When a Coincidence Isn't a Coincidence

Yesterday while taking notes from the book The One Thing You Need to Know by Marcus Buckingham I noted a book he recommended--Bringing Out the Best in People by Aubrey C. Daniels--that I wanted to read. The title sounded familiar and I thought I probably had the book but had no idea where it was. Then today when I went down to the basement with a load of washing I just happened to look in a box of books for no apparent reason. There staring at me from the box was the book Bringing Out the Best in People. This was one of those occasions where a coincidence is too much of a coincidence to be one.

I started to read the book this morning. AMAZING!!! It is filled with wisdom and insights that I had forgotten from the first time I read the book 14 years ago in 1997.

I share this experience as a reminder that we need to:

• Be aware of those things happening around us.


• Follow promptings even when we have no idea why.


• Remember than when we have a stated and written goal we will have help from the universe at unexpected times that will help us achieve it.

Be Clear

Even though I happen to like President Barack Obama I have to stifle a chuckle every time he says, "Let me be clear," because he says it so much. Yet, the very thing Marcus Buckingham says in his book The One Thing You Need to Know a leader must do if he does nothing else is be clear.

Buckingham notes the points of clarity:

1. Who Do We Serve?--Who first and foremost do we want to please? If we focus on serving this group we will most likely experience "the power of the ripple effect" and serve many others, too.


2. What Is Our Core Strength? This will determine where we should and shouldn't spend our time and money. The leader must be able to tell the followers: a) Why will we beat our competitors?, b) Why will we overcome our obstacles, c) What advantages to we have?, d) What is our edge? The leader only needs to be clear about the answers to these questions, not necessarily right. If he is clear, the followers will make the leader right.


3. What Is Our Core Score? The leader needs to tell the followers the one score they need to focus on that will determine our progress towards a better future. It needs to be something we can do something about. Once it is chosen, broadcast it, publicize it, and celebrate it.


4. What Actions Can We Take Today?--Identify the few actions that can grab attention and do them.

Focusing on these points of clarity and responding to them will help us to be clear at Esperanza.

Manager Vs. Leader

I have been reading a fascinating book by Marcus Buckingham--The One Thing You Need to Know. In all my reading and research Buckingham has done the best job of differentiating a manager's role from a leader's role. He describes a manager's role as being a coach who figures out the best way to transform each employee's talents into performance. In other words, each employee's success is his focus. He describes the leader's role is rallying people to a better future that he sees. No matter how good things are at the moment, the leader is never satisfied with the status quo.

For an organization--like Esperanza--to be successful both roles are needed. One person can possibly fulfill both roles but it may take at least two people.