Sales, Leadership, & Integrity

Top 5 Project Management Time Suckers & How To Manage Them

2011-02-17T17:44:00.000-05:00

Running out of time? Need to multitask? Cannot prioritize? Too many deliverables? As projects continue to grow, a project manager is often found caught in the above situations and as a result they often fall back to time management and productivity strategies, however that is like going for the cure without actually paying attention to the cause – the time suckers. The time available at hand is

There's a difference between managers and leaders

2011-02-10T20:51:00.000-05:00

Ask anyone and they'll tell you. There's a difference between managers and leaders. Ask them what that difference is and they may have a bit more difficulty. Suddenly the words become amorphous and undefined. Somehow leadership is an intangible - a charismatic component that some people have and others simply don't. That's why, according to the ubiquitous "they", it is such a rarity. Wrong.

Becoming a Person of Integrity

2010-05-01T06:48:00.000-04:00

Integrity is a value, like persistence, courage and industriousness. Even more than that, it is the value that guarantees all the other values. You are a good person to the degree to which you live your life consistent with the highest values that you espouse. Integrity is the quality that locks in your values and causes you to live consistent with them. Integrity is the foundation of character.

The world admires and benefits those that have high integrity

2010-05-01T06:43:00.000-04:00

The world admires and benefits those that have high integrity. If you are a person of integrity, a person of quality, a person of excellence, the world will reward you. This is an important key to being a winner in life and business. People will be attracted to you, be persuaded by you and willing to help you toward your ends, to do the things that you want them to do. To be a person of high

Ethics in the workplace

2010-04-24T00:27:00.000-04:00

Workplace Ethics is a subject that we have all heard of. In fact, the subject of Ethics in general is something that most people are familiar with. And, what is commonly understood about ethics is there are ethics and then there are workplace ethics. What most people do not realize, however, is that there is no such thing as workplace ethics; ethics are the same, (or, should be) whether in the

Leadership Defined

2010-03-14T21:06:00.000-04:00

Leadership is the process of directing the behavior of others toward the accomplishment of some common objectives. It is influencing people to get things done – willingly! – to a standard and quality above their norm to achieve a shared stretch goal. As an element in social interaction, leadership is a complex activity involving a process of influence and with a range of possible outcomes – the

How to Lead by Example

2010-02-27T22:36:00.000-05:00

Actions still speak louder than words, particularly when your philosophies and behavior motivate people to do their best work. Doing otherwise only confuses staff and slows momentum. Here are 10 useful strategies for modeling behavior that will inspire your employees to work hard, maintain loyalty, and help your company grow. 1) Lead with honesty. Promote an office environment of truthfulness.

Make time for yourself....

2010-02-03T17:56:00.000-05:00

Make time for yourself Study each of the following rules for making time and try to implement them in your own life: Learn to say "No.'' Keep away from commitments that force you to spend time on low priority items. Be prepared to say, "I can't do this now.'' Banish low priority items unless you have completed all higher priority items for the day. The definition of low priority items is "they

Losing Sales

2010-01-26T14:17:00.000-05:00

First you can't lose a sale that you didn't have. What sales people are really describing is 'not winning the sale'. You may say it's semantics: if you don't win then you must of lost. Okay, so maybe we should say that people are awarded the business like they do with public bids instead of calling it winning and losing. But this is not the point of this post. Winning not losing is the point

Customer Service That Will Keep Them Coming Back

2010-01-09T21:09:00.000-05:00

The People aspect of business is really what it is all about. Rule #1: Think of customers as individuals. Once we think that way, we realize our business is our customer, not our product or services. Putting all the focus on the merchandise in our store, or the services our corporation offers, leaves out the most important component: each individual customer. Keeping those individual customers

New Year's Resolutions - Set Goals Not Solutions

2010-01-04T18:17:00.000-05:00

It is a tradition for people to make New Years Resolutions each year. It makes you feel good. The idea of starting a new year and to become a new you is very enticing and inspiring However, did you know that most all people have abandoned their new years resolutions by the third week in January? That is because of the failure and discouragement of past failures from resolutions that they did not

Generating New Clients

2009-12-29T17:19:00.000-05:00

Think Engagement. Not Selling. Do you have a "process for engagement?" Let's say you meet someone on a trip that might make sense to have more conversation with. Do they go into a process of any kind? Well, they should. Yet most of us don't think about prospecting as a process. We mistakenly think of it as an action. Creating Prospect Engagement After the First Conversation As the threshold of

Key Steps To Achieve Your Goals

2009-12-26T18:08:00.001-05:00

It’s coming to the end of 2009 and the new year is coming. During the new year, many people will set their goals such as faster job promotion, a salary increase, spend more time with your family etc. While it’s good to set your goals for the new year, most people never actually achieve their goals. Why? The simple explanation for that is two fold. One, most people do not set clear goals and have

Ten (10) Ways to Triple Your Effectiveness Within a Week

2009-12-17T23:25:00.000-05:00

1. Expect twice as much from others as you expect from yourself. Be shameless. And don't hold your productivity back by assuming your team won't/can't do twice as much as you can. Let go of any fear of consequence. Get used to hearing people say no to you. 2. Asking for exactly what you want and need by when you most want it, not what you think is reasonable. Create a Same-Day culture around

Ten (10) Types of Pull vs Push Support Structures

2009-12-13T21:09:00.000-05:00

We all have both types of structures in our lives, but usually we have more push structures than pull structures. A push structure is another way of saying that we are guided and motivated to act or accomplish something by something that's pushing us: a deadline, a sense of duty, out of fear of consequence, etc. A pull structure is something that pulls us forward, without our having to push

Your Most Valuable Asset

2009-12-10T18:23:00.000-05:00

What is your most valuable asset? According to Dr. Theodore Leavitt, Dean of the Harvard Business School, the most valuable asset that a company has is its reputation. Dr. Leavitt defines reputation as “How you are known to your customers”. In marketing and business, we refer to this as your “positioning” or “brand.” Your reputation is determined by the way that your customers and prospective

Ten (10) Must-Read Articles from Harvard Business Review

2009-12-09T14:02:00.000-05:00

Harvard Business Review Article Collections save you time by synthesizing and distilling the essence of selected Harvard Business Review articles that, together, help you meet a specific management challenge. One-page overviews draw out the main points. Annotated bibliographies point you to related resources. Includes original HBR articles. If you read nothing else, read these 10 articles from

How to Survive Stress in the Work Place

2009-12-07T21:04:00.000-05:00

How many people do not experience stress in their work place? The answer must certainly be "not many." It is even worse in times of recession, when you are unhappy in your job.Yet, you cling to it, because you never know when you will be told not to return the following day; or be greeted upon arrival one morning by closed doors, without prior warning. The two words, stress and work just seem to

Three (3) Ways to Instill Passion in Your People

2009-12-04T20:07:00.000-05:00

Passionate employees produce better results. The best way to spark passion in your people is to demonstrate your own passion — but you needn't be a cheerleader. Here are three ways to authentically show your enthusiasm and inspire others: • Focus on the positive. Employees know when a leader truly cares about a company or a project. Passionate leaders can't help but talk about what's working

Do You Have Value to Sell in a Recession? Take the Recession Sales Success Test

2009-12-01T22:49:00.000-05:00

"Value" is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "relative worth, utility, or importance". Value during a recession often becomes clouded and harder to identify. Yet many sales and marketing teams during this economic position still utilize standard methods of vendor communication by talking about their firm's value and how great they are. This generalist approach places salespeople in a

Ten (10) Sensible Assumptions About Communication

2009-11-23T20:04:00.000-05:00

1. As much as 80% of the message sent in communication, is nonverbal. 2. Assume the next message that you send will be misunderstood. 3. Don't worry about being clear; worry about being understood. 4. A word means exactly what you mean it to; and something completely different to another person. 5. The connotations of a word are just as important, perhaps more so, than the meaning. 6. With

Aligning Opportunity

2009-11-16T22:09:00.000-05:00

The unrelenting release of full passion, strength and abilities is amazing in the life of a leader. Yet, it rarely happens that passions, abilities and opportunities all line up at the exact same time. Often times someone's passion is high, while their abilities are low or the opportunity isn't right. Or, perhaps, the opportunity arrives, but they finds themselves sapped of strength and passion,

The Law of Advance Planning

2009-11-10T19:12:00.000-05:00

The best salespeople prepare thoroughly before every call. This principle is so simple that it is often overlooked. The hallmark of the true professional is thorough preparation, reviewing every detail, before every sales meeting. The very best salespeople are those who review their presentations and study the details of their products and their sales materials repeatedly prior to every new sales

Ten (10) Things to do when you feel stuck and unproductive

2009-11-06T23:40:00.000-05:00

Feeling stuck and unproductive is natural and it can be caused by overwork, lack of momentum, a bad mood, a success block, the weather and/or dozens of other factors. And, while it's helpful to understand why you're stuck and unproductive, sometimes it's just better to do one or more of the PRACTICAL things which follow! 1. Play the Check-In game. Call a friend/colleague and say, "I'm stuck/

Steps to Better Time Management

2009-10-29T22:03:00.000-04:00

• Identify & clarify your tasks, responsibilities & obligations. • Establish a game plan in how to go about accomplishing your tasks by generating a to-do list and utilizing a day planner. • Prioritize your obligations, responsibilities & tasks. • Be realistic of what you can accomplish and the time you have to accomplish your tasks. There is only 24 hours in a day, and there is just some much

The Top 10 Elements of an Effective Strategic Alliance

2009-10-25T23:33:00.000-04:00

1. Trust Trust is created when both parties are able to identify (and be completely upfront about) what they have to offer, what they don't have to offer and why they need the strategic alliance partner. If the teams are trying to use each other, without being fully informed about the realities and potentials, then each side is going to hold back and struggle for position, which creates distrust.

5 Traits of the New Creative Leader

2009-10-14T15:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's leadership skills will not work in today's fast-moving and evolving world. Only creative leaders who are visionary and empathetic will succeed. Here are five things you can do to succeed as a creative leader: 1. Instead of commanding, coach your team and organization toward success. 2. Don't manage people, empower them. The know-how, experience, and solutions are often out there;

Top 5 Reasons Why Business Networking Can Help Your Business

2009-10-12T20:24:00.000-04:00

Business networking has become one of the most successful and cost effective ways to get your message across and make new contacts. The key is to have a good strategy and a clear purpose of what it is you’re trying to accomplish. What kind of business relationships are you looking to form? What is your business offering in return? 1. Have Definitive Objectives: It is important in business

Leadership Qualities

2009-10-06T20:24:00.000-04:00

Leaders play a critical role during change implementation, the period from the announcement of change through the installation of the change. During this middle period the organization is the most unstable, characterized by confusion, fear, loss of direction, reduced productivity, and lack of clarity about direction and mandate. It can be a period of emotionalism, with employees grieving for what

Ten (10) Steps That Will Help You Get Moving When You're Stuck

2009-10-02T23:49:00.000-04:00

It's not unusual to feel stuck, trapped, and unable to move from a situation you feel is stifling. Actually,it's part of life and growth. But getting "stuck in" and "growing through" situations are different. Here are ten ways to shift from one to the other. 1. Step back and ask yourself what's really going on. When you're caught up in the stuff of every day life, it's easy to lose objectivity

Tips for Effective Negotiations

2009-09-30T23:07:00.000-04:00

Negotiations are a tough task to face and an even tougher one to master. Here are three tips for making your next negotiation go in your favor: 1. Do your homework. Spend time before the negotiation understanding the other side's interests and position in relation to yours. Try to see things from their angle. 2. Don't negotiate against yourself. Stick to your initial position long enough to

How Serious Are You?

2009-09-26T14:05:00.000-04:00

When your prospect or customer comes to the realization that you are “serious” about doing business or earning business, it stems from the actions you took to make that feeling possible. Those serious actions or characteristics include: • Speed of response. • Ability to deliver. • Ability to serve. • Desire to serve. • Knowledge about how what you have will help someone. • Friendliness. •

Ten (10) Ways to Turn Your Clients/ Customers Into Raving Fans

2009-09-24T22:51:00.000-04:00

1. Be someone that they really enjoy as a person and as a vendor. 2. Call your customers each quarter to ask if they're having any problems or have ideas for improvement. 3. Continually improve your product. 4. Keep your customer informed about future changes/upgrades about the product they bought. 5. Keep your customer informed about what the media/other customers are saying about what they

Ten (10) Things That Every Customer Wants From You

2009-09-23T21:49:00.000-04:00

Whether they are fully aware of it, or know it or say it. 1. They want it to cost less money, even if it's already value-priced. 2. They want to it act faster/immediately. 3. They want it to come to them/be delivered. 4. They want it to be replenished/updated/upgraded/replaced automatically and consistently. 5. They want it even before they know it's available or that they even need/want

Strategic Thinking

2009-09-22T15:29:00.000-04:00

The Quality of Thoughtfulness The ability to think and plan strategically is perhaps the most important single skill of the effective executive. In a longitudinal study of leaders who, in retrospect, made the best and most effective decisions, the single quality that stood out from all others was the quality of "thoughtfulness." Thoughtfulness may be defined as a careful concern for the

The Law of Integrity

2009-09-19T13:16:00.000-04:00

SPIN Selling is based on extensive research by Rackham and his company, Huthwaite. They examined large, complicated sales scenarios. After analysing more than 35,000 sales calls they were able to put to rest a variety of traditional myths about

How Successful People Think

2009-08-18T21:54:00.002-04:00

What’s a successful person’s greatest resource in difficult times? Good thinking! Good thinkers are always in demand. A person who knows how may always have a job, but the person who knows why will always be his boss. Good thinkers solve problems, they never lack ideas for building an organization, and they always have hope for a better future. Good thinkers rarely find themselves at the mercy of