The Denver Broncos were created on August 14, 1959 when minor league baseball boss Bob Howsam was granted an Football League of America charter Low Cost Franchises. The club won the first-ever Football League of America game over the Boston Patriots on September 9, 1960. On August 5, 1967, they became the 1st ever AFL club to defeat an NFL club after defeating the Detroit Lions in a preseason game.

In 1995, the club debuted a new head manager, Mike Shanahan, and a new rookie running back, Terrell Davis. Throughout the 1997 season, both would help lead the club to their 1st Super Bowl victory, a 31–24 win over the defending Super Bowl champions the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. Although Elway completed only 12 of 22 passing efforts, throwing one interception and no touchdowns, Davis rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns to receive the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award – this while conquering a severe migraine headache that caused him blurred vision. The club repeated as Super Bowl champions the next season, defeating the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII, 34–19. Elway was chosen as Super Bowl MVP, throwing for 336 yards and a touchdown.

The club won two of their 5 Super Bowl appearances. The club lost Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants, 39–20; Super Bowl XXII to the Washington Redskins, 42–10; and Super Bowl XXIV to the San Francisco 49ers, 55–10, the most lopsided scoring differential in Super Bowl history.

Overall, the franchise has reached the Super Bowl six times, winning it in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

The franchise was seeded number two in the AFC after the Colts. On January 14, 2006, the club won over the two-time defending champions the New England Patriots, in the divisional round. The clubs win ending the Patriots’ possibility of becoming the 1st NFL club ever to win three consecutive Super Bowl championships. The last club with a possibility of winning three consecutive Super Bowls before the Patriots was the Broncos themselves.

Life on our planet flourishes through feedback. If life forms don’t develop feedback loops and get good information about how well they are interacting with their world, the world eventually destroys them.

This holds true with leaders. Leaders must get feedback as to how they’re doing — otherwise they won’t be leaders for long.

One kind of feedback is results. After all, leaders do nothing more important than get results. You should understand the kinds of results you’re getting, if they are the right results, and if you are getting them in the right ways.

There is another kind of measurement that is as important, and sometimes more important, than results. It’s a measurement most leaders overlook. That measurement has to do not just with you but with the people you’re leading.

To explain what that measurement is, I’ll first describe a fundamental concept of how one goes about leading people to achieve results.

There’s a crucial difference between doing a task and taking leadership of that task that makes a world of difference in the task’s accomplishment.

For instance, if one is a floor sweeper, doesn’t one best accomplish one’s task not simply by doing floor sweeping but by taking leadership of floor sweeping?

Such leadership might entail:
– taking the initiative to order and manage supplies,
– evaluating the job results and raising those results to ever higher levels,
– having floor sweeping be an integral part of the general cleaning policy,
– hiring, training, developing other floor sweepers,
– instilling a “floor sweeping esprit”that can be manifested in training, special uniforms and insignias , behavior, etc.
– setting floor sweeping strategy and goals.

Otherwise, in a “doing” mode, one simply pushes a broom.

You may say, “Listen, Brent, a job is a job is a job. This leadership thing is making too much of not much!”

Could be. But my point is that applying leadership to a task changes the expectations of the task. It even changes the task itself. Think of it, when we ourselves are challenged to lead and not simply do, our world is, I submit, changed.

Whenever you need to lead people to accomplish a task, challenge them not to do that task but to take leadership of that task.

This gets back to the key measurement of your leadership. Your leadership should best be measured not by your leadership but by the leadership of the people you lead.

Now, in becoming leaders, they can’t simply do what they want. They must come to an agreement with you as to what leadership actions they will take. You can veto any of their proposed actions. However, use the veto sparingly. Cultivate your confidence and their confidence in their leadership.

When you evaluate the effectiveness of your leadership by the feedback loop connected to their leadership, you are assessing your world as it should be, and great results will follow.

2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson’s recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc.  and for more than 20 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: “49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,” at http://www.actionleadership.com

You must successfully transition yourself into retirement to meet your retirement objectives. Also, you must anticipate the amount of money you need and what you want to accomplish with your savings. After all, you’ll likely spend decades in retirement so you must start planning now. Here are 10 things to consider so you can successfully transition yourself into retirement:

1. Debt Reduction and Elimination – Do not carry your debts into retirement. Commit yourself to paying off as much of your debt as you possibly can. Eliminate car payments, credit card debts, personal loans, etc. Do what you have to do now to squash debt and be sure that you don’t accrue any new debts.

2. Emergency Funds – Have enough liquid funds in hand to cover at least a few months of expenses, without eating into your investments. Be prepared for the unexpected expenses while you transition into retirement. After all, emergencies will certainly come up but if you have a certain amount of savings, you won’t have to worry about them.

3. Adequate Insurance Coverage – Have adequate insurance to cover your life, health, homeowners’, and auto insurance needs. Reassess your insurance needs at least annually to ensure that they suit your retirement needs. Carry neither too much nor too little insurance. Be open to making changes as needed and check out your employer’s retirement coverage.

4. Retirement Income Plan – To ensure that you don’t outlive your assets, develop a retirement income plan that balances your income and expenses. Keep track of your current expenses and cut back as needed.

5. Social Security Benefits – The rules for benefits are rather complex, so talk to a Social Security representative a year before you plan to retire. By doing this, you’ll be able to understand your benefits and how much you’re covered. In addition, you should apply for social security three months before you want to start collecting your benefits or three months before your 65th birthday.

6. Contribute to an Investment Plan – If your employer offers a tax-sheltered savings plan (such as a 401K), make sure that you contribute as much as you can. Or, in Canada, maintain a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA). Not only will this substantially lower your taxes but will also make huge difference in your financial security due to the magic of compounded interest.

7. Review Wills and Trusts – Make sure that you have a valid will and/or trust. Not only will this protect your assets but will give you and your loved ones peace of mind.

8. Invest in Retirement Accounts – By putting money in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), you’ll cleverly delay paying taxes on investment earnings. If you invest $2,000 at 4% when you are 30, it will grow to $112,170 by the time you are 60. Now that’s a lot of moola for simply being smart!

9. Follow Basic Investment Principles – Just remember that how much you have for retirement depends on the type of investments you make now. Learn how to multiply your savings using mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc. Consult a trusted financial advisor for additional information.

10. Know About Medicare – Find out when it is appropriate to apply for Medicare and then apply. The Medicare application process and premiums may vary, depending on your age and whether or not you are receiving other assistance.

Follow these suggested ten steps and you’ll not only improve your mental health but you’ll also transition yourself into a happy and financially secure retirement.

In-Demand Skills for Success

1. BASIC SKILLS
Reading, writing and arithmetic! Believe it or not, a good portion of high school graduates (and some college grads) do not read at an 8th grade level and cannot do multiplication in their head. Employers are seeking employees who can read well, can write coherently, and who can calculate mathematics in a business environment (fractions, percentages, etc.) Add to that the modern basic skills of keyboard typing, basic computer knowledge, and ability to use most modern office tools (e.g. fax machine, basic word processing program, etc.) to round out the basic skill sets needed for employment success.

2. PERSONAL SKILLS
Can a potential employee speak well? Can he/she answer questions in a positive, informative manner? Can the prospect provide good customer service? While not everyone has an outgoing sales personality, successful employees can communicate in a non-confrontational, positive manner with their coworkers, team members, subordinates, management, and customers. Being able to work well with others is a vital skill for success in all jobs.

3. JOB SEARCH SKILLS
Job search requires a great deal of dedication and attention to be conducted successfully. It follows the old principle that many veteran programmers refer to as GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out. If you put lousy effort in, you get lousy results. Employers seek employees who know how to present themselves in a positive manner and who display enthusiasm and knowledge about the companies they approach. Not only do candidates get evaluated on their skills and experience, but also on how they approach the job search. Enthusiastic candidates with fewer skills have as good a chance of getting the job as dull candidates with better skills.

4. JOB SURVIVAL SKILLS
Here’s the hot topic in any period of layoffs. Who gets the ax and who doesn’t is often a matter of numbers, but it is also often a matter of performance. Employees who have consistently demonstrated their worth, taken initiative, and made themselves a valuable asset to the company have lower incidences of being downsized than employees who put forth mediocre or average effort in their jobs. Surviving within a company through layoffs or moving up the career ladder is a success skill that is learned and is consciously cultivated among successful professionals.

5. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
As all high tech and engineering pros know‚ it’s learn or burn in today’s work environment. Attaining new skills, applying new concepts, updating established skills is an absolute necessity to succeed in today’s work force. The successful individual on any viable career path is constantly attending seminars, taking classes, attaining training on new products or releases, and otherwise learning new skills that will keep them marketable in their careers. Successful people are lifelong learners. Employers are looking for people who have the training necessary to fulfill their needs, now and in the future.

6. CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Career Development differs from Professional Development. Professional Development is learning while Career Development is a planning and goal setting process. Successful individuals design a career plan with written goals for short, medium and long term progress. They lay out the steps needed to move their careers from Point A to Point B within Time Frame C and plan how they are going to achieve those milestones. Successful people have someone to whom they are accountable for their progress and who will monitor their success in achieving their goals. Employers seek individuals who (believe it or not) wish to commit to the company for a long period of time. Good career progression is a high selling point of candidates to prospective employers.

How do you measure up? Do you have the 6 In-Demand Skills for Success? Feel like you need some help? Give us a call!

Send Half of Your Resume
Find a company you want to work with. Write a great cover letter on why you are a good fit, pointing to the enclosed resume. Don’t seal the envelop and don’t enclose a resume. They’ll think the resume fell out in the mail. They will call and engage in a conversation. Sell yourself shamelessly.

Write A Prospecting Letter
aka Market yourself like a hot commodity. Make use of the power of direct mail. Locate 5-10 companies with “ideal career” potential. Write up a letter to your contact network and ask them if they know anyone who works at any of the companies on your list. When a contact says they know someone on your list, send them your resume and ask them to forward it their contact or ask permission to send it yourself with reference to your OK.

E-Mail Chain Letter
Create a list of 20 companies you want to work with and send an email to everyone you know to see if they know anyone who works at these companies. Ask them to contact you if they do, so that you can ask for a referral. Finally, ask them to forward your email to 10 more people. However don’t do this if you’re currently employed!

Distribute A Booklet
Write a booklet with information relevant to your industry and give it away. Everyone loves free information and this demonstrates your expertise. Give the booklet away electronically and advertise it to newsgroups where hiring managers will see it.

Call Human Resources
Sounds crazy, right? Call the human resources department. Ask them what outside agency or third-party recruiting firm they use. They will ask you why do you want to know. Tell them that if they are not currently looking for someone with your skill set, the agency may be dealing with other firms who are, so you are looking for a recommendation. They may very well ask you for an interview. If not at least you do get a lead. And they would love to save the agency fees. Also being recommended gives you special attention. Send them a thank you note.

These are guerrilla tactics that can give you better results. Be sure to stay tuned for other creative tips to making your ideal career moves.

Career Myth #1: You can’t make a living doing something you really, truly love

This is the grand-daddy of career myths, the belief that you can’t have a “practical” career doing something that you are passionate about. It has to be one or the other – practical or passionate.

This myth is rooted in fear. Fear that we have to sacrifice our happiness to make a living. Don’t buy the myth that you can’t earn a living by doing what you love.

When I first started coaching, I heard from plenty of people that it would be very difficult to make a living doing this work. I just decided to find coaches who were successful, and to learn from them (simple, eh?).

If you find yourself buying into this myth, consider this question – As you look back on your life, what will you regret more? Following your passion or folding to your fears?

Career Myth #2: It’s a tough job market/economy

Even when the newspapers and other news sources say that unemployment numbers remain steady, that job growth is at a standstill, or that we’re experiencing slow economic recovery, not to mention downsizing and outsourcing, don’t believe it.

It’s a myth because it doesn’t reflect the whole story, the fact that that it’s a different job market today. It’s a changing economy. How we transition from job-to-job is different. Hiring practices have shifted. So the job market has changed, but that doesn’t necessarily make it tougher. What makes it tougher is that we’ve been slower to change. We’ve held on to old practices and old behaviors. That’s not to say that old ways still don’t work, but they’re just not as effective.

So I challenge you to just believe that it’s a perfect job market for you to find work. I’ve had my college students try this, just for a week, and, more times than not, several of them find job leads or make important connections during the week.

Career Myth #3: Changing careers is risky

What’s riskier than leaving what you know to pursue the unknown? Changing careers means leaving behind a piece of your identity – your “I’m a widget” response to the “what-do-you-do?” question. It might mean admitting to yourself that you made a mistake with an initial career choice. Or it might mean acknowledging that you’re unsure of what’s next. And smart people always know what’s next, right?

Nope. Successful career changers often don’t have a plan. In Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career by Herminia Ibarra, she provides evidence that waiting until you have a plan is actually riskier than just doing and experimenting.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, is riskier than not changing careers if you’re longing to do so. Here’s why: The longing won’t go away. It will always be there, under the surface, waiting for you to do something about it.

Career Myth #4: Always have a back-up plan

Sometimes having a back-up plan is the smart and prudent course of action. Back-up plans are so grown-up and responsible. But what happens when you’re standing with one foot in and one foot out? In my experience, we usually close the door and retreat. We are reluctant to commit to ourselves, and we end up denying ourselves the satisfaction of playing full-out, getting dirty and sweaty. We end up with feelings of regret and the nagging “What if?” question.

Back-up plans diffuse our energy. Diffused energy equals diffused results. Give all that you’ve got to your dream/passion/risk and you’ve got a better chance of being successful.

Career Myth #5: There’s a perfect job out there for everyone

How long have you been searching for yours? You just know, deep inside, that there’s an ideal job that’s perfect for you out there. It matches your personality, skills, and interests to a tee. And it pays well. If only you could figure it out. If only you knew what it was.

Is there a perfect job out there for you? No. And here’s the good news – there are more jobs than you can imagine that would be “perfect” for you. Chances are you’ve even come very, very close to a few of those perfect jobs already. So what happened? And how do you recognize one of these so-called “perfect jobs”?

Ever see the perfect gift for someone, but it was months till his or her birthday? Then when you go to find the item later, you can’t. Another lost opportunity and you, once again, berate yourself for not buying it when you first saw it.

So maybe you’ve run into a perfect job in the past, but because of the timing, you passed by the opportunity. Or maybe you were so focused on something else, that you missed an obvious clue. Instead of dwelling on the past, which you can’t change, vow to keep your eyes open and to look beyond the obvious.

Career Myth #6: Asking “What’s the best thing for me to do?” is the right question

This is one of the most common questions asked when considering a career change or a career move. It seems like a logical analysis – weigh the pros and cons and evaluate the balance.

Do not ask yourself this question!! It rarely leads you to the answers you’re seeking. It will lead you to feeling overwhelmed with options (sound familiar?), or feeling like you have to choose what’s practical over what seems to be impractical.

The question that will lead you to answers is simple (but not easy!!) It is “What do I really want to do?” This is a very different question than “what’s best?”

Career Myth #7: If you don’t like your job, you’re probably in the wrong career

Cause and effect, right? One way to tell if you’re in the right career is whether or not you like your job. If you’re dissatisfied with your job, it’s probably a sign that you need to re-examine your whole career choice. This is frequently what I hear from new clients who have decided to work with a career coach. They know something isn’t right because they don’t like their jobs. Their natural assumption is that their dissatisfaction is a symptom of a larger underlying issue – their career choice.

This is an example of false logic. Not liking your job might be telling you you’re in the wrong job. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in the wrong career. It doesn’t even mean you’re in the wrong job. You could just be working for the wrong person or the wrong company. It takes a skillful approach to discern the source of discontent, and I think it’s very hard to do it on your own (shameless plug for career coaches here!)

Career Myth #8: Everyone needs a mission statement

Do you know what your mission is? Mission statements are supposed to guide us, keep us on track, and help us move forward. But what if you don’t have one? Does that mean you’re destined to never fulfill your potential career-wise?

A client who was a successful professional contacted me because she was at a career crossroads. She felt that if only she could find her mission in life, she would know which career path to take.

She had a clear goal for coaching – find her mission! Instead, the most amazing thing happened. She decided that she didn’t need a mission. She chose to trust that she was already fulfilling her mission statement, even though she didn’t know what it was. After the client shifted her focus from finding her mission to living her life, an amazing opportunity came her way and she pursued it.

Here’s a little tip: If your mission statement is elusive, stop chasing it. Be still and let it find you. And in the meantime, keep living your life and see what happens.

Career Myth #9: Expect a career epiphany

When you see a link to “Find Your Dream Job,” do you immediately click on it to see what’s there? Do you look at every “Top Ten Career” list out there to see if anything catches your interest? Do you know your MBTI type as in Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type? If you do, you might be falling prey to the career epiphany myth.

I’d love, love, love it if most of my clients had a career epiphany that indicated to them, in crystal-clear terms, their next step. Instead, I see career “unfoldings” or a journey of discovery much more regularly. That is, being willing to not ignore the obvious, the pokes, the prods, and listen carefully to the whisper within. Yep, forget harp music and angels, for most of us, the career epiphany is a quiet whisper.

Career Myth #10: Ignoring your career dissatisfaction will make it go away

Oh, if only this worked in the long run!! Granted, it does work at first. When you find yourself beginning to question your career, you’ll find it’s rather easy to push the thoughts aside and pretend they aren’t there. You know what I’m talking about: the “what ifs” and the list of regrets.

Over time, the random thoughts become nagging thoughts. You spend more and more time daydreaming about options. You build your list of reasons to ignore your growing career dissatisfaction:

• You’re too old.
• You don’t want to take a pay cut.
• You don’t want to go back to school.
• You missed your opportunity 5, 10, 15 years ago.

With clients in this situation, we work on identifying and challenging these fears. Sometimes the fear of change remains, but there becomes a greater commitment to living than to feeling the fear.

Challenge

So now that you know that one, several or all of these myths have been holding you back, what are you waiting for?

You’ll want to build your new business based on genuine relationships. Start with a business plan and stay focused on working your Business Plan. As you grow your skills, always try to maintain your ability to accurately judge your own performance. Avoid the myriad of things that can come along to just to distract you from what’s really important (productivity.)

The sooner you build your skills – the better.

This is an excellent time to pause and reflect on your career. You may have lost your job recently or anticipate losing your job. If you have secure employment at the moment, you may think it’s nuts to consider a change. As we are now in the era of new beginnings, this truly is an excellent time to pause and reflect on your career.

If you need to find new employment or want to consider a change, ask yourself the following questions: Do you enjoy this field of work? Does it fulfill you? Are you using your talents and abilities? Is it a positive working environment? Does your employer/company conduct business with integrity? Does going to this job everyday drain you or lift you?

Of course we’re not going to like every aspect of our jobs in every moment. Ask these questions and gain and understanding of how you feel overall in your career field and what it is that you want. The energy is new and is ripe for us to create work that is fulfilling, rewarding, uses our talents and allows us to support ourselves.

It may seem daunting to quit everything that you know and go off into something new. If that’s true for you, start small. Begin with figuring out what you love to do and do it as a hobby at first.

For example, if you’d love to make a living at being a writer but are afraid you can’t support yourself doing it, write in your free time. Do creative writing projects, offer to assist friends and family with their projects, volunteer at a nonprofit organization writing newsletters. Who knows… someone may eventually need a writer on staff. A friend may hear of a company who needs a freelance writer for various projects. All of this could add up to doing what you love and being able to support yourself in the process.

Get into a groove of doing this work and of loving what you are doing. The more you do it, the better you will feel. You are fulfilled, using your talents and gifts regularly and creating energy around manifesting more opportunities. You are wide open to possibilities that can allow you to financially support yourself.

See how this works? So, determine one thing that you love to do and start small. Do it as a hobby, as a friend, as a volunteer. Do it often. Stay open to the possibilities and allow opportunities to appear!

So, what do you want to do?

About the Author:

Julie Farha is an intuitive, personal coach, speaker, host of Clear Insight with Julie Farha on Sedona Talk Radio and author of Exploring Your Potential; Who am I and what am I doing here? She holds interactive seminars and is available for private sessions and speaking engagements. Julie@ClearInsightllc.com, www.ClearInsightllc.com, 480-626-5780

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – What Do You Want To Do Now?

The interview is going along smoothly when all of a sudden the interviewer starts throwing “curve balls”. The interviewer begins asking for examples of negative situations – times when you failed or had problems coping with work.

You are not prepared to talk about your failures or times when you were challenged by difficult situations. You become flustered and you lose your confidence. You also lost the opportunity to get a second interview – or an offer.

Most interviewers aren’t attempting to be cruel when they ask for negative information – they are trying to find out if there are any “skeletons” in your closet – what problems you may have from past experiences.

So what do you do when you encounter those “curve balls”? You deal with them in a positive manner.

Here is an example of a question seeking negative information and how to deal with it.

Question -

“Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with someone at work and how you resolved it”.

Answer -

“I usually get along very well with almost everyone.

There was an incident that happened with a person who was not pulling his weight on the team and it was affecting morale. All the team members were getting disgruntled but nobody was doing anything about it.

I took it upon myself to have a talk with the person when the opportunity presented itself. It didn’t start out smoothly – he was defensive at first and resented my speaking to him about his work behavior. I was careful to let him know that I wasn’t judging him but rather was concerned about the team and the ability for everyone to get along.

Eventually he confided in me that he had some family problems at home that were affecting his energy level and patience. I listened attentively while he told me about his problems.

Once he became aware that his behavior was affecting others’ work he made a special effort to be more open and receptive. The team spirit improved greatly after that – as well as the productivity.”

If you look carefully at this answer you can see that it offers many positives.

The answer starts out with a positive statement: “I usually get along with almost everyone”.

It’s a good strategy to add something positive about yourself and how you manage to get along with people before you begin to talk about a negative situation.

The next positive phrase used is about style: “I took it upon myself….” This statement shows initiative and ability to do something about the problem while other team members were content to be disgruntled.

This example also shows a sense of caring about fellow employees – taking the time to find out what the problem was and being a real “team player”.

You can see that there is a good deal of positive information that can be emphasized in an answer – even if it is an example of a time when things were negative.

Sometimes interviewers are trying to avoid making a hiring mistake that was made in the past.

In the event that there have been problems in the past at this company you will have demonstrated that those problems won’t be an obstacle for you. You have shown the interviewer that you will do what you need to do to resolve an issue or at least to get the facts about the problem.

Turning negatives into positives is an important skill to learn. When you are asked a negative question, stop and think about how you can refocus the question to include some positive qualities.

Sample answer – excerpt from “Perfect Phrases for the Perfect Interview”, Carole Martin 2005 (McGraw-Hill)

Carole Martin is a celebrated author, trainer, and mentor. Get a copy of her FREE 9-part “Interview Success Tips” report by visiting Carole on the web at http://www.interviewcoach.com