Tag: The Blog Whisperer

In Life, It’s All About Working Things Out

Post author By jeff
Post date May 22, 2011

Few of us embrace simplicity and common sense as adults, mostly because it’s been beaten out of us. Poor leadership. Poor self-image. Doubt. Fear. Long list, right?

The aspects of those things most important are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity.

When do these things resurface in our lives, giving us a second chance to consider making them important again? Last night driving home from dropping off our son’s sleepover buddy, my son and I had a conversation and the most basic and important phrase came out of my mouth.

Epiphany!

In life, it’s all about working things out.

Immediately, two leaders came to mind. Misunderstanding, driven by lack of communication, assumptions, busy schedules, excuses, etc, can skew the truth so badly, that great opportunities are buried, when they could very well be the next big breakthrough.

There, that’s the main message. If you want to read more, this whole thing started when I reflected on how well Chapin and his friend (both 10) played together. “You guys got along great. Only one or two challenges, but you worked it out.”

“You know, like they say on American Idol. Dude, you worked it out.”

My son was still confused at the metaphor. Told him on American Idol, working it out means singing an amazing song. But in this context, working it out meant you and another person solved a difference of opinion.

That’s what life is all about, I piped, without even thinking twice. And it hit me three seconds later, so I pulled over and wrote it down.

Profoundly simple. Simply profound.

Life is like that.

Glad I worked it out between me and my intuition.

A boy and his future ‘brother’, the canine inspiration for this blog…

Tags American Idol, Conflict Resolution, Leadership Chalenges and Opportunities, Life Lessons, Metaphors, Midlife Celebration, The Blog Whisperer, Work It Out

The Truth Hurts

Hard To Believe That It’s Been A Month Since jeff noel, The Blog Whisperer, Posted Here

Post author By jeff
Post date May 21, 2011

Do you have dreams of writing a book? Ever consider a crazy title like, Leadership Is Like Training A Puppy? I would. Wait, I am.

Yeah, jeff noel, The Blog Whisperer here, even though it’s been a month since I’ve posted here, it’s only been a few minutes since I’ve posted here. Have written over 4,000 posts the past 2 years.

Cooper, our Yellow Lab puppy, inspired this Blog and website. Not many Dogs have their own blog. Not many bloggers write 5 daily, differently-themed blogs. Anyway, we’ve had these two Ducks occupying the same spot in our front yard, under an Oak tree. Closest water is 300 meters away.

Our ‘water dog’ is curious why these ducks float on land.

Always a helpful Lab, Cooper sort of directs them on their way.

Training, in any arena, has it’s moments. Things come at your leadership team that no one ever saw coming. In this case, the benign arrival of the squatting Ducks.

In other cases, severe and life-altering moments…

Wait, that wasn’t it. This is it…

Adversity doesn’t develop character, it reveals it.

The time to prepare for pain is when the sun is shining.

Tags Dream Of Being A Writer, Ducks, Leadership Training, Life's Big Choices, Mid Life Celebration, Passion For A Purpose, Prolific Bloggers Secrets, The Blog Whisperer, Wellness Challenge

Yeah Sounds Crazy

At Least Where I Come From

Post author By jeff
Post date April 23, 2011

Leadership IS like training a puppy. Seriously.

The ingredients are exactly the same.

Love (servant leadership)
Selection (pick the best you can afford)
Vision (well-trained people & pets)
Mission (great service)
Consistency (at every step)
Training (master the fundamentals)
Support (care & “feeding”)
Rewards (what gets rewarded gets repeated)
Purpose (teamwork)

Earlier today, our ‘puppy’, Cooper, was not cooperating. He would not let me get close to him – he knew I was disappointed. It took me a few minutes to get into a position where I could make myself clear.

At just the right moment, I grabbed the thick neck fur and skin of this 85-pound Lab pup and forced his muzzle into the grass. Like a wrestler, I quickly mounted on top of Cooper and with my body weight, pinned him to the ground.

My face was now in his face – 3 inches apart. And in no uncertain terms, I used a tone that was crystal clear – I’m Akela (leader), you listen to me. Period.

Moments later, upon releasing Cooper from that alpha dog grip, Cooper came and laid at my feet. Our son (10) witnessed the whole thing and I asked a very specific question.

“Do you see the difference in Cooper’s behavior now that he’s clear on who’s the alpha?”

I then got down on my knees and loved Cooper as sweetly and gently as I could. From ‘death grip” to the loving embrace in 2 minutes.

When you are crystal clear as a leader, people get it. It takes time (this wasn’t the 1st ‘death grip’) and patience. And sometimes, you need to get in someones face.

Twice.

Once to be clear (on your expectations).

And once to be clear again (on your love for their role in the team).

Leadership is like training a puppy. Most of us are not very good at training pets. And most of us are not good at leadership either.

What can we do? Read. Observe. Try. Fail. Learn. Try agin. Remember your higher purpose as leader is to lead, not manage.

Leading is about being in front, showing the way.

And it’s also about teaching. At least where I come from.

Tags Leadership Blogger, Mid Life Celebration, Pets, Puppies, The Blog Whisperer

Amazingly Inspirational

Would You Have Gotten Back Up?

Post author By jeff
Post date April 19, 2011

Heather Dorniden of the University of Minnesota races the 600m at the Big 10 Indoor Track (2008) Championships. In lap 2, Heather took a bad fall.

Would you have gotten back up from this heartbreaking fall?

Tags GodTube, Midlife Celebration, The Blog Whisperer

Worth Watching?

Do It Better, Different, or Both

Post author By jeff
Post date April 17, 2011

Whistle while you work. Give a little whistle… If you’re going to whistle, and have plans to win a world whistling championship, you better do it better or differently (or both) than the other whistlers.

Tim Eggert demonstrates that this simple concept can be applied to anything. Even whistling.

Tags Different, Do It Better, Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, The Blog Whisperer, Tim Eggert, Whistling Competitions, World Champion

The Truth Hurts

The 1 Thing That Makes A Champion

Post author By jeff
Post date April 2, 2011

Important, but not very catchy…

Focus, leadership, creativity, vision, help you stand out and garner praise…

Since 1949, less than 700 cities have received this…

What makes a dog a champion? What makes a leader great?

Hold on, because this is so profoundly true and simple that we are quickly tempted to dismiss the revelation.

What makes a dog a champion? What makes a leader great?

The judge, and it depends who’s judging.

If the American Kennel Club is judging, well, it goes without saying where the bar is set. Or, if Fast Company, Mashable, or The Huffington Post is judging, same thing.

But in your world, who judges you? And perhaps more importantly, how high do you think they set the bar?

And finally, how willing are you to jump over it?

jeff noel is the author of a dozen different blogs. The Blog Whisperer, and CEO at Mid Life Celebration, LLC, jeff realizes the importance of ‘different’ in the digital economy.

Leadership Is Like Training A Puppy is serious about making a difference. jeff noel and his blogs have become one of the most prolific bloggers in cyberspace.

To stand out in a massive 100,000,000 blog forest, using creativity with blog names and having an unusual or questionable hook, make all the difference in whether people will click through….or not.

How can Leadership be like training a puppy? If I have to explain it to you, you won’t understand….

Tags 1 Tip That Makes A Champion, AKC, Fast Company, Huffington Post, Judging, leadership, Mashable, Mid Life Celebration, The Blog Whisperer

Yeah Sounds Crazy

A Writer’s Whole Experience Is Writing

Post author By jeff
Post date April 1, 2011

In the animal kingdom, there are instincts that need no schooling or formal training. The very act of being alive is the training. I write for you, to encourage you to not let go of your biggest childhood dream(s). As a writer, everything I see, and everywhere I go provides the potential for content that will help you dig a little deeper in your commitment to…”Live, before you die”.

If you’re reading this, one has to wonder what led you here. And even more intriguing, one has to wonder where did this Blog name come from and what does jeff noel hope to accomplish?

The blog name (and goal) was inspired by the alignment of a dusted-off childhood dream and an undiscovered passion for two things:

To be self-employed
To be a best-selling author

Maybe you’re a writer, maybe you’re simply curious. Maybe you already follow the five daily, differently-themed blogs I’ve written for 730 straight days.

We talk about passion, observe it in others, and wonder if we have it. Fact is, we all have passion. It’s part of our human condition. What we lose is belief in ourselves.

I’ve always wanted to help people, going back to (1972) Mr. Warner’s 8th-grade gym class in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania (yes, it’s as small as it sounds). This is what I’d call a childhood dream. Similar, but different, from you’re own.

Approaching age-related milestones, we pause, reflect, and hope for something better.

And so our whole life provides experience to be used in writing. Everything done, thought, seen, felt, experienced, everywhere we travel, everything we consume, enjoy, worry about – it’s all part of a writer’s experience.

This never became clear until a line was drawn in the sand, “I’m going to be a best-selling author, speaker, and small business entrepreneur”.

The one thing you will find in my writing is that you can observe real life in real time – my story is similar to yours. The only advice you’ll find here is that we must decide for ourselves what we want and how we’ll get it. If we wait for someone to hand us a map, we’ll never get anywhere.