What really sets high achievers apart is not that they do a lot, but that they don’t do a lot. The most successful people filter out thousands of opportunities every day, and focus on a very few important tasks.

Some keep a physical list of things not to do; but for most, the filtering process has become automatic. Here are the six things every high achiever has on his or her to-not-do list, whether the list is written down or ingrained in habit:

DON’T DO #1: Spend time thinking about anything beyond your control.
If you can’t do anything about it, drop it. Don’t spend time agonizing over mistakes made in the past, or missed opportunities. Likewise, don’t spend time worrying about events in the future that you can’t do anything to influence.

DON’T DO #2: Waste a second trying to change somebody else.
Ignore any illusions you may have that you can change another person. The best a trained psychoanalyst can do is help the other person change – and even then, the process takes years. Besides, people sense you’re trying to change them, and resent it.

DON’T DO #3: Do anything you can delegate to somebody else.
If the task can be handed off to somebody more skilled than you, and you can count on that person to do it, let the other person do it. Keep for yourself the most critical activities, and those you don’t think somebody else can do.

DON’T DO #4: Focus on fixing one-time occurrences.
Don’t knock yourself out trying to fix problems resulting from isolated events. Focus instead on building lasting processes. If you get the processes right, the events that make up each process will fall into place.

DON’T DO #5: Spend time with people you don’t trust or people you can’t count on.
Trust is the basis of all good relationships. If you ask somebody for help with something, but can’t be sure if they’ll follow through, you’re probably wasting your time.

DON’T DO #6: Put effort into anything that will clearly have little or no impact.
Be prepared to drop activities that no longer promise significant results. Spend your time only on projects of consequence.

These are great reminders, aren’t they?  Let me know if they help you to be more efficient and organized, to accomplish more.  If nothing else, they should give you peace of mind.

I know I quote a lot of other experts in my blog, but this time I want to share my expertise.  Here are three tips to help you ramp up your business.

1.  What do you do best?  Are you doing it now?  If so, is your business growing?  If not, what took you off track?  In my case, it was the expansion into additional product offerings (all the promotional advertising options – big learning curve to determine which ones work, which are a waste of time and money, and how to get the best bang for the buck using them).  Adding products to our company has been good in that we can better serve the needs of our clients, but it definitely took some time to become as good at them as we are at apparel.

2.  Are you taking the best care you can of your existing clients?  Don’t let yourself take them for granted.  Loyalty is only as good as the service you CONTINUE to provide.  Once the “honeymoon” phase is over with your clients, make sure you maintain a high standard of excellent service for them at every point of contact…  forever!

3.  Do you have a plan for firing bad accounts and replacing them with better ones?  Not every client is a good fit for your business.  That was a hard lesson for me to learn when I first started in business.  I wanted everyone to be my client.  Not only is that not possible, it’s not smart.  Some clients are more time and trouble than they are worth.  Fire them (gently and kindly, of course, with high prices or lack of availability) and then go out and find the type of clients you really like to work with.  (I can help you with more details.  Just message me.)

Hope these tips help you grow your business.  If I can help you, please feel free to contact me.  Helping others to succeed is what I most love to do.

When living or working in close proximity, human beings have a remarkable ability to drive each other crazy. It does not matter if it is a spouse, a sibling or an office mate. The phenomenon occurs daily for most of us. Today we continue with these tips to change that pattern.

1. Extend trust.
The reciprocal nature of trust says you can improve people’s trust in you by extending more trust to them. When we build a higher level of trust, the petty issues seem to melt away because we are focused on what is good about the other person rather than idiosyncrasies that drive us bonkers. The best way to increase trust is to reinforce (rather than punish) people who are candid with us about our own shortcomings.

2. Don’t complain about others behind their back.
Speak well of other people as much as possible. Never make a joke about someone at his or her expense. If someone is doing something that really bothers you, simply tell the person about it in a kind way.

3. Stop acting like a child.
The lengths people go to in order to strike back at others for annoying them often resembles a food fight in grade school. Escalating e-mail notes in a kind of grenade battle is a great example of this phenomenon. It is easy to avoid these squabbles by not taking the bait. When you go back and forth with another person more than three times, it is time to change the mode of communication. Pick up the phone or walk down the hall for a chat.

4. Care about the other person.
If we care enough to not fuss over little things, then we can tolerate inconveniences a lot better. If we experience prickly and negative reactions from others, we need to check our attitude toward them. While it is convenient to blame others, often we are the root cause of the negativity.

5. Have your own development plan.
Start out each day with a few minutes of meditation on how to present yourself better to others. Have a list of behaviors you are trying to improve. This mindset crowds out some of the rotten attitudes that can lead you to undermine other’s actions.

To expend energy bickering and griping about others really wastes your most precious resource– your time. It is much better to go through life laughing and loving than griping and hating. The good news is we have a choice when it comes to the attitudes we show other people. Make sure your choice enriches others as well as yourself.

Source:  Bob Whipple, MBA, CPLP, is a consultant, trainer, speaker and author in the areas of leadership and trust. He is the author of The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals; Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online; and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind. Whipple has many years of experience as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 company and with nonprofit organizations.

In business, as in life, it pays to identify trends, to look ahead and make changes before you too become a victim to a change, ones in 90% of cases you could have anticipated.

The simple truth is that successful business leaders – from Cornelius Vanderbilt to Steve Jobs – used a simple habit to make themselves outrageously successful. And it’s a habit you can adopt to grow your business, to multiply your profits too.

Vanderbilt started in steamships, first regional and then ocean going. When railroads came to this country, he sold his ships and put his money in trains and track. Then when railroads became overbuilt, he shifted his focus to oil – and made billions in the process.

One of Steve Jobs’ early successes was the lowly desktop Mac that looked like a buiky toaster oven. Apple’s desktops helped it grow. Then a shift to iPhones and iPads helped it take off and become one of the most successful companies ever.

Both Vanderbilt and Jobs used one simple habit to keep their companies on the forefront and growing. They asked themselves the following two questions.

They asked themselves, “What’s next? What do customers want and need and how can I give it to them?” 

It doesn’t matter what business you’re in – it’s changing. And you can either be a leader or be left in the dust.

To make sure you’re the former, one of the most successful businesses in your niche, use this simple habit.

Go to your calendar program, and put in an automatic reminder to spend 3-4 hours each month researching what’s changing in your field, what the trends are, and what your customers want.

Then make a plan to make any minor or major moves, and take action to become the leader you want to be.

By Charlie Cook’s Marketing for Success.  For more on Charlie, check out his website here: http://www.marketingforsuccess.com

Don’t let a bad morning ruin your entire day. Use these mental tricks to change your momentum.

Had a lousy morning? Things looking grim?

Not to worry. The rest of your day need not be a disaster. It can in fact become one of your best, providing you take these simple steps:

1. Remember that the past does not equal the future.

There is no such thing as a “run of bad luck.” The reason people believe such nonsense is that the human brain creates patterns out of random events and remembers the events that fit the pattern.

2. Refuse to make self-fulfilling prophesies. 

If you believe the rest of your day will be as challenging as what’s already happened, then rest assured: You’ll end up doing something (or saying) something that will make sure that your prediction comes true.

3. Get a sense of proportion.

Think about the big picture: Unless something life-changing has happened (like the death of a loved one), chances are that in two weeks, you’ll have forgotten completely about whatever it was that has your shorts in a twist today.

4. Change your threshold for “good” and “bad.”

Decide that a good day is any day that you’re above ground. Similarly, decide that a bad day is when somebody steals your car and drives it into the ocean. Those types of definitions make it easy to be happy–and difficult to be sad.

5. Improve your body chemistry.

Your body and brain are in a feedback loop: A bad mood makes you tired, which makes your mood worse, and so forth. Interrupt the pattern by getting up and moving around.  Take a walk or eat something healthy.

6. Focus on what’s going well.

The primary reason you’re convinced it’s a bad day is that you’re focusing on whatever went wrong. However, for everything going badly, there are probably dozens of things going well.  Make list, and post it where it’s visible.

7. Expect something wondrous.

Just as an attitude of doom and gloom makes you see more problems, facing the future with a sense of wonder makes you alive to all sorts of wonderful things that are going on, right now, everywhere around you.

Like this post? If so , sign up for the free Sales Source newsletter.

Geoffrey James writes the “Sales Source” column on Inc.com, the world’s most-visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World’s Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source

No one likes failing. Use these four steps to make sure you’re always a winner.

Today I’m going to explain something so simple, and yet so useful, that it’s amazing that so many people don’t get it.

It’s a four-step process that literally makes failure an impossibility.  Pay particular attention to the final step, because it’s the proverbial “doozy.”

Here we go:

1. Set an achievable yet inspirational goal.

If you don’t believe a goal is achievable, you won’t take action to achieve it.  Therefore, any goal that you set must be within the realm of possibility and tied to actions that you can actually take.

A goal must also be inspirational enough to motivate you to take action. For example, “I will lose 10 pounds” is achievable but not particularly inspirational and thus not very motivating. “I will look and feel healthy, fit and sexy” is both achievable and motivating.

2. Decide that you must achieve the goal. 

Never start out by saying, “I’ll try.”

You might as well not bother–because you’re going to fail anyway. The reason people say “I’ll try” (rather than “I must”) is that they’re giving themselves permission to fail, which means that they really aren’t committed.

It’s only through being 100% committed to achieving a goal that you’ll find the mental and emotional resources to follow the next three steps.

3. Treat setbacks as signals.

A setback is something that blocks you from achieving a goal. Most people treat setbacks as “mini-failures,” and often use them as an excuse to give up … and therefore fail.

The correct way to view a setback is as a signal that you may need to change your approach to achieve the goal. If an action consistently results in a setback, you must therefore take a different action, repeating the change as necessary.

4. Define ‘failure’ as ‘failing to take action.’

Chances are, if you follow the first three steps, you’ll achieve your goal–if not immediately, then eventually.

However, the simple truth is that you don’t have control over anything except your own behavior.  Redefining failure as “failing to take action” puts failure (and therefore success) within your personal control.  When the only failure is inactivity, you automatically take the actions required to achieve the goal.

Is it really that simple? Very much so.  Follow these four steps and, as long as you remain alive and kicking, you’ll keep taking action–and thereby make failure impossible.

Like this post? If so , sign up for the free Sales Source newsletter.

Geoffrey James writes the “Sales Source” column on Inc.com, the world’s most-visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World’s Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source

Whether you’re a CEO or simply a person who can drive change in your organization, you know that leading change is hard. Since 2009, the U.S. has seen unprecedented releases of CEOs who were held accountable for failures with change inside their organizations–either by omission or commission. Why does change cause so many failures?

Today begins a short series on driving change, starting with five easy failures.

Easy Failure No. 1–Bad Decisions. The CEO who allows the organization to make flawed strategic decisions destines failure from the get-go. Too easily, CEOs get sidetracked by complacency, pet projects, executive ego, managing for outside opinions or following an unanalyzed industry trend.

Easy Failure No. 2–Poor Leadership. If half of organizational changes fail because of bad decisions on what to change, then the other half of failures are caused by how the changes were executed. A bad change process or bad timing will ruin even good decisions.

Easy Failure No. 3–Unclear Results. When the CEO hasn’t made clear where the organization needs to go, any path managers and employees choose will get them there.

Easy Failure No. 4–Unengaged Workforce. Micro-management is the fastest way to kill employee engagement. When a CEO or top executive over-directs the organizational change, participation of other levels of employees is quickly squashed.

Easy Failure No. 5–Invisible CEO. Under-involvement of the CEO and top leaders is equally as damaging as over-involvement. Low CEO support throughout the change effort is taken as a sure sign that the change is not important and no one is watching.

Ready for a change? Follow along future posts to learn how to avoid these failures and ensure that your organization gets the desired results from your change efforts.

Source: Charlyne Meinhard is a speaker, trainer and chief results officer of Next Level Consulting, a consulting firm specializing in change leadership, talent development and innovation. With more than 20 years of experience, she inspires and teaches managers to lead successful changes in organizations such as Verizon and SunTrust. She is also the author of Change Agents to the Rescue! and Ahead of Change.

1. Does SEO really work?  To some degree, absolutely. It is true that search engines look at a variety of aspects of the content of your site and use the findings to order the results when a visitor is searching. Most modern search engines use a variety of factors to determine rankings, and content is only one piece (and a relatively small one at that). Popularity of the site is the main way that Google and others determine rankings these days. It’s just a good starting point.

2. Can I change the content of my site to become #1 in the search engines?  No. It used to be a lot easier to manipulate the search engines through your own content. Then the search engines smartened up and they developed ranking methods that the site owner is not in direct control of — such as the popularity of the site. Content is only one small piece of determining search engine placement.

3. Can I pay the search engine to be ranked higher?  No. Search engines will take your money for sponsored links, keyword ads, and the like. But none of the popular search engines determine placement of your site in the results list based on whether you advertise or how much you advertise.

4. Can I trick the search engines into thinking my site is something that it isn’t?  No. There was a time when you could use tricks to achieve “better” rankings. That was back in the 1990s. These days, the algorithms that the search engines use are extremely sophisticated. Not only will they detect sites that are “playing games” to try to get better rankings, but many of them will actually lower your ranking to penalize you if you try to do it. Therefore, be wary of SEO companies that purport to know “secrets” to getting better placement or that openly use schemes to try to achieve better results. There is really nothing “secret” about SEO these days. The information on how to properly setup your site for optimum (at least as much as you can) SEO is widely available and widely known.

5. Do I have to pay a company to get good results with SEO? No. While many people choose to engage reputable SEO companies to assist with setting up their site for good exposure on the search engines, it’s also possible for you to read up on how to set up your site properly and do it yourself.

So, what should I do to improve my ranking?

• First, adjust your keyword and description meta tags. This is a good first step in achieving a good ranking. Do not play games — make sure your keywords are good and that they actually describe your site.
• Second, try to get other sites to link to your site. Many of the search engines use popularity as a key driver in search engine rankings. The more OTHER sites that link to your site, the better your positioning will be.
• Third, be unique. The more common your description and keywords are, the more other sites there will be with the same information. It’s clearly not possible for everyone to be “at the top” of the search engines. So, instead of trying to be at the top of a long list, you can also help your visibility by making the entire list shorter.
• Fourth, advertise and market your site through other means. Even though SEO is a big topic these days, the reality is that in our industry most people do not buy from random websites. Your website product research interface is a very important parts of your business — but in general you’re probably going to have more success driving business to your website through traditional marketing mechanisms (emails, newsletters, local Chamber of Commerce, referrals, etc.) than you are through the website search engines.

Thank you so much to SAGE for this amazingly helpful information.  For all of us trying to get our websites found, it’s great to see an honest review of the facts.  Hope this helps you as much as it did me.  Let me know.  I’d love to read your comments.

“If you’re really passionate about what you do, but it’s not going to make you a lot of money, should you still do it?”

What a great question! It seems like just about everyone who has ever addressed a graduating class of high school or college seniors has said “Do what you love, the money will follow.”

Inspiring. But it is true? Couldn’t you do what you truly care about and very well go broke, as the question above (recently sent from one of our readers) implies?

Based on the research we did for our book, we’re convinced that when you’re heading into the unknown, desire is all-important. You simply want to be doing something that you love, or something that is logically going to lead to something you love, in order to do your best work. That desire will make you more creative and more resourceful, and will help you get further faster.

And, it will help you persist. When you’re trying something that’s never been attempted before — beginning an unusual project at work, or trying to get a new business off the ground — you’re going to face a lot of obstacles. You don’t want to be giving up the first time you encounter one.

But, let’s be real. None of this guarantees wealth, or even financial success.

A friend of ours was hanging out at a bar with a few fellow professional musicians after a recording session, talking admiringly about another musician they all know. One of them commented on how fortunate it was for this musician that his music was commercial. In those four words, you will find an enormous truth. We all have our music and there is no guarantee that anyone will buy it. Absolutely none. These are two entirely separate things.

So this reader question attacks us straight on and says, in essence, “I have the desire, but I am pretty certain it’s not going to lead anywhere that’s monetarily profitable. Now what? Should I still go ahead?”

Of course you should.

Now let’s qualify the answer a bit:

If you can’t afford to do the thing you’re passionate about — for example, if you do it, you won’t be able to feed your family, or it would keep you from graduating college (which is something you think is more important than whatever you’re passionate about) — then no, you’d better not bet your economic life on it. A basic principle concerning how you should deal with an unknown future is that every small smart step you take should leave you alive to take the next step. So, make sure you attend to your lower order Maslow needs of food and shelter and the like.

But even this doesn’t mean you can’t work on your passion a little — even if it’s just for 15 minutes a day.

And you should!

Why?

Research (such as The Power of Small Wins that ran in Harvard Business Review May, 2011) shows that people who make progress every day toward something they care about report being satisfied and fulfilled.

We’re in favor of people being happy. And we’re also in favor of provoking people into pursuing happiness. The nice thing about this reader’s question is that it might get people who have — by any objective standard — more than enough money to reconsider whether they want to continue to do things that are not making them happy, just because it’ll make them more money. More often than not, these people say, “Once I get enough money, I’ll do what I really want to do. I won’t worry about the money.” But somehow, they never get to that point. Time is finite. The question might be enough to get you to reconsider how you’re spending it.

And of course, the assumption embedded in the question could be wrong. You might, indeed, end up making money if you engage in your passion, even though you currently think you won’t. Remember, the future is unknown. Who knows what people will buy, or what you might invent after your very next act. At any moment in time, you are only one thought away from an insight — an insight that can change everything.

As we said in our previous post, when you are facing the unknown, they only way to know anything for sure is to act. When you are dealing with uncertainty — and whether you are going to make any money from your passion at this point is definitely an uncertainty — you act. You don’t think about what might happen, or try to predict the outcome, or plan for every contingency. You take a small step toward making it a reality, and you see what happens.

Who knows? Even the smallest step can change everything.

So take those small steps. You might discover that your passion does, in fact, make you money. After all, who knew you could make huge amounts of money figuring out a way to connect all your friends (Facebook) or make a better map (pick your favorite GPS tool).

Even if you don’t, you want to spend part of your day doing at least one thing that’s making you happy. Otherwise, something is terribly wrong.

Leonard A. Schlesinger, Charles F. Kiefer, and Paul B. Brown

Leonard A. Schlesinger is the president of Babson College. Charles F. Kiefer is president of Innovation Associates. Paul B. Brown is a long-time contributor to the New York Times. They are the coauthors of Just Start: Take Action, Embrace Uncertainty, Create the Future (HBR Press 2012). Learn more at juststartthebook.com.

What do you think?  Are you doing what makes you happy?  Should you change gears or are you exactly where you should be?

I just read this blog post and figured if it hit home for me, most of you would appreciate it, too.

Why is it that between 25 and 50 per cent of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work?

It’s not just the number of hours we’re working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time.

What we’ve lost, above all, are stopping points, finish lines and boundaries. Technology has blurred them beyond recognition. Wherever we go, our work follows us, on our digital devices, ever insistent and intrusive. It’s like an itch we can’t resist scratching, even though scratching invariably makes it worse.

Tell the truth: Do you answer email during conference calls (and sometimes even during calls with one other person)? Do you bring your laptop to meetings and then pretend you’re taking notes while you surf the net? Do you eat lunch at your desk? Do you make calls while you’re driving, and even send the occasional text, even though you know you shouldn’t?

The biggest cost — assuming you don’t crash — is to your productivity. In part, that’s a simple consequence of splitting your attention, so that you’re partially engaged in multiple activities but rarely fully engaged in any one. In part, it’s because when you switch away from a primary task to do something else, you’re increasing the time it takes to finish that task by an average of 25 per cent.

But most insidiously, it’s because if you’re always doing something, you’re relentlessly burning down your available reservoir of energy over the course of every day, so you have less available with every passing hour.

I know this from my own experience. I get two to three times as much writing accomplished when I focus without interruption for a designated period of time and then take a real break, away from my desk. The best way for an organization to fuel higher productivity and more innovative thinking is to strongly encourage finite periods of absorbed focus, as well as shorter periods of real renewal.

If you’re a manager, here are three policies worth promoting:

1. Maintain meeting discipline. Schedule meetings for 45 minutes, rather than an hour or longer, so participants can stay focused, take time afterward to reflect on what’s been discussed, and recover before the next obligation. Start all meetings at a precise time, end at a precise time, and insist that all digital devices be turned off throughout the meeting.

2. Stop demanding or expecting instant responsiveness at every moment of the day. It forces your people into reactive mode, fractures their attention, and makes it difficult for them to sustain attention on their priorities. Let them turn off their email at certain times. If it’s urgent, you can call them — but that won’t happen very often.

3. Encourage renewal. Create at least one time during the day when you encourage your people to stop working and take a break. Offer a midafternoon class in yoga, or meditation, organize a group walk or workout, or consider creating a renewal room where people can relax, or take a nap.

It’s also up to individuals to set their own boundaries. Consider these three behaviors for yourself:

1. Do the most important thing first in the morning, preferably without interruption, for 60 to 90 minutes, with a clear start and stop time. If possible, work in a private space during this period, or with sound-reducing earphones. Finally, resist every impulse to distraction, knowing that you have a designated stopping point. The more absorbed you can get, the more productive you’ll be. When you’re done, take at least a few minutes to renew.

2. Establish regular, scheduled times to think more long term, creatively, or strategically. If you don’t, you’ll constantly succumb to the tyranny of the urgent. Also, find a different environment in which to do this activity — preferably one that’s relaxed and conducive to open-ended thinking.

3. Take real and regular vacations. Real means that when you’re off, you’re truly disconnecting from work. Regular means several times a year if possible, even if some are only two or three days added to a weekend. The research strongly suggests that you’ll be far healthier if you take all of your vacation time, and more productive overall.

A single principle lies at the heart of all these suggestions. When you’re engaged at work, fully engage, for defined periods of time. When you’re renewing, truly renew. Make waves. Stop living your life in the gray zone.

Tony Schwartz

Tony Schwartz is the president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything. Become a fan of The Energy Project on Facebook and connect with Tony at Twitter.com/TonySchwartz and Twitter.com/Energy_Project.

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Tyranny of the Urgent

You’ve seen me post a lot about productivity and not multi-tasking.  This article makes my point even more clearly.  So far, personally, I’m not having much success at reducing my mutlti-tasking, but I really need to do it. My productivity depends on it. 

I had to pull one term out of this blog because it’s something I have struggled with for years:  tyranny of the urgent.  It is soooo easy to get drawn into things that seem urgent.  And when we do, we often end up neglecting what’s important, like family, long-term goals, goal-setting, good health, reaching out to do good to others.

What do you think?  Do you find this relevant for you in your business practices? 

On a recent trip to London, I heard the story of Jeremy Bentham and Edwin Chadwick and the Australian prisoners, which offers a lesson to all managers responsible for incentive systems.

For many decades in the 19th century, England sent its convicts to Australia. Edwin Chadwick was the first public health officer in Britain, and he was concerned about the low survival rate on the ships carrying prisoners. One day, while walking along the Thames, he ran into his mentor, economist Jeremy Bentham. As the two men watched the loading of a prison ship, Chadwick remarked that only 50% of the men would survive the trip to Australia.

Bentham asked about the contract that the government had with the privately-owned ships, and Chadwick explained that the ship owner received payment for every prisoner who boarded the ship. Bentham suggested a minor change: make the payment per prisoner who disembarks in Australia. On the first voyage under the new terms, the survival rate was not 50 percent, but 98 percent!*

The first question that a manager has to ask is what behavior he or she wants from the people being incented, be they employees or contractors. That is, do you want prisoners put on board in England, or prisoners unloaded in Australia? That sort of simple question is mangled badly time and time again. Many of the telecommunications equipment companies last year incented their personnel to show strong quarterly sales growth. At many companies, they got the growth – but with substantial discounts and extravagant credit terms. The result was sales without profitability. The opposite tack was taken by banks in major mergers a few years back. They wanted high profit margins, and incented their managers to maintain margins. The executives got what they want, for a little while. Margins held, but customers fled. In both cases, the problem was that incentives did not favor what the company really wanted: a stream of profits that continued over time.

Solutions to bad incentive systems are not always as simple as Bentham’s. They may require updated data systems, approximations, and tradeoffs between conflicting goals. But even if the perfect system is not easily obtained, improvements on bad systems come quite readily, and provide great value.

*Thanks to John Blundell of the Institute for Economic Affairs in London for the story.

  Bill Conerly advises companies on Business Strategy, Finance and Economics, and speaks frequently on these topics.  Learn more at http://www.conerlyconsulting.com

• NEVER allow failure to enter your vocabulary. Redefine everything as a “learning experience” and then focus on figuring out how to get different results.
• NEVER talk politics with a prospect or customer — unless you are 100% sure you’re totally aligned. And, even then it might not be smart because other members of the decision team may have different feelings.
• NEVER look at your email first thing in the morning. It’ll suck you in and you’ll lose a couple hours.
• NEVER ask questions about things that can easily be found on a company’s website. You’ll lose credibility and look like a fool.
• NEVER look at your cell phone during a meeting. In fact, you should turn it off so you won’t be tempted to check a text or see who’s calling.

Jill then invited her blog visitors to add to this list. After adding one myself,  I culled my favorites and some of the most important “NEVERS” to share with you.

• NEVER put your needs as a salesperson ahead of serving the best interest of your client / customer. (Lisa)
• NEVER sell something that you’re unable to deliver. (Steve)
• NEVER give a presentation or answer product questions unless you have determined that you have a viable prospect. QUALIFY! QUALIFY! QUALIFY! If you don’t qualify, you’re setting yourself up for “Let me think about it,” then they take your info and share it with their existing vendor, who, of course, “can do the same thing.” People will take the path of least resistance and don’t want to face the discomfort of leaving an existing relationship. (Sheldon)
• NEVER, never… use overplayed words and phrases such as: “trusted adviser,” “what keeps you up at night,” or the dreaded “just checking in.” Leave concrete messages, suggest as how a proposed solution will increase revenue. (Brian)
• NEVER Lie. Never, ever, ever, ever stretch the truth, fib, sugarcoat, lie and put yourself in the position that you would say anything to move the sales process forward. You will get found out and in this day and age of collaborative/social media the result is career/business suicide. As a salesperson once you have lost credibility in your market you have nothing. Be up front with people you are dealing with. I have found that whilst brutal honesty may not win you today’s battle, those that meet you will remember you for the future and you will win the war. (Anthony)
• NEVER ‘badmouth’ your competition. If you do, you either come across as jealous or vindictive, or both. When pointing out weaknesses in the competition, do so by subtly representing how you might do it a bit “differently” and let the customer draw his/her own conclusions.  (Bob)
• NEVER tell a customer they’re doing something the wrong way. (Paul)
• NEVER forget that the word ‘NO’ is not a stop sign but rather an acronym for Next Option/Next Opportunity/Next Offer. (Cale)
• NEVER trust a verbal agreement. In today’s economy, verbal agreements are worthless. (John)
• NEVER ever break a promise even if you think the situation has changed to warrant it. (Larry)
• NEVER Never be late for an appointment. Never. If it will snow, leave earlier. If there is traffic, leave earlier. If you have a busy day, leave time between appointments. Never be late. It is a sign of disrespect, not caring and not having your act together. (Jonathan)
• NEVER stick to the “script,” paying no attention to what the customer says. As I rookie salesman, I accompanied a senior colleague to a meeting. He just barged ahead with what he wanted to say, not taking any notice of the customer. Finally the customer banged his fist on the table, and yelled, “You are not listening to me” I got such a fright, and have never forgotten this lesson. (Moira)
• NEVER argue with a prospect. That will only make him defend his point of view instead of focusing on the issue at hand.  Always ask questions to get him where you want him to be. (Ricardo)
• NEVER ever fail with what you have promised to do within the specified deadline – be it a phone call, visit, offer, proposal or anything that matters to your prospect/customer even though it may seem unimportant to you. Prospects and customers will always look for signs to make them believe you are credible and interested in them well enough. This is one of the most professional ways to show you care about your prospects and customers. (Rusen)
• NEVER assume you know or understand your customer/client ‘s goals and objectives without asking. These goals and objectives will be different from different levels or groups within an organization. So just because one company person told you what they were trying to accomplish, does not mean you should assume the second contact has those same objectives. (Tony)
• NEVER tell a customer you were too busy to work with them because a bigger client came first. (Mike)

Do you have any “NEVER” comments or experiences to share?  Leave a comment below – let’s all work together to do better together.

At the same time, I have to pay attention to what is going to make this website stand up and get noticed among all the other websites out there.  The good news is, the information and training is out there to be found.  I have learned a LOT this week and hope it pays off soon.

Would you share your experiences?  What’s the good, the bad and the ugly in bringing a website to life?

How do we solve problems?  Read on for Brian Tracy’s astute observations…

Your ability to communicate is the most important skill you can develop to get on to the fast track in your career. Perhaps the most important thing you do in business is to solve problems and make decisions, both by yourself and with other people.

Use A Systematic Process
A major type of communication in the business organization is meetings for problem solving and decision making. The key to effective problem-solving and decision-making discussions is for you to all go through the process systematically.

Define the Problem Clearly
Right at the beginning, you ask the question, “What exactly is the problem?” Clarity of definition will resolve 50% of the issues before they go any further.

Focus on the Future
When discussing a problem, be sure to focus on the future over the past. Ask the question, “Where do we go from here?” “What do we do from here?” “What are our options for the future?” Too many problem-solving discussions end up focusing all of the attention of all the people present on what happened in the past and who is to blame. The effective executive uses this type of communication to focus on where the company and the individuals are going, and what can happen in the future – the only part of the equation over which anyone has any control.

Talk About the Solutions
A second element in effective problem-solving communications is for you to talk about the solutions instead of talking about the problems. It is for you to keep the attention of the individuals in the meeting focused on the possible solutions and what can be done rather than what has already happened.

Release Creativity
The discussion of solutions is inherently positive, uplifting and has a tendency to release creativity amongst the group. A discussion of problems is inherently negative, demotivating and tends to inhibit creativity.

The Key to Positive Thinking
You can become a positive thinker simply by becoming a solution-oriented person rather than a problem-oriented person. If you get everyone in your organization thinking and talking in terms of solutions, you will be astonished at the quality and quantity of ideas that will emerge.

Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can immediately to become a better problem solver and decision maker.

First, take some time to be absolutely clear about the problem that is under discussion. Give some thought to what an ideal decision or solution would accomplish. Instead of focusing on the situation as it is, talk about the situation as you would like it to be.

Second, keep the conversation focused on solutions, on what can be done in the future. The more you think and talk about solutions, the more positive and creative everyone will be and the better ideas you will come up with.

Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations. Brian’s goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. Read more about this spectacular trainer on his website, briantracy.com and see how he can help you.

When living or working in close proximity, human beings have a remarkable ability to drive each other crazy. It does not matter if it is a spouse, a sibling or an office mate. The phenomenon occurs daily for most of us. Today we continue with these tips to change that pattern.

1. Extend trust.
The reciprocal nature of trust says you can improve people’s trust in you by extending more trust to them. When we build a higher level of trust, the petty issues seem to melt away because we are focused on what is good about the other person rather than idiosyncrasies that drive us bonkers. The best way to increase trust is to reinforce (rather than punish) people who are candid with us about our own shortcomings.

2. Don’t complain about others behind their back.
Speak well of other people as much as possible. Never make a joke about someone at his or her expense. If someone is doing something that really bothers you, simply tell the person about it in a kind way.

3. Stop acting like a child.
The lengths people go to in order to strike back at others for annoying them often resembles a food fight in grade school. Escalating e-mail notes in a kind of grenade battle is a great example of this phenomenon. It is easy to avoid these squabbles by not taking the bait. When you go back and forth with another person more than three times, it is time to change the mode of communication. Pick up the phone or walk down the hall for a chat.

4. Care about the other person.
If we care enough to not fuss over little things, then we can tolerate inconveniences a lot better. If we experience prickly and negative reactions from others, we need to check our attitude toward them. While it is convenient to blame others, often we are the root cause of the negativity.

5. Have your own development plan.
Start out each day with a few minutes of meditation on how to present yourself better to others. Have a list of behaviors you are trying to improve. This mindset crowds out some of the rotten attitudes that can lead you to undermine other’s actions.

To expend energy bickering and griping about others really wastes your most precious resource– your time. It is much better to go through life laughing and loving than griping and hating. The good news is we have a choice when it comes to the attitudes we show other people. Make sure your choice enriches others as well as yourself.

Source:  Bob Whipple, MBA, CPLP, is a consultant, trainer, speaker and author in the areas of leadership and trust. He is the author of The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals; Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online; and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind. Whipple has many years of experience as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 company and with nonprofit organizations.

 
Does your cubicle mate drive you crazy? How about the person in the meeting who always interrupts you? When people vent about problem individuals at work or at home, one fact becomes obvious: Most individuals have a long list of things that other people must do to improve but a short list of things they need to change about their own behavior.

Today and tomorrow, Promotional Consultant Today shares these 10 tips that can change the pattern, so you will have better relations with others.

1. Reverse the roles.
Before venting about another person, think about how that person would describe you to someone else. If you are honest with yourself, it might be a humbling exercise.

2. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
It is not the 401K account that most couples argue about daily; it is who gets the remote control or why the toothpaste tube is always topless. If we can just remember that the small stuff is really just that, then maybe we can relax a bit.

3. Live and let live.
If a cubicle mate hums when she is happy, there is no reason to have a coronary over it. It is her outlet and way of being cheerful. Even though it gets under your skin, why burst her balloon by pointing out her “problem?” If it is an unconscious habit, she will never be able to control it anyway. Buy a pair of noise-canceling headphones and play the kind of music you like. Let happy people be happy and miserable people be miserable. Focus your energy on creating your own sphere of cheerfulness rather than expecting the rest of the world to conform to your paradigms.

4. Punch out early; don’t punch out the person.
Find some way to get away from the petty squabbles before they bring you to the snapping point. If you cannot actually leave without penalty, take a mental break. Just go for a little vacation in your mind. Relax in an imaginary hot tub while sitting at your desk. Can you feel the bubbles going up your back?

5. Share a treat.
Just because someone drives you nuts by clipping his nails in the morning is no reason to hate him all day long. Find some symbolic olive branch and wave it around. Go get two chocolate bars and give him one. When we change our body language, accentuating the positive, rather than festering about “their problem,” the other person will likely respond in kind.

Before you complain about that co-worker who’s driving you crazy, take a time-out and read tomorrow’s PCT for more tips.

Source: Bob Whipple, MBA, CPLP, is a consultant, trainer, speaker and author in the areas of leadership and trust. He is the author of The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals; Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online; and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind. Whipple has many years’ experience as a senior executive with a Fortune 500 company and with nonprofit organizations.