Gary Bailey

Some tips I picked up from Gary (ex goal keeper for Manchester United) at our Toastmasters conference. Enjoy!

Manchester United:

• Is a $1 billion business
• Has 300 million customers
• Delivers weekly to its customers

The principles of a good soccer team apply to business as well…

• Be tough- learns to takes knocks
• Build on gratitude
• Appreciate staff and all those around you
• Things go wrong for everybody at some time
• It’s how you deal with life, not what happens to you that is important
• Plan for the future
• Don’t send emotional emails because there is no emotion in email
• Make time for others
• Raise your energy
  • Body; food & exercise
  • Spirit; helping others
  • Mind;
  • Emotions;

Ali Bacher and ,me

Dr Ali Bacher spoke at our Toastmasters conference in May. Here are a few lessons from him.

1. Return correspondence within 24 hours
2. Brevity – 2 pages (both speaking and writing)
3. Workplace structures are meaningless (my version is that titles are meaningless)
4. Look after quality people that make it happen
5. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys
6. Keep your door open
7. Promote performers
8. Give responsibility to people you have confidence in
9. Give small gestures of appreciation
10. Be honest – never lie
11. Never break your word
12. Always settle out of court
13. Never record your feelings at the time, wait until you have cooled down
14. To learn respect, set the example
15. Fly economy class with your staff!
16. You have a responsibility to transfer your skills
17. Things don’t just happen; be proactive

Everyone Communicates, few Connect by John Maxwell

Published by Thomas Nelson

***look below for a free copy – contest closed

Many of us have intentions to read more self-development books, but by the end of the work-day we are simply too tired, so we end up in front of the TV or reading a light novel.

This book is one of those that you can pick up at the end of the day. It is filled with stories and anecdotes drawn from his own experience and from others; all of which illustrate the points that he is trying to make. The story telling style makes it easy reading; yet still a book of substance. This is typical of what I have come to expect from his other books. At 250 pages it is not a long read, but you can always go back to it again and again.

The main premise of the book is that while we spend a huge amount of time communicating, we are not necessarily making the right effective connections that are crucial to effective communication and leadership.

The book is divided into two main sections; principles and practices. It is self explanatory, but he gives a few simple principles on making better and effective connections, and then shows how to implement them.

The book is aimed at anybody wishing to make better connections; and could be applied in both your personal or business life. He gives simple tips at the end of chapter, divided into three main areas, namely one-on one, a group or an audience.

For the public speakers out there; some great tips (and affirmation of some things you already know), for those of you in corporate business, some tips on working with colleagues, in teams at or in a group environment, such as at meetings. And one-on one communication is important to us all.

An unusual feature of the book is that John Maxwell posted the manuscript of the book on his blog www.johnmaxwellonleadership.com, and he received over 100,000 view over eleven weeks, resulting in over 70 quotes, stories and anecdotes from readers which resulted in over 100 revisions. Every contributor is acknowledged in the book.

I am a fan of John Maxwell, so it is difficult to be unbiased, but as a communicator and public speaker, this is a great book, and it is going to help you to become even better.

It is available from Amazon in hardback for $17.15.

The folks at Thomas Nelson have kindly provided 5 free copies to readers. Leave you name in the comment section below, and I will randomly draw 5 names on 28 July who will each receive a copy.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the (signed) review copy.

Here is a brief extract from an interesting list of 10 things to never say to your customer. It is from”the amazing service guy”. How many of these have been said to you?

“We’d like to help, but it’s our company policy…”
“You’ll have to talk to the corporate office about that.”
“No one else has complained about…”

How many of them have you said yourself?

The full list is here.

Heard in a presentation by (the other) Michael Jackson

“Yes, you should wake up every morning terrified with your sheets drenched in sweat, but not because you’re afraid of our competitors. Be afraid of our customers, because those are the folks who have the money. Our competitors are never going to send us money.”

Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com
Remember who could be sending you money, and do everything to gain their trust, respect and business.

Listen on Times Live to Michael Bratt interviewing myself, as well as Keynote speaker Gary Bailey and C&L award winner Bassie Kumalo.

I was interviewed at the Toastmasters conference recently held at Gold Reef City. I spoke about the value of communication, leadership, and the Toastmasters programmes.

1. Advertise on company and community notice boards
2. Free announcements in local/community newspapers
3. Barter your services in exchange for free advertising
4. Word of mouth – tell all your friends
5. Business cards – never leave home without them
6. Be outrageous – do something so out of the ordinary that you get free publicity
7. Offer to write articles for local newspapers or magazines. Note that these are articles and not advertorials
8. Make contacts with complementary businesses to provide a stronger offering that helps you both
9. Be contactable make it easy for your customers to find you. Have a website, and respond to emails and phone calls
10. Follow through on your leads and customer queries

Tiger Woods

I was listening to an interview with Malcolm Gladwell recently on the Radiolab podcast in which he was speaking about the performance of Jamaican athletes when he was growing up. He made a comment that part of the reason for their performance is that they trained harder than anybody else.

When Darren la Croix won the 2001 World Championship of Public Speaking, he said that he did not want any of the other competitors to be more prepared than him – he wanted to out-prepare all of them, and he won.

When I was in school, I studied music as one of my matric subjects. In my final year, I would probably practice about 2-3 hours a day, and I was a far better pianist then than I am now. It was because I was putting in the time to prepare.

Tiger Woods is such a great golfer partly because he puts in approx 6 ½ hours training every single day, as well as about 2 ½ hours in the gym  . I have no doubt that if I put effort into golf every day for a few years, I would be a mighty fine golfer as well. Maybe not as good as Tiger Woods, but a lot better than I currently am.

According to Fortune Magazine,

“The evidence we have surveyed … does not support the [notion that] excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts…. that nobody is great without work…There’s no evidence of high-level performance without experience or practice.”

Ok, so the bottom line is that you can be excellent at just about anything that you choose, but you will need to put in the effort to get there.

How much effort are you prepared to put into your passion?

Please see the email below that I received from my friend Louise at Symphonia

Dear Craig

A few months ago we invited people who are passionate about South Africa to join the Network of Community Leaders for South Africa (see below for the message that was sent out in May).

Since this message many of us have attended the Dinokeng scenario sessions and have been called to make the Walk Together scenario a reality in South Africa (please see www.dinokengscenarios.co.za for more information).

I am delighted to let you know that we will be holding the first meeting for the Network of Community Leaders for South Africa (NCLSA) in Cape Town on 6th August.

Date: Thursday, 6th August 2009

Time: 14:00 – 16:30

Venue: Manenberg (a community who is setting a wonderful example in terms of community building)

Cost: No cost (the event is sponsored by Symphonia for South Africa, an organisation dedicated to strengthening the fabric of South African society)

The purpose of this meeting will be to establish a community of people who are passionate about South Africa. We are hoping to enrol all those who are playing (or want to play) a leadership role to address the challenges that we face in South Africa.

Our vision is that the NCLSA will serve to strengthen and support all those who are working towards a safe and prosperous South Africa for all.

We will:

• create opportunities for us to learn from others who have been successful at building communities / lead change in there area of practice
• create opportunities to network and find out about other people who are doing similar work
• support, strengthen and inspire each other to continue to do the work in strengthen the fabric of South African society

Some are arguing that we should call this the Network of Engaged Citizens for South Africa (NECSA) rather than a Network of Community Leaders for South Africa (NCLSA). We will talk about this differentiation at our meeting on 6th August. I hope that you will be able to join us for this conversation.

Please let Louise van Rhyn (louise@symphonia.net) know if you will be attending the meeting on 6th August.

Please forward this note to anybody else who may be interested in the activities of the Network of Community Leaders for South Africa.

We are particularly keen to have people from the following sectors:

• Grass roots community leaders
• People from organisations that support community leaders
• CSI managers and people from CSI departments
• Organisational Development practitioners
• Government officials (national, provincial, local)

Warm regards

Louise

As of two days ago, I am the District Governor for Toastmasters District 74, Southern Africa. Geographically, we are one of the largest districts in the world, covering 9 countries in Southern Africa. I am also the youngest District Governor in D74
ever, but I feel ready for the challenge.

I joined Toastmasters in 2000, with the aim of simply becoming a better public speaker, but it did not take very long to realise that Toastmasters is not just about public speaking. It is about learning to become an effective communicator and leader, and I have been on a remarkable journey
of growth. Through Toastmasters, I have

• Trained in South Africa
• Trained in Malawi
• Trained in Namibia
• Travelled three times to USA, each time carrying a flag of our District
• Spoken in the four largest cities in South Africa
• Opened conferences
• Emceed meetings, conferences and events

Holding the Zimbabwe and Zambian flags at the International Convention in Calgary, Canada

Now, please don't think that I am bragging, because I am not. I am showing
you this list to demonstrate that I have learned to do things that I would never
been able to do in the past, both through the acquired skills, and through self
confidence that I have developed.

Whenever Toastmasters has provided me with an opportunity, I have grabbed it,
which is why I have got so much out of it.

Our district theme this year is "Toastmasters – Growing People". And the more
that I am involved, the more I realise that the best way to grow is help others
to grow. By giving, you receive back tenfold. So, it is with great excitment, a
little nerviousness, and hugh anticipa……..tion that I look forward to the
next year!