The attitude

Caliper, a Princeton, N.J.-based management-consulting company, studied 60 women leaders from some of the top companies in the United Kingdom and the United States and compared the results with findings about men. Caliper found at least one common thread: "Every one of these leaders love what they are doing. They wouldn't retire because they have the attitude - what could they do that would be more fun?"
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Time Off For Good Behavior

Women executives don't blame men for lives that are too full with duties at home and at work, says Mary Lou Quinlan, founder of Just Ask A Women and author of Time Off For Good Behavior (Broadway Books): "Women wish companies, as opposed to men, were better at recognizing their needs for creating a life that is rich in both family and professional satisfaction."

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Life really is all about love and work

One element about performance is clear, according to Caliper a Princeton, N.J.-based management-consulting firm: "Nobody can be at the top of their game unless they love what their doing. Freud put it simply. Life really is all about love and work.
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Women and motivation to achieve

Caliper, a Princeton, N.J.-based management-consulting company with a worldwide roster of corporate clients, interviewed 60 women leaders from top companies in the United Kingdom and the United States and compared the results with findings about men. Caliper found womenl respond to setbacks by shaking it off. What's more? Women then have far more motivation to achieve.

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People hate hypocrites

Before the American Revolution, the great propagandist Samuel Adams took aim at England's reputation for being fair-minded and civilized, says Robert Greene in The 33 Strategies of War (Viking): “Adams had to resort to exaggeration, emphasizing cases in which the English were heavy-handed. Revealing your opponent's hypocrisies is perhaps the most lethal offensive weapon in the moral arsenal. People hate hypocrites."
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Does nostalgia sell?

Does nostalgia sell? You bet it does. A 1930s-era former milk truck found in a junk yard behind the Resenberger Dairy in Hatfield, Pa., was restored and became a symbol for Homemade Brand Ice Cream and boosted sales one summer on a tour that reached from Pittsburgh and Detroit to Indianapolis to Lexington. Bought for $3,000, the truck was dubbed “The Little Dipper” and anchored advertising through the summer.
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Women are their own toughest critics

Women are their own toughest critics, says Mary Lou Quinlan, founder of Just Ask A Women and author of Time Off For Good Behavior (Broadway Books): "We never let ourselves off the hook. That internal pressure is the greatest one of all."
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Maturing and wealthier consumers will fuel robust growth for the food-service industry, with revenues projected to surpass those of food retail revenues in 2010 for the first time. Food service encompasses all providers of prepared meals, while retail includes supermarket and other retail outlets, according to Foodservice 2010: America's Appetite Matures by McKinsey & Co., New York City.

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Women vs. Men

Women leaders have an edge over male leaders who have similar jobs and stature, according to Caliper a Princeton, N.J.-based management-consulting firm. On attributes like mental strength, assertiveness, persuasiveness, empathy and risk? Women came away stronger than men in the Caliper study.
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Weirdos in the Workplace

Talented individuals not only march to a different drummer, they have a percussion section tagging along, insists John Putzier, author of Weirdos in the Workplace (Financial Times-Prentice Hall): “They do not look in the mirror and ask themselves, ‘How do others see me?’ They don’t care! It rarely enters their mind. They succeed both in spite of and because of their low self-monitoring behavior.”
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Public speaking

Public speaking is terrifying but that fear can be overcome, according to Jessica Selasky and her mother Dorothy Lynn in the book Your Public Speaking Workout: "Visualize yourself enjoying the moment. We don't want to teach people how to speak in public. We want to teach people how to speak in public and how to enjoy it and be present in the moment. That's our goal."

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Your Public Speaking Workout

Note cards for speech? Yes, say Jessica Selasky and her mother Dorothy Lynn in the book Your Public Speaking Workout: "You know what you're going to say so we suggest picking out key ideas that you want to get across. Write words on note cards, say, for instance, the word planning. Well, you know what you're going to say about planning so you don't have to write down everything you're going to say."


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Your Public Speaking Workout

Even difficult audiences want speakers to succeed, say Jessica Selasky and her mother Dorothy Lynn in Your Public Speaking Workout: "Audiences will give you a certain amount of time at the beginning of the speech to let you succeed." But if you're still acting nervous after, say, two minutes? "That's when they'll turn on you."

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Let me tell you a story

If you are giving a presentation and you see that the audience's attention is flagging, try this trick. Pause and say "Let me tell you a story," suggests Jessica Selasky and her mother, Dorothy Lynn in their book Your Public Speaking Workout. "You'll get the audience's complete attention because everybody likes a story."

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Q-12 Advantage

A top priority for the Gallup Organization's Q-12 Advantage is at least once a week, given recognition and praise for doing good work.


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Image

Companies that let their buildings get dowdy with litter, weeds in curbs, smudged windows and crummy paint are taking a big risk, said Brad Saltz, former CFO for Houston's restaurants: "Image is one of the most important things you have - maybe the most important thing. What you are communicating is that you are not going to make the small but important kinds of improvements to enhance customers' experience.''

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Execution and details

"Contrary to popular opinion, I think success is not based on concept,'' says Brad Saltz, former chief financial officer for Houston's, a chain of 45 restaurants once based in Phoenix that posted $200 million in annual revenues. "It's based on execution - on carrying through with the highest standards and paying attention to details.''

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Succession

Succession is always fraught with emotion and should never be a hasty process. "The son or daughter needs to realize that by digging in their heels and prematurely trying to exclude a founder, the chance of keeping a profitable company goes down the drain," says Kelin Gersick, senior partner of Lansberg, Gersick & Associates, a New Haven, Conn., consulting and research firm.


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Then they lose

Kelin Gersick, senior partner of Lansberg, Gersick & Associates, a New Haven, Conn., consulting and research firm, finds a common reason why many companies fail: “they do not transfer to the future. The seniors don't make strategic or financial investments to remain competitive. They lose the edge. They lose market share. They lose profits. Then they lose - period.''

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Leadership for the Ages

One curse of large organizations is that everyone tends to feel like a subordinate, David P. Hanna says in Leadership for the Ages (Executive Excellence): "As soon as we begin to think I'm not in charge, we tend to act out of compliance rather than using our best judgment and doing our best in all situations," he says. "We stop thinking about the purpose of our work, being content to merely do our job."
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Nonprofits

What can private companies learn from nonprofits? Plenty, says Frances Hesselbein, former chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts. Have an effective board of directors, create a mission to mobilize employees and remember that workers want success and crave significance.
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Dr. Seuss

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.
Dr. Seuss
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People

People join companies - but they leave managers and supervisors.
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Building a Business the Buddhist Way

Building a Business the Buddhist Way by Geri Larkin (Celestial Arts; $12.95): "Ask your existing or potential customers who your competitors are and what they like and don't like about them. If your competitors are other companies, go to trade shows to scope them out. Get industry newsletters. Order something from them."
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Q-12 Advantage

According to Gallup Organization's Q-12 Advantage, employees respond when they believe that a supervisor (or someone at work) cares about them as a person, when someone at work encourages their development and when their opinions seem to count.

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Your Public Speaking Workout

Jessica Selasky and her mother, Dorothy Lynn, have given hundreds of seminars on public speaking and wrote the book Your Public Speaking Workout: Exercise Your Body Parts. Top concern for public speaking? Be natural: "And be prepared. Be enthusiastic."
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Workers love a leader who can laugh

A survey from Robert Half International, the world’s largest staffing service, found that workers love a leader who can laugh - 97 percent of people polled felt it was critical for managers to have a sense of humor and 87 percent said their manager does.


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12-step plan

It's easy, really, to create a robust workplace, a dedicated work force and a rewarding climate in the office or factory. The Gallup Organization offers a 12-step plan that is not much different from the nurturing nature of a good day-care center. Based on polling of one million people, the top concern should be no surprise: I know what is expected of me. Clear expectations are a road map to success, Gallup found.

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Office Feng Shui

Communication between two or more people is always a flow of energy and the best way to keep it flowing is face-to-face, says Darrin Zeer in Office Feng Shui (Chronicle Books): “Stir the chi in the office by going for a walk and delivering messages to your colleagues in person,” Zeer says. “It’s a nice break and gives you a chance to get away from your desk. Miscommunications are less likely to happen.”
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Women vs. Men

Caliper, a Princeton, N.J.-based management-consulting company with a worldwide roster of corporate clients interviewed 60 women leaders from some of the top companies in the United Kingdom and the United States and compared the results with findings about men. Caliper determined women are more likely to take risks and learn from mistakes.
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Dr. Seuss

Will you succeed? Yes you will indeed! (98 and 34 percent guaranteed.) - Dr. Seuss in Oh, the Places You'll Go
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Faithful Finances 101

If you’re thinking about heading back to school or know someone who is, consider this Biblical passage from Proverbs, says Gary Moore in Faithful Finances 101: From the Poverty of Fear and Greed to the Riches of Spiritual Investing (Templeton Foundation Press): “It does a fool no good to spend money on an education, because he has no common sense.” Strive for wisdom not education.
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

Caliper, a Princeton, N.J.-based management-consulting company with a worldwide roster of corporate clients interviewed 60 women leaders from some of the top companies in the United Kingdom and the United States and compared the results with findings about men. Caliper determined women may feel the sting of a setback - may even dwell upon it and become more self-critical - they are also more likely to shake it off.
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Ovid

A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.
Ovid
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The Bully at Work

Can work make you sick? If you have a bully for a boss, there is no doubt, according to The Bully at Work by Gary Namie and Ruth Namie (Sourcebooks):"The American Psychiatric Association recognizes a condition called acute stress disorder with symptoms that include disorientation, confusion, intense agitation and dazed detachment, sometimes followed by amnesia . . . this is what bullying does."
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Russell Rules

Delegating authority to make decisions implies absolute confidence in those who get the power, says NBA great Bill Russell and co-author David Falkner in Russell Rules: 11 Lessons on Leadership (Penguin): “The process is always about teamwork. Make delegating a process of communication. You must do everything possible to remain in active touch with those to whom power has been given.”
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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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Women Leaders

Caliper, a Princeton, N.J.-based management-consulting company with a worldwide roster of corporate clients interviewed 60 women leaders from some of the top companies in the United Kingdom and the United States and compared the results with findings about men. Caliper determined women have stronger powers of persuasion, and when it comes to achievement, women are more driven to meet goals.
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Work as a Spiritual Practice

Entrepreneurs have a huge tolerance for failure because they see it as a process and not an event. Work as a Spiritual Practice by Lewis Richmond (Broadway) talks about Thomas Edison: "Edison tried thousands of combinations of materials before he was successful in inventing the light bulb. He didn't experience these disappointments as failures but as clues on the road to success."
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50 Steps to Business Success

All company leaders should embrace customer satisfaction assessments, Peter M. Cleveland says in 50 Steps to Business Success (ECW Press). To do otherwise is foolhardy. "Leaders who don't employ objective customer needs analyses are gambling by using complacency as a strategy," the author insists. "At best, they'll maintain existing sales volumes. At worst, aggressive competitors will gain ground."
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Dr. Seuss

Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So. . . get on your way.
Dr. Seuss
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Winning Through Innovation

Managers should know that the spotlight is never off, says Michael L. Tushman and Charles A. O’Reilly in Winning Through Innovation: A Practical Guide to Leading Organizational Change and Renewal (Harvard Business School Publishing): “Their behaviors are always being observed and define for others what is valued and important. Managers must be unrelentingly consistent in words and actions.”
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Hope

My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope.
Ovid

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Active listening

If you want to know what skill will serve you best in your career, consider active listening, says Glen Ellis and Jeff Jernigan in The Six-Figure Job-Hunting Handbook (Crown). “Many people are more intent on what they are going to say next than what is being said to them,” the authors contend. “If this description fits you, then you will need to practice listening.”
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Make Every Second Count

Avoid the horizontal-pile system of filing at all cost. In 101 Ways to Make Every Second Count: Time Management Tips and Techniques for More Success with Less Stress (Career Press), author Robert W. Bly points out a better way: “The average four-drawer file cabinet contains 10,000 pieces of paper,” Bly says. “Your average four-drawer file cabinet can hold almost seven times more than the top of a table or desk.”

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The Ruthless Leader

If the screw-ups keep coming fast and furious from above, think about finding a new desk at a new company, suggests Alistair McAlpine in The Ruthless Leader: Three Classics of Strategy and Power (Wiley): "If the Prince is continually making mistakes, this is not the Prince to serve for it seems that he was never truly a Prince," McAlpine says.
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What Went Wrong

CEOs typically do not just quit, say Peter C. Fusaro and Ross M. Miller, co-authors of What Went Wrong at Enron (John Wiley & Sons). “A quitter can not endure the years of struggle required to reach the top...It is virtually unheard of for a CEO to quit for undisclosed personal reasons after only six months on the job.” When Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling resigned August 2001, that was a sign. Something was amiss.
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Why Teams Don’t Work

All too often teams run not like groups of people but like a machine and people make very poor machine parts, says Michael Finley, author of The book Why Teams Don’t Work (Berrett-Koehler): "It’s not that teams can’t work. We don’t let them work."
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Will Rogers

It's great to be great but it's greater to be human.
-Will Rogers
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Secrets of Question Based Selling

One of the best ways to establish credibility in a sale is to leverage existing relationships, advises Thomas A. Freese in Secrets of Question Based Selling (Sourcebook). Would a friend within a targeted prospect account give you a personal endorsement for a relationship in some other part of the company? "A credible reference is worth its weight in commission checks."
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Fly the friendly skies

There used to be a slogan that United Airlines embraced: "Fly the friendly skies of United," points out Michael S. Levine in Broken Windows - Broken Business (Warner Business Books). "This was, one assumes, in response to customer research that indicated frequent customers felt the service they received on the planes flown by United wasn't accommodating. It's not enough to tell people you're friendly. You have to be friendly, too."
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Negotiation Genius

It’s human nature to tend to stereotype people from groups other than our own but it can have dangerous consequences for negotiators, according to authors Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman in Negotiation Genius (Bantam): “Dolly Church of the Stern School of Business at NYU refers to this as the ‘stereotype tax,’ the price we pay for not overcoming our stereotypes of others.”
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Ovid

Habits change into character.
Ovid

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Living Your Best Life

When it comes to making promises, nobody is more important than you are, says Linda Berman Fortgang, author of Living Your Best Life: Discover Your Life's Blueprint for Success (Penguin-Putnam). “It is to ourselves that we must first begin to give our word and keep it. Breaking your own promises to yourself erodes your self-esteem. It deafens you to wisdom.”
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Two-Minute Drill

In Two-Minute Drill (Josey-Bass), authors Clinton O. Longenecker, Greg R. Papp and Timothy Stansfield explore lessons for rapid organizational improvement by studying how football teams score when the game is winding down. It's not an easy thing to do, the authors say: "Elevating personal and group efforts to a level beyond normal represents a challenge and, quite frankly, is not sustainable over long periods. It exacts a toll."

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The Sky's the Limit

Those who hope to sell to high-net-worth consumers need to start with a dynamic sales staff that will change a sales pitch in mid-stream, according to The Sky's the Limit (CFPN) by Russ Alan Prince, Hannah ShawGrover, Douglas D. Gollan and Carl Ruderman: "Start with a set-up such as 'Let me make sure I got this right' and deliver the trial-balloon question with a hint of hesitation."
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Email Rules

Never use email to deliver bad news, say Nancy Flynn and Randolph Kahn in Email Rules (AMACOM). “Lacking the benefit of body language, facial expression and intonation, email is the worst way to deliver bad news to employees,” the authors contend. “Should a wrongful termination lawsuit follow, personal notification may cast management in a better light.”
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Misinformation

Of all resumes with misinformation, the worse offense was the number of years execs held a job, according to Christian & Timbers. Seven of 10 misrepresented the length of time that they performed a specific duty. More than six of 10 resumes with misinformation had an exaggerated description of accomplishments and the size of the organization that was managed.
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The Seven Habits

Successful managers must find ways to empower people, which in turn leads to self-realization for workers and a better top line for the company, said Stephen R. Covey during a 2005 interview. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Simon & Schuster) contends that people have four essential needs: "To live, to love, to learn and to leave a legacy."

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Work and the Creation of the Modern Individual

Al Gini, a Loyola professor, suggests in his book My Job, My Self: Work and the Creation of the Modern Individual (Routledge), that people may whine about work but they need it: "Adults need work in the same way children need play."
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The Great Tween Buying Machine

The best marketing has always been word-of-mouth, contend Dave L. Siegel, Tim Coffey and Greg Livingston in The Great Tween Buying Machine: Marketing to Today's Tweens (Paramount Market Publishing). It is particularly effective among teenagers. Find the network hubs: "Individuals who are likely to be popular, self-confident leaders who enjoy the fact the others will follow their actions."
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The Seven Habits

If Stephen R. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Simon & Schuster) ever feels high and mighty, he only needs to look to his living room for a dose of reality. “My wife has a little pillow in one of the rooms and on it is a saying," he said in a 2005 interview. "My goal is to be the kind of person that my dog thinks I am.”
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Your resume

Think of your job hunt this way. The executive reading your resume probably has an attention
span that doesn't match up with a 5-year-old engrossed in a cartoon show. The 5-year-old will stare, mesmerized, at the TV screen for hours. The executive with the resume will take, maybe, five minutes… and that's if he likes what he sees.

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Dr. Seuss

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
Dr. Seuss
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The Seven Habits

The best managers realize that empowered workers will eventually realize that abundance has no limit, suggested Stephen R. Covey in a 2005 interview. The author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Simon & Schuster) said first people need to see from a new perspective: "When you see things differently, then new behavior naturally follows.”
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Anonymous

Find the hardest job, give it to your laziest worker and watch him figure out the easiest way to get it done. Anonymous
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Resumes

Accountemps, the world's largest temporary staffing service for accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals, surveyed executives at the nation's 1,000 largest companies about how long they look at resumes. Consider this: in 1-of-4 cases, executives spent less than two minutes looking at a resume for an advertised position.

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Direct sales executives

Because eight of 10 direct sales executives are women, the approach offers households another income and lucrative home-office income tax write-offs, which in turn lowers tax bills and offsets income from other sources.
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Price

Richard Nonelle, president of Window Genie, figured he should call around to make sure retailers had the right price for his window cleaner Window Genie. He thought $3.95 was about right and was shocked to find some stores had mismarked cans to $9.95 and feared they sold none. In fact, the opposite occurred: sold out! Price has to hurt a little - or a lot - and buyers will believe they are getting value.
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Successories

When Mac Anderson founded the inspirational product line at Successories, Inc., he kept this target market in mind: "There are 9 million businesses in America. That's 9 million presidents of companies, and half have fewer than 10 employees." Their offices had walls - four of them - and those walls always could use fresh art.
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Sales success

Sales success means understanding a customer’s needs, say Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan in Confronting Reality (Crown). Create a customer chain, a detailed assessment at multiple levels. “(Many) industrial companies selling through distributors now conduct their own consumer research so they are not just refilling shelves but analyzing selling patterns. Information can help retailers understand what will sell best.”
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Formal authority

Formal authority at work is a high-wire act without a net. Employees tend to resist that approach, said Stephen R. Covey in a 2005 interview: “Gradually you see this dispirited employee with his fire gone out of him,” Covey said. “Gallup shows that only about one in five people know what the important goals are and only about one in four people care.”

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The Energy of Money

In The Energy of Money: A Spiritual Guide to Financial and Personal Fulfillment (Wellspring/Ballantine) by Maria Nemeth, Ph.D., readers are cautioned about a preoccupation with failure. It will age you and make you bitter. “Failure-phobia can gobble up all the breathing room for creativity, spontaneity and learning in your life. The energy cost is tremendous.”
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200 contacts

Everybody has 200 contacts - friends, neighbors and associates. And since those contacts also have 200 contacts, it's not too hard to see how personal reach can grow. It's all only about three phone calls away, says networking specialist Karen Salmon. But before you pick up the phone or dash off the email, remember one of her rules: Contacts exchange handshakes. Connections exchange commitment.
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Homer Simpson

If something is too hard to do, then it's not worth doing.

Homer Simpson

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Bank fees

It’s not uncommon for banks to realize at least half of their income from fees. In the mid-1990s, most banks and financial institutions realized about 1/3 of their income from fees.
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Avoid ATMs

One strategy to save cash is to avoid automated teller machines. Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, a personal finance Web site based in North Palm Beach, Fla., estimates that in 2005 American consumers paid $4 billion in automated teller machine fees. That is up $1.5 billion from the $2.5 billion paid in 1998.
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Fast Food

Gen Y already spends 50 percent to 55 percent of its total food dollars on meals away from home, and that is expected to increase in the years to come, according to Foodservice 2010: America's Appetite Matures by McKinsey & Co., New York City

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Direct sales careers

A direct sales career offers flexibility as more than eight of 10 people spend less than 30 hours a week on their company, according to the Direct Selling Association, a trade group of direct sales specialists.
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Management Stripped Bare

In Management Stripped Bare: Understanding Business As it Really Is (AMACOM Books) by Jo Owen, an antidote for giving a boring presentation is offered. Remember the three E’s, the author says: “Energy, excitement and enthusiasm. If you display these, you are probably enjoying the presentation, and you have a chance of getting the audience to enjoy it.”
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Family-friendly benefits

Companies that offer vital family-friendly benefits such as flex-time, telecommuting and job sharing are on the decline, according to a 2006 study from the Society for Human Resource Management.
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Fortune

Fortune favors the bold.
Ovid
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Wild Berry Incense

Wild Berry Incense Inc. grew from one fistful of incense sticks dunked into a Mason jar one day in Oxford, Ohio, in 1971. Within two decades the incense company founded by Marc Biales would produce 3 million sticks monthly and employ 18. Biales’s mantra: customers generally will pay a premium price, as long as they think they are buying a premium product.
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59 million American women

Of the 59 million American women currently earning a salary, only 47% have a pension plan, reports the American Association of Retired People.
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Direct sales

Do you have a consumer product to sell? Consider direct sales. The Direct Sales Association estimates that revenue from direct sales parties have topped $29 billion. In the decade between 1993 and 2003, the number of people involved grew from 6.3 million sales people to 13.3 million.
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Spiritual intelligence

Viewing people as an expense and machines and equipment as an investment can never bring quality, low costs or innovation. Workers feel no empowerment. “There is an absence of trust and authentic communication between partners,” said Stephen R. Covey in a 2005 interview. The author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Simon & Schuster) said companies need to foster "spiritual intelligence" to thrive.
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Part-time work

Sixty percent of today's working moms say part-time work would be ideal; however, only 24% hold part-time jobs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
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Make the Right Career Move

From Make the Right Career Move: 28 Critical Insights and Strategies to Land Your Dream Job" (Wiley) by Rachelle J. Canter, Ph.D.: "Ask bold questions during job interviews like 'Do you have any reservations about my candidacy?' That gives you the advantage of the startle effect. It takes a lot of confidence to ask a bold question, a good quality to convey to a prospective employer."
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More Things You Need to be Told

Sometimes you will forget the names of people you meet, say Honore McDonough Ervin and Lesley Carlin in their book The Etiquette Girls: More Things You Need to be Told (Berkley). When you draw a blank, do not hesitate to say the three most important words in human relations: I am sorry: “Then memorize the person’s name so you never make the same mistake again.”
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Job interview punctuality

Get to interviews on time or before, but never too early, says Roger Effron in Insider's Guide to Finding a Job in Education: "You do not want to be sitting in the waiting area more than 15 minutes. Waiting can increase your anxiety level. Consider congested traffic, parking options and road construction. Factor in anything that could possibly make you late. Don't be late!"
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Wages for women

Wage growth for female workers stalled in the last decade. Adjusted for inflation, wages have grown 0.7% during the 2000s as opposed to 1.2% during the 1990s, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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It’s Okay to be the Boss

As you monitor and measure performance, stay focused on outcomes, says Bruce Tulgan in It’s Okay to be the Boss (Collins). Look at the work product and keep asking questions: "Did you do what you said you were going to do? Why or why not? How did you do it? How long did each step take? Why? Press for details and ask for explanations. And don't forget to ask around. Ask customers, clients, vendors, co-workers and other managers."
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Discrimination lawsuits

William T. Dickens, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., said companies that expand rapidly are sometimes vulnerable to discrimination lawsuits linked to promotions. "And the more discretion that is given to supervisors, the more likely that things those supervisors do will be perceived as discriminatory even if the actions are not."
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The C Student’s Guide to Success

After you gain a certain amount of experience, volunteer for more challenging jobs, says Ron Bliwas in The C Student’s Guide to Success: “Even if you fail you will have demonstrated your willingness to take responsibility for a tough job, and if you succeed, you're a hero. Keep tackling tough assignments and don't be discouraged by failure. People will recognize your courage, a key trait of anyone who takes responsibility seriously."
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Warren Buffett

If you want to be like Warren — billionaire Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. — then scrutinize motivations of would-be employees, says Robert Miles, author of Warren Buffett CEO (Wiley): “He has to quickly figure out if a person is more interested in the money or the business. If they love the money, Buffett isn't interested,"
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Great People Decisions

Most managers and executives believe that they are very good at sizing up and choosing people, says Claudio Fernandez Araoz in Great People Decisions (Wiley), despite their lack of preparation, experience and a track record replete with mistakes: "In other words, our snap judgments tend to be long on snap and short on judgment."
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Samuel Johnson

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance - Samuel Johnson
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Surprise questions

Surprise questions carry clout, says Rachelle J. Canter Ph.D. in her book Make the Right Career Move: 28 Critical Insights and Strategies to Land Your Dream Job" (Wiley): "Interviewers are generally so surprised by an unexpected question that they are apt to answer candidly. This provides you with useful information about unexpressed concerns."

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The Source of Leadership

Rely on intuition when reviewing job candidates, says The Source of Leadership: Eight Drivers of the High-Impact Leader, by David M. Traversi, (New Harbinger; 2007): "Objective facts are very important, but as a final determinant at 'crunch time,' they just don't compete with our intuitive ability to assess another human being."


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Turf Wars

Little betrayals happen to every team, says Harvey Robbins, a business psychologist and author of Turf Wars: Moving from Competition to Collaboration (NW Publishing): "Police against little betrayals. Continually check in with goals and expectations."

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The spirited horse

The spirited horse, which will try to win the race of its own accord, will run even faster if encouraged.
Ovid

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Winning the Toughest Customer

What motivates a woman to buy? asks Winning the Toughest Customer (Kaplan; 2007) by Delia Passi with A. B. Aronson Top of the list is relationship with the salesperson. "It is the point of connection that will drive the sale. Are you a good listener? Can she trust you? That is what matters to women in the sales relationship. Men are transaction-focused as customers, but for women, it's all about connection and trust."
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Homer Simpson

I'm a white male, age 18 to 49. Everyone listens to me, no matter how dumb my suggestions are.

Homer Simpson

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Take rest

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop.
Ovid

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Why Teams Don’t Work

Human nature goes against teamwork in many, many ways, says Michael Finley, author of Why Teams Don’t Work (Berrett-Koehler): "Smart team leaders must understand that people have private agendas and to some degree, allow those agendas to happen."
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Women and income

The new millennium has not been easy on women or their families. Between 2000 and 2006 the median income of female-headed families fell by 3 percent, a loss of $836 in 2007 dollars, to $24,394, reports the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Business succession planning

Family business adviser Kevin Gersick thinks most family business challenges have to do with succession. Many companies fail because executives age and lose interest; others because the next generation has other life purposes; and still others -maybe 10 percent - implode from anger. "The real bitter cases are outnumbered by five or six times by situations where the junior generation pursues other opportunities.'
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Email

The biggest time sponge at work these days is sending and answering e-mail. Most people devote one 40-hour work week each year to creating and answering messages, according to GartnerGroup, of Stamford, Conn. One of four workers really can't tear themselves away from the PC, either. They spend more than an hour a day managing e-mail.

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Making Decisions

Decisions made with supreme confidence can lead to serious mistakes. A decision based on 90 percent certainty ends up being far less astute by the time the decision is made and consequences are assessed, according to research from professors at the universities of Pennsylvania and Florida. Very confident had a 30 percent chance of being wrong: "People have little yes men in their heads.''



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Homer Simpson

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

Homer Simpson

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Time Off For Good Behavior

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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Chinese proverb

A man grows most tired when standing still.
Chinese proverb
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Ovid

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

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Attracting achievers

Chicago Samuel Zell talks in The Success Effect (S&R) by John Eckberg about attracting achievers: "We have always been focused on a meritocracy. People who join our organization are measured by what they contribute, not necessarily how old they are or where they are in the pecking order."
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Quotable Business

Change can help executives manage challenges. From Quotable Business by Louis E. Boone (Random House; $17.95) "The ability to adapt and adjust tactics while sticking to principles is extremely important. One of the biggest problems with CEOs is that they are flexible on principle and inflexible on plans." -- Eugene E. Jennings, American educator and business writer.
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Our leisure

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

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What Smart People

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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The Working Life

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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Blade Runner

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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Do not be a joke teller

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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The Working Life

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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Total Exposure

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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Homer Simpson

Trying is the first step towards failure.
Homer Simpson
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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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Three sides of the work triangle

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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HGTV

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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Eustress

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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JTM Food Group

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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Networking Magic

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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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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Francis Ford Coppola

My greatest gift is my enthusiasm. I get excited about whatever I'm interested in. I'm like a six-year-old.

Francis Ford Coppola as told to Fast Company

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Work Like Your Dog

From Work Like Your Dog Fifty Ways to Work Less, Play More, and Earn More by Matt Weinstein and Luke Barber (Villard) "A new motto for the 21st century employee might well be: Be funny, make money. There is a direct correlation between having fun on the job and being more productive. Successful companies are learning to hire, reward and promote individuals who bring a sense of play to their work.”
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The Energy

You may overstep ethical boundaries but do not despair. From The Energy of Money: A Spiritual Guide to Financial and Personal Fulfillment (Ballantine) by Maria Nemeth: "The personal power that comes from virtue is the wellspring from which your success will emerge. Despite your best intentions, you will periodically find yourself acting outside your standards. What then? Go back and clean it up, make amends. Move on."
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Pot of Gold Daily Quote

The prayers of cowards fortune spurns.
Ovid
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Inventorship

People who dream of starting their own business should realize that success will not depend upon the size of the business or the size of the bankroll, says Leonard M. Greene, author of Inventorship: The Art of Innovation (John Wiley & Sons): “Not having a lot of money at the beginning can even be an advantage. Beginners with much capital often don't know how to use it properly.”
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No B.S. Business Success

In No B.S. Business Success (Entrepreneur Press) author Dan Kennedy, advises executives that when confronted by a lawsuit or threat of lawsuit, do not dally. “When you get attacked, most lawyers will want to react slowly and by the book,” Kennedy concludes. “I’ve found that the best defense is a very fast, very strong, even a little wild-eyed-and-foaming-at-the-mouth, kick-butt offense. Push your lawyer to run straight at them.”

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When You Say Yes But Mean No

You may not want to hear what employees have to say but your company better foster a climate where free-speaking is the norm or expect consequences, says Leslie A. Perlow, author of When You Say Yes But Mean No (Crown Business): “When we are in a relationship in which we don’t feel comfortable speaking up, we end up feeling anxiety and negative emotion, and it’s hard to be motivated -highly costly for individuals and organizations.”
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Theodore Roosevelt

The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. President

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Jesus Entrepreneur

A San Diego landscape firm drops off a little bag of gravel and note on lawns that need tending. “This is the entrepreneurial spirit,” notes Laurie Beth Jones, author of Jesus Entrepreneur (Three Rivers Press/Random House). “Look for something that’s broken and fix it. The truth is that we live in a broken world. Opportunities for service and for improving the human condition abound.”
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Build a ship

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French author and pilot on group initiative

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Back stories

In The Success Effect (S&R) by John Eckberg, executive coach Michael O'Brien suggests executives need to find what he calls back stories: "We'll pick an upset that occurred, something that just didn't work, and we'll say go back and write out the story. What were you assuming to be true about those in the meeting room? About the purpose of the meeting? What were you assuming to be true about your role in all that?

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The Passionate Economist

Inflation always will hit small firms first, Diane Swonk, chief economist at Bank One and author of The Passionate Economist: Finding the Power and Humanity Behind the Numbers, says. "They are not likely to raise prices in response to higher costs unless those higher costs are shared by their competitors," she says. "Rising wages qualify as a universal phenomenon for small firms and hence a trigger point for inflation."
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In a slump on the job?

In a slump on the job? Take a two- or three-week break by assuming a new, temporary role, suggests Luke Rhinehart in The Book of the Die: A Handbook of Dice Living (Overlook Press). “No matter how well a man may be performing a job, it is likely he will come to perform it better if he works at another job in the organization,” Rhinehart writes. “He will have a better feel for how his job works in the order of things.”
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The first 15 minutes

Beware the first 15 minutes when you get home after work, says Dr. Robert K. Cooper, author of The Other 90%: How to Unlock Your Vast Untapped Potential for Leadership & Life (Crown Business): “Over half of the most damaging arguments are started or magnified within 15 minutes of people greeting each other at the end of the day.” So, greet loved ones at the door, then disappear for a few minutes for “personal wind-down time.”
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Competitive response

When the Procter & Gamble Co. tried to muscle into the orange-juice business, Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid and Beatrice’s Tropicana Brands spent an avalanche of ad money to stop P&G, says Michael Treacy in Double-Digit Growth (Portfolio). “After a few years and hundreds of millions of dollars of losses, P&G gave up. Procter learned the hard way: any assessment of industry attractiveness must include the likely competitive response.”
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Feedback

Feedback is essential for managers and subordinates. Mel Silberman and Freda Hansburg detail in Working PeopleSmart (Berrett-Koehler) the four elements of feedback: sincerity, specificity, safety and self-critique. Feedback can be wrong and dismissed. “You may have heard the adage ‘Feedback is a gift.’ Bear in mind that it is also a gift you can ‘return to the store’ if it just doesn’t fit.”
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Who needs a plan?

A plan? Who needs a plan, say the late Paul Newman and editor A.E. Hotchner in Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good: The Madcap Business Adventure by the Truly Oddest Couple (Talese-Random House): “We have never had a plan. Hotch and I comprise two of the great witless people in business. None of this is supposed to work. We are a testament to the theory of Random.”
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TrendSpotting

When looking for broad economic trends that may impact your life, business or career, keep your mind and eye on the details, says Richard Laermer, in TrendSpotting (Berkley Publishing). Alan Greenspan, follows production and sales of packing paper: “A rise in production of packing paper means more people are spending money on products that came in packed boxes. The conclusion? The consumer felt economically secure.”
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Dive right in

When a project comes calling, start with the ending: How much time can you afford to spend on it? Then look at the value of the project. “Will it increase income, prestige, move your career forward and bring you closer to your goals?” asks Barry J. Farber in his book Dive Right In: 101 Powerful Action Steps for Personal Achievement (Berkley Publishing). Other questions - difficulty of task, accessibility of colleagues involved.
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Homer

I want to share something with you - the three sentences that will get you through life. No 1: "Can you cover for me? No. 2: Oh, good idea, Boss. No. 3: It was like that when I got here. -- Homer Simpson
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African proverb

Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet. - African proverb

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How Full is Your Bucket

Some at work are energy drainers, and there is nothing you can do about it. In How Full is Your Bucket (Gallup Press) by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clinton, the authors contend these people dip into others’ limited buckets of energy: “Some persistently negative or hurtful people simply won’t change, despite your best efforts. Steer clear of these kinds of people as much as possible – for your own well-being and emotional health.”
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Companies are People, Too

Companies that have an idealistic bent are also challenged by other factors, says Sandra Fekete with LeeAnna Keith in Companies are People, Too (Wiley): “This type of organization radiates enthusiasm for its work. If they can overcome a tendency toward disorganization and poor follow-through, organizations with these characteristics have the capacity to produce cutting-edge work, imaginative products and innovative services.”
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Splatter vision

Robert Duboff and Jim Spaeth, authors of Market Research Matters (Wiley), suggest that companies need splatter vision: “Never become so focused that you expect your challenge to come from a specific direction. Surprise turns into crisis not because business managers don't look to the future, but because they look to a single future or tightly define the battle. Change usually hits where we least expect it.”
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Pilot Your Life

Tell an employee that they must find a new job on a Monday or a Tuesday – not a Friday, cautions Ron Shaw, chief executive of Pilot Pen Corp. and co-author of Pilot Your Life (Clerisy). It gives the employee the rest of the week to pick up the pieces, start looking for a new job and regain some sense of control. Why not a termination on Friday? “We don’t want them anguishing over their misfortune over the weekend,” Shaw says.
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The Success Effect

Author and psychologist Ellen Frankenberg talks about leadership strategies of women in The Success Effect (S&R) by John Eckberg: "Family firms today can capitalize on the female advantage. Women will adopt more flexible solutions. They're going to integrate work with the rest of life. Women nurture. Women, as a rule, think first of the impact on others before they make decisions."
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Fix it fast

Something breaks? Fix it fast, Tom Richardson and Augusto Vidaurreta suggest in Business is a Contact Sport (Penguin). “Acting quickly keeps resentment from building up,” the authors contend. “Working to fix the problem shows you value the relationship and the sooner you fix the problem, the sooner you make the other party whole and limit the damage they suffer.”
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Winning Job Search

A former hiring manager, Todd Bermont knew he would eventually get to one question whenever he interviewed applicants, Bermont reveals in 10 Insider Secrets to a Winning Job Search (Career Press). Bermont always asked it, too: Why should I hire you instead of one of the other candidates that I have interviewed? ”It reveals much about the applicant," he says.
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Guide to Greatness

Bimonthly crew meetings at the World Famous Pike Place Fish end with each crewmember acknowledging another for something they have done: a great listener, for giving or receiving coaching, for being fun to work with – anything. “It’s a powerful way to end meetings,” says Cyndi Crother in Catch! A Fishmonger’s Guide to Greatness (Barrett-Koehler Publishers, “and it is very apparent in the energy level at work the following day.”
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Best morale

The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it’s usually lousy. - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States

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The Success Effect

Frances Hesselbein, former chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of the USA, talks about the importance of mission in The Success Effect (S&R) by John Eckberg: "Mission is the reason for being. The most successful organization has a compelling mission statement and is the sole reason that organization exists. People are looking for significance in their lives. They want meaning beyond a paycheck."
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Bringing Home the Business

It’s okay to put one caller on hold and take another call when you are at home juggling soccer schedules, knitting seminars and chasing a cable guy, but never, ever consider doing the same while working from home on the job, says Kim T. Gordon in Bringing Home the Business (Perigee): "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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The Welch Way

Jack Welch, former chief executive and chairman at General Electric, always sought out employees and managers who viewed change as opportunity, says Jeffrey A. Krames in The Welch Way: 24 Lessons from the World's Greatest CEO (McGraw-Hill): "When a manager asked Welch to tell him when he would be able to tell his employees that change is over, the GE chairman responded: change is never over."
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Bringing Home the Business

Instead of participating in numerous community events, choose one or two events and participate in a way that draws strong attention to your business, suggests Kim T. Gordon in Bringing Home the Business: The 30 Truths Every Home Business Owner Must Know (Perigee): “Pick only those events that will allow your company's name to stand out and be recognized by a crowd that consists of your customers and prospects.”
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Leonardo da Vinci

It is a very good plan every now and then to go away and have a little relaxation…When you come back to the work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose the power of judgment.

Leonardo da Vinci

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Surviving Your Boss

When given a task by a boss, cast a net to colleagues for a broader perspective, suggests Ann D. Clark, Ph.D. and Patt Perkins in Surviving Your Boss: How to Cope with Office Politics and Get on with Your Job (Kensington Publishing). There are traps to avoid, however: “Don’t fall prey to cutting down your boss when you make these inquiries. Gossip and backbiting, no matter how satisfying at the moment, will generally backfire.”
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David Mamet on communication

People may or may not say what they mean. But they always say something designed to get what they want.

David Mamet, American playwright, talking about communication

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The Success Effect

In The Success Effect (S&R) by John Eckberg, marketing guru Doug Hall of Eureka! Institute talks about small business survival: "There's nothing sadder in my mind than a business person having a dream, starting their own business and then giving it up because it's not worth the effort. Offer customers an overt benefit, do what you say, then be dramatically different."
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How Great Decisions Get Made

It is perilous to leave co-workers or subordinates out of the decision-making process, says Don Maruska and Margaret J. Wheatley, authors of How Great Decisions Get Made (AMACOM Books): “When those who have been left out express their dissension, as they almost inevitably do, the group can’t move forward. Instead, it splits apart.”
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Crossing the Unknown Sea

In Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity (Berkley), author David Whyte suggests that anybody who has the time and initiative to even think of or consider the meaning of his work is a privileged person indeed: “Our great hope in wrestling with the unknown we must learn to call our life and our work, is to find a way to call on our courage for all the unknowns yet to come.”
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The Quest for Authentic Power

In The Quest for Authentic Power (Berrett-Koehler) by G. Ross Lawford, the author suggests that an ounce of intention is better than a pound of perspiration. In other words, take time to clarify goals and motivation before starting on tasks. “You’ll find that the conversion of intention into reality requires much less effort than you are accustomed to exerting. A thought is powerful in its own right.”
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Ovid

You can learn from anyone even your enemy.
Ovid

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John F. Kennedy Jr.

The late John F. Kennedy Jr. never lost his common touch, according to Awakening the Buddhist Heart by Lama Surya Das. Once, when a messenger arrived at the offices of the magazine George, Kennedy, the publisher, noticed his hand was shaking. “Why?" Kennedy asked. “Because you're an historic figure,” came the reply. Kennedy shrugged it off: “I'm just a person like you.” Stay grounded and real. All are equal in the light of eternity.
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Fast Read Time Management

It's important that a manager not be threatened when a worker is idle, says Lesley Bolton, author of Fast Read Time Management (Adams Media): “Resist the temptation to assign busywork to keep them moving. You waste their time, and you waste your time thinking up the work, explaining and supervising it, and pretending to care about it when it's done. You'll also be eroding their trust in you and your decisions.”
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Semco program

Companies should consider a Semco program, a Brazilian firm of 3,000 with virtually no turnover. In The Seven-Day Weekend (Portfolio/Penguin) author and Semco CEO Ricardo Semler details Seen From Below. Workers anonymously fill out a questionnaire, and rankings are shared: "We believe it is in (a manager's) best interest to realize when subordinates are not happy. People will not follow someone they don’t respect.”
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How can I help you?

Almost all committed employees answer the telephone with a question: how can I help you? What people are really doing with that greeting is seeking to identify the purpose of the call, says Jana Kemp, author of No! How One Simple Word can Transform Your Life (AMACOM): “Unless you know the purpose of a request, how can you prepare a response?”
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Homer Simpson

You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try.

Homer Simpson
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Aha! Moment

One of the biggest challenges for any executive is to recognize an Aha! Moment while engaged in a task. In The Art of Business by Stan David and David McIntosh (Berrett-Koehler). Find “retrospective” epiphanies: “Now you’ve got to vet your big idea. It starts with a hunch, develops through exploration and simmerings, crystallizes in an insight and is turned into something real through patient, steady effort.”
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Madonna

I have a very organized mind – an excellent memory. I’m able to intuitively feel things out. You have to pay attention to details, and you have to really be in touch with your intuition. - Madonna

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Blue Ocean Strategy

To encourage massive change within an organization, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, authors of Blue Ocean Strategy (Harvard Business School Press) advise a kingpin approach: “Concentrate efforts on kingpins, the key influencers, the people inside an organization who are natural leaders, well respected and persuasive. As with kingpins in bowling, when you hit them straight on, all the other pins come toppling down.”
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Q-12 Advantage initiative

The Gallup Organization's Q-12 Advantage initiative puts responsibility for achievement clearly on companies. Workers will respond, the organization found, as long as they are given the materials and equipment to do their jobs the right way.

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I Ching

Great effort is required to arrest decay and restore vigor. One must exercise deliberation, plan carefully before making a move and be alert in guarding against relapse following a renaissance.

I Ching

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Carp on the Fly

Landing a new corporate client is not much different than catching a carp on a dry fly. In Carp on the Fly: A Flyfishing Guide (Johnson Books), authors Barry Reynolds, Brad Befus and John Berryman suggest a number of steps to catch a carp. Instead of carp, substitute client: “Know how to locate carp and what carp eat. And know what flies presentation tactics are effective.”
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The Success Effect

In The Success Effect, Patrick Lencioni, president of the Table Group, a management consulting firm, talks about the power of discord: "Intel actually teaches classes in constructive conflict to employees because they don't want people to waste time in meetings, nodding their heads and smiling, and then walking out into the hallway and saying, “I think this is stupid.”
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What's Important Now

Emotions can be a great help, says John Kuypers, in What's Important Now (Present Living & Learning). Keep them under control: “Your feelings must be available to you yet they must not overwhelm you. When you can achieve this state of presence, your emotions become an invaluable tool that will help you feel safe and secure, confident and ready to do what's important now for you.”
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Women leaders

Caliper, a Princeton, N.J.-based management-consulting company surveyd 60 women leaders from some of the top companies in the United Kingdom and the United States and compared the results with findings about men. Women leaders have higher marks than men for flexibility in response, sociability and empathy.
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Francis Ford Coppola

Get into situations in which failure isn't an option.
Francis Ford Coppola

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Jump Start Your Business Brain

In Jump Start Your Business Brain: Scientific Ideas and Advice That Will Immediately Double Your Business Success Rate (Clerisy) author Doug Hall, founder and chief executive of Eureka! Ranch, reports that finding an approach that is truly new should be the mission of all companies that seek innovation. If the idea is not new, then it is copycat, and 80 percent of all copycat efforts fail.
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Maximum Influence

Getting a would-be client to be committed to your service starts with questions, says Kurt W. Mortensen in Maximum Influence (AMACOM): “Simple phrases such as ‘I need your help,’ ‘How would you do this,’ ‘Do you think I’m doing it right’ or ‘Do you have any ideas’ can immediately spark the interest of your listener,” Mortensen says. “Watch how the other person brightens up when you ask for his or her advice.”
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The Worst-Case Scenario

Is your cubicle the size of a shoe – and not a shoe store? Add personal touches but nothing works better than a couple of mirrors, says Joshua Piven. Brenda Brown and David Borgenicht, authors of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Work (Chronicle Books). “Hang a large mirror on the cubicle wall for spaciousness. Add a stick-on wide-angle mirror to your monitor to see if someone is peering from behind.”
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Semper Fi

In the Marine Corps, officers guard against fraternization because it can compromise the officer’s legal and moral authority, say Dan Carrison and Rod Walsh in Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way (AMACOM): “An officer who decides to be ‘one of the boys’ even for one night and gets falling down drunk with his troops will never be looked upon with the same degree of respect again.”
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I believe

First thing every morning before you arise say out loud, "I believe," three times.
Ovid
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How to Work for an Idiot

Those who avoid goals for work are practicing a form of denial, a powerful defense mechanism that cloaks reality, contends Dr. John Hoover in How to Work for an Idiot: Survive & Thrive Without Killing Your Boss (Career Press). Instead, make goal-setting a private matter. “Start by refocusing energy away from contempt for your Idiot Boss to personal growth and satisfaction,” Hoover says
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Jesus, Entrepreneur

Though companies strive to grow and expect growth to bring benefits, Laurie Beth Jones in Jesus, Entrepreneur (Three Rivers/Crown), details how most companies are not big. “The huge Fortune 500 companies employ only 15 percent of America’s workforce. The lions that really roar are the accumulated small businesses, which employ 85 percent of the workers in the United States.”
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John Wooden

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.

John Wooden, UCLA basketball coaching icon

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Tips from the Top

When an employer provides a 401(k) match, the prudent employee takes it, says financial advisor Mark Wilson in Tips from the Top: Targeted Advice from America’s Top Money Minds (Alpha Books/Pearson) edited by Edie Milligan: “When the match is made in employer stock, the deal can be quite good. Even in the worst of cases, as when the employer stock goes down by 90 percent, you still receive some free money.”
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What’s money?

What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between, he does what he wants to do.
Bob Dylan, poet
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Building trust

Building trust in the workplace is a big challenge for managers – and workers. One of the best ways to do that, suggests Melissa Giovagnoli in Angels in the Workplace (Jossey-Bass), is to share information: “If you start sharing, you will find that people share back with you. In time, people will come to trust you as a giver and give to you. You will find yourself not knowing whether you give more than you receive.”
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Daring

Daring is not safe against daring men.
Ovid
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What Smart People Do When Dumb Things

One key question should be asked before any vital decision is made at work, insists Charles E. Watson, author of What Smart People Do When Dumb Things Happen At Work (Career Press): "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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Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service

Samuel Smiles, a 19th Century writer, knew that manners go far and cost nothing, says Ron Zemke and Kirstin Anderson in Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service (AMACOM Books). Why do some sales people deliver a negative message: I think you’re stupid? “You send that when you use the phrase: do you understand? If four-year-olds don’t appreciate being talked down to, why should adult customers find it satisfying?”
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She Wins You Win

Women need to establish networks but those associations do not need to mirror traditional male activities like poker or golf, says Gail Evans in She Wins You Win: The Most Important Rule Every Businesswoman Needs to Know (Gotham Books). “Network wherever you go. Look for multiple ways to connect with everyone you meet. Nurture relationships with notes and cards, and remember you’re never too important to network.”
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The Quest for Authentic Power

You’re a boss. You have authority. Therefore you have the power to have employees get things done. Wrong, says G. Ross Lawford in The Quest for Authentic Power (Berrett-Koehler): “Employees may or may not choose to facilitate the wishes of their bosses. The power to choose is stronger than the so-called power of authority. Don’t confuse the power of authority with the power of coercion or intimidation.”
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Just Ask a Woman

The business implications of supporting Moms with products and services that validate her choices are huge, says Mary Lou Quinlan, author of Just Ask a Woman (Wiley). Quinlan says: “Marketers who insist on showing Moms as out of control women with bratty kids who mess up the house are ticking her off. Creative marketers find ways to ease Mom’s stress by taking action instead of talking about it.”
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Guts

In Guts: Companies that Blow the Doors Off Business-As-Usual (Currency), authors Kevin and Jackie Frieberg describe how Dr. Michael DeBakey, a heart specialist at Methodist Hospital in Houston, empowered hospital staff. On his rounds, he told a custodian the hospital couldn't function without him as germs would spread. Later, a Frieberg colleague asked him what he did: "Dr. DeBakey and I? We save lives together."
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Not getting along

People are rarely fired for incompetence. It’s not getting along that’s almost always the underlying reason for dismissal.
Stuart Margulies

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Leadership Presence

Calamities need prompt company response, truth and candor, say Belle Linda Halpern and Kathy Lubar in Leadership Presence (Ariel/Gotham). When Johnson & Johnson put the public first during a poisoning scare in 1982, the firm lost $100 million with a recall of 31 million bottles: “Because it acted so swiftly and decisively, Tylenol regained 95 percent of its dominant market share within threes months of the recall.”
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The Simpsons

Bart: I am through with working. Working is for chumps.
Homer: Son, I'm proud of you. I was twice your age before I figured that out.

The Simpsons

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Weaver on Strategy

Earl Weaver managed the Baltimore Orioles to four pennants and one World Series. In his book Weaver on Strategy with Terry Pluto (Brassey’s), he offers his second law of managing, a rule that applies to most workplaces: If you don't make any promises to your players, you won't have to break them. “It's the manager's job to make decisions, not to create expectations,” he says.
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Chuck Jones

Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity.

Chuck Jones, creator of Bugs Bunny

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Living Your Best Life

When it comes to making promises, nobody is more important than you are, says Linda Berman Fortgang, author of Living Your Best Life: Discover Your Life's Blueprint for Success: “It is to ourselves that we must first begin to give our word and keep it. Breaking your own promises to yourself erodes your self-esteem. It deafens you to wisdom.”
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