Motivation

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Motivation Tagged Articles

When Cancer Came to Visit me my Whole Life Changed Forever!
Don't wait for your opportunity to come to you. Be motivated and believe that you can do anything you want in life. Don't wait for a challenge to test your faith, move forward with the life you truly want. Cancer came to visit me, but I always knew that life was for living.

How To Achieve Your Desires With A Goal Achievement System - Part 1

Have you ever gotten really excited about that million dollar idea only to end up going nowhere? Often times, the idea itself was not what had resulted in failure, but a lack of a systematic process to take that idea and turn it into a reality. This is like driving your car across the country, and never filling up your tank with gas. You will only make it a certain distance, and you will never reach your final destination. What I am about to teach you is a way to create "mental gas stations," with the Goal Achievement System (GAS). The GAS will allow you to refuel your motivation and allow you to achieve extraordinary results that you did not know were possible.

Personal Philosophy
Find the key to having your very own solid personal philosophy and be able to correctly define it.

No More Resolutions...

Can you claim true success in your life and work for the year of 2009? The simple fact is that the vast majority of businesses and individuals utterly failed at their attempted goals and resolutions over the course of the past twelve months. As you engage the approaching New Year, consider taking the 2010 Pledge of "No More Resolutions". Instead, consider four straight forward actions that can have you brimming with successful achievement by this time next year.

Leadership Styles - 5 Tips From the Guru
Sometimes I feel like the guy who's climbed the distant Himalayan peak to sit at the feet of the guru and discover the keys to the meaning of life the universe and everything. In my view, in the world of change management and leadership and inspirational motivation Jon Katzenbach, CEO of Katzenbach Partners, is such a man. He has built a career out of figuring out how the to inspire people...

Car College: Learn while you drive
You can travel with the worlds top trainers and motivators at a modest expense . Expect great results!

Ubiquitous Reinforcement
Great leaders know that reinforcement is the most powerful way to improve motivation. This article highlights four frequent errors in trying to reinforce people along with the antidotes. It also covers the need for reinforcement to be for the entire culture, not just for leaders to use.

Avoiding Playing Favorites

We all know the issue of playing favorites is one of the most deadly trust busters in an organization. The conundrum is that every leader really does have favorites and uses these people more than the not-so-favored people for certain tasks. If you are a leader and deny this, check your reality meter – you may be out of gas. Given this problem, how can a leader go about running the most efficient organization and still beat the debilitating stigma of playing favorites? The answer lies in doing 4 things that are outlined in this article.

12 Dimensions of Culture Rarely Seen in MBA Books

Most business textbooks define the culture of a company in terms of things like: 1.Physical structure 2.Language and symbols 3.Rituals, ceremonies, gossip, and jokes 4.Stories, legends, and heroes 5.Beliefs 6.Values and norms 7.Assumptions I believe all these things are important parts of the culture, but I believe there are several even more important things that are not on this list. What is your opinion? My view would include things like whether there is an environment of trust and several other key ingredients.

Leading Change Initiatives
We are all aware that the pace of change continues to increase exponentially. Our frenetic world makes the need for effective change a matter of survival. Why is it that most change initiatives in organizations are impotent? My own favorite 9 prerequisites for successful change are outlined in this article.

Culture and Motivation

You have probably asked yourself, ¡§How do people become motivated to perform at peak levels over a sustained period of time?¡¨ Perhaps you found yourself coming up with incentive programs that reward based on money, vacations, or perhaps merchandise in an effort to motivate your employees. The reality is, motivation comes from within each of us is not generated by picnics or T-shirts. As a leader, do not seek to motivate your employees; rather, focus on building a culture of trust where individuals make the choice to become motivated.

Merger Downsizing

The following example shows how downsizing after a merger can become a huge morale problem for the surviving organization as well as the organization being taken over. Most mergers are done to improve economies of scale and reduce costs by combining similar functions in the two previously independent organizations. This is a tempting ploy when looking at how an organization can survive the increasingly competitive world market. Beware!

Tips for Improving Motivation

The concept of motivation is one of the most misunderstood terms in the leadership lexicon. Reason: Most leaders either never learned or have forgotten the nature of motivation, so they try to achieve it using ineffective tools. This white paper focuses on the learning from Herzberg’s Two Factor theory and why those concepts can be translated into helpful guidelines that create the opportunity for higher levels of motivation.

Leadership Assessment #3 – Growth & Development

There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures. It is the level of growth and development of people.

Leadership Assessment #4 – Lack of Fear

Leadership Assessment #9 – Admits Mistakes

Leadership Assessment #11 – Demonstrate Integrity

Leadership Assessment #14 – Emulate Level 5 Leaders

Maximize Discretionary Effort
Each of us has a vast storehouse of “discretionary” effort that we either give or withhold on a daily basis. Let’s examine the factors that govern why some people freely choose to give a lot more of their discretionary effort to their organization while others, equally qualified, habitually hold back most of their potential.

Incredible Speed
Here are a couple true stories that illustrate how an organization can shrink months of effort into hours if the motivation is there. The interesting thing is that the people involved really loved the challenge and rose to the occasion.

Organization Structure
Here is a lecture I wrote for a graduate class on Management. It discusses some interesting points about organization structure and how it can impact performance.

Turn Your Resolution Into Success
Many people set resolutions and then just don't follow through on them. There are many reasons for this. Here is a sure fire method of making sure that you accomplish what you set out to do!

Personal Achievement or Spiritual Evolution: Can you have both?
In the world of personal development, there seem to be two distinct camps. Both approaches seem to lead to the same thing -- happiness and INNER PEACE. Is one approach, more effective than the other? How can we make sense of the sometimes contradicting approaches?

Daily Flossing

Daily Flossing. We all hear it. Twice a year, our dentist and dental hygienists tell us to "floss daily." They tell us it will make a difference. If you're like me, and millions of other Americans, somehow we don't get sufficiently inspired enough to remember to pull out the waxy string each day. Does it really matter? I was on an Open Coaching Forum with my Success and Inner Peace Bootcamp. One of my participants wanted to get inspired to floss his teeth everyday. He knew it was good for him, but wasn't doing it. Fortunately, another Bootcamp participant shared her personal story. It had a profound impact on this participant (and me too), so I'm sharing it with you.

Owning Your Value
Whether you're doing big things or little things, who you are in this world makes a difference every day, in countless ways. Maybe you know this intellectually. But, do you really, really feel the value and worth of your individual magnificence? Do you own it in all areas of your life?

Depressed or Depleted?

There are times when coaching borders the line of therapy - addictions, mention of suicide (yikes!), and sometimes depression. Patrick Williams raised an important distinction, "Is it REALLY depression, or is it DEPLETION?" Discerning this is the first step. How can one tell the difference? There are many free assessments online to quickly determine if speaking with a professional psychologist is the next step or if other strategies may prove effective.

Bikram Yoga

There was a Bikram Yoga Studio next to my gym, and I thought I'd like to try it. However, the idea of doing yoga postures in a heated room -- didn't sound fun at all. Then, I was visiting my friend Wendy in New Jersey, who owns a Bikram Yoga Studio. And, I tried it. 26 postures, designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons in the order in which they should be stretched. The heat of the room allows for deeper stretching, and stimulates those sweat glands for maximum detoxification.

How to Develop the Skill of Grace Under Pressure
"When you find yourself in a stressful situation (i.e., a closing that is coming up, an especially important negotiation) you may discover that your normal cool is replaced with panic. With practice, you can learn to handle these situations with grace. Here are some points to consider. Step back and see the big picture...

Magic Happens When you put on a Different Pair of Glasses
How we experience life depends on our point of view, our attitude. And our attitude and view is colored by our lenses of past experience, judgment and so on. How differently might we experience our life if we changed our "glasses" more often?

How To Be a Champion in Life
Person is a real champion when he never gives up. Success comes to him who faces the challenges of life and overcome all the hurdles of life without giving up. If you want to be number one or just the best that you can then start following the five strategies that will help you become a champion at whatever you choose to pursue in life.

3 Powerful Ways To Live Your Life The Way You Want
So here is a question I would like to ask you: Do you think it is possible for you to live your life on your own terms? Can you make your goals in any area of your life come true? In fact, dare I ask if you even have any goals that you want to happen within the next 12 months?

Innovation, Learning and Motivation
Developing Leaders- the key driving force behind business success is people. Tap into the potential of your most important asset

Vision, Management And Motivation
The job of a leader is to constantly improve standards and levels of productivity. And the only way to achieve that is to motivate people to perform their best at all times. A good leader essentially needs to be a motivator. He should be able to consistently inspire his team to strive for quality and excellence in their work.

Making New Years’ Resolutions That Stick
If you find you have made the same New Year's resolutions over and over again each year, this article will give you some tips on how to make them stick this year.

Employee Motivation Programs - Top Reasons Incentives Work

Employee motivation programs - more than likely you have know of them, however if you are not implementing them inside your small business, you are making a dangerous mistake. You see, while you will observe that these reward programs will require a monetary investment on your part, they might bring you incredible returns in the extended run. From incentives to unique prize giveaways, there are so many numerous ideas that you might get your own employee motivation program started and here are a few of the best reasons to do so.

Time to Gear Up: Make 2010 Your Year
Finding the resolve to give even more to getting what we want. Promise yourself now to make 2010 your year

Three Factors of Leadership Motivation
Many leaders fail to motivate people to achieve results because those leaders misconstrue the concept and applications of motivation. To understand motivation and apply it daily, let's understand its three critical factors. Know these factors and put them into action to greatly enhance your abilities to lead for results.

Boost Your Leadership Skills
Leadership is always important in an organisation. Leadership skills are very important as it helps not only you to grow but also helps your organisation to grow.

3 Secrets to Enjoying Everyday Life So You May Live Your Life
Can you imagine what your life would be like if you can do, have and become all that you want? Where you can have long summer holidays wherever you choose? Where you can have any car or material item that you choose? Where you can be a business owner if you choose?

Put On Your Listening Hat
We have always had problems with people hearing but not listening. I believe with the electronic world, we are getting worse rather than better. This article focuses on a way to make sure the other party is focused on understanding your message.

How Much Eye Contact
Eye Contact is a fascinating thing. We know it is important for good communication, but too much of it can be very distracting. What are the techniques for establishing the right level of eye contact? This article focuses on this fascinating subject (no pun intended).

Improving Your Employee Asset
If you need to lower your costs, improve your quality, increase production and/or reduce in-process time then perhaps you need to revisit how you're maximizing your biggest asset . . . the people you work with and through.

Motivation Through Teamwork
Within a business, the employees or the team is a very important part. They are responsible for doing most of the work that keeps the company going altogether. When these employees are not motivated, the production will be down, sales will be down and the company will no longer be on a 'forward' moving track. The key to keeping the company moving forward is to have motivated employees.

10 Great Ways to Motivate Your Employees As You Go
Someone once said, "Motivation is like food for the brain. You cannot get enough in one sitting. It needs continual and regular top ups." Done daily as part of the way you are, makes the difference. Here's ten easy ways how...

10 Simple People Skills To Successful Management
Getting the best from your people is vital if you are to make the best progress in your business or organisation. Much comes from the way you interact personally and there are just ten key actions to take to build great, fulfilling and productive relationships...

10 Steps When You Need Help in Your Business
You start off alone. Be it as a solo business owner or a manager looking after a part of a larger business. It gets busier, you get distracted from what you want to do, because there's only one of you and you've only got one pair of hands.

Motivation- Get the Daily Dose that Keeps You on Fire
Motivation seems to have many of us playing red light-green light. We're on, then off. Yet researchers have found that motivation is perhaps the number one component in the realization of genius. So it's worth our attention! Check out the following steps to keep the fire burning.

Create a Vivid Mental Image of Your Success

Successful people define what success means to them. Then they develop a compelling and clear mental image of their success. They use this mental image to help keep their dreams alive and to keep moving forward to what they want in their lives and careers. Creating a vivid mental image of your success is not day dreaming. It's real work -- it's the work of designing your future, so you can take the steps necessary to create it.

Motivation and Productivity During Recession
Should we invest in our staff when shedding other contractors, temporary staff and full-employees?

Do You Love Being a Champion?
Objectives help you realize that “failure” is NOT an option and aiming to win creates a frantic, accelerating and absolutely delicious and inebriating state of mind.

How To Go From Down To Up, Fast

Yesterday was not one of my better days. Despite starting off the year full of excitement and hope, yesterday I was really down in the dumps. For starters, I caught a cold and didn’t have much energy. Everything on my to do list looked like moving a mountain and I just wasn’t up to doing a thing. That useless feeling somehow went from being a momentary feeling to escalating into the entire year being a mess.

Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions

Oooh, I’m so excited! I love this time of year. The New Year brings with it the promise of new beginnings, new adventures and new opportunities. Are you pumped about your resolutions for this year? As you know, many folks struggle with keeping their New Year’s resolutions. It’s not that they are hard to set, but somehow hard to keep up with. One trip to the gym in January will tell you how many people have resolved to lose weight, yet another trip in March will show you how many have fallen off the wagon in just two months.

15 Beads For Happiness

Thanksgiving is the American day to reflect on our blessings and gifts. It is a time for family and friends to gather together and name the things they are thankful for in their lives. What would happen if we did that more often? A few years ago when I was in Greece, I picked up a string of beautiful red and silver beads. There are 15 of them, strung on a lovely silver chain and tied off with a silver tassel. The Greeks use them as prayer beads but I’ve developed a new use for them.

What Can I Do?

I’m sitting in Barnes and Noble eavesdropping on the people around me. Yes, I do things like that because I learn a lot. Here is the conversation at the next table, Woman in green, in response to a comment about a boss: “So, what are you going to do?” Woman in red, sighing heavily: “I don’t know. What can I do? I’m stuck waiting for him to make a decision. I hope he does it soon. I wish there was something I could do.”

Watching Valentina
It has been a fun few weeks around my house. I’ve had two lovely visitors from Germany, my girlfriend Valentina and her mom, Barbara. Of course, we’ve had a blast traveling around and seeing the sights of Virginia and DC and blathering away in our own bizarre mix of English and German. What struck me, though, was how much I learned from watching Valentina.

You Don’t Always Have To Jump

As I climbed down the rickety metal ladder from the top of the Oribi gorge to the small ledge below, my heart was racing. Sure, I was secured in a study nylon harness, but my knees were shaking so hard I could barely walk. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins at breakneck speed. From the bottom of the ladder, I walked out to the edge of the cliff and looked over the edge down at the river and rocks 33-stories below.

What I Bought WIth $81,000,000
The other day I was driving 30 minutes to go to a client’s networking event and I saw a sign that pumped me up for the entire day. It was the lottery sign showing the jackpot at $81million. I started thinking about what I’d do with that much money

Is It Okay To Aim Low?
This is a question I’ve been asking myself for a long time. Self-help gurus the world over preach the virtues of thinking big, reaching for the stars, aiming high and stretching your limits. But is that always the right thing to do?

I’d Like To But…
There is a little phrase that I hear everyday and I’ll bet you do too. Maybe you hear if from coworkers, clients or even your kids. Maybe you even hear it from yourself. Does it drive you as nuts as it drives me?

Why Bad News Sells

I was having a meeting with the director of a division of child services for Virginia the other day and we got on the subject of reports about foster parents. She told me how disheartened she was that stories of poor care make the front page but stories like the one about a man in the Northern Neck who fostered a teen with AIDS through his last year of life go unnoticed. A quick check of the headlines on any major news website confirmed her viewpoint. That got me thinking about why bad news sells.

How Much Is Your Career Worth?
I’ve been doing a lot of research lately into between people who make success look easy and those who work like dogs just to keep up. Here are two of the things I’ve uncovered.

What Is Under Your Covers?
My new client, Mark, just bought a new business. He was a homebuilder and since that industry wasn’t going too well lately, he decided to branch out into a line of kitchen renovation products. His reasoning was that since he was used to talking with people about building $300,000 homes that it should be easy to sell $2500 kitchen accessories.

Driving lessons

Thursday morning I hopped into a friend’s car at 5:30am Central European Time for the one-hour drive from Bocholt to Düsseldorf in order to attend a BNI meeting. Since I haven’t driven alone in a car in Germany for over 20 years, I was a bit apprehensive. The night before I carefully mapped out the directions on Google, but lacking a printer I had only a list of directions and no overview map.

The Three Second Miracle
Ever have those days when you are faced with a constant string of challenges, obstacles and set back on the path to your goals? Here’s a quick way to overcome every one of them in just three seconds (or less). When you’re faced with a roadblock you mind automatically goes into assessment mode. That is, it looks at the situation and says “I can’t get past this.”

Does Passion Have A Price?

If you’re like me, you’ve got a lot on your plate these days. We’ve recently added some new revenue streams to our business, I’m starting a non-profit organization to save homeless animals and I’ve begun dating someone who lives 4000 miles away. I’m also working on my golf game, walking my beloved dog and catching up with some very interesting brain research I’ve been studying. Oh yeah, and I’m learning Italian and German.

Is The Economy Good Or Bad?

There is a plethora of economic data pouring in from around the world. Oil is at an all time high, the mortgage crisis seems to be larger than initially expected and the government doesn’t seem quite sure how to handle it. So what is a business owner (or salesperson) supposed to do? In researching the Great Depression recently, I came across a statistic that said that more millionaires were made during that time than at any other time in history. Not flash-in-the-pan millionaires, but long-term successes. So what did they do that enabled them to flourish while others suffered greatly

The Genius At Work
Ever wonder why 80% of businesses fail in the first five years? Many people would say it is because they are undercapitalized. Michael Gerber, the genius behind the best-selling “E-Myth” would argue otherwise. According to Michael all small businesses are failures and it is due to one, and only one thing.

What If You Could?

As a student of psychology, I’m often fascinated by what makes the most successful people in America different than the rest. It is interesting to note that the top 20% of our citizens control fully 94% of the country’s wealth. So what is it that makes them soar while the rest flounder near the ground? I think I might have an answer. I don’t think that millionaires are necessarily smarter or even more risk-tolerant than other people. I think they simply see more opportunities for wealth creation than the rest of us. They find more ways to win because they don’t worry about losing.

A Lesson From My Dog
Many of you know that I am the very proud owner of a wonderful 8-year old Ibizan Hound named Gracie. We’ve had our ups and downs over the years together and I’ll admit she’s taught me a lot about myself and others. This past Fourth of July she taught me a great lesson about selling and owning a business.

A Dream… A Vision… A Life

It’s that time of year when many of us are beginning to get really busy. Sales are picking up before the dog days of summer hit, kids are off on spring break and the longer days entice us to be more active. Since the weather is so beautiful this time of year, I have a task for you. But not just any task. This is one that will change your life forever if you do it right. Are you ready for the challenge?

Two More Hours In The Day

How many times have you heard someone (maybe yourself) say, “I wish I had more time to do all the things on my list - there just aren’t enough hours in the day!” While it is true that we all get the same 24 hours to spend each day, there are great differences in the way we spend those hours and how much we accomplish. Last week I talked about using Power Blocks to focus your energy into productive chunks of time. This week I want you to think about the hundreds of time wasters in your business that are keeping you from getting more done. Here are a few that might be killing your productivity.

Power Block Your Way To Focus
I recently sent out a survey to my clients asking them about their top issues in 2010 and an amazing 73% said that “lack of focus” was a major hurdle facing them. As an entrepreneur and self-diagnosed sufferer of “bright shiny object syndrome,” I completely understand. The inability to stay focused on my goals over the course of year has derailed my plans many a time.

Should You Spend Time Planning This Year?
That seems like a silly question perhaps, but so many business people don’t bother really planning their year (much less their entire business) that I have to ask. If you don’t have a plan yet, here a few of the best reasons to make time in the next two weeks to get one done.

Are You Limiting Your Income In 2010?

It is planning time again! This time of year many of us are looking back at the past year and deciding what we are going to do for the next year. It is a time of reflection as well as a time to get excited about what the future holds. I spend a lot of my time in December helping clients get strategic plans for the coming year in place. Each time I work with a new client, I am surprised at the way many of them have been to taught to plan and how those teachings keep them earning far less than they are capable. Here is one of mytop suggestions for planning for 2010.

A Fast And Easy Way To More Abundance

I listen to lots of books on tape and I read pretty voraciously too. Sure, I consume my fair share of murder mysteries and fiction but many of my favorite books have to do with developing one’s mind and deliberately creating one’s future. Recently I’ve been listening to a book called “Money and the Law of Attraction” by Esther Hicks. The very beginning of the book has two interesting questions; “Do you know what you want?” and “Are you vibrating at the right frequency to attract it?”

Why Johnny Can’t Focus

In my roles as adviser, trainer and consultant I get to talk to a lot of people. Business owners, salespeople, other trainers, managers – you name it, I end up chatting with them. One of the questions I typically ask is “What is keeping you from living exactly the way you want?” and more often than not one of the answers is “I just can’t seem to stay focused on my goals.” Lack of focus seems like an American epidemic and I think I have the answer to the problem.

Three Lessons

Do you ever have one of those days when you just hit a rut? It’s like you can’t seem to make progress on your goals. No matter what you do, it seems like you’re either standing still or moving backwards. I’ve had one of those weeks recently. All my goals seemed so far away and all I could see what how far short I’d fallen on some of them. Then three things happened which reminded me of just how far I’ve come.

What Do You Do At 3:15am?
It is dark and rainy outside. I can hear the storm pounding the windows as I lie in bed unable to sleep. My dog is happily curled up next me and dreaming her doggie dreams of chasing (and catching) squirrels. But I’m wide awake.

Are You Folding Your Client’s Underwear?

I was having dinner the other night with my friend, Erin, who was complaining that she had to leave early so she could get home and finish doing the laundry. There was a pile of underwear sitting in a basket and it needed to be folded and put away. Erin really wanted to get it done before the next day when her husband and son would be using it. I asked Erin what her family would think if she didn’t fold their underwear and she said laughingly they wouldn’t even notice; they’d be just as happy living out of a laundry basket.

Where Is Your Attention?
I’ve been doing a lot of studying lately. For me that means reading lots of books, listening to audios and watching webinars and movies. It also includes studying people to see if the things I read about hold true in reality. Here is one of the most important things I’ve learned in the past few months of study.

The Orange Index Card Trick

I recently finished reading David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” and I have to say I found it very interesting. While I consider myself a very organized and productive person, I learned quite a few things from the book. The most powerful thing I learned was to put all of my thoughts of things to do in one single place. I’ve always been a list maker and have most of the items in my head on the list but I didn’t have them all until I read David’s book.

The Five Why’s
So, did you hit all of your goals in 2008? If not you likely encountered some obstacles, either mental or environmental that stopped you. In order to overcome those obstacles it helps to understand where they come from. Asking yourself the question, “Why is that so?” can be really helpful in getting to the root cause of your challenges and help you find solutions to them.

How Travel Helps Your Sales

It’s no secret that I’ve been traveling a lot lately. In the past 4 weeks I’ve been in 3 countries and countless cities. In addition to having a great time, I’ve discovered that being away from the office has actually increased my sales. Here’s why. Getting out of the office and recharging my batteries is, of course, a wonderful part of travel. A chance to get away and stop thinking about work is a terrific break for the brain.

The Three Second Miracle 2
Ever have those days when you are faced with a constant string of challenges, obstacles and set back on the path to your goals? Here’s a quick way to overcome every one of them in just three seconds (or less). When you’re faced with a roadblock you mind automatically goes into assessment mode. That is, it looks at the situation and says “I can’t get past this.”

Let The Trapeze Go

Well here we are; it’s June already. So what have you done with your first six months? Given vacations, holidays, heat waves and other days off, most people only actually work about 10 out of the 12 months of the year. That means you should be at 60% of your total sales goal by now. Are you at 60% and moving forward daily? Most salespeople I meet are already off target at this time of year. In fact, many of them have even started adjusting those lofty goals they set in January (remember those?) down a bit. Why does that happen to so many of us? And how do we change it? Let’s use a little analogy to clear things up.

A Little Mistake That Could Cost You A Fortune

There you are, across the table from a prospect. It’s been a very good meeting so far and he seems to like you, your company and your product. You’ve asked some insightful questions and he’s given you frank answers. In response to his answers you’ve laid out an attractive solution to his problem and he seems interested. After you finish speaking, the prospect pauses a moment and then asks you the magic question. “So,” he says, “How much does the solution you’re proposing cost?”

Get The Best Out Of Your Business
Have you ever wondered why some weeks are just better than others? Did you ever think that maybe each one could be better than the last one, on and on, forever? Here’s a tool for making that happen. Get out a piece of paper and do the following:

Four Words Can Make You a Millionaire

When you walk into my office, you’ll notice a few things right away. I’ve got huge floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with business books of all types. There is a beautiful painting done by one of my dear friends. Of course, there is an enormous collection of elephants in all shapes, sizes and colors. But there is one thing in my office that will make you more money than anything else. It’s just four simple words on my white board.

Elephant Sized Changes at Dancing Elephants!
2007 is here and with it has come a number of exciting changes at Dancing Elephants! We’ve changed physically and psychologically and we want you to be able to learn from our experience. It’s been an interesting few weeks around our office and we’re excited to share the changes with you.

Are Your Arms Wide Open?
Do you ever have one of those weeks that just knock you for a loop? The kinds where it feels like you are a roller coaster? High as a kite on Monday, wondering where your next check is coming from Tuesday, feeling a little like you got kicked in the head by a mule on Wednesday, just doing your best to endure Thursday and then flying again on Friday?

How Openness Yields Results

As you know, I had the incredible honor of speaking at the National Speakers Association Convention this past week. My topic was creating a one-page strategic plan in just 20 minutes and on one sheet of paper. I speak on planning from a different perspective, that is, I talk about it from a right-brain or intuitive perspective, not the traditional “what I did last year plus 10%” route that many planning gurus take.

How Much Is Your Sanity Worth?
I’m a pretty good handywoman and I know my way around my power tools. I’ve got all the tools needed to complete some projects around my house but I’m not going to use them. Instead, I’m going to hire my friend, Pete, the handyman to tackle these little jobs for me. Here’s why…

The End of Buyer’s Remorse
I’ve been doing a lot of research lately in preparation for a new online training course I’m developing and I’ve come across some very interesting ideas that you might be able to use in your sales process. One of the most powerful is how buyer behavior has evolved over the past ten years and how you can adapt to and take advantage of those changes.

Why I Hate Asking For Referrals
I just read an article in Entrepreneur Magazine by one of the most respected marketing folks in the industry. Normally, I really like John Jantsch’s work but I have to disagree with him this time. John suggests that you should ask every customer for referrals to their friends. I think that is one of the worst mistakes a salesperson can make.

Starting At Step 4
It happened to me again. I was meeting with another small business owner with exactly the same problem as at least 1000 others I’d met with. In the course of our conversation, it became clear to me that she wanted to start at step 4.

Who Is Your Proud Family?
Once again I was on the couch at 5am watching Disney cartoons. I like to get up early and get a bit of work done before I go for a run. While I’m cleaning out the last evening’s email, I watch a bit of children’s television to pick up a life lesson or two. This morning, I got a great business lesson from Lilo and Stich.

I Can See Inside Your Head
There are tons of reasons why but one of them is my friend, Holly. She is an expert in marketing to women and one of the most well read people I know. When she and I get together, I learn so much, it boggles my mind. A few nights ago we were having dinner, and sharing stories. In the middle of one, she popped out with the most amazingly insightful, simple phrases I’ve heard in a long time.

Stop Networking!

Okay, I’ll admit, the headline is a little misleading, but I wanted to get your attention. What I meant to say was stop networking the wrong way and wasting time and money. If you’re like many salespeople you’ve been to networking events and had some success. But are you having as much success as you can? Let’s take a look these six quick and easy things you can do to make networking a sure-fire way to fill your pipeline.

Summer Is For...Prospecting?

Here we are at the beginning of summer, that traditional time when Americans leave their offices behind and head out to the beaches, mountains, amusement parks and other vacation hotspots, in search of a break from the 9-5 routine. As a salesperson, you might be tempted to slow down your prospecting activity because everyone seems to be on holiday. Instead, why not try these tried-and-true summer business builders.

How To Make A Fortune With A Love Story

I’d like you to think about a company that you do business with that you absolutely love. Not one you just like, but one that you love to buy from. It could be a product supplier such as a clothing store or car dealer or a service provider like an insurance company or restaurant. Think of an interaction you’ve had with that company that stands out in your mind as a great customer experience. What did they do and say that made it so wonderful?

How To Make Networking Pay Off
We’ve all heard that networking is a great way to generate business yet many salespeople don’t find it profitable. Why do some people make a great living through networking while others struggle to get even one sale from it? The answer is to understand the purpose of networking and use it to your advantage.

If My Dog Could Talk

As I’m writing this article, my dog, Gracie, is curled up next to me on the couch, sleeping happily. So far, today, she has been on a long walk in the rain, chased squirrels in the alley, had a big breakfast, snoozed on the bed and had a few dog treats. Not a bad morning. Over the last 10 years that Gracie and I have been together I’ve learned a lot about sales and life from her. Here are a few of the things she has taught me.

Is Your Mouth Costing You Money?

I share an office with 7 other people, so you can imagine how much chatter, interaction and “sharing” goes on, whether I want to listen or not. Each day I hear what is happening in the other businesses through the walls and in the hallways. As I was listening to one co-worker share her most recent interaction with a client, it dawned on my how powerful the story you tell impacts your listeners (even those who just passively overhear you) and your income.

How To Eliminate The Price Objection Forever
There are two ways to make money in sales. The first way is to be a low-cost provider and sell a high volume of your product or service. The second way is to be a high-cost provider with large margins and sell few items, but make more on each one.

What Are You Asking For?
A friend stopped into my office today and suggested I read the book “Women Don’t Ask” by Linda Babcock. While I haven’t read the book yet, the conversation got me thinking about success (of course!).

10 Key Points: Writing E-mails That Sell
Do you want to sell through an e-mail solicitation? Here are 10 things you need to do when writing your e-mail to improve your sales results: 1. Focus on value. Make sure the e-mail offers a very clear benefit to the customer. 2. ...

The Spirit Of Giving

The holiday season changes people. Normally easy-going folks turn into store-storming gift scavengers and tight-fisted Scrooges find their hearts melted by the spirit of the season. Even salespeople and business owners change their tune during the holidays. Rather than worrying about how much each piece of marketing will cost, they often dip generously into the company coffers and spend freely on fruit baskets and foil-laden cards.

Grandma’s Lesson
Thanksgiving this year was a fabulous family affair. We had the entire crew of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. including dogs and cats romping around my aunt Cherie’s house. My grandmother was there cooking up a storm despite having had brain surgery to remove a tumor just nice months before. What a woman.

24 Words That Will Change Your Business

Chicago in 1932 was a mess. The Great Depression had a firm grip on the city. Businesses failed one after the other and people lined up outside missions to get bread or soup as their only meal of the day. At the Club Aluminum Products Company, things were dire. The seller of a new and expensive line of cookware, the company had seen its high pressure, door-to-door sales pitches declining in effectiveness.

Competence Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

You’ve heard the old phrase, beauty is the eye of the beholder. Yesterday I got a reminder that competence, and other business success factors, are also determined by the customer. I got a great referral from my friend, Rick. I’ve known him for years and I think the world of the work he does. We share clients fairly frequently so I wasn’t surprised to get a call from one of his clients, asking to work with me.

The Gift Of Receiving

Every family has one. That one person who shoulders all the family burdens, keeps the family secrets and cleans up the family messes. The one who is everyone’s sounding board and shoulder to cry on. The one who remembers all the holidays, birthdays and anniversaries. The one around whom the family always gathers. In my family, it’s my grandma. She has been the rock in my family for as long as anyone can remember.

An Open Hand
Inspiration comes to me from the strangest places. The other day I was watching “Clean House” a show I am addicted to. It is all about watching people let go of clutter and free themselves to function at a higher level. The hostes, Niecy Nash, is a very sassy woman who speaks real gems sometimes.

Who Are You Talking To?

Twenty minutes after we boarded the plane, the pilot came on to tell us that there was a maintenance issue with the aircraft and we would be slightly delayed taking off. The red-eye from San Francisco to Charlotte ended up being over an hour late leaving the airport, meaning many passengers, including me, were going to miss their connection flights. As I had no particular place to be the next day, I settled in to for a nap.

What Is Your Word?

Every now and then I do something rare in my life. I step outside my tried and true shopping routines and I go someplace different for my supplies. This week it was time to venture beyond my trusted Ukrops and go to Walmart for groceries. Now, you have to understand, I have a philosophical dislike of Walmart and all it does to local communities and suppliers. I believe in capitalism and Walmart’s right to do business as they see fit but I also believe in my right to object to their business practices by spending dollars elsewhere.

The Zulu Salesman

In South Africa, we stayed at a wonderful game reserve called Zulu Nyala. Most of the workers there come from a local Zulu village and take incredibly good care of the guests at the lodge. One man, in particular, stands out because he was such a great salesman. “Mike” works in the gift shop and is single-handedly responsible for making sure guest go home with plenty of reminders of their stay in South Africa. Here is how Mike worked…

Why Tom Is Going Out Of Business

It happens the same way every time we talk. My friend, Tom, calls me up every so often to ask my advice about his business. Tom has been doing consulting for a little over two years now and his sales just aren’t where he wants them to be. He is barely making enough to take care of his family. Tom lives in constant fear that he won’t earn enough next month to make ends meet. Each time we talk, I ask him the same question…

How Much Does The Customer Experience Matter?

After watching Jeffrey Pine’s video on authenticity and the power of the experience, I decided to conduct my own personal experiment. My lab was the realm of beauty salons. For the last five years, I’ve gotten my hair cut at a local salon known for its fantastic client experience. Total cost of a haircut there is typically $60. Yesterday, I took my appearance in my hands and headed to the local discount haircut chain where I paid $5.99 (with a coupon) for a trim.

How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 1)
Have you ever sat across the table from a prospect and wondered what was going through his head? Or perhaps you were creating an ad or marketing campaign and you thought, “Will this really appeal to my buyers?” If so, you’re not alone.

How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 2)
In last week’s article, we discussed the importance of emotions in the buying decision. Remember, in order to make a sale you have to satisfy the buyer’s emotions. So, what kind of emotions do buyers have? That is, what are the ways in which you can emotionally satisfy them? In order to answer that question, you must understand human motivation.

How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 3)
In last week’s article we discussed the five basic human motivations and how to sell to an achievement-motivated buyer. This week we’ll take a look at recognition-motivated buyers and how they like to buy.

How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 4)
Over the last few weeks we’ve been talking about what motivates buyers and how you can help them make the best decision for themselves. Doing this allows you to make the sales you want in a honest, ethical manner and ensures that your clients are so happy they come back for more and refer you.

How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 5)
For the last few weeks, we’ve talked about how achievement, recognition, and affiliation-motivated buyers make decisions. That was the easy part. This week we’ll explore how control-motivated people decide what to buy. Read carefully - these are the tough ones.

3 Easy Ways: Drive More Traffic To Your Site

Do you want to increase traffic to your website? Would you like to create a site that others seek out? The good news is that you can build your ranking in the search engines and elevate your status as a trusted resource simultaneously. That’s because you can build traffic by using articles you write (or are ghost written for you). Here are three ways you can use your articles to drive traffic to your website:

Is Your Job Title Holding You Back?
Take out your business card and look at your job title. If you are a typical salesperson, your title is likely something like “Account Manager” or “Sales Representative”. If you are a business owner, you’ll read “Owner” or “President” on your card.

How to Stay Motivated in your Home Based Business

A struggle in the life we live and more so in being an entrepreneur, because being an entrepreneur is a very performance and productivity and results driven vocation.It's demands do place a damper on your motivation at times in is article it is a preventitive measures that we can put into place to safeguard from our level on motivation taking a wrong turn along the way. Here are a number of things that you can put in place where you need to make improvements where needed.

Rekindle your Relationship with your Home Based Business

This is not easy to do being successful as a home based business. Regardless of all the ads that are on the Internet claiming of how they can show you how you can make money online from your home by just doing a minimal amount of work and just wait for the checks to begin to roll in.None of that is true it takes a tremendous amount of drive and motivation to be successful online.Just except it make some changes and get busy reach out to others there is amazing amount of power in people take advantage of it make that new spark.

How to Make Important Life Changes
If you're thinking about making a big change in your life - for example a new career, more time with family, a healthier lifestyle, etc. - this article will help you break through barriers and create your own action plan. "If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies." - Author Unknown

In Sales, What Breed of Dog Are You?
This article features a fresh and fun way to view your sales style, as applied to "man's best friend": the dog. It includes a quick assessment to determine what breed of dog you are, including in sales. The good news is, no matter what... you can't fail the test and this experience may even boost your sales motivation and results!

Five Steps To Understanding & Using What Motivates You

Do you get frustrated when you lack the motivation to start a project or activity and put it off so you don't have to tackle it? Do you wonder why your friends or colleagues don't appear to be motivated when you are raring to go? This article explores the origins behind a lack of motivation; getting to the root of the problem; discovering what motivates you and others, personally and professionally; and how to incorporate those items that motivate you into your daily life.

Simple Tips For Internet Marketing Success

Working from home with your own successful business that is bringing in a salary more than your boss could ever offer you is considered a dream to most people. Many find it easier to go to work every day being told what to do for a fraction of their earning capacity as a '9-5 job' can become one's security blanket, being seen as much easier to earn 'a living' rather than to put some effort into research to make things happen with a successful business in which you could live in that dream reality. Success in this field takes motivation and persistence, but once mastered it will pay off and make a dramatic positive change to your quality of life.

Keeping Your Vision Strong During a Recession
How do you keep up self feeling strong while neck deep in a recession? This articles will give you the insight necessary to move through difficult times with more ease and power.

Using the Secret During a Recession in 5 Easy Steps
With all the chaos of a recession around us it can be difficult to fully harness the power that the Law of Attraction has to offer. In this articles you will learn how to effectively use the secret during these pressing times.

Self-Coaching Tip: Expect the Unexpected
A few years ago, I set an Intention for peace and harmony in my relationship with my ex-husband.

Permission
Sometimes we just need to know we can!

Protect Your Success: Have Unfinished Business

The fastest way for an achiever to revert to mediocrity in any endeavor of their calling or profession, is to have no unfinished business. Competitive edge, continuous growth and success, are loosely tied to achieving established goals. The key is to turn yesterday's goals into today's routine, it is also the platform you need to set goals that are more challenging, the one that you never thought of yesterday. You must see and set yourself up for a life beyond today's goals.

Sailing With the Tides of Change for Workplace Survivors
Leaders/managers and supervisors can learn a 3, 000 year old lesson from the Egyptians. When they mummified their Pharaohs, Egyptians removed the dead leader's brain but left the heart intact. They believed that for a leader to be great, a compassionate heart was necessary during and after life.

Top Must Have Assets to be a Sought-After Leadership Speaker
What can you do to be a sought-after leadership speaker? Work hard on it! Are there some professional and personal attributes that you can develop to set yourself apart in a crowded field of speakers? Here are the major ones that can't be faked.

Top Tips on How to Jump into Personal & Professional Success
Jumping high and forward is an inborn talent for survival of the African impala. The impala is known to jump about ten feet high. This high jump propels the impala to land about thirty feet from the spot where it starts. With this ability of vertical and horizontal jumping, the impala survives and thrives in the carnivore-infested savannas of Africa.

MONEY & YOUR SUCCESS
Money and your life. Why do we work? Is it to amass lots of the greenbacks for their own sake? Not really most of you would say. So what is it that makes us work so hard to get the rewards of money? Ask your self these questions to determine your values about money. Motivation for success can partly be attributed to these values. Well grounded values are the basis for success and activity.

8 Ways of Looking at Procrastination and How to Avoid it
There could be many aspects related to procrastination, letâ€™s explore a few of them. 1. Too much to do. 2. Internal blockage. 3. Lack of motivation. 4. Lack of paying attention. 5. Tired. 6. Guilt. 7. Delegating. 8. Passion.

What can a burger teach you about business?
Did you know a burger can talk? Talk may be cheap but the wisdom gleaned from listening to the lessons learned from paying attention to the messy burgers of your life can be rich and rewarding for you. Want to know what that message burger is all about? Keep reading...

Reciprocity to Motivate
Give what you'd like to get and use the law of reciprocity to successfully influence your personal and professional life.

The Art of Influencing and Empowering Others
A leader who wants to influence and empower others should inspire them with a great enthusiasm. You may not have been gifted with this kind of personality but you can still move people through your honest conviction.

The Bookend Process of Engagement
Winning people over takes more than using our charm; it takes influence... our personal power of influence... which is why I like to use 'book ends'!

Work Hard and Make It Happen
Is there something you are hoping will happen? Don't! Work hard and make it happen. You will feel better in that victory than in the simpler one.

15 Ways to Motivate Your Employees

In today’s business environment, it is essential that we find ways to make our organizational resources more productive. In many organizations, the most prominent and expensive resource we have is our people. As a result, a lot of time is spent on creating processes and conditions that drive and motivate our employees. If your are spending a lot of money on motivation speakers and seminars, stop wasting your money. Read this article and find out the proper ways to motivate your employees.

Are You Sending Mixed Motivation Messages?
It is so easy to send mixed messages to an employee. The best way to discuss this is to share a real live example where a client hired me to coach a partner. Then my client unwittingly made several decisions that totally demotivated his employee.

My Give a Damn’s Busted!
Is it possible that your employees are singing “My Give a Damn is Busted”? A common complaint of many business owners is that their employees lack motivation. However, the real problem is that employees are under-engaged, and there is plenty of research to support this.

Productivity Gains through Positive Motivation

As leaders, we are trying to make the whole organization equal to more than the sum of its parts. In today’s business environment, it is essential that we find ways to make our organizational resources more productive. In many organizations, the most prominent and expensive resource we have is our people. As a result, a lot of time is spent on creating processes and conditions that drive and motive our employees.

Employee Motivation - Always Get Your Basics Right First
Creating a motivated workforce is the aim of every manager. It creates extraordinary results from those in their teams. Before you start the raft-building, there's more basic work to do first...

You Have To Want To
When people don't perform, we often assume straightaway that it's a training problem. But there could be another factor at play. Find out what here.

10 Ways to Amp Up Your Energy...Way Up
When you are playing a big game in your business or life, you will get knocked around a lot. Life will continue to throw at you what it will throw at you. Here, learn how to deal with life's blunders and keep emotional and physical energy at peak performance.

Success Through A Positive Mentor
"Success Through A Positive Mentor" is John Paul Carinci's story of how a chance meeting with an Olympic champion at age 21 changed John forever. by John Paul Carinci: author of "The Power Of Being Different" (c- 1998 John Paul Carinci)

The Macic Of Belief
The magic of belief will change your life, but like most things it must be nurtured and practiced often

Today Is The Beginning Of Your New Life
Self suggesstion statements will change your life. They will harbor you from all negativity that surrounds us each day. With little effort you can stand up, stand out, and rise above the average person that does not believe they need to improve. Success is your! You were born to succeed! What went wrong? Just open your mind, reprogram yourself today!

A Lesson For Managers From The World Of Sales
Just as successful sales people identify their customers' needs, managers must learn their employees' motivators—wants and fears—and then try to satisfy these, in return for the required performance.

BOOK REVIEW: A Leader’s Legacy (By James M. Kouzes & Barry Z. Posner, Jossey-Bass, 2006, ISBN #978-0-7879-8296-6)
As a leader, would you say one of your goals is to leave a legacy? If so, this book speaks to you. Two very well known and respected experts on leadership offer up their own legacy, sharing some conclusions that comes from their research, consulting and writing on the subject for over several decades.

BOOK REVIEW: Why Pride Matters More Than Money: The Power of the World’s Greatest Motivational Force (By Jon R. Katzenbach, Crown Business, 2003, ISBN #0-609--61065-1)

The book's thesis, in a nutshell: an intrinsic feeling of pride based on the relentless pursuit of worthwhile endeavors is a lasting and powerful motivating force. Reveals the powerful connection between employee pride and the effort they expend, even more the case the farther down you go in the hierarchy. Some good business examples and stories are included. Offers a valuable perspective for managers who are wondering how to motivate individual performance in their unit or enterprise.

Raise Your Gaze: Staying Energized in the Daily Grind
Presents two remedies when you get bogged down at work. One is to visualize your work completed and how good it will feel. The second is to remind yourself of the bigger picture, of how what you are working on will positively affect others.

BOOK REVIEW: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (By Daniel H. Pink, Riverhead Books, 2009, ISBN# 978-1-59448-884-9)

In his new book Dan Pink (1) consolidates some major social science research around human motivation into clear, straightforward discoveries and (2) challenges the current thinking and practice in the vast majority of our organizations. Employees in the more complex, knowledge-based jobs of the emerging post modern economy do not respond well to "carrot & stick" forms of motivation (Pink refers to this as "Motivation 2.0"). Rather, they are propelled to deliver superior performance by three principal motivators: Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. ("Motivation 3.0").

How To Turn Work-Related Stress Into the Motivation You Need To Succeed
OMG! Wouldn't it be nice to tell your employer "I QUIT!" Not just telling them you quit, but driving off in your car with the widows rolled down, music blasting, and saying to yourself "That's the last time I'm ever working for a paycheck again!"

Tips for Not Feeling Overwhelmed in Your Network Marketing Business

The start of a new venture is always an exciting time. Motivation, adrenaline, and excitement all come together to give a sense of nervousness about starting something that is completely new and unfamiliar. As an entrepreneur, the commitment we embrace to take control of our lives and future can lead us to an overwhelmed feeling, one that if not attended to can lead to confusion, doubt, and unfortunately for some, ending their venture as an entrepreneur. But there are various ways to easily overcome that feeling of being overwhelmed.

One Bite at a Time
So many of us try diets, new businesses, new relationships and much more with a fervor. We rush in with excitement and motivation. What happens? Often, as we lose momentum we begin to stray from our plans. Regardless of whether you are dieting or working on some other goal, it all revolves around keeping track of your goals.

Six Rules for Prosperity in Life and Business!

Success in life has rules just like everything else in life. If there is hot there is cold if there is sadness then there is joy. If there is poverty then there is Prosperity. Recognizing that everything in the universe has a set of criteria that defines it makes everything understandable and achievable. Success is no Different. I have compiles six guidelines for Prosperity that can be utilized by anyone with the desire to achieve.

Unique Needs to Motivate and Inspire Differing Members of a Sales Team
Cheryl Discusses the four types of employees that most sales teams are made of, what their unique needs are and the types of incentives that will often appeal to them. A licensed perception type evaluator, she shares the insights gained with 100's of group and team profiles.

The Foundation to Sales Success in Today’s New Economy of Buyers

Selling in today’s new economy of buyers requires a strong foundation in order to succeed. It is crucial to your overall success to begin with a strong foundation to support the productive behaviours within your Selling System. Your attitude, which stems from your individual beliefs, is the foundation for productive behaviours and sales velocity. A brand new positive and proactive attitude will certainly attract more buyers. It will assist in changing your ineffective behaviours or habits into defined daily disciplines and efficient habits will provide you with more focused targeting. The result will be a better return on time invested (R.O.T.I.).

DO YOU TREAT YOUR EMPLOYEES LIKE PETS?
Woof, woof...atta boy, go fetch, bring it here and I will give you a treat! I am sure anyone of you who have or had a dog can remember saying something along those lines to your pet but have you ever said anything along those lines to your employees?

Staging Your Next Leadership Act - 4 Tips for Success

If the world is a stage, what roles are you playing? Are you the star of the play or cast member supporting the vision of the play? Either part is one of leadership. It may appear that the star player is the strongest leader, but the supporting member of the cast is also a strong leader when viewed from their personal goals. It doesn’t require one to be reach fame and celebratory status to be a leader. This is your play, your next act to create.

Practicing the Golden Rule Has Limitations
Treating people as you want to be treated assumes that they are like you in terms of their motivation. Instead, you may want to adjust your approach to treat others as they want and need to be treated.

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow-Up? Really, what do you?
I was recently asked that question by a colleague of mine, and without hesitation, the words just rolled out of my mouth.

Make Money or Make Up Excuses? What's Your Choice?
If you want to reach a higher level of success, there are two things that will catapult you to achieving your true potential – getting rid of your excuses, and understanding the power of perseverance.

TRUTH IN INTERVIEW - Part I

This is a two-part article. In PART 2: Help is available! The conclusion includes Interviewing This is a two-part article. The conclusion includes Interviewing Tips and Techniques to better identify High Performers. Locus of Control, a 50-year old psychology will be introduced to improve interviewing effectiveness. This behavioral psychology can provide interviewers with insight to the achievement attitudes and behaviors that are present in ALL Top Performers. By using simple interviewing techniques, Locus of Control can add information that will improve the accuracy of distinguishing the High Performers from the Impostors.

TRUTH IN INTERVIEW - Part II

From PART I: Somewhere, we learned that if we hire an applicant with the skills we need, the results will be an employee who will do a great job. WRONG! Skills simply means the applicant can do the job, it does not mean they will do the job better than anyone else. Making hiring decisions based on skills leaves job performance a mystery until after the hire. Interview-savvy applicants have made it tougher for interviewers to accurately assess motivation, often causing the misjudgment to favor applicants who are NOT High Performers.

Carol Quinn's Interviewer Tip #5

There are an infinite number of resources directed toward job seekers. These sources offer insight into the interview process in order to help applicants ace interviews. Carol Quinn is an advocate for the employer! The ultimate decision to hire or not-to-hire resides with the interviewer. Employers pay a huge price for their hiring mistakes. It's time for the interviewer to be armed with the knowledge to accurately select the best.

Carol Quinn's Interviewer Tip #4
Carol Quinn is the Employer's Advocate. Here is her Interviewer Tip #4 for hiring High Performers.

Carol Quinn's Interviewer Tip #3

Carol Quinn's Interviewer Tip #1

Carol Quinn is an advocate for the employer! There are an infinite number of resources directed toward job seekers. These sources offer insight into the interview process in order to help applicants ace interviews. The ultimate decision to hire or not-to-hire resides with the interviewer. Employers pay a huge price for their hiring mistakes. It's time for the interviewer to be armed with the knowledge to accurately select the best.

Tenacity is NOT Enough!

No one has to tell you that high performers succeed more. But, is this a fluke? Are they special people? They obviously are different in some way because not everyone is able to perform at their level. Clearly they don't blend in with the masses on the bell curve. But interestingly enough however, they don't always stand out either. Take an interview for example. Many poor performers are hired by mistake, and who knows how many top performers get turned down. It would be much easier to identify the best if they all had a certain look, or always had the best skills - but they don't.

How Do You Know If YOU Are A High Performer?

In order to answer this question and know if we are a high performer, we must first define the term 'High Performer'. The simple definition is a person who achieves the best results. It's not just someone who works hard. More specifically it is someone who is able to produce desired results and achieve more of their goals. When we compare high achievers to those who fall short, a discernible difference exists. But this comparison suggests that everyone falls into either one group or the other - achiever or non-achiever. It's not quite that black and white.

How Do You Know If YOU Respond Effectively To Adversity?

You've heard the saying, "Change your thinking - change your results". It's true, but do you know what thinking needs to change and from what to what? It's not just about heaving positive thoughts on top of a dismal situation. Nor is it about denial. A bad decision followed by hopeful thinking doesn't change the bad decision into a good one. Understanding how the High Performer is able to achieve a desired outcome is the first step we must take to improve our own productivity.

How Do You Know If YOU Respond Effectively To Adversity?

How Do YOU Create The Outcome You Want?
WARNING: There is information ahead that involves looking at yourself as the cause of your own short-fallen results. Do NOT read any further if you're not opening to the idea we always play a role in creating our own experiences and outcomes!! Instead...Keep doing what you have always done and wish for improved results then let me know how that works out for you.

It's Not MY Fault...REALLY!!!

Let's face it, it can be daunting to realize you are the one who didn't do it right. To make matters worse, it can be even harder to see it. We can think we did things right and still be wrong. We can be told and refuse to believe. In B.C. people were told the earth was round but rejected it for thousands of years. Instead they thought it was flat, stationary and the center of the universe. They were wrong...for hundreds of years. And just like the person who believes his results are not his doing, he is wrong as well. Somewhere along the way, many people became fearful of failing. As a result, some don't try while others refute their participation in causing an outcome. They detach themselves from poor results and believe they weren't responsible while thinking there is no harm being caused...WRONG AGAIN!

Incorrectly Assessing A Job Applicant's Motivation

In today's highly competitive and turbulent business environment, hiring average employees can spell "failure". Companies can not afford mediocrity while their competitors are striving to be the best. Hiring impacts profits in more ways than most companies realize. A Harvard Business School study determined that more than 75% of turnover could be traced back to poor hiring practices. The decision to hire -or not to hire- plays a significant role in turnover. The leading contributor to turnover is often not what happens after the employee is hired, but rather the process leading up to it. And turnover is not always bad if it's a bad hire that's leaving. You have to wonder if you really are hiring the best we can.

Creating an Effective National Accounts Program

This article is intended to help everyone gain a better understanding of National Accounts Programs, including the motivation for creating one and the steps toward a successful process. While it is not intended to definitively answer every question regarding national accounts, it serves as a set of guiding principles for those in the company who are responsible for the success of the program. The executive management needs to be committed to the program and would benefit by understanding the process and concepts.

Crisis and the “Black Swan”

Black Swans are important events, either good or bad, that are highly improbable but happen nonetheless. Using the term Black Swan is a metaphor for an event that just is weird or unexplainable before hand using logic. None the less, Black Swans are explainable after the fact. Most are rare events that have extreme impact on the business. (Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. The Black Swan. New York: Random House, 2007.)

5 Tips To Help You Finish What You Start
Have you started a project that you had not finished due to depleting self-motivation, where you start strong, emotionally charged, then you doubt you will finish it, your motivation is reduced, then after a short while you stop working on the project altogether? Have you had enough of this cycle?

An Important Key to Success
Most great successes stem from your ability to be fully prepared and to feel absolutely certain that you can accomplish what you want to achieve in any line of business. Self-confidence is the crux that allows you to achieve your true worth in any business aspect. As you become more confident, you abandon worry, hesitation, anxiety and side-step fear of failure and rejection.

Are You Ready to Improve Your Self Confidence Level?
Did you know that you always determine and judge your self confidence by how you performed in a similar situation sometime in the past, whether it was a week ago, a month ago or as a young person?

Are Your Beliefs Holding You Back
Many people either tried to give up smoking or did all they could to lose weight, but in the long term were unsuccessful. Why is that?

Coach Yourself to Success
The importance of work right now, when money is less available than we are accustomed to, when all around us people are being made redundant, has multiple facets. The most obvious reason is that you want to keep money coming in, even if it’s only a small amount; and when we work, not only are we making money but we may be inclined to spend less because we’re busy.

Did You Know That Your Beliefs Are Not Real?
Do you think it really matters what you believe? Or to put it in another way, do you think it matters what your beliefs are in your financial area, business or career, or your relationships? What about in your health and fitness area?

How to Have That Winning Success Mindset
Be honest, are you one of those people who crave success, but getting either nowhere or making very little headway? Why do you suppose that is?

Make It Your Destiny To Accomplish Great Things In Your Life
We are now into a new year. Make it your decision, as of this moment, not to let your past dictate your future. What is gone is gone – forever. The year 2007 and all those that precede it are gone. Now is the time to move on, look ahead optimistically and do and become what you want: to be the best in any area that you choose, so you may design your own destiny.

New Years Resolution: Do it with a difference in 2009
Year after year we sit down with our special New Year notebooks, a bunch of coloured pens, and we start our list of resolutions, which seem to be surprisingly familiar.

People With Self Confidence Get Noticed
Those people who do not have self confidence end up not achieving very much in life. On the other hand, those who possess a good level of self confidence achieve many things; their aspirations, goals and dreams.

Take Responsibility for Change
If you manage or supervise others, both in the home as well as in the work environment, you may find the information in this article useful. Staff can often seem to let you down, behave in ways that appear to be inefficient, conflictual or disinterested, and this is an additional and unnecessary burden on top of all the other issues you face at work.

Your Belief System is Why Money is Hard to Get
Have you ever sat and pondered what beliefs you may have? Those beliefs that are responsible for running your life, on automatic, irrespective of whether they are limiting or enhancing beliefs?

Carol Quinn's Interviewer Tip #2

Play The Letter Game. What Type Of "E" Are You?
Ask yourself what it is you are not getting done. Look at the excuses you make and you will clearly see why you fail, while the ones that put forth effort, energy and enthusiasm are successful.

90% Of People Have No Goals
Wow, an astonishing 90% of the population has no ideas or plans for what they want out of life! Without a solid life plan to take a hold of, these “drifters” will not have direction or the peace of mind to maximize their lives.

A Seven Step Plan For Success In 2009
Here’s my seven step plan to help you understand and internalize the meaning of success. Follow these steps everyday in 2009 and you will make far more progress and increase your odds of success manifold.

Are You Insane
Albert Einstein once defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Yet, many of you have done this time and time again. You unfortunately bring your past knowledge and beliefs into every situation. Here are strategies to get you to break the habit of insanity.

How To Find Motivation And Inspiration From Your Heroes
"Everyday of your life, from the womb to the grave, you will face challenges and obstacles. It’s a law of the universe in which we live"! It IS a fact of life that every one of you are going to experience challenges, detours and temporary setbacks when you take action toward your goals – in any endeavor. Here's one of my motivation secrets on how to overcome them

"What Happens in Vegas..." is No Way to Run a Business! Employment References are Essential.
Employers who refuse to seek or provide employment references are creating an injustice to their workplace and the workforce as a whole. Accountability and motivation are sacrificed for no good reason. Legal compliance is essential but does not point to secrecy. "What happens in Vegas..." is no way to run a business!

Key Management Insights - Get Your New Hires Fully Engaged
You find them; you carefully select them; you sell you and your organization to them. Making that investment count is for nothing when you fall short on the first day...

Affirming Others Builds Trust and Motivation

As a leader, what do you feel and think when you receive a sincere affirmation from another person? Doesn't it build you up emotionally and increase your motivation? Here are ten points you can use as a leader to enhance your ability to more consistently and regularly affirm others, including your staff members, colleagues at work and customers. Doing it will build good will, trust and rapport between yourself and others and help them feel strong emotionally and more motivated to help you achieve your company's goals.

Change what you do

January is named after the Roman god, Janus who had two faces - one looking back and the other looking forward. Now is a good time for you to do both. Review the past year to list and celebrate your accomplishments. Also review your setbacks armed with hindsight to crystallize the wisdom you gained. Looking ahead - set your goals and map your path. But don't expect to keep doing what you are doing and get more. Prepare to change your approach just to get the same results. If you want to improve - do something dramatically different.

How to Demonstrate Personal Committment
Do you model personal commitment? If you do, you have the right to ask your staff members to follow you and model it too! Share the list in this article with them and ask them to demonstrate their commitment in these ways. Read on and learn about the nine things outlined in this article that you can do to enhance the motivation, trust and rapport of the people you serve.

People Are Your Greatest Asset

People are your greatest asset. This is always true, but it is even more important during times of economic stress. The right people doing the right jobs can make the difference between success and failure. I think most business owners already understand this principle, but finding the right people, keeping the right people, and getting people to perform at their highest levels are constant concerns for business owners at all levels.

Improve Your Team's Performance: Measure for Motivation
The key to success is to have the people responsible to produce the numbers take ownership of the measurement and reporting of those key numbers. If you do this well, you will be amazed at the impact it has on your business. Remember, people respond to what you measure.

Life Changing Seven Mile Walk and My New Experiment
Last Saturday my wife and I decided to go for a walk along the Grand River at Riverside Park. It was a beautiful morning and although I declined when she first asked me if I wanted to walk, I am very glad I changed my mind.

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones – But Words Will Never Hurt Me!
To grow your business, you must grow yourself. I ask corporate leaders all the time, "What are you doing to grow your people?" As entrepreneurs, ask yourself the question, "What are YOU doing to grow YOU?" As individuals, what are you doing to become the best YOU?

Take a Break from Focusing on Your Success and Focus on Giving Back!

I know I typically use this blog to write about Internet marketing strategies, web marketing tactics, and basically whatever it takes to be successful online. Well, in my opinion there is no reason to do all the hard work to become successful online if you don't GIVE BACK! Call it good karma, call it blessings, call it whatever you want. We are all human beings inhabiting the same planet and it's very easy to get caught up in ourselves and forget there are many less fortunate people who could use our help. I personally have never either had the opportunity, or found the motivation to make the decision to pitch in to help make the world a better place. Until now!

Are You An "Al Bundy"?
As much as Al was a likeable character. He was flawed. He lived his life firmly in the past. After all, his defining moment was long ago in his youth. But, how about you?

Variable Incentive Plan: A Motivation & Retention tool
This article explores the various categories of Incentives that can be applied to employees in different job roles and how HR can use this tool to motivate and retain employees across the entire company. Variable Incentive Plans are coming to the fore to retain high-performers and encourage achievement.

Follow Up Until They Buy or Die
the secrets to effective follow-up Following-up pays off! Use this article as motivation to sort through those business cards on your desk or to review those names in your database. Do you have any overdue follow up? Use the ideas above and commit to handling any outstanding follow-up this week. As Nike says, “Just do it!”

The Next Big Thing

In preparation for a talk I was giving to about 100 entrepreneurs, I asked the host to tell me about the makeup of the audience. I wondered if this group that gathers regularly was made up of business owners who had it all figured out, not even close, or somewhere in-between. His answer was the latter – many of the entrepreneurs have laser focus and many are still trying to figure out if they were really doing the right thing to best serve their talents and interests. How to figure ‘IT’ out is a challenge for all of us, whether we are already in business or still deciding if we want to take the plunge. One of the keys is quiet.

How Important Is Encouragement To A Home Business Owner?
In successful businesses, systems are in place to ensure the morale of the employees is kept at a high level. When the home business owner needs encouragement where do they go? In reality they need encouragement which means they should find it somewhere if it isn't in place, or establish a system themselves. Regular encouragement is necessary for all aspects of life, business especially.

What Happens When We Help Others?
Compassion is one of those characteristics we're glad is addictive. Without compassion our homes and communities suffer, as does society in general. The deep longing, pulling at our heart strings, to make a difference, drives the very best within each of us. Yielding to this desire bares fruit worth repeating. Helping others, binds us socially, and builds a legacy.

Great Sales Tips and Sales Motivation How to Overcome a Selling Slump
Fretting and worrying will not help you when your sales are down. They will hold you back. You cannot excel at anything unless you keep yourself in the right frame of mind. This requires balancing your ability to be realistic and objective, controlling your emotions, and working harder.

Keep your employees motivated
Keeping up your staff morale is important whether things are going well or not so great with your business. Motivated employees make for better business all around. Let's look at various ways you can keep your employees motivated.

Inspiration Is The Foundation For Motivation
Is it possible to motivate someone else without inspiration? The answer to this question is no, inspiration is the catalyst for motivation.

10 Tips to Help You Find & Do Your “IT”
Wittig offers his insight on how you not only identify that thing you know you should be doing in your life, but how to act on ‘IT’ as well.

Top 5 Tips for Maintaining Momentum

It is May and most of us are back into the full swing of living our life and running our businesses. In January we explored New Year’s resolutions as a means of setting personal and business goals. If you are like most people, then you'll have a limited window of opportunity during the first few days of January to harness your motivation. After that, most people forget their resolutions completely. As business leader, it is your responsibility to keep the ball rolling, utilizing and maintaining momentum to not just achieve immediate objectives, but your long-term vision as well. In this month’s article we discuss 5 tips for maintaining momentum:

Strategies to Reconnect with Your Passion

Passion – and knowing what yours is – is a big topic of conversation these days. The answer reveals a deep truth within yourself. You find courage and capabilities that you never knew existed before and you experience a profound sense of authenticity and appropriateness about life. Whether you want to improve your performance in your business, as a parent, in your relationships or simply want to step into the next stage of your life, knowing and living your passion will bring you clarity, commitment, fulfillment and joy.

Ten Tips on Motivation

Tough times weigh heavy on employees. They know when a company is not performing without seeing the profit and loss statement. The good ones start to abandon ship and seek employment elsewhere. Add restructuring and employee terminations to the formula and keeping your good employees becomes the most life threatening issue you are likely to face during tough economic times. Losing good employees has a high cost associated with it.

If You are a Leader, are You a Peacemaker?
A good leader creates an environment of peace that compels people to walk in that direction...Here are characteristics that make leaders effective peacemakers.

How to Influence Employees to Get Things Done Correctly on Time Without Using Positional Authority
While influence is a powerful tool for getting work done, there are barriers that can stand in your way of influencing others...

Leave your Lizard Brain behind.
How do we combat our biological tendencies to be fearful, hesitant and doubtful about our own actions?

What Successful People Avoid in Their Communication

There are key, unbelievably overused sentences you must make efforts to consciously avoid in your communication, especially in these uncertain economic times. Check those who use these sentences frequently and chances are they are not on your list of the people you consider successful in any endeavor of life. I call them de-motivators and dream busters or responsibility deflectors. The moment you utter any of them, you surrender your desire for immediate action and “borrow” time to wallow in self pity-which is a dangerous move that will never bring either tangible or intangible results.

From Here, Now Where? What’s Not Working and What Will

You know how things are in your business, professional or personal endeavors. You have first hand knowledge of how our economy, that for the most part is still ailing, has affected everything you expect from whatever you do. Your passion, creativity and hope are on hold until “things change.” The reality is, until you ask yourself, “What’s not working for you, what will?” and then implement what will work, nothing will change. Your business, professional or personal pursuits will remain on hold and risk being forced to obsolescence until “things change.”

Un-used Potential
Millions of talents and gifts come and go from this world packaged within people who never used them. Yet, when you discover and use a hidden talent and/or gift, you significantly enrich your life and the lives of others.

Top 7 Tips for Overcoming Buffaloes With Others
When you or your organization is face-to-face with a fierce buffalo, there is no short cut-just as villagers could not run away or climb trees, neither can you escape from the buffalo trumpeting you your organization. You have a strategy and a team to help overcome the beast.

Top 7 Leadership Lessons Learned From Gardening

Gardening has tips that can be applied in Gardening has tips that can be applied in leadership strategies, parenting and spiritual issues. My mother gave me a small plot to garden when I was ten-long before she bought me my first underwear and shoes. It was mine to cultivate, plant and care for my crops before harvesting them. Sugarcane was my crop of choice. I could harvest one at a time without asking for my parent's permission. At that tender age, I discovered a source of tranquility and moments for creative thinking that are rarely experienced in our fast paced world. Up to 1985, I gardened whenever schools were closed. What many consider manual labor was an interconnection of mental, physical, and spiritual aspects that always left a sense of significance words cannot describe.

My Father's Leadership

Today's decline of the social structures in America that hold families, corporations and other institutes together is largely attributed to ineffective leaders. As I reflect on the importance of quality leadership, I think of my father, Johnson Kituku Musoo. My father is a living testimony that what you don't have should not stop you from achieving what you want. His mother died before he turned ten, leaving him with a younger brother and sister to care for. I learned about his struggles from other people. I never heard him complain--although I once saw him cry, wishing that his mother was still alive.

Leading Amateurs to Success: What Leaders Can Learn from Mt. Borah
If, as a leader, you have said, "I wish I heard more talented people our production would increase" or "The reason we fail is because we don't have experienced people" think twice.

Job and Success Re-defined

I have been astonished, since 1997 when I started interviewing people before my presentations, by how some professionals, leaders and business owners have redefined what we call jobs and work-related success. These people have factored a critical element in their jobs or success in what they do-they understand how, at the end of the day, another individual's life is made better by their involvement.

7 Must Know Motivators Employees Appreciate at All Times
So often when I am contacted to work with a group of leaders I am asked, "What can we do to keep our employees motivated, focused and increasing productivity?" Then that question is followed by the comment, "We have goals that we want to achieve."

Balancing Work and Life

A major explanation for stress has been uncertainty in the workplace as a result of increased competition, changing local and international trade regulations, merging of corporations and technological advances. These changes have been experienced nationally and locally, Idaho included. For example, Micron's production and profits are directly affected by business practices and turmoil in East Asia. Zilog, Hewlett-Packard, Ore-Ida Inc. and other corporations constantly make major business adjustments to be profitable in an emerging and unpredictable environment.

Be a Positive Outlier and Change Your World

When you think of it, George Washington was an outlier and so were characters such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Galileo, Mother Teresa, Joan of Arc and Nelson Mandela. Are you a positive outlier? When an outlier is removed from a set of data, its influence is gone. In your sphere of life or work, can your absence be noticeable? Would people wish you were still available to affect their work or life in a positive way? You don't need talent to be an outlier. You need vision of the future you want, decisions to get you started on a path toward your vision and actions that bring you results.

Dealing with the Failure Within an Organization
The best advertisement for any organization is the genuine enthusiasm portrayed by employees. That enthusiasm is a byproduct of how employees feel valued, how they perceive their input is appreciated and how much fun they have doing what they do.

5 Good Reasons For Being Your Own Boss

There are loads of people these days that are having difficulty finding a job. This is affecting more and more people every day, and itÂ´s happening all over the world. So, people are beginning to look to the internet to find the solution to this problem and to help them make money online. It is without doubt the best way to work from home. Now, some people are having a hard time making up their minds about whether to start their own internet business, and how to go about it, so this article is going to give you have the confidence and motivation you need to be your own boss and start making money on the internet. Here are 5 things that are great about being your own boss.

How To Get Your Work Done Quickly
Zig Ziggler and the Parkinson's Law illustrate this tip on how to be more productive and efficient. In order to get lots of work done quickly it is necessary to prioritize your list of tasks to complete and then set a deadline for completion. Without setting a deadline, your "to do" list will linger indefinitely.

Ten Little Words That Have Kept Me On Track
The secret to success is really quite simple and it comes in just 10 little words.

What are you feeding your mind?
Eating healthier, causes you feel better. What you feed your mind, has an effect on your whole life.

Lesson #3: Management Means To Inspire Creativity

“From a management standpoint, it is very important to know how to unleash people's inborn creativity,” said Morita. “My concept is that anybody has creative ability, but very few people know how to use it.” Morita created one of the world’s largest multinational corporations but he did not do it alone. Indeed, over his fifty-year career, Morita became one of the most outspoken businessmen for sound management principles, of which his were largely based on Japanese traditions.

What does that word motivation mean?
Merydith Willoughby hears the word motivation bandied far too often. It concerns her on many fronts because people get the wrong idea about what it is. It is clear to her after having worked with many people that being motivated is a small component of success. This article details what else is required.

Lesson #3: Be a Dreamer
“I’m a kid in the candy store,” says Hefner. “I dreamed impossible dreams. And the dreams turned out beyond anything I could possibly imagine.”

Lesson #2: Love Your Work
“The most important thing in life is to love what you’re dong,” says Trump, “because that’s the only way you’ll ever be really good at it.”

Lesson #4: Just Get It Right Once
“Always remember that no matter how many times you get shot down, you will get smarter, better and you only have to be right once to be successful,” says Cuban.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page Quotes
Sergey Brin and Larry Page Quotes

Donald Trump Quotes
Donald Trump Quotes

Lesson #4: Get Your Motivation from Love, Not Money
In the 1990s, sales were soaring, outlets of Domino’s were popping up all over the world, and Monaghan should have been the happiest guy on earth. But, on top of the world is the last place you would have found him. Instead, Monaghan was tormented with guilt.

The Mogul of Motivation: Kiyosaki Creates A Million Dollar Business
It was 1977 and Kiyosaki had been working for the Xerox Corporation for a few years now. But, he was not content to simply work as a salesman for someone else’s company for the rest of his life. And so, he got to thinking about starting his own.

Lesson #3: Do Not Accept a Crisis, Act on It
“I got my start by giving myself a start,” said Walker.

Lesson #2: Know Where You Want to Go, Then Worry about the Way
As soon as DeLuca heard the story about Mike Davis he began setting in stone his own goals for himself. Davis was the owner of a sandwich shop chain in New York who had begun from nothing and grown his operation in a string of 32 stores. From thereon out, DeLuca’s goal was to match that number.

Joyce Hall Quotes
Joyce Hall Quotes

Keep Calm and Carry On
Running a business is a funny thing. One minute, you can be swamped with work and the next you’re so quiet and you can’t see where the next penny is coming from. When you’re desperate for new business, it’s likely that you’ll do tons and tons of marketing. You’ll really get off your back side and get out there as much as possible to get new business through the door.

How To Determine What You Want In Life
What do you really want in life? Most people don't discover what they want in life until it's time to die - and that's a shame. Most people spend the best years of their lives watching television or doing things they dislike. An author described humanity by saying, "Most people die at twenty and are buried at eighty." Are you one of the living zombies?

The 80-19-1 Rule

I expect that many of you are familiar with the Pareto principle (also known as the 80–20 rule.) If you aren’t, the simple definition is that for many phenomena 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes. Or – more practically – 80% of your company’s revenue comes from 20% of your customers, or 80% of your problems come from 20% of your customers, or 80% of your employee problems come from 20% of your employees. While it’s overused, it’s a good rule of thumb.

Be It Resolved, Analysts are Worthless
The following email from the head of global equity research at HSBC (my long-ago employer) to London analysts is being called, at least in the U.K., crass and demotivating. I have to confess, I don't actually find it all that troubling: More than a few analysts that I used to work with could have used some tough talk:

What's the Measure of One Word?
It's absolutely essential that you find a way to differentiate your business in a meaningful way. I know I talk about this all the time, but it's that important.

Two kinds of 'don't know'
I don't know French. I can't play the piano. I have no clue how to catch a bony spinefish. This is the first kind of don't know. Stuff you don't know because you haven't been taught it yet. Books are awfully good at solving this problem, so are good teachers.

Serial Entrepreneurs and What Motivates Them
The WSJ has an excellent article titled The Secrets of Serial Success. The “serial entrepreneur” is a mysterious beast and entrepreneurship sociologists have been poking and prodding at it for some time. Most articles I read about the “motivation of serial entrepreneurs” falls short – this one nails a lot of the things I’ve observed and experienced.

The Second Deadly Workplace Sin: Envy
Recently, I read an article from Careerbuilder.com about the Seven Deadly Workplace Sins. Two days ago, I gave you my take on Pride. This morning, it’s all about Envy.

Find Out Who You Are Talking To
Whether face-to-face, phone, email, mail, fax, website or whatever medium, find out early in the interaction what that person's primary motivation is.

So You Think You’re Different?
Being different, or more accurately, having a point of differentiation that matters to a market, is one of the most critical marketing strategies for the small business.

Three Steps to Getting Your Goals Back on Target
We're more than a month into 2009. Is anyone experiencing goal drift? Here are three steps to get yourself refocused and enlist your network to help you.

Remember Why You Do What You Do
I once had an interesting conversation with a woman on a flight to Minneapolis. We were both flying for business reasons, so we talked shop at first. Then the conversation took a more philosophical turn. We were talking about what motivated people to go into work every day, whatever it is they do. I asked her what motivated her personally.

I can do it…….I can do it!
I should find a way to stamp these words on all my clients’ hands. I strongly believe that the mind is a very powerful tool. Our thoughts send out messages which make us behave in certain ways. Our approach to new situations is often governed by what is going on inside our head, and not by external factors.

More tips from the Emotional Intelligence Tool Box
Thinking and planning is an important part of your life, and your business, if you are to be successful. I was musing over the issue of Emotional Intelligence, and have pulled out from the tool kit the very useful instrument of MOTIVATION. Are you a motivated person? Can you motivate others?

4 Tips for Effective Goal Setting
Goal setting is directly tied in to your future and affects your life. Effective goal setting sets you on a certain path that is free from distractions and time wasters that could slow your progress. Finally, goal setting is motivational, because the more goals you set and achieve, the more self-confidence you build and the happier you are.

Collaboration – The New Competition
Over the coming years, we will see collaboration become the new competition. Markets around the world are crying out for collaboration as innovation and differentiation become scarce in a sea of commoditised products and services. Sales people who see themselves as collaborators, both internally (colleagues, departments) and externally (customers, competitors), will prosper more than ever.

Motivating With More Than Money
The old adage still holds true - people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

What Screwtape taught me about Success
Where do we find the fuel for personal or business achievement?

How entrepreneurs stay motivated
After the initial excitement of the brain wave that will change the world and revolutionize society has long ended; and the entrepreneur sets to the task of actually making their vision happen, sometimes set backs or sheer fatigue sets in. Then the visionary who was once so elated over their business idea starts to view it as work.

Becoming a Leader – 5 Fountains of Motivation
Proper motivation is necessary to becoming a leader. True leadership respects the source and flow of motivation and maintains balance by ensuring the wells that feed the fountains never run dry.

Constant Motivation
How do we get constant motivation? We get stressed but we need stress to provide the adrenaline to get us motivated, but we still enjoy what we do.....?

Six Tips For Terrific Teamwork
Have you ever wondered why some teams are so quick to work together and others are not? The ultimate understanding is the chemistry. When the chemistry is right teams work. In the event your team is not jelling follow these six quick tips.

Motivation One Size Does Not Fit All
Managers continually try to find ways to motivate their employees. The most common way is to use bonuses and pay raises. What other ways work? Who else is responsible for finding what really motivates a person?

The #3 Interview Question That Candidates Find Most Difficult
Knowing what interview questions are likely to be asked is half the battle – the other half is answering them in a way that lands you the job.

How to use affirmations to find meaning and move faster 1(2)

Affirmations do not only create motivation, alignment and discipline. They can also create focus, speed and meaning to all actions in your life. Have you noticed that affirmations do not work like most self-help books say? It does not really help just sitting and thinking about something. It does not bring you closer to your result or becoming what you want to be. Let's discuss affirmations for a moment to try and understand what really makes them work. But before we start, let me share something that Gandhi said into this discussion: "Praying is not for the sick and the old."

How to use affirmations to find meaning and move faster 2(2)
Affirmations are not only a creator of motivation, alignment and discipline. They also create focus, speed and meaning to all actions in our life. Have you noticed that affirmations do not work like most self-help books say? Let us continue exploring what an affirmation needs to entail to be able to give us the benefits we so often hear they can bring.

Why Women Executives and Entrepreneurs Should Look to Mentoring!
Mentoring opportunities... enhances your personal power when you respond and support others who need you... it reinforces self esteem rather than carelessly destroy hope or motivation.

Improve Motivation - If Something Works Use It
Finding the things that motivate us and keep us on track is the key to success in life. Identifying ways to keep enthusiastic and motivated in the midst of stress or difficulties is the most important element. And, when something works, use it.

Executive Coaching for Creating Goals - Goal-Setting Strategies for Leaders
Do your organizational leaders have clearly defined written goals? Research shows that those people who actually sit down and write out their goals not only end up achieving them, but have higher incomes and ratings for overall success and life satisfaction.

Shirley Sherrod’s Cautionary Tale
Check the facts, check the facts, check that facts. Never assume.

How To Write Advertising Copy To Make Money Online
This article conveys some of the basics of how to write advertising copy for making money online, covering tried and true copywriting technique, hopefully facilitating development of your abilities in power copywriting for the internet.

Employee Recognition and Praise. Does it improve performance and productivity? Does it keep them motivated and loyal?
Maintaining a motivated staff is not always the easiest of tasks, but it does pay off for you, your customers and the employee. This article focuses on closing off periods, or events, with employee recognition. If you want to avoid losing your best employees, and encourage others to do better recognizing them publicly may save yourself the time and money of having to find and re-train new staff.

Building Positive Leadership -The Brain Power of Negativity

Do you feel that company leaders and managers at work appreciate you? Do you regularly have the chance to do your best work? Do you have clarity on what is expected of you at work? Does your manager care about you and provide focus? Fully engaged people at work can answer these questions with a resounding yes! Most of us start a job motivated to perform our best, but sometimes working for a poor manager can adversely affect your motivation. Positive leaders help people tap into their innovative spirit to improve performance. Optimistic leaders inspire people to a better future. They have a strong sense of significance. Do you model servant leadership?

How To change Your Life To Create Success

Are you sick of your life, yourself, your job, your nagging boss. Do you feel unloved and you're living day by day without any direction? It's time to change your life and all it takes is a decision to do so. Don't rely on anyone else to do this for you, it's not up to anyone else and you must make the commitment from deep within your soul and be honest with yourself and truthful with yourself. change takes time and it's hard work but the fulfillment you will experience is worth it. Lets go...

Improve with Discipline and Persevere
If you want this year to be your best year ever, improve with discipline and refuse to be another “resigning” statistic. The world is full of people who give up on a daily basis and it is time for a positive change in attitude. Today’s world needs people with vision, focus and above all, discipline.

Jump start your Day, the Attitude of Discipline Way!

Each and every day this year can be a jump start towards getting everything you want out of life when you incorporate an attitude of discipline. An Attitude of Discipline is greeting each day with gratitude. When you wake up in the morning, you are granted another day closer to living your dreams. Simply waking up each day is a poignant reason to be grateful. So many people will not wake up today. An attitude of gratefulness is a daily discipline. Embrace an attitude of gratitude and notice how you speak differently using powerful words and how your body language greatly improves.

The Most Important Sales Leadership Discipline to Motivating Sales Teams

Sales team motivation can be an easy task, especially when appropriate disciplines are demonstrated by the sales leader. That is when employee motivation happens naturally. It is kind of like “monkey see, monkey do” approach. Motivation, no matter if it is self motivation or employee motivation, is defined as a motive to act. What motivates you and gets you to act, does not necessarily mean it will work for others, or lead to employee motivation. No one can motivate you, only you can motivate yourself. You cannot motivate others. As a sales team leader all you can do is demonstrate appropriate behaviours and create an environment where employees motivate themselves

Are You Exercising Your Right to Choose?

Many people do not realize the value of choice. Choice is our greatest gift. We can choose our dreams and decide what we want to be, where we want to go, what we want to do, what we want to have, and the way we react to most circumstances. We make choices each day from the moment we wake up to the time we fall asleep. There are the obvious choices: what to eat, what to wear and what to do that day.

Do you have the Courage to ASK?

When I speak to audiences around the world, I always ask, “Why don’t people have the courage to ask for what they want?” The answers are fear of rejection, fear of losing face or fear of being embarrassed. All of them live with the fear of what may happen because they do not have the courage to ask. For now, let me explain a few things about asking. Firstly, it takes courage to ask but if you don’t ask, you don’t get. Am I right?

Why do you go to work?
Why do you go to work? Is it for the enjoyment, to keep busy or another specific reason? For years, I have been asking people why they go to work. Everywhere in the world I get the same answer. What do you think that answer is?

How to Step Out and Soar Amidst the Noise of Social Networking Today: Finding Your Wings In the Middle of the Big Flap!
There are five key ingredients to getting noticed in today’s crowded virtual networking. Once you have these soundly in place, simply continue to mix with consistence and persistence for results that will have you leading the way and soaring above the din of those unable to defy gravity.

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

In the US where IQ and SAT scores have dominated thinking on who is likely to succeed, the evidence is now clear that people skills are far more important when it comes to the bottom line. For many years it had been considered inappropriate to show or to have emotions in a work situation. An overwhelming amount of research shows that not only are emotions very much a part of the work experience, but to a large degree they set the course that a company follows. Unlike IQ, which is unchanging from childhood on, emotional intelligence can be developed. In fact, it usually does become greater with age and maturity. The importance of developing one's emotional intelligence is essential to success in the workplace. Utilizing the power and energy of one's emotions leads to high motivation, and improves problem-solving and decision-making.

Man always rises to meet up to his expectations

When I took over the management of a chain of retail stores in the auto-service industry, one of the biggest challenges that I faced was the incompetency of the staff. Two points stood out very strongly: a) Whoever I asked, had a bad opinion about the non-performers and b) The so-called non-performers were actually not producing results. “Obviously!” you might think. How can you expect non-performers to produce results? Well, that’s what I thought too, at least initially.

Showing Appreciation - Learning From Watching Your Team
One of the simplest management tactics you can use to build trust and positive morale is where you find a small amount of time in your day to appreciate your people.

Solo worker? Why waking up earlier may help.
You should feel reassured that Manhattan's best and brightest solo workers also have the same problem we all do of rolling out of bed on time -- and these are some brilliant and amazing people! Find out how to wake up earlier so you can be more productive.

Components of Effective Compensation Plans

Executive Summary: A problem arises when sales leaders struggle to measure the effectiveness of the compensation plan in place for their sales reps. Compensation plans, particularly those with a variable component, are designed to illicit desirable behaviors and/or outcomes from reps. Many sales leaders are discovering that they have been paying reps for results that were not the primary objectives for the company. This is simply wasted money. Setting well thoughtout, clearly defined objectives with aligned metrics attached, will ensure that both the company and sales reps reap the benefits of a solid compensation plan.

Creating Happy Companies is Good Business
There is no doubt that business success depends on highly motivated employees. Why do so many companies have uninspiring leaders and uninspired employees who plod along with little - or the wrong - motivation? Why are corporate decisions still being made for the short term, undermining morale and jeopardizing business success?

Merger Miseries One

Most companies I work with are going through or have recently gone through some sort of restructuring, merger, acquisition, or other major discontinuity. Also, units within organizations are frequently merging and changing structure. I observe incredible stress and anxiety when groups are trying to accomplish these changes. It is common knowledge that the process of assimilating a merger is much longer and more painful than most CEOs recognize going in. I have several observations and theories about why that is and ways to approach the merging of two cultures that might prevent some pain for many organizations. This article is the first in a series.

Without Motivation We Look for Reasons Not to Change
Recently, a client contacted me and asked for help in moving a sales opportunity along. After careful consideration of the facts, we realized that his current circumstances left him no opportunity to get this deal.

Why Rewards Cause Problems #1: Pay is Not a Motivator
Many managers try to motivate people by giving the reward of more money. This is not the best way to increase motivation. This article explains some of the logic behind the conundrum.

5 Mental Attitudes of Winners
If you are serious about changing your career and your life, then get in the practice of working on your mental attitude first. Adopt these 5 mental attitudes of winners to powerfully change your ways of thinking and to permanently change your results.

Driven to Distraction: How Latest Trends Will Hurt You
It is good to be open to new ideas and new customers however stay focused on the prospects you have, and the less you’ll be distracted by the latest trend... and this will leave you with more opportunities to actually make more sales.

Effective Managers Understand Psychology
Novice managers often struggle to get the best out of their people because they labor under a one-dimensional view of what motivates their employees. In this article, Leslie Allan illustrates how a little psychology can return huge dividends.

Do You Need A “Kick-In-The-Butt”
Find an advisor whom you trust to keep you motivated and on track toward reaching your business goals. This should be someone who is willing (and has the “authority”) to get you moving. If you need someone to help motivate you, give me a call. I will be happy to give you a motivational push.

Making the Team

There is something special about the challenge young people face when attempting to make the team. This healthy competition ignites a desire to perform that cannot easily be replicated for this young generation of Americans. Regardless of the sport, the desire to achieve and play is a remarkable source of motivation. Imagine the organizational potential if an organization could replicate this as source of motivation on the job. What would happen to key organizational metrics like attendance and productivity?

Positive Thinking Tips To Improve Your Sales Motivation

In all professions it is critical to maintain good relationships with your customers and always appear positive and personable. However this is even more important in sales when you have regular contact with customers. Given the current recession and the economic downturn sales professionals are often finding it tougher to make a sale as businesses are downsizing and cutting costs wherever possible. This article aims to offer some positive thinking tips so that sales people and other professionals can maintain their sales motivation.

Four Essential Strategies for Effective Communication
In this article, Mike Friesen describes describes effective communication as an engaged, useful exchange of information. With this in mind, great communication must engage compassionately, logically, with presence, and systematically and Mike explores each strategy in turn.

Characteristics of Personal Mastery (Part 2 of 2)
Personal mastery means excelling in the areas of heart, legacy, mind, action, and treating others well. In this second of a two-part series, Mike Friesen explores the last three characteristics in detail.

Who But You?
An article on surrender and how we are the only ones who can help ourselves grow in business and in life.

How Managers Undermine Employee Performance

Are you working in an organization where managers know how to motivate people? Are managers held accountable for listening to their employees and addressing any complaints? I coach a number of managers who consistently complain about certain employees, but don't take the time or make the effort to address any underlying concerns. Effective managers listen to their employees, and are open to any feedback that will improve work place performance. Spend enough time in meetings or the executive lunchroom, and you're destined to hear your fair share of managers' complaints about their employees.

Five Leadership Secrets of an Aviator
A former fighter pilots suggests five lessons from aviation that link directly to leadership.

Character and Competence

When hiring for and growing employees within an organization, it is essential to consider both character and competence traits. The single best strategy for helping a company improve results starts with hiring the right people for the right business needs. It is far better to leave a vacancy unfilled rather than fill just because “any warm body in the chair will help.” The pain and cost of making poor hiring decisions is unnecessary. Sprinkle the hiring process with a bit more deliberation and patience and watch the long-term results take an upward course.

Disagreement and Disrespect
An important concept for successful leaders is to recognize disagreement and disrespect are two completely different concepts. Confusing or combining the two concepts guarantees a dysfunctional organization.

5 Steps to Embracing Your Inner Genius
Each of us has within us a spark of genius that we can use to get us closer to our goals and to leading the lives we are meant to live. We simply need to choose to honour those actions and behaviours that are in alignment with that spark. Here are five simple habits that will help you embrace and honour your inner genius.

Hiring People that Can Really Sell-Three Things You Need to Know
Corporate America spends millions on hiring the wrong sales people. If you and your organization have ever made a mistake in hiring sales people you will know the cost. Here are 3 systems that will add real money to your top and bottom line.

Leadership and Making It Special

There is a lot of talk, these days, about what a leader should do, ought to do, needs to do and do be do! Opinions from mainstream, midstream, downstream and upstream media are as diverse as there are people on the planet. Each stream of thought is equally convinced that their assessment of the ‘leadership’ event is anchored in a compelling, narrow focus of wisdom that drives their point of view. The leadership literature is abundant with personal testimonies, ‘pop culture’ analysis and perspectives that offer a very thin slice of a very large pie

Career Advice: Four Secrets to Creating Successful Job Opportunities
Learn how to overcome your challenges to finding your new job or career. Whether you are in the middle of a job search or looking for a new position, adding the P-I-N-E principles will help you achieve your goals:

Appreciate to Motivate (Five Keys to Successful Team Building)
Why don’t more managers, owners, and employees give appreciation? Some people state they don’t know how to give it. Others say they don’t know what to give. Still others say they are too busy to give or show appreciation. The following are five tips to giving sincere appreciate that will motivate your team to soar to higher level and achieve more.

Are You Building Your Foundation of Success: Six Secrets of Motivating Yourself for Success
Are you creating your foundation of success? Are you motivated to take on challenges that others are not willing to do? The following is a story of someone who did and achieved great success in his life and how you can, too!

Ten Techniques for Motivating Others through Chaos
The work environment has changed. Change has become the norm. Also the truth level of employees has decreased. This can lead to increased dissatisfaction and decreased productivity. Here are ten techniques for motivating your employees to succeed during chaos.

Ten Action Steps to Motivate Yourself to Great Accomplishments
Let me ask you this question, "Are you motivated to achieve great accomplishments in your life?" The following are ten action steps you can apply today to achieve more success in in your life:

Motivation Techniques: Eight Ways to Motivate Part Time Employees
In most cases, part-time employees present a special challenge when it comes to motivation. They do the “grunt” work, have little career choices, are often focused on other goals outside of your organization (college, hobbies, etc.), and are treated as outsiders by full-time employees. So what’s a manager to do? How do we turn our part-time employees into outstanding employees?

Motivate Your Team! Eight Quick Tips to Motivate for Success
Motivation is the key ingredient for success in any organization. You can have all the technical skills in the world; however, if you can’t motivate your team, you will not achieve success. As a leader, a majority of your job is to motivate others to succeed so that everyone’s goals are accomplished. The following are eight quick tips to motivate your team.

Motivate Your Customer Service Team for Outstanding Customer Service: Six Secrets of Customer Service Motivation

Providing outstanding customer service is one of the most rewarding yet challenging activities within your organization. Exceptional organizations that provide outstanding customer service will experience the following benefits: * Increased customer satisfaction * Increased revenues * Increased repeat and referral customer traffic * Less employee turnover * Increased profits So how do we support and motivate our customer service team to give outstanding customer service? The following are six secrets to motivate your customer service team to give exceptional customer service to your customers.

Employee Motivation, Don Imus, and Team Building: Five Secrets of Motivated Teams

Don Imus, a shock jock (someone who shocks their listening audience by saying outrageous statements), was fired from his jobs on WCBS radio and MSNBC television for crossing the line of decency and making racist and sexist remarks regarding the Rutgers University women's basketball team. From a team building and employee motivational point of view, there are tidbits of motivational wisdom to be learned from this situation.

Employee Motivation, Don Imus, and Team Building: Five Secrets of Motivated Teams

Unselling What You Just Sold
When the buyer gives a buying signal, close the sale and leave. As a sales person don't allow your egos and pride to get in the way...

Creating Organizational Change, Motivation and Momentum

Change is the one constant that businesses can rely on today. Navigating such change can be a challenge to organizational leadership. Helping employees understand the need for change must be a focus of leadership. Understand the motivational needs of the employee base while clearly communicating the needs of the company will become a much-sought skill for leaders today. This article addresses some challenges faces by organizations within the ever-changing business environment and offers insight into the change process, organizational communication and motivational attributes of the employee base.

Staying Positive about Business Success in a World Full of Negativity
With negative messages coming from everywhere, finding the positive can be a challenge. Here are some strategies to build a great support system to keep a positive attitude and a positive trend in your business.

The Tool that Moves People Forward Faster
Salespeople, managers and negotiators that know this secret, get more sales and more wins more easily than others.

Motivational Leadership - Creating Loyalty

There are leaders, and then there are those who actually lead. Every executive who supervises others must be prepared to motivate-a skill that really isn't difficult. It requires you to create loyal customers and workers who link themselves to your higher cause. General Motors so successfully motivated people to buy their cars, for example, they sold more than any other automaker in the world for over 77 years. Although they were first in their industry, they did not inspire loyalty.

Trainers Can Use Creativity Skills Training Materials to Help Others Become More Creative

It is well known that we are extremely creative when we are children, but only a few people manage to remain creative when they reach adulthood. What goes wrong? This article explores the root of creativity and provides guidelines on how to become more creative. Our relative lack of creativity is perhaps best explained by the way we are brought up and also it is to do with our education system. The education system is geared towards guiding us to provide a perfect answer for every question. We are precisely measured and learn how to rigidly follow a set plan. Of course this leads to becoming qualified employees who can get a specific job done, but unfortunately does little to help us remain create let alone make us more creative than we were when we were a child.

The Need for a Skill
Dealing with harassment and bullying within a workplace is sometimes a motivation problem as well as an ability problem.

The ‘Key’ To What Really Motivates You to Achieve Your Dreams!

What motivates you? What gets you fired up? What gets your 'juices' flowing? What vision of the future excites you? Being inspired momentarily is easy for many people, but staying motivated long-term can be challenging for some of us. You go through a process of being really motivated in the beginning to being completely unmotivated, which makes it easy for anyone to quit. What happens when you go from being so excited you can't wait to get up in the morning, to being so tired you can't wait to go to bed at night. Somewhere between the starting point and the quitting point, the very thing that was driving you was lost. Here are some exercises to help you connect with the feeling of your dreams and goals.

Use Your Motivation To Your Advantage
Ultimately, a person's motivation, wherever it comes from, will drive him or her to great success or greater failure. Motivation directly leads to a person taking action. Learn how to modify your motivating factors and how to capitalize on all opportunities.

Good to be Great

It seems like the market has shifted in a positive direction people in business have energy about moving forward. The media have also maintained their consistent 'doom and gloom' outlook, but now it relates to concerns about increasing interest rates! So it must be a good time to grow! Having said that there are a number of lessons to be learnt from recent times in what works and causes sustainability - and what will likely not last.

Inspiring Generation Y
A different approach will get a much better result!

Building Character - Move up when the pressure is on

Whilst it seems that the current financial situation was in some ways inevitable, it has created a fervour among the press somewhat like seagulls around a discarded packet of chips on the beach! We've heard the term 'bad news sells' and have proven the point repeatedly over the last few months. The challenge this creates within organisations is that it causes 'politics' and infighting because of uncertainty. Peoples' performance will suffer and decisions become clouded by personal needs rather than benefiting organisational goals and direction.

Laser Like Focus
Teams that are aligned are happy and perform at a consistently higher level

Leaders Build TRUST
The primary role of a leader is to build an extraordinary team. And extraordinary teams sre built upon a high level of trust.

Leadership in Business and Personal Growth
With leadership in business and n life comes accountability and the need for integrity. Leadership is more a way of life than a title. With accepting the resonsibility of leadership comes the positive impact [ot otherwise] that your decisions will have upon your people

Maintianing Good Organisational Health
6 years on and the business of coaching is a constant learning curve. There is an endless supply of variables which makes what we do always interesting, challenging and never dull.

Managing and Maintaining Performance
The art of building and maintaining teams and managing and maintaining performance is exactly that - an art! For some it is impossible, others a mystery, and yet for some it is second nature!

Managing Change
Managing Change is all about organisational development. Change itself is simple - people adapting to change can be complex and frought with frustration.

Permission to Succeed
Our people know how to 'maintain' but are often never taught to win. Create maximum performance by creating an environment whereby high performance is the standard

Purpose is the Starting Point of Success
Establish you purpose - Individuals, businesses and organisations with a clear sense of purpose experience significant growth and success

Succession and Leaving a Legacy
Succession is always a challenge in business - it needs to become a planned process of continuity. It's a bit like carrying a serviceable spare tyre in your car. You never planed to have a flat tyre but you did plan to get there regardless!

The Art of Relationships within Organisations
Building relatinships with the [right] people in organisations is vital to success. Leadership and friendship do indeed go hand in hand.

The Art of Strategic Thinking
When it comes to thinking, planning, and acting strategically, few companies actually succeed! Having said that these companies can still run well, maintain, grow, and be present in the marketplace. But these companies will never be great! They will never be extraordinary places to work, nor will they be outstanding companies to do business with.

The Power of Influence
There are numbers of signs in the market right now that for many indicate that 2010 will be much improved on 2009! What this means is that the 'headlights' of new opportunities will be back on again and it is business as usual.

The Power of Prioritising
As we reflect back on 2009, it was a year of change and uncertainty. Many organisations could be compared to a sporting team under pressure. When the market is going their way then everything is working and confidence is high. However when the pressure is on the weaknesses become very apparent and the cracks starts to appear.

What Running a Business is all about
What does it take to get a business actually working for you? The management of more than just a business is the management of time and what happens in that time. It is also simply a matter of changing beliefs.

Values
Values and Lack of Accountability

Lexington
The Living Years

Make it a Really Good One
Our lives are the sum total of the choices we make and the things we do each day.

Why Me?
Why are bad things happening to me?

Gratitude
If you observe your emotions quite carefully, you may notice that emotions shift and change like the weather.

How to Formulate Your Copy to Increase Sales

Once you’ve determined that you’re ready to create a promotional or marketing piece and you’ve considered who you want to speak to and how you want to present your information, you’ve examined features and benefits, plus brainstormed headlines, you’ll want to take the process a step a further. Creating the content for your marketing materials is a craft. It takes thoughtful perspective and planning.

Home Party Recruiting Motivation
Home party plan business recruiting success tips to grow an awesome sales force and make more money from home.

Salespeople Become More Effective But Can They Get Worse?
In most cases, especially when effective training and coaching has taken place, significant to dramatic improvement occurs. Occassionally though, a salesperson will appear to be worse - weaker - than the first time. How could this be? I'll explain some of the scenarios where this should not be alarming, as well as some where it should.

But I'm a Sales Guy - The Story of Motivation and Compensation
A Sales VP and his CEO were in the conference room and each time the CEO brought up a problem, we asked the Sales VP to elaborate. Each time he began with, "Well I'm a sales guy so I know this stuff..." Yes and No.

When Sales Goals Change but Behavior and Results Don't
Suppose that you need your salespeople to find significantly more new business. Perhaps you've wanted this for a while but it's only recently that you communicated this to your salespeople. You've changed the goal but after a month your salespeople's behavior and results haven't changed at all.

SALES PRESENTATION ... THE BOTTOM LINE IS SELLING

Talk about two sides of the coin just think of the sales call. If you're in sales then it is all about the person in front of the other person/group. If you're in marketing it is all about the polished, super slick presentation. If you're the CEO and CFO it's all about the order. Surprise!!!! It takes them all. And a presentation should be tailored by the sales people so that it fits their style and the audience. And it should go where few marketing people have gone before...it should ask for the order. The best sales call is a gentle balance of the sales people and their sales tools. We just want to make it better for them.

The Top 5 Factors That Predict Sales Turnover

Our data shows that only 16% of the A players with experience stick for more than two years. And that brings us back to the original question. What do you think - A's or Longevity? Should the answer be a direct relation to the length of your sales cycle? Should you go for longevity when you have a long sales cycle and for A's when you have a short sales cycle? We're interested in what you have to say!

Trust in a New Age
Steven Covey [junior] wrote a very interesting and engaging book called "The Speed of Trust" - the one thing that changes everything!

FIVE WAYS TO GET YOUR SENSE OF HUMOUR BACK
Having staff that can laugh at their mistakes is just good business.

Ways by Which Personal Coaching Empowers You As an Entrepreneur
Would you consider yourself an entrepreneur? If you are an individual who has taken the initiative to start you own small home online business, then count yourself as one. You invested some capital and took charge of the initial costs of setting up your business, in the hope that you would reap the benefits of profit sometime soon.

Why Can't We Change
The challenges we face in setting goals for the coming year, why do our goals not work, what are the barriers?

Making your 2010 Goals Work
How avoidance can cause goals to be useless. How to overcome the avoidance.

Why 97% Of All Marketers Will Never Become A Top Producer In Their Primary Business!

Let's face it, Internet marketing is not an easy game to play. It appeals to the masses because it appears simple yet very lucrative. People see the stories of the average person making millions online and immediately think to themselves, "If they can do it, I can do it". This is absolutely true but unfortunately when you enter this game you really have no idea what you are getting yourself into. The dreams of living in the fancy house and driving the expensive cars come to mind, excitement and urgency are some of the emotions that they feel. But once the initial "work" is started all motivation is lost and those once positive emotions turn into frustration and doubt. This article will explain how I was able to become a top producer in my primary business.

3rd of the Top 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions
This is the third in my series of the 10 Kurlan Sales Management Functions. #3 - MOTIVATION Motivating your salespeople comes down to getting them to: 1. Do what they won't do on their own; 2. Change their behavior; 3. Do more of what they are already doing; 4. Have more of a sense of urgency; 5. Over Achieve More...

Aren't You Tired of Working For Someone Else?
Are you tired of working for other people? Getting paid just enough to survive while the higher ups make more and more money? Why not try starting your own business? Follow in the footsteps of millions of other Americans as you build the bu

Why Most Marketers Will Never Become A Top Producer In Their Primary Business!
Do you want to be a top producer in your primary business? Why does everyone say yes to that question but few actually do? Well the are specific things that you must do to become a top producer that most people don't know. Read this article by Omari Taylor to discover those steps and do something that 97% of people online will never do.

Creating an effective sales performance management system

Following on from last week’s article about managing and measuring the right things in sales, I thought it would be worth looking at some of the key principles for effective sales performance management systems. The first place to start is to align your sales performance management system and subsequent key measures to your organisation’s strategy and goals. It’s then the job of the CEO and the Sales Leader to ensure the organisation (that means everyone else who supports the sales effort) is aligned to the sales performance management system. When this dimension is in place the organisation is best placed to sustain high sales performance.

Success at the Speed of Light
Internet Marketing Coach Frank McGuinness offers insight into how to leverage the success of others to get a quick start in Network Marketing or Direct Sales business.

Conquer the Fear of Change in 9 Different Ways

Change can be a scary thing. When you make a change in your life, you bring yourself into the unknown. You travel from a safe place to one where you don't know exactly what will happen. The truth is, there is nothing you can do to stop change. This world is always changing - sometimes for good and sometimes not. The best thing you can do for yourself is to learn the best ways to adapt to change. You'll soon learn that there's no reason to fear!

Return on Investment in Coaching: “But Will It Make Us More Money?”

Coaching is now widely recognised as a means of increasing employee motivation, retention and engagement, and that these will contribute to bigger profits or (in the case of state organisations) better budget management. But it is a fact that many L&D executives and suppliers have to find ways of justifying the spend in terms of concrete results. Corporate culture expert Carol Wilson looks at methods and tools for measuring the return on coaching programmes from the beginning to the end of the project, and tying that return into hard figures.

COACHING FEEDBACK FOR MANAGERS
Feedback is often regarded as the most difficult part of a manager’s job. However, in a coaching culture, negative feedback is experienced in a positive way, as an opportunity for making new discoveries rather than blame. In this article we will look at four areas of feedback: Positive feedback, Negative feedback, Receiving feedback, Coaching feedback.

Serving Up Employee Engagement in the Restaurant Business
With the enormous buzz in the restaurant industry, what can managers do to promote growth and maximize profitability?

High Performance
After recently discussing with a client their high performance model, I realised that it may not actually be one!

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS REVISITED
The number one reason, and why most are unsuccessful in keeping their New Year's Resolutions, is because they do not know themselves well enough nor understand why they operate in the world in the way in which they do...so success in either eliminating a negative behaviour or acquiring a positive one is very elusive.

Staying Motivated In Your Home Business
Are you having issues with staying motivated in your home business? Well, do not fret because it happens to everyone. Motivation is something that everyone needs whether you are just starting in your online home business or are already a seasoned entrepreneur, you need a certain internal drive to get you going consistently.

Motivation
In this article, you'll discover 8 of the approaches to motivation that are used in every business round the world. The trouble is, only one can be guaranteed to work. Which one is it?

Motivation and Ability
The 'Influencer' program from VitalSmarts talks about people doing things for two reasons - they want to do and / or they can. In other words they are motivated to do something, or they feel they are able to.

The Cycle For Success
The cycle for success or the cycle for failure – YOU decide. I experienced something interesting today and I felt that I would spread this information. This is a phenomenon that the general masses are usually stuck in but unfortunately do not know that they are in.

A Progressive, High Motivation Wage Payment Plan

A progressive, high motivation wage payment plan based on achieving performance objectives is one of the most important elements in a program aimed at motivating employees to achieve high levels of output, to care in performing their duties, to master jobs quickly, to desire to move into more demanding and higher paid work, to work as a team, and to grow with their employer using their continuity of employment and deep knowledge of the organization, its work, its operations, and its customers to innovate and bring new ideas to the firm.

Franchises - Emotional Fulfillment - The Challenge

If you have trouble shifting your seat to the upright position for take off every morning, you should probably see if there's a better flight crew to help get you where you really want to go. Perhaps a Franchise is the answer, and perhaps it's not. However, until you ask these tough questions, and answer them with conviction, you won't know whether you have the possibility of leaping out of that rut, and over the Chrysler building in a single bound.

3 Reasons Sales Training Doesn’t Work
The fact sales training doesn’t work isn’t exactly a news flash. Neil Rackham uncovered this fact years ago. Yet sales people and business owners continue to invest millions of dollars a year on sales training in the hopes...

The Gerber Method
If all else fails in business go back to the basics - E-Myth Revisited.

Motivated to Change
Article of 1132 words explaining how to motivate yourself to change by identifying your pain and envisioning your pleasure.

Celebrities and the Sales Force
Here I introduce the 7th in a series of articles, The Celebrity Series, 11 articles about famous people and the analogies to the sales force.

A Forgotten Secret of Sales Success

Brad learned early in his career that left to his own devices, he would find ways to avoid picking up the phone and making calls. Like so many salespeople, he suffered from call reluctance, fear of rejection, fear of failure, and more. Over time, he learned to trick himself, play games and, most importantly use purpose, motivation and fear to assure that he was consistently filling his pipeline. Listen to the show to hear more about this compelling topic.

Quit Your Job - Don't "What If" Yourself to Death
There are SO many people who are doing work they hate. They are "stuck" in careers that they simply don't enjoy. Why? Because they imagine the worst case scenarios that might happen if they resign their position to pursue their dreams.

What do you believe you are worth?
Do you believe you are worth $50,000 a month? What are you willing to do to get that? If I told you I would give you that for getting me 500 qualified leads each month, do you think you would learn how to do it? So,why can you not do it for yourself?

Job Exchange Programs- A Different Spin On Employee Development

A job exchange program works much like a foreign student exchange program. An employee basically switches to another group, department, city, or any other division in the company. There, the employee is "hosted" by the receiving office and gains exposure to the culture, employees, and clients of that office. It can be a situation where two employees truly "exchange" positions for a set period of time.

What Does Your Customer Really Value?
As a salesperson once you learn what the customer’s value expectations are, you will do more than just close the sale...

Can a Manager Be Too Nice?
Managers can make or break motivation and productivity for employees. Having the right employee in a management position is crucial for any company.

3 Habits to Achieve Your Greatest Goals

It's impossible for me to talk about how to achieve your goals without talking about habits. Stephen Covey teaches us that habits are the overlapping of knowledge, skill and attitude. Creating good habits will help you manage your time and yourself more productively. In this article, I tell you what you must do before you can work new habits into your life. I also highlight 3 of Covey's most effective habits that will get you closer to your greatest personal and professional goals.

Network Marketing Success - The Reasons Why, Part 1
Motivation is the name of the game and those individuals that know how to tap into this vast reservoir of ‘driving force’ are the ones who succeed in life. This article discusses the negative motivators. A basic knowledge of, and the harnessing of, these negative motivators are indispensable for success.

Forward Planning
Planning for success in 2011

Structure For Success
Success in business comes through leadership and the right structure.

90 Day Challenge- Secrets of the New Network Marketing Wizards- Michael Force
Secrets of the New Network Marketing Wizards-Michael Force

Kick-Start Your Motivation!
Procrastination and wasting time are common ailments. Avoid procrastination and make profound improvements in your business by asking yourself a few questions about your motivations.

How a Top Sales Manager Gets Their Salespeople to Sell More Stuff!

When do you do your best work? When you feel bad or when you feel good? The obvious answer is when you feel good. No one feels like doing much of anything when they feel bad. When people don't feel so good, they end up doing very little....not a good situation for you. So it begs the question: does the salesperson brimming with confidence sell more than the salesperson who lacks confidence? The answer may seem obvious, but why do so few average sales managers spend the majority of their time building their people's confidence up instead of ripping it down? It could be that many sales managers are former sales salespeople themselves and "seagull sales management" (swoop in, dump on the rep, then fly away), is all they know. In this case, unfortunately, ignorance begets more ignorance...

Managing Unrealistic Employee Expectations for Rapid Promotion
Some employees are "home run hitters"—hell-bent on getting to the top as quickly as possible. They want to knock the ball out of the park even before they’ve mastered base hits. To preserve their commitment and motivation these employees need a clearly defined development plan!

Your Marketing Business-The Game to Win
This article is all about creating the proper mindset for business and regardless of circumstances, marketing and business should be viewed as a game- a game to win.

7 Stars of Online Success
The Article deals with the main items necessary to make home business a success - motivation, Web site, search engines and directories, articles, ezines, e-books and marketing.

I want them to want to be motivated to be on time!
A common trap and pitfall for managers to avoid

If you don’t know what you need, why are you talking about it?
A common trap and pitfall for managers to avoid

Having your cake and eating it too
A common trap and pitfall for managers to avoid

What we Think About Sales Motivation is All Wrong

The bottom line - for your salespeople - is that everyone is different; everyone is motivated by different things and for those who are clearly motivated by money, and where you have a clear goal and focus for them, their compensation should and must be commission based. When you have people who are motivated more by recognition, awards, competition, time-off, public service, or philanthropy, your compensation program should be flexible enough to compensate them in an appropriate manner too.

Be Your Own Boss! ~FOR SERIOUS ENTREPRENEURS...SECRETS TO WEALTH

Do you want to be your own boss this year or in the future? With so many choices and industries to choose from it is easy to choose a business model that looses you money and wastes your time, rather than make you money and give you more time. Well I'm going to tell you some facts and share with you the number one business model if you want to be your own boss. Enjoy this article by Omari Taylor and discover the number one business model if you want to be your own boss that will give you the results you are looking for.

Profitable Online Home Based Business Ideas and the Recession; It’s Not About the Money

If you desire to build your own profitable online home based business, I believe one of the most important questions you need to answer for yourself is, why? Most people will say, “I want to make a lot of money.” To that I say, it’s ok to make a lot of money, and I sincerely hope you do, and I believe you can. But if that’s your only motivation I believe your focus is wrong. Let’s look at why.

Leadership Accountability

When a person is hired or promoted to a management position, where people are required to report directly to them, inherent in that action is accountability for those employee's performance and productivity. This often comes as a surprise or shock to a manager when they receive their first performance review and it is less than satisfactory. A sales person is solely responsible for himself or herself and the work they perform. Once promoted to management this accountability for what others may or may not accomplish is new territory for them.

The more you practice the luckier you get!
By taking control and ownership of your planning and responsibility for forecasting accuracy and opportunity generation you can improve and maintain your consistency of performance. If you are lacking in any of these areas you must take action, it's the key to all success. Do it and do it now - Create your own luck!

Why A Top Sales Manager Needs To Be On All His Reps’ “Pre-sets”

You have to be more popular than Howard Stern. You also have to be cooler than Opie and Anthony too. Why? Because one of the most critical elements to successful sales management is to always make sure you are tuned into the radio frequency of your salespeople. Here's why. There's only one radio station that your sales executives like to listen to and that radio station is: WIFM. (You might say WIIFM, but let's not get too technical here...). This is the "What's-In-It-For-Me" radio frequency. This is the only station they pay any attention to and if you're not broadcasting on it all the time, 24-7, then your sales reps are gonna switch you over to some other station on XM or Sirius radio...or worse yet, turn off the radio completely!

How To Make Money Fasts At Home! ~STEPS TO GUARANTEED WEALTH
How do I make money fast at home? This is the number one question for people who are ready to take control of their lives. Well there are some exact steps you must follow that can guarantee you do that and that is what I am going to share with you in this article. Enjoy this article by Omari Taylor and learn exactly how to make money fast at home.

What Is The Value Of Persistence?
Persistence is the ability to continue moving forward regardless of your feelings. You push on when you feel like quitting. Persistence is will power and desire combined. Persistence is steel determination. Imagine what it would be like if you had the persistence to do, be, have anything you wanted. I am not sure this is possible but you can have fun trying.

Keys to Wealth and Success (part 4) Complacency
Complacency creeps on when you think you have arrived and it is easy to backslide and lose momentum. Always be looking to the next level and look for a mentor who can get you there.

The Two-Word Secret Weapon to Effective Leadership
“Performance Management” is a term coined by Dr. Aubrey Daniels in the late 1970s to describe a technology for managing, both behavior, and results, the two critical elements of what is known as performance. As an entrepreneur and a leader it is critical in your business.

Internet Marketing Specialist Can Help Your Business Grow
Whether you're just getting started or you're already extremely successful, you can always be MORE successful with an Internet marketing specialist to guide you. That's why Tamin Web Host have specialist to help you with your business needs.

Guarantee Your Success When Online Marketing UK or Anywhere In The World! ~GUARANTEE YOUR FORTUNE

How are people guaranteeing their success when online marketing UK or anywhere in the world? It really is simple. Just a few things you must do. An elite group of millionaire online entrepreneurs shared the secret with me a long time ago and now I'm going to share it with you. Enjoy this article by Omari Taylor and learn how to guarantee your success when online marketing UK or anywhere in the world.

How to Develop the Entrepreneurial Mindset and succeed in your online business
How do you develop the entrepreneurial mindset? Are there a set number of tangible steps to reaching the goals you have set? This is my analysis of what are the most important facets of the mindset that are necessary to really succeed in your home based online business.

Serenity by Freezing
An article of 526 words describing the emotional and physical benefits to be had by putting a freeze on spending and investing more time in non-monetary things.

Enjoy the Holiday Season... because Mayhem is Just Around the Corner
Want to increase your profits by thousands in the new year? This is your guide to fufilling your resolutions.

10 Ways to Differentiate Your Customer Service & Make Your Clients Actually Feel Valued
Provide high-quality customer service to ensure loyalty of your current customers and also capture the attention of your future customers.

Making Momma Proud
Three Tips to Becoming Your Customer's Favorite Rep

Lessons on Excellence
The Road to "the Top" comes through constant practice and is paved by the pursuit of excellence. Remember, mediocrity is miles from excellence. Mediocrity is easy, unnoticed, uninspiring, and boring. Excellence is difficult, visible, inspiring and fun.

Legitimate Internet Home Business Opportunities For Everyone
There are many different internet home business opportunities, and anyone who wants to start an internet business can find the right opportunity and make money online.

Website Usability: Tips to improve the user experience

As a webmaster your major call is to achieve higher conversion rate. Conversion rate can be sales or a readership or service subscription. Behind every website there is a prime goal of achieving 100% conversion. There are many factors that affect the conversion rate and the major of that is the website usability. If your website serves as a bad space for your visitors, they will never stay on your website.

3 Keys to Reaching Your Financial Goal in 2011
When it comes to setting and reaching these goals, I have found that there is a simple yet crucial 3 step process that virtually assures that I reach any goal. I’m going to lay it out here as it applies to a financial goal, but realize that this method applies to the success of reaching ANY goal.

It's What's Inside That Counts

Too often, we forget that, like a spring providing a continuous stream of water, we are continuously pouring out what is inside of us. Some days, everything is fine. Other days, we wonder how we could be so far off course from the goals we want to reach. Since consistency is the key to peak performance, and consistency comes from knowledge of self and the application of our skills through awareness, it is obvious that better results can be guaranteed by knowing what is inside of us.

Maximizing Sales and Profits in Economic Recovery
As the recovery takes hold your organization will start to do better simply because customers will start buying again. While this provides a much needed break from the angst of recession, it will hardly provide the motivation to excel. Instead challenge your organization to achieve its true potential and watch sales and profits soar.

How To Overcome Procrastination

Procrastination is unfortunately something that a lot of us suffer from regularly, whether it’s just an occasional ‘put off ‘til tomorrow’ or a recurrent lack of drive and motivation. Procrastination can often hold us back from what we really want in life, and unfortunately, it’s something that can crop up at any time of life, no matter who you are. A lot of people often assume that procrastination is simply being lazy, but this isn’t always the case. Often, feelings of tiredness, hopelessness, panic or even depression can cause us to put things off and avoid reality completely.

GIAP: Goal Identication And Achievement Process
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on his goal setting process. This 11 step goal identification and achievement process is so powerful that he practically guarantees that any goal that you set and put through these steps; you will achieve!

Is Golf Like Selling?
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on excelling at the profession of selling.

How To Be Professionally Persistent
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to be professional persistent without irritating the customer or prospects.

How You Can Overcome Fear
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to overcome fear and get past it.

Knowledge Is Power?
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to get knowledge and how you must use knowledge for it to be effective.

Losing The Deal - Yeah, It Does Happen To All Sales Professionals too!
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on shifting the perception that a Professional Salesperson should close 100% of the time.

Most Persuasive Words In The English Language
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to choose your most powerful, effective and persuasive words.

There Is No Magic Answer In Selling
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on continuing looking for that magic formula, or magic phrase that will get you to close more sales.

Selling Is A Numbers Game
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on the idea that selling is a numbers game and he takes that idea a couple steps further.

Use Your Business Card
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on an inexpensive yet highly effective prospecting and marketing tool that every salesperson already has.

How To Handle Objections Like A True Professional Salesperson
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to prepare yourself to handle all the objections that all salespeople get.

Secret Of Writing A Sales Letter
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to craft a great sales letter.

Get Exactly What You Want In 7 Steps
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to get exactly what you want in life.

10 Easy Steps To Being Successful In Direct Selling
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to be successful in direct selling

How To Be A Successful Modern Business Woman
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how women can actually be more effective than men in business

3 Easy And Quick Ways To Build A Profitable Email Opt-in List
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on starting your own profitable email opt-in database.

4 Crucial Things You Must Do To Build Your Email Database List
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on building a profitable email database.

4 Things You Can Do To Build Trust Quickly With Your Opt-in Email Database
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to build trust quickly with your email database.

5 Key Things You MUST Consider When Publishing A Newsletter
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on starting a newsletter.

You Must Accept To Improve Your Personal Life
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on living a high level in your personal life.

How Can We Build Courage In Our Lives?
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on building courage.

Can We Change Our Habits?
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to change habits and get them to stick.

10 Questions To Ask Yourself To Improve Your Personal Life
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on improving your personal life.

10 Things To Do To Start Taking Control Of Your Life
Get The Sales Edge: Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on taking back control of your life.

How To Go About Earning Extra Income
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how the average individual can earn extra income every month.

Stop Being A Telephone Coward!
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to overcome the fear of the telephone, sometimes called "call reluctance".

Is Paying For Traffic A Smart Move?
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to generate traffic using paid methods.

How To monetize Your Website Traffic
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on how to monetize your website

Commitment Vs. Trying
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares a couple ideas on the difference between committing to do something and trying to do something

27 Marketing Ideas
Chris Randolph, author of "The Sales Edge" and several other books on professional selling, marketing, internet marketing, personal development and motivation shares 27 marketing ideas

Are good sales people born or made?
This age old question is being pondered by many business owners and managers as they strive to increase their turnover and profitability.

Managers - Put That Stick Away!
Truly acknowledge how important and valuable your people are to you. Treat them well and they will help you ride out this recession and be ready, with you, when the upturn arrives, as it surely will!

Delegation - What is the role of a Manager?
Are you reluctant to let go of tasks because you fear someone else will do them better? People that struggle to delegate often stock pile their knowledge. They aren’t good at sharing skills, as they like to feel that they are needed. Being successful does not mean being that best at everything, but knowing when to use the right people to help.

Celebrate Every Achievement

In her book My Stroke of Insight, the author and Harvard brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor documents her remarkable story. At the age of 37 years old, she suffered a stroke and then spent the next eight years making a full recovery. This involved learning to do the basics such as sit up in bed alone again, walk, talk, feed herself, drive, recall her memories, etc. The book is inspirational and also has some amazing pearls of wisdom. One of these pearls is how important it was for her to celebrate EVERY achievement no matter what the size. I found this attitude a wonderful one and would love all adults with ADHD to adopt too. She didn't say, "Oh, you can sit up on your own now, big deal, you could do that when you were one years old." That would have been discouraging after all her mental and physical effort it had taken. It would have als

How to manage and motivate a team

Whether your organization is a Fortune 500 or the local corner shop a Personal Development Program (PDP) is one of the ways you can manage and motivate your team in the short and long term. PDPs provide a structure and mechanism to evaluate all of your staff – including you – to let everyone know what they’re doing well, what they need to change and how everything they do fits into the overall organisational plans.

Seven Steps To Success.
Success is a product of our habits, our habits determine what we do with our lives. Habits are made up from three things skill, knowledge and desire. Skill makes us aware of what we must do, knowledge let us know what to do and desire is the drive and motivation behind it. To be successful first you must master your habits. Here are seven steps in helping you to change your habits.

How to Achieve The Success That Has Eluded You In The Past- Part 1
Most everyone wants a greater degree of success. For some people, the success that they want has eluded them. If this is you, here are 10 easy to implement ideas to help you achieve what you want. The first 5 ideas are in part 1. The second 5 ideas are in part 2. Take the time to act on these ideas and then enjoy your newly found Success!

Successful Relationships: Creating Agreements That Work
People yearn for relationships they can trust. They want to be able to depend on people. They want relationships characterized by ease, clarity and harmonious cooperation. But, is there any adult who hasn't felt let down or betrayed by someone who didn’t live up to his or her agreements?

The Secret to Maximum Motivation
Motivation is the fuel that powers your engine and provides you with the drive and determination necessary to accomplish your goals and make life dreams become reality. For the secrets to maximum motivation, read on...

Walk of Gratitude
Practice your 'Walk of Gratitude' and experience very positive 'what goes around comes around'!

Motivating Others

People are self-motivated. The task is to find out what needs and values motivate the individual internally, or more importantly, how to select people who will be naturally motivated by what the environment and job offers. Check out the list of questions to ask. It is an interesting paradox that as a parent, manager, supervisor, or owner, you can stifle motivation, but you cannot create it. If a person has been motivated in the past, but is not now, something may be going on at work or home which is stifling the person’s motivation.

I Live by a Simple Philosophy Which Helped me Become Successful!
What is the secret to success? Why are so many people struggling with the idea that success is simple. If you really want to know what the secret to success is free your mind of any former ideas and open your thought process to the fact that success is not actually that difficult, in fact my simple philosophy can help you attain your goal.

How to Get the Entire Sales Force to Change - Now
Most people don't change because they are: * afraid of it, * uncomfortable with it, * don't want to give things up, or * don't want to take things on. For me it was the latter two...

Achieve Your Goals With This Specific Step!

Ready to finally achieve a goal? It seems like all of us have goals, but actually reaching those goals is harder than most people realize. You may have a deep desire to see a change in your own life. Maybe you want to improve your fitness, increase your income, or live with less stress. But how should you carry out those changes? Beyond breaking your goal down into a step by step action plan, what can you do to actually make your goals more achievable? If you don't want to just dream about them anymore. If you are serious and motivated to actually achieve your goals, this information is designed to help you finally make them real.

The Importance of Focus

Usually, it is difficult to reach a goal unless we aim for it. The importance of focus is mission critical in first, finding the target, second, adjusting the aim, and third going for it. All this usually happens in a mental mechanism that is outside our consciousness. To raise the potential for success in life, learning to focus helps to reduce clumsy tries and near misses. Effectiveness becomes predominant with the application of focus.

Sales Staff Motivation
An article on how important recognition and praise is to staff motivation.

Say Yes wisely and increase your confidence and enthusiasm for life.

Is there something you would really like to do, but you keep putting it off? Do you ever hear yourself say..... 'Yes, when I have enough money I will....' .''Yes, when the kids are off my hands I will.....' 'Yes, I will do it! But, I'm too busy right now.... 'Yes, I will.... I will... I will..........' ? It's time you quit the excuses and say 'Yes' to something which will make you happier and more satisfied with your life.

Get your work-life balance right, and BE happier and healthier.
Are you taking time away from your work to refuel your energy and motivation? Would you like to feel happier,and be healthier?

3 Qualities All Affiliate Marketers Need In Order To Survive Online
A couple ideas for successful affiliate marketers in order to survive online.

5 Ways To Get Visitors To Your Website To Come Back
A couple ideas on how to get website traffic to come back.

5 Important Rules In Website Design
A couple ideas on the basics of website design

How To Have Websites Built For You Inexpensively
A couple ideas on saving money when designing websites

Good Website Design Practices
A couple ideas on website designs

2 Things Race Car Driving Has in Common with Selling

Karl said that for him, the single biggest commonality between racing and selling is the ability to be in control of his emotions, a strength which, in selling, not too many salespeople have mastered. It was as a professional race car driver when Subaru, his first real employer, would send Karl to struggling car dealers to help them push cars - despite the fact that Karl didn't view himself as a salesperson. However, if you listen to his very entertaining stories about growing up, you realize that he was always selling - because he had to.

Understanding what motivates your sales team
In these rapidly changing times it is vital for managers to understand what it is that motivate their sales teams in order to optimise performance and create loyalty. It is a vital managerial skill in the 21st century.

Close Those Deals With Value Sharing
Most people are finding it just that bit harder to sell business services in todayâ€™s tough markets? Not because of competition - but because customers are holding off writing deals. What can we do to get them moving?

3 Crucial Tools For The Affiliate Marketer
A couple ideas on successful affiliate marketing

3 Ways To Boost Affiliate Commissions
A couple ideas on how to increase affiliate commissions.

The trick: no tricks
Yet another brochure has landed on my desk inviting me to learn the tricks on how to sell successfully. I wonder how many people will take the bait this time. The motivation circuit in fact is full of sales people who, for a hefty fee, will explain how they hit the big time and offer to share their tricks. Well, here is some advice for free: this approach never works.

Two Minute Truth: Are you MOTIVATED to succeed?
Another quick truth about business success... not for the "in a box" thinker and certainly not for anyone who would turn me into the National Speakers Bureau for committing the sin of speaker "heresy"!

5 Ways to Motivate Your Salespeople

I believe that motivation is very misunderstood. You can't motivate by being a cheerleader, nor can you motivate by reciting somebody else's inspirational quotes. Motivation comes from within and you must find out what your salespeople's internal motivators are. Why are they doing this thing called selling? The other thing that's important to know is that everyone reacts differently to motivation and motivation takes may forms. For instance, perhaps you have some people who respond to one of these methods when trying to get them to perform:

The most powerful motivation is to come up with your own solution
How can coaching help you achieve what you desire?

Faith, Hope And Insanity - The Three Reasons People Turn To Life Coaching
People come to coaching for a variety of issues. Find out why clients issues can be defined into these three areas and how a coach can help a client in each of the categories.

Living from our Higher Values

The basics of human behavior requires that we live to our highest values, thus in so doing we are congruent with our true selves. Higher values always dictate to us from within whereas our lowest values are motivated from outside forces. When we live to our higher values we will operate/work spontaneously, we will be working on what we love and we will have a smile on our faces. We will be self-driven when aligned with our highest values. On the other hand, when we are operating from without, we need constant motivation and push. Our days are a “drag” and our whole lives can be described as “unlived lives” in that we are not doing what comes naturally to us. When we set goals aligned to our highest values we are inspired and will succeed.

Setting the Compass for Peak Performance
The first in a series of articles to lay a path for the reader toward peak performance, the right stuff, in the right amount at the right time. The aim is to provide a simple yet powerful recipe to engage a focused individual into a journey to the top of his or her game.

Increase Sales By Being One of the Few and Not One of the Many
Do you truly want to increase sales? Many say they want to achieve their sales targets, but the evidence is contrary to their actual behaviors. Learn how a recent challenge demonstrates how few truly want sales success.

Don't Bet Your Business on the Numbers
Don't bet your business' future success just on the numbers. Numbers can't give you the gut feel that every executive, product owner and marketeer needs - especially if you're reinventing yourself and/or your company. Besides, as an old boss used to say, "Figures lie and liars figure".

What do you want from your work?
Shockingly many people don't really know why they do the job they do. Most people on the otherhansd are desperate for a sense of calling or vocation. Find out how to discover and enjoy the certain knowldeg that you are in the job you were made for.

The Two Most Devastating Vanity Goals

There are two common goals that are promoted in American society more than any other to the point that people believe they are concrete and valuable goals to achieve. Most importantly, most devastating, is that these goals are so superficial and irrelevant, but negatively mind altering, that a person or business cannot do anything but fail trying to meet them. And if they are achieved, they are done so at the peril of a person's character and integrity. These are called "vanity goals", goals that should be avoided at all costs if you want your personal and business lives to succeed and make a difference. This article describes the two most common vanity goals that have caused the most destruction by far in our society. Free your mind of these and you lay the course to achieve real purpose.

Why Most Sales Training Doesn't Work
If you invest in sales training, especially now, you also need it to work now, not in 12 months. Why does it take so long for most sales training to make a difference and why does most sales training fail to make the difference you expect? There are a lot of possible reasons and I'll attempt to explain them here.

An MBA in 3 lessons and 1 article
Having just completed my MBA after 4 1/2 years of study, I thought it would be good to share some of the lessons I have learnt

Sales Coaching Action Plan
As in every field of coaching, coaching in sales is more effective if it is based on an action plan. What should that plan consist of and what is required of a sales coach that enables him to do an adequate job of it?

Working Out Of Your Home And Making Money
There is a great way to make a little extra money or replace your full time income without having to continue working for your boss. Working out of your home and making money is possible as long as you set your mind to it. Millions of people are doing it every day and so can you.

Why Am I Here Doing This Job
In this inspiring article worklife expert David Oliver challenges us to ask why we are doing our current job

Tips for Closing Business (Part II)
Nine tips for closing business.

How Persistence Creates Success
Most people are strong starters but weak finishers. Only 1.7% of the population finishes projects. Isn't it funny how this statistic matches identically with the percentage of successful people? To learn how to become more persistant for greater success, read this article carefully.

5 Tips to Run A Successful Part Time home Business
One problem many home business owners have is they have a part time home business while still having a day job. This article will help you run your part time home business and make it successful

The People Business - Admitting Error is Not A Weakness, It's A Strength

Welcome to the people business! It’s a business where the ability to read and interpret mood and behaviour in others is paramount - a business where suddenly the technical knowledge and executions that got you there somehow don’t matter quite so much. People are not going to follow you unless they sense you are real. They’re not going to believe in you unless you earn their trust – and they’re not going to trust you unless you always tell the truth and admit when you’re wrong. To admit a mistake is not a weakness – it’s a strength!

Attracting New Recruits in the Credit Crunch
Attracting new job candidates in the current recession can be difficult. A clear and well thought out plan is a must before jumping into the recruitment pool.

Making Money vs. Earning Money

There has never been a money shortage. There is, from time to time, an idea, inspiration, motivation, or creativity shortage. This shortage may manifest itself in the lack of money. It's important to realize that the only people who make money work at the mint. Everyone else earns money. There is a fair exchange between what an individual does and what he is paid for completing that task. The pay for a task increases as its degree of difficulty, danger, expertise, or the amount of training required increases. There are many jobs that you could be trained to do and be in a position to accomplish the required task by the end of the first day. In most cases, these jobs do not pay particularly well. On the other hand, if you wish to be a neurosurgeon-while you will not be performing the task by the end of the first day-at the point you ha

Real Estate Marketing Strategies - Taming the Inner Gremlin
Are you letting your inner critic get in the way of your business? Focus on the positive! Here are some tips to empower you and help you attract more clients.

Success is your Baby

There were two warring tribes in the Andes, one that lived in the lowlands and the other high in the mountains. The mountain people invaded the lowlanders one day, and as part of their plundering of the people, they kidnapped a baby and took the infant with them back up into the mountains. Although the lowlanders didn't know how to climb the mountain, they sent out their best party of fighting men to bring the baby home. They first tried one method of climbing and then another. They tried one trail and then another. After climbing only a few hundred feet after several days of effort, the lowlander men decided that the cause was lost, and they prepared to return to their village below.

The Opinion that Counts

We always live up to the expectations that we have for our lives. Sometimes, these expectations are those we have of ourselves, but too often these are expectations that we allow other people to place upon us. If we're not careful, we can find ourselves winning someone else's battle while we lose our own war. For years, societal pressure and the media have encouraged us to keep up with the Joneses. Unless your last name is Jones, there is no practical or logical reason you should set your standards based on theirs.

Today is the Day
Those of you who are regular readers of this humble offering may have noticed that each column ends with the phrase "Today is the day!" This is not an accident.

Authentic Business Recession Busters
Authentic businesses have a few advantages when a recession comes along - but they still need regular business discipline. Here are some recession busting ideas...

Get Your Readers To Take Action!
More copywriting mind-ninja tricks for sales letters and marketing emails

Real Estate Affiliate Program - Get Huge Real Estate Commission
Many real estate affiliate programs pay $5 to $15 per lead. Wouldn't it be great if you could earn bigger commissions? Let me show you how.

How do you manage a team that is already doing well. What do you bring into the team?
What a great question. It is rare that I read something like this and it inspires me to say the least. No doubt, this situation did not occur without much work and intervention (when necessary).

If You Don’t Know This, Your Business is Losing Money
Sometimes as a business owner you can get so caught up in running your business that you may no longer have a good overview of where your business is most profitable.

Run And Hide
You have choices during these tough times. You can run and hide or be bold, brazen and brave - it's up to you!

Does Your Marketing Plan Live in a Drawer?
Your marketing plan was created for a reason. The motivation being to meet revenue targets, increase market share, attract more ideal clients. How can you help make sure the plan gets put into action? Click here for tipa on turning plans into action.

The Critical Skill of Delegation
When we lead and manage teams, we cannot stand alone and do it all by ourselves on our own. Our role is to get the best from the many...

What Drives You? Understanding Our Motivations
Are there basic drives that are common to all human beings? Which ones are driving us in our daily lives? How are they influencing the choices you make?

Paralyzed by Fear
Fear can be a useful tool or a crippling enemy in the work environment. Read on to find out how you can turn your fear into a useful, profitable, and conquerable tool.

The Difference Between Provocative Selling and Baseline Selling
In the wake of a recent article by the authors of Provocative Selling in the Harvard Business Review an attendee challenged me to defend Baseline Selling. Since it was in the HBR, this attendee believed it had to be the better way to sell...

Cultural Differences with Sales Force Evaluation
I was in New Orleans speaking at the Gazelles Coaches Summit, a prelude to the Fortune Magazine Sales Summit. I was asked a question about cultural differences with the Sales Force Evaluation: Is the lack of Money Motivation on an entire sales force in Ireland a cultural difference?

Finding Your Place

If you don't know what you're doing in the world, how will you ever know what in the world you are doing? We all meet people every day who are like the arrow in search of the elusive target. As the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland taught us all, if you don't know where you're going, it really doesn't matter which path you take. I believe that each of us has a life's work or a destiny that is unique.

The importance of self esteem

Having a good self esteem depends on many factors. Everyone is different; each person will need to identify what self esteem means to them and what they want in life and in their career. We are often fooled by the adolescent rose coloured glasses and many (regardless of age), think that they will live happily ever after. Not surprisingly those who subscribe to this myth are often sadly disappointed and spend a lot of time wondering what happened – why didn’t they get what they want and thought they deserved.

The 5 Classified Motivation Rules

So it seems no matter how much we read, how many videos we watch, or seminars we go to motivation still is a problem for many of us. So what gives? If we all know the tricks and tips the gurus use then why is it that we do not find our motivation at the level we want it. The reason is simple; as many tools or tips that we may know often we do not take the time to really blend these ideas into who we are. Make a commitment to not only use these next 5 rules but become them and your motivation will soar!

Top 10 Tips for "Team Building" Success

The Apprentice television show revolves around the premise that a stable of young talent is trying to get a job with Donald Trump. In their endeavors they are challenged with weekly assignments. Be a leader. Sell product. Manage people. Ultimately, their goal is to win. But along the way the most successful candidates also learn something else. And that is without a team, your personal success is limited at best.

Successful Goal Setting

Setting goals puts you in the driver’s seat, giving you the power to transform your life or take a company to another level. Successfully setting and executing goals is not rocket science but there is a tried and true way that works for my clients and me. Sticking to this program guarantee’s success. It doesn’t matter whether your goals are personal or they are used to direct a large enterprise, the steps and the pitfalls are identical. I’ll take you through a quick tour. If you like, you can identify a goal of yours and do a test run of the system. The steps to executing goals are simple, unambiguous and easy to follow and should be practiced every day. Skipping one step increases the odds that you wion’t realize your goal.

Are You Giving Away Your Profit?
Protect your profit. Protect your sales motivation. Both are too valuable to toss aside, all in the name of making a sale.

What’s Guiding Your Decisions - Your Head or Your Heart?
Learn ways to discern when you are making decisions with your head or your heart which affects your results!

Beyond the Barrier
All of us have fears that we face. These fears cause us to do certain things and cause us not to do other things. Fear is a very natural and normal response in most cases. However, from time to time it is important to ask ourselves, "Are my current fears well-founded concerns that are keeping me out of trouble or are they irrational thoughts that are keeping me from where I should be?"

Women Entrepreneurs--Step into Your Power
Over and over I see women entrepreneurs who are multi-talented, brilliant, hard working, warm, loving, humorous and passionate. Often overwhelmed and unsure, they have been selling themselves short. What are they missing?

Be Inspired Not Tired
Do you feel like you are just going through the motions and nothing you truly want in life is coming to fruition? Do you feel tired and drained more often than not? Are there things you know you have to get done, but you are lacking the motivation to do them? How about changing things around so that they become "inspired actions", and not "required actions"?

May I Quote You?

As an author, the question, “May I quote you?” is a humbling request and a great compliment. For anyone who is in search of excellence a good quote is fuel for our journey. It’s amazing how a short, simple quotation can quickly provide perspective, inspiration, comfort, motivation or insight. What a wonderful return for our invested time - take 10 seconds each morning to read a new quote and our day, maybe even our world, is changed. I wanted to share a few of my favorites which can also be found in the new coffee table gift book, The Nature of Excellence… “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” - Babe Ruth

Entrepreneur vs. Small Business Owner—Why You Should Care
If you run your company (or career) from a place that is what you think you “should” or are “supposed to” do, not from what is right for you, it may be a very bumpy ride. Knowing the key differences between being an entrepreneur and small business owner should help guide you down the right path:

How To Find The Fortune That Lies Hidden In Your Head

How do you begin to change your life for the better? Do you want a greater life, a better job, healthier lifestyle and a more loving relationship? Why is that many people today seem lost, confused and unsure of their life purpose. Could it be that the spark has faded from feeling overworked, under paid and stress is accumulating? What ever happened to your bright ideas? There is more to you than meets the eye, so how do you find this inner fortune that lies hidden when all you feel is confusion. Have you ever seen dust collect on furniture that over time begins to hide the real texture of the fabric? The piece of furniture hasn't changed, just the outer appearance has altered, so too your limiting thoughts can cover your truth and change your outlook on life. If your inner soul stays true then how can you discover the saboteur?

Fight or Flight: It’s Now Optional

The Fight or Flight response was an important gauge of threat and a vital survival tool for the cavemen over a million years ago. This primitive instinct is still present in all of us, even though, it doesn’t carry the same function in the 21st century. Through specific steps, we can learn to manage this instinct to our advantage. If managed successfully, the Fight or Flight instinct can become an important tool in overcoming stress and daily pressures.

The Secret to Feeling in Control During Times of Change

For most of us, the thought of having control over life inconveniences seems like a great idea; wouldn’t it be great to control traffic, the weather, our family or neighbors? However, rather than actual control over our environment, what we really want is simply a sense of control, to feel like we’re on top of things. This can be achieved by choosing to accept challenges for what they are, setting a clear intention of what we need to do and finding the balance between our level of ability and the challenge presented. By learning to consciously reframe even the most chaotic situation, you’ll find that feeling “in control” is less about making life go according to plan, and more about your ability to focus on what you can control.

Five Principles for Making Smart Decisions

Every day we contemplate numerous decisions. Some decisions are simple, such as deciding which gym class to attend, while are other are life altering, for instance deciding on taking an overseas promotion. Regardless of level of importance, these decisions will have an impact on our lives. Studies have shown that the more choices we have, they harder it seems to make a decision. Making decisions doesn’t have to be a daunting task; there are step we can learn to make smart decisions.

Five Habits of Happy High-Achievers

Falling short of a goal can be tough for some people, while, other people are content with giving their best effort regardless of the outcome. What differentiates those that lament their perceived failure and those that appreciate the experience? Happy High-Achievers - let's call them HaHAs – have learned the secret to play hard and stay content. They are able to maintain their balance, they enjoy the process, they pursue excellence and not perfection and most of all of all they focus on what they can control

10 Workplace Motivation Commandments That All Leaders MUST Follow
If you want your employees to shower your company with success... apply these Ten Commandments, help your existing employees find their motivation...

Its not fair!
As a leader or manager do you aspire to be fair? If you do, stop!

You didn’t say I’d be fired!
Do you get frustrated when something you say which is obvious gets misinterpreted?

Always isn’t every time
As a manager, do you and your employees have miscommunications?

Just the facts
Do any of your direct reports (or for that matter, anyone at all!) continually challenge you in an unproductive way?

My Door is Always Open
Do you ever commit to things which you possibly can’t achieve?

My employee seems to be sick on Fridays and Mondays
Do you have an employee who takes advantage of the system?

That person has a difficult personality
Does it irritate you when one of your employees, peers, or boss is very difficult?

Gen X, Gen Y, Gen whatever
Do you have opinions on someone based on their age?

The Facebook Revolution
Do you wonder what your employees are doing on their computer?

Not listening can be catastrophic
Do you feel your reports are not listening to you?!

Dealing with Morons
Do you ever think you’re working with people who don’t know what they’re doing?!

The $64,000 Question
Do your questions lead to solutions or more problems?

Dirt on the car
DO YOU STRUGGLE TO EFFECTIVELY MOTIVATE ANY DIRECT REPORTS?

Questions, Jeopardy Style
Do you find yourself stuck no matter what questions you ask yourself?

The questions which lead to nowhere
DO YOU FIND YOURSELF STUCK NO MATTER WHAT QUESTIONS YOU ASK YOURSELF?

Learning To Be More Profitable
Every business will succeed or fail because of the quality and motivation of their most important resource - their people. Investing in the lives, learning and encouragement of the human resources of a business, government or not-for-profit group through seminars, workshops and retreats can be the difference you need.

7 Secrets To building your Internet Network Marketing Business
Building an Online Network Marketing Business is in many ways like building any online business. It takes certain skills, a level of motivation and probably most important of all, a willingness to learn and to be ‘coachable’.

Motivation, The Heart of Self Improvement

Pain may sometimes be the reason why people change. Getting flunked grades make us realize that we need to study. Debts remind us of our inability to look for a source of income. Being humiliated gives us the ‘push’ to speak up and fight for ourselves to save our face from the next embarrassments. It may be a bitter experience, a friend’s tragic story, a great movie, or an inspiring book that will help us get up and get just the right amount of motivation we need in order to improve ourselves.

Employee retention – Look after your staff, look after your business

A business needs to know how to look after its people, and have them committed to their work and highly motivated. Its true strength lies in its people. This article gives 10 essential keys to keep your team loyal and enthusiastic about their organization. They are important to build team spirit and engender a desire to ‘give of one’s best’ They are all very simple to activate, but, having worked in industry in an advisory capacity for many years, I can tell you that they are essential for any organization that wishes to build productivity, retain staff and ‘stay the distance’. No business can afford to ignore them.

TEAM MEETINGS THAT WORK!
Want to have better team meetings that are more positive and result in better outcomes? Then read on...

The Power of an Emotionally Intelligent Leader
Understand and utilize the interconnectedness between emotions, muscles, movement, motivation and performance to your advantage as a Leader.

Why Women Need to Plan for their Retirement
As women, we are likely to outlive our spouses or partners by an average of 5 years. Although this may seem financially insignificant when planning for a 20 to 25 year retirement, it could potentially be our most expensive years.

Business coaches aren’t for everyone
A personal decision not to use a business coach

Motivation determines the Price
A quick overview on how values of the past no longer determine the price paid today. The Motivation of the seller and the buyer is the key to the price paid.

Value need not be the Transaction point
Everything has a value but the motivations of the Seller and the Buyer will decide the transaction point - the PRICE

Your Initial reaction - is it valid or fair
Sometimes we react with a habitual response. In testing times this can be both unfair and/or invalid. Learn to test you reactions before you pass the messag on.

Act on the Present
In tough times Harry needed to focus on being present -not lamenting the past

How to Hire a Motivational Speaker to Increase Employee Performance and Productivity

One of the best things any company can do to impact their bottom line, especially during tough economic times, is to bring in a professional speaker or coach to work with your staff. Offering a seminar to your employees can go a long way toward increasing productivity, sales and overall performance. In the past, companies invested in new and better equipment in order to be competitive and gain an edge in the marketplace. Today, your people are your most valuable asset, so an investment in upgrading their performance is a prudent move, one that will pay for itself many times over.

Strategic Selling

All of us preach the basics of selling and encourage all sales people to go “Back to the Basics” of building value in yourself and your product. That’s a given particularly in today’s competitive environment. Much time and effort is invested in training your sales force on product knowledge, features, benefits, and closing tools. Little time is invested in training on the “Strategy of Selling”. This is what I am referring to.

A TIME FOR LEADERSHIP, A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR THE 21st CENTURY
Unfortunately, most businesses leaders are preparing for the years ahead in the same way they prepared for the eighties and nineties, and these formerly successful strategies are destined to fail. In these difficult economic times, new approaches are required to succeed and prosper. Now more than ever, what it is going to take to survive is leadership.

Without Emotional Intelligence Sustainable Change Can’t Happen

Emotional Intelligence is not fluffy or “touchy-feely.” For anyone who interacts with and influences others, it is the most critical skill set to develop and improve. When you think about any situation in your own life, can you imagine it without an emotional component? Probably not. Emotions and feelings are at the core of everything we do; feeling are always involved. So how does Emotional Intelligence relate to sustainable change?

Who do you report to?

If you are a business owner, who holds you accountable? This is a major issue most small business owners never think about. Larger businesses have Boards of Directors who are legally responsible for oversight. Even many smaller business have them as well, and others prefer to use a Board of Advisors. Regardless of how you create accountability, it is a proven fact that you will do a better job as a leader within your organization if you have an external individual or body of people you are accountable to. This article provides insights into how you can create and utilize some form of Board governance for your business.

Decisions based on emotion = BAD for business

In recent years, there has been a rise in discussion and research around what makes a good leader good. From those discussions, a new field of study and measurement has arisen,. It is called Emotional intelligence, or EQ. (Don't ask me why it isn't EI, but it's not.) In simple terms, EQ is the ability to know and control your emotions, and the ability to recognize and empathize with the emotions of others. For the expertrs in this field, please, don't get your feathers ruffled. Defining EQ is not the point. The point is, emotion does NOT belong in business, and often leads to really bad decisions. Emotion seems to play the biggest role in family owned business where family members are either co-owners or employees. This article talks about how to handle these situations, whether you are on the verge of wading into one, or already there.

Need a coach? Select wisely!
Coaching has become a useful way to help successful people become even more successful. In this article Ralph Jacobson describes when coaching can be effective...and when other kinds of support such as mentoring or counseling are more appropriate. The article very quickly establishes for you the approach that is best suited to your specific circumstance.

Book Review: Triggers: 30 Sales Tools You Can Use To Control The Mind…
One of the things I admire about Joseph Sugarman’s work is his studied focus on the effect of his marketing efforts, and continually improving his marketing message until it maximizes his results. This book is about psychological triggers that influence someone to make a buying decision for your product. He illustrates each one of his points with a fun story.

On Taking Risks

One of the hardest things in life to do is take risks. Many people tell me they're not willing to sacrifice their security, and find risk-taking to be frightening. But once you realize that everything involves risk, your confidence becomes the cure for risk aversion. One survey showed that in order for people to succeed in business they need self- confidence, drive and energy, the ability to deal with uncertainty and confusion, and finally, persistence. These attributes will come naturally when you are doing what you truly want to do. When you are pursuing Core Desires, you are willing to acquire knowledge, skills, and experience, and you have the will to persist.

The Source of Motivation and Determination

When a person persists at a task, we say that person has determination or motivation. But where does that determination come from? Some would say it comes from dedication, commitment, or sense of duty. But I believe that Core Desires are the sole source of both the determination and the motivation that are critical for success. If you are not pursuing a Core Desire, you won't be very motivated or dedicated. You won't pursue something relentlessly unless it is a Core Desire.

Karate for the Head Or Heart?

Many years ago, when I was teaching karate, I could usually tell how well my students would perform from their motivation to learn in the first place. Often it was just a passing fancy, an ego trip, or a belt. But for others it was a burning desire. Once, a university professor approached me and told me he wanted to become a black belt in karate. In fact, he confided, it had been his goal for over fifteen years. Now, for the first time, he inquired what it would take to make his goal a reality. I told him that to achieve this distinguished rank in karate, he would need to dedicate at least one hour a day for four years. He was visibly disappointed. After a moment, he said, "I had no idea it would take that kind of effort." He walked away and never again pursued karate.

Lesson #1: "Loyalty of your people is a key to most any business success"
Cathy has built his reputation not only on the success of his business, but on the unique model with which he chose to expand. Instead of following the usual franchise route, he opted to form joint ventures with individual operators, thus guaranteeing “quality, supervision and the motivation of partnership.”

Overwhelmed By Your Goals? Discover 3 Questions to Maintain Momentum
The new year kicks off with high expectations and motivation. But by early February, momentum slows. A sense of overwhelm is often the source of friction that slows the progress of achieving our goals.

4 Critical Principles of an Online Outsourcing Marketplace Feedback System

Feedback systems are such a fundamental part of making an online outsourcing marketplace work that it sticks out like a sore thumb if you don’t have one. They are designed to improve the experience of both the outsourcing buyer and the freelance provider. As a whole, these systems allow outsourcing companies to establish their own reputation as a reputable employer while reviewing the reputation of freelance providers in an effort to find the most capable and proven talent. Outsourcing companies submit feedback on freelance providers and relay their positive or negative experience so other buyers can review feedback before entering into an outsourcing relationship with that freelance provider. In theory, the entire process works great...depending on a few critical principles...

Do You Have the Right Stuff to Partner with Microsoft HP or IBM
Partnering with technology leaders like Microsoft, HP or IBM takes a huge commitment and a lot of effort to get off the ground. Before you start to engage, you need undertsand what these companies reqiure from all their partners. It will save you time and allow you to make the most of your partnership investment.

Fearless Business Growth: Making 2009 Big, Bold and Profitable ... Even in a Recession

Are you or your company becoming a"shrinking violet" in this economic downturn? Do you find yourself controlled by a "wait and see" attitude, hoping the future will magically get better? Do you realize that, if you don't put the brakes on this no-win thinking and behavior soon, 2009 will be more of the same ... or worse? I am challenging every executive and entrepreneur to go against the "herd mentality" paralyzing the business world and drive your own reality in 2009. In this article are 7 "must do's" how.

Home Business Expert: Prosperity
Ultimately, you have to ask yourself: Which is greater, the price of failure or the price of success?

Home Business Expert: Leverage Your Time
Here are 3 things you can do to leverage your time.

Home Business Expert: How To Set Your Goal – Short, Mid And Long
Learning how to set your goal - short, mid and long has many advantages. The principal tool for motivation in any home business is goal setting, without which the whole thing may go haywire.

Home Business Expert: Wealth Creation
Analyzing the factors responsible for wealth creation, be it in a home business or otherwise, is always useful because once you have done so, you know exactly what actions on your part can lead to wealth creation.

Sensitivity Creates Results In Business… Don’t Misinterpret It
Where strength and clarity exist... passion, emotions and personalization of issues can be tremendous assets to motivation and invention. Emotion belongs in business as long as business goals prevail. Quick and important insights follow.

Motivation-How to Get It, Enhance It and Keep It
Some feel motivation is an emotion and promoted by external means, but the real and lasting motivation comes from within. Why do so many organizations struggle with motivation? Here is a simple four step process that will add dollars to your organization's bottom line.

Book Review: Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow
I read this book a few months after presenting my webinar (Can You Take The Crisis and Turn It Into Gold?) and was struck by how the the same ideas that I applied to marketing to consumers (based on Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) is also relevant within a company, for the customer experience, and for business investors.

Starting Your New Business – What Happens After The First Excitement Wears Off?
You’ve got your business idea and enough money to get started – everything started off well but now it’s less exciting and is getting more difficult to make those sales. So what do you do to make your business successful after the first enthusiasm starts to wear off?

Self Improvement -- Motivation Sometimes Comes From the Most Unlikely Sources
Where do you find your source for motivation? Sometimes it may come from the most unlikely sources.

Giving Beyond a Season An Entrepreneurs Wish
The giving that really matters is often just old-fashioned (yet, highly fashionable commendation). Hardworking entrepreneurs need lots of it to keep hanging in there when times are less than favorable for business. There is no out-of-pocket expense associated with offering praise where praise is due.

Are You Ready to Meet the CEO?
The degree to which you prepare will directly impact the success of your meeting. Here are 6 key things you need to do before your all-important meeting with a CEO.

Men Don't Know What They Don't Know
Our Western, English-speaking culture can be dangerous or deadly to men's health at midlife -- unless they can learn to listen to their own bodies.

Sell the Problem, Not the Solution
How do you get your message out to the right customers? What does it take to brand your company effectively? How can you speak the customer's language if every customer's problem is just a little bit different? If you can answer these questions, you will improve sales performance, manage sales productivity, and even control the cost of sales. Here's how: Sell the Problem and NOT the Solution!

Are your goals in writing?
The most PRODUCTIVE people write down their goals.

"What Side of the Ball Do You Want to Play On?" The Importance of Listening
Listen carefully and respond, and you will never miss out on a good business deal, a precious client or a star employee...

Dealing with Sales Objections: Resistance to Change
When I talk here about the ” Resistance to Change” objection I do not mean a competitor objection. I say this because it can sometimes prove very difficult to tell the difference. The prospect may choose to verbalise both objections by giving the salesperson very similar answers i.e. “I am happy with my current supplier”.

I Dare You
I never have been able to understand why people can only see as far as the need of the day in which they are operating. It astounds me even more how these same people can be motivated at all. On a day-to-day basis, the job of running a business, selling, and hanging on to your clients can be tough.

Be a Self-Starter
A race car has a tremendous amount of potential energy but cannot start until someone waves the green flag. The powerful engines of a jet cannot lift that plane one-inch off the ground without ample runway and someone activating its controls.

The Right Questions To Help You Recover From A Setback
Building confidence can be as much about perseverance as it is about challenging yourself to take confidence building actions. This month I want to share with you some suggestions for getting back up when life knocks you down.

Motivational Mousetraps
Sometimes when Leaders attempt to motivate people, they go about it in ways that are not very effective. This article explains the mousetrap when leaders attempt to motivate others.

Classic Delegation Skills Challenges For Managers
You can achieve new levels of success when you delegate appropriate workload effectively. Successful individuals perfect the art of delegation, while average workers desperately cling to jobs that are important but should ideally be left to other key players in their team.

5 Practical Ideas to Keep Your Employees Motivated
Many leaders are skilled at getting results and productivity from their employees but are at a loss about how to keep people motivated. Learn five key things you can do to motivate your employees and reap the rewards of a happier workplace.

Work At Home Internet Business Success - What Characteristics You Need?
There are a number of characteristics that make up a successful entrepreneur. These are just a few of the top characteristics you will want to possess with your work at home internet business.

How to Build Trust & Develop Relationships with Clients and Employees That Last a Lifetime
When it comes to customer loyalty, nothing is more important than the trust. Touch on the four ways of building trust, gaining loyalty and retaining employees.

10 Reasons to use SEO Professionals
These are ten good reasons to use the Professionals when it comes to Marketing your business Online.

Who Makes a Better Salesperson - Men or Women?
Tom Peters said women are better salespeople than men. I wrote that Objective Management Group has data that proves that a greater percentage of women are stronger than men. Here is how that data breaks down:

Real Work at Home Jobs: 6 Ways To Stay Motivated
Wanting to start a real work at home job or business is no longer a new concept. Hundreds of people log onto the internet each hour to search how they can work from home. However you are intrigued by the idea of making money without leaving your property, doesn't mean you will have the motivation to actually put in the work.

How to Get to the Heart of Sales Success
The last thing you want is an indifferent potential client. Trying to get an indifferent potential client to make a decision is like trying to push a car uphill with the parking brake on. Not a very productive thing to do.

Top 5 Reasons Why the OMG Sales Assessment is More Predictive
I was asked why Objective Management Group's (OMG) assessments are so much more predictive of sales success and future performance than behavioral styles assessments and personality assessments. There is more than one answer to this question and I'll try to explain the top 5 answers...[read more]

The Art of Success Journaling: Wealth Creation From Your Words

How can you use a diary or journal to unlock your authentic self and your dreams? How do you unleash your spirit so you can jump out of bed and joyfully experience life every single day? Maybe you remember moments where you felt truly inspired or divinely fulfilled in every way. If you can capture those moments, they become tools to help you understand your dreams and desires. In this way, your journal can be the magic wand that removes all limits and unlocks your heart.

How to Say it to Sell More
You don’t necessarily respond to what you hear and what you read the same way your prospects do. The reason is because your prospect may not have the same underlying motivation to act or respond as you. I don’t just mean in a sales conversation.

One more time how do we motivate people?

How to motivate people? The hoary old chestnut that never seems to be resolved and on which is written so much I am wary of contributing to the confusions and misinformation. It is not really possible to ‘motivate’ someone rather you offer them reasons why they could or should motivate themselves. It does sound a little obvious since each person has select and very exclusive to their own mind and feelings. The term ‘motivation’ in business often means something like: Get people performing better than they are now. That may or may not involve ‘motivation’, but it is surprising the discussions that occur around the issue of ‘how to get them going?’

Unleashing Your Motivation

Motivation is a dynamic state that results in the desire, directional intensity and persistence of behaviour to achieve a long or short- term goal. Without motivation our sales performance and consequently our results can be severely impaired. When we are feeling motivated, we light up our performance like a Christmas Tree and equally when we feel de-motivated, everything seems to be much harder work.

Discover the secrets of what makes people tick
Understanding what motivates each person who works for you is the key to their involvement and commitment. Here are some tips on getting the best from the people who work for you.

How To Avoid The most Costly Mistakes Most People Make When Negotiating -- Part 1
A fantastic insight into the major errors we all make when negotiating. A must read if you are involved in sales or business. Look out for Part 2 as well.

Correlation between self discipline and productivity
“Self-discipline is the assertion of willpower over more base desires, and is usually understood to be a synonym of 'self control'." The great support that self discipline is giving to you is in helping to manage your qualities.

Managing Luxury Brands in Recession
The article focuses on how luxury brands can manage the effects of recession and rather gain from it.

The Most Successful Home Based Businesses Available Today
There are a number of opportunities you can venture into on the internet. Some of them are the most successful home businesses around, but you have to be careful about joining a program because of how much the internet fluctuates.

WHY CHANGE DOESN'T HAPPEN
While so many people seek to become more effective, more successful and more fulfilled, so few actually take the steps to implement the necessary change? Why? In this article Jonathan Payne explores on of the primary reasons for change not happening.

Little League and the Sales Force - It's More Than Trophies
The positive and negative attributes of "giving trophies to everyone." How should you reward your sales force?

Emotional Intelligence

This article explores the role Emotional Intelligence has in the workplace. Some of the main benefits include: - The ability to persist and stay motivated in the face of frustration - The ability to control impulses - The ability to control emotion - The ability to empathise with others Emotions, properly managed, can drive trust loyalty and commitment to create greater productivity gains, innovations and accomplishments within workplaces. Leaders worldwide are discovering, attention to emotions have been shown to save time, expand opportunities, and focus energy for better results.

Finding The Best Stay at Home Moms Business Opportunity For You
There are a few factors that will come into play when you are trying to determine the right stay at home mom's business opportunity for you. The fact that you want to work at home and have more time for your kids is a great reason to find a good business opportunity to represent.

The Value of Effective Leadership

An organization is most effective when leadership provides teaching, mentoring, coaching and motivation to empower every individual to perform most effectively. You can apply the techniques and traits of the Sensei to increase your effectiveness as a leader at work, home and in the community. The fundamental reason that a Sensei enjoys the loyalty and dedication of his students can be found in the unique relationship of teacher to student.

Motivating employees
Often I get asked how to motivate people … how to motivate them to perform better, to want to do things or to want to buy your product. People are motivated only by two things – to move away from pain or a painful situation or towards something they want. The archetypal carrot and stick approach.

Building on Objectives - Part One 'The Framework'
"Building on Objectives" is Part One 'The Framework' in an integrated approach to human resources management. Following these practices will accelerate individual, group, and organizational productivity. Part Two 'Selection'. Part Three 'Involvement'. Part Four 'Development'. Part Five 'Compensation'.

How To Earn A Living From The Comfort Of Your Own Home
Whether it be to avoid the daily commute, save money on office space rental or adding some extra time with your family, working from home definitely has its benefits and this article explores them in greater detail.

The Importance of Getting The Right People on the Bus

It's not a stretch to suggest that an organization has a greater chance of achieving success when it employs the right people. Obviously, the goal of any company is to hire well, but many small businesses mis-step during the process of seeking out the right employees. What are the characteristics of the "right" people? As a small business leader, what ideas do you need to understand and embrace in order to get the right people into your organization?

CONTROLLING STRESS
* Are you trying too hard to maintain a certain lifestyle? • Are your interests and relationships subordinated to making money? • Have you got a Work – Life Balance • How can you change the situation? What do you need to do to simplify your life?

Why Motivation Malfunctions at Midlife
Do you have trouble completing tasks? Do you lack organization and drive? These questions identify why so many baby boomers find it difficult to maintain their momentum through the overwhelm of their daily responsibilities. The following are several reasons why motivation falls apart and what you can do about it.

Managing Sales Motivation - Find the Motivational Drains
Most sales people need motivation. Motivation comes in many different forms. One way to motivate your team is to identify areas that are draining their motivation. This article will help you find the drain and plug it to regain motivation.

5 Tips For Giving Presentations That Consistently Sell
Tips from an experienced sales expert for qualifying prospects and giving sales presentations that actually work.

Marketing is a Contact Sport; Can You Deliver a Knockout Punch?
Your best clients have lots of things to do every day, and lots of things that need their attention, and none of those things necessarily involve you. It can feel as though you’re invisible and your best prospects are walking around, over, or right through you without even noticing YOU.

More Oomphy Moments Please!
Every now and then life becomes boring. Some of us can afford to liven it up but others on stricter budgets aren't so fortunate, but that doesn't mean they have to stay in their rut. There are things they can do, too.

My Favorite Motivational Quotes
The motivation quotes posted here are my personal favorites. I like to start each day taking in a new inspirational quote. Just a little something to make me think and give me some much needed inspiration. I hope you too will enjoy these motivational quotes and allow them to inspire you in your day.

Identifying Decision Making Strategies
People actually make decisions on a highly individual basis. It is important to understand how people make decisions when you want to influence the decision they make. You will want to know his or her decision strategy. A decision strategy is the process a person typically goes through in making a certain kind of decision.

Are You An Educated Derelict?

I attended a Personal Mastery Program recently and there were many other people there, who like myself attend seminars and conferences to gain more knowledge so they too can improve their lives. However, it's not the knowledge that makes the difference, it's the application of that knowledge. Are you one of those people who regularly attends events to learn more, get all hyped up and excited on the actual day, write a book full of notes and proclaim to everyone in earshot that "this is it! I have found the magic pill that will transform my business and my life"?

Motivating People: Why it doesn't work
When a business has a clearly defined purpose it begins to act as a magnet, attracting the kind of people who will further the purpose; people who are like-minded. Not only will having a purpose attract the right people, but it will also act to retain them.

Coaching Tip: Clear Your Plate
Are you feeling overwhelmed, stuck or do you find yourself procrastinating? Do you typically load your plate by taking on too much and expect to handle it all? Are your goals realistic or a bit too ambitious? Learn how clearing your plate will help you refocus on the things that matter most in growing your business and having a happier life.

Do Ask...Do Tell
Here are the questions to ask that will get you the information you need to sell.

Use Your Past, Future and Present to Succeed
Did you know that your past, present and future have a direct effect on the success of your business? Knowing how to use them correctly can put you on the path to success. Discover some simple things you can do to make your business grow by using them correctly.

Contain The Complainers!

Great leaders don't assume that they know all the answers or what the future will hold. They don't want to miss out on the next big thing and their culture tolerates, and even rewards, complaints. Keith R. McFarland writes in his book, "The Breakthrough Company", that one of the characteristics of the $250M rapid growth companies he examined is that the leadership was very tolerant of dissenters and even let people pursue ideas for new business even when they thought they were wrong.

Are You Sitting in a Parked Car?
What is keeping you from moving forward with your business and your dreams? Odds are, you are letting fear keep you in "park"!

Guides and What to Consider When Starting an Internet Home Based Business

The attraction of an Internet home based business is very strong for anyone. You are your own boss and you eliminate the need for the daily commute. But perhaps the strongest attraction could very well be the strongest distraction as well, your family. If you have a big family with lots of small children, they can eat too much of your time and distract you from your work. Pets and homework could get in the way of your daily schedule.

Why Having a Mentor is so Important for Your Business
Mentoring is a journey of self-discovery -- you discover that you can handle the most critical issues because your mentor has equipped you with the appropriate skills and knowledge necessary to succeed. A good mentor will always hold you accountable for your goals. He or she will ensure that you stay on track and when you get frustrated will push and motivate you to keep trying until you succeed.

How to keep motivated when the going gets tough
Running a business has its challenges as well as its rewards. Many people find it hard to keep motivated especially when things go wrong or the unexpected happens. Read Sue Stockdale's top three tips for how to remain motivated when work gets difficult!

How to Use the Right Questions to Define Your Goals
When it comes to inspiring your employees, ask yourself, "What motivates me?" When you're passionate about achieving your goals, your employees feel the same way. Here are questions to help you identify your own professional and personal goals while helping your employees achieve theirs.

Money and Manifesting by Dyan Garris

It seems that everyone has heard about The Secret. However, if you take a look at Amazon, you will notice that there are a lot of "follow up" books to The Secret. That's because some of the critical information you need to make a real and lasting difference was left out of The Secret. Money and Manifesting by Dyan Garris offers the additional information you need to improve your life. Will you take the time to learn more? It could literally change your life - for the better.

Start with the End in Mind
How to Balance Your Business for Success!

Free Report: Discover #1 Way To Boost Your Sales

Increasing sales in one of the top priorities for companies the world over. The matter is that without the sales there is no company and that means there is a definite need for ways in which to increase the sales without spending millions of dollars on advertising campaigns. This is all new to a lot of people who would like nothing more then to see their sales go through the roof by nothing more then the word of mouth advertising that is so needed. This will not happen in most cases so companies need to start making some hard decisions.

Innovative Knowledge Acquisition from Web Videos
This article showcases emerging strategies for learning through web based videos.

Ten Ways to Motivate Your Sales Team Without Spending Big Bucks
How do I motivate my sales team? How do I retain top sales talent? At the risk of sounding too simple, there are two proven principles that work well in motivating salespeople: recognition and appreciation. Two simple principles often overlooked because execution takes time and attention.

How To Organise Your Financial Future

Some time ago I spent a planning day with a new client to determine exactly what she wanted to achieve in her business over the next 12 months, where she is now and the exact steps she needed to take to reach her goals. On questioning Sophie about her income and expenditure, she told me 'my accountant handles that'. She had no idea what was happening with her finances, only that there seemed to be enough money when she needed it. This was not an empowering answer! Sophie's head was in the clouds or should I say buried in the sand. You cannot allow someone else to 'look after your financial affairs'. No one else is going to look after your money better than you do.

Powerful Questions to Impact Change
Questioning is one of the most common leadership tools. But, what is your intend when asking a question? Do you want to find out the progress status on a certain project? Or do you want to engage and motivate a team member to accelerate in their performance? Or is it both? Now ask yourself: How successful is your questioning in which situation?

How to use corporate incentives to reward and motivate
Corporate incentives have many purposes, mostly to motivate employees into being more productive. However on a larger scale, corporate incentives are given to upper management as a reward for growth in their departments. These corporate incentives range in value from small gifts to vacations and large sums of money.

Leadership Transformation

It is imperative that leaders go through a personal transformation process in order to bring about effective change within an organization. People, productivity, and profitability are the tools that make an organization successful. Through personal transformation, you will understand that you can be wounded and still learn from your mistakes. You will learn how to forgive yourself and others. You will learn to deal with reality while being comfortable with changes. Most importantly, you will create and motivate movement, as well as positive changes not only in yourself, but also in the people around you, and in your environment.

Why Does Turnover Take Place?
Turnover isn’t a problem - it’s a symptom caused by leadership problems. Fortunately, the problems can be solved, and you have the power to make that difference. Strive to become the best leader you can be.

Work from Home Based Business: Is It for You?
Despite all the benefits from work from home based business, the reality is working from home is not for everyone. Find what characteristics you need to have to be successful in this business.

Are You Ready to Use a Coach?
If you are considering working with a professional coach start by asking yourself if you are ready. Here are some questions to help you decide if its time to engage a coach.

Corporate Incentives Build Employee Retention
Corporate incentives have many purposes, mostly to motivate employees into being more productive. However on a larger scale, corporate incentives are given to upper management as a reward for growth in their departments. These corporate incentives range in value from small gifts to vacations and large sums of money.

Boost Your Business -- Become An Advisor

So what is the difference between an agent and an advisor? Agents just want to list a home and hope it sells. Advisors help their clients lead the market, not follow the market. They do that by knowing their market inside and out. Advisors are inquisitive because they know they must understand where potential clients are in the process. When you understand that along with understanding their motivation, you’re on your way to being a great advisor.

PROBLEM SOLVING
It isn’t that they can’t solve the problem. It is that they can’t see the problem. The Scandal of Father Brown (1935). People differ not only in how much they worry, but also in what they worry. Quite often the way we see the problem is the problem. It would be helpful to start with self, your motivation, and what you were looking for.

How To Keep Employees Engaged..An interview with Ray Warren, General Manager, San Diego Marina Marriott Hotel
What are companies successful with keeping long-term employees doing right?

"When the Pupil is Ready the Teacher Will Appear" --Business Coaching 101

Business coaching provides the leader and the organization an opportunity to shift current strategies in a manner that is custom tailored and specifically designed for them. In a time of global competition and information over load, maintaining one’s personal balance while supporting the motivation and direction of the team can become difficult to say the least. Day to day pressures often prevent us from standing back and making a fresh assessment of where we are and what’s the best course to set for tomorrow. Like wise, as the role of the servant leader emerges as a model for greatness, it compels us to seek new ways to refine our business acumen.

Employee Engagement: How to Keep From Boring Your Employees
Have you ever wondered how your organization can keep its employees from feeling stale? Have you ever felt stale? In this article we explore ways to help keep employees feeling fresh and involved within their organization.

Getting Along with Critical People

We can all be critical. Every day, we literally critique everything that goes on around us consciously and unconsciously. Unfortunately, some people tend to verbalize the thoughts many of us have learned to keep to ourselves. When things don't go our way or we're in a bad mood it is easy to become critical. It's true, miserable people prefer miserable company. Critical people actually feel better around others who share the same negative attitudes. Before we spend time learning how to cope with other people's critical traits let's make sure we have our own well under control. It can be quite challenging to get along with a critic, especially when we live, work or attend church with them. Here are 10 tips to help you get along better with critical people.

5 Remarkable Benefits to Having a Business Plan

Have you ever started out on a road trip across town to suddenly realize that you have no idea where you’re going? Running your business without a Business Plan is much like the same. In this article we will look at 5 remarkable benefits to having a Business Plan. How having Direction, Motivation, Creativity, a Cohesive Strategy, and getting Results can help you can create amazing success in your business.

Setting Goals For an HR Recruiting Business
Article on how to set goals for an HR recruiting business at home.

Anger Management
We're often faced with statements, actions, arguments, behavior, etc. that is galling in the extreme. Whether it's road rage, an annoying co-worker, or a whiny teenager, it's an unfortunate but safe bet that you'll feel angry several times a week. So how can you handle it when faced with provocation that would make the Buddha quiver with rage? Read on to find out!

How to crystalize business growth options through Strategic Planning

What is it? Why do strategic planning? When is the right time for strategic planning? Strategic Planning is a tool to formulate high level business strategy. It sets the table to allow preparation of detailed business plans. Strategic planning is undertaken to define the precise mission of the organization, prioritize opportunities and help manage growth. It is also a very useful tool in satisfying succession planning needs. Most strategic planning is undertaken to establish base guidelines for a business plan. It also provides the benefit of helping maximize resource utilization and prioritize growth options.

Success: Why Women Don’t Need To Compete
When you take the competition approach, you actually step outside of your true potential. You place your abilities in competition with someone else who is unique in their own way. You might even find yourself chasing their potential rather than your own. How do you expect to truly succeed while pursuing someone else’s dream?

Managers Only Gain 4 Per Cent Pay Rise
According to Incomes Data Services, Managers have averaged pay rises of 4% in recent months. A study covering 26,000 managers showed that pay rises had only kept pace with the rate of UK inflation. So 4% is the average. That means some managers get more and some get less. How can you ensure you get more, much, much more?

What did you learn from the last sale you lost?
Your ability to be professional and appreciative in listening to what the customer shares with you will help ensure you have a good relationship going forward with that person.

Lesson #2: “If you look to lead, invest at least 40 percent of your time managing yourself”

“Here is the very heart and soul of the matter: If you look to lead, invest at least 40 percent of your time managing yourself – your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct,” said Hock. “Invest at least 30 percent managing those with authority over you, and 15 percent managing your peers. Use the remainder to induce those you ‘work for’ to understand and practice the theory.”

How to Develop Confidence in Yourself

Do you struggle with doubts that hold you back from reaching your dreams? Are you timid in situations that may present roadblocks to your success? Instead of settling for a mediocre life, learn a few simple strategies that will help you to feel confident in every situation. Confidence in your talents and abilities is closer than you think. You were created for a purpose, and you’re the only one who can fulfill that purpose. Each one of us has a lot to offer the world. All you need is to discover the passion inside of you and agree to leave your comfort zone in favor of a life filled with joy.

Tips for Increasing Your Student Energy
It’s no secret that college students have severe schedules, even in the summer. Between juggling classes, studying, assignments, internships, working a part time job, and making time for friends, it’s predictable that your energy levels are low. Although most students resort to caffeine to remedy their lack of energy, there are viable alternatives.

How Is Your “To Do” List Working For You?
To-do lists are magic. According to experts, the second you write something down, you’re infinitely more likely to actually make it happen than if you rely on your (sometimes faulty) memory.

The Joplin Perspective
Joplin, Missouri is a relatively small city situated in southwest Missouri. I have been through Joplin many times in my life as it is located halfway between where I've lived the majority of my life and where my grandparents lived; therefore, Joplin, Missouri always seemed like more of a rest stop to me. It was a place to stretch your legs, buy gasoline, and get a quick bite to eat.

7 Tips for Creating a Professional Image that Works for You
We are taught not to judge a book by its cover. However, that does not mean first impressions are not important. It is very crucial to make your first impression on other people to be a good representation of yourself!

What have I learned in 6 months of management? Part 1
I asked one of the managers I was coaching what he learned in six months of re-focusing on management skills. Each response deserves its own soundbite, because they all incorporate skills managers should use to avoid traps and pitfalls.

What have I learned in 6 months of management? Part 2
I asked one of the managers I was coaching what he learned in six months of re-focusing on management skills. Each response deserves its own soundbite, because they all incorporate skills managers should use to avoid traps and pitfalls.

What have I learned in 6 months of management? Part 3
I asked one of the managers I was coaching what he learned in six months of re-focusing on management skills. Each response deserves its own soundbite, because they all incorporate skills managers should use to avoid traps and pitfalls.

What have I learned in 6 months of management? Part 4
I asked one of the managers I was coaching what he learned in six months of re-focusing on management skills. Each response deserves its own soundbite, because they all incorporate skills managers should use to avoid traps and pitfalls.

The loud woman at Starbucks
Do you find any of your employees irritating?

Managing techies
Do you need to come from a technical background to manage technical people?

Motivation with consequences
How do you motivate someone to do something they don’t want to do?

Jumping to Conclusions
As managers and leaders, how do we put aside our beliefs and experiences when we’re listening?

Great Leaders Master \"The 3 Levels of High-Performance Leadership Communication\"
Level 3 Leadership Communication is about connecting with the individuals on a team so that the leader understands what uniquely motivates each. Discover what Level 3 entails and what the major roadblock to its successful implementation is.

How to Be a Better Leader: Lessons from a Puppy

Learning about puppy training has taught us more about leadership and how to be a better leader. Here are but a few lessons. Leaders lead by example and earn true loyalty. You can influence behaviors through proper rewards, sometimes you can inadvertently create unwanted behaviors. Give constructive feedback, not criticism. Help your employees learn how to do things properly. Every leader needs good followers. Understand what your team needs to do their job and train the next crop of leaders to be successful.

My Dear Franchisee…
My Dear Franchisee provides an introduction to a new franchisee of exactly what it is they've bought, what is included and what isn't as well as defining what are the roles of the franchisee and the franchisor. In short, everything you wanted to know about franchising but had been unable to ask!

Double Marginalization and the Point of Ideal Price Viability

Referencing my last post (Double Marginalization and the Decentralized Supply Chain, August 9, 2007) double marginalization “DM” is defined as the “exercise of market power at successive vertical layers in a supply chain.” The problem that arises as a result of DM is tied to an impetus to mark up the product’s price above marginal cost. The sequence of mark-ups “leads to a higher retail price and lower combined profit for the supply chain.” In short, DM drives the paradoxical outcome of higher buy prices with lower sell profits.

Which is the Most Important Component?
When I’m talking about the Dynamic Components of Personal Power I’m sometimes asked which component is the most important. It would be easy to say all of them. If pressed, I’d say DISCIPLINE…

There is NO Competition
What’s the competition doing? Who cares! The important thing is what you’re doing, right here and right now.

Discipline 101
The Wisdom of the Samurai for Personal & Professional Discipline!

ACTION PLAN- (PERSONAL LEARNING PLAN)
In order to attain your goals, it is crucial that you know exactly where you are now and where you want to be. Make sure that the goals you want to achieve are congruent with your different roles in life and reflect your deepest values.

Four Critical Skills
There are four essential skills every leader must hone to become a brilliant leader. Listening. Storytelling. Acknowledging contribution. Negotiation. You cannot be good enough at these four skills - so every chance you get, practice!

Clear Goals Need Clear Roles
Job descriptions evolve over time. But all employees, new or old, need to have a clear understanding of their role in a company and what is expected of them. New hires need a starting point for their position. Long-term employees may need guidance about what their continuing role in a company ought to be. In this article, we discuss the importance of defining job role.

Factors to Consider Before Choosing a Franchise
Choosing the right franchising category is of utmost importance. You have to make sure that there’s enough demand for the service/product. Also, try to learn about the level of competition in that category.

Managing Projects Through People

Management can be a tricky thing. Many companies promote people to management / supervisory positions based on their knowledge of the job and ability to get things done. But management goes so far beyond that, which is why many managers are not as effective as they should be. So what does it take to be an effective manager/supervisor? A supervisors job is to manage both people and projects. Tuning people-management and project-management skills are necessary for any manager to truly be effective.

Your Goals
Before setting a goal, it is vital to ask yourself as to whether you are prepared to devote your time, energy etc. to achieving that particular goal. The more you are prepared to do something for yourself, and the more it is in accordance with your core beliefs and values, the more likely you will achieve the goal.

Owner of www.zenhabits.net Spills The Beans...

Recently, I came across www.zenhabits.net a fantastic blog covering such topics as achieving goals, productivity, being organized, GTD, motivation, eliminating debt, saving, getting a flat stomach, eating healthy, simplifying, living frugal, parenting, happiness, and successfully implementing good habits. I was inspired and wanted to know the owner, Leo Babauta, more. So I wrote to Leo asking for an interview and he kindly accepted.

Recruiting for Dummies

When facing the challenge of recruiting personnel, most organizations out there believe that a job posting and some behavioral based interviews will suffice to hire the best candidates—this is true at some point if you are recruiting for some technical jobs such as machine lifter or tractor driver, not that there is anything wrong with these jobs, but the pool of candidates and degree of job functions and expertise will differ if you are hiring a white collar or top executive.

Staying Motivated In A Struggling Economy

Fear is a very powerful emotion. When we live in fear, even of the unknown, there is a tendency to isolate, exert control and be on the defensive. It drains our energy and creates exhaustion. The majority of coaching conversations I am having these days are about this fear generated by a struggling economy. Worry over business progress, finding a job, salary and bonus eliminations, increased job performance expectations have taken over people’s mindsets thus decreasing motivation and focus for themselves and their business.

Now You Can Be A More Motivational Manager
All your staff are perfect, right? They are highly motivated and fully productive. Maybe? Could they be even more motivated and more productive? Most probably. This article shares some secrets of highly motivating your staff.

SETTING THE RIGHT GOALS
If we don't have a clear idea of our goals, our lives can become rather aimless. A coach or a close associate can encourage you to have an aspiration and be motivated. Being clear of our goals, is one of the most powerful motivating factors. Nothing will come of nothing. Dare Mighty Things (Shakespeare)

How To Clean Out The Clutter
This time of year, it's important to clear out the clutter and start the year with a fresh approach. I completely detoxed my own office over the break and couldn't believe how much stuff I had accumulated that I didn't need. I do my regular mini-clean-ups weekly and the major ones around 4 times a year.

Double Your Achievements By Lightening the Loa
Like a light shining through the darkness shed by so many negative reports of how so few people consider anyone other than themselves, and how a sense of community is lacking, I know from experience that that spirit is not lacking and if we give it a chance by sharing and collaborating, whether professionally or personally, it can bring us so many rewards.

Effective Coaching and YOU
How often do you face a situation where one of your employees need special attention?

Self-Doubt -- Motivation
A doubt is just a feeling of uncertainty; it has no proof underpinning it. If a doubt has no basis , then it is a hindrance. Once you have pure and sincere motivation, all the rest follows. The prime mover of every action is the motivation or the determination.

What is Effective Delegation

The importance of delegation should not be underestimated. Employees often crave trust and responsibility. Effective delegation meets these and other needs. Delegation is the assignment of responsibility and accountability for specific outcomes or achievements to a specific individual or organisation unit. The delegation can be temporary or permanent. Delegation is an important management or team leader activity. Effective delegation is an important leadership skill. Effective leaders use delegation to balance workloads and provide staff development opportunities. Good delegation creates a positive, motivating environment.

Making Resolutions Work!
Okay it's 2008 and you probably made some resolutions: I'm going to lose weight. I'm going to get a better job. I'm going to be rich. Etc. But how are you going to do this? Most people don't go through with their resolutions.

7 Reasons Why People Procrastinate
Learn reasons why procrastination might be a problem for your business and life success.

Increasing Sales – A Manager's Dilemma
How do you motivate sales people who don't seem to want to be motivated? In this article you will learn what works better than either the carrot or the stick. Includes a sidebar that offers secrets to motivating sales people.

No Trust = No Leader
How to earn trust as a leader and boost your team’s performance

Why Coaches should work from both the inside out and outside in
This article discusses the importance on focusing on BOTH behavioral and transformational approaches to improving results.

Prospect With Dignity
Strategies to use in order to improve your confidence and success in prospecting

Never Compare Yourself to Anyone - EVER!
Never compare yourself to anyone else. You and I are individuals. We are uniquely designed to accomplish something - a purpose - if you will. When you make comparisons, whether you’re elevating yourself above another or diminishing your own self-worth, you do yourself a huge disservice.

Fire-Up Your Employees

Do your employees need a boost of energy? Are they lacking motivation or inspiration? Could they use some fire underneath them? Sometimes motivational words just won’t cut it. Employees are looking for much more. Investing in the good ones can go a long way, today and in the future. If you can truly energize employees, they will drink the company kool-aid and your bottom line will be better off for it.

Puppy Training for Salespeople?
Today’s sales training might take some lessons from how dogs learn new and acceptable behaviors. The early formative years are important, but it is still possible to teach an old dog new tricks.

15 Sales Tips To Start Selling Smarter In 2008
These 15 sales tips provide an excellent jumpstart to 2008 enabling you gain an advantage over your competition.

Inspiration From Steve Jobs:Keep Doing What You Love

Do u know steve jobs was fired from his own company (Apple)when it was about to mark its 10th year??He became a public failure. Media was mad after him.For that moment he didn't knew what to do?All his dreams suddenly shattered. Summing up I would say he was again "No one". After all this, Today Steve Jobs is the CEO of Apple Inc. So, here's the inspirational story of how he reached to that position

The P Word
You guessed it, procrastination! Procrastination by definition is to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done. It also means to put off intentionally and habitually.

Taking Scattered Actions Hampers Your Time Management
As strange as it may sound, being busy doesn't necessarily mean being productive. While we all want to get the most of our day, both at work and at home, trying to pack too many things in can be counter-productive. Taking a few minutes time out each day to consider how we can better spend our time can vastly improve the quality and quantity of what we achieve.

Time Management Strategy - Stop, Take A Step Back & Reevaluate
If things are getting on top of you and you feel like there simply aren't enough hours in the day, it may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your situation. With the pressures of modern life it is easy to lose focus on the goals that are genuinely important to us. If this sounds like you, it is probably time to stop and take a closer look at how you really want to spend your time.

How to Catapult Your Website ROI Into Orbit With Organic SEO

If you wish to increase your website ROI (return on investment) It is about time that you start to consider organic SEO seriously because it works! Organic SEO is not an ''automatic type'' of website optimization but it can be implemented by anyone having the right amount of motivation and knowledge. Best of all organic SEO can replace expensive PPC campaign that cost your business a huge amount of money.

How to Build a Mastermind Group

A Mastermind group is a supportive group of like-minded people who collectively brainstorm ideas, strategies, techniques and concepts to help people move forward in their business/life and become 'unstuck'. A Mastermind group is not a social gathering of friends, neither is it a session to air your complaints about life and feel sorry for yourself. To make a Mastermind group work, it has to be made up of people who are positive, self motivated, proactive and have a desire to help others reach their goals......

Leadership – Let Me Give It To You As Straight As I Can
Five traits to help you become an effective leader

Moving from Mediocre to Magnificent
To stand out amongst the plethora of businesses that exist, you have to be strategic. It's just not ok to be good, you need to be great. This article will help you step into your greatness.

Achieving Work Life Balance Doesnt Have to be Hard
Although you want more balance in your life, does the thought of trying to achieve it fill you with dread? Does it feel a daunting task, just another thing on your to-do list? Even though you want to make some improvements to your work life balance, its easy to get overwhelmed by the thought of what needs to be done. This can lead to losing your motivation and you end up not doing anything.

Approved To Booked
Turning approved transactions into booked deals

A New Sales Outlook
Five simple ways to defeat negativity and create a new sales outlook

Failure or Feedback You choose
This article takes a closer look at failure and offers a different perspective. We are always at choice - so choose to see failure as feedback and move forwards with strength and determination.

Bouncing Back from "Bad" Feedback
Feedback is someone's perception of you, it is not you. You get to evaluate its accuracy and meaningfulness. What you do with the feedback is up to you. You can evaluate it, act on it or ignore it. If it comes from a supervisor or employer, you may be required to make changes, but you can choose how to approach it.

Wag More, Bark Less
I confess, this title was not made up by me. My wife saw a bumper sticker with this sentiment and shared it with me. I think the basic wisdom in the phrase is great and wish there was a way to get more managers to understand the simple logic here. Why is it that some bosses feel compelled to bark when wagging is a much more expedient way to bring out the best in people?

How to Increase Sales Even in Tough Times!
Times have changed in the business world. Connie tells readers how sales teams should adjust to these changes in order to increase sales. She also discusses what organizations need to look for when it comes to hiring the right sales speaker.

What Kind of Freedom Choices Are You Making For 2011?
I personally think that freedom is “To get rid of beliefs that hold you back and keep you in prison” (that’s my own quote).

Building Confidence at Work

Should building confidence at work be your concern? Why should you invest in making people feel better about themselves? Surely it is up to the individual to deal with this in his or her own way? Unfortunately, you cannot afford to ignore this any longer, as what we are now discovering is that an individual’s lack of confidence and belief in themselves impacts on everyone around them, and ultimately the organisation as a whole. Lowered motivation, decreased productivity and fewer profit margins develop in direct proportion to lack of initiative taken by a Company in addressing this. Simply put lack of confidence is blocking motivation, attitude and ultimately performance in some workplaces here in NZ.

How Sales Managers can reinvigorate poor sales performers
How Sales Managers can reinvigorate poor sales performers

I have a few exceptional sales people in my team, and if they left for whatever reason, the department would really suffer. What is the best way to retain top quality sales people?
If you have a few exceptional sales people in your team, and if they left for whatever reason, the department would really suffer. What is the best way to retain top quality sales people?

What Communication Habit(s) are you Addicted to?
Contrary to physical addiction, most communication habits fortunately can be eliminated by discovering their roots - and by mastering a new communication behavior.

Great Leaders Master \"Level 2 Leadership Communication\" - Motivating the Team as a Team
Learn the 3 T's of Leadership Motivational Communication: what to say, when to say it and how to say it!

How to Accelerate Success: Create an Appreciative Culture
More than a dozen years ago a friend introduced me to a relatively new concept called appreciative inquiry. It has changed my life dramatically, as well as the lives of individuals and organizations who have adopted this framework. And it is a critical component of organizational success.

Level 1 Leadership Communication - Becoming the Leader You Want/Need to Be
You'd think a 26 year old would be thrilled with an early promotion to VP/GM, right? Find out why I wasn't and what I learned from the experience and what YOU can learn from my experience!

2 Simple Steps to Organizational Alignment
“How can leaders align employees’ interests with organizational goals?”

Are You Authentic Enough?
Have you ever felt like telling somebody to literally “Go to Hell”…but didn’t?

Motivation
When considering instilling or lifting motivation in your workplace, I think it is important to recognise that there are many types widely used here in New Zealand. I do not believe that one size fits all, nor do I believe that there is a specific formula on the way to motivate people. However, the following outlines what I see most corporations and companies engaging in to varying degrees:

How Can Strong Salespeople Lack Desire for Success?
Sometimes even the strongest of salespeople simply lose their desire to do whatever it takes to succeed in sales.

Leadership Mentors
There is no shortage of individuals who aspire to be really good leaders. There is also an abundance of leadership development programs, yet we still see a habitual shortfall in the number of really good leaders. I believe a major reason is a shortage of really great leadership mentors. This article shares the impact of this problem and gives the antidote.

3 Reasons Under-Performing Employees In Your Company Are Not At Fault
Learn the three primary mistakes business leaders make that prevent employees from being engaged in their workplace and contributing at higher levels.

Why 44% of Today’s Leaders Are Unhappy With Their Employees’ Performance
In a survey whose results were released this week, 70% of those struggling business leaders also believe they need a new approach to how they communicate.

What's Your Motivation?
It's become a joke to wonder "what's my motivation?" like an actor, when we have something in front of us to do and just can't seem to get it done. We may complain that we just can't get motivated to do something.

Taking Charge of Your Life
What is a Life Coach and how a coach can help you to take charge of your life.

It Takes an Ocean of Emotion

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." Tony Robbins Stop for a moment and think about what type of energy is driving you to put another day into your business. Would you say your motivation's coming from a painful thought - "I better make this sale so I can make payroll", or based a pleasurable thought, "I can't wait to satisfy my next customer. Be honest with yourself.

VI. Module III: National, Regional, and International Support

Microfinance initiatives are more likely to succeed in a supportive national, regional, and international environment. Applying a systems’ perceptive, poverty eradication is recognized as a multi-scale endeavor with different partners participating at the local, national, regional, and international levels. Whereas the foregoing discussion has focused on microfinance lessons for the local level, this section will broaden the scope with lessons that scale up through the state to the global community.

5.2 Economic growth and diversification: Economic Report on Africa 2007
Exploration of the TFP link in Africa

5.0 Diversification and Growth: Economic Report on Africa 2007

The presentation in the previous chapter has painted a varied picture of the results of Africa’s efforts to diversify its economies. At the same time, regional differences between Africa, Asia and Latin America were compared. The question then becomes why some countries or regions achieved breakthrough in their diversification efforts while others did not? Identifying the determinants of diversification is one part of solving this puzzle. Linking these policy instruments to growth and development outcomes through growth is the other part of the puzzle. This chapter is about fitting both parts of the puzzle together.

Motivation - Some Things Never Change
Motivation and our natural tendency to use 'carrot and stick' to motivate - and why it has the opposite effect!

3 Simple Strategies to Improve Your Bottom Line by Tapping Your Most Valuable Asset, Your People
Learn the two issues that impact the bottom line of manufacturing companies today and what you can do about them.

Sometimes Motivation Has to be Felt
Motivation is a funny thing. You can try to encourage people by telling them the benefits of this, that or the other, but sometimes it's just not enough. You've got to make them "feel" it. If you craft your message right, you can do just that using words only.

How to Motivate Yourself: Part 1
Knowing what to do and how to do it is an important part of leadership, but is only two thirds of what makes any leader effective. The other third is motivation: the reasons for what you do. Consider what gives your life meaning, then implement self-motivation strategies.

20 Things You Need to Know Before Optimizing Your Site
One of the most important aspects of a search engine optimization project is also one of the most overlooked – preparation! There are some important steps to take in advance of optimizing your site that will make sure your SEO is successful.

How to Motivate Yourself: Part 2
Self-motivation strategies give you the energy to pursue your goals in life. The seven strategies shared in this article include introspective activities like retreating to advance, mentorship opportunities, and scheduled growth-producing activities.

The Difference between Motivation and Commitment
Motivation and commitment are not the same thing!

Handling Change in the Workplace: Logical versus Emotional Reactions

People need time and support to adjust both logically and emotionally to change. This article explains how change can impact on staff and provides keys to help them adapt and settle into the new environment. Change can be positive if handled well or a recipe for disaster if handled poorly. Through the use of a case study, the pitfalls and negative impacts are discussed; then follows some pointers for managing change in the workplace and a practical method for accepting change on a more personal level.

5 Steps to Overcome Procrastination and Take Action

Do you procrastinate and often find a myriad of excuses as to why you have not got things done? Do you feel overwhelmed with the many things you have on your “to do” list and wonder how you will ever get started doing them let alone get them all done. Many people blame a lack of time as the reason why they do not get things completed on their list. Granted, time is precious and there are many demands on all of us. However, sometimes the size of the list can often be the biggest reason why people do not get things done. They just don’t know where to start. What I have outlined are 5 simple steps that can help you tackle some of your list? So let’s begin.

How to Motivate Yourself: Part 3
Self-motivation strategies give you the energy to pursue your goals in life. The final four strategies shared in this article include enjoying the journey, clarifying your values, triumphing over circumstances, and looking for positive elements in every situation.

Inside the Mind at Work - Manage for Progress
As any fan of The Office can attest, negative managerial behavior severely affects employees’ work lives. Managers’ day-to-day and moment-to-moment actions also create a ripple effect, directly facilitating or impeding the organization’s ability to function.

Inside the Mind at Work – What Really Motivates Us?

The topics of performance evaluations and feedback come up quite often in my executive coaching sessions. It’s human nature that people want to know where they stand. I often suggest to my coaching clients that in-the-moment feedback based on progress helps motivate people. It can also help avoid those tense performance evaluation meetings where people can be demoralized and become disengaged by negative performance feedback.

Motivation – Marketing Strategy -Part2
How to build your cash flow business with motivation

Inside the Mind at Work – Facilitating Progress and Dealing with Setbacks
When emotionally intelligent leaders focus on small wins and facilitate progress, employees will find the energy and drive required to perform optimally.

The Sun Always Come Up in the Morning
When you look at very successful people, you see the ability to start new each day. To self-recharge and begin again. It’s hard doing a lot of things, almost everything.

Three Keys To Attracting And Retaining Customers Or Clients
By carefully studying the attributes and techniques used by successful sales representatives from a cross-section of industries and professions, you can determine what it really takes to sell your products or services.

Increase Motivation by Using Questions to Lead Your Team
Leaders must treat people according to where they are on their learning journey. The individual in a new situation will require more leadership and guidance than one who is fully experienced. Asking the right questions allows people to be part of their own learning, to solve their own problems, and demonstrate their competence.

Remove Barriers to Happiness at Work
The main motivators that keep people engaged relate to the opportunity to learn, grow, and do their best work. Ask people what is getting in the way of them doing their best work. Eliminate those barriers to reduce frustration and make progress.

Leadership Style and Motivating Employees
In a “we want it now” age, the business owner and manager can more easily create a motivating environment that satisfies security, meaningful and supportive relationships. Take a look at your leadership style and then take the appropriate actions to update it.

Managing a Salon or Spa Employee Performance Problem
Learn the best way to manage your salon spa team to success and reduce your own management stress

Motivation Mistakes
Listen carefully and you will hear managers at your place of work use the following phrase numerous times a week, "We have to motivate our people." This overused phrase actually shows a poor understanding of motivation on the part of the speaker. Reason: "Motivate" is not something you do to another person. Motivation is a prime benefit of a leader working to create a culture of high trust.

Start Living a Healthier Lifestyle and Become an Everyday Champion: It Can Make the Difference in Your Life
What is a champion? Many people think of a champion as someone who just won a contest. I think of a champion as anyone who accomplishes a worthwhile goal. Let me tell you about two people who were champions for their health. By improving their health, they became more productive.

Personal Development 101- Everything You Need To Know
Personal development can take place through uncovering your talents and strengths. If there is something you're good at, take the time to pursue it.Regardless of what you do, do it right the first time and every time. Whether you are taking out the trash or closing a multi-million dollar real estate deal,

Motivation vs Inspiration!
I recently gave a keynote presentation, and a workshop, to a large group of middle and senior managers. I asked them about their biggest challenge as a leader these days - and the answer was unanimously about motivating employees in the workforce.

The Media Personality and British Entrepreneur, Alan Sugar Started From Meager Beginnings
Sir Alan Sugar is best known for being the host of the British version of America's popular The Apprentice reality television show. However, most of his wealth comes from his founding of Amstrad, a multimillion dollar electronics firm. This is not how Sugar started out in life. In fact, Sugar comes from meager beginnings. Some people wonder how this man became so successful.

Dining at the Idea Buffet
Idea buffets, such as seminars, are a great way to acquire many new ideas. After ingesting a buffet of ideas, make sure to exercise your mental muscles and apply the new information so you don't become "idea obese."

Lesson #3: Look Towards the Future

"Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines," Said Enzo Ferrari. The car engine was the most important thing that Ferrari concentrated on when he was building race and production cars. The innovations, horsepower and designs were unmatched by any other manufacturer when Ferrari first attempted to innovate his race cars. Only after the success of his engines did his competitor's believe that his innovations were a viable option.

Lesson #4: Keep Up With Your Competitors
“You stick to building tractors and I will stick to building sports cars," Enzo Ferrari said to Ferruccio Lamborghini when he presented some concerns about the Ferrari automobile Lamborghini owned. This started a rivalry that would make Enzo learn that the rest of the car was also important.

HOW TO STAY ON THE LADDER OF SUCCESS
My mentor told me long ago that success is not an event but a continual progress toward improving. He gave me a 10 step process to use throughout my journey of improvement. Understanding that most situations are changeable and that you have power to change them puts you in a powerful position. Unfortunately, many people forfeit this personal power and live unfulfilled lives.

Real Motivation
All leaders seek higher motivation within the workforce because it means greater productivity. Most leaders try to create higher motivation by trying to make workers happier with bonuses, pizza parties, or numerous other extrinsic motivators. It has been known for over a century that real motivation is an inside job.

Leaders: Hold Yourself Accountable

A favorite phrase of most leaders these days is that we need to hold our people accountable. It is important to make sure all people are living up to their commitments and responsibilities. One observation is that not too many leaders have the same zeal when it comes to holding themselves accountable for the performance of the entire enterprise. The culture of the organization is what usually determines level of performance, and the culture is created by the top leaders more than anyone else.

Building a sum even greater than its parts: Why it’s essential to create a cohesive sales team.
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success.” Henry Ford, one of the great industrialists of the 20th century, said that about the importance of teamwork and of how it applies to businesses of all sizes.

Lamborghini Expands His Business Interests

“Lamborghini Trattori was completely self-sufficient, so I turned my interests to other industries,” Ferruccio Lamborghini was quoted as saying about his expansion into other industries. After becoming a multimillionaire in the tractor industry, he turned his interest to a new industry, heating and air conditioning. Lamborghini was good at figuring out future business successes and this was an industry that few ventured into at the time.

Ferruccio Lamborghini Began Life as a Farm Boy

Ferruccio Lamborghini did not start life as a wealthy man. Instead, he worked for everything he got. Growing up on a farm owned by his parents, Lamborghini was not interested in the farming life. He was more intrigued in how the equipment on the farm operated. This love of machinery is what made him become one of Italy's richest entrepreneurs and would lead to his creation of one of the most luxurious sports cars in the automobile industry.

Lesson #1: Do What You Love

"I liked to take things apart when I was younger," Ferruccio Lamborghini said about starting his tractor business. That love of machinery made Lamborghini look at business as more than a way to make money. He not only wanted to earn a living, he wanted to earn a living do something that he loved to do and that was building machinery. He also noticed that most of Italy's industry was used to support the war effort and little machinery was available for the working people.

Lesson #2: Produce What People Need

"I saw a need and had an instinct of what people had to have after the war," Ferruccio Lamborghini said. He was good at recognizing what people needed and it just so happened that he knew how to offer it to them. His skills as a mechanic made building tractors a perfect fit for a business start-up. Since most of the industries in Italy were used for the war effort, he knew that something had to be done to help people out and make life easier for them.

Lesson #3: Remain Approachable
"One thing I tell all the young people around me is to remain approachable," Ferruccio Lamborghini said in one of the last interviewed he ever gave. If Enzo Ferrari would have been approachable and listened to Lamborghini, we may never have seen the Automobili Lamborghini started and the improvements to the high-performance sports cars we see today.

Lesson #4: Set Yourself Apart From the Competition
Ferruccio Lamborghini spent a lifetime making sure that his tractors, automobile and other products he manufactured were different from his competition. "Look at what others are not doing with their products and perfecting it," he would often say. He believed that his companies had to set a higher standard than the others, especially when it came to high-performance sports cars.

Lesson #5: Hire the Best

"Well, in the early Sixties there was quite a number of designers and stylists to choose from. But Scaglione arrived at my place in a big shiny Mercedes, immaculately dressed and accompanied by a breathtakingly beautiful secretary. ‘Your car will be ready in a week,’ he told me. So I gave him the job. In the end my car was bodied in a ramshackle hut that hardly measured three or four meters long," Ferruccio Lamborghini would say about how he chose his first automobile engineer. This started a relationship that lasted many years, but Lamborghini was still the main engineer.

Lamborghini Finishes His Work
Ferruccio Lamborghini would say, “I never planned on getting into the automobile industry, but I knew a better car could be built,” during an interview toward the end of his life. He had accomplished everything he wanted and built a legendary sports car that continues to be one of the top luxury cars today. However, he did find out that business is not always fair.

Ferruccio Lamborghini Quotes
Ferruccio Lamborghini Quotes

How to Motivate Your Clients or Colleagues or Staff or Boss
If no-body had the skills to influence, very little would be achieved. If you have goals that depend on the co-operation of others, read on to discover how to gain that more easily than you may have dreamed possible.

Selfmotivation a Hidden Benefit Within the Strategic Planning Process For Any Business
Are you tired of less than spectacular sales results, employees who you believe do not come to work thinking how they are going to muck up the works but their performance is less than stellar and working smarter not harder. Maybe the answer to all of these issues is far closer than you think.

Creating a Better Place to Work

In our evolving global economy, we tend to look to capital and technology for competitive advantage. Effective organizations are also critical to global success. The realization has led us to various approaches for redesigning our operations. However, in the processes of "restructuring" and "downsizing" - tactics that provide our companies with leaner structures and flatterer hierarchies - we often tend to overlook the fact that our people are the most important source of competitive advantage.

Establishing A High Motivation Human Resources Program
This article provides the nuts and bolts of establishing a high motivation human resources program which can enable a firm to attract the best employees available and create a positive work environment in which employee morale and productivity can be maximized.

Help Im My Own Worst Enemy
Do you know what's standing between you and success? Do you know what the greatest threat to your ultimate happiness is? Are you sitting down for this? It could be you!! Terri provides ten of the most common beliefs self-saboteurs hold!

Top 5 Motivation Killers
Do you have peaks and troughs in your levels of motivation? What do you think the top 5 motivation killers are? What would change in your business if your motivation levels were at 100% all of the time?

Motivation, motivation, motivation
I have long argued that the big, secret advantage that authentic businesses have over regular businesses is motivation. Not just the internal motivation of staff, but the motivation of customers and other stakeholders to support the business.

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