Next Generation Speakers Magazine - January 2021

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Editor’s Note...

T.G.I.A.N.Y. (Thank God It’s A New Year) If you are like me you as Sooooo Glad that 2020 is over! As we embark on a New Year we are looking to the Dynamic Leader himself Mr. Velton W. Showell to get us pumped for what lies ahead.

We are also starting a new series called S.H.I.F.T where we help you to change gears in your speaking career so that you can blow past your competition.

New Year New Medicine! Dr. James Williams is back helping us with another PRESCRIPTION FOR EXCELLENCE.

We have more content and more useful information coming your way so stay tuned!

Please share this out with all of your networks to help us reach the masses!

Email:

Cicone@ciconeprince.com

Text: 251-753-6299

I just want to know one thing, Who’s Got Next?

Cover Photo Credit: CeCe Espeut Photography

Leadershipology - The Study of Leadership

by Velton W. Showell III

Who is Velton W. Showell III, a dynamic internationally recognized speaker, trainer, published author, and business consultant? He speaks to, teaches, and trains clients all over the United States and the Caribbean encouraging them to transform their thinking to move their professional and personal performance from good to great!

Beginning in the late 80’s, Velton began to utilize his talent for connecting people and helping them achieve higher levels of success. After record-breaking years of success which included leading the sales team of the year for a major hotel chain and taking another sales operation from $24,000,000.00 to $98,000,000.00 in four years, He began to develop and write his training curriculum.

In 2008 during one of the most difficult economic times in recent history, Velton launched his first company, Strategic Solutions LLC to share his sales, service, and leadership knowledge with businesses around the world. His first book, “Prospecting the Key to Your Future Success” hit the market in 2010 and quickly became in great demand. He has since written additional books titled, Strategic Planning; Planning to WIN!”, and has recently completed writing a new book soon to be released entitled “Leadership Dynamics” The Principles of Leadership.

He speaks and trains corporate executives in multiple industries on stages at meetings and conventions throughout the world.

I believe that leaders are not born, they are developed over time. We have often heard that he or she is a born leader. The issue is this, we may have leadership tendencies and a mindset that overcomes fear and deals well with adversity. The key element to successful leadership is the ability to understand and influence people.

Understanding the people or person you have been entrusted to lead is necessary to break down the natural protective boundaries. We all have an innate defense mechanism that makes us leary of others. We often don’t readily accept other’s ideas, thoughts, or directions, without first believing in the individual or having some kind of relationship with that person.

The most successful leaders in the world possess more than the technical knowledge of their area of concentration or industry. They also possess the people skills necessary to connect with those they are entrusted to lead. Call it part psychologist, counselor, or mentor. The best leaders find the point of connection they need to obtain to reach the members of their team.

I spent 30 years working in corporate America learning, watching, and learning from leaders across the spectrum. They ranged from one end to the other, the best, the good, the bad, and yes even the ugly.

They taught me many of the principles and ideas that I have shared in my latest book Leadership Dynamics, The Principles of Leadership”. The book is targeted at the people side of leadership. Its focus is on developing the skills the leader must possess to connect with the people around them as they develop an environment for success.

I believe that leaders must connect and encourage the people in their network to strive for excellence and achieve things they may have once thought to be impossible. In other words, Leaders are Environmentalists, charged with the mission of creating an environment focused on success. This is an environment where people are encouraged and feel appreciated, not tolerated. We all have a need and desire to feel accepted and revered, but accomplishing this takes focus on the part of leadership. Let me share 5 tips that I have learned over the years and have led to my success.

• Begin with self-examination. It’s been said that “Learning to Love Yourself is the Greatest Love of All!” It’s also one of the most difficult things we are challenged with on a daily basis. How do you love yourself in a world that constantly tests your every thought, your every emotion, and your every action? It’s all about your mindset and your environment. Keeping a positive and happy mindset is not easy. It takes work and attitude. The work is about feeding your mind with happy thoughts and positive affirmations. What do you feed the most powerful muscle in your body? Remember, “Garbage in garbage out.” Ask yourself, is this truly a recipe for happiness? If not it’s time for a change. The music you listen to, the shows you watch on television, the books you read, all have a tremendous impact on your state of mind and ultimately your happiness. All of these things are absorbed in the body and contribute to who you are and who you become. Do you read positive thought-provoking books? Do you listen to motivational CDs and watch motivational DVD’s? Do you listen to music that puts you in a positive frame of mind?

• Creativity is the key to invention. As a leader, we must create an environment that encourages creativity and rewards out of the box thinking. Are you ready to expect the unexpected? That is what creativity is all about. Allow people under your leadership to color outside the lines and watch the magic unfold!

• As the leaders of operations, we must recognize and handle positive and negative situations. To create the desired environment, we do not want to give negativity to an audience or a platform to survive. We want to create an environment where we focus on the positive. The way to be recognized is consistently dictated by our positive actions and activities. Be creative and set up small inexpensive incentives that encourage positive performance. Negative situations are handled privately in one on one environments.

• Staying tuned into the messages you are communicating to the people you are leading is important, but the most important thing is that you recognize that they are watching even when you may not realize they are. People want to be led by those who display a positive example in the things they do. Don’t let your actions turn you and your words into Charlie Brown’s teacher. Blah, Blah, Blah… Leadership Dynamics my soon to be released book will help arm you with checkpoints to help your consistency. What strategies do you utilize to help ensure that you practice what you preach?

• Focus on the leave-behinds and not the takeaways. That’s right, focus on providing value to the people under your leadership and they will provide everything you need to be successful. One of my favorite poets Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

You are the pacesetter. The vision creates the pace and direction for the team. The voyage begins with the vision and ends with the vision of becoming a reality. Chart the course, set the pace, and let the magic begin. You have assembled a team of experts and let them navigate the journey based on the vision you have created. Leadership Dynamics the book will be released very soon. Stay tuned for the book and the Leadership Dynamics Academy both launching the first quarter of 2021.

Are you ready to take your performance to the highest level?

Are you ready to be recognized as a top performer in your field?

Going from Good to Great is a process. The pages of Leadership Dynamics, The Principles of Leadership hold information and examples from organizations that for over three decades that I have worked with across the globe to inspire, develop, and train their team members to find their WHY and release their inner champion!

We rise each morning with both an opportunity and an obligation. The opportunity is to be a better person than the person we were yesterday. Our focus must first be on ourselves; self-improvement and self-value. We must understand that we are what we think about all day and to change the world we must begin with ourselves.

Our actions are the only thing that we can truly control. We must control our attitude and our actions focusing them on the positive, even in difficult times. We are always winners, remember this. “In life, we win, or we learn!”

Other people may look at us in a less than positive light. They may even refer to us as being less than we really are, but we must remember and say to them. “It’s not what you call me, but what I answer to that truly matters.”

Our obligation is to our family and society. What can I do to help somebody along the way? Could it be just a smile, a kind word, or a helping hand? There are numerous opportunities for us to engage others in a positive way, finding them is just the beginning. An attitude and a commitment to service will yield great results. Leaving a legacy for those who follow us is the greatest gift we can share with them. How will your children and your children’s children remember you and the kind of person you were?

Building a winning team begins with hiring the right people and placing them in the right positions to win. The right players in the right positions can turn a good team into a great team.

The dynamics of leadership, an excerpt from my new book entitled “Leadership Dynamics, The Principles of Leadership” it’s coming soon, get ready to energize your leadership style.

To connect with Velton you can reach him at Leadership Dynamics International. Website: www.veltonshowell.com

Email: info@veltonshowell.com

Velton W. Showell III

Shooting From The Hip

Seven Life Lessons I’ve Learned From My Total Hip Replacement

Lesson 1

I Had To Face Reality

Total Hip Replacement...

That’s not something that a 48-year-old man expects to hear from his doctor. But there I was sitting in my doctor’s office face with the reality of having a total hip replacement. Even as my doctor talked to me his voice faded into the background as I focused on the X-ray and saw that there was no cartilage between the ball and socket of my left hip. I could still hear him talking but his words didn’t have my full attention as I looked at the X-ray and noticed that on the ball there were tiny bone spurs. These spurs are what made it difficult for me both to sit down and to get up.

Lesson 2

I Had To Make a Decision And Take Action!

When it came down to the person giving the green light about this surgery the weight of it fell squarely on my shoulders. Not my wife, not my children, not my family or friends the decision was mine to make and mine alone. And for me, it wasn’t a hard decision. When I look at how my life would be better rather than worst it was an easy choice for me. I had to see the value in what the surgery was going to give me. I had to see a better quality of life and this surgery offered me that.

Lesson 3

I Had To Realized That There Was No Turning Back

Once I made the decision to have my total hip replaced then I had to realize that there was no turning back. I had to embrace that this reality was in my future and that it wasn’t going away. I had to march full speed ahead towards this surgery. To be honest I really didn’t think about the surgery too much. I thought about the benefits that I would get from it. I did not entertain any thoughts that would have hinder me from getting this surgery done. I shared it with family and friends like I was getting a cavity filled. Now don’t get me wrong I knew the surgery, any surgery could be major and are always the possibilities of something going wrong but I didn’t allow those thoughts to stand in the way of me having it. You really can’t give that much time and energy to what could go wrong and not enough to what could go right. There are things in our lives that we have no control over but then are things that we do have some say so in.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” Charles

R. Swindoll

Lesson 4

The New Reality

It’s a part of human nature to resist change but as the quote goes, “The only thing that is constant is change.” My new reality after my surgery was that a piece of me had been changed forever. My body was missing something I had since birth but it was no longer serving me. My hip joint was not functioning as designed and it had to be removed if I was going to lead a productive life. This was my new reality. I had to accept it for what it was, and it really changed the way that I looked at life. I really began to think about how things in our life could be doing us in, dragging us down and making things worse for us instead of better and we are not willing to let them go.

Lesson 5

Learning All Over Again

If you are like me then going back to school is nothing that you would like to do. But I have learned that if you stop learning then you stop growing. We have to be willing to learn in order to do then things that we couldn’t do before. After my hip replacement surgery I had to learn all over again. I had to learn how to walk, stand, sit and sleep. I had to retrain my mind and body to adjust to my new reality. Sometimes learning again can be hard because we learned it wrong the first time. After my surgery I had to learn how to walk with my new hip. I found out that I was a half of inch taller in my left leg now so that meant I had readjust my stride and my stance and that took some time. I didn’t have a problem walking but, believe it or not I did have a problem standing for more than 5 minutes. You see my lower back had muscle memory, where the muscles were used to being in one position with the bad hip but no that the hip was replaced even my muscles had to “learn” again and adjust to my replacement.

Lesson 6

Hip Precaution

This is one of those areas that a lot of people have problems with. Following instructions are needed to arrive at an expected end. Even when it comes to cooking, following the recipe is crucial to the dish turning out right. So many people try to cut corners even when cooking then wonder why it doesn’t taste or even look like the item they are supposed to be preparing. When it came to my hip replacement recovery I kept telling people that I was like the ex-convict, “I wasn’t going back!” I wasn’t trying to do anything that would require them to have to go back in my hip and reset it. They called them “Hip Precautions” and I was to observe them in order to keep my new hip in place and from popping out.

Lesson 7

Back In The Game

As I made my way back into the life that I was sitting on the side line watching I returned to a new sense of purpose. I returned with a new lease on life. One that allowed me to be an asset to those around me and not a liability. As I made my way back to doing that things I love, taking care of my family, serving at my Church and working I was meet with loving caution from those who cared about me. They wanted make sure that I didn’t overdo it and that I took my time.

As I look back on them limiting my contributions, I am reminded just how much they care. They wanted to make sure that I was completely healed before I went charging off to save the world. Sometimes I think they were too cautious, but I realized that they did it in love. And to be honest if I were in their shoes I probably would have done the same.

Cicone C. A. Prince

PRESCRIPTION FOR EXCELLENCE

With Dr. James J. Williams

The Year to Recalibrate!

2021 will be a year of recalibration. As we’re gradually able to put the worst elements of 2020 behind us, it’s going to become clearer to all of us how far we’ve strayed from our habits, dependencies, and routines of the past, and not just in our daily tasks but in our entire way of thinking. Futurist Thomas Frey (futuristspeaker.com) provides a global perspective on how to recalibrate our lives.

In just one year, our idea of “normal” has been run through a woodchipper and is unrecognizable in so many areas: our health, our government, our professional lives, our activities, our families, and our priorities.

As we move past the 2020 crisis mentality, 2021 will be a year of adjusting the dials, flipping the switches, and recalibrating our lives. But it’s not something we can simply press a button and regain our sense of normalcy. The first order of business will be to break our reactive habits that have built up over the past 10 months.

COVID is forcing us to change; so drifting back into our previous, comfortable state of normal will not be possible. We’ll often refer back to the “good old days” of 2019, 2015, or whatever year in the past we felt was most ideal, but that past was never as good as we recall, and we also have the opportunity to redirect ourselves, along with the rest of humanity, towards a far better future.

Recalibrations set to accelerate in 2021

One of the most obvious recalibrations to date has been the office workplace. Work-from-home was not unheard of before 2020, but it was a relatively big deal for a company to give certain teams the opportunity to work from home 1-2 days a week. Now companies like MasterCard, Intuit, Shopify, Siemens, and others seem committed to a predominantly work-from-home arrangement for a majority of their people. This recalibration will continue long into the future.

Along with this, our priorities change. Stemming from the work-from-home transition, we’re seeing a shift in personal priorities. Lives won’t be organized around work – it will be quite the opposite with work taking a second seat to personal commitments and pleasure. As this happens, people begin to realize they are more than just the sum total of their job, position, and title. Over time, this will lead to a deeper sense of purpose in other areas.

From a management standpoint, companies are now focused on outcomes. By focusing on outcomes, employers help people make time count, instead of simply counting time. That type of trust and empowerment actually makes staffers far more productive.

Also on the workplace front, we’ll see less corporate travel. We’ve learned we can be efficient and effective with virtual meetings. Even if employees go back to the office, they’ll continue to connect with out-of-town clients and customers virtually rather than face-to-face.

However, conferences and off-site retreats, for the most part, will resume and take place in person because none of us ever got used to day-long virtual sessions or online happy hours this year. The overall decline in business travel will be a long-term recalibration, much to the chagrin of the airline and hospitality industries.

Last, consider the recent, rapid decline of the oil and gas industry due to dramatic worldwide declines in demand. Yes, we were already moving steadily toward battery-powered cars and alternative energy sources, but this trend has significantly accelerated due to the cascading events of 2020. As a result, the worldwide economic collapse triggered global oil and gas industry retrenchments. As an industry, it clearly sees the handwriting on the wall with the end date of its energy reign looming in the distance. This recalibration will continue over the coming years.

Finally, we’ll put a greater emphasis on health and wellness, both from a personal and employer perspective. Flu and cold season will now be flu, cold, and COVID season as new variants of these viruses appear and reappear every year. Masks will become a fashion industry standard, and far more common during the Fall and Winter months. Family leave policies will be more liberal and generous, especially if companies want to keep mothers in their workforce. This will be a long-term recalibration.

Let’s Get on With It

So yes, let’s all get on with life as soon as we can in 2021, not fixated on going back to the way we were, but looking to the future with a clean slate and a desire to be and do things better. And those of us working as futurists can once again refocus on the future future and emerging technology trends like AI, robots, and flying drones!

Here’s to a successful and healthy year ahead!

The opinions expressed here by Next Generation Speakers Magazine columnists are their own, not those of the magazine itself.

Email - jjwilliamsphd@gmail.com

Cell - 301-806-8614

Webstore - ChasingTheEagle.com

Twitter @jjwilliamsphd

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/james-j-williams PRESCRIPTION FOR EXCELLENCE

With Dr. James J. Williams

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You can make these at home!

In his highly anticipated 5th book, Cicone Prince shares fundamental principles of Leadership that are easy to digest and even easier to implement. He drives home the importance of equipping the Next Generation with the tools they need to succeed with this incredible call to action. Leadership That Lasts will have you running to help someone else prepare for their future while realizing your success.

S. H. I. F. T.

There is no better time than now to make a S.H.I.F.T! 2021 has allowed us to move into a new mindset. S. H. I. F. T. is an acronym for Study, Heed, Impact, Forge, and Train. This month we will cover the Study aspect.

Study - the devotion of time and attention to acquiring knowledge on an academic subject, especially through books.

There are several ways that Studying can occur. The two that we are going to cover in this article are Observational and Academic Studying.

Observational Studying:

Studying is one of the first things that we should all be willing to do. We need to realize that we don’t know everything and get around people that know more than we do and be quite long enough to learn something. We then need to ask questions and take notes.

We have to become students of people who have done what it is that we want to do. We have to enroll in the school of humility and carefully take note of not only what they do, but why. To keep the questions to a minimum, learn all you can on your own before asking them to hand you the playbook. What I mean is that you have to use your deductive reasoning to follow along as far as you can. Only ask questions that show that you truly want to learn and implement what you see them doing.

This attitude may also grant you access to more information and greater access to them because you are putting in the work. The second way of Studying is sometimes seen as the hardest.

Next month we will dive deep into the need to Heed what we’ve Studied! So many people learn a lot and know a lot but they are the worst when it comes to putting it into practice. You don’t want to miss it!

Cicone Prince

Academic Studying:

Academic studying can be less glamorous and more tedious but they are the surest way to get solid information that stands on. Going over the information at your own pace allows you to soak up and retain more information. The more you learn, the more you can teach.

Academic studying has a component in it called Testing. Testing makes sure that you have gotten the information back giving you problems to solve or situations to work through. From Academic studying, you can be assured that you have the information down pack so that when you share it later on you will know what you are talking about.