Category: Entrepreneurship

What Happens When Your Flowers Don’t Bloom? by David Guerra

Post author By Dave Guerra
Post date February 19, 2017

What happens when your flowers don’t bloom?

Do you replace the flowers or do you find a new location for your garden?

In life there will be many things that will refuse to take root let alone bloom. When that time comes (and it will) what will you do? What can you do?

Most people will tell you to get rid of the old flowers and get yourself some new ones. That is all fine and dandy but what if they too fail to bloom? What then?

You most certainly cannot go changing flowers after every failed attempt at making them bloom.

Farmers have this thing called crop rotation. In crop rotation they change where they are going to plant their crops. See if they plant wheat or soy or corn or whatever on the same soil for too long the plants will suck the nutrients out of the soil and eventually nothing will grow there.

That being the case, it might be time to change the location of your garden and who knows your flowers might bloom.

The same applies to life. As human beings we love to get into a comfort zone. Especially, in a world where being a nomad means traveling here or there for a brief time then returning home. Oh no, not like our ancestor who moved because they went where the food went. They didn’t stick around once all the Woolly Mammoths were either killed off or migrated away. Early man, moved. They traveled to get the best chance at hunting for food and surviving.

Unfortunately for us, there are no more Woolly Mammoths (at least not yet) nor are there any sabre tooth tigers that are out there making a meal out of us. No, nowadays we travel to the local Mega-Mart to pick up a modern prepackaged version of Brontosaurus burgers (a la Fred Flintstone). Yes, we are firmly entrenched in our comfort zones, our homes with a nice solid foundation.

Now, there is no need to move around. There is no need to rotate our crops. There is no need to do anything but sit back and reap the benefits and rewards that modern society has worked long and hard to attain. We seem to have forgotten that change is VITAL to our existence. Change is what keeps us alive. Change is what makes us better people. Change is essential to making the flowers bloom.

No matter what you want to grow (relationships, business, education, whatever) it is time for change. It may be as simple as finding a new spot for your garden, changing the way you think about relationships or deciding what education you need to succeed. It is all about change and finding what works for you.

As a leader, you have to be flexible to change. Remember, leading people is NOT done with a cookie-cutter approach, all people are NOT the same. You are unique and you are different. Being different means being receptive and open to change and in most cases, initiating change.

Thank you,
David Guerra, MBA

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Tags action, attention to detail, Change, Followers, inspiration, leaders, Leadership, Motivation, observation, personal development, personal growth, Preparation, reaction, response, Success, Training, Walking Leader

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New Article Now ONLINE! – Change is a Fickle Monster by David Guerra

Post author By Dave Guerra
Post date February 11, 2017

Out now, my latest article for you. Titled “Change is a Fickle Monster”, I talk about how when you want to change change or at least do a little something on your behalf to minimize the impact of change you have got to be careful.

Change comes in many forms and in varying degrees of impact when you fail to respect the fact that change will do its own thing, you get exact what you deserve. Usually, what you get is change knocking you down and then running you over.

This quick read is also downloadable as a PDF. To read this article: click here

Thank you,

David Guerra

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on ENGAGEMENT by David Guerra

Post author By Dave Guerra
Post date October 31, 2016

on Engagement

There are various kinds of engagement. People get engaged to one another and call it an engagement. People attack the enemy and that is also called an engagement (as in to engage the enemy). Then social engagements are those black tie affairs. What do they all have in common (yes, all)?

People interacting with each other. Some interact for love, some interact for hate, some interact to put on airs, whatever the reason the engagement usually does not last long. Either they marry, the battle ends, or the band plays the last song of the evening.

Thus to engage means to connect on many levels with others; to be more than just present in the moment. When considering a person engaged, he or she carries one characteristic, whether they admit it or not; they are open-minded. An engaged person has to be open-minded to be fully receptive and understanding of those they engage with. They also expects that same open-mindedness in others. Engagement by the examples I mentioned at the start of this post is a dialogue (of sorts), a two-way interaction.

While one side of the engagement has to take the initiative to get things started it is never fully comes from within. Engagement requires external forces to drive it. Think Newton’s 1st Law: Body is at rest until a force changes that. If a battle is one sided well that’s a good thing (if you are on the winning side) but if in an engagement only one individual wants to marry and the other does not, well that’s creepy and a restraining order may be in order.

Restraining orders notwithstanding, engagement is probably one of the best motivation tool anyone can have to get stuff done. As all parties involved become engaged when each individual or group brings something to the interaction that the other side sees as worthy of engagement. Mutually assured engagement is what completes the interaction and elevates it to a higher level.

This motivation to elevate the engagement and the ability to maintain the engagement until its inevitable conclusion. Motivation to engage is critical for all concerned. Maintaining that motivation is critical to any current and future engagements. The motivation that comes from knowing that at any moment something good is going to happen is the prime factor to motivate most people. It can be catalyst to inspire others to go further and deeper create and achieve others goals when it comes to engaging with others.

The start of the new year is a great time to launch new engagement initiatives. For a long time, people consider the new year as the best time of the year for change as it brings a clean slate to the calendar. The start of the new year is an opportunity to make things better than last year. Yet, engagement does not come without its own issues.

There always have been and always will be barriers to engagement. Time, space, language are such barriers but they are also barriers to just about anything else. When it comes to engagement, the barrier that most will cringe over is the topic or reason of the engagement. When the topic or reason is polarizing to all those participating, the barrier to engagement becomes great especially when others are directly or indirectly affected. The resulting affect of the barrier is either an abrupt end or failure to launch of the engagement. Thus the importance of getting everyone on board before, during and after the engagement is critical.

In the workplace, employee engagement does enhance their own sense of wellbeing. When employees engage they are participating. Leaders, the good ones, know what’s what and not wondering what’s up when they know their employees are engaging and part of what is going on.

While within any organization there individuals that come in all shapes and sizes, there are introverts and extroverts, and all of them focus on the organization’s mission and vision. However, when it comes to engagement, it is essential for management and leadership to understand and accept there is no cookie cutter approach to engagement. So long as everyone understands the message both management and employees must do what it takes to make positive engagement so.

While all employees must engage, the need to understand that there will be individual nuances between the generations (Gen X, Millennials, etc.) is another aspect that can quickly become a barrier or catalyst to positive engagement. Leaders must ensure that all generations within the organization are openly and actively communicating with each other. Dialogue becomes a critical function of opening and maintaining positive and empowering communication among all the members of the organization.

As a leader, it is your duty to help others feel and be more engaged. Any true leader will ensure that all employees are engaging and ready to elevate the level of the current engagement. When followers are not on-board, the primary task of the leader becomes that of getting those followers on-board and actively engaging. A good example of leading by example will go a long way to actively pursuing engagement for those that are having a little trouble getting the picture or getting started with engagement at all levels.

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Tags attention to detail, Change, engage, engagement, inspiration, leaders, Leadership, leading, Motivation, observation, reaction, response, Success, successful