A few hundred years ago it was easy to know what someone did for a living. Mr. Shoemaker made shoes. Goldsmith hammered precious metals. Tailor sewed. Farmer farmed. Baker baked. Today, it’s not quite that simple. When was the last time you met someone named Dr. Radiologist? Mr. Hedge Fund Manager? Ms. Account Executive?
Archive for the ‘Personal Development’ Category
08
Aug
2011
03
Jun
2011
13 Tips to Make the Most out of Every Meeting You Attend, Plan or Host
“Hardly anyone writes because you can’t really write down all you know. And even if you do write, nobody will read it. So there are meetings, and meetings about meetings, and meetings to plan reports, and meetings to review the status of reports. And what these meetings are about is people just trying to figure out what they are doing.” – Paul Strassmann, former Vice President, Xerox
Have you ever attended a meeting that you thought was a total waste of time? Have you ever hosted a meeting that left you feeling that very little was accomplished? I am talking about those waste-of-time meetings that happen every Monday where you give a report to everyone in the company (or they give a report to you) and then everyone goes back to their respective jobs and wonders why they were there in the first place.
20
Jan
2011
5 Tips To Setting New Year’s Resolutions For Your Business
The new year is upon us again and in many boardrooms and offices people are discussing hitting the gym, eating better, and attaining personal goals. How about the business? Can one set New Year’s resolutions for the business too?
As employees start to shut off mentally for the holidays, this is an amazing time to get your team together and focus on the plan for next year. Instead of the normal quarterly planning, get your team together and set some New Year’s resolutions for the business this year.
Here are some tips on setting New Year’s resolutions for your business. Make sure that as you set these they are not based on the final month of the year, but based on the last year. When planning for the next year many businesses get stuck in month-to-month management. Let this exercise free you from that. (more…)
27
Dec
2010
Building Business Relationships: Let’s Get Personal
15 Simple Tips that Can Build Stronger Relationships in Business
If building relationships is important to you, and you are looking for some new ideas to help you build those relationships, then you will appreciate this list of 15 relationship building activities. Some of these ideas will be easy to implement while others may not be appropriate to your own situations. Use and expand on those that will work and disregard those that won’t. Many of these activities may appear to be more personal in nature, in order to truly build bonds with your peers, your clients and your prospects, you have to get personal on some level.
1. Find a cause you care about that your clients are also passionate about and get involved (provided they also resonate with you). Nothing builds stronger relationships than when people work together toward a common goal that is greater than the individual’s goals.
2. Read industry publications and find out what your clients are doing. Then let them know you celebrate their achievements by sending copies of the articles and publications you read. Hey, everyone could use an “extra” copy to share or keep in their files.
3. Network for those you do business with. Introduce your clients to others who could be of service. If you know someone looking for a plumber and you just happen to have the perfect plumber, let them know. (more…)
08
Dec
2010
Focus on improvement during perceived negative times
I am one that believes in creating your own economy, so when I hear the discussion of down times I normally don’t listen. There is an issue when your organization or an individual in the organization does not share this belief.
The key then is to understand that people are thinking that things are in a down time. Once you have established that awareness you need to take the next step and start the damage control. You do this by focusing on improvement.
Whenever things are not working as planned it is very important to get back to the basics. This goes for your organization as well as your life. Even though I believe we create our own economy, I do not wear rose colored glasses everyday. There will be days and times that things are perceived as negative. This is the time to focus on the basics because they will get you through. (more…)
