Archive for January, 2010

Do you feel lucky to have a job?

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Find a job you like and you add five days to every week.  ~H. Jackson Browne

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.  ~Confucius

The Dallas Business Journal reports that Americans of all ages and all pay levels are increasingly unhappy at their jobs, according to a report by the Conference Board, an independent economic and business forecasting organization. Researchers interviewed 5,000 households across the USA and found that only 45% of those surveyed are satisfied with their jobs. Younger workers — those under the age of 25 — are the most dissatisfied. Older workers also are hurting, which may cost the nation valuable training of future generations, the report suggests.

Two thoughts come to mind:

  1. Companies and organizations have been called upon to get lean and mean over the past couple of years. The tendency of survival is to have fewer people to do more work for less income. When these companiein to make a profit, will your key people be burned out? Expect to share in the profit? Will they wonder why you are not hiring help? Hint: Consider this a caution not to burn out your racehorses and to do as much lateral training as possible.
  2. There is a positive sidebar to the recession. The boomers did not have the predicted mass retirement walkout, but continued to shrae their experience with the younger generation; who may, for the first time, understand a different form of entitlement based on economics.

Maybe it’s time to push the RESET and REFRESH buttons on your job. Feel blessed rather than trapped in your occupation. Look for creative ways to enjoy what you do. Make it a better environment in which to work, and if you must, consider this a stepping stone for conforming what you would like and EXPECT your future to look like.

No matter where you are and what you are doing, you have purpose — be purpose driven.

To bring Petey to assist you in recruiting, maintaining and appreciating employees, click here.

Don’t Fear the Tweeter

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. ~Bill Gates

Whether you like it, love it or loathe it, social media is here to stay. People now have no problem contributing to online business threads, secretly submitting the color of their bras in support of breast cancer awareness, or even changing their relationship statuses – at the altar. Right after saying “I do.”

This generation raised on computers is not only learning how to play Farmville and Mafia Wars. They are learning how to “play nice” online. Put it this way, they’re learning how to communicate collaboratively in realtime. To capture and capitalize on this trend, SalesForce recently introduced a new product called Chatter, a cloud computing web-based application designed to integrate Facebook and Twitter-type updates and news feeds, along with content management and other workplace business apps. The much-anticipated tool can be used on a computer or certain smartphones.

I am excited about what is going on! I think the next generation will create new tools that teach us how to play nice efficiently and take this current trend to a global level, offering an opportunity for workers around the world to quickly, securely contribute to workflow, monitor projects or even build businesses in realtime.

Thoughts? What aspects of social networking would you be interested in seeing in your work environment?

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Book Review – The Five Love Languages

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

The Five Love Languages – How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate by Dr. Gary Chapman

In this classic book, Dr. Gary Chapman reveals how different people express love in different ways. In fact, he divides that expression into five specific “languages” of love:

  1. Quality time
  2. Words of affirmation
  3. Gifts
  4. Acts of service
  5. Physical touch

The last chapters create a profile for couples each consisting of 30 pairs of statements to determine which of the five specific languages of love apply to their relationship. He also offers a free, online study guide, designed for the reader to take the concepts and learn how to apply to them to your life in a practical way.

While the author has dedicated the book to married couples, I suggest the five specific lauguages can easily be applied to most any relationship and convert to the employee/employer form of recognition. Obviously, you won’t ask them to fill in this exact profile, but you can get a general sense of their language by developing a few well-placed questions. Get comfortable with these questions. You can use them:

  • When hiring to determine what the applicant may be expecting from a boss/company;
  • During monthly, yearly and spontaneous reviews. Learn how to reward and acknowledge a job well done; some employees would rather be given a $2,500 free cruise than receive a $3,000 bonus;
  • When communicating with clients and customer and customers. Speak their language and recognize their unique ways of being appreciated — maybe giving a baby gift for their new grandchild; a gas card for a long trip they are about to make, offer a time-saving measure, take care of some errands they’d reather not do, etc. (Be sure to work within their company’s guidelines on receiving gifts);

Bottom line: Dr. Chapman has a large following. As in any self-awareness book, it’s only as good as you interpret and implement it into your own life. His approach is one of respect yourself andyour parenter in your sameness and in your differences. Isn’t that a great way to approach everyone?

These Heels…are for creating a fresh start

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

“Out with the old and in with the new”…what’s unique about that? A better question might be, “Are you moving into the New Year as an antique, or creating a fresh start blended with reliable past experience and courageous, entrepreneurial spirit?

Come on, now. Let’s talk:

  • What baggage are you pulling forward from last year’s thinking? there’s an old saying, “keep the best and lose the rest.” 80% of worry is wasted energy.
  • How do you feel about yourself and what you bring to the table? What is it about you, your company, your association and your organizations(s) that is unique?
  • Do you insert creative vision into your business plan and allow strategies that are out of the box?
  • How are you marketing yourself? Every single person you touch will form a conscious and sub-conscious opinion of you (your company). Make sure you, your marketing materials, your mode of communication, and your actions represent your positive uniqueness.
  • Have you considered the potential and possibilities found in the future? Do you have the guts (based on 1/2 instinct and 1/2 knowledge) to pull away from the norm and move into a world of self-made creativity. Jim Stovall says, “You change your life when you change your mind. Ask ourselves, what is it in our lives that we’re holding on to that we really didn’t want in the first place that is keeping us ferom everything we’ve ever wanted out of this life?”

I’d like you to pull out a sheet of paper and list sixways (three personal, three professional) that YOU are unique and why that uniqueness would make others want to be with you and/or do business with you. 2010 is a new year. it will be a year of challenge, choices and change. Success will belong to those who dare to be unique in thought and implementation. Dare to be different!

Petey

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Motivation creates behavior…creates consequences

Thursday, January 14th, 2010


The word “motivation” and “emotion” share the same Latin root, movere, which means ‘to move.” Notice it doesn’t indicate in which direction. One thing is certain: Motivation creates behavior.

If motivation creates behavior, it stands to reason that behavior creates consequences. This rule applies to all people in all circumstances. For instance:

  • If LEADERSHIP is your goal and motivator, chances are that you will strive to be a visionary, with the consequences of having people follow you;
  • If MONEY is your motivator, you will naturally focus on rate of return. The consequences of your choices will place the almighty dollar at the top of your priority list;
  • If  your motivation is to gain RECOGNITION, you will behave in a manner to attract attention. Consequences depend on the perception of the people viewing your performance (good or bad — attention is attention);
  • If  TIME if your greater motivator (depending on yow you prioritize your time), you will be zealous about how you spend it, and the consequences of those priorities will guide your lifestyle;
  • RESPECT could be near the top of every managers/supervisors list. The behavior will determine if you feel it is better to be respected or to be liked.  Hint: Go for the respect first. If you are liked too, so much the better;
  • POWER is often the motivation of a high ego. The behavior manifests itself as greed; the possible consedquence of either being feared or being adored to excess.

You can work the words Motivation, Behavior and Consequences forwards and backwards to determine what makes YOU and/or the people around you act the way they do. This is a great exercise to use when getting ready for peformance reviews or in most any situation in which you are negotiating.

I use this technique in consulting with my clients. Check it out and let me know how it works for you.

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