Adding Big Shots To Your Personal Network
“Never refuse any advance of friendship for if nine out of ten bring you nothing, one already may repay you.” – Madame de Tencin In Message #170, we talked about the importance of establishing a network of contacts. Whether your objective is to start your own business or climb to…
READ MOREWatch Out For Dependency-Motivated Managers
“It is easier to exclude harmful passions than to rule them, and to deny them admittance than to control them after they have been admitted.” – Seneca There is a certain kind of manager you need to watch out for. He is often extremely bright. Entirely competent. Completely dependable. In…
READ MOREHow Important Is Loyalty In Your Career?
“Only the person who has faith in himself is able to be faithful to others.” – Erich Fromm Heres a question Ive wrestled with for years: When it comes to success, is loyalty a good thing or a bad thing? Should you be loyal to those who have been there…
READ MOREE-Mail And Return Buttons
“Even on the highest throne in the world, we are still sitting on our ass.” – Michel de Montaigne I did it again. Copied a “sensitive” e-mail to the wrong person. Its soooo embarrassing. In what I thought was a confidential memo to my partners I characterized someones proposition as…
READ MOREThe Importance of Making Contacts
“I get by with a little help from my friends.” -John Lennon We have talked about how much faster you will accomplish your career goals if you put yourself out in the marketplace and meet prospective partners/employers/proteges/vendors. One of the best ways to get out there is to attend trade…
READ MORE
Why I Don’t Gamble – And Why You Shouldn’t Either
Why I don’t gamble when I visit Las Vegas, and instead enjoy money and success by placing smart investments that gain me wealth every day.
READ MOREGifts, Free Lunches, Bribery
“Corruption will find a dozen alibis for its evil deeds.” – American proverbOn Friday, we discussed when and how to do and accept favors in a business context. Today, lets extend that discussion to include whether we should accept gifts from vendors.At AG Publishing, there has been a…
READ MOREHow To Pull Ahead Of Your Competitors Through Cooperation
“Competition is the offspring of fear; cooperation, the child of confidence.” – Mark Morgan Ford If you remember the movie Wall Street, you may recollect the character Gordon Gecko (played by Michael Douglas) a viciously ambitious stockbroker who broke every ethical rule and took advantage of every relationship to…
READ MOREHow To Make Friends In High Places
“Shallow men believe in luck . . . . Strong men believe in cause and effect.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life Today, I am going to open a little door into your future. First, answer this question: Who in your industry would you like to know? Whose…
READ MOREDelivering Bad News: When To Write, Phone, Have Lunch
“Surely human affairs would be far happier if the power in men to be silent were the same as that to speak.” – Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677) Someone once told me that you should always deliver bad news in person. I didnt think much of it at the time, but over…
READ MOREHow Much Should You Pay Yourself?
”Self-Esteem: An erroneous appraisement” – Ambrose Bierce, The Devils Dictionary Recently, Fortune Small Business magazine did a story on executive compensation. It cited the case of two San Diego entrepreneurs who started a high-end home-furnishings business (the Richard Fischer Collection) with the long-term goal of getting wealthy. But getting there…
READ MOREWhere Should You Be Doing Business?
A famous business publication interviewed me once and asked me this question: “If every one of your marketing concepts but one was taken away, which would you hold on to at any price?” I didn’t need a second to think about the question. I immediately answered that I’d never give…
READ MORE