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Relationships work when you work at them. With your clients, partners and employees. With your friends, family and significant others. THAT’S THE SECRET: You can’t get lazy with the people who matter most. Otherwise your relationships grow stale. Here’s a collection of ideas to help you squash complacency:1. Never get lazy with your audience. Complacency is the merit badge you get for winning a marathon in your comfort zone….

In Bob Dylan’s bestselling book, Chronicles, he spends a lot of time talking about performing, captivating audiences and playing concerts around the globe for millions of screaming fans. Here’s my favorite passage: “I don’t do it for the money, I do it because I was summoned set the record straight.” That’s how he owned the room. By giving people more than just a vague glimmer. By plunging straight into…

There’s no reason to be mean. Slinging hate, slashing tires, undercutting pricing and poaching customers is not the smartest way approach your competition. HERE’S MY SUGGESTION: Out heart the competition. It’s easier. It’s cheaper. It’s more fun. Here’s how to make it work for your organization: 1. Give your brand three dimensions. Cooking websites are getting smarter. They know that their users don’t just want recipes. They also want…

To celebrate the release of Jeffrey Gitomer’s new book, The Little Book of Leadership, he’s asked me to offer a special gift to those who buy today. I write books and give talks on approachability. And, since Gitomer’s book is all about leadership, I’ve written something specifically for young leaders. The ebook you’ll win (along with tons of other awesome extras) is called, What Most Young Leaders Overlook. Buy…

Consider four clichés: If you don’t know where you’re going, you may never get there. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never know when you’ve finally arrived. I respectfully disagree. In my experience: If you don’t know where you’re going, nobody…

I was born on Valentine’s Day. Which, to some people, isn’t a big deal. It’s just another day. But throughout my life, I’ve always felt there was some sort of cosmic significance to that particular date. Like it had something to do with who I was, at my core. I never really gave it much thought. Until recently. I realized that, based on my disposition – based on my…

After wearing a nametag twenty-four seven for a decade, my badge became a brand. Cool. The only problem is, you don’t wear a nametag. And you don’t have ten years. Fortunately, if your story can play an enduring role in people’s lives, it’s no longer a brand – it’s a badge. And if you want the people who matter most to wear it proud, wear it loud and wear…

Being remembered has less to do with you, and more to do with how people experience themselves in relation to you. Because in my experience: It’s not who you know. It’s whose life is better because they know you. It’s not being the life of the party. It’s bringing other people to life at the party. It’s not making people fall in love with you. It’s helping people fall…

You can’t mute your way to success. If you want get ahead, you’ve got to get heard. THE QUESTION IS: How do you have a voice when you’ve barely had any experience? Well, you could always lie. Or be the ass-kissing, apple-polishing, precocious youngster everybody in the office secretly loathes. But if you want to become well known (and known well) in your company, you might try a few…

I was watching basketball at the time. When the game was over, the announcer stepped onto the floor to interview my favorite player, Steve Nash. “It’s fascinating to watch you play. You’re quick, you’re scrappy and you’re smart. And I never know where you’re going to take the ball: Straight to the basket? Across the paint? Out to the three-point circle? I mean, how do you know where you’re…