The Importance Of Playing Tennis With Better Tennis Players.

"It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction." - Warren Buffett

Have you ever played tennis?

• Play with someone worse than you, you won’t push yourself at all and play at a much lower level than you usually do. You’ll coast.

• Play with an equal player, I promise your game will be boring as hell. Back and forth, you get one point, they get one point. BORING.

• Play with a better player and you'll be forced to play a better game. You’ll have to move faster, anticipate their moves, and push yourself harder than you ever have before.

Think of all the highly successful business people you know, whom do they hang around with? Who do they have lunch with? Why do you think they do that?

Because they play a better game. The easiest way for an adult to learn is to mimic other adults actions and behaviors. It could be a very apparent behavior or a very subtle action. But these cues are picked up (just like in tennis) and are absorbed.

So today, you need to play a better game. Hang with the big boys and girls. Watch what they do, how they react, how they take action. Set up that lunch, make that appointment, hire that new rising star — it’s time you play your ‘A’ game.

You might surprise yourself and serve that ace.

5 Tips To Fix A Bad Relationship With Your Boss.

You started out so well. They hired you out of a field of thousands. They groomed you. They took you on trips, wined and dined you. They gave you the best projects and always had an open-door policy when it came to you. You were the Golden Child.

But then something went wrong. Not overnight, but over a series of months. You noticed it — they were paying more attention to your colleagues. Maybe an errant, small reprimand during a meeting. Or a meeting where you're asked not to attend. You feel you've been tossed on the rocky shoals at work.

In any event, you're getting the feeling your relationship has soured with your boss. How do you repair it?

1. Sit down and figure out what might be wrong.

This is your first step — assess the situation, the environment, your performance, and changes in the current organization. Did your boss get more responsibility? A new project? More team members? Is the company suddenly going through hard times? Did it miss it's targets for the quarter/year? Is your division/department going through a restructuring?

People's personalities and behaviors change when their environments change. If there is increased pressure on your boss, be sure it will trickle down to you in one way or another. More work, more pressure, and less face time.

If this is the case . . . ask if you can help them with their workload. Be there for them as a friend to listen. Help them with their pressure and above all, don't add to their problems. If you do, you will find it unpleasant.

2. Kick up your performance.

After you've assessed the situation, start working HARDER. Get things done quicker, stay later/come in earlier, be more communicative with your peers and team. Start delivering earlier on stated deadlines. Ask for more work. Figure out how you can put your performance into hyperdrive (not forever, just for a little while) to show your boss you can help out and deliver.

If this is the case . . . show them what you can REALLY do. 

3. Step up your formal communication with your boss.

I don't mean informal drive-by's at their office door. Begin to deliver regular communications of your progress — not long 'War & Peace' manifestos  but short and concise status reports on what you've accomplished, what you are working on, and what you will deliver in the next few weeks/months. Stepping up your communication will let your boss know you're still around and they'll see you are making accelerated progress on your responsibilities.

If this is the case . . . send them a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly email outlining your accomplishments and projects on deck. If they are busy or distracted, this is a simple and easy way for them to keep abreast of your work. Keep it short — one page max!

4. Ask a trusted colleague what might be wrong.

This is a tough one — but if your relationship is rocky, speak with a trusted friend to see if it's you or your boss. Sometimes they see things that you can't (blind spots). Your behavior might have changed, or you might have said the wrong thing during a meeting, or treated a client the wrong way. You think things are fine — but your relationship is not as strong as it used to be.

If this is the case . . . set up a lunch with your colleague and gracefully broach the subject with them. Say something like, "I've notice John is hard to figure out lately — are you seeing what I'm seeing?" or "Do you have the same face-time with Susan that you had six months ago? I almost never get the chance to meet with her lately."

5. If all else fails, talk to your boss.

This is the hardest, but most direct way to get to the bottom of the situation. A warning, do not, and I repeat, do not in any way make it THEIR fault. That will start the conversation off on the wrong foot — they will immediately become defensive and you will bear the brunt of their wrath.

If this is the case . . . start out by asking about them — how are things, haven't seen you around, etc. Then add, "Can I help in any way?" Most of the time, your boss will recognize they have been uncommunicative or unduly harsh and will try to open up a bit. If not, move forward and see if there is something you've done in the past that might have upset the applecart. "I just wanted to see if you approved on how I solved the Penske situation — was it to your satisfaction?" Start to probe — ultimately they will open up.

If all else fails — request a formal meeting to discuss your performance and to get feedback. It might be painful, but you might find they have no issues with your performance (and actually might say you're knocking it out of the park). At that point, open up and say you feel that your relationship is a bit distant and what can you do to improve it.

Good luck!

Image provided by Jay Wennington at Unsplash! (Free - do whatever you want images)

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Change Your Life With A Cookie.

"You don't become a failure until you're satisfied with being one." A fortune cookie — I found this in a darn fortune cookie!

How serendipitous life is — when you least expect it — the universe opens a door to enlightenment.

So what does this mean?

1. You are not instantly a failure when you fail.
2. No one can make you a failure.
3. Only you can make yourself a failure.
4. It's easy to fail, but then it's also as easy to decide to learn from your failure.
5. Failure is a prolonged state of mind.
6. Failure influences future behaviors.

Are you going to make mistakes? Sure.

Are you going to fail? Sure.

But we need to understand is HOW we react to that failure. If we let it defeat us — Failure has won.

If we step back and learn from our failure — we move on. We stay strong. We get that much closer to success.

So today — don't focus on your failures, your losses, your dropped balls, your missed chances.

Today I want you to see what CAN happen. What you can do right NOW.

You'll thank me.

How To Reward Your People.

Fact: We don't regularly acknowledge the people who make our 'career machine' run. Everyone who works so hard to make us look good to our clients and management.

So here's a old tool to help you remember. It's called R E W A R D S.

R = Results Only reward results to encourage behavior.

E = Explainable Able to explain to everyone else.

W = When it happens Reward someone as close to when it occurs, it's stronger, more powerful that way.

A = Available Available to everyone on your team. Don't play favorites.

R = Repeatable Other people on your team can do the same thing and the same result will occur.

D = Designed Specifically for the person, personalize it. It makes it special.

S = Share publicly Make an announcement, encourage new behaviors.

Try it this week — you will begin to see it slowly change your team's efforts.

What do you do to reward your staff?