Partners In The Field | Interviews and discussions

See the full show notes at: http://partnersinthefield.com/nfl-dad-sam-mcnabb-on-fatherhood Samuel McNabb husband to Wilma Char McNabb, father to Sean and NFL QB Donovan McNabb. Retired Electrical Engineer, worked for Exelon in Illinois. Retired from the US Navy. Served as founder and president of NFPFA, association for fathers of the NFL players. greatest moment seeing both of his sons grow up to become good men recent failure/setback health issue took his motivation and caused a loss in momentum personal definition of success when you see something you want to achieve and do everything you can to achieve it. mentorship / networking groups Big Brothers/ Big Sisters online education or productivity tools Dr Jawanza Kunjufu's tools recommended reading things from author Dr Jawanza Kunjufu www.partnersbooks.com listen to this episode to find out why Mr McNabb wants to partner with his father Alfred McNabb and Earle Graves.  

The Pomodoro Technique... This time management technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and is still very useful today. The premise of the technique is to set your timer to a specific interval - 25 minutes is recommended - and focus on one task for that time without distraction. This uninterrupted focus allows you to efficiently complete the things you set before yourself by managing both your time and attention. The technique got it's name from the tomato shaped timer that Cirillo used; tomato in Italian is pomodoro. 

Focus on building your strengths more than your weaknesses

greatest moment seeing the consistent growth in a person he was able to help recent failure/setback missed an opportunity to appropriately delegate tasks to the right people personal definition of success knowing that the effort that he puts in leads to something that impacts generations mentorship / networking groups connect with the people closest to you in a meaningful way online education or productivity tools Asana recommended reading The Head Game Phillip Mudd The 10x Rule Grant Cardone Team of Teams General Stanley McCrystal   partners with this episode... ColdArts - The best graphic designer I know contact Silas @silasgrant on most social media Follow the podcast @_partnerup on Twitter

We tend to speak a lot about relationships here on the podcast and that is very intentional. Today, let's talk about steps to have successful and productive meetings. A good meeting can certainly influence a professional relationship. Here are five steps to have a productive meeting. 1. Be very selective when meeting Only call for a meeting or even attend a meeting when it is actually necessary. Far too often we have meetings just for the sake of meeting and we tend to want to discuss everything under the sun at a meeting. Instead of calling a meeting for everything, be selective. And... if you're in the position to, opt not to attend meetings that don't look promising or don't require your input. 2. Write goals for your meetings Because it is so easy to get off track, consider writing out goals for your meetings so that you have a common idea to move toward. Feel confident in sharing those goals upfront in your meeting so everyone has the same end in mind and all parties are moving in the same direction. 3. Ask questions. If you're just looking to disseminate information it may be best to not have a meeting. If you've called folks to a meeting, you should encourage their participation by asking questions of them toward those goals you wrote out from Step 2. If it's not your meeting, you should be asking questions to make sure that you have a clear understanding and are moving toward the goals that the person who called the meeting has. 4. Consider having a standing meeting. This one I heard from author and speaker Seth Godin. Far too often we get in meetings with comfortable chairs and snacks or beverages. Unless it's a party or there is no work to get to, we should probably not get super comfortable in our meetings. We should focus on exchanging ideas and information as efficiently as possible and get to Step 5. 5. Designate the next steps This for me is two fold. Because we had clear goals for this meeting back in Step 3, we can assess how well we met those goals and determine what needs to be done in order to fully meet them with actionable items. Then with the discovery of those actionable items we can assign the tasks to the right team members and increase our productivity and thus get far more from meetings. A good meeting should have everyone excited about what the future holds and allow them to leave with a clearer picture of that future than when they arrived. Everyone should leave knowing what is expected of them and how it contributes to the entire team. Happy meeting!   I created a graphic that I want you to save to your phone and anywhere else that you save your photos so you can stumble back on these tips later and have a better chance of retaining and using them. If you think that will help, visit http://partnersinthefield.com/5-steps-to-have-a-productive-meeting/

Give up on trying to be perfect and try more to be authentic Please rate this podcast right now while you're looking at this. Your support is so valuable and helps others discover the podcast!

Let's examine "why" instead of "how"

This week's Sixty Second Thought comes from the quote, "Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be." - John Wooden

How is your follow up? Here are 3 tips to improve and automate it.

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.  - Michelangelo

This Sixty Second Thought is inspired by the tragic events that took place in Paris. It has been the most prevalent way of imposing one's ideals and beliefs; acts of war. The simple tactic of using fear of a particular outcome as a motivator to a different outcome.  Unfortunately, fear is never a motivator toward anything. Fear is only a motivator away from the known and undesired outcome. With that, be very mindful of your fear of failure. Be weary of how much you allow fear to motivate you to any desired outcome because you are trying to move away from an undesired outcome.  Your fear of failure will never truly motivate you to success, it will only motivate you away from your fear. Seek carefully to find a true motivator to what you believe. When you do, others around you will see it and attach themselves to it. You will find true support because you are moving positively toward something instead of fearfully away. Talk to you soon, Rashad

I want us to have a transparent conversation and encourage ourselves and each other. Post somewhere on social media today with the hashtag #iam and follow it with #pitf. Listen to the episode to find out what that's all about!

Learn to adapt rather than adopt

Joe Fairless transitioned from being the youngest vice president of a NYC ad agency to creating a company that in 6 months controlled over $7M of property. He’s the host of the popular podcast, Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever show. greatest moment meeting his girlfriend / moving to New York after college recent failure/setback didn’t get all the documents taken care of for a development deal personal definition of success doing what you want while serving others mentorship / networking groups Tony Robbins group online education or productivity tools Quotiful - Keeps you motivated with a daily inspirational quote recommended reading The 48 Laws of Power

As you may be able to tell, I am a big fan of adding value to relationships without any expectation of a return. Today I want to talk a little about nurturing relationships and how you can automate a portion of that. I have a persistent reminder set for every Monday and Wednesday that will send me a text message that says, "Who can you help or encourage today? Pick three people and connect right now." Who can I help or encourage today? So... I really like this little hack because it encourages me to remain relevant in the lives of my associates, friends, and family without really thinking too much about it. It's almost like automating those relationships. When I get the text message I randomly go through the contacts in my email, phone, Facebook, or Twitter accounts and select three people to reach out to. Although it may seem difficult to know what to say, it really is just as automated. This little hack is best when accomplished before noon. I also like to keep mine set to earlier in the week. Having it set before noon gives you all day to continue the conversation. It doesn't take much effort to stretch out a text conversation over the period of 5 hours. Let me help you automate the message too... If the contact you select is someone that you speak to rather regularly you should have no problem drumming up some sort of relative encouragement... even if it's just: have a great day today! If the contact is someone that you have not spoken to in a while, be honest and acknowledge that in your message. Maybe it goes more like: I know we haven't spoke in a while but I thought of you this morning. I hope you're having an incredible week. I would love to speak soon. - Rashad It really is that simple to stay relevant in all of your relationships. This little hack keeps you in mind for at least 3 people each day. Of course, you can do it as many days per week you'd like. I recommend starting with 2 days per week and 3 people per day. I would really love for you to do try it right now. Pick 3 people and encourage them real quick then, when they respond, find out if there is any way that you can help them with something. Let me know if this is valuable to you, Rashad

It's a question I ask every guest but this is my most recent setback and it means changes to the way I do things on the podcast...

Today's Sixty Second Thought was inspired by something I heard Niyi Sobo say during his interview on EO Fire a while back.

I created a graphic that I want you to save to your phone and anywhere else that you save your photos so you can stumble back on these tips later and have a better chance of retaining and using them. If you think that will help,  check out www.partnersinthefield.com and I will email them too you.   I will always encourage you to introduce yourself to as many people as possible. With that, though, I will also challenge you consistently to have some level of meaningful and memorable conversation with them. At networking events though, my challenge is for you to only introduce yourself to 1 person. It may seem a little counterintuitive, however, after you've introduced yourself to that 1 person and have had meaningful and memorable conversation with them, I want you to ask an incredibly important question: "Is there anyone here, that you know, that you can introduce me to?" The power of an introduction is almost unparalleled because with it comes instant credibility. When you introduce yourself to a stranger you, too, are a stranger. That means that regardless of how cool a person you are, you still have no credibility. The person you are introducing yourself to still has no reason to trust you, and is, by default at a minimum slightly guarded; and justifiably so. If you can get introduced to that same stranger by someone they already know, you gain the instant trust and credibility that comes from the person introducing you. That means the conversation is far more receptive and less guarded. Introductions like this work the same as referrals do for business. If your friend tells you that you've gotta try the new Italian place then you automatically give the new restaurant the trust and credibility that you give your friend. And thus, are more likely to give it your attention (and money) as a result. When you attend your next networking event, take the challenge. Only introduce yourself to one person. Then ask that person to introduce you to someone they know. Talk to you soon, Rashad

I recently heard there is a model that says everything comes down to three things; challenges, vulnerabilities, and resources. The greatest of these is completely your responsibility.

What privilege has someone else had that you haven't afforded yourself yet? and why not...