Quotable: "The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes." - Benjamin Disraeli

An essential component of consistent performance in a professional environment, business or sport, is preparation. Applicable anywhere in life, the more you, or the bigger you, want to build anything, the more solid the foundation needs to be.

Bad day at the office?

Remember the last time you were in a really good mood at work? You probably felt great, and you probably did a great day's work too.And did you notice the effect you had on other people?
Good moods can be incredibly contagious! Sadly the converse is true – bad moods are just as contagious, and they can really drag the people around you down. This is particularly true if you're a leader. As a leader, your mood directly increases or diminishes the performance of your team.

It's something of a tall order to be in a good mood all the time; But it's well worth understanding how your mood can affect performance, and learning some strategies to harness the positive effects and avoid the negative.

top factors in goal achievement

If there is one question - or comment, actually, I get from people who have yet to start changing their thought and belief patterns is that many of them set goals... lots of goals. Big goals.
1- Identify the thing you want or what you want to achieve and write it down.
2- Write down all the reasons you want it, emotionally,spiritually, etc. What will achieving it give you, how will you feel? This is for motivation.
3- Know your obstacles and challenges. Write down your limitations that might stop you.
4- Find out what you'll need to know/learn and find outwhere to get the help and who can help you... get theadvice, ask for help.
5- Put a deadline on when you want and expect to achieve the goal.
6- Create your plan... all the things that will need to be done to reach the goal.
7- Imagine yourself already having achieved the goal.
8- Keep going. Stick with it. Don't give up.

Student Leaders

Congratulations to those being chosen as Student Leader for your school. The fact that you have been given this honour must not detract from the importance of the role. For those not chosen, lessons can still be learnt;

It's important to take the time to reflect on your own leadership development. A vital student leader seldom waits for failure before appraising his or her leadership skills. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself before accepting the role.

1. How and where do I have influence?
Influence - not position or power - makes a student leader successful.

1. What is my current level of influence at school ?
2. How often do others turn to me for direction or approval?
3. Do I see evidence of my influence with those whom I work for and those who work for me?
4. Who influences me and how?
Remember, we often adopt both the strengths and weaknesses of those around us, so make sure you are not being influenced in a way that leads you away from your goals.
5. In what new areas can I extend my influence?
It may be a new club or community project, a new alliance, or a new group of friends.

2. Where can I improve my people skills?
Someone can lead for a season based on position or problem-solving ability, but success in the long run depends on the ability to get along with and develop people.

1. How can I improve my listening skills?
2. How can I discover what motivates those whom I lead?
3. Am I willing to ask more questions and get more input from others?

3. Do I have a positive outlook?
A positive attitude alone doesn't identify a capacity for student leadership, but a negative spirit will always diminish a person's leadership potential. Never forget that a crisis situation is precisely when leadership is most noticed and valued.

1. When am I most tempted to display a bad attitude?
2. Who do I know that has a negative outlook? Do I allow them to influence me?
3. What kinds of strategies can I implement when I'm tempted to become negative?

4. Do I see evidence of growth in self-discipline?

1. Am I disciplined in my use of time?
2. Do I have worthwhile goals?
3. Are there any evidences of lack of self-discipline in my appearance or work habits?

5. Do I have a proven track record of success as a student leader?
Some people work like crazy and never accomplish anything. Past success is a key predictor of future success.

1. What have I accomplished that I am proud of?
2. Did those accomplishments include others?
3. How does my experience relate to what I need today?
4. Am I willing to put forth the effort again?

6. How are my problem-solving skills?
Many people are impressed with their ability to spot a problem. Identifying a problem is easy; just about anyone can do it. Student leaders must solve problems.

1. When I encounter a problem, do I think of solutions or excuses?
2. Do people approach me when they need help solving a problem?
3. What techniques/strategies have I developed to solve problems?


7. Do I have a big-picture mindset?
How often do you step back to maintain perspective, especially in the face of distractions or pressure? Keeping a sense of direction when the fog of fatigue sets in is a trait of a gifted leader.

1. When am I most tempted to just live from event to event?
2. What sort of reminders do I have in place to keep me mindful of the big picture?
3. Who is someone who keeps me accountable for maintaining a view of the big picture?


Finally remember the AAA solution for any problems that may come your way during your term of office;

1. Attitude - must always be positive.
2. Abilities - must strive for excellence.
3. Actions (and InterActions) - must add value to others.


Next month: What is your vision for next year?

Teamwork

The concept of teamwork is extremely important to the success of any team. All coaches talk about working as one unit, as a unified team. Teamwork and unselfishness create the backbone of a great team, without them a team cannot realistically compete. You can have a group of superstars, but if they do not work well as one unit, chances are they are not going to be as successful as you would think. The team working as one cohesive unit is going to be the key in their success.
Here are some things to take into consideration when you are looking at your team:● Does your team have agreed-upon goals they created as a team?● Do the players openly encourage and support one another?● Do they have open communication with one another, as well as the coaching staff?● Does each player know what their role on the team is?● Is there mutual respect among the players and coaching staff?● Do players use statements such as ‘we’ when referring to the team, or is it more of an ‘every man for himself ’mentality?● Have they created a positive team image for themselves?● Are the individual contributions of each player recognised (regardless of whether he/she is a starter or not a starter)?● Is the team as a whole committed to improving performance?● Does each member consider themselves as a ‘team player’?
A productive team has players that share common goals, a common vision and have some level of interdependence that requires both verbal and physical interaction. Teams come into existence through shared attitudes about a particular sport. They may come together for a number of different reasons, but their goals are the same – to achieve peak performance and experience success. The ends may differ but the means by which one gets there is the same – teamwork. Every member of the team is accountable when it comes to teamwork.
To succeed at the task in hand everyone involved needs to combine their efforts. If everyone does their job well, then it increases what the team can accomplish. This teamwork has to be recognised by everyone and know that great things can happen if individuals master the fundamentals and work together as one unit. Everyone has their own unique role, but each person’s individual role must be recognised and appreciated. Teamwork is something that must be a high priority and given constant attention. Every player needs to understand how important it is for them to work smoothly together if they want to be successful. Each player must be dedicated to the whole team and be willing to act unselfishly. When challenges arise (as they always do), the team needs to have the resources, accountability and commitment to deal with them in a constructive and positive manner. A sense of teamwork will play an integral part in this. Just remember TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More!

Vision - You control your future

The vision thing can often be tricky for student leaders or in fact for most people.
Your vision may simply be wanting to do your best. Often, students will tell me their vision is "to have the best year ever." But what does that mean?
Left on its own, it sounds more like a mission statement.
Anyone stepping into student leadership can say, "I want to have the best year ever, we want to be the best group ever." But that statement doesn't say anything unique about your situation, it's not measurable, and it will end up meaning different things to different people.
A vision is simply a picture of where you'd like to end up.
It gives people a sense of the big picture and helps others get a sense of where the group is headed.
For example, Emile was elected as a Student Representative for next year. Emile shared his vision with Talk the Talk. His vision is for his class to create a park, filled with trees, in front of the main office block for students to enjoy. He announced that this would be the matric gift to the school for 2008.
As a part of this vision, the other students on the council realized they would need to do more fund raisers, coordinate the plans with the Headmistress, and begin right away to make this project a possibility.
A vision doesn't have to give all of the details, but it needs to be specific enough that people can figure out what details need to happen.
The idea of a new park in front of the main buildings was unique for this class. It is measurable - the class will know if they accomplished the vision or not. Plus, it gives added meaning to all of the other events which precede it’s opening. Fund raisers will be more than raising money for the class, they were for getting resources to complete the park.
One of the best ways to communicate a vision is to paint a picture and put your people in it. Continue to talk about it and let people’s imagination see themselves there.
EXERCISE:* What type of project or event can you imagine accomplishing during your student leader year?* Are there projects that are on-going from past years which you need to complete in your student leader year?* How can you turn your vision into a picture people can see themselves in?
A clear vision provides people with an idea of what is possible. A vision will point toward a change in the future. Hoping that it will happen is not a strategy.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: What kind of vision will you offer those you lead next year?
SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT: Write your vision below and see how it feels when you read it.
My Vision for 2008 is ...


Think seriously about this...
Anxiety and fear strips away courage and makes great performances impossible.
Doubt makes even the best decisions feel difficult.
Anger rips your focus away from your goals.
Frustration can only serve to make you quit.
Guilt makes it impossible to enjoy any successes you achieve.
Jealousy and envy create dishonesty, hate and corruption.
Your thoughts and emotions are the only things that can truly stop you.
Likewise, the only things that can help you to do, be and have anything you want in life are also your thoughts and emotions. Next month Talk the Talk will look at responsible partying, where’s hot and what’s not

Where has all our spirit gone?

According to modern day psychologists, we can measure the quantity to which our spirit is in crisis by the speed of our lives. If this is the case, we are suffering a serious spiritual crisis in the modern world.
Moreover, we are guiding our children into the crisis at earlier and earlier ages, and it should be little wonder to us that we see our young people turning to alcohol and drugs for escape or relief. It should be little wonder to us that we have one of the highest rates of teenage suicide in the world.

As educators, we have the choice of either be responsible for the situation or helping our students learn to cope with the insane pace of our lives and still live a human life.
Of course, we cannot go back to the conventional lifestyle of our parents, but we can help youngsters learn to step away from the madness, help them learn to find the "calm inner core of their universe" within themselves.

Our children are continuously trying to keep up with the increasing volume of information, on ‘face book’, ‘mxit’, ‘my space’ , continuously trying to stay abreast of the rapid changes in technology, iPods, palmtops and cellular communicators and forever trying to keep pace with the ever-accelerating expansion of knowledge and its applications can only lead them away from ourselves.

We should spend more time teaching wisdom and less time teaching information. Only by teaching young people to think, to take time to sift information, to decide how to let information affect their lives will we help them cope with the future. Most of the skills and facts we give them today will be obsolete within a few years. What we need to teach are techniques to manage information, to control the speed of life, to stay in touch with their humanity, to follow through with the belief of ‘Ubuntu’ despite the disrespect of human dignity around them. Otherwise, we are contributing to the growing crisis rather than helping to solve it.

What I find so interesting is how often we purposely hide our human spirit. As if it were a switch that could be flipped on or off. Off to hide the deep sorrow, the humility of disappointing ourselves, the anger of knowing that we are only one individual, and not the all mighty.

So I ask you to look at your world as it is; look closely and you will see your spirit, you will see it playing, loving and delighting you in the midst of your own

So look at life, look at the world as it is; look closely, and you will see God-- playing, loving, and delighting in the very midst of His own created Being. It takes but a single glimpse into the true nature of Reality -- and by Reality we mean both the spiritual fabric of the created material world, as well as the enduring Selfhood that remains forever untouched and aloof from our own personal psychologies and physiologies-- to dispel the illusions of the sorrowful man’s clouded and ignorant worldview. But a single glimpse … and our hearts and minds are forever free of pain and sorrow. But a single glimpse … and our entire being is permanently opened to a heavenly flood of blissful joy. But few know where to look; and it is very difficult to convince most men and women-- especially ‘religious’ men and women-- that the vision of God is already so near to their very own eyes.