GOTCHA!

The other day, I received a “How Your LinkedIn Posts Are Doing” email and was curious enough to click it. I was fascinated to learn that YOU (yes, YOU!) are among those who sometimes follow my ramblings, and that when I put all the clues together — I gotcha! I actually know who you ARE.

I examined the subject matter detail lurking beneath the surface of some of my targeted posts and came up with a description of YOU. Uh huh, YOU. (Isn’t this better than your favorite suspense movie?)

In fact, if you’re still reading, you’re certainly getting more revved up from the intrigue of what’s to come than what may have been prompted by news of the latest tech discovery: that a new device can now “read your iris and identify you FROM 40 FEET AWAY!” Good Grief! Do we even want to imagine what’s next?

So back to who YOU are. Let’s start with some good adjectives that definitely describe you, at least in part. Stay with me now. We’ll work up to the good magical stuff in a minute.

Let’s see — by every indication, I have determined (and for the paranoids: no, this is not psychoanalysis!) that on numerous occasions you are: rambunctious, risky, frisky, focused, frenzied, ingenious, inventive, innovative, impatient, volatile, excitable, rebellious, and welcome growth over stagnation. How we doing so far?

Well, if even just some of that sounds familiar, I will venture to guess that you have a strong urge to change things up, but that your forward motion thinking has had a tendency to get somewhat muffled, distorted, stuck, or obscured along the way. Yes? Okay, so it’s get-back-on-track time, or not? Seriously? Of course!

Oh, almost forgot . . .

here’s what I deduct about you:

YOU ARE:

A “FEARLESS” 40-50-something

salesperson (or salesy person)

who’s hooked on SHARK TANK!

You might even be an entrepreneur!

 How’s that? Look at it this way, you likely visited at least part of one or more of the following LinkedIn posts . . .

• You’re 40-50 Years’ Old?  (11/25/14)
• FEARLESS: Broadway-Bound  (1/15/15)
• FEARLESS Creativity Wake-up Call  (1/29/15)
• You’re 40-Something and trapped!  (2/5/15)
• FEARLESS SELLING  (2/17/15)
• FEARLESS Strategic Planning  (3/2/15)
• TANK SHARK TANK  (4/28/15)
• FEARLESS DAMN MARKETING  (5/10/15)

. . . and/or you probably visited one or more of the hundreds of posts at www.BusinessWorks.US on the subjects of sales, salesmanship, entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurship.

SO . . . On target or way-far-away? If it’s on target, you are at least thinking like an entrepreneur, and maybe even acting like one. You might actually be one! If it’s way-far-away, you are probably way-far-away too (!), and lack the lightheartedness to even read the last two paragraphs — you might consider just clicking off this post now and finding some calmer, more regimented (like government?) career recruitment site.

You’re still with me? I hope so. Because if you are, you’re also tough and stubborn — great entrepreneurial indicators. Now make it all come together for yourself (that’s “for your SELF”) and make your ideas work! It just takes commitment and acceptance of the fact that your behavior is your choice.

You already have whatever else there is that it takes! Not sure? Throw a few business words in the www.BusinessWorks.US Search Window (Some non-business things like: “Are You Breathing?” work well too!) and check your SELF out! Go for it! Oh, and keep reading my posts, thank you very much.

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Hal@Businessworks.US    931.854.0474

ENTREPRENEUR ON THE FENCE

Like stunned fish floating aimlessly to the surface after an underwater explosion, corporations and colleges lacking entre-preneurial mindsets have been equally lifeless for decades . . . standing on the fence, trying to decide the next move. But, Aha! That is now changing.

UNLIKE entrepreneurial thinkers and doers (who have long known that an “ostrich attitude” only produces a head-full of sand), corporate and campus leaders –for very different reasons– have failed for decades to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable management methodology.

Shell-shocked by a quicksand economy, slippery-sloped job ops, and blink-of-an-eye marketplace changes, big business and academia are now beginning to regain consciousness as corporate and campus entrepreneurship training centers, programs, teams, and projects are rapidly moving front and center.

Reality is that America’s businesses and institutions of higher learning can no longer afford to manage from the “analysis paralysis” platform that requires months of committee meetings to recommend action instead of simply acting and adjusting immediately, then acting and adjusting again.

It takes an entrepreneurial mindset to dig out of the holes corporate managers and academic administrators have found themselves embedded in . . . to be airlifted out by technology-piloted choppers if need be . . . and accept the fact that entrepreneurial ideas, actions, instincts, and traits are yet again tantamount to paving the way for economic rebirth.

As quickly as we once reined in or abandoned Theory X, Theory Y, Theory Z, One-Minute Manager, Quality Circles, MBWA, Just In Time, Empowerment, Assertiveness Training, Anger Management, Lean Management, MBO, BOSCARD Management, and a hundred other such success fad formulas and piecemeal methodologies . . . we have come full circle from the 1980’s to realize we must think like entrepreneurs and act like entrepreneurs to truly make a difference!

CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The perpetual champion of management success, CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP, was billed in 1981 training program promotions by this blog post author, as:

“the new tack in the race for innovative business solutions that work”

— and reinforced by INC. Magazine‘s Executive Editor Stewart Alsop II (in April 1981):

“Entrepreneurship is in, it’s hot . . . a renaissance in American society, especially for entrepreneurs now buried in large corporations.”

Regardless of size, sales, or clout, if your business or academic organization is not already riding the new, revitalized 2015-2020 entrepreneurial wave of “Reality Success” that builds cruise-control managers into enlightened decision makers, you can be sure your competition is!

When it’s time to put more heart, more walk-the-talk attitude, and fewer politics into your business –to  ignite dormant organization spirit and foster more innovative business and market leadership thinking– CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP coaching and hands-on training can be your answer.

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Hal@Businessworks.US    931.854.0474

America Needs

Entrepreneurial Leadership

It’s time for another Teddy Roosevelt/Harry Truman/Ronald Reagan to step up to America’s leadership challenge. History has shown us that “more of the same” leadership style following in the “too big for your boots” footprints left behind by prior leadership has produced either a false sense of progress and security, a lethargic aura, and/or a cavernous hole “too big for the planet’s britches.”

The days of corporate, governmental and politician “muckity-mucks” and their analysis paralysis approach to problem solving have long passed. This is 2015 and “We the people” can no longer endure those we elect to represent our interests wrongfully.

As a country and as American citizens, we simply cannot any longer tolerate elected representatives of the thinking that literally stomps on and casually pushes aside adhering to the very tenets of the Constitution that has made America great . . . the same feeble-minded political-payoff-and-payback representatives who then proceed to excuse their behaviors with shoulder shrugs and palms-raised declarations that “I tried! And, besides, it’s someone else’s fault!”

We are far beyond the point of receptivity we’ve naively granted to those who challenge and undermine our Constitution.

We are long past acceptance of those who see fit to substitute their own delusional self-indulgent needs in exchange for that which binds and ensures us of the rights to freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are weary of the lies, deceit, blame, second-guessing, unresponsiveness, societal repression, citizenship indignity, false-alarms, and global disrespect that now shrouds our nation.

So where can we turn for restoration, reconciliation, and re-kindling of spirit?

Let’s consider the perceptive, “say-it-like-it-is” and “Git R Done!” attitude of an entrepreneur. Let’s face it: we have no other worthwhile choice at this point in history — not if we are serious about the survival of our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Small business owners and managers understand this need to untangle ourselves perhaps best of all. It’s called adaptability, tackling priorities, turning problems into opportunities, moving forward– entrepreneurial leadership! Business owners and operators who fail to do this, fail.

The truth behind the old expression: “Words do not cook rice” is something every entrepreneurial thinker/doer knows from experience. Certainly our Congress (and, in varying degrees, every government agency) fails to understand that revitalization time is here. Now. There can be no better nor more effective force to drive the realization of filling this need than a proven entrepreneur, one with the fortitude and courage to walk the talk.

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Hal@Businessworks.US    931.854.0474

Business Owners and Managers . . .

     WISH YOU COULD BE . . .

?????????????????????

STOP WISHING that you knew what was being said when something goes wrong. Instead, start asking the right questions to find out what you really need to know.

But don’t ask “WHY?” – that only breeds excuses. WHY were you late again? My alarm clock broke. I got a flat tire. My dog was sick. I had to help a neighbor. My mother-in-law showed up for breakfast. I had a really late night last night, and . . . Well, ya’see, I belong to this carpool, and . . .

Instead, ask “HOW?” Find out the process that is or was involved. And don’t settle for a “WHY” answer that many people offer even when they are asked “HOW?”

Staying with the same “late for work” scenario, try asking the late person: HOW can you prevent being late again? Can you give me three steps you’ll take immediately that will keep you from being late again? Please write them on a piece of paper and drop it off here before you head home today.

You’ll be amazed at the results that come with handing in that piece of paper.

If necessary, explain that you want to understand the steps involved, not the reasons for taking them. You can never make something better unless you find out how it got that way to start with . . . you need to know exactly what the specific steps were. Problems aren’t solved by addressing blame or generalities. They’re solved by studying what took place.

WHY doesn’t matter. Knowing WHY won’t help you fix things. Are you wishing you were a fly on the wall so you could have someone or some circumstance to blame, OR being able to know enough to be able to fix the problem?

Can you see how the first of these two options is anchored and invested in fanning the fires of your own self-importance? The second prompts the violator to solve her or his own problem. Do you want to make things work better . . . or feel like a hot-shot?

Well, okay, some people thrive on being management firefighters who prefer to flex their problem-solving muscles by finding fault with others instead of helping others solve their own problems. So, if that’s the case, just keep asking WHY? Oh, and just keep wishing . . . you might win a trip to fantasyland!

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Hal@Businessworks.US    931.854.0474

OPEN MINDS OPEN DOORS

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

GOT A GENIUS MESSAGE?

GOT GUTS?

FEARLESS MARKETING is not about thumping your chest or flailing your fists wildly about before even stepping into the ring, the key, the batter’s box, or up to the tee, the net, or line of scrimmage.

Neither is it even about performing these kinds of antics after knocking down an opponent, making a slam-dunk, hitting an extra-base hit, sinking a putt, forcing a bad serve, or rushing for a first and goal. Sorry, truth is that you’re NOT Spiderman or Wonderwoman!

Being FEARLESS doesn’t mean being insane! It’s about stepping up and out as uniquely, as wisely yet brashly, and as customer-consciously as possible.

In the mid-late 60s, a creative marketing genius named Tony Isadore –then with the great Madison Avenue advertising agency, Young & Rubicam–came up with what was, at that time, unheard-of, earth-shattering language to headline an all-out media (TV, radio, print ads and transit signs) campaign to raise donations for The New York Urban Coalition, The message: “GIVE A DAMN.”

Risky business for those involved. Many thought the use of “DAMN” would be putting careers on the line. Yet the word happened. And because it was deemed by the public as appropriate for the purpose, it became a resounding success.

There is a time and place for everything, but the trick in FEARLESS MARKETING is to be that one step ahead, to anticipate what will work and how far to go in making it work. This is not to suggest ferreting through lists of prospective curse words to throw into your marketing and branding programs.

It is simply to make the point that when we look just far enough into the immediate future, with the right eyes (!), at the right market, we can almost predict an unusual word choice that will “click” with prospects. “GOT MILK?” and “DO IT!” and “IT’S IN YOU” and “LOVIN’ IT” and “THE REAL THING” all come to mind as two or three-word, double entendre messages that have made colossal sales.

And it’s hard to beat the great social media names (GOOGLE, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn) that are in themselves, sales messages, and have even gained acceptance as verbs!

But, ah, be aware that none of these (or I’d venture to guess that any great, short, FEARLESS MARKETING messages) EVER just popped out of someone’s back pocket. Marketing messages that step up and out, that make a difference, that work, typically require re-working, revising, re-thinking, re-writing hundreds if not dozens of attempts, over considerable periods of sleep-on-it time.

So if you’re paying someone to produce the winning combination of words, be patient. Great branding never happened overnight, and if you can think of exceptions . . . you’re going to be wrong 99% of the time! If you think you can produce the perfect words yourself, become a copywriter . . . but don’t give up your day job!

FEARLESS MARKETING is not just the creation of a message. It’s also having the savvy and guts that underscore the message of FEARLESS! (the stage musical), which, applied here, translates to: If the risk involved is reasonable, run the DAMN marketing. FEARLESS MARKETING ignites FEARLESS SALES!

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Hal@Businessworks.US               931.854.0474

OPEN  MINDS  OPEN  DOORS

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

If you’re

IN business, get OUT of Facebook.

Like every other niche in life, undoubtedly, there are those dwelling in and passing through the halls of business who will be quick to dismiss this post (especially Facebook employees). But as Shakespeare once said: “The truth will out!”

And the truth is: If you own and/or manage any** business, and you’re actively involved with Facebook:  you are wasting your time and energy. And lost opportunities are probably costing you more money than you would want to believe. [**any except perhaps retail]

Facebook does appear to serve as a meaningful distraction for government, corporate and academic employees. And given the boredom of that typically committee-cluttered, no-sense-of-urgency career existence, the attraction/diversion is understandable. But for entrepreneurs, Facebook is an unproductive addiction. It is simply not worthy of your attention, or even your interest, never mind your active indulgence. It literally eats up your clock!

“Yes, but,” I hear some say, “it’s the only way I can find out what my kids/grandkids are up to!” Then settle for it being a weekend addiction. Going to Facebook ANYtime between rise-and-shine Monday and nighty-night Friday is like a visit to the dentist for business owner/ manager Facebook fanatics. They too often end up holding their numb jaws while the Novocaine wears off when the reality comes home that time and energy and money has gone a-wasting.

“Okay, so Twitter is better, right?” Is there any difference in being obsessed with Twitter for any reason other than to promote your business interests (which is likely to be far better accomplished, btw, on LinkedIn) . . . or with being obsessed with the news (unless you’re in the news business)?

Bottom line: If you’re a genuine entrepreneur, you’re not spending spare time with anything other than your health and spiritual well-being–whatever that may be for you–and loving and growing your family and a few select friendships–whatever that takes.

Slice your pie the way you see fit. It’s your pie. It can be big, small, flat, mountainous, firm, gloppy, round, square, multilevel, whatever works for you . . . but don’t pretend it’s not a pie! We choose our pie. We choose our behavior. We choose our stress by choosing to set ourselves up for it. Think hard about the last time you didn’t feel 100%. What were you doing/thinking/saying shortly before you lost sleep/felt edgy/got sick?

When the stress becomes DIStress–with never enough time in the day for your pie, your family, your health–don’t react. Respond. Ask yourself HOW you choose or chose your stress? Then make a different choice. Maybe it’s time to change the way you see or slice your pie . . . or the way you breathe?

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Hal@Businessworks.US               931.854.0474

OPEN  MINDS  OPEN  DOORS

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

“Pretty good job… for a woman!“

“Thanks for nothing” types of “mixed” messages pervade today’s society– in meetings, phone calls, emails, texting, even music! “Don’t smoke, don’t drink, and don’t curse,” he warns his new employee. Then the boss frantically pats down his pockets and exclaims with frustration: “Sh*t! I must have left my pipe at the bar!”

“All the world’s a stage…” proclaimed Shakespeare. At one time or another, we all play roles and mask ourselves in some way. If we become aware of ourselves when we are putting on a performance, that awareness gives us the freedom to reject unproductive (unless you’re “on stage”) playacting in favor of authenticity.

And (yes, apples are great, but) certainly, A is for AUTHENTICITY too! It is Authenticity, after all, that is the overriding human quality which serves us best in both life and work

. . . yet, short of hiring someone to monitor or videotape our daily words and actions, it can be difficult at best to be aware of when we are “putting on airs” or undermining someone else or sabotaging current circumstances. Why? Because playacting is often an unconscious knee- jerk reaction to another person or situation.

So what are we to do to begin eliminating or at least minimizing phoney images and communications?

Awareness of life/career damages from disingenuous behavior is the beginning. So, you’ve already started. Next comes making a conscious effort to strengthen your resistance to assume or take on these self-destruct roles. You need to “catch yourself” by keeping your mind and body in better balance with the real you:  the deep-inside you.

Accept from the outset that–unless you’re another Mother Theresa–you may be unlikely to ever achieve 100% authenticity. But know that even slight improvements will enhance your personal respectability and community standing, and will dramatically increase others’ acceptance of your ideas and trust.

Once you are aware of this thinking and accept that “being more genuine” will rocket-boost your life, work, and play pursuits, begin to take more deep breaths. That alone will help you ground yourself in times of trouble and, ultimately, clarify your here-and-now focus in ways that win you more intrinsic happiness and more extrinsic rewards.

Being more aware paves your path to greater control and spotlights that everything you say and do is a choice that you make or the result of some choice you have made at some point in life. Simply by being more “Choice-Conscious,” you will find yourself better able to illuminate your strengths and free up your uniqueness . . . bring your real self, your authenticity, to the surface in more of what you think and say and do.

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Hal@Businessworks.US          931.854.0474

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

You’re 40-something and trapped!

You’re 40-something and you’re sandwiched in between aging parents and young children. trying to build a career. Even the weekends are starting to suck. The family dog (or cat) is beginning to be your BFF.

What’s next? STEP BACK, that’s what! Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing (except driving, holding a baby, operating heavy equipment, or standing with your back to a cliff or stairway), take one physical step back away from the gum-biting clamor, pinch yourself in the butt and take three deep breaths. Just three, but don’t fake it. Three. Deep. Now. Before reading more. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Now pay attention to this: No job is worth losing because your mind gets too busy racing in and out of your neighbors’, relatives’, co-workers’ issues and shortsightedness. They don’t understand your upsets. They never have. They’re not inside YOUR brain and you don’t need them to survive your circumstances. You need your SELF to make adjustments for your SELF — NOT to please others!

You need to “rattle your own cage” and that doesn’t mean a zoo or prison vacation. It means doing some honest soul-searching about who you really are, what you really want out of life, and how you think you’re going to get there.

Rule One: Take Charge of Your SELF! Only YOU know what YOU need to do. Listening to what others have to say is a good thing. Doing what others think you should do is not. So listen all you want, but ACT on your own behalf.

For every idea you have (after the three deep breaths!) about how you need to proceed with your “sandwiched” life, write it down: each idea at the top of its own page (yes, with a real pen or pencil on real paper . . . trust me you’ll get more authentic results than keyboarding it!). Put a minus- sign at the top left and a plus+ sign at the top right, with a vertical line top to bottom down the middle of the page.

Then identify the negative and positive points related to each idea in the appropriate column. Step back again. Yes, and three more deep ones. Then analyze your ideas based on comparing the two columns and on what you honestly feel inside your gut about each point, and each idea.

Maybe you’ve been being too patient and are filled with anxiety? Maybe you’ve not been patient enough and are filled with annoyance or are simply adding fuel to the fire? Where’s the right balance?

What are you doing right this minute to achieve the right balance? You think this is an easy exercise? It’s not if you’re doing it honestly. But is it worth it? Of course it is. YOU’re worth it, aren’t you? Then work at it.

Here’s a Broadway-bound musical: www.FearlessTheMusical.com filled with love, anxiety, humor, annoyance, and resolution to inspire. It’s all about finding balance — Try some of the “song previews” and remember: You’re never alone when you seek balance. Sing. Dance. Hum. Breathe. Think. And along the way, enjoy–and TRUST your SELF! Be FEARLESS! You’ll get through it. You can do it!

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Hal@Businessworks.US   931.854.0474

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Watch where you’re going,