Come Visit Me At My New Blog!

This will be my last post at this blog. Come visit me at my new blog: http://JackBergstrom.com.

Blogger was a great place to start and I will continue to grow my knowledge of blogging on that platform, but for me, WordPress and hosting my own blog on my own domain was the way to go.

All 4 of the Blogs that I formerly updated on Blogger will be represented on my own site now, as well as lots of new information on new topics.

What a hoot! Come visit me!

See you there,

Jack

The Next 6 Months

So, how goes your planning for the next 6 months of your life? As a business executive, I am going to assume that you have got some decent plans in place for your business in the next 6 months. How about you? Do you have plans in place for yourself and how you will experience your business life in the next 6 months?

How will you make your business life more fulfilling?
How will you achieve more while working less?
How will you further reduce the stress in your life?
How will you make your work feel more like play to you?
What are tasks, that you are still doing yourself, that it is time to give to someone else?

These are some of the questions that I am asking myself right now as I evaluate the last 6 months of my life and prepare for the next 6 months.

Back to the Blog!

Well, my apologies. I got way too busy for my own good and just never made time for blogging. I think I have made the needed scheduling changes and now I am back to my blogging. I really enjoy it.

How about you? I have talked about blogging by executives before and I still think it is a great way to stay in touch with your troops and to make sure that all of the newest hires rapidly become part of your corporate culture. Blogs are easy to setup and a nice way to unwind at the end of your day.

Bye till next time...Jack

Anthony Robbins and The Time of Your Life

I had the pleasure of working for Anthony "Tony" Robbins as one of his many unpaid assistants. If you are not familiar with Tony or his work, then you are in for a treat. Tony and I are both NLP practitioners, indeed I might give a slight edge in NLP skill to me, but Tony was and is absolute tops in the world in platform skills, marketing and large venue multimedia coaching events. It was for this reason that I was willing to work my behind off for him, pay all of my own expenses and receive no direct pay. I was more than compensated in the many skills that I learned during these times.

I wanted to recommend a program to you. Of all of Tony's products, and I own almost all of them, this is my favorite. It is called "The Time of Your Life" and can be looked at and purchased from this link. I have used this product almost annually since 1998 and I learn more each and every time: http://www.tonyrobbins.com/Solutions/ProductsDetail.aspx?ProductID=625&SubCategory=Multimedia

This product costs between $200 and $500 dollars depending upon the accessories you buy. Trivial in the long run...till next time...Jack

Road Trips

I love going on long solo road trips. I have time to think and focus, I have cleared my schedule from almost all distractions and I get to see and experience new things. I love it! I also love traveling with family and friends, but that is another kind of experience, delightful in different ways.

I traveled just 5 hours each way on this last road trip...10 hours total...and it was fantastic! I took along some great business educational cds that I had selected just for this purpose and my tape recorder...as always...and in 10 hours I made wonderful progress. The cds gave me new insights and I was able to get some valuable new perspective on many projects. This is the question that I asked myself as I was listening: "How can I use this information to enhance my life?" As the answers bubbled up to the surface of my mind, I paused the cds and captured the answers on my tape recorder. It will take me weeks to implement the wonderful ideas that I formulated from this one trip.

When is your next solo road trip?

Till next time...Jack

The End of The First "U" Speech Story

So I gave my first speech that had been totally prepared without my conscious mind. And it went just fine! It was for me a very interesting experience...like having my mind split in half. One part of me was watching me while another part was delivering the speech. Quite interesting!

Well, I got good reviews from my Toastmaster peers. In fact, I won the speech contest! And now I had to prepare to compete at ever higher levels of Toastmasters with this speech. Great! But, I had forgot one thing...I had not given myself any instructions to remember this speech...and I didn't remember it. While I was being congratulated, and people would say something like: "I really liked that speech!". I would respond with thanks and "what specifically did you like about it?" That way I collected enough information to recreate the speech...at least at some level. I did ask myself from that point forward though to remember what I delivered!

Bye for now...Jack

The Best Laid Plans

I gave a seminar a couple of days ago. It was scheduled months ahead of time and everyone knew that I needed the room 30 minutes ahead of time for preparation. Well, almost everyone. When I arrived on time, I learned that the room would not even become available until after my seminar was scheduled to begin. Someone else had double booked the room. Interesting. In spite of my best efforts to follow up, make sure that the room was going to be ready, it wasn't.

So, what happened? A great seminar is what happened. I took the middle of the seminar and dropped it into the beginning. I took the beginning and cut most of it out, since I had no time.

And you know what, it was really no big deal. Do you know why? Because I had started asking myself this question long ago...what is the worst that can happen and what can I do to prepare for it? It is a question that has served me well and can serve you well in the future.

My First Unconscious Speech

I will remember my first unconsciously prepared speech for the rest of my life. I had gotten my "ideal topic" returned to me and then I had given my unconscious a followup command to prepare the best speech that it could and let me know when it was ready. I got the signal the morning before my noon presentation that my speech was ready to deliver. Now, I just had to wait until noon and go deliver the speech. I was not as nervous as I expected...by now I was beginning to trust my other than conscious processes and of course, even if I totally blew it, Toastmasters would find a way to be nice about it.

So, I arrived at the Toastmasters club and found out that we, the club, were having our fall "serious speech" contest and would I please let my speech be evaluated and considered for the contest? I pondered, told them that I was trying something totally new with this speech and it might, even likely might, totally suck and as long as they were okay with that, then I would compete. Since they only had 2 other speeches that day, they agreed and now, my as yet never before heard speech was also going to be judged for a contest. Wonderful!

More next time...Jack

Speech Writing at a Whole New Level

I was tired of worrying about speeches and being anxious the entire week or weeks before a new presentation. By this stage in my evolution, I had given perhaps 30 speeches of my own and I had evaluated hundreds of speeches presented by others. I figured that my unconscious mind had enough data, enough experience, that it could probably be preparing my presentations in the background while I worked on other things.

Now, here is exactly what I did: "I now command my unconscious mind to compare potential topics and then select a great topic for me to speak about. Tomorrow, after I wake up, I want my unconscious mind to give me a yes signal to let me know that I have a great topic and to let me know what this topic is."

This was the first step towards freedom in speaking. My unconscious mind could work on my topics behind the scenes and then present me with a great topic.

Next, was the process of having my unconscious mind prepare a speech for me. This came shortly after I started to get such great topics presented to me.

More next time...Jack

NLP and Dean Martin and Public Speaking

Are you familiar with NLP? The long title for this field of study is Neuro Linguistic Programming. I was fortunate to be introduced to this material in the late 1980s and then I devoted myself to an initial level of mastery of this field in the early 1990s.

When I was studying NLP, it was called "The Structure of Subjective Experience". This is accurate, but to virtually everyone, it is also meaningless. I like to call NLP "The Structure of Human Excellence". This is less accurate and ignores some aspects of NLP, but is much clearer to almost everyone. NLP can teach anyone how to model and recreate excellence in any field of human endeavor. Now that should be pretty exciting to think about.

For public speaking and Dean Martin and NLP to be combined was fun for me. I had just finished my initial NLP training and I was just past my initial Public Speaking training with Toastmasters and I had just finished researching Dean Martin and his performance beliefs. What would be more natural than to combine all of these and see what happened? And what happened was a hoot!

More of the story next time...Jack

Dean Martin Continued

Ever watch the Dean Martin Show? I still think it hold up pretty well. Once I had been reintroduced to Deano, I went out and read up on him. I really love to learn how people made themselves successful; I am an autobiography junkie. Anyhow, Dean Martin's history is a great one and the piece that really hit home, as I was beginning the process of becoming a professional speaker was this: Dean Martin never practiced or rehearsed his show. He believed that he had practiced enough in his life, had rehearsed enough already, that he knew how to make a great show. He just needed to trust himself, trust his experience and let the magic come out. Deano felt that rehearsing made the shows "flat" and he wanted energy.

Translated to me: his unconscious mind had already learned how to give a great entertaining show. He just needed to trust that his unconscious would be there for him and deliver. This was the message that I took from Dean Martin into my speaking. Practice until you can trust yourself and then...trust yourself!

So where does the tape recorder come in? We are getting closer...next time we will talk about NLP and Dean Martin...bye for now...Jack

Dean Martin and Toastmasters

Many years ago I started the process of becoming a professional speaker. I started with Toastmasters, as have many other fine speakers, and it was a wonderful choice. I own much of what I am able to do now to my training and experience I gained practicing public speaking in the Toastmasters clubs.

Now, it is important to know that I was terrible at public speaking when I first started. Afraid, forgetful, shy, terrified, stumbling...I had it all. I would spend hours agonizing about a speech, writing it, trying to memorize it, practicing it and finally surviving, barely, the process of delivering. I kept at it and after quite a few speeches, perhaps 30 or so, I was getting good to great reviews on a fairly consistent basis.

Then Dean Martin entered the picture. Remember Deano? My father loved his music and I can remember watching the Dean Martin show, which I surely did not understand, with my father when I was a young boy. Thru an interesting twist of fate, I was given a Dean Martin CD shortly after I started public speaking and I found myself really enjoying his music. So what on earth does this have to do with public speaking and Toastmasters and trusting your unconscious and capturing and digital tape recorders? Next time....Jack

Trusting Your Unconscious and Capturing

Anyone that sees me in person, or pictures, or video usually notices that I carry a digital tape recorder on a strap around my neck. I seldom or ever leave home without this recorder and I am so determined to have tape recorder with me, should I forget to hang around my neck, that I also keep a recorder in each of my carry on bags and in each of my cars along with extra batteries for each of these recorders. Seems a bit compulsive doesn't it? Well, it is. (By the way, I don't wash my hands 50 times a day, or exhibit other traditionally compulsive behavior.)

Why am I so compulsive about carrying around this little recorder? It is because I have trained myself to trust my completely unconscious processes, to trust that I can and will put together the answers that I want, on whatever issues I am facing, and I want to be sure to "capture" the information when it is presented to me. I know this is not clear yet, but I will make it that way over the next few entries, so come back!

This process has completed transformed how I write, how I create speeches, how I help to find solutions for my clients with their sometimes thorny issues and even what equipment I insist my clients buy to begin working with me. (Many of my past and current clients can be identified by the digital tape recorders they either wear around their necks or carry on their person!)

More on this next time...Jack

Tax time. Wow! How much time do you personally spend working to minimize taxes? I believe that there is no bigger return that you can get for your invested time than studying tax laws. Boring yes! But I have seen so many people wasting perhaps 20% of their annual gross income by ill planned financial structuring of their lives. But this means that you must add this to your areas of annual study. I think it is good to stay in touch with this area of your financial life, but for most of us, it is probably much better to hire this out.

Now at the level that most of you, my readers of this blog operate, you could easily afford to spend $1,000 per month having an expert in taxes, a tax attorney look over your finances each and every month. (Some of you can afford much more!) $12,000 per year. Now I am not talking about a CPA here, I am talking about an attorney that just works with taxes. $12,000 to get back $24,000 or $50,000 or more? Pretty decent rate of return.

Happy day after taxes...bye for now...Jack

The week was/is The Conference on World Affairs in Boulder Colorado. I had forgotten to put this week in my calendar and I live near here. I was able to scramble and fit some of the events into my week, but only a small number compared to what I might usually attend. Here is the link for the Conference this year: http://www.colorado.edu/cwa/information.html .

Imagine taking a week off from work and meeting with experts, who you may or may not agree with, that have flown in from all over the world to speak on topics that are at the world level. Imagine the contacts that you could make, the new ideas you could be exposed to and the possible new ventures or joint ventures that you discover.

I will say it again...I love high level conferences. This one happens to be free except for travel and lodging, but it is still a great one. See you here next year?

Bye for now...Jack

When I was first getting my business going, I created 2 MasterMind groups that I actively participated in. I was in both of these groups at the same time and between them, I probably invested 6 hours per week just in attending and doing my best while I was attending. Now 6 hours is a huge amount of my time so why did I create and attend 2 MMGs? Easy to explain and these 2 groups were actually the best possible use of my time.

I created 1 local group, all different talents and skill sets. This became my board of directors for business in general and was wonderful.

Then, I created a second group, all international and all of us Executive Coaches. We were in slightly different specialities and different geographic markets and because of this, we would share with each other. This became my intensive coaching training MMG. This group was also wonderful.

Now think about the synergy of these 2 kinds of MasterMind groups working together. It was the most valuable and intense learning experience of my life, and I recommend that you consider the same path. One local and varied combined with one as specific at you can make it without violating antitrust laws or sharing protected information.

Till next time...Jack

I wanted to start by thanking Evan Carmichael for his reading and comment on my last post on MasterMind groups. I looked at his site after he commented on my blog and suggest you check it out. This is the link to his blog on MasterMind Group Resources: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Mastermind-Group/index.html . Evan obviously knows a great deal about this subject. Thanks again Evan!

I thought I would start today by talking about sex and MasterMind Groups. Wow, that sounds really more interesting than it really is! MasterMind groups that are well run and well structured tend to last a very long time. I know of groups that have been running for decades and the groups have bought restaurants just to have a consistent meeting and eating environment. (For well done and run MMGs, money rapidly becomes less of an issue for all of the group members. Not a bad side affect!)

But, back to sex and I know you were waiting. Mixed sex MMGs tend to have very short lives or the group turnover tends to be prohibitive and prevent the kind of deep sharing and bonding that is one of the wonders of MasterMind groups. So, if you want a long term group, and we are talking about incredible benefits from this longevity, then keep your group 1 sex. Female only MasterMind groups are wonderful. Male only MasterMind groups are wonderful. Mixed sex MasterMind groups are very interesting, they have a completely different dynamic, they are great for shorter term projects, but they just don't last.

Why? I could guess or hallucinate many reasons, but the bottom line is this: I have never found or created or participated in or even read about a mixed sex MMG that lasted more than 18 months without significant turmoil or turnover, and both of those things are bad for the ultimate results that come from active participation in a Long-Term MasterMind group.

Till next time...Jack

So are you part of a MasterMind group? If yes, I would love to hear about your experiences. If not, then consider forming or joining one. I have been studying MasterMind groups for more than a decade now and have formed 2 that I participated in as a member and I have helped many executives form and recruit for MasterMind groups of their own.

If you are a CEO, and you absolutely love your board of directors, and you have enough clout that you and the board are on equal footing, then perhaps you don't need a MasterMind group. Since I have very seldom met a CEO that could say that all of those statements were true, I am still going to recommend that you explore what this kind of group can do for you.

In the most pure form that I recommend, you form a group with 11 other of the most talented people that you can find, with disparate skills but similar drive and energy and you meet once per week to advance the careers and lives of each other. We will explore this process in depth over the next week or so, it is one that is very close to my heart.

I attended the Boulder Business Expo sponsored by The Boulder Chamber of Commerce today. Couldn't stay long due to gout flaring up, but it was still worthwhile.

I went looking for very specific talent for a Mastermind group that I am helping to build. Didn't find that talent, there just wasn't anyone at the Expo with the skill sets that I was looking for. I was recognized by quite a few people that had seen me speak in the past year around the Colorado Front Range and that was flattering. Of course the ones that come up and introduce themselves are the ones that liked you! The others do not usually come say hi!

Anyhow, I did run across a coaching service for small to mid sized business based on the work of Brian Tracy. I love Brian's work. He was one of the first speakers that I saw live when I was first developing my own coaching and consulting practice. I saw Brian speak in 1989 or 1990. Excellent material. Excellent presentation. You can find his material on tapes and cd's and books and if you haven't treated yourself to this material, then you are overdue!

I liked the idea of a coaching program based on this work. I believe Brian is mostly retired now, but when he was active, he was a well known consultant both through his products and his direct consulting and coaching work with major corporations. Glad to see Brian and his material still out influencing the world in a positive way.

Bye for now...snow in the forecast...well, it is April in Colorado...bye for now...Jack

Hello. It was a typically beautiful spring day here in Colorado. Sunny and cold due to the snow yesterday, but Spring is showing everywhere! I love it!

The last about planning for awhile; if I spend 1 to 3 hours weekly planning, which I surely do, then do I spend other time on planning? Thanks for asking. Well, okay. I realize that I asked for you.

I take one 40 hour week per year and devote it just to planning. Reviewing the past year, moving myself forward 10 years, making sure that I have realistic and stretching goals, getting completely in touch with my reasons...my passions for achieving; I love this week and I have taken this time to plan this way since 1993. I believe this depth of planning, this attention to creating goals that excite me and plans to achieve them, is one of the keys to my success. And it is so motivating! I get to experience my future in advance and then I keep that excitement with me as I take action and get past the inevitable challenges.

I believe it was Jim Rohn that said:

"Never enter a year without knowing what you will accomplish. Never enter a 6 month period in that year without knowing what you will accomplish. Never enter a quarter or a month or a week, without knowing what you will accomplish" This is almost certainly not a perfect quotation, but the thought is there. And it is a philosophy that I have done my best to follow since I first heard it in 1990. May it be of benefit to you as well.

Bye for now and happy planning...Jack

Planning. I invest 1 to 3 hours each and every week planning the week to come. In the early days I did this on Sunday afternoon. Then I moved it to Saturday and now part of every Friday is my time for planning. The important thing is to schedule the time and then show up.

You probably have planning sessions and project updates with your key staff all of the time. Great you should. How about with and for yourself? There is always time for these planning sessions with your staff; why isn't there always time for the planning time with yourself?

An unplanned life seldom leads anywhere you want to go. Properly done, planning keeps you in touch with your why, your purpose. It makes you balance all of the critical aspects of your life. It makes your life more fulfilling by ensuring that you are investing your life in those things that truly matter to you. You may be great at planning your business life. After all, you have gotten to where you are now. But how is it all working with the rest of your life? With your family and favorite hobbies and passions and your health? We will talk more about that as we explore this topic in more depth.

Snowing here tonight in Colorado. Cold, but very pretty.

Bye for now...Jack

Planning. Goal setting. How much time do invest in planning your life? Your corporate life and your personal life and the intersections of both of these? I thought I would start to share how I do my planning, personal and professional, as it such a large part of my consulting and such a huge contributor to all that I have been able to do with my life.

My start in the world of planning was Zig Ziglar. If you haven't listened to Zig or gone to see him, then you are missing out. Fascinating man and fascinating history. He had, probably still has, a great set just about his planning process. This is still a good place to begin.

Then I was introduced to Anthony Robbins and his material. Anthony has a very elegant, although complex to learn, planning system. I learned a tremendous amount here.

I also immersed myself in the material of Jim Rohn. Jim has some great things to say about planning and certainly what he has done served him quite well. I remember hearing him say to "Never start a month until you know what you want to accomplish that month" and "Never start a week until you know what you want to accomplish that week". Both of those statements changed me and I hope they will change you, unless of course you already follow that advice!

Then I have tried planning systems of many types; from some I learned a little, from some I learned nothing. What you will be seeing over time in this category on my blog will be the best of the best of what I have learned about planning in the past 18 years of coaching and business consulting.

Bye for now...Jack

Reading. Want to move up in company size? Want to make it from CFO, CIO, COO to CEO? There are lots of great steps to get there and today we are going to talk about reading. Are you reading the magazines that directly relate to your business? Typically there are 4 magazines for almost any industry that really matter. Do you know what those 4 are for your company / desired company? If you aren't reading industry related magazines, then you are giving away power. You should be reading 4 per month and GQ and Maxim only count for a very few industries!

Books. Read one nonfiction business related book per month. Over time, over really just a year, you will have so many great new ideas and perspectives that you will absolutely shine when compared to your competitors...at board meetings, when interviewing for promotions, when interviewing to change companies...and at dinner parties...a place where many promotions are really decided!

Short on time? Get some audio books. Any decent business bestseller is available this way. Look for the ones read by the author, they just come across better.

Bye for now...Jack

Been away for awhile, quite sick actually. Good news is, I had time to do some reading. How about you? Read any good books lately? I work very hard to read at least 4 nonfiction business related books per month. This is a lot, but I have been gifted with the ability to read fast and absorb well since I was young. More important, I owe this level of knowledge accumulation to my clients. Enough about my reading.

Let me ask you again, read any good books lately? Stephen King doesn't count, neither does the latest from Grisham. If you aren't reading, then let me ask you another question. Are you making all of the money that you want? Are you making all of the money that you want, but your job is shaky? Are you making less money than you want, and your job is shaky? Wowsers! And you aren't reading? Big mistake!

The average male college graduate will read how many business related books after he graduates from college? Any wild guesses? We are talking about in the rest of their business lives now...how many business related books will the average male college graduate read? The answer is 5. 5 books in the balance of their business lifetimes. How quickly could you develop a competitive advantage if you read one business book per month? I can tell you from experience, very quickly indeed.

We will talk more about books in the next entry. For now, go pick up any of the current NYTimes business bestsellers and give your brain a treat. You and your brain both deserve it!

Bye for now...Jack

Headhunters. I liked being one. Once I got the hang of it, and there was a great deal to learn, I really liked this job. I did it well. Well enough that after 3 1/2 years in that business, headhunting, executive search, recruiter, I was able to retire for nearly 10 years while in my early 30's. Well good for me, so what? I'll tell you so what...I liked being a headhunter and you should like, no you should love staying in great touch with a few. They can be your absolute best friends in the business world.

So, why should you love headhunters? (Good ones, and finding those is another story)

• They can find you talent that will rocket your business into the highest reaches of the sky...talent that you would never find on your own.
• They can tell you what you should pay to get the kind of person you need.
• They can tell you the kind of person you need.
• They can call you first, with your dream job, at your dream salary, at your dream location...as long as they know you, like you and trust you...and that is another story!

My next post will continue the headhunter stories...they are fun and I hope you already have a few headhunter friends...in the world economy we work in today...this is a must.

Bye for now...Jack

Do you make a habit of going to expense conferences? You should. Why expensive? Because you get what you pay for and the price of admission will virtually guarantee that there will be people there that you should meet and stay in touch with.

Let me recommend one that I expect will be excellent. The New Yorker Conference / 2012: Stories from the near future. May 06 +07, 2007 in New York City. $1200 a ticket and I expect you would be hard pressed to find a more valuable conference to attend this year. For more information www.conference.newyorker.com .

Networking. This event and events like it are for networking. Yes, the speakers will be good, perhaps great, but the real focus on an event like this is always networking.

Remember when I was talking about always being job hunting? Networking is the main part of that. If you become well networked, and stay that way, I can virtually guarantee that you will never have to go looking for work...work will always come looking for you.

Hope to see you at the conference...if we can both get away! Bye for now...Jack

More about job hunting today. My years as a headhunter / executive recruiter taught me many great things and one of them is critical for you to understand: it is hugely, massively, incredibly easier to find a job when you have a job. Did I use enough "ly" endings to catch your attention? Please take note.

When you have a job, you can find a better job...always. When you are out of work, for whatever reason, your fault, the company's fault, no one's fault, it just doesn't matter, your marketability has gone down by at least 10 fold. That is a lot of fold!

Is this fair? No, it isn't. But it is true and ignore this at your own risk and the risk of your finances. The old saying: "Never quit a job until you have a job." Remember that one? Some old sayings keep turning up because the kernel of truth is still there...more on job hunting later...bye for now...Jack

Job Hunting. When should you be job hunting? When your company is doing poorly? When you have just seen the numbers for last quarter and you know there will be repercussions company wide? When your boss has pissed you off for the last time? Well all of these times are okay, but the best answer is different...you should be job hunting all of your employed life. Let me repeat, you should be job hunting all of your employed life. Indeed, you should become a master of this unique skill set...the skills of finding jobs that you love, doing something you believe in, working for and with people you like and respect, and making the kind of money that let's you manifest your dreams.

So how do you continually look for work while you are already employed? And what about my current employer? And what about loyalty to my company? And how do I protect myself while I am job hunting? Excellent questions. Come back again and we will talk about them...bye for now...Jack

Why Blog? If you are one of the key executives in a large corporation, blogging is a great way to stay in touch with all of the people in a downline reporting relationship. You can tell your associates your thoughts, help to preserve and enhance the culture that you want and even find out who is really doing the work and who is just really good at taking credit. Hint...enable comments on your blog.

If you are a middle level manager or entry level employee, I think you are better off never discussing anything to do with your employer on a blog. It is unlikely to help you, and can easily harm you.

Till next time constant reader...Jack

I read Blog...Understanding the Information Reformation by Hugh Hewitt.

I would say this one is worth your time, especially if you are the one that needs to make informed decisions regarding Blogs and how they impact your company. Notice I didn't say might impact your company. Blogs are impacting your organization whether you realize it or not.

The only real downside to this book is the publication date...2005. In the world of blogging, this is a very long time indeed.

Till next time...Jack

You will notice a LinkedIn icon added to my blog. I had been invited many times to join someone's network on LinkedIn and had never done so. Last week I attended a 5 hour training on this business networking tool and now I am a believer. If you are in the corporate world and are not part of this network, you are giving away opportunities and resources that you did not even know that you had!

For some outside credibility, go look at Guy Kawasaki's blog. This is a pretty decent blog and I like much of what Guy holds dear. http://blog.guykawasaki.com and then go to the archives for January of this year. January 4th and January 16th are two blog entries detailing some great information about being a part of LinkedIn. Go check it out!

Till next time...Jack

I begin with every client in the same way. I check to see if they are clear on where they are going...really clear on exactly what they want in their lives and what they feel is in their way and if they are not clear, which is true of nearly 95% of my clients when they first start to work with me, then we work together to create their compelling future.

Hear me clearly...their compelling future, not my vision of what they "Should Want".

Is your compelling future in place?

Here is what I think should be in your compelling futures:

At least your 5 most important goals in the next 12 months.

At least your 5 most important goals for the next 36 months.

At least your 5 most important goals for the next 10 years of your life.

So, obviously I want my clients to be clear on what they are going for. What else is involved?

Come back to the next update constant reader...bye for now...Jack

I am starting a seminar series next week for The Boulder Chamber of Commerce that I called "The 8 Foundational Business Skills Seminars". The vast majority of the audience will be small business owners or the employees of small business owners. So what does this seminar series have to do with prospering and massive achievement and fun in Corporate Business? Let's look at the titles of the 8 seminars:

Creating Compelling Futures aka Your Futures so Bright You've Got to Wear Shades!

Positive Self Motivation Strategies aka Do What You Must and Have a Blast While Doing It!

Excellence in Planning aka Way Past the PDA

Effective Networking aka From 1st Meeting to Referral Relationship

Rapport aka The Words You Say Hardly Matter...Learn What Does!

Building a 100% Referral Business aka Prequalified, Presold, Full Margin and Wonderful

Creating and Maintaining Peak Emotional States aka Who is Driving This Bus Anyway?

Fearless Self Promotion aka Fear into Power

As I looked at these titles today, making the final tweaks in my material to really provide the best information to my mostly small business audience, I realized that these same skills would wonderfully enhance and transform the business life of any executive.

For you, faithful readers, what would your life be like if you really mastered all of these skills?

This series was originally titled "Your Rock Solid Foundation, Best Year Ever, Let's Finally Get Moving and Create our Dream Business and Have a Blast While Doing It Seminar Series". I still like that title, but some felt it was perhpas a nibble long.

Bye for now...Jack

Welcome. This blog will provide insights and tips and solid tested advice taken from my 22 years of experience of coaching in "Corporate America". That's the pool of existing knowledge and it is significant.

My business and consulting knowledge is also growing rapidly each and every week. I am an avid reader of business nonfiction and I still work one on one with select clients in executive positions around the world. My client identities are always held in strictest confidence, as are the details of our work together. That said, my knowledge and experience is always cutting edge and you will also hear about the latest and rarely (in my experience) greatest trends and theories.

So, why should you read this blog? Here are just a few of the topics I work with: Career Advancement Techniques, Surviving Corporate Politics, Prospering thru Corporate Politics, Achieving More while Working Less, The Path from CFO to CEO, moving from CEO Fortune 2000 to CEO Fortune 500, Compensation Review Plans, Working with your Board of Directors and many more.

Come back often!