Our next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 14 from 1-3 p.m. at The Marq in De Pere. Our guest speaker will be Tom Thibodeau. He is engaging and fantastic! Tom teaches at Viterbo University in La Crosse and heads the only master’s program in Servant Leadership in the state. He received rave reviews when he spoke for 15 minutes at our first meeting back in May. If you attended the Festival Foods Jim Hunter event, Tom spoke on the stage.

 Tom’s style and passion for Servant Leadership is based on civility in the community. His vision is to create the first Servant-led state! If you are at all curious on building your family, your business and your life around serving others, please attend our free event. You will be inspired—I guarantee it!

 Joe Kiedinger

 ACTION PLAN: Seating is limited so please e-mail Meredith Bartos at meredithb@prophitmarketing.com to reserve your spot!

I know that I can’t raise this kid alone. I need real leaders stepping up to help shape the values we’ve instilled in this young man. Yesterday, my sister and my wife, Danica, and I were reminiscing about our first jobs and what we learned.

I was lucky and had great leaders as bosses when I worked for the city of De Pere. Both John Zegers and Jerry Perkofski taught me to be excellent or go home. Whether you’re cleaning a city park restroom or cutting grass on a boulevard, be excellent or go home. I took these early lessons in the form of discipline and compassion and carry them with me every day.

I’m excited for Alex. I’m hopeful that he has leaders who care enough to hold him accountable and teach him what it means to be excellent!

Joe Kiedinger

Action plan: Be excellent every day by helping people realize their potential!

All international brands must start somewhere. Disney started as a cartoonist making independent cartoons for entertainment movie and news features on the big screen. Hallmark started in 1910 with Nebraska teenager Joyce Hall and her shoebox of picture cards. And About Me International/Prophit Marketing is beginning a journey of Employee Engagement that is starting to get noticed.

We put the “International” on our name for a reason—Vision. What is your vision? Do you realize you are making history with each decision you make? What do you aspire to become? I will tell you, it’s not an easy road. You must always remember to live your life looking out the windshield and only glance at the rearview mirror. Do not dwell on how fast or slow a dream is growing. The question is this: Is it growing? As long as you make small steps each day, you will reach your dreams.

Our company has a long way to go, but that’s OK. I’m going to continue to push the flywheel until the momentum takes care of itself. People need their own time to become aware and ready for you. Allow them to understand and believe. Do that and you will have anything you want!

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Keep a short journal of the steps you are taking each day to accomplish your long-term goals!

These were simply good natured people who were trying to be the best they can be in the positions they were entrusted with. We also realized that we can approach anyone from anywhere. Everyone we met was kind, professional and willing to listen to good ideas. As long as you can make a strong case for a good idea, people will listen. So don’t be afraid—go ahead, make the call and set that appointment. We also realized that the people we know (friends and family) are really connected.

Danica and I started talking about the friends and family we know who could open up some doors with big companies. With that in mind, in about a 15-minute conversation over dinner we identified five people in our lives who either are involved in or can get us into a meeting with a large company that can use our product. This week I’m off to Texas, and as you read this I’ll be in my rental car reaching out to a senior executive with Kraft Foods.

Don’t be afraid—make the call!

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Get with your business co-workers or partners and brainstorm people you know who can help connect you with the people you need to meet who can benefit from your product or service.

For those of you who have been inspired by this movement, I want to remind you what Hunter said. Servant Leadership is not a cerebral exercise. You can learn ABOUT Servant Leadership by reading books and listening to speakers, but you don’t LEARN Servant Leadership until you start practicing its teachings. It’s all about being upfront with people. When it comes time to praising people and celebrating their accomplishments, the Servant Leader is first in line. And when it comes time to step in and coach people to make them better—even though it may result in being disliked for awhile—the Servant Leader is first in line for that, too!

Servant Leadership is sweeping the world right now, and I am a better person because I discovered it 10 years ago. I wish you well on your journey and know that many of us are available to help you along the way.

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Join us for our free Servant Leadership discussions. The first will be May 16th at St. Norbert College from 1-3 p.m. If you would like more information, please e-mail me at joek@prophitmarketing.com.

Are you tired of being intimidated? We are all human. Be yourself and make the call. Reach out to those people who could change your life forever and just be yourself. Share your beliefs and your product with them. Give them a chance to say no! The time is now to make new friends. Stop lollygagging!

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Pick up that 100-pound phone and call your next best friend!

“I have noticed a mental mistake in our company recently. We think that announcing a change that management wants to make constitutes making the change. We expect office staff, technicians and others to just change their habits because we told them to do it. I have been challenging our system here with ‘Announcing is not TRAINING.’ If we expect others to change their behavior, we need to train them by giving information and then following up with practical support, enforcement, reinforcement and rewards. Merely announcing a change does not change anyone’s behavior. I’ll bet we are not the only management team around that has been mistaking announcements for effective training.”

Thank you, Mike! Wonderful insight here. I agree that management teams all over the globe mistake announcing a change to being effectively trained. It’s like telling someone, “You need to learn to swim.” A person needs to take lessons. They need to get in the water and practice. It helps to start with a float on your back. Tell me all you want but if you don’t teach me and show me, how am I to learn?

Thanks again, Mike, for allowing me to share your wisdom with our readers. You need to have systems and processes in place in order to produce change. It doesn’t happen overnight. Remember, no matter what change you’re starting, 10% will start rowing the boat right away, 80% will look around to see if anyone else is rowing and the remaining 10% will try drilling holes in the boat. There’s nothing you can do about it except to start rowing!

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Change something today! Start simple: Rearrange the stuff on your desk, rearrange the furniture in your living room, or introduce a new meal at dinner that has never been tried. You can do it!

“Bamboo has an amazing growth rate. It is much like a telescope in its growth habit as it emerges. Its growth has been measured at almost four feet in a 24-hour period during the spring shooting period.”

If you’re in business for yourself or if you’re an innovator where you work, hang in there! When it comes to announcing a new brand within a brand, I tell my clients that all campaigns go through three phases. The first phase is creating overall awareness. The second phase is people starting to talk about it. The third is action. Hang in there. Not everyone is going to embrace or accept your idea. You must prove yourself. You will have early adopters who will get it and see your vision. Spend your time with these people. They will help spread the word to others. Go where the water is flowing. When you hit a rock (a “no” person), flow around it.

Be patient and you‘ll find your roots holding fast—and your Bamboo Tree beginning to grow at an alarming rate. I’m still growing my roots, but my plant is starting to sprout!

Joe

ACTION PLAN: Find three people of support this week!

Sometimes, though, I notice that when I meet people with great ideas they are afraid to share them with me. I find that these people never see their dreams or ideas take root because they are scared to plant the seeds. They think, “You’re going to steal my idea if I share it with you.” Hey, if you’re not going to share or implement your own ideas, what makes you think another person would? I find these people stifling their own ambition. Furthermore, I see people with great ideas who give up on them too soon. They think the first time they tell people about the idea it’s going to shoot off like a cannon. It doesn’t work that way. People need to hear an idea several times.

My suggestion to you is this: To know if your idea is solid, begin by explaining it to friends and family to see what they think. Then start sharing it with business associates and colleagues. What do they think? If a large number support your idea, then find opportunities to share with others you don’t know. By now you should have enough feedback to determine whether your idea could be marketed and sold. Next, begin sharing your idea with potential buyers. Spend time with those who resonate with it right away. Also, hear out those who disagree but don’t waste energy trying to convince them. Move on to those who give you a “yes”!

Every great idea has its day, but that day needs years of teaching and preaching before “the” day of breakthrough can happen. It’s your day … have at it!

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Are you up for being great?

Well, I’m still writing. Only one entry missed its Wednesday mark because of technical difficulties, but it got out on Thursday. Don’t give up. If you have a dream, don’t give up. Remember: You can alter your dream or bend the rules as you get older, but don’t let go. It reminds me of that Christmas special growing up. I think it was called, “Santa Clause Is Coming to Town.” There was a terrible snow wizard who crossed young Chris Kringle’s path. He turned out to be a good guy and he sang the song, “Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be walking across the floor. Put one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be walking out the door.” The message is simple but clear. As an old Chinese proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

Remind yourself of the almighty weapon to any dream: patience. Just start. Start with one small action and do something little each and every day to bring you closer to your goal, until one day you wake up and you are living it! Put one foot in front of the other…

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Start walking!