by Lori Silverman, Recorded Books, 2007.
For many of us hearing that the meeting we will be attending or the annual report we will be reading will supply us with data needed to go forward with our business causes us to want to go to sleep or skip it altogether. Dry data is extremely hard for us to remember or relate to, but that is how much data has been transmitted in the past. Lori Silverman makes a case for transmitting data by telling stories. She and others have collected stories from over 80 companies that show how they use stories to show how they adhere to their values and create or develop marketing opportunities among other uses.
The stories come from both large and small companies, government, nonprofits and the military. Stories can be used to teach and to spread the policies and procedures a company wants to use.
Stories invite us to respond emotionally and emphatically. Stories give us a common background and goals. They can open communication channels and can be used to give positive feedback and acknowledgement of a job well done. Stories can show our successes as well as our failures.
Stories are best shared verbally, but can also be used in other formats although the impact is often lessen by other formats because the person sharing the story can not change the way it is presented by the feedback being given by the audience. If the story is not touching the audience they will not remember it as well or feel the need to relate it to others.
The stories used show the many and various ways we can use stories to make our businesses stronger and to help our employees and customers communicate better and be remembered for what they communicate. Using these examples we can learn to develop stories for our businesses.
by Richard Bolles and John Nelson, Ten Speed Press, 2007.
Richard Bolles has one of the most recognized titles for career development with his book: What Color is Your Parachute? With this book he takes us one step further in helping us to design the retirement we want and helping us work toward that goal. Whether you are just starting out in the business world or part way or ready for retirement, this book will help you to void potential pitfalls in obtaining the lifestyle you want when you are retired.
He describes the seven elements of retirement and shows us how to define what we want from all of them to form our ideal retirement. These seven elements are:
Relationships
Strengths
Practices
Medicine
Pillars
Place
Ways to Live
Using these elements we will define our retirement well-being, which will include aspect of prosperity, health and happiness. The book includes definitions of each element and gives interactive questions and worksheets for us to find out what is important to us. Each chapter ends with a list of additional resources, which includes books and websites for further research, and understanding of the topic.
As we work our way through the book we come up with the main focus of each element and then combine these all together in the last chapter to have a roadmap or visual record of what we are trying to obtain for our future. The questions are often pointed and make us really think about whether we want to continue to work or volunteer in our currents arenas or if we want to start out on a totally new journey of education and discovery to gain the fulfillment we want in our final years. By performing the exercises at different stages of our lives, we may find that what is really important to us changes over our lives, but this book will help us stay focused on what we need to do today to make what we want in our retirement years a reality.
Whether you are a single person business or a large employer you can find connections to many local business resources by accessing Colorado Springs Small Business Resource Guide. This website was created and is maintained by the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Pikes Peak Library District and Bracewell Web Works. This is a one stop location for finding answers about business questions relating to
Accounting/Economics
Business Education classes
Business Planning
Business Resources
Chambers of Commerce
Community Calendars
Demographics
Education
Employment
Financing
Insurance
Legal
Licensing
Marketing/PR
Networking
Local Organizations and Groups
Publications
Public Utilities
Real Estate
Sales
Sports and Recreation
Taxation
Technology
Transportation.
Examples of assistance include Licensing: where you can find out what licenses are required for your business, when are licenses renewed and how to do it, and what agencies regulate your industry or business and Local Organizations and Groups: where you can find listings for over 800 clubs and organizations including business, professional and networking groups. Information provided includes name, contact information, where and when meetings are held, how many members and what the purpose of the group is. This is a great way to start that New Year’s Resolution to start networking or expand your current options. You can use this information to find businesses and individuals that include your target market.
Another major component of this website is the
Business Education classes offered by the Business Education Alliance which includes the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau, the Small Business Development Center, the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, the Pikes Peak Library District, the Pikes Peak Workforce Center, the Office of International Affairs and SCORE (Service Corp of Retired Executives.) These classes are your opportunity to gain new knowledge about for profit and nonprofit business topics. Information included includes class description, when and where it will be held, cost (if any, many are free) and how to register for the class. This calendar shows the schedule for classes for the next three months so you can plan ahead and fit the right class for your growth into your schedule.
by Mike Robbins, Jossey-Bass/John Wiley and Sons, 2007.
Negativity is everywhere around us. We get it from the time we get up until the end of the day; it comes from the media, our jobs, our family and friends. Unfortunately we focus on the negative and communicate that way rather than focusing on the good stuff we encounter daily.
Mike Robbins shares ways we can learn to refocus on the good and learn to get around the negative influences. The five powerful principles of appreciation are:
1. Be grateful
2. Choose positive thoughts and feelings
3. Use positive words
4. Acknowledge others
5. Appreciate yourself
Mike Robbins uses questions and exercises to help us explore the positive influences and reduce the influence of negativity on our lives. We create our own reality and can choose whether we focus on the good around us or allow the negativity to control our outlook.
The five steps to transform your negativity are:
1. Acknowledge all of your negative thoughts and feelings
2. Create a clean slate
3. Change your physical or emotional state
4. Verbalize and visualize what you want
5. Let it all go
By focusing on the positive and constantly finding ways to show appreciation for ourselves and others we can improve our outlook and learn to view everything as an opportunity to grow and learn. Appreciation for ourselves is the first step to being a positive influence for others and helping others to learn to give and get appreciation and not negativity every day.
by John Lott, Regnery Capital, 2007.
This book helps explain basic economic theories and how they work in the marketplace. It looks at many of societies major issues such as gun control, prison sentences, abortion and campaign finances. Lott explores the impact the free market has had on these issues and how the interpretation of them affects the views of society. Some comparisons are made to Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Lott makes a case for those topics he is not in agreement with.
Lott explores whether there is price gouging in hotels when disasters strike or in the gasoline prices of today and explains why prices need to increase to allow the supply to be there when the need is the greatest. This is a good basic explanation for those among us, who do not need a strong background in economics to perform our day-to-day functions, but still wants to know why things happen as they do.
Many examples of disasters and gasoline shortages are covered in great detail to explain the need for prices changes and to explain why what is happening is not just to “gouge the consumer.” Lott looks at the historical context as well as current day statistics to explain how society reacts to changes in the economy and what really has long-term effects on economical outcomes. He explores the reasons for the changes in the prison population and the demographics found there. He explores whether allowing abortion or changes in sentencing guidelines have really had an impact on today’s prison populations or not. Many major issues of today are explored and analyzed from the economic impact on society as a whole.
by William Ury, Bantam Books, 2007.
We first learned how to get “yes” when negotiating with others and then how to overcome their “no” but, in this book which William Ury calls his prequel we learn how to give a positive no. We learn how to say no while still obtaining what we need. When giving a positive no you first say yes to yourself, then no to the other and finally come to a compromise yes to benefit all parties.
To have a successful positive no you must first uncover your yes and then empower your no by stating a yes you can accept and the criteria you need to make it happen. You do this be starting with yes, stating your no and them finishing with yes.
William Ury uses many stories both at the personal level and in the international arena to show how you can achieve a positive yes. You will identify with many of stories used.
You must first identify your underlying needs, state your no in a way that can be dealt with and offer a compromise that works for all.
For many the way to answer a no is to do one of three A’s – accommodate, attack or avoid. Neither of these approaches takes care of your needs or the needs of others ultimately. When you learn to identify your underlying needs (your yes) and then firmly state and follow through on your no you will find that the second yes becomes second nature. This book will give you the details you need to prepare, deliver and follow through on all of your no’s.
Negotiation is most successful when all parties win. Ury’s first two books supplement this one, but all can be read on their own if your needs are focused more on one aspect than another.
by Patrick Lencioni, Jossey-Bass, 2007.
Brian Bailey thinks he is a good manager and he gets the opportunity to become CEO for a struggling sports equipment company. He succeeds in turning the company around, but then finds himself at loose ends when the company is sold and his position is eliminated. He first decides to take a year off, but quickly realizes he needs a challenge. He gets involved with an Italian restaurant and realizes that what he brought to his sports company was that he knew the value of individual employees. He develops a program to define the three signs of a miserable job and how to overcome them.
They are irrelevancy, anonymity, and immeasurability. Everyone wants to feel that what they do is important, valued and contributes something. They dislike being unknown and they need to be able to see results. Attacking these three things can make the company or job more satisfying and reduce turnover rates and costs.
Brian discovers this process works for the restaurant and again becomes a CEO at a sports retail store to see if it works for a larger situation. It does and he is off to find new challenges.
The benefits of identifying and addressing the three signs of a miserable job are increased productivity, higher retention/lower training costs, and competitive advantage. The obstacles of trying to change are twofold, from both the employees and the employer. The obstacles to overcome from the employee’s viewpoint are emphasizing money as the only relevant item in a job and are they in the right career. The obstacles from the employer’s viewpoint are failing to recognize employee satisfaction issues and believing the wrong reasons for why the employees are all leaving.
Making the jobs relevant by identifying what difference employees make for whom when they do their jobs to the best of their abilities, having measurable tools set by the employee and employer to more accurately gauge the impact of the employee and getting to know the employees as individuals and not just bodies doing a function can easily take your job or company to the next level. The tools shared by Patrick Lencioni are easily applied to your situation.
Also available as an audiobook.
