If you can learn it, it’s a skill. If it’s important, but innate, it’s a talent. The thing is, almost everything that matters is a skill. If even one person is able to learn it, if even one person is able to use effort and training to get good at something, it’s a skill. It’s […]
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Author: makena Mugane
Executive Presence: Got It?
I attended a senior financial womens conference recently and heard two very prominent leaders in the industry speak. Interestingly, though both very successful, one seemed to exude much more of that magical quality called executive presence than the other. What was the difference? Its the Little Things The less impressive speaker peppered her comments with […]
What have we become? (And what are we be...
Every day, we change. We move (slowly) toward the person we’ll end up being. Not just us, but our organizations. Our political systems. Our culture. Are you more generous than the you of five or ten years ago? More confident? More willing to explore? Have you become more brittle? Selfish? Afraid? Grumpy and bitter isn’t […]
Don’t give up (you’re on the right track
Wrestling with a puzzle, a project or a problem, the likeliest reason to give up is the belief that it can’t be done. What’s the point of persevering if it’s actually impossible to succeed? “It can’t be done,” we say, throwing up our hands. Not “I can’t do it,” or “It’s not worth my time,” […]
Urgency and accountability are two sides...
As organizations and individuals succeed, it gets more difficult to innovate. There are issues of coordination, sure, but mostly it’s about fear. The fear of failing is greater, because it seems as though you’ve got more to lose. So urgency disappears first. Why ship it today if you can ship it next week instead? […]
Learning from the State Department…
Ambassadors do two things that are really difficult for most people within organizations: 1. They listen and send the notes up the chain. They’re at the front line, and they listen to what’s happening and figure out how to get the right people back home to hear what’s being said. 2. They apologize. Not for […]
May be this Year….
Maybe this year… Your knowledge will reach critical mass.. Your boss will give you the go ahead.. Your family situation will be stable.. The competition will stop innovating.. The traffic jam will cease.. There won’t be any computer viruses to deal with, and Then… You can act, you can launch your project, you can […]
Three ongoing changes in marketing….
1. Advertising and marketing are no longer the same thing. 2. The most valuable forms of marketing are consumed voluntarily. 3. The network effect is the most powerful force in the world of ideas. (The last assertion is based on the fact that culture changes everything about how we live our lives, and culture is […]
The one thing that will change everythin...
That introduction you need. The capital that your organization is trying to raise. The breakthrough in what you’re building… Have you noticed that as soon as you get that one thing, everything doesn’t change? In fact, the only thing that changes is that you realize that you don’t need that one thing as much as […]
Trading in your pain….
The pain of a lousy boss, of careless mistakes, of insufficient credit. The pain of instability, of bullying, of inadequate tools. The pain of poor cash flow, corrosive feedback and work that isn’t worthy of you. Pain is part of work. And it leads to two mistakes. The notion that you can trade your […]
An alternative to believing in yourself…
Of course, self-belief is more than just common advice. It’s at the heart of selling, of creating, of shipping, of leadership… Telling someone, “believe in yourself,” is often worthless, though, because it’s easier said than done. Perhaps the alternative is: “Do work you can believe in.” Not trust, verification. Not believing that one day you’ll […]
Abandoning perfection..
It’s possible you work in an industry built on perfect. That you’re a scrub nurse in the Operation Room, or an air traffic controller or even in charge of compliance at a nuclear power plant. The rest of us, though, are rewarded for breaking things. Our job, the reason we have time to read […]
The crowd will call you a fool…
When you do work that matters, the crowd will call you a fool If you do something remarkable, something new and something important, not everyone will understand it (at first). Your work is for someone, not everyone. Unless you’re surrounded only by someones, you will almost certainly encounter everyone. And when you do, they will […]
How to go faster….
How do you get to market faster than the competition? How do you become more efficient without violating the laws of physics? How do you save time, money and frustration? It all comes down to decision hygiene: 1. Make decisions faster. You rarely need more time. Mostly, you must merely choose to decide. The […]
Active listening…..
The kind of listening we’re trained to do in school and at work is passive listening. Sit still. Get through it. Figure out what’s going to be on the test and ignore the rest. Your eyes can glaze over, but don’t let it show. Try not to nod off. People are talking, and they’d like […]
Project management tips for work that ma...
1. Resist the ad hoc. Announce that this is a project, and that it matters enough to be treated as one. 2. The project needs a leader, a person who takes responsibility as opposed to waiting for it to be given. 3.Write it down. All of it. Everything that people expect, everything that people […]
A Super Simple Plan for the New Year
Don’t you love this time of year for thinking ahead and planning? You’ve got a year’s worth of vast, uncharted territory ahead of you. What will you do with it? Where do you want to be by the end of 2015? Goal setting (Physical,Financial,Career,Relationships,Investment,Business,Skills..) is so important to me that I cannot resist year-end […]
Here it is ; Three-step marketing ladder...
Probably worth reviewing at your next marketing meeting (or every marketing meeting)… There’s a three-step ladder: Awareness Education Action Awareness is when someone knows you exist. The knock-knock part of the knock-knock joke, the person who has another interest and trust to want to know more. Awareness is sexy You don’t need to be known […]
Forgive yourself…
Forgive yourself for not being the richest, the thinnest, the tallest, the one with the best hair. Forgive yourself for not being the most successful, the cutest or the one with the fastest time. Forgive yourself for not winning every round. Forgive yourself for being afraid. But don’t let yourself off the hook, never […]
Where is your Emotional handwashing…?
Emotions are far more contagious than any disease. A smile or a panic will spread through a group of people far faster than any virus ever could. When you walk into the office or a negotiation, then, wash your bad mood away before you see us. Don’t cough on us, don’t sneeze on us, sure, […]
“How do I get rid of the fear….?”
Alas, this is the wrong question. The only way to get rid of the fear is to stop doing things that might not work, to stop putting yourself out there, to stop doing work that matters. No, the right question is, “How do I dance with the fear?” Fear is not the enemy. Paralysis is […]
Here It Is..Picture yourself…
Ladies and gentlemen . . . the Beatles!” 50 years ago this month, 4 Liverpudlians rocked the American nation. Their shocking performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” was seen by one in three Americans. And that novel picture transformed countless lives. It inspired young Robert Cray to buy his first guitar. It showed Billy Joel […]
Who want to Be a Millionaire..?
Most people would raise their hand. That mean they have a goal of becoming a millionaire but now they need to choose the process for achieving that goal. There are many ways a person can reach their goal of becoming a millionaire. Here are the different processes to Become a Millionaire… The reason the Process […]
Transcend the box…
Take a look at your office. It’s a box. Your computer? Another box. You leave work and climb into a motorized box. Then you drive home to another, more expensive box. Once settled in, you grab something to eat from a refrigerated box. And eventually you plop down in front of a mesmerizing box. Do […]
Learn to Experiment…
Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions.All life is an experiment.The more experiments you make,the better- Ralph Waldo Emerson One of the most common complaints of today’s executives is this;The people they supervise hate to make changes though they are constantly being required to in this highly competitive business environment.The executives then […]
Become Contagious…
The real source of wealth and capital in this new era is not material things.It is the human mind,the human spirit,the human imagination,and our faith in the future. That is the magic of a free society. Everyone can move forward and prosper because wealth comes from within. If you are upbeat,it will lead other […]
Do You Know How Mentorship Works…?
Mentorship works for two reasons. Certainly, the person being mentored gains from advice and counsel and even access to others via introductions, etc. But mostly, it works because the person with a mentor has a responsibility to stand up and actually get moving. The only way to repay your mentor is by showing the […]
Enjoy Some Stage Fright…
If you get stage fright before a big call,or before a big presentation,what does it mean? Does it mean you are a weak person?Does it mean you are unprepared? Does it mean you are immature? No,it means none of those things. It means you are in a truly great profession.I mean who else gets stage […]
Where is the productivity gap..?
You’d think that with all the iPad productivity apps, smartphone productivity apps, productivity blogs and techniques and discussions… that we’d be more productive as a result. Are you more productive? How much more? I wonder how much productivity comes from new techniques, and how much comes from merely getting sick of non-productivity and deciding to […]
Is It Perfection or exploration…
In an organization built around perfection, you need to push people to say, “Bad news, I made a mistake.” Only by surfacing mistakes can the organization stamp them out. In an organization built around exploration, on the other hand, people need to say, “Good news, I made a mistake.” Only by seeking things that don’t […]
The Rise of The Sovereign Individual…
The ongoing transformation is both good news and bad. The good news is that the Information Revolution will liberate individuals as never before.For the first time,those who can educate and motivate themselves will be almost entirely free to invent their own work and realize the full benefits of their own productivity. Genius are being unleashed,free […]
Intelligence and effort are Necessary bu...
Intelligence and effort. Both are necessary for success. But neither one is sufficient. Intelligence without effort is wasted potential. Like a ship sitting in port. It looks good, but it’s not going anywhere. Effort without intelligence is an unskilled fighter. The beating becomes disheartening. And ultimately wears him and his people down. Intelligence plus effort […]
Cashing the check …
A check in your wallet does you very little good. It represents opportunity, sure, but not action. Most of us are carrying around a check, an opportunity to make an impact, to do the work we’re capable of, to ship the art that would make a difference. No, the world isn’t fair, and most people […]
What happened to the dreams..?
Jack was a typical teenager. Overweight. Insecure. A bit soft and naive. Then one day, he had a dream. One in which he felt energetic, powerful, self-assured. That dream stirred Jake. It created a hunger that demanded to be fed. So he started going to the gym. He ran on the treadmill. He lifted weights. […]
Did you know Life is full of holes…?
Every scrutinized historical event fails to hold up to serious inspection. There’s missing evidence. How did he get from point A to point B? Where’s the document or the eyewitness or the proof? Your future opportunities are like this as well. Even at the hottest part of the 1998 Internet run up, skeptics wanted more […]
How long between leaps…?
Kids have to change grades every year. You hit 18 and the system says it’s time to move out and go to a whole new place. Four years later, another cycle… And then? How often do we say, “three months from today, I will be doing something totally different than I’m doing now?” How often […]