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Interview with Joe Farcht, Author of "Building Personal Leadership"

Interview with Joe Farcht

author of Building Personal Leadership: Inspirational Tools & Techniques for Work and Life

Genesis Publishing (2007)

ISBN 1600371655

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (6/07)

Today, Tyler R. Tichelaar of Reader Views is delighted to be joined by Joe Farcht, author of “Building Personal Leadership.” Joe Farcht’s new book focuses on the progressive development of personal productivity, personal leadership, business leadership, and overcoming the barriers to success. Joe Farcht has earned a BSEE degree, MBA, is an Air Force Lt. Col. (Retired) Vietnam veteran and fighter pilot, is certified as a Master Personnel and Executive Coach, is an expert in the Myers-Briggs Personality Typing, and a 13 year successful business owner.

Tyler: Thank you, Joe, for joining me today to discuss your new book. To begin, will you tell us a little bit about the idea of progression in “Building Personal Leadership”—is it a matter of developing the individual leader first so he or she can then develop the employees?

Joe: Tyler, you hit the nail right on the head. First you develop personal leadership and then you can lead other people. Employees observe their supervisor very carefully and judge them by their actions. What they say is largely disregarded. The greatest problems arise when an employee detects discrepancies between what the boss says and what he or she does. 75% of employees quit their jobs because of their immediate supervisor. Getting your act together as a leader of yourself first is the key to becoming a great supervisor of people. Think about it! The success of a leader is totally dependent upon the success of the people who work for them. If you don’t develop and grow your own skills, how can you help your employees grow and develop? Only if you are building your own personal leadership skills can you help others and assure your own continuing success.

Tyler: Joe, I understand your book focuses on many factors affecting the effectiveness and productivity of people including the motivation of employees. Having been a manager myself, I know money is not the only thing that motivates an employee. What other factors do you find are motivators for employees?

Joe: Tyler, that is a great question. I have done tons of study on the subject and teach it at the University. I have found that most motivational theories are in agreement on what motivates employees. Anyone who studies Maslow, Herzberg, Kovach, and others will find some very startling agreement. While motivation for each person is unique to that person, some generalities can be found in the population. The need for achievement is one of those motivators. Achievement can be found in stretch goals, learning through striving for new results, and doing something you have never done before. Closely associated with achievement is the motivation derived from recognition, appreciation, and increased self-esteem (doing great work and being / feeling valuable as a person). Achievement and recognition are powerful for the general population. However, if you are under 30 years of age and making less than $30,000, you will probably be motivated by money or money equivalents like promotion. One last word on motivation, get to know each individual personally. What are their goals, aspirations, hobbies, interests, and motivators? Then integrate what you know about the general population with the specifics of each person and you will become a great motivator of employees. By the way, this works with children, spouses, significant others, and friends.

Tyler: I’d like to go back a minute and comment on the primary reason you mentioned people leave their jobs—their immediate supervisors. Having been in middle-management myself, I know how difficult it can be to motivate your employees when the people higher up the ladder are uninterested in motivating, encouraging or rewarding you, which puts you in a position where you feel powerless to help yourself or reward and motivate your own employees. What suggestions would you have for people in such middle-management situations?

Joe: My whole purpose for living is to help people like you described to understand that they are not powerless to help themselves and that no matter what the work environment, they are able to encourage, coach, and motivate the people who work for them. You see, we have a choice. We can shrink from challenges, become powerless, or we can choose to lead by example, set ourselves apart, and be the leader we were meant to be. Middle managers who develop themselves into leaders are upbeat, guided by inner values, and care for each person who works for them no matter what the work environment. I wrote my book to help middle managers become leaders, model the right attitudes and behaviors, and overcome the shortcomings found in many organizations. I was one of those middle managers at one time. I was positive but found that my values and the organization’s values were too different to remain employed in that company. I was faced with taking a job I could do in my sleep or be downsized. I took downsizing. It was the best decision I ever made. It allowed me to create a wonderful and rewarding life.

Tyler: That’s a fantastic observation, Joe–that you have to make sure your personal values and the organization’s values are similar. But is it really that easy? What advice would you give to the many people who probably feel trapped working in jobs they dislike for companies they dislike simply because they feel they can’t leave if they want to pay the mortgage or feed their families? How can these people become their own leaders out of such quagmires?

Joe: Feeling probably trapped is a choice. It is based on fear and will drain the energy right out of a person. Everything is a choice. We choose to feel trapped. We choose to fear not being able to pay the bills or feed the family. We choose to slog on each and every day without the courage to choose something else. We choose limitations that keep us from using more of our potential and greatness. I’m going to be a little in everyone’s face and say that you can choose change. If you want a better life, well then make that choice and plan how you can accomplish that plan. You see, if you do the things you have always done, then you will get more of what you have always gotten. You must choose to learn, grow, and become something more. Like Oprah Winfrey, you need to hold a larger vision of yourself than you presently have. Ok, so here is what you do. Choose to buy my book. Turn to page one. Read the article called, “Back to the Basics.” Highlight insightful ideas you have. Take the best idea and start practicing it in your work and life. Do that for all 337 pages and your life will be transformed in a year and you will be prepared to make that leap to a better job, better life, and the joy and happiness you deserve. Oh, by the way, Amazon.com has the book used for $8.50. Is that too much to invest in your future?

Tyler: Your book also spends time on time management. What do you think are the biggest obstacles to getting people to manage their time properly?

Joe: The Habit Trap! We grow up amongst role models who have poor time management skills. Business cultures reinforce inefficient methods of working. People don’t know any better because no one is coaching them to improve because no one knows better ways of working. Everyone is trapped in in-effective and in-efficient ways of working and living. If a person is lucky they find a great book or resource that provides exceptional techniques to use your time more effectively and productively. If you are even luckier, your boss discovers and enrolls you in a development program that provides transformational attitude and time management skill development. If you are even luckier, your boss is a master at time management and coaches you to mirror his or her level of success. It is in his or her best interest to do that.

Tyler: Your examples then range from self-motivation to having a very supportive and motivating environment. Can an employee become his or her own personal leader, motivating himself to do a good job even if it seems like no one higher up cares? Can that one person turn that organization around?

Joe: Every person can develop personal leadership attitudes, skills, and competencies leading to self-motivation no matter what their circumstances. There are hundreds of examples of individuals overcoming adversity to achieve great things. Les Brown and Oprah Winfrey come to mind. Developing and exercising effective personal leadership attitudes and skills will set you apart from higher ups, peers, and others. It insulates you from the negative forces that would pull you down to their levels. Great personal leaders understand that their every thought and action is a choice and they choose the higher paths in their work and life. They don’t depend on the approval or caring of others. They recognize the source of their power is from within. They have so much to give and they give abundantly. Can one person turn the organization around? The answer is yes and no. Yes, you can if you are the top executive in the organization and you are smart about organizational and cultural change. No, if you are a middle manager bucking top leaders who have self-serving agendas. Middle managers will try but find their efforts very frustrating, deflating, a huge energy drain, and that they are not making any progress. In some cases there may be value clashes and the only option is to leave the company and find a more compatible place to work.

Tyler: I have heard it said that no one comes to work with the intention to do a bad job, yet we constantly see examples of poor customer service or employees who just don’t seem to care. What can a manager do to turn that situation around?

Joe: Tyler, I like this question. The manager can’t do anything! It is a top leadership problem and the top leader in the organization must make the changes to motivate managers and front line employees to provide the exceptional service that is desired. I recently had a one-on-one conversation with Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick-fil-A, and what I learned will make you stand up and applaud. Dan Cathy has traveled to the top of his family owned corporate ladder but discovered that the answers to continuing success were not there. They rested with the front line employee serving the customer. Dan Cathy now spends considerable time sculpting, training, and leading front line employees to providing exceptional service to customers. In this way, Dan Cathy will ensure the continuing success of Chick-fil-A. You see, customer service and motivated employees start with the top leadership of an organization.

Tyler: That’s a great example, Joe. In “Building Personal Leadership” you emphasize the importance of setting goals and creating the attitudes and competencies for exercising effective personal leadership. However, I know lots of people have difficulty just figuring out what it is they want out of their personal lives and their jobs. What advice do you have for these people?

Joe: Oh, that is a great question! Let me explore how we get to this point in our lives and then I’ll provide some advice. We grow up in imperfect situations with mostly well meaning but imperfect parents, teachers trying to do their best in crowded classrooms, the influence of friends trying to find themselves, relatives who have their own problems and blemishes, and in neighborhoods that don’t support becoming all that a person can become. We develop limiting beliefs, attitudes, and habits of behaviors that severely limit what we can accomplish. So people know they have more to offer, but they feel lost and unable to contribute like they would like to. Often they become victims and don’t take responsibility for where they are in their lives. That said, now here is the answer. Understand that you had little control of your life until now. Today is the moment of decision. The life you live today is a result of your choices in the past. The life you live tomorrow is a result of the decisions you make and actions you take today. Decide today that you need to let go of old beliefs and ineffective conditioning in the past by learning new things, developing new habits, and changing into a new person. One new step each day. That is all it takes. Little changes each day and over time you will make big leaps in your leadership, success, and the results you enjoy. A great resource to start that journey of change is my book “Building Personal Leadership.”

Tyler: Your book was created from weekly emails and monthly newsletters you send to participants of your leadership development programs. Would you describe for us a little bit of the writing and organizational process that was involved in constructing the book?

Joe: I took hundreds of articles, threw them up into the air, and they magically fell into like piles. Well, ok, it didn’t happen quite like that. I did sort through them at a rather high level of organization and found four major themes of my writing. Then I hired a person to organize them into chapters with similar information. They were all combined into the book, which was then edited. My work then was to dive into the details, content, and all the supporting sections of the book. I learned a lot that will be incorporated into my next book. Just a comment, as I use my book in the leadership development process of my participants, I am always inspired by the content. There is something special about the content. Read it and you will experience the same special feeling.

Tyler: Do you see the book as evolving then into future editions—or you mentioned your next book—what will that be about?

Joe: I really love using my intuition and experiences to write for the several thousand people who receive my weekly messages. I have enough material since my book “Building Personal Leadership” to compile another book of similar organization and content. For sure my next book will be about personal leadership but exactly what form or the title, well, I’m looking to learn from the marketing of this book and to be inspired with the approach that might reach out to even more people. You see, there is nothing more important to me than helping people become more effective leaders in order to create the lives of their dreams. That is my purpose for living. Unleashing more of the unlimited potential and greatness that we all possess is my mission. Personal Leadership is everything!

Tyler: Do you have any thoughts about how email has changed the workplace, both from an employee and a management perspective?

Joe: That is an interesting question. I think a book could be written on the subject. From the employee’s perspective, they now use e-mail to communicate with other colleagues sitting next to each other in separate cubicles. It is also being used to keep historical records for a variety of purposes including their own protection (CYA). I also know employees who are teaching people to communicate with them via e-mail so they can manage their time better and keep focused on the important tasks they need to complete. From the management perspective, some managers work from home and send out literally hundreds of messages asking for information, following up on assignments, and in some cases micromanaging their subordinates. Using e-mail for these purposes can be good but I know some managers who get stressed out and write caustic and damaging e-mails causing great stress and unhealthy emotions among employees. Considering e-mail more globally, I think it is revolutionizing how we communicate and work. There is less personal contact, more computer face time, work done at home and traveling anywhere in the world, whole books are written through e-mail, new markets have emerged, and communication is timelier. The world has changed. What a glorious time to be alive. Our work and lives are filled with opportunity. Those who learn how to use e-mail and other technologies first and who seize the opportunities will win. E-mail is here to stay but like any communication tool, you need to know when to use it and how to use it to be effective.

Tyler: Thanks, Joe, I have to agree with you that because of new technology like the internet and e-mail, communication has improved and consequently, this time is one of the best to be alive. Could you tell us now a little bit about why you felt the need to write “Building Personal Leadership”?

Joe: I had many recipients of my articles and newsletters comment on the value and the inspiration they received when they read my weekly communications. During a networking meeting, a colleague suggested that I form them into a book. It took a couple of weeks for the idea to take hold and so I decided to do it! Now, I’m delighted with the book and I have plans to form an even more powerful book to become a resource to those courageous people who want to build their personal leadership attitudes, skills, and competencies. Change one life, change the world. Change many lives and change the Universe forever.

Tyler: And what do you feel sets “Building Personal Leadership” apart from all the other books out there about leadership and business management?

Joe: “Building Personal Leadership” contains hundreds of “in the trenches” tools and techniques for working smarter and creating the life you dream about. Each one is presented in a short one-minute or less reading with a call to action. Implement the tools and techniques in your work and life and I guarantee you will experience greater material rewards, happiness, and joy. It is uniquely organized and presented to capture and keep your interest. The index provides a complete guide to explore those particular tools and techniques in which you have an interest. If you want to go far in your life, then you must take this book along on your journey.

Tyler: Joe, would you be so kind as to share just one of those tools or techniques, or a success story in the workplace that resulted from using a tool from “Building Personal Leadership”?

Joe: I like stories. I was asked to work with a VP of Procurement of a food manufacturing company. He worked with the company for 17 years and did great work. However, his subordinate wouldn’t talk to him and he was having communication problems with the CFO. The executive team was very concerned with his dysfunctional behaviors and problems. In working together we learned he was an Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging type personality (ISTJ Myers-Briggs Type) with some really rough attitudes and habits. His emotional intelligence was very low showing the effects of the stress and problems he had but could not understand or manage. I used a leadership development program that lasted about 16 weeks with meetings of two hours each for 12 meetings. He had lessons to complete between meetings, extensive coaching during our meetings, and practiced the new skills and competencies we explored together. All those skills and competencies are recorded in my book.

As a result, his employee started to talk with him again, he initiated reconciliation with the CFO, and made other dramatic work life changes. His wife and family started reporting a new happier husband and father. Everyone could see him smiling more and he was happier. So I thought, I’ll administer the emotional intelligence assessment again and see if there were any changes. His emotional intelligence improved by three sigma (from the lower 5% of the population to the top 15% of the population). The story continues. He has been promoted and I just saw him and he is still smiling. This story is consistently repeated with the people I work with. The tools and techniques found in the book Building Personal Leadership simply work. YES! That’s why I live!

Tyler: That’s wonderful, Joe. I can tell from such an example that you really care about people and that they are the main reason why you wrote your book. Thank you so much for joining me today. Before we go, will you tell our readers your website address and where they can get more information about your book and your email newsletters?

Joe: My web site is [http://www.leadershipadvantageinc.com] and you can learn more about my services, products there. More detailed information about my book can be found at [http://www.leadershipadvantageinc.com/personal_leadership.html]. You may subscribe to the weekly emails and monthly newsletters at [http://www.building-leadership.com] and after subscribing and receiving a confirmation e-mail, just click on the link to activate your subscription. My blog can be found at [http://www.farcht.com/blog] and you may explore leadership articles at my article site found at http://www.leadership-e-article.com. It has been a pleasure to answer your questions and explore the subject of Building Personal Leadership with your audience. I appreciate your great questions and I extend to you a heart felt Thank You.

Tyler: Likewise, Joe. I’ve been very pleased to speak to you and to hear good practical advice that I know from personal experience will be effective in the workplace. Good luck with “Building Personal Relationships” as well as your next book.

Interview With Author Jan Pippins

Jan Pippins, author of Henry Darrow: Lightning in the Bottle, explains how she first got involved writing the biography of veteran actor, Henry Darrow, the first actor of Puerto Rican heritage to star in an American television series. In chronicling the obstacles and successes during the actor’s more than fifty years in show business, Pippins (who co-wrote the book with Darrow) combined personal interviews, internet archives, and the actor’s personal memorabilia collection.

Although Pippins has written professionally for many years, this is her first book. Throughout several careers, she has written legislation, a local newspaper column, short news articles for trade publications and “Where are they now?” fan articles. But when she met the ALMA and Emmy Award-winning actor on her first trip to Los Angeles, she knew he would make the perfect subject for a book.

“It’s a story of life, work, love and redemption,” Pippins says. “Henry Darrow’s story entertains, inspires, and introduces readers to a very human hero who succeeded despite very long odds.”

Insider Scoop on Mid-Century America Show Business

In particular, the book follows the ups and downs of show business in mid-century America from Darrow’s unique perspective. He provides the insider scoop on how public sentiment, government intervention, advertising projections and hard feelings joined forces to kill the landmark series The High Chaparral and other television westerns. He also shares his observations about the problems confronting Latinos and other minorities before, during, and after the Civil Rights struggles of 1960s and how some people like Darrow surmounted those obstacles. The benefits of stardom, however, often came at great personal cost, such as the alienation from his children.

How did Pippins choose this particular subject? “Actually the subject chose me,” she says. “Darrow’s life has all the components of a good novel: a protagonist with big dreams and even bigger talent overcomes humble beginnings, life-threatening illness, crippling anxiety and prejudice to become an international star. At the height of his fame, he put his own hard-won career on the line to open doors for others. Hollywood chews people up and spits them out, but Henry was a working actor for over fifty years. When he asked me to write his biography, how could I refuse?”

Researching and Writing the Biography

Darrow’s massive memorabilia collection helped the author find the right background materials and authenticate stories from various sources. “He’s a packrat,” she says. “We cleaned out one garage and two closets, making his wife, Lauren, very pleased. It was sweaty work, but worth it.”

Her additional research included reading books on the history of Hispanics in the entertainment industry, television and movie westerns, and American history covering pertinent time periods. She also credits internet newspaper and trade magazine archives with helping her establish the proper context for Darrow’s biography.

As enjoyable as the researching and writing was for Pippins, she did face challenges in telling the story of someone in the public eye. One particular challenge was in structuring a career that spans over such a long period. She decided to begin Henry Darrow: Lightning in the Bottle, with a scene of the actor at age seventy-five while he was rehearsing for a demanding role in a stage play of “My Fair Lady.”

Pippins describes the opening of her book: “His knees are bad, his back aches and his memory is failing. For the first time in his life, he’s unsure of himself as an actor. From there we flashback through Henry’s remarkable life and career in three sections – three acts as if in a play. At the end we circle back around to ‘My Fair Lady’ and what happened in that performance.”

The author also recognized the importance of telling someone’s life story with accuracy, attention to detail, and tender loving care. According to Pippins, “While writing the book, I was acutely aware that I had a significant responsibility. This kind and charming man, his wonderful wife, friends and family entrusted me with their stories. I owed my best work to everyone involved, including eventual readers.”

Book Details

Henry Darrow: Lightning in the Bottle. Authors: Jan Pippins and Henry Darrow. Publisher: BearManor Media, 2012. Pages: 392. http://www.henrydarrowbook.com. ISBN: 978-1593936884.

Interview with Bud Bilanich, Author of Straight Talk for Success

Bud Bilanich is The Common Sense Guy. His pragmatic approach to business, life, and the business of life has made him one of the most sought after speakers, consultants and executive coaches in the USA! Dr. Bilanich’s work focuses on helping individuals, teams and entire organizations succeed. Bud is Harvard educated, but has a no-nonsense, common sense approach to his work that stretches back to his roots in the steel country of Western Pennsylvania.

In addition to “Straight Talk for Success,” Bud has authored six books on business and leadership. He is a regular guest on talk radio and podcasts. He writes two popular blogs: http://www.SuccessCommonSense.com, which focuses on career and life success and http://www.CommonSenseGuy.com that is devoted to advice for leaders and small business owners.

His clients include Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, PepsiCo, General Motors, Citicorp, JP Morgan Chase, UBS Financial Services, AXA Advisors, AT&T, Pitney Bowes, and The Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Bud is a cancer survivor who lives in Denver with his wife Cathy. He is a retired rugby player and an avid cyclist. He likes movies, live theatre and crime fiction.

Tyler: Welcome, Bud. I’m glad you could join me today. We all want to know how to be successful. To start out will you tell us what made you feel the need to write “Straight Talk for Success”?

Bud: Thanks Tyler. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me today. As you know, I’ve been in business as a consultant and speaker since 1988. About five years ago, many of my clients began asking me to help them out by coaching some of their senior executives and high potential employees.

As I began my coaching work, I decided that I needed to put together a model of career and life success. I wanted to identify the characteristics that all successful people have in common. After about a year of research-on line, reading every success book I could find, and interviewing successful people-I came up with my five point model of success. This model says that successful people have five things in common.

Successful people are self confident.

Successful people have positive personal impact.

Successful people are outstanding performers.

Successful people are great communicators.

Successful people are interpersonally competent.

My coaching clients told me that they found this common sense model to be very helpful.

Several suggested that I should turn it into a book. So I did.

Tyler: Who do you think will most benefit from and enjoy reading your book?

Bud: There are three main audiences for this book. The primary audience is young people, 20 to 30 years old, just beginning their careers. The second audience is people who have just received their first promotion and are beginning to advance in their life and careers. The third audience is people who are feeling stuck in their careers and who are looking for some advice on how to get it moving forward again.

In short, anyone who is interested in becoming more successful in their life and career can benefit from the ideas in “Straight Talk for Success.”

Tyler: Bud, how will the book help people who feel stuck in their careers, or who are having difficulties at work?

Bud: Well Tyler, I’ve learned that the biggest mistake people make when it comes to career and life success is thinking that good performance is enough to guarantee success. Outstanding performance is important, sure. It’s at the heart of the model. However, I have found that the people who become truly successful are more than good performers.

People who read “Straight Talk” will learn how to put the other four key success factors-self confidence, positive personal impact, communication skills and interpersonal competence-into play to build a great life and career.

Tyler: What do you define as success?

Bud: My definition of success is two part. First success means being happy with yourself, your life and career. Second, success means doing something-no matter how small-to make the world a better place.

Tyler: Bud, will you tell us a little bit about how the book is organized. Is there a specific path you outline to help a person reach success?

Bud: Tyler, as you might have guessed the book is organized into five main sections:

Self Confidence

Positive Personal Impact

Outstanding Performance

Communication Skills

Interpersonal Competence

Each section has three chapters.

The self confidence chapters focus on: 1) Becoming optimistic, 2) Facing your fears, and 3) Surrounding yourself with positive people.

The positive personal impact chapters focus on: 1) Developing and nurturing your personal brand, 2) Being impeccable in your presentation of self, and 3) Knowing and using the basic rules of etiquette.

The outstanding performance chapters focus on: 1) Becoming a lifelong learner, 2) Setting and achieving high goals, and 3) Getting organized for success.

The communication skills chapters focus on: 1) Becoming an excellent conversationalist, 2) Developing your writing skills, and 3) Becoming an outstanding presenter.

The interpersonal competence chapters focus on: 1) Becoming self aware, 2) Building long lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with the people in your life, and 3) Learning how to resolve conflict positively.

Tyler: Bud, one of the aspects of success you focus on is that a person must have good communication skills. How can a person develop these skills?

Bud: As I mentioned, there are three types of communication skills important for career and life success: conversation skills, writing skills and presentation skills.

Here’s some simple, common sense advice on each of them. Questions are the main secret to conversation skills. If you ask other people questions, you will become known as a great conversationalist. Writing is easy. Use the active voice, small words, and simple sentences and you’ll become a clear concise writer. Practice is the key to making dynamic presentations. The more you practice, the better your talks will be.

Tyler: You also talk about self-confidence. How does one go from feeling fear, for example, of public speaking, to being self-confident?

Bud: My suggestions for dealing with fear are also simple and common sense. To best your fears you need to do four things. 1) Identify it. 2) Admit it. 3) Accept it. 4) Confront it and take action.

So, to use your example, if you’re afraid of public speaking, making as many presentations as you can is the best thing you can do to overcome this fear.

Tyler: What about interpersonal competence? How do you define it, and how does one master it to become successful?

Bud: Interpersonally competent people excel at three things. First, they are self aware. They understand themselves. They use this self understanding to understand better the people in their lives. By understanding how others are similar or different from them, interpersonally competent people are able better to alter their communication styles. This helps them relate well to all sorts of people.

Second, interpersonally competent people are good at building strong, mutually beneficial relationships with the people in their lives. They do this by using their conversation skills, and by being willing to help others with no expectation of anything in return. This giving mentality allows them to make regular deposits into the emotional bank accounts they have with others. When you make regular deposits, you have enough emotional capital to make the occasional withdrawal.

Finally, interpersonally competent people resolve conflict in a positive manner. They do this by identifying the points where they agree with someone with whom they are in conflict. They use these points of agreement-no matter how trivial to build a solution that is acceptable to both parties.

Tyler: How would your advice for achieving success differ if for example, you had a male college student who views success as being a well known brain surgeon, versus a senior citizen woman who views success as staying physically active?

Bud: Not much. I believe that career and life success are a function of the five factors I’ve mentioned several times as we’ve chatted: self confidence, positive personal impact, outstanding performance, communication skills and interpersonal competence.

Successful brain surgeons need all of these, just like my mother-who is a senior citizen, suffering from COPD – that’s Chronic obstructive Pulmonary Disease, what they used to call Emphysema.

Tyler:”Straight Talk for Success” contains many stories as examples. Would you share one of these stories with us?

Bud: I love stories because they make the points I want to make in the book come alive. Here’s a favorite because it is about a time that my self confidence helped me succeed against some pretty tough competition.

Mark Twain once said, “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, then success is sure.” I love this quote. To me, it says you’ll be amazed by how much you can accomplish (success) if you don’t know (ignorance) how hard it is to accomplish it. If you don’t know that it’s hard or impossible to do something, you are more likely to be able to do it.

Here’s an example from my life. When I was a junior in high school, the local paper sponsored a writing contest. The winners got to spend two weeks at Kent State University during the summer participating in a seminar sponsored by the High School Press Institute. Only two students from all of the high schools in our county would win the contest. I decided I was going to win-because winning was the only way I was going to get to go to the seminar.

Funny thing is, I thought that two students from each school in the county were going to be selected. In other words, I was ignorant about the difficulty of winning. I was sure that I was one of the two best writers in my high school; I was sure to win if I wrote the best essay I possibly could. I wrote a kick-ass essay, sent it in, and waited to hear that I had won.

Which I did. However, I was shocked when I realized I was one of two kids from the whole county-not just my school-to win. It was just like Mark Twain said. All I needed was ignorance and confidence. I was ignorant of the difficulty of the competition-we had about 25 high schools in our county. It was 25 times more difficult to win than I thought. And I was confident. I knew the competition in my school, and I was pretty sure that if I wrote my best essay, it would be better than the essays of the other kids (I knew this because I was editor of the yearbook and newspaper and regularly edited their writing). My ignorance allowed my confidence to flourish, and I wrote well. Had I known that I was in a county-wide competition, I might have been more tentative in my writing, and I might not have won.

The common sense point here? When you are faced with a challenge, focus on your skills and talents, not how difficult it is-and you’ll be likely to succeed.

“Straight Talk” is filled with these types of stories.

Tyler: Bud, would you say success also depends on listening to yourself and not other people? If people had started to tell you that you had a slim or no chance of winning, would that have stopped you?

Bud: Success absolutely depends on listening to yourself. That’s why self confidence is the first point in the model. All successful people are self confident. They believe in themselves – even when others tell them that they can’t be successful.

The 2008 Super Bowl is a good example. If the Giants had listened to all of the experts, they wouldn’t have even made the trip to Arizona. They would have just conceded the championship to the Patriots. But they believed in themselves, and ended up winning the game in one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.

Tyler: I mentioned earlier that you’ve written several other books in your career. Will you tell us a little about them?

Bud: All of the other books I’ve written have been in the leadership arena. I’ll give you a quick list of the titles here:

4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations

Supervisory Leadership

Using Values to Turn Vision Into Reality

Leading With Values

Fixing Performance Problems

Solving Performance Problems

I’ve also written an e book called “Star Power: Common Sense Ideas for Career and Life Success”. It was sort of a rough draft of “Straight Talk.”

Besides that, I’ve contributed chapters to several books:

Conversations on Success

One Great Idea

The Handbook of Business Strategy

180 Ways to Walk the Customer Service Talk

Tyler: Besides writing books, Bud, you teach success through coaching. Will you tell us a little bit about that work?

Bud: I began my career as a trainer. From there I moved into consulting and speaking. Speaking is a lot like training. You just have less time to make your point. Most of my talks last 45 minutes to an hour. Most training courses are usually a full day at a minimum. My coaching is done one on one. My typical coaching engagements last six months. During that time, I usually meet face to face with the person I am coaching three or four times. I speak with him or her via the phone every week, and I am available by email to answer questions as we go forward.

As I mentioned before, the five points in “Straight Talk for Success” are the starting point for my coaching. I begin by assessing how well my coaching client is doing in each of these five areas. Then, we jointly develop objectives for the coaching and a plan to make sure we meet those objectives.

Tyler: Bud, do you plan to write any more books?

Bud: Sure. I’m planning a follow up to “Straight Talk for Success.” I’m thinking about calling it “More Straight Talk for Success.” I’ve been interviewing thought leaders in the self confidence, personal impact, high performance, communication and interpersonal competence fields. My plan is to make the new book a compilation of the best thoughts of the best people in these fields.

Tyler: Bud, you’ve obviously been extremely successful yourself. To what do you attribute your own success, and what put you on the right path through life?

Bud: My parents gave me a great start in life. Their greatest gift to me was a strong work ethic. Also, I’ve been blessed with a good mind and a love of learning. However, most importantly, I attribute my success to my self confidence, positive personal impact, outstanding performance, communication skills and interpersonal competence.

Tyler: Bud, how did you get to be called The Common Sense Guy?

Bud: As you know, Tyler, a strong personal brand is an important element of the second success factor, positive personal impact. Several years ago, I decided to create a personal brand. I began by asking people close to me-friends and clients-what came to mind when they thought of me. The term “common sense” came up a lot. I agreed that common sense is one of the terms that defines me pretty well. I also thought that it made sense as a brand because it differentiated me from my more theoretical competitors.

Once I settled on common sense as the core attribute of my brand, I had a little trouble coming up with the third word. Common Sense Guru sounded too pretentious and new age all at the same time. I considered Common Sense Doctor-a play on my educational credentials, but it ran the risk of being confused with a medical doctor.

I settled on Common Sense Guy because, when you come right down to it, I’m just a regular guy. Common Sense Guy struck the right chord with me because it captures the essence of who I am as a person.

Tyler: Will you explain the role of common sense in becoming a success?

Bud: I think that we tend to overcomplicate things. I believe in looking for time tested principles and applying them. That’s where common sense comes in. Most common sense has stood the test of time-that’s why it’s called common sense.

My five success principles – self confidence, positive personal impact, outstanding performance, communication skills and interpersonal competence-resonate with people because they make sense. They’re just common sense. The hard part is putting them to work. You have to commit to doing the work necessary to reap the rewards that will come from applying them.

Thomas Edison once said, “Most people miss opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.” The same is true for common sense. Most people know what to do in most situations. Their common sense tells them. However, many people don’t do what their common sense tells them for any number of reasons-it’s too much work, they may make someone angry, it takes too long.

So to me, the role of common sense in becoming a success is simple. Listen to what your common sense tells you-and then do it, no matter how hard, or unpleasant.

Tyler: Thank you, Bud, for joining me today. Before we go, will you tell us about your website and what information readers can find there about “Straight Talk for Success”?

Bud: http://www.BudBilanich.com

Also, my blog, http://www.SuccessCommonSense.com is a great place for people to go to learn more about the five success factors in “Straight Talk.” I write about one of them every day: Monday, self confidence; Tuesday, personal impact; Wednesday, performance; Thursday, communication skills; Friday, interpersonal competence.

Tyler: Thank you, Bud. If our readers want to be successful and they have Common Sense, then I hope they’ll read your book.