August 2016 - 10th Human

10th Human: Why you should network

tree-200795_640 It’s 99.99% likely you are reading this on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or the Internet. We are a networked planet, nearly globally. With such a diverse possibly of contacts, you are quite literally losing business if you are not engaged in some form of networking.

In researching this question, I came across this article from Dayna Steele, from Relate by Zendesk. She absolutely nails it when she writes, “The larger your network, the more opportunities, ideas, and answers come your way.”

Be you. Be authentic. Add value.

Your business very likely depends on it.

10th Human: On “To-Do” lists

There are hundreds (if not more) of philosophies and strategies regarding to do lists. A Google search yields thousands upon thousands of results, from the 5 best To Do List Managers to the 5 Best To Do List Tips to the 5 Ways to Make Your To List More Effective to the Anti To Do List.

What’s one to do? (Sorry, had to!)

I am a proponent of the basics. My to do list is nothing fancy. I use a small notebook where I make a note of the daily to dos (it’s sorted by date). Priority tasks get an (!) next to them. I am also a proponent of ToDoist.com. It’s straightforward project and task based team task management platform. I use this for larger projects and task delegation.

Effective task management is critical to the long term success of a business.

What system do you use?

The only sustainable competitive advantage…

“The only sustainable competitive advantage is an organization’s ability to learn faster than the competition.”
– Peter Senge, Society for Organizational Learning

I read this quote earlier today in Disrupt You! by Jay Samit and it’s a nugget of pure wisdom.

In our ever changing world, what really is a 21st century businesses’ greatest asset? I would submit for your consideration that it is as quoted above, the ability to learn and adapt and implement faster than the competition.

If this sounds familiar, it’s tied into the overarching goal of the OODA loop, too.

Fortune favors the follow up. – Erik Stark

I was listening to the BiggerPockets podcast this morning and heard this advice from Erik Stark, a successful Florida real estate marketer. He has a number of nuggets of wisdom in the podcast and I would very much encourage you to listen (it’s #93).

I wanted to take a moment and dig into this quote today. What does Mr. Stark mean by this? In his business, he has found success in the follow up. He has developed a system that works for him, through which he is able to deliver sustained and systematic follow up to his clients.

Are you following up? Do you have a system to do so?

Fortune favors the follow up. – Erik Stark

Create, Innovate, Build

What opportunities exist in your industry? Every threat to the status quo is an opportunity in disguise.

What opportunities exist outside your industry?

Are there any synergies you could develop?

These are some of the questions I think about every day.

Are you adding value or experiencing diminishing returns?

I’ve spent a lot of time this last year contemplating what Seth Godin writes of here. 20160731 OODA Mr. Godin has a phenomenal ability to capture ideas and relay them in short, hard hitting concepts.

His blog post on conservation vs. concentration of effort speaks directly to me. It’s critical as a 21st century business owners, we ask ourselves these questions:

Are our actions adding value or are we spending effort for diminishing returns?

How can we know? Are you tracking your marketing efforts? Do you know what’s working or not?

23 best quotes on leadership…

Do not overly exalt yourself.
– Marcus Aurelius

Being a good leader is not a byproduct of a pleasant personality.
– Retired USAF MSgt John Mitchell

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?
– Benjamin Disraeli

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
– Margaret Mead

To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.
– Andre Malraux

It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.
– Adlai Stevenson

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
– Peter F. Drucker

I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.
– Robert E. Lee

I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
– Ralph Nader

I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.
– Lao Tzu

The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
– Retired General Colin Powell

Do not expect bad people to exempt you from their destructive ways.
– Marcus Aurelius

You do not lead by hitting people over the head — that’s assault, not leadership.
– Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Refrain from imposing your feelings onto reality.
– Marcus Aurelius

Too many kings can ruin an army.
– Homer

The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.
– Harvey S. Firestone

Our power lies in our small daily choices, one after another, to create eternal ripples of a life well lived.
– Mollie Marti

A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.
– John Maxwell

No great manager or leader ever fell from heaven, its learned not inherited.
– Tom Northup

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.
– Bill Gates

You manage things; you lead people.
– Real Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

What you do has far greater impact than what you say.
– Stephen Covey

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.
– Colin Powell

Rule #1: define your why

I believe the first rule of a successful venture is to define your “why?”

Why are you doing what you are doing?

What drives you to get up every morning, gear up and head out the door?

My professional why is helping people succeed in their businesses. I am fascinated by what makes businesses and people tick and the exploration of ways to improve strategy, culture and processes.

Why is defining your why so important?

If you don’t know you’re why, you’re what and how are going to be extremely difficult to define, much less execute.

You must know your why so that you can effectively determine your what and how.

Why am I doing this?

What problem am I solving?

How am I going to solve that problem?