You know, I like to think of myself as a creative person. I don’t want to brag or anything, but I made quite the impressive collection of pinch pots when I was in elementary school; one of them was so incredible, in fact, that I should really refer to it as a pinch jug. So…
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You’d be forgiven for thinking I chose the title for this article specifically to trick you into reading. People do that all the time now, like “Lose Twenty Pounds With This 2-Minute Exercise Miracle!” or “Six Easy Steps To Make a Million Dollars!” Unfortunately, most of those articles don’t deliver what they’ve promised, although I…
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Warren Buffett. I’m beginning this way because starting this article off with his name will probably help me in web search rankings, and I’m a slave to Internet algorithms. I also did it because he’s crazy rich and yet somehow people don’t hate him for it, which is a pretty impressive feat. And I also…
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Listen more. Be positive. Celebrate success. Give people bacon. You’ve heard all the standard ways to motivate your employees before, and you’re tired of reading the same advice. Luckily for you, I’m tired of writing it, too. Don’t get me wrong. I still want to help you become a better manager. I still want you…
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Recently a good friend of mine (which means I have at least two good friends, or else I would have said ‘recently the good friend I have’) chose not to run for a leadership position in an association she belongs to. She decided not to run because there were two other candidates interested in the…
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So you’re stuck working with a bunch of old people. It was probably too much to hope for that they would hire you and then immediately retire en masse, but having that dream fail to materialize is nevertheless disappointing. It’s not that you have a problem with old people, far from it – you…
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Marketing has always been important. Without it, we wouldn’t know what 15 minutes can save you, or (for my older readers, including myself) where the beef is. (Side note: they never really answered that question, did they? They just said, “Where’s the beef?” and apparently we were all supposed to find it on our own.)…
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So now you’ve read my companion article on the importance of marketing, and you found it revelatory. Or you thought it wasn’t complete garbage – I’m fine with either. The point is, you now appreciate the need to market your company/idea/self more aggressively than you have in the past, and you’re ready to get started.…
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We’ve just released our newest video series on Financial Services Business Skills and as usual we messed up A LOT while filming. We hope you get a laugh at our expense! Make sure you check out our member section to get access to the full 7-episode series along with 10 other video series on various…
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In November 2015, in a bid to make myself seem smart and important, I delivered my very first TED talk. It was filmed in a dark room with theater-style seating (a TED requirement), and I wore the blue-jeans-with-sport-jacket combo that is one of the only two acceptable outfits for a man to wear. (The other,…
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Guest post by Jason Lauritsen We love to blame managers when things go wrong. Employee turnover goes up—it’s because they are leaving their manager. Performance goes down—it’s probably because the manager isn’t providing feedback. The survey says employees are disengaged—we look to the manager as the cause. And while there is some truth in all…
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I’ve been making my living as a keynote speaker for the past eleven years. I like my job. It’s allowed me to visit dozens of cities and countries I might otherwise never have seen. It affords more flexibility than almost any other career I can imagine. (Careers with more flexibility include ‘part-time sock collector,’ which…
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So, today is Administrative Professionals Day, and bosses the world over are asking their administrative assistants to pick out presents for themselves that their bosses can then pretend to give them. If I were an administrative assistant, I would probably buy myself a helicopter and then write my boss the nicest thank-you note ever. Better to…
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Oh, the little things. They shouldn’t matter as much as they do, right? After all, there’s war and famine and crushing poverty in various places around the world, which means that our tiny little problems shouldn’t bother us like they do. That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway. But then someone decides to poke me,…
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One of the most difficult parts of having to work with other people is dealing with anyone who seemingly revels in refusing to consider anything you suggest before you’re even done suggesting it. You’ve got an idea you think might work, you make the mistake of getting excited about it, you then make the further…
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Figuring out how to deal with change is one of the more difficult elements of professional life. I’ve spoken at close to 1,000 conferences at this point, and the vast majority of my clients want me to help prepare their attendees for upcoming changes or to help smooth the transition from a change that got…
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If you’re even halfway interested in becoming a better leader, then I’m sure you’ve read dozens of books and articles and case studies about leadership. You’ve probably seen a few statistics that have made you really stop and think about your own approach to management and leadership. But you’ve never seen a statistic like this…
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Welcome to almost spring! With any luck the snow is finally melting and turning your backyard into a slushy mudpile you won’t want to walk in for a month. The birds are returning to peck holes into the side of your home, your friendly neighborhood bears are coming out of hibernation, and any Southerners reading…
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As you may already know, I do a lot of my work from home when I’m not traveling. (I used to do a lot of my work out of other people’s homes, but they eventually found out what I was doing and started calling the cops.) That is usually a beautiful thing, since my wife…
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Happy March everyone! I hope your 2017 is off to a great start! For me personally, the year is moving too fast. I had so many goals to start the year and frankly I’m feeling a little behind. I haven’t gotten more “organized,” I’m still rocking my extra Christmas weight, and I’ve made literally zero…
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I had an inspiration in the shower today. That happens fairly often, and not just because I’m a compulsive bather (I shower almost every day – my mom would be so proud!). I think it’s because the shower is one of the very few places in my life when I am not at all in…
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