Motivational Speaker | Dean Lindsay

The Original Thinker-Through - Interesting Frankl Facts :

by Dean Lindsay, from The Progress Challenge : Working and Winning in a World of Change

Link to Frankl logotherapy Teachings for Business Progress #1 & #2

Link to part one of Dr. Viktor Frankl, life of

During his youth, Viktor Frankl wrote to Sigmund Freud.  After Freud replied, a lively correspondence developed. 

Dr. Viktor Frankl traveled extensively, enjoyed a lifelong passion for mountain climbing, and even obtained his pilot’s license while in his sixties. 

Dr. Viktor Frankl wrote over 30 books.  However, in his autobiography, Frankl writes, “In my view, I was never a big thinker.  But one thing I may have been through my life: a thorough and persistent “thinker-through.”   (A thinker-through…I like that.) 

Dr. Viktor Frankl died of cardiac arrest on the 2nd of September, 1997, in Vienna, Austria, at the age of 92. 

Viktor Frankl was a great Thinker-Through!

Dr. Viktor Frankl was Progress!

Next up:  Great Dr. Viktor Frankl Quotes!!!

“As friend, colleague and assistant to Dr. Viktor Frankl for over twenty years, I can confidently share with you that Dean Lindsay gets it!  His ability to integrate the inspirational theories of Dr. Viktor Frankl with contemporary business needs is extraordinary.  Dean’s application of Frankl’s concepts of “freedom of choice” and “the defiant power of the human spirit” to modern business/sales is powerfully motivating.  The Progress Challenge goes beyond telling us to “just do it” and, in a very readable way, tells us how to do it – or, in Dean’s words, how to be progress.  A must read for business success!”
 – Jay I. Levinson, Ph.D.
Former Special Assistant to Dr. Viktor Frankl

Link to Frankl logotherapy Teachings for Business Progress #1 & #2

Link to part one of Dr. Viktor Frankl, life of

Logotherapy, Viktor Frankl Teachings for Business Progress 1-2-3

by Dean Lindsay, from The Progress Challenge : Working and Winning in a World of Change

Link to part one of Dr. Viktor Frankl, life of

Link to part two of Dr. Viktor Frankl, life of

Logotherapy, Viktor Frankl Teachings for Business Progress # 1. 

Harness the Freedom of Choice.

As markets continue to fluctuate, business challenges mount, and personal issues multiply, we each have the freedom to choose our reaction.  A resourceful attitude toward a challenge is essential if the challenge is to be met. Dr. Frankl’s pregnant wife, his parents and brother were all killed during their incarceration in Nazi prison camps.  He’d lost everything, he said, that could be taken from a person, except one thing: “the last of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”  We each have the power to choose, but that power is wasted if we do not exercise it.

In the face of inescapable uncertainty (i.e., business challenges, a slowing economy, stiff competition), we must fire up the unwavering determination that comes from possessing strong reasons to overcome our daily challenges.  Frankl was a man of action.  He believed we must act, must do, must persist.

Logotherapy, Viktor Frankl Teachings for Business Progress #2. 

Take Responsibility for Actions.

Frankl taught that life has an urgency to which people must respond if decisions are to be meaningful.  Each of us must take responsibility for where we are in our financial situation, in our relationships, and in our career, because it is our decisions that put us there.  We have the power of choice and are responsible for those choices.  We have not only a right, but a responsibility, to fulfill our individual potential, according to Frankl. 

 “Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answers

to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

– Dr. Viktor Frankl

Frankl discovered that it is not what happens to us that matters.  It is how we respond to what happens that is significant.  Same with business.  We cannot control all the elements of our personal life or business.

-         Trucks break down.

-         Water heaters burst. 

-         Computers crash (so do entire economies). 

-         Customers move. 

-         Kids get sick. 

-         Venders go out of business. 

-         Things happen. 

The only things we can control are our responses, our decisions, our actions.  Our actions are our responsibility.

Uncoming Posts: Logotherapy, Viktor Frankl Teachings for Business Progress # 3, Some interesting and overlooked Frankl Facts and the BEST Dr. Viktor Frankl Quotes

“As friend, colleague and assistant to Dr. Viktor Frankl for over twenty years, I can confidently share with you that Dean Lindsay gets it!  His ability to integrate the inspirational theories of Dr. Viktor Frankl with contemporary business needs is extraordinary.  Dean’s application of Frankl’s concepts of “freedom of choice” and “the defiant power of the human spirit” to modern business/sales is powerfully motivating.  The Progress Challenge goes beyond telling us to “just do it” and, in a very readable way, tells us how to do it – or, in Dean’s words, how to be progress.  A must read for business success!”
 – Jay I. Levinson, Ph.D.
Former Special Assistant to Dr. Viktor Frankl

Be Progress.

More on Dean Lindsay

Link to part one of Dr. Viktor Frankl, life of

Link to part two of Dr. Viktor Frankl, life of

More on The Progress Challenge : Working and Winning in a World of Change

Click for Video Clips of Dean in action.

Dr. Viktor Frankl – life of

by Dean Lindsay, from The Progress Challenge : Working and Winning in a World of Change

Link to part one of Dr. Viktor Frankl, life of

Link to Frankl logotherapy Teachings for Business Progress #1 & #2

Viktor Frankl, M.D., Ph.D. (1905-1997), was an Austrian neurologist, a Holocaust survivor, and one of the greatest European psychiatrists of the twentieth century.  The U.S. Library of Congress named Dr. Viktor Frankl’s enlightening masterpiece, Man’s Search for Meaning, one of the 10 books that “made the most difference in people’s lives.” 

Dr. Viktor Frankl is the founder of logotherapy, which he derived from the words: logos – Greek for reason or meaning, and therapy – Greek, meaning I heal.  Logotherapy therefore means “Reasons I heal” or “Healing the Meaning” (trippy, profound, and enlightening both ways).

 The basic philosophy of logotherapy is that people have a will to find meaning and that life can have meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable.  Each of us has the freedom, under all circumstances, to choose to find reasons to endure and progress. 

We have freedom to find meaning in what we do and experience.  We have freedom to take a stand when faced with an unjust and possibly unchangeable situation.  We each have the power of choice to find our unique meaning in life.  Frankl believed we all have more of a desire to feel powerful than to obtain power (and there is a big difference). 

Dr. Viktor Frankl first used the term logotherapy in 1926, and had developed some of its basic tenets before he was sent to a Nazi concentration camp in 1942.  He even had a manuscript devoted to his views sewn into the clothes he wore when he was sent there.  However the Nazis found the manuscript, so Frankl’s life’s work went up in flames.

Dr. Viktor Frankl knew he had valuable ideas, but no way of actually sharing them with the world.  Early on in his time in the camps he decided to recreate the manuscript, and did so on scraps of paper hidden from guards.  He also used the harsh camp environment as his field study.  Frankl worked passionately to prevent inmate suicide and alleviate gloom and depression in fellow prisoners.  The Nazis did not allow anyone to actively intervene in an actual suicide attempt, so Frankl’s efforts were preventative and kept secret.

He found that very few of his fellow inmates said, “I want to die.” Most said that they wanted to live, but the ones who eventually survived the camps were those who had focused reasons attached to their survival wish – loved ones to reunite with, something to work for or to look forward to.  Frankl theorized that when we have enough meaning attached to an outcome, we are able to withstand the suffering related to achieving it. 

Dr. Viktor Frankl’s meaning, his strong reasons for surviving, were connected not only to his hope of reuniting with his young wife Tilly, as well as his mother, father and brother, but also to his work.  He wanted to survive, had to survive, partly because he had powerful and helpful beliefs about the human condition that he needed to recreate and share with the world. 

Freed after three years at Auschwitz, Dachau, and other concentration camps, he returned to Vienna and began work on a book with the literal English translation: From Death Camp to Existentialism: A Psychiatrist’s Experiences in the Concentration Camp.  (In the U.S, we call it Man’s Search for Meaning.)  In the book, Frankl describes (from the unique perspective of a psychiatrist) the horrific life of a concentration camp inmate. 

With this desire to feel autonomous and powerful, and to work and win in a world of change, we can benefit greatly from a look into Dr. Viktor Frankl’s teachings…so next up a look into the teachings of Dr. Frankl.

Link to part one of Dr. Viktor Frankl, life of

“As friend, colleague and assistant to Dr. Viktor Frankl for over twenty years, I can confidently share with you that Dean Lindsay gets it!  His ability to integrate the inspirational theories of Dr. Viktor Frankl with contemporary business needs is extraordinary.  Dean’s application of Frankl’s concepts of “freedom of choice” and “the defiant power of the human spirit” to modern business/sales is powerfully motivating.  The Progress Challenge goes beyond telling us to “just do it” and, in a very readable way, tells us how to do it – or, in Dean’s words, how to be progress.  A must read for business success!”
 – Jay I. Levinson, Ph.D.
Former Special Assistant to Dr. Viktor Frankl

Be Progress.

Click for Video Clips of Dean in action.

Link to : The Original Thinker-Through – Interesting Frankl Facts

Dallas Customer Service Training with Dean Lindsay, Author of The Progress Challenge and the “Cherishing Customers” dallas customer service training program.

Click for more information on booking / schedule for Dallas Customer Service Training with Dean Lindsay

 “More than a motivational speaker, Dean Lindsay is The DEAN of Sales and Service! Energetic, Funny and Thought Provoking, Dean delivered an outstanding presentation to our elite group of business people. We look forward to inviting Dean back to our next business event!”
- Jeff Chernoff, President, Consumers’ Choice Award ® 

Click for info on Dean’s Dallas Customer Service Training Program – CHERISHING CUSTOMERS featuring insights from The Progress Challenge

Endorsements for Dean’s book The Progress Challenge : Working and Winning in a World of Change

“This is a terrific and timely book with a simple but powerful message.  With the right thinking and approach, we can make enormous progress in our organizations, with our families, and on our own goals and dreams. Dean’s book shows you how, and provides the inspiration and advice you need to stay on track.”
– Brad Cleveland
Senior Advisor and Former President / CEO
International Customer Management Institute

“The Progress Challenge is a much needed kick in the pants for all of us. What an enlightening book!”
– Ken Blanchard,
coauthor of The One Minute Manager®
and Leading at a Higher Level
 
Click for more information on booking / schedule for Dallas Customer Service Training with Dean Lindsay

Ten TRUTHS ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE

Click for more information on booking / schedule for Dallas Customer Service Training with Dean Lindsay

Click to Watch Video Clips and info on Dean’s Dallas Customer Service Training Program – CHERISHING CUSTOMERS featuring insights from The Progress Challenge

Dallas Sales Training with Dean Lindsay, Author of The Progress Challenge and Cracking the Networking CODE

All of Dean’s Dallas sales training programs are customized to fit the needs and challenges of participants.

Dallas Sales Training Expert Dean Lindsay, is recognized as a “Sales and Networking Guru” by the Dallas Business Journal.

Click for more information on booking / schedule for Dallas Sales Training with Dean Lindsay

Click to Watch Video Clips and info on Dean’s Dallas Sales Training “Be a BAM” program

Endorsements for Dean’s book The Progress Challenge : Working and Winning in a World of Change

“If you’re serious about the Sales profession and Sales leadership then this is the book for you.”
–  Dave Nostrand
Vice President, Sales – Eastern Region
Marriott International, Inc.

“Finally a meaningful book with a workable process for progress.”
– Gerhard Gschwandtner
Founder and Publisher
Selling Power Magazine

“The Progress Challenge is a much needed kick in the pants for all of us. What an enlightening book!”
– Ken Blanchard,
coauthor of The One Minute Manager®
and Leading at a Higher Level
 
“This book is your GPS for personal and professional progress.”
– Willis Turner
President/CEO
Sales & Marketing Executives International

Dallas Sales Training expert, Dean Lindsay’s Cracking the Networking CODE is Recommended Reading by the United Professional Sales Association and Profit magazine.

“Perhaps the most powerful way to leverage and multiply your talent and ability is by expanding your personal and business network. THIS BOOK SHOWS YOU HOW.”
– Brian Tracy, Author,
Getting Rich Your Own Way

Click for more information on booking / schedule for Dallas Sales Training with Dean Lindsay

Click to Watch Video Clips and info on Dean’s Dallas Sales Training “Be a BAM” program

Click for Info on the Diving for Referral Pearls – Dallas Sales Training Program

Becoming a HUB OF INFORMATION – The KEY to Selling and Serving in a Down Economy

by Dean Lindsay

Follow Dean’s Blog Posts at: www.Twitter.com/DeanLindsay

If we hope to sell and serve in this down economy we must strive to never miss a chance to offer contacts a referral to important people, organizations, information, and opportunities. Be a valuable person for someone to build a relationship with. Work at it. If we focus on giving information and support rather than cultivating contacts for our own benefit, our network will grow naturally. It is imperative in these tough times to make it easy for others to see that we are in their corner. Help them feel cared about and important.

Make information flow in and out of your life. Work to be known as someone who has great information and contacts and is willing to share them. Work to be known as a Progress Agent . Always be poised to make a referral for someone else. It will all come back around. When you learn something new, ask yourself:

Who in my network would find this information valuable?

Share it (as long as it isn’t confidential). When reading an article, always ask yourself:

Who in my network would be helped by this article?

Forward useful articles via e -mail, or send clippings from newspapers or magazines that relate to or affect the people in your network. If you mail an article, keep in mind that the real article is better than a photocopy of it. Simply clip it out, attach your card with an FYI Post-it, and drop it in the mail.

If the person you’re chatting with is having a challenge with book-keeping , offer to e -mail the number of a couple of good CPAs.

Be a resource for people and they will become a resource for you. Turn them on to useful business books (I got a couple I could recommend). Learn about the other person’s profession and, if it feels right, offer to call a contact on their behalf. To get referrals, give referrals. If you give without keeping track, you get repaid without ever asking for it.

Help others first. Offer your information with no strings attached. Connect people and position yourself as a resource to others on a totally altruistic basis. Favors with strings attached are not favors and not nearly as appreciated.

Crack the Networking CODE.
Build priceless business relationships.

10 Ponder & Progress Questions from The Progress Challenge: Working and Winning in a World of Change by Dean Lindsay.

Dean’s Progress Challenge is being Published 2/4/10 – Advanced Copies available here.

Ponder & Progress:  Progress or Change?

“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”

– C.S. Lewis 

1.  What transitions are most significant in the world?

2.  What transitions do you see in your professional life?

3.  What transitions are shaping your personal life?

4.  How can you focus on daily progress?

5.  What “next big thing” means progress for you?

6.  What “next big thing” would not be progress for you?

7.  What are you striving for?

8.  What’s next?  Why?

9.  What does progress mean to you? 

10. Which parts of your life are progressing and which are merely changing?  

Be Progress.

PART ONE LINK   PART TWO LINK

 A Couple of endorsements for Dean Lindsay’s The Progress Challenge: Working and Winning in a World of Change

“Everyone has a purpose in life. Nobody is here by chance.  Focusing on the positive and self motivating drivers will move you down the road of progress to realize your true purpose.  Reading The Progress Challenge will help direct you down the correct road.”
– Scott O’Grady
Former USAF Fighter Pilor
Bosnian War Survivor

 “Part Drucker, part Dyer, part Dilbert — The Progress Challenge is an entertaining and practical guide on how to achieve success in business and follow your bliss.”
– Janet Gellici
CEO, American Coal Council

Copies of The Progress Challenge available here.

For Bulk purchase discounts call: 214-457-5656

Contact Dean Lindsay about your next event.

Progress Agent Goal Crafting Rule # 4

(a series on how to set goals)

Link to Progress Agent Goal Crafting Rule 1

Link to Progress Agent Goal Crafting Rules 2 & 3

4.  Progress-Crafted Goals Are Detailed and Measured. 

We are able to measure and track progress only toward goals that are detailed and specific.  It is imperative that we craft goals with precise and vivid outcomes so that we can be sure we are progressing and not merely changing. 

A vague, general, or conflicted goal produces vague actions and vague results.  A specific goal produces specific actions and specific results.  The more information we can give our subconscious mind about our intentions – our wants, our goals – the clearer the right next steps become, and the more focused our actions will be.  It is fine if the goal takes many words to map out.  The key is to crystallize our intentions. 

For example, “I have a new job” is generic, not very helpful, and certainly not very inspiring.  Most of us could get a new job within a week, if not a day.  It probably would not be a job that matched our skills, paid well, or that we even liked, but we could get a job.  So be darn sure to specify:

 In what industry?       

What position and responsibilities?

What pay range?        

What benefits, 401K, vacation? 

How much travel?     

How long commute?

Company car?           

Work from home?

What kind of boss (if any), and coworkers?

Our “specs” can go on and on.  Generic goals do little to propel us to action.  Yes, it takes time, but it is vital that we craft our goals in as much detail as possible.  It is perfectly fine to rewrite the goal, refine it, add to it, mess with it. 

Becoming almost ridiculously particular about what we want, and why we want it, helps create the inspiration that propels us to progress toward our goals – instead of focusing attention on the countless other options of how we could invest our time and energy.

Next up Goal Setting Rules 5 and Goal Setting Rules 6!

Be Progress.

Link to Dean Lindsay Video Clips

Link to Progress Agent Goal Crafting Rule 1

Link to Progress Agent Goal Crafting Rules 2 & 3

(a series on how to set goals)

Stop Goal Setting — Start Goal-Crafting!

A Goal Setting Workshop and Goal Setting Program for a Progress Based World

Link to: The Six Rules of Goal Crafting

To work and win in this world of change we must dedicate ourselves to crafting personal and organizational goals that are so attractive, so alluring, that we are compelled to continually make choices that move us toward their accomplishment.

As a noun, CRAFT can mean an object or machine designed for a journey, like a ship or an airplane.

As a verb, CRAFT can mean to make or manufacture with skill and careful attention to detail. 

A goal is the aim, the objective, the purpose, the point.

Goal-crafting is the practice of creating personal and organizational targets that are SO clear, SO detailed, so sound, SO enticing and LEAKPROOF that they actually become tools or vessels in our journey to their accomplishment. 

 ”Our lives and organizations will surely change without well-crafted goals, but it is doubtful that they will progress.”  — Dean Lindsay

 Well-crafted, progress-based goals do not merely remind us of the desired destination; they help create the conditions and environment needed for their achievement.  They propel us into forward-focused action and strengthen our resolve to work and win in a world of change.

Stop goal setting and start goal crafting!

Next – the first of Six Rules for Progress-Based Goal Crafting