Do Business Well

Many of us know what we want, but we still don’t take the necessary steps to get it. Even when we want it very badly, we often give ourselves as many hoops to jump through as possible to put off the most painful or difficult steps. We desperately want to achieve our goals and dreams, and yet we use avoidance behavior to protect ourselves from our irrational fears. We want the perks without paying the price. We want improved circumstances without improving ourselves. We live each day waiting and dreaming and hoping for the stars to line up in our favor or for the winning lottery number. If this describes you, it’s time to take a long, serious look in the mirror. That day will never come while you’re waiting. It will only come when you bite the bullet and do what has to be done. I love what Richard Taylor, author of The Disciplined Life, has to say about this: Continue Reading »

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If you ask around, you’ll find that most of your friends, family, and even office colleagues would like to run their own businesses. If you then ask them why they aren’t currently self-employed, or why they haven’t even begun to plan their venture, you’ll probably uncover a litany of excuses, from a lack of time to a chronically overdrawn checking account to simply not knowing what to do first. Continue Reading »

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The Clashes arising from differences in most relationships can be managed satisfactorily by this Method. Some conflicts, however, lack certain requirements necessary for success.

Personality Factors

When involved in ‘personality clashes’, we often conclude that the conflict is irresolvable due to the Other’s personality — the Bad-Person Illusion. In truth, certain personality factors can indeed impinge on the Method, making it less effective. So, some relevant personality factors will be mentioned as we list the eight prerequisites. Continue Reading »

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Drive

Many managers make a distinction between talent and drive. They often find themselves counseling someone by saying: “Look, you are very talented. But you need to apply yourself or that talent will go to waste.”

This advice sounds helpful. More than likely it is well intended. But fundamentally it is flawed. A person’s drive is not changeable. What drives him is decided by his mental filter, by the relative strength or weakness of the highways in his mind. His drives are, in fact, his striving talents. Continue Reading »

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Guided by their own beliefs, and supported by recent scientific advances, great managers can now dispel two of the most pervasive management myths.

MYTH #1: “TALENTS ARE RARE AND SPECIAL“

There is nothing very special about talent. If talents are simply recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior, then talents are actually rather commonplace. Everyone has certain recurring patterns of behavior. No one can take credit for these talents. They are an accident of birth, “the clash of the chromosomes,” as the ethologist Robert Ardrey described them. However, each person can and should take credit for cultivating his unique set of talents. Continue Reading »

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As you might expect, conventional wisdom tells a rather different story. First, it spins us this tale: You can be anything you want to be if you hold on to your dreams and work hard. The person you feel yourself to be every day is not the real You. No, the real You is deep inside, hidden by your fears and discouragements. If you could free yourself of these fears, if you could truly believe in yourself, then the real You would be released. Your potential would burst out. The giant would awaken. Continue Reading »

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“Average thinking” not only leads managers away from excellence and awa_y from their top performers. There is one final, and perhaps most damaging, way in which it harms a manager’s best efforts. “Average thinking” actively limits performance. Jeff H., a sales manager for a computer software company, describes this debilitating effect:

“I work for a company with one goal: 20 percent annual growth in revenue and profits. We have it drummed into us from day one that 20 percent growth is how we will judge our success as a company. We’ve hit it for twelve years straight, and Wall Street loves us. I can see why the company needs to shoot for that number every year. I can see why Wall it’s hard. Continue Reading »

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Of course, none of this means that great managers ignore nonperformance. They don’t. Focus on strengths is not another name for the power of positive thinking. Bad things happen. Some people fail. Some people struggle. And even your star performers have their faults. Poor performance must be confronted head-on, if it is not to degenerate into a dangerously unproductive situation. And it must be confronted quickly—as with all degenerative diseases, procrastination in the face of poor performance is a fool’s remedy. Continue Reading »

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The Internet revolution will transform all aspects of our lives.

In business there is never only one way to do anything.

• Some people prefer to shop in specialty stores, some people in department stores.
• Some people prefer to shop in supermarkets, some in neighborhood stores.
• Some people love shopping malls, some don’t. Some people love to buy from catalogs, some don’t.

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How can the manager help? In the new career, the employee is the star. It is his responsibility to take control of his career. It is his responsibility to look in the mirror and make sound choices based upon what he discovers. But what role should the manager play? She is no longer the gatekeeper, picking and choosing from among the most attractive, the most skilled, the most experienced supplicants. What is her role? Continue Reading »

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