How To Get There From Here . . . The Ten Lessons That Have Served Me Well - Softcover

Peterson, Coleman H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1468537458 ISBN 13: 9781468537451

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2012

Synopsis

"THEN AND NOW In 1971, as an undergraduate student at Loyola University of Chicago, I often sat on the steps of the Chicago Water Tower during class breaks. I watched the traffic flowing north and south along Michigan Avenue’s bustling Magnificent Mile. As a kid who hailed from the housing projects on the west side of Chicago, I marveled at the late model cars, beautifully tailored pedestrians and the expensive boutiques that lined the street. I often wondered, “How do you get there from here?” In 1994, I arrived in Bentonville, Arkansas to assume my new post as the Senior Vice-President of the People Division for Wal-Mart Stores (Sam Walton’s term for human resources). Soon to become the world’s largest retailer and private employer, a Fortune #1 company and among the Fortune 100 Best Companies To Work For. I had experienced an exciting and satisfying journey. Today, residing on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina I enjoy my role as consultant and corporate board member for several public companies. Over the years, I have shared my thoughts on “getting there from here” in many places around the world. Why not finally put them in a book? Good question. This book is my answer. Enjoy."

About this title

About the Author

"Coleman Peterson Cole Peterson is President/CEO of Hollis Enterprises, LLC, a human resources consulting firm founded in 2004 following his retirement from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. He specializes in executive coaching and keynote speaking engagements globally. Peterson, known as America’s top people person, served as Executive Vice President of People for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., where he had the distinction of being the Chief Human Resource Officer of the world’s largest private workforce (today: 2.1 million associates world-wide). He headed human resources during Wal-Mart’s most aggressive global expansion and helped diversify its workforce. Today, Wal-Mart is the country’s number one employer of African-Americans and Hispanics. Peterson serves on the corporate boards of J.B. Hunt Transport of Lowell, Arkansas, Build-A-Bear Workshop of St. Louis, Missouri and Cracker Barrel Restaurants of Lebanon, Tennessee. He is chairman of the compensation and development committees and serves on the nominating and corporate governance committees on both the J.B.Hunt and Build-A-Bear Bear boards. Peterson’s numerous recognitions include: The Award for Professional Excellence, The Society for Human Resource Management’s highest honor; the Lifetime Achievement Award for Human Resource Excellence from Linkage, Inc.; The Chancellor’s Medal for Volunteerism from the University of Arkansas and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arkansas MLK Planning Commission. His most recent recognitions are the National Association of African Americans in Human Resource Professionals Trail Blazer Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arkansas Society for Human Resource Management State Council. Peterson is a Fellow of the Academy of Human Resources, and a member of both Kappa Alpha Psi and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities. Peterson is a native of Birmingham, Alabama and grew up in Chicago where he obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Loyola University. He and his wife, Shirley, have two adult children and reside in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina."

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

How To Get There From Here ... The Ten Lessons That Have Served Me Well

By Coleman H. Peterson

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Coleman H. Peterson
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4685-3745-1

Contents

Foreword...........................................................1Dedication.........................................................3Introduction.......................................................5About the Author...................................................71. Have a Goal.....................................................92. No Shortcuts....................................................173. Work Hard.......................................................254. Education is an Opportunity and a Privilege.....................355. Listen: Understand the Power of Feedback........................496. Develop Your People Skills......................................577. Have Humility...................................................678. Get a Life......................................................759. Help Somebody...................................................8510. Be Thankful....................................................95Endnotes...........................................................101

Chapter One

Lesson 1

Have a Goal

We're off to see the Wizard ... —Dorothy

How often have you heard the saying, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there"? It is so true. When you aim or strive for something, you know at least that your personal drive should move you in that direction; so if you do not hit the mark, at least you will be in the neighborhood! Dorothy found herself in an environment where she was not familiar, without friends and without experience. Yet, her outcome was successful. Why? Because, she developed a goal: follow the yellow brick road to see the wizard! As motivational speaker Les Brown says, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars."

Growing up in the inner city of Chicago, my favorite time of year was around the Christmas holidays. My mother would always take my older brother and me downtown to see the Christmas lights and all of the department store windows beautifully decorated with their colorful winter scenes. We would stand on our tiptoes and press our noses against the windows, amazed at the beauty and excitement of it all.

At about age 9 or 10, I remember noticing all of the business people making their way through the crowds. They were sharply dressed in suits, overcoats, and hats, with the ever-present briefcase clutched in one hand. They always appeared important and self-assured, but in a hurry. I was fascinated by them. Even though I had no idea who they were or what they did, I told my mother, "Mama, I'm gonna do that one day." "That's good, baby," she would say.

Twenty years later, while heading up the executive recruiting function for one of the retail divisions of the May Department Stores Company (now Macy's), I flew into Nashville, Tennessee, late one night. I was pretty preoccupied as I deplaned and walked briskly through the airport. As I exited the terminal, I saw a young boy being tugged along by his mother as he pointed at me and said, "See, Mama, that's what I want to be when I grow up!" I was startled out of my own thoughts, back into reality; he was talking about me. As I turned to wave and smile at him, I caught my reflection in the airport glass: I was rather nicely dressed in my business suit, overcoat, hat—with my ever-present briefcase in hand. The power of imagining and goal setting had come full circle.

So what exactly is the difference between "goal setting" and "pipe dreaming"? You have had situations where a friend or acquaintance has shared his or her plan for the future, and you sympathetically rolled your eyes and thought to yourself, "Get a life and a real job, pal, 'cause this ain't gonna happen!"

My own view is that dreaming is helpful in goal setting. Any vision or picture of the future that motivates you and causes you to put one foot in front of the other in pursuit of that objective is a good thing. After all, how many people do you know who are aimless? They are going through life going through the motions, without enthusiasm or joy about its possibilities. Which way would you choose to move through life?

Dreams are a wild fancy or hope. They are also a target at which you can aim. However, dreams can be as big as you want them to be. Dreams can have an indefinite or clear-cut timetable for fulfillment. Dreams are your eventual targets; goals are mileposts that mark the way. Dreams are what you ultimately want and goals get you to those dreams. Dreams do not have to be outlined as specifically as a goal. Goals require more effort to achieve. To achieve any goal, you have to want to change more than you want to stay the same.

Over the years, in both my professional human resource career and my personal life, I have had occasions to coach and counsel people about goal setting. I never try to discourage dreams; rather, I approach making dreams come true by translating them into actionable behaviors—these become goals. For example, many people's favorite goal is financial success: "I want to make $100,000 by the time I am 30 years old." This is fine; however, the question becomes, "How do I get there from here?" It will require specific actions that may not appear to be that grandiose. For example, finishing high school would be a good start (goal one), finishing college would be another good step (goal two), and acquiring a good entry-level job after college would be great (goal three). I would add that the major you pursue in college could influence how quickly you reach your long-term goal after college. The physician is much more likely to make those kinds of dollars than a social worker or teacher! Yet, if your goal is to change lives in an entirely different way, the social worker and the teacher are clearly special in their contributions. Once you begin employment, you then set both occupational and financial goals. So, what others might see as `pipe dreams' are simply your long-term goals. Every dream begins with the first step.

How will you know when you have achieved your dream? Goal setting is knowing where you want to go and setting up a plan for getting there. When you know where you want to go in life, then you know where to put your efforts. Because your focus should be single-minded toward your goals, you will be able to see distractions very quickly. Seeing distractions is good, because this will compel you to get back on track and refocus. Therefore, goal setting is a great thing; however, make sure your goals are attainable, motivating, and specific.

Let's examine how this looks in black-and-white. For instance, you say that you want to lose 25 pounds, be healthy, and have a sleek physique. The goal is the marker along the way to the dream. You have to set specific steps. For example:

• Start an exercise program of working out at least three days a week.

• Cut down on your carbohydrate intake.

• Drink more water.

• Eat more fruits and vegetables.

These steps take your dream from being a dream to a goal. Then, you can even take your goal to the next level by specifying which days of the week you will work out, for how long each day, which carbohydrates you will cut back on, and even how much water you will drink each day. Once again, goals help you become more focused.

It is good to evaluate your goals every so often to see if you are still on target. Also, keep in mind that you can tweak your goals if they are not working for you. For example, if cutting your carbohydrate intake is not working, you could do some research to determine the best carbohydrates to cut from your diet and which ones are okay to continue. Keep in mind that goals are guideposts on the journey and not the destination itself.

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. —Zig Ziglar

It is amazing to consider what we have become as we look back through our lives. Consider the importance of this young boy's childhood, and how it may have affected who he became: The four-year-old sat in the hall and watched his mother cry. Her body went limp like a rag doll. Behind her, the Christmas tree sparkled. That year changed the memory of Christmas forever in Tim Broughton's mind. Each season, as December approached, his blood stirred with anxiety. Others were buoyant during the holidays, shopping and caroling and celebrating, but Tim felt sickened. The time was associated with the most traumatic event in his life: the day his father walked out and disappeared forever.

I first heard Tim speak at a Champions for Kids "Salute to the Stars" fundraiser in Northwest Arkansas. It was a magnificent event, sponsored by companies like Walt Disney and ABC, and Tim, who was the vice president of the billion-dollar corporation, McKee Foods, stood before the crowded auditorium, his face stoic and brave, a grown man choking back tears.

I sat in the audience with other business leaders, and a knot formed in my throat. It was December 13—almost 44 years to the day—since Tim's dad had left. Tim told how his father cleared the bank accounts, and how his mother, an alcoholic, tried her best to raise the children. What does all this have to do with goals?

As much as you would like to think you have the power to shape your own life, you also are shaped by life and the people and experiences you encounter. Tim's story exemplified how both the good and the bad in life make you who you are and mold you into the individual you will become. It was hard to sit and listen to Tim tell his story, and as he choked to get through it, his words took me back to my own beginnings. He talked about the night he and his sisters huddled in a blanket on the couch, in a cold house with no food, and how he will remember forever the hunger pangs of that one moment. Tim talked about the basketball coach in high school, who called him into the office quietly to give him sneakers, so as not to embarrass him in front of his teammates. He told the crowd about people who had helped him and his family along the way, and how he remembered the kindness more than anything else. Tim's speech reminded me that every encounter might bring a person who needs a hand up because everybody has a goal and a dream.

As I sat there and listened, I reflected on the turning points in my own life, like the time I flew into Chicago, the city where I had grown up, but I flew there in a corporate jet. Later that same day, I drove a rental car through the drug-infested, broken-down projects that could have held me back. That singular moment made me see how far I had come. I had a goal, and I worked to achieve it. But the night I heard Tim speak, I knew that even if some of us have worked to leave our past behind, it is there for a reason. Your past isn't irrelevant. The mistakes, the successes, and the hurts all comprise the mosaic of who you are now. Those early experiences help form and define who we are and who we will become.

How is it that some people rise from the ashes of broken lives and the sands of mediocrity to achieve great things? This question continues to fascinate and awe. News broadcasts show rags-to-riches stories about people who were abused, abandoned, or raised in abject poverty and went on to become CEOs, billionaires, and world leaders. It is a question that fascinated me as a human resource professional who witnessed an endless and diverse stream of people walking through my door. Despite the darkest of backgrounds, some just shined—their victory and belief in themselves clearly visible, like an Eagle Scout badge on their lapel. Others, sadly, did not shine as brightly. It was evident that some people were being held back by their own limiting beliefs and goals.

Tim Broughton stepped up and realized his goal, even though the odds were stacked against him early on. Life got much worse after his father left; his mother remarried, to a child molester and abuser, he reports. Despite how he grew up, Tim earned a full scholarship to college, got a 3.51 GPA, and majored in applied mathematics. He was accepted into an officer training program in the military and finished second in the entire class! By the time I met him, he was the vice president of a billion-dollar corporation. He had a goal and a dream, and he worked to make it happen.

It's the human encounters you have and the way you interact with others that shape the world. Those experiences, depending on how you interpret them and react to them, will determine how far you can go. They define what kind of person you are and into what kind of person you will evolve.

Have a goal and dream big!

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. —Anthony Robbins

Chapter Two

Lesson 2

No Shortcuts

Judge a man, not by the heights he achieves, but from the depths from which he has risen. —Frederick Douglass

I really enjoyed late-night TV talk shows like The Tonight Show, Starring Johnny Carson or today's version with Jay Leno. Interviews with film stars and celebrities always have been of particular interest to me. The celebrities were always so cool and glamorous, and the audiences would go crazy, heaping loud applause and admiration. I'm sure that among the admirers were those who wanted to be "just like them."

As the nighttime host would speak glowingly of the guest star's screen roles and award nominations, I always waited patiently to hear the all-important question, "How did you get started?" The answers always were fascinating. Many of the stars began their careers waiting tables and working in retail stores while waiting for their big break. Commercials and bit parts for years preceded stardom for many men and women. It is a great message: no shortcuts.

Early in my career, I spent several years as a college recruiter for my company. I always was fascinated by graduating seniors who had no sense of beginning on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder. Furthermore, once many of them entered the world of work, they complained that they were relegated to menial tasks and "were not learning anything."

In truth, when most of us start in life, there is very little that we do know—the rest of life is filling the gaps. We have heard many stories of a dad lecturing his child about how to do chores: "Anything worth doing is worth doing well."

As a part of the feedback I sought from new college hires, I always enjoyed getting their progress reports at six, 12, and 18 months. With few exceptions, the new hires felt that they were not moving fast enough. They thought that they knew everything there was to know and that they were prepared to move to the next challenge.

For human resource professionals and career-path specialists, this is always a tricky call: balancing the impatience of talent that shows potential, with the need to ensure that they have the required skills to succeed. I understand this intimately because of my own early experience. After graduating from college, I began working in a retail training program in Chicago. Upon starting in the program, while I was at my first training store, I encountered three management trainees who immediately informed me of the terrible mistake I had made by coming to the company, and—by the way—they were all planning to quit Friday!

Considering that I was rather low on funds (broke, to be more accurate!), I decided to stick it out. I also felt that I had an ace in the hole. My dear fraternity brother was a hiring manager at one of the big-time insurance companies downtown. I figured I would go down there and give him the old fraternity handshake and catapult myself into a new white-collar career, equipped with business cards, an office, and a company car. What I discovered that day has formed the basis for my own approach to success as well as the counsel that I offer others.

Bob Corbett explained that I had been with my current company for barely three months. He refused to even consider me for his company before I had committed at least one year with the other company! He was quite explicit and explained, "Not 11 months and 29 days, but one year on the job!"

Needless to say, I was sorely disappointed—crushed. With no real options, I returned to my job, determined to work hard, tough it out, and reapply with my friend in 12 months and one day. That day never came.

As I began to apply myself to the job, I discovered that there was a lot to learn about merchandising, transportation, finance, and—most of all—managing people. I discovered that through people that I had a knack for getting things done, and I enjoyed hiring, training, and developing people. I did well; in fact, I did quite well. By the end of year one, I had been promoted three times, and by the end of year two, I was promoted to the home office, to a new role that became my career profession: human resources.

I had several conversations with Bob Corbett subsequent to that initial chat, thanking him for his sound advice. He obviously knew then what I later learned: success occurs over time—there are no shortcuts.

Champions know there are no shortcuts to the top. They climb the mountain one step at a time. They have no use for helicopters. —Judi Adler (Author)

Are you starting to see things differently? Human resources executives see the things business leaders generally can't see, either because they're not looking hard enough, they don't have the time, or they don't have the desire to know anything more than what "results" an employee can offer their business. In your own organization, how do you see your people? What is it that the leaders at the highest levels think about their employees? How well you can see will determine how well you manage, and how you manage will influence your success.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from How To Get There From Here ... The Ten Lessons That Have Served Me Wellby Coleman H. Peterson Copyright © 2012 by Coleman H. Peterson. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1468537458
• ISBN 13: 9781468537451
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 108