What are you afraid of?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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