Info

Success Charger with Scott Cooksey

Success Charger is home to you, the independent-minded; square peg in a round hole; success-driven; outside-the-box thinker/leader who is hard-wired to generate results from any opportunity without being shorted out by darn near anything that gets in your way. If this sounds like you, then this Podcast will offer concepts, ideas, interviews and inspiration so you can: * Become a sought-after resource within your industry * (re)Ignite the fire of innovation in your team * Create mind-blowing results that spread like wildfire * Develop driven, productive teams who generate REAL RESULTS NOW * Deliver projects on budget, on time, with top quality results * Host meetings that rock and turn productivity log-jams into inspired jam-sessions * Exhibit rock-solid leadership in all aspects of your life and much, much more! Learn more about the movement and the podcast at www.IdeaCharger.com
RSS Feed Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
2016
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2015
December
November
October
September
August


Categories

All Episodes
Archives
Categories
Now displaying: December, 2015
Dec 29, 2015

Find the Full Show Notes Post at www.IdeaCharger.com/Episode21

 

"We become the average of the five people with whom we spend the most time."

- Attributed to so many different people on the internet, let's just accept this as FACT, shall we?

A couple of years ago, I committed to meet with a group of colleagues who are all speakers, facilitators, and experts of various topics on a monthly basis.  While our businesses were, by trade, quite similar, how we each go about running them varies somewhat.  Each of us is at a different stage of maturity with our business (some might argue in general as well)...but committing to get together regularly and hold each other accountable for progress has proven a worthwhile exercise. Over these last two years, we have seen the ups and downs of one another's practices, and been there to lend support, friendship, ideas and sometimes just a listening ear.

One of the members of my group is a sales leadership consultant, speaker and fellow podcaster, Jim Jacobus.  In fact, it was Jim who challenged the members of our group to each launch a podcast of our own....so I owe him a THANK YOU on behalf of each of the listeners of the Success Charger Podcast for his encouragement for me to even launch the show in the first place.

I am a listener of Jim's Podcast, and in a 4-part series he started on November 19th, 2015, he has again encouraged me to raise the bar.

Sometimes it is just better to send you to the source, than try to explain what I learned for myself.  My challenge to you this week is to download and listen to the four-episode series Jim produced on the "Four Questions You Should Ask Yourself Each Year".

Here are the links to the episodes on Jim's Podcast, and I hope you'll find them as helpful as I did.  (HINT:  If you are short on time and just want to cut to the chase, he does a nice, albeit brief, recap on the fourth episode....but I'd recommend listening to all four.  They are about 20 or so minutes each.)

You can also find these on iTunes Podcasts: Search for "In The Sales Arena" or via this link (Epsiodes 64-67)

  1. Four Questions to Ask Yourself
  2. What is Not Working for You and How Can You Make It Start Working?
  3. What New Thing Do You Want To Do In 2016?
  4. What Are You Going to do in 2016 That is BIG?

Listen with the links above, download them for that trip to the in-laws, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dec 22, 2015

Read the full text of this companion article to today's podcast at www.ideacharger.com/episode20 

Stop Setting Goals

If you have been in business for very long, then you most certainly have experienced the typical “next year, our goal is to do more!” Or, “this year, our goal will be $X million dollars in sales!” [A number seemingly pulled out of thin air, or worse...a number simply a percentage greater than last year's total.]  This is precisely the reason you should never set goals.  Let me explain.

“More” is not a strategy!

There is no creativity in goal setting today.  Too often, what often gets construed as strategic planning, is not much more than wishful thinking.  In short, people are lazy.

Activity Alleviates Anxiety

Filled with desire to achieve a new result, do you ever feel paralyzed & uncertain what to do?  Research indicates that learning occurs in four stages (Read:  Unconscious Competence- A Lesson From Sesame Street). To first learn a new skill, or achieve a new result, one must first take a new action to discover that you likely don’t know what you don’t know- and you need awareness to turn that newly discovered knowledge into action from which you can learn.  Once you took that first step, did the outcome bring you closer to or farther from your desired result?  Adjust. Try again.  It certainly beats the analysis paralysis which prevents so many people from experiencing a change in the outcome of their efforts.  Do something, even if it is wrong!

Where SHOULD You Focus?

To achieve big results, you must have a vision.  What would be different if you achieved success? How would it look? Feel? Smell?  What would people notice most about you?

 

Recent, widely-quoted research seems to suggest that mastery of a skill occurs once you have exercised that skill for 10,000 hours.  Becoming an “expert” is a  lofty goal. [For those counting at home that is spending 12 hours a day, every day, for 27 months; or by spending 30 minutes a day for nearly 55 years-if you have that kind of time.]  No matter your level of commitment each day, proficiency in any skill only comes from experience.  There are no shortcuts!

Focus on building new behaviors...

ACTION:  Share a big goal publicly with others as a motivator to keep yourself accountable.  Take a minute and describe your big vision below.  Even if nobody reaches out to you to check your progress, YOU will remember it was posted here and the discomfort of complacency will encourage you to take action each day.

Like this Episode?  Share it with a friend and be sure to stop by and leave us a comment at www.IdeaCharger.com/Episode20 or our Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/SuccessChargerPodcast 

Questions, comments, rants, support, just want to say hello?  Email us at podcast@ideacharger.com 

The show's host, Scott Cooksey, is a leadership consultant, speaker, bicyclist and avid craft beer fan.  He'd love to earn the opportunity to work with you directly to help you (re)energize your success!  Email him at podcast@ideacharger.com or visit www.ideacharger.com for more details!

Dec 15, 2015

"Setting goals doesn't change results.  Establishing healthy behaviors changes everything!" - Scott Cooksey

When inspiration (or often the promise of a new year) hits us, it is common to set new goals. Make resolutions. Vow to change or simply do something different.  On the surface, it suggests what we want is something better than what we already have (read: more desirable results), what we are REALLY asking for, though, is behavioral change and a re-set of expectations.  

Inspired by my own difference of interpretation of an innocuous social media post, I started thinking.  So often, companies, teams, and organizations are misguided by the notion of goal setting.  

In this episode, Cooksey sets it all straight with a better way to look at goals, and why setting them isn't exactly the best idea....sort of. 

[This idea continues in Episode 20. Available on 12/22/2015]

What one, signficant behavioral change do you pledge to make in the coming year?  Post it up below and make it real!

Like this episode?  Share it with a friend. 

Hate it, have a burning response. think we're right on, have an idea you want us to explore?  Comment below or email Scott at podcast@ideacharger.com

 

Dec 8, 2015

Cooksey shares what happened when he drove 40 miles to a lunch meeting, only to find out the scheduled speaker ...well, you'd better just listen to what happened so it won't happen to you. 

This episode shares 5 filters you should apply before attending your next meeting:

  1. Is it a required meeting? Depending on the context, why it might be fruitful to simply skip it.
  2. Did you call the meeting? Find the balance between "advance notice" and "last minute cancellation" and when either might be more appropriate.
  3. Is the topic relevant to you? How to avoid being in attendance for a meeting that really does not demand your participation or have any relevance for you.
  4. Who else to expect to attend the meeting?  Sometimes it is less about the meeting and more about your fellow attendees.
  5. Geography - My "two meetings or I'll pass" rule and when you should use it.

Based on a article previously published by Scott Cooksey now available in it's entirety at  www.IdeaCharger.com/episode18

Like these rules?  Hate them?  Want to add to the list?  Email Scott at Podcast@IdeaCharger.com and we'll get your comments mentioned!

Know somebody who has horrible meeting manners? Forward them this episode!

 

Dec 1, 2015

Timeless advice is...well...good forever.  No matter how this year is shaping up (there's only a few weeks left), or what you have in store for next year (you have one month to get ready), there are only three simple steps you need to know to set the course for what happens next for your life and your business. 

  1. RESET - Learn the lessons from the past, identify what you could have done differently and how you can build the road ahead with the benefit of honest hindsight.
  2. RELOAD - Turn the lessons from the past into deliberate, intentional actions in your immediate future.  By moving TOWARD your goals, you are redefining where you are headed. 
  3. ROCK OUT! - Once the plan is in place, it is up to you to execute on that plan...and it all starts with the first step (and some rockin' celebrations along the way)!

Let us know what YOUR plans are for the next 12 months (at least how they look today, after you listen to this episode) by emailing Scott at podcast@ideacharger.com 

Share this episode with someone who wants a better tomorrow and just might be willing to take that first step today, by listening.

New episodes EVERY TUESDAY! www.SuccessChargerPodcast.com 

 

1