APRIL 7 – “When the Real Leader Speaks” LEADERSHIP FOR EVERY DAY (JOHN C. MAXWELL)

When the Real Leader Speaks              

Then Elijah said th all the people, “Come near to me.”  So all the people came near to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. (1 Kings 18:30)

Maxwell puts a great list of attributes that give a leader the power to get people to listen and believe.

Courage – Having the ability to push through times of uncertainty and always focus on what’s best for your team or organizations is sometimes one of the hardest things to do because that may call for drastic changes or confronting the brutal facts.   Elijah had the courage to stand alone for God when few if any would.

Conviction – Your ability to bring passion out in your voice and actions drive people to follow you and believe in what you’re doing.  In Elijah’s case standing up for something that few people would stand up for built the confidence of his people.

Character – Never giving people the opportunity to question your intensions is big deal when you lead.  I had a boss/mentor Jim Johnson in my past life who would always come back to “Say what you do, Do what you say, and deliver what you promise”.  You need to be honest about your intentions and deliver strongly on those intentions.

Connection – People need to connect to people.  In this world so many people are drawn towards what they can easily connect with.  Many people find it so easy to connect with athletes, movie stars, and musicians but struggle to connect with God.  Your relationship with God is intangible and is based on faith alone.  God uses people and the Bible to strengthen your connection and your love for him.  We get so caught up in dedicating so much time to athletes, movie stars, and musicians because for many they’re easier to connect with.

Credibility – If your team sees you saying one thing and doing another you quickly become a hypocrite.  I come from a manufacturing background where members of management are quickly labeled by the manufacturing team.  Being on the front lines even during times that aren’t exactly convenient for you can gain great credibility.  Standing on the front line with your team not barking orders from your tower is essential to gaining the respect of your team.

APRIL 6 – “Leaders are learners” LEADERSHIP FOR EVERY DAY (JOHN C. MAXWELL)

Leaders are Learners

A wise man will hear and increase learning.  (Proverbs 1:5) 

As Maxwell says in this text “It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.”  Growing up an athlete and continuing my less competitive activities now that I’m in adulthood made a huge impact on who I am as a leader.  The ability to get up and workout at 6am before school is for the same reason I show up to work before my peers.  The reason I do one more rep and study game film is the same reason I push myself to be better every day and continue to grow and learn.  There are lots of people to relate high performance in the business world to past athletes.  Why is that?  If we do things with to honor God we will work hard and be the best we can at whatever we do.  It’s that drive to do one more rep, run one more play, take one more shot, run one more sprint, and watch one more minute of game film.

APRIL 5 – “An Unexpected leader” LEADERSHIP FOR EVERY DAY (JOHN C. MAXWELL)

An Unexpected Leader              

Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the message that we sent.  (Joshua 6:17)

Leadership is looked at by many as a title or even as a rank in some cases.  In this verse Rehab is a prostitute and was viewed bad by
the world but God chose to work through her.  I am a strong believer in your title having little to do with your ability to lead or influence people.  Most people are in leadership positions because they paid their dues and were as strong of leaders and contributors at the bottom as they are at the top.  The characteristics of a leader should not change as their title changes or their pay increases.  While your responsibilities and your ability to impact the company’s overall business objectives change is that any different than the pride passion and commitment the guy on assembly line A7 makes every day?  They both impact the business one is just more publicly scrutinized in the event he falters (Which is bound to happen).

In order to lead you have to have the responsibility, accountability, and authority if you look at these in the simplest terms everyone can be a leader.  With God’s help and a commitment to being excellent at whatever we do all of us can build influence in our work, home, and communities. It’s Saturday morning and the baby’s getting up so time to lead him to the changing table.  Have a great weekend everyone.

APRIL 4 – “The Commitment Crucible” LEADERSHIP FOR EVERY DAY (JOHN C. MAXWELL)

The Commitment Crucible

Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”  But Simon and Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”  (John 6:67-68)

This was a great piece of text for me to read and it really got me thinking about the commitments I have in my life and how I approach them.  As Maxwell says in this text commitment is not an emotion it is a character trait.  A character trait is something built or instilled deep inside a person.  When I think of a committed man I immediately think of my father.  He raised me to honor my commitments and always do things to the best of my ability.  He rarely acts out of emotion and seems to always come back to his core values and objectives during times of adversity.

Growing up a huge emphasis was put on honoring my commitments that affect others. I’ll call these public commitments. These would be commitments to my sports teams, teachers, family, church, and anything else that others knew about or that would affect other people. A lesson I learned in my adult life is how to manage commitments to myself. These are things like a battle you have with call reluctance, getting to work early, anger, or as simple as taking your vitamin every morning. I became ok with failing to follow through with commitments I made to myself and focused mostly on my public commitments.  Following through with public commitments is very important and greatly effects people’s perception of you.  It also forces you to become what other people want you to become.  A product of your environment.  The commitments that you make to yourself allow you to take control of the steering wheel, pump your own gas, and set the GPS for your next destination.  Being fully committed to yourself gives you the power to overcome obstacles and build the life that you want not the life others want for you.

APRIL 3 – LEADERSHIP FOR EVERY DAY (JOHN C. MAXWELL)

Family First

Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord. (1 Samuel 2:12)

Being a young father and being within my first 3 years of marriage I understand the demands of a father and a husband.  When my wife and I got married I was the instant father of a 9 year old girl who has had my heart since the day I met her.  I was also blessed with our first child (a boy) together in August of 2012.

Managing my relationship with God, my marriage, being a father, my carrier, my friends, and still having some me time are a major challenge.  I can see how easy it would be to sway towards one piece of this puzzle so I have to fight that temptation daily.

The first couple years of marriage are great but it also involves the dividing of chores and responsibilities.  For example; who pays the bills, who does the laundry, or who takes out the trash.  It also forces you to communicate and be accountable to each other on a very different level then when you were just dating.  Then add kids into the mix and your tacking on the responsibility you have to teach them and show them how to be respectful, responsible, and live a life of integrity.  All of these things have to be managed in a household.  Being able to adapt to different personalities and communicate to them is crucial when you’re leading inside and outside of the home.

I still feel discouraged often because I can’t get the things I want to get done, done around the house, or I don’t get enough me time, or my wife and I don’t get our date night enough, or I struggle to get to the office as soon as I wanted to.  It’s so easy for someone to get caught up in the glory they receive from being the most dedicated employee (70 hours a week guy), or dropping your kids off at a sitter every weekend so you and your wife can go out on the town or in Eli’s case mentoring others.  I think as a leader you need to look at all of those areas of life as pieces of what make you the best person you can be.

Be a better father because you’re a great husband, a great professional because you’re a great father and a great friend because you’re a Christian.

April 2 – Leadership for Every Day (MAXWELL)

Hope Floats

Therefore my heart is glad, and the glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.  (Psalm 16:9)

Maxwell opens his text up with one of my favorite quotes by Mark Twain “Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions.  Small people do that but the truly great make you feel that you too can be great.”  I have worked, played, and learned from a handful of truly great leaders in my life.  These leaders were able to paint a vision of what I am capable of and what I have the power to accomplish in my life.  Positive or negative, having the ability to change the perception an individual has about themselves changes the course of their life.  Think about the woman who was subject to an abusive relationship.  She may feel like she is inadequate or that she doesn’t deserve the relationship God wants for her.  Then she finds a man that alters her destiny and shows her how amazing she truly is. Gives her HOPE.  Leaders have the power to change the way people see the future.

Justifying the cost of Business Analytics with Analytics…

Richie Palma, Arbor Solutions Inc. (1/29/2014)

When businesses are weighing the benefits of Business Analytics software they focus so much on cost or in most cases perceived costs instead of the return they will receive on their investment.  Most individuals when investing in anything whether it’s the stock market or a new home look at the value it will bring to their lives and when it will pay itself off.

So my goal when helping customers through the initial review of our Business Analytics software is to justify a time savings of 1 hr/wk for C-Level & Directors, 2 hrs/wk for manager level, and 4 hrs/wk for all other users.  By focusing on this as our main objective we accomplish a high level ROI in less than 6 months.  This focus changes the mindset of the BI investment from what are the features and how much does it cost to can I see this product saving us 1 hr/wk for C-Level & Directors, 2 hrs/wk for manager level, and 4 hrs/wk for all other users?

I understand that this view of ROI does not include many of the other key metrics usually included in the calculation of ROI and we should touch on them.

• Self service reporting (Eases the burden on IT by saving report writer’s time)
• Single version of the truth (Imagine the time spent comparing spreadsheet data because the sales department is showing different numbers then the operations team)
• Consolidate siloed data into a single reporting platform (Report off data from your ERP systems, CRM system, Quality database, and forecasting spreadsheet)
• Empowering business users (Giving them the tools to ask the write questions)
• Drill through capabilities (Monitor the business or your team and drill down to find your own answers)
• Full mobile device compatibility (Consume your data anywhere at any time)
• Interactive visualizations (Allows users to rapidly change the way they view data.  Accountant can view the numbers, VP of Operations can view the data in a line graph, and the salesman can look at it in a bar chart)

The above list of benefits can help companies and individuals justify the savings Cognos Business Analyitics can bring to their organization.

Think about this.  What if this tool could save 3 hrs/wk for C-Level & Directors, 6 hrs/wk for manager level, and 12 hrs/week for all other users?  Two month ROI with the ability to make faster more informed decisions, reducing the burden on IT, gaining insight from all corners of the business, and doing it from the airport, assembly line, conference room, or easy chair.

Take your company to the next level with IBM Cognos Business Analytics Software.  Email me at rpalma@arbsol.com if you would like to learn more.

Richie Palma

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Why Innovate on Power?

Six IBM i Predictions for 2014

Published: January 14, 2014

by Alex Woodie

Hello, and welcome to 2014! The new year began for the IBM i community in just about the same place it began 2013: With a slightly smaller customer base running systems that are just a little bit older. But do not despair! If owning the world’s most stable and predictable business computer doesn’t send you into a fit of rapturous joy, then perhaps these predictions on IBM i products and technologies for the coming year will.

Prediction No. 1: IBM Delivers ‘Power’ Boost, World Shrugs

It’s not like we had to go out on a limb for this, seeing as how IBM has been telegraphing this onesince last summer. The new Power8 processors are expected to start appearing in IBM servers this year, although the timing of the actual announcement is not known. The new 12-core chips designed with the 22 nanometer SOI technology will be 2.5 times as powerful as the Power7+ chips at 4 GHz (although IBM hasn’t said how fast they will run yet). That’s a whole lot of power–probably too much, in fact. The typical midrange IBM i customer running a newer box already has a plethora of juice, and its Power Systems-related spending is increasingly dictated and controlled by software and business-model cycles, not hardware cycles. The new chips are undoubtedly awesome feats of design and engineering and represent everything we love about IBM’s technical prowess. But it’s doubtful it will lead to many new customers outside the Fortune 500.  Continue reading on ITJungle.com