Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category
I believe it was “The Power of Focus” (Canfield, Hansen, Hewitt) that presented the idea of regular weekly reading. The idea is simple enough: if you watch five hours of TV a day, cut out two hours and replace it with a non-fiction book. Over the course of four years, you’ll have built the equivalent knowledge of a second Bachelor’s degree. Sounds crazy, right?
Read MoreYou’ve probably seen or heard something about Seventh Generation, a company that has been a market leader in green household supplies. Items such as environmentally conscious paper products, chlorine free diapers, and a variety of plant based cleansers. What really intrigued me about it is the origin of the name.
Read MoreI’ve always felt deep-down that I would do well competing on Project Runway. Not because I know anything about sewing, or fashion, or fabric really. No, I feel that I would kick butt and take names because of my project management education. Namely, knowing how to balance the triple constraint.
Read MoreYou might have heard the story of TOMS shoes. During his participating in the second season of the Amazing Race, company founder Blake Mycoskie witnessed the poverty experienced by children in developing countries. Growing up so poor they walked barefoot, to play, do chores, and go to and from school. This exposed to numerous cuts on the feet and infections transmitted through prolonged contact with the soil. So how do you solve a problem like this?
Read MoreI have only once, ever, EVER been asked, “Why do you belong to the Project Management Institute, when you aren’t certified yet?” I was speechless for a moment. I had never been asked that before about any of my professional affiliations. Regardless of whether someone has taken a certification or not, it says a great deal about them if they’re voluntarily choosing to be a dues-paying member of a particular group or organization. But why is that?
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Small businesses like to feel that they’re “entrepreneurial” organizations, that don’t want to be bogged down with the large corporate encumbrances that typically come with being a large enterprise. In fact, the phrase “entrepreneurial spirit” has become a standard deflection used by small-business owners to keep from having to do anything that might be defined as “best practice” by a trained manager.
Read MoreSome people are able to inspire us far beyond the actual content of their words. Truly charismatic leaders can present an idea and have it embraced and be used to kindle the passion in the hearts of others.
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I’ll give you an abstract thought for the day. It’s one that I don’t know the answer to, so you’re free to make up your own mind. Back when the depression was just starting, IBM kicked off their “Smarter Planet” marketing campaign, claiming that it was the opportune time to makeover the world in a new, analytics drive network.
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Okay, bit of a rant, but really what is it with FedEx ground delivery at apartment complexes? Typically, as a courtesy, leasing offices allow delivery drivers to leave packages there if the residents aren’t home. The problem when you’re a remote worker like me is that you’re typically stuck in your house from 8am to 6pm (yay West Coast clients) and the leasing office is closed by the time you drop off your last conference call of the day.
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Does your company have a corporate policy on employee use of social media? If you have over 15 employees and still don’t, you might want to consider sliding a clause or two into your next revision of the employee handbook, just to be on the safe side.
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While Apple may have the largest number of Apps out of any smartphone manufacturer, developers are finding good reasons to start exploring what the competition has to offer. And I don’t just mean because of the plethora of reasons Steve Jobs is giving them with the ridiculous restrictions on what developers can and cannot use to create new software. Consider the following:
Read MoreThis weekend I received and incredibly polite email from a woman named Leslie Joy. She had seen a post I’d made on the Outright entrepreneur community mentioning virtual assistants. To my surprise, she showed incredibly follow through my visiting my website and sending me a message, letting me know a bit about her, and that if I had any questions about hiring a VA I could discuss it with her, so when I was ready to I would be a few steps further ahead. Wow! Talk about proactive! That’s the type of attitude I love…
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Freshbooks is home to some very smart people. I know, I probably rave about them too much to anyone who’ll listen, but I find them to be a really fascinating, innovative company. They’re working with the dull-as-dishwater area of Accounts Receivable, and making it fun and easy to do; something the small business gorilla QuickBooks hasn’t really done too well yet. Last March, they released the results of a survey they did, looking at their data. They did some quick averages of the days-to-pay and percentage of invoices paid based on the payment terms. The results?
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Communication is all about filters and interpretation. When I say something, I say it in a way that makes sense to me; it then passes through a media medium (sound, text, sight), and you interpret it in the way that makes sense to you. The more ambiguous the message, the more room for error. For example, take the short e-mail: “Please tell him I agree.” What?!
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