Don't Even Think of Setting 2007 Goals Until You Read This

Dear Friends,

Ok, I admit it. I do believe in goal setting. Yes, like all the experts say, it is incredibly powerful in focusing us and keeping us on track. All of that is true.

Yet at the same time, the end of the year can easily bring disappointment if you have not achieved your goals. You just don't feel like what you have done is enough. This means you carry into the next year less joy and confidence when setting your new goals, and are thus less likely to keep moving forward when the going gets tough. Still,

"When the going gets tough, the tough get growing."
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

How do you need to grow to have a more positive relationship with yourself to better reach your goals?

There is One Simple Thing - Be Your Own Positive Leader. At the end of each year, or day, or month, stand back and FIRST appreciate yourself for all that you did accomplish, including all those things not on the goal list. Give yourself credit! You earned it!

Then you will feel more confidence as you set goals for the new year.

Enjoy and Happiest of Holidays to you,
Dr. Linne
Dr. Linne Bourget
whatyousayiswhatyouget.com

PS Received a strong intuition to finish my little book on Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for
Wives and Husbands - it is almost done and will be available for Valentine's. The audio book for parents and kids is finished. From Dr. Linne as a Corporate Futurist: New book coming in 07 on the future of leadership power and the home study system for the Master Intuition System for Outrageous Business Success.
We welcome your visit at whatyousayiswhatyouget.com Sign up for our free monthly short
positive leadership newsletter and find out about leading edge insights about the future of business!!

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

The Gift of Appreciation at Thanksgiving

Dear IC Family,
Thirty years ago, I started a tradition. After dinner and before Thanksgiving dessert, when we definitely needed a break, I asked my guests, about 25 or so, to go around the table and say what they were grateful for. This was based on my Ph.D. dissertation work on appreciation, the first in the field. There was not a dry eye in the house by the end of the sharing.

For dinner with your family and friends, take the next step and add specific appreciations for each person, what you appreciate about them, who they are and what they do. The results will amaze you. After all these years, they still amaze me. You might need tissues. Enjoy!

Love and blessings for Thanksgiving,
Dr. Linne
aka Dr. Appreciation

We have a 2 hour audio book What You Say Is What You Get: Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children, endorsed by Pat Williams, Sr. VP of Orlando Magic Basketball and father of 19 children, 14 are adopted!! Create a stronger bond with your children, increase their self esteem and help protect them from the risks they face daily!
Visit whatyousayiswhatyouget.com


Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

Using vision and values for positive protection

Dear friends,

What do you do when your company has a crisis?

It is tempting to focus on what's wrong but only doing so creates a negative wave.

Repeating your vision and values reminds everyone of your positive purpose, balancing the negative and uplifting everyone.

The next time you have a crisis, include your positive vision and values in every message.

Notice the difference. Email me with the results. I want to know.

Peace and prosperity to you all,
Dr. Linne Bourget

drlinne@whatyousayiswhatyouget.com

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

Would you believe the power of this particular type of phrase?

Dear Friends,

Would you believe the power of this particular type of phrase to make or break your business results?

In any company, more trust and less fear make for greater profits, productivity and progress.

Most leaders and employees know this. Yet sometimes small habits that are just part of the

woodwork can create roadblocks to your company’s and your success. In an amazing

intuitive journey 20 years ago, I found that eliminating violent language reduced fear,

created much more trust, and more work got done faster! My clients and I had not even

realized the fear and difficulty we were causing by using violent words and images. It was just habit. The insight to look at this was purely intuitive, and it turned out to have very powerful positive results for my clients.

Who knew?

This week I heard several very violent phrases from very positive aware businesspeople. They did not mean to create fear and block results. Since 9/11 more people are becoming aware of taking the violence out of their language, but these business people simply were not aware of the power of these phrases:

“Beat you down”, “Beat me down.”, “Better than a sharp stick in the eye”. I was horrified.

Then I realized that they just did not know. But now you know better! Please remove violent phrases from your language and notice what happens in your conversations at work. Then at home. Then tell people what you are doing and ask them to join you. Track what changes in those relationships.

Please email me and let me know the results. I want to hear!

Wishing you the best of prosperity and peace.

Apprciatvely,

Dr. Linne Bourget

"Building Success on Your Best"
Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D
www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
National pioneer in positive leadership & change
Founder/CEO ITLC
Institute for Transformation Leaders, Coaches and Consultants
Co-author, Bestselling book, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom
Author of the new positive leadership book,
What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Positive Quotient PQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Appreciative Quotient AQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children of All Ages,
2 Hour 2 CD Audio Book by "Dr. Appreciation"
Coming soon!! Dr. Linne's Power Course on Intuition for Business Success!
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness."
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

Balancing Negative With Positive Factors

Dear Friends,

This week, thankfully another heinous terrorist attack was thwarted. Truly scary! As the negative factors in the world seem to take up more and more space in our lives, how can we stay positive and lead positive peacful prosperous lives?

Sound like a tough question? Well, in a way it is, and in a way it isn't. Psycholoically it is a very tough and complicated question. So, let's move to another field to find an easier answer. Let's do the math. Math? For this issue? You bet!

Every time you find a negative factor coming into your life, stop and think how high you rate it on a 1-10 scale. With 1 = low and 10 = high. Let's say your example is a solid 7 negative factor. Your project didn't go very well at work this week and you are worried about finishing it on time.

How does math figure in here? What can you do for yourself or bring into your life that is positive enough to rank as a 7 on the 1-10 scale, to balance the problem ranked 7? Even better, what positive factor can you bring in that would be an 8 or a 9, so you come out ahead? Maybe it's having a wonderful time with your spouse, or a great weekend roadtrip to some place new. Or a wonderful positive movie. Whatever creates a high positive number for you is what works.

So the next time a negative factor drops in on you, don't let it overwhelm you, just balance it with a great positive factor as soon as possible and keep on with your positive journey.

Email me at drlinne@whatyousayiswhatyouget.com with your creative positive balancing stories. I would love to hear them.

Wishing you the best life has to offer.

Dr. Linne Bourget
www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

July 4th - Beyond Independence

Dear Friends,

I spent the Fourth of July weekend dancing with friends at a huge dance convention. On Saturday night when the Air Force color guard members presented the flag and two ladies sang the national anthem, I was again reminded that what we have is far more than independence. We have freedom.

One of the MCs, usually a real cut up became uncharacteristically serious and aske for a moment of silence to support our present and past troops who ensure that we have the freedom to dance or picnick or golf as we choose.

I also gave thanks for our interdependence based on our freedom of assembly which helps us realize daily that we depend on each other for the good things in our lives. The global marketplace is carrying us on swift wings from independence to interdependence. No one and no one country is isolated any more.

More challanges? You bet! At the same time, we have more opportunities for growth, for excellence, for becoming better.

"Freedom is not a liscence to be our worst, but a call to be our best."
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

What are the good things you have in your life that come from freedom and interdependence? Make a list of these and be appreciative for having them.

Make it a peacful and prosperous month.

Dr. Linne Bourget

"Building Success on Your Best"
Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D
www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
National pioneer in positive leadership & change
Founder/CEO ITLC
Institute for Transformation Leaders, Coaches and Consultants
Co-author, Bestselling book, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom
Author of the new positive leadership book,
What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Positive Quotient PQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Appreciative Quotient AQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children of All Ages,
2 Hour 2 CD Audio Book by "Dr. Appreciation"
Coming soon!! Dr. Linne's Power Course on Intuition for Business Success!
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness."
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

The Rudeness Revolution - Too Expensive!

It seems that everyday a new study comes across my screen about rudeness in the workplace, and how employees lose huge amounts of worktime and consider leaving their jobs because co-workers are rude to them. Have you thought about this in your company?

If we put a dollar amount on how much money is lost by companies due to negative behavior, we would be shocked! Yet, most leaders have little idea of what employees deal with on a day to day basis from other employees, and they allow employees to be negative to each other because they do not realize how often it happens or how much it cost them in suffering and lost productivity.

For leaders, the lesson is:

"What you allow is what you get"
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

For employees, the lesson is:

"Without the positive, you have only half the truth - the worst half"
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

Bottom line: Work should be fun and can be fun, not a place of suffering. It takes everyone pulling together to create a positive environment. Leaders should insist on and model positive communications and employees should support that with their behavior.

The costs of the negative and the benefits of the positive are dramatically illustrated in the stories in my book, What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results, to give you practical tools for creating and sustaining a positive culture for a better life at work. Remember, What You Say Is What You Get(R).

Appreciatively,

Dr. Linne

"Building Success on Your Best"
Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D
www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
National pioneer in positive leadership & change
Founder/CEO ITLC
Institute for Transformation Leaders, Coaches and Consultants
Co-author, Bestselling book, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom
Author of the new positive leadership book,
What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Positive Quotient PQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Appreciative Quotient AQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children of All Ages,
2 Hour 2 CD Audio Book by "Dr. Appreciation"
Coming soon!! Dr. Linne's Power Course on Intuition for Business Success!
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness."
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

Questions, Questions and More Questions - But How Well Do Yours Work?

In your meetings, what kinds of questions does everyone ask? Are the questions focused on problems, on what's wrong and needs to be fixed? What does this do to morale? The traditional management problem-solving method, taught in every business school and used in every company for decades, starts with analyzing what's wrong. Picking solutions and implementing them comes next.

The problem with this approach to change is that no one wants to be the what's wrong. This sets up blame, conflict, avoiding problems and blocking needed change. Just imagine what this costs your company in lost revenue, higher costs and needless suffering! Yet this painful costly tradition runs rampant through our companies every day!

But take heart. There is an alternative. In the 1980s I developed a planning approach to change which focuses on what is right, on the best strengths of each team or company. Imagine asking questions to focus on what is right! That is the basis of the planning system. The most powerful question of all of those positive questions is this:

What would it look like if it were completely successful? This question enters in at the earliest point in the discussion, not at the end!

Every team who worked with this system and answered this question got excited about planning and problem-solving instead of avoiding them. They saw that they had a positive basis and vision, and it guided them safely through the choppy waters of planning and implementing change. Problems were less threatening, so there was a lot less duck and cover behavior.

Try using this question once in every meeting this week and see what happens. Email me at drlinne@whatyousayiswhatyouget.com and let me know what changes when you ask this powerful question. And enjoy the results!

This section is adapted from my fast, easy-to-read positive change leadership book, What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results, available at whatyousayiswhatyouget.com on the top of the home page.

Enjoy this positive powerful tool to make your business life easier your results better!
Wishing you the best of success.

Dr. Linne
"Building Success on Your Best"Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D
National pioneer in positive leadership & change
Founder/CEO ITLCInstitute for Transformation Leaders, Coaches and Consultants
Co-author, Bestselling book, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom
Author of the positive leadership book, What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results, What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Positive Quotient PQ (TM) Questionnaire, What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Appreciative Quotient AQ (TM) Questionnaire, What You Say Is What You Get(R): Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children of All Ages, 2 Hour 2 CD Audio Book by "Dr. Appreciation

"Coming soon!! Dr. Linne's Power Course on Intuition for Business Success!
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness."
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

Visit our positive new blog:http://drlinnebourget.blogspot.com

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

Protecting the Positive - It's Not Automatic

Many business people over the years have said to me how important it is to have a positive attitude, that if you have a positive attitude, everything else will be fine. In working with positive leadership strategies for 25 years, I have discovered from clients that having a positive culture in your business takes a whole lot more than a positive attitude. In other words, a positive attitude is necessary but not sufficient.

In my book, What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results, I present the Engine and Four Wheels model of positive leadership. The Enging is a positive attitude or leadership philosophy. However, without the Four Wheels, your car goes no where, regardless of how powerful the Engine is. Wheels 1, 2, and 3 desribe the positive leadership system needed to keep your business on track.

Wheel 4 describes the negative things you must stop your eomployees from doing, and prevent them from doing again, in order to protect the positive culture you have so carefully constructed. One of those is negative gossip. This is so damaging that it can un-do all of your good work immediately by bringing in an insedious negative element into your positive culture.

One time, when I began work on a project for a troubled team, the first thing I did was to request that they stop gossiping outside their team about how bad it was. Fortunately, they agreed and within a few months, we created a dramatic positive turnaround. As long as they gossiped, they continued to upset themselves, reinforce how terrible things were, and worsen their image with others outside of the team. Had they not stopped gossiping, their successful turnaround would have been blocked.

Benefits of no negative gossip: This team discovered that when they stopped gossiping, their morale, communication, results, and image were free to improve dramatically.

How often do you hear negative gossip in your organization?
What steps do you take to prevent or stop it?

If you allow gossip, you are sending the message that it is okay to gossip in your company. Remember, what you allow is what you get. Your company deserves the best. Take a stand for it!

Appreciatively,

Dr. Linne Bourget

"Building Success on Your Best"
Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D
www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
National pioneer in positive leadership & change
Founder/CEO ITLC
Institute for Transformation Leaders, Coaches and Consultants
Co-author, Bestselling book, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom
Author of the new positive leadership book,
What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Positive Quotient PQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Appreciative Quotient AQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children of All Ages, 2 Hour 2 CD Audio Book by "Dr. Appreciation"
Coming soon!! Dr. Linne's Power Course on Intuition for Business Success!
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness."
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

Visit our positive new blog:
http://drlinnebourget.blogspot.com

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

The Power of Appreciating Differences

Hi!

Just got back from a week in Kona with Mark Victor Hansen's (Chicken Soup Books) and Robert G. Allen's (No Money Down author) Inner Circle meeting. This was my first junket to Hawaii and the culture was different from anything I had seen. The landscape, the food, the language, the energy, the climate - everything was different. I realized when I heard other people instantly critisize something different from what they were used to, that my first response is neutral or positive.

I noticed the stark black volcanic land all around us, but my first response was to be interested rather than to judge. I deeply appreciate my parents, who taught us, as we traveled often and lived in other countries, to respect and appreciate different cultures. This has served me well in my business as I gravitate towards clients who have unusual or unique characteritics and corporate cultures and they enjoy being appreciated.

Differences keep my spirit alive. As the world gets smaller and smaller, cultural differences become a larger part of our every day lives. The more we celebrate and appreciate them, the more succesful we will be.

Today, seek out differences and appreciate them. With practice, you can develop this as a mindset and business skill.

Enjoy!

Dr. Linne Bourget

www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

Research Catches Up with Reality

Twenty-five years ago, when I began my work on positive leadership communications, skeptics challenged me on my assertion that for every negative statement there should be at least four positive statements, the usual 80/20 rule. In truth, since there was no research at this at the time and my Ph.D dissertation on positive feedback was the first of its kind, I adopted the 80/20 rule simply because it was a formula my clients already knew. Where were the researchers when I needed them?

As they were not accustomed to giving or receiving and positive feedback at all, they considered my 80/20 request radical indeed, another instance in which I was too early, a natural futurist. Now, a quarter-century later, researchers at the University of Michigan have found that companies with 50/50 ratio of positive to negative statement have negative performance and have found that it takes a ratio of 90/10 positive statements in order to receive excellent results! At last, I have support from the researchers. I was too conservative! Now I can tell my clients about the 90% rule and actually have research to back me up.

In my field, the academics are usually behind the practitioners and when the researchers catch up to us. How excellent is your company in its positive communication habits? In every meeting you attend, what percentage of the statements are positive versus negative? What percentage of your statements are positive versus negative? How close are you to the 90% excellence line? For one week, count your positive versus negative statements. How are you doing?

If you need help and want the input of a professional expert whose passion this has been for 25 years, consult the book, What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results, email us at: www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com, or call us for assistance at 480-767-1717.

Wishing you every success and happy counting! Remember, What You Say Is What You Get(R).

"Build Your Success on Your Best"
Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D
www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
National pioneer in positive leadership & change
Founder/CEO ITLC
Institute for Transformation Leaders, Coaches and Consultants
Co-author, Bestselling book, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom
Author of the new positive leadership book,
What You Say Is What You Get(R): The Secret Language of Great Business Results
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Positive Quotient PQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Appreciative Quotient AQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children of All Ages,
2 Hour 2 CD Audio Book by "Dr. Appreciation"
Coming soon!! Dr. Linne's Power Course on Intuition for Business Success!
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness."
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

The Missing Piece, The Secret Key To Our New Years Goals and Resolutions

For the first weeks of a new year it seems like every email, workshop and teleclass is focusing on setting your goals. Everyone has a list of the five or seven or ten things you must do in order to achieve your goals.

I have a high regard for goals, and they have a central place in my life. But why do our goals fade away from us so soon after we set them? Why do they dissapear under the mountain of everyday tasks and pressures?

The one thing, central to all of my work that I do not hear from all those goals experts is the most important foundation for setting, working toward, and achieving goals. That is giving yourself profound respect and appreciation for what you have achieved in the previous year.

No this is not a quick pat on the back. This is sitting down in a meeting with yourself and writting down your achievements for the last year, all of them. Large and small. Then go down the list and appreaciate yourself out loud using your name for achieving all of those. Then make a list of the strengths you used in achieving those goals.

Now you have a foundation for setting new goals. Without giving yourself respect and appreciation, a set of goals just becomes another "should" rather than a source of joy and inspiration. You deserve better.

One of my students read his strengths list every morning and every evening for one week. The next week he came back so excitied he could hardly sit still in his chair, bursting at the seams to tell the entire class. He had gotten twice as much done that week as usual and made much more money. Plus he was having a blast.

Create your appreciation foundation. It gives you a solid platform, the sense of your own strengths from which you can step up happily to more success from your new goals.

I wish you a peaceful profitable new year!

Dr. Linne Bourget

"Building Success on Your Best"
Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D
www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com
National pioneer in positive leadership & change
Founder/CEO ITLC
Institute for Transformation Leaders, Coaches and Consultants
Co-author, Bestselling book, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom
Author of the new positive leadership book,
What You Say Is What You Get(R) The Secret Language of Great Business Results
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Positive Quotient PQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Your Appreciative Quotient AQ (TM) Questionnaire
What You Say Is What You Get(R): Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children of All Ages,
2 Hour 2 CD Audio Book by "Dr. Appreciation"
Coming soon!! Dr. Linne's Power Course on Intuition for Leaders! What You Say Is What You Get(R): Powerful Intuition for Positive Leaders
"The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness."
Dr. Linne's Positive Power Quote

Copyright 2005-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.