What Can We Learn From Walt Disney?
Navigator #145
The Navigator is published by
Greg Smith,
"Lead Navigator & Captain” of Chart Your Course International Inc.
PERSONAL NOTE FROM THE CAPTAIN
Cathy and I recently returned from a trip to Disney World. We decided to
escape from all the news about layoffs and the bad economy. I admit, I
felt guilty spending the money to go, but this was something I had
wanted to do for a long time.
I have always been fascinated with Disney World. Ever since Annette
Funicello was on the Mickey Mouse Club, I had this fascination with all
things Disney.
This was the first time we visited the Magic Kingdom with no children.
We were free to do anything we wanted without worrying about naps, potty
times, and fussy kids. Yea! We rode the Buzz Lightyear ride at least six
times. We saw all of the fireworks and the parades. We rode the Peter
Pan ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and all of the grown up rides as
well. It was great. This was a perfect time to go because hardly anyone
was there.
To be completely truthful, the real reason I have been fascinated with
Disney World was not Annette, it was Walt Disney. Disney’s life was
fascinating. His innovative ideas flew in the face of convention. When
those around him were watching silent movies, he was thinking about
creating “talkies.” When cartoons were in black and white, he was about
to change the industry to color. When others only saw swamp land, he saw
Disney World. Disney survived set backs which included the Great
Depression, bankruptcies, and a fire that destroyed some of his
important works. But he never gave up; he always moved forward, never
happy with the status quo.
I think his attitude about life was revealed when Walt Disney was asked
to speak at a university. At the end of his talk someone from the
audience asked him this question. “Mr. Disney, how do I become a
millionaire like you?” Disney thought a minute and the story goes
something like this. “It is easy—all you have to do is pick up the
Yellow Pages, close your eyes, and run your finger down the page and
stop. Open your eyes, and whatever business your finger has stopped on,
make that business the best it can be. Then he added, “I just never got
past “amusement parks.”
During this time when it is hard to escape the gloomy forecasts
concerning the economy, it is easy to get entrenched and down. All of us
have been affected, and are pretty much in the same boat when it comes
to our money and savings.
But people like Disney are different than the rest of the masses. There
are those who feel they have been “victimized” by the economy, yet
others see the opportunities in spite of it.
Never give up on your dreams--always keep moving forward. As Walt Disney
said, “Dreams really do come true!”
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Greg
Here is a short holiday video greeting from me at Disney World.
http://sharing.theflip.com/greeting/2468596
GREG’S VIDEO CLIPS ON YOUTUBE.COM
I have placed some of my best video clips on YouTube.com. Do me a favor,
and provide me a rating on your favorites. If you don’t have a YouTube
account, you maybe asked to open one.
http://www.youtube.com/user/greg19532
FORGET EMAIL, SHOW APPRECIATION WITH AN
AUTHENTIC GREETING CARD
Have you received one of those electronic greeting cards? Not very
impressive. Did you ever forget an important anniversary or birthday?
Recently, someone told me about this really cool company that makes it
so simple to send an authentic greeting card, you will wonder why you
didn’t hear about this a long time ago. We are all busy—and now I no
longer have to go to the store, pick out a card, write a little note,
look up the address, find a stamp, and walk out to the mail box. By the
time I do all of that, I usually miss the date I am trying to recognize
in the first place.
The great thing about this program, it is all Internet based. You can
store each of your addresses, and dates such as anniversaries and
birthdays, plus you will be reminded when to send the card. You can
choose from thousands of different cards--and if you are creative, there
is a special feature to add your own personal photographs in the design
process. Another really neat addition, this program will scan in your
personal handwriting and signature so it looks like you actually
handwrote the note and address on the envelope.
Just think of the impact a personal greeting card could have on your
family, clients, staff, or employees. They even put it in the enveIope,
add a stamp, and take it to the post office for you—all for less than 75
cents per card including postage.
You can watch a video and even sign up for a free account to send out
two cards by visiting this website.
http://www.sendoutcards.com/gregsmith
SCRATCH AND DENT SALE
Everybody loves a good sale—and you won’t believe the fantastic prices
on some of our books and videos. We have marked these items up to 60%
off. Several of the videos have been opened, or they are the older VHS
version--and some of the books have bent corners. We will even pay the
shipping (U.S. orders only). Don’t wait--Make your order now before they
are gone.
http://www.chartcourse.com/captainsspecialdeals.html
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP TELESEMINAR
For those of you who missed last week’s free teleseminar, you can now
download a Podcast of the session. You can also sign up for Sessions 2
and 3 which will be held in January 2009.
http://www.chartcourse.com/Confirmation-Transformational_Leadership.html
MOTIVATION, REWARD & RECOGNITION IDEAS
Rumor Mill Meetings: KANA’s CEO conducts
several sessions throughout the day to address
organizational rumors, allow employees to ask
questions, and inform them of future plans
of the organization. All questions are honestly
answered to the extent possible.
Take a Walk: KANA conducts executive walks around the company, and hands
out pension statements. It gives them an opportunity to speak with busy
employees about their retirement, benefits, and planning.
Employees are invited to workshops or to individual
counseling. This helps gage interest, motivate
participation, ease nerves about investing, and
generally get to know their staff. This is a good
idea for a smaller company with 100-250 employees.
Source:
http://www.chartcourse.com/employee-recognition-tnt.html
UNRELIABLE RESUMES AND JOB APPLICATIONS
Unfortunately, you no longer can trust resumes and job applications.
Here are the most common falsehoods found on résumés, according to a
survey done by CareerBuilder.com.
38 percent of those surveyed indicated they had embellished their job
responsibilities
18 percent admitted they lied about their skill set
12 percent indicated they had been dishonest about their start and end
dates of employment
10 percent confessed to lying about an academic degree
7 percent said they lied about the companies they had worked for
5 percent disclosed they had been untruthful about a job title
SOURCE:
"Outrageous Résumé Lies," CareerBuilder.com, August 2008
Visit our
website on how to use pre-hire assessments
http://www.behaviorprofile.com
DID YOU KNOW?
64% of HR professionals said their organizations offer education
assistance benefits for undergraduate and graduate study. Another 6
percent said their organizations offer assistance for undergraduate
study only, and 3 percent indicated their organizations plan to offer
education assistance benefits.
Source: Society for Human Resource Management’s Weekly Online Survey on
education assistance, March 2007
POPULAR WEB PAGES
>Greg’s Blog
http://chartcourse.blogspot.com/
>Bright Star Employee Suggestion Campaign
http://www.chartcourse.com/bright-ideas-employee-suggestion-program.html
>On-Line Management Programs
http://www.chartcourse.com/supervisortraining.html
>The BEST SELLING Icebreaker Book
http://www.chartcourse.com/book_energizers.html
>Management Profiles and Pre-Employment Assessments
http://www.behaviorprofile.com
>360 Assessments
http://www.chartcourse.com/360assessment.html
>Customer Service Video Training Library
http://www.chartcourse.com/servicevideo.htm
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