When to Send a Top Producer to the Competition

Have you ever heard the phrase, “horizontal turnover”? This is where the jerk stays and the team around him or her leaves.  This happens more than you think, especially in a sales driven culture where top producers are god-like Rock Stars to management. How can it happen?  Easy: They get hired, and once in, their…

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When To Rehearse and When To Shoot From the Heart

Recently, I gave a talk on Relationship Power at a big conference that required quite a bit of research prior hand and nuance during delivery.  I needed to create a one-of-a-kind talk to specifically help two groups come together, develop empathy for each other and collaborate.  As an outsider, you can’t wing this, or you’ll…

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When to Interview the Sales Candidate’s Spouse

There are a couple of situations when it makes good sense to include an interview with a sales candidate’s spouse. The first situation is when you’re seriously considering hiring a salesperson from a competitor.  The salesperson may be playing you off against his current employer for a raise. Asking to include the spouse in the…

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When it’s Your Time to Shine

“There are lots of times we have to pinch ourselves and ask, Is this really happening?” – Jeremy Lin The headline from Sports Illustrated writer Pablo S. Torre sums up one of the most remarkable sports storylines in recent memory, “’From Couch to Clutch’, After being cut twice, Jeremy Lin emerged from the end of…

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When Achievers Stall

High achievers are prone to enter a time in their career where they plateau or stall. Perhaps promotions are not coming as fast and furious as they once did or in some cases, they have achieved every goal they have set and have run out of challenges. Achievers will ask themselves, “Is this all there…

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What's Your Ask/Tell Ratio?

Do you ask your employees as often as you tell them what to do and what you think? In my experience, most managers don’t, not even close. Elsewhere in my blog (Build Best Bosses) I have offered four reasons why this is so. But if you have no answer to the above question, I invite…

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What’s Your Database Worth to You?

$948.00 was the annual dollar value of each person in your work email address book according to a recent IBM study published in the Winter Information Systems Conference in February 2009. In other words, this means that every contact in your database has the potential of making you at least $948.00!

What’s Your Next Move?

When I hear somebody sigh that life is hard, I am always tempted to ask, compared to what? –          Sydney Harris What are the top challenges you face as a leader in your business or organization? In a list generated by Sheryl Nance-Nash at dailyfinance.com she provides the Top 10 Challenges for CEO’s in 2011.…

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What’s Your Last Lap Of Commitment?

About nine months ago, two synergistic things happened: I decided to get in shape and we got a new dog.  And he’s a miniture poodle pup named Banksy that needs to be walked…a lot. So each day, I walk him up and down the Hollywood Hills.  Some days, I’ve got a lot on my plate,…

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What’s Your Current Edge for Development?

They had a momentary pause of puzzlement when I asked them. So, I put the question to my audience again, “What is your current edge for development?” “What do you mean?” they ask. “I mean,” I say, “if you could snap your fingers and instantly improve significantly in one aspect of your work that would…

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What’s Wrong with Being Right?

Based on the book, “Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” by Arnold Sanow and Sandra Strauss, standing firm on the hallowed grounds of “rightness” is a dead-wrong approach for connecting with others. It smacks of arrogance and alienates.

What’s the Real Reason You Work Those Extra Hours?

Ever notice? When you ask someone how they’re doing, they rarely say “fine.” No, just about everybody says “busy.” Yeah, we’re so busy that we have to work all those extra hours–come in early, or work through lunch, or stay late, or pull a Saturday and/or a Sunday…or all of the above. Now, I’m not…

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