Everyone has their off days.
When they deliver substandard product.
So what to do when its your vendor or employee?
In The Power Of Nice,
Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval
suggest saying
“You do such great work.
I’m not sure this is up to your caliber.”
I’ve used this same technique
(though without the first sentence)
with solid success.
Many people use a lawyer after
they’ve gotten themselves into trouble.
Me, I use a lawyer to avoid trouble.
Some people prey on the weak,
the employee least likely to sue,
the neighbor with no idea of her rights.
I’d rather not be that person so
what I do is subtly let people know
that I have legal counsel.
I’ll make jokes every once in a while
about “how my lawyer’d like that”
or how I drive my lawyer crazy.
I ALWAYS take legal documents
home before signing,
stating that I’ll have my lawyer look over it
(whether I do or don’t).
The best lawsuit is the prevented lawsuit.
Ursula Bauer,
author of the hot eBook Immortal Protector,
recently shared her tips on
how she juggled a corporate career,
family, blogging, and writing.
“It was all a matter of perspective,
I think, and perseverance,
along with a willingness
to reduce without mercy:
I wanted to write,
I wanted to publish,
I only had so many hours in my day.
What would contribute to that,
and what took away from that?”
Its all about focus and commitment.
When I hear an honest, semi-unflattering answer
in an interview,
I sit up and take notice.
Why?
Because this signals one of two possibilities.
One is that the person is an idiot.
In which case,
my candidate screening process should be tightened.
The other is that the person is so damn good
that she can be honest
and still expect to land the job.
These are the candidates I love.
Larry Winget in his book “It’s Called Work For A Reason”
points out one bit of interview honesty he loves.
“When someone says
“I don’t really like working with others,”
hire her and give her an office with a door and
a lot of work to do and then watch it get done.”
According to communications professor Ray Hull,
the average adult talks about
170 to 190 words per minute.
The average central nervous system
processes information at about
120 to 124 words per minute.
This ability to process decreases after age 36.
The average age of a CEO is 56.
What does this mean?
Your boss is hearing only a fraction
of what you’re saying.
Slow it down.
A Opinion Research USA’s study
revealed
that the number one meeting pet peeve
is “disorganized, rambling meetings”.
The distant second
was
“peers that interrupt
and try to dominate meetings”.
Are these peers
the same folks
dealing with the first?
You may not have time
but invest a little up front
to plan the meeting
and avoid wasting mine.
Get to the point,
get agreement,
and then
get out.
A common saleswoman trick is
to travel with a navy blue or black blazer.
Putting on a blazer immediately dresses up
a polo shirt
or tank top
or a pair of jeans.
I took this trick
and applied it to corporate.
I had a blazer hanging
on a clothes hanger
behind my office door.
The rest of my wardrobe consisted
of pieces that I could wear with that blazer.
Even if I was pulled into a board meeting
on casual Friday
during the company bbq,
I looked half decently dressed.
Guy Kawasaki interviews
author and career columnist
Penelope Trunk.
What interested me was
her stance on being a specialist
vs being a generalist.
She says
“In Hollywood,
the best way to get your pick
of any role in the industry
is to become a specialist
funny guy, tough girl, action hero
get known for being the best at something,
and then use that star-power to branch out.
The same is true in business.”
That is exactly what I did.
I took my base in accounting
and wedged myself into
marketing meetings,
sales meetings,
and eventually
new business development meetings.
This tactic works.
Surprisingly, it is rarely used.
