 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Let’s not waste any time. The simple solution that we’re all looking for: It doesn’t exist. Want your business to thrive like Amazon’s? Want to emulate Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg? Follow the road map of Nike or Warby Parker to build the next brand that matters? Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. What succeeded for them may not work for you. Too bad. Get over it. One-size-fits-all strategies just aren’t effective in today’s age of flux (and maybe they never were). That’s one of the insightful messages in senior writer Austin Carr’s feature The Future of Retail in the Age of Amazon. It’s become common practice to refer to billion-dollar startups as “unicorns,” but there is no more one-of-a-kind business than Amazon: hard-driving, customer-focused, yet broadly directed, from books and groceries to entertainment, consumer electronics, and web services. Carr explains that competing with Amazon today–trying to beat it at its own game–is largely a fool’s errand. Instead, what increasingly defines retail success, and points the way toward the businesses of tomorrow, is a bespoke model, one that is crafted to deliver on a focused need, proposition, or brand essence.
Via The Learning Factor
Let’s face it: Negative feedback on your job performance can be a drag. Who likes to be told that their work could use improvement? Research published in the Harvard Business Review provides some interesting insight into receiving and giving such feedback. While managers by and large avoided giving negative feedback or praise, employees craved it. And they weren’t looking for platitudes, either—57% wanted corrective feedback versus 43% who wanted praise. Seventy-two percent said that corrective feedback could improve their job performance. Still, it’s one thing to think about that in theory—and another to hear from your manager, “We need to talk about your performance . . .” If you do find yourself on the receiving end of negative feedback or criticism, here’s how to cope.
Via The Learning Factor
You call a meeting--everyone groans and trudges to the conference room, already absorbed in their smart phones. Wouldn't a creative and engaging meeting be a nice change? Will that happen? Probably not--poor communication runs rampant in meetings. But a talented communicator can fix all of the pitfalls of the typical meeting. A Harvard Business Review study "found patterns of communication to be the most important predictor of a team's success." And what better way to communicate than using the tools of the best communicators around: TED speakers? Bring the energy and effectiveness of TED into your company's discussions. Leave the useless and dreaded meeting structure behind. Captivate your employees and have them invested in what you're discussing.
Via The Learning Factor
The landing page for Purple Squirrel makes a huge promise: “Land a $100K job with no connections.” The next line spells out how: “Purchase time with real employees at the best companies in the world to get your foot in the door and learn the tips you need to get hired quickly.” In this case, pay to play makes sense if you want to break into the likes of Facebook, Tesla, Deloitte, or another of the more than 500 companies that have employee advocates on Purple Squirrel’s platform, according to its cofounder and CEO, Jon Silber. An advocate is a current employee, but doesn’t formally represent the employer. Rather, they act as a paid mentor for 30-minute phone consultations.
Via The Learning Factor
How a person defines success is a subjective thing, but likely involves some combination of financial independence, loving relationships, a solid education, and a rewarding career. Over the years, I have been fortunate to interview hundreds of founders and executives who fit this bill. Collectively, they tend to exhibit a handful of habits that set them apart from average achievers.
Via The Learning Factor
A CEO client is over-extended, has too many priorities to juggle, and is simultaneously hyper-stressed and hyper-exhausted. Actually this describes many of my clients. Does this sound like you too? Friends, this is no way to go through life. As someone who has dodged two cancer bullets while building two businesses and raising two sons, I have a very healthy respect for mortality, along with the insight that tomorrow is not promised to anyone. During our call this week, my client shared her anxiety about getting everything accomplished, and that she has made no time to exercise or decompress in several days. She is on a non-stop treadmill.
Via The Learning Factor
1. They focus on minutes, not hours. Average performers default to hours and half-hour blocks on their calendar. Highly successful people know there are 1,440 minutes in every day and there is nothing more valuable than time. Money can be lost and made again, but time spent can never be reclaimed. As legendary Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller told him, "To this day, I keep a schedule that is almost minute by minute." You must master your minutes to master your life. 2. They focus only on one thing. Ultra productive people know their Most Important Task (MIT) and work on it for one to two hours each morning, without interruptions. Tom Ziglar, CEO of Ziglar Inc., said, "Invest the first part of your day working on your number one priority that will help build your business." What task will have the biggest impact on reaching your goal? What accomplishment will get you promoted at work?
Via The Learning Factor
Ever wonder what sets highly successful people apart? I've polled countless executives about the things they're doing every day which give them an edge, and certain themes have surfaced over time. These high achievers often get up early, proactively manage their health and practice mindfulness, as opposed to flitting from one electronic task to another while neglecting important human relationships. Check out these quotes from 28 high-achieving individuals who talk the daily habits which help them get ahead in business and life. 1. Walk. "This one is simple. Motion creates emotion. The idea of the desk needs to die. Walk for calls, walk for meetings, walk for thinking. You're better when you're walking." --Chris Hale, founder and CEO at Kountable, a San Francisco-based platform connecting investors and entrepreneurs.
Via The Learning Factor
|
While clear-cut introverts and extroverts may be few and far between–with most people falling somewhere on the “ambiversion” spectrum–there is such a thing as an “entrepreneurial personality,” broadly speaking. That doesn’t mean all successful entrepreneurs are the same, of course. But for all the personality traits they don’t have in common, there are a few core characteristics successful founders share–and some of those traits are more obvious than others. After all, whenever you read about or personally encounter a successful entrepreneur, you’re observing only the surface of where they are in the present moment. These are some of the more decisive internal qualities that drive founders’ success, no matter which qualities they outwardly project.
Via The Learning Factor
While it can be difficult to become a great leader and to achieve great things, practicing great leadership is actually quite easy. There is a tendency to overcomplicate or overthink what leadership is, but actually, leadership can be very simple. I have worked with teams all over the world, from dozens of cultures, and from different generations, Baby Boomers to Millennials, and I have found that if you provide these four simple things your team will appreciate you, follow you, and achieve great results.
Via The Learning Factor
Can you imagine working for someone in a high-level leadership role, perhaps a CEO, and suddenly it dawns on you: This person isn't leadership caliber. Your next thought may be, How in the world did he (or she) make it this far up the ladder? It's a fair question. People are promoted into leadership roles every day who have no business belonging there. Sometimes it's political; other times it's the easier choice--promote from within and avoid the high cost of recruitment--but a bad choice, nonetheless. The biggest challenge leaders face is performing to the set standards of the best in the business. This means raising the bar really high--as the ten hugely successful CEOs I wrote about recently have done. In the end, you'll find the leadership journey is predicated on two things that drive success: Results and relationships. You can't have results at the expense of people. And serving your tribe well without getting results is merely putting lipstick on a pig.
Via The Learning Factor
Are you one of the never satisfied strivers? The type of person who, despite having some obvious successes in life--a solid career, a modicum of financial security, the respect of your peers--just never feels like you've quite made it? Are you always a little worried you could be accomplishing more? If so, you probably feel kind of crummy sometimes compared to your more easily contented competitors, but according to new research out of Stanford, all your ambition has a serious upside (hat tip to Science of Us for the pointer). Perpetually feeling like you're a bit unsuccessful, it turns out, is a pretty good sign you're going to go on to achieve even greater things.
Via The Learning Factor
Perhaps you spend the last 10 minutes of your workday staring at the clock, counting down the seconds until you’re free. Or, maybe you bury yourself in your work until the very last minute — then you grab your stuff and go without saying goodbye to your colleagues. If either of the above scenarios sounds familiar, it may be time to reassess your end-of-day routine. “How you finish the workday is very important,” says Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of “The Humour Advantage.” “It can set your mood for the rest of your day; it may impact your personal relationships, overall level of happiness, and how well you sleep that night; and it will set the stage for the next day.”
Via The Learning Factor
Successful people come from all walks of life, yet they all have one thing in common: where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to embrace and obstacles to overcome. Their confidence in the face of hardship is driven by their ability to let go of the negativity that holds so many otherwise sensible people back.Obstacles do not block the path; they are the path. This perspective helps successful people to think differently to everyone else, which is important, because if you think like everyone else, no matter how smart or experienced you are, you’ll hit the same ceiling. By thinking outside the box and going against the grain, successful people rise above their limitations. And it all starts with their morning routines. Here’s how ultra-successful people utilize the first hours of the day:
Via The Learning Factor
Does it ever seem like some people you know are advancing rapidly in their careers or businesses, while you seem to be just plodding along? Chances are you're not doing one simple thing that can make all the difference to achieving your goals. You're not putting yourself first. In the personal finance world, experts often advise people to "pay yourself first." The idea is that when a paycheck or other payment comes in the first thing you should so is put a portion of it into your savings and only then pay your bills and other financial obligations. Most of us, of course, instinctively do the opposite. We first pay our bills and then put money into savings if there's any left over. The problem, of course, is that there very rarely is any money left over. So our bills get paid, but we never manage to save much, making it impossible to reach our financial goals. This is why 401(k) programs are so powerful: They literally force you to pay yourself first by putting money into savings before you can pay anyone else.
Via The Learning Factor
|
It’s time to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty.