Remaining Positive In The Workplace

Never lower your standards because those around you have. It's easy to start showing up late to work, reduce your productivity or have a negative attitude if people around you are doing the same thing. Remember, everything you do is a reflection upon YOU. Are you going to represent brand YOU or follow the crowd? Maintain a positive attitude and do the things you know you need to do. Stay productive, focused, courteous and organized. In other words, stay true to yourself. Eventually it will be recognized. If the work it takes to be those things outweighs the long term benefits, it may be time to find something or a someplace for which you have more of a passion.

What do you think? I know it's hard to be positive all the time. What suggestions do you have? Is there anything you would like to add?

Broken Windows, Broken Business

Marketing is not designed to cover up problems inherent in a business. As a marketer, I am often asked how to make a product or service sound better than it is so people will buy it. Why should I make something sound better than it is? People hate to be deceived. The first thing I ask is what can be done to make the product be better, not sound better. Today, people have options. If you don't want to run Windows, get a Mac. If you don't like the new "Apple", use a distribution of linux. If you don't provide the product or service the end user wants, somebody else will. In cases you have a product that somebody needs, but they either don't want it or understand why it's important (e.g. life insurance) the first thing that you need to do is build  a superior product and then educate your target market on the benefits of the service.

A weak product is the worst marketing and PR you can have, well, next to horrible customer service. Whether your product is, focus on making the best quality product possible with the end user in mind. Word of mouth advertising is much more effective than anything you can pay for. Once you have a product that you full ystand behind, ask me how we can work to get the word out.

The True Mark Of A Leader Is Knowing When To Follow

Why are you trying to do that by yourself?

Sometimes, the true mark of a leader is knowing when to follow. We are taught from early on that leadership is to be valued and followership dismissed. We vote student body officers and make heroes out of historical figures based on their courageous acts, intuition, dedication and, you guessed it, leadership. While these characteristics are to be acknowledged - even celebrated, knowing how to let somebody take the lead when they are better suited is a sign of true leadership capabilities.

Letting go of control is always difficult, yet many times, is the right thing to do. Many companies have become irrelevant and fallen because the CEO doesn’t know when it’s time to hand responsibilities over to somebody who is more in tune with the current climate. Generals have lost battles because they commanded when they shouldn’t have. It can be difficult to think beyond yourself. Leading in a situation for which you are not qualified only exposes the fallacies that are inherent in every human being. Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses. True leaders know this and embrace it. When it is their time to lead, they lead. When it’s not, they select the best people for the job.

Stepping aside, whether temporary or permanent, doesn’t make you irrelevant. It makes you responsible for allowing the best course of action to take place. It makes you a hero.

Are you being the best leader you can be?

When did it become desirable to be mediocre?

Be a student of your craft…

Since when is mediocrity the new gold standard? All-too-often I hear people start their sentences with, “Well, at least…(insert consolation prize here).” It seems that we have collectively lost our competitive spirit – the desire to be the best. When did we decide to give up? When did we decide that it’s okay to just be good enough? When did we decide to settle? Personally, I believe complacency is the number one killer of dreams. The greats are great because they found their passion and worked hard to perfect their crafts. Try finding a great author who is not an avid reader, a musician who doesn’t love and collect music, a strong CEO who doesn’t keep up with current trends, or a top athlete who doesn’t train. When I see a person miserable on the job or a child fighting for the chance to read, go to school or have clean drinking water, I’m reminded just how important it is to never settle. If you try your best, then the best is all you can do. However, if you say you tried your best to cover up a lack of effort, that's the mentality we need to change. Always strive for better.

How to be the best:

• Be a student of your craft. Read anything and everything you can. Study anything in your field and anything that may have an effect on it. Be well-rounded. Check out blogs, podcasts, YouTube, wherever you can get information, get it. Oh yeah, and don’t forget about PEOPLE. Have a conversation and learn something.
• If you’re good, spend time with somebody better, faster, stronger, etc.
• Take the next challenge. When you’ve mastered a certain level, step up. Rise to the occasion.
• Recruit a mentor. If you find an expert in the field, reach out to them and develop your skills.
• Never be too pleased with yourself. If you do something great, good. Now, do better.
• Practice, practice, practice.
• Never settle.

What do you think? Why is mediocrity praised? Where have we gone wrong? What are we doing right? What suggestions do you have to be the best?