Volkmar Völzke's BLOG

Do you want to have a strong idea at the beginning of the year of how to immediately increase your good influence, increase the productivity of your team and act as a role model? 

Well, here's the solution: Answer inquiries from customers, colleagues and other people in your area quickly and clearly. If you sometimes (or often) simply procrastinate on answers (or observe this behaviour from people around you), then here is the key to how you can (and must) change this NOW! 

Let’s not fool ourselves: Bad response behaviour has substantial collateral damage, such as double work, lower productivity, frustration, lost customers, decreasing reputation and much more.

Rule of thumb: If you do not respond to normal inquiries within 24 hours (even if only with a confirmation), you have a problem - and your environment with you!

And “busyness" is not an excuse! I know extremely productive and successful people who always respond swiftly, while others do not respond even...

The Christmas Season is traditionally a time of reflection and conclusions.

In this somewhat unusual video I explain three important thoughts that we keep forgetting, but which are extremely important in order to have a positive effect on others and their success and happiness.

I also read a short text that is not just a little journey into ourselves (and our barriers), but also opens our eyes to what's really important.

I wish you and your loved ones Happy Holidays,

Volkmar Voelzke

P.S. CLICK HERE to register for the FREE LIVE ONLINE WORKSHOP on January 16th, 2012 at 5:00 pm CET "How to make 2018 your best year ever".

Places are limited! More details in the video.

“Your world is what you perceive it to be and how you interpret this perception." This insight was not invented by me, but verifiable psychology knowledge. 

Unfortunately, we often forget (including seasoned leaders) that the principles of success in this world do not always coincide with our perception. 

If you want to be more successful in the long term (for yourself, your team or your company), you have to change your perception and your interpretations ("stories”). If it were easier, you would already be where you want to. 

The key insight: If you want to become more successful, you MUST change your interpretation of reality and success. This is exhausting, highly uncomfortable and almost always needs external help. That is why only a few (just the outstandingly successful ones) do it. 

Study the following examples from my practice and ask yourself whether you fall into the same trap of perception: 

1. Question: "Which is currently the most...

Today, the chances are that I'll push you out of your comfort zone. And that's exactly the purpose of this memo: to stimulate thought and action through emotions. 

Let’s get to the point: One of the most persistent myths is the one of “talent.” 

Science shows there is no more or less talent. There is only more or less willingness to work harder, smarter, and more sustainably on specific goals. 

Yes, I know, this takes away the excuse of many people, who prefer not to invest much effort in some tasks because they tell themselves they have "no talent." Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool have demonstrated in numerous studies – explained in their excellent book "PEAK” – that the highest achievers have one behaviour in common: deliberate practice, combined with perseverance. 

I'm not talking about the physical benefits of individuals (yes, they exist), but about all of us being able to accomplish almost everything through mental...

One of the biggest differences between particularly successful people and teams compared to the average crowd is the ability to get back on their feet quickly after setbacks. 

Here's the good news: you can train the recovery. The most successful people train this ability again and again (and much more frequently than the "normal") by provoking setbacks through more ambitious goals. 

This is like skiing: If you do not go to your limits every now and then, you will hardly get better. 

If you are used to dealing with setbacks, you can go back to normal at least ten times as fast as the rest– with the corresponding positive effects on your success. 

Here are three ideas on how to accelerate your reaction to setbacks: 

1. Accept the failure. You cannot change the past. Most people (even in business) struggle for too long with past mistakes. The most successful people quickly make a checkmark on setbacks and move on.
2. Take full responsibility. Only...

All of us are interspersed with thinking barriers and paradigms.This once helped us to survive. Today, it is poison if we want to advance with our team or our company rapidly. 

Nowadays, the winners are those who restrict themselves with fewer thinking barriers than the rest. 

But beware: do not look at others in your team, but first on yourself.

Here are some uncomfortable indicators that you yourself have limited ways of thinking: 

1. If you never change your habits, even though they may not lead to great success. These include morning rituals, meeting rituals, your communication habits, your dressing habits, your eating habits and much more.
2. If you are caught by excuses."We can not do this in our market," "revenue doubling is not possible," "we are not born salespeople" are such excuses that uncover your barriers.
3. If you only take small steps instead of big leaps. Do you think this is "more reasonable"? Attention: This is also a thinking barrier! Who tells you that...

Yes, October has begun, and with it, the last 3 months of the year. In principle, this division of time is indeed arbitrary, and yet it is helpful to see the end of the year as a kind of milestone for the route we are marching on. 

As an average-age reader of my memos, you probably have about 20 to 50 of such milestones left in your life. 

This doesn’t sound too much, so it makes sense to make the best of each one. For the next one, you have just barely 3 months left. 

Here is what I mean: 

1. Ask the following question: What would you regret not having achieved this year? At the end of our lives, we almost always regret what we have not done, but rarely what we have tried.
2. Accelerate. Yeah, right, double your forces! We all can reach up to 10 times more if we just want to. You know that. How about if you reach as much as in the past nine months in the coming three months? This doesn’t work? Sure it does! If you really want!
3. Write down your top three...

I see time and again how we lose sense in the daily business routines, why we do all this. We come every morning, produce, attract customers, improve, generate ideas, execute instructions, answer emails, sit in meetings, talk with customers, and so on. But why? 

From psychology, we know that happiness comes mainly from the positive perception of the "now," from giving to others, and from personal growth.

(This also explains why so many people are unhappy or unfulfilled.) 

This is no different in a company or a team: sustainably successful companies or teams perceive themselves as positive, as making the life of other businesses or people better, and as constantly evolving. 

My tip: Look in the coming week for these three influences for fulfilment and success in your company or team: 

1. Positive perception: How positively does your team perceive themselves and their own company on a scale 1-10? Do your people feel the company is a place of personal...

Do you know what makes it easy to determine whether a person, a team, or a whole company succeeds? The answer: whether success is seen as an obligation. 

This is not subtlety, but hard-hitting reality: those who are more successful than the big average view success as non-negotiable. They make success a MUST. 

What is the reason for this small GIANT difference? You are looking for new ways in the event of a setback. Because your success is not negotiable! While "normal" people are looking for excuses and blame, the ones who are committed to success are already back on the road. 

And here it comes: You can change it for yourself, your team, and your company. How? Here are three steps: 

1. Write down: "My success is my COMMITMENT! My success is non-negotiable!” Commit your team to do so. Add this to your "corporate values" (instead of meaningless statements like "the customer is the focus").
2. Find exampleswhere you have made your success optional. When you...

We all have built a mechanism into our thinking which systematically prevents us from becoming more successful.

Yes, right: This mechanism helps us to survive (at least it did in the stone age), but it prevents us from accomplishing more and having a greater impact on the world. 

What am I talking about? Simply, your inability to correctly assess the consequences of non-decisions and non-actions. 

We are usually good at assessing the consequences of actions and decisions. When I eat healthier, I will feel better, will be more active and will live for longer. If we sell better, we will make more profit. And so on. 

We, however, underestimate the consequences of our non-action.

What if we do not contact ten customers today? What if we do not exercise today? What if today, we do not ask our team members for feedback on our behavior? What if we are not investing the necessary hours in our training today? 

The result: We do not do what is necessary and sabotage...