I just got back from my first of two trips abroad and what an amazing time I had. From the mountains of California to the deserts of Nevada, I just have to say the landscapes are just simply incredible and I got to see quite a bit over the nine days I was there. I drove 1500 miles in a Mercury Grand Marquis; hardly in style, but a cruise none the less! (It also explains why my ass is a bit numb!) 
As you’d expect, after getting back from a holiday, I had come back to lots of things that needed tending too including; my car battery which was flat. I called the rescue company, and as far as helplines go, they weren’t too bad in responding to my call but in general, customer services has gone completely down the proverbial toilet! Due a to mix up with my previous car, they nearly ended up charging me for the call out.
We need a new style of leadership when it comes to customer services. Everywhere I go now I rarely hear people say anything good about any customer service departments they deal with. Why do companies insist on making it so difficult? For profit margins? I can’t see those poor strategies doing anything other than damage profit margins so I’m not sure where that thinking arises from.
Here’s what I think needs to be done.
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A very happy new year to you all for 2009! It’s so far started out to be a very exciting year for me! Many new possibilities and opportunities have already begun emerging simply because of the very powerful intentions and resolutions that I’ve set for myself.
Just like last year I haven’t been thin with my resolutions! Even though I haven’t documented all of them I’m certain that once I do they will get extremely close to the 15 pages that I wrote for last year. The difference this year is that I have a very specific theme which is something I haven’t done before. Similar to my weekly focus points but this will be the core theme for my whole year encompassing all the resolutions and plans.
The theme for 2009 year is ‘Self Leadership’ and I encourage you to adopt this theme for yourself too!
What is Self Leadership?
Think of your favorite icon in history who inspired millions. It could be Dr Martin Luther King or Gandhi or anyone who has in some way inspired you. Now think about how they managed to inspire those millions of people! What was it, within those people, that they connected with? How did their message touch you?
In each of us is the capacity to be those kinds of leaders. We don’t necessarily have to go out and inspire millions and infact that need not even be present within your reasoning. The reason that people like Gandhi were so inspiring was because they had very strong beliefs and no matter how they were challenged they held to those beliefs. When you see someone fighting for what they believe sometimes it doesn’t even matter if you believe in that cause you’ll rise and support them! They had vision and a purpose!
Lead Yourself Through Vision
To engage those leadership qualities within you, you must first and foremost get a vision for yourself that inspires you and then automatically you will inspire others to support your cause.
Many people I know have sold themselves short, myself included, about what they’re capable of achieving in their lives. The trouble is what you set for yourself as a target. If it’s one you’re likely to reach but is one that isn’t inspiring to you are you going to even want to reach it? What if you set yourself a vision and dream that was so inspiring to you that every time you even just thought about it you got goose pimples?
Even if you set yourself a goal that is perfectly within reach of you if it doesn’t inspire you you’re not likely to reach it because you simple “can’t be arsed to”!
Setting a target that is almost unreachable but very inspiring to you to the point where it brings a tear to the eye is the best way to go! It will automatically have given yourself the drive to go and achieve it rather than looking for some external force to motivate you!
Carving a Path
Ultimately what this means for me is that no matter who I’m with or where I am I will follow the dreams and visions I’ve created for myself. People who are inspired individuals can often intimidate others and their first reaction may often be to try and knock some of the wind out of your sails!
I remember I was invited to a dinner party a while back and there was a young woman there. She was very good looking and she looked like she had a lot going for her. We started talking and immediately upon seeing how much I loved life she immediately tried to impose her model of the world on me1and she also tried to tell me that I would soon learn the way of the real world and that I would sooner or later be “shit” upon! Her assumption was that I had obviously had a very easy life and that I was brought up wrapped up in cotton wool. If only she knew! The only difference between her and I is the way in which we choose to percieve those events and how we choose to respond to them.
So when anyone does try and bring me down instead of letting it get to me I now actually take is a compliment that I’ve pushed someone’s buttons about being inpspired about my life and through all the progress I’m making towards my visions and dreams!
Don’t just be someone who follows the crowd or even follows a path just because someone else has done it before! The route someone has taken towards succes is not necessarily going to work for you even though the destinations may be similar. Find your own way of getting there by experimenting through various successes and failures! I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again that I would much rather try and fail then never try at all!
So for 2009 I encourage you employ a similar ideology for Self Leadership. Become a true leader of yourself, your emotions and create dreams and visions that inspire you to be the greatest ‘you’, you can be!
