Open Your Kimono.

A number of years ago, I joined a powerful mastermind group comprised of seasoned professional women. As the only guy, I was a bit intimidated, but thankfully, everyone in the group were welcoming and excited to have me on-board. During our first session, I used the term, "Open Kimono" which in corporate-speak means, "To share information with an outside party." Unfortunately, or fortunately, my group couldn't stop laughing from the vision I was presenting — opening MY kimono or flashing them. It not only broke the ice in our mutual relationship, it deepened our respect for one another.

Today, I want to share a powerful quote I relate to almost all of my clients:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." - Emerson

Too often, we ensconce ourselves with the guilt from our past and worry for the future. We forget the gifts we have within us to solve our current problems. We feel inadequate because of past mistakes and make up scary stories about the future.

Time to OPEN YOUR KIMONO and let everyone see what you really have to offer:

• Energy - how can you add just a little bit more pizazz to what you're doing?
• Ideas - you have a different way of doing something - let others know.
• Enthusiasm - kick it up a notch - you will infect everyone!
• Focus - most people today have no focus, show them what you can do.
• Hard Work - stay a little bit later or come in early.
• Experience - you have the knowledge - let it out!

EVERYONE has each of these things within them. You have to let them out and show the world you can change the world.

How I Motivate and De-Motivate Myself.

Our motivation is like a battery. Everyday, your battery is fully (or partially) recharged and ready to go for the new day. During the next 12-24 hours, worries, obstacles, people, and things all slowly deplete your motivational battery. By the end of the day, you probably feel low — maybe frustrated — loss of hope — and you don't know where to turn.

My battery has been feeling kind of low lately and I didn't know why. But then it dawned on me — I've been watching the TV show "Weeds" on Netflix at night to wind down from the day. Have you ever watched it? I'm not going to get into the entire story, but the protagonist is constantly making bad decisions which turn out to be REALLY BAD decisions, endangering her life and family. There is a subtle wrapper of humor inserted throughout, but the overall theme is bad decision—bad things happen—bad decision—bad things happen.

The way I'm wired is directly impacted by the stories I watch. Since I'm a coach, I try to understand the character's motivations and constantly try to solve their problems. It's a vicious circle.

I then realized the same thing happened to me a few months ago while watching 'The Walking Dead' and a few years ago with '24'. All of these shows have protagonists who get into trouble, miraculously get out of trouble, get into trouble, etc. I would have vivid dreams, feel disconcerted during the day, and really never know why.

Until I stopped watching these de-motivating shows. The minute I stopped giving them any priority in my life, my motivational battery stayed charged. I then focused on topping off my battery every chance I could get.

• When in the car, I listened to motivational CD's with Zig Ziglar, Joel Osteen, and Gary Vaynerchuk.
• I read motivational books and stopped most TV in the evening (except for 'Fringe', I love 'Fringe').
• I surfed motivational sites and stayed away from the 24-hour news barrage.
• I've started to workout EVERY DAY. It helps me think clearer and clean out the physical and mental cobwebs.
• I'm only hanging around motivating people. No complainers. No glass-half-empty personalities. No whiners.

Guess what? I have more ideas, more energy, and more motivation. So I have two questions for you:

1. What are you doing right now to de-motivate yourself? What is draining your motivational battery?
2. What can you do to top off your battery everyday? How can you fit it into your daily routine?

I’d love your input, thoughts and reviews of my posts. Feel free to comment below!

When It Comes To Business, You're Unethical.

Or are you? Most people tend to think they are as clean as downy-fresh sheets drying in the summer sunshine. As with many areas in business and our lives, we tend to modulate along a spectrum. We strive and hope to be squeaky-clean, but sometimes we wander to the dark side depending on the situation, circumstance or outside pressure. In addition, being un-focused and lazy also causes one to forget to center themselves when it comes to ethics.

What makes you move? What do you do to center yourself? Where do you go? What do you read? Who do you talk to?

Here are some of the things I do:

1. If I have a tough decision to make, I weigh the pros and cons, but I also ask myself, what is the 'RIGHT' thing to do here. I sometimes get a different answer.
2. I read and frequently consult many authors to help me stay grounded.
3. I attend gatherings of peers to discuss business ethics — one meeting I treasure is The Greenwich Leadership Forum. If you live nearby (I travel an hour to attend), you should check it out. They meet monthly and I find it a powerful experience every time.

Finally, I write about my thoughts on business ethics — it allows me to broadcast my ethical philosophy to the world and get input from my peers.

Here are some of my favorite (and most popular posts):

Ethics – The Only Way To Be A True Leader Can executives still achieve greatness if they do the right thing?

Ethical Leadership – Start With Gut Instinct “I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics.” – Richard Branson

Ethical Leadership — You Need A Mentor “Mentor: Someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.”

Ethical Leadership — You Need A Mastermind Group You should regularly assemble a group to help you learn, understand and grow.

Losing Your Compass? Try Simple Philosophy “The higher the buildings, the lower the morals.” – Noel Coward

Lots of Enemies? Make Friends With The Press Hear me out — there is a logic to my madness.

I'd love your input, thoughts and reviews of my posts. Feel free to comment below!

Get Current Clients To GROW Your Business.

Are you frustrated when clients defect? Finding it hard to hit your numbers? Is your client base growing or shrinking?  You need to read this ASAP.

When interacting with each client, your only conversation should take one of three directions:

1. Retention — Keep Them Happy and On-Board.
2. Extension — Sell Them More Stuff.
3. Expansion — Spread The Wealth To Other Like Clients.

Let me go more in-depth on each one:

1. Retention

At the end of every client transaction or communication, you should know where you are with that client. Are you at the start of the relationship and building trust with them? Have you built trust and are now extending your product line deeper into their company (see Extension)? Are they at the 'tipping-point' where they might flee because of apathy, change in relationship, competitor inroads, etc.?

Solution: Every time you communicate or interact with your client, clearly understand where you are and track their responses. Did they lower the quantity in an order? Did they cancel a number of meetings? Did the client sound non-committal on the phone? Many companies will continue on their merry way sending product without stopping, analyzing, and acting on these client cues.

You don't have to do it with everyone — but I at least hope you are monitoring this behavior with your top 10 clients.

2. Extension

When you connect with them — actually, EVERY time you connect with them, you should try to casually or sometimes forcefully, sell them more stuff. Why?

• They've already bought from you, so you have a good track record.
• They trust you.
• It's easier and much cheaper to sell more stuff to existing clients.

Solution: Understand your Tier 2 products — the ones where you can easily pitch them by asking simple questions. If you are a printer and you just sold a major print run of brochures, do you ask for business cards, stationary, giveaways, etc.? If you are a coach, do you pitch strategy sessions, assessments, etc.? If you are an accountant, do you pitch cash-flow analyses, CFO tools, or team discussions with their tax preparer?

3. Expansion

You should always ask for more business or WHO they might know. If they've already bought your product and are using it happily, you need to ask them for referrals — anyone they might know who might have use of your products or services. Whenever I ask, people instantly recommend someone OR they offer to ask around for me. That's the sign of a healthy client/provider relationship.

Solution: Casually ask if there is anyone they might know who might be interested in your product or service. Seed the thought in their mind — I promise it will bear fruit some day. And if a client leaves, I ALWAYS ask for two things: a testimonial and a referral. It's the best time to ask for a favor — they are usually feeling guilty about breaking off the relationship — so use it to your advantage. And guess what? I always get them.

If you take this strategy and use it on all of your existing clients, I promise you will keep them longer, sell them more stuff, and get more clients. It works every time.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. How is your sales team handling your current clients? Not so good?  Let’s talk. I've helped hundreds of companies get their sales teams rocking in no time — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

Two People To Keep Your Eye On At Work.

I've always said, keep your eyes on people who live at the ends of any spectrum.

• In politics, be wary of the extreme conservative or liberal.
• In sports, be wary of the player who swings for the fences or the one who waits to be walked.
• In school, stand back and watch the student who maxes out on their course load and the one who takes the bare minimum.

In business, don't follow people who continuously upset the apple cart or people who never want to change anything.

My advice? Live in the middle of the spectrum and move towards each end based on reasoned and factual thinking. But don't stay in one place. And don't stay at one end. Usually, people who live at the ends of a spectrum tend to be either fanatical or lazy.

Years ago, (okay . . . MANY years ago), I worked on a project to deliver GIS (mapping) technology to our salesforce. We were in the beta test stage and had to work with huge (250mb!) replaceable hard drives. Each salesperson had to swop hard drives, update their data, and replace the hard drive. Each hard drive was then FedEx'ed back to our office to erase. I came up with the idea of burning CD's with the info on them (back then laptops did not have a CD reader). There was a company who developed an external CD reader to connect to the port on the back of the laptop. Problem solved! We would mail the CD's instead.

You wouldn't believe the push-back I received from our IT department:

• You can't do that.
• It will corrupt the drivers on the laptop.
• It will pull too much power and short circuit the battery.

I can go on forever. So I went out with my own credit card, bought the CD drive, hooked it up to my laptop, and transfered the files in 2-3 minutes. Even when I showed them the process and how fast it worked (and so much more economical and easy), they still didn't want to do it.

They were living on one end of the spectrum. I moved to the other to make things easier for my customers (the salespeople) and much cheaper for the company (hard drives were expensive back then).

Do you find yourself at one end of the spectrum in your career or business? Why? What is it costing you?

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. Working with someone at one end of the spectrum? Let’s talk. We can devise a strategy to get them to think more holistically — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

Do You Have An Arch-Enemy?

For Batman, it was the Joker. For Superman — Lex Luthor. Spider-Man — The Green Goblin. All were shining examples of light and dark in life — good and evil. Does this happen in real life? Does this happen on the job? Sure.

Do YOU have an arch-enemy? Or someone who exemplifies the term arch-enemy? Someone who:

• Actively thwarts (I love that word) your plans at every turn.
• Throws obstacles in your path.
• Interrupts the smooth flow of your job.
• Tosses a wrench in your presentation or your communication avenues.
• Miscommunicates your intentions to your superiors.
• Causes consternation with your team.
• Forces your peers to take sides against you.
• Is a general pain in the butt?

So what do you do? You have three choices:

1. Confront the person — deal with the issue at hand.
2. Act as if nothing is happening — no hill to die on here.
3. Run away — give in and agree with the person.

Which one do you think I want you to choose? That's right, Number Three.

Bazinga! Sorry, wrong answer. YOU MUST PICK NUMBER ONE.

So, how do you do it?

If you are an executive:

• Start tracking all the things they do to you. A condescending email, a confrontation during a meeting, taking credit for your work. You need to build up EVIDENCE. Just because they hurt your emotions doesn't mean you can do anything about it. You need FACTS.
• Decide when to confront them directly — when are YOU at your best. In the morning, afternoon, or evening. Choose the time.
• Meet with them ALONE and in an area where you can speak freely and frankly. Not a cafeteria — choose a conference room.
• Start out by asking, "Tom, do you regard me as a colleague and friend at this company?" They should say YES.
• Then say, "Then why do you do these things . . ." and begin to bring out each of the things they do to you. Ensure this info comes with people, places, and dates.
• If they deflate and apologize (80-90% of them do), acknowledge their admission, and say you are willing to move on and forget about their past transgressions.
• If they are belligerent and lie, prevaricate, or blame you — clearly state you are here to clear things up and you are onto their game.  If they are unwilling to acknowledge the facts you presented, let them know you will shut them down. This means no communication, no niceties, and if they need ANYTHING, they will get a big FU from you.
• It's your choice at this point to escalate. But beware, most managers hate when their kids don't get along.

If you own a business, it's probably a competitor:

• Again, start tracking all of their transgressions. Do they advertise and put you in a bad light? Do they gossip and lie with your vendors or customers? Do they spread misinformation at industry functions? Track and rate how bad each transgression is.
• Decide if you need to better market your products and services. Maybe they have the upper hand because they are better at marketing. And you might be jealous (this happens all the time).
• If they are blatantly saying bad things about you (like, "The board of health violates them every month."), you need to speak with the owner. It won't be a pretty conversation, but you just can't sit back and have them lie about you.
• If it gets worse, you need to escalate immediately. If they run slanderous ads, talk to the newspaper or magazine. If it's really bad, get an attorney and understand your options.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. If you have an arch-enemy - Let’s talk. I love working with people who want to 'kill' their competition — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

How To Stop Working So Late - Part Two.

Last week, I wrote my first installment on working late and received a powerful uproar from my readers (massive page views and comments on my site, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook!). To finish out my thoughts on this subject, I promised to give tangible tips to help people go home at a reasonable time. So here goes: Work hard when you're at work.

Right off the bat, I've probably insulted you. But to be honest, most people don't work that HARD while they're at work. On the contrary, they fill up time. Be honest, we all do it.

There's a great book by Tim Ferriss called the 4-Hour Workweek, where he targets those behaviors which allow you to elongate your performance to fill up time. He uses the 80/20 rule to uncover what activities really deliver true performance and which ones don't.

What do I mean by work hard?

• When you get to work . . . WORK. Don't schmooze. Don't procrastinate. Don't wander around. Don't daydream.
• Set up a daily to-do sheet (here's a great one I modified from GTD guru, David Allen).
• Stay on top of all your voicemails.
• Don't take frequent breaks (to get coffee, walk around, etc.).
• Don't surf. No personal calls. Don't text. You're at work.

Work smart when you're at work.

I know, you're smart, I'm smart, everyone is smart. Most of the time. But we all do some stupid things. Here are key tips to work more efficiently and effectively:

• Don't go to every meeting you're invited to. Kill (at least) one meeting every week — tell them you either can't make it or you don't really need to be there. Trust me, you don't. (1 hour per week). Kill more as you get good at it.
• Don't read EVERY email you receive. Don't read EVERY email when you get it. Set aside certain times of the day to read your email — read this.
• Set aside a certain part of the day to return phone calls. I use the Nine/Noon/Five technique — three times during the day, I return calls - at 9 AM, Noon, and 5 PM. You're not a heart surgeon — no one is going to die on the operating table if you don't return the phone call within minutes.
• When you answer the phone or return a phone call, give the person on the other line a deadline. Say, "Tom, I only have 4-5 minutes to talk, can we cover this now with a quick decision, or later?" — most calls need a quick decision from you.

Have an open/closed door policy at work.

Most managers live at the fringes of the 'door' spectrum — come on in anytime or don't bother me. Try to gravitate to the center of the spectrum and do both:

• When the door is open — your people should see it as a sign to quickly ask you a question, get your thoughts, or just talk (for a VERY short time). To get your team to leave quickly, ask them about taking on more work — they will scatter.
• When the door is closed — your people should understand not to bother you unless it's an emergency. Most things can wait until the door opens again.

Run VERY short meetings.

Why do meetings have to be one hour? Or 30 minutes? Why can't you have 5 minute meetings? It's because of MS Outlook. It makes it difficult for you to schedule a 5 minute meeting — 30 and 60 minute meetings look nicer and are easier to schedule.

Be honest with yourself — how many meetings have you attended where you walked out thinking, "that could've been handled in five minutes". You currently have to power to schedule 5 minute meetings.

• Ensure everyone arrives on time.
• Start exactly at the top of the hour.
• Get everyone to stand, not sit. This is not a seminar.
• Huddle around a whiteboard and use it to illustrate your points.
• Shut long-talkers down — get to the point.
• If you do go down a rabbit hole, everyone doesn't have to be there. Schedule it for later.
• Close the meeting ASAP and get out of there. Your people will LOVE you.

Develop clear communication policies with everyone.

Colleague or client — set specific boundaries. There are too many people in the workplace who goof off all day and then get serious about work at around 4 PM.

• Don't let people drop in. There must be a purpose for the meeting.
• Let people know you leave at 5 PM — don't let them abuse it.
• If they try to catch you when you're leaving, tell them you'll pick it up when your come back in the morning.
• Promise to return all calls within 24 hours.

The more YOU value your time, the more THEY value your time.

Try just one of these — you will be surprised how much work you accomplish.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. If you liked these two posts, let me know - Let’s talk. I love working with people who want to excel in their career — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

How To Stop Working So Late - Part One.

It's an epidemic. An epidemic SO BIG, the CDC should be called in with their Hazmat suite and an antidote found. What's so hard about closing your laptop and going home at 5 PM? Nothing. But we've all be indoctrinated to stick around, stay late, be visible, show management 'You Care'.

And it's not a 'Top Down' behavior — it infects the entire marketplace. So what do you do? Here are a few tips to help you better understand the aberrant psychology behind this modern phenomena:

It's illogical.

You're hired and paid (by law) to work 40 hours a week. It's your choice to work longer hours. Every hour you add to your work week, subtracts from your salary. Here's the math:

40 hours x 50 weeks = 2000 hours $100,000/2000 = $50/hour

Now if you work through lunch and stay 1-2 hours later each day, that adds 15 hours onto your 40 hours each week.

55 Hours x 50 weeks = 2750 hours $100,000/2750 = $36/hour

$14 or a 28% drop in pay. They don't pay you any more money (unless you get overtime pay). Why would you do that? What happens when you don't take your full vacation, work at home, or on the weekends?

That's right — your hourly wage plummets even more.

It forces you to procrastinate.

Instead of filling up your 40 hours each week with 40 hours of truly dedicated, hard and powerful work, you spread it out during the additional 28% of time during the week. What happens?

You attend more unproductive and boring meetings. You schmooze more with the wrong people. You read TOO much unnecessary email. You surf. You IM. Instead of calling someone, communicating information, and hanging up, you spend precious time blabbing. You push items, calls, and activities out which should be worked on NOW. We all do it.

You become part of 'The Herd'.

You see others stay late, so you do too. It's psychological. You begin to feel a pull to be the same as the rest of your peers. Add in the subtle digs from your 'friends' when you do leave on time: "Hey Susan, are you working banker's hours?"

So we stay later. And later. And later. If Tom, Mary and Steve are working late, I need to work late too. Whoops, my boss is still here, I need to stay late until he leaves. Maybe I should walk around the office with some papers looking frustrated to show them I really care about my job and I'm working hard (this was told to me years ago by a colleague — he used to do this to look busy — I'm not kidding).

So what do you do?

1. Analyze your performance.

Are you getting good reviews? Accolades from your boss, peers, and superiors? Getting work done on time? Then you are a good worker — industrious, deadline-focused, dependable. So why do you stay late and act like you aren't this way?

Because we're nervous to break from the herd. We're afraid of looking different, standing out, being seen as someone who doesn't 'care' about the company. We are indoctrinated over time to give our blood, sweat, tears, and life to the company. Be comfortable in who you are — a valued member of the team.

Doing this will not only set your mind straight about what you deliver, but will give you ammunition for the next step.

2. Prepare for 'The Talk'.

If you start closing your laptop at 5 PM and leave, someone is going to notice. Maybe it's a peer or your boss. Initially, they might not say anything, but soon, they will. If it's a peer, tell them to mind their own business. Or just smile and say 'See you tomorrow!'.

If it's your boss and they call you in to talk about this, do what I did many years ago:

Boss: "Rich, I'm a little concerned about your work habits here at the office." Me: "Wow, Tom, what am I doing?" Boss: "You're booking out on work. Early." Me: "Booking out? When I started here, you said 5 PM was quitting time. So I'm doing what you said." Boss: "I know what I said — but there's work to be done." Me: "Is there anything I'm late on?" Boss: "No." Me: "Do I not stick around if there's an emergency? Don't I ask for more work?" Boss: "You do." Me: "Have I ever missed a deadline? Did I drop the ball on any project?" Boss: "No." Me: "So why is it important I stay hours later every day?" Boss: "I don't know. But we all do it."

So I said: "Tom, let me put it this way — if I am not doing my job, or dropping the ball, or letting the team down, let me know. And I'll immediately ensure that I'm around here after hours to rectify that problem. But if there is no real problem, no issue, no drop in production, I'd like to continue to leave at 5 PM. Is that okay?"

My boss then said (and I quote): "I understand Rich. Can you teach me how you get all of your work done and leave by 5 PM?"

Catch Part Two of this series HERE.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. Do you find yourself working later and later and later? Let’s talk. I’ve coached thousands of executives who need to change this dynamic — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

4 Tips To Say "NO" and Make It Stick.

Telling someone 'No' is one of the hardest actions (even for an accomplished leader). Here are some strategies to help you make it easier:

1. Is it right for the company?

This was always my first hurdle with any major (or minor) decision with my colleagues or clients. Many suggestions or requests usually have a focus — do they ultimately benefit your company or just the person requesting the decision?  You'll find if you look through that lens, the balance is skewed more towards personal advancement and less towards the company as a whole. One way to send them away is to have them skew the balance much more in favor to the company.

2. Is it right at this time?

You're not saying 'Never', you're just saying 'Not now'. As a leader, things come at you fast and furious.Many people, many decisions — some requests are good, some are not so good. Your people are energized and built to deliver instantaneous decisions to problems they see in their universe. Their solutions might take on additional cost, resources, and people. Sometimes you just have to say 'Not now'. By putting it off for future consideration, it allows the problem to sometimes fix itself or go away and allows you to teach an important lesson to your colleague — not everything needs fixing immediately.

3. Acknowledge their request.

Sometimes, people just want acknoledgement. They want to feel listened to and special. So give them the stage. You can ask questions and have them walk you through their thinking — understand what is involved, and the who, where, when, and how. As they broaden your understanding of the strategy, it makes it easier for you to either accept it (because it's a good idea) or pick it apart (because it's a bad one).

4. Don't take on too much responsibility.

You do not want another monkey on your back (check out this great HBR article I recommend to all of my clients). Many times, when colleagues are asking you to say 'Yes', it usually entails some added responsibility on your end. Some deliverable, some oversight, some action which adds to your workload. When this happens, try to turn it around and never let the monkey get on your back in the first place. Most of the time, when you don't accept any responsibility for the decision, the idea goes away of it's own accord.

Or sometimes you just have to come out and say NO.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. Do you have a hard time saying NO? Let’s talk. I’ve coached thousands of executives who need to change the dynamic — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

The Power of Connecting With People.

I finally had breakfast with my new and good friend, Eric Rochow. Eric hosts one of the biggest Podcasts on iTunes, call GardenFork. I invited him a number of weeks ago to breakfast. Now the funny thing is, I don't know Eric. And Eric didn't know me.

When I first started to listen to Eric, I found out he lives in Brooklyn, NY during the week and then makes his way to his farmhouse in Colebrook, CT. I could easily identify with him because I have a rural country house in Oxford, CT.

One day, I ran a quick Google Map to find out the best route for Eric to drive from Brooklyn to Colebrook. And guess what? It went right by where I live, on the Connecticut interstate highway named I-84.

So I reached out to Eric by writing him a email, told him how much I appreciate his podcast, and offered to buy him breakfast on one of his sojourns up to his country home. It took a little while, but he responded back via Twitter — he not only accepted my offer, but was impressed with my site and what I do!

In addition, he invited me onto his show to talk about careers, business, time management, gardens, and generators. Click here.

So we finally had breakfast at the incredible Laurel Diner, located in Southbury, CT. We really enjoyed the conversation, the food, and to top it all off . . . Eric interviewed me again! Click here.

So the moral of this story is . . . if you want to meet someone — reach out and make it happen!

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. Having a hard time meeting important people? Let’s talk. I’ve coached thousands to step up their presentation game — call or email me to schedule a free session.

When Your Company Throws You A Left Hook To The Chin.

Yesterday, I heard through the grapevine (and the NY Times) a top-tier insurance company will be jettisoning one of their major divisions. Boy was my phone ringing up a storm yesterday! It's like IBM selling off their laptop division (oh . . . that's right . . . they did that already). Or when a #2 bookseller folds (whoops, that happened too). Whether it's a good decision or bad decision is not relevant — fasten your seat belts — it's happening.

There are a few immutable facts about the marketplace today:

1. Change is constant. Don't ever think you will be safe forever. Just ask all those poor people on the farm in The Walking Dead.
2. Change will usually upset your apple cart. No one is immune - from the CEO to the night cleaning staff, everyone can be affected.
3. Change is accelerating. Years ago, it was rare when companies did this. But with global competition looking over our shoulder, we need to be more flexible, nimble, and agile.

Your first instinct is to get ANGRY: "How could this have happened?" or "What a stupid decision!". Be honest with yourself, most changes can be telegraphed for miles — you probably saw this coming months ago. Unfortunately, you (with thousands of your colleagues) said: "All is well" and stuck your head in the sand.

Your second instinct is to hide in your cubicle: "If I just keep my head down, the storm will pass over." That might work sometimes, but it leaves you in a very vulnerable position. If you keep doing the same old thing while the world changes around you, fate will ultimately stop at your cubicle and tap you on your shoulder.

Your third instinct is to fall into a deep MALAISE: "I hate this place." or "It's not like it used to be." or "They're making all the wrong decisions." I'll ask one question — how will that ever help you and your career? Stop it right now.

You have ONE decision to make — STAY or GO. I've covered the 'GO' to death on my site (just search 'career').

If you STAY, you need to change the dynamic. With any major change at a company, all the balls are thrown into the air and the smart, resourceful, and agile people are watching them intently. When they get close enough to catch, you'll see them sprinting and grabbing their opportunity. So here's your plan of attack:

1. Keep your peripherals open. What areas have been unaffected? What areas are growing? Who's getting the watering, the feeding the TLC?
2. Branch out and talk constructively to people. Learn about what's going on, who are the new movers and shakers, what are the best projects and products?
3. Start brainstorming how you can help change the company. Come up with new ideas, new strategies, new efficiencies to do things. Tell people about them.
4. Stay positive. When everyone else is jumping to a lifeboat, start to figure out how to right the ship and sail off into the sunset.

Remember, today we ALL need to become more agile, nimble and flexible. It's like YOGA for your career.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. Has this ever happened to you? Let’s talk. I’ve coached thousands of executives who need to change the dynamic — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

Presentations: Longer is Sometimes Not Better.

I had to deliver a keynote to a large group of business owners the other day. I was asked to compose a quick 6-8 minute talk — and if you know me, it's a VERY short time to talk. I used iWork Keynote with an LCD projector (all set up well ahead of time) — I felt each slide would add impact (see presentation here). As you can see — no bullets, bold statements — get in and get out.

As the meeting wore on, I realized we were running out of time. To add insult to injury, the speaker before me used ALL of his allotted time (plus some) — so I received a subtle prod from the vice president to severely cut down my time. Accomplished presenters run into this all the time — if you're last on the docket, you're usually asked to shorten your talk a bit.

So I did. I talked for a total of 3-4 minutes (a 50% reduction) with the same presentation.

Guess what? Major accolades from the entire audience. What did I do?

1. I jumped up, grabbed my remote, dispersed with the bio about me, introduced myself, and started the talk.
2. I kicked up my energy another 50% (on top of my usual 150% enthusiasm level). This is important.
3. I moved around and used my hands to deliver each point.
4. I interacted with the audience — I asked questions like, "Who going to try this?" They immediately raised their hands.
5. I spoke a bit faster, but I added assertive emphasis to each of my points.
6. No questions. There was no time.
7. I closed within the 4 minute mark, thanked my audience, and sat down.

The room of 60+ people burst into applause. Longer is sometimes not better.

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P.S. Has this ever happened to you? Let’s talk. I’ve coached thousands of executives step up their presentation game — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

You Have To Keep Your Eye On Goldman Sachs.

We all know Goldman Sachs. Big company. Billions. Influences and touches a large portion of the investment world. Here's the letter (NY Times Op-Ed) from a past GS employee.

Then . . . here's their rebuttal from the CEO and COO.

But then the facts start trickling in from other sources.

Here are some immutable business truths:

• You can't hide bad behavior forever. It will see the light.
• Being bad has short term gains, but in the long run being good wins out.
• Don't work for GS in the near future. I think this is just the start.

3 Simple Rules In Life.

1. If you do not GO after what you want, you'll never have it.

Be honest with yourself, there is no limousine pulling up to your door to whisk you away to that new job, to millions of dollars, or a new life. It's up to you to make it happen.

2. If you do not ASK, the answer will always be NO.

It doesn't hurt to ask. You will be pleasantly surprised sometimes when the answer is Yes. If the answer is NO, ask what you need to do to make it YES.

3. If you do not STEP FORWARD, you'll always be in the same PLACE.

When volunteers are requested, or you see an opportunity to do something challenging, take that chance. You will not only be glad you did, you will grow in many directions because of it.

It's that simple. So what are you waiting for?

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P.S. Which rule do you procrastinate on? If you do and REALLY want to make it happen, let’s talk. I’ve coached thousands of people (just like you) and have helped take a decisive step in their life — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

This quote was found on Reddit this morning, one of my favorite sites to be inspired! 

Why The Universe Doesn't Drop What We Want In Our Lap.

"What you wish for doesn't fall in your lap — it falls somewhere nearby, and you have to recognize it, stand up, and put in the time and work it takes to get it. This isn't because the universe is cruel. It's because the universe is smart. It has it's own 'cat-string' theory and knows we don't appreciate things that fall into our laps." — Neil Strauss I've been saying this to clients for years — prior to the recession, money fell from the sky and we all had laundry baskets to catch it. Now, the money is still falling, but it's swirling around in the wind and landing on the ground. We just need to bend over and pick it up.

And that takes work and determination. 

You know what your career or business needs — step out of your 'fear zone' and take the steps to get it. Nothing important will ever fall into our laps.

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P.S. Trying to look for your laundry basket? If so, Let’s talk. I’ve worked with thousands of people and have helped them manage their ‘fear zone' behaviors — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

Start Living Like The Main Character In Your Life Story.

My wife and I were at a party this weekend and we met a lot of interesting people. Most of the guests were doing well and making lots of personal and business connections. I say most.

There were a few who stood out during the evening with their attitude towards business, life, politics, the market, whatever. They were downers to say the least — they were pessimistic, short-sighted, and downright uncomfortable to be around.

Years ago, a good friend pulled me over when I was acting like a downer during a party and said, "No one, let me repeat, NO ONE cares or wants to hear your pessimistic rants. Start acting more positive in your life — take the bull by the horns — and you will begin living the life you've always wanted."

POW — right between the eyes. Today, I say this to myself everyday: "Start Living Like The Main Character In Your Life Story". Why? Because I'm an avid reader, I believe we all have a wonderful story in our lives and we either embrace and expand the narrative or we shun and quell our story.

We see this often with retired people. They complain about their lives, their ailments, and anything else they can think about. Do you like hanging around people like that? Now remember back and envision the one elderly person who taught you something or made a major impact in your life — were they complaining all the time? Or did they engage you, ask you questions, and energize you?

Which one will you today? And tomorrow? And every day?

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P.S. Are you the main character in your life's story? No? Let’s talk. I’ve worked with thousands of people and have helped them manage their ‘de-motivational’ behaviors — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

Watch this video/commercial — it brings home my idea of becoming YOUR main character:

106 Excuses That Prevent You From Ever Becoming Great.

I rarely do this. I'm pointing you to an incredible blog with an incredible message. I'm an avid reader of Chris Brogan's blog and tweets — he is THE guru of social media and tours the world helping organizations efficiently and effectively employ it in their marketing. Well . . . he hosted a guest post from Tommy Walker that knocked my socks off.

I went through all 106 excuses and to be honest — I find many of them creep into my head from time to time. This information is a great way to stop that from happening and ensure you stay on your chosen path to greatness.

So here it is . . . Enjoy!

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P.S. What excuses do you use to keep you from being great? Let’s talk. I’ve worked with thousands of business owners and executives and have helped them manage their 'de-motivational' behaviors — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

Stop Being Scared On The Job.

I coached the head of sales of a Fortune 500 company yesterday and we had an interesting conversation. 

She had a recurring issue with some of the executive board members she reports to — they are frequently challenging her management of the sales force because sales have dipped slightly over the past six months.

Sales performance is a highly subjective area in business because if it is dropping off, many factors can come into play such as pricing, marketing, product management, distribution, the marketplace . . . I can go on forever. During these meetings though, it all seemed to fall right on her shoulders. Why?

Initially, she was a bit complacent. She saw the numbers falling slightly, but didn't really see any reason to change strategy. Then when they really started to turn downward, she became gun-shy. And then right before the next board meeting, she was scared.

I call it falling down the rabbit hole. Complacent to gun-shy to scared — it's a disturbing vortex many managers go through (especially in today's marketplace). We feel the market will have it's ups and downs and then something bad happens — and we are afraid to do anything because we are gun-shy — we don't want to make things worse.

Ultimately, we move to being scared because we don't know where to turn. Here's how we solved her problem:

1. THINK - Develop a series of strategies to solve the issue. Predict outcomes and impacts for each of the strategies.
2. TAKE ACTION - Choose the best one.
3. COMMUNICATE - Massively communicate your decision to your peers and superiors with your logic before they begin to complain.

The board wasn't concerned about her strategy or performance — they were concerned about her lack of communication, perceived interest, and action. Once you show people you are ON IT, they usually back off. In addition, if you show them your thinking around the problem, they see you've taken the time to work the issue. Only certain 'evil' people will take this as a chance to sabotage you. In addition, she also engaged all the other areas impacted for their input — which pretty well ameliorated any sabotage from the 'evil' people.

So don't fall down the rabbit hole — Think, Take Action, and Communicate.

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P.S. Are you getting complacent at work? Let’s talk. I’ve worked with thousands of executives and have helped them manage difficult situations — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

Enjoy The Little Things In Life.

This past weekend, I celebrated my birthday. In addition to receiving hundreds of incredible emails (I relished EVERY one and they made me feel so special), my wife hosted a small get-together with family and close friends. And for a few days, I let life FLOW. No direction - no worrying - no decisions - no running around. Just letting it FLOW. And let me tell you — it was GREAT.

It made me realize two things:

1. You need to detach from time-to-time and take it easy. No one is going to die on an operating table — your boss isn't going to fire you — and your clients aren't going to flee. Step back and enjoy the little things (life, health, family, friends) — which are usually more important than the big things (work).

Did you catch what I did? I actually called the most important things in life the little things and your career the big things. Why? Because that's how we usually treat them — we tend to worry, focus and act more on work items and let the more important things take a back seat.

I've always said you juggle a number of balls in the air — family, health, friends, relationship, kids and work. All the balls are made of glass, except for work, which is made of rubber. If you drop one, the glass balls shatter and are incredibly hard to replace. Your work ball bounces right back — because you can always find another job.

2. You need to focus on the little things and try to incorporate that attention every day. How? If you caught one of my previous posts last week (click here), at the end, Shawn Achor mentions five things you should do to make your life a little more special, more powerful, and have more meaning. They are:

a. Three gratitudes - think about 3 things you are grateful for. b. Journal - write down one positive experience in a small book or file. c. Exercise - get out each day - even for a simple walk and move your body. d. Meditation - take 5-10 minutes and meditate - focus inward. e. Random Act of Kindness - send one positive email to one person every day.

If you set aside just a little time every day (I do it and it takes me no more than 15-20 minutes throughout the day), I not only appreciate, but I embrace the 'little things' in life.

Try it.

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P.S. Having a hard time fitting in these small things? Let’s talk. I’ve worked with thousands of executives and have helped them manage their time — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

The Hartford — Thank YOU!

WOW. I'm speechless.  I've never had more fun speaking to such a professional, focused and responsive group in all my years of public speaking.

My sincere thanks goes out to Karen Senteio and all the people who work with her — she is one dynamite person! I first met Karen at an ICF meeting where I presented and she kept me in her back pocket for the right time to unleash at The Hartford. Thank you Karen!

You made me feel like a rockstar with the attendance figures (771 attendees at last count!), the photographer (thanks Jay!), and the AV crew (thank you AV Solutions!).

Finally, I had an enormous outpouring of support based on my own evaluation forms - all top scores. Now I have the incredible job of wading through the stack of evaluation sheets and emails for the lucky 30 complimentary coaching sessions - wish me luck!

Again — thanks for the support and praise — you've made my birthday an unbelievable event!