One day last week,
after losing thousands in the markets,
I walked into a business
and they gave me a free pen.
Normally, I wouldn’t have thought twice
about that free pen
but that day, wow,
I told everyone about it.
People like to be in their natural state.
I’m a happy person.
I was looking for a reason to be happy.
I’ll remember for years
that company with their free pen
helped put me there.
Do you have a little extra
you can add to orders?
Some experts are advising
small business owners
simply ignore
the stock and credit market turmoil.
The only thing you should ignore
is that advice.
If your company is doing well,
turn your focus to your key customers.
Call them up.
If they comment on the economy,
ask them if there is anything you can do to help
(and have a few good ideas of what you can do
if they say yes).
Even if they are doing wonderfully,
you’ve strengthened your relationship by asking.
You’ve become a true partner,
someone they can count on
and trust.
We all like to do business with people we trust.
On one of the writing loops,
a writer accused another writer
of a serious faux pas.
The thing was…
the accuser was wrong, clearly wrong.
The accused was nice about it,
classy yet firm.
I waited and waited and waited.
The accuser never apologized.
At least not in public.
Yes, I know it is embarrassing.
Yes, I know it is hard to do.
But if you make a mistake in public,
you admit to it in public.
If you falsely accuse someone in public
(not a bright thing to do),
you apologize in public.
Do that and you’ll retain some integrity.
Don’t do that and you’ll look like a complete ass.
With a down economy
comes downsizing.
Downsizing means more work for remaining employees.
How to ensure some of their precious time
is spent on your projects?
Send thank you’s.
I’m working on an implementation right now.
After each milestone is reached,
I send out thank you emails.
I make them personal.
I place them in an isolated email
(nothing other than the thank you).
I cc the person’s boss.
Thank you’s in this company are rare.
The receipients appreciate them
(especially with lay offs looming).
Their bosses appreciate them
(everyone wants to manage superstars).
My project has suddenly become a priority.
Send a thank you today
(they are even better sent on a Sunday).
We are all in danger of
being stereotyped in our career.
It can harmless or even beneficial
(the always punctual German)
but sometimes it can derail a career.
How to fight a harmful stereotype?
Be aware of it
and don’t give anyone an excuse to apply it.
A Jamaica born buddy
is often viewed as ‘easy going.’
Great for personal,
damaging for a project manager.
She makes it a point to
always be on time,
always have agendas for meetings,
always follow up on assignments.
Her tabbed binders are a visual reminder
that she is not a person to flub off.
As a woman,
I am very aware of the irrationally emotional label.
I scrap all negative emotions.
I vent in private to buddies
but on the job, I have a quiet anger
(as effective as the noisy kind).
I do show positive emotions though.
That helps counter the cold hearted bitch label
many businesswomen earn.
It sounds challenging
but remember, we are building personal brands.
Any brand should be managed carefully.
Love her or hate her,
Sarah Palin is in touch with her own style,
her own brand, and her own target market.
It irked me when,
upon her nomination,
she was set up to take the Hillary Clinton vote.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Yes, both are women
but they are completely different women and
they appeal to completely different voters.
Like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Both are colas
but they have very different brands.
Coke is traditional while Pepsi is edgy.
When Coke tries to be edgy,
they fail.
When Pepsi tries to be traditional,
they fail.
Is your product trying to be something it isn’t?
An executive announced proudly
that his company has a female Vice President.
“Let me guess,” I replied,
“she’s in human resources.”
I was right.
How did I know?
Unless the company has staffing as its product,
the V-P of Human Resources
is overlooked as a candidate
for the President or CEO position.
By placing their only female exec in that position,
the company is sending a message
‘Women can only advance so far.’
She’s a token.
Now, if the company has a female V-P
in critical areas
like sales, operations, even finance,
then I know that company is
walking the talk.
Yesterday, I talked about one way
executives avoid paying severance.
So what do you do
if you’re the target of
an isolate and ignore campaign?
You get yourself laid off.
Laid off, not fired.
Fired means no golden parachute,
no cash to fund your transition.
Not good.
You have to be annoying
but not break any of the written rules.
If your workplace is suits and ties
(and there is no written dress code),
you go in semi-casual.
If meetings are stuffy and formal,
you crack (clean) jokes.
You ask your boss tough questions
in front of others
(bring out some of the dead bodies).
You do what you’re told
but you don’t volunteer.
Eventually, you will be let go.
You’ll get no reference
but if they were trying to get rid of you,
you wouldn’t get that anyway.
In these tight financial times,
executives are doing their best
to avoid giving costly severance packages
to downsized employees.
One way to do that?
Isolate and ignore.
A loved one’s manager was replaced.
He had been with the company
for decades.
The severance package would have been substantial.
So the company didn’t lay him off.
They moved him to a smaller office,
took away his assistant
and his staff,
gave him a useless task to do
and then ignored him.
Completely.
The manager was upset
but there was no basis for a lawsuit
(ignoring someone is not a crime).
Eventually his ego couldn’t take it
and he left.
No severance paid.
I, of course, have a list
of preferred people to partner with.
I also have a list, an EX list,
of people NOT to partner with.
My writing business EX list
has been pretty darn easy
to build.
All I do is listen out on the loops.
When I hear people complaining
to everyone
except
the person they should be complaining to,
I automatically add them to the EX list.
I put one of their emails in the EX list folder.
Then when I’m organizing a group promotion,
I scan the EX list
before sending out invites.
I do NOT promote with these authors.
Troublemakers make trouble.
Business is challenging enough
without them.