The 6 Things You Need to Know to be Great in Business

There are no shortcuts in business.  In order to be successful there are some things that you must know.  These are not all of them by a long shot, but IMHO they are 6 of the most important

1. Know how to sell.

Selling means being able to convey why your product or service, which may be you if you are looking for a job,  will make things better. Selling is never about convincing. It is always about helping.

2. Put yourself in the shoes of your customer

If you know how to put the person you are dealing with in a position to succeed, you can be successful. In order to do this, you must be able to quickly understand the needs and demands of that person and those of the company(s) they work for or with.  Every person and industry is different.  This is something that comes from investing incredible amounts of time to understand different industries , businesses, roles, and what has made them work and not work.

It is a never ending process of learning about what companies need.  What people in those companies need and how they work. If you don’t understand what it takes to make the people and companies you work with better, you don’t understand how to be successful

3.  Know as much as you can about technology

The beautiful thing about technology is that it changes every day.  Look at any tech you can see today or have ever seen. Any tech you have read about. It was invented by someone(s). They know the product better than everyone.  On the day that it is released, you are as knowledgeable about that  technology as anyone else in the world.  From there its just about effort to keep learning.

If you are one of the few people that know the new technologies, you are in a unique position to put yourself in the shoes of your customer(s) and determine if the new technology can be of benefit.  New technologies enable change and where there is change there is opportunity.  Its up to you to figure out  what that opportunity is.

4.  Always ask how you would design a solution if no current solution existed.

99.99pct of the things we do in business are being done the way they have always been done. No one has re imagined how things should be done.  That is what successful people do.  Every situation they are in they take their knowledge of the business or situation they are visiting, whether its buying a deck of playing cards,  eating at a restaurant or trying to solve a problem and think about how to re invent it.  They dont ask people what they would want. They envision a complete reapplication . Then they decide what to do with what they just recreated.

5. Is it the path of least resistance to something better.

Lots of people come up with ways of doing things that they think are great/amazing. What they fail to ask is whether it will make anyone else’s life better or easier. The simple test of any imagineering of a process or situation is simple. Is this the path of resistance  to a better place for the user ? Yes or No.

6. Be nice. 

People hate dealing with people who are jerks.  It’s always easier to be nice than to be a jerk .  Don’t be a jerk

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3 Emotions at the Root of Success

Yesterday, the final piece of a puzzle fell into my lap, a puzzle I've been working on for the past 10 years.

I've been trying to build a model for how emotions create success, but I kept on getting tripped up when I came to gratitude. I was categorizing it as a result of success or a form of success. And that didn't seem quite right, somehow.

Here's the missing puzzle piece: A study soon to be published in the journal Psychological Science proves that people who are grateful are willing to wait longer for a financial reward. In other words, gratitude creates patience.

Bingo. I'm now able to put gratitude where it actually belongs: as a source, rather than result, of success. This completes the following pattern:

1. Gratitude

As I mentioned above, a new study shows that people who feel gratitude are more likely to delay financial gratification. They'll wait longer to get more money rather than take less money immediately. That's patience in action.

In business, patience is extraordinarily valuable. For example, why do some companies release products at exactly the right moment, while others release flops that are ahead of their time? Patience.

Why are some people so effective at dealing with employees, colleagues, coworkers, and customers, while other people are constantly frustrated and angry and do things that alienate those around them? Patience.

So here's the first formula:

Gratitude=>Patience=>Timing=>Success

How do you create more gratitude? Easy: At the end of each day, list in your journal (or at least review in your mind) three reasons you feel grateful. As that list grows, review it frequently. As you increase your level of gratitude, you'll find yourself growing more patient, less stressed, and making better decisions about people and products.

2. Commitment

As much as we'd like to think that "mission statements" motivate, it's impossible to create commitment in another person. Commitment emerges from each individual's personal reasons why he or she wants to accomplish something.

Commitment is the same thing as motivation. It sustains you when you're not sure whether your actions will pay off. It carries you along through the difficult times and vaults you forward during the good times.

Without commitment/motivation, people never summon up the courage required to consistently take action. Worst case, they sit and wait for other people to tell them what to do. And that's the definition of business failure.

So here's the second formula:

Commitment=>Courage=>Action=>Success

How do you create more commitment? Easy: Decide what your life is all about--your higher purpose--and tie your day-to-day activities to that purpose. It may be something as simple as feeding your family or as exalted as changing the world. Or both.

The more clearly you know your purpose, the greater your commitment, the greater your motivation, the more action you'll take, and the greater success you'll achieve.

3. Empathy

Being grateful, patient, committed, and motivated are necessary, but not sufficient, to create success.  There's still one piece left, which is your ability to connect with other people.

Empathy lies at the root of every successful product and service. Without empathy, how can you know what customers want or need? Without empathy, how can you know what your product or service is worth?

Empathy is also the key to managing people. Empathy allows you to understand other people's dreams and desires so that you can help make them a reality. Empathy allows you to say and do the right thing to help others break through to the next level.

So here's the third formula:

Empathy=>Insight=>Relationships=>Success

How do you create more empathy? Easy: Listen more than you talk and when you listen,really listen. Before you speak or act, consider what effect you'll have on those around you. Then treat others the way you would like to be treated.

So there you have it: the three emotions at the root of success.

How to Leave an Amazing Legacy (for Dummies)

The world lost a multibillionaire entrepreneur recently--a great leader whom most Americans have probably never heard of. Given that he was the person behind some very successful media brands, that says a lot.

Pat McGovern, 76, began his business career in the 1960s, as the founder and chairman of International Data Group. He was the man responsible for magazines such as Computerworld,  Macworld, PCWorld, and many other brands in the U.S. and abroad, including the "For Dummies" series of instructional and self-help books.

If you read McGovern's obituaries and his employees' remembrances, you'll find a portrait of a leader who achieved big goals, and who left a legacy of people who genuinely liked and respected him. Here are some of the secrets they've shared about how he learned to lead and achieve.

Think big, and be the first person on the ground.

McGovern wrote an article for Inc. in 2007, in which he talked about the importance of expanding your horizons to be successful. He was one of the first American CEOs to establish a joint publishing venture in China, for example, and his company was a pioneer in venture capital in Vietnam and India. With the establishment of a website operating from Antarctica, IDG became the first company in the world to have a presence on all seven continents.

"When a company ventures abroad, its point person should be its CEO, traveling frequently and acting boldly and enthusiastically," McGovern wrote. "IDG launches businesses in three to five new countries each year, and for virtually all of them I'm first on the ground, meeting with potential customers, government ministers, and management candidates."

Then, step aside and trust your people.

McGovern was thinking globally long before most of his peers. His companies launched titles in Japan and the Soviet Union in the 1970s, and he reportedly spent four months of the year traveling overseas to drum up new business. Yet he was a hands-off leader, allowing the people he put in charge of overseas divisions to make decisions.

"His primary control is financial," Inc. reported in 1988. "His headquarters works as an investment bank, putting money into each unit's worthwhile ventures, denying or withdrawing it from ones that are not worthwhile, while McGovern cruises from office to office like a cheery potentate on a magic carpet, bringing enthusiasm and bonuses wherever he goes."

Go out of your way to make people feel appreciated.

Inc.'s Leigh Buchanan started out at IDG as a copy editor in the late 1980s, and she described her surprise when McGovern stopped by her cubicle to hand her a year-end bonus check.

Pat thanked me for my contributions. He asked how things were going and looked vaguely disappointed when all I could muster was an unilluminating "Fine." Then he complimented me on a column I had ghostwritten for some technology honcho. The column was my most substantive accomplishment to date and the thing I was proudest of. But my name didn't appear on it anywhere, so how did he know? After three or four minutes, he handed me my bonus and proceeded to the next cubicle.

When she interviewed him years later, Buchanan said she learned that McGovern made one-on-one visits like that to every single one of the company's 1,500 employees at the time, and that the process took almost four weeks.

"He does this because he wants employees to know that he sees them--really sees them--as individuals," she wrote, "and that he considers what they do all day to be meaningful."

Be a personality, but be humble.

McGovern was worth an estimated $5.1 billion, but he cultivated a modest image. He lived in a $430,000 house in Hollis, New Hampshire, which he bought in 1989. He flew coach and drove used cars, reported The Wall Street Journal. He would show up at employees' 10th anniversaries to take them out for dinner.

"I don't think he did these things because he was naturally outgoing," wrote Harry McCracken, who covers technology at Time, but who spent 16 years working for McGovern at IDG. "If anything, he seemed to be on the reserved side--but...he believed that one of his responsibilities as IDG chairman was to make other staff members feel good about their work. Even when I was a low-level editor, I got occasional complimentary notes from him--always written on the same ultra-cheery letterhead, with GOOD NEWS! and a rainbow at the top. He must have bought it by the truckload."

When you've earned a lot, give it away.

In 2000, McGovern and his wife founded an institute for the study of the brain at his alma mater, MIT, with a $350 million gift. It was one of the largest donations ever to a university in the U.S. To put it in context, the donation dwarfs the entire endowments of more than 640 American colleges.

Incidentally, McGovern reportedly made it a point to track down and meet his future wife, Lore Harp McGovern, a successful tech entrepreneur in her own right, after he saw her picture on the cover of Inc. magazine in March 1981.

6 Things You Need to Know Today

1. Good News for News

A new study from the Media Insight Project bodes well for the spate of recently launched news startups: Americans across all demographic groups overwhelmingly report having an appetite for serious news coverage. Six in ten of the people in the study also said that new sources and technologies have made it easier to keep up with the news than it was five years ago. -- Associated Press

2. Trust Us

A compelling new study finds that the smarter you are, the more likely you are to trust others. According to researchers at Oxford University, "being a good judge of character is a distinct part of human intelligence which evolved through natural selection." This kind of trust is good for your health and greater happiness--not to mention key to building a strong startup team. -- Esquire

3. March Madness

With the tournament set to get underway this week, should you let your employees stream March Madness at their desks? That depends on you, your company, and your employees--but less than half of IT departments stand in the way of letting employees stream non-work related content today. -- Inc.com

4. Obamacare Update

Obamacare enrollment hit the 5 million-person mark Monday. The total number includes many sole proprietors, whose health insurance before was so costly, it almost shut down their businesses.--U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

5. Stormy Weather

If you're looking for excuses for your poor first-quarter performance, just blame the weather--that, after all, is what almost 40 percent of the S&P 500 has done so far this year. Urban Outfitters, Gap, McDonald's, and General Motors are among the excuse-makers, citing meteorological commonplaces as a factor in their results and projections. Someone tell them you can't play the game of business in a weather-proof dome. -- Wall Street Journal

6. Dropbox's Next Move

Dropbox has reportedly acquired Zulip, a stealthy workplace communication platform (think Yammer). While this is stellar news for the Cambridge-based Zulip team, the news also hints at a possible future feature aimed at businsses already using Dropbox's tools. In related news, Dropbox has announced it's opening a New York City office and hiring a team of 25 there. -- TechCrunch

Warren Buffett's Annual Letter: 5 Takeaways for Entrepreneurs

Critics gotta criticize, and when you're as successful in your undertakings as Warren Buffett, they're going to look for anything they can find. This year, having combed through Buffett's annual letter to his Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Fortune noted that S&P 500 returns beat Buffett's over the last five years--but not the past six.

Who gives a flying frijole? Buffett has proven himself one of the greatest investors of all time and someone who understands business like few people can. He gets the basics, the flourishes, and the twists. On an off year in 2013, Berkshire Hathaway pulled in 23 percent growth in pretax profits. It's even more remarkable because Buffett typically holds companies for extended periods of time and is the head of a conglomerate, which, given the history of disasters that have often plagued such entities, makes it additionally impressive.

So, forget about reading the Berkshire Hathaway results for gotchas. Let's take a look at some sound business advice that comes from watching what someone does, not just listening to what he says.

1. Know your company's intrinsic value.

People focus far too often on the external measures of a company's value. They look at stock price or the valuation derived from looking at the prices venture capitalists pay for a given percentage of a company. Forget all that, because those are ephemeral measures. Here's how Buffett thinks of it:

Intrinsic value is an all-important concept that offers the only logical approach to evaluating the relative attractiveness of investments and businesses. Intrinsic value can be defined simply: It is the discounted value of the cash that can be taken out of a business during its remaining life.

The calculation can be complicated and can change with interest rates or cash-flow projections. But Buffett's definition offers reasonable guidance. Calculating the intrinsic value is an excellent exercise. When you have a sense of the company's real worth, you have a context in which to consider investments, deals, and strategic decisions. Just be careful of the inherent danger of believing your own hype: Look at all the tech companies that twist accounting metrics into pretzels to pretend that they're profitable when they aren't.

2. Build business templates.

Ask most business people about templates and they'll mention word-processing documents and spreadsheets. Buffett talks about a partnership template. He has built a new methodical approach to large acquisitions. The specific details are immaterial for an entrepreneur, who isn't buying a company like NV Energy or a big chunk of H.J. Heinz. What is important is the idea of developing repeatable processes. Major deals are always unique, and then they all have common characteristics. Know how to achieve what you need, and you have far more energy available to consider the quirks.

3. Know the difference between types of growth.

Many companies are anxious to grow at a breakneck pace. Even large companies will buy other large companies for their revenue. But in a way that's just trading one block of money for another. It can be a wash. Buffett says he doesn't want Berkshire Hathaway to simply grow, but to grow per-share results. Even though your business is probably private, that's a good way to think about it. Are you just bulking up, or are you becoming proportionately more successful?

4. Invest in management.

An important reason for Buffett's success is that Berkshire Hathaway only invests in companies if they have strong management. Otherwise, you only subsidize a badly working business. Get the best management you can in your company from people who really know how to run marketing, sales, supply chain, customer service, manufacturing, finance, and any other silos. While providing strategy, let the people who know how to do the work actually do it. Buffett admits that two people working for him handle $7 billion portfolios with returns far outperforming his. Better to have them work for you than compete with you.

5. Use your money effectively.

Buffett wrote about the money that Berkshire Hathaway doesn't own but that it can use to its benefit. The idea of float is well known in certain types of businesses, particularly low-margin ones like groceries and distributors. There's the difference between when you get paid and when you pay. Some grocery chains make a significant percentage of their profit on the float made available by being a cash business that has terms from its vendors. Effective use of money can also mean passing on your bonuses or compensation and using the cash to strengthen the weaker parts of your operation. Invest in people and capital smartly. As Buffett wrote, "it's better to have a partial interest in the Hope diamond than to own all of a rhinestone."

That's five points in barely the first three pages of his letter. You can learn a lot from reading a little of the practices and thought processes of successful people.

How to Stay Positive Around Negative People!

2 Ways to Stay Positive When Dealing With Negative People

By Tony Robinson 

We all have to deal with negative people at some point in lives, we just do. Sometimes we can avoid them, other times we can’t. Sometimes these negative people stay for a little while, other times they stay long enough to make us want to jump off a bridge.

But since we know it’s a fact of life that negative people exist, what can we do deal with Negative Nancy and Pessimistic Peter?

Understand They Have Different Values

There are times when the negative people we have to deal with aren’t always negative, they just happen to be really negative in certain situations.

When I started college, I was an engineering major. I did really well in school and got accepted into a summer internship program with one of the biggest oil companies in the world. It was awesome. I performed so well in the internship program that they brought me back the following summer. After the second summer I was told I had a full time job waiting for me once I graduated.

But unfortunately, not only did I turn down that high paying job offer, I left the engineering major entirely! I realized that engineering wasn’t my passion and I began studying small business management instead.

My family wasn’t so thrilled about the idea. I was going to be the first one in my family to get a college degree, and the fact that it was going to be an engineering degree made my family ecstatic because they knew that a degree in engineering meant financial security. That’s what was important to them, a nice steady paycheck with great benefits.

So when news broke that I was changing my major, my family voiced a lot of concerns and brought a pretty negative attitude to the situation. They kept reminding me of the time that would be wasted and the big payday that would never come. It was tough to hear, and it even made me second-guess my decision.

But I had to go back and remind myself of what my values were. What was important to me? Delivering something of significance to world the world, and I felt that a degree in engineering wouldn’t allow me to really reach my potential.

I valued significance, my family valued security. We couldn’t have been further apart from each other.

Once I realized that we had such a big difference in values on the topic, it made it a lot easier for me to tune out the negative comments and energy they were sending my way.

Take Responsibility for Your Own Happiness

Negativity is contagious. It’s easy for someone else’s negative thoughts to slowly creep over and start affecting you in a negative way.

But positivity is also contagious, so when someone is giving you a lot of negative energy, you have to fight back with positive energy. You can’t allow someone else’s negativity to become yours. Just because Negative Nick doesn’t think it’s a good idea for you to go after your dreams, that doesn’t mean you have to think it’s a bad idea too.

You have to be responsible for you own happiness and positivity. If we break down the word responsibility we get “response – ability”. Responsibility is simply your ability to respond.

You don’t have the power to choose what life throws at you, or what these negative people do and say to you, but, you do have the ability to choose how you respond and that’s what’s most important.

You can choose to respond in way that lets the negativity drains your positivity and makes you feel hopeless and frustrated, or you can choose to respond in way that makes you work even harder and focus even more on the positive aspects of the situation.

The dictionary defines responsibility as “the opportunity or ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization”. That means you don’t need an ok from anyone else to act on something that you’re responsible for. So even when the negative people disagree with you, who cares?

It helps if you ask yourself,

• “What can I do to reinforce my positive attitude?”
• “What can I do to discredit their negative attitude and opinion?”

Your happiness depends more on your own attitude than any external factors. So don’t let the negative people of the world get you down.

How the Best Entrepreneurs Think

How The Best Entrepreneurs Think

If you just observed the actions entrepreneurs take, you would conclude there isn’t that much to be gained from studying them. Each entrepreneur’s behavior is as idiosyncratic as they are. You would have to be Larry Page and Sergey Brin to start Google; Oprah Winfrey to found Harpo Productions.

But—and it is a huge but—if you look at how they reason, you see remarkable similarities.

The process just about all of them follows in creating their companies looks like this. They:

1. Figure out what they really want to do; what gets them excited. In other words, what is it that they really desire.
2. Take a small step toward that goal.
3.  Pause after taking that small step to see what they have learned.
4.  Build off that learning and take another small step.
5. Pause after taking that step.
6. Then they build off what they learned and take another small step…

If we were to reduce it to a formula, it would be, as we have written about before, Act. Learn. Build Repeat.

In other words, they don’t spend a lot of time planning or playing “what if” games. You never truly know how the universe is going to react until you give it something to react to.

So, in the face of an unknown future, entrepreneurs act. They deal with uncertainty not by trying to analyze it, or preparing for every contingency, or predicting what the outcomes will be. Instead, they act, learn from what they find, and act again.

Three things follow, all of them good. There are three wonderful benefits of taking this approach. 

1. You can get started right away.  
2. You don’t do a lot of planning and guessing about what the market might want. 
3. You go out into the marketplace and find out.

·         You don’t need a lot of resources. Remember, the best entrepreneurs are taking small steps toward their goals.  That means they just need sufficient resources to take the next step.

·        You can quickly respond to market needs.  Because they are moving rapidly, and don’t have a lot of resources committed, they can move to satisfy customer needs almost as quickly as those needs appear.

It is a simple, straight-forward approach. And what worked for these people should work for you.

The Four Best Ways to Solve Problems

The 4 Most Effective Ways Leaders Solve Problems

With as many problems as we are all faced with in our work and life, it seems as if there is never enough time to solve each one without dealing with some adversity along the way.  Problems keep mounting so fast that we find ourselves taking short-cuts to temporarily alleviate the tension points – so we can move onto the next problem. In the process, we fail to solve the core of each problem we are dealt; thus we continuously get caught in the trap of a never-ending cycle that makes it difficult to find any real resolutions.  Sound familiar?

Problem solving is the essence of what leaders exist to do.  As leaders, the goal is to minimize the occurrence of problems – which means we must be courageous enough to tackle them head-on before circumstances force our hand.  We must be resilient in our quest to create and sustain momentum for the organization and people we serve. But the reality of the workplace   finds us dealing with people that complicate matters with their corporate politicking, self-promotion, power-plays and ploys, and envy. Silos, lack of budgets and resources, and many other random acts or circumstances also make it harder for people to be productive. 

Competitors equally create problems for us when they unexpectedly convert a long-standing client, establish a new industry relationship, or launch a new product, brand or corporate strategy.   Mergers & acquisitions keep us on our toes and further distract us from solving existing problems by creating new ones.

As Karl Popper, one of the most influential 20^thcentury philosophers of science, once eloquently stated, “All life is problem solving.” I’ve often contended that the best leaders are the best problem solvers. They have the patience to step back and see the problem at-hand through broadened observation; circular vision. They see around, beneath and beyond the problem itself. They see well-beyond the obvious. The most effective leaders approach problems through a lens of opportunity.

Leaders who lack this wisdom approach problems with linear vision – thus only seeing the problem that lies directly in front of them and blocking the possibilities that lie within the problem. As such, they never see the totality of what the problem represents; that it can actually serve as an enabler to improve existing best practices, protocols and standard operating procedures for growing and competing in the marketplace. They never realize that, in the end, all problems are the same – just packaged differently.

A leader must never view a problem as a distraction, but rather as a strategic enabler for continuous improvement and opportunities previously unseen.

When I launched my first venture in the food industry, we had a problem with the adhesion of the labels to the glass jar packaging of our products that affected nearly 20% of an initial shipment.  As circumstances would have it, this was the first shipment to a new client that was “testing” our new products in 200 stores with an opportunity to expand our distribution to over 2500 stores nationally.  Instead of panicking, we took a problem solving approach that involved multiple steps and resulted in a full-blown change management effort with our label supplier, manufacturer, trucking company and client.  Rather than viewing this problem simply as a hurdle that could potentially lose us the client, we took proactive measures (and a financial investment) to show our new client that we were capable of not only solving the problem – but earning their trust by responding promptly and efficiently  with a comprehensive step-by-step incident report that included our change management efforts.

This experience taught us many lessons about our company and helped us to avoid many unforeseen problems.  The ROI from how we handled this problem helped open our eyes to many elements that were previously being overlooked – and in the long run it helped enable us to grow the business.

Whether you are a leader for a large corporation or a small business owner, here are the four most effective ways to solve problems.

1.  Transparent Communication

Problem solving requires transparent communication where everyone’s concerns and points of view are freely expressed. I’ve seen one too many times how difficult it is to get to the root of the matter in a timely manner when people do not speak-up.

Yes, communication is a fundamental necessity. That is why when those involved in the problem would rather not express themselves – fearing they may threaten their job and/or expose their own or someone else’s wrong-doing – the problem solving process becomes a treasure hunt. Effective communication towards problem solving happens because of a leader’s ability to facilitate an open dialogue between people who trust her intentions and feel that they are in a safe environment to share why they believe the problem happened as well as specific solutions.

Once all voices have been heard and all points of view accounted for, the leader (with her team) can collectively map-out a path toward a viable and sustainable solution.  As fundamental as communication may sound, don’t ever assume that people are comfortable sharing what they really think. This is where a leader must trust herself and her intuition enough to challenge the team until accountability can be fairly enforced and a solution can been reached.

2.  Break Down Silos

Transparent communication requires you to break down silos and enable a boundary-less organization whose culture is focused on the betterment of a healthier whole.   Unnecessary silos invite hidden agendas rather than welcome efficient cross-functional collaboration and problem solving.

Organizational silos are the root cause of most workplace problems and are why many of them never get resolved. This is why today’s new workplace must embrace an entrepreneurial spirit where employees can freely navigate and cross-collaborate to connect the problem solving dots; where everyone can be a passionate explorer who knows their own workplace dot and its intersections.  When you know your workplace dot, you have a much greater sense of your sphere of influence. This is almost impossible to gauge when you operate in silos that potentially keep you from having any influence at all.

In a workplace where silos exist,  problem solving is  more difficult  because you are more likely dealing with self-promoters – rather than  team players fostered by a cross functional environment..  When you operate in a siloed environment where everyone wants to be a star, it becomes increasingly difficult to help make anything or anyone better. This is when problem solving becomes a discouraging task.

Breaking down silos allows a leader to more easily engage their employees to get their hands dirty and solve problems together. It becomes less about corporate politicking and more about finding resolutions and making the organization stronger.

3.  Open-minded People

Breaking down silos and communication barriers requires people to be open-minded.  In the end, problem solving is about people working together to make the organization and the people it serves better. Therefore, if you are stuck working with people that are closed-minded, effective problem solving becomes a long and winding road of misery.

There are many people in the workplace that enjoy creating unnecessary chaos so that their inefficiencies are never exposed. These are the types of people (loafers and leeches) that make it difficult for problems to get solved because they slow the process down while trying to make themselves look more important.  Discover the lifters and high-potential leaders within the organization and you will see examples of the benefits of being open-minded and how this eventually leads to more innovation and initiative.

Open-minded people see beyond the obvious details before them and view risk as their best friend. They tackle problems head-on and get on with the business of driving growth and innovation.  Close-minded employees turn things around to make it more about themselves and less about what is required to convert a problem into a new opportunity.

With this explanation in mind, carefully observe the actions of others the next time you are dealt a real problem.

4.  A Solid Foundational Strategy

Without strategy, change is merely substitution, not evolution.  A solid strategy must be implemented in order to solve any problem.  Many leaders attempt to dissect a problem rather than identify the strategy for change that lies within the problem itself.

Effective leaders that are comfortable with problem solving always know how to gather the right people, resources, budget and knowledge from past experiences. They inspire people to lift their game by making the problem solving process highly collaborative; for them, it’s an opportunity to bring people closer together. I’ve always believed that you don’t know the true potential and character of a person until you see the way they solve problems.

Effective leaders connect the dots and map-out a realistic plan of action in advance. They have a strategy that serves as the foundation for how the problem will be approached and managed. They anticipate the unexpected and utilize the strengths of their people to assure the strategy leads to a sustainable solution.

Never shoot from the hip when problem solving. Avoid guessing. Take enough time to step back and assess the situation and the opportunities that each problem represents. Make the problem solving process more efficient by recognizing that each problem has its own nuances that may require a distinct strategy towards a viable resolution.

You know that you have great leadership in your organization when problem solving becomes a seamless process that enables the people and the organization to grow and get better.  If problem solving creates chaos, you may have a serious leadership deficiency.

Problem solving is the greatest enabler for growth and opportunity. This is why they say failure serves as the greatest lesson in business and in life.  Be the leader that shows maturity, acts courageously, and requires accountability.  Applying each of these lessons can help you become a master problem solver. Each experience teaches us all new things. Embrace problem solving and the many unseen treasures it represents.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/11/04/the-4-most-effective-ways-leaders-solve-problems/

5 Ways to Build an Extraordinary Team Culture

5 Ways to Build an Extraordinary Team Culture

When your employees work together to achieve common goals, everyone wins--you, your business and your customers.

Employee teams are one of the best ways to get things done in any business. When you take a group of independently talented people and create a team in which they can merge their talents, not only will a remarkable amount of energy and creativity be released, but their performance, loyalty and engagement will be greatly improved.

Here are five steps for building an extraordinary team culture:

1. Create a Team-Oriented Organization

Make teamwork one of your core company values, and put a clear emphasis on self-managing teams that are empowered to make their own decisions. Don't just talk about teamwork. Show your employees the seriousness of your commitment by giving teams the authority to get their jobs done on their own terms, while ensuring they accept responsibility for the results.

2. Assign Serious Team Goals

Give your teams really important assignments and projects, not just planning for next summer's annual company picnic. Bring teams in when you're looking at new trends in the market, or need to see things through new eyes. It's important to mix it up and not have the same people making the same decisions all the time. Ask them to challenge the status quo and the conventional wisdom. This will help to keep your company fresh and ahead of the game.

3. Encourage Informal Teams

More work in organizations is accomplished through informal teams than formal ones. It's therefore in your interest to encourage the proliferation of informal teams throughout your company, addressing any and all issues and opportunities that capture their interest. When your employees are able to tackle concerns themselves, without elevating every little decision to top management, you'll have a much more efficient organization.

4. Cross-Train Employees

When employees understand how different areas of the company work, they are more apt to make decisions that benefit the company as a whole, rather than solely their own department or group. Give your employees the opportunity to learn other people's jobs. Some organizations go as far as switching employee roles on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. And don't forget your managers. Have top executives spend a few days working on the front lines with customers or directly with your product. They'll have a new appreciation for what your regular employees go through on the job.

5. Provide Team Resources

No matter how talented a company's individuals might be, teams cannot be successful without the proper resources. Teams need a designated and available place where they can regularly meet. Nothing much can be achieved in an over-crowded lunch room. All employees need to be given adequate time to devote to their team meetings, with no grief from supervisors. And make sure to supply your teams with an appropriate budget if required, and the permission--with guidance--to spend it as they see best for the company.

BY PETER ECONOMY

Increasing Your Influence

Alignment

This is one of the great buzzwords of our time. When used consciously, it's also the key to building solid relationships as well as the foundation for being influential. When you are able to show how someone else's needs can be met through your idea or process, you both stand a chance of walking away satisfied. 

The question: How do you do it?

Five Styles to Help You Influence

1. Demonstrate. Give a successful example of your idea. 

How? Highlight related examples of the same idea already taking place in your organization or in another business. 

2. Cost-Focus. Show how problems and costs can be minimized. 

How?  Run through the numbers to reveal, factually, the cost benefits of your approach. Do this on paper and hand the other person(s) a copy to hold in their grubby little paws. This makes it real. Don't just say it; print out the math.

3. Values-based consistency. Show that your solution is consistent with, and strongly supports, the other person's values. 

How? Do your homework and find out the non negotiables in the business lives of those listening. Then, clearly point out the values-alignment that your solution brings.

4. Time Awareness. Demonstrate how the plan will unfold over a specific period of time.

How? My favorite--because it is low risk and high payoff--is to do a trial project implemented in stages with "client" review at designated points. It is very powerful because the other person is actively involved, shares likes and dislikes at each step, and is part of the successes and problem-solving. Ownership emerges rather quickly.

5. Testimonials. Show that your idea already has the support of other respected people. 

How? Ask others who have used the idea to give you a blurb or, internally, to come to the meeting. Nothing succeeds like someone else showing how successful you have been with them. You hardly have to say a word except "thank you" to those who have helped.

Some Other Thoughts

• Listen to what sound like objections and acknowledge them. You'll gain respect. You'll lose respect if you don't treat feedback to your ideas as being legitimate. 

• Stay focused on your theme and not everything you know about the idea or proposal. Too many details will distract your listeners. However, if they ask for details, be prepared to respond. It means they are interested. 

• Consistent with #4 above: People are more likely to accept a smaller proposal if they've just rejected a larger one. Keep the pilot program in your back pocket as a reasonable alternative to implementing the entire idea. It will seem sensible to the individual or group.

I found this great Blog posted by Steve Roesler! Thanks for the info!