Champions

From October 2016 Rotary magazine:

Champions have a positive, "learn from it" attitude toward obstacles that other athletes lack. Researchers at England's University of Central Lancashire studied three groups from different sports: the "best of the best," the good, and low achievers. Each athlete encountered similar challenges, from injuries to poor performance, throughout his or her career, but champions were determined to return to action even stronger. Low achievers were often surprised by failures and lost enthusiasm. These characteristics, researchers say, hold true in fields outside athletics.

Happy Investing!

Team Leadership

As an entrepreneur, you are the leader of a team of professionals that you employ and with whom you work to accomplish your goals. Success is dependent on your leadership style in communicating with your team. Here is one example of commitment to "Extreme Ownership:"

200 Navy SEALs go to Coronado, California for hell week, which consists of 72 hours
of nonstop basic training with just one hour of sleep. Being constantly cold, wet, and
exhausted causes dozens to quit. Many get sick or become injured. This is not a
physical test, but rather a mental one. Success is often through determination and
will, but also through innovation and communication. Those that win show that they
are not only physically strong, but can out-think their adversary.

In Leif Babin’s account, 101 students begin hell week, and only 40 remain at the end.
Seven men are assigned for each boat crew and must carry a 200-pound boat, which
becomes heavier when filled with water and sand. The boats are carried overhead
through an obstacle course consisting of 20 foot high sand berms, ropes, and
telephone poles. The students were often required to paddle their boats in and out of
the Pacific Ocean. The senior ranking man would be assigned as the boat crew leader
and would receive orders from the instructors and relay that information to their
teams. The boat crews raced to determine who would be the winner, and the prize
was sitting out the next race. The boat to come in last was punished by the
instructors.

In this particular hell week, Boat Crew Two dominated, winning or nearly winning
every single race. Working as a team, they pushed themselves hard every
time. Morale was high--Boat Crew Two had a strong leader and a highly motivated
crew. On the other hand, Boat Crew Six lost nearly every single race, coming in dead
last every time. Rather than working together as a team, they were working as
individuals. Furious and frustrated, they were accusing each other of not doing their
part. The leader of Boat Crew Six felt he had a team of underperformers who
couldn't get the job done. The Senior Chief decided to swap out the boat crew leaders
from the best to the worst, with all conditions remaining the same except for the
leader. Could it possibly make a difference?

The leader from Boat Crew Two was clearly not happy; frustrated to leave the team
he built and knew well. With no choice, he accepted the challenge. The leader from
Boat Crew Six was elated. Initially, he had the worst luck of the draw but was glad to
redeem himself by taking on the winning crew and felt that his new assignment would
be easy for him. Boat Crew leaders were given instructions by the commanders and in
turn instructed their teams as before. As they raced, two boats were ahead of the
pack. Boat Crew Six was in the lead and made their way to the finish line just ahead
of Boat Crew Two. A miraculous turnaround had taken place--they had gone from last
place to first place by working together as a team. The same team, under the same
circumstances, was winning only because of new leadership.

Principle: This is an example that there are no bad teams, only bad leaders. The
leader’s attitude sets the tone and either drives the performance or doesn’t.

Regardless of what you preach, it's what you tolerate. Otherwise, poor performance
could end up being the new standard.

Here are 5 more principles in the book that are too good not to share:

1) All responsibility for success or failure rests with the leader. There is no
one else to blame. Admit failures and develop a plan to win. Owners don't just
take responsibility for their job but have extreme ownership for anything that
impacts the mission.

2) A leader must be a true believer in the mission. If they don't, they will not
overcome the challenges needed to win. Leaders must operate knowing that
they are part of something greater than themselves. Leaders must give
understanding of why they are doing what is requested so they will believe in
the mission and win.

3) Combat, like in life, has layers of complexities. Simplifying as much as
possible is crucial to success. When plans are too complicated, people don't
understand. And when things go wrong, and they will go wrong, complexity
spirals out of control into total disaster. Plans and communication need to be
kept simple.

4) A leader must remain calm on the battlefield. SEAL leaders use a principal
called Prioritize and Execute. Relax. Look around. Make a call. Don't try to
tackle a multitude of problems or tasks all at once. Determine the highest
priority task and then execute. Stay a step to the head of challenging situations
and anticipate an effective response.

5) A leader must lead with opposing ideas. For example, a leader must be
disciplined in order to find freedom. Lead, but also be ready to follow. Be
aggressive, but not overbearing. Calm, but not robotic. Confident, but never
cocky. Brave, but not reckless. Have a competitive spirit, but be a gracious
loser. Be attentive to details, but not obsessed by them. Humble, but not
passive. Quiet, but not silent. Close with team members, but not too close. Have
nothing to prove, but everything to prove.

Happy Investing!

Today's blog courtesy of Renee Daggett, EA, Admin Books Inc. and authors Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.

The Miracle Morning

The Miracle Morning: the Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8am is a book by Hal Elrod, based on the premise that one's success in life is limited by individual commitment to personal development. The author has come up with a one-hour morning routine, which may very well be the ultimate personal development routine.

It is composed of six ten-minute life SAVERS, done consecutively (but in any order, customizable by individual) that are proven routines used by the world's most successful people. SAVERS stands for the following acronym:
S= Silence (meditation, prayer)
A= Affirmations
V= Visualization
E= Exercise
R= Reading (a business or personal development book, 10 pages)
S= Scribing (journaling, listing best moments, best activities to make today great, gratitude list, etc)

The book is full of inspirational quotes and Elrod's own amazing life stories. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

"According to the Social Security Administration, if you take any 100 people at the start of their working careers and follow them for the next 40 years until they reach retirement age, here's what you'll find: only 1 will be wealthy; 4 will be financially secure; 5 will continue working, not because they want to but because they have to; 36 will be dead; and 54 will be broke and dependent on friends, family, relatives and the government to take care of them..."

"The reality is that, statistically, 95% of the people that read any book don't implement what they learn, because no one is holding them accountable to do so..."

"...from Marianne Williamson's book A Return to Love...: 'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we ae liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

"The key is to learn from the experts - those who have already done what you want to do. Don't reinvent the wheel. The fastest way to achieve everything you want is to model successful people who 
have already achieved it. With an almost infinite amount of books available on every topic, there are no limits to the knowledge you can gain through daily reading..." 

"If we want to have more energy...and if we want our lives to be healthy and disease-free...then it's crucial that we reexamine why we eat the foods that we do, and...start valuing the health benefits and energy consequences of the foods we eat as much as...the taste..."

I have been practicing the Miracle Morning routine on my own now for about two months, and I have seen immediate results in the growth of my business, my productivity and my relationships. I highly recommend this book, as a good way to get started on your own personal development path.

Happy Investing!

The Virgin Way

As a volunteer for the Real Estate Association of Puget Sound (REAPS), I have been given many tokens of appreciation - which I enjoy! One of them recently was to select a few books from the stack distributed to top volunteers. One of the books that I selected was The Virgin Way: If It's Not Fun, It's Not Worth Doing by Richard Branson.

I had met Richard Branson at Malcolm Forbes' chateau in Balleroy, France after his attempt with Per Lindstrand to fly around the world in a hot air balloon (but that is another long story...). Who isn't fascinated by billionaire Sir Richard, his many adventures, his successful businesses, his joie de vivre?

So I was excited to read a book on leadership "from someone who has never read a book on leadership in his life."

The book was surprisingly fun and full of excellent tips, along the theme of "screw it, let's just do it!" The preface begins with "Life is too short. Don't enjoy it? Don't do it!," which is really the underlying theme throughout the entire 392-page book.

Here are a few excerpts that I particularly enjoyed that will give you a flavor for the book:

"I believe that 'luck' is one of the most misunderstood and underappreciated factors in life. Those people and businesses that are generally considered fortunate or luckier than others are usually also the ones that are prepared to take the greatest risks and, by association, are also prepared to fall flat on their faces every so often. In start contrast, the 'play it safe for fear of failing' brigade are the ones who just never seem to get as lucky as the risk-takers. Coincidence? I don't think so."

"...in the US the annual average sales per square foot in mall-based retail stores was $341...But the runaway leader was Apple with an astounding $6,050 in sales per square foot - nine times the national average...Even with a great product line like Apple's, fantastic results like this don't just happen - they are a direct consequence of something behind the numbers the techy analyst tent to overlook: excellent and plentiful customer service supplied by real people!"

"...the new vacation policy that has been adopted by Netflix, which might actually be more accurately described as being, well, no policy!...There is no need to ask for prior approval and neither the employees themselves nor their managers are asked or expected to keep track of their days away from the office...the assumption being that they are only going to do it when they feel a hundred per cent comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business...The Netflix initiative had been driven by a groundswell of employees asking about how their technology-controlled time on the job...could be reconciled with the company's old-fashioned time-off policy...if Netflix was no longer able to accurately track employees total time on the job, why should it apply a different and outmoded standard to their time away from it? The company agreed...we don't need a vacation policy!"

"I have one very successful friend who...became so perplexed by the never-ending volume of spurious weekend emails that she put a weekend auto response message on her business email that says, 'I am away from the office until Monday attending to my other full-time business - my family. If this message is about something that cannot wait, then I suggest you call or text me, otherwise I will get to it on Monday.'"

"Shawn Achor's fascinating book The Happiness Advantage is based on a decade of positive psychology and neuroscience research and Harvard Univeristy and Fortune 500 companies. His book reveals that when we are more positive our brains are 'more engaged, more energised, creative, motivated, healthier, resilient and productive'...His conclusion is that ninety per cent of one's happiness is generated from within, not by external factors like fat bank accounts and expensive possessions. The book cites the power of positivity ... and how we can rewire our brains in as little as twenty-one days by ... things such as starting each day with a 'random act of kindness' like sending at least one email praising someone, or writing down three new things each day for which we are grateful...So, having fun and enjoying the work experience ... is not just the Virgin way but it is also scientifically proven to work to everyone's benefit."  

His afterward summarizes his Virgin Way philosophy thus:

1. Follow Your Dreams and Just Do it
2. Make a Positive Difference and Do Some Good
3. Believe in Your Ideas and Be the Best
4. Have Fun and Look After Your Team
5. Don't Give Up
6. Listen, Take Lots of Notes and Keep Setting New Challenges
7. Delegate and Spend More Time with Your Family
8. Turn Off that Laptop and iPhone and Get Your Derriere Out There
9. Communicate, Collaborate and Communicate Some More
10. Do What You Love and Have a Couch in the Kitchen

Not specifically a book on real estate investing, but a great book on leadership, success, and mindset that would serve any real estate investor or entrepreneur well.

Happy Investing!

Ways of the Heart

How to Lead Others

Value people.

Praise effort.

Reward performance.



Photo courtesy of freepictures.me