INTELLIGENT MOTIVATION for a Challenging World

This Blog has migrated! to http://cathcart.com

2009-01-03T16:44:00.002-08:00

By Jim Cathcart

During December 2008 I converted all of my blogs and websites to ONE comprehensive new website/blog at http://cathcart.com. Or just type in "cathcart.com" and most browsers will take you there.
The new site has 138 blog posts on it (all of the older ones plus some new ones) and
it has over 50 pages of data, lists, photos, video clips and links for you.
Please explore it and let me know what you think. I'm eager to make it the perfect resource for you and self-expression vehicle for me.
Email me your comments at jim@cathcart.com.

Have a very happy 2009!
In the Spirit of Growth,
Jim

Intelligent Motivation: Tips for Tough Economic Times

2008-12-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

By Jim Cathcart

Every interview I've done recently has led with the same inquiry, "What would you tell people who are having a tough time in the current economy?"

Here is my answer:

Increase your discipline
Spend more of each day in business building (sales)
Be more vigilant
UpServe your existing customers
Build learning into all the gaps
Stay humble
Increase your gratitude

Increase your discipline:

When revenue is scarce and people are afraid to make purchases it becomes vital that you make use of all your resources; tools, time and people. Take a look at what time you begin your productive work each day; make it earlier. Become a strong task-master of yourself. Make sure you do your work well and promptly. Don't allow follow-through to be delayed. Go back to the discipline you had early in your career. Be a go-getter again, develop your "productivity muscles."

Spend more of each day in business building (sales)

In easier times you can do what you used to do, but for now you will need to increase the number of minutes in each day that you are in direct contact with someone who can say "Yes."

Start keeping records of your sales minutes. Track your numbers each day and improve them. Your sales success will directly depend on the number of people and amount of time you devote to helping others buy. Shuffle your duties so that your administrative actions can be done during non-prime selling time. When people are accessible be sure that you are out there seeking access to them. Ask yourself, "Does what I'm doing right now lead directly to a new sale?" If not, postpone or delegate it.

Be more vigilant

There are times when we have the luxury of being lax, but this is not one of them. When the threats of a poor economy are at your door you need to be sure you don't allow any of them in.

These include: fearful thinking, delays in decision making or taking decisive action, pessimism in all of its forms, people who drain your energy, TV shows, radio shows, newspapers and online sources that feed your fear. Get these influences under your control. Reduce your exposure to fear, doom and doubt. Increase your exposure to optimism, plans, new ideas and happiness. You will reflect the people you listen to and associate with . Control the input.

UpServe your existing customers

Ask yourself, "How can I increase my existing customers' satisfaction?" Look for ways to add to their happiness about doing business with you. Do things that don't cost you but still give value to them. Communicate, reach out, compliment them, reassure them, offer new tips and information, service their products, show them new uses, be on their team. Help them succeed. Do NOT seek a new sale when doing this. Accept them if they come but sustain the spirit of service as you seek to UpServe.

Build learning into all the gaps

Add learning to your wake-up time, your drive time, waiting time, and relaxation time. Use online resources like iLearningGlobal.tv and recordings, books and podcasts to help you gain new ideas and insights. Fill your day with new information and refreshers of past information. Stuff new information into all the gaps in your day. Let a CD play as you get dressed, listen to them in the car, put books on tape into your MP3 player. Learn more every day without having to spend more time doing new activities. Play the same messages over and over if they are valuable to you. Spaced repetition and multiple exposures will increase your retention.

Try new things and get even better at the old things.

Stay Humble

Humility is one of the most attractive qualities you can have. Humble people learn from everyone. They aren't "above" doing hard work nor are they "beyond" dealing with others who don't have much power. They are caring people who are eager to listen and learn. They share the spotlight and brag about others. They don't interrupt with a compulsion to talk about themselves. Others love to be around them. Be one of them.

Increase your Gratitude

The most magnetic of all emotions is Gratitude. The thankful mindset draws energy to it. Think of the power of gratitude on you. How do you feel toward people who are truly grateful for what you have done for them? You are drawn even closer to them. You want to do more for them. The same is true for others. They will love your grateful spirit and seek even more ways to be helpful to you. In the "Law of Attraction" the first principle is definite purpose and the second is gratitude. Know what you want and give thanks for it even before you have received it.

The net effect of following this advice will be that you will feel more in control of your own life and career. Your clients and coworkers will find you even more pleasant to work with and the marketplace will trust you more. You may not be able to control the results you get but you can certainly control the contribution you make and the effort you invest. This investment WILL pay off! Be the kind of person others want on their team and you will get what you desire.

In the Spirit of Service,

Jim Cathcart

The Intelligent Motivation System (IMS)

2008-12-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

By Jim Cathcart

Intelligent Motivation(tm):

is determining what is important,

identifying what action is needed and

doing what is necessary to generate and

sustain that action.

Conscious, Intentional & Relentless Action

Firm Standards, Clear Agreements, Meaningful Work,

Accurate Measures, Appealing Rewards

The more I work on "Intelligent Motivation (tm)" the better shape it takes.

There is now a System to bring it together. Whenever I consult with a client organization these are the areas upon which I focus.

Firm Standards
Clear Agreements
Meaningful Work
Accurate Measurement
Appealing Recognition & Rewards

In order to truly motivate people there needs to be a comprehensive approach to the task.

Motivation requires "Motives" and for people to have the right motives we must assure that they understand the purpose and value of what we are asking them to do.

When people find meaning in what they do they tend to add more value to what they do.

Firm Standards:

If you study the world's most impressive and successful organizations you will invariably find that they have high standards and they stick to them. At Disney, Hallmark, Four Seasons Hotels, and many more top companies the insistence on high quality work and adherence to rigid guidelines is NON-NEGOTIABLE. You either do it their way or you find somewhere else to work. Period. The same is true for the U.S. Marines.

"If you don't belong here, see ya'. "

These high standards are what allows the organization to produce a consistently high-quality result. If they were to relax the standards to accomodate some less prepared or under-privileged person then their product would suffer and ultimately, so would their reputation. On some things we can never afford to compromise. On others, discussion is still open.

Clear Agreements:

A familiar organizational problem is Missed Expectations.

Someone did what they thought was expected and found that their leader was expecting something else. Why? Because people don't often clearly communicate their expectations.

How many times have you heard these words,

"But I thought that's what you wanted me to do?"

What an avoidable problem! There are proven ways to avert this and to develop better communication processes. One of these is the use of "Role Agreements."

A role agreement is similar to a job description except that it doesn't describe tasks. Instead it defines three items:

1. What the person is paid to accomplish.

2. An overview of their areas of responsibility.

3. A description of what you expect from them and of what they expect from you.

This is not "given" to them, it is created with them so that they own it too.

When expectations are clear, problem solving is easier. So is performance evaluation.

Meaningful Work:

People need to understand the value of doing a good job. They need to see how their work will make a difference to someone somewhere somehow. Without this they are just a machine producing "output." That is a pretty depressing role for anyone.

"Does this really matter to anyone?"

We, as leaders, need to define the meaning in every aspect of our operations. All employees and participants need to see the value they are passing along. This gives them a sense of purpose, and purpose is motivating. When we talk about how our customers benefit from our product or service, when we tell stories of the value we provide, our people take more pride in their work and feel more dignity in doing it.

Accurate Measures:

Things that are measured tend to improve. Whatever you measure becomes real and tangible. People start to take it more seriously and they can see the relationship between actions and outcomes, causes and effects. If I know that you are measuring the times I arrive at work each day then I'll pay more attention to being prompt. If I don't think you measure the cost of goods used in producing my work then I'll probably have more waste than the person who closely monitors the cost of goods.

In sports the statistics are pure gold. Batters know how success they have been against left handed pitchers in the first 50 pitches versus the last 50. Golfers and runners keep statistics to see whether they are on target or getting off track.

Winners keep score...of everything!

We can practice Behavioral Economics in many areas beyond the usual statistical reports and balance sheets. I believe we should be seeking to quantify everything reasonable. For example: we can measure the number of compliments we hear on the job each day, the frequency of do-overs (more than double the cost of work done right the first time), the number of new ideas we get in a given month for process improvement, the amount of time we spend helping others solve problems, etc. Everything we track causes us to notice more about it and to make better decisions related to it.

Noticing More: The person who notices more see more options and possibilities, and that person has an edge over others.

The more you notice, the more you know.

The more you know the more options you see.

The person with the most options usually prevails.

Appealing Rewards:

When we design an awards program or a recognition system it should be comprehensive and tailored. Comprehensive enough to utilize all of the available forms of recognition and reward, yet tailored to the unique interests, values and personality of the person being recognized.

This requires some creativity and empathy. We must get to know each other better and we must think beyond the usual "box" of rewards.

"But that's not what I was working for."

John may be very motivated by a trip to Hawaii and Janelle might find it unappealing. She, however, might respond well to a scholarship for advanced learning while Jason might not. Some people love plaques and certificates, some don't. Some get turned on by the offer of a bonus check while others respond better to a pat on the back and a sincere thank you.

The system we design for motivation needs to incorporate all of the foregoing elements.

This needn't be daunting. We can keep it simple and systematic so that nobody has to go back through intense training just to get this done. It is just a matter of making everything work together for the good of the Cause.

Give me a call and let's see how your own Motivation System can be made more Intelligent.

Intelligent Motivation: 10 Qualities of Keepers (tm)

2008-12-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

By Jim Cathcart

"Keepers" is the term I've applied to Productive Employees. These are the folks that you love to have in any company, whether you are a coworker, a customer or its owner.
Keepers are people who you want more of. You want to work with them more often, and you want keepers in every role in the organization. If you could find enough people like them you could change the world.

Here are a 10 traits that define Keepers:

Proactive: They exert initiative; when they see a need they just fill it. They don't wait for others to take action.
Honest: They tell the truth. In business the only news that is useful is the truth. And if it is bad news it is vital that you learn it soon.
Problem Solver: They get the job done. They don't just "try" to do things, they actually do them. Effort isn't worth much if it doesn't produce the desired outcomes.
Self-Reliant: They address their own needs. If they need information they go and get it. If they need resources they find them. If they need rest they pause and refresh. If they need assistance they ask for it.
Cooperative: They reach out to others. They realize that none of us is as smart or as capable as all of us so they think in terms of the entire team, not just their own ego.
Grateful: They appreciate others and are grateful for the "blessings" they have. Keepers are constantly thanking others for the jobs they are doing, thanking their bosses for the support and benefits, thanking their customers for doing business here. Others want to be around them because they exude gratitude.
Positive: They think optimistically. They look for solutions not just problems. They assume that "somewhere, somehow, there is a way." This causes them to see opportunities that others overlook.
Growing: They look for ways to become worth more to their customer and employer. Lifelong learning is their commitment and they don't wait to be sent to a seminar when they can get the information on their own. They realize that anyone who has stopped improving is now slowing dying.
Contributor: They don't waste time waiting to be told what to do. They look for productive ways to fill their time at work, ways to "move the ball closer to the goal." And they suggest improvements.
Curious: They want to learn not just how things work but also why they matter. It is said that, "The person knows HOW may have a job, but the person who understands WHY is their boss."

Keepers are the people who make this world a great place to be. The more productive employees a business has; the more customers it will have and the less employee turnover.

Other people like to work with Keepers.

Atmosphere Matters

Keepers go nuts in a bureaucracy where there is all process and little production. They need a sense of meaning and purpose, so they constantly seek to make a contribution or produce an outcome. When the boss is unappreciative of their work, they tend to look elsewhere.

Two things that keep people productive are: Meaning and Appreciation.

The more meaning we find in our work, the more value we will bring to it.

The more appreciated we feel, the more we are motivated to earn even more appreciation.

A business owner friend of mine once said, "I don't give my employees much feedback unless they are on the wrong track. Then I correct them. They know when they are doing right because I don't say anything."

I told him, "If I worked for you I'd shrivel up and die! I NEED acknowledgement and feedback." So do most people.

Two things we all want to know are:

1. Does what I'm doing really matter?

2. Does anyone here care about me?

When we get good answers to those questions our world turns bright and our work usually shows it.

Systems Matter

The smart companies put systems in place to assure that people always see the value in what they are doing and realize that they are valued by their company and coworkers.

One of my friends who specializes in this area is John Schaefer. His company is called SRG: Schaefer Recognition Group. He talks about the Umbrella Strategy.

This is where you take all, and I do mean ALL, of your forms of acknowledgment, reward and recognition and weave them into a comprehensive strategy for showing your people that you care.

John stresses that recognition programs must be measured. There must be an orchestrated system and all parts of it should be trackable so that you KNOW what is working and how well.

Why not do an inventory right now of your Keepers?

Take a sheet of paper and just list all of the Keepers in your organization. Then study the list and reflect on it over the next week. See what you notice.

I think you will find patterns in your Keepers that can be used to find future Keepers and to develop current team members to the Keeper status.

If you'd like some help with this process, give me a call.

In the Spirit of Growth,

Jim Cathcart

www.cathcart.com

I'll share one of John's brochures with you so you can see the approach I'm recommending.

Intelligent Motivation for a Challenging World

2008-11-18T10:45:00.001-08:00

By Jim Cathcart

Once on a plane my seatmate asked what I did for a living. When I told him I was a motivational speaker he replied, "I don't believe in motivation because it doesn't last." The flight attendant standing nearby said, "Neither does a bath but it's still a good idea now and then."

Of course motivation doesn't last. Nor does eating, emotion, exercise or scores of other things. But they still have value for us.
Motivation needs to be intelligently done. It's not about just generating energy around an idea or getting "pumped up" about something. Motivation is about acting on motives.

Motive + Action = Motivation

Simple motivation is merely generating enthusiasm. It is occasionally useful and effective but hardly lasting or of strategic value. Intelligent Motivation, on the other hand, is determining what is important, identifying what action is needed and doing what is necessary to generate and sustain that action.
Our new Cathcart Institute, inc. by-line is:
Intelligent Motivation
for a Challenging World.

At a recent convention I attended the cocktail reception the night before my keynote speech. Upon learning that I was the next morning's speaker a man challenged me with this request, "Since you're our 'Motivational Speaker' how about motivating me?" I smiled and asked, "To do what?" He replied, "I don't know, just motivate me." I playfully replied, "I could do that but then I'd have to bill you." Then I went on to point out that without a clear Motive there can be no motivation.
We must have something worthwhile to act toward and we need to be careful and intentional in selecting our targets. I teach people how to determine what matters to them and how to identify ways to get themselves to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done even when they don't feel like doing it and to still do it very well.
Allow me to repeat that: Self-Motivation is when people Get themselves to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done whether they feel like it or not and still do it very well.
Let's agree that if a person is not "motivated" to do good work then they probably won't do it. And if a person has no self-driven motive for excellent performance then they will have to be continually motivated by others. Motivation is absolutely essential to the success of any endeavor. We've trivialized it for far too long. It matters and it is urgent, not optional.
In a business where there isn't much self-motivation the leaders can never rest because they are the only ones holding things together. Conversely, where the people have been taught how to become and stay motivated the leaders can loosen their grip on supervision and focus on the highest payoff activities for their own talents. The more self-motivated your people become the easier it will be to lead them.
Let's also be intelligent about identifying which goals to pursue and our motives for doing so. Then let's select the best actions to take and the strategies for sustaining those actions.

Intelligent Motivation(tm):
is determining what is important,
identifying what action is needed and
doing what is necessary to generate and
sustain that action.

When you or your team need some Intelligent Motivation please give us a call, we'd love to work with you.
www.cathcart.com
800 222 4883

What are you afraid of?

2008-10-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

Today is Halloween, so what scares you?
The economy, the climate, the extremists with weapons, the news?

Tonight people will be dressing in crazy and spooky attire and posing the eternal question:
"Trick or Treat?"
Originally that was a Halloween evening request for a bribe to keep "goblins" from doing some mischief. Today I think it's still being asked in far too many ways apart from this holiday. We are being tricked too often.
There are new products and special offers that don't live up to their promise. Vendors are advertising that they truly care about their customers but we find that they treat us like just another revenue carrier, a person bearing money, instead of a client.
As Michael Crichton, the author and screenwriter said not long ago, our biggest challenge is in determining who and what we can trust.

When anyone can put together an impressive video promo, or a fancy press kit with great graphics. When even the crooks know how to look credible and sound trustworthy, who do we trust?
Internet scams, once so transparent as to be laughable, are becoming quite convincing. Most of us know better than to send seed money to Nigeria so that some political refugee can share their millions with us, but it's hard to resist a convincing request for our private data when it comes from a known company with logo, copyright, and wording just like the real thing.

In this environment we all become skeptical. We've long ago learned not to trust what politicians promise us during the campaigns. We've seen decades of infomercials offering the world's greatest hidden discovery for only $19.95...but wait! There's more! Act now and get two of the items plus the special bonus and we will pay the shipping! For the next 100 callers we will....(promise you the Moon).

Trust is and will be the primary commercial currency of this decade. We must not only offer to be trustworthy, we must scrupulously live up to it. We must over-deliver on our promises and guard our reputations as fervently as we guard our money. We've got to learn once again how to be a best friend to our customers and become loyal to them long before we expect them to be loyal to us.
So, let's all pledge to stop scaring people, and start earning their trust.

Happy Halloween,
Jim Cathcart

For the latest ebook version in the Relationship Selling Series: click this link "Customer Loyalty"

Cathcart Institute, inc. has a new logo

2008-10-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

There's nothing quite like running out of business cards to make you rethink your "look." I used up the last of my cards from the 2002 Era recently and took a new look, not just at my Press Photos but also at our corporate symbols.
Our primary business is and always has been "Helping People Grow". That was the slogan I adopted in 1976 when I founded the institute. The emphasis of our work is helping people to tap more of their potential and showing them their opportunities for growth.

The new logo uses our Nature Green and Earth Brown colors along with our icon, The Acorn.
And it incorporates a new element, a person.
In a configuration that implies a C and an i, it shows a person emerging from the acorn, arms spread, head up and charging enthusiastically into the future. Since the Acorn is a universal symbol for Nature and Potential, this takes that image one step further and highlights the result of our work rather than just the focus of it.

Our fields of work are still Motivation; through speeches, seminars, books and recordings, plus Strategy; through consulting, coaching and collaboration, and then Training; for sales, leadership, and communication.
We welcome your comments and observations about the new logo and your inquiries as to how we might help you grow your company, your people or your own potential.

Dress for the position you want

2008-10-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

Last week I was in Portland, Oregon for a speaking engagement at the Hilton Portland. At the end of my speech a woman walked up to me and said, "I was in your audience back in the 1980s, in Chicago I think, and something you said that day made a big difference in my life." I smiled and asked what I had said.
She said, "You told us to dress for the position we want rather than for the position we were in. I followed your advice and it really paid off for me. I still follow that advice and share it with others."

What an inspiring comment! It warmed my heart to hear that an idea I had shared was still paying dividends for the audience.
The essence of my message back in Chicago was: people judge us by our appearance as well as our behavior and even though we don't necessarily look like we truly are, our appearance is our choice. We have chosen a particular look because it makes us feel comfortable or expresses something we feel.

The trouble is, we often don't choose our "look" very intelligently. I believe that we could all benefit by dressing and grooming ourselves as if we were already in the next position we aspire to reach. If you are a manager, dress like an executive. If you are a new sales person dress like a veteran sales leader. You get the idea.

Dress for Success was the title of a book by John T. Molloy, published in the 1970s. It was one of many that proved the value of choosing to carry yourself, dress yourself and conduct yourself as the person you intend to be instead of simply the person you currently are.

Remember my "Daily Question" from my book, The Acorn Principle:

In the Spirit of Growth,
Jim Cathcart

iLearningGlobal.tv Bite Sized Motivation

2008-09-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

The Next Generation of Motivational Training has arrived!

My First Generation: In 1974 I sold motivational messages on cassette tapes in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The tapes were recordings made by Earl Nightingale, "the dean of personal motivation". Each was about 20 minutes long and very inspiring. I sold them as a system of self-training that could be used to transform your life.
It wasn't just hype, I had done it and others were too. The "Human Potential Movement" was in full swing!

People nationwide were flocking to Motivational Rallies and buying self-improvement books by the truckloads. If you were a professional speaker then your calendar was full of bookings. I was doing about 120 speeches a year in the late 1970s. It seemed that folks just couldn't get enough of the knowledge and skill that came from these sources.
One problem was, I had to sell people on the concept of listening to tape recordings as a form of learning and then I had to sell them the tape player and batteries so they could listen to them. Most people still had 8-tracks in their cars!

My Second Generation: (The reason I say "My" is because much came before me but, for me, this was all new.)
During the 1980s everyone got on board the audio learning bandwagon. Instead of just a few gurus like Earl Nightingale, Paul J. Meyer, and W. Clement Stone, we now had dozens of new personalities bringing exciting messages. Tony Alessandra and I created a six tape audio album with Nightingale-Conant Corporation (the dominant audio publisher at the time) and so did: Denis Waitley, Zig Ziglar, Norman Vincent Peale, Tom Hopkins, Nido Qubein, Cavett Robert, Don Hutson, Ty Boyd, Ken Blanchard, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones and even Tom Peters. New personalities were emerging almost weekly: Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hansen, Steve Brown, Robert Henry, Patricia Fripp, Danny Cox, and I could go on and on. The National Speakers Association (NSA) had become a breeding ground for people with something to say and the ability to say it powerfully. If you had a cassette album in the 80's you had a following.

My Third Generation: In the 1990s books came to the forefront. The concept of self-improvement was now mainstream. People expected to be "life-long learners." Books exploded into the marketplace bringing even more new authors and experts. What was rare in the 80s was now commonplace: Business and Self Help books were on top of the bestseller lists.
The Walkman started the decade as the consumer's preferred audio resource but the CD closed the era. Digital communication had hit its stride. I was learning to do web conferencing and refining my website while collecting email addresses instead of street addresses. We created online universities and all sorts of new digital products. Video emerged as the hottest new medium but people were still bound to their video players and later DVD players. Blockbuster and others made home movies a strong alternative to theaters as the preferred venue. The People's Network brought us The Success Channel on Dish Network.

My Fourth Generation: As the century changed so did the learning styles. Mpeg and iPods began to show up in the fitness centers and cars. People started wearing headsets everywhere. The desktop computers of the 90s were quickly replaced en masse by laptops. Portable computers made Starbucks the office of choice. Then Blackberrys and now iPhones kept us even closer to our resources. iTunes and its offspring made music omnipresent: in cell phones, nanos, laptops and more. Tivo gave us the power to control how and when we watched our favorite TV shows. Our world was transformed! And so was how we learn. Websites gave way to Blogs as the dominant delivery mode for business information. Online shopping edged out brick and mortar shops. TSTN.com brought us motivational programming through our laptops.

And now...The NEXT Generation!
What used to live in the public library now lives in your pocket. What used to be hidden in books awaiting your gaze now lives in e-books with links, photos, video clips and more through your notebook computer or cell phone. What was once happily condensed into 30 and 40 minute presentations is now coming to you in 6 minute lessons. And it is still inspiring and fresh information delivered by experts and gurus in their various fields. Podcasts have evolved into bite sized lessons that we can select. No more streaming linear programming where you have to wait for your favorite to come up in the queue. Now you get to select the expert and the topic you want and voila! it is there in your digital device with both video and audio at your command. iLearningGlobal.tv has taken the next logical step in delivering information and motivation.
This is the closest thing to having the experts waiting nearby and walking along with you while sharing their messages.
You are now the driver and you select and control the information flow.

I'm proud to be a new faculty member of iLearningGlobal.tv along with my famous friends and colleagues. Come visit us and view programs from: Tony Alessandra, Brian Tracy, Don Hutson, Scott McKain, Shep Hyken, Al Walker, Dr. Paul Green, Karyn Buxman, Patricia Fripp and many more.

Check out the programs on your preferred digital device today: http://www.ilearningglobal.tv
and, if you want to grow a business around self-development check their marketing system:
http://www.ilearningglobal.biz/jimcathcart.

Step Up and Make A Difference: Serve Others

2008-09-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

"Service to Humanity is the Best Work of Life"

The last line of the Creed of the Junior Chamber of Commerce (The Jaycees).

On September 11th Senators McCain and Obama spoke about the importance of personal public service to our country and culture. They expressed support of the idea to make military and civilian service a priority. One of the fastest ways to cultivate a sense of commitment to your community and your country is by stepping up to serve others. The satisfaction, dignity and pride that emerge from this are substantial.

I have served as both an enlisted man and as an officer in the Army Reserve and National Guard. And I've served my communities through numerous non-profit and charitable organizations.

As a young adult I remember feeling that I was being selfish by not getting involved in serving my community. There was no specific stimulus that I recall, just a general feeling that I had a duty to do something for others. One night at my friend, Bill Gillespie's home another friend, David Puckett, asked, "Bill, didn't you once belong to the Little Rock Jaycees?" He said yes. And David said, "They are trying to form a new chapter of the Jaycees here in Pulaski Heights. There's a meeting this week, you should go." I asked, "Can I go?" He said, with a slight pause, "Sure, I guess so." So I went.

The meeting was in the community room of a small local bank. There were only a handful of people there but I remember vividly that when Bill Patrick and Jimmy Wallace spoke of how satisfying it was to serve your community and how you could learn leadership skills by doing so, I felt compelled to join them. I signed up that night, paid my $10 or $20 and volunteered to help bring more people to the next meeting.

Meeting number two was in Glenn Cox's barber shop. We had a room full of people and scheduled yet another meeting until we finally had our original 20 members that were required to charter a new chapter. I recruited 13 of those 20 people.

When it was time to elect officers someone nominated me for charter president but I declined, feeling unsuited for the challenge. We elected Larry Peters and I was named "State Director" (that's the chapter's liaison to the State Headquarters). Then the work began.

We needed a regular meeting place, a list of projects to do to serve the community, training for all of our new members and officers, and more. Our treasurer had to open a bank account for us, someone needed to learn how to run a meeting well. Feeling overwhelmed but ready to work, I immersed myself in reading the "Officers & Directors Guide" and the other publications put out by the Jaycees national headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In fact, I read the O & D Guide from cover to cover three full times in about a month! It was filled with great ideas and systems for running projects, leading meetings, motivating volunteers and more.

I learned the fundamentals of Parliamentary Procedure and how to establish a constitution and by-laws. And, about every third day, I was attending or leading a meeting.

Within three months I had done so much and learned so much that I was elected District Director (at that time they called it "State Vice President" and there was one in each district). This meant that I would be the advisor from the State Headquarters to the five new chapters in my district and any others that we chartered thereafter. Soon it was seven chapters and I found that I now had a new full time job (without pay) in the evenings and weekends after my regular day job. The Jaycees became my mission and joy. I was fully involved and loving the challenge and the feeling that what I was doing mattered to the rest of the world.

One of my chapters was my own, The Pulaski Heights Jaycees, another was in the wealthier neighborhood, The Metro-West Jaycees, then there was the Southwest Jaycees and the East End Jaycees. The East End was in an all black neighborhood and some of the charter members had been active members of the Black Panthers. To say that my job was "interesting" would be an understatement. I spent my nights after work going to people's homes and holding meetings with all kinds of new people in the cause of community service and leadership training. I was selling the mission and systems of the Jaycees virtually every night. And it worked. We grew and thrived and soon were being acknowledged statewide for our successes.

I'll save you the longer story, but suffice it to say, that I attended and participated in or led 400 Jaycees meetings in my first two years as a member. I worked on committees, moved boxes, cleaned floors, recruited new members, sold tickets, manned registration tables at Walk-a-thons and other fund raisers. I attended training sessions and led other ones. I read manuals, listened to tapes and guest speakers, helped people serve food, painted addresses on curbs to raise money, stuffed envelopes, made phone calls and much more. My wife and baby boy were present for many of these events and pitched in wherever they could. Our life now revolved around the Junior Chamber of Commerce and community service. It was as if I had been starving and recently discovered a cache of food. I couldn't get enough.

Naturally, my zeal was noticed by others and I was offered more opportunities to serve. As I took on new duties I began to travel around the state conducting meetings and giving presentations or training at other chapters. Soon I was the state chairman in charge of Individual Development programs (leadership training). At the end of the year I won the award as the Outstanding State Chairman. There were thousands of members in a couple of hundred chapters in our state and receiving a big award at our state convention was tantamount to The Academy Awards (to me.)

This was a whole new experience. I had never received an award before. Hearing my name called from the main stage in front of hundreds of my peers was enough to make me dizzy and shell shocked. I had joined to serve but getting celebrated by my friends was a bonus beyond my imagination!

Since those days I've traveled to all 50 states, all provinces of Canada except one, and circumnavigated the Earth twice in one year. I've been the local president, national president, chairman of the board, event chair, and a committee member of more groups than I care to count. I've worked with The White House to train speakers for "Just Say No!", Parents for Drug-Free Youth as a strategic planning consultant, Quest Institute, International Youth Foundation, The Boys & Girls Clubs, Community Foundations, The Heart Association and industry associations as well.

After the shock and terror of 9-11-2001 I decided to form the "101 Leaders Alliance" to get the non-profit leaders along the Highway 101 corridor (where I live) to join hands in the encouragement and training of more service leaders across all disciplines. We held our first Leadership Summit in 2006.

From all of this experience the one thing I can tell you for sure is, the Jaycees are right, "Service to Humanity is the Best Work of Life!"

Please find the causes you care about and get involved. The world needs you and your talents have a place in this world. Thank you for your service.

Please let me know if I can help you motivate others to serve.

Success Magazine - October 2008 issue

2008-08-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

Success Magazine has a long and noble history. It has been inspiring people for over 100 years.

Recently Success experienced a revitalization under the new leadership of Darren Hardy and his wonderful publishing team. Their premier issue was released in April of this year.

The October 2008 issue just arrived in my mailbox and it is even more impressive than the earlier ones. Dr. Mehmet Oz is featured on the cover and inside are articles by or about:

Marcus Buckingham, Patti LaBelle, Zig Ziglar, Coach Tony Dungy, and Jim Cathcart.

Yep, I've got a two-page article on pages 84 & 85 titled:

"Relationship Intelligence - Value People, Boost Your Sales."

This message outlines the basic tenets of Relationship Intelligence (tm) and how you can use it to build High-Value Relationships. In the article I share my experience with my insurance agent Dave Scott and why I've stayed with him since 1983 despite moving 150 miles away from his offices.

I'm very proud to be associated with Success Magazine and encourage you to subscribe and then devour everything they print. It is a high quality publication with a special added bonus in each issue: A combination DVD/CD with video and audio messages from people like: John Maxwell, Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, Denis Waitley and more.

United Nations Speech by Jim Cathcart

2008-08-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

From: Cathcart Institute, Inc.

The Global Speakers Network is a part of the International Federation For Professional Speakers. Their 2008 Annual Meeting was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on August 5, 2008 and the keynote speaker was Jim Cathcart, past president of the National Speakers Association (USA) and member of the Speaker Hall of Fame.

The members who attended this event were the Presidents and key officers in their respective countries around the world. IFFPS president Joe Sherren addressed the 2,000 assembled members of the United States' National Speakers Association and then passed the gavel to incoming International President, W. Mitchell from the USA.

After a tour of the UN facilities including the General Assembly, and a one hour breifing by one of the UN staff executives the group enjoyed a cocktail reception on the 4th floor deck overlooking the East River, followed by a dinner at which Jim Cathcart was the keynote speaker.

The essence of Mr. Cathcart's speech was:

The Power, Privilege and Responsibilities of the Platform.
Some of his key points were:

Others are watching your example and depending on your performance.
Asking others to help is a sign of strength.
You are only using all your strength when you reach out to others.
Organizations are organisms not machines. They are living systems.
The essence of the organization is the interactions among the participants.
Developing yourself is essential so that you have more to give.
To get others involved remember: People go where they get value and where their friends are.
Find out what they consider to be valuable and how they decide who are their friends.
Your decisions and actions will determine the future of your country's speakers association.
What you do matters, a lot, and others are looking to you for leadership.

Incoming president Mitchell provided closing comments and inspiration to all attendees.
For more information on the International Federation go to: http://www.iffps.org.

To schedule Jim Cathcart for your events contact: http://www.cathcart.com

NSA Rocks! 2000 speakers in one room...no listeners?

2008-08-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

Right now I'm at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City with about two thousand other members of the National Speakers Association. This is our annual convention for this four thousand member association and as you can see about half the members spend the time and money to attend the five day annual meeting. You really ought to see this.

There are authors, motivators, trainers, coaches, consultants, subject experts, media personalities, speakers bureau owners, celebrities and staff members who support them. The convention agenda itself is 40 pages long!

All of this was started in 1973 when professional speaker Cavett Robert gathered a few of his colleagues and suggested that they work together to create a larger market for speakers, a "bigger pie" he called it. Well folks, it worked. Today the market for adult education, motivation and corporate performances is in the hundreds of millions. The meetings industry comprises numerous organizations that chose to join hands with NSA as each built their piece of the industry.

As a past national NSA president and a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame I have a dozen official events to attend or preside over during this week, all the while surrounded by my "classmates" whom I've known for years and whose names have become household words. On Tuesday, August 5th I will be speaking at the United Nations for the first time.

I'm one two US delegates to the International Federation For Professional Speakers and will be attending their convention and board meeting before and after the NSA events. Watch this site for more news on these programs.

And if you are in NYC on Sunday night at 8pm, I'll be performing in the Astor Ballroom, 7th floor (guitar & singing) with a number of my fellow speakers.

Rock on!

Jim

Freedom!

2008-07-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

In the ultimate "guy movie" Braveheart, William Wallace as played by Mel Gibson uses his last breath to scream "Freedom!" This simple declaration had the profound effect of defying his captors and inspiring his followers.

There is enormous power in both the word and the concept of Freedom. It defines the United States of America.

"I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free! And I'm proud of all the men who died to give that right to me. And I'll proudly stand up next to you and defend her here today. God knows I love this land, God Bless the USA!"

Lee Greenwood

Every fiber of our society is infused with the quest for and protection of Freedom. You can even see it in our choices for transportation. Why do we have so many solo drivers in cars; in a word "Freedom!" What is the appeal of motorcycles? Freedom. Why so many bicycles on the road? Freedom. Why do so many people choose jogging as their primary exercise? Freedom. Golf? Freedom. iPods? Freedom. We choose the tools that give us the most options.

Why do we want TVs with so many channels? Yep, freedom of choice. Why do guys channel surf so much? It is the genetic hunter instinct and the joy of exploration. The remote isn't just a tool for changing channels, it is a vehicle that allows you to travel to yet unknown places when you want.

How come we form so many Professional Associations and Societies? (There are hundreds of thousands of them!) To protect our freedom within our chosen professions and to expand our markets. Why do small businesses outnumber large corporations by such an astounding numbers? Freedom.

Why are Americans willing to put their lives on the line for other countries through the military? To protect and extend Freedom. We literally are more committed to Freedom than to protecting our own personal lives. That is HUGE!

At the core of all of this is our belief system. We believe in a personal connection between mankind and God. He endowed us with "certain inalienable rights: Life, Liberty (Freedom), and the Pursuit of Happiness." In other words, we have the power to choose. We, the people, are sovereign. We don't post huge photos of our leaders and clerics in the public square. We don't go through intermediaries to communicate with our Creator, we go straight to the source. We know that when all is said and done, we will be standing alone in front of our Creator with no excuses and no defenses. No lawyers, no priests, no protectors except Him. And what makes this desirable rather than terrifying is that we believe in the forgiveness of sins and redemption of the individual. In America there is always hope. Without this belief system we would be a very different people.

We treasure our Freedom and the rights inherent in being an American. And we ought to demand to be held personally accountable as well.

But I believe this goes even deeper. It is my personal belief that we, as living beings, have a genetic purpose that goes beyond our belief system, and that is to live fully. It is the ultimate goal of all life forms. Our "job" is to be what we were designed to be and to continue to grow as long as we exist. "Go forth and multiply" isn't just a Bible passage, it is what life is all about. In the book and movie, Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton said, "life will always find a way."

But to survive we need Freedom. And it is more important for our species to survive than for just us individuals to do so. That is why we are willing to die to advance the cause of Freedom.

When each person has the Freedom to make choices they tend to make the best choices. Only when they are controlled by others and manipulated through rules/laws that suspend the laws of nature do they tend to go astray.

In nature every entity is 100% accountable for what they do and don't do. If animals, plants or insects don't do their "work" then they don't eat and they die. But people try to change the rules so that not everyone is accountable. When someone gets something for nothing (an entitlement) then someone else somewhere is getting nothing for their efforts. Naturally we should protect our weak but not by removing their need to live and think on their own. That would remove their dignity and cause them to become a drain on society rather than an enhancement of it.

Let's return our society to one of total personal accountability and responsibility. And let's protect the Freedom of every person to be able to choose good or bad, smart or dumb, easy or difficult. You can never truly "protect people from themselves" nor should you. Educate people so that each successive generation makes better choices. Then let's allow people to learn from their mistakes as well as their successes. It won't be simple, easy or comfortable but it will certainly be worth it in the long run. God Bless the USA.

Here is an inspiring YouTube video of an Air Show including our National Anthem.

It is four minutes long and very impressive. Enjoy!

In the Spirit of Freedom,

Jim Cathcart

Linkedin Q&A is a great research tool

2008-06-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

As my readers already know, I'm writing my next book "Relationship Intelligence (tm), how to create & grow High-Value Relationships." The subtitle is "It is Who Knows You that really counts!"

Recently I posted a question to my Linkedin social network connections (I have over 400 of them at present). In order to explore some of the key aspects of this book's message I posed three separate questions to groups of 200, one group got two questions. Within 11 hours (from late one night until just after the start of business the following day) I received 120 replies!

These weren't just token responses either, they were very thoughtful and intelligent comments.

The questions I had posed were:

"What is a Relationship?" (Since everyone tells us to develop them, we need to agree as to what they are.)

"What are the criteria you use to determine which relationships to cultivate or not?"

and "What is the most difficult part of developing new relationships for you?"

Naturally you will see the summaries of their replies in my book and articles over the coming months but I wanted you to see the value of using our Social Networks as research tools.

Though it is frowned upon to send broadcast marketing messages to your contacts, you are welcomed to send questions and surveys. This can be a good way to not only tap their collective intelligence, but also an indirect way to get your own message out. Give it a try and be sure that it offers value to your contacts or stimulates some useful conversation.

I'll be exploring even more ways to tap all this wisdom in the marketplace and will keep you posted on my discoveries. Please share yours with me.

P.S. I'm now the spokesperson for SynergyStreet.com, a network designed especially for entrepreneurs. On September 11, 2008 we will be holding the first Synergy Street Summit in Charlotte, NC. (More to come on that later.) If you are anywhere near Charlotte, please plan to spend the day with us on the 11th. I can promise you an inspiring and information filled experience with lots of extra bonuses as well.

High Value Relationships - Three Blogs

2008-05-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

The Acorn E-Letter is my weekly message that goes out to thousands worldwide who have signed up for the free subscription via my website Cathcart.com. In it I share a simple thought for the week along with some comments or a short story.

But for those that want access to more of my insights and discoveries, my Blogs are the best place to go. I currently have three Blogs, each with a different purpose.

Jim Cathcart's Blog (on Blogspot.com) is my "Personal" Blog. In it I share my news and views and interests and more. It contains a mixture of information on everything from Leadership to Motorcycling to Mountain Hiking to Motivation to California Wild Fires. Please subscribe to the RSS or Atom feed if you are interested in this and leave me your comments from time to time. I like staying connected with you.

My Relationship Intelligence Blog (on WordPress.com) is the Blog for information on my books, research, professional development tips, motivational ideas and sales techniques. I'm writing a new book on this topic and much of it will be posted here for your review. I'd love your feedback.

Blog number three is my Intelligent Motivation Blog (on blogspot.com). This one overlaps a bit with my Relationship Intelligence Blog mentioned above but it differs in that it focuses specifically on How to create and grow High Value Relationships. I'd like for it to be a forum for all of us to explore the best ways to turn our relationships into personal and financial assets.

I've created an obscure fourth Blog on political topics at TownHall.com, the title of that Blog is "Thinking it Through".

All of these are simply my attempts to offer you as much value as I can. I'm listed on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, SynergyStreet, Plaxo, YouTube and much more. Where practical I've added resources you can access via those networks.
When you like what you see, just sign up for the RSS feed to "subscribe" to future posts and anytime you feel it's too much for your inbox, just unsubscribe with a couple of easy clicks.
My goal is to have a large community of eager learners and active thinkers who would like to make the world a better place. Let's get and stay connnected. Please let me know how to be of the most value to you.

And watch my posts for occasional freebies like the current $9.95 ebooks that are free through my recent post on my Relationship Intelligence Blog.

High-Value Relationships - Definitions

2008-05-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

You've seen a lot from me lately on "High-Value Relationships" and I haven't even warmed up fully yet. The reason is, that phrase gave a new sense of meaning to everything else I've been teaching and writing about over these past 31 years.

When I look at my books on Relationship Selling, they are not just about people skills, they are about intentionally and consciously creating relationships with positive potential. They are about the intelligent orchestration of your life's relationships to get you closer to your "Desired Outcomes."
In my psychological research for The Acorn Principle I studied the impact and value of primary relationships and how they make us who we are.
My television show on TSTN.com is titled "The Purpose of Selling", which is: "To build mutually profitable relationships."
As I've become more involved in my community and the country club I belong to, it has become obvious to me that the approach I've taken to the establishment and expansion of High-Value Relationships has been of great value to my reputation and my business as well as my social life.
When I review my calendar to see how I've spent my time over the past few years I see lots of evidence that the conscious and intentional approach to "Relationships as Assets" has led me to some great friendships and many happy moments.

Your life is a series of relationships and the more intentional and conscious you are about the formation and development of them, the more likely you will be to reach your goals.

What is Relationship Intelligence (tm)?
It is taking an intelligent approach to the selection, cultivation and maintenance of your connections with others. It means weeding out the relationships that take value away from you and building on those that bring you value. Another way to look at it is; Treating Relationships as Assets. You look at your social circle, business circle, family circle and other key connections with an eye toward your Desired Outcomes (goals.) If a relationship contributes to your advancement or enhances your life you preserve it. If it doesn't then you change it or eliminate it. It is being conscious and intentional about your connections with others. (I'll be repeating this phrase often.)

Isn't that kind of mercenary and uncaring?
Not at all. You do it every day. When you see someone who looks angry, dangerous or scary then you avoid them. If you have to deal with them in order to get what you need then you simply manage the interaction carefully and then move on to people you like to be with. I'm simply suggesting that you take that conscious and intentional approach to a higher level and start applying it to all of your relationships.

What is a High-Value Relationship (HVR)?
A High-Value Relationship is one in which both participants receive substantial benefits.
This could be mutual support, friendship, business referrals, revenue, sales, intellectual stimulation, spiritual inspiration or any number of other benefits. The key is that YOU consider the effects to be valuable and so does the other person. Each person is fully in charge of their own determination of value.

Does it have to be a business relationship?
Certainly not. A marriage is a High-Value Relationship and so is a teacher-student relationship. As long as both parties gain from it.

Why do I need HVRs?
Because relationships are the essence of your life and the more of them that are HVRs the more you will get what you want from life. If all you do is hang out with people who don't care about you and who have no joy then your life will suck. Count on it. So, be intentional in choosing who you invest your energy and time with.

What are the qualities of a HVR?
There are three essential qualities in every high value relationship: 1. both parties are committed to the success of the relationship (it can't be one sided), 2. there must be enough trust for the truth to flow freely, and 3. both of you need to understand what you can expect from the other person. You need clear agreements.

Do relationships have a life expectancy?
Interesting question, yes, relationships have life cycles related to their purpose for existence but many relationships evolve into broader areas and become even more important than originally intended. Likewise, some relationships that started off as vitally important tend to fade over time.

How do I know which relationships to invest in?
You don't usually. So it is best to be optimistic about all your contacts with others. Who knows, the clerk who serves you today may be the son of the business executive who gives you the opportunity of a lifetime tomorrow. Emerson said, "Everyone in some way is my superior, in that I can learn from him." A good attitude to hold.

What gives a relationship its value?
Your Desired Outcome determines the value potential of your relationships. If you want to become the Mayor of your city, many relationships suddenly become important to you. If you want a sale, the potential buyer becomes more important to you. And the degree to which you also can be valuable to the buyer or voter will determine whether there is a relationship or merely a transaction between you.

How can I reasonably treat all my relationships as HVRs?
You can't. So the starting point is your "Inner Circle." This is the 5 to 12 people who you get your major results through at this time. Think about who you work with most closely and rely upon most. These few people represent your "team." If they are championship-level people then you have high capacity for performance. If they don't possess much talent or skill then your success is currently inhibited.
Take a close look at who is in your present Inner Circle and assess what each brings to the party. If you are missing some vital abilities then Go Shopping! Find some people to bring actively into your life and begin to cultivate your relationships with them.

What is a relationship?
Another really good question! You hear a lot of admonitions to build relationships so it is important to define what one is. I believe that a relationship is a connection between people in which value is exchanged. The greater the value they exchange the stronger the relationship tends to be. Value could be encouragement, education, purchasing goods or services, support, love, or collaboration. The participants are the ones who determine the value.

For more on this topic, please explore the posts on my Relationship Intelligence Blog. I'd really enjoy hearing your thoughts on this topic too. Leave me a comment here, drop me an email or give me a call if I can be helpful to you.

High Value Relationships - Trust Points

2008-04-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

By Jim Cathcart

In day to day business dealings we have many "Touch Points" of contact with our customers. If you are like the Four Seasons Hotels and have 500 or so employees serving guests in around 270 rooms then you will experience nearly 5,000 direct contacts with your customers each day. The better you manage each of those touch points, the better and more profitable your customer relations will be.

Don't let the large numbers intimidate you. Out of the 5,000 touch points mentioned above there are many fewer critical contacts that we might isolate into the category of "Trust Points."
Trust Points are the customer interactions where the quality and outcome have greater implications than other points of contact. For example: the processing of someone's bill is a trust point, whereas the handling of their luggage is a touch point.

Here's another way to think of it. A typical golf ball has about 336 impressions on its surface. Each of these is near perfect if the ball is to be accepted for retail sale. (Otherwise it is rejected and used as a practice ball.) Of those 336 impressions only a few of them are in the strike zone where a golf club impacts the ball. Which impressions depends on how you place the ball on the tee.

Once the ball has been teed up there is a special section of the ball, known as "the sweet spot", where the club must hit the ball in order to send it where you want it to go. If you strike any other portion of the ball it will go astray.

The same dynamic is true with business. Of all the many touch points with your customers there are a few in each of your dealings with them that become "trust points". In these moments of contact trust is either built or reduced. Consider the service call touch point where a customer is telling you what his problem is. If he feels you are listening to him and genuinely seeking to understand his concerns, then trust increases. If he gets the impression that you aren't listening fully then trust erodes.

Last week I took my wife's car to the dealer for service. When the rep told me about an expensive repair that was needed I asked if there was a less expensive way to deal with it. He simply said, "It's an expensive car." Trust dropped in that moment. He didn't listen to and care about my concerns, he simply reasserted his price. Next time, I'll be going to another dealer for service. It doesn't take many experiences like this before you start to feel the financial loss from poorly handled touch points.

To address this issue and increase the High Value Relationships for your own business here is where to start:

Identify all of the touch points where your business makes contact with the customers.
Isolate the ones that are potential "trust points".
Develop a standard procedure for assuring that the trust points are always handled with care.
Hold yourself to high standards of quality on all touch points.
Teach your people that all relationships are assets and should be managed as such.
Measure, monitor and evaluate your customer contact experiences constantly.
Remember, things that are measured tend to improve. But only if you analyze and discuss what you have measured.

Check my other blog http://relationshipintelligenceblog.com for frequent articles on this topic.
If you need help, please give me a call or email.
Jim Cathcart 805 777 3477 or jim @ cathcart dot com.

Relationship Intelligence: How to Create High-Value Relationships (7 articles in one document)

2008-03-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Article 1 of 7

How to Create

High-Value Relationships

By Jim Cathcart, author of Relationship Selling
copyright 2008 Jim Cathcart

It’s time we started seeing Relationships through a Strategic perspective. This is not Relationships as Skill, but rather as Strategy. There is a direct correlation between the number of strategically valuable relationships in your life and your level of success. It is not about “what you know” or “who you know” but rather about “which people care whether they know you or not?”

A Relationship is only an Asset when it is connected, directly or indirectly, to a Desired Outcome. It’s time to become more conscious, intentional and intelligent about the Relationships in your life.

There are Six Stages in the process of conversion from your existing methods toward practicing Relationship Intelligence tm on all levels of your organization.

I. Stimulating the Desire to Change
II. Learning to Become More Intelligent
III. Learning to Select Relationships More Intelligently
IV. Learning to Develop Relationships More Intelligently
V. Learning to Sustain Relationships More Intelligently
VI. Implementing Intelligent Systems to Assure Continuity

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Article 2 of 7

Stage One in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System tm) is:

Stimulating the Desire to Change

People have to want to change, otherwise all the energy to affect a change will have to come from you. If the status quo is tolerable to folks then they won’t exert enough energy to affect a lasting change to better practices. So step one is to get everyone into the wagon and then one by one to get them to help you pull the wagon. The ultimate goal is to have everyone pulling so that the effort required from each one is so little as to be unnoticeable.

The two universal motivators are: Avoid Pain and Seek Pleasure. If it is going to hurt more to keep things as they are than it will to change, then people will be open to change. Conversely if they can see that the joy of achieving a new level of success is greater than the comfort of sustaining the current level, then they will cooperate to improve. So paint pictures of the possible futures and expose the potholes in the current road they are traveling.

Do the Math

Think in terms of Behavioral Economics: What is it costing you to continue performing as you do today?
Here are some questions to get people thinking about how valuable improvements can be for them.

Consider the value of the untapped potential within your existing relationships.

How many more sales are there for you?
How many referrals are you not yet getting?
How many ideas for product improvement, process enhancement, cost savings, waste reduction, safety improvement, new opportunities, and faster results are already there just waiting to be tapped? Put a dollar value on your estimate.

How many of your people bring attitudes to their work that literally cost you money and reduce your output? Guess what the financial impact of that might be.

What habits exist within your workforce that keeps you from being more successful?
Which standard practices need to be replaced in order to open up new levels of success?

How many of the relationships in your organization are somewhat dysfunctional? What is that costing you in wasted opportunities and missed deadlines?
How much of your absenteeism and your employees’ healthcare claims can be attributed to bad relationships instead of actual illness?
How much does the “grief factor” in dealing with others take away from your people’s ability to perform at their best?

Where systems haven’t been put into place intentionally - work habits harden into systems anyway.

How many of your existing systems for marketing, service, production, problem solving, communications, cost control, and planning are working for you and how many of them are working against you?

What is your organization’s current reputation in the marketplace? How about among your coworkers and associates? Is that the reputation you intended to enjoy or would you like to see it evolve into something more ideal?
What does your current organizational reputation cost you each year compared to what it could be?

How loyal are your current customers and clients to you? How loyal are you to them?

How often have you lost business due to not knowing the inner relationships and personalities within your targeted client’s organizations? What is that costing you?

We all know that things that get measured tend to improve. If you keep a constant vigil on where your money comes from and where it goes to, then you will become better at managing your money…even without financial skills training.

Do you and your people have the right scoreboards prominently visible so that everyone can track what is working and what is not? What would it be worth to you if you always knew exactly where things stand?

As you discuss and explore questions like these you will begin to place a financial and strategic value on the ways in which people deal with each other. You will see that there is a direct financial impact felt from certain Attitudes, Skills and Habits. (Mindsets, Skill Sets and Systems.) These can each be improved through training and management practices that are targeted toward a specific Desired Outcome.

Jim Cathcart
copyright 2008 Jim Cathcart

Article 3 of 7

Stage Two in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Learning to Become More Intelligent

To Know More, Notice More

The essence of Intelligence is the ability to make distinctions, noticing more than others do. In the first stage of the Relationship Intelligence System there is a series of questions based on looking at your organization in terms of "Behavioral Economics." Each of the questions was designed to cause you to notice more about a particular aspect of your organization.

In each category; sales, management, communications, operations, service delivery, interpersonal communication, etc. there is immense opportunity for improvement.
Consider each as an Acorn, the seed of millions of future Acorns…if you nurture and grow it properly.

Now let's work on becoming more intelligent about relationships.
Step one in becoming more intelligent is to get into the habit of “helicoptering up” to a higher perspective so that you can see the patterns in things. As you become more aware of the patterns you will begin to discover the principles that make those patterns work. And once you have discovered the principles, you can make better choices.

The three levels of Thinking are: Conceptual, Strategic and Operational.
Most people function at the Operational level of thinking - what you can see is assumed to be all that there is. They see a ballpoint pen as simply a writing instrument. Those who develop their thinking to the Strategic level would tell you that the pen is also a marking instrument, an artist’s tool, an ear scratcher, a pointing device and even a form of business jewelry. They see many more uses for it than the obvious. Now which do you think will find more solutions to a problem, the operational or the strategic thinker?

The person who learns to think on the Conceptual level opens up even more vistas and opportunities. They would tell you that the pen is a symbol of mankind’s ability to communicate across space and time using a combination of hand crafted elements to change their world. Whoa! That may be a bit stratospheric for some folks, but consider for a moment, if more of your people were to progress from Operational to Strategic, and some of them even to Conceptual thinking skill…wouldn’t that increase in Intelligence be likely to expand your profitability as well? Some jobs simply require Operational thinking but even those jobs could be streamlined through more Intelligent thinking.

Intelligence doesn’t operate in a vacuum.
It is not very useful to just have raw processing capacity or intellectual potential. It only begins to matter when you direct it with intention.

The activating factor for Relationship Intelligence is your Desired Outcome.
Once you decide what you want then everything you do or avoid doing takes on more meaning. Meaning is the motivator in life. Without meaning our jobs become drudgery and we resent the work. With meaning they take on purpose and we seek even better ways to reach the Desired Outcome.

Desired Outcomes are goals and life requires goals in order to organize itself. When you decide what you want then everything else takes on a new place in the order of things. Relationships that contribute toward your goal move forward and those that detract move aside. So look at all of your relationships in terms of what you want from your life. Assign a role or level of importance to each relationship.

Even a casual friendship has a Desired Outcome of support, mutual caring and enjoyable communication. In each relationship as the Desired Outcome grows so does the relationship itself. Every contact takes on new meaning and motivation is the by product.

Be more Conscious, more Intentional and be more Natural.
By noticing more as described earlier, people become more Conscious of what they do and how it is working. Thinking and talking about Desired Outcomes conditions people to become more Intentional in what they do. Then by finding ways to communicate openly and truthfully they become more Natural about what they do. They do their best by behaving as their best self, not by trying to become something else. “If you are an Acorn you should plan an Oak future. You are going to be one anyway, so why not be the best Oak you can be instead of trying to become a Giant Redwood?” Your greatest impact will be felt from doing the things you are naturally suited for.

There are multiple ways to increase your intelligence. These are outlined in my book The Acorn Principle. I'll enumerate some of them here for your review.

Develop your multiple intellects:

1. Verbal Intelligence: Word Smarts - cultivate a larger vocabulary. The more ways you can express yourself and understand others the greater your possibilities will be.

2. Visual Intelligence: Picture Smarts - learn to think in terms of images, shapes and patterns. Practice seeing the outcome you desire.

3. Physical Intelligence: Body Smarts - develop your ability to use your body well. Play music, create art, dance, run, stretch, move in the many ways you can. This will add to your ability to achieve more in a physical sense, plus you'll probably become more fit.

4. Musical Intelligence: Music Smarts - this is not just music in the usual sense but also rhythm and pace as it relates to all things. Timing is a big element of music and the better you are at timing the more intelligent you can be in what you are doing.

5. Mathematical and Logical Intelligence: Number Smarts - the world operates according to universal laws and many of those can be better understood through math & logic. By expanding your math intellect (try Sudoku and other exercises) you expand your overall strategic and tactical ability.

6. Interpersonal Intelligence: People Smarts - study human behavior and psychology to learn more about how to listen and how to express yourself to each different type of person. This broadens your reach and appeal. People are your gateway to everything you want.

7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: Self Smarts - Socrates told us "Know Thyself." The reason this matters so much is that the better you understand You, the better and more readily you will understand the patterns that cause others to behave as they do. You will also come to like yourself better and judge people less as this intellect grows.

8. There is much discussion around other forms of intellect but the seven presented above will give you more than enough to expand your potential before trying to explore the others.

Indicators of Intelligence - work on these to become more intelligent

1. Ability to Make Distinctions - get into the habit of noticing more about every situation you are in. See through multiple points of view. Practice this daily.

2. A Wide Vocabulary - study the special vocabulary of the society, business or organization you wish to connect with. The better you "speak their language" the more you will fit in and be accepted by them.

3. The Use of Metaphors and Analogies - learn to think in pictures and comparisons. Using examples in this way broadens the understanding of the topic by illustrating the main idea and principles as well as the specifics. It's like understanding military tactics helps you understand sports and vice versa.

4. Flexibility and Adaptability - the more ways you have to respond to a situation the more likely you are to prevail. Cultivate the ability to change quickly and smoothly.

5. Problem Solving - learn to assess causes and distinguish between a symptom and a cause. Find multiple models for solving problems to increase your chances of success.

6. Time Orientation - Operational thinkers focus on the past and present only. Strategic thinkers can see both the present and the future possibilities. Conceptual thinkers seem to focus primarily on the future. Be conscious of the time frame you are looking through.

7. Sensitivity - As you notice more, assure that you notice not only thoughts but also feelings. The more sensitive you are to your own feelings and the feelings of others, the more you will see solutions where others only see or feel problems.

8. Memory - If you don't remember it then you don't really know it. Use proven memory techniques to improve your ability to understand and recall information of all types. The more you remember the more points of reference you can use to remember even more.

Intelligence is expandable. You can learn to behave more intelligently and you can certainly become more intelligent about the relationships in your life.

In the Spirit of Growth,
Jim Cathcart
copyright 2008 Jim Cathcart

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Article 4 of 7

Stage Three in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Learning to Select Relationships More Intelligently

Intelligent Relationships begin with your choice of who to spend time with.

At last count there were over five billion people on Earth. With today’s technology and a little extra effort there is a good chance that you could connect with any of them.

So which ones should you connect with?

The answer, of course, depends upon your Desired Outcome.

This stage of training is where you focus on finding the people who can make a difference for you. People you can serve profitably and those who can open doors for you. As I mentioned earlier, Intelligence in this sense is Noticing More and being more Conscious, Intentional and Natural in your choices.

In any organization the results are produced by what we call an “Inner Circle.” This is the primary group of people who cause action to occur and results to be achieved. It is typically fewer than twenty and more than two individuals.

Consider in your own job who the three to twelve individuals are without whom you’d be hard pressed to sustain your success?

Who is vital to achieving your results? Take some time to write down all their names on one sheet of paper. Then reflect on this group and notice the implications (in outcomes) if each one were to increase their skills, knowledge, habits, relationships or attitude.

Any change in the Inner Circle will be felt throughout that section of the organization.

The three things to look at first with each Inner Circle are:

1. Who are the players and what does each one of them bring to the team?

2. What is the mix of talent, experience and ability represented on the Inner Circle? Is it a championship team yet?

3. How are the relationships between you and each of them? How are their relationships with each other?

Are there some members who should move to the outer circle? Are some talents missing from this group? Should you go shopping for a new member or two? Who exerts the most influence in the group? There is much to think about with each Inner Circle as you can see.

Find the Leverage Points

The Inner Circle is the Leverage Point for getting to your Desired Outcomes. Every system has Leverage Points where impact is felt more powerfully than at other points in the system. Among people that is usually one or two individuals and even with them it is often one or two key aspects of your relationship that holds the most potential for influence.

In selling it has been long understood that the company owner is a leverage point, but sometimes so is the receptionist or administrative assistant. This person, who usually has much less economic power in the business, still holds the keys necessary for you to gain access to the executives. A relationship with a receptionist, when handled poorly, can end your ability to penetrate an organization further.

The same dynamic exists in all groups, communities, and societies. Certain people are more influential, more well liked, admired and listened to than others. When you gain access to these people your options expand dramatically.

Look at all "organizations" in your life and begin to identify the Inner Circle within each of them.

Stage Four in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Learning to Develop Relationships More Intelligently

Creating High-Value Relationships

Relationships evolve in stages from New Acquaintance through Close Friend or Business Partner.
As we progress the trust increases and information sharing expands.

The more we know about each other the more ways we can find to be of value. As my philosopher friend, Kevin Buck says, “Trust is a fruit.” You can’t grow the fruit, only the plant can do that. But you can nurture the plant and it will produce the fruit in its own time.

In order to make progress we need to focus, not on building trust but, first on reducing relationship tension. We don’t have direct access to trust but we do have the ability to reduce fears, worries and anxiety. Then the trust will grow.

So the first step in any relationship is to take an interest in the concerns of the other person and show that you are not a threat.
Once they discover that they can relax with you then their tension drops and trust grows.

If you want people to become interested in you, first take a sincere interest in them.
Learn not just to listen to others but to actually hear and understand what they are communicating.

There are three essentials for any relationship, whether it is with customers, colleagues or supervisors.

These are: Commitment, Open Communication and Clear Agreements.

1. Both parties must be committed to making the relationship successful. Nobody can bear the full burden alone.
2. Communication must be open and frequent. The truth must be told always and bad news must travel fastest of all.
3. Both parties must know what the others expect from them. Clear agreements are essential.

It is important to go back to the Inner Circle and examine the three essentials in each of the relationships. This will tell you exactly what “homework” is needed in order to enhance that relationship and access its full potential value. Once you have assessed each relationship in this way, helicopter up again and look at the patterns of missing “essentials” among all of the relationships. That will show you both the obvious and the hidden systems by which this group operates.

For example: if you find that most of your relationships show a one sided commitment, the solution may be in rethinking how you establish your relationships and how clearly you articulate the value others will get from connecting with you. If your communication isn’t open enough in most relationships then a new skill for listening and expressing may be needed. If you have numerous conflicts and missed expectations then perhaps you need to improve your skills at negotiation and clarifying agreements.

Another way to look at the development of relationships more intelligently is Modus Operandi, the Latin term for mode or style of operation.

In every situation we have the choice of being passive or active, of knowing more or less. By observing these two dimensions you can see what Mode a person is in:
Passenger, Navigator, Driver or Leader.

For example: when I get on an airplane for a trip I assume both the literal and figurative “Passenger” mode. My knowledge and awareness as to how to fly the plane is very low and my actions to influence the outcome are simply compliance with the instructions I receive. I take my seat, store my luggage and follow directions.
If a problem arises then I will increase my performance by looking for ways to help and I’ll seek more knowledge by asking the flight attendant what is wrong and how I might help. If the flight attendant appears to not be in control then I will take further action by seeking information from one of the crew. And if the plane itself seems to be out of control then I’d be willing to take the pilot’s seat if necessary and do my best to land the plane. In other words, my Mode of Operation (MO) would change as the situation changed.

The same dynamics appear in all situations. And by reading the situation you can determine the appropriate MO to assume.
In a meeting you might be in Passenger mode (low awareness, low performance) until you are called on to make a report. Then you’d operate from high awareness (telling what you know) and somewhat higher performance (as you presented your report.) This is called Navigator mode. If the chairperson left the room and asked you to facilitate the rest of the meeting you’d be in Driver mode, high performance and low awareness. You would not be controlling the meeting’s content, you’d simply be facilitating the input from others. Assuming the meeting went well, you might be asked to chair the next meeting. In that case, once you had prepared well, you would be in Leader mode; high awareness and high performance.

By the way, you cannot assume a higher mode without acquiring the element that defines it. You can't move from Passenger to Navigator without increasing your awareness and knowledge. You can't move from Passenger to Driver without increasing your performance. And you can't move into Leader mode without increasing both awareness and performance. You can, however, choose to operate in a different mode temporarily if moving from higher to lower on the scales.

How to use MO with others

When you encounter another person in any of these modes you can determine by their MO how to best guide them to the next level of operation.
If their awareness is low, they need education.
If their performance is low, they need motivation.
Without the right combination of those two, things would go awry. Someone with low awareness is not ready to Lead or Navigate (Advise). Someone with low performance is not ready to Drive or Lead. Someone in Driver mode doesn’t need motivation, they’d just burn out. What they need is education so that they are working smarter, not harder. There is much more to this, but you no doubt get the point. Determine one’s MO and you know whether you need to educate or motivate or simply support them in what they are doing.

Without purpose this all just becomes a process.

As I had mentioned earlier, each relationship needs a Desired Outcome, even if it is simply a casual acquaintance. This does not mean that you have to become mercenary in your dealings with others. It simply means that you need to begin to notice why each relationship matters to you.

The more we are able to see, the more intelligent we can be.

Take a look at all the relationships in your life. Just make a list of as many as you can think of. Then put them into categories that make sense to you. These might be: colleagues, club members, coworkers, team members, close family, extended family, neighbors, prospective customers, clients, mentors, teachers, "play-mates", etc. Some people will fit into multiple categories and that is worth noting.

Once you have all of them listed and coded as to their groups, take some time to simply reflect on what you see. Just casually look over your lists and see what you notice.

What happens for many people is that they begin to see opportunities. They remember things they had forgotten to follow up on. They notice how they could be of service to some of them. At this point you will want to start making notes and "to do" lists for activating these relationships in new and meaningful ways. Many of them will have no commercial implications to you, others will matter a great deal to you financially. Just notice more and start taking intelligent actions.

Devise a method for keeping this information in front of you. Don't just file it away, make it an active part of each day. Take a few moments each day to reflect on the implications and opportunities in all of your relationships.

Then develop a "Shopping List" of new relationships you'd like to form. Keep a list of names and titles of people who you would benefit from knowing better. Review the list every week and keep your radar tuned to opportunities to be more intelligent in your cultivation of relationships.

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Article 6 of 7

Stage Five in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Learning to Sustain Relationships More Intelligently

They say it is not what you know that counts, it is who you know. I disagree. I’ve found that what really counts in relationships is: Who cares whether they know you!
We only have a valuable relationship when both parties consider it valuable.

Customer Loyalty Revisited
For a couple of decades now the business community has been filled with messages and models as to how we can build more customer loyalty. The automotive industry has its “Customer Satisfaction Index” and many other industries have developed frequent buyer programs, starting with the airlines back in the early 1980s. All of these endeavors are intended to increase the customer’s loyalty to the company and its products. But I think the energy is being misdirected.

We need to stop worrying about causing the customers to become more loyal to us and start focusing on becoming more loyal to our customers. When our customers get it that we are truly loyal to them, then they will start valuing their connections with us more strongly. It’s like my son told me during his college years when he worked at Mailboxes, Etc., “Dad, I’ve noticed that the people who get the most mail are the ones who send the most mail.” Customer Loyalty should be approached in the same way.

Customer Loyalty should be something we give rather than merely something we seek.

Every day you and your organization have a multitude of contacts with the marketplace. From your online ads to your showrooms, phone calls, in person visits, service calls, telephone orders, mailings, and more…you are continually in touch with others. Each of these contacts has the potential to leave an impression, either positive or negative. If every impression you leave seems to show how loyal you are to those who do business with you, then others will want to do business with you too.

Isolate each Point of Contact and Enhance It

Think of your business as a golf ball. The average golf ball has over 300 impressions on its surface. If only one of those 300 impressions is imperfect then the ball is rejected as a “second” that is not fit for a retail sale. Your business makes hundreds of impressions each week and every one of those has the potential to be near perfect. The more positive impressions you make the more customer loyalty you will be giving and receiving. These have been referred to as “moments of truth” in which your relationship with a customer or prospect is influenced toward the good or bad.

The easiest way to approach this process is to isolate the various Service Cycles within your regular operations and identify all the points of contact. Then brainstorm ways to enhance each contact and assure that your high standards are maintained.

Up-Serving rather than Up-Selling

Businesses frequently encourage their personnel to “up-sell” customers to other products, bigger orders and higher priced items. This often leads to the associate pressuring the customer and some of the sales fall apart from the added pressure. The seller feels bad and the customer is annoyed. Of course, it can be done tactfully too and often is. But there is an easier way to approach it.
Change the effort from getting to giving. Instead of seeking to sell more, seek to serve better. Up-Serve instead of Up-Selling.
When you shift to looking for ways to increase customer satisfaction (instead of increasing the transaction) then what occurs is the customer notices that you are sincerely trying to help. That means you are seen as a helper rather than a persuader. They begin to accept you as a Partner in Problem Solving instead of a pushy sales person, and their tension drops. When tension drops, trust grows. As trust grows, they share information more freely and you will see more ways to be of service. This leads to bigger sales. Not through sales pressure, but through improved customer service.

Naturally you still have to present your services and products with an emphasis on the value of the benefits they contain, and you have to ask for the order, but not in the old sense of purveying your wares. Instead practice “Relationship Selling tm” and build profitable business friendships. My television show on TSTN is titled “The Purpose of Selling” and that’s what I say at the top of each episode: “The Purpose of Selling is Building Profitable Business Friendships.”

Decide in advance on the reputation you want to have…and deserve.
The quickest way to open doors and reduce customers’ tension as they consider working with you is to build a great reputation. The quickest way to build a great reputation is to earn and deserve it.
Here’s the process for Reputation Management:
1. Identify all of the groups among whom you will have a reputation
2. Determine exactly what you want them to think and say about you
3. Isolate the ways in which you communicate and interact with them
4. Specify the behaviors you need to cultivate in order to earn the desired reputation
5. Relentlessly perform at the new level in everything that you do
6. Measure and Monitor the messages you are sending and the reactions you are getting
7. Institute Systems and standards to preserve what you have built

In the Spirit of Growth,

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Article 7 of 7

Stage Six in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Implementing Intelligent Systems to Assure Continuity

Systems are the organizational equivalent of habits. We develop systems to ensure that the patterns get repeated, and this becomes true whether they are good or bad. So be careful when selecting your systems. Last night my well-intentioned restaurant server did a horrible job of serving our table because his system was faulty. His attitude and intentions were fine, even his skills at serving were OK, but we left there unhappy anyway. Our service was bad because they were inefficient in determining how to stay attentive to each guest in a regular rotation. So lots of guests got high attention while others got neglected to the point of frustration.

Every part of an organization has systems by which it operates. Some are intentional and some just develop as work patterns without any conscious influence. I suggest that you make more of them intentional.

For example: Relationship management systems abound and the state of the art is advancing every month. There are now systems that will not only capture your data, identify your primary and secondary relationships, and record all your communication with each, but they also now include personality profiles, links to sales and service tips, motivational messages and much more. What used to just be a “data base” has now become a rich information environment where self-management, the management of others and relationship management are merging.

Systems must be based on Standards.
As Peter Drucker once said, paraphrased, “A society that is not based upon a Constitution will not succeed.” We need standards and clearly stated values to guide our day to day actions and choices. So “helicopter up” one more time and look for all the aspects of your operation that could be standardized and enhanced through the use of a system. Be careful, lest you create a bureaucracy where it is all systems and no sense of human connection. The goal after all is to build profitable business friendships and partnerships where trust is high and cooperation is natural and spontaneous.
Be Conscious, Be Intentional, Be Natural and Be Relentless in the intelligent cultivation of Relationships.
After all Relationships are where the organization lives. If you'd like for us to help you determine which systems are serving you well and what new systems may be needed, please give us a call at Cathcart Institute, Inc. 800-222-4883.

A total of 5618 words in all seven articles

Implementing Intelligent Systems to Assure Continuity

2008-03-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

by Jim Cathcart

Stage Six in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Implementing Intelligent Systems to Assure Continuity

Learning to Sustain Relationships More Intelligently

2008-03-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

by Jim Cathcart

Stage Five in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Learning to Sustain Relationships More Intelligently

Customer Loyalty should be something we give rather than merely something we seek.

Isolate each Point of Contact and Enhance It

Up-Serving rather than Up-Selling

In the Spirit of Growth,

Learning to Develop Relationships More Intelligently

2008-03-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

by Jim Cathcart

Stage Four in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Learning to Develop Relationships More Intelligently

Creating High-Value Relationships

Relationships evolve in stages from New Acquaintance through Close Friend or Business Partner.
As we progress the trust increases and information sharing expands.

If you want people to become interested in you, first take a sincere interest in them.
Learn not just to listen to others but to actually hear and understand what they are communicating.

There are three essentials for any relationship, whether it is with customers, colleagues or supervisors.

These are: Commitment, Open Communication and Clear Agreements.

Another way to look at the development of relationships more intelligently is Modus Operandi, the Latin term for mode or style of operation.

How to use MO with others

Without purpose this all just becomes a process.

As I had mentioned earlier, each relationship needs a Desired Outcome, even if it is simply a casual acquaintance. This does not mean that you have to become mercenary in your dealings with others. It simply means that you need to begin to notice why each relationship matters to you.

The more we are able to see, the more intelligent we can be.

Once you have all of them listed and coded as to their groups, take some time to simply reflect on what you see. Just casually look over your lists and see what you notice.

In the Spirit of Growth,

Learning to Select Relationships More Intelligently

2008-03-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

by Jim Cathcart

Stage Three in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Learning to Select Relationships More Intelligently

Intelligent Relationships begin with your choice of who to spend time with.

At last count there were over five billion people on Earth. With today’s technology and a little extra effort there is a good chance that you could connect with any of them.

So which ones should you connect with?

The answer, of course, depends upon your Desired Outcome.

Consider in your own job who the three to twelve individuals are without whom you’d be hard pressed to sustain your success?

Who is vital to achieving your results? Take some time to write down all their names on one sheet of paper. Then reflect on this group and notice the implications (in outcomes) if each one were to increase their skills, knowledge, habits, relationships or attitude.

Any change in the Inner Circle will be felt throughout that section of the organization.

The three things to look at first with each Inner Circle are:

Who are the players and what does each one of them bring to the team?
What is the mix of talent, experience and ability represented on the Inner Circle? Is it a championship team yet?
How are the relationships between you and each of them? How are their relationships with each other?

Find the Leverage Points

Learning to Become More Intelligent

2008-03-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

by Jim Cathcart

Stage Two in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System) is:

Learning to Become More Intelligent

To Know More, Notice More.

The essence of Intelligence is the ability to make distinctions, noticing more than others do. In the first stage of the Relationship Intelligence System there is a series of questions based on looking at your organization in terms of "Behavioral Economics." Each of the questions was designed to cause you to notice more about a particular aspect of your organization.

In each category; sales, management, communications, operations, service delivery, interpersonal communication, etc. there is immense opportunity for improvement.
Consider each as an Acorn, the seed of millions of future Acorns…if you nurture and grow it properly.

Now let's work on becoming more intelligent about relationships.
Step one in becoming more intelligent is to get into the habit of “helicoptering up” to a higher perspective so that you can see the patterns in things. As you become more aware of the patterns you will begin to discover the principles that make those patterns work. And once you have discovered the principles, you can make better choices.

The three levels of Thinking are: Conceptual, Strategic and Operational.
Most people function at the Operational level of thinking - what you can see is assumed to be all that there is. They see a ballpoint pen as simply a writing instrument. Those who develop their thinking to the Strategic level would tell you that the pen is also a marking instrument, an artist’s tool, an ear scratcher, a pointing device and even a form of business jewelry. They see many more uses for it than the obvious. Now which do you think will find more solutions to a problem, the operational or the strategic thinker?

The person who learns to think on the Conceptual level opens up even more vistas and opportunities. They would tell you that the pen is a symbol of mankind’s ability to communicate across space and time using a combination of hand crafted elements to change their world. Whoa! That may be a bit stratospheric for some folks, but consider for a moment, if more of your people were to progress from Operational to Strategic, and some of them even to Conceptual thinking skill…wouldn’t that increase in Intelligence be likely to expand your profitability as well? Some jobs simply require Operational thinking but even those jobs could be streamlined through more Intelligent thinking.

Intelligence doesn’t operate in a vacuum.
It is not very useful to just have raw processing capacity or intellectual potential. It only begins to matter when you direct it with intention.

The activating factor for Relationship Intelligence is your Desired Outcome.
Once you decide what you want then everything you do or avoid doing takes on more meaning. Meaning is the motivator in life. Without meaning our jobs become drudgery and we resent the work. With meaning they take on purpose and we seek even better ways to reach the Desired Outcome.

Desired Outcomes are goals and life requires goals in order to organize itself. When you decide what you want then everything else takes on a new place in the order of things. Relationships that contribute toward your goal move forward and those that detract move aside. So look at all of your relationships in terms of what you want from your life. Assign a role or level of importance to each relationship.

Even a casual friendship has a Desired Outcome of support, mutual caring and enjoyable communication. In each relationship as the Desired Outcome grows so does the relationship itself. Every contact takes on new meaning and motivation is the by product.

Be more Conscious, more Intentional and be more Natural.
By noticing more as described earlier, people become more Conscious of what they do and how it is working. Thinking and talking about Desired Outcomes conditions people to become more Intentional in what they do. Then by finding ways to communicate openly and truthfully they become more Natural about what they do. They do their best by behaving as their best self, not by trying to become something else. “If you are an Acorn you should plan an Oak future. You are going to be one anyway, so why not be the best Oak you can be instead of trying to become a Giant Redwood?” Your greatest impact will be felt from doing the things you are naturally suited for.

There are multiple ways to increase your intelligence. These are outlined in my book The Acorn Principle. I'll enumerate some of them here for your review.

Develop your multiple intellects:

Verbal Intelligence: Word Smarts - cultivate a larger vocabulary. The more ways you can express yourself and understand others the greater your possibilities will be.
Visual Intelligence: Picture Smarts - learn to think in terms of images, shapes and patterns. Practice seeing the outcome you desire.
Physical Intelligence: Body Smarts - develop your ability to use your body well. Play music, create art, dance, run, stretch, move in the many ways you can. This will add to your ability to achieve more in a physical sense, plus you'll probably become more fit.
Musical Intelligence: Music Smarts - this is not just music in the usual sense but also rhythm and pace as it relates to all things. Timing is a big element of music and the better you are at timing the more intelligent you can be in what you are doing.
Mathematical and Logical Intelligence: Number Smarts - the world operates according to universal laws and many of those can be better understood through math & logic. By expanding your math intellect (try Sudoku and other exercises) you expand your overall strategic and tactical ability.
Interpersonal Intelligence: People Smarts - study human behavior and psychology to learn more about how to listen and how to express yourself to each different type of person. This broadens your reach and appeal. People are your gateway to everything you want.
Intrapersonal Intelligence: Self Smarts - Socrates told us "Know Thyself." The reason this matters so much is that the better you understand You, the better and more readily you will understand the patterns that cause others to behave as they do. You will also come to like yourself better and judge people less as this intellect grows.
There is much discussion around other forms of intellect but the seven presented above will give you more than enough to expand your potential before trying to explore the others.

Indicators of Intelligence - work on these to become more intelligent

Ability to Make Distinctions - get into the habit of noticing more about every situation you are in. See through multiple points of view. Practice this daily.
A Wide Vocabulary - study the special vocabulary of the society, business or organization you wish to connect with. The better you "speak their language" the more you will fit in and be accepted by them.
The Use of Metaphors and Analogies - learn to think in pictures and comparisons. Using examples in this way broadens the understanding of the topic by illustrating the main idea and principles as well as the specifics. It's like understanding military tactics helps you understand sports and vice versa.
Flexibility and Adaptiveness - the more ways you have to respond to a situation the more likely you are to prevail. Cultivate the ability to change quickly and smoothly.
Problem Solving - learn to assess causes and distinguish between a symptom and a cause. Find multiple models for solving problems to increase your chances of success.
Time Orientation - Operational thinkers focus on the past and present only. Strategic thinkers can see both the present and the future possibilities. Conceptual thinkers seem to focus primarily on the future. Be conscious of the time frame you are looking through.
Sensitivity - As you notice more, assure that you notice not only thoughts but also feelings. The more sensitive you are to your own feelings and the feelings of others, the more you will see solutions where others only see or feel problems.
Memory - If you don't remember it then you don't really know it. Use proven memory techniques to improve your ability to understand and recall information of all types. The more you remember the more points of reference you can use to remember even more.

Stimulating the Desire to Change

2008-03-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

by Jim Cathcart

Stage One in Creating High-Value Relationships (the Relationship Intelligence System tm) is:

Stimulating the Desire to Change.

People have to want to change, otherwise all the energy to affect a change will have to come from you. If the status quo is tolerable to folks then they won’t exert enough energy to affect a lasting change to better practices. So step one is to get everyone into the wagon and then one by one to get them to help you pull the wagon. The ultimate goal is to have everyone pulling so that the effort required from each one is so little as to be unnoticeable.

The two universal motivators are: Avoid Pain and Seek Pleasure. If it is going to hurt more to keep things as they are than it will to change, then people will be open to change. Conversely if they can see that the joy of achieving a new level of success is greater than the comfort of sustaining the current level, then they will cooperate to improve. So paint pictures of the possible futures and expose the potholes in the current road they are traveling.

Do the Math

Think in terms of Behavioral Economics: What is it costing you to continue performing as you do today?
Here are some questions to get people thinking about how valuable improvements can be for them.

Consider the value of the untapped potential within your existing relationships.

How many more sales are there for you?
How many referrals are you not yet getting?
How many ideas for product improvement, process enhancement, cost savings, waste reduction, safety improvement, new opportunities, and faster results are already there just waiting to be tapped? Put a dollar value on your estimate.

How many of your people bring attitudes to their work that literally cost you money and reduce your output? Guess what the financial impact of that might be.

What habits exist within your workforce that keeps you from being more successful?
Which standard practices need to be replaced in order to open up new levels of success?

How many of the relationships in your organization are somewhat dysfunctional? What is that costing you in wasted opportunities and missed deadlines?
How much of your absenteeism and your employees’ healthcare claims can be attributed to bad relationships instead of actual illness?
How much does the “grief factor” in dealing with others take away from your people’s ability to perform at their best?

Where systems haven’t been put into place intentionally - work habits harden into systems anyway.

How many of your existing systems for marketing, service, production, problem solving, communications, cost control, and planning are working for you and how many of them are working against you?

What is your organization’s current reputation in the marketplace? How about among your coworkers and associates? Is that the reputation you intended to enjoy or would you like to see it evolve into something more ideal?
What does your current organizational reputation cost you each year compared to what it could be?

How loyal are your current customers and clients to you? How loyal are you to them?

How often have you lost business due to not knowing the inner relationships and personalities within your targeted client’s organizations? What is that costing you?

Do you and your people have the right scoreboards prominently visible so that everyone can track what is working and what is not? What would it be worth to you if you always knew exactly where things stand?

Creating High-Value Relationships

2008-03-18T14:09:00.001-07:00

How to Create High-Value Relationships

By Jim Cathcart, author of Relationship Selling
copyright 2008 Jim Cathcart

It’s time we started seeing Relationships through a Strategic perspective. This is not Relationships as Skill, but rather as Strategy. There is a direct correlation between the number of strategically valuable relationships in your life and your level of success. It is not about “what you know” or “who you know” but rather about “which people care whether they know you or not?”

A Relationship is only an Asset when it is connected, directly or indirectly, to a Desired Outcome. It’s time to become more conscious, intentional and intelligent about the Relationships in your life.

There are Six Stages in the process of conversion from your existing methods toward practicing Relationship Intelligence tm on all levels of your organization.

I. Stimulating the Desire to Change
II. Learning to Become More Intelligent
III. Learning to Select Relationships More Intelligently
IV. Learning to Develop Relationships More Intelligently
V. Learning to Sustain Relationships More Intelligently
VI. Implementing Intelligent Systems to Assure Continuity