It’s Always about the People

Filed Under Business Life, Perfect Virtual Manager, Successful Blog | 4 Comments

Everything Else Is Immaterial

I had to pass this along.

No business is so good that the wrong people can’t mess it up. And no business is so bad that the right people can’t fix it. If you think about what a business is, it’s a collection of people who have been organized in attempt to profit from offering a product or service to the marketplace. So if you don’t get the people part of the equation right, everything else is really immaterial. –Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures

Thank you, Fred, for saying that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Behind every Successful business there is an Outstanding manager. Perfect Virtual Manager

Change the World: Each of Us Can

Filed Under Community, Successful Blog | 15 Comments

Hey, Ben, How Can We Change the World?

On Monday I had a conversation with Ben Yoskovitz about changing the world. I figured that Ben, who is a quiet force behind Gifter.org, and who is always finding new initiatives such as Global Voices Online, would certainly have ideas worth sharing.

Ben responded with this simple and elegant piece you find here.

How Each of Us Can Change The World

Guest Writer: Ben Yoskovitz

Change the World!

You need a world view. You need to understand what’s going on out there. The world’s a big place, but as you shape your world view, the world itself gets very, very tiny.

Suddenly, the world is in your backyard. When that happens, you can start to change it so easily.

Getting a world view is easy. Go online, read and learn. Countless websites and blogs are out there. News-related. Personal. Get a feel for what’s happening.

Talk to people. Reading and learning isn’t enough. You have to speak with people to understand their experiences. Let them take you on a journey through their life, through their world.

When the world shrinks into the palm of your hand, you’ll know what to do to change it.

Benjamin Yoskovitz

Thank you, Ben, for showing us how we might start.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

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If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

Change the World!.

Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.

Change the World: Use and Interpret the Data

Filed Under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 5 Comments

What Will You Do with the Data?

Change the World!

A colleague calls you. She’s cranky and to the point. She doesn’t offer a greeting. She just starts right in with what she wants you to do.

What she wants you to do isn’t your job. It isn’t something that should naturally go to you. She’s demanding a huge favor, without even asking. Someone listening in would think you were being paid or that you’d already said, “yes.”

Of course, you have choices here, but the big one is.

How will use and interpret the data you have?

We can change the world by finding out more — more than what we think we know, more than the surface shows. Imagine the reasons, the ways that we might want to help.

You can change the world today — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

______________
If you’re ready to change the world, feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

Change the World!.

Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.

Perfect for Friday Productivity Checklist

Filed Under Branding, Business Life, Checklists, Productivity, Successful Blog | 5 Comments

Personal Branding logo


Productivity. Everyone wants it, thinks they have some of it, and loses it faster than they realize. Here are some things you might check and do on a Friday afternoon to feeling better about starting the week again on Monday morning.

Perfect for Friday Productivity Checklist

    1. End your “real work” a half-hour early on Friday. Most folks don’t want to interact with you late on Friday anyway. If you need that half-hour to finish your work, start next week by planning to finish a half-hour earlier.

    2. Use that half-hour to organize everything on your desk. Put things away. Lay out things that still need attending to. Mark what needs to be done. Make a to-do list, if that’s your way.

    3. Make a plan for next week–at the least, decide what you will tackle first on Monday and what your three most important goals will be.

    4. Do an office check. Are the things you use most closest to where you use them? If not, move them, so that they will be. Are the files you access most on your computer only one click away? If not, move them so that they will be.

    5. Order the Monday tasks by putting what you can get done fastest first. Do this for two reasons. It will start your week with a quick sense of accomplishment, and you’ll be able to pass on what you finished–that means that when you move on to task two, someone else can be starting on what was your task one.

Then consider the week closed, leave the office at work, give your brain a break, and have a weekend. What a great way to promote yourself and your brand to anyone who walks by on their way home for the weekend. It says a lot for your personal brand–almost everyone wishes their office looked like it could be in a magazine . . .

Whether you work in a building away from home or in your bedroom, it’s boost to your Monday to walk back into a space that’s ready to work in.

What do you think when you see an office that looks well taken care of?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
Brand YOU–You Are What They See
Brand YOU–What’s the BIG IDEA?
Don’t Let Burn Out Singe Your Brand

Brand YOU–When An Apology Is in Order

Filed Under Branding, Business Life, Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog, Survival Kit | 7 Comments

The Challenge of Apologies

Personal Branding logo

Handling an apology can seem like an overwhelming challenge, especially in a business situation. At the least, it makes everyone involved self-conscious. With a clear head and a eye toward resolution, apologizing can be the same as handling any other problem. Follow the same five basic steps.

Handle Yourself Not the Apology

    1. Give yourself a chance to breathe.
    2. Slow down your thinking.
    3. Know the part where you are wrong.
    4. Gain your balance and make a plan.
    5. Move forward with calm and confidence.

Remember again to breathe.

Giving and Receiving Apologies

Don’t let the words, “I’m sorry,” scare you. They’re powerful words that, when given with care, can gain you more respect. An apology well received can do the same. It’s the fear of those two words that makes apologies go wrong.

Realize when you walk into a situation where an apology is going to happen that there is no person who has not behaved badly at some point in his or her life. If you’re having trouble starting, say so. If you feel you can say things more clearly in writing do so. Then offer the other person the choice to listen while you read it or to read it while you wait.

With apologies, less is more. Mean what you say and keep it simple. Don’t use an apology to move an agenda forward. Use these principles to uphold the integrity of your brand and to help everyone involved feel like a person of value.

When Apologizing

    1. Own what you did wrong.
    2. Start by saying why you are apologizing–that you value the person and the relationship and why it is important to you.
    3. Say you’re sorry and say what you’re sorry for. “I’m sorry, I behaved badly.”
    4. Don’t expect a response. It’s okay, if there isn’t one. Leave the other person a place to stand.
    5. Thank the other person for listening.

When Accepting an Apology

    1. Know that the other person feels self-conscious too. Be gracious and accepting.
    2. Do say thank you. It feels more honest and equal than, “I accept.”
    3. If you’re sorry too, say so. Don’t say things that aren’t true.
    4. Always leave the other person a place to stand.
    5. Always give the other person as much time as he or she needs.

Have a conversation after the apology. It’s a chance to get to know that person in a new way. Be thoughtful and honest, and you may forge a stronger relationship built on new respect.

A True Leader

Once you have apologized or heard an apology, move on to cooler more interesting matters. Don’t keep apologizing or talking about the incident. The horse is dead. The sale’s been made–don’t buy it back. Too much talk about it will devalue what’s already been said. The power of “I’m sorry,” diminishes the more times you repeat it. It also makes for more discomfort.

Do spend quality time as one human being with another sharing undivided attention. You may not make a new best friend, but you will find a person who has a few things in common with you. That’s a starting point for a new working relationship. You’ve just been through something hard together.

Apologies are never easy, but they don’t need to be scary or humiliating. The ability to apologize with grace and respect is a quality of a true leader.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
Brand YOU–Handling Problems
Images & Sound-Bytes of a Brand YOU Leader
Start in the Middle 3: Alligators and Anarchists
Brand YOU–Making Your Weaknesses Irrelevant

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