Just surpassed 60,000 copies sold with my book, Social Wealth. Never thought when I launched it would do this well. It took 13 months to write, edit and publish (along w/ one content update in 2017).
Good things are never easy to do. You have to be willing to put in blood, sweat and tears in order to make it happen. Anyone can if they are determined, focused and passionate about what they want to accomplish.
You see all these “become a successful author” programs. They can help especially on the marketing side. But YOU have to do the research, soul searching, courageous writing and all the pain-staking, back-breaking steps…if you want to have a good/great book.
Why do something half-ass? Sure it’s quicker, but the impact is low. Most people have a lot more they can put into their books.
Share your greatness with the world in whatever you do. It’s not easy, but you can do it.
Hiring very talented isn’t enough. In fact, it’s probably a waste of time and money. Here’s why. The interviewing process is expensive both in costs and people’s time. Then an organization places that expensive employee in a low performing workplace to waste away or underperform to their capabilities.
Employees have to be in workplaces where they are ABLE and WILLING to use their talents. That’s how you maximize employee performance and engagement.
Unfortunately that’s pretty rare. I’ve observed 200+ employee teams over the last two years to collect data and see how many of them are really operating at peak performance.
Here are a few data points to back that up (and much more out there):
70% of employees are disengaged
Only 16% of emoloyees are at peak performance
70% of teams are dysfunctional
86% of executives cite poor communication and collaboration as a reason for missed deliverables, KPIs, sales and other key metrics
Only 28 % of managers are skilled in engaging and managing employees effectively
75% of employees quit because of poor managers
Trust is at an all-time low in the workplace
There are less than 10% of those workplaces that create the environment for employees to excel. The above data shows you how bad the situation is.
Is yours one of them or not? If you can’t answer immediately and with certainty, you most likely have significant room for improvement.
Make it a company priority in 2019. You’ll crush your competitors and metrics if you do.
Because you can fix all the challenges above for pennies on the dollars. It’s much cheaper than any other growth.
If you don’t, your competitors will. Nokia didn’t believe it. IBM didn’t believe it. Blockbuster didn’t either. It’s too late when you figure it out. The damage is done. Get ahead of the curve and act now with urgency.
Hiring talented people isn’t enough. It’s not even tablestakes anymore. Organizations must do better if they want to be leaders.
Experience is the best teacher is completely WRONG. Here is why.
That means the older you get, you would naturally get better. We know that’s not true.
EVALUATED experience is the best teacher.
Why? Because reflection turns information into actionable insight that creates growth and change.
For example: What did I learn? How can it help me? How can I put that information to use?
Start asking yourself the right questions to exponentially grow your leadership, management and career. It’s through the questioning and knowledge seeking that we get to peak performance.
Spoke to the fantastic PRSA Austin organization on employee engagement, building high performing teams and managing others. We also played Cards Against Mundanity (question/answer small group game) so they could experience how the best teams engage & interact.
I’ll be speaking at the PRSA District Conference in Houston in April.
Want to support the people you manage and/or interact with MUCH BETTER? Here is the magic question to ask (see picture for proof). “How can I best support you?”
Instead of…
“If there is something I can do for you, let me know?” or “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Why? It puts the responsibility on the other person to tell you. The other way gets zero results.
Just look at Facebook. People say all the time, “If there is something I can do, let me know. or Is there something I can do for you?” I’ve never seen a response back. It’s completely ineffective.
BUT, “How can I best support you?” gets a considerable amount of feedback. So you can help people.
You just aren’t asking the right question in a way to make the person FEEL comfortable in asking for that help.
