I just finished reading John Izzo Ph.D.’s new book “Stepping Up; How Taking Personal Responsibility Changes Everything”.  WOW!!!  Great stuff. 

As a graduate of 21st Century Leadership the idea of “Stepping Up” is not new to me.  In fact I live a privileged life and have had the opportunity to participate in 21st Century Leadership 4 times.  Slow learner yes - but this is the stuff that contributes to emotional intelligence (EQ).  EQ is learned at a different place in the brain and requires fundamentally changing your behavior.  We all know how easy that is, so repeating 21st Century leadership 3 times gave me the opportunity to keep “Stepping Up”, to keep practicing “Ownership” or “Stepping Up” language (I, we). 

In my office we call it ratcheting it up, notching it up, or the opportunity to take your performance to the next level.  It is a continual never-ending opportunity to live your life at your highest level.  With a little feedback and encouragement from my friends, I strive to keep raising the bar in our workplace.

When we first start working, we get paid by the hour…or if like me you grew up on the farm, you had to work to live. You had to haul and chop wood to keep warm, haul and melt snow so you could drink (bathing was optional) and grow a garden so you could eat.  Regardless, my first job away from home was wiping tables in the residence where I lived.  I got paid by the hour.  Soon I got paid a salary, then salary + bonus. Unbeknownst to me at the time I had a built-in mindset that I would do whatever it took to get the job done.  This might have been the result of growing up on the farm or the guidance of my Grandmother www.drmaryjackson.com who was a rural doctor in Alberta. She taught me many of my first business lessons.  The point is hourly pay soon turned into “do what it takes to get the job done” pay!

Having the mindset I would do whatever it took to get the job done helped me get a bigger pay check and that certainly helped to increase my savings.  I already knew about pay myself first, so was well on my way to having a nest egg built up.  The “Do Whatever it Takes Mindset”, or as John calls it the “Stepping Up” behavior, I grew up with was certainly instrumental in helping us buy our business in 1996. 

Today with the help of many dedicated employees (who are growing with me in the mindset of “Doing Whatever it Takes to Get the Job Done”), we are enjoying providing service to our clients, many of who were clients when we bought the business in 1996.  Thank you to our lifetime clients, our soon to be lifetime clients, and our wonderful, “Do Whatever it Takes to Get it Done”, “Stepping Up” crew”!

I highly recommend the book “Stepping Up” by John Izzo, Ph.D. and will be bringing several copies to the office for our reading enjoyment.

I congratulate the Intercon Crew who are continually “Stepping Up”.