Tag: Phillip Kane

Phillip Kane is a husband, father, businessman and author.

Categories
Values

Live Your Values

Live your values. Phillip Kane’s andwin.net blog
Image credit: Ian Kim | Unsplash. Com

Saturday, January 21, 2023

This week, I had the privilege to speak at Black’s Tire’s annual associate meeting in South Carolina. Not only is Black’s a significant customer of mine, but I have a close association with the Benton family, who own the company, which dates back almost 20 years. So the opportunity to speak to their team twice this week was very special to me, indeed. 

In my prepared remarks, I planned to remind the folks at Blacks that organizations should either: ensure that every single associate in their organization is able to recite, by heart, the values of that organization … or not have values at all. It starts with communicating those values to associates, talking about them constantly, and expecting them to both be able to repeat them when asked but more importantly to live them day in and day out. 

But at Black’s, Ricky Benton Sr., the patriarch of the business, whose remarks on Saturday preceded mine, beat me to the punch. He reminded his team of their four values, and that they need to know them and live them each and every day. Ricky didn’t need to hear my speech to understand a plain truth of life and business: teams that have, know, and live by a set of common (positive) values win more often. 

And that’s the point for the week. 



The values of any organization should define and telegraph to others how it and its people will conduct themselves in any situation. They detail how they treat their people, their customers and their suppliers. They make it clear how an organization’s employees will care for its property and other assets. They tell others what a relationship with their company and its people should be like. And because of these things, they create alignment around positive ways of doing things. Because of that, teams with lived values win more often. 

But like everything else in life, learning then living the values of an organization is a choice. But it’s ultimately a choice between winning and losing. Because the behaviors associated with learning then aligning with an organization’s values and its culture are directly tied to job success and in turn organizational success and winning. 

Organizations that post value statements on their walls then refuse to live them are guilty of nothing less than making promises they have no intention of keeping. Because posted values that go unlived are simply empty words that rob every person in the place of any credibility they might ever have had. 

Black’s Tire lives their values. And because of it, they have credibility with others and are exceedingly successful in the marketplace. 

That same outcome is available to any organization … if they live the values of their organization, every play, every day. 

Organizations that achieve that will be regarded by more and more of their associates as a great place to work – because organizations where people do what they say they are going to do are the kind of places people want to work. They are also the kind of places people want to buy from, sell to and invest in. 

And building a place like that is, after all, what winning is all about. 

So, be like Black’s. Learn then live your values. 

And win. 

To learn more about the author, please click HERE.

To purchase a copy of Phillip’s new book from B&N, please follow this LINK.

Categories
One Team-One Number

Be Part of the Whole

Be part of the whole. Phillip Kanes’s andwin.net blog
Image credit: Pierre Bamin | Unsplash.com

Friday, January 13, 2023

This week, on the plane to Thailand, I watched a movie called, The Duke. It’s a true story about a man named, Kempton Bunton, who, in 1961, was accused of stealing Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. 

Late in the film, on trial for the theft, Bunton rests his entire defense on the notion that his actions were rooted in what we learn is a near life-long sense of duty to his fellow man. 

In what is the movie’s most pointed moment, Bunton tells the defense barrister, “It’s you that makes me, me, and it’s me that makes you, you.” What he was saying, I think, is that human beings aren’t meant to be or do things alone. Without others, we, the lives we lead, and that which we endeavor to do in them will be incomplete. True fulfillment requires that we are part of a whole. 

And that’s the point for the week. 



Creation of anything valuable – indeed of life itself – requires more than one of us. 

Achievement, happiness and self-realization are not individual pursuits. They never have been. They never will be. In all of human history, banishment, confinement and isolation have been regarded as punishment, not as something to be sought out. Since ever, those that separate themselves from others have been conspicuous. We have not-so-complimentary terms for them. We look at them funny and wish they’d start thinking about someone other than themselves. 

See, challenging convention is one thing. Breaking away from it entirely is a thing altogether different. One says, “let’s go to a different place together.” The other says, “I’m leaving without you.” One is healthy. The other is not. 

What Kempton Bunton understood implicitly is that for any of us to reach a height greater than our own requires more than one of us. There is no other way. No one ever stood taller by cutting those around them down. For us to accomplish anything in this business will require the combined efforts of the people in it – not individuals in it for themselves.  It’s you that makes me, me, and it’s me that makes you, you, means that together we accomplish something that apart we never could. There’s no room in that for those who have it in their mind to blaze a different path than the one the rest of us are on, or for anyone that wants to play on a team of one. 

See, it’s not about any one of us. It’s about all of us and the dreams we have for this place, dreams that come true only because I make you, you and you make me, me and because each of us wakes up every day secure in the knowledge that the whole will always be greater than any one of its parts.

So, be part of the whole. 

And win. 

To learn more about the author, please click HERE.

To purchase a copy of Phillip’s new book from B&N, please follow this LINK.

PK

Categories
Hope News

Start with Hope

Start with hope. Phillip Kane’s andwin.net blog
Image credit: Kent Whitty | Unsplash.com

Friday, December 30, 2022

This week, a man whom I have great respect for, said something to me that I have heard him say before, but that, this time, maybe owing to the time of the year, I found myself thinking even more about.

He said to me, “We try. We hope.”

On this occasion, I told him that I am a great believer in hope and that hope is vastly underrated. I think that’s because the “Hope is not a strategy” crowd has done much in recent years to diminish the standing of hope in the world. But in the history of mankind, every notable accomplishment has likely been preceded by hope. See, achievement is not possible without hope.

And that’s the point for the week.



Hope begets belief. And belief begets doing. And doing begets winning. But hope comes first.

With hope, that which seems impossible enters the realm of human consideration. That’s because intrinsic in hope, I think, is the notion, or better yet, the assurance, that we are not alone. And that together, with help, almost anything can happen.

Bolstered by that belief, we try more often. And because we do, solely on the basis of math, we will win more. But it starts with hope.

So much did Pope, now Saint John Paul 2 believe in the power of hope that about it, he said, “I plead with you, never ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.” What he seemed to know, beyond any doubt was that hope, in fact, will never disappoint. Because even in suffering, darkness, and uncertainty hope brings with it the promise of something new, a chance at redemption, an opportunity to get the thing we failed at right the next time around.

We try. We hope.

As we stand on the doorstep of a new year, I wish for all of you, and for all of mankind, great hope. Because in hope, there is nothing that remains unavailable to us.

So, start with hope.

And win.

To learn more about the author, click HERE.

To purchase a copy of Phillip’s new book, please follow this LINK.

Categories
Joy News

Release Joy

Release joy. Phillip Kane’s andwin.net blog.
Image credit: Telemundo

12/23/2022


This week, Argentina defeated France in the FIA World Cup in what was arguably one of the greatest sporting events of all time. Within the match were many breathtaking moments of skill, sportsmanship, and sheer determination ‐ not the least of which was Gonzalo Montiel’s penalty kick to seal the championship. But it was what came immediately after the Montiel kick that was, for me, the most enduring memory of the tournament.


Telemundo announcer, Andres Cantor, in calling the goal, burst forth, releasing an exclamation of nearly a full minute and a half, at times shouting, other times whispering, and at other times sobbing, that can only be described as pure, unadulterated joy ‐ one that I will never forget, and that moved me to tears, for only that I understood the joy that he felt. That’s because joy is unmistakable. Joy is also contagious. And the world needs more joy in it, because with Joy, human beings accomplish more together.


And that’s the point for the week.




During this season, it’s appropriate to speak of joy.


Regardless of what you believe, the notion that more joy brought to the world is better than less should be beyond argument.


But for so many joy has gone out of style. It’s become more fashionable to choose cynicism, hate, cancellation and division instead of joy.
But having one or the other is a simple choice: between one that makes the world a better place, and one that doesn’t.


See, joy makes it impossible for any negative human condition to persist. With joy, anger, hate, strife, despair, loss, or any other self‐indulgent emotional state or relationship between us and others cannot exist. Because with joy, there’s no room for these things. Joy has no time for negativity.


And because of that, with joy, almost anything becomes possible ‐ like that which many of us believe happened in a stable 2,000 years ago. Because joy opens the lens of possibilities. With joy, we focus on goodness, hope, and what can be. With joy, we want better for not only ourselves but those around us too.


Teams where joy is persistent are bound together tightly, like a cord of many strands. Not easily broken, these teams endure more, move with greater force, and rise to greater heights propelled by the sheer force of joy that makes anything otherwise absolutely unthinkable.


So, be like Andres. Release joy.


And win.

To learn more about the author, click HERE.

To purchase a copy of Phillip’s new book, please follow this LINK.

Categories
News

Believe in Your Own Self-Worth

Believe in your own self-worth. Phillip Kane's and win.net blog
Image credit: Jen Theodore | Unsplash.com

Friday, December 16, 2022

One day, this week, I had come down to the lobby of my hotel ready for work a bit earlier than usual. So, I decided to spend some time visiting with the valet, Salvador, who helps me most mornings. I like being around Salvador. See, I have never not seen him smiling. Talking to him always makes me happy.

On this day, I learned from him that he had recently left Uber. He shared with me that Uber had reduced the percentage of each fare that was paid to him. As a result, he made a decision to leave. He told me that his decision was less about economics than it was about feeling like he was being undervalued by the people at Uber. Salvador believed that he was worth more and left to find someone who believed it as much as he did. See what Salvador seems to understand intrinsically is this: whether you think you and your brand have great value or none at all, you’re exactly right.

And that’s the point for the week.



Only we, as individuals and as organizations, ultimately determine our worth. The world is full of people whose primary goal in life is to get something for less and just as many more who believe that they can increase their own worth by cheapening someone else’s. The plain truth of life though is this: those type of people never find what they are looking for. That’s because nothing of value will ever be found at the bottom of anything nor will blowing another candle out ever make one burn any brighter.

Worth is a matter of self-belief. Being worth more starts with believing we are. The converse is also true; the fastest way to cheapen ourselves or our brand is to start believing it is worth less than it actually is or to let others convince us of the same.

Being more, collecting more, and having more are solely and ultimately determined by each of us – first and foremost by what rattles around inside our heads. If we think that we deserve more, we will achieve more. If we think that we deserve less, we will achieve less. Life is, after all, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whether you think you have great value, or none at all, you’re right.

When each one of us wants more for ourselves and for the organizations we belong to, we will have more. It is truly no more complicated than that. If more of us want what we’ve always had, we will have just that. If more of us want less, we can have that too. That is the choice that is before each one of us and our teams as a whole each and every day: to accept more, to accept the same as always, or to accept something less.

I want more for all of you.

I want all of you to refuse to accept any less than that. I want all of you to declare that never should you accept less than what you or the organizations you are a part of are worth then act like it each and every day, day in and day out, by giving more, expecting more, and refusing to accept anything less than more.

When you do, one day you will all have the more that you want. But it starts today, here and now, by refusing to let anyone but you define your worth and by reminding yourself every single day that whether you think you have great value or none at all, you’re right.

So, believe in your own self-worth.

And win.

To learn more about the author, click HERE.

To purchase Phillip’s new book, please click HERE.

Categories
Love

Accomplishing Anything Extraordinary Requires Love

Accomplishing anything extraordinary requires love. Phillip Kane's and win.net blog
Image credit: Clem Onejeguho | Unsplash.com

Friday, December 9, 2022

This week in my church, and likely in many of yours, we celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The Gospel reading, recounted the story of the visit to the Virgin Mary, by the Angel, Gabriel, who announced to her that she would conceive and bear a child who would be the son of God. It is not necessary for you to believe that this happened. It is enough for you to imagine that it did. For the point of all of this is not a religious thing. It is moreover about that which drives human beings to undertake the extraordinary.

Think for a moment about what was required in this case, or for any human being, or group of them, to agree to undertake the monumental. Certainly it takes faith. Trust matters as well. But to accomplish the truly extraordinary, as in this example from 2,000 years ago – requires love. 

And that’s the point for the week.



The greatest level of commerce that can exist among human beings is love. It’s not trust. Nor is it faith. While these things matter a great deal and are always a part of winning teams, accomplishing anything of extraordinary value requires a depth of feeling that can only be described one way – as love. It is love that enables the accomplishment of the seemingly impossible. 

Love is not strong like. 

Love is exactly what it says. It is the point at which one places the needs, interests, wants, security, comfort and feelings of others
ahead of their own. When the people in an organization truly love one another, they look out for one another, they protect one another, and keep each other safe. With love, there is no wasted effort or emotion because every single person in the place wants and works for the same exact things – because they understand that when those goals are achieved, the lives of everyone in the organization improve. No one engages in self-centered behavior; no one pulls the rope the wrong way or doesn’t pull it at all, because these are not acts of love.  

When every person in an organization truly loves every other person in that organization, there is almost nothing that organization cannot achieve. That’s because there is almost nothing each person in that organization would not do for every other person in the place. 

Doubt it? Find anyone who’s ever achieved the extraordinary, defied the odds, or performed what was once thought impossible. Look more deeply at what made it happen, kept it together, or held it aloft. I’ll bet you it feels more than a little bit like love. 

That’s because nothing meaningful in the history of mankind was ever accomplished without love. 

What we do here won’t be the first. 

So love the one you’re looking at. 

And win. 

To purchase a copy of Phillip’s new book, please visit HERE.

To learn more about the author, please click HERE.

Categories
General Leadership

Lead by Example

Lead by example. Phillip Kane's andwin.net blog
Photo 74575302 / Don Shula © Jerry Coli | Dreamstime.com

Friday, December 2, 2022

This week, while visiting the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio as part of a team‐building exercise with some of the leaders of our company, I noticed a quote projected on a wall from the legendary coach of the Miami Dolphins, Don Shula. Shula, who coached from 1963 to 1995 (most of those years with the Dolphins) holds the distinction of being the only coach to have ever led a team to an undefeated season – going 14‐0, then winning the 1973 Super Bowl. Shula, who died just two years ago, was a hero to many of my generation, including me, not only for what he did in football, but for the way he lived his life and led other human beings. So, as I saw his words projected on the smooth, concrete wall, though I’d seen it before, I found myself reading it over, and over again:

“I don’t know any other way to lead but by example.”

What Don Shula understood intrinsically is that people follow the example of their leaders. They don’t do what they say … they do what they do. They watch them carefully. Imitating them. Wanting to be like them. Believing that if they do the things their leaders do, they can be like them someday. And because of this Don Shula understood something else – something far more important even. He understood that the sort of example he set was a choice. He knew that the only person who determines whether a leader creates a positive example or something other than that is the leader themself and no one else.

And that’s the point for the week.



See, what Don Shula knew, maybe better than any other coach of his generation, is that life is a choice. Every day of our life is a beautiful, wonderful choice between happiness and sadness, between giving our all or giving in, between bringing our whole heart or bringing something less, between doing the right thing or the wrong one, between helping a neighbor or walking right on by, … or between setting the right example or the wrong one. And this goes for all of us. Each of us is faced with a hundred chances each day to decide what sort of example we’ll set. Each one of us is a leader of something – even if it’s just our own future self. Each of us has an opportunity to choose.

And when more and more of us, then, ultimately, all of us, choose to lead, to set an example for good more often, the lives of everyone around us will improve – here at Turbo, in our homes, and in our communities. It can’t work any other way. It won’t work any other way. For every person here to achieve whatever the “more” is that they seek in their lives, every single person who works here must believe in, exhibit, and be willing to fight for a kinder, more positive example of leadership. And when we do, almost nothing will be able to stop us; because exactly none of our energy will be wasted on negativity, dissent, half‐heartedness, or indifference.

See, what Don Shula proved, beyond any doubt, is that winning, that having more of whatever matters to the people on a team, requires that no room be left anywhere for anyone except those who choose a better way. And because every single person in that organization, beginning with him, chose something better, they never lost a game.

That’s what’s available to us … if we choose a better way … if we choose to set a better example for those around us to follow.

So be like Coach Shula. Lead by example.

And Win.

Categories
Gratitude

Be Grateful

Be grateful. Phillip Kane's andwin.net blog.
Asian Community News Network

Friday, November 25, 2022 – The Thanksgiving Week

This week, at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Japanese national football team delivered a stunning 2-1 upset over heavily favored Germany. But as much as this installment of The Week could be about the near absolute likelihood of achieving whatever you believe you can do, or about how more-nimble Davids can prevail over too-slow and too-confident Goliaths seven days a week and twice on Sundays as long as they stick to the more-nimble playbook, it’s about neither of those things. It’s about gratitude and respect and how one begets the other.

See, after cheering on the Samarai Blue for 90 minutes, plus a bit of extra time, the Japanese fans stayed behind to help clean the stadium … not just the part they were sitting in, but the entire stadium. For Japanese football fans, Thanksgiving isn’t a once-a-year thing – it’s a 365 day a year thing. And because they are grateful for each day and everything in it, they likewise show respect for all they encounter; like football stadiums. It is not something the Japanese have to stop and think about. There are no dots to connect. It is reflexive … a common and simple truth: One will respect that which they are grateful for.

And that’s the point for the week.



Japanese football fans do not clean stadiums out of a sense of moral obligation or duty. They do so from a place of love and mutual respect – a place that is rooted in gratitude. The former simply flows from the latter. Easily. Without great thought or effort. Without gratitude, respect is nigh on impossible. Surely, one can behave in a respectful manner toward someone or something without having any sense of gratitude in their heart. But there is a world of difference between respect and being respectful.

True, caring leaders and those who fully buy into what they are trying to accomplish know these things. That’s why they wake up each day with grateful hearts and are careful, at any point in any day, when they feel that sense of gratitude slipping away, to restart their day – seeking to re-find that almost childlike sense of gratitude, and ensuring that it connects up with a spirit of respect for everybody and everything in their life. Because they do, people are more likely to want to follow them, and will more willingly engage in difficult tasks or invest long hours on their behalf. Think about your own experience. Recall the best boss, teacher, coach, leader, or superior of any other kind that you’ve had in your life. I’m willing to go out on a limb to bet you that this person was exceedingly grateful for whatever they had in their life.

And it was that spirit of gratitude that led them to first appreciate then respect you. And since, after all, because all of us want simply, and not much more than but, to be respected, those who lead with grateful hearts will, by the sheer business of odds, be apt to reach all of those around them, forming many-stranded cords of nearly unbreakable strength which become capable of accomplishing extraordinary things that exactly no one might ever have thought them capable. 

But it all starts with one person … waking up with a grateful heart … behaving with respect for others … picking up the very first piece of trash.

So, be that person. Be thankful for all that you have in the world.

Be grateful.

And win.

Categories
Make Others Big

Make it About Others

Make it about others. Phillip Kane's andwin.net blog
Image credit: Didgeman | Pixabay

Friday, November 18, 2022

This week, CBS ran a story about Ironman athletes, father and son, Jeff and Johnny Agar. Jeff is 59. Johnny is 26. They have competed in over 200 competitions together – competitions that require a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run. Jeff and Johnny are not your typical triathletes though. Johnny has Cerebral Palsy. So, in each race, when they swim, Jeff tugs Johnny; when they bike, Jeff tows Johnny; and when they run, Jeff pushes Johnny. The two of them together with their gear weigh over 400 pounds.

This is not something Jeff Agar does for himself. Speaking of her husband, Becky Agar said, “Even though he got him the 140 miles, he’ll always be hiding behind Johnny. He doesn’t want to be announced as an Ironman. It’s Johnny’s moment. And it’s the most beautiful thing to me.” Jeff Agar knows with 100% certainty that it’s not about him. And because of that, his son becomes really, really big. See, that’s the paradoxical truth of life and leadership: the smaller we become, the bigger those around us can get.

And that’s the point for the week.



Those who make it about others attract followers to them. Because those who follow them recognize in them a genuine care for those they lead as human beings, and a true concern for their welfare and safety. When we make it about others, their interests are placed ahead of our own, and as a result, we are made more aware of that which stands in their way of health and happiness, and we’ll move heaven and earth to fix it when these things are threatened. When we make it about others, they flourish, because nothing other than that is more important to us.

But when we make it about us, those around us cease to thrive. That’s because we suck the very life out of them. It’s exhausting and soul-crushing for others to support the nearly endless need of a narcissist to feel more important than they truly are. Those who put themselves first make others feel unsafe, less valued, and less important. They feel like disposable parts whose opinions matter for nothing and who wouldn’t be missed if they didn’t bother showing up one more day.

In organizations where it’s not about those in charge, the rest of the place looks out for one another and for their leaders. They offer up ideas to make things better and to catapult the organization forward. They bring their whole hearts to what they do because they know that it’s about them and making their lives better. And as a result, the businesses they work in move ahead with speed and force, accomplishing things that those in them only ever once dreamed were possible. All because people started making it more about others than themselves.

So, make others really, really big … by making yourself really, really small.And win.

Categories
Listening

Listen to One Another

Listen to one another. Phillip Kane's andwin.net blog
Image credit: Couleur | Pixabay

Friday, November 11,2022

This week, an election was held in this country. Despite predictions of a huge “red wave,” from state legislatures, to governorships, to the U.S. House and, ultimately, the U.S. Senate, those who were victorious were those who spent their campaigns talking about things that actually mattered most to their voters. Conversely, those who spent the past twelve months talking only about those things that mattered to them and their party – things their constituents were not truly concerned about – were punished at the ballot box. But life is like that. People will more often follow those who place the needs of others ahead of their own.

And that’s the point for the week.



The success of any enterprise, whether a country or a company, is inversely proportional to the degree to which those leading it impress their own personal self-interests upon it. That’s because when the direction of an organization is determined solely by those leading it, enthusiasm and commitment among everyone else becomes harder and harder to find. See, people want to be heard. They want a say in the direction of things they are expected to contribute to, and which impact their lives. Most importantly, they want to know that when the enterprise achieves its goals, their lives will improve.

All this begins with people who listen to one another and who take the time to understand what’s important to them. It’s no harder than asking then caring enough to listen to what comes next. It’s a simple fact that we learn things about each other when we take the time to talk about what matters to each other. Those who do so build things that others want to be a part of, believe in and fight for – because they see a place for themselves in these structures, and can imagine the better futures that they promise – all because someone cared more about what mattered to them than their own self interests.

So, take the time to understand what matters to each other.

And win.