The #1 stress of work and the #1 time killer!

In a Bnet post, the data is clear: over 80% of email requires clarification because it’s so poorly written. That’s almost two hours a day and roughly $1.2 trillion in wages a year that are wasted mismanaging email.

How do we fix this?

Tell employees to keep it simple. “Summarize and use bullet points,” he says. “Make it clear what you want the email to accomplish by putting the action requested by your reader right up front.” They’re small adjustments that can have a huge impact on efficiency.

So, what will you do differently starting today?

C

Paddi Lund, Christie Scott and Michael Gerber do this. Do you?

Paddi Lund (www.PaddiLund.com) has some great advice today in his newsletter. He is a dentist gone entrepreneur, but is most known for changing his reality by firing D clients, only accepting new clients upon referral, and insisting that he receive a certain number of referrals from each client! Here are some payoffs he experienced when he first fired D clients:

Simply “firing” his D customers immediately freed up 30% or more of your time … time which then is used to focus more attention on A and B customers with an instant increase in sales results as a consequence. Fewer hassles, more money – all good, right!

This has had a dramatic effect that is virtually responsible for every great innovation that followed in Paddi’s business.

Here’s why. Here’s the secret: S P A C E !!!

You read that right. Space. Time. Freedom from pressures.

Quite often when we start out in business we struggle to find the model that pays off. That’s just business. It’s hard. Very few people jag it and produce massively profitable businesses right from the get go. But even for those people, a similar process occurs. We get so busy, so caught up in the frantic pace of getting everything working that we get completely lost in the day to day pressures of it all.

Bills to pay, customers to see, people to hire, people to train, people to fire (because we never got around to training them!), marketing to write, advertising to try to forget (because it’s not working and you don’t know why), family to please, fatigue to fight … in business it just goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on …… and on and on and on and on!!!

Before you know it, you have absolutely no S P A C E to think, let alone work on the business.

But that’s exactly what Paddi found when he “fired” his D’s. He was making just as much money, or more, and now he had S P A C E to truly start thinking clearly about his business.

Michael Gerber, author of the famous E-Myth, later called this vital discovery “Working ON the business, not IN it.”

———— A Fundamental Difference ————

Now, this isn’t the same as having lots of time on your hands when you’re young and starting out and don’t have any customers yet. Not the same at all.

There’s a fundamental difference between the time that the ABCD’s buys you and the time you have on your hands when there’s not much business on.

1) Ongoing Cashflow gives you room to breath

Say no more. Free time alone just won’t get you fed.

2) Experience gives you lots of information to work with

If you’re to this point, you have tried lots of things and failed with most of them. This experience is invaluable in helping you hone in on what’s really most important. You’ve also probably learned a thing or two about managing people – there’s nothing like being pushed around by an employee or two to galvanize the skill of leading from the front!

3) The Pain of being trapped motivates you to use your time wisely

… It’s only when you learn how valuable and scarce that S P A C E is that you really begin to use it wisely when it appears. Parkinson’s Law: “Work expands to fill the available time.” Well not when you have the motivation of great PAIN focusing you on making the most of this very valuable resource!

The 2nd Major Hidden Benefit:

* Making S P A C E for Key Results Producing Activities.

So, how could this idea help you?

One client of mine is facing this right now! She is SO overwhelmed by the everyday, that she cannot “see” or focus, prioritize, or even  enjoy life.  She is BRILLIANT! Simply amazing, yet this is overshadowed and hidden by the murkiness. Has she changed? No, but when you are overwhelmed, you cannot create or orchestrate your best work! Plain and simple.

So, my recommendation? Find space.

For this client, a getaway is in order, a getaway from emails, phones, and any work or responsibility. This will enable her to clearly see what she needs to do, how to overcome obstacles and have fun.

You may have experienced this when trying to come up with a name or fix a problem. When I was trying to title my book, I struggled for months. Then, when daydreaming while driving a car, it came to me.

Or sometimes the more you try to determine a solution, the more convoluted your opinion becomes.

So, what do YOU need to do to create S P A C E for what will allow you to reach the next level?

C

Got publicity? Need to get the word out? Here are 10 ways from Dan Janal to get it out there!

Dan Janal gives us 10 tips on how to publicize our Press Release, article, or event. Give this to your marketing person or team. Let them know the priority level of each, so they know what you expect from them, then let them run with it.

REMEMBER my rule: Set up a check-in point to get a progress report. Determine successes and failures in the system and improve as possible, then implement again.

——-Dan’s list———–

Here are 10 ways to promote your publicity:

1.     Tweet a link to the article. I do this for my clients, when they tell me about their publicity via PR LEADS. I use a provocative title to get attention. Here’s an example: Need writing tips for a job application? @prleads client Diane L Samuels gets publicity on Monster.com http://ow.ly/2tGcI Notice how I use the keyword “publicity” so anyone looking for “publicity” on Twitter will see this. Use your own keywords as well so more people will find your links.

2.     Post the link on your Linked In profile.

3.     Post the link to relevant groups on Linked In.  Heavy emphasis on “relevant.” Don’t post it in places where people wouldn’t care. You’d be hurting yourself if you did that. Also, don’t say “I’m quoted here” and post the link. Tell people what they can learn by reading the article. Your focus should be on sharing information and not appearing self-promotional.

4.     Send the link and article to your prospects, clients and followers via email.

5.     Post the link and the article to your blog.

6.     Frame the article and hang it in your waiting room. Consider highlighting your quotes and name in yellow so it stands out from the rest of the article. The highlighting will focus a reader’s attention directly on your quote.

7.     Copy the article and print it in your sales or marketing kit. The media give you a form of credibility that is unmatched. Use it.

8.     Include the article in your book proposal. Book acquisition editors want to know that you can create publicity for the book. Show them here and you’re more likely to get a contract and more likely to get a larger advance.

9.     Create a list of headlines of articles in which you were quoted and post that to your website. Include live links to the articles. Reporters and prospects will be impressed that you have so many media hits.

10. Use the front page of your website to let the world know you have been quoted. To many clients get PR and hide it! Let the first impression people have of you be from the media.

That oughta keep your publicity team busy!

Want more info about Dan? Here’s his info:

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
http://www.PRLEADSPLUS.com

Let me know if these work for you.

My best,

C

You want the best employees? The real question is do “A” players want to work for YOU? Recruiting in the New Economy

Employees have changed? New generations coming into the workforce are simply… different. Why?

Generations feel differing values are important, hence they will be moved to make decision, choose where to live, what to buy and where to work… differently.

Management has to change to meet this demand or they will lose the “A” players in their teams.

Recruiters also will have to change the way they recruit. And that starts with the company and how it presents itself to prospects. There was a great presentation given by Vishan Lakhani where he talks about the entire initiative theri company has ongoing to recruit the BEST employees throughout the WORLD!

How do you compete?

Check out how Netflix does it! Click on the box at the bottom left. It’s a click through presentation.

Think about how recruits view your company and the opportunity your company presents. it can and always should be a priority to improve this area!

Love this, Dan Shapiro! Company Culture, the REAL deal!

So, All companies ACT like they have great work ethics and teamwork, blah, blah, but Dan Shapiro makes chump change of that. Instead he describes what REAL company culture is about! I have copied and pasted it here, for your enjoyment, but if you want to go straight to the source, his site is here.

In this envelope, I have your Company Culture.

We work hard, but value work/life balance.

We’re a team culture and we believe in individual empowerment.

We give back to the community, and have strong ethics.

We hire only the best people, support diversity, and promote growth and leadership in our employee ranks.

And more than anything we value our customers, our stockholders, and our employees.

That’s right – you’re GE! Or Wells Fargo.  Or Zillow…

Company Culture is a very serious matter, put together after much employee feedback and deliberation, and carefully designed to capture the key things that make your company great.  It’s also a load of well-mixed fertilizer.

The Rule of Company Culture: It’s what makes your company different, not what makes it great.

Hire the best, teamwork, ethics… all meaningless platitudes.  Real company cultures are made of four things:

1. Polarizing decisions
2. Excesses
3. Quirks
4. Dysfunctions

Polarizing decisions are what happens when a company decides not to compromise between two equally compelling but opposing imperatives.  Every company strikes a balance between work and play; that’s not company culture.  Company culture is investment banking’s mandatory 95 hour work weeks or Jackson Fish Market’s 12 weeks of vacation.  Every company has a balance of teamwork and individual contributorship – culture is ruthlessly pitting your people and teams against each other, or firing your best people because they’re not effective team members.  Other balances include great benefits versus lean operations, customers versus stockholders versus employees, and cheap products versus innovative quality products.  If you find yourself saying “we can do it all”, that’s great!  And you’re right, sort of.  Your attempts at balance are admirable and may be successful, but do not constitute a corporate culture.  That only comes from taking a stand on one end of the see-saw.

Excesses are aspects of culture that happen when companies take an indubitably good thing to its extreme.  For example, every company tries to hire great people.  But some will leave a position open for nine months, miss deadlines, and work its existing employees in to borderline revolt before hiring someone who’s even the tiniest compromise.  Every company should give back to the community, but there’s a line between a matching gifts program and Ben & Jerry’s that’s not easy to miss.  “Openness” is great – do the employees see the detailed company financials, and get notified when cash reserves are running low?  Corporate culture is what occurs in the margins when someone asks – “Well, I know that’s good, but isn’t it a bit much?”

Quirks are the safe, friendly, harmless, and most companies screw them up too.  A quirk is some point of weird distinction, neither wonderful nor terrible, that is distinct to the company and integral to the employee experience.  Casual Fridays are policy; Dress Like Raymond Day is a quirk. When the company picks up your nighttime MBA, that’s a great benefit – but when Teachstreet (a company that helps people find local and online classes) gets its employees together to learn how to build kites, now that’s a quirk.  It’s not to say that corporate mandates can’t make great quirks, although the best ones often arise spontaneously from the teams themselves.  But great quirks take their power from the team, their distinctiveness, and the culture itself.

There’s one more aspect of corporate culture that’s important if you’re measuring rather than designing: the Dysfunction.  A dysfunction is the mirror image of an excess – not enough of something that’s important.  Every company has problems, and most of the problems are present to some degree everywhere.  Those aren’t dysfunctions.  A dysfunction creeps in to the corporate culture when it’s distinctive and impactful – much like a positive culture trait.  Typical dysfunctions include management and employee antipathy, severe lack of ethics, and disregard for customers.  You know them when you see them. One thing that may not be obvious – sometimes a dysfunction is a direct causal result of the company culture.  Backstabbing and rumor-mongering may be the price you pay for rewarding individual initiative and achievement.  A general lack of spending discipline may be the unwanted side effect of generous benefits and an employee-first culture.

The great corporate cultures are a simple mix: a few polarizing decisions or excesses, with a handful of quirks mixed in.  Preferably quirks that reinforce the rest of the culture.

Ah, refreshing, ain’t it?

C

A different take on Seth Godin’s post today.

Here is what Seth has to say:

The power of buttons and being normal

Taxi drivers in New York were worried about adding credit cards to their cabs. The fee (5% of so) would cost them too much, they said.

It turns out that tips are up, way up. They’re actually making far more money now.

Why? Because most of the machines offer a shortcut for the tip: $2, $3 or $4.

You can decide to be a cheapskate and hit the $2 button. Except…

Except that if you had paid cash, you probably would have tipped 75 cents for that $4.25 ride. It takes a few more clicks to type in 75 cents, and hey, $2 is the lowest and it’s a more ‘normal’ amount.

It’s a three second decision that happens over and over. People really like cues.

And of course, I agree with this.

However, I began thinking about how this can also be applied to employees and management.

“People really like cues.” including employees…

Employees sometimes, or very often actually, fall into ruts. Ruts like office gossip at the coffee pot or ruts of complaining about overwork or the boss. Often a new client will talk about this problem and often they believe it is the people who are the problem. And sometimes they are!

But, MOST of the time, the problem is the environment. The environment allows and even encourages these ruts to form and continue.

So, thinking about your office, how does this affect the employees productivity? How does this deteriorate the customer service?

Once, I entered a  doctor’s office and rang the little bell at the window. The receptionists were in the back, having lunch and they were complaining LOUDLY about a patient. I said “hellooooo?” to politely let them know I was there, since they had not heard the bell. However, they continued to go on, so engrossed in the story and the animated retelling of the account, they did not hear me. On and on, the voice described the argument the doctor had with the patient. FINALLY, I opened the door and walked into the back a bit to let them know I was there. They went on like nothing had happened and the doctor had no idea the possible damage that was happening, o doubt often in his office.

Imagine if I had been a patient! Imagine if this was happening in your office/store/location!

Is it the people? The employees? Possibly, but more likely the problem is much bigger than that.

When there is an environment that teaches people to act this way, it allows people to act this way, then it will BE this way, always, no matter the people in it.

Instead going back to what Seth wrote above, people like cues. If you give no cue for the tip, you get 75 cents. Give a cue and quickly triple that! What kinds of cues are your employees getting from you.

Once I got told by an employer, “the “stars” among you will do SO well with this”.Well, that’s great, but the cue I got was some of you are losers! And none of us knew which ones where which, so we all felt scolded.Did it inspire us to be even better? NO. It made us feel like, “nobody is noticing our hard work, why try so hard?”.

Instead, if you give the cue that people are special, unique and you care about them, if you believe in the best in people and actually appreciate each and their contribution, you get more of that best.

If a culture is created that feeds and grows a set of values far above and beyond your average business, THEN, people in it are responsible and caring about their impact on the business and the world, the customer service is stellar and the future of that company is bright because the consumers LOVE to experience the difference.

Of course, Zappos is a fantastic example of this. If you have doubts that company culture pays off, look at their track record to over a billion in sales!

So, where should you begin?

How do you get started?

That’s what I am here for my friend. I am creating an entire course to teach this and as I do, I will post ideas and rants here for you to enjoy, learn from and transform your company culture!

But, until then, WHAT CUES ARE YOU GIVING TO YOUR EMPLOYEES?

C

These ruts of

7 Signs You May Be a Bad Manager

Hee hee. More about leadership, blah, blah! This is from Steve Tobak @ Bnet.

One thing most bad managers have in common is they’re not consciously aware that they’re bad managers. And if they are aware of it on some level, they’re probably not willing to admit it to anyone, least of all themselves. That’s because nobody wants to believe they’re the problem.

It’s a common enough phenomenon that isn’t limited to bosses, but applies to people at all levels: executives, managers, employees too. I’m not a shrink, so I’m not sure why that is. But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably got something to do with ego, denial, compartmentalization, self-delusion, lack of perspective, that sort of thing.

It would be all-too-easy to just label these folks dysfunctional and call it a day, but I’m not entirely sure that would be either accurate or helpful. I actually think we all suffer from this sort of myopia to some extent and from time to time.

You see, in How to Deal With a Bad Boss: Don’t! I told readers to take a long hard look in the mirror before pointing fingers at the boss. Of course that cuts both ways. But in reading all the comments and emails, I noticed a distinct lack of objectivity by those actually experiencing a boss-employee relationship issue, as opposed to those who were just talking about it.

When it’s happening to us, we put up our defenses. And not only is that bad for business, it’s bad for your management career, as well.

So, even if you’re convinced that you’re the greatest manager on planet Earth and your ability to be introspective knows no bounds, you’d still be wise to check these 7 Signs You May Be a Bad Manager. As for all you employees who’d rather be water-boarded than take a cold hard look at yourself, most of the signs apply to individuals, too.

• Your group is underperforming. Sooner or later, bad management will trickle down and affect the entire organization. Whatever the appropriate metrics are for an organization, poor performance can usually be traced back to a management problem.
• Your manager is turning up the heat. When a good senior manager thinks there may be a problem with a subordinate manager, he’ll inevitably turn up the heat and see what happens. So if you notice your boss putting the screws to you, it’s a sign that something’s up.
• Allies are distancing themselves from you. It’s one thing for your employees to talk behind your back and for your enemies to despise you, but when your work friends and allies start to back away, that’s an indication that you’re damaged goods.
• You’re behaving like more of a jerk than usual. You may be in conscious denial about being a crappy boss, but on some level, you’re probably aware of it. And that takes a toll on you, usually in terms of increased stress and anxiety that you’ll likely take out on others.
• Your decision-making is compromised. One of the most visible signs of poor management is poor decision-making. After all, decisions are actions, actions generate results, and results are highly visible. Pay attention.
• Your personal relationships suck. Dysfunctional managers are also dysfunctional people. Relationships are relationships, period. And while I’m sure that some bad bosses are just wonderful spouses and friends, I seriously doubt it’s very common.
• Your employees are miserable. Come on now. I don’t care how self-absorbed you are, you know if your employees are miserable. Do they stop talking and look guilty when you walk by? Do they invite everyone else but you for drinks after work.

So, my friend, let’s talk about this impacts you.

Not at all? Well, that would be a travesty! We can all improve on our skills! IF you want a better outcome with your team, let’s get real.

GO STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE: Conduct a survey, have everyone in the office complete it online with a free service, like surveymonkey.com

Truly evaluate the results, be open to the possibility that a good portion of what is said is true. And make a plan for how to improve those results.

Implement that plan and retest with time to improve your process and outcomes.

I KNOW, this sounds painful, who wants to hear the truth when it seems so personal could sound harsh, but to get the payoff (a more productive and brilliant team) you must take action.

My best, as always,

C

Are you a leader of a team? Are you an experienced leader? You are shooting yourself in the foot, here’s your blindspot!

Don’t you love attending long presentations, where the presenter reads off of powerpoint slides to the attendees as if You cannot read?

Don’t you wander off as soon as they begin talking about themselves or about the company as if You are board members and really care?

A Corporate presentation that is called a training (but teaches nothing) that goes on for 90 minutes from boring slides, is NOT going to give you any of your desired results from employees except indignation and aggravation. SAYING “I know you are all wondering why we are presenting this, but you need to know this”, should tell you something! It is a waste! You are presenting the wrong info to the wrong group, or in the wrong format.

When YOU create and deliver “training” that is offensive to people’s intelligence or talks about why they will have to “step it up” and change things, do you REALLY believe that is worth your time? Do you really think you are getting through?

How’s that workin for ya? AH, not at all?

Your goal is to create change?

Ah, and this is change that in the end will serve the attendees’ best interests?

Well, look at it from the employees’ point of view, IF you can! I am not saying that people in your company don’t want good things to happen to the company or that they don’t want to help meet company goals. I AM saying however, that on a day-to-day basis, their main concern is NOT these things, instead it is meeting deadlines, paying their bills, managing thier schedule, caring for families, and on and on…

IF THEY don’t get a payoff when the company reaches 1 million or 1 billion in sales, then they won’t REALLY CARE what CORPORATE PRESENTATION you make and how long or impressive it is. It doesn’t even make a blip on the “radar”.

IF the company culture doesn’t recognize them for their contribution regularly, then you lose their hearts AND their BUY-IN.

IF the leaders of the company scold the attendees for this or that , although most of them are “good” or even great at what they do everyday for the “company”, they will jump ship the first chance a better position comes around.

All you out there who don’t have employees and instead have a group of workers who are subcontractors, EVEN MORE SO, you should hear this, as the really great business people are even more suseptible to this.

You want a great team? THEN, YOU AS THEIR LEADER HAVE TO STEP IT UP. YOU have to grow. YOU cannot expect to treat people however you want, unless you want to pay a person full time to recruit and train everyday that you are in business.

Most leaders came from a leadership position before. They believe they have  experience in leadership and know it all. They (You) won’t admit it, however, that is how they (You) act! THIS is a huge blind spot.

I am a leader. It does come naturally. I have done it many environments with many people. HOWEVER, when there are problems with my team, THEN THAT MEANS THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH THE WAY I AM LEADING. PERIOD.

SO, if there are problems in YOUR team, look first to yourself.

Look at how you communicate with your team. THAT is where your answer lies in how to fix the problems. THAT is where you should start in creating trainings.

Don’t close this post and move on as if you didn’t read it. Then, all time and energy spent here would be lost. Instead, look in the proverbial mirror, honestly. Your team will thank you. AND the payoff will be HUGE!

My best to you,

C

Wow, what an offer! This guy will write a book proposal for me for $850. Not bad. The hitch? I have to decide and put a downpayment today.

So, I don’t have the need for another book or proposal right now, nor a ghostwriter to create one, however, I think this offer is great. I also love that he only lets you think about it for 24 hours. A great way to get an influx of cash into your business, if you would utilize an idea like this.
Here is some of the email, how could you do something similar in your business?
The keys to success with this type of offer is to make the offer VERY SIMPLE, CLEAR on how to sign up and require a very QUICK response.

( If you are interested in taking him up on this offer, comment here, I will send you his info. I don’t know this guy well, he is just a writer I considered hiring about 5 years ago from a craigslist ad and he contacts me and his list a few times a year, this is one of those times) The copy writing is VERY GOOD!

Hello, hope all is well.

Want an offer “you can’t refuse?”

How about this:

I’ll help you create your book proposal, find the best list of publishers, review each contract offer you receive, and even help you promote your book once it is published!

You only need to make a $450 payment within 24 hours; balance of $400 won’t be due until you sign the book contract and get the advance check from the publisher. (NOTE: Even if you are not ready with any info right now, you can still “lock in” the discount rate by making the payment within 24 hours.)

You can make the payment via Pay Pal, or send a check via overnight delivery.

To pay with Pay Pal, just visit www.paypal.com and click on “send money,” and make the payment to my e-mail address: (his email address was here)

To send a check via overnight delivery, here is the address:

John XXXXXX
(ADDRESS was here)

Be sure to mark the delivery “no signature required,” and e-mail the tracking number to me.

Below you will see a “letter of agreement” that spells out the terms. Just put in your name, date and the amounts from above, and send it back to me, and we can get started on your book project.

Holler if you have any questions.
Thanks!
John XXXXXX

I may use this idea in the near future, maybe offer a very limited time discount on a program or service. .. what about you?

C

The ONE thing you can NEVER get from a book or info program, that YOU need if you want to get to the next leve

For years I have been a coach, but I have also spent many years as a “coachee”. Being coached is an interesting, moving and potentially life changing experience.

Before I began coaching, I hired a coach. And because I so believed in the process, I became a coach.

If you know me at all, you know that I am an absolute “info addict”, I have purchased more business advice programs, how-to business books than anyone I know. I have so many certifications, they don’t fit in a Bio or my LinkedIn profile. SO, I believe in education!

However, all of those books and programs CANNOT do one thing for me or you.

And this is the one thing we need more than anything else, most of the time in business.

What is it? You cannot know, what you do not know.

Hence, we MISS MAJOR revelations about ourselves, our business and our opportunities without a different perspective.

BTW: You cannot view from someone else’s perspective without them imparting it to you.

For instance, you might be facing a decision or problem and feel there are only two ways to deal with it. However, there could be MANY other opportunities in that one situation that are simply outside of what you realize.

Now, I WILL ADMIT, that books and program CAN give us a different perspective from a sterile but passionate place. HOWEVER, the HUGE limitation comes when we need this customized perspective.

Have no idea what I am talking about?

Doubting me in your head, are we?

Let me give you an example, this week when coaching a client of four years, he said a prospect had called him to say he would not hire him and that he simply wanted to let him know. THIS is very unusual! (That says my client is making a real connection with prospects) My client was unsure of how to learn from what the prospect told him. If he had continued to chalk it up as an interesting occurrence, the growth would have stopped there.

However, he happened to mention it to me during our call and I told him that I believe this is a gift.

We spent an hour deciphering what was said and how to improve my client’s outcomes using that perspective. In the end we completed a plan for how to build more trust with prospects, make his proposals more personal and give the impression of expert status in his specialty and show that a potential negative could actually be a positive to his clients.

This negative criteria was that the prospect chose a “more established and experienced” (read: older) person for the job. However, we devised ways to show that my client was going to be “there” for clients for many years to come and prove his commitment to the area with a book he published about the local area, etc.

So, the point, my friends, is without a coach, yes, you can improve your business and life. However, there is no replacement for how almost magical and brilliant it is to have an outside but committed person who has the perspectives of many clients, markets and business to boost you to higher achievements than imagined. Very often, most times in fact, our business problems simply echo personal problems. This could be many, many things. I personally have been the most touched when I helped clients learn about the truth of their actions, from lack of honesty with our own limitations, a tendency to “chase shiny objects”, playing out childhood experiences and learned behaviors, such as fighting the tendency to “be” like their father or holding on to long to employees because of loss as a child.

These experiences have forever proven to me the amazing change and clarity that is possible ONLY through the coaching experience. It is why I do what I do.

My best to you, as always,

C