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DO it Scared

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by Patty Azzarello

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Recently, I keep finding reasons to think about being scared. Or more specifically, getting reminded that being scared is OK.

Successful people spend as much (or more) time being scared as they do feeling confident and comfortable.

The difference is that they do it anyway.

My worst moment…

Here is the story of what might be the worst moment in my career.

I was in my early 20’s and I was a sales engineer. My job was to demonstrate technical products during the sales process.

It was my first week on the job after being trained on one of the two products in our product line. The sales force was not supposed to schedule demos for me for the second (more sophisticated and specialized…”scarier”) product until I had a chance to get the training. So much for “supposed to”…

I found myself in a room of customers who demanded that I do a demo of the product I didn’t know. I told them that I could show them the product, but I wasn’t prepared to do a full demo. So I launched the product and they started firing questions at me. I must have said, “I don’t know, I’ll have to find out and get back to you” at least 30 times. It was humiliating.

Talk about uncomfortable. I don’t think I knew the answer to a single one of their questions. I didn’t even understand the questions. It was painful. I was used to being seen as smart and competent and prepared. I was SO embarrassed. Then it came…

One of the customers said to the sales person in a frustrated, angry tone. ” Why did you bring HER? She doesn’t know anything!”

You know what happened?

I didn’t die.

Yes, it was very painful, and beyond uncomfortable, but it didn’t kill me.
What it did do, was give me a list of 30 important questions customers have about this product.

The next day I sat down with the product manager and asked him to explain to me what those 30 questions meant, and how to demonstrate them in the product.

Within a week I was the second most competent (and in demand) sales engineer to demonstrate that product. By contrast, there were other sales engineers at the company who stayed scared to demo that product, so they never even tried. Their careers did not advance.

Scared is OK

That one experience allowed me to be scared for the rest of my career, but to also know it’s OK. I was genuinely scared every time I got a promotion. I was scared many times in big presentations, meetings or negotiations.

That man’s voice was in my head saying, why did you bring HER. She doesn’t know anything.

But that lesson allowed me to realize:

1. That you can be scared, screw up, even fail, and you will survive.
2. That failure-learning cycle is far more valuable than the safe, not-doing-it approach, where you learn and accomplish nothing.
3. Over time it get’s easier. If you force yourself to act when you are scared, every time it gets easier to act when you are scared.

In brief — do it scared.

Scared and Successful

Ultimately, I was able to be scared, and still perform really well most of the time. My way of working would be to push forward, be scared, and do it anyway.

I still cringe sometimes. I am not perfect. I forget things, and get thrown off sometimes. But now when that happens I always think about what I learn from the minor embarrassment and feedback. It makes me better next time, and forever after. I would not improve without some amount of trial and failure.

If you never put yourself out there, you never get the feedback, practice, insight, and ideas to tune what you are doing to be more successful. You just stay stuck.

And it’s also important to realize that if you mess up a few times in dozens or hundreds of outings, it has no impact whatsoever on peoples’ impression of you. Those moments just fade away as you replace them with the improved, excellent ones.

Fear and Competence

People who are not held back by fear have broken the link between fear and competence.

What I mean by this is that some people when they feel scared, have a tendency to think that is a sign that they are not worthy. They think…

If I am scared and I feel vulnerable, that must mean by definition that I am not good enough to be in this situation.

This is not how successful people think. Successful people break the link and say something instead like…

I feel scared and vulnerable, so it’s going to be harder than I expected to put myself out there. Damn, I guess I have to do it anyway.

It breaks my heart when I see gifted people hold themselves back because they are too nervous to step forward.

One woman in particular I am thinking of did some breakthrough medical research, but was not comfortable being the one to present it. Guess what happened.
The presenter claimed the credit and she got pushed aside. What should have been a breakthrough moment in her career turned into a setback.

The invisible risk

Staying in the background because it is more comfortable, does nothing. It adds no value, you don’t learn, and you fade into the background. In terms of being vulnerable, in reality you are much more vulnerable if you are invisible, than if you are out there.

Being out there and being imperfect, trying to move things forward, and committing to contribute is actually a much less risky way to behave in your career.

Leaders Step Forward

It’s not about being flashy or having a big personality. Leaders drive outcomes and then they communicate about them. Even the most humble, introspective, introverted leaders put themselves out there when they need to. And it is very powerful.

The power comes from showing that you are taking ownership for the outcome of the communication, not from the song and dance. Leaders step forward and show others that they care.

I saw a TED talk by Dr. Brene Brown about Vulnerability and Shame. I’ve included a link below, it’s really worth watching, but I wanted to point out a couple of things that really struck me on this topic of fear and success.

1. Everyone feels vulnerabilty and shame

Everyone. Not just some people. Not just most people. Everyone. If you are human you feel shame (unless you are a psychopath).
So there you have it. Vulnerable or Pshcyopath.

I found that very comforting. To think because I feel scared, I am not good enough, makes no sense – because everyone is in the same boat. Another reason to do it anyway.

2. There is no Creativity or Innovation without fear

There is no success without failure. Great ideas and big successes come from people who are willing try, fail, and keep going. Good ideas stem from bad ideas. Failure is necessary to progress.

Do it scared, and you might get someplace.

The words she uses, which I really like are “Daring Greatly”.

Here is the link to Dr. Brene Brown’s talk “Listening to Shame”.

Her research and her talk are about much more than these two points. It’s worth the time…

What about you?

When have you been scared or failed, built success out of it. Please leave your story in the comment box below.

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Patty Azzarello is an executive, author, speaker and CEO-advisor. She works with executives where leadership and business challenges meet. Patty has held leadership roles in General Management, Marketing, Software Product Development and Sales, and has been successful in running large and small businesses. She writes at Patty Azzarello’s Business Leadership Blog. You’ll find her on Twitter as @PattyAzzarello. Also, check out her new book Rise…

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Missed Deadlines…

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by Patty Azzarello

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Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where your gifts and skills don’t line up with the type of skills that are valued in your environment.

Does anybody care?

I am on a bit of a rampage lately about organizations not-addressing missed deadlines.

I see this a lot. The reason why so many organizations have so much trouble doing what they intend to do, on time, is because when they fail to meet a deadline, nothing happens.

Nothing happens…

The dates come and go and no one talks about it.

People who were on the hook either assume that they have been granted more time, or it wasn’t that important to begin with.

Then there is no new deadline established because no one is talking about it at all. So the strategic task takes an even lower priority over the more urgent tactical demands of the moment.

Strategic Progress

This simple failure to address missed deadlines is one of the biggest factors that keeps organizations from making strategic progress.

You can’t let the date come and go and leave the failure totally unacknowledged and unexamined.

This sends all the wrong messages and sets a very low standard of execution.
What you are communicating (by not communicating) is:

  • It wasn’t that important
  • It doesn’t matter that it didn’t get done
  • There are no consequences for missing a deadline
  • We’re not serious about meeting our commitments
  • Late is OK

Why people don’t follow up

I have observed four main reasons why executives fail to follow up on missed deadlines:

  1. Too busy to keep track?
  2. Not personally good at keeping track?
  3. Don’t like the conflict of keeping track?
  4. Don’t know what consequences to impose when something is off track.

The first two are really easy to fix. Get someone who’s naturally good at this to help you. Number 3 and 4 you can’t delegate.

As a leader, if these things make you uncomfortable you need to do them anyway.

Here are some suggestions:

How to deal with the conflict:

1. Be really clear up front about dates, owners, and measures, and communicate the status at the beginning of the project when everything is “green”.

2. Start communicating regularly about what is getting done before anything goes wrong.

3. Everyone can see their name on the chart with the due dates and measures. It is up to them to keep on track.

4. Then when something goes from green to yellow or red, it is not as much of a conflict to bring it up. At least it is not a surprise. Everyone saw it coming. The person who failed to deliver had the chance to avoid it, and knew before hand that it would be addressed, so the conflict is not personal.

What consequences to impose

You don’t need to fire someone every time a deadline is missed. So if you don’t fire the person for missing a deadline, what do you do?
There are so many options between termination and nothing!

You don’t need to be a tyrant.

But you do need to have a conversation.

Ask, “What happened? How to do you intend to recover?”.

The act of having this conversation sends the message that it is NOT OK to miss a deadline.

It should be uncomfortable

Sure it’s an uncomfortable conversation, but it should be! You missed a deadline. That should not be pleasant, comfortable news for anyone.

It’s not about coming down hard on someone or being disrespectful or nasty. It’s about moving the business forward.

Also, I find that strong performers take a lot of ownership in these conversations and put more pain on themselves then they get from you.

Many leaders struggle with the motivation factor. They feel like if they give someone a hard time the person may get de-motivated, be less committed or leave.

In reality, the impact of not having the conversation is that you are letting the person know that what they were working on wasn’t very important, which I think is always even more de-motivating.

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Patty Azzarello is an executive, author, speaker and CEO-advisor. She works with executives where leadership and business challenges meet. Patty has held leadership roles in General Management, Marketing, Software Product Development and Sales, and has been successful in running large and small businesses. She writes at Patty Azzarello’s Business Leadership Blog. You’ll find her on Twitter as @PattyAzzarello. Also, check out her new book Rise…

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Where do you get ideas?

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by Patty Azzarello

Imagination

Many things set highly successful people apart, but the one I want to talk about here is where they get their good ideas.

Short answer: everywhere and from anyone!

One of the most critical factors in creating big success is Imagination.

What if the thing that will create your biggest success is something you haven’t thought of yet?

What if the best solution to the problem you are working on is something you are not likely to think of?

How will you think of it?

Learn from everyone

Highly successful people are always ready to learn from anyone.

They seek out good ideas everywhere, all the time, and when they find one it doesn’t matter if it comes from a highly paid consultant, a board member, or the person that comes in to clean up the catering after lunch.

They recognize good ideas, they adopt them, and they thank people for them.

This generosity, appreciation and acknowledgment makes people want to help them.

So, they have a bigger and much steadier source of good ideas than people who either don’t think they can learn from others, or refuse to acknowledge when they do.

I have worked with many people whose ego prevents them from every saying, “Wow, that’s a good idea, I never thought of that, thank you”.  These are not the people whose careers are soaring.

How are you building your pipeline of good ideas?

Here are some things you can do:

  1. Create a habit of talking to people before you get to the end of the process of what you are doing, or before you feel like know all the answers.
  2. Start conversations assuming you know LESS than the other person. Even if you are certain that you know more, take some time to listen anyway.
  3. Catch yourself from saying, “We tried that already” or “We already thought of that” – that shuts off the flow.  Instead ask, “In that case, how would you deal with this complication?”
  4. Talk to people you don’t ordinarily talk to.  Ask them them what they think about – you’ll be surprised how many new ideas this will generate.
  5. Ask around for people who do similar work and seek out best practices – this is a great way to ask for help without looking like you don’t know what you are doing!
  6. Specifically seek out people who think very differently from you and meet with them regularly to discuss your work, your plans and your goals.

My most inspiring successes have almost all started from the ideas and encouragement of others.

They were things that were not in my imagination before someone else helped put them there.

It doesn’t matter where a good idea comes from.  Just be sure to put yourself in the stream and recognize them when they come along!

Follow Liz!

Liz Strauss is one of the most prolific share-ers of ideas I have ever encountered! As a start on your idea bank. Follow Liz!

What about you?

Do you have a story about something you were able to accomplish because someone helped you with your imagination? Do tell! Please share in the comment box below.

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Patty Azzarello is an executive, author, speaker and CEO-advisor. She works with executives where leadership and business challenges meet. Patty has held leadership roles in General Management, Marketing, Software Product Development and Sales, and has been successful in running large and small businesses. She writes at Patty Azzarello’s Business Leadership Blog. You’ll find her on Twitter as @PattyAzzarello. Also, check out her new book Rise…

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When your skills are not valued

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by Patty Azzarello

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Personal Brand and Defense

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where your gifts and skills don’t line up with the type of skills that are valued in your environment.

You might get shut out or pushed down because of it. It is stressful and uncomfortable.

When this happens, there is a tendency to go on the defense — to prove that you belong there, and to try and show that you can be more like them.

But you’re not.

When you try to do this you put yourself on a back foot.

You are not at your best. You are caving into the pressure and expectations of the group, and trying to win them over by being something false, that you are not good at.

Use your brand to turn the situation around

When I talk about the value of building your personal brand, solving this problem is one of the big payoffs.

Having your personal brand defined lets you put your best foot forward with great confidence all of the time, especially when you are in a situation or environment where you are not comfortable.

If you are clear about your personal brand, you don’t need to be defensive when you don’t fit. You can use it to sell your strong points.

You’ll be more confident and more impressive.

Confidence and Advantage

Here are some examples of ways people have used their personal brand to go on the offence, build confidence, and get an advantage.

Example 1: “Boring old person” in an internet startup

I loved this feedback from a woman who heard me speak on personal brand, and put the idea into action.

She found herself bidding for work in an internet startup company full of hip 20-somethings. She was initially concerned that she would not fit with their culture — like she might be viewed as their mother! As a result, she was concerned she would be under-valued even though she believed she could help them.

Don’t even try to fit in.

But with her Personal Brand in focus, she decided not to even try and fit in, and not to worry about it. Instead she decided go in unapologetically with her personal brand which was about focus, achieving clarity, and translating ideas into revenue.

Staying on brand made it easy for her to engage this group. It removed the stress and the uncertainty. By focusing on her brand, she gave herself the opportunity to sell her strengths without hesitation. She was able to demonstrate truly authentic confidence.

Instead of being cautious and defensive and trying to earn their respect on their terms, she wowed them on her terms.

She got the job.

Example #2: Business Person in a Technology Organization

This was me at various points in my career – Although I have a technology background and an engineering degree, I am a business leadership expert, not a technology expert.

I know many people who have this particular problem in technology companies. The environment doesn’t respect you because you are “not technical enough”.

What I did, is to go back to my brand, and build my confidence from an authentic position of strength. Instead of defending my right to be there by trying to convince them that I was technical enough, I went on the offense.

“You don’t need another one of you”

I would say, “the last thing you need is another technical person. We have plenty of them around here, and I’ll never be as smart as you on technology.

What I contribute is an understanding of the people who use our products and what motivates them. I can translate all this technology into things that they not only care about, but want to spend their money on. I can help bring revenue in. You don’t need another technical person, you need one of me.” (Implied, respect me. I’m different, but I can do things you can’t.)

It put me on solid ground. It made me feel confident. I didn’t’ care if they thought I wasn’t technical enough, because I had real value to offer. It gave me strong executive presence, because I was using the part of my brand of being straightforward, business-focused, and making real and useful connections with people.

I did not need to be defensive. (or technical). I became respected.

Example #3. Program Manager in an Engineering Organization

Another non-technical person I work with used a similar approach in a highly technology focused engineering organization. She was being challenged on her lack of engineering pedigree. Did she really belong here? Many people thought not.

Pedigree doesn’t matter. Results Matter.

Instead of getting defensive she said, basically, “you’re quite correct I am not an engineer. That’s a good thing. I wouldn’t be as good at my job if I was an engineer. What I contribute is an ability to drive complex projects through to completion. The fact that I don’t get involved in every technical detail is actually an asset. I can keep the program focused on the finish line, and get it out on time and on budget. That’s what you need, not another engineer doing a deep dive on technical detail.”

Steady Confidence

When you have your personal brand defined you are more powerful and more impressive for two reasons.

1. You are leading with your strengths, so you’re good at what you are doing and it truly impresses others.

2. But even without that, by using this approach you give yourself the gift of confidence. You give yourself solid ground to stand on. You define the terms you are going to interact on, and it’s a place where you feel comfortable. You give yourself an advantage no matter what the situation. Your executive presence soars when you are confident.

Next time you feel like you don’t fit, and people are under-valuing you, don’t try to be like them. Lead with your brand. Lead with your strengths.

Being clear about who you really are, and what you are naturally good at and building that into your personal brand is a great way to increase your confidence and your value.

Building your Personal Brand

If you want some help building a strong Personal Brand based on your natural strengths, you can use my Personal Brand Building workbook.

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Patty Azzarello is an executive, author, speaker and CEO-adviser. Patty has held leadership roles in General Management, Marketing, Software Product Development and Sales, and has been successful in running large and small businesses. She writes at Patty Azzarello’s Business Leadership Blog. You’ll find her on Twitter as @PattyAzzarello. Also, check out her new book Rise…

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Add more value in your business

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by Patty Azzarello

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Add more value

This is an important topic for all of us, whether you are an employee in a company or have your own business.

The bottom line here is that you can’t wait to be told what adds value, and you can’t count on doing your work the same way to add enough value over time.

You need to figure this out.

You need to educate yourself about what the business values, and then tune your work specifically to deliver more value.

Do more than your job

Your job description is valid for a moment in time — the moment when you start. As soon as you start doing the job, what the job needs to be evolves as the business grows and as the world changes.

If you do your job as written for too long a period of time, you will become out of date. You will begin to lose relevance to the business. You will not be adding enough value.

Don’t wait to be asked or directed

Yes, you need to do your job, but you also to think about how to improve the way your job is done. Don’t give this extra work of figuring out how your job needs to evolve to your to your boss. Sort it out on your own and make a recommendation. (That’s what high performers do).

What adds value?

I have collected some questions that will help you figure out how to tune your job over time to make sure you are adding enough value to the business

1. Who uses my work & what do they need most?

  • Who are the consumers of each piece of work that I do?
  • Do they still use it? Do they still need it?
  • Do they pass it on to others? What do those people need?
  • Can the content I deliver be modified to be more useful or relevant?
  • Can the manner in which I deliver it be improved to be more useful or relevant?

Note: Stop producing work no one cares about.

Check! I know so many organizations that are over-busy producing reports, analysis, or sales and marketing that no one uses. Don’t burn up your time on things that no one cares about. DO actively learn what they find most useful, and tune what you produce to be more valuable.

2. What business outcomes does my work drive?

  • What is the business outcome that happens as a result of my producing this work?
  • How does my work impact profit?
  • Does my work impact quality, innovation, efficiency, competitiveness, cost reduction, process improvement, sales effectiveness…
  • Can I tune my work to create a better or different business outcome?

Note: If you can’t connect your work to a business outcome, you are in danger of not being relevant.

If you are not relevant you are not adding enough value. You need to stay educated on the most important outcomes the business is driving and stay connected with them.

3. What does my work cost?

  • How much does it cost for me to do this work?
  • Can it be done for less?
  • What happens to my work after it’s delivered?
  • What are the downstream costs of the things that I do?
  • Who else does my work cause work or costs for?
  • Is there a way to make my work more efficient for others?

Note: Own improving the outcomes your work causes, not just delivering the work.

Always be finding ways to take cost out. If you produce 50 reports, maybe 20 better reports would do? (Everyone will like 20 reports better than 50!)

If you do things manually or in a chaotic reactive mode, how many people are impacted by this? How can you create a process to streamline the work, make it less complicated, and require fewer touch points, questions, or follow-ups?

4. What has changed?

  • What has changed in the market since I started this job?
  • What has changed in our customers’ business since I started this job?
  • What has changed in our competitors’ business since I started this job?
  • What has changed inside our company since I started this job?
  • Do these changes require a change in the way my job is done?

Note: If you are not evolving your job, you will no longer be qualified when the game changes.

Or you will be doing the wrong job, and your job will get eliminated. Be the one to recommend changing your job to meet the evolving business needs.

5. Growth & Scaling

  • How much has the company grown since I started this job?
  • How much does the company plan to grow in the future?
  • What still works in the way I do my job if the company is much bigger?
  • Which things about how I do my job don’t work if the company is bigger?

Note: When companies get bigger all the jobs change.

You can’t keep using the same way of working. It doesn’t scale. You can be the one to build a new process that will scale, or you can be the one who gets pushed aside by someone with experience at a bigger company.

6. Help others

  • What can I do to communicate better?
  • How can I share more knowledge?
  • How can I teach someone to be more effective?
  • How can I help someone step into a bigger role?
  • How can I help someone believe that something bigger is possible for them.

Note: If you are not helping others, you are not adding enough value.

The other upside is that helping others can put a meaning into an otherwise unfulfilling job. If you are feeling unsatisfied about being in a corporate role that doesn’t make enough difference in the world, help someone. When you help someone else, you change the world for that person.

Don’t wait

I see a lot of people thinking that answering these questions is not part of their job.

You need to decide what needs to get done to drive the future goals and continue to add the most business value.

What do you think?

What have you don’t to add more value in your business? How did you change the way you worked to produce a bigger impact? Please leave your ideas in the comment box below.

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Patty Azzarello is an executive, author, speaker and CEO-advisor. She works with executives where leadership and business challenges meet. Patty has held leadership roles in General Management, Marketing, Software Product Development and Sales, and has been successful in running large and small businesses. She writes at Patty Azzarello’s Business Leadership Blog. You’ll find her on Twitter as @PattyAzzarello. Also, check out her new book Rise…

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10 Reasons to Go on a Vacation

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by Patty Azzarello

I want to share 10 of the many sound business reasons to go on vacation — in additon to the fact that you deserve it and are supposed to enjoy your life and have some fun in return for how hard you work…

1. Going on a vacation shows you are competent at your job because you can manage and plan enough to free up some time in your schedule, and not leave a festering mess in your absence.  

Not being able to take a vacation mostly shows that your work and your team are so out of control that you can’t even be gone for a week.

2. No one is impressed that you have not had a vacation in years.  If you think your company, or your team appreciates your super-duper, extra-work ethic, they don’t.   

3. Your team is motivated from seeing that you support and allow people to have a life — as long as you don’t send them email every day!  Set the expectation you will be generally out of touch.  Arrange 1-2 check-in points if you can’t stand to let go entirely, but don’t just go somewhere else and keep working.

4. Your team gets more productive when you go away.  You give them a break from worrying about all the things you throw in their way when they are trying to get their work done.  After about 2 weeks they will miss you and need you again, but in the mean time their productivity will go up.

5. Being unavailable is an effective technique for developing people.  It forces them to step up.  Just be careful not to un-do everything they did in your absence just because it was different than the way you would have done it.

6. If something comes up in your work that you can’t avoid and you need to cancel your vacation, reschedule another one while you are canceling.  This will minimize resentment and disappointment, give you something to look forward to… and ensure you don’t go too long without a vacation.

7. You will be more productive at work, if you step away from it and give your back-of-mind processes a chance to chew on things while you are otherwise in a good (or at least different!) mood. 

8. You will realize that some of the things that you thought were important before your vacation don’t actually need to get done after all.  When you step away, the most strategic things re-assert themselves and all the clutter drops several notches in volume.

9. Your company prefers people who enjoy their life because they have more positive energy for their work.

10. You need a break whether you know it or not!
 

How do you feel about work and vacations?

Let us know in the comment box below!

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Patty Azzarello is an executive, author, speaker and CEO-advisor. She works with executives where leadership and business challenges meet. Patty has held leadership roles in General Management, Marketing, Software Product Development and Sales, and has been successful in running large and small businesses. She writes at Patty Azzarello’s Business Leadership Blog. You’ll find her on Twitter as @PattyAzzarello. Also, check out her new book Rise…

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