Simon T Bailey’s Blog

I was recently sitting in a client’s employee lounge and saw a flyer that was on all of the tables. As I looked closely it said the following “turn competitors trash into competitive intelligence treasure. Receptacles will be set up in the atrium and on the 2^nd and 3^rd floor to collect all the junk mail you receive at home from the competition.”

The name of this marketing initiative is “Dump Their Junk!” I love it. What are you doing to share your competitive intelligence with your internal team? We have all received mail that will put into file 13. What if we step back and ask what type of insight can we gain from what others are doing? You may be surprised at what you discover.

Please send a response to the following question – what are you doing to increase your competitive intelligence?

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Like it or not the pace of change is forcing us to rediscover the adventurous spirit of our ancestors. There is a force that is moving us from the known world of our previous achievements to the unknown world of future opportunity.

I recently read a quote from John Amatt that really struck a chord with me. He said “to challenge change we have to learn to view change as a great adventure.” Every day you have to increase your ability to manage change effectively and learn to benefit from the uncertainty that change creates.

Adventure is a journey with an unforeseen outcome.  Be a change agent that controls the steering wheel of your life. Right now change is tapping you on the shoulder and inviting you to go to a place you have never gone to before. Are you ready? Buckle up – your adventure is about to begin.   

Please send a response to the following question – what type of personal or professional adventures are you experiencing right now?

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Today, as I was driving around my city, I could sense a shift in the air. As you look in the eyes of other human beings, you can sense that they are ready to experience something totally different and fresh. Everybody looking for the New-New!

In the world, there are shifts that take place all of the time. These shifts impact people, processes, and products. Many times, shifts in perspectives, ideologies, and mindsets often need to be overhauled in order to make room for new possibilities.  This doesn’t happen overnight. It is a long sustained march in the same direction. Deliberate in nature and intentional it’s desire.

Examine your world and determine for yourself what shifts do you need to make personally and professionally. When you do it, you will find hidden gems of relationships and unlimited opportunities that were just below the surface waiting for you to shift.

Simon says: What shifts do you need to make and why? 

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Simon Says - Change or be changed by change!

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Many Americans are tuned into this year’s political super bowl – the election of the next president of the United States.  Can I just tell you, I am ready for it to be over! Nevertheless, this is a very exciting time as we watch master communicators hone their message, sharpen their rhetoric, and sucker punch the other candidate with words through the media.  You must admit that politics is not for the weak in mind nor the faint of heart.

When you step back and analyze the presidential race here in the United States consider the following:

How do we make an intelligent decision about any of the candidates?

How do we know if they are authentic or just telling us what we want to hear?

How do we know if they have the experience to answer the 3:00 AM call or not?

All we know is what they tell us in stump speeches and in debates when they don’t have the tele-prompter aiding them in persuading the public to believe them. The only way they can convince us is by using the oldest and most influential profession in the world - Public Speaking, or what I call Presentation Brilliance.

(The following is not a political endorsement for either party - I am just making a point) Just think, prior to the democratic nomination of Senator Barack Obama for president, no one really knew who he was until he gave “the keynote speech” at the democratic convention in 2004. His entire life changed all because of a speech. Twelve months ago 900,000 people in the state of Alaska knew who Governor Sarah Palin was, but that’s about it. After one speech given at the Republican National Convention, 37 million other Americans now have etched in their brain the famous line “a pit bull with lipstick.” It doesn’t matter if someone wrote the speech; the fact is she said it. It’s like the songwriter who writes the words, but it’s the singer who belts out the notes that everyone remembers and talks about.

One speech can change your life.  Yes, that may seem a bit over-the-top, but it’s true in the case of the aforementioned candidates.  You are probably saying, “Simon, I am not running for office, I am just trying to put food on the table, a roof over my head, save for retirement, build a business and get along with my neighbor or cubicle mate.”  Then I would say to you if ever get the opportunity, DO IT - stand up and make a presentation.  Just watch - your confidence will soar and you may raise a few eyebrows. 

I am a living witness that one speech can forever change your life.  It is one of the best marketing tools to position you and your company.  Presentation Brilliance is the one key arrow that you need to keep in your quiver.

I am curious - What scares you about public speaking?  

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I was reading an interview given by Richard Branson, founder and CEO of Virgin Group and he made a statement that stopped me in my tracks.  He said, “one of the things I’m always trying to do at Virgin is make people reinvent themselves. I firmly believe that anything is possible.”

Well, I looked at the statement and pondered it for awhile, and then it hit me.  Reinvention just doesn’t happen at the snap of a finger.  Someone has to make a conscious decision to say “something has got to change.”  Could you be that person?  Re-invention is a process, not just one time event.

Over the last 100 years, the U.S. economy has shifted from the Agriculture Age, to the Industrial Age to the Knowledge Age and soon to be the Brilliance Age.  Most people are paid for what they know instead of what they do.  Knowledge controls the steering wheel of the economy, and everything else is a passenger.  It is my belief that our society is shifting again.

Many people can sense a shift with the financial earthquake on Wall Street that continues to send shock wave tremors through the rest of the nation. Corporations are slashing headcounts in unprecedented numbers, cutting edge technology is replacing bodies and retirement savings  have seemingly vanished into thin air.  Needless to say, stress is all around us.

Chronic stress, predictably enough, decreases neurogenesis.  According to Wikipedia, neurogenesis is the process by which neurons are created.  Most active during pre-natal development, it is also responsible for populating the growing brain.  Every action and thought is creating the future or diminishing it.  As Christian Mirescu, a post-doctorate graduate from Princeton put it, “When a brain is worried, it’s just thinking about survival.  It isn’t interested in investing in new cells for the future.”

Today is not the time for small thinking.  Today is not the day to shrivel up, shrink down, or be overwhelmed by the crisis of today.  In every period of history, out of adversity emerges brilliance.

I could go on and on, but you get the point.  In the midst of stress, someone found a way to create the future they intended to live in instead of succumbing to the stress of the day.  What once may have served you in a previous era is no longer relevant and will only serve to stress you out.

It’s time to make a bold move in the direction of your heart.  That’s right… you’ve worried long enough and nothing has changed.  It’s time to stand up and be the catalyst of change by reinventing yourself.  

Professor Elizabeth Gould (Princeton University – Department of Psychology) says “the symptoms of poverty are not simply states of mind; they actually warp the mind. Because neurons are designed to reflect their circumstances, not to rise above them, the monotonous stress of living in a slum literally limits the brain.”  What is limiting you from experiencing the ultimate life?  I submit to you that you need to reinvent yourself.  It’s exactly what I did and my life has never been the same again. 

Please answer the following question: What personal or professional reinventions are you making and what have you learned thus far?

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If you relate to a person as if they are small they will be small. These were the words that my friend Marie Dowd uttered to me two weeks prior to me speaking at her annual meeting of 350 business owners in New Orleans. I stopped in my track because I began to examine myself and how I had been thinking small, playing small, acting small and practically pitched a tent in Smallville, USA.

As I began to toss this thought over and over in mind between airports, I realized that not everyone is showing up to give a 150% everyday. Some are just attempting to get through the day, others are tip-toeing through life, and still others are keeping their head down for fear of being the next neck of to meet the guillotine of disappointment.

I submit to you that no matter where you are it’s time to show up bigger than ever before. Your best days are in front of you. No matter what is happening around you, you have the ability and potential to play really big. Go for it my friend. You can do it.

Show up Big now more than ever before. Consider the following:

Be the difference that makes the difference

Ask what can you can do drive more value than ever before

Give something extra

The greatest way to build loyalty is to give more than what people would expect.

Remember the platinum rule…do unto others as they would like for it to be done unto them.

Question of the day? Have you played small personally or professionally? If so, tell me about it.   

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Recently, I was invited to be the closing general session speaker for the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare at their 38^th convention in Boston, MA.  As I was preparing my remarks, I saw on their website that I was following Jim Collins, bestselling author of “Good to Great” whose books have sold a bazillion, and James Carville, chief political strategist in the Clinton Administration. Oh, did I mention that they also had presentations by Michael and Kitty Dukakis, and Michael Kennedy.

Was I scared? If I said no, then I would be telling a white lie. (Whatever that means.)  Was I somewhat concerned? Absolutely. Why? I was walking in the footsteps of some of the most celebrated and recognized names in the United States. Now allow me to share with you the naked truth, I believe I was the youngest person to address this group of CEO’s, board members, senior executives, blah blah The client told me right before my presentation that they had looked at over 100 videotapes before they selected me.

All of these thoughts were running through my mind, but I had to shut them out and dig deep. This presentation had to be over the top and I had to look fear in the face and slap it into the next century. I know that is a bit dramatic. However, the point is my fear was rooted in feeling inadequate, and not good enough to exist in this rare air. Yes, it is true that it’s not who you are that blocks your brilliance from shining, it’s who you think you are not.

Right now, you may have a ton of opposition against you. Perhaps some of it is self-imposed. I invite you to take a long hard look and feed your belief in a better future and starve your fears to death. Do not feed into it. You are brilliant and it‘s time to shine.

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I was recently flying to Sacramento, CA to visit with Governor Schwarzenegger (ok, I am just kidding) and was reading one of four newspapers to catch up on the latest. In the USA Today money section, the question was posed by Experience.com  of 2,774 college students, “If you had two job offers and one company was “green”, would that have an impact on your decision?”  79% said yes and 21% said no.

Can you imagine what the answer to that question would have been just a decade ago? More than likely it would have been the other way around. Nevertheless, it was very telling to me to see that college students, who are the future workforce, want to join an organization that believes in doing its part in saving the planet and being environmentally friendly.

Perhaps the new way to recruit your future workforce is to tell them your “Green Story” and them pay them the greenbacks. More importantly, if they are to release their brilliance, ask them in what other ways the company should “Go Green!”

Simon Says…You may lose the battle over what you can pay them, but you may just win the war in enlisting them into your green movement!

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The painter Pablo Picasso was dining at a five-star restaurant in a metropolitan city. A female admirer walked over to his table to say hello and to tell him how much she admired his work. Sensing that he was receptive to her accolades, she asked if he would do a sketch for her.

Picasso grabbed some paper, and with pen and pencil promptly sketched the waiters carrying luscious ice cream parfaits. As the woman reached for the sketch, Pablo Picasso said, “Madame, that will be $10,000.” Shocked, the woman replied, “But that only took you five minutes.” “No, Madame,” replied Pablo Picasso, “it took me fifty years.”

Pablo Picasso knew how much time he had invested in the mastery of fine art. He didn’t belittle his value or succumb to the pressure of someone who didn’t value his worth. Up until that moment at the restaurant, fifty years of his life had been invested in developing his artistic brilliance. He refused to allow anyone to diminish his self-worth.

How much are you worth? What are you doing to increase your self-worth? People will treat you the way you treat yourself. When they sense that you are unsure of your value, they will handle you any way they see fit.

 A friend of mine who was unhappy at her job one day decided that she was worth more than the demeaning way she was being treated, and refused to be abused any longer. Thus, she decided that happiness, peace of mind, validation, affirmation, and celebration was worth more than stock-options and the schizophrenic behavior of leadership.

 My friend, wrap your brain around this profound truth…your outward experience will reflect your inward self-worth. Your self-worth is as priceless as a rare diamond. Why settle for crumbs of bread when you own the bakery? Simon Says…You are worth it!

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