Do Business Well

“Everyone is exceptional” has a second meaning: Everyone should be treated as an exception. Each employee has his own filter, his own way of interpreting the world around him, and therefore each employee will demand different things of you, his manager.

Some want you to leave them alone from almost the first moment they are hired. Others feel slighted if you don’t check in with them every day. Some want to be recognized by you, “the boss.” Others see their peers as the truest source of recognition. Some crave their praise on a public stage. Others shun the glare of publicity, valuing only that quiet, private word of thanks. Each employee breathes different psychological oxygen. Continue Reading »

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Personal needs at work

• Do you prefer to work in a small business, a large organisation, or on your own?
• Do you enjoy initiating new developments and seeing them fulfilled in your work?
• How important are workplace friendships? Do you rely upon these daily contacts to provide interest and stimulation to your work day?
• Are you competitive? Do you like pushing yourself and comparing your achievements with others?
• Are you a creative person who needs to express yourself frequently in your work?
• Do you see yourself as a leader? Do you enjoy exercising control over your situation at work and delegating responsibilities to others?
• What sorts of rewards are important to you? High salary; status in the job title; fringe benefits (car, expenses); long-term security etc.
• How willing are you to take risks, to try even though you know there is a considerable chance of failure?
• Do you prefer to work: inside or outside; with people, ideas, or equipment?

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Overcoming our fears means that any dilemmas that may arise in our lives disappear, as situations are perceived differently. Once again, however, what in truth is simple is often difficult to accept. The situations that each of us creates by our fears should be viewed as blessings, each with a role to play. All bring us the same opportunity to learn to release our fears and allow love to emerge in their place.

Each time you confront and conquer your fears you are allowing your true conscience to grow in influence. In doing so you avoid failures and, indeed, view any setbacks as valuable lessons when encountered. People with high self-esteem and no fears about their own worth are excellent people to work for and with. Continue Reading »

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At most meetings you will be a participant rather than an official. How can you be a more effective contributor? Here are eight basic techniques:

1. Prepare yourself

Diarise the date, time and venue. Arrive for the meeting in time to choose a power seat — right next to or opposite the chairperson. In this way you will have direct eye contact with all the members.

Prepare thoroughly for your meetings by taking time to read the relevant documentation, the agenda and the pre-planner.

Do background research so that you can make points and ask questions. Anticipate likely questions. Be aware of the personality types of other participants. Continue Reading »

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Too often we allow the conditioned beliefs and admonitions of others who have low self-regard, to exert influence and power over us. In doing so we put on the clothes that validate the unworthiness that for so long has adorned them. Thinking that success and riches are incompatible with spirituality, for example, is one of the largest contributors to feeling unworthy.

It is a sad fact that the amount of self-worth a child feels reduces dramatically during its formative years. Whenever children are able to resist the consistent hypnosis of being limited in their abilities, they are able to express their unlimited selves and manifest the abundance and opportunity they want throughout their lives. Continue Reading »

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The one thing that every person has in common is the amount of time they have in an hour — sixty minutes. Depending on individual priorities, the manner in which these same periods are spent is infinite in choice. Amazingly though, and despite efficient management of time, the majority of our achievement and happiness takes place in a short space of time. Using the unit of one hour as a reference point, ten minutes is utilised in channelling our energy proactively, while fifty minutes is wasted in using our energy reactively. With the majority of our energy absorbed through involvement with such draining elements, it is no surprise that there is so much fatigue and depression.

Every waking hour takes you either towards fulfilling your particular speciality, or away from it. There is no neutral, only forwards or backwards. Channelling your energy has nothing to do with keeping in balance, which is more to do with restoring energy that has been drained. Continue Reading »

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To the uninitiated, business looks pretty easy. Maybe that’s why so many try it. Those who have taken the leap know that there is much more to this game than a good idea and some seed money. Henry Ford bankrupted two car companies before his third effort clicked. He is far from alone.

Fortunately, through this and others like it, you can improve your chances for success. What follows are six very specific ingredients. I believe that if you keep these six elements at the forefront of your thinking, you will succeed. Prior to listing the six ingredients to business success, though, allow me to define the “success” that I’m referring to. Continue Reading »

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If you are going to be an actualizer and maximizer of human potential you need to be a PWB —

A Person Without Borders

There is a social tidal wave sweeping over the world. It’s caused by technology, democracy, mobility and our common humanity. It’s the wave that is washing away national and cultural boundaries. The best talent and ideas rule. It doesn’t matter where the talent or the ideas come from. So the new class of successful entrepreneurs will be PWB — People Without Borders. They will go where the opportunities are greatest and they will take from where the talent and ideas are most plentiful. They do not limit their vision to industry or geography. They are open, adaptable and mobile. Continue Reading »

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Sometimes, you have to be a clown

Sometimes, it pays to be a clown. It pays to do things that make your people and your customers laugh. Remember the power of the Court Jester: in the Middle Ages, the jester was the second most powerful person in the kingdom after the king because he made people laugh while he was telling the truth. If you truly want to capture the attention of others, make sure you amuse and entertain them. But do it in a way that is respectful and appropriate.

This point is especially appropriate to those people who have a great sense of humour. If you have this skill, use it to its maximum. If you haven’t, try to develop it. But don’t force it. Continue Reading »

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Set the Example

Your attitudes, priorities (or lack thereof), and business practices will have a way of trickling down. You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the negative ones will trickle down in torrents, while the positive ones will try to defy gravity.

If. you feel that managers should not be clock watchers, then you can’t work nine to four-thirty with a two-hour lunch and every other Wednesday off. If you’re the first to arrive and the last to leave, it becomes embarrassing for a top manager to see your car in the lot when he comes and when he goes.

Do you want others to turn in reports on time? You’ll need to do likewise. Do you want your people to answer the phone professionally and cheerfully? Make certain you do. Is quality or service important? Can those in your organization tell that by seeing your reactions to quality or service issues? Ask yourself these questions on an ongoing basis. Continue Reading »

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