Henry Ford once said: “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
Well, some people keep trying.
Henry Ford once said: “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
Well, some people keep trying.
You are trying to persuade someone to do something. He is resistant. You suspect it is because he has misgivings he prefers not to talk about. You don’t want to upset or offend him, but you do want to get his okay. What do you do? (more…)
Second-guessers — bosses who delegate authority and then take some of it back — are a very odious sort. Most management books advise you to confront them.
In some cases, that may be necessary. But in most cases I’ve witnessed, second-guessing is a response to a real problem. So before you accost your bossy boss and set him straight, make sure his worries are groundless.
Here’s a question I’ve wrestled with for years: When it comes to success, is loyalty a good thing or a bad thing?
There are those who advocate a “me-first” approach. Loyalty, they argue, is a sentimental attachment that winners cannot afford. When people are no longer useful to you, get rid of them.
When delegating tasks to your team, it’s important to be clear about the goal you want to achieve.
Many managers are specific about the steps to take but vague on intent. This is a mistake.
Just because you’ve achieved good results by following a certain procedure, don’t assume that everybody who works for you must approach projects your way.
I’m always talking about the attributes of successful people:
Think you’re being good when you buy low-fat products? Do you marvel that such healthy items taste so good?
There’s a reason for that, says Total Health Breakthroughs’ Managing Editor Jon Herring. “The fat has been replaced with sugar and refined carbohydrates. And those are more dangerous to your health.”
Astute businesspeople don’t gamble. They take calculated risks when the odds favor success.
Walk through any casino in the wee hours and you will notice how miserable the gamblers look. Even at the high-stakes tables, otherwise successful people will be slumped over, watching their money disappear, one stack of chips at a time. (more…)
Important phone calls are stressful. And when you’re under stress, you’re not as clearheaded as you should be. The result is often an incomplete conversation. (”Damn! I should have said this.” Or, “Why didn’t I remember to ask that?”)
Here’s a statement worth thinking about:
“The percentage of mistakes in quick decisions is no greater than in the long, drawn-out vacillations, and the effect of decisiveness itself makes things go and creates confidence.” (more…)
DL, a senior executive, sat next to me on the plane ride to LA. During the four-hour flight, he read a detective novel.
It relaxed him, he said. I wasn’t impressed. (more…)
It’s a common story. Entrepreneur starts company. Company gets too big for one man to handle. Professional managers take over. Business tanks. Original (or new) entrepreneur takes over. Business is saved.
I’ve seen it from afar and have experienced it firsthand. (more…)
“We don’t talk much about office morale,” my main client said in a memo to his top execs recently. “Why not? Partly because we don’t know much about these things. Another is that we don’t think about it.” (Note: When he says “we,” he means “I.”)
As far as I know, this has always been true. When I first met him 30 years ago, he showed no interest in management issues. And when I began consulting with his company 10 years after that, he hadn’t changed.
Your employees want to work less and get paid more. Your vendors want to charge more and deliver less. Your customers are tough to please. What should you do?
In today’s main essay, I’ll give you my view. (more…)
You invested your money and time to start your own business. After several years of very hard work, it is starting to produce significant profits.
It’s time to start paying yourself. How much should that be?
It’s an old soapbox, but I’m going to get on it again. Multitasking is not a good thing. It is not something to admire in other people. It is not a “skill” that you should try to acquire yourself.
I am ranting now because I just read an article in a business magazine that was titled “How to be a Better Multitasker.”
I used to be a terrible speech giver. I hemmed. I hawed. I spoke too slowly. I rushed too fast. I mumbled. I shouted. I was terrible.
But the worst thing I did was wander off topic and get lost in my thoughts. "Where was I?" I used to ask my audiences.
So you’re starting your Internet business. The first step is to make your website shiny and pretty (by spending a lot of time and/or money on it). And then build product pages and a shopping cart. And then drive visitors to your site with search engine optimization and pay-per-click ads. And then sit back and watch the orders roll in.
Right?
When you’re traveling on business, it’s tempting to skip exercise and grab fast food to save time. Bad idea.
You’re on the road for a good reason: There’s something important that requires your attention — and you need to stay mentally alert. The best way to do that is to maintain as healthy a routine as possible.
So make it a point — not just as an option or afterthought — to schedule in exercise and healthy meals. If you do, you’ll be sharper and make better business decisions.
If you want to become the boss one day, think like a customer and act like an owner.
How do you think like a customer?
Let’s start with the obvious. Your customers are interested in what’s good for them, not you. They don’t really care how hard you work or how much more complicated your business is from those of your competitors. They don’t care how much you spend on overhead or what regulations you suffer through. The only thing they care about is what you can do for them and how much it will cost them.
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ETR’s Info-Marketing Bootcamp started last night. And for those of you who couldn’t make it, we’ll be publishing breaking news throughout this week from the conference.
Writing those Bootcamp dispatches will be Jason Holland, ETR’s Managing Editor. He’ll be playing the part of roving reporter. (His first dispatch is below.)
There are basically two ways to get the people who work for you to do what you want. You can bully them into it. Or you can lead them.
The bully’s method is initially effective, because it takes advantage of his superior power. But everything changes with time — including the balance of power within a company. So, ultimately, it fails.
Did your doctor tell you to lose weight? It may be good advice. Then again, he may have based it on bad science — the outdated Body Mass Index (BMI). Calculated from height and weight, it can be grossly misleading. For example, according to the BMI, Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime — at 6′2″ and 257 pounds — was obese.
There’s a small cafe in Annapolis, Maryland. A great breakfast place.
And they will add nearly $20,000 to their sales this year by using one little trick: They make it extremely convenient for their customers to add a $3 item to their order.
Always set two deadlines for every project you agree to handle. One “official” deadline that you give to the outside world. Then another “real” deadline — maybe a week earlier — that you give to yourself and your team.
When the earlier deadline is met, resist the urge to deliver immediately. (The idea is to impress your boss by delivering only one or two days early. Don’t make him wonder if you are grossly under-challenged.) (more…)
I believe there is a direct relationship between hard work and success. Those who work harder achieve more. And that applies equally to individuals, families, ethnic groups, and nations.
Yes, talent helps. But talent is not something we can choose. It is given to us, as are so many other “advantages”: the kind of family we are born into, the color of our skin, and even our native intelligence.
The EEOC’s mission? To make sure workers are not unfairly terminated, harassed, or discriminated against.
Good in theory.
But many bad workers are using the agency to get money they don’t deserve. Employee “retaliation” lawsuits were up 23 percent in 2008.
We all have “enemies” — unpleasant individuals we can’t avoid because of work or social obligations. As a general rule, we deal with them by staying away as much as possible. When we must interact, we speak as little as we can. Just the facts and goodbye.
However, there’s a better way to deal with these people.
1. Start on time.
2. If there’s someone with a reputation for tardiness without whom the meeting can’t take place, schedule a briefing with him 15 minutes beforehand. If he gets there on time, use that 15 minutes to discuss the big issues. If he’s 15 minutes late, he won’t hold things up.
3. Distribute a short agenda to all participants the day before the meeting.
4. Set and enforce a strict time limit for each agenda item. Discussion should end when a specific action has been determined, written down, and assigned.
5. Every five or six meetings, ask for suggestions to improve the way you’re running the proceedings.
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Time passes so damn quickly. And as you get older, it speeds up so much that, if you don’t do something about it, your life will take place without including the person who’s buried deep inside you.
You know the person I mean. The dreamer. The bright, starry-eyed optimist who was once in charge of your body and soul.
I have wanted to be a writer since I was six years old. It was my father who first encouraged me. After reading a poem I wrote called “How Do I Know the World Is Real?” (Can you believe I can still remember it? Cripes, I can still recite it!), he told me I had a special talent. And that if I nurtured it, I could be a great writer some day.
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