Merry Christmas All,
Hope everyone had a great Christmas. A time to reflect and a time for family. Now it's time to get ready for the New Year. The New Year brings another decade to a close. The advancements that occurred during this past decade are amazing. Some that have made our lives more efficient and others that have glued us to the web checking email, Facebook, LinkedIn, and various other social media sites. Not sure if being connected has improved our efficiency, but it has definitely wired us in.
Being connected has caused many of us to rely upon faceless communication and faceless transactions. Unfortunately, I don't see an end to this trend. Faceless communication has turned relationships into a sterile environment. Whether you are communicating with a friend of many years, using it for business, or prospecting a product or service faceless communication will eventually hurt each of us in the future if relied upon too heavily.
For the New Year I encourage you one day a week to do nothing but face-to-face communicating. At home, your friends will love you for it. At the office, you will be more productive. Think about it, a question in a work e-mail is undoubtedly misinterpreted and spirals into multiple future e-mails which does nothing but wastes time and company money.
Finally, do yourself a favor when you do use e-mail at work, don't copy your manager or VP with daily questions to a co-worker about a project. You were hired to do a job and they don't need to be bothered with you trying to cover your butt. Just get the work done!
Until next time....
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Time to Reflect
Good afternoon all,
Now that Christmas and the New Year are upon us it is time to reflect on the past 12 months. There are several ways to review your year. You could spend countless hours thinking about lost opportunities and how to improve upon your future successes. You could wrap yourself in a blanket and hide from the outside forces that shaped your year into something that you didn't want it to become. However, looking towards next year you should use the outside forces along with your strengths to help you create new opportunities in the future.
Not everything needs to be a blanket corporate follow-the-leader type self evaluation that focuses on weaknesses. Strengths are what brought you to the place you are in. Use these strengths to live and thrive. Our professional lives dominate our personal lives to the extent that we don't know whether or not to say "sir" or "I love you" at the dinner table. Defining your strengths will allow you to grow and begin to shape your professional life to merge with your personal life.
That sounds awful, but think about the potential of having a professional life that you would WANT to mix with your personal life. Wouldn't that lead to a meaningful life without dual personalities that requires you to turn off one for another?
Enjoy your time with your family and friends over the holidays and begin to shape your future today...with your strengths!
Now that Christmas and the New Year are upon us it is time to reflect on the past 12 months. There are several ways to review your year. You could spend countless hours thinking about lost opportunities and how to improve upon your future successes. You could wrap yourself in a blanket and hide from the outside forces that shaped your year into something that you didn't want it to become. However, looking towards next year you should use the outside forces along with your strengths to help you create new opportunities in the future.
Not everything needs to be a blanket corporate follow-the-leader type self evaluation that focuses on weaknesses. Strengths are what brought you to the place you are in. Use these strengths to live and thrive. Our professional lives dominate our personal lives to the extent that we don't know whether or not to say "sir" or "I love you" at the dinner table. Defining your strengths will allow you to grow and begin to shape your professional life to merge with your personal life.
That sounds awful, but think about the potential of having a professional life that you would WANT to mix with your personal life. Wouldn't that lead to a meaningful life without dual personalities that requires you to turn off one for another?
Enjoy your time with your family and friends over the holidays and begin to shape your future today...with your strengths!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Setting Up the New Year
With Thanksgiving over and the holidays upon us there is no time to lose in prepping prospects to act starting in the new year. Typically, the time period between Thanksgiving and New Years is a waste land to those in sales. Volumes are on the lighter side, but your focus must be on laying the foundation for a HUGE January.
Some markets thrive this time of year, but traditional goods and services are typically flat. If you are new to a particular market this time of year is like treading water with a 20lb weight belt. Not too many "new" decisions are made due to the large amount of vacation time decision makers take over the holidays. Also, some companies are in their final month of a fiscal year and don't want to rock the boat or don't have money left to start a new project. However, this is the absolute BEST time to mentor a new relationship in preparation for the New Year.
Setting the stage for the New Year should be a goal during December. A little face time, strategically placed marketing material, and providing a solution in the hands of the right decision maker will make for a wonderful start to 2010. Remember that decision makers during the final month of the year or also setting the stage for a better New Year.
Do yourself a favor and set the stage for a GREAT New Year. If your in sales, talk to someone outside of your traditional network. If your in manufacturing, ask "why" and find a solution to the problem. If you're in retail...well you all won't be able to think during December. Just be pleased with the cash register ringing.
Finally, take a little time for yourself to reflect on what went right in 2009. Most will tell you to focus on the negative, but I say focus on your strengths and the good things that happened during 2009. Improving your strengths will only make for a better 2010.
Until next time...
Some markets thrive this time of year, but traditional goods and services are typically flat. If you are new to a particular market this time of year is like treading water with a 20lb weight belt. Not too many "new" decisions are made due to the large amount of vacation time decision makers take over the holidays. Also, some companies are in their final month of a fiscal year and don't want to rock the boat or don't have money left to start a new project. However, this is the absolute BEST time to mentor a new relationship in preparation for the New Year.
Setting the stage for the New Year should be a goal during December. A little face time, strategically placed marketing material, and providing a solution in the hands of the right decision maker will make for a wonderful start to 2010. Remember that decision makers during the final month of the year or also setting the stage for a better New Year.
Do yourself a favor and set the stage for a GREAT New Year. If your in sales, talk to someone outside of your traditional network. If your in manufacturing, ask "why" and find a solution to the problem. If you're in retail...well you all won't be able to think during December. Just be pleased with the cash register ringing.
Finally, take a little time for yourself to reflect on what went right in 2009. Most will tell you to focus on the negative, but I say focus on your strengths and the good things that happened during 2009. Improving your strengths will only make for a better 2010.
Until next time...
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