Category: New Business Development

Seth Godin has a great post
on how decisions are the products
we now make.

“You don’t run a punch press
or haul iron ore.
Your job is to make decisions.”

As with any other skill,
it takes time and practice
to learn how to make good, solid decisions.

At first, you’ll make some bad decisions.
That should be expected,
almost embraced.
Hell, I lost a company a million dollars once
’cause I made a bad decision.

But the funny thing is
even if you make bad decisions,
you will become more marketable
than the many, MANY people making no decisions.
I’ve landed jobs with one simple sentence.
“I make decisions.”

Making decisions
is definitely a task
you can only truly learn by doing
so grab any opportunity to make decisions.

If coworkers are discussing where to go for lunch,
make that decision.
If your spouse is debating
which brand of toothpaste to buy,
make that decision.

Make decisions today.

Recently, one of my publishers moved
to a new website.
It was a challenging move,
fraught with issues
and to compound the problems,
one of my stories released
in the middle of the change.

Some of the other release writers
bellyached about how it would hurt sales.
I wasn’t thrilled
but I knew bellyaching about it
wasn’t going to sell more books.

So the optimists (including myself)
banded together
and we made a game out of the site change.
We highlighted new features
and we found creative uses for them.

I made my cover models dance.
Another writer had fun with the zoom feature.
We created crazy reminders for workarounds to bugs.
“Do this first for a smooth sexy purchase”
or “Failure to do this first will result in alien abduction.”
It was silly
but it was memorable
and it sold books,
retaining readers.

With the right attitude,
even a website roll out disaster can be fun.

What abilities must a leader have?

Bill McBean,
author of
The Facts of Business Life:
What Every Successful Business Owner
Knows that You Don’t
shares

“First, a leader has to have the ability
to visualize what success looks like;
meaning that leaders must be able
to define their organization’s success destination,
describe what the organization will look like
when it gets there,
and determine how long
it will take to achieve those goals.

Secondly, leaders have to have the ability
to understand where their organization’s
weaknesses and strengths are,
and then they must have
the character and courage
to move the organization
from where it is today
to where they want it to be tomorrow
— the destination.”

Do you know what success looks like
for your business?

During a talk about
the baby boom echo generation
(individuals born
between 1978 and 1997 inclusive),
Don Tapscott shares*

“These kids are in front of a screen
about the same amount of time,
maybe a little bit more.
But they have three windows
and they’ve got three magazines open
and they are listening to mp3 files
and maybe talking on the phone
– more likely texting on the phone
– and they’ve got a video game…
Oh yeah and they are doing their homework.

When they are online,
what are they doing?
Rather than being a passive recipient
of somebody else’s video,
they are reading,
organizing,
authenticating,
researching,
composing their thoughts,
so-called multi-tasking,
and telling their stories.

This is creating a generation
that thinks differently.”

And this generation is in the workplace right now.
They’re our employees,
customers,
partners,
leaders.

We should understand this difference.

*University of Waterloo Magazine,
Fall 2012

Whenever I’m asked to set my goals
as an employee in a company,
I first ask
to see the past goals for other employees
in my group.

Why?

Because it shows me what others think
is important
and it inspires my own goal setting.

So I thought I’d share goals
that
others are suggesting
you might set for 2013.

For Content Providers
(bloggers, social media folks)
David Goehst has a list of five possible goals
including
“Increase Compatibility Of Content
Content writers and the owners
must count the issue of compatibility
more seriously than before in 2013.
The concept of COPE
(Create Once and Publish Everywhere)
should be adopted by the content writers
in order to ensure
the maximum accessibility of the content.”

For Business Builders
Lydia Dishman has crafted a list of six possible goals
including
making meetings more productive.
“Mike Williams,
CEO of the David Allen Company,
advises that the leader of the organization
hang a large sign in each conference room
that states:
“If the purpose and desired outcome
of this meeting
are not clearly stated
within the first five minutes,
please walk out
–you have my permission.””

Have you set your goals yet?

You’ve drafted up your goals.
Now should you share them?

Derek Sivers believes that you shouldn’t.
He states that
your brain equates
the act of telling someone your goal
with
actually achieving the goal.
That initial sense of satisfaction
prevents you from taking action.

I believe it depends upon
whom you share your goals with,
whether or not they’ll keep you accountable,
whether or not you need their help
with achieving your goal,
and your personality.

I don’t like looking like a jack ass
so when I share a goal,
I try my damnedest to achieve it.
Sharing goals increases my chances of success.

If sharing goals helps you achieve success,
do it.
If it doesn’t help you achieve success.
don’t share your goals.

Our goals should be S.M.A.R.T.
(specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic, and timely).

Last year,
we talked about
the S in S.M.A.R.T. goals.

Today,
let’s talk about the M – Measurable.

Top Achievement shares

“When you measure your progress,
you stay on track,
reach your target dates,
and experience the exhilaration of achievement
that spurs you on
to continued effort required to reach your goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable,
ask questions such as……

How much? How many?

How will I know when it is accomplished?”

Your goals should be measurable
but your measurements shouldn’t
necessarily be your goals.

Just because I can count
the number of comments on this blog,
doesn’t mean getting more blog comments
should be my goal.

The trap of making measurements goals
is why I prefer to look at this attribute last.

Yes, we talk about setting goals
every year at this time
and yes, we will continue to talk about it
every freakin’ year in the future.

You know why setting goals is important.
You know the goals you set
will change the life you lead,
the changes you make in the world,
your success,
hell, your definition of success.

You know goal setting is a year round,
even a daily, event,
not something you save
for the end of the year.

You know all of this
but I also know you might need a reminder.

So I’m reminding you.
I’ll happily sound like a broken record
if it helps you lead the best life
you can lead.

Set your damn goals.

For many people,
today
is a day filled with
dreams, miracles and magic.

Children went to sleep last night,
and dreamed of flying reindeer.
Today, the media is offsetting
some of their usual gloom and doom
with uplifting tales of Christmas miracles.
Presents ‘magically’ appeared
under a brightly lit tree.

Everything seems possible.

USE this hope and optimism.
Take a few minutes for yourself
and dream.
Ask yourself
“If I could do anything,
what would I do?”
Allow your dreams to be big, small,
realistic or fantastical.
Open yourself to all of the possibilities
for yourself, your family, your business.

Write these dreams down.
Tomorrow, when reality returns,
you can figure out a way
to make those dreams happen.

But today is for dreaming.

Drop by any mall today,
and you’ll see procrastinators.

According to Joseph R. Ferrari, Ph.D.,
author of
Still Procrastinating?
The No-Regrets Guide to Getting It Done,
20% of the world procrastinates.

What are some tips to stop procrastinating?
“…keep a to-do list,
and update it often.
Set your priorities,
and tackle the most urgent matters first.
After the most pressing tasks,
do the worst jobs next.
Putting them off
will just make your whole workload
seem more impossible.
Also, set realistic goals and deadlines.”

So follow Santa’s example.
Make a list
and check it twice.
Then deliver the damn toys.