Increasing the Effectiveness and Enhancing the Lives of CEOs
and business owners.

Contents of this issue...
   .. Welcome - A few words from the publisher, Gary Lockwood
   .. Thought-Starter -  "Old Dogs and New Tricks"
   .. Guest article - "Unlocking the Value of Your Customers"
   .. CEO Resources
   .. Quotes to use in your staff meeting this month
   .. Humor to lighten up the executive suite
   .. Contact the publisher
   .. Subscribe and unsubscribe instructions

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      WELCOME to this issue of the CEO Success Report!
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Hello again. I'm Gary Lockwood, President of CEO Success.

Welcome back once again to the CEO Success Report. I know you
have no shortage of material to read and I thank you for choosing
to read our newsletter.

We work hard to provide practical ideas, thought-provoking concepts
and useful information for you. Please give me some feedback
about this issue. Send your comments to
   mailto:Gary@CEOSuccess.com

As you finish out this year and prepare to launch into 2001,
consider making a few special New Year's resolutions.

My "thought-starter" in today's issue is an outline of ten challenges
for you - resolutions for the new year. Taking action on any of these
could transform your enterprise and your life. Commit to any of
these "Year 1" resolutions and make this a great 2001!

Our guest article this month is by Chris Widener. Chris is a
popular speaker and author as well as the President of Made
for Success.

It's not easy being a leader. It's especially challenging to be an
extraordinary leader for your organization. In today's guest article,
Chris lays out the common mistakes that extraordinary leaders
*don't* make.

Read more about Chris at the end of his article.

I hope you enjoy receiving these articles and ideas to
help you sharpen your thinking about being an effective CEO.

My wish is that you use the ideas in the CEO Success Report to
get the results you really want. If you want some help in putting
them into practice, or if you have questions, email or call.

As you know, our specialty is Increasing the Effectiveness
and Enhancing the Lives of CEOs and business owners.

Enjoy this issue with my compliments. May I ask a small favor?
Please forward this issue to other CEOs and company presidents
who may be interested in receiving these messages. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Gary Lockwood, President
CEO Success

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       This month's THOUGHT-STARTER
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     Resolutions for Year 1 of  the New Millennium
     by Gary Lockwood

As you launch into this very special new year, consider these
resolutions. Taking action on any of these could transform your
enterprise and your life.

  > Resolve to get wired
Businesses of all shapes and sizes are flocking to the Internet,
the fastest-growing communications medium in history. Use of
the Internet and the World Wide Web can be a cost-effective addition
to your arsenal of competitive weapons. Don't wait. Resolve to get
your enterprise in some form of ecommerce this year. Companies
worldwide are finding out you can reduce marketing costs,
increase revenues and improve service using the Internet.
The world is moving fast. Plug into it today.

   > Resolve to expand your comfort zone
Each of us has our own personal comfort zone. Some would call
it "a rut". Staying in your comfort zone can be very limiting. The
world passes us by as we stagnate. If we are not learning, trying
new things and growing, our jobs and businesses may be
deteriorating. Make a list of 50 things that, if you really were
successful in doing them, you would be a better person or a
better company.

Examples:  give a speech (oh no!), write and publish an article,
start an exercise program, meditate daily, teach a class, feed a
homeless person, volunteer, climb a mountain, learn to play a
new musical instrument, sign up for a dance class, try for that
promotion, and so on.

Then, from your list, choose one or two that you are willing to do
within the next 90 days. Schedule those one or two new activities,
then go for it. Afterward, choose one or two more and do it again.
Make personal and professional growth a lifelong habit.

   > Resolve to get better clients
Most businesses take on any client who steps up with the money.
Consider the cost to you for dealing with the people you serve.
Have you ever noticed that some people make you feel good just
to be around them? These are the people who give you energy
when they are near you. On the other hand, there are probably
others you can think of who drain all the life out of you. Which
clients would you rather have? You can surround yourself with
people who are pleasant, easy to deal with, interesting and, oh
yes, profitable. Get better clients. You deserve it.

  > Resolve to get organized
Too much going on?.... Not enough time?.... Sound familiar?
How would you like to have more time for what YOU want to do?
Resolve this year to plan your days, reduce interruptions, clean
off your desk, say "No", make lists. The benefits of getting more
organized include being more effective at your work, having more
positive control of your workstyle, saving time and money, improving
your professional image with clients, bosses, etc. and taking control
the stress.

   > Resolve to be a rainmaker
I've seen many people who sat around waiting for rain. They would
wait by the phone, hoping a prospective client would call or come
to the business. Others, including some of the most successful,
took positive action to "make it rain". These are the ones who made
calls, ran ads, got out of the office to make their own contacts.
Through their activity, these business professionals created oppor-
tunities for new business. More clients, more revenue, better client
relationships and happier employees are just a few of the advantages
you'll realize when you take business-building action for your
enterprise.

   > Resolve to clean up loose ends
We all have messes in our lives. Messes are incomplete tasks,
disorder, disarray, or conflicts that distract you and cause you to
lose energy, break your concentration and reduce self-esteem.
Messes can include cluttered desks, relationships gone awry,
physical well-being, finances, incomplete agreements and legal
issues. Every time you eliminate a loose end, you boost your
confidence, increase concentration, and feel a surge in energy.
For the year 2000, target a mess a month.

   > Resolve to focus on your strengths
Conventional wisdom says we should work on improving our
weaknesses. What a terrible waste of time, talent and opportunity!
Highly successful entrepreneurs, as well as top scientists, artists,
athletes and entertainers throughout history have achieved great-
ness by focusing on their areas of strength. Everybody has a natural
aptitude in some areas. No matter how hard you try, it is unlikely
you will ever be more than average in areas where you do not have
an aptitude.

Working on your weaknesses undermines your self-esteem since
you will focus mostly on your deficiencies. Developing your natural
talents is rewarding and motivating, allowing you to continually
realize higher levels of ability, achievement and success. This
year, experience the immense satisfaction that comes with being
superb at something.

   > Resolve to take more free time
Free time isn't a reward for working hard; it's necessary for optimum
performance and productivity. We need free time, away from the
business, to rejuvenate ourselves. When you are aggressive about
getting rest and relaxation, regularly and frequently, you'll see
increased creativity and productivity. The more free time you take,
the more creativity and productivity you will experience. To make
breakthroughs in income, productivity and creativity, significantly
increase the amount of free time away from your business.

   > Resolve to develop stronger business relationships
Your economic future is dependent on other people's future. Your
success in your enterprise is based on the extent that you help
other people to succeed in their lives. Ask every person you
encounter what he or she wants to have accomplished three years
from now. Focus on finding ways to help others in achieving their
goals. By adding value to their preferred future, you not only deepen
your relationship; you also create huge opportunities for yourself.

   > Resolve to get in better shape
Take a hike. Or a jog, swim, or bike ride. With few exceptions, those
who are consistently successful have lots of energy. They have the
stamina and the energy to be creative, tirelessly serve their clients,
put in the extra effort when necessary and go the extra mile for
their employees. The bottom line is that regular, strenuous exercise
is good for business, because it's good for you. You can increase
your well-being, jump-start your days, boost your confidence, turbo-
charge your creativity, and knock down stress by exercising
consistently.

And that's not all. Think of exercise as a gift to yourself and to
your loved ones. A gift of longer life, more energy, happier
disposition, increased creativity and reduced pain.

Start by exercising your free will. Commit to any of these ten
resolutions and make this a great 2001!

   About the Author...
Gary Lockwood is Increasing the Effectiveness and Enhancing the
Lives of CEOs, business owners and professionals.
Get the Free BizSuccess newsletter -
http://www.bizsuccess.com/newsletter.htm
or send any blank email to mailto:subscribe@BizSuccess.com
Email:  mailto:Gary@BizSuccess.com  Web: http://www.BizSuccess.com


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          Guest Article
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     Common Mistakes Extraordinary Leaders Don't Make
     by Chris Widener

When people make a decision (either consciously or unconsciously)
to follow your leadership, they do it primarily because of one of two
things: Your Character or your Skills. They want to know if you are
the kind of person they want to follow and if you have the skills to
take them further. Yes, there are other variables but these are the
bulk of the matter. This week we focus on the kind of skills that
cause people to follow your leadership, specifically things that an
Extraordinary Leader doesn't do.

1. Not Riding Momentum - To increase your leadership effective-
ness, you want to learn to ride the momentum of the situation
(the positive momentum of course!). When we begin to exper-
ience bad momentum we naturally try to stop it and that is good,
but many people also have the tendency to try to stop the positive
momentum as well. This comes from our basic desire to have
things "under control." Unfortunately, often when we try to control
the situation, we actually stop the good that is happening. So
let go of the reigns and ride the momentum!

2. Flaunting the Privilege of Leadership - Leadership has its
privileges, that is for sure. And rightly so! The entrepreneur who
started the company ought to be paid well and reap the rewards
for the risks that he or she took. Unfortunately, human nature is
still such that people can resent the success and privileges of
others, even if they worked hard for them. Therefore, an extra-
ordinary leader will not be guilty of flaunting the privileges they
have because this is likely to cause a backlash and can actually
harm their ability to lead. Whenever possible share the privileges
and rewards of leadership and your followers will love you all
the more.

3. Picking People Who Won't Threaten Them - An Extraordinary
Leader will always try to pick people who are better than himself
or herself. Again, human nature is such that we think, "Wait, if I
hire her, she'll have me out of a job in no time." Then we pick
someone of lesser quality, while our competitor hires the good
one and surges ahead. No, pick the best. If they are better than
you, you will grow together as a team and you will still be the
leader and people will respect you for your ability to pick - and
lead - a winning team!

4. Not Having a Second in Command Who Complements Them -
An ordinary leader picks someone who is like theirself so they
can feel comfortable. An Extraordinary Leader picks someone
who can do all the things that he or she can't; someone who can
see things in ways that he or she can't. An Extraordinary Leader
needs a right hand person who can compliment their skills and
style. This way the old adage is proved true - two heads are
better than one.

5. Not Giving Power Away - An ordinary leader wants to do as
much as they can so they can be seen as a good, hard worker.
They think that they lead by example in this. An Extraordinary
Leader knows that they need to empower others to do the work
and make the decisions if the organization is to grow and they
are together going to make a difference. We must let others take
leadership themselves, even if it means they fail at first. This
way we multiply the organizational leadership and we go even
further.

6. Unable or Unwilling to Make Hard Decisions - Leadership is
a lot of decision making. Non-leaders don't like to make decisions
because they operate from a subjective viewpoint. They aren't
thinking about the overall health of the organization, they are
thinking about who will get mad or who might lose their jobs.
While we want to be sensitive to these things, the Extraordinary
Leader understands that sometimes hard decisions have to be
made for the sake of the organization - and they make them.
Then they carry them out. John Maxwell says that decisions are
like crying babies: both should be carried out quickly!

7. Trying to Have No Casualties - This may be the greatest
leadership lesson I have ever learned. The Extraordinary Leader
knows that anytime the organization will make ground, there will
be casualties. In the movie Gladiator, the lieutenant comes to tell
Maximus that the troops are not fully ready for battle. Maximus
sees that the other side is about to move and if they don't move
first, they will lose the war. The Lieutenant begins to say, "The
casualties will be too great," but Maximus finishes the
lieutenant's sentence so that instead he said, "The casualties
will be "acceptable."

I realize now that when my organization moved ahead tre-
mendously a few years ago, the people who got in a huff about
it were the casualties and that any time a group moves ahead,
that will happen. We shouldn't look for or enjoy casualties, but
understand they will assuredly come, and accept them.

So move ahead!

Chris Widener is a popular speaker and author as well as the
President of Made for Success. You can get Chris' FREE Ezine,
Made for Success by sending a blank email to
success-on@mail-list.com.

You can get his daily SuccessQuote and Action Point by sending
a blank email to successquotes-on@mail-list.com. Chris is
available to teach Extraordinary Leadership to your Organization.
Just give him a call at (425) 444-GOAL (4625) to schedule.
Be sure to visit http://www.madeforsuccess.com for more great stuff.

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        RESOURCES  for CEOs
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Sookoo
http://www.sookoo.com

What if you are searching for information about a concept, rather
than a specific company or person? Try Sookoo, the business
strategy search specialist. At this site, you can drill through
categories such as big thinkers, leadership, trends or change
management -- or search on just about any term you can think
of. According to Soo, "The Strategy Search Specialist is a pioneer
in a new breed of search engine -- it doesn't try to be everything to
everyone. It focuses on a specific content area, Business Strategy,
and instead of trying to link to every related site in the world, only
links to quality, active sites." The right-brained thinkers among
us may have just found our new best friend.

Check it out at    http://www.sookoo.com

  < this resource brought to you by Larry Chase's Web Digest.
      Visit http://wdfm.com


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      QUOTES to use in your staff meeting this month
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  I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make
  as they fly by.
             Douglas Adams

  Most plans are just inaccurate predictions.
             Ben Bayol

  Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy
  merely to be normal.
             Albert Camus

  There's no real need to do housework --
  after four years it doesn't get any worse.
             Quentin Crisp

  A continuing flow of paper is sufficient to continue
  the flow of paper.
             Dyer

  Genius is one per cent inspiration and
  ninety-nine per cent perspiration.
             Thomas Alva Edison


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      HUMOR to lighten up the executive suite
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 Things That Take Years to Learn
 ----------------------------------
 1.  The badness of a movie is directly proportional to the number of
 helicopters in it.

 2.  You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely
 suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby
 emerging from her at that moment.

 3.  The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age,
 gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep
 down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.

 4.  There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

 5.  People who want to share their religious views with you almost
 never want you to share yours with them.

 6.  If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human
 race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential,
 that word would be "meetings."

 7.  The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to
 annoy people who are not in them.

 8.  You should not confuse your career with your life.

 9.  A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter/janitor, is
 not a nice person.

 10.  When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one
 individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command.
 Very often, that individual is crazy.

                    ***excerpts from: http://www.joker.org/  ***


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       CONTACT CEO Success
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Gary Lockwood is the publisher of the CEO Success Report.
   Email:  mailto:Gary@CEOSuccess.com
   Office: (800) 272-1575 (USA) *  (909) 984-3344
   Fax: (815) 361-3041

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         Your Comments, please?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I appreciate feedback, corrections, and comments about the
CEO Success Report. Please send your thoughts to:
  Gary@CEOSuccess.com <mailto:Gary@CEOSuccess.com>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
      Subscribe  and unsubscribe  instructions
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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