The Mark David Blog

"Takeaways"

June 27, 2019

By Mark David

Having spent the better part of my career working to help companies achieve their best results, I have learned quite a lot about what works and what doesn’t in terms of company culture.

I’d like to share with you what I believe are ten key components for creating and keeping a positive culture; where the flames of success are fanned to burn bright.

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Slowing Down to Get Ahead

June 6, 2019

By Mark David

What does “Slowing Down to Get Ahead” really mean?

I believe it’s the realization that we’re all better off doing the majority of our work, averaging 60-80% of max speed vs. running at max speed all the time.

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PONO is the Hawaiian word balance of all thing

April 25, 2019

By Mark David

Upon closer examination, PONO is really the acceptance that life is out of balance most of the time.

Top 1% performers accept this concept but many individuals resist this reality. PONO is about reducing and eliminating expectations. In its place, Top 1% performers substitute expectations with preferences. I would prefer this to happen vs. I must have this happen. You do this by giving yourself multiple options vs. a single absolute.

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LIVING A LIFE OF INTENTION & CONTENTMENT

Febuary 22, 2019

By Mark David

Most individuals I work with are striving to live a life of contentment. Contentment is a state of happiness and satisfaction in all areas of your life (personal, professional, social, financial, health, etc.). I have found that the key to reaching true contentment is….intention. Intention is a fantastic tool that allows you to be present and centered in the present moment of NOW, regardless of where you are or what you’re doing. Let’s break down

Intention:

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5 Key Behaviors to Produce at the Highest Level

January 25, 2019

By Mark David

#1 Commitment

They promised themselves they would do whatever is needed to get the job done. Work and life becomes easier to navigate when you’re supporting yourself vs. fighting yourself. (more…)

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“I just don’t have the time!”

October 18, 2018

By Mark David

How many times a week do you hear or say that phrase?  In the work that I do, I hear this comment many times throughout the course of my day. We are so busy reacting to life, that the average individual in Corporate America doesn’t realize they have become addicted to that story. Many people have given up trying to be proactive and instead just react. (more…)

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What Will Your Leadership Message Be?

September 27, 2018

By Mark David

A client of mine, who happens to be an excellent divisional leader, recently inherited a new region. He didn’t have a lot of time to get them up to speed, as he’d done in the past with the other regions in his division, and in an effort to get everyone on the same page, he created a five point leadership message that he emailed out prior to his meetings in his new region. (more…)

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Relationships

July 19, 2018

By Mark David

Can you believe it’s already July!? It seems impossible that half of the year has already flown by. Many individuals turn the page into the New Year without a plan to make the most of each day, week and month. The fact is, there are only six months left in this year to create your best and most lucrative relationships. Below I’ve outlined eight steps that will help you improve your relationships and maximize your results by being a Top 1% Relationship Manager (builder of strong, long term partnerships). (more…)

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Worry vs. Confidence

June 21, 2018

By Mark David

Imagine that you’re looking at a coin…one side is worry and the other side is confidence. Why is worrying so addictive to us humans? Everyone does it. Worrying is one of the most powerful forms of visualization. This is our reality because you’re using your five sense while worrying. Sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. (more…)

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Professionalism: Where Has It Gone?

May 17, 2018

By Mark David

So many of my clients have been asking me a great and very relevant question, what can I recommend they do, to give them and their organization, a competitive edge? In other words, a way to elevate them in the eyes of others. I like to keep things simple. So here’s my simple, easy, 100% guarantee input that will immediately give you the upper hand… (more…)

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Don’t leave your future open to chance!

April 18, 2018

By Mark David

Over the past year, I’ve been asked to help many individuals find their new job/career opportunity. Unfortunately, they have had to make this a reactive vs. proactive activity. Below are a few thoughts I’d like to share with you to support your career. Many of you are in the age range from 40-55, which are your peak earning years. You might think that a fifteen year span is a long period of time to get your career/finances in order, but it’s merely a blip on the radar screen of your life. (more…)

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Self-Image – Self Esteem – Self Confidence

March 8, 2018

By Mark David

Self-Image is the internal picture you hold of yourself. You can’t out-perform your self-image as it creates the boundaries for you in your life. In other words, how far do YOU think you can go? Self-Esteem is how you feel about yourself. It defines what you think you’re capable of doing and what you think you deserve to achieve. The words feel and deserve are the key words here. (more…)

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Know Your Competition

February 8, 2018

By Mark David

A true key to success is knowing what features set you apart from your competitors. – Anita Roddick

Great branding is partially about distinguishing your company as an innovator, not an imitator. The idea is to differentiate yourself from your competitors in your customer’s mind and heart. (more…)

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Cultivate a Farm Team

January 25, 2018

By Mark David

Always have your back-up players waiting in the wings. – Mark David

Some of your team members, including high performers, are not going to stay with you forever. For this reason, I recommend that you set aside four hours each month to cultivate a prospective farm team. You can use this team to replace players who are promoted or leave your company. You can’t afford to wait until a vacancy occurs to start this process. (more…)

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Be Decisive

January 11, 2018

By Mark David

Leaders act decisively in the absence of certainty. – Bertrand Russell

Should you or shouldn’t you? Yes or no? Now or later? Bureaucrats somehow find a way to avoid making decisions so they can escape all responsibility. But good leaders and coaches know that making decisions is essential to leadership. After all, your company or team can’t make progress unless you’re willing to make decisions. In a perfect world, you would have all the time you need to make a decision. In reality, many decisions must be made quickly (more…)

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Become a Reflective Thinker

December 28, 2017

By Mark David

Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week. – Charles Bernard Shaw

A good friend of mine likes to say that there are three types of people: Those who think, but don’t act, those who act, but don’t think and a very small percentage who think both before and after they act. I urge you to join the ranks of the latter. These are the “reflective thinkers” among us, and they usually make great coaches, managers and leaders. (more…)

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Patience (and Persistence) Pay Off

December 14, 2017

By Mark David

Most people give up one foot from the goal line. – Ross Perot

Leaders do not give up easily on their people, or pull the plug too quickly on possibilities. Their faith and persistence overcome their doubts or discouragement. By remaining patient and refusing to acknowledge failure, they are usually able to find successful courses of action and move forward to the completion of their goals. (more…)

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Practice Winning

November 30, 2017

By Mark David

Repetition makes the magic rise. – Mark David

Leaders make a conscious effort to develop winning habit patterns for themselves and their team. A “habit” is something that you or your team does in a regular and repeated (virtually automatic) way. In other words, winning can become a habit; unfortunately, so can losing. (more…)

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Character vs. Popularity

November 16, 2017

By Mark David

Good leadership involves responsibility to your entire team. This means some people will get angry at certain decisions. It’s inevitable – if you’re honorable. – Colin Powell

If your number one goal is to ensure that everyone likes and approves of you, you will inevitably compromise your integrity and, therefore, your credibility as a leader. (more…)

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Devote Time to Your High Performers

November 2, 2017

By Mark David

When people act heroically, treat them as heroes. ~ Jeff Goforth

Tough time constraints on today’s managers make it virtually impossible to devote an equal amount of time to every team member. In an effort to increase overall performance, most managers tend to devote more time to improving their underachievers—but I always advise spending more time leveraging your high-performers. Here’s why: (more…)

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Working Together Works

October 19, 2017

By Mark David

Ask your team. They know the answers ~ Chuck Carlson

Many leaders mistakenly believe that everyone expects them to have all the answers—but that’s not logical. You may know a lot, but you can’t know everything. The days of the Lone Ranger are over. In today’s complex business environment, you need the ideas, zest, energy, enthusiasm and collaboration of every member of your team. And they need yours. (more…)

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Teach Your Team to Fish

October 5, 2017

By Mark David

We can do more than lead, we can teach. ~ John Meyers

Virtually all great coaches see themselves as teachers. Teaching is not just a skill, it’s an honor. It’s the art of imparting your knowledge and experience to someone else— and isn’t that the heart of good leadership? Instead of just telling people what to do, a good coach takes the time to patiently show them how to do it. (more…)

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Align Company Vision with Employee Dreams

September 21, 2017

By Mark David

People shouldn’t have to choose between a successful career and a happy home life. ~ Harry Gray

Most of us love to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. That’s one of the reasons people go to work for a company. If you work at Microsoft, for example, you feel motivated by knowing that the mundane tasks in your morning in-box contribute directly to worldwide advancements in information technology. If you work for Acme Plumbing you are energized by being part of one of the top repair outfits in your community. (more…)

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The Magic of “One-on-One” Leadership

September 7, 2017

By Mark David

You can’t lead a team of people by sitting behind a desk, writing memos. ~ Mark David

I call it “One-on-One Leadership,” but it goes by many names. I’ve heard it called “Management by Walking Around.” Or, alternately, “Face-to- Face” Management. Or sometimes even EB2, which actually stands for “Eyeball-to-Eyeball” Management. Whatever you want to call it, you need some in your coaching philosophy—and here’s why: (more…)

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Treat all Setbacks as Temporary

August 24, 2017

By Mark David

“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage.” ~ William Ellery Channing

Ultimately, your success as a leader will be largely determined by how well you maintain your balance in the face of short-term difficulties and disappointments. Leaders do not give up easily or remain discouraged. Their long- range goals help insulate them from the frustration and disappointment of short-term setbacks. Tenacity and resilience are high values with the best leaders. They may give out, now and then, but they never give up. (more…)

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Question Tradition

August 10, 2017

By Mark David

“Sacred cows make great steaks. ~ Unknown

One of the biggest threats to fresh ideas and innovation is the phrase, “We’ve always done it this way.” Did you know that people wore shoes for hundreds of years before someone finally took a fresh look and invented left shoes and right shoes? (more…)

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Tune In

July 27, 2017

By Mark David

“Learn to listen to what people don’t say.” ~ Germain Glidden

Winning coaches have developed long antennae. They try to stay tuned to the sometimes subtle signals that are coming from each member of their team. All verbal, non-verbal, and written communication—even omissions and silence—can cue a leader to potential issues that may need personal attention. (more…)

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An SOS for Stress

July 13, 2017

By Mark David

“Don’t lose your head, it’s the best part of your body.” ~ Jimmy Snyder

It happens to the best of us. Tom Hanks used to throw up before performing. Cher had to be physically pushed out on the stage for her first concerts. Warren Buffet was too nervous to stand up and speak at his first stockholders’ meetings. (more…)

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Actions Versus Words

June 22, 2017

By Mark David

“What you do speaks so loudly that I can no longer hear what you say.” ~ Proverb

Here’s a useful little rule of thumb: To determine reality, simply compare a person’s words (what they “say” they do) with their actions (what they “actually” do). To be an effective coach, you must constantly uncover and deal with reality—but words alone can be deceiving. That’s why you must compare your team members’ actions to their words. (more…)

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Focus on Your Top 20% Responsibilities First

June 8, 2017

By Mark David

“It’s important to do things right, but it’s even more important to do the right things.” — Peter Drucker

Time is one of the leader’s most precious resources, but distractions and activity traps are all around us. In today’s fast-paced world, we must continuously come back to the basic leadership question: Am I allocating enough time to the right things—my Top 20% responsibilities—today and every day? They include:

1. Strategic Thinking
2. Sustaining a Proactive Culture
3. Communication
4. Growing and Developing Team Members
5. Prospecting for Future Opportunities and Employees

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Build “Partnerships” with Your Team

May 25, 2017

By Mark David

Part-ner-ship: noun. A strong relationship between two or more people, usually involving close cooperation, mutual expectations, and shared responsibilities.

Successful coaches focus on building solid, steady, long-term relationships with their team members. These relationships resemble partnerships because they ideally involve 1) close cooperation, 2) mutual expectations, and 3) shared responsibilities. (more…)

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Be Proactive

May 11, 2017

By Mark David

“Planning is bringing the future into the present, so you can do something about it now.” ~ Alan Lakein

Make proactive thinking a natural and consistent part of your makeup as a leader. With proactive thinking you don’t have to settle for life the way it comes to you; you can design your life to come to you the way you want it. (more…)

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Celebrating Our 30th Anniversary

February 9, 2017

By Mark David

A heartfelt thank you to our clients and friends for sharing the journey with us.

“Give the world the best that you have and the best will come back to you.” That beautiful quote from Madeline Bridges captures the original spirit and intent that launched the Mark David Corporation thirty years ago this month. And believe me, those words are just as relevant today as they were in the very beginning. (more…)

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Confront Problems Head On

December 15, 2016

By Mark David

Good leaders have the attitude, “I will never dodge or avoid a problem.” They embrace the idea that a big part of leadership is anticipating, confronting and proactively solving problems with their people. In fact, if your team ever stops bringing difficult problems to you, it’s a good sign they have either lost confidence that you can help, or concluded you no longer care. (more…)

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Truth and Trust Go Hand in Hand

December 1, 2016

By Mark David

Here are four mental reminders that will contribute to your success as a leader and coach:

• To be a great coach, you must have the trust of your team.
• Trust cannot be demanded, it can only be earned.
• Trust is not earned overnight, it is earned over time.
• Truth and trust go hand-in-hand. (more…)

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Praise Progress

November 21, 2016

By Mark David

Sincere praise is a powerful (but often overlooked) coaching and leadership tool. It’s powerful because it is not only needed but also appreciated by every person at every level throughout the entire organization. Simply put, everyone appreciates being appreciated. Here are a few insights about praise and recognition that are sometimes overlooked: (more…)

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Think Big

November 10, 2016

By Mark David

Nothing energizes a team or organization faster or better than a big idea. If your company or department lacks enthusiasm—if your team members are bored—it’s time for a bold move.
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HA! (Hold Accountable)

October 27, 2016

By Mark David

Some favorite expressions of small children: “It’s not my fault. I couldn’t help it. They made me do it. I didn’t mean to. I forgot.”

Some favorite expressions of small adults: “It’s not my job. No one told me. I can’t do everything. Don’t blame me. It couldn’t be helped.”

HA! is one of my favorite little acronyms. (more…)

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Focus on the “Why”

October 13, 2016

By Mark David

Most people manage the “what” and the “how,” but the best leaders manage the “why.” By helping their people understand and embrace the “why,” leaders are better able to inspire enthusiasm, trust and loyalty. Here’s how it works: (more…)

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High Expectations are Everything

September 29 2016

By Mark David

There’s a big difference between wanting, believing, hoping and expecting. As a coach, you may “want” something to happen. You may “believe” it can happen. You may “hope” it will happen. But if you and your team don’t fully “expect” it to happen, it probably won’t. (more…)

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Communicate Openly

September 15 2016

By Mark David

Years ago the IBM Company asked 500 executives from several different industries to write down their personal definition of “communication.” The definitions were different in several ways, but they were similar in one: Most people agreed that communication had something to do with being “two-way.” (more…)

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Drive Out Fear

September 1 2016

By Mark David

What is the role of the leader?

Is the leader supposed to strike fear into the hearts of his or her followers? Is the leader supposed to make sure that everyone is toeing the company line or conforming to the code of conduct? The truth is, tyrants make terrible leaders; and fear is a very ineffective long-term motivator. (more…)

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Develop a Shared Vision With Your Team

August 18, 2016

by Mark David

Your willingness to create a Vision for your team is a statement of your belief in their potential. It also infuses your workplace with purpose, meaning, cohesion and spirit.

Winning coaches start each “season” with a Vision in mind. Think of a Vision as a mental snapshot of the future—a preferred reality or an exciting “stretch goal” that your team can get excited about. (more…)

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Put Your Values Into Action

February 2, 2016

by Mark David

Good companies list their Core Values, while great companies live them.

Lots of companies these days post their Core Values on a poster or plaque in their entryway. Since I’m on the road a lot, I get to see quite a few of these lists, and I am always impressed by the care and thought that obviously went into them. (more…)

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Knowing the Difference Between a Company’s Vision, Mission and Values

January 5, 2016

by Mark David

Here’s the “what, why and how” of great company culture.

The guiding stars for any great enterprise are its Vision, Mission and Core Values. Here’s how I distinguish between them: (more…)

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Follow Your “True North”

November 19, 2015

by Mark David

Make Your Vision, Mission and Values Your Guiding Stars

Our time on earth is limited. We can choose to do anything, but none of us gets to do everything. That’s why I encourage my clients to be very clear and specific about their values and priorities. The clearer you are about what really matters to you, the easier it becomes for you to focus your precious time on what’s most important in every day, week, month or year. (more…)

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Managing the Winds of Change.

October 27, 2015

by Mark David

Lesson learned from a child’s science project.

An article in the Huffington Post lists 25 time-honored 4th Grade science projects that are still popular with today’s students. Looking back, you probably remember the top three from your own grade school days:  (more…)

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When You’re Calling the Shots.

August 24, 2015

by Mark David

How leaders make stress-free decisions.

Somewhere along the line, someone probably advised you never to make snap decisions. When faced with a difficult choice, we are cautioned to “give it some thought,” or to “mull it over,” or to “sleep on it.”

That may be good advice, but it’s not very practical. In a perfect world, you would have all the time you need to make every decision. In today’s world, however, many decisions must be made quickly, based only on the best information currently available. (more…)

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Caring is a Huge Competitive Advantage

July 8, 2015

by Mark David

When you care, people notice. If I had to pick one essential characteristic that consistently distinguishes great leaders, managers and companies from the rest of the pack, it would be this: It all boils down to those who really care, and those who really don’t. (more…)

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Good Reasons to Stop Worrying

June 16, 2015

by Mark David

I am an old man and have known many troubles, most of which never happened. — Mark Twain

Over the years I have coached many good friends and clients to make one simple change that immediately improved the quality of their lives and their work—and you can make the same change right here and now: (more…)

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Start With the Vision

March 5, 2015

by Mark David

I’ve noticed lately that a few business writers have implied that “Visioning” might be a waste of time. One went so far as to compare a Corporate Vision Statement to a “cute slogan—like a bumper sticker.” (more…)

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How to Beat the Jitters (S.O.S.)

March 5, 2015

by Mark David

Tom Hanks used to throw up before performing a scene. Cher had to be physically pushed out on the stage to perform her first concerts. Young Warren Buffet was too shy and nervous to stand up and speak at his first stockholder meetings. (more…)

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