Personal note: I detest the examples given by Ms. Bates in this book from her personal life. She makes great leadership points but her anecdotes from her personal life are IRRELEVANT and that is giving more credit than I want to. Still, there is substance behind the poor form.

• Introduction
  1. Leaders who communicate well succeed because they can also articulate vision, share wisdom and motivate others to action.
  2. This book doesnt emphasize one particular path – you have to be genuine and find your voice.
• Part 1: The Secrets – What CEOs and Leaders know
  1. What it means to speak like a CEO
     • The role of the CEO, the daily routine, is speaking and listening. The spotlight is always on you. The cost of poor communication is too steep.
     • The Leadership Value System: Integrity, Vision, Listening, Giving Feedback, Emotional Intelligence, Clarity, Knowledge and Intelligence, Managerial Skills, Follow-Through, Humility.
     • The Natural Born Speaker is a Myth – you CAN learn to speak like a CEO.
     • What it takes to speak well – you have to know your subject, and you cannot be predictable.
     • Speaking like a CEO is really all about projecting a set of qualities that people look for in leaders, and doing it in your unique voice and style.
  2. Eight Secrets of Successful CEOs and Leaders who speak well
     • Your first focus must be content. Technical skill alone is not enough. Your first concern should be what you say and then how you can make it clear and compelling. Without a powerful message, you’re just a speaker, not a leader.
     • 1. Talk about big ideas
     • 2. Speak in the moment
     • 3. Keep it Simple
     • 4. Be a Straight Shooter
     • 5. Be an Optimist
     • 6. Focus on the Future
     • 7. Be Real
     • 8. Stand for Something
  3. You are as good as you decide to be
     • Make it a “game” – set your own rules, goals, etc.
     • Say “Yes” to Public Speaking – many people avoid public speaking if they can – this is wrong.
     • Invest in Yourself – spend the money/time to develop your skills
     • Communicate Regularly – CEO sent company email every Friday.
     • Start Telling Stories – this is a great skill in presentations, makes you comfortable at center of attention
  4. What you can learn from ten thousand leaders and working on TV for 20 years
     • Lesson 1: Expect the Expected – anecdote of Ted Kennedy not knowing why he was running for president
     • Lesson 2: If your Heart is beating fast, it’s usually a great opportunity – Use anxiety to improve your performance, seize the moment
     • Lesson 3: Walk on Stage as if You Belong There – give the impression that you’re comfortable, not arrogant.
     • Lesson 4: Keep the Worst-Case Scenario in Mind – Have a contingency plan – how to deal with media in crisis
     • Lesson 5: The Good News is: There is Bad News – People accept mistakes if you make an apology – they hate avoidance.
     • Lesson 6: Polish Your Professional Image – you must fit in and be appropriate wherever you go
     • Lesson 7: Know When Enough Is Enough – Don’t get carried away with the sound of your own voice.
  5. The 8 most frequent mistakes people make in front of crowds and cameras
     • 1: Underestimating the Importance of Public Speaking to your Career
     • 2: Winging important Speeches, Presentations, or Media Interviews
     • 3: Leaving it all to the Speechwriters.
     • 4: Not Answering the Question – People CAN handle the truth
     • 5: Forgetting the Audience – Thank the important people
     • 6: Blowing the Easy Questions
     • 7: Not Knowing When to Hold ‘em and when to Fold ‘em – Few people will criticize you for giving a speech that is too short
     • 8: Forgetting the Humor – You have to get off to a good start. Audiences want to laugh and have fun.
  6. The Authenticity Gap: Why the Real You must shine through
     • If you don’t appear or sound genuine, people pick up on it and tend not to trust you or listen to what you have to say.
     • How to close the gap? If you’re from Texas, you talk like a Texan. Let a bit of you shine through. You only need to adapt your message to the interests of the audience.
     • People don’t tell you what they really think – if you want to know you have to ask, and show that you really want to know.
     • Behaviors that make a CEO authentic – Share Your Beliefs, Talk about your Values, Be Candid, Reveal Professional Challenges, Be Consistent, Share, Honor Your Roots, have Fun
  7. Taking stock: How do your skills add up?
     • The Six Step Self-Assessment:
     • 1. Tape-record a speech or presentation either live or in a practice session.
     • 2. Review the videotape using the Videotape Work Sheet (list out What I Like and What needs Work)
     • 3. Ask a coach or trusted adviser to watch the tape and assess it.
     • 4. Complete the Personal Assessment Questionnaire, writing out the answers.
     • 5. Ask friends/colleagues to complete the Trusted Adviser Survey.
     • 6. Create your Personal Balance Sheet, listing down strengths vs needs.
     • Videotape Work Sheet: Content Guidelines -
       1. Interesting opening that gets attention
       2. Effectively sets tone, mood, expectations
       3. Clear, compelling idea or concepts
       4. Organized material
       5. Conversational
       6. No jargon
       7. Colorful words
       8. Strong vocabulary
       9. Descriptive phrases
       10. Focuses on audience interests
       11. Valuable information
       12. Good Stories and anecdotes
       13. Interesting, relevant facts
       14. Good use of humor
       15. Current events or news
       16. Effective handouts or visuals
     • Videotape Work Sheet: Style Guidelines -
       1. Posture
       2. Eye contact
       3. Smile
       4. Facial expression
       5. Body language
       6. Movement
       7. Gestures
       8. Attire and grooming
       9. Hairstyle
       10. Accessories
       11. Energy and enthusiasm
       12. Comfort level
       13. “Belongs on the stage”
       14. Voice quality
       15. Inflection
       16. Tone
       17. Pace
       18. Pronunciation/diction/accent
       19. Effective pauses
       20. No vocal habits (um ,uh)
       21. Phrasing
     • Personal Assessment Questionnaire -
       1. What are my strengths in communication?
       2. What do others tell me they like about my communication style?
       3. When am I most comfortable talking to other people?
       4. Who are my best “audiences”?
       5. What are my weaknesses as a communicator?
       6. Presentation skills evaluation – pros and cons.
       7. Keynote speeches – pros and cons
       8. Conversation skills – pros and cons.
       9. Skill at leading meetings – pros and cons
       10. Listening skills – pros and cons
       11. What have I always avoided doing regarding communication?
       12. What are the consequences of my avoidance?
       13. What conditions in my professional life have kept me from addressing these issues?
       14. What would it actually take to improve?
       15. What would be the benefits of improving?
       16. What kind of commitment am I willing to make for this process?
       17. What are the outcomes I expect?
       18. How will I know I have succeeded?
     • Trusted Adviser Survey – Dear Friend, This questionnaire is a tool that I am using to build communication skills. I value your opinion and hope that you will provide me with candid constructive feedback on my strengths and needs. Please write brief answers to the questions below. There is also a space at the bottom of the survey for general comments.
       1. What do you see as my strengths in communicating?
       2. Can you give me a specific example?
       3. What areas of communication need further development?
       4. Please give me a specific example.
       5. What is the consequence of not developing this area?
       6. How do you believe other people react to this?
       7. What would be the best way for me to address this need?
       8. What other areas of communication could I work on?
       9. Why are those important?
       10. Please rate my skills in these specific areas – Presentations, Speeches, Leading Meetings, Conversation, Listening, Writing
       11. Please tell me how I do with these groups – Direct reports, Colleagues, Board of Directors, Customers, Industry analysts, Reporters and editors, Other constituencies
       12. Assess my executive presence such as – Posture and body language, wardrobe and style, personal grooming, office decor and environment
       13. What else do I need to know in order to grow?
       14. Are there any other comments you have that would contribute to my work?
  8. Creating a Plan: Leaders know its the Way to get Farther, Faster
     • Failing to plan – without a plan, “someday” never comes.
     • Creating the Plan – put in time each week – results keep you motivated.
     • You will not learn to speak overnight
     • Set Goals – review personal balance sheet
     • Note Events – review calendar for speaking opportunities, especially challenging ones.
     • Create a Project Folder for Each Event – including a to-do list for that project only. Example todo list includes Research (fresh ideas, cutting-edge thinking), Preparation (organizing, writing, editing the big idea, three main points, questions audience may have, a story, talking points, graphs for slides), Practice (out loud, using mirror, recording, timing, with friend), Assemble a team, Hire a Coach
• Part 2: The Situations – A Survival Guide for the Events Where You Must Speak and Be Great
  1. Speeches
     • One clear theme, one topic.
     • Usually three main points.
     • Short words are better than long ones.
     • Stories (suspense, conflict (with well-placed details), humor, introducing topic), Talking about your Audience (tell stories about members of the audience, pay tribute to them), Humor (devices = sarcastically stating the opposite, and exaggerating circumstances), Analogies (“A boycot is voting with your wallet”), Startling facts, Anecdotes (esp to bring facts and figures to life), Current Events
     • Speaking Tips: 1) Find Authentic Personal Style of Expression, 2) Body Language, 3) Facial Expressions, 4) Gestures, 5) Voice (watch the monotone, volume, awkward word choices), 6) Phrasing, 7) Appearance, Not Memorizing, 9) Teleprompter
  2. Presentations
     • Focus on informing, provoking discussion, creating debate, enhancing decisions, selling products
     • 1) Write down your topic and describe your audience
     • 2) Write down your agenda – everything you want people to know, info they should have, what you hope to persuade them to do, what action you would like them to take
     • 3) Write their agenda – why are they there, what is keeping them awake at night? what questions do they want you to answer?
     • 4) Compare agendas – throw out your agenda.
     • Quick Prep for Presentations: What is this project or activity? Why are we considering it? What are the disadvantages/advantage? What’s it going to cost? How did you come up with your recommendation? What makes you think it’ll work? What alternatives are there? What does this group need to decide? How will we measure success? What’s the next step?
     • Powerpoint – max six bullets per slide, six words per bullet.
     • Be aware of how you say things, use humor throughout, use inclusive language, be a little unpredictable, wording matters (used car vs “preowned”), using catchphrases, using visuals/pictures,
  3. Q&A Sessions: Thinking on Your Feet
     • Four Rules for Q&A Sessions: Be calm, Be honest, Be available (stay to answer everyone’s questions), Be open-minded.
     • The 98 percent solution – write down the worst questions – that ones that you don’t want to answer – start drafting your answers. See if you need more information. Spend time phrasing the answer exactly as you would like to deliver it.
     • The four types of tough questions – the False Alternative (giving you two equally wrong answers to choose from – refuse to accept either and go to the root of the question), the Irrelevant Question (don’t appear dismissive, but suggest when might be more appropriate for discussing the topic), the Hypothetical (respect the questioner but point out that the situation is hypothetical – not likely, too far in future, or impossible to predict), the Anonymous Source/Rumor (tell the truth, but deflect anything that is pure gossip)
     • Unanticipated Question (What is your opinion of Big Bird?) – deal by 1) Repeating the End of the Question and 2) Making a Qualifying/Opinion Statement (ie. the best thing about…, what excites me about… the most distressing thing is… the one thing you must know is…)
     • Be gracious, positive, brief, complete, specific, strategic.
  4. Media Interviews
     • What’s news – reporters are looking for: Timeliness, Trends, Controversy, Expertise, Strong Opinions, Fresh angles, Broad appeal
     • Interview questions – use 98 Percent solution and Unanticipated Question methods
     • Be Responsive – when reporters call you should respond somehow.
     • Prepare talking points – you want o convey two or three primary messages
     • Flag your messages – “the most valuable lesson here is…” and Bridge from what the interviewer has raised to a point you want to emphasize “we’re happy to report…”
     • Be Brief
     • Never say No Comment, but know the difference between knowing and saying – don’t say to much.
     • You’re always on the record – PR people can only correct factual errors
     • Don’t Overreact – avoid engaging in hostility, and be patient – reporters are generalist
     • Handling a media crisis – give an interview as soon as possible so you can control the message even if the news is not great.
     • Rules of Crisis Communication – Anticipate issues, get out front, act; don’t react, be visible, tell the truth, fully inform spokespersons, talk directly with stakeholders, express empathy and concern, take responsibility, don’t delay
  5. Leading Meetings
     • Meeting Leader Competencies – Writing a good, working agenda, Identifying issues before the meeting, Getting buy-in from stakeholders in advance, encouraging discussion and participation, starting, staying, and ending on time, managing conflict, actively listening, summarizing points, building consensus, motivating others, creating accountability.
     • Premeeting Decisions – Should we have a meeting? (What can be handled without a meeting, what would happen if we did not have the meeting/postponed?) Who should be at the meeting (Who has info we need? Who needs to make decisions? Who needs to execute the plan? Who else is absolutely essential? Nobody should be there to observe/learn/kept in the loop – should have contributions.)
     • Creating an Agenda – It sets expectations, keeps meetings on track, creates accountability. Tips – Give the meeting a title, describe the purpose, name participants, state briefly aspects of each pertinent issue, delineate impending decisions, write in time limit for each item, include hidden agenda items that could derail meeting, distribute reading materials in advance of agenda, confirm participants received agenda 24h in advance, allow time for participation and discussion
     • Premeeting Communication – Let attendees know whats happening, Get feedback on issues of concern, Pose questions, Gather information, Uncover new issues, Discuss options, Reach agreement about an approach or action.
     • Ask: Who can help you and why? Who can undermine the meeting’s mission and why? What questions do you need to ask each attendee? What will you do with the info you obtain?
     • Encourage Participation – cannot let a few individuals dominate the conversation – ask quiet ones what they think, take a vote with no abstains
     • Stimulate Discussion – Whats your reaction.. whats your view of.. What are some other ideas.. How could we…
     • Manage Time – Don’t start late/end late/waste time in between
     • Promoting Positive Conflict – Create a safe, open environment, encourage all participants to speak up, use decision devices such as pros and cons, eval sheets, and grids, set the ground rules and enforce them.
     • Managing Negative Conflict – Listen to views, Identify common goals, Build agreements, Avoid placing blame, Depersonalize through your own words, Look for a winwin outcome, Communicate respect, Use a positive tone, If conflict persists, take isue off-line, Maintain zero tolerance for personal attacks
     • Summarize Effectively – take notes, mentally capture key words, repeat key words, put individual ideas in context of whole discussion, create analogies/names for central ideas
     • Get to consensus – the resolution of conflict in a way acceptable to majority of participants – Define the issue, Wait until others have spoken before offering your opinion, Encourage creative brainstorming, Assume responsibility for narrowing the options, Refrain from dominating discussion, Ask probing questions, Discuss conflicts until issues completely understood by everyone, Analyze and evaluate what you have learned, Summarize what has been said, Call for/make a decision
     • Dealing with difficult people – acknowledge the issue one-on-one before the meeting, allow them to vent or discuss – point out the behavior you appreciate.
     • Controlling Side meetings – look at them until they stop.
     • Be open to bad news – don’t give bad consequences to people who bring bad news
     • Shake things up – different leader facilitates each meeting – changing when and where you meet.
     • Adopt the one-page memo, Give Nagging rights to employees to remind management of ignoring core values, Call on Everyone for an “idea of the day”, Throw your cares away – write problems down and throw away or pass around for quick suggestions
  6. Conversations
     • When you become CEO, conversations change – people start choosing their words, or choosing to say nothing at all
     • Make time to talk to people even if it’s only for a minute. Have “genuine curiosity” – an interest in people and their ideas.
     • Its not so important how you start a conversation – just start it. Probing questions like “Why did you decide to..” and “How did you feel when..” take it to a deeper level.
     • Practice active listening, and find common ground
     • Moving from social topics to business – just ask things like “What are some of the challenges facing your industry now? How long have you been with your current firm?”
     • Be informed – current events, politics, sports, entertainment, travel
     • Ask advice – people are flattered if you do. For example, if they just talked about their vacation, ask them where you should go
     • Make a graceful exit – social conversation is between 5-10 minutes. Rules: Keep the goodbye short and simple, Make the other person feel great, If you don’t want to follow up just end it there, Don’t make an excuse to go to the restroom, bar, anywhere else the person can follow, always shake hands at goodbye.
• Part 3: The Strategies – Become a Great Speaker by Making a Plan and Working It
  1. Ten Things you can do to guarantee Success
     • Work on your speaking
     • Delegate, Delete, or Delay in order to find time to practice speaking.
     • Assemble your team – to help you improve – coach, trainer, mentor, wardrobe consultant, comedy writer, fitness trainer
     • Treat coaching session like a fitness program
     • Get in top Physical condition – it says you are disciplined.
     • Push yourself with stretch goals in your coaching program – eg speaking without notes, using a prop, telling a funny story about yourself
     • Don’t stop – “if you are going through hell, keep going”
     • Believe you can do it
     • Enjoy speaking
     • Take time to celebrate a win
  2. Five Coaching Plans
     • Keynote Speaking
     • Presentation Skills
     • Media Training
     • Presentations, Speech, Media
     • Leadership Communication Skills
• Appendix A: Checklists
  1. as above
• Appendix B: FAQs
  1. How can I avoid being misquoted? Learn to flag important messages, speak clearly, and repeat your main messages
  2. What should I look for in a coach? Professional experience, client list, references, books, articles. Interview to see if you connect. Discuss methods, assess person’s ability to provide honest constructive feedback.
• Appendix C: Resources
  1. Toastmasters
• Appendix D: Communication and Lincoln
• Appendix E: The Gettysburg Address

I'm reading this a bit too early

I have already categorized the 48 Laws according to the Covey Credibility Criterion previously – however I am going to try to adapt it to find a place for it in my Daily Success Worksheet (forthcoming).

Daily Practice

• General Behavioral Advice
  • Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions
  • Law 4: Always Say Less than Necessary
  • Law 13: When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude
  • Law 19: Know Who You’re Dealing With – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person
  • Law 23: Concentrate Your Forces
  • Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness
  • Law 30: Make Your Accomplishments Seem Effortless
  • Law 33: Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew
  • Law 35: Master the Art of Timing
  • Law 40: Despise the Free Lunch
  • Law 45: Preach the Need for Change, but never Reform too much at once
• Specific to Interacting with Peers
  • Law 2: Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies
  • Law 7: Get Others To Do The Work For You, but Always Take the Credit
  • Law 8: Make Other People Come to You – Use Bait If Necessary
  • Law 10: Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky
  • Law 11: Learn to Keep People Dependent on You
  • Law 16: Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor
  • Law 18: Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous
  • Law 27: Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following
  • Law 34: Be Royal in Your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be Treated like one
  • Law 36: Disdain things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the Best Revenge
  • Law 38: Think as you like but Behave like others
  • Law 43: Work on the Hearts and Minds of others
• Specific to Interacting with Enemies
  • Law 2: Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends, Learn How to Use Enemies
  • Law 9: Win Through Your Actions, Never Through Argument
  • Law 12: Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm Your Victim
  • Law 14: Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy
  • Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally
  • Law 21: Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than Your Mark
  • Law 22: Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power
  • Law 29: Plan All the Way to the End
  • Law 31: Control the Options: Get Others to play with the Cards you Deal
  • Law 39: Stir Up Waters to Catch Fish
  • Law 42: Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will scatter.
  • Law 44: Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect
  • Law 47: Do not go past the mark you aimed for: In Victory, Learn When to Stop
  • Law 48: Assume Formlessness
• Specific to Interacting with Superiors
  • Law 1: Never Outshine the Master
  • Law 6: Court Attention at All Cost
  • Law 20: Do Not Commit to Anyone
  • Law 24: Play the Perfect Courtier
• Reputation
  • Law 5: So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard It With Your Life
  • Law 7: Get Others To Do The Work For You, but Always Take the Credit
  • Law 17: Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability
  • Law 25: Re-create Yourself
  • Law 26: Keep Your Hands Clean
  • Law 32: Play to People’s Fantasies
  • Law 37: Create Compelling Spectacles
  • Law 46: Never Appear Too Perfect

Special Situations

• Law 41: Avoid Stepping Into A Great Man’s Shoes

I began with the Character school – and followed with the Strengths school. I was going to do the others but in the process of frantically clearing my stash of books in the USA I came across the younger Covey’s Speed of Trust, which seems to speak to Shell’s preferred school – the Credibility School. So here goes:

The Speed of Trust – Stephen M. R. Covey

• Book surveys – Accessible at http://www.speedoftrust.com/book-promises.htm
• “Fish discover water last.” – they swim in it. Likewise we swim in trust.
• The Five Waves of Trust
  • 1: Self Trust – personal credibility is the foundation of all trust
  • 2: Relationship Trust – Behavior determines trust between people
  • 3: Organizational Trust – Alignment. Lack of trust creates Redundancy, Bureaucracy, Politics, Disengagement, Turnover, Churn, Fraud. High trust leads to Increased Value, Accelerated Growth, Enhanced Innovation, Improved Collaboration, Stronger Partnering, Better Execution, Heightened Loyalty.
  • 4: Market Trust – Reputation. There is Industry and Country Trust too.
  • 5: Societal Trust – Contribution. Global Citizenship as an economic necessity.
• The Four Cores of Credibility
  • 1: Integrity – Are you honest? Think, Feel, Say, Do the same things. Be humble. Be courageous enough to uphold integrity. Make and keep commitments to yourself. Stand for something.
  • 2: Intent – What’s your agenda? When we believe people are acting in our best interest, we trust them. Declare your intent. Choose Abundance.
  • 3: Capabilities – Are you qualified? Talents – natural gifts. Attitudes – personal paradigms. Skills – things we do well. Knowledge – our learning/insight. Style – our unique approach. Run with your Strengths, Keep yourself Relevant, Know where you’re going.
  • 4: Results – What’s Your Track Record? Take responsibility for results, Expect to Win, Finish Strong
• The 13 Behavioral Problems
  • The quickest way to decrease trust is to violate a Character behavior. Character behaviors:
  • TALK STRAIGHT. Don’t leave false impressions. Get to the point quickly.
  • DEMONSTRATE RESPECT. Treat everyone with respect, especially those who can’t do anything for you.
  • CREATE TRANSPARENCY. Tell the truth in a way people can verify. Err on the side of disclosure.
  • RIGHT WRONGS.  Don’t justify wrongful behavior. Go the extra mile to right wrongs.
  • SHOW LOYALTY. Give credit to others. Speak about them as if they were present.
  • The quickest way to increase trust is to demonstrate competence. Competence behaviors:
  • DELIVER RESULTS. Don’t overpromise and underdeliver. Get the right things done. Establish track record.
  • GET BETTER. Learn. Seek feedback. Log mistakes. Develop informal/formal feedback systems.
  • CONFRONT REALITY. Acknowledge the unsaid. Address the tough stuff directly.
  • CLARIFY EXPECTATIONS. Discuss expectations, don’t assume they are clear. Renegotiate if needed.
  • PRACTICE ACCOUNTABILITY. Take responsibility for results. Don’t blame others when things go wrong.
  • Character and Competence:
  • LISTEN FIRST. Don’t presume you have all the answers. Find out whats most impt to the person.
  • KEEP COMMITMENTS. Make keeping commitments the symbol of your honor.
  • EXTEND TRUST. Extend authority AND resources with responsibility. Don’t “fake trust” someone. Extend trust abundantly to those earning your trust.
• Inspiring Trust
  • Extending “Smart Trust” – the midway between distrust and blind trust.
  • Live in “Zone 2″ of the Trust Matrix – High Analysis combined with High Propensity to Trust.
  • Ask: What is the task at hand? What is the risk involved (possible outcomes, likelihoods, importance)? What is the credibility of people involved?
  • The number one job of any leader is to inspire trust. It’s to release the creativity and capacity of individuals to give their best and to create a high-trust environment in which they can effectively work with others.
• Restoring Trust (when it has been lost)
  • Challenge is opportunity to make trust stronger. Use the 13 behaviors.
  • When others have lost your trust – don’t be too quick to judge, do be quick to forgive, Prioritize restoring trust

the speed of trust

What does personal character have to do with success?

• Does Franklin do what is expected of him? How important is it to success to have an independent spirit?
• Exercised freedom in taking over brother’s printing.
• What personal virtues does Franklin display that you think contribute to his success?
• Franklin doesn’t agitate for progress, but takes advantage of the first opportunity that opens up.
• What is an errata/what were Franklin’s errata?
• Taking advantage of brother’s weak position to assert freedoms. Lending Vernon’s money to Collins, who just ran.
• Opinions of Franklin’s program to perfect his own character?
• Taking the Character Strengths survey:
• VIA Strengths: 1) Critical thinking, 2) Justice, 3) Capacity for love, 4) Love of Learning, 5) Creativity/Originality
• VIA Weaknesses: 1) Self control, 2) Humility, 3) Faith, 4) Genuineness, 5) Love of Beauty

Theme: What is Success?

• Personal selection of Success story: the Mason, the Organizer, the pro Tennis player, the motorcycle President
• Great people have great failures: Teddy Pendergrass, Abraham Lincoln
• Happy people live longer. Take care that endings are happy. Exercise strengths and virtues (altruism, delayed gratification, humor) for happiness, not shortcuts.
• We like increasing happiness more than decreasing – its not just the total amount in our lifetime we care about.
• We care about what things actually are, not just how they feel to us. We care that experiences are shared by others. We want free choice.
• Do we eliminate all wants to be happy? We actually just want to be told of something we can strive toward that will eliminate all want.
• Anticipation is better than realization.

I began with the Character school – and here present the Strengths school represented by Tom Rath (here are the top 5 of 34 possible strengths identified by StrengthsFinder 2.0):

Competition

• Daily: Where do you stand on some “balanced metric” score today?
• Preparation: Turn ordinary tasks into competitive games.
• People: Let people know you’re not putting them down, you just do better if you can compete with someone.

Includer

• Preparation: Let others know you can help deal with problematic individuals.
• Daily: Help people get to know each other, find common ground, and find value in their contributions.
• People: Partner with someone who has Command talents.

Activator

• Preparation: Look for start-up or turnaround situations, or where you can break stalemates. Make sure your manager judges you on measurable outcomes than process. Your process is not always pretty.
• Daily: Learn from real experience more than theoretical discussions, and expose yourself to challenging experiences. You may intimidate some – make sure to earn others’ trust and loyalty. Give reasons why your requests for action must be granted.
• People: Identify influential decision makers in your organization and present your ideas to them over lunch at least once a quarter. Influence the right people at the right time and place. Partner with focused, futuristic, strategic, or analytical people.

Adaptability

• Preparation: Fine-tune your responsiveness – make your speed of response practiced. Use smart guidelines to help you decide when to flex and when to stand firm.
• People: Look to others for planning – Focus, Strategic, Belief – to shape long-term goals. Help friends to take control of situations – explain adaptability is about intelligently responding to circumstances.
• Daily: Make a game of lists of tasks – you need variety.

Analytical

• Preparation: Identify credible sources on which you can rely. Study people whose logic you admire.
• Daily: Put value to your thoughts by communicating them in some way.
• People: Help others realize your skepticism is primarily about data, not people. Make sure your analysis leads to implementation – find a partner who can help.

An exercise only as good as the effort you put in

Succeed at home first.
Seek and merit divine help.
Never compromise with honesty.
Remember the people involved.
Hear both sides before judging.
Obtain counsel of others.
Defend those who are absent.
Be sincere yet decisive.
Develop one new proficiency a year.
Plan tomorrow’s work today.
Hustle while you wait.
Maintain a positive attitude.
Keep a sense of humor.
Be orderly in person and in work.
Do not fear mistakes – fear only the absence of creative, constructive, and corrective responses to those mistakes.
Facilitate the success of subordinates.
Listen twice as much as you speak.
Concentrate all abilities and efforts on the task at hand, not worrying about the next job or promotion.

Rolfe Kerr

I begin with the Character school – codified by Stephen Covey (who also surveyed 200 years of the literature of success):

• Be Proactive: Personal Vision
  • Key Concepts: Make and keep commitments to maintain your Circle of Influence. Expand it by using proactive language, acting with initiative. Use self-awareness, imagination, conscience, independent will.
  • Assessment:
• Begin with the End in mind: Personal Leadership
  • Key Concepts: “Measure twice, cut once”. Ask if a creation is by design or by default. Check your personal mission statement addressing what you want to be, to do, and your principles. Use right (visualize, expand perspective) as well as left (logic) brain.
  • My Center (source of security, guidance, wisdom, power): Spouse/Family/Money/Work/Possession/Pleasure/Friend/Enemy/Church/Self/Principles
  • Assessment:
• Put First Things First: Personal Management
  • Key Concepts: Organize and execute around priorities. Quadrant II as a way to minimize crises. Say “No” to Quadrant III and IV.
  • Quadrant II Self-Management: 1) Identify Roles. 2) Select Goals. 3) Scheduling. 4) Daily Adapting. Remember to keep 1) Coherence with vision/values, 2) Balance, 3) Quadrant II Focus, 4) the “People” dimension, 5) Flexibility, 6) Portability.
  • Stewardship Delegation: Set expectations for 1) Desired results, 2) Guidelines, 3) Resources, 4) Accountability, 5) Consequences.
  • Assessment:
• Public Victory
  • Key Concepts: The Emotional Bank Account: Deposits – 1) Understand the Individual, 2) Attending to the Little Things, 3) Keeping Commitments, 4) Clarifying Expectations, 5) Showing Personal Integrity, 6) Apologizing Sincerely When You Make a Withdrawal. Interpersonal P Problems are PC opportunities.
  • Assessment:
• Think Win/Win: Interpersonal Leadership
  • Key Concepts:  Win/Win or No Deal.
  • 5 dimensions of Win/Win: Character (Integrity, Maturity, Abundance Mentality), Relationships, Agreements (focus on results not methods), Systems (eg compensation), Processes (Problem<>Person, Interests<>Positions, Invent Options, Objective Criteria)
  • Assessment:
• Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood: Empathetic Communication
  • Key Concepts: Diagnose before you prescribe. We tend to listen autobiographically, and then evaluate/probe/advise/interpret based on ourselves.
  • Seek to be understood: Ethos (show integrity and competency/credibility), Pathos (show you are aligned), Logos (show reasoning).
  • Assessment:
• Synergize: Creative Cooperation
  • Key Concepts: Synergy = a whole greater than sum of its parts. High trust, high cooperation. Fishing for a third alternative. Value the differences.
  • Assessment:
• Sharpen the Saw: Balanced Self-Renewal
  • Key Concepts: Renewal. Rescripting others (labeling dumb kids as bright). The upward spiral (learn-commit-do)
  • Physical: Exercise (focus on endurance, flexibility, strength), Nutrition, Stress Management.
  • Mental: Reading, Visualizing, Planning, Writing
  • Social/Emotional: Service, Empathy, Synergy, Intrinsic Security
  • Spiritual: Value Clarification & Commitment, Study & Meditation (Listen carefully, try reaching back, examine your motives, write your worries on the sand)
  • Assessment:

Gretchen Rubin, Author of the upcoming Happiness Project

9 Tips for Giving Praise

1.Be specific. Vague praise doesn’t make much of an impression.

2.Find a way to praise sincerely. It’s a rare situation where you can’t identify something that you honestly find praiseworthy.

3.Never offer praise and ask for a favor in the same conversation. It makes the praise seem like a set-up.

4.Don’t over-praise. Keep it credible and realistic.

5.Look for something less obvious to praise – a more obscure accomplishment or quality that a person hasn’t heard praised many times before.

6.Don’t hesitate to praise people who get a lot of praise already. I’ve noticed this myself; even people who get constant praise – or perhaps especially people who get constant praise – crave praise.

7.Praise people behind their backs. The praised person usually hears about the praise, and behind-the-back praise seems more sincere than face-to-face praise.

8.Beware when a person asks for your honest opinion. This is often a clue that they’re seeking reassurance, not candor.

9.Don’t damn with faint praise. “You were so lousy when you started, you’ve really come a long way” or “You did a much better job than I expected” is not praise that will warm people’s hearts.

And as a bonus,

7 Tips for Making Conversation with a Stranger.

1. Comment on a topic common to both of you at the moment: the food, the room, the occasion, the weather. “How do you know our host?” “What brings you to this event?” But keep it on the positive side! Unless you can be hilariously funny, the first time you come in contact with a person isn’t a good time to complain.

2. Comment on a topic of general interest. A friend scans Google News right before he goes anywhere where he needs to make small talk, so he can say, “Did you hear that Justice Souter is stepping down from the bench?” or whatever might be happening.

3. Ask open questions that can’t be answered with a single word. “What’s keeping you busy these days?” This is a good question if you’re talking to a person who doesn’t have an office job. It’s also helpful because it allows people to choose their focus (work, volunteer, family, hobby) — preferable to the inevitable question (well, inevitable at least in New York City): “What do you do?” A variant: “What are you working on these days?” This is a useful dodge if you ought to know what the person does for a living, but can’t remember.

4. If you do ask a question that can be answered in a single word, instead of just supplying your own information in response, ask a follow-up question. For example, if you ask, “Where are you from?” an interesting follow-up question might be, “What would your life be like if you still lived there?” If you ask, “Do you have children?” you might ask, “How are you a different kind of parent from your own parents?” or “Have you decided to do anything very differently from the way you were raised?”

5. Ask getting-to-know-you questions. “What newspapers and magazines do you subscribe to? What internet sites do you visit regularly?” These questions often reveal a hidden passion, which can make for great conversation.

6. React to what a person says in the spirit in which that that comment was offered. If he makes a joke, even if it’s not very funny, try to laugh. If she offers some surprising information (“Did you know that one out of every seven books sold last year was written by Stephanie Meyer?”), react with surprise. Recently, I’ve had a few conversations where the person I was talking to just never reacted to what I said. I was trying to be all insightful and interesting, and these two people reacted as though everything I said was completely obvious and dull. It was unsatisfying.

Now, what to do if a conversation is just not working, and there’s no way to use the “Excuse me, I need to go get something to drink” line? Recently, at a dinner party, the guy sitting on my right side was clearly very bored by me. He explained to me at length about how happiness didn’t really exist, but after setting me straight on that subject didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and after a few failed attempts at other topics, after an awkward pause in the conversation (my fault as much as his), he said, “Um, so where are you from?” It was such a listless, uninspired effort that I leaned over, put my hand on his arm, and said meanly, “Now, Paul, surely we can do better than that!” and changed the conversation. (It is moments like that that make me happy that I basically gave up drinking.)

So what can you do when the conversation is such a struggle?

7. A friend argues that you should admit it! “We’re really working hard, aren’t we?” or “It’s frustrating—I’m sure we have interests in common, but we’re having a difficult time finding them.” Clearly this is a desperate measure, but my friend insists that it works. I’ve never had the gumption to try it, I have to admit.

On a related note, here are some tips if you can’t remember someone’s name.

I did my homework and sought out both bullish and bearish articles. Here is Swine Flu given the Isoquant treatment:

What is Swine Flu?

• Symptoms usually similar to seasonal flu
• It is a new version of the H1N1 strain which caused the 1918 flu pandemic
• Current treatments do work, but there is no vaccine
• Good personal hygiene, such as washing hands, covering nose when sneezing advised

Ni shi zhu! (You're a pig! in Chinese)

What is the 1918 flu pandemic?

1918: The Spanish flu pandemic remains the most devastating outbreak of modern times. Caused by a form of the H1N1 strain of flu, it is estimated that up to 40% of the world’s population were infected, and more than 50 million people died, with young adults particularly badly affected.

What is the 2009 H1N1/Swine flu pandemic?

So far, most cases of swine flu around the world appear to be mild, albeit with diarrhoea more common than it is with seasonal flu. The WHO says that many people who develop symptoms of infection have not needed drugs to make a full recovery.

Flu expert Professor Peter Openshaw, of Imperial College London, says about one in every three people who become infected will not realise they have had swine flu because they will have had no or only very few symptoms. “About about 98% of people who get infected will recover fully without any hospital treatment so I think the public needs to be reassured.” The real fear is that the strain will mutate and become more virulent which would pose a greater threat. However, it is still worth remembering that seasonal flu often poses a serious threat to public health – each year it kills 250,000 – 500,000 around the world. (note persistent vapid stupidity in comparing statistical apples to oranges)

• It’s a technical, medical term that has taken on added connotative meaning in popular understanding. Pandemic to the World Health Organization means it is “spreading very fast”. Pandemic to the rest of us means Panic and “killing alot of people”. The WHO was even hesitant to raise the alert level to 6, knowing that contingency plans would be activated with this mindless Panic assumption. But it was better to err on the side of caution.
• Here’s my source: “Fukuda said it’s important to understand what a pandemic means. It means the virus continues to spread and infections are occurring in at least two regions of the world. It does not mean the virus has become more lethal, “or that people are getting seriously sick at higher numbers or higher rates than they are now.”
• To err is human, but it’s possible to over-err. It is spreading fast. People are shitting more.
• That’s it.
• Check this out and see how really hard it is to kill people.

The agency has stressed that most swine flu cases are mild and require no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities — especially in poorer countries.

Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy — people who are not usually susceptible to flu. Swine flu is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather, but swine flu is proving to be resilient.

The last pandemic — the Hong Kong flu of 1968 — killed about 1 million people.

yup, yeah, and George Bush the junior was a great president. I’ll say no more other than to refer you to this:

What the article says:

Japan Airlines Corp. Today said it will cut the number of flights it operates on eight international routes, including to Delhi this summer due to flagging demand amid the global economic downturn and the spread of the new strain of influenza.

What the title says:

JAL to cut flights to India due to swine flu.

Which do you think it really was?