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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