- Pink Bat…Turning Problems into Solutions is a must-read for everyone who lives in the world of business, or is a part of any organization
- The story of the pink bat is so engaging – you and your team will be inspired to view your problems as solutions
- This book is perfect for corporate event themes, sales and staff meetings, team building and is essential reading for anyone in a leadership role.
- Your entire team will benefit from “Pink Bat Thinking”
Everywhere you look today there are problems. Turn on your TV or computer—pick up a magazine or paper—and what do you see? Problems! Talk to your spouse, co-workers, family members or friends, and within minutes someone will bring up a problem… or two or three. Problems permeate the workplace, too—new products, old products, customer service, health care, retirement plans, sales, marketing, budgets, IT, personnel— the list of problems we confront each day is vast.
Michael McMillan’s newest release “Pink Bat” will turn your thinking upside down and get you and your team seeing problems as opportunities. Maybe you think this idea seems impossible, but you’re about to discover: “Pink Bat Thinking” makes the impossible possible.
Pink Bat…Turning Problems into Solutions is a must-read for everyone who lives in the world of business, or is a part of any organization. In fact, I predict that once you read it, you’ll want everyone in your company to do the same.
I grew up in Trenton, a west Tennessee town of five thousand people. I have wonderful memories of those first eighteen years, and many people in Trenton influenced my life in very positive ways. My football coach, Walter Kilzer, taught me the importance of hard work, discipline, and believing in myself. My history teacher, Fred Culp, is still the funniest person I’ve ever met. He taught me that a sense of humor, and especially laughing at yourself, can be one of life’s greatest blessings.
But my father was my hero. He taught me many things, but at the top of the list, he taught me to treat people with love and respect…to live the Golden Rule. I remember one particular instance of him teaching this “life lesson” as if it were yesterday. Dad owned a furniture store, and I used to dust the furniture every Wednesday after school to earn my allowance. One afternoon I observed my Dad talking to all the customers as they came in…the hardware store owner, the banker, a farmer, a doctor. At the end of the day, just as Dad was closing, the garbage collector came in.
I was ready to go home, and I thought that surely Dad wouldn’t spend too much time with him. But I was wrong. Dad greeted him at the door with a big hug and talked with him about his wife and son who had been in a car accident the month before. He empathized, he asked questions, he listened, and he listened some more. I kept looking at the clock, and when the man finally left, I asked, “Dad, why did you spend so much time with him? He’s just the garbage collector.” Dad then looked at me, locked the front door to the store, and said, “Son, let’s talk.”
He said, “I’m your father and I tell you lots of stuff as all fathers should, but if you remember nothing else I ever tell you, remember this…treat every human being just the way that you would want to be treated.” He said, “I know this is not the first time you’ve heard it, but I want to make sure it’s the first time you truly understand it, because if you had understood, you would never have said what you said.” We sat there and talked for another hour about the meaning and the power of the Golden Rule. Dad said, “If you live the Golden Rule everything else in life will usually work itself out, but if you don’t, your life probably will be very unhappy and without meaning.”
I recently heard someone say, “If you teach your child the Golden Rule, you will have left them an estate of incalculable value.” Truer words were never spoken.
What you just read is one of 28 short chapters in The Power of Attitude. It was titled: “Rule #1…It’s Golden.”
If you’re a fan of Simple Truths, you probably know by now that I love to communicate through stories; stories that can speak to our hearts and bring ideas to life. The Power of Attitude is loaded with great stories that can give you a shot of inspiration when you need it most.
To watch the movie or to look inside the book, just click here
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To Life,
Mac Anderson
Founder, Simple Truths
“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.”
Albert Schweitzer said these words and how very true they are. We’ve all had times in our life when we desperately needed a “shot of inspiration” to move forward. Kate Nowak, has written a beautiful book that truly brings this idea to life. May You Be Blessed is not about religious beliefs…it’s about joy, appreciation, kindness and love. It is filled with inspiring stories, beautiful photographs and life-changing insights. I loved it and think you will too
May You Be Blessed with FREE DVD
John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert and author, who has sold over 13 million books. He speaks to many Fortune 500 companies and his organizations have also trained over 2 million leaders world-wide.
In The Right to Lead, you will read about people who have earned the right to lead others. They became effective leaders not by making other people follow, but by making themselves the kind of person people would want to follow.
This book is loaded with stories, quotes and “nuggets of wisdom” for anyone wishing to sharpen their leadership skills. Today, I’d like to share John’s story, “Leader of the Pack.” Enjoy!
Excerpt from The Right to Lead, by John Maxwell
A good student of leadership can learn lessons almost anywhere. Recently I received this letter from a friend who discovered what it takes to lead up near the top of the world:
Dear John,
In August 1999, my wife, Minnietta, and I vacationed with some friends who live in a remote part of Alaska near Denali Park. One day they took us to visit their neighbor, Jeff King, who lives a few miles away. Jeff is a sled-dog racer who has won the 1,000-mile Iditarod race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, three times (1993, 1996 and 1998). It was a joy to experience Jeff’s love and passion for his seventy huskies and his admiration for their maturity, strength, and courage.
Jeff told us that when he starts the Iditarod race, he starts with sixteen dogs and rotates the lead dog frequently to give all the dogs a chance to lead since every one of them wants to be the lead dog. Eventually, he finds the dog that is the real leader because it is a dog that is energetic and persistent in leading, and that dog becomes the leader of the pack. It is chosen as the leader because it leads; it is able to motivate the other dogs to follow by its own energy and enthusiasm.
Jeff told us that in 1996, the lead dog was a two-and-a-half-year old female named Jenna. That was very unusual since there were only two females in the pack. She was so young, and she was smaller than all the male dogs. But Jeff said with emotion, “She was our leader; when a blizzard came, she didn’t give up. She kept barking and running even when the snow was over her head and inspired us all to keep going. Even at her young age, she has the mental maturity of a leader.” When Jeff was congratulated for winning the 1998 Iditarod, he lifted up his lead dog and said, “Here is the leader who won the race for us.”
John, I found this story very inspiring and hope you might be able to use it. Grace and peace.
Sincerely,
Kent MillardLeadership is important no matter who you are or where you lead. And even in a pack of dogs, the one who stays in front has to earn the right to lead.
The Right to Lead is beautifully designed and filled with “a-ha” moments for any leader, or anyone aspiring to be a leader. It also makes a great gift for friends, family or members of your team.
For more information or to look inside the book, just click here
Setting and achieving goals seems to be a consistent theme at the beginning of a new
year. One key to reaching those goals is continued motivation. The book and movie, 212,
The Extra Degree, is an excellent resource to inspire and encourage yourself and others
to commit to and attain those goals. Take a few minutes to discover the difference when
you give and go The Extra Degree.
“The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”
~Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch was 47 years old when he died from pancreatic cancer. He was, as the Independent of London put it, “the dying man who taught America how to live”. His book, The Last Lecture, is an international best-seller and it offers many wonderful lessons about life.
Randy Pausch’s “last lecture” was delivered in September 2007, at Carnegie Mellon University, where he taught computer science. The lecture began with him standing before a screen beaming down chilling CT images of tumors in his liver, under the title…The Elephant in the Room. He then said to a stunned audience, “I have about 6 months to live.” He said, “I’m really in good shape, probably better shape than most of you,” … dropping to the floor to do push-ups.
He went on to say, “I’m dying and I’m having fun, and I’m going to keep having fun every day I have left.” He talked about his childhood dreams and what they had taught him about life. He said, “If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself…your dreams will come to you.”
Randy Pausch really was a dying man who has taught America how to live.
He died on July 25, 2008, but his wisdom, his passion, and his attitude are lasting sources of inspiration for all of us.
I love stories that can engage our hearts and our souls! This is one of many that I share in Charging the Human Battery…50 Ways to Motivate Yourself. My goal with this little book is to create many “a-ha moments” that can inspire, encourage and motivate you when you need it most!
If there was ever a perfect holiday gift…this is it! It truly a gift that will keep on giving for years to come. For more information or to look inside Charging the Human Battery, just click here.
It’s not the date you were born, or the date you died, that really matters. It’s “the dash” between those years, and what you do with it, to make a difference with your life.
I read The Dash, by Linda Ellis, for the first time on June 10, 2003, when it was sent to me by a friend, Anna Lee Wilson. She said, “Mac, you’re going to love this poem.” How right she was! I knew at that moment that I had to find a way to share these words with the rest of the world. So, I picked up the phone and called Linda about creating a beautiful gift book featuring her poem, The Dash. In addition, I told her that I’d love to write nine short chapters about how each of us can make a difference with “our dash.” Each chapter, I said, would reinforce each verse in the poem. She loved the idea, and the rest, as they say, is history. Since we published the book three years ago, I’m proud to say we’ve sold hundreds of thousands of copies. We also created The Dash in the form of a short inspirational movie that over 30 million people have viewed on the internet. We’ve received thousands of emails confirming that The Dash touched hearts and changed lives around the world.
Today, however, I’d like to share the story behind The Dash, as told by the author, Linda Ellis. It’s a wonderful story that I think you’ll enjoy.
The story behind The Dash,
by Linda EllisWhile it still amazes me, a simple poem I wrote one afternoon forever changed my life. It all began when I faxed a copy of this poem to a syndicated radio show in Atlanta. Soon after receiving it, the host of this popular show read it on the air. Little did I know how much my life would change from that day forward. Titled The Dash, these 36 lines have touched millions of lives and have literally taken on a life of their own by traveling all over the world. I call it uncomplicated poetry in a complicated world.
People are always asking me what, in particular, inspired me to write this poem. I believe it was a combination of things in my life at the time. It was during a period when I was working for the top executives of a very large and successful corporation. It was a strict company with a tense working environment.
I began to watch how the priorities in many lives there had become misaligned. It seemed to me that the bosses were worrying far too much about that which was inconsequential in the scope of life.
Also, resonating in the back of my mind were the words from a letter which had been previously routed around the office. It had been written by the wife of an employee who was aware that she was dying. I was so moved by that letter that I saved a copy of it and continue to live by her words:
Regrets? I have a few. Too much worrying. I worried about finding the right husband and having children, being on time, being late and so on. It didn’t matter. It all works out and it would have worked out without the worries and the tears.
If I would have only known then what I know now. But, I did and so do you. We’re all going to die. Stop worrying and start loving and living.
Her words stuck with me. Her letter made me stop and think. This is it. This is all we get.
I remember where I was when I first truly realized the significance of the piece that I had written. I was on a business trip in Minnesota, alone in a hotel room. I received an emotional email thanking me for sharing the message of the Dash from a student who had recently heard it as part of a memorial gathering for the Columbine High School students. I sat on the bed and cried.
Several years later, I found myself engulfed in the thoughts and feelings created by my own words as I listened to them read aloud, for what seemed like the very first time, at the funeral of my father…my best friend.
From being performed in an elementary school play somewhere in the heartland of America to being part of a State Supreme Court Justice’s speech, from being printed in best-selling novels to high school yearbooks, The Dash has truly affected millions. I may not be able to change the world with these words, but I have certainly been able to influence a portion of it! The poem’s words have convinced mothers to spend more time with their children, fathers to spend more time at home, and reunited long-lost loved ones.
The words have changed attitudes, and changed the direction of lives. They have, in their own way, made a difference. I know writing The Dash has changed my life. I hope reading it, in some way, may change yours.
To watch our 3 minute movie or look inside the book, just click here.
Live your Dash with Passion,
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