A Paradoxical Curve of Money and Effort

Everyone tells themselves a different story about money, but there's no doubt at all that the story we tell ourselves changes our behavior.

Consider this curve of how people react in situations that cost money.

A musician is standing on a street corner playing real good for free. Most people walk on by (3). That same musician playing at a bar with a $5 cover gets a bit more attention. Put him into a concert hall at $40 and suddenly it's an event.

Pay someone minimum wage or a low intern stipend (4) and they treat the work like a job. Don't expect that worker to put in extra effort or conquer her fear--the message is that her effort was bought and paid for and wasn't worth very much to the boss... and so she reciprocates in kind. The same sort of thing can happen in a class that's easy to get into and that doesn't cost much--a Learning Annex sort of thing. Easy to start, cheap to try--not much effort as a result.

It's interesting to me to see what happens to people who pay a lot or get paid well (2,5). The kids at Harvard
Law School, for example, or a third-year associate at a law firm. Here, we see all nighters, heroic, career-risking efforts and all sorts of personal investment. And yet as we extend the curve to situations where the rules of rational money are suspended, something happens--people get fearful again. Don't look to Oprah or JK
Rowling or the Donald to bet it all--the huge amount of money they could earn (or could pay) to play at the next level (1 & 6) isn't enough to get them out of their comfort zone. Money ceases to be a motivator for everyone at some point.

Most interesting of all is the long black line at zero (3). The curve goes wild here, like dividing by zero. At zero, at the place where no money changes hands, we see volunteer labor and free exchange. In these situations, sometimes we see extraordinary effort, the stuff that wins Nobel prizes. Just about every great, brave or beautiful thing in our culture was created by someone who didn't do it for money. We see the local volunteer putting in insane hours even though no one is watching. We hear the magical song or read the amazing poem that no one got paid to write. And sometimes, though, we see very little, just a trolling comment or a half-hearted bit of commentary. Remove money from the story and we're in a whole new category. The most vivid way to think about this is the difference between a mutually-agreed upon romantic date and one in which money changes hands.

All worth thinking about when you consider how much to charge for a gig, what tuition ought to be, what motivates job creators or whether or not a form of art disappears when the business model for that art goes away.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/04/storyofmoney.html

Get Your Focus Back: 7 Tips

When you're at work, you are literally paid to hunker down and focus on something. So why is it that's the very place where you get so little done?

Recently I wrote an article about the habits of highly productive people. Based on the reactions to that story (and there were many!), here's the problem: You're in an epic battle against distractions at the office. And between your ever-pinging email, your buzzing cell phone, not to mention your 12 different social media profiles, most of the time you're on the losing side of that battle.

So here's part two of my conversation with Tony Wong, a project management black belt whose client list includes Toyota, Honda, and Riot Games, to name a few.

Below are his tips for getting your focus back:

1. Be punctual
First and foremost, know that simply being on time allows for more time to be productive. On a less obvious note: When you make yourself be punctual, you begin training your brain on the smallest level to deliver on your commitments. You can make a direct correlation between the people who are on time and those who successfully complete their projects.

If you find that you’re never on time, it’s because you’re over-committed. Sticking to a schedule will help you scale back and make only the commitments you know you can uphold.

2. Prioritize
It seems easy—but it’s not, because there are usually too many variables that define the success of prioritizing.

Being productive is not about doing everything on your list. In fact, it’s just the opposite— it’s about prioritizing the things that will get you to your goal and not doing the rest. If something doesn’t matter or isn’t relevant for you to get to your goal, don’t do it—the pressure is off. That’s the key to prioritization.

You're in an epic battle against distractions--and most of the time you're on the losing side. Here's how to fight back.

So, Identify four things you need to get accomplished today that will move you forward to accomplish your
goal. Write them on an index card and keep it in sight. This way, if you do get distracted it’s a constant reminder of what you should focus on.

3. Eliminate
Tired of distractions? Eliminate them! If the hustle and bustle of office life is too loud, bring headphones to work. Only let yourself check your phone and email once every three hours—out of sight is truly out of mind.

Also, be aware that laziness can make us do a thousand unimportant tasks. You might feel busy, but you’re not achieving your goals—it’s counterfeit productivity. If you know this is true in your life, make a point to steer clear.

4. Choose accuracy over speed
Tony’s mentor, who also happens to be a Navy Seal, likes to say, “Speed impresses, but accuracy kills.” You can furiously throw out punch after punch, kick after kick, but it only takes one accurate blow to take out your opponent.

At work, often you can do the work of dozens of emails and meetings with one well-written message. When you’re feeling off, don’t communicate—don’t send emails, don’t schedule meetings, don’t call anyone. Those feelings of anxiety and stress will come through your communication. Wait until you’re cool, calm, and collected—then communicate. It will show confidence, credibility, and will create impactful communication.

5. Organize
This one may seem obvious, but how many people actually organize their workspace? Productivity thrives in a clean and tidy environment. At the end of the work day, put everything back in its place—that way, you can jump right into work tomorrow morning.

6. Relax
When you’re relaxed, not frantic and rushed, so you’ll be able to see what’s working and what’s not. You’ll see with clarity what you should work on and what you should ignore.

Being relaxed allows you to get into “the zone,” which is essential to gaining focus. If it helps with your golf swing, it will do wonders for your work ethic. We often think working is shoulders up, back tense, and furiously typing—but that’s simply not true.

7. Be healthy
This one is easy: Take care of your body. Eating breakfast, exercising, and actively recuperating do wonders for your workday.

Additionally, aim to sleep for seven to eight hours every night. People who don’t get enough sleep are less effective. They may not realize this, but it’s true. The way to a more productive, inspired, joyful life starts with sleeping well.

http://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/get-your-focus-back-7-tips.html

4 Vital Interview Questions to Ask

Most candidates can hack your interview questions to tell you what you want to hear. But if you approach it right, not these.

Most job candidates feel interview questions can be decoded and hacked, letting them respond to those questions with "perfect" answers.

And they're right, especially if you insist on asking opinion-based job interview questions.

(Quick aside: Is there really a perfect answer to a question like, "What do you feel is your biggest weakness?" I think there is: "If that's the kind of question you typically ask, I don't want to work for you.")

Asking opinion-based questions is a complete waste of time. Every candidate comes prepared to answer general questions about teamwork, initiative, interpersonal skills, and leadership.

That's why you should ask interview questions that elicit facts instead of opinions. Why? I can never rely on what you claim you will do, but I can learn a lot from what you have already done.

Where employee behavior and attitude are concerned, the past is a fairly reliable indication of the future.

How do you get to the facts? Ask. Ask an initial question. Then follow up: Dig deeper to fully understand the situation described, determine exactly what the candidate did (and did not do), and find out how things turned out. Follow-up questions don't have to be complicated. "Really?" "Wow... so what did he do?" "What did she say?" "What happened next?" "How did that work out?"

All you have to do is keep the conversation going. At its best, an interview is really just a conversation.
Here are my four favorite behavioral interview questions:

1. "Tell me about the last time a customer or co-worker got mad at you."
Purpose: Evaluate the candidate's interpersonal skills and ability to deal with conflict.
Make sure you find out why the customer or co-worker was mad, what the interviewee did in response, and how the situation turned out both in the short- and long-term.

Warning sign: The interviewee pushes all the blame and responsibility for rectifying the situation on the other person.

Decent sign: The interviewee focuses on how they addressed and fixed the problem, not on who was to blame.

Great sign: The interviewee admits they caused the other person to be upset, took responsibility, and worked to make a bad situation better. Great employees are willing to admit when they are wrong, take responsibility for fixing their mistakes, and learn from experience.

Remember, every mistake is really just training in disguise... as long as the same mistake isn't repeated over and over again, of course.

2. "Tell me about the toughest decision you had to make in the last six months."
Purpose: Evaluate the candidate's reasoning ability, problem solving skills, judgment, and possibly even willingness to take intelligent risks.

Warning sign: No answer. Everyone makes tough decisions, regardless of their position. My daughter works part-time as a server at a local restaurant and makes difficult decisions all the time - like the best way to deal with a regular customer whose behavior constitutes borderline harassment.

Decent sign: Made a difficult analytical or reasoning-based decision. For example, wading through reams of data to determine the best solution to a problem.

Great sign: Made a difficult interpersonal decision, or better yet a difficult data-driven decision that included interpersonal considerations and ramifications.

Making decisions based on data is important, but almost every decision has an impact on people as well. The best candidates naturally weigh all sides of an issue, not just the business or human side exclusively.

3. "Tell me about a time you knew you were right but still had to follow directions or guidelines."
Purpose: Evaluate the candidate's ability to follow, and possibly to lead.

Warning sign: Found a way to circumvent guidelines "... because I know I was right," or followed the rules but allowed their performance to suffer.
Believe it or not, if you ask enough questions some candidates will tell you they were angry or felt stifled and didn't work hard as a result, especially when they think you empathize with their "plight."

Good sign: Did what needed to be done, especially in a time-critical situation, then found an appropriate time and place to raise issues and work to improve the status quo.

Great sign: Not only did what needed to be done, but also stayed motivated and helped motivate others as well.

In a peer setting, an employee who is able to say, "Hey, I'm not sure this makes sense either, but for now let's just do our best and get it done..." is priceless.

In a supervisory setting, good leaders are able to debate and argue behind closed doors and then fully support a decision in public - even if they privately disagree with that decision.

4. "Tell me about the last time your workday ended before you were able to get everything done."
Purpose: Evaluate commitment, ability to prioritize, and ability to communicate effectively.

Warning sign: "I just do what I have to do and get out. I keep telling my boss I can only do so much but he won't listen.... "

Good sign: Stayed a few minutes late to finish a critical task, or prioritized before the end of the workday to ensure critical tasks were completed.

You shouldn't expect heroic efforts every day, but some level of dedication is important.

Great sign: Stayed late and/or prioritized - but most importantly communicated early on that deadlines were in jeopardy. Good employees take care of things. Great employees take care of things and make sure others are aware of potential problems ahead of time just in case proactive decisions may help.

Obviously there are a number of good and great answers to this question. "I stayed until midnight to get it done," can sometimes be a great answer, but doing so night after night indicates there are other organizational or productivity issues the employee should raise. I may sometimes be glad you stayed late, but I will always be glad when you help me spot chronic problems and bottlenecks.

Like with any other question, always evaluate a candidate's answers to this question based on your company's culture and organizational needs.

Few candidates can bluff their way through more than one or two follow-up questions. Turning the interview into a fact-based conversations helps you identify potential disconnects between the candidate's resume and their actual experience, qualifications, and accomplishments.

And you'll have a much better chance of identifying a potentially great employee, because a great employee will almost always shine during a fact-based interview.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/4-vital-interview-questions-to-ask.html

Do More in Less Time: Tips From an Efficiency Expert

Jason Womack's book Your Best Just Got Better explains how to keep from being interrupted. It also identifies the perfect time of day to make a difficult call.

Author Jason Womack's broad grin and twinkling eyes aren't an act--he has been happy every single time I've met him. After teaching high school for five years, Womack worked with the David Allen Company, giving over 300 seminars on "Getting Things Done." He's passionate about helping others through his work and through his books. His latest, Your Best Just Got Better, has some simple and useful elements entrepreneurs can learn. I had a conversation with him at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, event last month.

What are the key take-aways of the book for entrepreneurs?
The core of the book is about working smarter by managing time, thinking bigger by building your network and vision, and finally "making more"—which is not always about money. When you've reached a certain point you can ask "What am I here for, how can I contribute?"

You said, "entrepreneurs need to know when they're done." What does that mean?
Often, people are a year into their business, but just scratching by. They want to be in the business, but they're about to fall into the classic e-myth problem, and they're going to work in the business and be stuck there. "Is the way that I did things going to be the way I continue to do things?" In the initial part of the book are lessons to gain control of how you are working. One of the efficiency factors is to know when a project is finished--good rather than great--just good enough.

What's a good example of "just good enough?"
You reach a pivot point and you have to do something, like let go of an employee that is good rather than great. You don't get a renewal, or you lose a contract, you cut a loss or abandon a partner firm. In most instances it's harder to fire someone and train someone new, or get a new partner, but in the long term that's the effort it takes to go from good to great.

You emphasize thinking time for entrepreneurs—but they're so busy...
Thinking time is a significant piece of Chapter 5. Small business owners may look at one of these pivot points as time to reflect on "how I messed up," but I'm encouraging them to use it as a time to move forward and leave behind what they thought was working.
People learn in different ways--auditory, visual, kinesthetic.  So what do they need to hear, to start to attract that next level of information to get them to their goal?  What conference, what podcast, or who can they call to hash out their idea? What do they need to see, look at, or watch? If I tried something that didn't work, I might seek out a video, an infographic, watch a TED talk, anything to get inspired, to get out of where I got stuck. Remember, it's not that I failed--it's that I need to keep moving.

What are some tips for working effectively?
How often are you interrupted? One client is an architect with a staff of 15. One of his staff interrupted him 27 times in 2 days. So they created a process of intervention. They wrote down what they needed to discuss on 3 x 5 cards and met at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. In a month they had cut out interruptions and were working more efficiently. They cut back on emails as well. Ask, "If I have my employee wait 2 hours, will she find an answer instead of waiting for the answer?"

What are other tips for efficiency?
I call people on the :53 of the hour. "Hi, it's 10:53, I have an 11 o'clock. But can we talk and get a conversation started?" There's a 7-minute window for a transaction—I share something or I get something quickly. This is not for starting a new problem or building a relationship. Afterwards I follow up, send a note or set up a plan.

How can people "think bigger?"
The people someone connects with the most are their influencers. I suggest they meet once a month with someone they want to add to their network: a successful author, blogger, businessperson or speaker who is willing to hang out and move dialog forward. People love to help, but beyond that, they love knowing that they helped us. But we don't usually teach mentees how to debrief their last mentorship discussion. For auditory person, I have them call two weeks or 10 days later.  For visual learners, write a letter, etc. That way the mentor gets a specific object that gives them the feedback, and encourages them to do more of what is working. If someone mentoring me makes a recommendation—I have to do it. I have to read a book, watch a video, they suggest. If I don't, it lets mentor know that I'm wasting their time.

 http://www.inc.com/howard-greenstein/efficiency-and-effectiveness-tips-from-author-jason-womack.html

3 Strategies to Adopt From Apple

These three product strategies you can lift from Apple's playbook and incorporate into your growing business.

It's no surprise that Apple has kicked off 2012 with a bang. Profits are soaring, its stock price is up by more than 80%, and the new iPad has been touted as one of the company's most successful product launches in history, which is saying a lot considering the tech giant's recent history.

What has made product launches at Apple so successful, and what can you learn from them to benefit your own business? Here are three important lessons.

1. Price your products to customer segments.
Often lost in the anticipation of Apple's launch events are the subtle changes the company makes to its product portfolio. When Apple launched its most recent iPhone a year ago, it reduced the price of its 3G version to $99. During its most recent launch of the new iPad, it reduced the price of the iPad 2 by $100. In both cases, Apple established a market for additional customer segments.

This strategy allows Apple to capture high margins with early adopters and drive penetration among a broader, more price conscious audience at a later date.  Not every company has product launches that allow it to adopt this strategy, but there are always opportunities to evolve and re-price a successful product to address the needs of a new and different customer segment.

2. Keep your eye to the future.
Success and growth elicit expectations. As Apple continues to launch innovative products, the expectations rise. Each Apple event seems to be met with more anticipation than the last, and technology pundits spend months leading up to the events with conjecture about Apple's "next big thing."

To its credit, Apple has never stopped innovating. iPad sales for Apple's fiscal first quarter increased 111% over the year-ago quarter, and the company still maintains 74% market share in tablets. Amazon, Blackberry, Samsung, and others have all launched tablets over the past year each with features that they believed provided an advantage over the Apple.  But Apple's continuous innovation and forward focus have allowed it to stay ahead of competitors. There's a lesson there for any business that thinks it can ride the coattails of a single successful product for the long term.

3. Listen to your customers.
With the advent of social media, customers have a variety of avenues available to them to express their opinions on a particular company or product. But even if your company isn't a common topic of bloggers, there are more old-fashioned ways to listen to your customers. What's unique about Apple's two most recent product launches, the iPhone 4s and iPad, is the remarkably minor changes the company made to create an abundance of demand.

The new iPad, for example, is not all that dissimilar from the iPad 2. A new screen, 4G, faster processor, and better camera top the list of major developments, but there hasn't been a total redesign of the product. But the new iPad addresses some of the major concerns customers have expressed since the initial launch of the iPad in 2010. By directing product development to the voice of the consumer, Apple was able to benefit from the most successful tablet launch in its history. Listening to your customer is something a firm of any size can do.

There are few companies that compete with the size of Apple, and fewer still that have been as successful as Apple over its most recent stretch. But the formula that has defined Apple's success is not restricted to the economy's behemoths. The key tenants to Apple's growth can be applied to a business of any size.

http://www.inc.com/karl-and-bill/3-strategies-to-adopt-from-apple.html

Psych! 5 Brain Tricks to Make Customers Buy

Want to increase your revenue? It's time to get smarter about how your customers' minds really work, suggests a new book.

Roger Dooley wants your business to succeed. So he's laying down the facts and dissecting recent brain and behavior research to enable you to tap into consumers' brains.

Fact No. 1: People aren't always rational thinkers. In truth, research shows that a huge amount of decision-making is actually based on subconscious factors.

In both his new book, Brainfluence, and in a recent interview, Dooley offered several ways to use "neuromarketing" to do a better job persuading consumers.

1. Clean Up Your Font

Are you using a stylish, elegant font on your signage? It's time to dump it.

A study shows that more ornate fonts make people assume a task to be more time-consuming than when the same task is explained in a clearer font. This could make your products or services seem slow or even tedious--and no one wants a purchase that'll take forever to assemble or start using.

"Probably nine times out of 10 the simpler font is going to be the better choice," Dooley says, "because the text will be more likely to be read, for one, and you'll better convey information."

Bottom line: Go easy on consumers' eyes; use a clear, easy-to-read font such as Arial, for product and service descriptions as well as any instructions.

2. Don't Show Them the Money

A restaurant currency study showed that patrons tended to be more price-conscious when dollar signs appeared alongside the prices on menus. If there was just a solo digit, by contrast—no dollar symbol, no decimal point—then spending went up.

"When people see a currency symbol like a dollar sign or a euro symbol, that … activates a part of the brain that can sometimes help the marketer, but often not," Dooley says.

Bottom line: If you're a restaurateur, take dollar signs off the menu to increase your sales.

3. Remember the Senses

Customer transactions are about more than facts and figures. Getting smart about sensory appeal can also help a brick-and-mortar business.

Look for environmental elements that you can control, like pleasant scents—even if your products don't naturally have a smell. "You can create a scent environment that is pleasant, memorable, and distinctive that reinforces your branding," Dooley says. "The scent will then trigger consumers' senses and create a desire for that [the product or service]." Tests have shown that scents in shopping areas can increase sales.

And don't overlook the music, which can also affect customers' buying decisions. One test, for instance, found that when a wine shop played French or German music, it increased sales of wine from that country.

Bottom line: Find creative ways to tempt customers' senses.

4. Respond to Customers

Nobody likes being ignored—so make sure you can provide real feedback to social media messages and posts.

Dooley cites one study that looked at people who complained via social media about a company or its products. When they got a prompt response—even if it wasn’t an actual apology—the majority of customers either removed their negative comment or revised it with a positive addendum. So take a minute to acknowledge what was said; it's worth your time.

The customer doesn't need to be right every time, Dooley acknowledges: "But you'll almost never score points when arguing with a customer. You may win the argument, but you'll lose the customer."

Bottom line: Keep your cool and respond to customers promptly.

5. Tell a Good Story

Statistics are great. But you need people to pay attention to your numbers to help drive sales. Our brains are wired to process stories in a more engaged way, Dooley says: Brain scan work shows that when people read a story with a lot of action elements, their brains actually mimic the motions.

So whether you're citing case studies or designing ads or other promotions, draw customers in by weaving facts and favorable information into a story format. A great story can engage customers on a deeper level; this also increases word-of-mouth marketing. "In general some of your information should be in a story format to keep your reader engaged," Dooley says, "because if it's all facts and all statistics, you'll lose a lot of your audience."

Bottom line: Turn percentages and figures into a good tale to capture—and keep—your customers' attention.


http://www.inc.com/caitlin-berens/roger-dooley-brain-tricks.html

12 Ways to Attack Any Challenge

Stuck in a rut? Need to accomplish the impossible? Step right up. Here's how to get started.

Whenever I'm discussing a challenge—okay, fine, whenever I'm whining about a problem—my wife eventually interrupts and says, "Yeah, yeah. I get it. So what are you going to do differently?"

Her response would be fairly frustrating if she wasn't right. Discussing—okay, fine, whining—never helps. The only way to overcome a problem is to do something differently.

But there's no reason to wait until you're forced to make a bad situation better. There's a better approach. Why not be proactive and turn average into awesome?

Especially since it's easy: Just employ one of the Five As of Awesome. (Wait—did I just channel my inner Tony Robbins?)

All you have to do is pick one of the following things to do differently:

Accept

Be who you are. I would like to ride a motorcycle like this guy. Or climb like this guy. Or run a company like her. Or change the world like him.

I won't.

And, for the most part, I'm okay with that, since I can always be a better me. I can ride faster or climb better than I do now, and I can make a bigger difference in the lives of my family and friends.

Think about the people you admire and pick a few of their qualities to emulate, not their accomplishments.

You can't be them.

The cool thing is, they can't be you.

Let others be who they are. Your customers, your vendors, your suppliers... they aren't going to change. Don't expect them to.

Pick one source of frustration and decide what you will do differently, including, possibly, walking away.

When you stop focusing on negatives you may start to notice the positive qualities you missed. Rarely are people as bad as you make them out to be—and if they are, it's up to you to make whatever changes are necessary.

They won't.

Assist

Help an employee. Don't wait to be asked. Pick someone who is struggling and offer to help.

But don't just say, "Is there some way I can help you?" Be specific: Offer to help with a specific task, or to take over a task for a few days, or to work side-by-side.

A general offer is easy to brush aside. A specific offer not only shows you want to help, it shows you care.


Help a superstar. Counterintuitive? No way.

Compared to others, the best-performing people don't need help so they rarely get it. As a result they're often lonely, at least in a professional sense.

Offer to help with a specific task. Not only will you build a nice interpersonal bridge, some of their skills or qualities might rub off on you.


Help anyone. Few things feel better than helping a person in need. Take a quick look around; people less fortunate than you are everywhere.

For example, I conducted an interview skills seminar for prison inmates (after all, who needs to know how to deal with tough interview questions more than a convicted felon?) It only took an hour of my time and was incredibly rewarding.

Most of the prisoners were touchingly grateful that someone—that anyone—cared enough to want to help them. I got way more out of the experience than they did.

Analyze

Change measurements. Over time we all develop our own ways to measure our performance.

Maybe you focus on time to complete, or quality, or end result. Each is effective, but sticking with one or two could cause you to miss opportunities to improve.

Say you focus on meeting standards; what if you switched it up and focused on time to complete?

Measuring your performance in different ways forces you to look at what you regularly do from a new perspective.


Change benchmarks. If you develop apps it's fun to benchmark against, say, the success of Angry Birds. Setting an incredible goal is fine—if you don't aim high you won't reach high—but failing to hit a lofty goal can kill your motivation.

So choose a different benchmark. Look for companies or people with similar assets, backgrounds, etc. and try to beat their results. Then, after you do, choose another target.

Aim for the heights, but include a few steps along the way. The journey will be a lot more fun.

Approach

Go opposite. If you haven't reached a goal then what you're currently doing isn't working.

Instead of tweaking your approach, take an entirely different tack. Pick one goal you're struggling to achieve and try a completely different approach.

Sometimes small adjustments eventually pay off, but occasionally you just need to blow things up and start over.


Drop one thing. We all have goals. Often we have too many goals; it's impossible to do 10 things incredibly well.

Take a look at your goals and pick at least one that you'll set aside, at least for now. (Don't feel bad about it. You weren't reaching your goals anyway, so what's the harm in dropping a few?)

Then put the time you were spending on that goal into your highest priority. You can't have it all, but you can have a lot—especially when you narrow your focus to one or two key goals.


Change your workday. Get up earlier. Get up later. Take care of emails an hour after you start work. Eat at your desk.

Pick one thing you do on a regular basis, preferably something you do for no better reason than that's the way you always do it and therefore it's comfortable, and do that one thing in a different way or at a different time.

Familiarity doesn't always breed contempt. Sometimes familiarity breeds complacency, and complacency is a progress and improvement killer.

Adopt

Choose a new habit. Successful people are successful for a reason, and that reason is often due to the habits they create and maintain.

Take a close look at the people who are successful in your field: What do they do on a regular basis? Then adopt one of their habits and make it your own.

Never reinvent a wheel when a perfect wheel already exists.


Choose someone to mentor. I learn more when I teach than the people I'm trying to teach. (Hopefully that says more about the process of teaching than it does about my teaching abilities.)

When you mentor another person you accomplish more than just helping someone else. You build your network—and more importantly, you learn a few things about yourself.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/12-great-ways-to-turn-average-into-awesome.html

7 Ways to Screw Up a New Employee

Want that new hire to get off to a great start? Forget about following these nuggets of conventional wisdom.

Check out most advice about welcoming new employees to a company and you'll learn giving them plenty of time to "get comfortable" and "settle in" helps ensure they get off to a great start.

That, and long lunches with team members and plenty of water cooler small talk so they "get to know other employees as people."

Please.

The first few days of employment are critical. New employees are a lot like cruise ships: Once their course is set—especially if that course is the wrong course—it takes significant time and energy to change their direction.

Here are seven ways, in those first few days, that you can set the wrong course and screw up a new employee:

Play welcome wagon.
Strong interpersonal relationships, positive working relationships, lasting friendships... all those come later, if ever. You hire employees to work, not build personal relationships.

Absolutely be polite, courteous, and friendly, but also stay focused on the fact the employee was hired to perform a job--and jobs involve work. Let new employees earn the respect and friendship of others through hard work and achievement.

It's impossible to make good friends in a few days, but it is possible to hit the ground running. 

Train comprehensively.
Many training guides say providing a broad context for every task is critical for new employees.

Wrong: Initially, a new employee doesn't need to know how they fit into the overall operation. They need to know how to perform the tasks you hired them to perform. Leave the comprehensive overview approach for later, when they are better able to put their role into context.

Besides, people best learn to master complex tasks when those tasks are broken down into smaller, more manageable chunks. Teach specific processes and let new employees demonstrate mastery of those processes.

Then start to introduce a more comprehensive view of job functions and how those functions tie into other operations and efforts.

Think of it this way: How can you understand how your role fits into the broader organization when you don't even know your role?

Be slow to give feedback.

New employees are tentative, nervous, and tend to make mistakes; it comes with the territory. So it may seem harsh or unfair to correct or critique, but if you don't, you lose the opportunity to set the right tone.

Unless the job involves creativity, every task should have a right way or best way to be performed. Expect new employees to do things your way at first; bad habits are easily formed and very difficult to correct.

Fail to set immediate, concrete goals.
Successful companies execute. A new employee should complete at least one specific job-related task on their first day.

When they do, not only do you establish that output is all-important, new employees go home feeling a sense of personal achievement. Whole days spent in orientation are boring and unfulfilling, and they make the eventual transition to "work" harder.

Make each day a blend of orientation and real work.

Make them wait.
It's hard to coordinate new employee orientation and training. Supervisors, trainers, and mentors get delayed or called away. (After all, they have other jobs too.)

But when that happens what message have you sent? New employees who sit waiting—we've all been in that position and hated it—decide you don't value continuous performance.

My first day at one new job I was pulled out of orientation and sent to shipping to help load trailers. All hands were on deck, including the CEO, and I learned right away that job descriptions are important but the mission is everything.

Let them immediately modify processes.
Of course there is a better way to perform just about any task. Hopefully new employees will find better, faster, cheaper ways to perform their jobs.

In the first few weeks, though, a new employee should not be allowed to reinvent your wheel until they fully understand how your current wheel works.

Be polite, but ask them to hold their ideas for now.

Talk about empowerment.
Empowerment is a privilege. Empowerment is not a right. A new employee should earn the right to make broader decisions, to take on additional authority, or to be given latitude and discretion. Earned empowerment is the only valid empowerment culture.

Give new employees the tools they need to succeed. Then let them earn greater authority and privilege. Accountability and responsibility should always precede privilege.

Don't worry: Great employees will be eager to show they deserve your respect and trust.


http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/7-ways-to-screw-up-a-new-employee.html

5 Things Remarkable Bosses Never Do

I recently described what remarkable bosses do. A number of people emailed and asked, "That's a great list, but flip it around: What things should I not do?"

Glad you asked.

As a leader what you don't do can sometimes make as much or even more impact than what you do. Here are five things remarkable bosses never do:

Say, "I've been meaning to apologize for a while..."

You should never need to apologize for not having apologized sooner.

When you mess up, 'fess up. Right away. You certainly want employees to immediately tell you when they make a mistake, so model the same behavior.

If love means never having to say you're sorry, leadership means always having to say you're sorry.

Deliver annual performance reviews.
Annual or semi-annual performance appraisals are largely a waste of time.

Years ago my review was late so I mentioned it to my boss. He said, "I'll get to it... but you should know you won't hear anything new. You've already heard everything I will say, good or bad. If anything on your review comes as a surprise to you I haven't done my job."

He was right. The best feedback isn't scheduled. The best feedback happens on the spot when it makes the most impact, either as praise and encouragement or as training and suggestions for improvement. Waiting for a scheduled review is the lazy way out.

Your job is to coach and mentor and develop--every day.

Hold formal meetings to solicit ideas.
Many companies hold brainstorming sessions to solicit ideas for improvement, especially when times get tough.

Sounds great; after all you're "engaging employees" and "valuing their contributions," right? But you don't need a meeting to get input. When employees know you listen they bring ideas to you.

And if you must ask, the better way to ask for ideas is to talk to people individually and to be more specific. Say, "I wish we could find a way to get orders through our system faster. What would you change if you were me?"

Trust me: Employees picture themselves doing your job--and doing your job better than you--all the time. They have ideas. Sometimes they have great ideas. Be open, act on good ideas, explain why less than good ideas aren't feasible... and you'll get all the input you can handle without a formal meeting.

Create development plans.
Formal development plans are, like annual performance reviews, largely a corporate construct. You should know what each of your employees hopes to achieve: Skills and experience they want to gain, career paths they hope to take, etc.

So talk about it--informally. Then assign projects that fit. Provide training that fits. Create opportunities that fit.

Then give feedback on the spot. "Develop" is a verb. To develop requires action. "Development" is a noun that sits in a file cabinet.

Call in favors.
I know lots of bosses who play the guilt game, like saying, "Mark, I was really flexible with your schedule while your son was sick... now I really need you to come through for me and work this weekend."

Generosity should always be a one-way street. Be flexible when being flexible is the right thing to do. Be accommodating when being accommodating is the right thing to do.

Never lend money to friends unless you don't care if you are repaid, and never do "favors" for employees in anticipation of return.

Remarkable leaders only give. They never take.


http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/5-things-remarkable-bosses-never-do-thursday.html

6 Ways Successful People Stand Out

Substance trumps style in the long run. Here's how to make the kind of impression that lasts.

Bosses spend the vast majority of their time helping other people succeed: employees, customers, vendors and suppliers... the list goes on and on.

Helping other people succeed is your job, but it's also your job to focus on yourself, at least part of the time.

Why? Your success creates success for others--and success requires, at least in part, standing out from the crowd and being known for something.

Of course there are different ways you can stand out. For example, you can be like this guy.

Okay, maybe not.

There are better ways:

Be first, with a purpose.

Lots of business owners are the first to arrive each day. That's great, but what do you do with that time? Organize your thoughts? Get a jump on your email?

Instead of taking care of your stuff, do something visibly worthwhile for the company. Take care of unresolved problems from the day before. Set things up so it's easier for employees to hit the ground running when they arrive. Chip away at an ongoing project others are ignoring. Whatever you choose, do it consistently.

Don't just be the one who turns on the lights--be the one who gets in early and gets things done. The example you set will quickly spread.

Be known for something specific.

Meeting standards, however lofty those standards may be, won't help you stand out.

Go above the norm. Be the entrepreneur known for turning around struggling employees. Be the business owner who makes a few deliveries a week to personally check in with customers. Be the boss who consistently promotes from within. Be known as the person who responds quicker, or acts faster, or who always follows up first.

Pick a worthwhile mission and excel at that mission.

Create your own side project.

Excelling at an assigned project is expected. Excelling at a side project helps you stand out. The key is to take a risk with a project and make sure your company or customers don't share that risk.

For example, years ago I decided to create a Web-based employee handbook my then-employer could put on the company Intranet. I worked on the project at home and a few managers liked it but our HR manager hated it... so it died an inglorious death. Bummer. I was disappointed but the company wasn't "out" anything, and soon after I was selected for a high-visibility company-wide process improvement team because now I was "that guy."

The same works for a business owner. Experiment with a new process or service with a particular customer in mind. The customer will appreciate how you tried, without being asked, to better meet their needs, and you'll become "that guy."

Put your muscle where your mouth is.

Lots of people take verbal stands. Fewer take a stand and put effort behind their opinions.

Say you think a project has gone off the rails; instead of simply showing everyone how smart you are by pointing out its flaws and revamping the timeline, jump in and help fix it.

It's easy to criticize what's wrong or to talk about what should be changed or could be improved. The people who stand out are the ones who help do something about it.

Show a little of your personal side.

Personal interests help other people to identify and remember you. That's a huge advantage for a new business or a company competing in a crowded market.

Just make sure your personal interests don't overshadow professional accomplishments. Being "the guy who ran a marathon" is fine, but being "the guy who is always training and traveling to marathons so we can never reach him when we need him" is not.

Let people know a little about you; a few personal details add color and depth to your professional image.

Work harder than everyone else.

Nothing--nothing--is a substitute for hard work. Look around: How many of your competitors are working as hard as they can?

Not many.

The best way to stand out is to try to out-work everyone else.

It's also the easiest, because you'll be the only one trying.


http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/6-ways-successful-people-stand-out.html

How to Keep a Superstar Employee Happy

Can't offer extra money or a better title? You may not need either to get your top employee to stick around.

Dear Jeff,
One of my employees is outstanding, but I’m worried because I can tell she is starting to look for greener pastures. Unfortunately I don’t have much to offer her. What can I do?—Marcellus Fignon

Most businesses have “that” employee: smart, energetic, self-motivated, consistently outperforms peers, takes on formal and informal leadership roles, steps up when there's a challenge... forget an iPad 3, Apple needs to develop a cloning device.

But that employee is also hard to keep, especially if your business is small and your resources are limited.  She wants to advance, professionally and financially. That's a problem when you can’t promote her or pay her more.

You know other employers would snap her up in a heartbeat. What can you do?

Start by addressing the issue before she brings it up. Be honest. Describe how important she is to your business.  Explain why a raise is not possible. Discuss the current lack of openings. Most importantly, admit you know she has opportunities. Don't let that be an elephant in the room.

And never make promises or dangle the hope of opportunities that may not come through. You'll be tempted, but resist the temptation. Don't say, “In six months I feel there might be opportunities for promotion,” unless you absolutely know that is true. Don't say, “Next year I’ll definitely be able to give you a significant raise,” unless you absolutely know you will be able to.
When false hopes are unfulfilled, great employees are gone.

But don’t despair. More often than you might think, employees don't leave companies, they leave bosses. Outstanding employees are loyal employees. So be a great boss: Honest, loyal, and constantly seeking to improve the skills of your employees.

That’s the best way to keep great employees, even those who occasionally yearn for other opportunities.

Then keep creating informal opportunities that allow her to expand her skills and continue to shine. Ask about her long-range goals and create opportunities that will help her reach them. If she eventually wants to own her own business, that’s perfect—get her involved in everything.
If she’s smart—and clearly she is—she’ll recognize how valuable those experiences are.
Will that satisfy her, at least for a while? Hopefully so: I was once in a similar situation and it satisfied me. I was glad I stayed.

Just don't go overboard. All of your employees deserve development opportunities. Spread the wealth.

Great employees understand that other people deserve opportunities too.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-to-keep-a-superstar-when-you-have-little-to-offer.html

You Screwed Up. Now What?

We all make mistakes. It's how we handle them that makes the difference between a simple "Oops," and an epic fail.

It happens. We’re all human.

Everyone makes mistakes. It’s the way they’re handled that can mean success or failure to a business. Our team is no different. We work extra hard to fix problems quickly and earn back the trust of our employees or customers.

Not everyone is so conscientious. Take, for example, our soon-to-be-former payroll provider. Errors that could have been remedied quickly have now rolled into one huge epic fail.

Despite repeated requests for our year-end W-2s, they arrived 1) more than a week late, 2) ugly as hell, and 3) incorrect. Any of these would be horrible. But this was special. Our payroll report arrived accompanied by reports from other companies, complete with the social security numbers of their employees. The payroll provider missed both calls they had scheduled to discuss these errors with us, our names were frequently misspelled, and the payroll company placed blame on our employees for screw-ups in their process. Let’s say we’ve got a bit of an issue on our hands.

So, what should you do when you make a mistake?

1. Listen. The person you let down might need to get her disappointment or anger off her chest. Just listen. Don’t make excuses. Don’t interrupt. Don’t even try to respond right away. Listen. Let it sink in. If there’s a way to repair things, you’re hearing it right now, so pay attention.

2. Own it. You or someone on your team made a mistake. No finger-pointing. Fans of Pixar’s A Bug’s Life know Hopper’s first rule of leadership: Everything is your fault. Here, we call it falling on the sword. Sometimes, it’s the only thing you can do before starting to make it right. Be sure the person you’ve disappointed knows you understand the mistake belongs to you.


3. Be contrite. In our business we ask consultants, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be rich?” You will not convince someone of anything else when they feel they were wronged. You might be angry. You might be embarrassed. But what you need to show the person you let down is that you are contrite and humble. Everything and anything else will not make things better.


4. Make amends. You can offer to fix the problem or come up with perfectly good ideas about how you might patch things up. If the person wants a letter of apology to make things square, get them a personal note from a top executive. If they want a discount, do it and throw in something else they didn’t ask for. It’s the “little bit extra” that speaks volumes and may even strengthen the relationship in the long run.

Note: I’m not suggesting you let someone take advantage of the situation. There are real jerks out there. You can’t give them what they want if it’s completely unreasonable. Own the mistake, give a heartfelt apology, and extend a powerful “above and beyond” gesture.


5. Be careful. Just because you’ve made amends, don’t think everything is back to normal again. Be even more mindful of the wronged customer and go to great lengths to ensure your product or service exceeds their expectation. Until you get an unmistakably clear signal that all is well again, stay in the penalty box. And for goodness sake, spell his or her name correctly while trying to fix the problem.


6. Learn from it. Someone I respect says, “Always make new mistakes.” As long as you’re still a human you’re going to make mistakes, so get used to it. A true leader learns from mistakes and uses the experience to grow and change in positive ways. If you really come to understand the consequences of your mistake, then there’s a much better chance you won’t do it again.

Every mistake says, “We don’t give a damn about you,” unless you go above and beyond to prove that mistake was just that -- an extremely rare, sub-par event.

I wish I could tell you the payroll company followed these steps to repair the damage done by their errors. Heck, we’d be thrilled just to have accurate payroll, responsive account reps and our name spelled correctly on messages. I guess it’s time to find another payroll provider that will give a damn about us.

http://www.inc.com/rene-siegel/you-screwed-up-now-what.html