At 99 degrees water is hot. At 100 degrees Celsius it is boiling. When it boils it produces steam. And with steam it can power a steam train, it can power turbines. One degree make all the difference. And the one extra degree of effort in business and in life…separates the good from the great.
The average margin of victory for the last 25 years in all major golf tournaments combined was less than 3 strokes.
The margin of victory between an Olympic gold medal and no medal is extremely small. In the 2004 men’s 800 metre race the margin of victory was 0.71 seconds.
At the Indy 500 the average margin of victory for the past 10 years has been 1.54 seconds.
On average the winner took home R10,230,000. The second place prize was R4,968,000. A difference of R5,262,000.
It’s your life, you are responsible for your results.
It’s time to…turn up the heat.
To get what we never had, we must do what we’ve never done.
The 100 degree attitude: The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is the will to try and the faith to believe it is possible.
You are now aware. You now have a target for everything you do.
The Most Important Sales Skill of All
Here is a four step process to hone your ability to successfully sell anything to anyone.
It doesn't matter how good your product is. It doesn't matter how smart your marketing is. It doesn't matter how personable and knowledgeable you are. If you can't close the deal, your company is a waste of time and energy.
The best way to learn this essential sales skill is understand how the very best salespeople close deals, according to Linda Richardson, founder of the huge sales firm Richardson. Here is a four step process that anyone can follow:
According to Richardson, the "great closers" of the sales world share the three characteristics:
1. They're prompt. When closers get a hot sales lead, they're on it immediately. If they sense the time is right, they close the deal, right then and there.
2. They're persistent. When closers know that they've got something the customer needs, they keep working with that customer until the customer sees the need, too.
3. They're focused. Closers are constantly improving their skills at dialog and questioning and do the extra mental work to build confidence in their own ability.
If you want to be good at closing deals, never pass up an opportunity to cultivate those personal characteristics in yourself.
Closers approach every customer meeting with an objective that is specific, measurable and appropriately aggressive. Examples:
Closers never have vague goals like "get closer to the customer" or "learn about customer needs." In business, vagueness is the enemy of success.
These specific goals help closers visualize the sales process as series of smaller closes that lead towards the final close.
Closers look for feedback from prospective customers about whether it's the right time to close. This allows them to make closing a natural extension of the conversation.
At convenient points during the customer meeting, closers ask questions that reveal the customer's state of mind relative to the progress of the sale. Examples:
Such questions help closers see the "green lights" that will increase the closer's confidence that asking for the next step (or for the business) is the right thing to do.
Note that the questions above are open-ended. Asking yes/no questions like "Does that make sense to you?" or "Do you agree?" just cause customers to nod along, without providing the closer any useful information.
If you follow the previous three rules, there's a good chance that your prospective customer will close for you and saying something like "So, when do we start?"
If this does not happen, however, you do the following:
1. Summarize. Make a concise, powerful summary that reiterates the benefits of your offerings and its appropriateness for the prospect.
2. Make a final check. Example: "I think we've pretty much concluded that our solution will solve your problem and save you money; how does that meet your objective?" The final check gives the customer the opportunity to surface any final objections that might interfere with the close.
3. Ask for the business. If the final check gives a "green light," be direct and ask for the business--confidently and clearly. Example: "Will you give us the go-ahead?"
It's really that simple.
How to Cope with a Sales Slump
Sales slumps are like bad weather; keep your head down and soldier on.
Into the life of every business, a sales slump will eventually fall. Customers cancel orders, opportunities get delayed, prospects turn out to be dead-ends. Worst case, you can have a "perfect storm" where nothing seems to go right.
What to do? Here's an easy five step process to kick yourself back in gear.
The worst thing to do at this point is freak out, which might turn a sales slump into a self-fulfilling prophesy. Statistically even the best firms and the most talented people have weak or bad quarters. Take a deep breath and don't let it get to you.
Some people crumple under pressure. If you've gotten this far with this post, you're not one of them. You've decided to do what it takes to improve the situation, which takes real courage. That alone separates you from the crowd.
Rather than thinking of this slump as a disaster, think of it as a way to hone your emotional resilience. If you continue working and selling and doing the best with what you've got, you're training your brain to be successful even when thing get rough.
Take an objective look at the way you're selling. Have you changed your behavior from when you were more successful? Or has the market changed? If neither is true, you're all set. But if either is true, decide what you'll need to change in order to adapt.
Regardless of whether you've made changes to your sales process, it's time to forget about the slump and focus on the mechanics of selling. Make the calls. Do the follow-ups. Have some faith. Soon the slump will only be a bad memory.
Source: Inc.com, Article by Geoffrey James
Become a Great Negotiator: 5 Steps
The trick to achieving a "win-win" is to collaborate rather than compete.
Although everyone claims to want a "win-win" deal, the sad truth is that most businesspeople are competitive and subconsciously want to "win" by making the other person "lose."
Even when you enter negotiations with the best of intentions, it's fair to assume that, at some level, your counterpart wants to see you "lose" at least something. There's also probably a part of you that probably feels the same way about them.
The trick to moving out of this mentality is to "increase the size of the pie," according to Dr. Michael Leimbach, vice president of global research and development for the sales training firm Wilson Learning Worldwide.
To accomplish this, you treat the negotiation as a way to expand the deal to include items that both parties want but may not have identified or realized when they first entered the negotiation. Here's how:
When Dr. Leimbach explained this concept to me, I believe he was speaking metaphorically, but the more I think about it, the more it seems to me that the physical act of sitting on opposite sides of a table automatically creates competition.
In most business situations, people who are working together--rather than competing--tend to sit next to each other, sharing what they know in order to reach a higher level understanding.
Therefore, it seems intuitive to me that you're more likely to get to a "win-win" if your physical positioning encourages you to work towards that goal.
When you use expressions like "my position is" or "my firm's position is" you are taking ownership of position. This makes the position part of your identity, which in turn makes it difficult to change or abandon that position.
Rather than owning a position, externalize it into a problem that both of you are working to solve. For example: "If we crafted the arrangement like so: [idea], it would work for me. How would that work for you?"
The idea is to turn the negotiation into a problem solving sessions where you help each other figure out how to go forward... rather than butting heads.
Understanding the chain of logic behind a negotiating position allows both parties to figure out alternative (and possibly more elegant) solutions to the core problem that's creating the position.
For example, suppose a customer takes the position "I absolutely must get the lowest price." However, if you dig deeper into the "why" behind that "what," you might discover that the real problem is a lack cash flow in the current budget.
Once you know this, you can work together on ways to minimize the effect of purchasing on immediate cash flow, even if it means a higher price.
Another way to transcend competitive negotiating is to introduce independent facts that define the parameters of the agreement. Such facts might include estimates of market value, industry performance benchmarks, and credible third-party research.
When both parties agree upon such standards, it becomes easier for everybody involved to evaluate a proposal or an idea from a position of common ground, according to Dr. Leimbach.
"For example, if a customer needs to demonstrate to his or her manager that the price for the deal is a good value, then an independent standard such as market value/price can be used to justify or reinforce the customer's choice," he explains.
Enter every negotiation with a backup plan that comes into effect if you and your counterpart can't reach agreement. (Dr. Leimbach calls this a BATNA: "Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.")
For example, suppose you're working with a potential customer who simply won't (or can't) pay you enough to make the deal profitable for you. In this case, your BATNA might be to maintain contact and continue to investigate opportunities to work together.
Having an acceptable BATNA frees you from the limiting perspective that you MUST close the deal no matter what, thereby freeing you to negotiate without fear of "losing."
Vineet Nayar, The head of HCL Technologies does not do it to make his employees happy.
Here at HCL Technologies we developed a management approach called Employees First, Customers Second that has become known around the world.
It is not what you might think. It is not a human resources initiative, as many seem to assume. "It's an employee satisfaction program," one person who heard about it said. "It involves picnics." No. It is about employees, but it's not about HR.
I have nothing against programs designed to improve the lot of employees or at least make them feel a little better. And I have nothing against human resources departments and what they do. But Employees First, Customers Second is a management approach. It is a philosophy, a set of ideas, a way of looking at strategy and competitive advantage.
The idea came from observing our company closely. We create value in one very specific place: the interface between our HCL employees and our customers. We call this the "value zone." Every employee who works in the value zone is capable of creating more or less value. The whole intent of Employees First is to do everything we can to enable those employees to create the most possible value.
This has led us to take a number of actions to turn the organizational pyramid upside down. In other words, we want management to be as accountable to the people in the value zone as the people in the value zone are to management.
EFCS is not about making employees happy or comfortable. I don't even really care if employees are happy. I don't think that employee "satisfaction" is something a company should strive for. Satisfaction is a passive state, isn't it? Satisfaction doesn't produce change or improvement or innovation or much of anything.
As for employee "engagement," that isn't much better than satisfaction. I would hope that everybody, no matter what their job is, would be alert and paying some attention to what they do, would be engaged.
What we want at HCL is passion. We want people to be burning up with desire to pursue their interests. Fascinated by their assignments. Jumping out of their skins with excitement about what's next. Eagerly pursuing better solutions and new initiatives.
We have found that the Employees First approach produces far more passion than any motivational or recognition program. Why? Because it proves that management understands the importance of the work being done by the employees in the value zone. It demonstrates that we are actively helping them in ways that make it easier for them to do their jobs. It shows that we trust them to do what needs to be done in the way they believe it should be done. And it shows that we respect them for the value they bring to the company.
We give them understanding, help, trust and respect--which is much better than potato salad and cold cuts.
Employees First, Customers Second does not guarantee that employees won't feel stress or will always feel happy. No, they will be pushed, demanded of, put into tough spots, made to account for themselves and their actions, questioned, debated with and pressed for more. Why shouldn't they be? Why wouldn't they want to be?
Life is work, and work is life, and both are a struggle. It's doing meaningful work and being valued for it--not picnics--that makes it all worthwhile.
Vineet Nayar is chief executive officer of HCL Technologies, the India-based global information technology services company, and author of Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down (Harvard Business Press, June 2010). He hosts two blogs, one at Harvard Business Review, and the other at http://www.vineetnayar.com. He can be found on twitter at @vineetnayar.
Exercises to Change Your Body—and Your Life
By Rebecca Santiago
Oprah.com | February 05, 2013
Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist at the American Council on Exercise, breaks down the key moves you need to know to build muscle, prevent high blood pressure, and more.
You can do these moves on their own, or incorporate them into problem-solving fitness routines.
How to do them: Standing with your feet hip-distance apart, tighten up your core as if you were bracing for a punch to the gut. Then shift your weight into your heels and press your hips back, keeping your abdominal muscles tight. Bend your knees and slowly lower into a squat. Your knees should be in line with your second toe. Go as low as you feel comfortable going, and hold for a count of two. Straighten your legs to rise. Standing and lowering into the squat should take the same amount of time.
You're doing them wrong if... Your lower back feels strained. You should feel the burn in your thighs and butt.
How to do them: Start on your hands and knees with your hands directly under your shoulders and your bent knees behind your hips. Your arms should be straight. Bend your elbows, lowering your chest toward the floor. Make sure to keep your elbows fairly close to the sides of your body and keep your torso in a straight line from your knees to your head. Hold for a count of two and then return to your starting position by pushing up through the heels and outer portions of your palms.
You're doing them wrong if... You're not feeling the burn in your shoulders, arms, and chest. If it feels too easy, tuck your elbows in, check your hand placement, and make sure your knees are far back enough to make the move challenging.
How to do them: Sit on the edge of a chair, keeping your back straight and your feet directly below your knees. Take a dumbbell in each hand and hold them down by your sides. Your palms should be facing forward and your wrists should be in line with your forearms. Pull your shoulders down and back. Keeping your elbows in and your arms close to your sides, draw both weights up to your shoulders and hold for a count of two. Lower the weights and return your arms to your sides.
You're doing them wrong if... If your wrists feel pinched or strained. The main areas you should be feeling are your biceps and forearms.
Next: Shoulder presses, dumbbell rows, and more...
How to do them: Stand with feet hip-distance apart with a dumbbell in each hand. Curl the dumbbells up to shoulder level, with your elbows tight to your sides and your palms facing away from your body. Take a deep breath. As you exhale, push both arms up overhead and hold for a count of two. Breathing in, bend your elbows to return to your starting position.
You're doing them wrong if... You find your back arching with strain. You should be feeling your shoulders and arms working, not your back.
How to do them: Take a dumbbell in one hand. Assume a split stance with one leg slightly in front of the other. Keeping your back straight and abs tight, fold over at the hips. Rest your free hand on your back thigh for support, and bend into your front knee. Keeping your arms and elbows tight to your body, breathe out as you draw your elbows straight back toward the ceiling. Hold for two counts. Inhale and lower the weight without twisting your torso.
You're doing them wrong if... Your torso is rotating during the row or if your shoulders are scrunched up by your ears. You should feel your back muscles working.
How to do them: With dumbbells in each hand, lie down on a bench or the floor, with your knees bent and feet firmly grounded. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees, with your palms facing away from you, holding the dumbbells level with your chest and directly above the armpits. Breathe in. As you exhale, press your arms overhead until your elbows are straight. Hold for a count of two. Inhale and bend your elbows to return your arms to their starting position.
You're doing them wrong if... Your back is arching. Concentrate on keeping your back in contact with the ground so you feel the move in your shoulders, arms, and chest.
How to do them: Start with your feet together and step out to hip-distance, keeping your core tight. Take a small step out to the side, keeping your toes facing forward, and begin to shift weight into the leg you stepped out with. Your knee should be directly over your second toe. Push your hips back as you bend your knee and lower your thigh toward the ground. Hold for a count of two. Push off your heel to return to your starting position.
You're doing them wrong if... You're taking too big a step to the side. Keep it small enough that your knee stays over your toes. Expect to feel it in the butt, thigh, and calf.
More Exercise Advice
Printed from Oprah.com on Monday, March 25, 2013
© 2012 Harpo Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
When Britney Spears turned up at Elton John's Oscar party with noticeably darker hair, we all let out a collective "huh." No doubt Brit looked pretty great, but what did the dark hair mean? Was she trying to tell us something? We've seen the pop star act out with crazy hair moves before (pink wigs, shaved heads), and keep in mind, this was the first time we'd seen the singer since her recent breakup with former fiancée Jason Trawick.
It got us thinking ... and hypothesizing. Obviously, there can be many reasons why someone would reach for the dye -- wanting to cover greys, trying out a new trend and then there are actresses who regularly color their hair for roles -- but maybe there's something deeper going on. Could it be possible that breakups, divorce or other big life events would perhaps inspire a sudden change?
"There are those girls who almost rely on change, and it's very emotional," says Tracey Cunningham, Redken Creative Consultant for Color and co-owner of newly-opened Beverly Hills salon, Mèche. "When we sit down and say 'what's really going on,' it's always something, you know." But what, exactly, in Spears' case? Her choice of going brunette came as a shock to more than a few.
"It's more unusual that people go darker after a breakup," says Marie Robinson, celebrity colorist and owner of the eponymous NYC-based salon. "People mostly go redder or blonder, because they associate it as being sexy or sexier. Even if they necessarily shouldn't go blonder, they feel like they must, they might feel like they need this lightness around them. They feel like the dark color would be more of a dark cloud. I think it's unusual that she went darker, but she's also stunning."
According to these colorists, it seems people tend to go lighter after breakups, but perhaps Spears' reasoning wasn't so much about drawing attention to herself or even freakout-driven. Another very public pop star, Nicki Minaj, is allegedly ditching her entire style team, including her long-standing hairdresser, in an attempt to be taken more seriously. Possibly, Spears was also focused on building more credibility. Robinson agrees, drawing non-celebrity parallels with going darker: "There are women, I find, who are in fields like psychology or psychiatry, and they often will be more conservative with their color. Most of them will err on the darker side, and I think it's because they want to be reserved, unassuming, not have anything about them seem distracting, so that the total focus is on the person who's in their chair."
While we don't see Spears completely shying away from the spotlight, it is easy to assume that hair color shifts are reactionary. Yet could it also be an impetus for creating real adjustments in your life? "I've noticed that people have changed their color before they make a big change in their life," says Robinson. "Like, 'I'm thinking of breaking up with my boyfriend, but I'm not really sure.' It's almost like they look for an excuse to do something to themselves to start a conversation. There's definitely a thing that happens with divorcees where they really do sex it up a bit, but it's not just about meeting other people, I think it has to do with a sense of freedom because they've dedicated so much of their time to being in a family environment, but now their children are older and now they don't have to dote over someone else. They have time for themselves."
Cunningham echoes that feeling, noting that "hair color does change a lot for you, people see differently. Sometimes people grow into their looks and into their confidence. And listen, there's nothing wrong with wanting to find the best you."
Maybe Spears is finally putting her troubled, umbrella-wielding past behind her, which (mostly) involved her signature blonde hair. Her colorist, Brittany Hunter, told Us Weekly that she thinks the star "will stick with [the color]," but Cunningham isn't so sure. "Britney Spears, to me, has been looking so good. The show she did was so great. She kind of seems like she's on top of the world. But we know Britney Spears will go back to blonde, don't we? She's beautiful with brown ... but she is a blonde. That's just how we all see her." With Spears' track record, she's got a point.
Why You're Not A Leader
Article by Mike Myatt in the magazine Forbes.com
Everybody thinks they’re a leader – most are far from it. The harsh reality is that we live in a world awash with wannabe leaders. As much as some don’t want to admit it, not everyone can or should become a leader. Simply desiring to be a leader doesn’t mean a person has the character, skill, and courage necessary to be a leader.
If you think you’re a leader, but haven’t been recognized as such, you have a problem. Either you’re incorrect in your self-assessment, or those you report to don’t recognize your talent. Here’s the good news; handled correctly, either scenario can be resolved if you’re willing to do some work.
I’m often asked what it takes to get to the top – it’s as if people want an add water and mix recipe for leadership. While there are many paths to leadership, they’re certainly not all created equal. Perhaps a more telling issue in today’s world is many of those desiring to get ahead, have no desire to help others get ahead.
I never cease to be amazed at the numbers of people in leadership positions that shouldn’t be. Likewise, I’ve stopped being surprised when those charged with leadership development can’t seem to figure out what constitutes a leader. It’s my hope the following list will eliminate the confusion about why someone isn’t a leader. You’re not a leader if…
1. You don’t get results: Real leaders perform – they get the job done – they consistently exceed expectations. No results = no leadership – it’s just that simple.
2. You get results the wrong way: If the only way you can solve the deficit described in point #1 above is through chicanery or skullduggery you’re not a leader. The ends don’t justify the means. If you abuse your influence, don’t treat people well, or confuse manipulation with leadership, you may win a few battles, but you’ll lose the war. Optics over ethics never ends well, and being a jerk doesn’t make you a leader.
3. You don’t care: Indifference is a characteristic not well suited to leadership. You simply cannot be a leader if you don’t care about those you lead. The real test of any leader is whether or not those they lead are better off for being led by them.
4. You’re chasing a position and not a higher purpose: If you value self-interest above service beyond self you simply don’t understand the concept of leadership. Leadership is about caring about something beyond yourself, and leading others to a better place – even if it means you take a back seat, or end up with no seat at all. Power often comes with leadership, but it’s not what drives real leaders.
5. You care more about making promises than keeping them: Leadership isn’t about your rhetoric; it’s about your actions. Leadership might begin with vision casting, but it’s delivering the vision that will ultimately determine your success as a leader.
6. You put people in boxes: Stop telling people why they can’t do something and show them how they can. Leaders don’t put people in boxes, it’s their obligation to free them from boxes. True leadership is about helping people reach places they didn’t know they could go.
7. You follow the rules instead of breaking them: Status quo is the great enemy of leadership. Leadership is nothing if not understanding the need for change, and then possessing the ability to deliver it.
8. You churn talent instead of retain it: Real leadership serves as a talent magnet – not a talent repellent. If you can’t acquire talent, can’t develop talent, or can’t retain talent you are not a leader.
9. You take credit instead of giving it: True leadership isn’t found seeking the spotlight, but seeking to shine the spotlight on others. The best leaders only use “I” when accepting responsibility for failures. Likewise, they are quick to use “we” when referring to successes.
10. You care about process more than people: But for the people there is no platform. Without the people you have nothing to lead. When you place things above the people you lead you have failed as a leader.
The Most Successful Leaders Do 15 Things Automatically, Every Day
Leadership is learned behavior that becomes unconscious and automatic over time. For example, leaders can make several important decisions about an issue in the time it takes others to understand the question. Many people wonder how leaders know how to make the best decisions, often under immense pressure. The process of making these decisions comes from an accumulation of experiences and encounters with a multitude of difference circumstances, personality types and unforeseen failures. More so, the decision making process is an acute understanding of being familiar with the cause and effect of behavioral and circumstantial patterns; knowing the intelligence and interconnection points of the variables involved in these patterns allows a leader to confidently make decisions and project the probability of their desired outcomes. The most successful leaders are instinctual decision makers. Having done it so many times throughout their careers, they become immune to the pressure associated with decision making and extremely intuitive about the process of making the most strategic and best decisions. This is why most senior executives will tell you they depend strongly upon their “gut-feel” when making difficult decisions at a moment’s notice.
Beyond decision making, successful leadership across all areas becomes learned and instinctual over a period of time. Successful leaders have learned the mastery of anticipating business patterns, finding opportunities in pressure situations, serving the people they lead and overcoming hardships. No wonder the best CEOs are paid so much money. In 2011, salaries for the 200 top-paid CEOs rose 5 percent to a median $14.5 million per year, according to a study by compensation-data company Equilar for The New York Times.
1. Make Others Feel Safe to Speak-Up
Many times leaders intimidate their colleagues with their title and power when they walk into a room. Successful leaders deflect attention away from themselves and encourage others to voice their opinions. They are experts at making others feel safe to speak-up and confidently share their perspectives and points of view. They use their executive presence to create an approachable environment.
2. Make Decisions
Successful leaders are expert decision makers. They either facilitate the dialogue to empower their colleagues to reach a strategic conclusion or they do it themselves. They focus on “making things happen” at all times – decision making activities that sustain progress. Successful leaders have mastered the art of politicking and thus don’t waste their time on issues that disrupt momentum. They know how to make 30 decisions in 30 minutes.
3. Communicate Expectations
Successful leaders are great communicators, and this is especially true when it comes to “performance expectations.” In doing so, they remind their colleagues of the organization’s core values and mission statement – ensuring that their vision is properly translated and actionable objectives are properly executed.
I had a boss that managed the team by reminding us of the expectations that she had of the group. She made it easy for the team to stay focused and on track. The protocol she implemented – by clearly communicating expectations – increased performance and helped to identify those on the team that could not keep up with the standards she expected from us.
4. Challenge People to Think
The most successful leaders understand their colleagues’ mindsets, capabilities and areas for improvement. They use this knowledge/insight to challenge their teams to think and stretch them to reach for more. These types of leaders excel in keeping their people on their toes, never allowing them to get comfortable and enabling them with the tools to grow.
If you are not thinking, you’re not learning new things. If you’re not learning, you’re not growing – and over time becoming irrelevant in your work.
5. Be Accountable to Others
Successful leaders allow their colleagues to manage them. This doesn’t mean they are allowing others to control them – but rather becoming accountable to assure they are being proactive to their colleagues needs.
Beyond just mentoring and sponsoring selected employees, being accountable to others is a sign that your leader is focused more on your success than just their own.
6. Lead by Example
Leading by example sounds easy, but few leaders are consistent with this one. Successful leaders practice what they preach and are mindful of their actions. They know everyone is watching them and therefore are incredibly intuitive about detecting those who are observing their every move, waiting to detect a performance shortfall.
7. Measure & Reward Performance
Great leaders always have a strong “pulse” on business performance and those people who are the performance champions. Not only do they review the numbers and measure performance ROI, they are active in acknowledging hard work and efforts (no matter the result). Successful leaders never take consistent performers for granted and are mindful of rewarding them.
8. Provide Continuous Feedback
Employees want their leaders to know that they are paying attention to them and they appreciate any insights along the way. Successful leaders always provide feedback and they welcome reciprocal feedback by creating trustworthy relationships with their colleagues.. They understand the power of perspective and have learned the importance of feedback early on in their career as it has served them to enable workplace advancement.
9. Properly Allocate and Deploy Talent
Successful leaders know their talent pool and how to use it. They are experts at activating the capabilities of their colleagues and knowing when to deploy their unique skill sets given the circumstances at hand.
10. Ask Questions, Seek Counsel
Successful leaders ask questions and seek counsel all the time. From the outside, they appear to know-it-all – yet on the inside, they have a deep thirst for knowledge and constantly are on the look-out to learn new things because of their commitment to making themselves better through the wisdom of others.
11. Problem Solve; Avoid Procrastination
Successful leaders tackle issues head-on and know how to discover the heart of the matter at hand. They don’t procrastinate and thus become incredibly proficient at problem solving; they learn from and don’t avoid uncomfortable circumstances (they welcome them).
Getting ahead in life is about doing the things that most people don’t like doing.
12. Positive Energy & Attitude
Successful leaders create a positive and inspiring workplace culture. They know how to set the tone and bring an attitude that motivates their colleagues to take action. As such, they are likeable, respected and strong willed. They don’t allow failures to disrupt momentum.
13. Be a Great Teacher
Many employees in the workplace will tell you that their leaders have stopped being teachers. Successful leaders never stop teaching because they are so self-motivated to learn themselves. They use teaching to keep their colleagues well-informed and knowledgeable through statistics, trends, and other newsworthy items.
Successful leaders take the time to mentor their colleagues and make the investment to sponsor those who have proven they are able and eager to advance.
14. Invest in Relationships
Successful leaders don’t focus on protecting their domain – instead they expand it by investing in mutually beneficial relationships. Successful leaders associate themselves with “lifters and other leaders” – the types of people that can broaden their sphere of influence. Not only for their own advancement, but that of others.
Leaders share the harvest of their success to help build momentum for those around them.
15. Genuinely Enjoy Responsibilities
Successful leaders love being leaders – not for the sake of power but for the meaningful and purposeful impact they can create. When you have reached a senior level of leadership – it’s about your ability to serve others and this can’t be accomplished unless you genuinely enjoy what you do.
In the end, successful leaders are able to sustain their success because these 15 things ultimately allow them to increase the value of their organization’s brand – while at the same time minimize the operating risk profile. They serve as the enablers of talent, culture and results.
Forget Oscar. Do you display signs of being a narcissist? Check this list out.
http://www.businessinsider.com/20-traits-of-a-narcissist-2013-2?op=1
Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius, who allegedly murdered his girlfriend model Reeva Steenkamp, has shown signs of having narcissistic personality disorder, experts say.
The Star reported that Pistorious's interest in guns also indicates his aggressive tendencies. Criminologist Anna van der Hoven said that a combination of factors could have resulted in the violent crime. Van Der Hoven feels that something must have triggered Pistorius to shoot Steenkamp.
"Abusive men suffer from pathological jealousy of their partners," said Van der Hoven. "I haven't diagnosed him but he also shows signs of someone with a narcissistic personality disorder.
Data and analytics helps de-risk what you’re doing. Data and analytics is the binding glue of intellectual honesty and realism that tempers your conviction (so you don’t blindly fall off a cliff) and helps you march (or dance) your way towards your big vision. Data and analytics can even help with timing and luck. The more you use analytics to measure your progress, the luckier you’ll get.
Read more: http://blog.clarity.fm/unlocking-product-market-fit-from-the-author-of-lean-analytics/#ixzz2Kt2QvJqS
9 Ways to Be a Great Team Member
I recently shared a tweet about ways to be a great team member and was surprised to see that it was my most retweeted tweet ever. It occurred to me that deep down inside we all know we can't do it alone. We know that Super Bowls are not won by individuals. They are won by a collection of individuals who make a great team. It's the same with work and life. We are better together when we are surrounded by great team members. In this spirit I want to share 9 ways to be a great team member.
1. Set the Example - Instead of worrying about the lack of performance, productivity and commitment of others you simply decide to set the example and show your team members what hard work, passion and commitment looks like. Focus on being your best every day. When you do this you’ll raise the standards and performance of everyone around you.
2. Use Your Strengths to Help the Team - The most powerful way you can contribute to your team is to use your gifts and talents to contribute to the team's vision and goals. Without your effort, focus, talent and growth the team won't accomplish its mission. This means you have an obligation to improve so you can improve your team. You are meant to develop your strengths to make a stronger team. Be selfish by developing you and unselfish by making sure your strengths serve the team.
3. Share Positive Contagious Energy - Research shows emotions are contagious and each day you are infecting your team with either positive energy or negative energy. You can be a germ or a big dose a Vitamin C. When you share positive energy you infectiously enhance the mood, morale and performance of your team. Remember, negativity is toxic. Energy Vampires sabotage teams and complaining is like vomiting. Afterwards you feel better but everyone around you feels sick.
4. Know and Live the Magic Ratio - High performing teams have more positive interactions than negative interactions. 3:1 is the ratio to remember. Teams that experience interactions at a ratio equal or greater than 3:1 are more productive and higher performing than those with a ratio of less than 3:1. Teams that have a ratio of 2:1, 1:1 or more negative interactions than positive interactions become stagnant and unproductive. This means you can be a great team member by being a 3 to 1’er. Create more positive interactions. Praise more. Encourage more. Appreciate more. Smile more. High-five more. Recognize more. Energize more. Read more about this at www.FeedthePositiveDog.com
5. Put the Team First - Great team players always put the team first. They work hard for the team. They develop themselves for the team. They serve the team. Their motto is whatever it takes to make the team better. They don’t take credit. They give credit to the team. To be a great team member your ego must be subservient to the mission and purpose of the team. It’s a challenge to keep our ego in check. It’s something most of us struggle with because we have our own goals and desires. But if we monitor our ego and put the team first we’ll make the team better and our servant approach will make us better.
6. Build Relationships - Relationships are the foundation upon which winning teams are built and great team members take the time to connect, communicate and care to build strong bonds and relationships with all their team members. You can be the smartest person in the room but if you don’t connect with others you will fail as a team member.It’s important to take the time to get to know your team members. Listen to them. Eat with them. Learn about them. Know what inspires them and show them you care about them.
7. Trust and Be Trusted - You can’t have a strong team without strong relationships. And you can’t have strong relationships without trust. Great team members trust their teammates and most of all their team members trust them. Trust is earned through integrity, consistency, honesty, transparency, vulnerability and dependability. If you can’t be trusted you can’t be a great team member. Trust is everything.
8. Hold Them Accountable - Sometimes our team members fall short of the team's expectations. Sometimes they make mistakes. Sometimes they need a little tough love. Great team members hold each other accountable. They push, challenge and stretch each other to be their best. Don’t be afraid to hold your team members accountable. But remember to be effective you must built trust and a relationship with your team members. If they know you care about them, they will allow you to challenge them and hold them accountable. Tough love works when love comes first. Love tough.
9. Be Humble - Great team members are humble. They are willing to learn, improve and get better. They are open to their team member's feedback and suggestions and don’t let their ego get in the way of their growth or the team’s growth. I learned the power of being humble in my marriage. My wife had some criticism for me one day and instead of being defensive and prideful, I simply said, "Make me better. I'm open. Tell me how I can improve." Saying this diffused the tension and the conversation was a game changer. If we're not humble we won’t allow ourselves to be held accountable. We won’t grow. We won’t build strong relationships and we won’t put the team first. There’s tremendous power in humility that makes us and our team better.
BUSINESS IS A GAME
Everything I know about business I learned from poker:
Financials, strategy, education, and culture.
FINANCIALS
• The guy who wins the most hands is not the guy who
makes the most money in the long run.
•The guy who never loses a hand is not the guy who makes
the most money in the long run.
• Go for positive expected value, not what’s least risky.
• You will win or lose individual hands, but it’s what
happens in the long term that matters.
STRATEGY
• Learn to adapt. Adjust your style of play as the dynamics
of the game change.
• The players with the most stamina and focus usually win.
• Hope is not a good plan.
• Stick to your principles.
EDUCATION
• Never stop learning. Read books. Learn from others who
have done it before.
• Learn by doing. Theory is nice, but nothing replaces
actual experience.
• Just because you win a hand doesn’t mean you’re good
and you don’t have more learning to do. You might have
just gotten lucky.
CULTURE
• To become really good, you need to live it, breathe it, and
sleep it.
• Be nice and make friends. It’s a small community.
• Have fun. The game is a lot more enjoyable when you’re
trying to do more than just make money.
Tony Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos.com and the author of the soon to-
be-published book Delivering Happiness.
