The One Word That Shouldn't Exist in an Entrepreneur's Vocabulary

No.
The one word the best entrepreneurs never accept.
I said it.
Now let me walk you through a broader story because avoidance of the word in and of itself will seem cliche. Stay with me.
When I was little I had a role model for entrepreneurship - my mom. She was a natural leader. She was president of the UJA in Sacramento. From this I saw civic involvement and leadership first hand.
She was a nurse but was never graduated from a four-year college. Still -- she can do the NY Times crossword puzzle better and faster than I. Even today.
She was a hustler. And a ball buster. And a natural sales person. She was never afraid of the word "no" even to the point of embarrassing me.
My youth was filled with her arguing with vendors if they tried to pull a fast one. As my wife will tell you -- arguing is cultural -- you grow up with it or you don't. I did. It's very Jewish. For better or worse. She's learned to embrace it in me. If a maitre d' tries to seat me at a table in huge traffic flow or a corner she knows not to bother sitting down.
My mom bought our family's first computer and encouraged me to learn it at 13.
She opened two businesses -- a bakery and then a restaurant. I worked in both before leaving to work in a software company at 17. I never knew a world in which you weren't supposed to work and make money. Even though my dad was a doctor and in retrospect I probably didn't need to earn my own money. My mom always taught me it was my responsibility to do so.
When I was younger my mom taught me something I never forgot:

"You don't ask, you don't get."

It's simple. I know. But it amazes me how many people don't really get it.
Here are two stories:
Story one: 
When I lived and worked in London my wonderful assistant was Deborah Halliday, who was raised a very "proper" British young lady. Her brother played rugby for the English rugby team and went to Oxford. That’s kind of like having a brother in the NFL in the US.
If there was any society in which being a hustler was out of step with the norm is was England. Yet I was a foreigner so I got away with being different.
I used to ask Deborah to book my travel plans in France and Germany were I went one to two times a month. There were online tools to book this stuff but the Internet booking sites were early.
I would tell Deborah, "I found this hotel near the Champs Elysees for 170 Euros. But I don't want to pay that much. Tell them I'll stay if they'll give it to me for 120 Euros."
"What? You want … what? Mark, you can't do that! You can’t just name your own price."
Me: "Of course, I can. Tell them you found a hotel down the street for 100 Euros but I prefer to stay at their hotel. Haggle. See what you can do."
Deborah was mortified. Bless her cotton socks. I put her outside of her comfort zone.
Me: "Deborah, you don't ask, you don't get! What’s the worst they can tell you? "No?" If so, we'll call back an hour later and pay 170 Euros. It's not like they're going to tell you 'no' in an hour. You might as well try!"
Classic Mexican Road strategy.
Here's the thing. They NEVER said 'no.' Such were the times. They weren't fully occupied.
She began to love it. It was liberating. I taught her to make it a game. I would challenge her to see how cheap she could get rooms. I can still hear her giggle at how ridiculous it was in her mind's eye. And yet how eye-opening it was that you could have almost anything you wanted. If you just asked.

Story two:
Fast forward. My son Jacob. He's now 10. When he was seven or eight, my wife used to sit down with him to do homework and train him in the importance of getting it done early and well. Luckily I have such a terrific and organized wife. Or Jacob would be screwed.
They sometimes did homework at Le Pain Quotidien. And if Jacob was good, he could get a treat.
Tania once took him up to the counter to pick out a treat. He pointed at a chocolate cake and told Tania he wanted a piece.
"No, honey. That's a whole cake. You can't have a piece. It's not cut. Why don't you find something else?"
Jacob: "Of course I can have a piece. Just ask them!"
Jacob has IJ. He knows to ask for what he wants. He is respectful. But he has an inner compass that instead of saying "O.k." to adversity he says "Why not?"
She had him ask the lady behind the counter directly. She said, "No problem."
My wife smiled and couldn’t wait to tell me the story.
My wife thinks Jacob's an over negotiator but she secretly loves it. I always take it as a compliment.
Both stories have something in common. Not being ashamed to ASK. As I tell people almost weekly, "What's the worst that could happen? That they would say 'no'?"
And I mean it. I promise you that 95 percent of the people I meet are afraid of people telling them no. They are personally embarrassed by it. Or insulted. Or view it as failure.
I'm told "no" all the time because I often ask for more than others do and therefore you need to be willing to hear "no."
I was on a flight last year from DC to LAX. I had a business class seat due to status of flying a lot and my family was in economy. I felt bad and was planning on rotating.
But when I sat down I asked if my family could upgrade since there were three open seats. I assumed the answer would be "no" but I figured I had nothing to lose.
The flight attendant said "O.k., but you’ll have to pay a small upgrade fee and I can't move them until after take-off." But move them she did. And she decided it wasn't really important to make me pay since the seats were unoccupied.
Score!
We had also just been upgraded from London to Baltimore.
Two times in a row--unreal. My wife was a bit incredulous (but grateful). I simply pointed out that our kids learned a more important lesson than the downside consequence of their expecting to always sit in business class (which isn’t going to happen!).
They learned to ask, "Why not?"
You don't ask. You don't get.
And here's the thing about "no."
I know first hand just how chicken people are about hearing it. I've sat through so many meetings where sales reps didn't ask for the order. I've been pitched by hundreds of entrepreneurs who never actually asked me whether I would invest. Very few people do.
Here's an experiment for you.
Hold interviews with tech people, marking people, ops people, finance people -- whatever. They always finish the interview with a "thank you" and barely ask next steps.
Any great sales person will ask you at the end of the meeting, "So, how'd I do? Who else have you spoken with? How do I stack up? What do I need to convince you of to get an offer? What is the next step in the process?"
Great sales people are trained to "ask for the order." If you interview a sales person and they don't ask for the order, be worried.
I like to flip things on their heads. I like to ask in reverse in interviews, "If we did get aligned to offer you this role, do you plan on accepting? What other offers do you have? What do we need to do to win? What steps do you still need before you decide to go with us?"
I want to know. And I have nothing to fear in the answer.
My favorite (not!) is dealing with lawyers (or VCs) who say, "As a firm, we never do a, b, c." Let me tell you now that often this line is BS. But my standard response is, "I don't care what you normally do. I think it's right for our situation. So unless you explain to me logically why it doesn't make sense at our company, my assumption is that it's a good idea."
In summary, I recommend some honesty with yourself. "Asking" is a skill that can be practiced and learned but you need to be self aware.
How comfortable do you feel with asking for the order? How confortable do you feel with asking awkward questions or asking for things that are out of the norm, "Could we have your room for 120 Euros so we don't have to stay down the road?"
If you don't find it within your confort zone - practice in small ways for asking for slightly unreasonable things just to get used to it. It's a skill you're going to need as an entrepreneur.
After all--you don't ask, you don't get.

http://www.inc.com/both-sides-of-the-table/mark-suster/one-word-that-shouldnt-exist-in-an-entrepreneurs-vocabulary.html

Don't Fix the Present, Create the Future

Creating an ideal future can often make present problems irrelevant. Here are five ideas to help you make your future fix-it free.

The title for this column came from a trusted mentor, author, and futurist Watts Wacker. I heard this at a conference in 1999, and as a mantra it's given me direction through every hardship, battle, and challenge. Sometimes it drives me to create major change, which can be uncomfortable, but it also allows me to look forward and shake off unproductive legacy thoughts and ideas that may hold me back from my preferred destiny.

My son graduates Georgetown University in less than 60 days. And as I look forward to his bright future ahead, it occurs to me that he luckily may not yet have too much of the present to fix. Still, with a tough job market ahead, he could use a few more tools to help him create a worthy future. And whether you are just beginning like him or on a rocky path to your desired success, here are five critical concepts you and he should master to get there.

1. Collect People Not Things
No question I am an individualist, but I totally appreciate those around me and am a much better collaborator than a solo artist. When times are tough, my network helps me cope, gives me guidance, and presents opportunities when I am ready. They also most importantly save me from myself when I'm not ready. These people are willing to sacrifice comfort to tell me the truth so I can be a better person. Our relationships are built on reciprocity.

Naysayers are constantly amazed at the ways unrelated people are willing to step up and help with resources, connections, insights, and most importantly their time. In good times we share opportunities and successes together. I respect these supporters by answering every communication, sharing freely and being open to learn from them. The people whom are closest are those who, when approached right, will move heaven and earth for my family and me because they know I would do the same.

2. Find the Economic Model to Do What You Love
There is an economic path in just about any direction. It's not always clear, but there is great joy in figuring out how to generate money from fun activity. I love to brainstorm and surface ways for turning new ideas into cash. Of course the path to get there may take a few years and you may have to do some real work to make it happen. (I define WORK as the things you have to do in order to do the things you LOVE to do.) But ultimately most skills and activity can lead to a decent living if properly applied and the material expectations are realistic.


3. Gain Through Giving and Gratitude
Little of my success today is my own. I have a circle of brilliant people who engage with me, challenge me, and help me grow. I do the same for them because a rising tide raises all boats. I work hard to make sure that I bring respect and value to every encounter whether I know the person or not. Because of this I have been blessed with many opportunities. It did not happen overnight. Today opportunities come as much from people I helped over a decade ago, as they do from recent contacts. Share your value. Give with confidence, strength, and appreciation. Then people will want to engage with you and create success together.

4. Put Your Ego in Your Wallet Where it Belongs

It took me decades to overcome my natural insecurities and stop focusing on achievement for achievement sake. I realized years ago that money while not innately good or evil, is a necessary resource to accomplish anything of significance. This lens helps me validate every opportunity and decision so that I am always heading down a path of independence and financial security. I really don't care if I am right or wrong. I am happy to be wrong if someone has a better way that will bring happiness and success faster and more sustainably. As my beloved Grandmother Ethel (RIP) always said: "I've been rich and poor. While there's no shame in being poor, I'd rather be rich."

5. Be Responsible for Your Own Experience
I don't understand people who need to blame. There are always factors outside your control. Everyone has hardships and opportunities. All people have choices to make. Certainly some are more advantaged than others. But ultimately success depends on how you define it and how willing you are to escape your own comfort zone to achieve it. It's the journey that matters since most never know when the end is coming. I choose to make each day an awesome experience so that I never look backward in regret. Then I can celebrate feeling one step closer to my desired future every day.

http://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/dont-fix-the-present-create-the-future.html

10 Skills You Need to Be the Next Great Entrepreneur

If you're not deemed management material, you never get your shot at the big-time. Period. You never get the chance to learn or hone those skills that will enable you to someday start your own business.

Unfortunately, a lot of people who might have turned out well never get the chance to find out or show their stuff. It's a bit of a Catch-22, I know. C'est la vie. There's just no way around it.

Even big-time entrepreneurs like Larry Page and Mark Zuckerberg had to learn how to be effective managers. If not, the companies they founded, the Googles and Facebooks of the world, never would have gone anywhere. I don't care how cool their innovations were.

Here are the skills and attributes that executives and business leaders look for in up-and-comers. If you've got some of them or can fake it well enough to convince the powers that be to give you a chance, you might be management material.

Seeing the big picture. When I meet someone who understands markets, how companies operate, how business gets done--who gets it--I think that guy's got potential. If, on the other hand, all you know and are interested in is your own little domain, that's all you're likely to see in your career.

Hunger to achieve. If you live to accomplish things, to make things happen so you can look back and say I did that or I was part of that, managers and recruiters will see it. They look for that sort of thing in up-and-comers. It helps, of course, to have the capability to deliver, but it's a great starting point.

Courage. Very few of us actually possess any meaningful amount of self-confidence when we're young for the simple reason that we haven't had enough experience, enough successes and failures, to develop confidence yet. But if you have the guts to at least act like you do, that's enough to get folks to believe in you and give you a shot.

Functional competence. Whatever it is you're going to be running, if people don't think you've got the expertise to do it effectively, forget it. These days, managers are expected to be the best at what they manage. The best engineers are usually tapped to run teams. The brightest finance minds become controllers. That's how it works.

Prioritization and tradeoffs. The real world isn't like what they teach you in school. Nothing is ever black and white or cut and dried. That's why so much of management competence is your ability to effectively prioritize and make tradeoffs. Make versus buy decisions. Zero based budgeting. Knowing what's critical and what to bump. Every management interview will have questions along those lines. Now you know why.

A motivator of people. Some folks just have this ability to get people moving in unison to accomplish a goal. They can explain things in ways that people understand, that resonate with them, that get them excited. You'd jump through hoops of fire for them. Well, maybe not that, but you get the point. They have executive presence. We say they're born leaders, but in reality, they're just skills we develop along the way.

Decision-making. If you ask 10 people what decision-making is all about, you'll get 10 different answers. Mostly you'll get vague notions about decisiveness and leadership. Decision-making isn't just about being decisive. You have to make the right decisions. That comes down to probing, listening, reasoning, and knowing when to trust your gut. Doing that well is the most important aspect of management, hands down.

Adaptability. We live and work in a fast-paced world. Managers have to be flexible, capable of adapting on the fly to changing conditions. If you can't adapt, you'll never last. You won't be able to face the obstacles that competitive markets throw at you and, not just persevere, but come out on top. And you won't be effective working with a diverse group of peers and executives, either.

Initiative. I became a supervisor in my teens, a manager in my twenties, and a senior executive of a midsized public company in my thirties. How did that happen? Mostly, it was initiative. I literally went out looking for the toughest and highest visibility tasks, stuck my neck out, and went for it. Senior executives love that sort of thing.

Top-down management style. Command and control style management isn't popular these days. Whatever. Call it what you want, getting things done is all about setting the right goals, determining how best to achieve them, and getting everyone executing like their lives depend on it. I call that top-down management. When you're young, we want to see you move heaven and earth and make things happen. There'll be plenty of time to smooth out your rough edges later.

http://www.inc.com/steve-tobak/10-skills-to-land-a-management-job.html

Want to Change the World? Be Resilient.

What's the difference between someone with a good idea and a person who can transform their ideas into real impact? To tackle the world's biggest problems, we need to be able to identify and support the people who are capable of creating lasting change. At Acumen Fund, we spend a lot of time trying to find and train aspiring and established leaders from around the world who have the right mix of talent, ideas, and passion.
And what we've found time and again is: Resilience matters most.
 
Resilient leaders have three key characteristics:

1. Grit: Short-term focus on tasks at hand, a willingness to slog through broken systems with limited resources, and pragmatic problem-solving skills.
2. Courage: Action in the face of fear and embracing the unknown.
3. Commitment: Long-term optimism and focus on big-picture goals.

I see these qualities in the Global Fellows who are selected to work with Acumen's investee companies across Africa and South Asia during a 12-month fellowship. These individuals bring exceptional skills and business expertise to their work. But that is not enough. It's their ability to dig deep, roll up their sleeves and immerse themselves in the unglamorous trenches of seemingly intractable problems while remaining focused on long-term goals that allows them to buck the status quo and deliver meaningful change.

Grit: Natalie Grillon, a former Peace Corps volunteer and recent MBA graduate, embodies grit. She's working in a remote area of war-torn Northern Uganda to develop an organic sesame business as part of Gulu Agricultural Development Company, which provides more than 40,000 smallholder farmers with access to international markets.

Overseeing a staff of 35 and a network of 50 buyers, Natalie wakes up each day determined to grow the business by training more farmers and improving their product quality. Some days she's holed up analyzing financials and others she's loading trucks for shipment. She has to be both an empathetic listener and stern director, often at the cost of not always being "liked" — a tradeoff she's accepted. She works 12-14 hours seven days a week and pushes through daily challenges and physical fatigue.

The sesame business is new to this part of Uganda and is already increasing the yields of more than 10,000 farmers, providing them with new income that can go to school fees or production tools. Farmers, who until recently lived in IDP-camps, now live lives of freedom, dignity and choice. For Natalie, the unrelenting pace of work and many headaches are worth it.

Courage: I recently visited with current fellow Jay Jaboneta, a social entrepreneur from the Philippines who is embracing the unknown in Pakistan. He's working with Pharmagen Healthcare Limited, a water-supply company that provides up to two million liters of clean, affordable water each month to low-income customers through water purification shops in Lahore.

By design, fellows are often pushed out of their comfort zone — required to live and work in regions or sectors that are unfamiliar. This was the case with Jay and, prior to his arrival in Pakistan, he was admittedly anxious about his safety as a foreigner in Lahore, his ability to integrate into a new culture without speaking the language, and stepping into a role that required him to learn how to market water products to BOP customers.

Jay has been able to excel in an environment filled with unknowns. He's currently launching a rebranding and marketing campaign to make clean water more accessible to low income consumers. Now part of the community, he's also learning Urdu one phrase at a time and speaks of dear friends and the doodh pati chai he's learned to make with them.

Commitment: Abbas Akhtar, an entrepreneur and software engineer originally from Pakistan, is fulfilling a promise he made to himself long ago: to return to Pakistan, after years in the US, and contribute to the country's long-term development. Abbas now works at Ansaar Management Company (AMC), a low-cost housing and management company that provides affordable housing to more than 30,000 people outside of Lahore.

Equipped with several years work experience at Apple, Google and an advanced degree from Johns Hopkins, Abbas could choose from any number of developed markets in which to live and work. But he chose his country of origin to fulfill his personal commitment. He readily admits it hasn't been easy to adjust to the frequent power outages, cold days and nights without reliable heat, and long road trips between projects, but he's more committed than ever to apply all that he can to AMC this year and Pakistan for years to come. And his commitment is already contributing to the growth and sustainability of AMC with the potential launch of two new community sites, which could provide 200 new homes to 1,000 BOP-customers.

While still early in their careers, Natalie, Jay, and Abbas exemplify the resilience it takes to drive lasting change on the ground. Above all, their experiences highlight not only what's needed to build new systems, but also, what's needed most to be a social impact leader.

And resilience can be trained. At Acumen, we focus on building not only the fellows' financial and operational skills, but also what we call "moral imagination", which requires balancing opposing values — humility and audacity — to see the world as it is and to imagine the world for what it could be. During their two-month training in New York, fellows spend time in the shoes of low-income customers accessing goods and services, honing their empathy skills; they prototype human-centered design projects with IDEO.org and create business model canvases, building strong listening skills to understand customers' needs. They develop deep self-awareness by challenging their perceptions about leadership and authority by using Cambridge Leadership Associates' Adaptive Leadership framework. Fellows draw on these experiential exercises to strengthen their resolve when facing challenges on the ground.

Too often we confuse management skills with leadership. We need to remain focused on building leaders who have the resilience to face stubborn problems head on for lasting social impact. The more we collectively define what it takes, the better we'll be able to identify and train this next generation.

 http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/02/want_to_change_the_world_be_resilient.html

4 Tips to Take Your Company to the Next Level

You've built a pretty good company. You're finally turning a modest profit. But now you seem to be stuck in a holding pattern. Have you reached your capacity or is there a way to take things to the next level?

That was the question facing Jacquie Berglund, founder and CEO of Finnegan's Inc. She'd started out in 2000 with a grand idea: create a local brand of beer and ale, and donate 100% of the profits to charity. "We do what Newman's Own does," she explains. The company was modestly profitable by its third year, and had donated a total of $150,000 to various charities by 2009. But that year, for the first time, revenues fell compared to the past. Berglund wondered if this was it or if there was a way to go from good to great.

Fortunately, one of Berglund's college friends was Buffie Blesi, a business coach and a franchise owner with AdviCoach, which provides counseling to small businesses. Berglund began meeting regularly with Blesi, and the two worked out a strategy to take a plateaued company to the next level:

1. Set specific long-term goals.
"We're creating a strategic plan that centers around her mission and then how to scale it," Blesi says. "What does she want to accomplish in two to five years? Next year? She sets quarterly goals and if there are obstacles, we spend time working through them."

Finnegan's revenues had hovered between $500,000 and $650,000 annually. Working with Blesi, Berglund set a long-term goal to increase that number to $1 million and to meet increasing goals for profits (and thus giving) as well. In 2011, the company gave away $45,000 and it's setting future goals at $100,000 per year and more. As of 2012, Finnegan's is Minnesota's fifth largest beer company.

2. Find a simple mission.
One problem for the business was not how much money it was donating, but how it was donating that money. "We were giving to dozens and dozens of very innovative programs that were working on poverty," Berglund says. But at the company's 10th anniversary celebration, as she tried to describe the difference Finnegan's had made, she found it was difficult to articulate. The company needed a more focused strategy.

Now, Finnegan's donates all its profits to a program that purchases produce from local farms and delivers it to food pantries. There are multiple advantages to this approach. It provides fresh fruit and vegetables to people who can't easily get them while supporting small farms in a tough economy. Also, Finnegan's can target its donations to specific locations, and can thus give back to the communities where its beer is sold, strengthening the connection between drinker and recipient. It's easy to track specific metrics--every $1 donated equals two pounds of produce--and that helps Finnegan's set financial goals.

Finally, because "turning beer into food" is an attractive proposition, Finnegan's is now able to form partnerships, for instance with a local pizza company that makes a donation for every large pie sold on a Monday, or a local liquor store that sells Finnegan's at cost. Some farms, too, are matching Finnegan's donation with additional donated food.

3. Get a simple message.
Now that Finnegan's had focused its mission, it was time for an equally focused message that would get the idea across quickly to the drinking public. "We connected with an ad agency and they created a visual that allows everyone to get it," Blesi says. The new Finnegan's graphic incorporates a shamrock with a halo floating above it and the slogan, "Here's to doing good."

4. Don't go it alone.
In order to meet its goals, Berglund knew Finnegan's would have to scale. Since the company uses a contract brewer, scaling production was no problem, but sales and administration presented more of a challenge.
"I was the sole employee until 2009," Berglund says. "I had bootstrapped and didn't have investment capital, and I was afraid to take the leap of hiring anyone else." Instead, she relied on the help of a network of volunteers. "With volunteers, we could only get to a certain level," she says now. "They were donating their time when they had time. We weren't optimized for growth."

So Blesi helped Berglund work through her fear of hiring by calculating how much additional revenue a salesperson could bring in. Today, the company has two sales representatives, a sales coordinator, and a volunteer coordinator who works with its volunteers. Berglund plans to hire two more sales reps in 2013.

Growing beyond a one-person company has not only helped Finnegan's reach donation goals, it's good for the company's long-term prospects as well. "Because Jacquie now has a team doing a lot of the work she used to do, visiting distributors and going door-to-door at restaurants and liquor stores--she can spend her time developing those relationships in the community," Blesi says. "That helps build beer sales."

http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/how-to-your-company-to-the-next-level-4-tips.html

5 Essential Skills of an Entrepreneur

Are entrepreneurs born, raised, or forged in the fires of tough business battles?

Like the more general nature vs. nurture debate, the question of the origins of entrepreneurialism will likely rage for years. But even if researchers can't claim to know exactly how to make an entrepreneur, the authors of a new study say they can at least weigh in on what defines the final product.

A team from Target Training International recently carried out an analysis that compared serial entrepreneurs with a control group, probing for which skills were essential to entrepreneurship. After combing through the data, "we were able to predict with over 90% accuracy people who would become serial entrepreneurs," Bill J. Bonnstetter recently claimed on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network.

So what are the fundamental traits of an entrepreneur? Target came up with five:

Persuasion. "The quality serial entrepreneurs displayed above others was persuasion, or the ability to convince others to change the way they think, believe or behave," writes Bonnstetter.

Leadership. Bonnstetter explains: "In this study, good leaders were defined as having a compelling vision for the future, i.e., surveyors who highly ranked prompts such as: 'In the past, people have taken risks to support my vision, mission or goals,' or 'I have been criticized for being too competitive.'"

Personal Accountability. "People who are personally accountable look at obstacles as a part of the process and, rather than give up, they are energized by them."

Goal Orientation. The researchers defined this as "energetically focusing efforts on meeting a goal, mission, or objective."

Interpersonal Skills. These skills are "the glue that holds the other four skills together," Bonnstetter explains. "They include effectively communicating, building rapport, and relating well to all people, from all backgrounds and communication styles."

Check out Bonnstetter's complete post for much more detail on these qualities and the study methodology.

In attempting to lay out the skills needed to be an entrepreneur, Bonnstetter and his team join a long line of commentators who have proposed various qualities as "key" or "essential" for entrepreneurial success.  Contenders include an ability to evolve, willingness to proceed despite a lack of resources, good old-fashioned discipline, and even intellectual humility (aka a willingness to look dumb).

 http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/5-essential-skills-of-an-entrepreneur.html

Top 5 Skills Every Leader Must Have

A few years ago, I saw a video by a Harvard professor on competences for adapting to a changing world. Frankly, it was embarrassing. It was the biggest load of pseudo-intellectual garbage I’d ever heard.
Still, the world is changing. It’s becoming a more complex place. I guess that’s always been the case, but the rate of change appears to be accelerating. Given that’s the case, then what are the real capabilities will people need to distinguish themselves--to become the leaders, the innovators, the success stories of a new age?

Fortunately, as a veteran of the high-tech industry, I’ve known and worked with some of the most capable and accomplished folks around. Here are five competences that not only set them apart, but are becoming more and more important all the time. No, they’re not new-age business school jargon. Some aren’t even new. But what’s important is that they work.

1. Drown out the noise.
We live and work in a world that’s so overloaded with information, communication, and gadgets that fighting that irresistible and constant tug to text, tweet, and check our email is becoming harder and harder all the time. That trend is not likely to change anytime soon.
Ability to focus and prioritize has always been critical to success in just about any field, but these days, managing distraction and not succumbing to its addictive qualities has become remarkably challenging for even the most disciplined among us.
Make no mistake. If you can’t focus, you can’t get things done. And if you can’t get things done, somebody else will.

2. Recognize the bullsh*t.
When you question assumptions, claims, and viewpoints instead of just accepting them as gospel, as in "I saw it on the internet so it must be true," that's called critical thinking. It’s fundamental for smart decision-making. And that, in turn, is key to being successful at just about anything.
The concept dates back thousands of years to Socrates and Buddha's teachings. If you question conventional wisdom, challenge the status quo, and avoid collectivism and groupthink, you’re in good company. They’re all facets of the same concept.
Here’s the thing. There’s so much garbage out there in the cloud, in social media, in blogs, on TV, in self-help books -- you name it -- that your ability to question what’s real and what isn’t, to reason logically and not generalize from a single data point, is more critical today than ever before.
And, in time, the world is only going to become more and more complex and, that’s right, full of stuff.  

3. Be more than an avatar. 
It’s ironic that, with all the hoopla over personal branding, self-expression, and the “Me” generation, I find that people are becoming more and more like internet avatars every day. In other words, there’s a tendency to hide behind our own social media creations. To become sound bites personified.
More than ever, we need a sense of humility and self-awareness to remind us that we're flesh and blood humans. That we’re not always the insanely great business leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, partners, parents, whatever, that we hold ourselves out to be.
Not only that, but the sheer volume of noise and time we waste on mindless distraction makes it that much harder to stay in touch with ourselves, to be quiet and reflect on what’s going on inside, to understand what our emotions are trying to tell us.
And don’t even get me started on political correctness, that insidious worldwide trend that dumbs us all down to the lowest common denominator so no single individual is ever left out or made to feel uncomfortable or, God forbid, offended.
In a world of indistinguishable lemmings, where everyone tries to be different and, in so doing, ends up behaving exactly like everyone else, those who are genuine and self-aware will have a big advantage.

4. Truly connect with people.
Communication has always been the means by which great leaders achieve great things. But these days, communication occurs in sound bites, status updates, text messages, and tweets of 140 characters or less. More and more, communication is one-to-many, not one-to-one.
The problem with that is it’s mostly superficial and nobody’s got time to pay attention to even a tiny fraction of all the gigabytes being blasted at them every day.
As for all the online social networking we do, none of it’s even fractionally effective when compared with a simple real-time discussion or meeting.
Sure, the ability to write and speak effectively is perhaps more important today than ever before. But if you have that unique ability to listen and really hear what people are saying, to empathize, to really relate and truly connect with folks, then chances are you’ll be writing tomorrow’s success stories.

5. Get things done.
The idea that successful executives, entrepreneurs, and business leaders are typically driven by high aspirations is nothing but a popular myth. Most of those people didn't get to where they are by walking around with their heads in the clouds. They got there by putting one foot in front of the other and getting stuff done.
If they’re not motivated by grandiose dreams, then what does drive successful people? It’s usually one of three things: their job and a strong sense of personal responsibility, out of necessity to put food on the table and a roof over their family’s heads, or to bring a product to market they think is cool and that people might actually want or need.
Regardless of the reason, they get people working toward a common goal. They deliver the goods. They get the job done. They satisfy the needs of their customers. And in so doing, they take care of their families and stakeholders. That’s how things work in the real world.
These days we have more rhetoric, debate, analysis, studies, theories and research than ever before. We have more grandiose ideals than ever before. We have more rules and regulations than ever before. The challenge to get things done has never been greater and the need for leaders with that capability has never been more imperative.
That’s what I think you and your children will need to adapt to a changing world. Now, what do you think?

http://www.inc.com/steve-tobak/5-leadership-skills-you-must-have.html

5 Surefire Ways to Piss Off Customers

We’ve all had customer service nightmares that never should have happened. I don’t know about you, but I’ve come to expect that sort of thing from big companies like AT&T and Best Buy. Don’t even get me started on insurance and power companies.

What really gets me is when small businesses shoot themselves in the foot by screwing up in ways that have nothing to do with their core products or services. Let me be blunt about this. These days, customers have nearly limitless choices. If you think you can get away with subpar customer service, logistics or any other function that impacts your customer’s experience with your brand, think again.

What’s sad is that there’s just no excuse for it. E-commerce and automation solutions make it easy for small companies to operate like the pros. There are all sorts of choices for outsourcing noncore functions to professional firms that get things done like clockwork. And there’s never been a better time to hire good people at competitive wages who would kill for a decent job.

Is it any wonder that you can pick just about any market and find one company that consistently gets things done right while a nearly identical competitor can’t manage a single flawless transaction?

Since I know you don’t want to be in the latter category, here are five common pitfalls that every business should avoid like the plague.

1. Fail to deliver. With all the great logistics services available from the likes of UPS and FedEx, there’s simply no excuse for failing to deliver product to a customer as promised. And yet, it happens all the time. Either the tracking information is wrong, they deliver the wrong product, they show up on the wrong day, or they don’t show up at all.

2. Waste your customer’s precious time -- and test their patience. How much time do you spend on the phone or online just trying to figure out what’s gone wrong and get it taken care of? And you never seem to get a straight answer until you’ve asked to speak with whoever’s in charge or threatened to take your business elsewhere.

3. Create problems out of thin air. Let’s face it. Not all customers are fun to deal with. And since I have the attention span and patience of a two year-old, I could never deal with the general public. Still, you’d think companies could do better than having customer service people who are like crazed lunatics that went off their meds.

4. Ignore feedback (or make it hard to give it). In the age of Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp, you’d think companies would clue in to the fact that, if they don’t take feedback to heart or make it easy for customers to get in touch with them, they’re going to get eviscerated in a very public way, which is never a good thing. And yet, some companies make it nearly impossible for you to contact them directly.

5. Hamstring employees. The most important thing I learned in quality training back in the 80s was that 90 percent of all problems are management problems. If anything, the real number’s actually higher. So most of the problem situations we attribute to individuals on the front line are actually caused by bad management and flawed processes. Go figure.

Now, here’s an example of how one small business somehow managed to nail four of the five pitfalls--in a single transaction.   

A winery uses a boutique next-day service for wine club deliveries. The service notified me that they’d be delivering on a Monday. Since it’s wine, they needed an adult signature. I was there. They weren’t. Three days later, they supposedly attempted delivery and said nobody was there. But I was there. All day.
I’ve probably gotten wine deliveries from a hundred wineries via UPS and FedEx over the past 20 years.
Never had a problem.

So, there’s a problem with this little delivery service, right? Not so fast. The wine club director wasn’t buying it. First, she made excuses for why the delivery never went out on Monday and then questioned the authenticity of my story, saying, “Why would a delivery service make something up?” Yup, she really said that.  

Furthermore, she insisted I provide an alternative address where an adult would be around to sign for the delivery. I asked to speak with whoever’s in charge, and she said, “That’s me.” So I cancelled my club membership and sought a way to contact the winery owner, but there was none. So I posted on Yelp and called it a day.

For all I know, the owner is the problem and the seemingly shrill, agitated wine club director was caught between a dumb boss, a bad delivery service, and a customer. I doubt it, but you never know. In any case, that’s one winemaker whose product I can probably live without. Which is sad because, well, he made pretty good wine.

Don’t let that happen to your business.

http://www.inc.com/steve-tobak/5-screw-ups-that-can-kill-your-business.html

26 Lessons from a 26 Year Old CEO

On April 25th I turned 26, and a few weeks later my web marketing agency turned two. What started as a single person mini-business, has turned into a 27 person global web marketing firm in just two short years. I’ve been immensely grateful for the opportunities life has presented me with. And, as I look forward to the future, it would only be fair to look back as well.
Here are 26 lessons I have learned as a young entrepreneur and CEO:

 
1. A written vision of what you want your company to look like in 3 years is important. The pen (or keyboard!) has power. It isn’t enough to envision your goals in your mind. You must have a blueprint on paper. Every decision you make, ask yourself: does this help me get closer to my vision?
2. Learn to listen to your clients. When we started, we were only offering social media consulting services. But, clients quickly demanded more. We eventually ended up serving as their web marketing department. The marketplace will tell you what it needs. You have to listen, and then deliver.
3. Half the job is keeping up. The pace of technology will only continue to quicken. It doesn’t matter what your industry is, you have to keep up in order to constantly leverage it for your business.
4. Always think in terms of value — not price. Always judge based on the value something or someone brings to the table. Price is arbitrary.
5. Only hire people who have fire. This is especially true if you are running a small to medium sized business. In a large corporation, there is room for many types of personalities and people. In a smaller business, passion is a must in every position. Hire people who are driven to do well and see your business succeed.
6. If you must fire, be graceful and professional about it. This is hands down the worst part of being a CEO. It is tough to let people go, but for the greater good of the business, sometimes it must be done. It doesn’t matter if you are firing or being fired, don’t burn bridges.
7. Learn to forgive. Things happen. People change. You can’t move forward in business — or in life — if you can’t forgive and move on.
8. Cash flow is crucial. This is especially true in a recessionary economy, and if you are growing quickly. Work with clients to get payments upfront.
9. Balance is overrated. Aim for joy. When work is fun, you don’t feel the need to take as many breaks. Balance in today’s world looks very different than it did just 20 years ago. Embrace it.
10. Don’t underestimate the power of PR. The power of the press may now be in more than just the hands of journalists (umm…social media, anyone?). Learn to be a friend to the press.
11. Treat your team well. People will follow a leader who treats them with respect. Learn to value your team’s input, and always reward them for a job well done.
12. Focus is the most underrated skill that you must master. 90 percent of the time, what is on your computer screen is not resulting in a positive ROI. Learn to focus on what truly matters in your business. Then, do it consistently.
13. Multitasking doesn’t mean greater productivity. Don’t put “good multitasker” on your resume. Numerous studies have shown that multitasking decreases brain power.
14. Age isn’t just a number. Age does matter. Managing a Gen Y employee is different than managing a baby boomer.
15. Appearances matter. I just interviewed an intern who showed up in an outfit more appropriate for an 8 a.m. class. I had to wonder how he would represent us in front of clients. Whether we like it or not, appearances matter. Dress appropriately.
16. Learn to view situations objectively. Just because you would or wouldn’t do something, doesn’t mean others are the same way.
17. Life is short, and very easy to take for granted. Sounds like something you’d read in a self-help book, but true nonetheless. Life is temporary, and the only thing that matters at the end of the day is how you treated those around you.
18. Pets make the workplace better. I propose that every office should have a mascot. Ours is a little Maltese-Poodle mix named Snoopy. No day is a sad day.
19. A support network is crucial. As much as you try, you can’t do it alone. Building a personal and professional support network is imperative.
20. Give luck its due. Luck has played a huge part in my life. I don’t deny it. I am just grateful for it.
21. Hard work is a given. Struggle doesn’t have to be. I’ve learned that there is always work that will need to be done. The task list is never complete. So, just enjoy it!
22. It IS lonely at the top. And, yes, the view & the food are both amazing.
23. Ignore the trolls. They like the power the anonymity of the internet gives them. Don’t pay them any attention.
24. Be picky when choosing your friends. My friend list (and I don’t mean Facebook) is short. Surround yourself with people who inspire you.
25. Karma exists in business and in life. The old adage says “what goes around, comes around.” The older I get, the more I see this being true. Think twice before you act.
26. Being a CEO means being a CVO. CVO stands for Chief Value Officer. Always ask yourself: How can I create value for our clients? Our prospects? Our internal team? The answers will guide you to building a better company.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/yec/2011/07/25/26-lessons-from-a-26-year-old-ceo/

10 ways to make your business more efficient

Takeaway: If your business isn’t taking off — or worse, if it’s going downhill — it’s time to look for inefficiencies that may be plaguing your systems and practices. If your business isn’t running at top efficiency, you’re failing. In today’s world of instant access, social networking, and constant connection, working with inefficient systems and software could quickly lead to a series of micro-fractures that can bring your company to its knees. Though you may not see it happening at first, at some point the failure will become obvious. To avoid this, your company must be working at peak efficiency. But when you’re already deeply embedded in your systems, software, and managerial practices, how can you retool your company for a more efficient environment? Here are 10 tips that can help.

1. Don’t expand too quickly
I’ve seen this happen many times. Businesses start seeing dollar signs and think that the bigger they get, the better their bottom line. Those dollar signs blind them to the fact that expanding too quickly means the proper systems and training can’t be put into place. When you’re small, your workflow is designed accordingly. If you expand too quickly, you can’t properly adjust workflow, the systems that support workflow, or the employees who must manage the workflow.

2. Don’t employ technology until it is thoroughly tested and understood
This is another issue I have not only witnessed but have fallen victim to. Companies are often seduced by the idea that a piece of software or hardware will make their workflow infinitely easier. A PR-pro can easily sway them with numbers and user quotes. But you can’t always tell whether that piece of software is well suited for your needs and staff. If you’re thinking about new tech, get a demo of it and test it before you buy it or insist your employees start using something that will, in the end, cause serious inefficiencies.

3. Don’t make technology decisions unless you have considered the users
I’ve been on both sides of this coin, and I know how frustrating this can be. There are users within your company who, in many ways, know how things work better than you. They’re in the thick of the workflow every day. Those people need efficient tools and systems in place if they have any chance of getting their jobs done. If you’re about to pull the trigger on a technology decision, make sure you have discussed this decision with those it affects.

4. Make communication a crucial component
One of the last aspects addressed within business is communication. When communication is poor, work is inefficient. Period. Communication could be as simple as an open door policy or as complex as a content management system designed to ensure every single piece of work is documented. Regardless of what you do, place the highest priority on communication. Make sure staff can easily communicate with their fellow workers. Make sure the company can communicate with clients. The second communication fails, efficiency fails.

5. Use secure and reliable technology
There are times I have been on the receiving end of technology that simply doesn’t work. When I work within an office, I make sure I can use a Linux box for the majority of my day because I’m far more efficient with that platform than any other. When you deploy technology, make sure it is secure and reliable. Having to work with unreliable software (or hardware) is one of the prime reasons people can’t get their work done. Viruses, malware, underpowered hardware… it all adds up.

6. Prepare for disaster
It doesn’t take a natural disaster to bring down your business. A break-in, dead server hardware, a disgruntled employee — many issues can cause a company disaster. Unless you have an effective means of dealing with disaster, you will be dead in the water until the ship is righted. And even after the ship is righted, it may take awhile to get workflow back up to speed. Make sure your disaster plan continues through getting hardware back up and running and getting users working productively again.

7. Don’t create redundant management tiers
Micromanaging is bad enough. But when you add redundant layers to management, you wind up with too many cooks in an already complicated kitchen. Those managers can often wind up in a war of egos, causing further roadblocks to efficiency. Make sure your chain of command isn’t clogged to the point of confusion and paralysis. If you expect efficiency from your staff, make sure the managers above them can also work in an efficient manner.

8. Don’t give your employees more work than they can handle
You know when an employee quits and you dump their work on another employee, thinking you’re going to save a dollar? That is one of the single worst roadblocks to efficiency you can put in play. Once employees reach a certain saturation with duties, their efficiency drops exponentially. If you don’t overload your employees, you should be able to expect efficient work from them.

9. Have a sufficient network pipe to handle your network load
How can your staff possibly work efficiently if you have insufficient or unreliable data pipes? With a constantly clogged pipe, your staff won’t be getting much done. As a remote engineer, I have experienced plenty of instances where a data pipe was either too slow to do my job or a network connection was dropped. This is one of those issues that’s simple to resolve: Just upgrade your pipe. Don’t let those things that are easily controlled caused problems.

10. If an employee has an idea for a more efficient way of handling a task, listen!
Sometimes, those whose job titles don’t start with the letter “C” might come up with a brilliant idea. Not only will you benefit from that great idea, but employee morale will get a nice bump from the understanding that you trust and respect your staff. Besides, those staff members are the ones who actually have to do the bulk of the work — they probably have some killer ideas on how to improve it.

Other tips?
Efficiency should be one of your top priorities if you want your business to thrive and grow. Without efficient systems in place, each phase of growth will only cause more issues, perpetuating the cycle of inefficiency. Take a close look at your company. If you can honestly say that everything was designed and built for the most efficient workflow, you’re already miles ahead of your competition. Have you experienced inefficient practices and environments with your own work? What suggestions would you add to this list?

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-ways-to-make-your-business-more-efficient/3499

Choose a Great Name For Your Company: 3 Tips

When I started my business, my husband and I decided to name our company after something that resembled our clientele: exotic, bold, and beautiful. That's why--among other sentimental reasons--we decided to name it The Orchid Boutique. Looking back, this was probably a mistake. We've had a harder climb when it comes to branding because the name is not immediately associated with our product--luxury swimwear and accessories for women. I'm reminded of this every time someone asks me if we sell flowers.
Here's what I've learned about naming your business:

You have two options: Name it something relevant or something extremely catchy
Most smart entrepreneurs go with the straightforward option and name the business something relevant to their industry or goal. "Charity:water" is a great example. It doesn't get more straightforward than that. Often times this will give you the easiest and more fireproof way to brand your business: Just utter its name.
Often times, however, companies with bigger budgets will make up a cool-sounding non-word that's extremely catchy. "Squidoo" and "Piperlime" are examples of that. I personally like this option better. It's more of an uphill climb to brand your company, but worth it when you get there.

Follow the KISS rule: Keep it short and simple
I cannot even begin to describe the issues we've had by having such a long name (and hence URL) attached to our company. It's hard to pronounce, and it's hard to remember. Don't make our same mistake. Stay short, stay simple, stay close to your idea. Ten letters or less is ideal. You want people to be able to retain the name and concept after just a glance.

Choose a font that can be easily translated into a big, eye-catching sign
Assuming the risk of being generic or boring with your logo, you may want to think closely about the repercussions of choosing a font that may be hard to incorporate into a big LED sign--a sign that one day will be at the forefront of your expanding locations. Our original logo had a cursive and thin font, and we had great difficulty trying to find around for a sign company that wouldn't butcher the aesthetic feel of it. We finally decided it would be in our best interest to change the font to one that could be reproduced more easily, lending itself to LED lighting (or any other type of lit sign) in the future.
If you are--like most of us--a typical business owner with no outside funding, most potential consumers won't know about your company until they've had exposure to it. You want them to know what you're about as soon as they read your name. Take it from someone who learned the hard way.

http://www.inc.com/mayra-jimenez/choosing-a-great-name-for-your-company.html

The Upside of Inefficiency

In the last few days, I've heard New York City described as a tale of two cities: one city of people who were drastically impacted by Hurricane Sandy, and another of those who were merely inconvenienced by it.

I am fortunate: I live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which was minimally affected. Our kids were out of school for several days but we never lost power and our apartment suffered no damage. We also own a car, which we filled with gas the night of the storm, "just in case."

So when we received several emails announcing an effort to collect and deliver supplies to some hard hit neighborhoods, we were prepared to help.

By the time I arrived at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, its lobby was piled high with clothing, food, toys, toiletries, blankets, flashlights, and other necessities, all packed in black garbage bags. There were people to sort, people to pack cars, and a leader who was sending people to designated distribution spots in the hardest hit areas.

They had already sent a hundred cars filled with supplies and by the end of the day, they sent over a hundred more.

Isabelle and Sophia, my two oldest children, joined me to take part in the distribution effort. It took volunteers about 60 seconds to fill our minivan and send us on our way to Staten Island.

Then I got a call from a friend who told me not to go to Staten Island. The distribution centers were full, he said. Go to Far Rockaway instead.

Several hours of traffic later, when we got to Far Rockaway, the distribution center was already maxed out. So we went to a church we heard was acting as a distribution center. Again, we were turned away — they had as many supplies as they could handle. We found a third, bigger distribution center but were turned away again.

As we slowly drove through Far Rockaway looking for distribution centers, we witnessed devastation of a kind I have never seen. Entire blocks of houses destroyed by fire, with only the front steps standing, leading to charred rubble. Sand and debris — including entire boats — strewn on the streets, left by receding waters. And mounds of discarded wood, furniture, toys, even walls piled high at the curbs for the sanitation department to pick up.

I simply could not believe that the people in these neighborhoods had all the supplies they needed. And yet, here we were, a car filled with supplies but without a distribution center to give them to.

That's when I realized the problem: All this coordination was invaluable — to a point. It got our car to the right place, filled with the right things. But now? The coordination was getting in the way.

I can't quite explain the enormity of this mind shift except to say that with this realization I shifted from an employee to an entrepreneur. I stopped doing what I was told to do and started doing what I saw needed to be done.

So we drove down a random street where we found a number of people clearing debris from their houses.
That's where we met Mike and Kelly. Their just re-finished basement had flooded to the ceiling like a pool, the water level rose so high it completely submerged and totaled their two cars and, after three asthma attacks from all the dust, they finally sent their son to stay with his grandmother in Westchester.

Yes, they told us, we could really use your supplies. And so could others on this street. So we all worked together to unload our car onto Mike's porch where he said he would distribute things to his neighbors.
Mike and Kelly described the night Sandy came, the loud bang when the water broke through the basement wall. Kelly took the time to teach my kids about the ocean and the bay — how the water came from both sides and flooded everything. She talked about how they were sharing food with neighbors and trying to help each other in the clean up. And she gave my kids way more leftover Halloween candy than I approved of.

As I heard about Mike and Kelly's devastation as well as their courage, I felt the blessing of the organizational breakdown.

Without coordination, I never would have gotten to Far Rockaway with a minivan full of necessities. But had it all worked smoothly, my kids and I would have given it all to a nameless bureaucracy and never would have met Mike and Kelly and heard their story. And they would never have met us or had the opportunity to tell us their story.

New York City is not two cities; it's eight million cities. This hurricane affected each one of us in a particular way. And to reach across the darkened neighborhoods, debris-strewn streets, and waterlogged houses to hear those stories is a critical — and inspiring — step in this recovery.

Yes, food and clothing and blankets are necessary for survival. But so are the conversations, connections, and sense of community that come from real people sharing with other real people.

Those are things we're losing as we distance ourselves from each other in large organizations and efficient modes of communication — as our digital lives overwhelm our in-person ones. We don't have to lose them — after all, organizations are made of people. But the more we act like employees, operating to get the job done as efficiently as possible, the less human we become.

Sharing supplies and stories with neighbors is inefficient. Maybe Mike and Kelly will end up with things on their porch that they can't use and can't give away. Maybe they weren't the people who needed the supplies the most.

But our trip to Far Rockaway helped me see the usefulness of that inefficiency. How much better is it for a neighborhood when one neighbor tells the others to come to his front porch and take what they need instead of signing up for necessities through a distribution center?

At first, I'm embarrassed to admit, I'd had the thought: What if they keep it all for themselves? That's precisely the mistrust that leads to — and emerges from — impersonal bureaucracies.

The truth is, maybe they will keep it all for themselves.

But I doubt it. Mike and Kelly are good people; that was clear from way they treated me and my kids. As soon as we arrived at their house, Kelly offered us some of their limited supply of bottled water. They'll take what they need and share what they can.

As we drove back home late that night, we felt great. Not just because we helped out a neighborhood that could use the help. And not just because we tapped into our entrepreneurial initiative, which we were proud of. But because we met Mike and Kelly and connected with them.

That, it turns out, is the upside of inefficiency.

http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2012/11/the-upside-of-inefficiency.html

6 Things Extraordinarily Successful People Do

You have great ideas and you're passionate about them. So where's your path to great success? Let these golden rules of successful entrepreneurs guide you.

A successful entrepreneur can be defined and measured by a number of different standards. But an extraordinary entrepreneur possesses qualities and strengths that make them stand out from the crowd.

They build on life's lessons, rather than resent and resist them, and they demonstrate a keen wisdom, often beyond their years. Perhaps they are shrewd in the boardroom--but these extraordinary entrepreneurs also follow their hearts. And for that, they are rewarded in many ways, including wealth. Yet they remain accessible, grateful, and committed to their vision.

Here are six qualities that I see in the extraordinarily successful entrepreneurs I coach. How many do you possess?

1. They face their fears.
Entrepreneurs who are living their dream have learned not only the strategic maneuvers that take their businesses into six and seven figures (and beyond), but also have honed the character strengths associated with leadership and success. One of those strengths is the ability to identify and work through internal barriers. Those barriers include fear.
These extraordinary people know that it's not a lack of funding, or any other external circumstances, that prevent growth. They know the only true limits are one's own limited beliefs, and the fears associated with them.
The extraordinary entrepreneur is able to set aside ego. He explores his fears, and successfully either releases them or move forward in spite of them.
Bonus tip: If you are stuck, the reason probably lies within you.  Find a coach, peer, or mentor to help you identify the sticking point and work on it.
 
2. They don't do it all alone.
Sure, we all think we are great at delegating. Buth, honestly, how many of you will admit to being control freaks about your business?
You've heard it before; successful people surround themselves with smart and resourceful people.  Great employees, advisors, mentors, and coaches are crucial to success. Extraordinarily successful entrepreneurs listen as others express their opinions and advice and are able to trust other reliable people to carry out parts of the mission.
Bonus tip: Begin small; outsource administrative and book keeping tasks. Surround yourself with supportive, brilliant people and read up on the leaders whom you most admire.
 
3. Extraordinary entrepreneurs are willing to change directions for the greater good.
An entrepreneur is at the helm of her company and understands the need to change course from time to time. Determination is an admirable quality. Stubbornness is not. Extraordinarily successful entrepreneurs know that ideas change shape; the end result may not be exactly as originally intended. Sometimes an entrepreneur's knowledge and experience simply doesn't match that of an advisor or even a senior-level employee. The extraordinary entrepreneur will set their ego aside and embrace input from someone whose expertise exceeds his own.
Bonus tip: Listen to your customers. Your products and services must change with the demands and desires of the consumer. You may believe that the produce you are rolling out is perfect just the way it is, but others may have a different idea. Be flexible and open-minded about change.
 
4. They aren't afraid to fail often--and fail quickly.
There's a big difference between entrepreneurs who see failures as missed opportunities and those who see them as learning experiences.
Extraordinary entrepreneurs quickly let go of any guilt or blame associated with loss. They are strategic about the next move and have a recovery plan in place. They also know how to mitigate risk.
Bonus tip: When you have an idea, explore its viability and hop on it. Launch a limited version of your idea and see where it goes. Learn from the experience and listen to feedback.
 
5. Extraordinary people are authentic. They stay true to their values.
Our values guide us through decisions. They also get us through the difficult times. Extraordinary people understand that their most important values dictate their corporate culture and assist them in developing their "why" (what I call the "vision beyond the vision").
Our values drive our passion. They remind us of why we are committed to the process. Extraordinary people are clear on their top values and develop a corporate culture that honors those values.
Bonus tip: Consider the qualities and experiences that are most important for you. Identify your top values and live by them. When you are out of sync with your desires, revisit those values. They are a roadmap leading to success and happiness.
 
6. They give generously of themselves.
Recently I reached out to an author I've admired for many years. When I e-mailed his assistant, I hardly even expected a response.
What I got was a 90-minute phone call with my virtual mentor. He not only shared his wisdom and answered my questions, but he inquired about my life and business as well. And he listened. In fact, he acted as though no one else existed in the entire world during our time together.
Extraordinary people want to help others become successful. They don't show envy; rather, they demonstrate pride and admiration for others who achieve their dreams.
Bonus tip:  Learn from teaching others. Find opportunities to share what you know without imposing your beliefs on others. Give from the heart, with no strings attached. This act alone breeds success.

http://www.inc.com/marla-tabaka/6-things-extraordinarily-successful-people-do.html

The 3 Real Reasons for Business Success

If you're like most people, you probably think business success is the result of innovative products, strong financial backing and long work hours.
But you'd think wrong.

Most successful business ideas are stolen from other companies. And millions of companies have spun through billions of dollars, only to fold up and die.

As for long work hours, as I explained in this post, consistently working more than 40 hours a week actually makes you less productive.

What, then, are the true reasons that people (and the companies they create) become successful? There are three:

1. Ability to Empathize
There is simply nothing so important in business as understanding what other people are feeling and likely to feel in the future.
This capability determines whether customers will want your products, whether employees will accept your leadership, whether colleagues will work well with you, and whether investors will be willing to take a risk on you.
Without empathy, there's absolutely no way that you'll get all these folks pulling in the same direction.

2. Clarity of Purpose
In the science of physics, unfocused energy is quickly dispersed and that's true in business as well.
Vague all-encompassing corporate statements like "we're a one-stop-shop," "we sell to a broad customer base," and "we have a worldwide focus" are certain signals that a company is destined to fail.
Successful people and companies concentrate with crystal clarity on a single highly-desirable product or service that they can make or provide better than anyone else.
 
3. Sense of Timing
Every good business idea has a brief period in time when it's ripe for the plucking. Move too soon and you'll be a footnote; move too late and you'll be an also-ran.
Business history is littered with great ideas that died because they were before their time: Altavista, Lisa, Friendster, Newton, Visicalc and Wordperfect, just to name a few.
As for the "me-too" products that were late to market... why, they're not even memorable enough to mention.

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/the-3-real-reasons-for-business-success.html

Essential Trait of Every Great Entrepreneur

Think about the keys to business success: Plenty of capital. A comprehensive business plan. A thorough market analysis. Remarkable employees.

Each is definitely important. But there's one essential trait every successful entrepreneur possesses:
Irrational optimism.

Why? To be successful you must embrace belief and push aside self-doubts: feelings that you aren't smart enough, dedicated enough, adaptable enough, or simply that, in spite of your best intentions and best efforts, you won't succeed.

Often other people don't help. Family and friends tend to shoot multiple holes in your ideas--not because they want to bring you down but because they care about you and don't want to see you fail.

Rarely will people say, "Hey, that's a great idea. You should go for it!" That's not how most people are wired. Most--myself definitely included--are a lot better at identifying and listing potential problems. We like to play devil's advocate because that makes us seem smart.

That's why you need to be irrationally optimistic. Not because the odds are stacked against success, but because irrational optimism helps you succeed in ways capital, business plans, and marketing savvy can't.
Of course you can take irrational optimism too far... but then again, maybe you can't.

Think about sports: A sport is the ultimate zero-sum game. Only one individual or one team can win, but great athletes still go into every game believing they will win because if they don't believe they can win they've already lost.

Is complete self-belief irrational? Sure. Is it also a requirement for high-level athletic success? Absolutely. Great athletes push aside doubt and disbelief.

So do great entrepreneurs.

If you listen to the naysayers you'll never start a business, never expand, never work and struggle and overcome--and never succeed. If you don't believe in yourself, however irrationally, you will not succeed.

Although no amount of self-belief is enough to ensure success, the smallest bit of doubt can ruin your chances.

In Bounce, Matthew Syed quotes Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, one of the most successful football (soccer) coaches in the English Premier League, on how athletes must approach competition:

To perform to your maximum you have to teach yourself to believe with an intensity that goes way beyond logical justification. No top performer has lacked this capacity for irrational optimism; no sportsman has played to his potential without the ability to remove doubt from his mind.

The same goes for entrepreneurs. Be smart, be logical, be rational and calculating, never stop trying to improve your skills. But most importantly, be irrationally optimistic.

Belief in yourself will take you to places no business plan ever can.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/essential-trait-of-every-great-entrepreneur.html

6 Books for the Well-Rounded Entrepreneur

Most entrepreneurs wear a variety of hats. Some wear every hat.
That's why most entrepreneurs need to be very well rounded.
Here are six books that at least partially cover the entrepreneurial gamut: starting a business, personal productivity, marketing, improving skills, operations--even health and fitness.
Each will leave you feeling challenged, inspired, motivated, and ready to take your professional life to new heights.
 
Starting and Sustaining a Business
Part research, part science, and part introspection exercise, Heart, Smarts, Guts and Luck does help you understand your personality and decision-making traits--useful in itself--but more importantly is filled with cool insights and tips any entrepreneur can benefit from.
One is the Three-Minute Rule, based on the premise that what your customers do in the three minutes just before and just after they use your product or service tells you a lot about their needs and how they actually use what you sell.
For example, studies show customers buy less when their arms are full--which is why placing empty shopping baskets or carts in the middle of a retail store can dramatically increase sales per customer.
If you're hesitating to take the entrepreneurial plunge, this book should jar you off the fence. If you already own a business you'll learn a number of things you'll want to start doing--or stop doing.

Personal Productivity
Sometimes it's easy to dismiss a book simply because it has gained widespread popularity; it's like playing the popularity backlash card.
If you've placed David Allen's Getting Things Done in that category, rethink that decision. Yes, his process is comprehensive. Yes, you might think, "Wait... I have to do all that?"
And yes, maybe you won't adopt his entire system. I haven't.
But you will find ways to waste less time, be more productive, and focus more on what truly drives the results you want in your business and personal life.
Gotta love that.

Improving Skills
I admit it: I'm a sucker for books that give practical advice for developing skills and talent. The problem is that most "self help" books are mostly breathless enthusiasm and motivation; many can be summarized by Rob Schneider's, "You can do it!"
Great. I can do it! But wait: How can I do it?
The subtitle of Practice Perfect is "42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better." It's like the "teach a man to fish" principle: Instead of describing how to improve one specific skill, Practice Perfect provides practical tools for practicing, modeling, using feedback, and making those new skills stick.
Best of all it's a guide to not only improving your own skills but also your employees' skills.
Helping other people get better--as a leader isn't that your most important job?

Marketing
We all know that great advertising--or, really, any great "pitch"--contains a blend of emotional and rational appeal.
The Hidden Agenda lays out a blueprint for determining the hidden agendas of decision makers--and in the process transcend persuasion and create connections.
Sound fluffy? It's not. As a consumer, I have needs. I have wants. And I have beliefs. Connect your products, services, or ideas with my needs, wants, and beliefs and then you don't have to sell me.
I'm already with you.

Operations
I worked in manufacturing for 20 years and still take some productivity and quality improvement consulting gigs, so I'm also a sucker for operations books.
American Icon, the story of Ford's turnaround, without a government bailout, is outstanding.
And it reads like a novel--although in this case a "novel" that will help you lead and run your own business better.

Health and Fitness
Guess what: Most people drink too much during and after exercise; for most of us drinking when we get thirsty is fine. Stretching before we exercise doesn't seem to prevent injury and can actually decrease our performance. Chocolate milk is an awesome post-workout drink. Sitting too much is slowly killing us.
And exercise can make us smarter.
The First 20 Minutes debunks a number of health and fitness myths and lays out a simple blueprint for getting the most out of exercise--without all the conventional wisdom and marketing b.s. that tends to lead us astray.
Where our well-being is concerned, astray is the last place we want to be.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/6-essential-books-for-the-well-rounded-entrepreneur.html

8 Qualities of Fearless Entrepreneurs

You know the type: They do things other business owners only dream of doing--and usually succeed. Here's what sets them apart.


"In my office, the term badass is thrown around a lot," says Dr. Shelley Provost, a partner and director of happiness of the venture incubator Lamp Post Group. "We use it to describe many things: a person's performance or accomplishments or ability to close a sale or turn a profit, or how well they ask someone out on a date--basically their overall potential for awesomeness."

These are the qualities that Provost says set true business badasses apart:

1. They say yes first--then figure out how to deliver.
Badasses are incredibly confident, with good reason. If a job is anywhere near their wheelhouse, they will find a way to get it done or die trying.

Why? They trust their own abilities, but they trust the people around them just as much.

If you're a true badass, you think there's a way to solve every problem. All you have to do is find it.

2. They think differently than everyone else.
Most business problems aren't new. Badasses tackle old problems with a variety of creative solutions.
Instead of designing a corporate newsletter that no one will read to "improve communication," a badass will create a holograph of the CEO that welcomes you to work and gives you the latest news. And a true badass would wear a flowing gown like the one in this video of a Kate Moss hologram.

Tell me that wouldn't improve communication.

3. They speak up.
When badasses have a different opinion, they share it.

But they aren't argumentative--because that would just make them asses.

4. They enthusiastically share their awesome skills.
Badasses never shy away from teaching others.

Inject energy and innovation into your teaching method, and people will flock to learn from you. High Skill + High Confidence + Sharing With Others = True Business Badass.

5. They live by their own code.
They respect authority--but not too much.

Whether their code is to be a creative force in the world, to disrupt technologies, or to challenge others to examine their lives, badasses are unwilling to compromise their principles and beliefs for the comfort or approval of others.

If you're a true badass, you answer to a power deep within you.

6. They do what others only wish they could do.
One of my favorite quotes is, "The Wright brothers never had a pilot's license." Rather than look around for permission or approval, badasses are courageous. They're initiators. They have an idea and they act.
Rather than research and dwell on and discuss a problem to death, badasses find a solution by actually doing things.

7. They never, ever, ever give up.
Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that it takes 10,000 hours master a complex skill.
But the real key to mastering a complex skill is grit--the ability to stick with something long enough to log those 10,000 hours.

People with grit are like anti-dilettantes. Rather than flit from thing to thing, gritty people pick something and stick with it. They're tenacious, dogged, persevering, and they absolutely refuse to give up.
The grittiest people don't just work longer and harder, although that is part of the equation. They keep a laser focus on their goal and say, "No, thanks," to anything that gets in their way.

8. They ignore the haters.
There are many reasons to listen to the haters: to save face, to remain comfortable, to be secure, to not look like the fool.

But as Dale Carnegie, the badass of winning friends and influencing people, said, "The person who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore."
Haters try to talk you into--or even scare you into--sticking with the status quo.

Be a true business badass. Don't listen.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/8-qualities-of-fearless-entrepreneurs.html

Do One Thing & Do It Better Than Anyone Else

Become the best darn whatever-you-are that you can be. Set aside your other good ideas. The rest will follow.

The other day, I received a business plan from a pair of entrepreneurs who are smart, talented, and passionate--exactly the formula you want to see. I reviewed the plan they sent me (well, OK, just the PowerPoint). And they had a great idea. Interesting enough to keep reading.

But when I got to the fifth slide, they had another idea. And then later, another idea. Three good ideas in one plan. Sounds like a bargain, right? Wrong! Only a fraction of ideas actually get pulled off.

What do you think happens when you try to launch three ideas at once? Nothing. To implement even one good idea takes a mountain of work--strategic planning, product development, marketing pushes, financing, administration, human resources, and so much more. Taking one idea to profits is hard. To be successful as an entrepreneur, you have to realize the devil is in the details. Don't fall into the trap of trying--like so many entrepreneurs--to do too much.

Instead, you want to be the best at one thing your customers want or need. Focus on how that one thing you do best can deliver value to your customers. Become irreplaceable to your customers.

But that's not all. When you launch a business, you want to make a case to yourself for what makes you the best at what you plan to do. Each time I launched a new business, I took out a pencil and sheet of paper and wrote down a list of the key strengths and advantages that made me uniquely qualified to win in that particular space. Did I have special skills? Deep experience? Industry relationships? Patentable technology? If there's no set of assets that you possess that puts you ahead of everyone else in the given marketplace, then maybe you should move on and find a different idea that you are uniquely qualified to win at.

At ColorJar, my innovation consultancy, I call this finding your "golden purpose." The reason you and your company exist. The one thing you do so well that people recognize you for it. Focus only on being the leader in that product and service, and all else will follow.

Then, once people have trust and confidence in you and your abilities, they will come to you for more. Amazon sold only books when it started, but it was the best darn bookseller on the planet. Once customers became comfortable with Amazon and loved buying books on the site, they started asking Amazon for more. Today Amazon sells thousands of products. But the company started by becoming the best at one thing.

Entrepreneurs today see successful companies that sell many products or offer many services and forget that they didn't start that way. These companies gained credibility by being the best at one thing they were uniquely qualified to do. Google started out as a simple search engine. Zappos was just an online shoe seller. Richard Branson launched Virgin Records; only later did it become an airline, resort, mobile service, and even a commercial space program. These companies proved themselves in the minds of customers by winning their categories. They raised their hands high in one specific area of expertise and owned it before they launched another idea or two. That's what opened the door to the future.

So find a problem to solve, grab your pencil, and list your assets. Discover your golden purpose. Set aside all your other good ideas. And become the best darn whatever-you-are that you can be. The rest will follow.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-hoffman/do-one-thing-better-than-anyone-else.html

What High-Growth CEOs Do Differently

Want to build a fast-growth business? An expert explains the four aspects of your business you should be focusing on.

Business coach and consultant Jim Schleckser has spent years trying to understand how start-up and small business CEOs budget their time. Not surprisingly, the best CEOs--the ones that are able to grow highly-profitable, fast-growing companies--had a lot in common.
As part of the CEO Project, a boot camp for entrepreneurs, Schleckser advises CEOs and company founders on the most important areas of their business to focus on. At the core of his advice, Schleckser believes CEOs need to put the blinders on and focus on what truly drives growth. Here are the core components Schleckser says you should focus on.

Business Model
"Time spent on your business model drives growth," says Schleckser. Most importantly, CEOs should aim to increase the proportion of recurring revenue in their businesses

"Lock revenue each year," he says. "And when you decide to sell your business, you'll get higher offers."

Schleckser also challenges CEOs to raise prices. "Pricing drives profitability," he says. "I recommend you go home and raise your prices 10 percent."

Lastly, CEOs need to have a product so strong, he calls it the "mafia offer," an offer your customers can't refuse.

Talent
Schleckser believes all CEOs need to add  "Chief Talent Officer" to their title.
"Better players on the field means better performance," Schleckser says. The silver lining of the recession was that plenty of talented workers are looking for jobs--now is a good time to snatch up great employees at a reasonable price.
"You're able to get talent now that you couldn't get years ago," he says. "You need to be out there looking for talent all the time. Put a few of the A-players in, it's like magic in changing the business performance."

Process
What seperates good companies from great companies are those that are able to differentiate their brand based on better processes. What does that mean in practice? Schleckser advises CEOs to always being developing new product lines, adding value to current processes, eliminating waste, reengineering processes, and standardizing methods.

"Go the extra mile," he says. "Design processes that fulfill promises to your clients."

Leadership Approach
At the beginning of the company's lifecycle, CEOs are involved in all aspects of the business. But as the company grows, the CEO needs to be able to defer power to managers.
"It feels great to close a sale," says Schleckser, "but if a CEO is out selling, he's not doing his job."
The point is to foucs on the aspects that will drive future growth, and that often means taking the CEO out of his or her comfort zone.

http://www.inc.com/eric-markowitz/what-high-growth-CEOs-do-differently.html