Tips for increasing Momentum and building

Tips for increasing Momentum and building connections wherever you are on your journey.

First the basics:
Set your mind and energy toward your goals. Fight distraction. Surround yourself with kindred spirits. Stay positive. Stay focused. Communicate vision and update people on progress and talent contribution ( or lack). Never engage in battles you do not need to win. Then apply tips.

Here goes:

Listen to your inner voice and take note of the things that ignite your zest for life.
Focus: keep your eyes on the prize, however you define it.
Keep learning and challenging yourself.
Create your own tomorrows: don’t wait for someone to tap you on the shoulder. Ask for what you want.
Celebrate your successes.
Push through your fears.
View failures as a springboard to propel you even further.
Always look ahead, behind, up, down and sideways: you never know where the next opportunity will come from.
Reflect rather than react, strategize rather than “stew.”
Network, network, network – and then network some more: inside your organization, within your industry, across your community, etc.
Always hire people smarter than you.
Never apologize for your greatness.
Don’t take things personally and let go of the negative swirl.
Feel free to change your mind – often.
Have a Plan B, C and D: don’t let life catch you unprepared.

When pursuing a goal
Once you made the Decision to accomplish it, the facts don’t matter.

Drive customer, employee desires to achieve

Drive customer, employee desires to achieve yours.

Really, why should they care about your win? They care about their own win. That’s why you’re seeing the energy level in your company drop. Once the victory is yours and not theirs, why should anyone get excited about it any more?

The feeling of purpose and accomplishment is important. You could say it’s the central idea behind the mission to reinvent work for people. We want everyone who goes to work to feel the same pride and mojo boost you feel when you think about what you’ve built. We call that feeling “your flame.” We don’t want anyone to go to work without it!

What you are seeing in your growing company is the disconnection of working people from their power source over time. The further your employees are from the big win, the one that gets you out of bed with your heart racing every morning, the less you can expect them to care.

Really, why should they care about your win? They care about their own win. That’s why you’re seeing the energy level in your company drop. Once the victory is yours and not theirs, why should anyone get excited about it any more?

That’s not a failing on their part. They can’t care, because you haven’t given them anything to care about. What does your incremental $12M in sales this year do for them, after all?

Turnover in any department is an early warning sign. I don’t agree that certain problems are simply unavoidable consequences of growth. Your Customer Service turnover should come almost completely in the form of Customer Service folks getting promoted into Sales or somewhere else in your growing company.

If they’re leaving the company from the most-likely-to-be-promoted role you’ve got, or the position that should logically be the ‘seed crop’ for the rest of the organization, then God or the universe has a message for you: your culture is broken.

You are very connected to your own power source — the manifestation of your business savvy and leadership in the daily and monthly progress of your company and your vision. What would happen to your company if everyone felt as connected to the win as you do?

On the left of motivation is the Fear side of the dial. That’s where people are told “Here are your goals!” They do the work because someone makes them do it. You don’t do your job every day for the paycheck alone, do you? Of course not.

We can’t expect your employees to get excited over the paycheck, either, or even the modest bonus plan. We can’t expect them to perk up because their manager gives them a goal to hit. That’s fear-based management, and it’s never motivated anybody to do anything other than grudgingly comply with a supervisor’s command. You’ll never hit $50M, much less $1B in sales that way!

People get excited when they get to bring themselves to work all the way, when their viewpoint and creative energy is part of the company’s success plan and baked into it.

You are at risk of making the same mistake the CEO of PayPal made when he blasted his employees in a group email (can you imagine being so rash, in these instant-info-sharing days?) for not using his company’s app and even — God forbid! — forgetting their own passwords. He’s blaming his employees for his own failings as a leader, and you are doing the same thing. Leaders get people excited. That’s what the job of a leader is.

A team of people who don’t use the PayPal app are people who are not connected to the win. If the leaders at PayPal treated their employees the way they treat their customers, they wouldn’t berate them for not using the product. They’d ask “What’s wrong with the product, such that you don’t want to use it?”

We could say the same thing about your employees. The bigger the company gets, the harder you have to work to keep the mojo level high. That means asking, asking, and asking again what people think.

What do they need to do their jobs? What are their own hopes for themselves in your company? What do they care about? What advice do they have for you?

Your employees can’t care and won’t care about your $50M goal or anything else you want them to care about until you bring them into the small circle around the flame and let them feel the warmth. That means including them in decision processes and making sure they have the information, tools and training to do their jobs. Most of all, it means letting them bring everything you hired them for – including their brains, pluck, creativity, warmth and wit – to the job.

I get nervous when I read that your teammates are upset about a sales comp plan, especially when you frame that concern as a normal offshoot of growth. Your salespeople are an essential part of your success. You need them excited and happy.

Discontent over the sales comp plan is not something you can live with over time. Do we believe that the brilliant and talented salespeople you hired are genetically programmed to complain about a sales comp plan at a certain point in the company’s trajectory? That’s an insulting idea. Maybe they are upset because the sales comp plan is poorly-designed or unfair.

Listen to them. Listen to all of your employees, not just the sales team. Two hundred and fourteen employees is a very small team, and I’m happy for you that you still have many easy opportunities to listen to what the team is trying to tell you.

This story includes a list of ways to take the pulse in your organization. These are not nice-to-have elements in your culture. They are must-haves, if you care about people pulling their oars in the same direction.

People don’t need to motivated by external means. That’s what the Motivation-o-Meter has to tell us. They are naturally motivated when the people around them, leaders in particular, take time to remove the barriers that keep human energy — what we call mojo – moving in an organization.

Start with the items on the poster “What’s Blocking the Energy?” below, and see whether the mojo level in your company doesn’t start to climb instantly. If people don’t understand the mission, if there are conflicts festering but unaddressed, if people are unsure of their roles (a VERY common issue in growing organizations), if the trust level is low, if people are afraid to tell you the truth, if processes that worked during your $10M stage are gumming up the workflow now or if people are burned out on “Bigger! Better! Faster!” routine after eight years, don’t be surprised when the Team Mojo plummets.

You can fix all these problems Stewart, but it’s going to take some focus and some looking in the mirror on your part.

You know how to tell people what to do, but do you know how to ask them what to do? That is the next step in your leadership evolution. I know you will come through this next stage brilliantly when you soften your own energy first and begin to ask the people around you, “What can I do differently? What do I need to hear that I’m not hearing now?”

You can see that these questions rely on a high trust level, so that is where you will start. Don’t walk around clocking people on the speed of their motions, but thank them for being part of your success and ask them how they’re doing. Thank, then ask, over and over. Change up your leadership team meeting agenda.

Get off the plan and the yardsticks to ask “How are you guys holding up?” This is a not a checklist item. It’s the whole enchilada, and when you experience what happens when you get off the grid and focus on the people, your world (and your revenues) will explode.

Clarity, Assignment Execution

Clarity, Assignment Execution

When you ask another person to do something, it may help both him and you if you tell him what to do, why he should do it, when he should do it, where he should do it, and how he may best do it.

We are all influenced by our background and experience. We perceive instructions in the context of our education, experience, heritage, the culture of our organization, and a number of other variables. Good managers know this, and they make sure that their instructions are clear, concise, and well understood.

They also know that they must walk a fine line between conveying adequate instructions and killing workers’ incentive by not allowing them sufficient latitude to do their jobs. You may strike the right balance between instruction and motivation by encouraging employees to participate in setting objectives for themselves and their teams, by helping them develop plans for achieving their goals, and by making sure that each individual clearly understands the team’s mission and his or her role in achieving it.

Suggest that team members check in occasionally to report their progress, then get out of their way and cheer them on to victory.

Self Reflection, Redirection, Refocus

You must determine where you are before you can develop a plan to get you where you would like to be. If you were an independent, dispassionate observer, what advice would you give to yourself to improve your skills, your work habits, your interaction with others, and your contribution to the organization? Honesty about yourself is the first step toward self-improvement.

Successful people are busy people. They despise idleness and constantly search for new challenges and better ways to do things.

Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Bruce Lee is also attributed for a similar quote.

5 Action Steps out of a stall

Success Principles of Napolean Hill

Get on the path to win.

Get on the path to win.
Learn it. Apply it. Fundamentals always get you there when consistent and applied.

In any business, profession, or occupation, there comes a time when you have to deliver. You may fake it for a time, pretending that you’re giving an honest effort, but eventually you will be measured by your deeds, not by your words. If you are more of a talker than a doer, make a vow today — right now — to change your behavior. You may be able to drift through life if you never do more than you are required to do, but you will never know what you might have achieved if you had only been willing to give a little more. The greatest opportunities always go to those who have an affinity for hard work, not an allergy to it.

Professional networking events can be like going

Professional networking events can be like going to a party at a stranger’s house. You scan the crowd, searching for friendly faces, hoping you know at least one other person. When you realize you have to work the event solo, you suddenly feel shy and jittery — especially if working the room doesn’t come naturally to you.

Take a deep breath and dry those sweaty palms. First, remember that other professionals at the event are feeling exactly the way you are. Then, develop an action plan. Focusing on specific goals will help you to check your nervousness at the door.

Here are some strategies to help you navigate your next professional networking event successfully:

Plan Ahead
Before the event, make a list of targets — the people you know you want to meet. Most conferences and other meet-and-greet events use the Web or social media to publish a list of attendees, which can be helpful in your preparation. Many events also use hashtags on Twitter so attendees can connect before and during the event.

Organize some brief notes on what you know about a target contact that could be relevant to your discussion with that person. For example, perhaps you read a person’s blog or viewed his or her webinar. This type of information gives you an advantage not only because you can break the ice with a new contact more easily but also because the person will realize you sincerely want to meet.

Turn your list of targets into an “event card” — a simple list in a notebook or on your smartphone — that you can use to make notes about the people you meet and what you discuss. Don’t take notes during a conversation, though. The other person may feel uncomfortable if he or she feels like you’re conducting an interview.

Help Contacts Connect With You

You need to show your targets why they should know you. This means you should rehearse your introductions and tailor them for each key person. For instance:

Example 1: “Hi, I’m Ann. I’m an accountant with XYZ firm. Our firm does some work for your company. I’ve seen you copied on some of our correspondence, and I wanted to introduce myself since we’ve never actually met in person.
Example 2: “Hi, I’m Ann. I’m an accountant at XYZ firm. I believe you know my manager, Sue Smith. I noticed you two are connected on LinkedIn. How do you know Sue?”
Example 3: “Hi, I’m Ann. I’m an accountant at XYZ firm. I saw you speak at last year’s annual conference. I really enjoyed your presentation. Will you be speaking at the next event?”
Remember that there’s a fine line between coming across as “all business” and being seen as a real, approachable human being. While it’s important to be prepared when you meet someone new who could be important to you professionally, don’t over-rehearse. You want conversations to flow naturally following your introduction. Just smile, be casual and talk to that person as you would if you were building a relationship with a new friend.

Don’t Wait Too Long to Follow Up
A day or two after the networking event, review your event card and the business cards you collected, and begin your follow-up. A brief email to say hello and remind a new contact about the conversation you had or a request to connect via LinkedIn should suffice. Don’t call a contact unless you were encouraged to do so, or you both hit it off so well you know a phone call would be welcome.

If you don’t hear back from a contact after two attempts, more than likely that person is not interested in keeping in touch. Don’t take it personally. Not every connection you make is going to lead to a meaningful business connection.

Focus your energy instead on those relationships you sense are going to be the most fruitful. If you approached the event strategically, you’ll no doubt have more than enough interesting new contacts to add to your professional network.

Rules for Accurate Thinking

Rules for Accurate Thinking
by Napoleon Hill

Now I will give you seven rules to follow which, if you memorize them and follow them as a daily habit, may bring you top-rating as an ACCURATE THINKER.

1. Never accept the opinions of other people as being facts until you have learned the source of those opinions and satisfied yourself of their accuracy.
2. Remember that FREE ADVICE, no matter from whom it is received, will bear the closest of examination before it is acted upon as safe, and generally speaking this sort of advice is worth exactly what it costs.
3. Alert yourself immediately when you hear anyone speaking of others in a discourteous or slanderous spirit because this very fact should put you on notice that what you are hearing is BIASED to say the least about it, and it may be out and out misstatements.
4. In asking others for information DO NOT DISCLOSE TO THEM WHAT YOU WISH THE INFORMATION TO BE, because most people have the bad habit of trying to please under such circumstances. Well measured, tactful questions can be of great benefit to you in THINKING ACCURATELY.
5. Remember that ANYTHING WHICH EXISTS ANYWHERE THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE IS CAPABLE OF PROOF, and where no such proof is available it is safer to assume that NOTHING EXISTS!
6. One of the great inexplicable miracles consists in the fact that both truth and false-hood, no matter by what means they may be expressed, carry with them silent, invisible means of identifying themselves as such. Therefore, remember this truth and begin developing the necessary intuitive faculty to enable you to “sense” what is false and what is true.
7. Follow the habit of asking “HOW DO YOU KNOW?” when anyone makes a statement you cannot identify as true. Follow this habit faithfully and you will see many persons squirm and turn red in the face when you insist upon a direct reply.

The most ACCURATE THINKERS are the scientists. They investigate with open minds and never allow their WISHES TO BECOME THE FATHERS OF FACTS, but deal with each fact as it is – not as they would like it to be.

Now, one final word of warning I feel I should leave with you: STUDY YOURSELF CAREFULLY AND YOU MAY DISCOVER THAT YOUR OWN EMOTIONS ARE YOUR GREATEST HANDICAP IN THE BUSINESS OF ACCURATE THINKING. It is easy to believe that which you wish to believe, and unfortunately that is precisely what most people do!

Email search tips

Email search tips
0:43 Tip #1- Never send an email from a shared account with a spouse or child:
1:20 Tip #2 – Using Un-professional signatures turn hiring managers off:
1:55 Tip #3 – Don’t use your work account to apply for other jobs:
2:30 Tip #4 – Certain fonts convey professionalism, others do not:
3:18 Tip #5 – Email stationery is a big No! No!:
4:01 Tip #6 – Your email needs to be professional but not formatted like a business letter:
4:21 Tip #7 – Avoid anti-spam hoops when emailing hiring managers:
5:07 Tip #8 – Do Not Send your resume and cover letter to multiple employers in the same email:
Tip #9 – Using unprofessional email address are a kiss of death:
5:41 Tip #10 – Check your spam folder every day when doing a job search: