http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com John Blumberg Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:23:30 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1615 Often times the circumstances in which we find ourselves in are beyond our control ... but the RESPONSE we choose is not!  As a leader, how are you equipping yourself for response?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/04/john-tv-episode-81-responding/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:13:52 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1612 Today’s post is the featured article from the March 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription There has been a lot written about trust in the last decade. It is probably a systemic reflection of the lack of trust that has evolved. You might say there is some rust in our trust. Some great wisdom has been shared in these recent writings. I especially gained valuable insight in the works by Stephen M.R. Covey (The Speed of Trust) and my good friend, Joe Healey (Radical Trust). Stephen's subtitle reveals the value of his work ... The One Thing that Changes Everything. Likewise, Joe's subtitle does the same ... How Today's Great Leaders Convert People to Partners. Both works reflect the imperative nature of trust. Just over a decade ago, I wrote a cover story article titled Searching to Find Trust Again. A lot had happened in the months just preceding writing that article. There had been Enron, Worldcom and the related implosion of Arthur Andersen. We had witnessed the unthinkable on September 11th and the largest US airline declaring bankruptcy for the first time. In the same preceding months, news broke from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of a sex-abuse scandal that would spread beyond anyone's imagination. So many examples coming week after week that would so visibly erode the very nature of trust. You might say we were getting RUSTworthy. As I wrote that article, my hope would be that there was a point where you could draw a line in the sand and begin to search for trust again. My prayers would be that there were mistakes made and powerful lessons learned on many fronts. I suppose those have been the hopes and prayers of many generations. The narrative of the decade to follow would not bring fulfillment to my hopes and prayers but it would not diminish them either. It just made me think there was something more than trust. It wasn't until I started writing GOOD to the CORE, years later, that I fell into the answer. It would be this issue of core values ... personal and organizational. Every event that has diminished trust can be traced to the rusting of the core. That is if the core ever existed to begin with. I would fully agree with Covey's potent formula of character + competency = trust. I believe this is true on both an individual and organizational level. Yet, it is precisely core values that drive this formula on all levels. Core values make your metal rust-proof. And where there is no rust ... you will generally find trust. Left unnoticed, rust will attack the constructive design of any metal. Unless it grabs your immediate attention (and you respond with immediate corrective action), it creates a destructive path of no return. We can't just desire trust. Nor can we demand it. We can certainly give it away ... but there is no such gift that rust won't eventually destroy. We have to deeply desire to work on the fabric of trust. And it is work. It is inspiring work, but it is work. Core values are the work of great leaders. I am fully convinced when leaders deeply embrace the hard work of core values you will rarely find rust. I also find that it takes a bold and courageous leader ... who is willing to lose everything for the sake of intentionally defined core values! There you will find an organization that gains everything. For leaders, I had typically thought of this as a process of discovery. But recently, I went back and re-read my own article on Searching to find Trust Again. It was there I realized, for many leaders, it isn't a process of discovery at all. It is a process of re-discovery! My daughters, Kelly and Julie, will graduate from college in June and December respectively. That means when I wrote this article they were only in the fifth and fourth grades. As part of writing the article, I decided to do a little "trust" experiment with them. I simply asked them to make a list of descriptions of a great friend ... the kind of friend you could really trust. Their combined elementary school list amazed me: 1.  Keeps secrets (i.e. respects confidentiality) 2.  Helps me when I'm hurting or don't understand something 3.  Doesn't leave me behind 4.  Doesn't lie 5.  Helps people who don't have many friends 6.  Cheerful 7.  Giving 8.  Kind-hearted 9.  Loving 10. Listens to what you have to say Like a carefully refined metal, trustworthiness is fired into us. For we have always known ... we started that way! As a leader, the important question is ... will you end that way? Rust finds metal ... not vice-versa. Leaders who personally do the work of rediscovery, and lead their organizations to do the same, will soon discover they have nurtured trust in a genuine way. Rust will simply have to find another home.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/rust-in-your-trust/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:37:03 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1606 So many people think this is at the center of why good people do some bad things.  Subtle, isn't it?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/03/john-tv-episode-80-the-drift/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:02:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1603 Today’s post is the featured article from the February 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Maybe there is some truth to practice-makes-perfect. Or at least it makes it better. It certainly rings true when it comes to core values. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, noted that we master a skill after 10,000 hours of practicing the skill. Core values take practice. Core values are not a skill. They are much deeper and richer than a skill. Skills are what we do. Core values are who we are. Our core values have the potential to transform our entire individual experience ... and our collective experience in an organization. But it doesn't happen just because we consider ourselves value-based. And it doesn't happen just because we sit in a room and brainstorm a list (either individually for our own life ... or as the leadership team of an organization). It doesn't happen because we put them in our day-planner, or in Outlook, or frame them on a wall. It happens because we practice. Core values only become realized through intentional practice. And it would appear that it takes a lot of practice! Some research would say we develop a new habit after 21 days of continually repeating the motions of the desired habit. If that were the case, then core values could actually be the "flavor-of-the-month" and it would have sticking power. In fact, we would have an extra 9 days of additional assurance that the habit would be formed. We could only wish it was so easy. Core values are not habits. But ultimately they do drive action. Once our values are clear we can begin to brainstorm what they look like in action in our current situation ... at work, at home and in our community. Our core values are not designed to change from one arena to another arena in our life. We only get one core ... and it goes with us everywhere we go. Each arena, however, gives us a chance to express our core values in a unique way. Once our core values come into focus, it becomes important for us to creatively think about what those values might look like in action. Once we can picture the action, then we have a template on which to begin to practice. It is unlikely that we will immediately get it right. That is why it is called practice. That is why actors and athletes and musicians all practice ... so they can get it right for when it really counts. In a conversation with Jerry Poras (coauthor with Jim Collins on Built to Last) I think he appropriately pointed out that we really know our core values when we come to a decision point in a crisis or very difficult situation ... and up to that point it is simply a theory. I immediately agreed but then added ... I just think that moment is a horrible time to figure out what those core values are. He agreed! We practice day-in and day-out for that moment. In the meantime, as we practice, core values begin to transform our day-to-day actions ... and the transformation of our day-to-day actions begins to transform who we are. In turn, thousands of amazing simple moments are created along the way. It is the collective nature of these individual moments that begin to transform the culture of an organization. Each moment becomes the practice ... the practice for a major moment. The practice for that major crisis ... which ultimately, from a values perspective, becomes no crisis at all. It is just another moment. There is no difficult decision ... for our well-practiced values clarify the decision for us. Practice is rarely glamorous. But it is necessary. I am sure, however, that any actor, any athlete, or any musician will tell you there have been some magical moments they have experienced "in practice." It is where relationships are built and break-throughs are realized. It is this concept of "practice" that might well explain why most organizational core value initiatives never take-hold. Or why they become a passing flavor-of-the-month. It does no good to name something that you aren't committed to persistently practice. This starts with the highest levels of leadership and permeates throughout the organization. Practice may not make perfect ... but it sure goes a long way in creating a "value-able" experience. Core values do create value when they are practiced. This is a "no-cut" sport ... for those willing to practice. For those who are not ... they eliminate themselves from what is possible. Let your practice begin! If, at first, you drop the ball ... just pick it up. Have patience with yourself. It's only the first hour. We have plenty of time ... in fact, another 9,999 hours to go before you will likely master it! And it is there where your persistence will make the difference.]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/a-value-able-practice/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:57:42 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1599 What do you need to simplify to make it more valuable?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/john-tv-episode-79-simple/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:20:56 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1596 Today’s post is the featured article from the January 2013 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription Sometimes you choose a focus. And sometimes a focus chooses you. I have never understood this more fully than when it comes to my focus on core values. As in building value with core values. I'm not sure I would have actually chosen core values as a focus. In some cases you don't have a choice. You simply have a response. And it is quite different than choosing ... for a response is a reaction to having been chosen. It might sound a little vague or confusing. Sometimes it can be. And sometimes it's not. Usually "the choice" finds you right where you are ... and simply waits for your response. For me, it wasn't just another lunch along my journey of living my dream in the world of professional speaking. I suppose it could have been. Instead, it was one of those defining moments. I'm not sure Mac Andersen (founder of Simple Truths) or I had intended it to be. Most defining moments aren't intended. They eventually just become apparent. As a publisher, Mac had decided he wanted Simple Truths to do a book on "building value with core values." He asked me if I would consider authoring such a book with them. He thought I was a good fit ... which felt like a nice compliment whether it was intended or not. That was until I eventually said "yes" and sat in front of a blank computer screen to start writing. The journey didn't begin there. It was just where I took my first step. And I didn't respond there ... because I had no idea a "choice" was in-play. Not to choose, but to be chosen. I just began to type ... and focus. Focus can lead to clarity ... and sometimes clarity reveals to you that some things are not real clear. As in the "black and white" kind of clear. Yet a persistent intuition pushes you forward into a complete fog as you are very slowly ushered towards a reality that a "choice" will soon be waiting your response. And so it has been with my increasing laser focus on core values. As drafts and more drafts turned into an edited manuscript and eventually a book titled GOOD to the CORE, I had to individually come to grips with the question I had asked my readers ... do you believe? In other words, do you believe core values really build value? I thought it was a question that deserved an honest answer. Ironically, I realized the answer resided within me ... not within the question. And the answer to the question resides in every leader as well. It is not a choice. It is a response that this question awaits. And regardless of how you respond ... it changes everything. Unfortunately, many in leadership positions never answer the question. Possibly because they have never been asked. My response to the question was YES. And my "yes" led me to an evolving clarity that core values not only build value ... but they are a leader's most powerful resource in creating a community that is fully engaged and wired to genuinely serve. There is no question more deeply awaiting a leader's response than this question: Do you believe core values build value? I suppose, in the end, no response proves to be a response. I would suggest ... not a good one. Last week, I stared at another blank computer screen. This screen looked exactly the same as the blank screen I faced as I began writing GOOD to the CORE. Yet it was different. This screen was the beginning of ROI: Return on Integrity. That screen wasn't just the beginning of a new book. It marked the beginning of inspiring a movement of leaders building value with core values. Then, again, maybe it wasn't the beginning of anything. Just the next step in responding to "the choice." Core values are not optional for leaders. They are a leader's greatest responsibility. And they are the seeds of a leader's greatest potential. They are the choice ... that demands a response. After multiple deeply honest discussions on the topic of core values and outlining the ROI book, some things have become clearer. ROI won't be a "white paper" for followers, in positions of leadership, to find the documented proof that values build value. It will, rather, be a roadmap for real leaders committed to responding ... and in doing so ... creating the proof for others to follow. The time has come for leaders to embrace the courage they need to respond ... to lead in a valuable way!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/02/choosing-to-respond/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:47:11 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1590 What will you need to respond to today? How will you do so?]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2013/01/john-tv-episode-78-response/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/#comments Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:07:32 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1587 Today’s post is the featured article from the December 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. In the last month, between Hanukkah and Christmas, there have been a lot of presents exchanged. Yet, I wonder how much "presence" was actually exchanged? In many cases, there were likely more presents than presence. Not because it was intentional. It is just getting harder. It's getting harder because there is more "connectivity." The last decade has completely transformed our ability to connect. Yet there is a big difference between "connectivity" and being connected. It is an issue of quantity versus quality. Connectivity does create the possibility of being connected, but is also creates the possibility of becoming disconnected. Too much of a good thing can create a bad thing. It can also create a bad habit. Good habits are most easily formed as a reflection of knowing our core values. Bad habits are generally formed in the absence of knowing our values ... or drifting from the values we know. Bad habits, over time, lead to addiction. Addictions sometimes evolve from the misuse or the overuse of something good. Again, over time, they "normalize" our behaviors to become the same in all situations without discretion of whom we are with. Addictions pull us away from what is better. The problem doesn't stop there. Our behavior also creates expectations in others. In other words, if we are constantly connected to our technology (cell phone, texts, email, social media, etc.) we train others to expect our immediate response. And if, for some reason, we don't immediately respond we create another disconnect! Let's face it. Some of us have become addicted to the capabilities of technology without due consideration of the unintended consequences. You have probably been on the giving-end, as well as the receiving-end, of this lack of presence. A friend's mom has a basket sitting by her front door for when the whole family comes for dinner. Everyone knows to drop their cell phone in the basket on the way into the house. They all laugh about it ... but they also oblige mom and I'm sure have a much richer experience together. The namesake of this newsletter, The Front Porch, was selected with a lifestyle in mind of a place to sit and ponder the issues of business and life. Sometimes that pondering time on the "porch" needs to be alone and other times we need to share it with others. The key driver for when we are with others is precisely just that ... to be "with" them. Your presence is ultimately the most valuable gift you can give another. To share time together with someone and not be "with" them is like gift-wrapping a present from a discount store in a Tiffany's box. It's just a bad idea! You can deceive the recipient with the box (even unintentionally), but in the end the real value is disclosed. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this is a generational issue. We tend to write-off many unintended evolving issues in that light. I would disagree. I would agree, for any generation, there are times where technology interruptions are totally appropriate and tend to make use of the great benefit technology brings to us. I would suggest, however, that the time has come that we raise the awareness of what is a benefit and what is a disrespectful bad habit ... or even worse, a habit that dearly cost us in our relationships (consciously or subconsciously ... directly or indirectly). Beyond relationships, sometimes it has to do with our safety. Let's dare to stare down the issue of texting and driving. Does anyone really think it's a good idea since it allows us to respond more quickly? It's not a good idea ... it is a bad habit and potentially a deadly one at that! My long-time business coach, Mark LeBlanc, recently posted some insightful wisdom on Facebook when he simply said, "I choose to be present rather than responsive." Don't be confused, Mark is incredibly responsive ... but he also understands the valuable impact of being fully present. The truth be told ... Mark is present rather than reactive. Technology fuels your ability to be reactive and thereby can actually diminish your ability to be responsive. I am by no means suggesting we abandon technological advancements. I use them and love them. I'm just suggesting we become increasingly aware of bad habits, call them for what they are and ultimately have the discipline to abandon them where disruptive. It is there we can finally give the advancements in technology the good name they deserve. Focusing on being "present" may be the making of an incredible New Year's resolution for all of us. It would be a gift deserving of any size Tiffany's box in which you want to wrap it!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/the-present-of-presence/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:49:34 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1581 If only leaders could measure genuine love ... and know it as the most powerful tool of connection ... of engagement ... of customer service. No question ... it's what the world needs now and so does your business!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/12/john-tv-episode-77-love/feed/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/11/leading-a-wonderful-life/ http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/11/leading-a-wonderful-life/#comments Fri, 30 Nov 2012 02:48:13 +0000 johnblumberg http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/?p=1575 Today’s post is the featured article from the November 2012 issue of The Front Porch Newsletter. If you would like to automatically receive The Front Porch e-newsletter on the last Thursday of each month just click here to sign-up for your complimentary subscription. There are a few creative works in our life that become a genuine classic. As we embark on another Holiday Season it is easy to be reminded of one of the great movie classics ... It's A Wonderful Life! It's interesting how some great works become true classics and others still easily fade away. Classics stand the test of time and somehow continue to connect from generation to generation. I don't know if there is a scientific pattern that could reveal the DNA of a classic. I suppose not ... otherwise, that formula would have been mined long ago to rapidly generate classic after classic. Something, however, tells me there might be one common element that could be found in a number of classics. It's their ability to stir the inner deepness in our heart, mind and soul. They reveal something we don't readily see, yet once seen we intuitively know it to be true. Simply put, classics let us in. It's a Wonderful Life is one of them. While each Holiday Season brings to mind this classic, it was uniquely brought to mind this year when my good friend and author, Greg Asimakoupoulos, published his newest book Finding God in It's a Wonderful Life. Greg's reflections bring this film classic to life in a whole new way. As a long-time friend with Karolyn Grimes, the childhood actress who played Zuzu, Greg has had a unique connection to this story. Just like the classic, Greg invites you in to take another look. In many ways, that is exactly what this film classic begs us to do. Take another look! That, in itself, is enough. Yet, it also stirs within me an important question for leaders: What makes life wonderful? It is a powerful question. It can be a divisive one as well. For it can divide happiness from joy ... being served from serving ... and self-interest from the interest in others. It has a way of revealing a unsettling paradox ... in revealing what we think will be wonderful, as we look forward, rarely proves to be what was actually wonderful as we eventually look back. What if we could know looking forward ... what we would eventually understand looking back? It would almost be like being able to look forward through some sort of night-vision goggles of wonder. I think I am starting to see a way. I talk about it all the time. I have just never precisely realized its potential to reveal "wonder" by answering the question ... what makes life wonderful? The answer rests inside your core. In putting forth the effort to understand our core values, both organizationally and individually ... we begin to reveal what is wonderful. It unleashes an authentic potential to open our eyes. And just like the elements of a "classic" work, we reveal something we don't readily see looking forward ... inviting us, in the present, to know what will be true looking back. Our core has the power to diffuse the weight of tough circumstances or the deceit of temporary success. It helps any leader find the possibilities of wonder in both. In the midst of our core, we find that each and every one of us is in the midst of a wonderful life ... if we choose to see it! Knowing our core values helps us see this wonder. Finding wonder in all things is the call of any and every leader. While it is a responsibility ... it is far more an opportunity. Followers placed in leadership roles tend to wander rather than find wonder. I'm convinced it's because they haven't done the hard work of discovering what is at their own personal core and fully embracing the connection to a genuine set of organizational core values. Is it, therefore, any wonder they struggle in their ability to effectively lead? They certainly struggle in their ability to truly connect with those they lead. I am convinced leaders enhance their leadership by developing their wondership! In the midst of this Holiday Season, I hope you will look around and see wonder in all things. It is definitely there ... and if you let it, the wonder will, in-turn, let you in. In doing so, you will be more prepared to live the wonderful life that awaits you in the New Year. As a leader, you may not become a classic, but you are much more likely to live a legacy!]]> http://www.keynoteconcepts.com/2012/11/leading-a-wonderful-life/feed/