Category: New Business Development

Michael Hyatt has a great post
on becoming more productive.

I find productivity to be
a personal thing.
Michael works in
50 minute blocks of time.
I need ideally
a three hour block of time
for my writing
(it takes me 30 minutes
to immerse myself in the world).

The key thing to becoming
more productive
is tracking your productivity
and the outside factors
that may or may not influence it.

If you have a super productive day,
note the factors.
What was the noise level?
What time of day was it?
Where were you?
Did you have internet access?

If you have a low productivity day,
record the same factors,
and once you have enough data,
look for trends.

Learning to be more productive
WILL change your life.
Track and learn.

Many people think
that leaders make all of the decisions.

Yeah, no.

The person who makes the decision
assumes responsibility.
Great leaders want responsible people
working for them
so
they facilitate these people
to make their own decisions.

As Tim Milburn shares

“You empower people
by giving them choices and
letting them decide.
Choice builds commitment.
The creative capabilities of others
are diminished when they feel like
they are micro-managed
every step along the way.
With responsibilities should come the authority
to carry out those responsibilities.
People need to have some space
to make decisions on their own.”

Allow others to make decisions.

My grade 6 teacher
taught my entire class speed reading.
I was always a fast reader
but after that,
I was insatiable.

I read through our small town’s library
from beginning to end,
reading even the texts
on auto mechanics.

It was the best general education
a person could get
and it was absolutely free.

Ray Bradbury had a similar experience.

“I spent three days a week
for 10 years
educating myself in the public library,
and it’s better than college.
People should educate themselves –
you can get a complete education
for no money.
At the end of 10 years,
I had read every book in the library and
I’d written a thousand stories.”

An education doesn’t have to cost anything.

The only limit
to your knowledge
is you.

If you’re competent,
requests for your assistance
will expand exponentially.
Your time is precious and limited.

You have to say no.

But how?
We want to be liked, right?
Knowing how challenging
asking for help is,
we certainly don’t want
to be a bitch about it.

Michael Hyatt uses a simple formula
he lifted from Dr. Ury
The positive no

“This simple formula employs
a “Yes-No-Yes” response.
“In contrast to an ordinary No
which begins with a No
and ends with a No,
a positive No begins with a Yes
and ends with a Yes (p. 16).””

So when I get a request
to critique a story,
I’ll congratulate the writer
on finishing a story (a yes),
say unfortunately
I don’t have the time needed
to give a great critique (a no),
and I’ll suggest a
couple of critique groups
she can contact (a yes).

In other words,
take the time
to suggest another resource.

Say No
but say No nicely.

I know eBooks will evolve
to include multi-media.
That isn’t a wild prediction.
All paths are leading to multi-media.

I can see it.
Many others see it.

However, only a rare few
(and I won’t be that rare few
as I’m implementing different innovations)
will implement that innovation.

As Kaihan Krippendorff shares

“The world changes all the time.
It’s easy to see it is going to happen.
What distinguishes innovators
from the rest of us
is not that they see farther
into the future;
it’s that they take action.
While “experts” bring up
complicated logic
to explain why things will not unfold
as the innovator thinks,
the innovator just starts moving.”

You KNOW what innovations
are coming down the pipeline.
Just start moving on them.

As Matthew E. May shares

“Unexpected thunderbolt breakthroughs
have little place in
the strategic scheme of things,
because they’re very often one-offs
or happy accidents,
and not repeatable.
You can’t build a business on
serendipity;
it’s neither predictable
nor reliable.

The constant pursuit of better is.”

The little improvements,
the small competitive advantages,
are often easier to market also
AND
if compounded,
they eventually add up to
a HUGE competitive advantage.

Strive to constantly improve.

When I ask employees
what they’ll do in retirement,
they usually reply with a wide grin
and an enthusiastic “Nothing!”

When I ask entrepreneurs
what they’ll do in retirement,
they usually outline
some charitable or financially risky project
they’ve always wanted to work on.

George Lucas is a great example
of a retiring entrepreneur.
He is retiring from his Lucasfilm empire
to make experimental movies
in his garage.
He’ll likely be working harder
in retirement
than in his current position.

I ‘retired’ from business
to build an author brand,
a process requiring an even more hectic pace
than my business career.

I LOVE the work though
and I would never choose doing nothing
over writing and selling and promoting stories.

Retirement for entrepreneurs is different.
Remember that when planning for retirement,
when making promises to loved ones,
and
when planning your careers.

An associate of mine
was supposed to lead a discussion.
She forgot and didn’t show up.
So I led the discussion for her.
I didn’t announce that she dropped the ball.
I simply caught it for her
before it hit the ground.

Recently, during a live interview,
Kathie Lee Gifford asked Martin Short
how long he has been married.
Martin Short’s much beloved wife
has been dead for a year and a half.

Instead of pointing out Kathie Lee Gifford’s error,
Martin Short responded with a gracious
“We (have been) married for 36 years.”
When asked “But you’re still, like, in love?”,
his reply was “Madly, madly in love.”

Kathie Lee Gifford dropped the ball.
Martin Short caught it.
He didn’t make a big production out of
covering up her error.
He simply did it.

When a buddy/associate/partner drops the ball,
it is an opportunity for you
to build trust
and strengthen relationships.

Quietly catch that dropped ball.
She’ll know you caught it
and she’ll value you for doing so.

Many people believe
that leaders are managers
and managers are leaders.

Not true.

As Robyn Benincasa
shares

“Managers are facilitators
of their team members’ success.
They ensure that their people
have everything they need
to be productive and successful;
that they’re well trained,
happy and
have minimal roadblocks in their path;
that they’re being groomed
for the next level;
that they are recognized
for great performance
and coached through their challenges.

Conversely, a leader can be anyone
on the team
who has a particular talent,
who is creatively thinking out of the box
and has a great idea,
who has experience
in a certain aspect of
the business or project
that can prove useful
to the manager and the team.
A leader leads based on strengths,
not titles.”

A manager needs a team.
A leader doesn’t
and leaders can be found in any role
in any organization.

Mentor your people to become leaders.
Become a leader yourself.

Many great companies,
when there are rumors of mergers
or downsizing,
will hold meetings,
preemptively addressing employee concerns.

Innovation can be as stressful
on employees.

Anita Campbell
shares

“Anxiety about possible job loss
or changing roles,
doubt that the innovation will work
and fear of failing at new tasks
are common feelings
employees have in response
to innovation.

Trying to deny
or gloss over these concerns
will only make things worse.”

Address these feelings,
preferably preemptively.
They’re not going away
and they will depress your employee’s output
until you deal with them.