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.