BradyandBeyond

The Great Human Network

It is a confusing time. Data, names, faces, positions, elders, 12 step programs, directions, new streets, developments, technology etc…. At the stroke of a key on google you can find over a million related pages to just about anything you type in. The internet is an amazing tool. While being such an amazing tool it also has sent individuals running down thousands of different paths. Many it has divided and built up walls that might have not been there before. According to the inventors of the internet it’s original purpose was to help people work together, enabling everyone to be more collaborative and cooperative, sharing and supporting not just buying and selling.

Amidst the mass confusion lies a major trend in the social frame and market place. That is the supremacy of Social Capital. Simply put, it is the value of the human connection.

At different points in time the world has put intellectual, financial, real property as king of capital. Now more than ever before the most effective and leveraging is social capital.

When the static is stripped away, it is human networks that get the task done.

What is social capital? It is the collective value of people who know each other and what they’ll do for each other.

We have a great resource in the internet. It enables us to know each other better than years before. Social networks cannot replace face to face interaction but it can be a place to initiate action.

At some point reading a book replaced storytelling, and now is widely excepted. Now we have another great tool to share our personal ideas, stories, convictions.

Yes, we could sit around and argue with those who abuse the privilege, through deception, lying, cheating and stealing or we could use our abilities to follow a vision and purpose to influence internet users to our way of life and business.

If used in a healthy way social media/networking can impact our cities and communities in a way that is greater than all of us. Remember-it is the human network that makes things happen.

-Leaders who accomplish great tasks will be right in the middle of those human networks.

Anatomy of Goals.

Friction is best. I once bought into thinking once the race is over it will get easier. Since the beginning of schooling, from Kindergaten up I believed that one day I would finish school. Life would become easy after that.

I truly thought I could rest once I had accomplished a degree of some sort. The issue was in the anatomy or the very skeleton of my goal.

Goals are set for reasons. An end point is not a good enough reason to set a goal. This is what I had done for myself.

Goals are more like vehicles than starting/ending points.

Yes, I too am stunned at the amount of planning that goes into something great. It seems everything requires plans. Once you lay out a plan, you must plan again for each step leading up to the ultimate completed master plan.

If you have a good idea, planning and setting goals are worth it.

This information is alot to process. However, next time you set a goal, you should understand that true goals lead you to another begining. When you set a goal make sure you know where you want to go when you complete your first then second and third goals.

These are goals worth setting. Anatomy that will bring you success.

Inspiration from Tiger

For those of you that have boarded up all doors that lead to enjoying one of the greatest athletes to ever step foot on a golf course, pull out the sledge hammer now. You don’t have to admit you have been inspired by Tiger Woods and his legacy, but just watch this video, be inspired, and go make your moment.

A follower of Oprah..

I have always had an opinion about what Oprah is doing. Who doesn’t? But I rarely voice my opinion, in fact I don’t even want to focus on anything specfic that she is doing to better the world. I do want to focus on something she does to better her world.

Constant communication. I bet her face, voice, or name is seen or heard by atleast 3/4 of America once a month. Alright fine, I won’t argue how often or how many Americans experience what I have previously noted. However, I want you to think back on your life and try to think of a time you had totally forgotten about Oprah.

Early in my professional career I would spend hours trying to think up difficult solutions for difficult people. The longer I have studied solutions for businesses, I have found the solution is usually simple. It is the problems that are difficult to pin point.

So what does that have to do with being a follower of Oprah? Oprah is a walking textbook of how to succeed. Constantly communicating quality. That is one solution to many issues that a business faces.

Don’t jump to conclusions, that anyone can do this. There are more than 2, 3 and 5 faces to great communication to make it worth your while. However, it is a start to realize one of your issues might be in your companies ability to constantly commnicate quality to the community you work with……..

(to be continued) next posts will deal with the following topics.

shift from your weakness to your strength.

best ways to consistently communicate.

taking advantage of the time.

is technology on successes side or not.

Slap Your Employers……

Slap Your Employer, Make Em’ Earn Their Keep…

In my early developmental years (teenage years) I believed everyone had the same outlook as me. Life beyond me;  my wants, my needs and outlook was beyond my imagination. Call it selfish but it took till about 20 years of age to realize there was life and opinion beyond me.

Just yesterday I sat down with one of the first 100 employees of Philips Petroleum. An older man now, he talked about the culture and outlook of the workplace in the 40s and 50s.

During these times there was a shift from “all for one, and one for all”, to “one for one as long as one won”. Trying saying that one time fast.

Over the past 4 to 6 years of my life I have realized that while corporate America is making a strong push towards team work in the work place, we are still stuck in a horrible rut. The well mannered culture of organizations are torn. Co-workers do not see the benefit of helping others sour with success.

Bob, the man that worked in early Philips Petroleum slowly watched this all for one mentality fade away. Part of the reason for this was the high level of education and leadership abilities that started coming into the organization. Instead climbing the employment pole, they would simply move on into leadership roles. This was a great idea but some people that were already in the organization did not take it to well. It ultimately divided the organization and tore apart the great corporate culture.

These ideals rattled corporations across America. In fact it is still apart of corporate structure today. There is a change however. The current generation  of young adults are changing the face of corporate culture. Like anything it requires change from the top down, with a fair amount of investment, shifting, and restructuring.

The change is happening in relationships and the ability to connect employees on personal levels. Not only making friends but benefiting the company by helping employees feel as though they have a personal stake in the company.

This change recognizes that feelings do matter. It is about building small interest communities. It is not forcing someone into an already prefabricated community, but it is letting someone build communities within the workplace ultimately making the workplace their own.

Why does this benefit the employer or corporate executives? Less retention, and fall out.

Why would an employee leave there friends?

I do understand why someone would leave an employer if they had no investment, friends or community at work. However, it is a lot easier to keep an employee around when you provide a great work atmosphere, and provide them a reason to show up day after day.

McDonalds says it costs them approximately $15,000 on top of any salary to train an employee. So it would be important for them to keep a fully trained employee around.

Would you rather spend your money on building the organization and the future, or would you rather write checks for job fillers, and catch up?

I would say the two most important resources to a corporation are first employees, second the quality of culture. The rest will follow.

Don’t start asking yourself what can this particular employee can do for you, but what can you do for them. Like Zig Ziglar once said. -You can get anything you want in life if you help enough people get what they want.

For Community Building Solutions inquiry brady@getbrandswag.com

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