When I was growing up, we were told to excel in the three Rs: Reading, (R)Writing, and aRithmetic. Math is important; it’s fundamental to intelligence, but it won’t help you in communication. What WILL help you?

1) The desire to READ and accumulate knowledge. It’s not what you read that makes you a good communicator. It’s the no-how you gain from reading that makes what you say more interesting.

2) The ability to SPEAK with influence. Whether it’s the passion you put into your words or your ability to articulate your message, speak with confidence and skill in an effort to truly be heard.

3) The skill of WRITING with clarity and purpose with an economy of words. Write what you want people to read and don’t mess it up with a lot of useless verbiage.

4) Most importantly, LISTEN with understanding so you can clearly discern what others are saying. Sometimes it’s just as important to hear what they are not saying; that is, read between the lines.

5) A fifth key in communication is BODY LANGUAGE. You can do everything right, but if your body language doesn’t support what you say or how you say it, all is for naught.

Communication is one of the great skills in business and in life. Learn to maximize your communication skills to ultimately become more successful.

Tags: Advice, Body Language, Business Development, Business Tips, Communicate, Developing Leaders, Knowledge, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, Listen, Personal Development, Read, Speak, Success, The Mind of a Leader, Writing

You know the old adage: “If you love your work, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

The hard part is finding work – really a career – that satisfies the soul while also providing the income you desire.  If you can turn a hobby into an revenue stream, it may become your dream job.  Yet that’s not easy to do.

Unfortunately, many people don’t have the freedom or good fortune to turn their passion into a vocational pursuit.  More often, we start moving in a direction that seems enjoyable and after gaining a degree of mastery in it – through education, training, or experience – we develop a high level of competence and confidence in it. 

If you are fortunate enough to love your work, be careful not to judge those who don’t.  Just feel blessed that you have found your passion, even if it’s later in life. So here’s a new adage: “If you have fallen in love with your work, be grateful for it.  Use that work to benefit others and it will bless you even more.”

Tags: Advice, Business Development, Business Tips, Developing Leaders, Dream JOb, Education, Expereience, Grateful, High Level, Knowledge, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, Personal Development, Success, The Mind of a Leader, Training, Work

One of the most frustrating things for people is when they can’t get a decision from a decision-maker.  Procrastination leads to bottlenecks in getting things done and a loss of confidence and respect in leaders.

There’s nothing wrong with conducting research and analyzing the pros and cons of an important decision.  The problem lies in failing to respond to repeated requests for answers by ignoring the very people who are tasked with getting things done.

When key people in a business or organization fail to take essential action because of indecision, laziness, stubbornness, mistaken priorities or to maintain control of a situation, it wastes time, energy and money.  Most people simply don’t realize how they torpedo the efforts of peers, subordinates, and co-workers by failing to respect their time and their professional requests.

If you are the victim of an indecisive owner or manager, or one who simply holds up progress for his own personal reasons, you need to engage more strongly in getting the decisions you need to do your job.  A simultaneous thoughtful, but firm, approach works best in getting your point across. 

If you are the one who is holding up progress, well, you now know what you must do to avoid being the bottleneck.

Tags: Action, Advice, Analyze, Bottleneck, Business Development, Business Tips, Decide, Decision Maker, Developing Leaders, Essential, Indecision, Knowledge, Lazy, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, manager, Organize, owner, Personal Development, Priority, Procrastinate, Request, Success, Take Action, The Mind of a Leader

If you’ve ever wondered why certain people hit your hot buttons, frustrate you, or make you want to retreat from their presence, consider these “red flags.”

1)   They criticize and complain.

2)   They are constantly defensive.

3)   They don’t respect boundaries.

4)   They live by a double standard.

5)   They seek power over influence.

6)   You feel uncomfortable in their presence.

7)   They are never happy for you or with you.

8)   They talk about themselves and their issues.

9)   You get deflated when you interact with them.

These aren’t happy people, so seek those who are at peace with themselves, find joy in even the small things, and live a life of respecting people.

Tags: Advice, Boundary, Business Development, Business Tips, Complain, Criticize, Defensive, Developing Leaders, Double Standard, Happy, Influence, Issues, Knowledge, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, Personal Development, Power, Red Flags, Success, The Mind of a Leader, Uncomfortable

The best way to stay focused on your goals and to save time in your business and your life is say no.  You can’t protect your own priorities unless you learn to tactfully, but firmly, decline requests for your time and attention to other peoples’ wants and needs.

Too often, busy, successful people grudgingly accept assignments for volunteer organizations or social obligations that are outside of their personal interest and priorities.  The old adage comes to mind: “If you want something done, ask a busy person.”  Those same busy people tend to say yes because they worry about offending others without realistically weighing the cost of the personal time and the added pressure of accepting such roles. 

Every need is not necessarily a cause for you to shoulder.

Taking on more challenges at work may at times be necessary, but also tricky.  When there are obvious needs that must be met, all responsible people tend to tackle the issue in front of them without realizing that others may be able to fill that role.  Sometimes you take on things only because others aren’t doing their job, and this becomes a waste of your time and ultimately a source of frustration.

Opportunities, situations, and apparent needs identified by others may well be genuine, but learning to thoughtfully say no to things outside of your heartfelt obligations may be the most important decision you make this year.  Don’t feel bad to turn down opportunities.  Be gracious and appreciative, but do what you must to protect your time and your ability to accomplish your priorities, not someone else’s.

Tags: Advice, Appreciate, Business, Business Development, Business Tips, Busy, Developing Leaders, Knowledge, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, Learn to Say No, Opportunity, People, Personal Development, Pressure, Role, Success, The Mind of a Leader

You do it. I do it. We all do it.

We label people in the workplace with broad terms that are supposed to get them to change. And, unfortunately, the way we describe our people problems tends to be the way we try to solve them.

Here are some ways we label people in the workplace:

He’s a control freak. She’s too sensitive. He’s self-centered. She lacks initiative. He procrastinates. She’s too emotional. He’s a prima donna. She’s not committed. He’s lazy. She can’t make a decision. He’s “old school.” She’s out of touch.

While characterizing people with these broad terms, we also try to get them to change their ways with equally broad mandates that never get the results we want. Moreover, our generalities simply create defensiveness at best, and anger and bitterness at worse.

Instead, we need to get specific with people so they understand exactly what we mean and how they can change themselves – and change the perception others have of them – by identifying exactly what needs to change and how to make that change. The most critical skill you need to develop is to a) precisely state what you want done, b) get agreement from that person that they will do it, c) clarify the consequences if they don’t perform, and d) follow through by doing what you said you would do.

So next time you are tempted to tell someone they are sensitive, lazy, self-centered, overly controlling, a procrastinator, or out of touch with reality, catch yourself from being too general and instead get granular by succinctly describing what needs to change. It’s the only way you will get real change.

Tags: Advice, Business Development, Business Tips, Change, Character, Describe, Developing Leaders, Identify, Knowledge, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, People, Personal Development, Specific, Success, The Mind of a Leader

A priority is something that is more important than other things.  My experience with business owners tells me that understanding priorities is the most difficult aspect of running a company.

Owners and managers tend to get too wrapped up in day-to-day minutia or one-off deep dives into something of personal interest that lacks importance.  This keeps them from seeing the big picture and working on their business more than in their business.

Customers are a priority, as are staff.  If you aren’t putting your focus on the human side of business, you’re missing the priorities.  Nothing happens in a business until a sale is made, and unless you’re operating a strictly online business that runs itself, you need people with talent to get the job done and you need to give them the attention they deserve.

I schedule my priorities every day and always leave time for thinking and planning.  That means scheduling time for yourself as an owner or manager or salesperson or even front-line worker.  If you don’t have time to think, how can you ever make improvements?  You need to have the time – and take the time – to see things from a new and fresh perspective.  That means making time a priority.

Urgent and important matters are always a priority.  But if you find yourself always putting fires out without the time to focus on people and planning, then you’re missing your priorities.

Tags: Advice, Business, Business Development, Business Tips, Developing Leaders, Expereince, Focus, Important, Knowledge, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, manager, Personal Development, Perspective, Plan, Priority, Salesperson, Schedule, Staff, Success, The Mind of a Leader, Think, Time, Understanding

Responsibility, simply stated, is being accountable for what is within your power to control.  Learn to deal with things you can control.  Do that well and you’ll be better able to deal with things outside your control.

One of the keys to responsibility is being accountable, and taking ownership of the result, especially when things go wrong as they sometimes do.  Never pass the buck when you’re in charge.  Never blame others.  Always assume the responsibility yourself.

While you “take” responsibility, authority must be earned.  Authority is earned by building trust and winning the respect of your peers.  Authority doesn’t necessarily come with your title.  You have to build a reputation worthy of your title, and thus earn the trust of your people by gaining their respect.

Many leaders fail to earn the trust and confidence of their people because they operate on a double standard: one for themselves and another for everyone else.  To earn respect and gain authority, you must live by the same rules you establish for others.

So take responsibility and earn authority.  Do that well and you’ll be a good leader.

Tags: Accountable, Advice, Authority, Business Development, Business Tips, Control, Developing Leaders, Knowledge, Leader, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, Peers, Personal Development, Respect, Responsibility, result, Simple, Success, The Mind of a Leader, Trust

1)    The key to learning and growing is to fight the urge to prove that you’re right.  We argue about things to show that we’re right instead of discussing things openly to determine what is right.

2)    The key to quality relationships is not to obsess about creating more of them.  Rather, it’s to go deeper and deeper with those you currently have.

3)    A good question to ask yourself is why you do what you do the way you do it.  You may find that by challenging your thinking, you will discover a better way.

Tags: Advice, Business Development, Business Tips, Determine, Developing Leaders, Discover, Discuss, Grow, Knowledge, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, Personal Development, Quality, Relationship, Success, The Mind of a Leader, thinking

It takes a considerable amount of confidence and courage to create a business on your own. Most people don’t understand or appreciate the risks and effort that entrepreneurs take to get their start. An owner often has to bootstrap that effort, doing whatever it takes to make it a success, including working long hours and weekends to get over the hump.

First generation business owners often have to sacrifice living standards to reinvest profits back into the business in order to build it. Having a spouse who understands those sacrifices and supports building the business over temporary lifestyle considerations is what often makes the difference between success and failure.

When second generation family members join the business, there is often a lack of appreciation for what it took to start the business in the first place. The younger generation’s view is often clouded by what they see as outmoded technology, a lack of modern marketing tactics, or old school thinking that is holding the business back. Truth be told, the business often needs a new set of considerations beyond those of the original entrepreneur, who likely started the business with shear guts and determination.

The key to success in any business transition is the mutual understanding and appreciation of what each brings to the firm. When this happens, the complementary talents of each generation support the business to maximum efficiency and effectiveness. The business grows with hard work, smart work, and the harmony that would be impossible to create without the time-tested experience of the entrepreneur and the new, creative thinking of the next generation.

Tags: Advice, Bold, Business, Business Development, Business Tips, Confidence, Courage, Create, Determination, Developing Leaders, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Entrepreneur, Gen Next, Generation, Hard Work, Knowledge, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Skills, Next Generation, owner, Personal Development, Smart Work, Success, The Mind of a Leader, Think, Transtition