Dive Right In 101

Value your own work and don’t scrimp, says Barry J. Farber in Dive Right In 101 Powerful Action Steps for Personal Achievement: “I've heard many people stand up proudly after a job well done and say, I worked hard to get this done. I've never heard anyone stand up proudly and say, I cut corners to get here.
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The Dysfunctional Workplace

Peter Morris, author of The Dysfunctional Workplace (Adams) suggests that criticism may be cathartic but there is a price: “Few things spoil a work environment more than belittling or minimizing other people’s contributions.”
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Lord help me, I'm just not that bright.

Homer Simpson

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Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office

In Nice Guys Can Get the Corner Office by Russ C. Edelman, Timothy R. Hiltabiddle and Charles C. Manz (Portfolio): "Allow critical comments to bounce off you by wearing 'armor' that protects you and your self-esteem from your work that is being evaluated and criticized. Take emotions out of the equation... make sure your brain is in gear before engaging your mouth."
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Ways to Work Less, Play More, and Earn More

Matt Weinstein and Luke Barber in Work Like Your Dog Fifty Ways to Work Less, Play More, and Earn More (Villard; $22.95) detail a similar trait of successful companies. They “hire, reward and promote individuals who bring a sense of play to their work. At McGuffey's Restaurants, employees evaluate how much fun a manager is to work with, which can affect 20 percent of the manager's raise."
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Women sometimes need to let go and admit an abiding reality, says Mary Lou Quinlan, founder of Just Ask A Women and author of Time Off For Good Behavior (Broadway Books): "Executive type women say, hey, we can do it all. They don’t say we can’t because it diminishes us in front of our bosses, in front of men."


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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

A man grows most tired when standing still.
Chinese proverb
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Executive Warfare

David F. D’Alessandro, author of Executive Warfare McGraw Hill; 2008), advises executives to hire people who have traits that are different from their own: “If you insist on building an army of clones – and reject any candidate who doesn’t fit the type – just understand that you are broadcasting your weaknesses.”
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Promises

Everyone's a millionaire where promises are concerned. Ovid....Oh, and happy birthday to Pot of Gold creator John Eckberg.


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Turf Wars

Teams are important but nearly as important as the culture of teamwork, says Harvey Robbins, a business psychologist and author of Turf Wars: Moving from Competition to Collaboration (NW Publishing): "A big problem for teams is people don’t believe what they are being told. Goals are undermined by a culture that exists and by company behavior."
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Better compensation and benefits

The obvious solution to productivity may be simplest: Companies that need more and better qualified workers … employees who will hang around for 10 years … have figured out that the best way to an employee's heart is through his wallet. One major accounting firm's annual survey found that six of 10 small businesses agreed: better compensation and benefits was the best way to motivate workers.

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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be fish.
Ovid

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Business atire

About one of three executives yearn for the good old days of more formal business dress, according to Management Recruiters International Inc. Those executives think workplace clothing, particularly on business casual day, has gotten too sloppy. The most conservative industries? Real estate and financial services.

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Executive Warfare

David F. D’Alessandro, author of Executive Warfare (McGraw Hill; 2008) suggests a smart way to find smart applicants: “Humor is a sign of intelligence…I never, ever hired someone who was mirthless. I may have hired a few who were worthless, but never mirthless.”
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Homer Simpson

Mr. Scorpio says productivity is up 2%, and it's all because of my motivational techniques, like donuts and the possibility of more donuts to come.
Homer Simpson
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The Lorax

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
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Great organizations need only focus inward

A poll from Gallup found at least one constant worldwide for companies. Only 20% of employees at big firms think their strengths are in play every day. The higher up the career ladder, the less likely the worker agrees his strengths are being used. "Great organizations need only focus inward to find the wealth of unrealized capacity that resides in every single employee,'' Gallup determined.


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Make It Glow

While the standard for quality is not always a conscious choice on the part of a company's leadership team, it should be, writes Tom DeCotiis in Make It Glow (Greenleaf Book Group Press): "A leadership team that has made a conscious effort to arrive at what quality means within the company's customer experience is far less likely to compromise it when challenged by business circumstances."
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Forever is composed of nows.
Emily Dickinson, American poet
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The Dysfunctional Workplace

The office mantra “Don’t give me praises; give me raises,” resonates with Peter Morris, author of The Dysfunctional Workplace (Adams; 2008): “It’s only half true,” writes Morris. “People need praise, too. Don’t you feel like a million dollars when someone sincerely compliments your work? Wouldn’t you like to give that feeling to others?”
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Salaries and raises

Blond workers receive the smallest raises and pay checks, according to the Reykjavik Commercial Workers Union, which based its findings on it 3,400-person survey in February 2001. The study also found salaries are not influenced by whether people smiled on the job. So forget about being cheerful at work because bosses don't care, and any overt sign of happiness, particularly if you are blond, could work against you.

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Get that Raise

Jason R. Rich suggests in Get that Raise (Entrepreneur Press) that if your employer asks about your desired salary, that means there's room to negotiate: “Sometimes employers have predefined compensation packages that go with job titles. Look for clues from your employers that indicate they're open to negotiate. But know when it's time to stop - an extra $50 a week, for example, isn't worth jeopardizing the entire negotiation."
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Dogbert

Give verbal instructions, not written, whenever you think you might want to deny that you were involved in a decision.
Dogbert from cartoonist Scott Adams
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How to Succeed in the High-Risk Restaurant Business

Stay with new employees until they get it, says Bill Wentz in How to Succeed in the High-Risk Restaurant Business by Someone Who Did (Atlantic Publishing; 2008): "Trying to correct performance errors later on is time consuming and expensive, and the worse scenario is losing a potentially super employee because of management neglect. Spend time where it counts"
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Caddyshack

So we finish the 18th and he's going to stiff me. So I say, Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort? And he says, Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.
Carl Spackler from Caddyshack
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Company missions

Want employees to feel that their jobs are important? The Gallup Organization surveyed 1 million people and found that when companies have missions, workers respond and believe that their jobs are vital.


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Guerrilla P.R.

In the re-release of Guerrilla P.R. (Collins), the bible of public relations, author Michael Levine offers a strategy for publicity that starts with three words: "Uniqueness. Singularity. Distinction. These words must form your Guerrilla P.R. mantra. What's different about your nightclub act? Why should I buy your doughnuts? What are you offering that people want? This is not meant to antagonize. Self-examination should invigorate."
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Bertrand Russell

One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important. - Bertrand Russell, philosopher

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How the Wise Decide

Fill a room with barbarians, say Bryn Zeckhauser and Aaron Sandoski in How the Wise Decide (Crown Business), a culture of candor: "Participants accept and embrace the highly charged atmosphere of the room. Everyone is expected to come prepared and to have an opinion." Bosses, too, must be prepared for a critique: "Truth is the goal, and when the decision finally emerges, everyone is expected to sign on to support it."
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The One Who Is Not Busy

Are you hurrying through too many days, asks Darlene Cohen, author of The One Who Is Not Busy (Gibbs-Smith). Focus on your breathing at least three times while listening to another speak or while you are talking. Try it on the telephone, too: “Just notice that you are breathing while giving attention to what another person is saying. Your breath gives you the distance you need to participate from interest rather than conditioning.”
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John Wooden

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
UCLA basketball coaching great John Wooden
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