“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

Maguire Here. Mark Twain said it. My associate Scot Simmons has adopted it as a rallying cry for his company, The Simmons Group, and friends, I’m here to tell you…it speaks volumes. You’ve heard it said in this forum before — communication is at the heart of business success and effectiveness. I’m talking about communicating your purpose, your goals, and your capabilities clearly, concisely, compellingly to clients, partners and employees.

When you’re making a point or making a sale or building perception in the express interest of achieving a goal, almost right just aint right enough.

Clear communication can be a simple matter of connecting your heart to your head…expressing yourself honestly and straightforwardly. It is often the result of simply listening to and appreciating the needs and concerns of your audience prior to launching into a solution for their problem. It frequently is the result of obtaining expert counsel in matters that may not come easily to you, much the same as hiring a plumber when you have a leaky pipe. You might be able to handle it, but the result is often less than ideal and takes far longer than it would if referred to someone who does it 24/7.

Sometimes you can’t do it all. Sometimes you can do it, but you need help to do it better. Communication is all about that…doing it better. Better than the competition in particularly. Food for thought.

MAGUIRE HERE. That time of year again, friends, and in spite of all the turmoil and change thrust upon us there are things for which to be thankful. In that spirit, I wanted to get in a good word for a treasured associate of mine, Scot Simmons.

Scot and I have been working with each other for a few years now. He’s a writer and a brand strategist par excellence – orchestrates web sites and blog platforms and marketing campaigns for entrepreneurs like myself, as well as for quite a few corporate clients. I’ve worked with him on blogs, web content, seminars and most recently, on a book that we are co-authoring. More on that last item in blogs to come, but for now I want to sing Scot’s praises.

Here’s a guy who can sit down with you and, in the space of an hour, help you to realize your own potential and to take the steps necessary to optimize the process. He boils his function as a consultant down to three letters: K.I.A. That’s Kick In the A&% and that’s exactly what Scot does…he puts you in touch with the NOW of your business…what you can do now and tomorrow and next week and over the short haul to kick yourself into high-achievement gear – from websites to e-blasting, speeches to seminars, articles to social networking, blogging to books. And he’s the best at it that I’ve ever seen.

He’s got a package for making you a master blogger – quickly and easily and cost-effectively. He’ll make your already-up website sing with new potential or help you finally get a website up and running and building your brand. And if you’re a been-around-the-block-more-than-a-few-times guy like me, he’ll help connect you with ways to play to your strengths, explore this new age of possibility and get your message out there where it belongs.

I strongly suggest you take a look at his website: www.simmonsgrp.com and

his blog: www.scotsimmons.com and the site for his wonderful new book, Mr. Coleman:

www.whoismrcoleman.com. ‘Nuff said.

THANKS, SCOT…FOR ALL YOU DO. Until next time.

“Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one definitely commits oneself, then, providence moves too.

…A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and materials…assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

Are you in earnest? …Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Only engage and the mind grows heated. Begin and then the task will be completed.”

– Goethe

MAGUIRE HERE…with just a bit more on what it’s going to take to effectively re-invent your future.Let’s begin by asking three questions.

1. What am I doing that I shouldn’t be doing?

2. What am I doing that I should be doing better

3. What am I not doing that I should be doing.

Ask Your Clients. Ask Your Employees. Ask Your Associates. Ask Yourself. Listen to the answers.  Listen. And remember that the words “SILENT” and “LISTEN” contain the same letters.

Then make a promise…to your clients, your employees, your associates, yourself.  It’s all about keeping that promise…and living up to that promise…embodying that promise. NEVER promise what you can’t deliver.  ALWAYS Deliver what you promise.

Don’t get discouraged. WE ALL HAVE FAR — F.A.R.  –  TO GO.

“F” –  Turn Fear into Faith

“A” –  Turn Anxiety into Attitude

“R”  — Turn Retreat into Recommitment.

Now is the time for action.  Now is the time to assert yourself, blast your brand, tell your story  Now is the time to step ahead of your competition by communicating that desirable, marketable, profitable promise that is you.   It’s time to wake up to the opportunities that exist in this changing world…and RE-INVENT YOURSELF.

Until next time.

Maguire Here. Just some thoughts on where we are today…

If you’re doing business today like you were a year ago, you’re out of business. Remember the definition of insanity…Doing the same things and expecting different results. Today’s realities are definitely not yesterday’s. It’s time for a reality check.

Now is the time to carefully re-examine your business objectives, re-tool them, and re-shape your destiny.

Now is the time to take into account the realities of today’s business climate and determine the best way for you to re-establish your brand, reach out to your customers and grow your business.

Now is the time to wipe the slate clean and ask yourself:

1) What business am I really in?

2) Who are my core clients?

3) How have current economic changes impacted my original business plan?

4) What are the steps required for adjustment?

Now is the time to take stock of your resources.

Now is the time to re-educate yourself. That means READ.

A wise man – I think it was Oscar Wilde — once said “One who can read books, but doesn’t, is on a par with one who can’t read at all.”

A short list of books that will provide immediate insights?

THE NEW RULES OF MARKETING & PR by David Meerman Scott

THE SPEED OF TRUST by Stephen Covey

PAVING IT FORWARD by Elizabeth Fayt

TOUGHER TIMES by Hutt Bush and Keith Ferrell

Oh, one more…YOU’RE THE GREATEST by some guy named Frank Maguire.

Now is the time to fully address the key challenges of your new “orientation”:

The Employee Challenge: Convince your employees that they are the company. If you are your company…convince yourself. Because you are.

The Management Challenge: Convince your employees that you, all of you, shall prevail…and believe it. Because you will.

The Customer Challenge: Make your customers feel like you are on their payroll. Because it works.

The Supreme Challenge: Believe in YOURSELF.

That’s enough to think about for now. More next time.

Perfection is being right.

Excellence is willing to be wrong.

Perfection is fear

Excellence is taking a risk.

Perfection is anger and frustration.

Excellence is powerful.

Perfection is control.

Excellence is spontaneous.

Perfection is judgement.

Excellence is accepting.

Perfection is taking.

Excellence is giving.

Perfection is doubt.

Excellence is confidence.

Perfection is pressure.

Excellence is natural.

Perfection is the destination.

Excellence is the journey.

Strive for excellence, my friends. Perfection is overrated.

Maguire Here. Going through the archives this week. Found this bit of wisdom from one of the great poets of our age. Words to live by…truly, my friends.

SUCCESS

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people

And affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better;

Whether by a healthy child,

a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier

Because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Maguire Here. Thought I’d share a little excerpted “life lesson” — one that finds its way into one of my keynote from time to time — courtesy of Mr. Charles Swindoll. Enjoy.

A Harvard Business School study determined that four factors are critical to the success of any enterprise. Information, intelligence and skill account for approximately 7%. The remaining 93%…ATTITUDE.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people say or think or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home.

We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

– Charles Swindoll

Maguire Here. And here’s a little story (a true one) that I think you’ll appreciate…

The first time I met Colonel Sanders at his office in Louisville Kentucky, I noticed a beautiful needlepoint sign on the wall which read simply “Opportunity is Nowhere.”

I asked him what the sign meant to him. He asked me “What sign?”

I pointed to it and said “That sign, Colonel…the one that says Opportunity is Nowhere.”

He replied “That’s not what it says.”

I respectfully replied, “Colonel, I went to the University…I know how to spell…and that sign
clearly says “Opportunity is NOWHERE.”

“Look at it again,” he said. “Do you see it?” He looked me right in the eye and said to me

“It reads “Opportunity is Now. Here.”’

The lesson of this story is very simple. Life is how you look at it, how you see it, how you believe it to be. I saw “nowhere” the Colonel always saw “Now. Here.”

OPPORTUNITY IS NOWHERE.

OPPORTUNITY IS NOW. HERE.

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t…either way, you’re right.

Maguire here.

Watching TV just casually the other day. Guy on a talk show asked two provocative questions. Who are your heroes? Who are your friends?

I ended up taking it very seriously…because in times like these, we’d all do well to focus on the answers to those questions.

Who is your hero? Take stock. Remember why this is your hero. Remember those qualities and characteristics and outlook that drew you to this, your icon of heroism in the face of trial and times that test your resolve. Go back and read that book or article or account that made the difference in your life because it gave you someone to emulate, to respect, to draw strength from above all others.

Your friend? I’m talking truest sense of the word, here. They say that if you have one friend you have more than most. At this stage of my life, sitting here amidst the chaos resulting from the current financial crisis, the questioning that arises with the onset of every new year and in view of the more serious threat of ARMAGEDDON re-erupting in the Middle East, I’m provoked to think long and hard about that bit of wisdom.

Who can you count on, regardless of the situation, to have your back — no excuses, drop everything, no questions asked. If you have even one of those, count yourself lucky…and never, ever lose touch with him or her.

Bottom Line? We could all use a friend. And we need our heroes now more than ever.

Mine was and is Winston Churchill – his leadership, his writings, his ability to communicate profound ideas and inspiration.  He changed the course of history — not just with military might or bombs or guns (although they did figure prominently into the mix), but by getting us to think. Of course he was flawed. He ate too much, drank too much, smoked too much, was plagued by depression…he wasn’t perfect. And to me, that’s what makes him a hero.

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