Author Name:
Dr. Deb Bright
Book Title:
The Pro-Achievement Principle: Cultivate Personal Skills for Effective Teams
Website URL:
Link to book page on Amazon:
What is your book about?
Not everyone on a team can be a star but everyone can do things just a little bit better to add value. What CEO, manager or team leader wouldn’t be interested in accepting an opportunity to get more and better quality work from their team members as well as themselves? They can and the lessons in The Pro-Achievement Principle shows them HOW. By introducing two self-adopted attributes which, when practiced religiously, inspires individuals to set their own standards to do things just a little bit better than their initial impulse to add value throughout their day. For many, the book will awaken in them the startling realization of their ability to empower themselves to build a foundation upon which they can nurture a sense of pride and personal satisfaction…. and NOT wait for others to bestow responsibility on them. The book is the tool leaders have been searching for when attempting to “empower their people and teams” when in actuality empowerment comes from within each of us rather than bestowed upon us. It also provides a guided approach to recognizing and hiring people with pro-achievement traits. As one of my clients so eloquently expressed, “By simply reading this book and following its guidelines, virtually anyone and any team can attain what they set out to accomplish. The payoff is not only the rewards they get in realizing their ambitions…but also in the people they become.”
What inspired you to write your book?
As an athlete who was once ranked as one of the top 10 women platform and springboard divers in the United States, I have never forgotten the words of my diving coach in the early stage of my career, “You always want to be as good as the best and better than all the rest.” Since then, the question that fascinated me long after my sports career was “what are the key attributes needed to consistently rank among the best?”. I continue to learn in life that when it comes to achieving one’s ambitions, it is not enough to rely on good technical skills or to be in great physical shape. Performing well and doing one’s best, requires less tangible skills that come from the inside, namely one’s attitude…not just any attitude but an achieving attitude which requires the acceptance of control over responsibilities.
If you have a business related to your book, tell us about it:
Bright Enterprises is dedicated to developing skills and concepts for enhancing individual and team performance. The skills we introduce are research-backed and when used by my clients, result in getting consistent positive outcomes. We deliver these skills and concepts through our coaching services as well as by delivering customized workshops and presentations. Another important way of equipping workers and leaders is by the articles and blogs that I write where I address present real-life situations and findings from much of the research we conduct at Bright Enterprises. As we say at Bright Enterprises, “If what we introduce to others is good enough for them, it’s good enough for us!” So, we apply these skills, concepts and attributes to ourselves every day at work. As a result, we find that getting work done is easy and we do it in a collaborative way. Since writing this book, companies that have decided to implement the attributes presented in the book to create a Pro-Achieving environment, are successfully doing it very much on their own. Unlike other consultants who are typically in the center directing the change process, leaders are finding the book to be the central focus of change among those who read it. The book expressly allows the reader the option of choosing or not choosing the adoption of the tenets of the pro-achievement principle. More specifically, leaders who distribute the book to their workers and teams see changes occurring within their organizations, without much help from me!!! They easily grasp the book’s message and are effective at engaging their teams…and they often drive the process. I’m just a bystander who offers a tip or two along the way to help them integrate and promote an achieving work environment!
What is a typical day like for you?
I wake up extra early, do some floor exercises before practicing a relaxation technique called the Personal Quiet Time. Then I am ready to start my day. After making some tea, I sit down and typically write for about an hour. When my husband is ready, we go for a 2-mile walk. Upon returning, it’s off to my office where I spend much of my day coaching my clients to be better leaders, achieve goals, and move their organizations forward. After answering emails, talking on the phone or meeting face-to-face with clients, it always amazes me how quickly the day flies by. If I have any time to write at the end of the day, I will make an appointment with myself to do so. I close out my day using the same insights we learned from a recent national study that we conducted, except I add one more Personal Quiet Time relaxation session before calling an end to my workday.
What do you most enjoy about what you do?
Hearing about how my clients have taken the skills, concepts, and tips we have discussed and finding out what they have done to successfully implement them on a consistent basis. Many of my clients end up a little more stressed because they are awarded more responsibilities, or they get promoted! That’s a nice problem to have!
What are some favorite books you’d recommend to our readers?
Motivation and Productivity by Saul Gellerman, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith and Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography by Henry F. Pringle.
What advice do you have to offer our readers?
When reading personal development or leadership books, it’s most important to focus on developing a plan for how to execute and utilize the skills and concepts introduced. The idea is not to try to get smarter, but to be able to execute well. It’s one thing to be “in the know” and quite another to be able “to do” or execute. Too many people are trying to get smart…while most organizations need more effective doers.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
That I don’t consider myself to be a writer, rather, I view myself as an educator…who happens to write.
What’s next for you?
To continue getting up at 5 a.m. and start writing my next book in the Pro-Achievement Series.
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