Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

Coach

Is More Money Your Answer?

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Ask most business people what they need and the likely answer is “more money!” That’s like asking a football coach what he needs: “More points to win the games.” The real issue is What does it take to produce the points or the money?

Money (or points) is a self-deceiving answer or an easy target to articulate.

While Stephen Covey’s Habit #2 is “Begin with the end in mind,” it is as promoted just a beginning to the end. When we only have the “end in mind,” shortcuts are probably even ethical compromises.

The “Management by Objectives” movement has suffered many of these challenges. While never the intention of its creators, it became a rationale for sloppy management and the abdication of leadership and strategy.

Having worked as and with business owners for five decades (I started very early), I can tell you that money may be the obvious answer, but it is rarely the right answer.

Money is a specific commodity with well-defined functions, mostly as a measure.

Oddly, the lack of money in business may be more valuable than the money itself. It forces us to get real, to be creative, and to assess what’s working and what isn’t working. In the end, we’re apt to become better prepared and more capable of adding higher value and better services at a lower cost. Ergo, we make more money.

Being in business provokes us and pushes our buttons emotionally.

I’m not saying go out there and look to take stupid hits. On the contrary—avoid them, but some number of hits are inevitable. Rather than letting them take you down, let them build you up by learning, growing, and maturing.

In this On-Purpose Business Minute, I’m sharing with you the three most common attributes that attract money to businesses: law, order, and opportunity. If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur, this is a must see Minute.

Need some help with your business? On-Purpose Business Advisors has worked with start-ups and entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 CEOs. Email me to learn more.

 

Resource

Invest 9 minutes to learn about The On-Purpose Business Plan. This maps out the essential infrastructure to create sustainable growth and profitability.

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Do You Have A Mentor?

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TOPLEX LogoDo you want to become a better leader of your life?  Learn how at The On-Purpose Leader Experience at our website. Enrollment is happening now for a new Experience starting Tuesday, Sept. 24. Visit the website and watch Webcast 1 from September 2012.

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A couple of decades ago a friend of mine attempted to organize a mentor program for those of us in our thirties. He reached out to select men in their 50s and 60s to recruit them as mentors. To his surprise, all of the men he approached felt inadequate to the task of being a mentor. You see, they had never really been mentored so they perceived themselves as not being up to the task and responsibility. Sadly, the program never got off the ground as a result.

Chances are that you, too, don't have a mentor. But do you wish you did?

A mentor is a person with an impersonal interest in your personal leadership development and personal growth. You may be thinking, "'an impersonal interest?' I would think it would be a very personal interest." 

Actually, those of us who mentor need to maintain a healthy distance from our proteges lest we run the risk of being too close to the person. We risk becoming their fan, instead of their mentor. The effect of too much closeness colors our perceptions and shades our reflective feedback.

As a mentor, I must place my commitment to the mentor-protege roles and process above the personal relationship. Similarly, a defense lawyer must place the system of law above the client to ensure justice is served.

To have a "yes man" as a mentor is to have no mentor at all. Mentors must be able to speak truth in love and be willing to suffer the consequence of offending. Truth is the stock and trade of a mentor. 

Mentors aren't dictators; we refine and develop a person's inherent leadership and innate intelligence and capacity for good. Allowing proteges to experience the consequences of their decisions comes with the title of mentor. We need to speak our piece and learn to shut up. Our ultimate interest must be independent, not co-dependent, proteges. Any mentor who is doing otherwise, is simply on an ego trip.

Yoda from Star Wars may be the most famous of all fictional mentors as the unlikely leader of the Jedi Knights. Wouldn't we all like to have a mentor teach us to use "The Force" so we can perform like a Jedi? Recall, however, how many times old Yoda seems to scrunch his face in dismay as Anakin or Luke Skywalker gets ready to do some impulsive (stupid) move that will turn the Force into a Farce.  

Who in your life is or was a mentor for you? What is it about your mentor relationship that makes it special? What does your mentor provide you?

In the interim, The On-Purpose Leader Experience is a highly affordable option where I'm available to be your mentor via phone and the online group.

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What Might You Miss?

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For the longest time you've promised yourself you would work the
process in The On-Purpose Person, right?  But you haven't!  Today you make good to yourself on your promise.

Join me for The On-Purpose Leader, a six-week
experience in being on-purpose that can transform your life.  Here's your
chance to do right by yourself.  You will:

  • Clarify and organize your life around what matters most
  • Write your statements of purpose, vision, missions, and values
  • Gather, mix, and mingle with other On-Purpose Persons
  • Gain membership to a 24/7 private web group supporting your journey
  • Ask questions of Kevin on conference calls and in forums and
    discussion groups
  • Have a workbook with everything you need to work the process

Register
Here For Session One.  It is free and no credit card is
required for registration.   You will need to be registered in order to
get passwords emailed to you for both the live session and the replay. 

Enroll today in the full six-week experience and take advantage of the early bird savings (use code: EARLYBIRD28).  Enroll with a friend and your investment is $1.80 each per day!  Click on Enroll
today,  scroll down, and look for the Companion Special (2 persons for only $150). 

Register
Here For Session One.  It is free and no credit card is
required for registration.  You will need to be registered in order to
get passwords to both the live session and the replay.

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Book Me To Speak At Your Event

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Kevin W. McCarthy is the author of The On-Purpose Person and The On-Purpose Business.  He is one of the world’s leading authorities on the meaningful integration of life and work.  More than just an author, Kevin is a natural leader in business and civic endeavors.  Kevin’s goal with audiences is to stir their hearts, advance their thinking, and inspire them to action.

He is a professional member of the National Speakers Association, the CEO of On-Purpose Partners, and a highly respected business advisor for middle market organizations and a personal coach to CEOs, Executive Directors, and Company Presidents.  Authentic, original, good humored, and engaging are the qualities most often attributed to this thought leader by his peers, clients, and audiences.  He has traveled from Hungary to Hawaii since 1992 inspiring audiences as he carries the message of being on-purpose into the hearts, minds, and lives of people. 

Kevin’s intelligent and easy speaking style mixes light and spontaneous humor with a life-changing message and stories.  His uplifting keynote addresses and programs appeal to those with true aspirations and more responsibilities than time.  These people long to make a difference through ethically building a business, career, and life of significance.  There’s an authentic spirit to his words and way that captivates audiences.

Kevin shows up at the event to work.  He invests himself in your event and people.  Every engagement is tailored to the audience, company, and industry at hand.  Not one to “show and go,” Kevin considers it a privilege to reasonably meet and greet your participants, to sign books, and to answer questions.  He wants to bring value to your event.

To learn more, please call our office at 407.657.6000.

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Meeting Brian Biro – America’s Breakthrough Coach

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Asheville, NC – May 16, 2008

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One of the great joys of being a best selling author and professional speaker is the other best selling authors and speakers one gets to meet.  Friday, I once again had this joy with a man who all about having a Joyful Spirit – the title of one of his books.

Brian Biro is America’s Breakthrough Coach – a true On-Purpose Person.  A guy with a joyful heart and a sharing spirit.  Allow me to put a blatant plug in for Brian to any readers looking for a speaker.  Brian truly is a coach, motivational speaker, and, most importantly, the genuine article.  Here’s a guy who gets people on their feet in a greater belief in their true selves and possibilities. 

Brian Biro’s first book, Beyond Success, provides an in depth look and understanding into "The 15 Secrets of Effective Leadership and Life" through the eyes of former UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden.  Coach Wooden is unarguably the greatest college basketball coach of all time, yet the titles were incidental to his goal of developing boys into men.  While coaching swimming at UCLA, Brian and Coach Wooden formed a friendship so this book is truly a personal account rather than the distance of a journalist.  Read it and learn.

 

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