ArT – Battle’s End – April 6, 2012
Delivering Happiness
I received this book as a gift at the 2012 Twist Sport Conditioning Franchise Advance that I had the honour of participating in this past weekend. I selected a bookmark to keep track of my progress, picked up the book, starting reading and never needed the bookmark. Cover to cover in one afternoon.
The book tells the story of Zappos.com and outlines the value of defining and being guided by your core values in your work and personal life. In fact, when you carefully construct and protect your corporate culture and integrate your core values into your hiring and growth process, the core values of your company and the personal core values of your employees become one and the same. This creates an environment of community, accountability, sustainability and happiness. Success is measured by the depth of our relationships and a “tribe” approach serves us both in business and our private lives by connecting us to a common goal of betterment of the whole and a sense of belonging, measurable contribution and personal satisfaction and accomplishment in the successes and growth of ourselves and of the community.
I experienced this in action at the TSC Franchise Advance and was inspired and moved by the power of introspection in this exercise. The core value resources provided in the book are good, however, I found that including everyone in the process where possible (as was done with TSC) creates a better end product and greatly facilitates the formation of a tribal mentality by deepening the relationships between the participants. There is truly strength in numbers and the opportunity to align with others who share similar core values and visions is truly a gift and an ever evolving goal.
Thank you to Twist Sport Conditioning and to all of their incredible Franchisees for including me and for your friendship and continued inspiration!
Feed the Good Wolf
Once upon a time there was old Indian who shared with his grandson this vital truth. “In every person there is an inner struggle, much like the struggle between two wolves. One wolf is evil – envy, jealousy, selfishness, ambition, lies … The other wolf is good – peace, love, hope, truth, goodness, faithfulness …”
The Little Indian, touched to the core by the words of his grandfather, pondered for a few moments and then asked “Grandfather, which wolf will win in the end?” The Old Indian faintly smiled and replied “The winner is always the one that you feed”.
Now or Never
Highly Recommended: Now or Never – Why We Need to Act Now to Achieve a Sustainable Future by Tim Flannery (author of The Weather Makers). Informative, engaging and delivers a very necessary dose of urgency and accountability. Check it out.