#Leadership: How You Support Others Starkly Shows How You #Lead…As a Mutuality-Minded, Connective #Leader, Demonstrate that being a Strong Team Player is As Important as Being a Rising Star, & Act as If that is also Their True Intention

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I played the Triangles Game as the last step the Coro Foundation used to select Fellows for its public affairs program. What I discovered — about being a connective, sought-after leader — was unexpected and unforgettable.

leadership-role-pic

Here’s what happened.

All final applicants were seated in groups of six around round tables. In front of each of us was placed a varied set of triangle-shaped cards. The board chair stood up in front of us all and said, “There is only one goal to this game and only three rules. The goal is to see which team finishes first. To finish, each of you at your table will have assembled in front of you a set of the triangles that fits to create a larger triangle. The first iron-clad rule is that you cannot ask for the piece you want back in trade to complete your triangle, made out of pieces. Instead, you must accept any piece that is offered to you in trade. Three, you cannot talk until the game is over because a team has won.”

What ensued was unforgettable, especially in retrospect after we heard the Coro leaders describe the behaviors we displayed when playing this game. For example, some individuals, in their ardor to win, couldn’t help but grab the card they wanted, throwing one of theirs back quickly in their drive to be first to complete their triangle of pieces. Others, as they came closer to completing their overall triangle of pieces, muttered under their breath their requests  – and pointed at what they wanted from someone else. After just a few trades, almost all of us instinctively kept peering down at our partially assembled set of cards,  looking for what was missing and who had one of them.

Adeptly Helping Others Is The Best Way To Help Yourself

Our team won, and certainly not because of me but because of Sue Wong (yes, that really is her name), who sat next to me. Unlike the rest of us, she was looking at what cards were missing in front of each of her teammates’ mix of cards. Then she was looking down to see which card she had that might help one of us complete our overall triangle of cards, and accepting the discards from us.

Eventually she was orchestrating the completion of each teammate’s triangle by aptly sharing the discarded cards she received to the right member. In so doing she facilitated our winning. She played the mutuality-mindset “card” of behavior better than anyone else on our team or the other teams. Everyone received an indelible first-hand experience of the power of mutuality behavior after the wise Coro leader drolly described to all of us in the room what we had done “together.”

Tip: “Don’t be a sheep, be a shepherd.” ~ Yael Citro, LawPal co-founder

 

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Articulating Their Specific Talent Can Help Them Strengthen It

When I was a Wall Street Journal reporter, my bureau chief bluntly told me one day that I took too long when interviewing some people, and sometimes that was a good thing. I got insights about the interviewees’ views on other topics.

He told me that, when I finished writing the story I was assigned, I should write notes about their answers to questions I asked that were not directly related to the story. Then in future stories, I might see where one of those interviewees had an unexpected yet relevant angle and quote them. In effect, my bureau chief showed me a talent I did not know I had, that I saw patterns between apparently unrelated things people said. That insight was life changing for me.

Consequently I developed a habit of explicitly telling others when I saw them demonstrate a specific talent that appeared to be hidden to them.

My boss, the bureau chief, was also extremely blunt – and invariably right — in describing my shortcomings and thus ultimately became a valuable sponsor for me in my career. Over time our relationship morphed into one of mutual mentoring, one of the most precious and continuing traits to our flourishing friendship.

Hint: A mutuality mindset multiplies opportunities and moments of camaraderie for us.

Vividly and specifically praise others when they shine a spotlight on individuals who are showing their strengths. In so doing, connective leaders can contagiously create close bonds and model connective behavior that embodies the sentimentRosabeth Moss Kanter advocates for leading: “I stand behind you. My job is to make yours successful.”

When They Make a Mistake, Enable Them to Save Face and Self-Correct

Help self others

What if Jennifer successfully completed a project that was vital to the division you supervise, yet left colleagues in the lurch on other projects – without telling them? You have an opportunity to offer a vital team-values lesson.

Act as if she understood she’d made a mistake. Meet with her privately and say, “I appreciate your great work on that project. And I know you feel badly that your colleagues didn’t learn, in time, that they would need to rapidly make adjustments to get the other projects completed. In our next meeting, how do you want to explain to them how you will do things differently in similar situations in the future? You have strong talents and I want to fully back you in gaining their support.”

Tip: As a mutuality–minded, connective leader, demonstrate that being a strong team player is as important as being a rising star — and act as if that is also their true intention.

 

Forbes.com | May 18, 2015  | Kare Anderson 

 

#Leadership: How To Create A High Performing #Culture…At the End of the Day, People DON’T Really Care About the Company, they Care about Themselves. Let’s be Honest, IF People cared More for the Company then #Turnover Wouldn’t Exist.

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The individual motivations that propel each and every worker are impossible to appeal to at mass. In fact, just motivating a single person can be challenging let alone encouraging 100 or 1,000 employees to exert another one percent effort.

SheepHerder

There are two approaches organizational leaders often take to stir the motivational pot and turn those employee frowns upside down (if need be). First–and these are in no particular order–there’s the, “We are going to change the world with this killer new product!” approach that may motivate some people, but not everyone. Then, there’s the, “We’re going to turn this company around! Yeee-haaw!” tactic that, again, energizes some but mainly inspires a rolling of the eyes.

While the intent to motivate is positive, there’s a drawback to either of the above motivational tactics: the company is at the center of  focus rather than the person. Here’s why.

At the end of the day, people don’t really care about the company, they care about themselves. I don’t mean this in a selfish or self-interested way but let’s be honest, if people cared more for the company then turnover wouldn’t exist.

What people do care about is something meaningful; something that challenges and inspires them to grow personally and professionally; and something to which they can contribute and improve.

So how do you integrate these principles into company culture? Read on.

Ask, don’t tell. No, not what you’re thinking of. What I’m referring to here is the power of choice—not so much from the proactive perspective (although that’s important, too) but from the perspective of senior to subordinate relationship. Here’s what I mean.

A research experiment by Daniel Kahneman took two groups of people and held a lottery drawing. The first group was assigned a ticket number; the second group was given a blank piece of paper and told to write their own number. Then—and this is the twist—the researchers asked to buy the lottery tickets back.

Logical thinking would lead one to believe that there wouldn’t be any difference in the amount paid for a participant’s lotto ticket, but that’s not what the results indicated. More so, what the researchers discovered offers valuable insight into how to create a high performing culture: The participants who wrote their own number charged five times more than those who were assigned a ticket.

What does this mean for company culture? It means then when offered thefreedom to choose, our commitment to results increases fivefold.

 

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Create a Christmas-like culture. I always loved the surprise of Christmas as a kid. Come to think of it, I still enjoy it as an adult. But there’s something to be said for the element of surprise accompanied with the aspect of reward. Surprises are exciting, and a rewarding surprise is even better. Now, if we pair theunexpected with recognition we create a whole new (intangible) aspect of compensation that boosts employee performance. If you don’t believe it, check this out…

In the same aforementioned study, experimenters assigned one group of participants to a photocopier who found a dime in the coin-return slot. The other group? Nada. Afterward, the participants who found that extra ten cents rated their satisfaction at 6.5 on a scale of one to seven, while the other group rated 5.6.

The takeaway here is that unexpected rewards have a positive impact on our mental states, and therefore our productivity.

How do you compel high performance?

 

Jeff is a executive coach specializing in adaptive-leadership and author of the forthcoming “Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations.”

 

Forbes.com | May 18, 2015 | Jeff Boss

Strategy: 9 #LinkedIn Super Tips For #Job Seekers, #Brand Builders & #HiringManagers…To make Sure you aren’t Squandering your #Networking Opportunities, we Tapped LinkedIn Experts (Including one Directly from the Source!), along with some Super Users to Share their Best LinkedIn Tips

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It’s hard to believe that when LinkedIn first launched in 2003, it attracted as few as 20 new signups some days.  But now, logging on to the social professional network can feel a bit like swimming in a sea of names, faces, titles and status updates.

Linkedin Coffee

George from accounting is celebrating his three-year anniversary! Colin from college is on his fifth job!

It’s become such a professional staple that notusing the platform to its fullest extent could mean missing out on scoring a dream job, tapping into that elusive contact’s network and even discovering your next best hire.

So to make sure you aren’t squandering your networking opportunities, we tapped LinkedIn experts (including one directly from the source!), along with some super users to share their best LinkedIn tips.

A)  3 Tips Tailored for Job Seekers …

If you’re gunning for a new gig, this may be your year: In LinkedIn’s 2015 U.S. Recruiting Trends report, half of talent managers said that finding quality candidates was their No. 1 priority—and social professional networks have become their top source for ferreting out first-class hires.

Here’s how to prime your profile to make it stand out from the crowd:

1. Let them see you. Selfie lovers, rejoice. You now have a business case for perfecting the angle on those solo shots.

“LinkedIn profiles with a picture are 14 times more likely to be viewed,” says Catherine Fisher, LinkedIn’s career expert.

Not only does simply having a photo get you views, but refreshing your profile photo will help boost them. According to LinkedIn data, Millennials change their profile photos more frequently than any other age group—which means they’re also the most viewed demo on the site.

2. Ramp up your writing. In the age of social media, brevity has become the new normal. But what’s good for your Twitter feed isn’t so great for your LinkedIn profile.

“LinkedIn users who have at least 40 words in their Summary section can drive more page views,” says Fisher, explaining that it will improve the chances you’ll get into search results.

That said, she cautions against using so-called buzzwords that have become trite—worst offenders like motivated, passionate, creative, driven, extensive experience, responsible, strategic, track record, organizational and expert.

“Instead of saying how ‘passionate’ you are—demonstrate it,” she adds. “Include examples of your work, how you drive results, and what you do to make yourself stand out from the crowd.”

3. Highlight non-work accomplishments. Did you graduate summa cum laude? Spend weekends wrangling volunteers at the animal shelter? Then tout these things.

“Completing the ‘Education’ section of your profile drives 10 times more views than profiles without it,” Fisher says. “In our research of hiring managers, 42% also say they view volunteer experience in a profile as equivalent to work experience.”

If you’re a recent grad transitioning to a new industry or seeking positions that aren’t similar to previous roles, this added information can help fill in professional gaps—and demonstrate that you have abilities beyond your niche.

RELATED: 5 Things Job Candidates Obsess Over—But Hiring Managers Don’t

 

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B)  3 Tips Tailored for People Looking to Boost Their Brand …

In the old days positioning yourself as an authority in your field meant signing up for conference-speaking gigs three months down the line.

But thanks to social networking, business owners and entrepreneurs have the opportunity to reach the masses—without having to hire the big PR guns.

1. Start a content stream. Ever see a post from a LinkedIn Influencer—thought leaders who publish their own content and attract millions of followers—and think: “If only I could be one of them!”

While Fisher notes that Influencers earn the designation by invitation only, entrepreneurs can brand themselves as thought leaders, too, simply by sharing their own ideas.

For starters, you can publish blog posts from your LinkedIn homepage opining on the latest trends in your industry, while making sure to pepper in popular search terms.

Amy McIlwain, vice president of social and digital media at Moore Communications Group and author of “The Social Advisor: Social Media Secrets of the Financial Industry,” also suggests posting dynamic content—say, videos of your speaking engagements or links to SlideShare presentations you’ve created—to further optimize your profile.

If you already have a site or blog you publish to frequently, have those posts do double duty. “I typically duplicate my blog entries on LinkedIn, opening them up to thousands of new users,” says Natalie Bidnick, digital strategist at Elizabeth Christian Public Relations. “It drives 20% more traffic to my website.”

2. Take your profile photo on a test drive. Now that we’ve established profile photos get you more page views, is the one you’ve chosen giving off the right impression to potential clients?

To make sure your look is polished, McIlwain suggests cropping in tight on your profile, from the shoulders up—while neatly groomed and dressed in professional attire, of course. Also, avoid a busy environment by opting for a plain backdrop.

To see which facial expression works best, McIIwain recommends testing out options on photofeeler.com. “You can upload a photo, and others will rate it based on influence, likability and credibility,” she says.

3. Maximize character counts. Your LinkedIn profile is chock full of mini sections that can double as areas where you can claim professional bragging rights.

Take your Summary description, which offers up to 2,000 characters. So trade that boring, one-sentence description for one that touts your big professional accomplishments—with plenty of keywords baked in.

The Description box beneath each job within the Experience section also holds up to 2,000 characters—prime space for sharing a case study, customer testimonial or other big wins you scored at each job, says Viveka von Rosen, author of “LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day.”

And remember that it’s not just text you can add—LinkedIn lets you upload documents, photos, links, videos and presentations to your Summary and Experience sections.

Did you help produce a commercial at your first job? Pen a big whitepaper at your last one? Have a personal website you’re proud of? Attach them so would-be clients can see real examples of the impact you made.

RELATED: 8 Traits You’ll Find in Every Fearless Job Hunter

 

C)  3 Tips Tailored for Hiring Managers in Search of Superstars …

Fishing out candidates who may not even be looking to make a move is one of the biggest benefits of LinkedIn.

But to truly take advantage of the site as a recruiting tool, it pays to be strategic—and also ensure you’re not inadvertently breaking hiring laws while you’re at it.

1. Highlight employee life on your company page. Your workplace’s LinkedIn page is one way potential hires can get a sense of who they’d be working for—but only if you consistently showcase culture and personality through updates.

“Interview happy employees and customers. Post pics and stories of the social good your company is involved with,” von Rosen says. “This might be what tips the scales.”

In fact, LinkedIn found that “talent brand”—what workers think about their employer, and how they share that with others—can help company overhead: Companies with stronger talent brands reported 28% lower turnover than those with weaker ones. And 77% of talent leaders say it has a significant impact on their ability to hire great employees.

That said, posting a bunch of new updates just because you know an important candidate is looking isn’t fooling anyone—it takes time to build talent brand.

“Attempting to rush and just publish something when it’s hiring time [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][means you’re already] behind the eight-ball,” says Dennis Tupper, marketing programs manager and former corporate recruiter for Eliassen Group. “Producing continuous content regarding the culture and success of your company is a long-term solution to your hiring needs.”

2. Invite candidates to apply before perusing their profiles. If you’re like most managers, you probably do an industry-specific keyword search, see who pops up, and then start clicking through profiles.

The problem with this seemingly innocent approach? You could potentially put your company at risk for violating employment laws.

“The [legal] problem is once you view their profile, you know their race; gender, if it’s not clear from their name; and possibly religion, if they’re wearing a religious symbol,” says executive recruiter Bruce Hurwitz, CEO of Hurwitz Strategic Staffing. “By reading their profile, you may also learn they are married, have children, or maybe have a disability.”

And none of this information can legally be used as a factor in deciding whom to consider for a job.

Hurwitz instead uses LinkedIn as a means of bringing in interested candidates. He’ll do a keyword search by location and industry, then message select contacts from the results with the job description, asking them to send in a résumé if they’re interested.

If the candidate brings up their LinkedIn profile during the interview, he’ll pull up the page, so they can discuss it in person. In rare instances this has helped weed out some candidates earlier in the process.

“I have disqualified candidates because they had fraudulent recommendations on their profiles, or there were serious discrepancies between their profiles and resumes,” Hurwitz says.

3. Check recent activity. Once you’re ready for a profile deep dive, don’t just stay on a candidate’s profile page. Get a sense for what they’re interested in, what trends they watch, and which well-known business people they follow by checking out their activity feed, suggests von Rosen.

You get to this page by clicking on the drop down menu next to the “Send a message /InMail” button, then choosing the “View recent activity” option.

If the candidate hasn’t set their settings to private, you should be able to see what types of content they’ve shared and liked. Looking for an innovator? Perhaps the one who hangs on Richard Branson’s every word is the right fit for the job.

 

Forbes.com | May 14, 2015 | LearnVest

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Your #Career: How to Get a #Job you’re Not Qualified For…What Do you Do When you Know you’d be Great at the Position, but your Background Doesn’t Make you an Obvious Fit? How do you Compensate for a Less than Conventional #Résumé?

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The job postings all begin the same way: first the overview of the position, followed by a list of qualifications. And if you’ve been steadily climbing the ranks of your industry one rung at a time, it’s likely you’re in good shape — the gig sounds good and you’ve got the obvious experience to back it up. Let the offers roll in.

young student works on his laptop at home

There is hope for us all.

But what happens if your path has been a little bit more…winding?

What do you do when you know you’d be great at the position, but your background doesn’t make you an obvious fit? If you’re trying to redirect your career, how do you compensate for a less than conventional résumé?

The good news, says Aliza Licht, SVP of global communications at Donna Karan International and the author of “Leave Your Mark: Land Your Dream Job. Kill It Your Career. Rock Social Media,” is that it is possible.

“It’s definitely another barricade to jump over when you’re applying,” she admits, but you can genuinely — and persuasively — reframe your skill set. For all of us, there is hope.

Here’s what you’ll want to do:

1. Understand the job

You always want to understand the job you’re applying for — that’s obvious — but when you’re trying to position yourself outside of your normal area, it’s even more critical than usual.

That’s because you’re selling your specific, transferable skills — not your previous titles. And the better you understand the job description, “the more you can hone in on what you know is important to that person,” Licht explains. “You have to throw the skill set that you know they’re looking for back at them.”

 

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2. Cut the jargon

Certain specifics may be very, very impressive to people inside your industry, but to people outside of it — like, say, the people in charge of hiring for the job you’re trying to get — those details are (sadly) meaningless. Cut them.

Licht tells the story of a candidate looking to transition from healthcare PR to fashion PR — not, superficially, at least, a drastic career change. But her résumé was filled with the names of pharmaceutical companies and drugs, and those details weren’t doing her any favors in fashion.

“The person in fashion is going to read this and think, ‘OK, I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t know these companies, these drugs mean nothing to me,'” Licht says. The thing the fashion people do care about? “The actual PR skills that she performed on behalf of these brands. That’s the nugget that they’re going to care about.”

Aliza LichtGerardo SomozaAliza Licht, author and SVP of global communications at Donna Karan International.

3. Lead with the positive 

“I know my background in medical research makes me an unconventional candidate for the communications position, but...” is a tempting — and sincere! — opening, but it is not the one you want to go with.

“I wouldn’t lead with the negative, ever,” Licht says, in no uncertain terms. Instead, she advises, “flip it right around: ‘My experience with A, B, and C would enhance your department because of X, Y, and Z reasons.'” That way, you’re not giving them a reason to reject you — you’re “opening their minds to another possibility.”

And with the right spin (and the right hiring manager) it’s even possible that your quirky career path could work in your favor. “Sometimes, it’s a positive to have someone come from left field because you get a fresh eye and an outside perspective,” Licht points out. Your experience isn’t a blemish — it’s a feature. The challenge is selling it that way.

4. Appeal to their humanity — and their ego

Finding a point of human connection can go a long way toward getting someone to take a chance on you. That’s true if you’re chasing your first internships, but it’s also true if you’re trying to change career directions. (In fact, it’s probably true under all circumstances. People respond well to people who also behave like people.)

So how do you professionally connect on a personal level? “Acknowledge that person’s recent accomplishment, or what that person has done for the company,” Licht suggests. “Show you’re really a fan.”

Will you seem like a pandering suck up? Maybe, she concedes, “but really, have you ever met someone that doesn’t like being complimented? Is that really a risk?” The key is to have the facts to back up your fandom. “If you start listing everything that person’s done, at least you did the research!” she says. “You may have heard about the person one week ago, but you’ve done your research and it sounds good.”

And keep this in mind: while yes, you do have to “knock it out of the park as far as your skill set,” as Licht puts it, a recent Quartz article points out that job postings are largely fictional anyway. If you think you’re a fit — and you can frame your skills to make a case — don’t an let an overly detailed job description intimidate you. It’s likely you’re more qualified than you think.

http://www.businessinsider.com/get-the-job-when-youre-not-qualified-2015-5#ixzz3aOZmssTh

Your #Career: If You Want to Seem Smarter, Pick up the #Phone… Don’t Email the #HiringManager your “Thank You” Note. Call them.

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If you’re most comfortable reaching out and following up with potential employers via email, you’re hardly alone. But according to new research, you’re also not doing yourself any favors. One good reason to ditch the computer and pick up the phone: you’ll actually seem smarter.

Anonymous iphone

Don’t email the hiring manager your “thank you” note. Call them.

“The Sound of Intellect,” a new study from Nicholas Epley, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, and doctoral candidate Juliana Schroeder, shows that people have more favorable impressions of job candidates when they hear them speak than when they read their written pitches — even if the actual content of the message is identical. So phone-haters, take note: dialing is worth it.

Research has shown over and over again that vocal cues communicate mental state far more accurately than text alone (among other things, this is why no one got your email joke). But Epley and Schroeder reasoned that speech might “actually communicate more clearly that you have a mind, that you’re rational and thoughtful, that you’re alive on the inside,” Epley tells Business Insider. “The closest you’ll ever get to another person’s consciousness,” he says, “is through their mouth.”

To test their theory, the team turned their attention to what they call “a domain where judgements of a person’s mental capacities are both common and critical” — hiring decisions.

In a series of experiments, published in this month’s Journal of Psychological Science, they had University of Chicago MBA students present two-minute elevator pitches in a variety of ways, spoken and written, to both hypothetical employers (as played by random visitors to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry) and real professional #recruiters.

Like this Article ??  Share it !   First Sun Consulting, LLC- Outplacement/Executive Coaching Services, is Proud to sponsor/provide our ‘FSC Career Blog’  Article Below.  Over 600 current articles like these are on our website in our FSC Career Blog (https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/)  with the most updated/current articles on the web for new management trends, employment updates along with career branding techniques  .

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Across the board, evaluators — amateurs and pros alike — perceived the candidates who presented spoken pitches as more thoughtful, more intelligent, and more competent than the candidates with written pitches. That was true when the text was an exact transcript of the speech, and it was true when the text was written specifically to be read. 

And the inverse, they found, was also true: when Epley and Schroeder had candidates read written pitches aloud, their intelligence ratings went up. In every permutation, vocal presentations trumped written ones. 

“It really is something important about the presence of the voice,” Epley explains. “When you strip it away, you lose some of your perception of another person’s mind, and when you add it in, you gain it back.”

That’s because voice — unlike text — contains cues to thinking as it’s happening. “How do I know you’re a thoughtful person?” he asks. “When I hear you explaining something as you’re thinking about it, I can hear you thinking. I can hear the pause in your voice, the fluctuation in tone, the change in the pace and enthusiasm and volume. Even some of the stuttering indicates thought while it’s happening.”

If eyes are the window to the soul, then think of voice as the window to the brain.

One bonus if you prefer to correspond with potential employers sans pants: while vocal presence mattered, physical presence didn’t — you’ll seem smarter on the phone than you will in writing, but a video interview probably won’t do you any extra favors.

The researchers discovered that adding visual cues to audio pitches didn’t change the way the candidates were perceived: if everybody looks basically the same (the MBAs, he says, were all nice and competent-looking people, as is pretty much everyone interviewing for a job), then appearance isn’t a particularly useful evaluation tool.

The point, Epley is clear, isn’t that how you look doesn’t matter — of course it does, he says — but rather there’s something fundamentally special about voice.

Let it be reassurance to us all: you don’t sound as stupid as you think you do. Or at least, it’s better than the alternative.

http://www.businessinsider.com/to-seem-smarter-pick-up-the-phone-2015-5#ixzz3aJYrQoZY

#Strategy: How to Be More Nimble Than Your Competition: 5 Tips…These Strategies can Help you Banish Bureaucracy & Stay Agile

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When you’re a new company you can be fast and nimble, and you don’t have any bureaucracy mucking up your ability to get things done. But how do you retain that agility as you scale? Girish Navani, CEO of the cloud-based electronic health record giant eClinicalWorks, has some ideas. The high value he places on speed is one factor he says has helped his bootstrapped company grow from $1 million in revenues in 2003 to $333 million last year. Here’s his advice for how you can be more nimble than your competition.

IMAGE: Getty Images

1. Banish layers and focus on team-playing.

Companies become sluggish because of silos and walls that slow decision making. To avoid such a fate eClinicalWorks has only three of layers: Team leads, team players and Navani as CEO, although he takes responsibility for leading product development. “When [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][your company is] five people you have roles, you have responsibilities, but you don’t have layers. Why can’t we do the same thing when we’re 4,000 people?” he says. “I think we’ve found a way to do that. We’ve structured the company around being a team-player versus an individual.”

 

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2. Encourage transparency and free speaking.

When people speak their minds decisions are made faster, particularly if your culture is one that values the larger picture more than the individual. Ideally, if an employee sees that something may be good for himself and his role-but not for the overall organization-you want him to say so. “Be open, be communicative, be transparent and let people know that what you value in a company is teamwork and not individuals trying to be superstars,” he says.

3. Keep the doors open.

Part of transparency means anyone can access anyone else at any time. Navani says he spends 95 percent of his day working in the open at a table surrounded by several chairs anyone can occupy when they have something to collaborate on or discuss. “We brainstorm, we make decisions, and we talk. No meetings, no scheduled appointments,” he says. “Because I don’t close my doors, nobody else closes their doors.”

4. Communicate simple goals people can understand.

If you can’t articulate your company’s mission and goals within 30 seconds youremployees probably won’t be able to deliver on them. For example, as eClinicalWorks grew, its list of products did, as well. But considering the company’s goal is to use technology to improve healthcare delivery at some point it made the most sense to offer all products to customers in a bundle they pay for monthly. “Suddenly the world changes with one broad statement, and people start getting away from individual [product] profitability to company-wide decision making,” he says. “[We] became very agile in how we make decisions, because the only decision we have is to make our customers use all our products and let them pay the monthly fee rather than trying to sell them individually.”

5. Look at your company from the customer’s perspective.

The company used to charge $1,000 a day for training, meaning an independent small doctor may have had to shell out five times that amount to get up and running. Unlike its competitors eClinicalWorks did away with the upfront fee, instead baking it into the monthly subscription, meaning it took longer for the company to recoup the training. As a result, sales increased as prospects started seeing the company as one which was confident it could keep their business long term. “Ask the question, ‘What’s slowing you down? What’s causing grief to your customer? Why does your customer think working with them is harder today than when you were a 5-person startup?'” he says. “If you keep doing that type of constant refactoring of your business, you’ll stay agile and ahead of your competition because you’re making decisions they can’t make.”[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

#Strategy:The Ultimate Guide to Using #LinkedIn Successfully…. LinkedIn Redirects 4 times as Many Users to Company Home Pages as Facebook/Twitter. So, If You/Your #Company Don’t Yet have a LinkedIn #Strategy, Where do you Get Started?

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If you follow my column, you know I’m a fan of LinkedIn. Since I moved to Europe four years ago, LinkedIn has proved to be a lifeline, connecting me with numerous leads to some very productive professional relationships.

Linkedin Coffee

If you check out the infographic below (thanks to Internet Marketing Inc. and its “rescue team”), you’ll see I’m not alone.

Just two highlights:

1. LinkedIn redirects four times as many users to company home pages as Facebook and Twitter.

2. LinkedIn generates the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate, about 2.74%, about three times that of Facebook and Twitter.

So, if you don’t yet have a LinkedIn strategy, where do you get started?

The IMI rescue team has some great advice:

1. Join groups.

My engagement was relatively limited until a contact recommended that I join a few groups. “What are groups?” I remember asking.

Essentially, a group is a collection of LinkedIn members who share a common interest. Groups come in various sizes and ranges of expertise. For example, if you’re an insurance broker looking to join a group, you could register with Global Insurance Professionals, which currently has almost 84,000 members.

Or maybe you’re looking for something a little more specific. What’s that? You’re 22, living in the Big Apple, and seeking a long-term career as a broker or agent? Then maybe you could join the New York Young Insurance Professionals, which currently boasts over a thousand of your peers as members.

You can join up to 50 groups at one time, and it’s a good idea to use up your full allotment. This expands your network to the maximum amount, and makes it easier to connect with others. (You can easily send a connection invitation to anyone who is in the same group as you.)

 

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2. Start writing.

Write about issues that are being discussed by your company, your competitors, and your customers. The idea is that people are talking about these issues, which means they have questions. When they ask those questions, you want them to find your answers.

By offering to help (instead of sell), you begin a relationship with potential customers. Then, they’ll think of you and your company once they’re ready to buy.

Most important: Make sure your content is helpful, well written and easy to understand. (Think about the grocery store that offers recipes in its sales ads or monthly magazine, or the bank that gives financial advice to youths entering the work force.) Bonus points if your view is unique.

So that’s a start. Now here’s more advice from Internet Marketing Inc. and its rescue team.
LI
Read the original article on Inc.. Copyright 2015. Follow Inc. on Twitter.

http://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/you-re-in-desperate-need-of-a-linkedin-strategy-here-s-how-to-get-started-infogr.html#ixzz3a8wzsRqb

#Strategy: 11 Things Ultra-Productive People Do Differently……When it Comes to #Productivity, We all Face the Same Challenge-There are only 24 Hours in a Day. Yet Some People Seem to Have Twice the Time; They Have an Uncanny Ability to Get Things Done

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When it comes to productivity, we all face the same challenge—there are only 24 hours in a day. Yet some people seem to have twice the time; they have an uncanny ability to get things done. Even when juggling multiple projects, they reach their goals without fail.

Directions Man

Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose. —Thomas Edison

It feels incredible when you leave the office after an ultra-productive day. With the right approach, you can make this happen every day. You don’t need to work longer or even do more—you just need to work smarter. Try these 11 productivity hacks that ultra-productive people rely on:

1. They Never Touch Things Twice

Productive people never put anything in a holding pattern, because touching things twice is a huge time-waster. Don’t save an email or a phone call to deal with later. As soon as something gets your attention you should act on it, delegate it or delete it.

 

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2. They Get Ready for Tomorrow Before They Leave the Office

Productive people end each day by preparing for the next. This practice accomplishes two things: it helps you solidify what you’ve accomplished today, and it ensures you’ll have a productive tomorrow. It only takes a few minutes and it’s a great way to end your workday.

For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned. —Benjamin Franklin

3. They Eat Frogs

“Eating a frog” is the best antidote for procrastination, and ultra-productive people start each morning with this tasty treat. In other words, they do the least appetizing, most dreaded item on their to-do list before they do anything else. After that, they’re freed up to tackle the stuff that excites and inspires them.

How Successful People Stay Calm

4. They Fight The Tyranny Of The Urgent

The tyranny of the urgent refers to the tendency of little things that have to be done right now to get in the way of what really matters. This creates a huge problem as urgent actions often have little impact. If you succumb to the tyranny of the urgent, you can find yourself going days, or even weeks, without touching the important stuff. Productive people are good at spotting when putting out fires is getting in the way of their performance, and they’re willing to ignore or delegate the things that get in the way of real forward momentum.

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. —William Penn

5. They Stick to the Schedule During Meetings

Meetings are the biggest time waster there is. Ultra-productive people know that a meeting will drag on forever if they let it, so they inform everyone at the onset that they’ll stick to the intended schedule. This sets a limit that motivates everyone to be more focused and efficient.

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot. —Michael Altshuler

6. They Say No

No is a powerful word that ultra-productive people are not afraid to wield. When it’s time to say no, they avoid phrases such as I don’t think I can or I’m not certain. Saying no to a new commitment honors your existing commitments and gives you the opportunity to successfully fulfill them. Research conducted at the University of California in San Francisco shows that the more difficulty that you have saying no, the more likely you are to experience stress, burnout, and even depression. Learn to use no, and it will lift your mood, as well as your productivity.

7. They Only Check E-mail At Designated Times

Ultra-productive people don’t allow e-mail to be a constant interruption. In addition to checking e-mail on a schedule, they take advantage of features that prioritize messages by sender. They set alerts for their most important vendors and their best customers, and they save the rest until they reach a stopping point. Some people even set up an autoresponder that lets senders know when they’ll be checking their e-mail again.  

8. They Don’t Multitask

Ultra-productive people know that multitasking is a real productivity killer. Research conducted at Stanford University confirms that multitasking is less productive than doing a single thing at a time. The researchers found that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information cannot pay attention, recall information or switch from one job to another as well as those who complete one task at a time. But what if some people have a special gift for multitasking? The Stanford researchers compared groups of people based on their tendency to multitask and their belief that it helps their performance. They found that heavy multitaskers—those who multitask a lot and feel that it boosts their performance—were actually worse at multitasking than those who like to do a single thing at a time. The frequent multitaskers performed worse because they had more trouble organizing their thoughts and filtering out irrelevant information, and they were slower at switching from one task to another. Ouch.

Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully.  

9. They Go off The Grid

Don’t be afraid to go off grid when you need to. Give one trusted person a number to call in case of emergency, and let that person be your filter. Everything has to go through them, and anything they don’t clear has to wait. This strategy is a bulletproof way to complete high-priority projects.

One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week. —Charles Richards

10. They Delegate

Ultra-productive people accept the fact that they’re not the only smart, talented person in their organization. They trust people to do their jobs so that they can focus on their own.

11. They Put Technology to Work for Them

Technology catches a lot of flak for being a distraction, but it can also help you focus. Ultra-productive people put technology to work for them. Beyond setting up filters in their email accounts so that messages are sorted and prioritized as they come in, they use apps like IFTTT, which sets up contingencies on your smart phone and alerts you when something important happens. This way, when your stock hits a certain price or you have an email from your best customer, you’ll know it. There’s no need to be constantly checking your phone for status updates.

Bringing It All Together

We’re all searching for ways to be more efficient and productive. I hope these strategies help you to find that extra edge.

What productivity hacks do you rely on? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

Travis co-wrote the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and co-founded TalentSmart, the world’s #1 provider of emotional intelligence tests and training, serving 75% of Fortune 500 Companies.

 

Forbes.com | May 13, 2015 | Travis Bradberry 

#Leadership: Forbeswoman: 10 #Life Lessons For Getting Where You Want To Go…Failure is Our Greatest Teacher. Yet the Idea of Failure Paralyzes Many us So we Fail to Take the Risks that Might Spur Growth.There’s No Shame in Failure

/in /by

The meteoric rise to the top is a nice story but it doesn’t match reality. Obstacles overcome and setbacks endured are part of every success. It is out of these experiences that life-lessons are learned. I had the good fortune to meet Gillian Zoe Segal at a dinner party. She shared with me her book, Getting There: A Book of Mentors. I’ve summarized some of the lessons that the women entrepreneurs Segal interviewed learned on their rise to the top.

Getting There

1.) Dare to fail
“If you never fail, it means you are not trying hard enough,” said Kathy Ireland, super-model-turned entrepreneurial mogul. Failure is our greatest teacher. Yet the idea of failure paralyzes many us so we fail to take the risks that might spur growth.There’s no shame in failure. When you do fail, react quickly, learn from your mistakes, and move on.

2.) To stand out, take the risk of doing something new and different
Rachel Zoe turned a fashion assistant job at YM into styling stars, such as Cameron Diaz, Kate Hudson, and Keira Knightley at major events. What kept the stars coming back to her was the chances she took in giving her clients looks that were unexpected and sometimes even slightly controversial. The looks weren’t always successful, but clients were willing to take the risk.

When publishing candid photos of celebrities became widespread, Zoe’s business expanded into dressing clients for their daily life, too. In 2011, Zoe launched her own line of clothes, a contemporary collection that includes ready-to-wear apparel, footwear, and jewelry. She’s also published two books, was the executive producer and star of her own television show, and started a digital media company and online style destination, the Zoe Report.

 

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3.) Visualize where you want to go
Sara Blakely founder of SPANX credits a very powerful and simple tool for her success — visualization. Blakely was making cold calls to sell FAX machines. She started visualizing selling something that she created and actually cared about. She was specific with her visualization and even wrote it in her journal.

One day, in the hopes of looking better in a pair of fitted white pants, Blakely cut the feet off of a pair of pantyhose. The moment she saw how good her butt looked, she knew she had the idea for a business that she was looking for.

4.) Share with people who can help you, shield yourself from naysayers
Friends and family love you and don’t want to see you fail. When they don’t get your big idea, they can do more harm than good, especially in the beginning when you’re the most insecure about the idea.  For a year, Sara Blakely kept her idea for a new form of body shapewear a secret from anyone who could not directly help move it forward.

When she did tell her family, she got deflating comments like “Well, honey, if it’s a good idea why haven’t the big guys done it?” and “Even if it does turn out to be a good idea, the big guys will knock you off right away.” But she’d invested a year of time researching the idea, patenting it, naming it, and creating the package, so she had the confidence to continue even though others doubted her.

5.) Never take “no” as an answer
If Blakely was going to succeed, she needed a prototype. Phone calls to mills produced chuckles when she described what she wanted to do. Undeterred, Blakely took a road trip to many of the mills that had previously rejected her. She thought her trip was unsuccessful until she received a call several weeks later. A mill owner was persuaded by his three daughters that Blakey footless pantyhose had merit.

How do you keep going when  you receive all those “nos?” “I could encounter 99 unresponsive or critical people and feel discouraged, but just a little positive reinforcement from another person would pick me up and keep me going for a long time,” said Wendy Kopp founder of Teach for America.

6.) Physical confidence leads to emotional confidence
When Jillian Michaels, the fitness expert, was young, she was bullied for being overweight. Her mother enrolled her in a martial-arts class. Michaels only got serious about martial arts when her instructor threatened to kick her out of the class. Breaking two boards with a sidekick as part of her second-degree blue belt test gave her the confidence to stand tall in school. No one ever picked on her again.

No surprise that speaking coaches advise nervous speakers to strike a Wonder Woman pose before going in front of an audience.

7.) Go with your gut
Not every venture Michaels embarked on has been a success. She did a reality TV show called Losing It. She never liked the idea of giving people who were 300 to 400 pounds just six weeks to lose weight. But she was afraid if she didn’t take the opportunity, she would never be given another. The show failed. Michaels learned to trust her gut.

8.) There is always a way
When you hit an obstacle, find a way around it. For example, if you want to sell a product and can’t get a retailer to take it, sell it yourself on the Internet, Michaels advises. If you have a message you want to get across but can’t get your own TV show, put your material on YouTube or iTunes. There is never only way to do something. Keep moving in the direction you want to go until you find the path.

9.) Show traction for your idea
Kopp pitched a lot of people to raise funding for her social enterprise but, from the very beginning, she had set her sights on money from Ross Perot. He had led a campaign to improve Texas schools and Kopp was from Dallas.

He never returned a call or a letter until Kopp demonstrated that college students would sign up for the program. Her first grassroots recruitment campaign generated 2,500 responses and a lot of media coverage. Finally, Perot responded, but only if she could match his $500,000 grant on a three-to-one basus. This grant proved to be the catalyst Teach for America needed and it gave others the confidence to come through with the remaining funds needed.

10.) The devil is in the detail
Many people think that success is about coming up with a big idea, inventing something new, or finding the perfect job, said Kopp. “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration,” said Thomas A. Edison. Success comes from the way you handle everything after the big idea.

Which lessons will you apply to get you where you want to go?

Actionable information for entrepreneurs + investors on crowdfunding.

Forbes.com | May 13, 2015 | Contributor Geri Stengel