Always remember and never give up!

10 Easy Ways to Start Something Great

Bob had a big idea for the Dallas community, yet his first step was just asking a few people to meet to talk about it. Allen wanted to start a new business and he began by setting up coffees and lunches every day with those who could help him learn. Cynthia’s first step in changing the culture of the call center she worked in was setting aside time each day to walk around and listen. As a nurse, Lindsay’s first step in changing procedures in her neonatal ICU unit was bringing new information to her team meetings.

None of these first steps are daunting. It’s because the first step wasn’t the end game. It was just a way to get started and move. In my research for my book, Make Waves: Be the One to Start Change at Work and in Life, I’ve learned that those who start change are incrementalists. They know that progress happens and grows, but you have to start first – even if the first step is small.

I have had many conversations with others about their idea for a change-- or what I call a wave. I always encourage exploring and learning to find the first step. Getting started is the hardest part.

What’s your wave? How can you get started?

Here are some simple ideas that may help you create the right first step for you:

1. Schedule three meetings with smart people. Talk to those with knowledge about what you want to do. Ask questions. Listen. Don’t go in with a set plan yet. Good discussions can help you create yours.

2. Read a few books that push your thinking. Don’t view a book as the bible on your topic, but to spur ideas.  Menlo Innovations was first envisioned after Rich Sheridan started reading books about the new ways of leading a business and on design. A new idea emerged.

3. Invite knowledgeable experts over for a discussion. Create a time for a conversation about your ideas and ask those who could contribute for an hour or two of time.

4. Start an ideas notebook. Begin to research and collect ideas and interesting examples for your new business, product or non-profit. Writing down your thoughts and creating a file for inspiration can help your ideas emerge and grow. Share what you have learned with someone you trust.

5. Binge watch YouTube. Between TED Talks and thousands of other speeches you can listen to almost any speaker on almost any topic. Create your own personal viewing station. Take notes and write down important points that can help you develop out your plans.  Determine how to translate your key points into action.

6. Set up a shadow day. If you are interested in starting a business or expanding a non-profit, find someone who has done it and ask if you can join them for a day to better understand what their work is like.

7. Create the vision and impact you hope to have. Answer ‘what will be happening when you realize your change?’. What will the impact be? Don’t worry if you don’t know the goals and specifics yet. You shouldn’t – it’s too early. You should know your “why” though.

8. Find one small experiment. Find one small way to dabble in your idea. If you have a new product idea, try creating a few examples to see how it works. If you want to write a book, start a blog to try writing more and explore new topics. A good experiment answers questions so identify those upfront. Let your experiment guide your longer term decisions.

9. Write down your “must haves” including financials. I find that this is the step most often overlooked.  Your ‘must haves’ create boundaries for you. Questions like ‘can you invest in the business?’ or ‘ what are your minimum earnings required and for how long?’ make sure you know you your minimum requirements for your idea.

10. Create an options matrix. On the left column list out all of your ‘must haves’. Across the top row write out all of the viable options you have developed for getting started. Rate each option against your ‘must haves’. While this won’t give you the answer, it will help you compare one against the other and rule out choices that just don’t get you where you want to go. Pick the one that is the best place to start and begin.

When you are starting a wave, it hasn’t been before in quite this way. So, expect surprises and that you won’t have all of the answers upfront. Find your way to get started and move forward.

As Brett Hurt, the co-creator of Bazaarvoice said, “Motion creates motion. Momentum creates momentum.”

What’s your first step?

From Success

John C. Maxwell: A Guide for Making Tough Decisions

If you can't make them, you can't lead.

Good leadership is not a popularity contest. One of the most important days in my career was the day I realized that leading well was more important than being well-liked.

Anyone who has had this epiphany know it’s a tough moment: We’ve all wanted to be the “cool kid” since our grade school days. Now we sometimes find ourselves sounding like the principal.

But our careers are filled with difficult, sometimes unpopular choices, and our success rests on how we handle them. I once heard Colin Powell say, “Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity. You’ll avoid the tough decisions, you’ll avoid confronting people who need to be confronted, and you’ll avoid offering different rewards based on different performance because some people might get upset.”

We’re tempted to postpone and avoid tough decisions and hard conversations. The great American financier T. Boone Pickens once cautioned: “Don’t fall victim to what I call the ‘ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome.’ You must be willing to fire.” Decide. Act. That’s your job as a leader.

How do you find the motivation to do what you wish you could avoid? How do you learn to do what others don’t want to do and say what others don’t want to say?

In a nod back to that grade school analogy, I’m giving you some homework. This worksheet will help you identify the decisions you have to make and the steps you must take in order to make them. Ready?

Step 1: Take Responsibility.

The bottom line is this: Nothing changes if nothing changes. Procrastination kills leadership effectiveness today and leadership potential tomorrow. Whatever is your biggest problem now will be your biggest problem next week and your biggest problem next month unless you do something about it.

List three decisions you’ve been putting off:

1. ________________________________________

2. ________________________________________

3. ________________________________________

Step 2: Prepare Yourself.

Are you feeling anxious about those looming choices? Let’s do some research to boost your decision-making confidence.

Pick one of the above problems. List the information you need to move forward and the experts and colleagues who can offer insight.

Info needed: __________________________________

___________________________________________

People needed: ________________________________

___________________________________________

Step 3: Reflect.

Once you’ve completed the first two steps, consider where that knowledge takes you. What insights did you gain? Did you discover things below the surface?

List your realizations:

1. __________________________________________

____________________________________________

2. __________________________________________

____________________________________________

3. __________________________________________

____________________________________________

Step 4: Determine your action plan.

What do you need to do before you take action? Should you meet with key influencers? Write a step-by-step strategy? Consult with an expert?

List your next moves and give yourself a deadline to make them.

Action: _________________________________________

Deadline: _______________________________________

Action: _________________________________________

Deadline: _______________________________________

Action: _________________________________________

Deadline: ________________________________________

Go through that four-step process, and I promise that decision-making will go from overwhelming to attainable. (Notice, though, I’m still not calling it easy!) Repeat that process for the additional situations you listed and the countless others you’ll face in your personal and professional lives.

Let me offer a few other strategies to make the process easier.

Act immediately. Although it is your responsibility to deliberate options and make educated decisions, you’ll also encounter situations in which you must think on your feet. Great leaders act with limited information. Don’t hedge! Take action using your knowledge and instincts to guide you.

Be confident. Don’t waste time and energy second-guessing yourself. Someone once told me that I have no rearview mirror. I believe that’s true: I have little desire to look backward. I make decisions and move on. You should, too.

Think payoff. Your motivation to act comes from the benefits you envision. Is your team morale likely to improve? Will productivity increase? Will you see an impact on the bottom line? Focus on those positives. It’s like going to the dentist—you may not look forward to the process, but the outcome is highly beneficial.

Change can be hard, but uncomfortable changes often lead to breakthroughs. In every challenge lies the opportunity for growth. One of the most difficult decisions that I ever made was leaving the organization my father led—the place I had committed 10 years of my life to. That decision was painful and a little frightening, but it was also the move that changed my career.

From Success

4 Things Remarkable Startups Have In Common

Why do some startups succeed and others don't? Here's a hint: It doesn't have to do with if an idea is good or bad. Indeed, the successful entrepreneurs are able to run with amazing concepts and pivot otherw when needing. There are a few more tried and true principles that can contribute to the success of your new company.

Among other things, these are four things remarkable startups have in common.

1. Founders are insanely passionate about the idea. Don't start a business without passion. You won't be able to see it through if you are not really into your idea. Founders of most successful startups started searching for solutions to a problem they cared about and made it their focus.  

"You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you're not passionate enough from the start, you'll never stick it out," Steve Jobs has said.

Founders with great passion tend to inspire others to greater success, and they look out for those traits in new hires. According to best-selling authors and workplace strategists Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, passion enables innovation and creativity and makes employees want to stay in their jobs and contribute, even when they’re not feeling their best.

2. They don't try to do too much at once. Laser focus is immensely crucial for the success of every new business. What is the one thing your startup is known for?  Your startup should be focusing on the one thing that makes you stand out. All the successful and well-known startups you know today are doing the one thing that makes them stand out.

For instance, Snapchat knows a picture is worth a million words and have allowed users to send photos and videos that disappear a few moments. Dropbox wants to be the go-to solution for uploading and sharing files in the world.. Most great startups start out to provide simple services or products, but as they grow customers and users tend to demand more, the company needs to improve and make solutions even better.

"The most important things for startups to do is to focus. Because there's so many things you could be doing. One of them is the most important. You should be doing that. And not any of the others." says founding partner of Y Combinator Paul Graham.

3. They value their customers and take great care of them. Does your startup know how to design and deliver great customer service? Successful startups are constantly seeking to satisfy their customers. The importance of reinforcing awesome customer service should be made clear among your employees. Design your products with the customer in mind. Remarkable startups listen and respond to their customers' evolving needs and expectations.

Strive to make your customers feel that signing up with you was one of the best decisions they ever made, and you will likely have their business for a very long time. As your product changess, the best opportunity you have at delivering the best service is a close relationship with your customers that value their feedback and user experience. Your customers are the people that support you, trust you and most importantly, rely on you for the service or product you offer. They could have chosen your competitors, but they chose you. Make them a part of your evolving development process. Startups that grow with their customers ultimately win.

4. Entrepreneurs don't forget the importance of culture. Successful startups establish and maintain some the best company cultures that promotes and motivates employees. The team behind a product or service is one of the most important factors for a successful business. The first people you hire for your startup are critical to your startup's success. And cultural fit is as equally important as competence when hiring your best people.

People with the right skills and personality are more likely to influence your small team to greater heights than just competent hires. Culture takes time and effort to build, but as long as you don't lose sight of it, you are on a journey to building a great company. It is well known that Google has a unique culture and some of the company's success can be attributed to this culture. 

From Entrepreneur

10 Things Only Exceptional Bosses Give Employees

Good bosses have strong organizational skills. Good bosses have solid decision-making skills. Good bosses get important things done.

Exceptional bosses do all of the above -- and more. (And we remember them forever.) Sure, they care about their company and customers, their vendors and suppliers. But most importantly, they care to an exceptional degree about the people who work for them.

And that's why they're so rare.

Extraordinary bosses give every employee:

1. Autonomy and independence.

Great organizations are built on optimizing processes and procedures. Still, every task doesn't deserve a best practice or a micro-managed approach. (Here's looking at you, manufacturing industry.)

Engagement and satisfaction are largely based on autonomy and independence. I care when it's "mine." I care when I'm in charge and feel empowered to do what's right.

Plus, freedom breeds innovation: Even heavily process-oriented positions have room for different approaches. (Still looking at you, manufacturing.)

Whenever possible, give your employees the autonomy and independence to work the way they work best. When you do, they almost always find ways to do their jobs better than you imagined possible.

2. Clear expectations.

While every job should include some degree of independence, every job does also need basic expectations for how specific situations should be handled.

Criticize an employee for offering a discount to an irate customer today even though yesterday that was standard practice and you make that employee's job impossible. Few things are more stressful than not knowing what is expected from one day to the next.

When an exceptional boss changes a standard or guideline, she communicates those changes first -- and when that is not possible, she takes the time to explain why she made the decision she made, and what she expects in the future.

3. Meaningful objectives.

Almost everyone is competitive; often the best employees are extremely competitive--especially with themselves. Meaningful targets can create a sense of purpose and add a little meaning to even the most repetitive tasks.

Plus, goals are fun. Without a meaningful goal to shoot for, work is just work.

No one likes work.

4. A true sense of purpose.

Everyone likes to feel a part of something bigger. Everyone loves to feel that sense of teamwork and esprit de corps that turns a group of individuals into a real team.

The best missions involve making a real impact on the lives of the customers you serve. Let employees know what you want to achieve for your business, for your customers, and even your community. And if you can, let them create a few missions of their own.

Feeling a true purpose starts with knowing what to care about and, more importantly, why to care.

5. Opportunities to provide significant input.

Engaged employees have ideas; take away opportunities for them to make suggestions, or instantly disregard their ideas without consideration, and they immediately disengage.

That's why exceptional bosses make it incredibly easy for employees to offer suggestions. They ask leading questions. They probe gently. They help employees feel comfortable proposing new ways to get things done. When an idea isn't feasible, they always take the time to explain why.

Great bosses know that employees who make suggestions care about the company, so they ensure those employees know their input is valued -- and appreciated.

6. A real sense of connection.

Every employee works for a paycheck (otherwise they would do volunteer work), but every employee wants to work for more than a paycheck: They want to work with and for people they respect and admire--and with and for people who respect and admire them.

That's why a kind word, a quick discussion about family, an informal conversation to ask if an employee needs any help -- those moments are much more important than group meetings or formal evaluations.

A true sense of connection is personal. That's why exceptional bosses show they see and appreciate the person, not just the worker.

7. Reliable consistency.

Most people don't mind a boss who is strict, demanding, and quick to offer (not always positive) feedback, as long as he or she treats every employee fairly.

(Great bosses treat each employee differently but they also treat every employee fairly. There's a big difference.)

Exceptional bosses know the key to showing employees they are consistent and fair is communication: The more employees understand why a decision was made, the less likely they are to assume unfair treatment or favoritism.

8. Private criticism.

No employee is perfect. Every employee needs constructive feedback. Every employee deserves constructive feedback. Good bosses give that feedback.

Great bosses always do it in private.

9. Public praise.

Every employee -- even a relatively poor performer -- does something well. Every employee deserves praise and appreciation. It's easy to recognize some of your best employees because they're consistently doing awesome things. (Maybe consistent recognition is a reason they're your best employees? Something to think about.)

You might have to work hard to find reasons to recognize an employee who simply meets standards, but that's okay: A few words of recognition--especially public recognition--may be the nudge an average performer needs to start becoming a great performer.

10. A chance for a meaningful future.

Every job should have the potential to lead to greater things. Exceptional bosses take the time to develop employees for the job they someday hope to land, even if that job is with another company.

How can you know what an employee hopes to do someday? Ask.

Employees will only care about your business after you first show you care about them. One of the best ways is to show that while you certainly have hopes for your company's future, you also have hopes for your employees' futures.

Now it's your turn: What exceptional thing has a truly extraordinary boss done for you?

Written by Jeff Haden

4 Simple Words That Have A Powerful Impact On Your Career

No matter how hard they can be to say, four simple words, used correctly and with the right intent, can make a powerful impact on your profession, your life... and especially on other people.

Here's how. When you need help, just say these four words:

"Can you help me?"

And then pause for a moment. Don't say anything else.

Here's why.

We're not kids anymore. We're adults. We're smart, experienced, and savvy. We've accomplished things. We've earned our place in the world.

So when we ask for help we also tend to unconsciously add image enhancers. For example, if I need help with a presentation I might go to someone and say, "I'm giving a TED Talk next week and my slides need a few formatting tweaks."

The problem is that wording frames and signals my "importance" and ensure my ego is protected. Okay, I may need a little assistance with a trivial little thing like a PowerPoint layout, but still: I am giving a TED Talk. I have important stuff to say. I am the big dog in this particular hunt.

Plus I haven't really asked, I've stated. (When you're in charge and accustomed to directing others, turning a request into a directive is a really easy habit to fall into.)

Here's a better way:

1. When you need help — no matter the kind of help you need or the person you need it from — take the bass out of your voice and the stiffness out of your spine and the captain out of your industry and simply say, with sincerity and humility, "Can you help me?"

I guarantee the other person will say, "Sure," or, "I can try," or, "What do you need?" No one will never say "No," even to a stranger. Why?

Simple: "Can you help me?" speaks powerfully to our instinctive desire to help other people. We all want to help. We can't help wanting to help.

2. Then make sure you don't frame your request. Don't try to protect your ego. Don't imply you place yourself above the other person. Don't make your request too specific. And don't say what you need.

Instead, say what you can't do. Say, "I'm awful at PowerPoint and these slides look terrible." Say, "We absolutely have to ship this order by Tuesday and I have no idea how to make that happen." Say, "I'm lost and I can't find my hotel."

When you ask that way, several powerful things immediately happen... for the person you're asking:

One, you instantly convey respect. Without actually saying it, you've said, "You know more than I do." You've said, "You can do something I can't." You've said, "You have experience (or talents or something) that I don't have."

What you've said is, "I respect you." That level of regard is incredibly powerful — and empowering.

Two, you instantly convey trust. You show vulnerability and admit to weakness.

What you've said is, "I trust you." That level of faith is incredibly powerful — and empowering.

Three, you instantly convey you're willing to listen. You haven't tried to say exactly how people should help you. You give them the freedom to decide.

What you've said is, "You don't need to tell me what you think I want to hear. Please tell me what you think I should do." That level of freedom is incredibly powerful — and empowering.

By showing you respect and trust other people, and by giving them the latitude to freely share their expertise or knowledge, you don't just get the help you think you want.

You might also get the help you really need.

And even though you might think asking for help places a burden on other people, it doesn't. You make it easier for others to ask you for help when they need it because you've shown it's okay to express vulnerability, to admit a weakness, and to accept you need their help.

And more importantly they gain the true sense of satisfaction and pride that comes from being shown the respect and trust we all deserve but so seldom receive.

And afterwards you get to say two more incredibly powerful words:

"Thank you."

And then everyone wins — which is how it should always be.

From Business Insider

A guide to perfect social media posts

People like to say there's no such thing as perfect, but at the rate customers' attention spans are decreasing, social media managers can't risk posting updates that aren't close to perfection.

What does a perfect social media post look like?

An infographic from My Clever Agency has the answer. It explains in detail what strong, engaging and effective social media posts should include. While we've gone over what good Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ posts look like, this infographic has been updated to include YouTube, Instagram, Vine and Tumblr.

Are you ready to achieve perfection? Here are a few tips as to how:

YouTube:

• Carefully name your files. You want your videos to be searchable, so when you upload a video, make sure the file name includes strong keywords, not just "Movie1.mp4."
• Include a call to action. What do you want viewers to do after they watch your video? Give them instructions in the description section, and include a link to your website.

Instagram:

• Use captions. Add captions to your photos to grab followers' attention and prompt discussions.
• Follow basic photography rules. The graphic recommends following the rule of thirds, which says the subject of your photo should only take up two-thirds of the shot. This will make your photos more visually appealing.

Vine:

• Be still. Invest in a tripod to prevent your video from looking shaky. You don't want to make fans nauseous.
• Master the infinite loop. The goal is to create a video that will seamlessly loop over and over. Try to make your final scene blend smoothly into the first one.

Check out the full graphic for the rest of the tips: 

From PR Daily