Crossing the Unknown Sea

In Crossing the Unknown Sea (Riverhead/Berkley), author David Whyte considers how fortunate we are to live and work in the 21st Century: “We are immensely privileged even to inquire about the meaning of work. Our ancestors pined for good work as they would for a lover, and remained unrequited. Whatever our inheritance of work in this life, we are only the apex of innumerable lives of endeavor and sacrifice.”
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Conquering Chaos at Work

Be crafty when dealing with deadline deadbeats. From Conquering Chaos at Work by Harriet Schechter (Fireside; $12) "Your best bet is to give them a false deadline with plenty of hidden padding -- and never, ever let them know the real deadline. Practice your acting skills so that when the time comes to act surprised, disappointed and upset, you'll be able to put on a convincing performance."
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are.
Ovid

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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Keep a perspective on the reality of your performance. From What Smart People Do When Dumb Things Happen At Work by Charles E. Watson (Career Press; $15.99): "The next time you contemplate an important action, don't ask yourself "Will it be praised?' Instead, ask "Should it be praised?' No amount of favorable responses to the former can justify a negative answer to the latter."
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Dr. Seuss

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
Dr. Seuss
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Work is not what it used to be. Neither is play. From The Working Life by Joanne B. Ciulla (Times Business; $25): "Economist Juliet Schor shows how work has increased over the past 20 years as vacation time shrinks. The average employed person in America worked 163 hours more in 1987 than in 1969. Women average 305 more hours of work than in 1969. Free time fell 40% since 1973 from 26 hours a week to under 17 hours."
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

From the movie Blade Runner by Ridley Scott as Batty is dying, he talks about the nature of experience: "I've seen things...seen things you little people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion bright as magnesium...I rode on the back decks of a blinker and watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments...they'll be gone...like tears in rain."

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Call Waiting

Careful with the hold button. From Bringing Home the Business by Kim T. Gordon (Perigee; $13.95): "Never use Call Waiting on a business line -- it flies in the face of your efforts to put your customers first."
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Don’t write a speech, memorize it and tell jokes. Do not be a joke teller, says Jessica Selasky, speech instructor and sales force advisor: “What you should do is be natural, be prepared and be enthusiastic. If you say big, your hands go to big.”
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

How do you define tasks at your company? The Working Life by Joanne B. Ciulla (Times; $25) "While labor implies exertion, toil denotes continuous and exhausting labor and drudgery refers to work that we dislike. Compared to words like labor and toil, the word job sounds almost cheerful."
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Public speaking

You must give a speech. You could not avoid it. But what to do about the clanging of plates and food being served? Ignore it, says public speaking specialist Jessica Selasky: “You have to let people eat. But make your presentation a little more light-hearted. Use a little more humor - more stories. Acknowledge that people are eating but do not be afraid
of it.”

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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

From Coaching Illustrated by Mark David (the Mark David Corp.): "Create a culture of No Fear. . . . No Fear means having the freedom to bring forth ideas and honesty in a world of structure and discipline. This will open the door to creativity and innovation."
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Harley-Davidson

Go after a target market of potential employees like Harley-Davidson, which has a university for its franchisees. Know what you want, where to look and go get them, is the motto. Trade schools are sources for Harley-Davidson because people with highly developed interpersonal skills do not need to have a rote learning background.
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The Diamond Cutter

To learn about character, ask would-be employees about their leisure time. From The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life by Geshe Michael Roach (Doubleday;$21.95): "The most important question you can ask a person was what they did with their free time. The people who devote any serious time to serving others in their free time are the most stable and creative employees of all."
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The Success Effect

In The Success Effect (S&R) by John Eckberg, NBA rebounding great Tyrone Hill talks about wins and losses in business and the court: "Rebounding is about desire. It's having a passion. Every good shooter, every shot, he thinks he's going to make it. But every great rebounder sees it another way. Every shot is a missed shot. Rebounding has to be something that comes from within. You have to have heart

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Employer of Choice

Teamwork needs space. From How to Become an Employer of Choice by Roger E. Herman and Joyce L. Gioia (Oakhill Press; $30): "Provide informal meeting places where collaborators can sit and talk a traditional meeting room with a table and chairs or a grouping of stuffed chairs, sofas and throw pillows."
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Excess inventory

Joey Kushman, 10, learned about business by selling golf balls from a bucket at a golf course: Don’t wait for customers because they don't materialize when you do that. Don't put out a lot of golf balls - excess inventory. It tempts customers to adjust price: “Teenagers don't pay when you put out too many.” Limited supply - limited temptation. His sweet niche? Customer and supplier are one and the same.
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Choose wisely the person to respond to reporters, advises Hirschfeld Carlson in Total Exposure (AMACOM), particularly when your company is facing a crisis. Never simply respond to questions. Instead, shape the dialogue: “If your company is under fire, it is important to have someone state your case." Don’t delegate, either: “When an influential publication calls, it's the chief executive who should answer."
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In From Here to There

In From Here to There: a Self-Paced Program for Transition in Employment author Lawrence A. Stuenkel suggests men usually make a mistake when shaking hands with women - too firm or too weak. Stuenkel applies thumb pressure. “The handshake is the only physical act that is accepted and expected in business. That physical impression goes with a mental impression. A handshake is always linked to first impression.''

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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Trying is the first step towards failure.
Homer Simpson
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Golf

Most executives strive to create one-on-one relationships and do it quickly, contends Pat Summerall, James A. McNulty, John Creighton and Will D. Rhame in Business Golf (Career Press). Few activities compare to golf: "What makes golf such a good tool? Name any other sport where you spend hours with your playing partner in a non-threatening manner - the atmosphere is fun, calming and beautiful. Golf has no peer."
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Appealing to women

When retiree Arthur Neuman could not find anybody to make routine condo repairs, Neuman knew it was time to start another business. He found, screened and hired independent craftsmen and then kicked his approach into franchise mode: eventually 92 across the nation and $30 million in annual revenues with in a decade. Key to growth? Appealing to women: “Close to 95 percent of our jobs were initiated by women.”
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Never Wrestle with a Pig

Inject info about your character into your resume, says Mark H. McCormack, author of Never Wrestle with a Pig (Penguin): “If I wanted an employer to know I saved my best friend from drowning, I’d list that friend as a reference. If I wanted an employer to know of my voluntarism at the soup kitchen, I’d list the kitchen’s director. There’s nothing sly about this, not if it helps worthy people shine a light on their true achievements.”

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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Mark Balasa, the director of sales and marketing for Glier's Meats, Covington, Ky., has a mantra: “Different is always better than same-old-same-old.” But in a world of promotional sameness, how can a company differentiate itself? "Reconnect to your community,'' Balasa says. Goetta, an oat/pork breakfast dish, became the Glier ticket when it launched an annual Goettafest more than a decade ago. Goetta ice cream anyone?
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The Inner Game of Work

In most companies, performance, learning and enjoyment are “three sides of the work triangle,” suggests W. Timothy Gallwey in The Inner Game of Work (Random House): "When any are ignored, performance will suffer. When it does, management feels threatened and pushes harder for performance. Learning and enjoyment diminish further. A cycle ensues that prevents performance from reaching its potential."
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Kenneth W. Lowe wanted to create his 24-hour network on the home for the E.W. Scripps Co. and wanted to do it while Scripps’s bosses were losing nearly $1 million a month in a brutal newspaper war in Denver. A reluctant board agreed. Payback for this network gamble? Within a decade of the launch of HGTV and Scripps Networks: $2 billion in revenues, $700 million in profit
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Why Men Earn More

Stress is not necessarily a bad thing, says Warren Farrell in Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap – And What Women Can Do About It (AMACOM) as long as it is eustress - not distress. When stress is self-affirming, health benefits result: “If your career makes you proud of yourself and excites you after hours, chances are it is creating eustress – and eustress strengthens the immune system.”
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

JTM Food Group grew from a family-owned meat market to a food company with $120 million in revenues within a generation. Roots? Founder Jack Maas had seven kids to feed. He had to buy out his brother. He mortgaged his house three times and with nothing to hang his hat on, really, but will and desire - the hope that everybody could pull it off. Every spare dime went back into a new machine, freezer or production line
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

A good listener is a good networker. And in Networking Magic (Adams Media) authors Rick Frishman and Jill Lublin point out a side benefit that accrues to good listeners: “Ironically, when you listen, people will think that you are interesting. They will be flattered because you gave them your attention and showed interest in them. They will consider you a wonderful conversationalist simply for listening to them.”
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How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci

Author Michael J. Gelb offers a mantra for success in his classic book of lifestyle and business management advice, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci (Dell). Copy and tape this one to your morning mirror: "I am comfortable with ambiguity. I am attuned to the rhythms of my intuition. I thrive with change. I see the humor in life every day. I have a tendency to jump to conclusions. I trust my gut."
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