Below is my Quick Communique that was sent out this morning.  To get your pre-published copy, please visit my website www.CornerStoneStrategiesLLC.com and sign up!  Hoping 2009 brings each and every one of you exactly what you want!

Points to Ponder

• What was a time in your life when you performed at your best and felt exhilarated and proud?  Remember that feeling!

• What are three results you would like to achieve in the next three months?

• Why are these important?  What is your motivation?

• How do you plan on overcoming problems that may block your path?

• If you could not overcome these barriers, what is your ‘Plan B’?

From Cambridge University

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdaneig.  The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy.  It deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are.  The olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.  The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porblem.  Tihs is bcuseau the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.  Amzanig huh?  Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

It wasn’t what I wrote, it’s what you think you read

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Joys of the Season, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa … whatever you celebrate this time of year, I wish you peace, joy and a day exactly like you want it to be!

A man takes his large dog to the vet.

“My dog is cross-eyed.  Is there anything you can do for him?”

“Well,” says the vet.  “Let’s have a look at him.”  The vet picks up the dog, examines the dog’s eyes and ears, and checks his teeth.  Finally he said, “I’m going to have to put him down.”

Astonished, the man nearly shouted, “What??!!  Why? Because he’s cross-eyed?”

“No,” said the vet.  “Because he is really heavy!”

It wasn’t what the vet said, it’s what the dog’s owner thought he heard.

A mother was showing her young son how to zip up his coat.  “The secret,” she said, “is to get the left part of the zipper to fit in the other side before you try to zip it up.” 

Confused, the young boy asked “Why does it have to be a secret?”

It wasn’t what the mother said, it’s what her young son heard.

Earlier this month I was facilitating a “minimizing team conflict and increasing team cohesiveness by communicating” session.  I shared how our brain hijacks can impede our rational thought and our communication.  This also ties into trust … when trust between team members is nonexistent, communication becomes guarded and vague.

Having trust between team members does the following:

• allows the team to graduate from the ’storming’ stage and progress into the ‘performing’ stage
• leads to respect for each other, including actions, behaviors, thoughts and achievements
• allows team members to be open to suggestions without becoming defensive and less fearful in having their weaknesses exposed

How do we get trust?  Realizing that each of us has our own way to communicate and our own thought process.  Understanding the need to analyze, process and examine information ranges from the minutia level to the 50,000 foot view helps us understand the questions we may be asked.

Each of us has our own perspective.  Our perspective is our reality.

It’s not what they said, it’s what you think you heard.

It’s the holiday season, and a time when wish-granting and gift-giving abounds. Imagine:  You are exchanging gifts with a friend, a colleague, a family member.  What is your response when they say “Thank You”.
 
What you say can impact your relationship with that person, now and in the future.  If you reply “no problem”, doesn’t that sound like you are minimizing their actions and the significance of the action of gift-giving, and also the gift itself?

Does your response to “thank you” negate or validate their happiness and appreciation of the gift?  Does your reaction to their expressions of thanks make it appear that it took no effort on your part to select the gift or are your comments positive and uplifting?

When someone thanks you for your kindness the simplest response is probably the best.  A warm smile and a heartfelt “You’re most welcome!” can never be misinterpreted and will gratefully acknowledge their thanks.
 
I wish your holiday is exactly what you want it to be.  Only the best to you in 2009!

This is part of my on-going ezine, Quick Communique: Points to Ponder.  If you would like to be on the email list to receive this early, please go to www.cornerstonestrategiesllc.com and register. 

“another five people will be dead.”

That’s what the gang of Criminal Minds was told in a recent episode, “Masterpiece” .  Jason Alexander plays a serial killer that tells the FBI Profiler Team.  He then shows them a room with one adult female and four children.  Each person is breathing through an oxygen mask, and the masks are spaced far enough apart that the people cannot touch each other, yet close enough that they can all see each other.

The FBI is horrified to watch one child run from the room and not be seen.   When confronted by the FBI, the serial killer’s response is “I told you in less than 10 hours, five people will be dead.  I never told you they would die at the same time.”

Are you clear in your communications, or do you mistakenly assume others will understand what you meant?  Or are you intentionally ambiguous?

It’s not what you say, it’s what they think they hear.

 Witness: Air New Zealand A320 ‘Turned Brutally Towards The Ground’
“It was flying straight, then it turned brutally towards the ground”

What an unusual choice of words … “turned brutally towards the ground”.  You can visualize this aircraft turning and careening into the earth, very quickly, very out-of-control, very damaging.

When you communicate, are you using vivid, descriptive words?  Or are your words bland and dry?  Which is your listener more likely to remember … the ones they can create a clear mental picture of, or the ones that fade into the background?

It’s not what you said, it’s what they think they heard.

 China’s first homegrown jet makes trial flight
ARJ-21, successfully made its maiden flight on Friday

SHANGHAI, China (AP) – China’s first fully homegrown commercial aircraft, the ARJ-21, successfully made its maiden flight on Friday, a key step in the country’s ambitious aviation program.

Authorities said earlier this month that they planned to make the flight sometime after Nov. 25.

Unusually clear skies in the region made Friday a good opportunity to go ahead, and the test flight was successful, said an official with the Aviation Industry Corp. of China, or AVIC, confirming reports in the state-run media. Like many media-shy Chinese officials, he gave only his surname, Peng.

The flight was made from a local airport in northern Shanghai’s Baoshan District and went “extremely well,” the China News Service and other state-run media reported.

 

For safety reasons, the aircraft was allowed to attain a maximum height of 900 meters (2,953 feet), the reports said.

 

The Xiangfeng, or “Flying Phoenix,” was produced at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, a unit of AVIC…

The showcase project aims to make AVIC’s Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China a rival to international manufacturers such as Bombadier Inc. of Canada and Brazil’s Embraer SA. 

 

 

Somehow, ‘homegrown jet’ does not bring on an actual aircraft that was built and could actually fly.  I have visions of cornfields and wheat fields and barns …. with people in overalls assembling these planes. 

What images does “Homegrown Chinese Jets” bring up for you?

It isn’t what they wrote, it’s what I thought I read.