My Help Source

What is your enduring leadership impact?

Photo Credit: Jan Tik via Compfight

As a twenty-first century guy, it's natural that I am active on Facebook, right? Of course it's natural!

I also maintain an active presence at Twitter and even Pinterest, but it is Facebook that has allowed me to contact the largest number of people with whom I’ve worked.

As I recently engaged in a Facebook discussion involving people with whom I served in Germany over two decades ago, I was struck by the lasting impact we have on those whom we interact. The impact is even more enduring when we lead.

Goodbye Google Reader - Hello Feedly

 

Feedly Layout - Tidy, Easy-to-Navigate

Were you as surprised and bummed out as I when you heard the news that Google Reader was going the way of the buggy whip?

Google Reader had woven its way into my life and become as important as my morning coffee [almost!].

I am a professional procrastinator by nature, but decided I didn't want to wait until Google Reader goes goes dark on July 1st, so I scrambled to research alternatives.

After looking at a few RSS readers, I decided to go with feedly and I am very glad I did. Fortunately, the kind--and brilliant--geniuses at feedly saw the Google Reader thing coming and prepared to lessen the pain for people like me. They are even adding bandwidth and new servers to accommodate the Google immigrants.

Unleash your Andy Warhol

Christie's is going to auction Andy Warhol's U.S. Unemployment Rate drawing next month.

According to Christie's announcement, the drawing is expected to sell in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. Which begs the question:

Why won't my simple black-and-white drawings fetch similar rewards?

The simple answer is, of course, I'm not Andy Warhol. Hey, I could draw the same thing, but its worth in the market would be less than the paper I used...because I am not Andy Warhol.

You aren't Andy Warhol either, are you?

Clean Bathrooms (with thanks to Seth Godin)

Seth says:

Clean bathrooms

The facilities at DisneyWorld are clean. It's not a profit center, of course. They don't make them clean because they're going to charge you to use them. They make them clean because if they didn't, you'd have a reason not to come.

It turns out that just about everything we do involves cleaning the bathrooms. Creating an environment where care and trust are expressed. If you take a lot of time to ask, "how will this pay off," you're probably asking the wrong question. When you are trusted because you care, it's quite likely the revenue will take care of itself.

And Seth is right. Everything Disney does is designed and executed with one thought in mind -- to enhance their guests' experiences. 

The Best You Can Do...

 

Costa Concordia - Aground (Photo: andrius.it)

I've heard it said.

Maybe you've said it yourself.

To be honest, I know I've said it!

"That's the best I can do."

If you're like me you know that whatever it is, it really isn't the best you can do, right?

The fact is, the best we say we can do isn't really the best we can do, is it?

What will you do better today? (I've made it simple to Tweet - Just click HERE!)

Are You Doing It Right, Or Merely Doing It?

I had a lot going on and didn't have time to do it myself, so I hired a locksmith to repair the front door locking hardware on our house. A few hours after that guy left--with our money!--our renter called to tell me they couldn't get into the house because the front door hardware was broken. 

I drove to the house, gathered up the necessary parts that the purported locksmith had scattered around our entryway, and fixed the thing myself. It's worked for about 18 months now, without a hitch.

In similar fashion, the "professionals" from Sears who installed our new dishwasher failed to install it properly. Oh, the water and electrical connections are fine, but they didn't attach the unit securely to prevent it from tipping when we opened the door. 

I fixed that too. With two screws...and in less than 2 minutes. 

Pitch Your Product, Service, Idea, or Self in Just 15 Seconds

Whether you know it or not, you are in an almost constant state of selling.

You don't even have to be in the sales business. In fact, you just have to be a living, breathing human being.

Don't fight this. Just accept it as fact and move on. 

Now that we've settled that, and with the selling part of you in mind, here's an excellent piece from Forbes, How to Pitch Anything in 15 Seconds, which will help you sell any product, service, idea, or even yourself with greater ease.

This piece, by Carmine Gallo, and its accompanying video will give you three very easy steps to help you build a message map that will equip you to pitch anything in just 15 seconds:

The 2 Sides of Rejection

Have you ever missed an opportunity?

Consider this:

The Harry Potter movies have generated more than $7 billion in sales to date.

As of June 2011, the books that started it all had sold more than 450 million copies and been translated into over 60 languages.

J.K. Rowling, the writer behind the series, has earned more than a billion dollars for her efforts, just in the 13 years since the release of the first book in the series.

As of today, the global Harry Potter brand has an estimated worth of over $15 billion. In other words, a lot of people have made a lot of money with Harry Potter.

Did you know that Rowling's manuscript for the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States), was rejected first by one literary agent, and then by 12 different publishers before being accepted by a small, London-based publishing house. 

That's a lot of rejection, but we can learn from both sides of this story.

From those who rejected Rowling's work:

The Super Power of "So What?"

Have you ever dreamed of being a super-powered communicator?

Would you like to share your ideas more effectively?

How would you like to do a better job expressing your feelings?

Do you want deeper, more meaningful relationships?

Would it be a good thing if you could sell more of your products or services?

So what?

There is incredible power in that simple, two-word, question. That's what!

Let's step back a few years and I'll explain.

What Are You Doing To Keep Your Customers?

Does it bother you when you visit a site and are assaulted by any of these obnoxious things?

Popup advertisements.

Spinning images.

Flashy colors.

Distracting images.

Unwanted sound effects and music.

Tiny, unreadable fonts.

Hidden links.

Well, they bother me. They are essentially telling me that I am unwanted. That I am an intruder. That I am not welcome.

Popups and all those other tools of the devil are annoying, and in my case they cause me to immediately find the exit so I can abandon the site.

With the exception of poorly chosen fonts, those things take effort to install. They don't just happen by accident.

These features are not put there for your benefit as a consumer, but rather to serve those who own or peddle their wares on that site.

I choose not to deal with those who purposely build such barriers. They have erected the wall and I am not going to scale it just to do business with them.

There are plenty of other businesses out there that focus on serving their customers more than on themselves. They are the ones I and myriad others choose to deal with.

If you run a business, this is an excellent argument for constant introspection and inspection.

Look around your shop, website, office, store, whatever, and ask yourself:

• What am I doing--whether purposely or accidentally--to drive away my customers or clients?
• What barriers have I built between me and those upon whom I depend?
• Have I created--either willfully or through neglect--unnecessary forms, processes, steps, or other hindrances that annoy my clients?
• How can I make it easier for my customers to get what they want from me?
• Is my current system really the best possible way for me to deliver my product or service?
• How can I make my place of business more comfortable for my customers?
• Is my place of business--whether physical or virtual--bright, clean, tidy, intuitive, simple to navigate, predictable?
• Are we (that is, my employees and I) friendly, courteous, kind, helpful, knowledgeable? Are we happy to see our customers or do we treat them like we're annoyed at their presence?
• If we make a mistake, do we correct it quickly and completely?
• Would I do business with people who treat me the way I treat my customers?

Take it a step or two further. Ask your customers for feedback on these things, as well as any other items that relate specifically to your business. Hire a consultant. Ask a trusted friend who is willing to be honest with you for their assessment.

Like proofreaders in my business, chances are good that your customers or consultants--or other honest "outsiders"--will notice areas of concern that you've missed.

Let's face facts here; it is hard to see the errors we build into our own writing and other businesses because we are familiar with the way we think things are or ought to be. The value of fresh eyeballs cannot be overstated.

Consider this. If you really are in a business that matters and has a market, then somebody somewhere is going to try to entice your customers to deal with them instead of you. They are working on ways right now to do it better, faster, cheaper, easier, or smarter in order to take your customers.

What are you going to do about it?

Have you looked deeply into your business and found areas to fix? We would love to hear about your experiences. Click HERE to share.