Nathan Vari’s Blog: A Declaration of Independence

I just finished reading Les Giblin’s classic book. I think the best part of this book as compared to other self help books is the formula at the end for integrating the principles into your daily life.

The top two tips that stand out at me this time is how important it is to sincerely compliment people and how by involving other people in what you are trying to accomplish, getting their input, you get much more accomplished.

Les says that if you learn how to deal with people that you will be 85%  of the way to where you want to get in life. It doesn’t matter the field of endeavour or the profession, becoming a success in life requires the cooperation of others.

On a final note. If you want a quick technique that will improve your relations with others be sure to listen at least twice as long as you spend talking. I mean listen, actually paying attention to what the other party is saying.

I have learned so much over the years just by paying attention.

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In public speaking your introduction sets the tone for the rest of your talk. Here are some things to keep in mind if you’d like to grab your listeners attention.

 1. Don’t be apologetic - In other words, start your talk out on a positive note if you can help it. People like to hear good news and will be more receptive to the rest of what you have to say, especially if the message is supposed to be a positive one.

2. Dress for the occasion - be sure your dress is appropriate for your audience. May seem basic but people’s first impressions tend to stick. Make sure your dress is not distracting them from your message.

3. Be sure the person who is introducing you is properly prepped before hand on what to say and how to make a proper introduction. This will set the tone for your audience and enhance or interfere with how intently your audience listens.

4. Smile - nothing warms up an audience like an sincere smile that says “I’m happy to be here.”

5. Make eye contact with your audience - Be confident in what you are saying and let your audience know you are confident in what you are saying by making eye contact with them.

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I like how John Maxwell uses the word partner as an acronym.

He says:

Put your needs first in every situation

Add value to your personal leadership

Recognize we serve a common goal

Tailor our services to meet your needs

Never take for granted the trust placed in us

Embody excellence in everything we do

Respect everyone’s uniqueness

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Thoughts and an excerpt on a chapter from the book The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork by John Maxwell.

 As a team member:

 What is the vision for the orgnaization you work with? Is it clear what your role is to help that vision become a reality?

If there isn’t one help your team develop a vision. You and your team will probably be frustrated without one.

As a team leader use this checklist when you cast the vision for your team to make sure the message is complete:

• Clarity: brings understanding to the vision(what must the people know)
• Connectedness: brings the past, present and future together
• Purpose: brings direction to the vision
• Goals: brings targets to the vision
• Honesty: brings integrity to the vision and credibility to the vision caster
• Stories: brings relationships to the vision
• Challenge: brings stretching to the vision
• Passion: brings fuel to the vision
• Modeling: brings accountability to the vision
• Strategy: brings process to the vision

Hellen Keller once said “It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.”

How many people are walking around today that have no vision? Are you one of them?

 Get a compass on your life and your business and be a step ahead of 95% of the population.

Got a vision? Now go put some work behind it.

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A chapter from The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork by John Maxwell

When you get team members working together, doing what each of them does best, then you start to multiply each others efforts.

•  The right person in the right place equals progress but the right people in the right places equals multiplication.

I observe so many small business owners that don’t understand this rule and it is keeping their businesses stuck. Can you imagine an business owner who’s time is worth $200/hr wanting to do a task that he could easily pay someone else $90 or $120/hr to do? I see this all the time.

I think the only things that hold small business owners back from utilizing this law to the fullest potential are lack of capital and fear.

Do you have a suggestion about how to overcome these two obstacles? I’d love to hear them.

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A chapter from The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork by John Maxwell

I have had an opportunity to watch very successful leaders at a very close level for quite a while.

This is one of the traits that I can for sure say all successful leaders have gotten good at.

Successful leaders portray a picture to their team that the whole is more important than the part.

The leaders who do this best even have members of their team who will put their own egos and agendas aside for the good of the big team.

Wow, couldn’t we use more of that kind of leadership today in this country and this world.

So next time your around your team stop talking about what you can accomplish and start talking about what the team can accomplish together.

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Enjoying some much needed R&R in Asheville this weekend. Also learning a lot, spending time with business leaders and enjoying everything Asheville has to offer…

Wow, that last part sound like it came out of a travel commercial.

I will post some pictures later but for now just know that we live in a very exciting time.

Economic forces are changing the way business is done in the marketplace today. People are either going to take advantage of this perfect storm and ride the wave to financial freedom or they are going to get hurt in the process.

Be especially careful who you take advice from during this period. Are you listening to talking heads or are you getting your advice from someone in the trenches with fruit on the tree?

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I just a had a sudden inspiration to write this post. I knew this principle but I guess it just hit me how this is something that so few people think about.

As you know… I am a Virtual CIO for small businesses and own a computer consulting company that offers companies a virtual IT staff.  I knew how this principle applied to business but it just struck me as to how this also applies to IT. Or I should say especially applies to IT.

A lot of small business owners and managers assume that tech people know everything. This is just ridiculous and impossible. Especially in today’s high pace world with everything changing so fast.

Not my clients… My clients are smart enough to realize that it is impossible to keep up with all the changes in technology. This is why it is more important then ever to have correct thinking, not just knowledge. Although knowledge is still important.

Thinking is the capacity to turn knowledge into wisdom by doing.

What good is knowing something that you can find out in an instant from a Google search, a text book, or a knowledgeable expert?

Proper thinking leads to success, not just in IT or business but in life. Let me explain…

When you are focused on knowledge your thinking gets cluttered up with a bunch of facts.

When you learn how to think properly then you can find the answers when you need them.

From Michael Port’s Book Yourself Solid

Rule #1: Learn in Action

Doers don’t wait until everything is perfect to take action. You can read all you want about something but until you actually experience it you have nothing to relate it to.

Rule #2: Work With Others

Since you can’t know or do everything it is very important to know how to work with others. Why don’t you leverage the power of an expert to help you with what you are doing? It will save you time, money and headache. It will also allow you to focus on what you do best and that means serving your customers and clients the best.

How this all relates to IT. How often does new software come out? Every day… How about updates for software? More often than that… What about fixes for hardware related items… All the time.

Do you see what I’m saying. It’s so important for small businesses to have a Virtual CIO that can help them sort through all of this and avoid common pitfalls that can put their data and business in danger.

Even experts miss stuff at times. That’s why its even more important than ever that your technical service company is diversified and has a team of experts that it can rely on for  specific tasks.

Could you imagine asking your pediatrician to perform open heart surgery? But this is how most people approach IT and this is how most small tech companies serve their clients.

You can find out more about my company and why it might be a good fit for you at www.charlottecomputerconsultant.com

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Please reply to this post and tell me your twitter success stories. Share with the twitter community what twitter has done for you.

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