Mark Watson

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

In my business we are always looking for game changers.  A game change can be a person, technology, or service/delivery method.  Companies that have gave changers are successful.

People that are game changers don’t live status quo.  They see problems as opportunities.  They rise to the occasion and more times than not win for the team and in doing so change the game in which it has been previously played.

Which are you – a game player or a game changer?

We are the sum of our choices.  Sometimes that rule seems unfair, especially when we’ve made some poor choices.  But the good news is, most choices aren’t terminal.  We actually do get second chances.  That means if we want to change the sum, we have to change our choices.  I understand life’s not fair and that bad breaks happen.  But still, how we respond and the decisions we make in response still determine the sum.

No matter what you want different in your life, it will not happen unless different decisions are made to affect the outcome.  If you want better grades, study differently.  If you want better finances, make different earning and spending decisions.  If you want to get fit, well, you get the idea.

One of the things learned in business that can be carried over to personal life is the process for making improvements.  Several years ago I had the good fortune of working with one of the original founders of the Toyota Production System.  Not only did Mr. Masaoka-san teach me about discipline but also an acronym called PDCA.

P – Plan.  Develop a detailed plan on how you are going to achieve your desired results.

D – Do.  Implement and work the plan.

C – Check.  Set up a short increment of time and check your results.  Are you getting closer to your planned goal?

A – Act.  Make adjustments to your plan (if needed), improvements to make sure you achieve your plan.

You continue this same process for every desired result in your life.  Make the process a habit and enjoy your results.

Anytime there is an economic recession, there is a potential for bad things to happen to the American worker.  This past recession was no exception.  During this unprecedented shedding of jobs, some companies resorted to humiliation, strong-arming, and down-right worker intimidation.

It is the unfortunate law of supply and demand.  When there are more workers than there are jobs, there is a potential for unethical companies and managers to leverage this power for short term gain and worker exploitation.  They use it as a time to cut salaries, increase work hours, force retirements, and unfair hiring and dismissal practices.  Workers are too scared to complain for fear they will be the next one targeted for reduction.

The year 2010 will see the second fall of certain businesses, executives, and managers.  Those who chose to exploit workers during the time when supply of workers were plentiful, will be punished when the economy starts to grow again.

Workers will flee these organizations and managers like the plague.  They will loose talent at a record pace.  The workers will ”punish” them for their past behavior.  The guilty companies will not only have a loss of talent and potential disruptions with the customer, but will also face increased hiring and retention costs.  Thus creating the next wave of failed businesses and executives.

I’ve been fortunate to work for a company of high ethical standards.  Some of my friends haven’t been so lucky.

Galatians 6:7 . . . “A man reaps what he sows.”  The same goes for businesses too!

How many times have you failed in keeping your New Year’s Resolutions?  Most every time?  Me too.  Here are some tips to minimize the failure, if not eliminate it all together: 

1. Be realistic.  Don’t set a resolution that is not you.  If you can’t swim, making a resolution to complete a triathlon may not be realistic.
2. Set only one or two resolutions maximum.  If your first resolution is to quit smoking, your second resolution should not be to loose weight.  Make sense?
3. When you do settle on what you want for your resolution(s), spend some time on the how.  What habits or routines are you going to change to help you achieve your resolution?
4. State your resolution publicly and buddy up with someone for accountability. 

If you follow this simple method, I can promise you won’t be disappointed.  What resolutions are you going to succeed at in 2010?

Recently I had the opportunity to speak to the students in the College of Business at Arkansas State University. Since that time I’ve had several people ask me, “What did you say?”

I won’t go through the whole speech here, but I did find my notes and thought I would share the highlights.

Today’s Business Environment

1. Every business is affected internationally – Think Global
2. Most government involvement ever – Must stay current
3. Some corruption and “heavy handed” in corporate environment – Commit to ethical behavior now

Your Responsibility as an Employee

1. Be a problem solver and solutions provider – Be worth more than your salary
2. Do more than what is required
3. Ask for honest feedback on a regular basis from your peers and supervisor.  Don’t wait for your annual performance appraisal

Personal Responsibility

1. Be a continuous learner – Your education don’t stop when you graduate
2. Be a student of leadership – Don’t wait till you become a supervisor before you learn to lead
3. Become a person of integrity – Feed your spiritual side to remain healthy

As most of you know, I prefer Twittering to Facebook.  I love all the people I follow.  Some of the people I follow on Twitter are for friendship, some family, and some for the “little nuggets” they tweet throughout the day.

A few weeks ago, Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, twittered about winning a book on his blog if you would leave a comment.  The book he was giving away was Mentor Like Jesus by Regi Campbell.

The title of the book intrigued me.  I also felt that I had benefitted from some good mentors at various points in my life.  My father passed away during my teen years and some of the men that showed an interest in me during that time were invaluable.  And then later during my business career,  I benefitted again from several men, specifically from Bob Fisher, now President of Belmont University in Nashville.

Not only was I selected by Mike to receive the book, but Chris Hornsby from Next Generation Mentoring contacted me saying if I didn’t get selected to receive the book, he wanted to send me one.  Chris and I exchanged a couple of emails about Next Generation Mentoring including sending me a link for further information.

Long story short – this book was humbling.  The objective of the book is to get men into a mentor – mentee relationship.  Regi describes throughout the book a “how-to” approach to setting up mentoring groups and offers a template and materials for a year-long relationship for a nominal fee.

Here are my issues.  While I would have no problem setting up a relationship like this with eight men, I have made a TON of mistakes.  I’m pretty sure there aren’t eight men I know who would be interested in doing this with me.  There are better mentors.

With the above said, this is a great book.  Mentor Like Jesus is a perfect rationale and template for mentoring.  If you think you could be a mentor, get this book.  If you think you would like to find a mentor, get this book.  If you’ve benefited from mentoring – pay it forward!

Primal is a book whose time has come.  In this day of complexity and multiple choices, the gospel gets lost in confusion, denominationalism, and politics.  Primal is a call to reformation.  A reformation back to where you met God and God met you.

Primal is a call to live the Great Commandment . . . or Primal Commandment.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

What would happen to this world if a movement of people really lived the Great Commandment?  What if our churches were all about this Commandment and less about religion and doing church?  As Mark states, “Christianity was never intended to be a noun.  And when we turn it into a noun it becomes a turnoff.  God doesn’t reward what we know.  He doesn’t reward what we say.  He rewards the expenditure of energy.”

Implementing Primal is daring.  It’s exciting.  It ignites the next reformation of God’s people.  It’s regaining the fire that obsessed Christ’s disciples that turned the world upside down.  It moves Christianity from a noun to an action verb once again.

This book is a must read for pastors, church leaders, and small group leaders.  Read, discuss, and start a new reformation.  Make Primal the 1^st book your read in 2010!

I just finished reading the book De-Railed by Tim Irwin, Ph.D.  My thoughts through the early part of the book were “Ouch!  This is cruel!”  The critical review of six failed CEO’s seemed brutal at times. 

Being in leadership most of my life, I’ve never had to look far to find critics no matter what my results or methods.  But, as I continued to read the lessons learned from each CEO, I began to think how this could apply to some of my managers or CEO’s under which I had previously served.  I kept thinking,  “how could I get (insert name here) to read this book.  Maybe they would see the error of their ways and change.”

By the end of the book, I realized that all these potentials for derailment were me!  It had nothing to do with my boss or my CEO.  It was about what I needed to do to prevent the possibility of being ”De-Railed.”

I was still pretty confident in myself even though I knew this applied to me.  I felt sure once I took the free on-line assessment that  I would have little if anything to work on.  But to be sure, I took the assessment.  The results of the assessment made the book personal.  I have work to do.

It is my intention to share my results with a select few and give this book to my whole staff.  My biggest regret is not having access to something like this available earlier in my career.

De-Railed is a must read for anyone in leadership or aspiring to leadership.  It is NOT a business book.  It is a leadership book.  When you finish – take the assessment and take actions to stay on track!

I was chatting on Twitter with a good friend who lives in Florida this week when he used the term “A mile wide and an inch deep” to describe a situation we were talking about.  The phrase stuck with me throughout the weekend.

The Urban Dictionary defines the phrase A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep this way:  Impressive at first but with experience, found to be stupid or unimaginative.  A pretty good interpretation, if I do say so myself.

We see this in people, relationships, organizations, businesses, churches, and governments.  It usually happens when we work on appearance or self promotion more than internal growth and depth that we become this way.  Or, it could be we totally lack mission or committment.  Either way we are hollow eggs.  Once cracked – nothing comes out.

If you want to read something really awakening, look at the article from Daylight Atheism about Christianity in this country today.  They use the same term, a mile wide and an inch deep, when referring to Christianity in this country.

How are you growing deeper and not just more wide?

There is a crisis going on in this country.  No, it’s not the economy.  It’s worse.  There is a leadership void.  I see it almost everywhere I look.  It see it in our homes, businesses, churches, and government.  It’s everywhere.

We have people “in charge.”  Or those that give themselves the title as “leader” but fail miserably at leading.  I loved the quotes on Twitter this week by Pastor Rick Warren who said, “I’m unimpressed by guys energetic to lead but allergic to serving.  Dont tell me you love to lead.  Love being a servant.  Matt 20:26.“  His next tweet said, “Leader is not a title you give yourself.  It is given by others after sacrificing & putting their needs first.  Mk.10:45.”

Here is what I look for when looking for potential leaders to head a project in my business.

1. Followers.  Do they currently have any followers?
2. Scope.  What is the scope of their leadership today.  Are they able only to lead like-minded people or are they able to build consensus across different viewpoints?
3. Integrity.  Do they stay true to Godly principles?
4. Accomplishments.  How big is their accomplishment pile today.  Do they have any successes or just a lot of attempts?  They must be results oriented. 
5. Steadfastness.  Will they weather the storms as the waves get bigger.  Or, do they have a history of quitting when it gets hard.
6. Tough calls.  Will the leader make the tough calls?  Admit when something stinks and tell the team.  Or do they work on being so politically correct the message is lost?

Take a look at those around you and see how many will meet the above criterion.  Most of all do you meet that criterion?  If not, when are you going to start?