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#Leadership : Vision- 6 Habits That Turn Dreams Into Reality…The Secret of Turning Wishful Thinking into a Life of Action and Achievement.

November 13, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When I was growing up, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I discussed this aspiration with career advisors, family and friends. I outlined my plans in university student kitchens at three in the morning. It was the main conversation in the staff cafeteria of the large corporation I joined to tide me over until I launched my enterprise.

I met up with an old friend whom I had not seen for fifteen years, and we chatted about old times. After the talk of foreign assignments, pension plans and leadership roles had died off, I mentioned that I was looking to start my own company. My friend took my hands in hers, looked me in the eye and said, “Ric, you´ve been talking about that dream for twenty years. Don´t you think it´s time to do something about it?”

Walt Disney once said, “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” I finally turned my dream into a reality, not by wishing upon a star, but by converting it into a concrete vision. Today, I own my own leadership development company.

Dreams and visions are quite different.

Dreams are… Visions are…

Inward looking
Ephemeral
Aspirational

Outward looking
Enduring
Intentional

A dream is something, a vision does something; a dream is a place to be, a vision is a place to go. A vision, in other words, is more structured, intentional, enduring and rooted in daily living than mere wishful thinking.

In his seminal text, The Path of Least Resistance, Robert Fritz describes a vision as a hybrid between future state (the result you want to create) and current reality (the starting point). Fritz argues there is an inherent tension between these two states that can help you “organize your actions, focus your values, and clearly see what is relevant in current reality.”

Moving from one to the other.

And herein lies the secret of turning ephemeral dreams into tangible outcomes, of launching that company that’s been on the bucket list for decades, or publishing that novel that´s been languishing in the bottom drawer since the dawn of time — it´s being able to structure the dream into something that inspires action and momentum.

Here are six habits that can help turn dreams into tangible outcomes:

1. Materialize your dream using visualization.

Visualization, or what Shakti Gowain calls ‘Creative visualization’ in her book of the same title, is a technique in creating what you want from life using the power of imagination. Using some common visualization techniques can help participants convert their dreams into future possibilities. Sportsmen and women, for example, use visualization to inspire them toward excellence and success in competitive events. Visualization techniques are also widely used in business contexts for people to create goals and aspirations for themselves.

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2. Prioritize your dreams.

One of the habits in Covey´s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, is to begin with the end in mind. Having a clear idea of what you want to achieve and being able to prioritize sundry aspirations into a single sustainable “highest goal,” as Michael Ray terms it, is a way of beginning to work strategically with your dreams. Goals should have a degree of tension –not too removed from current reality (which will make them impossible to achieve), neither should they be easily attainable. Consider an elastic band. A slack elastic band has no tension. An overstretched elastic band can snap. Fixing a goal which is challenging, but not impossible, motivates us to work toward our vision. Fritz says in Creating, “In fire building, a log on top of the pile will drive the flames upward. In the creative process, a place that is bigger and higher than where you have gone so far can increase momentum, energy and creative power.”

3. Set key milestones.

Warren Bennis once said, “Mountain climbers don’t start climbing from the bottom of the mountain. They look at where they want to go and work backward to where they’re starting from.” It is the same for goal setting — when you begin with the end in mind and set an action plan, you can begin to work backwards and set interim goals which advance you toward your vision. Achieving things in small incremental steps has great power. Professor Stephen Morris posited a theory that if dominoes were lined up starting with five millimeters and increasing in size by one and half times, it will take just 29 dominoes to knock over the Empire State Building. Best-selling author, Ramit Sethi,applies this principle to goal setting in his domino strategy which advocates starting small and creating momentum through incremental steps.

4. Monitor progress.

One of the benefits of a structured approach to goal and vision setting is that individuals can clearly see how each action and effort propels them toward their highest goal. This helps build momentum and motivation. Dreams, on the other hand, are wispy by nature and it can be baffling to know how to get a handle on them.

5. Enlist support.

Dreams that are not anchored in reality and lack structure or outcome can be crushed by “dream stealers.” In his poem, “The Cloths of Heaven,” WB Yeats writes: “I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

A realistic, goal-orientated vision withstands all these negative forces and increases the likelihood of people sharing their vision. In his book Synchronicity, Joe Jaworski explores the positive outcomes of openly sharing structured goals and visions — people begin to understand your aspirations and priorities and how they can contribute to your success.

6. Know when to give up.

I know we are taught through motivational stories that we can achieve whatever we put our minds to and make our dreams come true; but as Robert Fritz says, goal attainment is linked to current reality. Give up on those unrealistic dreams that suck up your energy and creativity and set achievable aspirations — otherwise that elastic band will keep snapping in your face.

We should never stop dreaming; after all, our dreams are what makes us human. They shape and guide us. But there is a world of difference between being a dreamer and transitioning your dreams into something tangible. This ability to build personal momentum and achieve realistic objectives is the cornerstone of self-mastery, and every effective entrepreneur that I have ever met gets this right.

Entrepreneur.com | November 12, 2016 | Ric Kelly

#Leadership : Actually, Women Do Ask For Raises As Often As Men—They Just Don’t Get Them…A Recent Study Shows that Women Know What they’re Worth and Aren’t Afraid to Ask for It. It’s Their Employers that Don’t.

November 11, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Almost a decade ago, Carnegie Mellon professors Sarah Laschever and Linda Babcock found that men ask for raises and promotions four times more than women do. Their research has now been cited so often that it’s just about become popular wisdom.

But a new study by researchers at London’s Cass Business School, the University of Warwick, and the University of Wisconsin analyzed a random sample of just over 4,500 workers across 800 employers in Australia and found something surprising: Women aren’t afraid of asking for raises and promotions. Women ask as often as their male counterparts, but they get what they want less often—25% less often, in fact.

NEW RESEARCH, NEW REACTIONS

Using a detailed series of questions, the researchers tackled two stubborn yet widespread beliefs surrounding the gender pay gap. The first—that women aren’t as ambitious or pushy as men—was found to have no basis in the study (which focused on Australia, because it’s the only country that gathers data on employees’ raise requests). The second—that women are more afraid of upsetting their bosses or hurting their relationships with their employers—was also thrown out.

These findings shift the burden from professional women to the companies that employ them. These days, it appears that closing the pay gap may be less about changing the ways women have been raised to understand the value of their work and more about how their employers react to women’s improving negotiating skills.

Social and political climates may have something to do with that shift. Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) issued its annual report on the gender gap, and it didn’t just fall into the void. Just last month, in Iceland, where women earn an average of 14% less than men, women left their desks at 2:38 p.m., leaving their workdays 14% unfinished—right at the point where that pay discrepancy kicked in.

Taking to the streets and leaving desktops unwatched might not catch on in the U.S., but the metaphor is instructive. The WEF report looked at 144 countries and measured the gaps not only in economic opportunities but also in access to education, health care, and political representation. The U.S. ranked 45th on the list. At the current rate, researchers believe, women worldwide are not going to see these gaps close completely in their lifetimes—it will take 170 years at the current rates of progress worldwide.

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But as one of the coauthors of the Cass School study points out, that research “potentially has an upside. Young women today are negotiating their pay and conditions more successfully than older females,” says Amanda Goodall, “and perhaps that will continue as they become more senior.” Women aren’t just negotiating more aggressively than in the past. They’re now more aware that they aren’t being rewarded equitably for doing so.

Knowledge is power, in other words, and it spreads almost exponentially over time. It’s findings like Goodall’s and her fellow researchers’ that don’t just document a problem but empower those who are hurt by it to demand change in the right places.

WHAT WORKING WOMEN CAN DO STARTING NOW

With that in mind, there are a few steps women can take right away to begin pressing to earn what they’re worth.

Know your own value. Do the research and honestly assess your talents, skills, and experiences—because your boss won’t do this for you. Get the data on pay for the same or comparable jobs in your community, so you have objective (or at least less subjective) information with which to build a case for yourself.

I was so proud when a former intern of mine was offered a position at a major tech company and asked me what to do before accepting. She’d done her research, and the firm’s salary offer was toward the top for comparable positions. Still, she said, “I know I should negotiate something.” She was right; I advised her to think about non-salary compensation that she’d value, and she ended up getting her new employer to pay for her move.

Whatever the next four years turn out to look like, it’s clear that the social tide is turning. Younger women are asking for their due when their older colleagues didn’t.

Be your own advocate. Investigate the culture of your company, how decisions are made, and what’s valued most (and least). It’s one thing to do the “hard” research—salary benchmarks and so on—and another to get a “softer,” qualitative feel for an employer’s mind-set around compensation. This holds true as much for a company you’re considering working for as one you already do work for.

Go on Glassbreakers to get or become a mentor, and LinkedIn to connect with others in your field. Read reviews on Fairygodboss. Talk to trusted coworkers. Reach out to past employees who’ve since moved on, and ask their experiences. Then use your research to help you speak up—not just about your salary offer or about that promotion coming up, but about ways in which women’s leadership can add value to their bottom line.

Outside of work, too, it’s important for professional women to understand policymakers’ priorities; change happens in both big and incremental ways. The keys to more opportunities and important social shifts can often be found in the details of all kinds of bills, from the municipal to the federal level.

Face the chaos with courage. When I left my first CEO position, a member of the board asked me what I thought was one of most important qualifications for the job. Courage was the answer that came out of my mouth before I had a chance to think. I still believe that courage is what it takes to act in the midst of chaos and against long odds that you shouldn’t have to surmount but are forced to. It takes courage, too, to own the responsibility for fixing something, even if you don’t have total authority to—and to make decisions even when you can’t guarantee the outcomes.

It’s possible to see the latest research as different fragments of the same picture. Women have changed—even in the past decade—but the world at large has not, and 170 years is too long to wait for parity. The U.S. has just fallen short of electing its first female president, but it’s worth remembering that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. That means that a majority of American voters still wanted a woman to represent them, and that desire doesn’t vanish.

Whatever the next four years turn out to look like, it’s clear that the social tide is turning. Younger women are asking for their due when their older colleagues didn’t dare to (often as a result of wholly valid fears). It’s heartening to know that the data confirms what many of us have long hoped: Finally, women know their worth. Now it’s time for everyone else to catch up. Don’t worry—we’ll show you the way.

FastCompany.com | GLORIA FELDT | 11.10.16 5:00 AM

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#Leadership : 7 Things Company/Business Owners Need to Know Post-Election…Last Night’s Vote has Brought Market Scares, Wage Hikes, Marijuana Legalization and More.

November 9, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Results from yesterday’s election are in, and businesses and traders are already bracing for the changes that President-Elect Donald Trump will implement once he is inaugurated.

7 Things Business Owners Need to Know Post-Election

During his campaign, which ran for nearly a year and a half, he promised radical changes to health insurance, taxation and immigration. Whether the new Republican Congress will enact his plans is yet to be seen.

Americans also weighed in on more than 150 ballot measures in various states when they cast their votes yesterday. Here are some of the shifts that the election will entail for businesses.

1. Market reactions

U.S. stock markets opened more calmly than projected, which could be attributed to the gracious tone of Trump’s acceptance speech early this morning.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 700 points in futures trading overnight, while S&P 500 index futures fell as much as 5 percent, according to Quartz.

However, within the first hour of opening, some markets were up over yesterday’s close. They’ve fluctuated slightly since, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 210 points (1.15 percent) as of 1:55 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 up 21 (.98 percent) and the Nasdaq up 37 (.76 percent). The dollar exchange rate is also stable this morning. Trump’s claims that he is going to rebuild U.S. infrastructure are correlated with a surge for Caterpillar, which is currently up 6.1 points (7.21 percent) over yesterday’s close.

“By way of comparison, major indexes fell about 2 percent four years ago after President Obama was re-elected,” according to CNN Money.

Anticipation of a December Federal Reserve interest-rate hike has dampened investment activity throughout the latter half of 2016. Expectations of the hike “had fallen to about 50 percent as results pointed to a Trump triumph,” but they’ve since “returned to almost 80 percent,” according to Bloomberg.

Much hinges on Trump’s rhetoric in the coming hours and days.

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2. Threats of an Obamacare repeal

While there’s a great deal of uncertainty, some industries have reacted in accordance with Trump’s campaign promises. The stock of healthcare firms is falling today due to Trump’s stated intention to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Centene Corporation is down 10.91 points (16.33 percent), making it the second-worst-performing stock on the S&P 500 today (as of 2 p.m. ET).

Under Obamacare, many small-business owners have complained of having to put in hours of administrative work to insure their employees — and foot the bill amid rising premiums. However, the repeal of the ACA could reverse progress toward insuring the largest proportion of Americans in history.

3. Minimum wage hikes

Minimum wage increase proposals passed in four states: Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington.

In Arizona, the minimum wage will rise from $8.05 to $12 by 2020. Minimum-wage workers at large companies will get 40 hours of sick days a year, while those at smaller businesses will get 24 hours a year. Employees will be guaranteed one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.
In Colorado, the minimum wage will increase from $8.31 to $12 by 2020.
In Maine, the minimum wage will rise from $7.50 to $12 by 2020. For tipped workers, it will increase to $5 an hour, with $1 increases until earnings are equal to the general minimum wage by 2024, according to Money.
Washington state voters approved a ballot measure to raise the minimum wage from $9.47 to $13.50 an hour by 2020. Employers will now be required to provide minimum-wage employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked.

In South Dakota, voters rejected an initiative to lower the minimum wage for non-tipped employees under 18.

Trump has expressed opposition to a minimum wage hike at the federal level.

4. Recreational and medical marijuana legalization

Ballot measure approvals will triple the number of Americans living in states where recreational cannabis is legal, according to the Associated Press.

Voters in California, Nevada and Massachusetts approved ballot measures legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.
Voters in Arizona rejected recreational marijuana.
As of 12:24 p.m., recreational pot in Maine is still too close to call with 94 percent of precincts reporting.
Florida, Arkansas and North Dakota voted to approve marijuana for medical purposes.
In Montana, residents voted to give patients easier access to medical marijuana. Licensed providers will be allowed to serve more than three patients and hire employees to cultivate, dispense and transport medical marijuana, according to Newsweek.

5. Tax reform

Trump has proposed lowering taxes for the wealthiest Americans, who earn more than $413,350 per year, to a 33 percent rate. He wants to reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to three, and 47 percent of his proposed tax cuts would go to the top 1 percent of richest Americans, according to Forbes.

As for his proposed business tax cuts, Trump has put forth a plan to reduce corporate tax rates from 35 to 15 percent. This would be a means of deterring companies from operating in other countries with lower tax rates — and keeping them in America.

This 15 percent rate would apply to income from an S corporation, partnership or sole-proprietorship.

“This means that a taxpayer earning business income would experience a drop in top tax rate from 39.6 percent to 15 percent under the Trump presidency,” according to Forbes.” It also means that under the Trump plan, the difference in top tax rate between paid as an employee (33 percent) and as an independent contractor (15 percent).”

Trump has also put forth a plan that would ease the burden on large companies such as Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Oracle and Cisco Systems bringing cash into the U.S. from overseas, with money saved to go to infrastructure upgrades.

“It will provide a deemed repatriation of corporate profits held offshore at a one-time tax rate of 10 percent,” according to DonaldJTrump.com.

6. Paid leave and childcare policies

According to the NFIB, Donald Trump proposes expanding unemployment insurance programs and eliminating fraud within them to pay for six weeks of maternity leave.

According to Trump’s website, his child care plan would incentive employers to provide on-site care by raising the annual tax credit and also allow both working and non-working moms to deduct childcare expenses. Some have said that this plan encourages mothers to stay at home.

7. Limited immigration

Most Americans are familiar with Trump’s xenophobic comments, including his plan to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, his call for the “extreme vetting” of refugees and talk of mass deportations, ideological certifications and the end of birthrate citizenship. He has also proposed a “complete and total shutdown” of Muslim immigration to the U.S. and defunding of “sanctuary cities” where undocumented aliens reside.

If Trump deports all undocumented immigrants, this action could reduce the labor force by 6.4 percent, reduce the GDP by 5.7 percent per year and cost nearly $1.6 trillion to enforce over 20 years, according to one estimate.

Trump also wants to eliminate the H-1B visa program, which allows non-immigrant workers to reside in the U.S. to perform skilled labor. Many companies in Silicon Valley take advantage of this program in order to recruit the best talent from around the globe.

Entrepreneur.com | November 9, 2016 | Lydia Belanger

#Leadership : 12 Apps to Help Ease Anxiety Struggling with Anxiety? These Apps Can Help you Get Things Under Control.

November 9, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Yes, there’s an app for that too. The 12 below help with stress management, sleep and more, easing anxiety and helping you live a healthier, happier life.

Pacifica: Track and rate your mood over time, learn muscle relaxation exercises and deep breathing techniques and set health goals for yourself. You can record your thoughts to develop positive thinking patterns and identify toxic ones. The app also helps users understand personal triggers.

Breathe2Relax: This app does exactly what it promises. Created by the National Center for Telehealth & Technology, it aids in diaphragmatic breathing that decreases the body’s natural “fight-or-flight” response — a big aspect of anxiety, anger and general mood instability.

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Headspace: Stress, memory loss, focus, interpersonal relationships, creative blocks… this “personal trainer for the mind” app covers it all. 10-minute meditation lessons aim to strengthen health, performance and relationships. This app is on the pricier side though — subscriptions cost between $6.24 and $12.95 a month.

Positive Activity Jackpot: Another app from the National Center for Telehealth & Technology. This one uses a therapeutic method known as Pleasant Event Scheduling (PES), recommending activities based on the user’s location and interests. You can invite friends, save favorite spots and tag activities you participate in for future reference.

PTSD Coach: Created by the National Center for PTSD, this app helps veterans suffering or at risk of suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. With educational material and a self-assessment tool, it enables users to manage stress and find support.

Recovery Record: This highly rated app draws on cognitive behavioral therapy and self-monitoring methods to help manage eating disorders. Users can keep a food journal, make meal plans and learn coping methods. Questionnaires help track their progress and produce visual charts documenting their journey.

Worry Watch: This journaling tool has a simple user interface where users can log instances of worry, fear and anxiety. They can also add the outcome of each situation, which provides a comparison between expectation and reality that helps reduce anxiety over time.

I Can Be Free: This app helps with anxiety, phobias, insomnia and low self-esteem, offering more than 50 audio hypnosis sessions by well known hypnotist Jacob Strachotta. The sessions help target a variety of common fears.

Relax Melodies: This sleeping aid fights insomnia and stress with more than 50 fully customizable sounds and tunes. The blog also offers lifestyle tips to improve sleep.

Mindshift: Aimed at teens and young adults suffering from anxiety, this app allows users to log thoughts and feelings. It also offers exercises that encourage positive thinking.

Stress Doctor: This app takes you on a deep breathing exercise to promote calmness and can bring your heart rate down in five minutes. The app provides instant feedback with breath and pulse monitoring and tracks long-term progress.

Optimism: Helping with depression and bipolar disorder, this app helps users track their moods and keep daily records of their symptoms, plus log triggers or things that help them stay positive. Graphs of this data give users a visual breakdown of their well being.

Entrepreneur.com | November 9, 2016 | Andrew Gazdecki

#Leadership : FBI Hostage Negotiation Tactics You Can Use Every Day…A 24-Year Veteran of the Bureau Shares the ‘Jedi Mind Trick’ that Works every Time.

November 8, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Where are we ordering takeout from? What new series are we going to binge watch tonight? Everything in life is a negotiation. Sometimes, as in the aforementioned examples, the stakes are quite low. Bad results, at worst, are heartburn and boredom. But other times negotiations have much more on the line. Life and death, to be exact. These are the kinds of negotiations Chris Voss has dealt with for the better part of his professional career.

Voss is a 24-year veteran of the FBI, where in part he served as the burea’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Recently Voss, now CEO of The Black Swan Group, sat down with The Science of Success Podcast with Matt Bodnar and producer Austin Fabel to share some of the amazingly effective negotiation strategies, techniques and tactics that the FBI uses in the field that can be translated to the business world. Read some of the takeaways and listen to the full episode embedded below.

Related: FBI Director, Again, Says You Should Tape Over Your Webcam

Try the mirroring technique.

When in a negotiation it’s crucial to get as much information out of the other side as possible. Voss explains that by “mirroring” them and simply repeating three to five keywords in their last sentence, people are forced by nature to repeat themselves in a way that gives more information and clarifies their points. An example:

Person 1: To get someone to tip their hand and clarify, simply repeat the last three to five keywords in their sentence.

Person 2: You repeat the last keywords?

Person 1: Yeah, pretty crazy right? What that does is it causes me to explain my point again from a different angle, revealing more information that could be extremely valuable and also it helps you decipher my true desired outcomes and motivations.

Voss notes it feels extremely awkward when you are doing the mirroring, but insists that the other person almost never notices and actually feels listened to. Voss refers to this as the negotiation “Jedi Mind trick” as he says it works every time and no one knows you’re doing it.

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Why you should ask “what?” and “how?”

Voss explains that these two interrogatives can be extremely powerful in negotiating, as they encourage the other side to keep talking, to clarify and to eventually reveal their true intentions and motives. “You’d like to settle on these terms? What is it about that this 30-day window that works for you?”

Likewise, with “how?” if someone demands $1 million in ransom, Voss’s response might be, “I understand, but I need you to take a look at the whole context here. Tell me, how am I supposed to do that?” This causes the other side to actually put themselves in your shoes. It forces them to be on your side for a moment, and in hearing them think out a plan, it can reveal hidden motivations.

Get past gatekeepers by including them.

Voss says that during hostage negotiations you’re often not speaking directly to the boss. Typically someone will be assigned to deal with law enforcement to simply give demands.

There’s a parallel in business as many times there are layers of gatekeepers, assistants and people who are not actually in charge before you get to the decisionmaker. In business and in hostage negotiations, trying to simply blow by these people is looking for trouble. If you talk down to an assistant, they’re not going to patch you through to the boss. Their inaction takes zero effort for them but provides a crushing blow to you.

Similarly, if you belittle the terrorist handling the phone he may freak and hang up on you. Voss recommends instead bringing them into the conversation. “How does what I’m proposing fit in with what you are trying to accomplish?” This creates a conversation and puts them in a position where they feel respected, and also feel the need to connect you to the decisionmaker.

Never lie to anyone you don’t plan to kill.

Voss says that there are long-term negative effects of lying. In a hostage negotiation, if you lie to someone, he says, you’d better kill them because if word gets out that the FBI will lie, the next group who takes hostages won’t even try to negotiate a compromise. Voss calls lying a “seductive trap.”

In any situation, it can be an easy way to get what we want right now, but if word gets out that you lie, you’ve lost all your leverage in the long run. So rather than killing someone, maybe don’t lie in the first place.

Entrepreneur.com | November 8, 2016 | ENTREPRENEUR STAFF

#Leadership : 5 Common Communication Misfires (And How To Avoid Them)…Tech enables Faster Communication, But that Also Means there’s a Greater Chance to Say Something you Didn’t Intend.

November 8, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Miscommunication happens frequently in life and work, partly because technology allows us to communicate faster, but not necessarily better. While some miscommunications are merely annoying, others can create conflict or be a disrupting influence in relationships.

Based on being both the giver and the recipient of unintended communication gaffes, here are five reasons why I believe they occur, and what to do to prevent them in the future.

1. WHAT YOU ARE THINKING MAKES NO SENSE TO ANYONE ELSE BUT YOU

Writing or verbalizing what we’re thinking can be challenging, especially if we’re trying to multitask when we shouldn’t.

My team suffers a lot from this when I delegate a task and expect them to know exactly what’s going on in my brain.

The solution is to let others know everything you’re thinking, even if you’re not completely clear on it yourself. The idea is for you to work ideas out together, so you can reach the best possible outcome. I also like to verbalize my instructions as well as write them down in a recap, so others know exactly what I mean. Over the years, this has helped me sound a lot less like a jerk.

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2. YOU ARE SAYING TOO MUCH AND MAKING THINGS MORE COMPLICATED

In my first business partnership, I would do a brain dump that included things that didn’t need to be said. This not only caused miscommunication, but it also ultimately ended our working arrangement.

I’ve also noticed this occurs with the creative people who have a tendency to cloud their main point with a lot of words that complicates their message.

To master the fine art of getting to the point, write down what you want to say, then start to trim it back until you can create as simple a message without losing the primary idea. You most likely don’t need adjectives or exclamatory phrases to get your point across.

3. YOU AREN’T CONTROLLING THE TONE OF YOUR MESSAGE

While overthinking your message rarely results in better communication, it’s important to remember that you don’t have any control over what’s happening on the receiving end. If that person is already in a bad mood, they may read something in a way you never intended. Although you can’t control the reaction of the receiver, you can make a concerted effort to take any emotion out of a communication and keep a professional tone in all business communications.

I personally always remember, “You can say anything to anyone, but how you say it will dictate whether you get a positive or negative reaction.”

4. YOU’RE USING TEXTING SHORTCUTS OR EMOJIS TO REPLACE WORDS

I’ve used a smiley face to let the person on the other end know I’m pleased with their message. However, when I start seeing texting shortcuts and emojis I’m not familiar with, I don’t know how to take what the person is saying, and I certainly don’t have time to go look up their cutesy emoji.

I was angry one day with an employee. Later that day, when I thought everything had settled down and was okay, she sent me a text with a string of emojis of a baby, baby bottle, a hospital, and a pink bow. I thought, “Oh, so the little snot is calling me a baby! She surely should know it was not wise to call the boss a baby!”

In another conversation over the phone, someone told me how happy that employee was because she had just found out that day about my new baby daughter. But my temper had flared, and I nearly fired her over a message that she intended to be sweet.

Even if you’re well-versed in emoji etiquette, you shouldn’t assume that everyone will know the intent and meaning of acronyms and graphics. Stick to professional language and save the shortcuts for your best buddies.

5. YOU MAKE TOO MANY ASSUMPTIONS

There are times when people don’t really listen because they think they already know what the person is going to say, or they are busy preparing their own answer. The same idea applies when you assume you know what a person means in their email or text message without actually really reading it for context. It could be that you are tired, emotional, or distracted, or the messages could be coming from someone at work that you don’t necessarily like.

Slow down and read a message more than once while clearing out your assumptions. Focus, reflect, and then read it again before you draw conclusions. If you are still not sure, ask questions to make sure you understood the message correctly. I find people with this skill can be hidden leaders in my company.

Effective communication takes practice. I know haven’t perfected it yet. I do take a step back from a message that made me angry in order to give the person the benefit of the doubt. And I keep these reasons for miscommunication to remind me to take more care in how I read, write, and verbalize what I am sending out or receiving.

FastCompany.com | JOHN RAMPTON | 11.07.16 5:00 AM

#Leadership : Does Your Company’s Purpose Resonate With Everyone, Or Just Senior Leaders?…If your Own Employees Write Off your Shiny New Mission Statement as Just Another Marketing Trick, So Will your Customers.

November 7, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Discovering your company’s “purpose” is tough. Sustaining it can be even tougher. Even if you’ve zeroed in on a mission that your executives love, it won’t do your company much good if the rest of your team doesn’t share the same sentiment.

PURPOSE COMES FROM WITHIN AND WITHOUT

The challenge is to make sure your entire organization is willing to buy into its stated purpose. The consulting firm Radley Yeldar, which ranks brands according to “social purpose,” gives the top spot to Unilever for its sustainability efforts, among other causes beyond the company’s bottom line to which it has shown commitment.

The fact is that not all of your employees will embrace your new values as readily as your executive team does.

Other big-name companies, though, have dropped noticeably on Radley Yeldar’s annual list, like Johnson & Johnson (which settled a series of health care fraud cases this year for a record $2.2 billion) and Samsung (whose devices, from smartphones to washing machines, have been riddled with dangerous manufacturing problems). A company’s failures in the marketplace can undermine how consumers understand its purpose. But there’s more to it than that.

Purpose isn’t just backing up a do-gooder marketing angle with action. A company’s values—and subsequently its purpose—also come from its culture. For businesses trying to regain or redefine a sense of purpose, embedding newvalues into their cultures takes both top-down and bottom-up efforts. Brands that have seen a significant drop in their “purpose” rankings may have employees who simply don’t feel on board with their company’s purpose, or just see it as another rebrand.

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TIMING MATTERS

So how does a brand, armed with a purpose, motivate its employees to also believe in that purpose—even when they aren’t as passionate about the idea? It’s partly a timing thing.

The problem many companies face is figuring out how to incorporate purpose into a company’s culture without coming off as inauthentic. Try to rush the process, and it’ll likely fail. Purpose is often abused by marketers who try to showcase a brand’s supposed values superficially, rather than nurturing them internally to make sure they take root before launching the next campaign. Slapping a slogan on your website or printing off a series of ads that use a new catchphrase isn’t purpose-driven marketing.

In order to be successful, your entire organization—from your newest hire to your oldest associate—needs to live and breathe your mission. If a talented, capable employee finds that purpose to be just another boring corporate initiative, it’s time to press pause and reevaluate. The fact is that not all of your employees will embrace your new values as readily as your executive team does. But it’s up to management to find ways to make that purpose relevant to those who may not share the same beliefs.

Unsurprisingly, one company found that simple transparency can help fend off some of these risks. Precision Software, a logistics solutions provider, recently introduced a newfound purpose into its organization, kicking off a company-wide initiative to get all of its employees involved. “In our industry, our ‘why’ is what differentiates us from our competitors,” says Robert Clesi, VP of marketing and partners at Precision Software. That may not sound earth shattering or world saving, but that wasn’t the point; excellence was simply the most authentic value the company arrived at. It didn’t try to shoehorn in another one that didn’t fit.

“We really did a lot of due diligence up front and made sure everyone, especially on the management side, bought into our purpose,” Clesi explains. Well before sitting down with a marketing agency, Precision sent out several surveys to get an understanding of how employees and customers felt about the brand. By gathering feedback and taking the time to have those conversations, the company was able to craft a new mission statement that arose organically from within. And if someone wasn’t completely sold on Precision’s values, Clesi said management would sit down one-on-one to discuss that individual’s concerns and work toward a solution that satisfied both parties.

TELL REAL STORIES, NOT FABLES

If your team initially lacks that same enthusiasm your executives share, you may want to consider opening up a dialogue strictly around purpose.

“Purpose” only means something when your entire company is on board.

In 2013, Forbes contributor Carine Gallo points out, Southwest Airlines deftly used storytelling in order to drum up that enthusiasm. The airline began to publish accounts of employees who were doing exemplary work in its monthly Southwest magazine, in effect offering public praise for excellent customer service. There’s no doubt that this was also a marketing move, but it felt authentic both within the company and without, because its culture—and the employees who lived and breathed it—was now front and center.

But the effort wasn’t just consumer facing. It ran in the opposite direction, too: Southwest also circulated internal corporate videos filled with real-life stories from actual Southwest customers to help employees visualize purpose in action. This helped the airline instill its brand values in every one of its employees while eliminating doubts that the effort was just a superficial corporate gambit.

“Purpose” only means something when your entire company is on board. Instead of pointing fingers at a broken corporate culture, try reexamining your organization’s purpose—not just to discover if it’s an effective marketing strategy, but to make sure it actually reflects what your team values and responds to.

FastCompany.com | BARRY S. SALTZMAN 11.07.16 5:00 AM

#Leadership : How To Keep Working Productively When You’re Under Extreme Stress…You’ve got a Big Job with Bigger Responsibilities. Then Disaster Strikes. Here’s How to Keep it Together.

November 7, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Say you’re a high performer who’s risen through the ranks. Now you have even bigger responsibilities. Or you’re working your way toward a promotion and need to show your skills and professionalism in the best light. Then the phone call comes. The results of your medical tests weren’t good. Or you suddenly have to take care of a loved one in an emergency. Or there’s an unexpected financial hit that could spell catastrophe.

Whatever the situation, your life just got much more complicated. While intuitively you know that these things can happen to anyone, the anxiety of dealing with such troubling events, coupled with the pressure to continue to perform in your job, amps up the stress to DEFCON 1.

“A curveball like that requires sharpening your coping skills and expanding them so that you can deal with what’s being demanded of you,” says clinical psychologist Alicia H. Clark, adjunct professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. And there is a strategic approach you can take to help you cope and perform better, even when you’re operating under extreme stress.

IDENTIFY WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL

Part of the anxiety that occurs during such urgent situations comes from feeling a loss of control, says Matthew Digeronimo, a retired nuclear submarine lieutenant commander and coauthor of Extreme Operational Excellence: Applying the U.S. Submarine Culture to Your Organization. He recommends identifying the things you can adapt or adjust to regain some of that feeling of order. “If a family member is ill, you might not be able to control the illness. But you can control the manner in which you rally around that person. You can control your working hours, or the way you react to it,” he says.

Part of the anxiety that occurs during such urgent situations comes from feeling a loss of control.

If you can schedule meetings or calls during your high-energy times, or work from home one day a week, take advantage of those options. Use the power you do have to adapt your life to deal with your new situation for the time being, he says.

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IDENTIFY THE “MUST-DOS”

We all have tasks that need to get done to fulfill our responsibilities. However, high-performing individuals often go beyond the basics and take on other to-dos—that’s often what makes them high performers, Clark says. Now is the time to scale back to the most necessary and immediate task. Ask yourself these key questions:

Where can I cut back?
Where can I save time?
What can I put off without much consequence?

For example, do you need to take that trip to China now? Or can you cut back to visiting two states instead of three on your next trip? Can support staff handle some of the legwork on that upcoming report? Once you have a sense of where your time needs to be spent, you can create a list of priorities to ensure you’re getting the essentials done. Then you can decide whether you have time or energy to take on more.

ACCEPT “GOOD ENOUGH”—FOR NOW

This is also a good time to let go of perfectionism and accept “good enough,” Clark says. When you’re good at and take pride in what you do, it can be tough to do the minimum acceptable job. Sometimes, that’s what’s necessary to free up time and energy you need for other things to prevent burnout, she says.

SLOW DOWN

Extreme stress can affect decision making as well. Recent research from the University of Pittsburgh found that anxiety affects the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which regulates problem solving, impulse control, and emotion regulation.

If necessary, take more time to make decisions or take action to be sure you get it right.

Unlike typical periodic stress, where you may feel the pressure of events that happen from time to time, unrelenting stress doesn’t give you time for recovery, says Richard Citrin, PhD, founder of Citrin Consulting, a talent and leadership development consultancy, and author of The Resilience Advantage: Stop Managing Stress and Find Your Resilience. So your decision-making abilitymay be taking a beating.

As a result, you need to be more intentional about what you’re doing. Gather your facts methodically, and if necessary, take more time to make decisions or take action to be sure you get it right, he says.

SHARE SELECTIVELY

Another decision you’ll need to make is what—and how much—to tell those around you. Should you tell your boss that your parent is ill? Should you tell your boss or coworkers that you’re going through a divorce? There’s no one-size-fits-all solution here, Digeronimo says.

It’s important to practice good self-care.

If the situation will require you to change some of your work habits or be out of the office, then it’s probably a good idea to tell your boss the basics and share your plan for managing the situation. He thinks it’s not a good idea to share too much with coworkers, as it can breed gossip and office politics. “For most of us, our coworkers are not our source of support,” he says. “I think it can only add to your stress level if you share these types of details with them.”

GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK

When Citrin’s daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, he and his wife both had full-time careers. He says that one of the most important lessons he learned throughout the experience was to accept help from other people so that he could free up time to help his daughter. He says it can be hard for people who are used to handling everything themselves to ask for or accept help from others, but even allowing a neighbor to bring over a meal can relieve one of your many demands. Clark adds that it’s important to practice good self-care, including getting enough sleep, exercising, and trying to manage your stress.

Chances are that you’re going to have to juggle a personal emergency with your work at some point. Understanding how to keep your work life intact while managing extreme stress requires a combination of cutting back, being mindful, and taking care of your own needs, so you can address both work and personal demands.

FastCompany.com | GWEN MORAN | 11.07.16 5:43 AM

Your #Career : 5 Things You Need to Do to Set Yourself Up for a Promotion…Identify the Skills you Need to Make yourself Stand Out from the Competition.

November 7, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Everyone wants a promotion, but it’s not as simple as waiting a year or two to “get” one. That’s because promotions are earned, not given. This is especially true at the leadership level; professionals need to prove their worth and show that they’re ready for career advancement.

Demonstrating value isn’t making a one-time presentation to senior leadership about why a promotion is deserved. It requires a conscious effort to improve and grow as a leader and simultaneously position yourself as a high-performing professional. Here’s how:

1.Demonstrate a track record of delivering.

The first, basic step to any kind of career advancement is competence. It sounds really simple, but it’s something that many professionals just assume. After a certain amount of time, employees just expect a promotion, but they don’t stop to think if they really are effective.

In fact, a September study from Leadership IQ found that fewer than half of employees know if they’re doing a good job.

Prepare for a promotion by reviewing past performance evaluations. Are there any gaps in performance? Talk with managers, supervisors, and co-workers. What needs to be improved? What can be done better?

Look at strengths, too. Gather data, records and any other evidence of a solid track record for delivering. Look for goals that have been met, successful completed projects, and other accomplishments that show effectiveness. Then, use these examples in performance talks with senior leadership.

Finally, look at which skills fall between strengths and weaknesses. Identify the middle skills that, with a little bit of effort, can show a visible increase in performance.

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2. Delegate strategically.

Professionals can’t take on more responsibility if they’re always swamped with work — especially leaders. Great leaders delegate tasks and lead employees through them, freeing up their time to focus on strategy and other high-level tasks.

Leaders ready for career advancement should take a look at what they spend the majority of their time at work doing. Is there room for more responsibility? Can certain tasks be delegated to the team? Can their time be better spent on strategic initiatives and guiding the team as opposed to actually doing the groundwork?

Once tasks are appropriately delegated to the team, ask senior leadership for more responsibility at the strategic level. Ask for challenges and demonstrate the capability to take on more.

3. Gain a bird’s eye view of the organization.

To be competent in their current position, leaders need to understand their team and their department, and find ways to improve processes, employee satisfaction, and success in that silo. But for career advancement, leaders need to have that same ability across the organization.

Having a broad view and understanding of the organization is a sign that leaders are ready for the next step. As professionals move up in the company, they need to be ready to bring innovation and make changes across the business.

Promotions bring new opportunities to lead, implement changes, and make decisions that will have a positive impact. But to launch new ideas and initiatives, leaders need to know the business inside and out. They need to understand the company vision, mission and strategy and with this broader picture in mind identify what the company is doing well and what can be improved. They need to know what has and hasn’t worked in the past, the role of different departments and leaders within the organization, and the overall guiding mission and vision.

To prepare for this change, take a step back from daily responsibilities and look at the organization as a whole. Are there any gaps in knowledge? Talk to senior leaders, different teams, and others within the company to fill these gaps and learn as much as possible. To make the most of these conversations and leave a good impression, understand the company’s competition, market and goals.

4. Effectively communicate.

Communication is a huge part of effective leadership, and the best communicators know that it comes down to context. After all, research conducted by our company, Skyline Group International, Inc., found that leadership exists on a spectrum. In other words, leaders are seen as effective depending on the situation and their audience.

For example, our research found that men in leadership tend to listen to understand the main points of what the speaker is saying while women in leadership tend to want to understand what the speaker is feeling. Both of these strategies can be effective, depending on the situation and the audience.

To reach the next level of their career, leaders need to understand this and develop different communication tactics. That way, they can be effective whether they’re communicating with clients, team members or the CEO.

5. Establish an executive presence.

For leaders, part of career success comes down to how they represent themselves. Leaders need to have a certain level of executive presence for career advancement. What exactly does that mean?

Executive presence refers to how leaders conduct themselves in the workplace and how they are seen by their colleagues and employees. Our research suggests that men in leadership are seen as more effective when they command respect, while women who present themselves with poise and authenticity are seen as more effective.

However, great leadership comes down to balance. Find a middle ground between these two gendered extremes to be respected by peers and viewed as senior leadership material. Behave in a way fitting with company values and demonstrate a personality and professionalism expected from an executive.

Entrepreneur.com | November 17, 2016 | Thuy Sindell and Milo Sindell

#Leadership : 4 Steps to Reinventing Yourself After Hitting Rock Bottom…Failure is the Unpleasant Beginning of Being Reborn as an Entrepreneur.

November 2, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Hitting rock bottom — as energetic, smart and business-savvy entrepreneurial — types, this dreadful phrase is simply not in our vocabularies.

But it happens — even to the best of us who think we are completely prepared for this roller coaster ride in the pursuit of success. And if you don’t want to commit career suicide by going back to that nine-to-five job that made you jump into entrepreneurship in the first place — you must navigate through the tough times. So, how do you do that? Where do you turn when you’re awash in the confusion, anxiety, self-doubt and worry of “rock bottom?”

“Anytime I hit into a wall,” David said, “I reminded myself why I was doing what I was doing. I connected to my vision. And I realized that no matter the hiccups along the way, it was still way better than committing ‘career suicide’ and going back to being an employee. It was not an option.”

David Schloss, now co-founder and CEO of digital-marketing company rampify.com and one of the most respected names when it comes to Facebook advertising, can tell you how to navigate through that unwanted world — because in 2014, he hit rock bottom himself. He had just been “going through the motions,” he recalled. He had no real goal in mind. “I simply had no direction,” he said. “I felt totally lost.”

On Halloween that year, David had $0 in his bank account. He was only 72 hours away from either coming up with his rent payment or getting kicked out. His car was two weeks away from getting impounded. It felt like walls were closing in. His business was crumbling — and he was very close to throwing in the towel and going back to working a day job.

Thankfully, David was able to turn things around. He didn’t go back to being an employee and instead created his own thriving marketing company. Here are four tips from David that will help you through the tough times, get back on track and rise up in the business you were meant for:

1. Let yourself be vulnerable.

Life isn’t always sunshine and roses. We hit walls. Sometimes we lose. We struggle. Too often as entrepreneurs, we hide those struggles. The problem is, if you don’t let yourself be real and vulnerable when you’re struggling, then it will actually hold you back from progressing through the tough time.

In David’s period of uncertainty, he did something that proved to be a powerful key in his turnaround — he let himself be vulnerable. David had hundreds of business friends on Facebook. Realizing he needed help, David reached out to every last one of them for advice and guidance. Two things happened.

“First, I discovered I wasn’t alone,” he said. “Other entrepreneurs had gone through similar things.” Knowing that other people had made it through, too, helped David develop confidence that he could also get through it. “Second, they were able to give me actionable advice to get on the right track.” It was that advice that got him moving in the right direction.

Had David stayed “closed up,” he wouldn’t have had the support he needed from others to help him move forward. When you’re in a tough spot, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Sharing the struggle is the bravest thing you can do. Being vulnerable isn’t a sign of weakness — it’s a sign of strength.

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2. Develop a vision.

It’s difficult to know if you’re progressing when you don’t know where you’re going. In “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey talks about beginning with the end in mind. Know where you want to end up at the beginning of the trip — it’s your guiding north star. In David’s comeback, asking himself, “What do I want to create?” proved to be powerful.

“Asking that question,” he said, “is what helped me develop a vision for the future I wanted.”

David used the advice from his colleagues to help him get super clear on the vision and direction he wanted to go. It’s that vision that helped him get out of bed in the morning and get to work.

Vision is critical. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?

3. Create an action plan.

Vision is knowing where you’re going. Action is how you’ll get there. You’ve heard “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” While that’s true, there’s an important distinction to be made — your plan must be based on “action” instead of based on “results.”

In my first book, “Fish Out of Water,” I explain how successful people focus on what’s inside their control, versus outside their control. While the result is not always directly within your control, action is.

David got clear on where he wanted to go, and then he made a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly plan of action of how he was going to get there. To him, his success wasn’t based on the amount of money he made — it was based on the actions he took to make that money. He set time aside to focus on personal development. He committed to contacting at least three people every day to create a conversation without pitching or selling anything. He created two training videos every week to provide value to his audience. David believed that if he took the right actions, results would come as a byproduct of those actions — and they did.

4. Persist.

It’s no surprise that things don’t always go the way you planned. Persistence is a decision to keep moving towards the vision no matter the hiccups along the way. It’s not just doing what it takes — it’s doing whatever it takes. It’s falling down and getting up again anyway, as David did.

“Anytime I hit into a wall,” David said, “I reminded myself why I was doing what I was doing. I connected to my vision. And I realized that no matter the hiccups along the way, it was still way better than committing ‘career suicide’ and going back to being an employee. It was not an option.”

Planning is what gets you moving toward your vision, but persistence is what keeps you going.

Entrepreneurship is a fulfilling journey, not just a satisfying destination. It’s not just about where we are going — but who we become. Throughout the process of crawling up and out of the dreaded rock bottom, David began to realize he wasn’t even the same person anymore. So just remember, when you’re in a tough spot as an entrepreneur, it just means you’re being reborn into the new you. Embrace the new you.

Entrepreneur.com | November 2, 2016 | Calvin Wayman