• A "lesson from the jungle"
• An empowering technique, tool or exercise
• Our featured Costa Rica training tour
• A weblink to help you work and play better
• Some inspiring quotations
• A bit of a giggle...

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Lasting credibility

We're off to Mayamü Costa Rica for a couple of weeks of work and a little R&R.  Aside from my primary mission I'm speaking at EXPOTUR 2004 (the Central American tourism show), I'm hoping to be safe from the assault of non-stop political ads - as both Canada and the US are in full election-mode. It seems they'll say just about anything to get elected. Man it's like a jungle out there.

So who has the credibility to claim your vote?  In the jungle, species establish that all-important credibility-factor in their social hierarchy in a number of ways.  For scavengers like the vulture, the pecking order is created with brute force - the biggest bird gets the choicest place at the dead carcass. In macaque monkey social-circles though, it's the power of the puny that wins - as younger females receive more care and attention and thereby claim higher social standing.  

In prawn society, color establishes hierarchy: Blue-clawed males dominate Orange-clawed ones.  Say what we will, in Nature might does not make right& ask the dinosaurs.  Contrary to what the chest-beaters think, the jungle's primary management rule is « altruistic self-interest ». And aside from everything else that's been said about it, war is merely our political difference solved with violence.  And that means our leaders have run out of credible solutions and answers.

Try as we will, we cannot break Nature's rules - even if we can break ourselves against them. We've proven that intelligence is emotional and that the fundamental law of motivation - each action has an equal and opposite reaction - means we have to give off positive energy (e-motion) to receive it and if we encounter negative energy along the way, the ONLY WAY to transcend it is with MORE POSITIVE ENERGY.  

Of course - that means having an abundance of personal power and a radical new way of seeing things.  Nonetheless, it is the only way& and Nature's law.

So who are you listening to?  You've got to know that a $150 million dollar campaign and 30-second clips could get a howler monkey elected, so how can we know who is credible? Public relations expert Lee McCaskill suggests a few strategies that can establish lasting credibility in human hierarchies.   Try any of the following 8 ways to position yourself.  They really work.  

1.   Write a book.  Is there something that you are passionate about and know better than the rest of us?  Do you have a unique perspective on a subject?  You don't have to write a best seller but the credit you can expect to receive as an "author" will suggest that you have expertise.

2.   Submit an article to professional, industry or trade publications. Offer to write about an innovative approach, product or solution, or express your view on someone else's idea, or on a trend in your field, or praise something good.  Get the submission guidelines before sending your story outline to the editor. That not only saves you time and energy, it increases your chances of actually being published. Once you are published send copies of the articles where they'll do you the most good. Refer to them a lot.

3.   Speak in public.  Polish your presentation skills at your local chapter of Toastmasters International. Then see your Chamber of Commerce or some other group and inquire about the speaking opportunities in your area.  Talk and flaunt your expertise.

4.   Teach a class. Volunteer at the local college or business school, or give a series of seminars online, or sponsor a professional conference speaker (and say a few words before his presentation). Let people know.

5.   Lend your name to a great event, a useful product or a win-win scenario.  Then create a web page and start a buzz about it.  

6.   Do something newsworthy, or add to something already known. Then give press releases, post on bulletin boards and orchestrate an email campaign that refers to your accomplishment detailed on a web site.  

7.   Take a stand on an important issue. Generate awareness of your stance with letters to the editors of the local media.  Respond to all mentions of your cause and express your take on all stories related to your view from that moment on.

8.   Mentor someone. Provide the benefit of your expertise or your passion to a member of your industry or community.  Having a protégé lets you to cast yourself as a bona-fide expert, a credible authority with something worth knowing.

 

Each of these merits an important place on your CV.  Ever wonder why some folks suddenly jump to the front of the pack and succeed?  It all starts when the people around them perceive them as credible leaders who deserve it.

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Sometimes the first solution that comes to mind, as sure as it might seem, is not the best way to go.  Sometimes the quick-fix or snappy answer won't cut it and you need some deep thinking.  Real breakthroughs often reveal themselves progressively &as older neurons link with newer data.

Try a thinking technique called « Progressive Thinking ». A group brainstorming technique, it involves seeing problems or challenges on the larger macro level, and then whittling them down through planned progressions to their micro levels. Apply what you see at macro-levels to provoke breakthroughs in your micro-level thinking. Try it here.

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Why is our team-building 1-week tour the best training event you'll ever attend?  

2 reasons - because of its context - exciting learning adventures in the jungle - and its content - simply the best SELF-KNOWLEDGE curriculum ever designed.  Check it out.

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While politicians are saying just about anything and everything to get themselves elected, the home planet is under siege.  Check out the state of the Earth here.

In response, see what Canadian politicians are doing about it, click here .

If you ever thought that some politicians are part of a huge conspiracy, check out this site.  How high does said conspiracy go?  You needn't get paranoid but the folks at this site say it goes right to the top.  So is there collusion between money and politics? For example, how much do you think an American ambassadorship cost? Well not as much as you suppose - check it out.

How do alternative media treat the news? Start here.

The only evolutionary defense against the torrent of political-BS is SELF-empowerment.  If you are ready to consider a political system that's based on « altruistic self-interest » see what the planetary angels were up to.
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"People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success." Norman Vincent Peale

"Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it." William Durant

If you love what you do, you will never work another day in your life." Confucius

"We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." Max DePree

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you never change your mind, why have one?"  Dr. Edward De Bono

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A young sorcerer's apprentice was walking through the jungle one day when he came upon a jaguar trapped in a cage. "Oh, good and clever Sorcerer," cried the jaguar, "...please help me out of this trap!"  
Being a kind person, the sorcerer helped the jaguar out of the cage.  But then, Jaguar - who'd been trapped for days and was voraciously hungry - growled menacingly at the young man and said: "Thanks for your help but now you are lunch. It's nothing personal you see, and I do thank you very much!"  

"What? Wait!" the sorcerer replied, "You can't do this.  It's against all rules and not at all fair.  I saved your life and now you propose to take mine?  I think not. You owe me big time.  Let's ask the learned citizens of this jungle to judge my case and see if you can do this."

Jaguar was taken aback for a moment and confused - probably because of his long confinement and hunger.  "Owe you? Now I think not.  My only rule is self-preservation and I am famished."

"I respectfully must contradict you and point to a higher rule.  As you seem to be the only beast in the jungle who is ignorant of it, I challenge your authority to kill me and I insist on other opinions." - asserted the young sorcerer.

Jaguar wasn't at all sure where the fellow was leading with all this as he'd never encountered such a preposterous situation:  Imagine... arguing with your lunch. But he was so sure he'd win his case that he agreed the sorcerer could look for 3 opinions... before he was eaten.

The sorcerer immediately turned and asked a very large and very old tree a few yards away to judge the case. He said in his loudest voice: "I saved this jaguar's life& should he have the right to eat me?"

"Oh most definitely yes!" the tree replied without taking any time to think about it.  "Men are always cutting us trees down without debate and they deserve any suffering they get! Oh yes for sure... Do eat him." - he told Jaguar.

Not at all what he expected hear, the surprised young apprentice looked around desperately and spotted a monkey high in that same tree.  He yelled up at him, asking him to come down and judge the case. Now seated on a lower branch, the sorcerer said to him: "My little monkey friend, I just saved Jaguar's life... so does he have the right to eat me?"

"Absolutely yes!" the monkey answered almost gleefully, "Men are always hunting us monkeys for meat.  They deserve to die without any hesitation - as do you!  By all means..." - he turned to Jaguar - "Eat him right away!"

Stunned, the sorcerer was near panicked - but kept his cool under this scary turn of events. Then he saw a coyote happening by a distant hill and he called him over to judge the case, saying "Dear and clever Coyote, I saved Jaguar's life. Should he have the right to eat me?" - and he proceeded to give him every reason why he should be spared.

"Hmm," Coyote thought for a long moment. "I'm not sure who is most feared - man or jaguar. Both are ruthless so this is a hard one for me to decide. But weighing all your arguments, in my judgment, I just can't believe that such a big jaguar could fit into such a small cage so I conclude that he is lying and because of that you should go free"

Jaguar was incensed that Coyote thought him a liar and, very offended - even if he tried to look nonchalant about it - he snarled in a huff and then walked right back into the cage in order to prove Coyote wrong.  And as soon as he was inside, Coyote quickly slammed the door and locked it behind him.

"There," said the Coyote to no one in particular. "Now everything is back to the beginning and you two can start your negotiation again... if you so please. But young sorcerer, have you not learned?  I must caution you to think twice about opening a door to the ungrateful.  You cannot be of help to him or her that does not want it& nor appreciates it."