Better Business Results

How Do You Increase The Success of Strategic Alliances?

Recently, I was interviewed on the "Let's Talk Success" radio show regarding the topic of how to leverage strategic alliances and other third party relationships such as outsourcing, partnerships and other types of collaborations.
BlogTalkRadio.com/letstalksuccess

Looking for more information? Visit BusinessAdvance.com/articles to read "Four Steps to Making Strategic Alliances Work" and "Grow Your Business By Finding Your 'Hidden' Organization."

An Ordinary Miracle

My husband, Scott, and I were getting into our car parked in the garage at Newark Airport.  It was 10:00pm.  We had just completed a full day of travel back from San Francisco, and were eager to get home after a week away. However as we got into our car, Scott realized that he had lost his driver's license somewhere between the Air Train terminal at Newark Airport's Terminal C and the Long Term Parking Garage.  After retracing his steps with no success, Scott resigned himself to the prospect of the unpleasant and time-consuming task of replacing his license.
 
This is where the story becomes interesting.  We had just pulled away from the toll booth after paying our parking fee and were getting ready to exit the airport grounds, when I noticed a shadowy figure of a man in the darkness running toward our car.  He was frantically waving his arms, and in one hand he had a small white square - Scott's driver's license!

Huffing and puffing, the man explained he was an airport worker and had noticed that Scott dropped his license back in the Air Train terminal.  He immediately picked it up and had been trying to catch up with us for the past 20 minutes.  With a smile, he gave Scott the license and turned to leave.  Of course we called him back to thank him, and insisted on giving him a cash reward as a more tangible expression of appreciation. He gracefully accepted our gesture; but before we could get his name to express appreciation to his management, he vanished just as quickly as he had appeared. 
 
During the drive home, Scott and I reflected on what had just occurred.  First, there was the miracle of encountering a stranger who really cared, with no thought of getting a reward other than knowing that he was doing something good for someone else.  But in addition to that, it was amazing that he was able to catch up with us at the last moment before we left the airport. 
 
This wasn't an earth-shattering event, but it was an ordinary miracle created by an extraordinary person. Having been inspired by this man, I know I'll be looking for ways to create an ordinary miracle for someone else.  Now if we all did that, imagine what would happen...
 
Have you experienced your own "ordinary miracle?"  I invite you to share your story with us. 

How to Use Twitter To Grow Your Business

While I see numerous debates going on about the usefulness of Twitter in business, there are plenty of companies that are already finding ways to make Twitter work for them. In fact, the website MarketingProfs now offers a complimentary report to subscribers about the ways in which 11 companies are successfully using Twitter. However, companies are not the only ones using Twitter to get messages to stakeholders; a variety of government agencies, most notably the SEC has been Tweeting as well. Communicating by headlines makes sense in a world that demands immediacy and is saturated by information. So the issue is not whether Twitter is useful. It definitely serves a serious purpose. However, I've identified three main challenges: 1) Taking the time to learn how to use Twitter effectively (there are entire podcasts dedicated to the nuances and etiquette of the Twittersphere) 2) Understanding how many ways it can be applied to meet your communication objectives 3) Making the commitment to keep showing up and experimenting We're all learning together. Do you have examples of how Twitter has helped you in business? If so, please post them below.

Teleconference: Finding Hidden Opportunities To Grow Your Business

Are you an entrepreneur or business leader who is serious about growing your business? Are you looking for ways to turbo-charge progress toward your goals and dreams? Often times there are more opportunities to do this than may seem possible. On Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 11am ET / 10am CT / 9am MT / 8am PT. , I'm offering a customized teleconference for qualified attendees. You'll gain tips you can immediately use to: * Uncover the most common (but mistaken) assumption that can get in the way of finding new opportunities * Gain wide-spread support of your ideas * Use others' resistance to change to your advantage * Maintain credible communication - even when things don't go well * Minimize risk and maximize success of any new opportunity The first ten qualified attendees will be eligible for a drawing to receive a complimentary autographed copy of my book "Preventing Strategic Gridlock." Registration fee is $99/attendee. For more information contact us. For testimonials, click here

How to Choose Your Route

It's never great to arrive somewhere totally jet lagged. Unfortunately, having gotten all of four hours of sleep the night before and having endured an eleven hour trip from Newark to Las Vegas (that's another story), I was totally exhausted by the time I entered the crush of humanity at the airport waiting for a cab.

By the time I snaked around six lines of tired and cranky people, I didn't even care where I was. Finally, I dragged myself to my assigned space on the taxi line to catch a legitimate ride to my hotel. However, as I crawled into the back seat of the car, the driver asked a question for which I was totally unprepared: "Do you want the most direct route or do you want the fastest route?"

For those of you who don't know me, I travel extensively as a consultant and speaker, and I travel extensively in my personal life. I pride myself on being fairly savvy about airplanes, trains, and cabs. In fact, I've been to Las Vegas a number of times. But somehow this question had never come up before. "Just get me to my hotel!" I moaned. So the driver took me on what I came to find out was the "fastest route." As we wove on and off the expressway and circled around the Strip, I had a sneaking suspicion that this was not going to be cheap. How much did I spend? Let's just say I had to get more cash when I arrived at my destination.

The next day when I followed up with the cab company, the dispatcher explained the rationale for the question: The fastest route to the Strip isn't necessarily the most direct route and it's always more expensive. But the most direct route to the Strip is likely to take longer despite the cheapest fare. So it may be worth more money to get there faster. Got that?

Once I slept off the jet lag, I had to admit that the logic really does make sense. It all comes down to what we value most: our time or our money. It's not the driver's responsibility or accountability to decide this, yet we often push tough decisions in business or in life onto someone else, and then blame the other person (manager, coworker, spouse, consultant, driver, etc.) when the decision doesn't work out as planned.

The truth is we can and should accept advice from knowledgeable people. That's smart. But ultimately each one of us is responsible and accountable for making the tough calls in our businesses and in our lives. It may not be easy, especially when we're tired and cranky, but it's the most ethical route to travel.

How Corporate Resilience Impacts Marketing

Recently, I was a guest on Marketing Thought Leadership, hosted by Linda Popky of L2M Associates.  In this 11 minute interview,  I define the "Art of Corporate Resilience," the critical role of marketing, and three steps that marketing executives can take to increase the resilience of their organizations. During the interview, I also refer people to my Special Report "Three Steps To Shape Your Business Culture and Improve Business Results"

Living in Gratitude

Yesterday was a day to be grateful.  I took a very nasty fall on a patch of ice and I was grateful that I wasn't seriously injured.  Meanwhile, 15 miles from where I live, 155 passengers and flight crew on US Airways flight 1549 went through a spectacular emergency water landing on the Hudson River and they were grateful to have been rescued promptly and alive to tell the tale.  On top of that, there are thousands of people in the congested area along the flight's path who were grateful that the pilot was skilled enough to land the plane safely.  But the fact is we don't have to be facing life threatening situations in order to find the good things around us.

As an experiment, I decided to challenge myself to find 15 things for which I am grateful.  Not surprisingly, I accomplished my goal.  Of course the big things such as family relationships, friends, health, food, and housing were easy to identify.  However, finding 15 things required some stretching of the mind.  I had to go deeper into myself to discover things that I had been taking for granted.  One example: I'm grateful that I have an opportunity to meet fascinating people through my work as a consultant.

The most important thing I learned from living in gratitude, however, is that it's a powerful tool for balancing all of the negative news and challenges that surround us.  Gaining perspective on what is going well frees up the mind to more effectively address problems and take advantage of opportunities.

Those of us who were grateful yesterday for avoiding physical injury and death have the power to live in gratitude every day.  So does everyone else.

How a Magnetic Personal Image Can Increase Business Success

Recently, I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal discussing the impact that personal image can have on someone's ability to achieve full career potential as an attorney.  While the article seemed to be a cautionary tale for entry and mid-level professionals, I believe this holds true all the way through the executive level and applies across industries.  It can be a hidden roadblock to rely upon a personal image that has been successful for us over the years without considering that it may no longer be a fit for where we are today, and even more importantly, where we need to be tomorrow.

Angie Katselianos is someone who understands these issues. She is president of Platinum Performance International in Milan, Italy, and we first met last summer at a continuing education workshop.  I was immediately impressed by Angie's elegance and magnetic personal image, and so were many of the other women and men in attendance. Over the months, I've gained a great deal of respect for her expertise.  Therefore, I'm spreading the word that on May 4-6, 2009, Angie will be offering a unique seminar for business and professional women on the topic of personal image building, based in the fashion capital of the world - Milan, Italy. Her press release provides more information.

I highly recommend Angie's seminar for those who are committed to tapping into every opportunity to achieve business success. 

Six Steps to Accomplish Your New Year's Resolutions

Those of you who have read my book "Preventing Strategic Gridlock (R)" know that I use the acrononym U.N.L.O.C.K.(R) to describe a process for developing and implementing business strategies.  However, the same process can be used for setting and accomplishing New Year's resolutions.

 1)  U-Step:  Understand what's important to you.  Most of the time we're so busy going through life that we don't take the time to consider what really matters.  The very act of making a resolution puts us in touch with what needs to happen in order to live the best life possible. 

2)  N-Step: Negotiate buy-in of key stakeholders.  Remember that those who impact or are impacted by your resolutions are not always those who are closest to you.  Example:  A resolution to lose weight impacts not only immediate family members; it also impacts extended family, friends,  and co-workers with whom you share snacks and meals.  What information do they need from you in order to help you achieve your resolution?

3)  L-Step:  Locate cultural advancers and blockers.  Identify the values, beliefs and practices that will help or hinder your accomplishment of your resolution.  Example: One executive who resolved to delegate more to his managers realized he had strong values and beliefs that inadvertently reinforced keeping plans in his head and not sharing information with others.  When he evaluated the benefits and risks of adapting a new mindset, he was able to change his actions to accomplish his reslution.

3)  O-Step: Organize relevant priorities, goals and actions.  Once you've decided that your resolution is really important, which priorities are you going to shift in order to make sure this one actually happens?  What are the supporting goals and actions that you are capable of and willing to do?  Many times the first action steps are small -  getting the name of a fitness club, identifying an appropriate advisor, etc.

5)  C-Step:  Communicate Credibly: Whether or not you actively shape your communication, others are taking messages from everything you do - and don't do.  Example: Someone who says he or she wants to adopt a healthier lifestyle but does not exercise or change eating habits is not credible in his or her communication. 

6) K- Step: Keep Adjusting:   Measure progress with checkpoints and milestones. If the circumstances that prompted you to make a resolution in January 2009 no longer apply by March 2009, there's no reason to stick with that resolution - use the U-step (step 1)  to make a new, more relevant resolution. Also, if one way to achieve it hasn't worked, go back through all the steps of the process to find both the cause of the problem and a way to overcome the obstacle.

Ultimately, New Year's resolutions - like all goals - need to be fluid to account for constant shifts in the environment.  Happy New Year!

What Families of 9/11 Can Teach Us About Resilience

Living in the New York City Metropolitan Area brings a unique perspective to the yearly observances honoring those who perished in the attacks on 9/11.  It's personal.  Our newspaper is still filled with stories of neighbors who lost their loved ones.  But this year there are more stories that reflect a spirit of determination to take control and live life to the fullest despite the tragedy.

For example, one woman who lost two sons in the attacks described how she and her family and friends now use 9/11 as a day to get together and celebrate the lives of these men, rather than mourn their loss. This shift in focus has given the family a strong measure of comfort that helps them live into life, rather than folding as victims.

It's easy to get caught up in major problems and believe we have no control.  However, the reality is we always have a choice regarding how we deal with what's in front of us - even during tragedies.  Many times, the best thing we can do under extremely tough circumstances is shift our perspectives:

• Who is still with us?
• What resources do we still have?
• What can we still do to move toward what we need and want?

These questions, and others like them, can go a long way in opening our minds to new ideas and behaviors that can lead us to a better place.

Resilience isn't just about recovery. It's also about making the best of the tough times.  Just as the family above had to come to terms with who and what they still have in order to get to the most out of life, we can all benefit from their example in shifting perspective when faced with any type of adversity. 

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