Jim Garland's Blog

Are you leading people or are you simply managing them?  Here is the difference and it can have a profound impact on your company or organization.  Although management and leadership are sometimes looked at as the same thing, they can actually produce quite different results.

Management

• You tell others what to do within boundaries that are set by you or the company and then you measure the results.  As long as things do not change very much you can just continue to do the same things over and over, producing the same result.  This can be effective and can help a company grow and prosper.  However as the manager/owner you always have to be there overseeing the store and it does not allow your employees to grow and develop.

Leadership

• You explain the result you want to produce and you give some guidance but you allow your team to figure out the best way to produce the result.  You allow them to make a few mistakes and learn from them, you encourage them to come up with the answers before you tell them how to fix something.  You measure the result, let the team make adjustments and continually improve the process.  This allows the team to adapt to the changing business environment and the company to expand more rapidly.  This keeps people excited because the are continually being asked and encouraged to take risks and grow.  Most importantly it allows the manager/owner to free themselves up to continually look for ways to grow the company and mine for new opportunities.

Take a look at how you are currently running your business and your team.  Are you leading, or simply managing?

Here is a great book that touches on these subjects in depth: “Good to Great”  by Jim Collins

I recently got together with a neighbor (a much better dresser than I) and we pooled all of our old suits, dress shoes, shirts, slacks and blazer that we did not use but were still in wearable shape and we donated them to Year Up in Arlington VA.  I donated books and a speaking engagement to Year Up students earlier this year.  See it here http://www.youtube.com/user/Jimgarlandbook

This great organization helps urban youth transition from high school to college or the work place.

Please make donations to Kristy Arnold at the address below.  It feels good to give!

Kristy Arnold, PhD
Student Services Specialist
1560 Wilson Blvd., Suite 350
Arlington, VA 22209
703-312-9327 ext.1202
http://www.yearup.org
http://www.youtube.com/yearupinc

This is from my good friend Gene Condreras who owns Panorama Flight Service at Westchester County Airport – HPN.

www.panoramaflightservice.com

1) Opportunities present themselves to us everyday, it is up to us to:

a) Recognize that the opportunity exists

b) Take action.

2) You can learn something from everybody that you meet, sometimes it may not be necessarily a good trait in the person but a valuable lesson to be learned may still be at hand.  Life is a University and everyone you meet is a Professor.

3) Always keep an open mind, there is always another way of doing things and sometimes it may be a better way.

4) The most important thing in any relationship, personal or professional is to be a good listener.   Listen and hear what is truly important to that other person or business and then do your best to focus upon providing whatever that is to the best of your ability!

5) Treat anyone and everyone equally and in the same manner that you would like to be treated yourself.

6) Utilize all the assets that are available to you.  Some assets may not be readily recognizable to you at first, so always make sure that you think things through and that you are aware of all the assets that are or may be available for your use.

7) No matter what it is you are doing, always do it to the best of your ability. Everything you do and the manner in which you do it becomes a self-portrait of yourself.

And from author unknown –

“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”

One of the goals of my blog is to recommend great companies that can save you time and make your life easier.  The Virginia Florist is one of these companies.  Although this company is located in Alexandria, VA they can help you out wherever you are located and whenever the need for flowers presents itself.

Mothers Day, Valentines Day, Weddings, Funerals, corporate events, flowers to your wife for no reason at all, the list goes on.  The thing I like most about these guys is they make it so easy.

Check them out at www.thevirginiaflorist.com or call them at 800-982-5689

Call them, set up an account, they will keep your credit card on file and whenever you need flowers a simple 1 minute phone call does it all.

Watch this video.  Then stop making all of those Bullsh%* excuses for not getting into better shape and staying that way.  You owe it to yourself, your kids and your family.  Watch until the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obdd31Q9PqA