Dear Subscribers:

Well, the New Year seems to be underway with a full head of steam. Now that January is just about gone, have you kept or broken all your resolutions so far? I’ve managed to keep some and haven’t damaged the others too badly – so I intend to continue keeping as many as possible. How about you? Continued Best Wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year. Let’s hope it will be a peaceful year before too much longer.

Warmest Regards,

Charlie Boyer
Infinite Perspectives, LLC
www.infiniteperspectives.com

PROVERBS:
A first grade teacher collected well known proverbs. She presented each child in her class the first half of a proverb and asked them to come up with the other half. Here are some of the results – from first graders, no less:

1. Don’t change horses . . . . . until they stop running.
2. Strike while the . . . . . bug is close.
3. You can lead a horse to water but . . . . . how?
4. Don’t bite the hand that . . . . . looks dirty.
5. Children should be seen and not . . . . . spanked or grounded.
6. If at first you don’t succeed . . . . get new batteries.

HOW TO EAT AN ELEPHANT:
The old saying about ‘eating an elephant’ describes an enormous or very difficult task that is all but impossible. But it can be done – with enough time, patience and more than a little bit of strategy. The next time you are faced with accomplishing an enormous and near impossible project, think about how you would plan to eat that elephant. Here are a few tips – maybe you can add some others:

1. Size up the entire job. Make sure you have a good grasp of the scope of the total project. Just how big and complex is that job? Walk around it. Take a look from many different perspectives. Make sure you have a clear idea of the whole before attacking the parts.
2. Sift through the mess. Sort out and throw away everything that isn’t elephant. There will be plenty of elephant parts for you to digest – don’t take on any more than is absolutely necessary.
3. Design a strategy. How long a time do you have to complete this project? What are the steps you need to take? What’s the best order to eat all the parts? My computer – guru nephew coined a term to describe breaking down huge data files into workable bunches – chunkify. An excellent description – chunkify that elephant!
4. Gather the tools you will need. Make sure you have all the necessary equipment before you start. What do you need to get the job done? Chainsaws? Meat cleavers? Sharp knife and fork? Tums for your tummy?
5. Decide what to eat first. Decide which is the worst part (you can use your imagination!) and plan to eat that part first. Once that’s out of the way, the rest of that elephant may be quite tasty – or at least it will seem so by comparison.
6. Get some help. Don’t try to do it all yourself. Make it look attractive, whatever it takes – mustard, pickle relish, barbecue sauce – and you’ll have people clamoring for a chance to help you. Hey, that technique worked for Tom Sawyer, didn’t it?
7. Take a bite. Then another. Then another. Set a pace for yourself, keep going, and don’t quit for any reason. How long does it take to eat an elephant? As the old story goes – a bite at a time and a couple of years, and you’ll be done.

Do these tips work? Absolutely!!! Been there, done that. Well, to be honest, I haven’t actually eaten an elephant, but the enormous projects that got accomplished sure seemed like it.
I wish I’d had these books to use along the way – I’ve found them very helpful, and encourage you to take a look at them:
Loehr & Schwartz, The Power of Full Engagement. ISBN 0-7432-2674-7
Secretan, Inspire! What Great Leaders Do. ISBN 0-471-64882-5
Kyle, Making It Happen. ISBN 0-471-64234-7
Collins, Good to Great. ISBN 0-06-662099-6

SCHOLARSHIP TO BE AWARDED. Know of a high school student who would like to win a $2,000 scholarship for their college expenses? Coachville is sponsoring a NEW – FIRST TIME EVER – National Essay Contest on the topic, Redefining Leadership. The winner of the contest will receive a $2,000 scholarship, airfare and lodging for two to New Orleans, and will be invited to present the winning essay during the Coachville Annual Conference, May 4-6, 2005, in New Orleans. If you know of someone who would be interested in entering the contest, please ask them to visit this website: www.coachvilleannualconference.com and look for the “Essay Contest” button in the upper right part of the web page. Contest guidelines and an entry form can be downloaded from the web page. Deadline for entries is March 1, 2005. Questions? Please contact the essay contest team leader at contest@coachville.com

Manager . . . or Leader? Which word best describes you and what you do? In the February issue, we’ll take a look at some qualities that characterize good managers and leaders in today’s workplace.

Infinite Perspectives, LLC provides coach-based consulting to business and educational leaders who want to create programs of excellence, to individuals facing major changes in their lives (Retirement, Relocation, Restart), and to those who are hitting walls of resistance and want to find windows of opportunity. Visit us at www.infiniteperspectives.com to discover how coach-based consulting can help you make a difference.

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