Will You Add? - Business

Growing Your Business and Your Bottom Line Through Minority Certification
Are you leaving money on the table? If you are a business owner who is a woman or a member of a minority and you have not become certified as a Minority or Women-Owned Business Enterprise (known as M/WBE), you may be missing out on opportunities.Reasons to Become CertifiedWhy do you need certification? Well, maybe you don't. Certification lets others know that your company is what you say it is-a minority and/or women-owned business. Chances are your average customer is not going to ask

As her boss, it took me time to realize that Stephanie's accountability decreased each time her whine factor increased. As she became more entrenched in offering reasons why something didn't happen, she be

Media Training: What it is and Why It Just Might Save You
Let’s start with what Media Training is not.It’s not spin.Media Training isn’t designed to teach those in the public eye how not to deal with the obvious, avoid blame or dance around difficult truths.What media training DOES do is help level the playing field for those facing the media, either for themselves or on behalf of others. To those outside the process, media training may seem like a way to “manage” the media. In fact, those inside the process know better than to think the me

Brian's work was exceptional. Still, as his boss, I rarely offered him additional responsibilities, never thought of promoting him or selecting him for a critical project. Why? His whine factor got in the way.

He was quick to complain to anyone who'd listen how much work was on his plate, or how hard or how late he worked. His whine factor was a protective shield that insured he didn't get more work to do. But, it also shielded him from getting the opportunity filled assignments, more interesting work, and the highest pay raises.

Stephanie was a different story. She was masterful at weaving vivid details with a precision that explained exactly why the expected outcome didn't happen. This week it centered on a miscommunication, last week it was the delayed delivery, or the reduced advertising, an incompetent supplier or a staff illness. Every story was accurate; every reason plausible; every explanation justifiable; always a good reason why she couldn't deliver the promised quality, precision or timeliness.

Merger and Acquisition Advice
With increased mergers and acquisitions, changes in Phone Company billing systems, telecom costs are on the rise. Take a closer look at your telecommunication bills. There are many ways that your bills have hidden charges applied, not to mention telecom contracts that were signed without Management approval. It’s time for Management & their Accounts Payable Department to be on the alert for errors, over-billings, and tariff violations.If more than one person within an organization places orders

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Managing Change - Meetings R Us
"Is there a point here or are we just being beat by a blunt object?" One of my direct reports spewed that out like a bad dinner coming up after a night of drinking. It wasn’t the most politically correct thing to say to the McKinseyite’s leading the meeting but it was effective. It was about like tossing a hand grenade on the table. It took place during the height of our change efforts at Compaq in the mid-nineties. Change was everywhere but nothing was changing ... we were in a meeting!The number

m getting the opportunity filled assignments, more interesting work, and the highest pay raises.

Avoid a Three-ring Circus with These New Interviewing Strategies
I referenced the circus because I just finished another interviewing book that recommends asking for the job before leaving the interview. I can envision up to 15 qualified professionals each asking the interviewer for the job. If each asks for the job, doesn’t that make the question null and void … cross out each other’s great gesture? If everyone jumps through the same hoop, performing like a good little circus monkey, what’s going to set you apart from other candidates?Giving this great thought

plained exactly why the expected outcome didn't happen. This week it centered on a miscommunication, last week it was the delayed delivery, or the reduced advertising, an incompetent supplier or a staff illness. Every story was accurate; every reason plausible; every explanation justifiable; always a good reason why she couldn't deliver the promised quality, precision or timeliness.

Build Your Own No-Cost Mailing List
I've never used a mailing list broker. Reason? When I first started doing postcard mailings back in 1996, I could barely afford to pay my house rent. So, renting a mailing list was out of the question. One of the advantages of operating on a low budget is that you can't spend your way out of problems, you have to think your way out. In the case of my mailing list, the thinking centered around the question of Who Do I Know? A spin through my desktop Rolodex yielded a treasure trove of na

I've seen the whine factor derail projects and people in my twenty years in management. Whining shifts a mindset from can do to can't do, allows potholes to become sink holes, turns challenges to complaints and reframes opportunities into woe is me.

You can use your own whine factor as a barometer to keep you on track. If the factor is high, be alerted that your actions are, most likely, becoming less accountable. That should signal you to tune into what you can personally do to control, adjust or correct the current course so you can deliver the expected results. I think that point is worth repeating because it differentiates performance in significant ways. If you want to control the outcome, you'll need to get your hands a bit calloused along the way.

Learning to listen to your whine factor is a helpful self-feedback mechanism to guide you towards greater accountability and winning at working behaviors. Less whine me

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Will You Add? - Using Your Whine Factor

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