Category: Corporate Games

Many companies usually have
a summer employee appreciation event,
a BBQ or an ice cream day
or a day at an amusement park or zoo.

This year,
due to layoffs and cost savings,
many of these events
have been canceled.
Companies can’t layoff on Thursday
and have ice cream day
the following Friday.
It doesn’t look right.

This creates an opportunity
for ambitious employees.

A loved one hosted ice cream day
last Friday.
He brought in ice cream
and toppings,
using his own cash,
and then dished it out
over his own lunch hour.
The response was terrific.

It cost him less than $50,
was easy and quick to organize,
yet it immediately put him
in the leadership category.

Could you do the same?

Want the truth?
Get your answers in email.

In a study of college students,
Hancock found that
37% of lies were told via phone,
27% face-to-face,
21% using Web-based messaging
and
14% through email.

Why so few lies via email?
Because it leaves a trail,
proof that the lie was told.

That’s why I backup
every communication
with email.

Every month,
I meet with my financial advisor
and every month,
prior to the meeting,
I send a meeting confirmation email.

Why?

Because my time is valuable.
I can’t afford to waste it
on a meeting that no one attends.

It irks me that I’m the one
sending it.
The person who sends the meeting confirmation
is usually the person
who most wants the meeting to happen.
Every time I send the confirmation,
I think ‘my advisor doesn’t want to advise me.’
A dangerous thought
in a competitive environment.

If you have a meeting
with a customer you value,
be the one to send the confirmation.
Sending the confirmation
sends a strong signal.

I need to get this current manuscript
completed by the end of June.
To do this,
I put my head down,
ignored everything else
and focused.

Good, right?

No.
Because I forgot to ask
someone active in the ‘loop’
to keep me posted
on significant changes.

I almost missed the changed entry deadline
for an award I’m very interested
in Invisible winning.
Being out of the loop
could have been a costly mistake.

As you think about
heading to the cottage
or on that summer road trip
or cutting yourself off from the world
to finish that project,
put a trusted someone
in charge of notifying you
when big changes happen.
Take that person’s calls/emails/letters.

She will be your connection to the loop.
Don’t cut yourself off completely.

According to Ellen Gordon Reeves,
Author of
Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?
a survey found that
“75% of executives said
they wouldn’t hire or promote
a plus-size employee.”

It isn’t fair.
Just as it isn’t fair
that women in their child bearing years
are less likely
to be promoted.
But it is the world we’re living in today.

If you are serious about your career,
get serious about your health.

If you’re a curvy woman
needing a job today,
take special care with your appearance.

If you feel this is unfair,
remember that YOU set the hiring practices
in YOUR own company.
If this isn’t incentive
for curvy gals
to start their own businesses,
I don’t know what is.

The average person listens
at a very shallow level.
Want to be above average?
Listen deeply.

In the midst of a very busy day
yesterday,
I received a call from a 9 year old loved one.
I set everything aside
and concentrated 100% on her conversation.

She talked about seemingly
superficial things.
She told me about a boy Ely
and about how he was bad.
He pushed her into her locker.
He called her and other kids names.
He was mean to the teacher.

I asked her why she thought he did things like that.
Was he mad or sad or scared
or simply a bad boy?
She told me that no,
he wasn’t a bad boy,
that he was sad
and
sometimes when you’re sad,
you do bad things.
We talked about other ways
he could deal with his sadness.

Of course,
this discussion wasn’t about Ely.
It was about my loved one.
She is nine years old
and didn’t address her sadness directly.

Do you think your much older customers
will address their own issues openly?
If you want to solve problems,
you have to listen deeply.

We all know the 80/20 rule
(80% of effects comes from 20% of causes)
but do you know the 50/30/20 rule?

Cindy Ventrice,
author of
Make Their Day! Employee Recognition that Works
outlines the 50/30/20 rule.
50% of employee recognition
should come directly from the manager,
30% from peers,
and 20% from the business.

What does this mean?
Employee recognition can not be outsourced.
It can’t be a human resources function.
It has to be a manager function.

The good news is…
it doesn’t have to be expensive.
57% of the most meaningful recognition
is absolutely free.
80% cost under $20.

So no using lack of a budget
for lack of employee recognition.

Behind every great leader
are great followers.
A great leader wouldn’t be
a great leader
without them.

Great followers enjoy being great followers.
They do what leaders often refer to
as ‘grunt work’,
work that is necessary,
often essential,
but not exciting.
They do this work well
and happily.
They also protect the leader.

Why?
Because the leader protects them.
When great leaders are promoted,
they ensure their great followers benefit also.
(A good thing to remember
when there’s a change in leadership.)
Because great followers are rare,
great leaders often take them with them
where-ever they go.
Great leaders will take the blame
for their followers’ rare mistakes.

You will never be a great leader
without nurturing a group of great followers.
When you find one,
take care of him or her.

I heard about an eBook conference yesterday.
The conference is for this weekend,
registration has been sold out
for at least a month.

Wanting to attend,
I emailed and asked.
No problem.
A space opened up.
I’m now registered.

There are ALWAYS cancellations.
Airlines know this.
That’s why they overbook flights.

Never use full as an excuse.

I hear tell
in the golden age of unions
(which is long past),
more years = more job security.
Always.

It doesn’t any more.

The average person,
as they age,
gets slower.
It takes me longer,
at 38,
to pick up completely new skills
than it did when I was 20.

That’s okay
because,
in my knowledge based career,
I have an offset.
I’ve continually updated my skills,
taking new courses,
building up 18 more years of education
than a 20 year old has.
I give myself more time to learn new skills,
learning them well before they’re needed.

A loved one moves books
from boxes to bookshelves.
As he ages, he gets slower.
Although he is paid more than his 20 year old coworkers,
he is adding less value on the job.
Soon he’ll be replaced.
That’s simply good business.

You WILL get older
(hopefully, that’s the goal in life).
If you can’t offset the detriments of age
in your current career,
get a new one.