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You can only talk to yourself for so long. Eventually, you have to build an audience. Otherwise, you’re just winking in the dark. THE COOL PART IS: It’s never been easier to do so. The technology is available. The access is available. And the energy is available. All you need is a gameplan to leverage your assets to reach the people who matter most. Whether you sing songs, perform…

To court is “to woo and pay homage.” Which means it’s more than just holding boom-box outside of a girl’s window. No offense, Lloyd Dobler. Courting means inviting openly. Courting means pursuing proactively. Courting means honoring consistently. Courting means acknowledging publicly. AND THE COOL PART IS: Courting isn’t limited to your dating life – it’s also an essential element of your thought life. Because when it comes to the…

Satisfaction is useless and loyalty is overrated. Your people need to be insistent. Otherwise they’re out the door. But don’t let the buzzwords sting you. It’s not about communicating an employee value proposition. It’s not about encompassing a comprehensive set of change management tools. It’s not about sweetening people up so they don’t run away after the recession is over. If you want insistence – that is, people who…

Rarity is inherent. The problem is, there’s such pervasive pressure to remain average, that most people lose touch with what makes them exceptional. HERE’S THE SECRET: It’s not about seeking rarity – it’s about squashing the barriers against finding it. Here’s a list of suggestions to help you, your brand and your organization stay rare:1. Do it all with daring originality. Rare isn’t the absence of fear; rare is…

If you don’t want people quitting you, you’ve got to figure out how to make love stay. That was the central idea of Tom Robbins’ book, Still Life With Woodpecker. “One day you wake up and find that the magic is gone. You hustle to get it back, but by then it’s usually too late, you’ve used it up. What you have to do is work like hell at…

Most people don’t realize how brilliant they are. This stems from: A lack of self-belief. A lack of external affirmation. A lack of human mirrors in their life. Or, maybe they’re just too close to themselves to see it. “Standing on a whale fishing for minnows,” as the Buddhists say. THE POINT IS: If you want people to fall in love with you – you have to help them…

Three hundred billion dollars. Within the U.S. workforce, Gallup estimates that this is the cost in lost productivity alone, according to their thirty-year Employee Engagement Index. How much of that money is your company responsible for? ANSWER: Too much. Today we’re going to explore six strategies to make sure your organization doesn’t bomb its next employee engagement survey:1. Participation isn’t the same as engagement. On a breakfast table, the…

Everyone is old to someone. Whether you’re fresh out of college, well into your career, a veteran office worker, a recently retired professional, or a grizzled old fart, there will always be people younger than you. And if you want them to take you seriously, I have three words for you: Just For Men. Only kidding. Hair dye isn’t going to help you. If you really want to be…

My friend Sean Gallagher at StartupFreedom recently interviewed me about execution, idea protection and business sustainability. Here’s what we learned: Coming up with a creative business idea isn’t the magic solution to making money online. In fact, coming up with a really creative, innovative business idea may even be harder to make money with. You may create something that is innovative and unique but nobody in the market may…

Everyone needs a good cheerleader. The more cheerleaders you have on your side, the easier it is to win. Unfortunately, support isn’t always readily available. Especially if you’re on your own. THE GOOD NEWS IS: Everybody has the capacity for self-motivation. The challenge is finding the perfect cheer. Kind of like the Spartans from Saturday Night Live. Their mission in each episode was to inspire and motivate their team…