com or like our facebook page on facebook.com/ideasgroup

How can we discover our blind spots?

2011-05-04T13:18:00.001-07:00

In one of my introduction exercises during my last workshop, I have asked the participants to represent themselves in a simple symbolic picture, showing what is the best thing they are known for. For example, a ‘+’ sign would represent a positive person, a smiley face would represent a happy person etc… and to my surprise, there was a high number of people who, actually didn’t know what to draw, or scratched a picture which wasn’t at all representative of their characteristics. People sometimes tend to think that they are fully aware of all their good behaviors, qualities and virtues. Few are the ones who actually acknowledge their little mistakes or what we call vices. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in my last mentioned example, as the majority of the 40 attendees, couldn’t tell me that ‘one thing’ that differentiates them from their other colleagues. Over and above all, what intrigued me was how challenging to have all the team in agreement with the symbol each one chose. In fact, and as per the JOHARI window, a person is represented by four quadrants as follow:
to read the full blog go to www.ideasgrp.com/blog

Why most training interventions fail

2011-02-07T01:36:00.000-08:00

In today's business environment, efficiency is the ultimate goal to save resources and reach effective operational cycle. Training is used among other means to help reach that purpose.

American companies spend as much as 200 billion dollars on training interventions (Carnevale, Gainer, and Villet 1990). Most of that budget is considered a waste and most importantly it does not achieve the desired objectives. As a result, businesses have diverted their focus to measure training effectiveness, and its Return on Investment.
Although researchers have tried continuously to find the magical equation to calculate training effectiveness, yet it is still an area of continuous debate. There are two schools of thought in this regard: For example, Philips (1990) devised a methodology to quantify training results and called it Training ROI. At the other bank of the river, DeSimone, Werner, and Harris (2006) stated that training effectiveness is a "relative" matter. Given both schools of thoughts, the fact remains that the squandered resources on training remain an area of business concern.

Taking a closer look into such matter, it is valid to ask why most training interventions fail? Such question was legitimized by Cromwell & Colbs' (2004) finding that "not more than 15% of learning transfer to the job, after attending any training". Such finding is astonishing!
From my experience in training management, and as a trainer for 10 years now, the reasons for training failure are:

1. Training is not designed for specific purpose. Generic training has no specific objectives to accomplish.
2. Training not related to trainees' daily work. Concepts addressed in training are not paralleled to the trainees' daily work functions and not applicable to what they do and therefore irrelevant to their need.

to read the full blog go to http://www.ideasgrp.com/blog

Overcoming stage fright part 2

2011-01-11T02:56:00.000-08:00

In Part 1 last December http://www.ideasgrp.com/blog/blog-entry/overcoming-stage-fright we wrote about 5 tips extracted from our stage fright section of our “Public Speaking and Presentation Skills” workshop:
1. Realize how your audience really feels
2. Visualize success
3. Change your physical state so that you affect your mental state
4. PPP- Practice Practice and Practice
5. Arrive early

Here are 5 more tips to help you overcome stage fright

6. Mingle with your Audience
Prior your speech try to talk to your audience in any subject. The effect of mingling is tremendous

to read the full blog go to www.ideasgroupblog.com

The power of Gratitude

2011-01-04T00:56:00.000-08:00

I came across an inspiring quote sent to me by Charbel Khoury at Atlantis financials From The Secret Daily Teachings:

“It is when you no longer feel the need for money that money will come. The feeling of needing money comes from the thought that you don't have enough, and so you continue to create not having enough money. You are always creating, and when it comes to money, you are either creating the lack of it or the abundance of it.”

And Charbel explains after the quote the importance of gratitude in one’s life. Here I couldn’t just stop without sharing with you the importance of gratitude and the wonders it has done to my life.

to read the full blog log on to www.ideasgroupblog.com

Let us remember 2010

2010-12-31T08:01:00.000-08:00

Now that 2010 is over, let us remember some of the major events that have happened in the course of the year. Hoping to learn from our successes and mistakes and make of 2011 an amazing year.

We have compiled the below event in 6 different categories: Natural disasters, air crashes, economy, achievements, miscellaneous and left us in 2010.

To read the full blog go to wwww.ideasgroupblog.com

Overcoming stage fright

2010-12-10T00:19:00.000-08:00

Does your heart pounds, your hands shake, your forehead sweats, your mouth goes dry and your stomach feels like a blender on high speed every time you are about to speak or present to a group?

Well the good news is that you are in the majority, and that almost everybody shows the same symptoms when they are asked to speak or present to a large group. Even the most experienced speakers still feel stage fright at times.

The other good news is that with simple techniques you can use stage fright to your advantage.

Below are 5 tips extracted from our stage fright section of our “Public Speaking and Presentation Skills” workshop:

To read the full blog go to www.ideasgroupblog.com

Are you effective at influencing others?

2010-11-23T02:12:00.000-08:00

In order to progress on the social and professional levels, we all find ourselves trying too hard to influence others. I have to admit, that doing so effectively is not a walk in the park, especially in the Middle East and North Africa region, where above interpersonal skills needed, the diversity of the region that is home to more than 150 nationalities creates a need for intercultural understanding.
In order to assist you doing a better job at it, I have jotted down below Influencing Do’s and Don’ts

To read the full blog log in to www.ideasgroupblog.com

Are we born creative?

2010-10-26T01:37:00.000-07:00

Read this amazing inspirational story about creativity on ideasgroupblog.com

Are you on the right track to get called for an interview?

2010-10-11T05:43:00.000-07:00

How many times have you send your resume and never got an answer back from the recruiter? What is your ratio of being called for a job interview in relation to the number of resume sent?

We have advertised for a position using a classified newspaper, and you cannot imagine the responses we got. Although we were specific about the position (level, responsibilities) we got bombarded by all kinds of resumes. Some senior positions applied for an admin role, and although we have specified the location, we got people requesting jobs in different geographical locations.

Only few resumes stood out, so i thought of sharing those 5 best practices that you should do when sending your CV:

To read the full post log on to www.ideasgroupblog.com

You Tube- ideas group profile

2010-09-22T21:12:00.001-07:00

Using Criticism; a Leader’s success attribute

2010-09-14T05:03:00.000-07:00

The first thing that most people do when criticized, is to jump on the defensive side and justify themselves, trying to prove that the other party is completely wrong. What these people don’t realize is that by blocking any chance of taking anyone else’s opinion, they may lose the chance of perhaps getting an excellent advice. However such reaction to criticism is a natural innate reaction, similar to the “fight or flight” response our pre-historic ancestors had.

According to the British Psychological Society, “ The main reasons that get to leaders derailment is that they acquire an inflated sense of self-importance, grandiosity and entitlement, with weaknesses such as sensitivity to criticism, poor listening skills, a lack of empathy, a dislike for mentoring, and an intense desire to compete.”

To understand how successful people deal with criticism, we have studied 18 personalities from several industries, and came up with the 5 most important “must haves” that enable leaders to accept criticism and work with it turning it to their advantage.

To read the full blog go to www.ideasgroupblog.com

Almost half of UAE professionals may quit their jobs after the summer holidays

2010-08-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

Dubai, UAE, 30^th August 2010 – New research from Regus reveals that UAE professionals may quit their jobs after the summer vacation due to lack of promotion and bosses that do not know, or do not communicate the company’s goals.

To read the full article visit www.ideasgroupblog.com

Five essential elements to conduct a one on one feedback session

2010-08-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Giving feedback to team members is not the most enjoyable thing that a manager likes to do, however as Kelvin Lord puts it, “You cannot improve what you cannot measure” and as a Leader or a manager your job is to look for constant and never ending improvements.

To make things easier for you, we have come up with five essential elements that will make the feedback session easier for the employee and the manager and most essentially link it to sustainable organizational performance.

Full blog on http://www.ideasgrp.com/blog

Pakistan Flood Aids

2010-08-18T01:16:00.000-07:00

A man trying to join a naval boat with his children in Sukur

Picture: Reuters

Extract from the UN news centre

“According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 14 million people – almost one in every 10 Pakistanis – have so far been affected by the flooding, which began late last month in the wake of heavy monsoon rains.

More than 1,200 people have been killed, and at least 2 million left homeless, by the disaster which has also destroyed homes, farmland and major infrastructure in large parts of the country, most notably the north-west province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).”

Although there have been some mixed sentiments, a lot of countries have pledged aids for the disaster, one of which is India, a country known to be in a political conflict with its Neighbor Pakistan.

It is interesting to see who are the donors countries to date. Te list ranks the donors as per their contributions as of Aug 18,2010.

To view the full list click on the following link www.ideasgrp.com/blog

“When you lose something, you are just making space for something bigger”

2010-05-19T01:08:00.000-07:00

I have received a call last week from one of my clients, who for internal reasons had to cancel one of the biggest contracts we have signed this year. To tell you that I wasn’t deceived would be lying; The news could have ruined my whole day, week or even month because of the magnitude of such contract. However as I am committed to have a high EIQ (emotional intelligence quotient), I had to analyze the choices I had, so I quickly drew the below mindmap (click to enlarge).

As you can see, by just changing my paradigm from deception to choices, a multitude of options started flowing and I was suddenly enveloped with a warm feeling of happiness. It is strange and weird but in the nicest possible way. 
So I continued my analysis and tried to come up with computer and IT analogies; when we delete files in our computers we are just making space for another file, the same goes in our lives; when we lose something we are just making space for something bigger.

A lost opportunity = more focus on a bigger one
A lost job = a chance for doing what you love
A lost family member = more love for other family members, or more focus on continuing what the lost one has started
A lost friendship = opportunities for a better one

And the list goes on...

A women in Lebanon has lost her son in a water sports accident, and after grieving him for a while she felt that her life had stopped; You just can imagine how hard it is to loose a child. But one day she woke up and asked herself the following question: What is the reason that my son was taken away from me at a young age? What is the message behind it? How can I use this incident to serve others?

A week later she has started a foundation with a purpose of making parents aware of the dangers of inattention when it comes to their children. So going back to her choices, she had two choices; either grieve her child for the rest of her life, or help thousands of other households save their children. With the latter choice she now feels that her son’s decease was a rebirth for a thousand more child.

“When you lose something, you are just making space for something bigger”

So if you just think about a loss as a free space, you will not get stuck in the past and will start generating opportunities for the future. It is all about using your energy- any kind of energy; negative or positive - and turning it into choices that will get you closer to your goals.

To know more about increasing your efficiency and how to generate healthier choices, visit our website: www.ideasgrp.com

You can complain or you can....

2010-05-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

The world that we live in presents enough challenges for de-motivating the most positive people on earth. On the other hand, people seek comfort when they start sharing their problems with others; and some take that comfort to the next level and will find a need for complaining. As one of my friends puts it: “As human beings, we love to be victimized. Being victimized is perhaps the best way to run away from our responsibilities.”

This implication of being victimized spreads across all aspects of life: Relationships, education, health and most importantly careers.

Looking at the career and professional aspect, it is really annoying to be around people that whine and moan every day at work; sometimes this excessive negativity will drag others into it and will have a slumping effect on performance.

So how do we stop those people from complaining and how do we lift our moods if we think that we are in an awful situation.

First of all, Start by auditing your life: List the good things that are happening in your life and the bad things that you are exposed to and ask yourself those two simple questions: 1) How can I increase the good things? 2) What can I do specifically to change each of the bad things on my list?

Second, Don’t be positive: Yes you are reading correctly. Being positive and wishing for good things to happen is like staying at home without contacting anyone and waiting for Microsoft to ask you to become one of their Vice Presidents. Instead of being merely positive, have a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) and draw plans, while acknowledging that you will face some negative challenges. So have a PMA and identify what might go wrong so you will be able to pro-act and not re-act.

That brings us to the third point which is Be Proactive. As Dr. Stephen Covey puts it in his habit 1: “Take responsibility for your life”. If you cannot see a change make the change, if things are not going the way you plan, you have two options: sit down and watch things go terribly wrong or take control of the situation and ask yourself how can you change the situation. The how questions open a lot of doors and will get you closer to your desired situation.

The choice is yours; take the driver’s seat and lead your life to your own victory or complain while watching other people climb the peaks of success.

To learn more about how to increase your Leadership Quotient and other workshops by ideas group visit our website on www.ideasgrp.com

9 tips to avoid conflict and miscommunication when writing

2010-04-29T04:48:00.000-07:00

According to a survey done by ideas group on 60 companies in the Middle East, 85% of the workforce conflict stems out of miscommunication.

The study was conducted across companies in different industries: Government, FMCG, Aviation, Industrial, Banking and Finance Telecom and IT, in 11 countries in the following cities: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Dammam, Riyadh, Kuwait City, Doha, Muscat, Damascus, Amman, Manama, Cairo, Casablanca and Beirut.

When working in virtual teams or working across the region, miscommunication is magnified by the lack of proper writing skills, whether in emails, Memos, Instant messaging or even blogs and other social media.

So to simplify things for you we came up with this checklist of 9 items to look at before sending emails:

· Simplify your message: In Business it is not about literature or chic fancy words, the more simple your message is, the less misunderstanding it generates. So keep your sentences short and straight to the point.

· Use bullet points: People like to see a summary of your ideas, so if you put your main ideas into bullets, it will help the reader scan quickly through it and this will speed up the communication process.

· Use punctuation in the right place: Each punctuation has a meaning a question mark (?) is to ask a question, an exclamation mark as the Meriam-Webster Dictionary puts it “ is used to indicate forceful utterance or strong feeling”. So ending a sentence with a exclamation mark is like a warning sign…two exclamation marks are two warning signs.

· Never write full sentences in CAPS: Capital letters or “caps” are a sign of shouting or yelling, so unless you want to yell at your reader do not write in caps.

· Use calm colors: Using red fonts when writing emails also indicates anger, so whenever its possible try to use blue or green instead for highlighting.

· Make sure your email has a subject: Sending an email without a subject can be frustrated for people who use the search function of their inboxes, it helps the reader understand the email content.

· Avoid the URGENT and (!)High importance/priority signs: Some people are just used to the habit of sending all their emails with High Importance or High Priority; So when they have an issue with a real high importance, how will they let their readers know that this one is really important? I once received one of those with an email that said Happy Holidays. This will only stress the reader.

· And finally, Read the email before sending it: We discover a lot of mistakes just by reading it again. If its an email going to important person, try to get a colleague to read it as well; some sentences might make sense to you but not to the reader.

To know more about conflict management, communication trainings or any other workshops visit our website on www.ideasgrp.com

Do you want to be the next Carlos Slim, Oprah Winfrey or Steve Jobs?

2010-03-31T06:23:00.000-07:00

Some people just seem to be naturally successful. They reach one peak after another. And the more they achieve the more success seems natural and easy. Those people are not aliens, and if you study them closely, their environment wasn’t all success.

If you want to follow the track of great people like Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Pope Jean Paul II, Oprah Winfrey, and Steve Jobs you have to understand what they have done in their lives, and how they have challenged people around them. Those legends have pushed the boundaries of what is common; they have created new industries and found solutions to very complex issues.

After compiling their bios and studying their paths we have discovered that most of them share the following attributes:

1. They have a vision

Not one single high achiever has reached success without a clear vision, a set of goals and ways to achieve them. When Warren Buffet was asked about his path he said “I always knew I was going to be here”

2. They leverage their circle of influence

You might think that high achievers do not need anyone, however none of them got to success without leveraging their contacts. Its not only about what you know, but also about who you know. Steve Jobs of Apple, used Bill Gates of Microsoft several times before launching his products…who would have thought?

3. They are flexible

High achievers adapt to the environment around them exactly like chameleons, and this is how they identify opportunities. While others are complaining about the financial crisis or high oil prices, successful people tend to create opportunities to benefit from the situation.

4. They play at work

None of the top achievers wasn’t extremely excited about what they did, they have all showed passion and excitement in what they do. So if you don’t Love What You Do, its time for a change.

5. They are compassionate

People who hurt others no matter where they reach do not make it far in life, , or at least they don’t grow comfortably. Donald Trump keeps bouncing up and down, went bankrupt, and has thousands lawsuits against him. Do you want to be there?

6. They help others

It has been observed this year that the top 3 of the fortune billionaires list donate large amounts of their worth to others, and more than half of the world’s richest people are big Charity Donors. Those people believe that “What goes around, comes around”. The interesting part is that most of the successful people do not wait till they get rich to start giving, Carlos Slim was always a person to go to when in need, and a free advice giver at all times.

So are you ready to step in the bandwagon of success? All you need to do is to adapt the above 6 attributes to your life.

For more information on how to enhance your life, career and relationship or to attend The Psychology of Success Workshop, visit our website on www.ideasgrp.com

Social Mania

2010-03-02T23:40:00.000-08:00

At First Companies have rebuffed all social media, claiming that it was a waste of time for their employees and that it weights on corporate productivity. Then, as soon as some success stories rose about the use of social networks to make money – the likes of dell making $ 3 million in less than 2 years just out of twitter, and Perez Hilton becoming the friend of celebrities just by blogging about them, all corporates wanted to have facebook profiles, a presence on linked-in and a need to tweet. However this was done the wrong way.

Before jumping on the Social Networks extravaganza, companies, or even people who are looking for a personal branding e-campaign, should ask themselves the below five questions:

1- How is our SEO (Search engine Optimization) benefiting from our social network sites?: Social networks play an amazing role getting our website discovered by the search engines ( google yahoo, bing etc). Using key words on our social network will increase the rankings, if you don’t have a corporate social website its time to do so.

2- Are all of our social profiles and websites interlinked? What makes any website/webpage powerful is the amounts of links directed to that site, when connecting websites with links to each other, then you are creating your own web of sites and thus empowering your reach.

3- Are all of our profiles homogenous? Having different info on different social websites will confuse the visitors and weaken your reach. All the introduction texts in the “About us” section should say the exact same thing, and when updating one social site all the others should be updated in the same time.

4- Are we heard by the right audience? A lot of companies think of adding followers or members randomly. When choosing a “follow-ship” companies should be speaking at the right audience. A good way of building a great database of potential customers is to have a blog that can only be read by inserting contact details. Those blogs can be easily made of subjects that only interest your type of clients.

5- Are we offering to our public something of value? Some social profiles only portray publicity and ways of eliciting customers. The web 2.0 audience is always looking for something of value and for free….Wikipedia, Youtube, mashable, and …. Are perfect examples.

The social networks should be handled the same way we handle the traditional media, you should have a social media strategy, social media officers and an alignment between your overall strategy and online strategy.

Camil El Khoury

Are we born Charismatic?

2010-02-02T01:17:00.000-08:00

Some people are just trusted by their colleagues, clients and friends; others struggle to gain that trust. Looking at trust and rapport in more depth, we find that this is something that you can work on, and not only born with.

True, some people are charismatic by nature, however studies have shown that 87% of charismatic people have worked on their development to become appealing.

What did they do? They have mastered the art of professional etiquette in all its forms. Charisma can be established and nurtured if you simply look at the following etiquette tips:

1. Business attire: How many times have we judged people by the way they dress? Unfortunately this holds true to most people. If you want to look like a banker dress like one, if you go to a meeting unshaved or with a flashy makeup and casual clothing, your clients wont take you seriously. As Queen Elizabeth once said "Dress gives one the outward sign from which people can judge the inward state of mind. One they can see, the other they cannot."

2. Business communications: Do we differentiate between business and casual communications? At home or with our friends, there is a greater chance that people will understand what we mean by our sentences because those people know us very well, on the other hand, at work, we have to use very straight to the point sentences, words that everybody will understand. In addition to that, we have to be very careful with how do we greet people, how do we talk on the phone and what gestures to use.

3. Cross-cultural differences: When dealing with people from other cultures you have to keep it as simple as possible; your goal is to minimize misunderstanding and reach a common point. In order to do so, you have to be very patient and keep a steady voice (yelling at the other person, won’t make them understand better). When traveling ask someone who lived in or has been to the country you are visiting about acceptable behavior such as what jokes would be appropriate, what are the definite “not to do’s”.

4. Basic workplace etiquette: When in the office, some behaviors are not acceptable at all, and still; some people carry on with those actions. It is ok to share with a colleague or two some of your private issues, however what is not ok is to talk private issues on your cell phone in front of all your colleagues; this will disrupt them and make them feel uncomfortable. So keep your phone ring on very low and if you want to take a private call, its better to take it outside the office. Second, If you lost your pen, or ran out of posts it, do not take them from the desk of your colleague without asking them; some people are very organized and loosing stuff from their table will de-focus them when accomplishing a task. And last, show appreciation when people do stuff for you; thanking someone and being nice is very essential, especially for the janitor or the tea person.

5. Netiquette: Now that we are all present on Social Media, blogs and specialty websites, it’s extremely important to have a Netiquette (Internet Etiquette). Do we do a google search on our names from time to time? It’s extremely vital to periodically check what is being written about us and what images of us are available on the web. Do we also portray a good image of ourselves on the social networks? I have once decided not to hire a qualified candidate for a job because of their facebook profile, which broadcasted a totally different image than the one in the interview. We also tend to forget that emails are permanent so if we gossip or talk behind the back of someone over an email (even private email addresses), there is a big chance that this person will see what you have written; IT professionals can restore deleted data.

Business Etiquette while being broad can be improved by very simple measures and very little effort. Walk that extra step in order to build your own confident persona. Camil El Khoury

New year resolution will definitely fail unless

2010-01-03T22:02:00.000-08:00

Have you ever decided on a new year’s resolution? Of course you did…. And did those resolutions fail over and over again? Of course they did….

Lets us have a look at the top 5 most common resolution over the past 10 years

5- I want to be nice to people around me (family/friends/colleagues)

4- I want to make more money

3-I want to hit the gym

2- I want to quit smoking

1- I want to start a diet

Now if we examine why did we fail over and over again in applying those resolutions, we will notice that once we start applying any of them, the daily habits will kick in and takes us back at square one. We would start justifying our actions by sentences like: I need this cigarette; I have too much pressure, or a bar of chocolate won’t hurt me now; it is just one.

Al of this is natural for two reasons:

1 - We don’t commit to ourselves: as long as no one is scrutinizing what we do, we don’t have a clear discipline and will tend at breaking our promise to ourselves

2- The goal is not worthy enough; we will end up saying that by smoking a cigarette or grabbing a piece of cake it’s not the end of the world.

But what is the end of the word?

This year, resolutions are pointing to a very different, yet focused point; saving the world and more specifically saving the world from Global Warming. Everyone is taking that resolution seriously and that is mostly due to 2 events that have happened in the last quarter of 2009: Copenhagen summit and the movie 2012. In the later, the difference that we have witnessed compared to other similar movies is that, the end is very near and that is, not even in 2 years. We need to take action and action starts at home. By turning off that light we don’t need by turning of the TV and DVD plugs when not in use and by closing the water tap when we brush our teeth or shave, we would be contributing in saving that world. It also goes to using our cars; do we ever car pool? Do we walk to the shop that is 200 meters away? Being environmentally friendly follows us at the office, we don’t need to print every single document that we use, we shouldn’t use plastic and paper cups but replace them with our glass cup or mug, and we should be recycling everything we use.

If we commit this year to a green resolution we will for once be doing a good deed not only for ourselves but for people around us and generations to come.

So let’s turn our green resolution into a habit and do something different this year.

The author Camil El Khoury is the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group; the Middle East leading experiential learning consultancy. www.ideasgrp.com

What are you giving this Christmas?

2009-12-21T22:24:00.000-08:00

It’s here again…that magical time of the year is here again…oh yes it’s Christmas.

Usually every holiday, especially that time of the year, people start becoming forgiving, forgetting and all about giving, and making others happy.

This Christmas, have you thought about what you want to give? And by this I don’t mean gifts or any materials items, I meant what do you want to give people around you?

This might seem selfish; however, to end up the year with a great achievement, what about giving people at the office something that will help them end their year on a better tone.

In order to do that, you have to practice, in a simple yet a very powerful way, the art of coaching, and more specifically how to make people feel understood.

By coaching people, you will strengthen your relationships, people will feel that you are a source of trust and you will feel like you have made a difference in your workplace.

If you are ready, then you are 5 steps away of becoming a workplace catalyst of change :

1- What’s in it for them: Often in our conversations we end up talking about ourselves and fail to understand or learn what people are truly saying.

In order to do that we have to Actively Listen; doing that requires that you give the full attention to people when you ask them a question, yes it means leaving your computer keyboard or your phone to concentrate on what they are saying.

2- Ask open questions: And that relates to point one, the question will have to be about them, and you will have to resist introducing your personal stories in the conversation unless you are asked to. A sample open question is: “What motivates you?” and if they answer growth or achievement resist the temptation to say “me too” or “yes I also like….. because it makes me….” Remember you want to be helping others so try to learn about them.

3- Encourage them to come up with their own ideas: If you asked them what motivates them or what makes them happy, ask them how would they like to take things forward, and by this I mean what are possible ways for them to reach their goals. Again here, resist the temptation of giving personal advice; instead encourage them to come up with ideas and solutions.

4- Listening to their ideas. Listening is a big part of helping others. When someone is telling you about a certain idea, try to learn what this idea truly represents. Summarize what they have said to make sure you got it correctly, this will also show the speaker that you are truly listening to them,

5- Help them turn their ideas into actions Ideas are useless unless they are executed. In order to make an idea happen, one has to turn it into a plan of action. A good way that will make their ideas happen is to make them fill a table like the one below:

What is the action point that you will execute	By when will that point be achieved	What Support do you need and from whom	How will you track your progress measure your success

Make sure they are specific when they fill the table, and ask them to choose a mentor ( it could be you) to follow up on those action points.

Christmas is a time of giving, and the self satisfaction from giving others new ways to think is priceless. So Merry Christmas, and good luck.

Camil El Khoury is The Author of "Do What you Love, Love What you do" and the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group; the leading experiential learning firm in the AME region (Africa and the Middle East)

Do you really need discipline?

2009-12-21T22:21:00.000-08:00

by Hussein Hallak EVP and Facilitator ideas group

Not a day goes by without somebody saying or shouting those three words in our eardrums... You Need DISCIPLINE!

It is usually followed by;

You need to be more organized, on time, lose weight, wake up early, pay the bills, finish you meal, and clean your room…!!

Discipline, don’t you just hate that word....?

It gives way, to the idea of being confined, limited to act in a certain way, and follow specific rules. That is enough to scare the heck out of anyone...

It also means to punish, and to penalize Not particularly something you want!

Still, true discipline is vital in our lives, it is the essence of true success, a must for a purposeful life. So, what do we do?

Let us first clarify a few things:

When you think about being “disciplined”, you probably relate it to being “organized”, “punctual”, “rigid”, “orderly”, “playing by the rules” and “limited”... That’s not necessarily bad; however, try to think, “Knowledgeable”, “active”, “action oriented”, and “prepared”. All are uncommon, but very relevant meanings of the word “Disciplined”.

Let us say you came to your office one day and it was a total mess, it happens to the best of us. The first thing on your mind is to get “organized”. So, you spend many hours, sometimes days, organizing that mess. The reward is an organized office, which is great. However, once you start searching among the “organized” piles for a particular paper you need, well... Pretty soon the office is back to being a mess again! Maybe even worse than before?! Especially when you are in a hurry to get that paper...You’re back to square one... Why? Because you organized the mess...

So, what can you do?

1- Know what are the things you want, and most importantly what are the things you don’t want.

2- take action, throw away what you don’t want, and keep what you want.

3- You know there will be more papers coming through your front door, so be prepared; create a simple process, and allocate certain places for certain things...

In fact if you commit only to the first two steps, you eliminate 80 percent of the mess...

Being organized is reactive. Being disciplined is proactive.

Commitment is tuff. Discipline makes it natural!

We are talking about common sense, universal wisdom, true purpose and unwavering commitment.

We are talking about “true discipline”; the art of living in alignment with your truth;

Be aware of what’s important; your values, your purpose, your truth... Essentially

“You”.

Follow your intuition. It is the inner compass guiding you through your life’s journey. It will align you with who you really are.

Finally; keep it simple... 90% of plans and strategies never get executed because they are too complex. Take your plans and strategies, and cut them down to a maximum of three steps. Choose a life of harmony, joy and peace; A life of discipline.

Ideas group participates in the Leadership Best Practise conference in Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi

2009-12-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

Ideas group , The Middle East and Africa’s most successful experiential learning consultancy, was again the proud sponsor of Etisalat Academy’s “ Leadership Best Practices conference” in Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi. This event was organized in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and under the auspices of His Highness Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Interior.

The Event welcomed more than 200 delegates, all eager to learn from the best practices on Leadership from four very talented speakers. This panel included Rowan Gibson, a bestselling author and international speaker, Alan Stevens the communication expert, author & managing director of Mediacoach, Prof. Christo Neil who is the head of centre for leadership studies for the University of Stellenbosch and Dr. Ahmed Shalabi a regional consultant on management. The event was chaired by Camil El Khoury, an international speaker, author and the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group.

Ideas group took the chance to introduce once again 4 new experiential learning programs:

· The Psychology of Success a talent development program that includes communications, time management, focus and building extraordinary beliefs.

· Getting down to business Write and present like professionals.

· Social mania getting results out of social networking while keeping your employees focused.

· No excuses only Results A sales and customer service winning approach to get more done.

Moamar Safi, Senior Client Partner at ideas group, said, “Our commitment to develop experiential learning as a substitute for training and development in the region has never been greater, and we are really proud of our partnership with Etisalat Academy”

Media Contact:

For Further information please contact ideas group media team on info@ideasgrp.com www.ideasgrp.com

Dubai's debt is not a big problem….unless we want it to be

2009-11-28T21:44:00.000-08:00

The past couple of months have witnessed optimism in Dubai’s businesses; People realized that there is no use of being over protective and that corporate spending is the only way to build back confidence.

Just until… Dubai has asked to delay payment on billions of dollars of debt issued by conglomerate Dubai World and its main property subsidiary Nakheel.

As this might come at a shock, analysts around the region were not that surprised by the news, as for the past year real estate in Dubai was disastrous and the restructuring of Nakheel did not make the most of sense.

The funny part is how the international media disagrees on what could be the possible results of that standstill. The “TIMESONLINE” entitles its article “Dubai debt fears threaten credit crunch 2 — and RBS is exposed” and talks about how serious this second version of the crisis could be for the whole world. While CNN.com entitles its article “Dubai debt woes 'a drama, but no crisis” and says the debt revelations from Dubai this week will not lead the global economy back into recession, but have seriously damaged the Emirate's standing as a leading financial hub.

The pessimism in the British media stems from the amount of money that British banks have been exposed to in the troubled Dubai World case , notably RBS, Barclays and HSBC.

The solution:

Abu Dhabi has promised to look at the Dubai World setback, and to offer a case by case solution, in efforts to assist its little brother Dubai in solving its problems. People tend to forget that Abu Dhabi and Dubai are both part of the same country, and if the reputation of Dubai is ruined, Abu Dhabi will also be affected.

Now is the time for the UAE private companies to step in and help the general Dubai atmosphere gaining confidence. A lot of opportunities still exist in the country, access to liquidity is still available and as “Banque Saudi Fransi - Credit Agricole Group” puts it “quality deterioration simply is not an issue in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar”

What companies in the private and public sectors should do is to continue on hiring, spending and investing, without shying off, and the Emirates will be back on track as if nothing happened.

Camil El Khoury

The Author is the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group www.ideasgrp.com

ideas Group is a global learning and human capital development firm specialized in leadership and team development. We help our clients become high performance organizations and foster a sustainable growth.
We strive to continue on partnering with our clients, finding solutions for their sustainable performance through services that include management consulting, generic courses for immediate impact, tailor-made workshops and transformational experiential learning experiences. Ideas group provide consultancy services and learning & development training to a number of Clients in the UK, UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Morocco and Lebanon.

How can you win the $75 Million Lottery

2009-11-10T04:23:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning on unusual news: “The winning ticket holders of the UK's largest-ever lottery prize are a married couple from Newport, in south Wales, and a syndicate from Liverpool. The two tickets will take a £45,570,835.50 share approx $75Million.

And when the couple was asked about what will they do with the money: they have both answered, “That’s a lot of money, we don’t know”

And the entrepreneur in me started thinking: “what If I won that lottery, what would I do with it?” and since I know how to always get rid of that responsibility called money, I have quickly divided it into several functions the first being injecting cash in my company to hire more people and create new experiential learning programs, and the second was to take some time off, focusing on writing my next book about business strategy….and with all those waves of thoughts I woke up from my daydream and realized that I didn’t win the lottery, however I was covered with hope and motivation, a motivation to make things happen.

And then I started researching lotteries and their past winners, only to discover that all what lottery companies do is sell hope, a hope so dim that can be outperformed by our minds. Coming to think about it your chance of winning that lottery is one in 50 million that is 0.00000002 %

And right at that moment, a thought came to my mind, “How can I start doing those things with the means that I have” i.e. without the $75 Million, and a million ideas came to my head of which I have captured on a mindmap, and decided to start acting upon those.

My question for you is: “What would you do if you won the $75 Million Lottery?” ………………………………………………………………………………………. Once you come up with that list, start acting on what you can do now with your current means, and what would you need to influence to be able to achieve that full list and bang… here is your big lottery win.

The author Camil El Khoury is the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group an experiential learning consultancy that facilitates and sustains organizational performance. Ideas group serves its clients from its 2 offices Dubai – United Arab Emirates and Beirut –Lebanon and conducts workshops with organizations from the Middle East and Africa. www.ideasgrp.com

I want to quit my job but...

2009-11-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

A lot of people come to me saying: “I want to quit my job and start doing what I love, but we live in the real world and that world is not perfect, besides my family depends on me and who would hire me in a time of financial downturn” and the list of excuses is seasonal; it could include political situations, bankrupting industries, age, gender and whatever comes to your mind.
My usual response is a question: “Besides thinking of quitting your job, what are the steps that you are taking in order to be closer to what you love?” and the answer is often a disappointing look on my questioner’s face.
When you want to implement a change in your life, it doesn’t come suddenly and luck has nothing to do with it; it is about being prepared to move into the next step; Preparation meeting opportunity… that is luck, opportunity without preparation is called missing out and not bad luck.
Being proactive is about choosing what you want to achieve instead of letting the society, your family, or your boss choose on your behalf, it is about taking control of your life and start acting on it. The below 4 steps will help you keep on track in your self-discovery journey.

1- Discover your values:
Before deciding on what you want to do, you have to understand who you are, what do you believe in, and what are the important things for you. Once you come up with your values, put them to the test and make sure that they are not only there because they sound good but because those are your genuine values.

2- Differentiate between a hobby and a career:
When you find your driving force and decide on what you want to be doing, make sure that you differentiate hobbies from careers. Anything that you love and doesn’t make you any money is a hobby and any other thing that you love and provides enough money to cover up your needs is a career.

3- Take it one step at a time:
If you want to jump in the new venture without preparation, there is a big chance that you will be quitting at the beginning. Think about your long term goals, divide the goals into yearly chunks and then schedule them weekly. Doing that, will ensure a smooth transition from your current state to your desired state.

4- Be persistent
The common observed behavior between Sir Richard Branson, Nicolas Hayek, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Oprah is that they didn’t quit at the first difficult challenge, and as a matter of fact the ride was not easy for them. With the recurring persistence, they have managed to keep on track and achieved what they were meant to be achieving.

So next time you think of a change, look for what you can do and what you can influence and not what concerns you.

Camil Khoury is the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group and author of “Do what you Love, Love what you do”

2009-08-23T01:55:00.001-07:00

Camil's interview on Dubai Eye

2009-08-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

Talking about the release of the new book "Do what you love, love what you do", Camil explains the importance of taking charge of your own life and start getting to where you want to get in life.

To listen just click on the title above

For Michael Schumacher, High Performance becomes a habit

2009-08-03T01:56:00.001-07:00

In an article in the guardian Allen Henry quotes the world’s championship leader Jenson Button “Michael Schumacher is brave to be back to formula one”. This statement holds true from different angles. First, coming back as a seven times world champion, is not easy at all; you are a legend and you are expected to race as one, especially in Formula one where you are as good as your last race. Second, with all the new regulations, testing is not allowed, so Michael will only get in the F1 car, the same weekend of his first post-retirement race.

However Michael has been acting very normal towards the fact of his return and said in a blog posting on his website that he is looking to be very competitive.

How does a person like Michael Schumacher come back after 3 years in retirement and competes with the world’s top drivers?

Back in 1997, when Michael was competing against Jacques Villeneuve to the title, he couldn’t handle the pressure very well, as he drove into Jacques car in an attempt to drive him out of his way. This incident did not only hurt his image but also made him realize that in order to get sustainable results, one has to handle the pressure and make the best of it. Indeed in the years that followed that incident Michael was training hard to handle the pressure, and in several situations he has proven to the world that he acquired and mastered that new skill.

Now that the pressure is back again, and that the stakes are high, we tried to follow Michael steps and see how is he dealing with his return, and not to our surprise we found out that he is following what we call the performance CREDO. Communications, Relaxation, Exercise, Diet and Organization.

He first started to Communicate and consult the situation with the team engineers to see how to optimize the use of the car on the circuit.

He is also using relaxation techniques to stay focused and remove all the tense.

During the following 2 weeks, Michael will be following an intensive physical training course and a fitness and diet program to make sure he is in shape for the new challenge.

He decided to divide his time between meeting with the experts, trying to drive around laps (not in a F1 car as per regulations), and with his organization he feels he has more than enough time to be ready for the Valencia race.

So let’s observe together how this legend will be back on the peak of performance and handle the pressure that is magnified by his fans.

For additional information on how to help you and your organization establish high performance as a habit visit us on www.ideasgrp.com or drop is a line on info@ideasgrp.com

Stress, Anxiety, Pressure.... no thanks I know how to deal with it

2009-06-10T01:05:00.000-07:00

Coping with anxiety

A big event coming, bills to pay, deadlines to meet, hiring a new employee, doing the job of others and things at home aren’t that calm either……, all of this leaves you with a lot of anxiety and pressure.

We do behave differently under pressure, however it has been observed that we can turn anxiety to our side and use the extra push that we receive from pressure to transform it into energy. First of all it is important to acknowledge the pressure and the stress we are facing, and that will be an easy step to do, because we all show signs of stress on two different levels: Physical and Behavioral.

Physical signs:
· General fatigue
· Sleeplessness
· Headaches
· Back or shoulder ache
· Upset stomach

Behavioral signs:
· Irritability
· Loss of concentration
· Depression
· Change in appetite ( eating more or less than usual)
· Drinking or smoking more
· Feelings of panic

Before you get too worried, there are effective ways of controlling all those stress symptoms. I use two very effects methods and those are Simple body relaxation and Visualization.

Simple body relaxation:

This method will help you relax your muscles, which in their turn will send signals to your brain.

This sequence is easy to remember and all you need is 10 minutes and a quiet room on your own.

Toes: Tense the muscles on your toes, and then relax;

Feet: Tense the muscles on your feet, and then relax;

Lower legs: Tense the muscles on your lower legs, and then relax;

Thighs: Tense the muscles on your thighs and then relax;

Stomach and lower back: Tense the muscle and then relax;

Continue the same technique on your:

Chest

Shoulders

Upper arms

Lower arms and hands

Neck

Head

If you follow that sequence, you will feel a warm wave of relaxation spreading up your body, it will help you feel comfortable and less anxious

If you only have time to follow a shorter sequence, just focus on your shoulders neck and head.

Visualization:

While the first technique works on your muscles, this one works on our motherboard our programming engine: our Mind.

Visualization is used by almost every winning sports achiever in the world, it’s also very common among successful entrepreneurs, and has the effect on focusing on the important task at hand. The idea is to put yourself in a daydream state and picture success. Scientifics have found through experiments, that repeatedly picturing something, clearly and vividly, acts on the unconscious mind. In fact the mind begins to believe the dream and starts to mobilize resources to make it a reality. In the same time because your mind is so focused on the successful income, you won’t have time to worry.

In order to use visualization you need to do the following:

· Make yourself comfortable: by using the relaxation technique, listening to music or going for a walk.

· Make sure that you are totally relaxed

· Think about a time when you were successful at something, a time when you achieved and were happy, imagine doing the same thing again and the feeling that comes with it.

· Now visualize yourself in the situation: whatever is the task you want to accomplish, try to record a mental movie of it in your mind with all the details.

Whenever I have a keynote with a big audience coming, I start using the treadmill, because running relaxes my body. After making sure that I have no tensed muscles I try to remember my last successful speech, and with the experience I simulate my next keynote and start visualizing all the details; what will I be wearing, how the conference room looks like, who are the people and what will they be wearing…. Strangely enough, because I imagine myself being on stage with a very fit body, I tend to lose weight every time I deliver a keynote or a speech without even changing my dietary habits, this is how powerful visualization is.
For more info on how we can help you increase your personal and professional performance drop us a line on info@ideasgrp.com
Ideas Group is a global learning and human capital development firm specialized in leadership and team development. We help our clients become high performance organizations and foster a sustainable growth.
We strive to continue on partnering with our clients, finding solutions for their sustainable performance through services that include management consulting, generic courses for immediate impact, tailor-made workshops and transformational experiential learning experience

My new book is out

2009-05-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

"Do what you Love, Love what you do"

What do you think of Dubai taxis? I had a different experience ...

2009-04-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

Dubai taxis drivers are known to be smelly, angry and rude, reckless behind the wheel and cause most of the road accidents in the emirate. They are also grumpy and wouldn’t step out of their comfort zones, ironically know nothing about customer service, whereas their job is all about service.

All of this changed in my head, as I took the best taxi ride of my life; I was going to the airport, my fiancée stopped a taxi and asked him to follow us to the sandy parking lot and then drop me to the airport; Fareed, the clean and elegant driver nodded his head and with a gentle smile followed. As I have entered his car, I was surprised, that although it has 400000km on the dashboard, it was cleaner than new cars, with a fresh fruity scent. He initiated a conversation and asked if he might know where I was heading to, I have answered I am going to Lebanon, he then started to comment on the current growth in the financial situation of the country and to my surprise he was right in all that he said, his knowledge blew me off. As we were cruising I couldn’t but notice his great driving style, it was amazing; he was very respectful of other drivers, gentle on the accelerator and never had to suddenly break, which was unusual for a Dubai Taxi. He taught me some new cultural aspects of his native Pakistan and told me that he was an auto engineer and was not supposed to be a taxi driver, however since he is stuck with this job for visa reasons, he has decided to make the best of it, and that means that he wants to give every customer a beautiful and enjoyable ride.

As a result of Fareed's behaviour in my airport ride I have doubled the fare as a tip, and I am sure you would have done the same.

The important lesson that I have learned from this taxi ride, is that whatever our job might be, we should enjoy what we do and exceed the expectations of our customers (whether internal or external customers). By giving an exceptional service, we don't only make an impact on others, but we also increase the chances of impacting ourselves.

So remember keep your smile and do what you are exactly supposed to do, no matter what you job is, and one day you can make an impression strong enough to change the world. As Malcom Forbes puts it: “Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs”.

www.ideasgrp.com

info@ideasgrp.com

The crisis is killing long term growth...all it takes is a paradigm shift

2009-04-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

What do smart managers do in Economic downturns?

Yes you are right they start laying off their staff.

And how do they do it?

They look at the salary figures and start eliminating the high paid employees, then will look at any other large expenditure, all in the aim of rounding off their numbers.

However what organizations fail to do, is to downsize their operations, following the staff cut, by production cut.

This imbalance is nothing but the old concept of Production/Production capability (by Dr. Covey). What this means in simple terms, is that, whenever our delivery will start affecting our quality, we should decline new business ; each good manager should know where that break point is located in regards to their respective business.

To paint a clearer picture, I will share with you my worst dining experience; Last weekend I went with my friends for a very late lunch at Locatelli, the Italian restaurant of the famous Atlantis in Dubai. The restaurant seats 210 persons and looks very neat, with a good design and a welcoming atmosphere. We placed our order which was composed of salads, pizzas and pasta dishes. 45 minutes later the pasta was served and then the salads and some items on the menu were missing, although in those 45 minutes waiting time we called the waiters at least 10 times, 2 of which, the restaurant manager attended us, and where we made clear that we want the salads and the pizzas first as an appetizer and then the other dishes. The problem was that the restaurant is understaffed,orders were mixed, and the worst part is that waiters started blaming their colleagues in front of us.

I wouldn’t be writing this blog if this was a one off; As I was telling this story to my friends, I heard some similar comments on the same top class restaurant.

Staff lay off is a short term quick fix, however messing up with the P/PC equation is a long term damage, and its effects are most of the time irreparable.

info@ideagrp.com

www.ideasgrp.com

Ask and you Shall Receive

2009-03-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

And I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Luke 11:9

I have met a gentleman last week who has lost his job, as his company made more than half of the staff redundant.

“It is hard to find a job these days” he said “the market is crowded with job applicants and companies are getting rid of their existing staff” he adds.

So I asked: “Who did you talk to? And where did you apply?”

“There is no use even if I talk no one will listen in this tough period”

That reminded me of an old joke about a man who was complaining about never winning the lottery and when his friend asked him how many tickets has he bought in his life , he replies “none I never win so why buy”

We cannot expect good things to happen if we do not ask for them, it is just a question and there is no harm in asking a question. All it takes is just a simple question.

In Sales this question is called: asking for a referral, and a good sales person knows that the least that they expect to get out of a meeting is a referral, so if the client doesn’t need their product or service there is a large chance that they know someone who does.

Just two days ago, while an amazing mastermind session was being wrapped up, I said to the group “ I am going to Morocco in 2 weeks, do you guys know any one there?” and my good friend Reg www.regathwal.com jumped of his chair to grab a list of more than 30 business cards, whom I have emailed and got 2 scheduled meetings.

All I had to do is ask.

So my advice for you is to take control of your environment and choose your response to what is happening around you and never give in to the general negative mood.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened Luke 11:10

I close this blog by a small extract of Habit 1: Be proactive; by Dr. Stephen Covey

It is inspiring to realize that in choosing our response to circumstance, we powerfully affect our circumstance. When we change one part of the chemical formula, we change the nature of the results. Those who are proactive focus on what they can do, on what they can influence.

So good luck on your new questions to be asked and if you need help you know who to write to: info@ideasgrp.com

www.ideasgrp.com

Now is the Time to Change.

2009-02-19T03:19:00.000-08:00

On this edition of my bi-monthly blog I thought of sharing with you a story that reflects the current situation. As a friend of mine told me: “Human beings love to be victimized” and in the current downturn, people are blaming the crisis instead of taking action…. Well now is the time to decide what you would want to be doing next. To paint a clearer picture in your minds I would like to share with you an inspirational story. This story is extracted from the book “Notes from a Friend” by Anthony Robbins:

“Have you ever heard of a guy named Colonel Sanders? Of course you have. How did Colonel Sanders become such an unbelievable success? Was it because he was born wealthy? Was his family rich? Did they send him to a top university like Harvard? Maybe he was successful because he started his business when he was really young. Are any of these true?

The answer is no. Colonel Sanders didn't begin to fulfill his dream until he was 65 years old! What drove him to finally take action? He was broke and alone. He got his first social security cheque for $105, and he got mad but instead of blaming the society or just writing the American congress a nasty note, he started asking himself, "What could I do that would be valuable for other people? What could I give back?" He started thinking about what he had that was valuable to others.
His first answer was, "Well, I have this chicken, recipe, everyone seems to love! What if I sold my chicken recipe to restaurants? Could I make money doing that?" Then he immediately thought, "That's ridiculous. Selling my recipe won't even pay the rent." And he got a new idea: "What if I not only sold them my recipe but also showed them how to cook the chicken properly? What if the chicken was so good that it increased their business? If more people come to see them and they make more chicken sales, maybe they will give me a percentage of those additional sales."

Many people have great ideas. But Colonel Sanders was different. He was a man who didn't just think of great things to do. He put them into action. He went and started knocking on doors, telling each restaurant owner his story: "I have a great chicken recipe, and I think if you use it, it'll increase your sales. And I'd like to get a percentage of that increase."
Well, many people laughed in his face. They said, "Look, old man, get out of here. What are you wearing that stupid white suit for?" Did Colonel Sanders give up? Absolutely not. He had the #1 key to success; I call it personal power. Personal power means being persistent in taking action: Every time you do something, you learn from it, and you find a way to do it better next time. Colonel Sanders certainly used his personal power! Instead of feeling bad about the last restaurant that had rejected his idea, he immediately started focusing on how to tell his story more effectively and get better results from the next restaurant.

How many times do you think Colonel Sanders heard no before getting the answer he wanted? He was refused 1,009 times before he heard his first yes. He has spent two years driving across America in his old, beat-up car, sleeping in the back seat in his rumpled white suit, getting up each day eager to share his idea with someone new. Often, the only food he had was eating was bites from the samples he was preparing for perspective buyers. How many people do you think would have gone for 1,009 no's - two years of no's! - and kept on going? Very few. That's why there is only one Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC. I think most people wouldn't get passed twenty no's, much less a hundred or a thousand! Yet this is sometimes what it takes to succeed.

If you look at any of the most successful people in history, you will find this common thread: They would not be denied. They would not accept no. They would not allow anything to stop them from making their vision, their goal, a reality. Did you know that Walt Disney was turned down 302 times before he got financing for his dream of creating "The Happiest Place on Earth"? All the banks thought he was crazy. He wasn't crazy; he was a visionary and, more important, he was committed to making that vision a reality. Today, millions of people have shared in "the joy of Disney", a world like no other, a world launched by the decision of one man.”

So have you ever asked yourself those 2 questions? What could I do that could be valuable to other people? What could I give back?

I add to Tony Robbins questions a third one: What do I love and enjoy to do? But watch out! it has to be something that others are willing to pay for otherwise it will become a hobby not a business or a method of making a living.

So good luck on your next journey and if you need help you know who to write to: info@ideasgrp.com

Gaining a Competitive Advantage

2009-02-03T01:40:00.000-08:00

In these tough times, where the decision making process is very slow, and companies are laying employees off and cutting their expenditures, the common mistake that corporate organizations fall into, is losing their momentum and give up to the general negative atmosphere.

As a manager or head of department you have to keep your staff prepared for three reasons:

1- It has been proven that in down times, prepared companies gained market share and managed to add great value that turned into a competitive advantage in prosperous times.

2- Projects will not stay on hold forever, whenever financial institutions will resume their activities, the market will revive at a blink and again only prepared companies will be ready to absorb that sudden growth.

3- Engaged employees, turn into disengaged and actively disengaged employees because of the uncertainty of the markets, and that results in companies losing their top talents; the same talents that cost the company a fortune to attract in addition to the painful recruiting process.

So try to keep your employees engaged and think about the future.

For more info on how we can assist your organization gain and sustain a competitive edge from a human capital perspective drop us a line at info@ideaspr.com

2009 a phenomenal year...the best year of my life

2009-01-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

People are starting 2009 as if it would be the worse year since 1929, some people even told me that it is even worse than the great depression and all I could hear is " We need 5 years to get out of this mess" or "I just know that we will never go back to where we were" and the usual miserable gossip about “This was nothing, the crisis is yet to come”.

As a commitment of focusing my energy to only where I could get results, I have decided to play a little game with my best friend who owns a trading company. The game’s title was “2009 is a phenomenal year and the best year of my life”.

Rules are simple, all we had to do is imagine that nothing happened in September 2008 and continue business as usual with the same growth figures…. And guess what happened 13 days later ( of which 7 were still holidays): we have closed respectively in our businesses what we usually close in 3 months, and deals are still coming in. We were just unbelievably laughing as we were sipping our espressos this afternoon, while all the other professionals are focusing their energies on the crisis.

We say crisis shmisis and remember “Energy flows where attention goes” so focus your attention on what you can do and you will beat that crisis with no doubt.

Top 7 moments of 2008

2008-12-30T01:37:00.000-08:00

7- Ingrid Betancourd freed

3 years held hostage in the Colombian jungle, ex-political candidate half-French Ingrid Betancourt was freed from the FARC guerilla along with other kidnapped foreigners by the military. The freeing mission, which was a great blow to the FARC, was superbly executed by the military who convinced leaders of the guerilla that they in fact were an independent aid organization simply offering their helicopters to assists in transferring Betancourt and other prisoners from on hide-out to the next. When Betancourt were lifted into the helicopter, men from the military dressed as the guerilla delivered the good news – “You are free!”

6- The Fall of the Last Remaining Communist

For decades he has ruled the Caribbean island in true communism decadence. Claimed to be the last true leader of the political old times, Fidel Castro in 2008 suddenly retreated his position as Cuban President to younger brother Raul Castro.

5- Sep11 strikes back, this time in India

Terrorism has gone global. In North America, Europe and now Asia. As India suffered one of the worst terrorism attacks, hitting the financial metropolis Mumbai during three horrific days, 26-29 November, the world was once more reminded that terrorism still is a major threat to national as international security. What was described by official sources to be a band of 10 armed men, targeted the city’s finest hotels, as if to take a blow at the growing tourism industry in India, together with a large number of killed civilians. Shortly after the attack Indian Prime Minister went out to suggest the direct involvement of neighboring country Pakistan.

4- Captain Jack Sparrow really exists...in Somalia

Outside the coast of Somalia, piracy has for long been a common occurrence. Being a popular shipping route, bands of pirates have made it a custom to regularly hijack large shippings on African waters. Then came the biggest hijacking of Saudi-owned supertank SiriusStar, with a booty worth over $100 million in crude oil. Pirates were no longer something in the movies. For the first time, the world turned their eyes to discover that piracy had been terrorizing East Africa for years.

3- President Bush’s Term comes to an end…in Style

AFP- “A journalist hurled two shoes at President George W. Bush on his farewell visit to Iraq, highlighting hostility still felt toward the outgoing US leader who acknowledged that the war is still not won.

Muntazer al-Zaidi jumped up as Bush held a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, shouted "It is the farewell kiss, you dog" and threw his footwear. ”

The funny thing is that bids started over buying the shoe for sums ranging between $2 and $4M. Customers in Iraq ordered 120,000 pairs of "Model 271" the week after the incident from the Turkish company that manufactures it and some Iraqis offered to set up distribution companies for the shoe.

1-Readers Choice

As for number one I didn’t know which of the below two moments deserved to be number 1 so it’s up to you to decide which of those two moments deserves the top spot

Another September hits the world….

We all remember the events of Sep 11, 2001, When the US was hit by the world’s worst terrorist attack, and subsequently these events changed the whole world, everyone was affected by the results of this day. Exactly 7 years and 2 days later, the US was hit another time by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Quoting the New York Times: “In one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street’s history, Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself on Sunday to Bank of America for roughly $50 billion to avert a deepening financial crisis, while another prominent securities firm, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy protection and hurtled toward liquidation after it failed to find a buyer.” Again this event didn’t hit only Wall street, but its reach was so huge that companies were liquidated around the worlds and jobs were cut from Iceland to India, Detroit to Dubai. The two primary industries affected were Real Estate and Banking. 2009 is a challenging year for all corporate who will be struggling to survive the financial downtimes.

Kennedy for president? Even better….

After an intense race for president candidacy, Hawaii born, Chicago native and African-American senator Barack Obama, with his family, spoke to the nation in Chicago central park as the new President of United States of America. The journey had been long, the whole world watching, and for the first time in a long time the American people could exhale in relief, looking to a future filled with hope and, as promised, change. Yes he could, yes he did and yes he will.

In 2009, we will all be watching how the Obama administration will deal with two very important issues: 1-The War against terrorism and 2- The Financial Crisis.

7 Steps to fight stress in this Financial Crisis

2008-12-10T00:08:00.001-08:00

In these tough financial times, companies are cutting costs, business owners are stressing over ways to increase their revenues, and a large number of employees are alarmed at every email they recieve, fearing that their company is announcing job cuts and that their position is at stake.

All of the above, plays with our emotions and causes us to increase our stress level; some people take it negatively and some people will start using humor to overcome this period.

I was reading an Article in "Health Magazine" and decided to try it, and guess what?....... it has worked.....

Those 7 easy steps will help you cope with the situation and make the most out of it... at the end of the day, the situation will not last forever, and every recession is followed by growth, so lets be ready for it.

Follow these tips in the morning and leave the house with a spring in your step

7. Have Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an excellent stress buster. According to Psychology Today, people who have high levels of vitamin C are less stressed and find it easier to bounce back from stressful situations. Drink orange juice or slice some strawberries into your cereal.

6.Add some honey to your cereals

The natural sugar can boost your levels of happy hormone serotonin. When researchers in New Zealand fed honey to rats, they found that they were less anxious and stressed. What works for rats can work for you, although not necessarily the thing about living in the sewers.

5.Stretch in the shower.

Hot water loosens your muscles, making stretching easier. Stretching helps prevent injury, improves circulation, increases balance and boosts energy.

4.Play Music

Music can fight fatigue and relieve stress, says sports psychology journal Athletic Insight. Although it might have the opposite effect on your neighbors...

3. Smell the Coffee

Scientists in Japan believe that just the aroma of roasted coffee beans can alleviate stress caused by sleepiness.

2. Do some exercise

It fires up your metabolism and releases feel good chemicals called noradrenalines into the brain. In a study psychologist found that interval spirits of 30 seconds could cheer you up for 90 minutes.

1. Rise at 7:21

Get you before this time and you could spend the day feeling irritable and stressed. A University of Westminster study found that people who rise early had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

For more free tips, or if you require the assistance of a Personal Development professional contact us at www.ideaspr.com

Project Management

2008-08-19T05:38:00.000-07:00

I have just finished a brainstorming session with the co-author of my new book, and while running over some tasks that were due on today' meeting, I have realized that in our personal lives we will not achieve any of our goals unless we treat them as projects. Projects that have a timeline, a budget and sponsors.
So my advice for you today, is to treat every goal as a project, and keep monitoring it very closely, acknowledging every step and making sure that deadlines are executed. While doing that, assign some mentors, people who will ask you about your progress and motivate you to achieve on time.

2008-07-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

Did we ever ask ourselves this question: What is that shapes us? what is that makes of us what we are today? do we have the privilege to choose what we want to be?

I want to share with you those lines written by William Jennings Bryan:
Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice: it is not a thing to be waited for: it is a thing to be achieved.

In order to discover who we are and what we want to be we have to think of writing down our governing values, and make sure that we write clarifying statements for those values.

for example if we have the following value: Leadership

then the clarifying statement will be:
I naturally know how to motivate people into achieving, I am creative and I enjoy overcoming challenges.

Think of your 3 governing values, to able to start shaping your life.

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Top 7 moments of 2008

7 Steps to fight stress in this Financial Crisis

Project Management