"What is needed is for 'regular' people - citizens from the middle and lower classes - to attain the education of mid- and long- term, by doing what the upper classes have always done and still do: obtain great, mentored education.... Leadership education never died. The elites have used it as the key to maintaining their power. In the Information Age, Education quality* is the greatest determining factor of prosperity and freedom. The solution is leadership education for everyone! The future depends on it." -- Oliver DeMille, The Coming Aristocracy
*Education quality is defined as the level of ones ability and tendency to think - broadly, deeply, on any new topic, and effectively across all time spans.

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Business As Usual – So You Won’t Be: What it takes to get to the top

June 22, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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When I think about the state of Extraordinary… What is Extraordinary?  How does one achieve extraordinariness (if that is even a word)? How does one become an extraordinaire?  Now that, my friend, is a life of significance!

Becoming an extraordinaire, I think, is about making an impact that endures long after you are gone – a legacy – through extraordinary achievements.  It is not just about winning…It’s about winning consistently over time, getting to the top, and making things — great things, unprecedented things — happen. It’s about transforming and completely revolutionizing products, processes, and even people.  And yes, “extraordinaire” IS a long haul journey, but where does one begin?

To live an extraordinary life you will have to actually live an extraordinary life.

Many years ago I heard this statement, “to live an extraordinary life you must resist an ordinary approach.”  This may seem kinda simple but lets just say it like it is, to live an extraordinary life you will have to actually live an extraordinary life.  The statement oozes with somewhat of a painful brilliance of simplicity but it is reality.  You will have to sacrifice an ordinary approach; but with that sacrifice will come the rewards of a richer, fuller,  and happier life of significance; and hopefully living (actually living) the LIFE you have always wanted to live.

To live an extraordinary life you must resist an ordinary approach.

So what is an ordinary approach?  Look around and study what ordinary people are doing.  You’ll have plenty of subjects.  We start there and make a commitment to do the opposite.  You might observe that most ordinary people are scattered, disorganized, unfocused, undisciplined and inconsistent.  And if you were to try to determined their “business as usual”, there most likely wouldn’t be.

Celebrating the pursuit of individuality and distinction – they boldly stake their territory and run their own race.

Then, seek out the people who are making a difference in any arena.  You will observe they take a proactive, intentional approach to life (rather than a reactive one) by stepping out of their comfort zone and journeying into the unknown (with vision), taking calculated chances – while celebrating the pursuit of individuality and distinction – they boldly stake their territory and run their own race.

They have consistent work ethic and advance with persistence and a commitment to excellence.  And in striving for excellence, you would also observe they are organized, focused, calculated, disciplined, consistent, systems thinkers, poised, with clarity, and settled in purpose.  And from there,  it’s just business as usual.  In fact, it’s  Sprezzatura (as they call it in Italy) – seeming almost effortless and fun!

On the other hand, how does someone go from scattered, disorganized, unfocused, undisciplined and inconsistent – to high-performance and winning consistently?

How do we take our lives and/or business from ordinary to extraordinary?

It starts with being intentional:  Begin by intentionally organizing a business as usual – so you won’t be.  It is a foundational success routine – a plan – with power.  Its built around what you define as an extraordinary life… The LIFE you’ve always wanted to live.  What do you want?  What does it cost?  Pay the price.  Know that simple disciplines made consistently over time can create massive results in our lives.  Here are 3  intentional things to be intentional about (intentionally) while developing your Business As Usual – So You Won’t Be:

  1. We need to be intentional about our thinking, extraordinary thinking.
  2. We need to be intentional about our action, extraordinary action.
  3. We need to be intentional about our results, extraordinary results.

Ultimately, what the inculcation of the 3 intentional things listed above culminates as – is living intentionally for excellence.  However, each of the 3 areas listed need to be individually broken down into bite-size, simple measurable disciplines.  Then by systematically formulating the simple measurable disciplines into your daily success routine, you begin to develop your business as usual.

Simple Disciplines Made Consistently Over Time + Intentional Organization = Business As Usual – So You Won’t Be

Live the LIFE you’ve always wanted to live.  Ask yourself two simple questions:  First, how badly do you want to win?  And second, are you willing to what it takes to move from ordinary to extraordinary?  If the answers are both yes, then lets begin developing your business as usual – so you won’t be!

May you have all the success you are prepared to earn!

Mark Lancaster

PS.  Do you need help?  Do you regularly struggle with being scattered, disorganized, unfocused, undisciplined, and inconsistent?
Maybe you could use a team to work with in the process?  I invite you to join the XpndBRAND Leadership team today!

Categories : Business, Entrepreneurship, Success, XpndBRAND

LIFE in the Gap

April 13, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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Living the LIFE you have always wanted to live is about learning and growing – living intentionally for excellence.  You’ve already learned and grown from your mistakes and failure, as well as from your successes.  You are who you are today because your BEST thinking has brought you through many gaps in life.

You are who you are today because your BEST thinking has brought you through many gaps in life.

What is a gap?  The gap represents a space between the present and the future, a space between stimulus and response, a space between a current reality and a desired future.  And now, your current reality is that you are who you are because of the many gaps you’ve closed behind you and the one’s you couldn’t close.  And moving forward in life you will be who you will be because of the gaps yet to come.  The gaps you navigate through in your lifetime — Whatever the outcome — are your pathways for self-discovery and development.  They enable you to expand your sphere of influence and develop as a leader.

Your current reality is that you are who you are today because of the many gaps you’ve closed behind you and the one’s you couldn’t close.

We are maybe pushed into the gap whenever we face something in our lives that we want to fix or change.  We are pulled into the gap whenever we seize an opportunity or dream of a better future.  And we live in the gap as long as our current reality is out of sync with our desired future.

Our entrance into the gap can be intentional or unintentional.  As leaders, we create our own gap by our own self-directed education, to become a better person, strengthen our relationships, become an entrepreneur, expand our sphere of influence, and by dreaming and visualizing our future.  We will also be thrown into the gap by unforeseen circumstances.

So here is where I am going, gaps are really just “defining moments”.  And whether they are intentional or unintentional, they are realities that must be confronted.  Living intentionally for excellence is about doing what matters to get our gaps right, and to navigate through our “defining moments” with the proper attitude for success.  Success is managed frustration.  The speed at which we manage and confront the most brutal facts of our current reality and how we navigate through our gaps ultimately defines us!

May you have all the success you are prepared to earn!

Mark Lancaster

PS.  Confront the most brutal facts of your current reality now and discover your own personal sphere of influence by taking a FREE self-assessment test.  Learn about the Mental Fitness Challenge today!

 

Categories : Education, Entrepreneurship, Performance, Success

Immediately Comes After Persitence

March 23, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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How BADLY do you want to win?  How BIG do you want to win?  How SOON do you want to win?

I want to win NOW!  I want to win immediately!… As a winner, utilizing the space between where we are and where we want to be, dealing with that anxiety and managing that frustration in that process toward realizing that goal or dream; the following statement is a reminder: Immediately always comes after persistence… of all the attributes that it takes to win, persistence is the most important because without it, winning is impossible.

Persistence isn’t just effort… it’s passion, focus, discipline, and desire; but I think the two words that best communicate persistence are mission and commitment.  Aside from the articulated corporate mission and intent, when an individual makes a commitment, they are in essence putting their reputation, their character on the line.  What that means is, you have to learn to deal with adversity — that is what winning is and much of what life involves — A series of setbacks.  It is how you handle those setbacks that determines whether or not you are a winner.

The people who win expect to fail, they just never get use to it.  Winning and losing is just a mental game.  You’ve got to have tough skin!

 

Categories : Performance, Persistence, Success

Stake Your Territory

February 23, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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“Those that don’t have an enemy need to create one.  That is the only way you can have a war.”

It’s simple:  Do you believe in what you do?  It turns out that belief happens to be a brilliant strategy.  With belief the question isn’t, Is it possible for me to do that?  Now, the question is, Will I do it?  Stake your territory!

Categories : Entrepreneurship, XpndBRAND

Planning — With Power

February 22, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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When establishing your competitive edge, staking your territory and unique personal brand, planning with power plays right along with the element of surprise (as discussed in the previous post, “The Surprise Attack”.)  Planning with power involves a goal, surprise attacks, and specific strategy with a game plan – a plan of execution.  It involves a little art and a little science.  A clear systematic approach and an element of design, your XpndBRAND design and ProductYOU.

If you asked me the best time to start, I would tell you right now.  If you asked me three months from now, I would give you the same answer:  Do it now, do it now, do it now.  Apply the fierce urgency of now.  However, to be more specific, put together your plan of attack now, and be ready to execute that plan.

Don’t rush into the battle field unprepared or you may get taken out by enemy fire or lose some limbs. The “ready, fire, aim” approach is not good strategy.  Rush in prepared.  Remember, you are your brand.  You need to be both Planned and Designed – Rush in with power but rush in poised – smart and with grace – AND don’t forget your swagger!

That is planning — with power!

Categories : Entrepreneurship, Performance, Success, Uncategorized, XpndBRAND

The Surprise Attack

February 17, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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As an entrepreneur you look for ways to surprise your rivals, to gain an unexpected competitive advantage in the marketplace.  Lets face it, business is war! Competition is about winning!  Winning is done with Massive Action.

It may be a new product you launch.  It may be a special person you recruit or hire.  It may be a new building you buy, a place you relocate to, or an investment you make.  Just when they think they have you all figured out, you drop it on ‘em… A surprise attack!

The element of surprise can give you that decided advantage.  That’s what a XpndBRAND tribe leader does.  He stands apart as an original character, a rascal, seemingly fearless and crazy.  But planned all along… So take Massive Action, go raise some eyebrows, attract some criticism, stake your territory, execute your XpndBRAND and shock ‘em with ProductYOU.

May you have all the success you are prepared to earn!

“Those that don’t have an enemy need to create one.  That is the only way you can have a war.”

Categories : Entrepreneurship, Success, XpndBRAND Tags :

Branding the Tribe Leader

February 13, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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The Tribe Leader is a unique Type, it is an Against Type. A brand of leader.  A Tribe Leader stands apart as an original character,  a Rascal, seemingly fearless or crazy, a rebel with a cause as Chris Brady Best-Selling Author explains in his book Rascal – Making a Difference By Becoming an Original Character;  where he creates his depiction of a Rascal brilliantly through the Lakota warrior-leader Crazy Horse.

As an adolescent, Crazy Horse witnessed the peacemaker Conquering Bear being gunned down in cold blood by American soldiers.  The warriors on the scene attacked and killed the soldiers in self-defense.  Shortly thereafter, Crazy Horse rode upon the remnants of a village massacred in a retaliatory raid by the soldiers.  He found mutilated bodies and other atrocities.  Still in the formative years of his youth, Crazy Horse was deeply affected, and subsequently had a vivid and life-like night dream.  It was a detailed symbolic dream of an invincible warrior on a horse and Wakinyan, or Thunder Beings.  The Lakota believed that Thunder Beings lived in storm clouds of the west and were among the strongest of all spirits.

Anyone who dreamed of them was expected to walk a different path than the rest of the “normal” people; the path of the Heyoka or wakan witkotkoka, meaning “crazy in a sacred way.”  According to Joseph M. Marshall III, “A Heyoka was a walking contradiction, acting silly or even crazy sometimes, but generally expected to live and act contrary to accepted rules of behavior.  In doing so a Thunder Dreamer sacrificed reputation and ego for the sake of the people.”

Crazy Horse was the embodiment of a Heyoka.  Quiet and reserved, he avoided the boasting sessions of battlefield tales.  As a loner he had the kind of humility requisite in the “reluctant leader.”  He was one of a kind.  He walked his own path.  He followed his inner voice.  He was courageous and brave.  He stood for good as he knew it.  He followed his convictions.  He was nobody’s fool.  Fulfilling his “crazy sacred” calling, he sacrificed not only his reputation and ego for the sake of his people, but his very life.  In short, he had the character to be a character.

Doesn’t it seem that the most interesting characters in a novel, play, or history tale are the ones who walk their own walk, go their own way, and seem to resist complying to the pressures of the world?  These individuals may not always be saints; but they are interesting; they are real!  In a sense, they are a brand all their own.

 

Categories : Tribal Leadership, XpndBRAND Tags :

The NEW Breed of Entrepreneur

February 4, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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Tribes are groups of people with common interest, goals, and history together.  As Seth Godin explains it, “A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea.”

Tribes are more powerful than teams, companies, and even CEO’s… A tribe has a cause, a movement built within.  Sometimes the cause becomes so open and decentralized that a movement (or tribe) becomes self-organizing with an unstoppable power; allowing new interconnected leaders to emerge fueled by an ideology with a fundamental desire to share and contribute, alining new catalysts and new champions working together to empower advancement of the existing network… And now,  a tribe is a leadership factory.  A leadership engine.  A virtuous cycle of leadership.  Tribe Leaders are the NEW breed of leaders.

Nearly every thoughtful person agrees the West is in decline.  Tribes within the community are one of the keys to restore Western Civilization’s culture.  Tribes provide a sense of belonging.  This simple act of community is becoming a revolutionary activity in today’s atomized society.  For without a strong sense of community, people cannot fully develop their potential and purpose.  It’s our Nature.

In this age, the information age, it is important to blend our ideas of what a tribe leader is with the NEW breed of entrepreneur.  The two roles are blending with new emphasis.

Although we explain “new” leaders and “new” entrepreneurs as “new” there really is nothing new about their attributes.  The principles are the same.  However, the emphasis of some attributes have changed.  Social networks and social capital are becoming powerful forces in the advancement of business and entrepreneurship.

As the information age continues to evolve – the elimination of barriers of geography, cost, and time.  (“Business at the Speed of Thought” and “The World is Flat”)  All these blogs and social networking sites are enabling existing tribes tribes to get bigger and new tribes to be born.  And all those individuals who had the audacity to take something they were passionate about, a cause – blogging it, tweeting it, emailing it, you tube and social networking it – who have found themselves leading a movement, a tribe.  It is those individuals who now find themselves positioned as an entrepreneur and leader of a tribe or community.  And in business it takes a community to thrive!

And although there are more communication tools today than ever before  (phone calls, texting, email, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Skype, etc), there seems to be less real dialogue and fellowship.  Community is an essential piece in recreating the bonds of belonging within our isolated world.

The objective of LIFE is to learn truth in the 8F’s of life and live these principles within the community; then the community ensures the principles are not merely ivory tower teachings, but applicable to daily life through learning, doing, and teaching.  Can you imagine the benefit of a leadership Tribe where you can learn leadership and life principles while developing tight relationships within a community of other like-minded people?

The LIFE business is the platform, the system, and the scoreboard of Leadership.  True Leaders and Entrepreneurs are produced here… Game-Changers of all kinds.

Reread the first and second paragraph of this post. The future of business is Tribes.  Tribe Leaders will be and already are the NEW breed of entrepreneurs and leaders of this age.  And LIFE is a Leadership Tribe producing Tribe Leaders…  If you can understand the implications of this ideology, welcome to LIFE!

May you have all the success you are prepared to earn!

 

 

Categories : Entrepreneurship, Tribal Leadership Tags : , , , , ,

Leaders aren’t improvers; they are Game-Changers!

January 26, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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What do we do for a living? What exactly do we do every day?  I want to argue that what we do, as leaders, is we try to change things.  That we try to find a piece of the status quo — something that bothers us, something that needs to be improved, something that is itching to be changed — and we change it.  We try to make big, permanent, important change.  But we don’t think about it that way.  And we haven’t spent a lot of time talking about what that process is like…And when I think about what leaders do, I think about ideas…I think about the idea that creating an idea, spreading an idea, has a lot behind it.  I want to argue that we are livingin a time and that we are right at the key moment of a change in the way ideas are created, spread, and implemented; and what that means is our need for a leadership revolution is at hand.

Seth Godin calls leaders heretics. Chris Brady calls them Rascals. I would call them Game-Changers.  Game-Changers look at the status quo and say, “This will not stand.  I can’t abide this status quo.  I am willing to stand up and be counted and move things forward.  I see what the status quo is; I don’t like it.”  That instead of looking at all the little rules and following each one of them, that instead of being what I call a sheepwalker — somebody who’s half asleep, following instructions, keeping their head down, fitting in — Leaders aren’t improvers; they are Game-Changers!

Categories : Tribal Leadership

Authentic Winners are Game-Changers

January 16, 2012 by XpndLIFE - Mark Lancaster
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Authentic winners aren’t just improvers; they become Game-Changers.

Becoming a Game-Changer is a choice that any winner can choose.   Beginning with a solid platform of simple disciplines executed consistently over time – the foundational platform of a winner is laid with fundamental success routines and consistent winning performances and improvement.  Becoming a Game-Changer is assumed through winning and High-Performance at the next level.  And over time, authentic winners aren’t just improvers; they become game changers.

A Game-Changer will ALWAYS rise to the occasion – fully engaged.

A Game-changer will rise ALWAYS rise to the occasion – fully engaged!  It is the first principle habit of a Game Changer.  Not all individuals will chose to rise to the occasion.  Most will play it safe or simply throw in the towel, and life will engage them quickly into mediocrity.  They will never be winners!  Game Changer is out of the question for them…

What is a Game-Changer?  A Game-Changer is what you get when an authentic winner consistently rises to the occasion.  An authentic winner cannot help but be extraordinary Game-Changing individual.

So lets build up our understanding of what it means to be an authentic winner, organically, from the ground floor.  Here are a series of simple yet profound questions you must first ask yourself to set the stage.

First:

How badly do you want to win?

And second:

Are you willing to do what it takes (pay the price) to move from ordinary to extraordinary?

Stop and think about these questions.  Be sure to understand what you are asking of yourself in relation to “paying the price”…

The manner in which you internalize these questions allows you to feel the depth of the commitment and conviction required of you to be an authentic winner and Game-Changer.  Although you may have answered yes to both of the above questions, do you truly know the price you will have to pay in this pursuit…

Winners never give up and never accept defeat.

Winning is never really about a single game or performance. Winners know that winning is defined by repeat performances and continuous cycles of achievements. The rule is, you are either consistent or you are non-existent. One hit wonders experience brief success but by consistently hitting the top of the charts, they win in the industry. Winners never give up and never accept defeat.

The first principle of habit for an authentic winner is this:

Winners NEVER Make Excuses.

Read it again and make sure it sinks in.

Winners do not make excuses, period. Winning and excuses simply cannot co-exist. There are no excuses for winners because winners passionately persist toward perfection; and although they understand that perfection is unattainable, how else could any individual “claim” a pursuit of excellence?

To be an authentic winner, “great” is not good enough… and there are no excuses toward its achievement.

If you are making excuses, you are distancing yourself from an authentic winner and you will never be a Game-Changer. When you, as an individual, are “all in,” fully engaged, and operating in your personal High-Performance, no one or no other thing is responsible for you, but YOU!  To be an authentic winner, “great” is not good enough… and there are no excuses toward its achievement.  Total and direct responsibility lies in the control of the fully engaged, high-performing individual.  A finger can only be pointed back at one’s self. Authentic winners understand this.

In fact, it has been said that one is not a failure until he or she blames someone else or makes an excuse.  Authentic winners take full responsibility in all that they think, say, and do and make no excuse about it.  There isn’t any need… they are authentic!

So, with that said, are you ready to fully engage into the process? Are you ready to emerge into High-performance? If you are ready to take responsibility, be an authentic winner and Game-Changer, the following is a picture of what your road toward becoming a Game-Changer will look like…

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”  –Nelson Mandela

Hill after hill is the road of the “game-changer” and remember, as an authentic winner there are no excuses!

The Game-Changer realizes that the road toward success began when he chose it;  so he stays on it,  steadfast and persist on its course until he prospers or parishes.

Three words:  Decide. Resolve. Commit.  Live the LIFE you’ve always wanted to live.

Let’s pay the price and go be Game-Changer’s!

May you have all the success you are prepared to earn!

Mark Lancaster

Categories : Performance, Success, Uncategorized
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