4 Ways to Energize Yourself and Your Business

At the start of this decade no one was waiting around the office at midnight dreading to see if the electric grid crashed, if computer-based machinery stopped, or society fell into chaos due to Y2K as we did ten years ago. Yet, I still witnessed people dreading returning from their four day weekend to the daily grind that chewed up many businesses and their leaders last year.

To revitalize a company the leader must first be revitalized. How can you revitalize yourself when the economy is still down, people still seem to be in a negative mindset, and the future is quite unclear? With these four action items you can reenergize your vitality as a leader and once again set a positive tone for your staff to follow and vicariously become more energized themselves.

1. Get a reality check

I’ve heard it said many times; things are never as good as they seem and never as bad as they seem. 2009 seemed to be a pretty bad year for most organizations. Many executives just gave up in the fourth quarter and started focusing on 2010. In retrospect, 2009 was filled with lessons. Step back from the pain and frustration of 2009 and make a list of lessons learned that can help you in the future. We all learned last year, in some cases it could be what not to do. However, aren’t those some of the best lessons to have?

2. Make a plan

Free-wheeling is no longer an option for leadership; nor is sticking directly on a plan. Flexibility within a plan is different than free-wheeling in that you have a clear understanding of destination and the ability to make adjustments. Do you have a written plan for this year? Do you have a written plan for your personal life? I’m not being pollyanna here, I know you don’t suddenly wake up one day and life is all rosy. The business side of life is still going to be a climb up the mountain, but your personal life can be a great source of energy fueling that climb. Have a personal plan as well as a business plan.

3. Find inspiration in your personal life

People are still going to reject some of your sales efforts, companies are still tight with budgets, and the country still has a ways to go before we are into positive growth. In other words, business is still going to be a challenging environment. That is why I set 50 personal goals for the year (to go with my 50 professional goals for the year) because I know I get inspired in my personal life. Who inspires you? What inspirational friends do you need to spend more time with? What friends do you need to avoid/drop/move on from? If you aren’t being positively impacted by your friends, you are losing energy that is needed to fight the business battle. Find inspiration.

4. Try something completely different

How many times last year, did you ask people to give you more, hammer them for not doing their jobs correctly, and generally focused on the negative aspects of the business. Try something different this year. Become solution-focused instead of blame-focused. Be proactive instead of reactive. Look for innovative approaches instead of cutting budgets and doing less of the same that wasn’t working in the first place!!!

Pushing an elevator button repeatedly does not make the elevator arrive any quicker. I think we fall into this type of behavior frequently when times are tough. Get real about the positives, find solutions for the negatives and get energized to lead. Because it is the beginning of a new year, now is a great opportunity to refocus, reinvent, and reenergize yourself and your staff. Get pumped to make a difference this year.

10 Obsolete Products and Ideas. Is Your Business Obsolete?

Over the last decade a number of things have become obsolete or are virtually on life support. It’s easy to spot in other people’s products and services that are obsolete, but what about your own? After reading this list, reflect on your business. What are the products, services, habits, marketing approaches, and managerial methods that are obsolete in your business. We are about to start a new decade, is your business ready?

1. The busy signal

Phone technology has advanced so much we rarely hear a busy signal any more. Call waiting and voice mail have made hearing the busy signal obsolete. Ask a young person what does a busy signal sound like, and watch the look they give you.

2. Dial up modem

Once again a sound that you hardly hear anymore is the electronic gurgling of a dial up modem searching then making a connection. 10 years ago this was the common Internet connection, today it is pretty much gone from existence.

3. The “Blind” date

Once upon a time when you were fixed up on a blind date you had no clue who the person was or anything about her other than what your friend told you about her. Today with Google, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter there is an encyclopedia of knowledge you can obtain before actually meeting in person. Which begs the question: Are you using these tools to learn about prospects before calling on them?

4. Poor TV reception

No more rabbit ears and tin foil to find the best channel reception. We have more than 4 stations to pick from as well. CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS were about all the choices you had and getting them watchable was an exercise.

5. Waiting to get photos developed

Photo technology has changed from waiting a few days to get back vacation pictures to having them on your computer in five minutes. Almost unlimited capacity and no waiting are the code words of the photo industry today.

6. Answering machine

Along with the busy signal the small answering machine box has all but disappeared in its short lived life span. This product was being replaced almost as fast as it was invented. It had a very short life cycle.

7. A calculator watch

We no longer need watches with tiny button to do basic calculations on. In fact, we no longer are in need of wrist watches to tell time. Good thing the industry decided to market them as status and jewelry accessories.

8. Floppy disk

Ten years ago portable memory was on 3.5 inch disks that held so little memory capacity; most current programs wouldn’t fit on ten of them. Today, thumb drives, and portable hard drives the size of transistor radios (remember them?) make memory capacity readily available. Expect these devices to go the way of floppy disks in the near future as well with the advance of cloud computing.

9. Car cigarette lighters

The ubiquitous cigarette lighter was on the dash board of every car. Who knew that penny-sized hole would transform into an electronics charging port? The lighters don’t even come with the port anymore as the transformation from lighter to charger port is complete.

10. Getting an AOL disk in the mail

Monthly I was getting a disk of free minutes for AOL. Snail mail spam as it were. When was the last time you saw one of those? AOL the pioneer of online connection is lost in the vast number of ways to access the all important information highway.

Whispers are Now Broadcasts

My parents' generation barely wanted to talk about sex with doctors let alone in public, and today with social media and phone technology we are so open with our thoughts we have a new word: sexting. What was once whispered is now considered broadcast worthy.

Between twitter, facebook and texting millions of people feel the need to express their every emotion, thought and circumstance. That behavior is slopping over to the real world too. Recently I was in a poker tournament and the young man beside me started just going off about what he was going to do based on my actions. It is rude to talk about a hand while it is still in play so I asked him what he was doing. He told me he was talking to himself. Another person immediately chimed in, "We can hear you!"

This is where we are in society -- out loud, unbuffered thinking and communicating. Is this the transparency we really need? Social media is becoming the self-help group therapy session for millions of people and it is changing how society interacts. The lines are blurring of what is considered professional, confidential and appropriate.

Had a bad meal at a restaurant? Tell everyone and take a picture of the food to post. Dealing with a rude customer service person on the phone? Tell the world.

People are creating hate blogs, corporate bashing websites and editorial commentary on anything and anyone. This is changing business interaction and creating ethical questions for organizations.

Can an executive read an employee's posts and take action based on what was posted? Can an employer read a prospective employee's twitter postings (tweets) before the interview? Can a business file a suit against a customer for false reporting of a negative situation? How does an executive handle a negative thread of posts on their corporate facebook page? Is that censorship or good business?

These questions and many others are raising the stakes on the open communication in social media. Executives need to crate policies to deal with these broadcasts from employees, customers and cowardly bashers who have been given a forum to vent.

As we've seen with the Tiger Woods story, a person can go from role model to pariah in a matter of hours as people heap opinions upon opinions in open communication. In the age of instant communication and unvarnished baseless opinion organizations need to be ready to handle a firestorm that was once whispered but now is an open broadcast. The rules of communication have shifted dramatically in the last 12 months. Businesses need to create the proper response within the next 12 months or risk the loss of control on your brand, business message and information.

5 Ways to Get Your Mind in the Game

Watching college football games over the weekend and thinking about how we are coming to the end of a challenging year I am reminded how critical it is for us to be focused because there is such a slim margin between winning and losing.

1. Your morning pregame

All athletes know the importance of pregame preparation which is why some are almost obsessive to have the identical pregame routine before every game. Listen to the same music, have the same meal, even to the point of in what order they put on their socks. Lack of a structured pregame can have a negative impact. I've witnessed games lost because of the attitudes in the locker room before the game ever started.They just didn't have their minds ready for the game.

Rushing into your office at the last minute with a cup of coffee and a half eaten Danish isn't how to start your day. Neither is wiping away the sleep from your eyes because you stayed up late watching the game the night before.

Define your perfect morning pregame. What should you eat? How much rest should you have the night before? What are you thinking during your commute? What is your excitement level for hitting the office door charging into your day?

The next time you watch a college football game imagine the team strolling onto the field just before kick off still pulling on their uniforms and grabbing a snack. Would you think they were prepared? Why do you accept that losing behavior in yourself? Get in the game before the game.

2. Clearing your mind of distractions

Athletes with off the field problems frequently tell reporters they enjoy being in the game because they get to block out the distractions and focus on winning. How many office mates do you see wasting time, energy and effort on distractions outside of the job? When you are at work are you AT work? When I pay to see a concert I expect the band to be in the moment and deliver their best effort I paid to see. When I see an athlete play I want to see a focus that is on nothing else but winning the game I paid to attend.

Your employer paid to have you deliver your best performance. Are you focused enough to bring your best to the table? Once upon a time people brought their work problems home. Today, people bring their home problems to work and their performance reflects this distracted behavior.

Get in the game. Leave the distractions for another time and get your focus on like millions are counting on you to deliver the victory -- because you employer, customers, potential customers and employees are.

3. Know your role

I saw a great quote of a military edict: Shut your hole and know your role. Imagine if you adopted that approach to the rest of the year of work? In the final three weeks of the year create a focus that isn't about small talk and gossip and instead was a pure focus of getting things done you know need done. Perform your role you know makes things positive happen. Forget the chit chat, zone in on the task at hand.

4. Have a plan

The night before you check out of your office did you leave a specific plan for the next day? Without that plan most people lose the first couple of hours of the morning trying to get the day started in the right direction. Imagine your job is a movie and when you turn the lights out in your office for the day you hit the pause button on the movie. The next morning when you throw on the lights for the day you hit the play button on the movie. No warming up, none of this "Now where were we?" No refiguring what needs to be done. The movie picks up on the line of dialogue it paused at with a seamless plan (script) still in place.

A plan will give you that type of consistency day to day that will help you get many more things accomplished.

5. Execute the plan

I hear executives tell me they do write down their plans for the next day the night before but when they hit the office in the morning there are unforeseen demands and distractions and some days they never get to the plan. Sounds to me like the job is in control of the executive instead of the executive being in control of the job. When you have a plan and execute the plan you know how to deal with the few distractions that come up.

Having a plan and not sticking to it, is nothing but a Santa Claus wish list of things you want to happen. Everyone wants to win, but those who win are the ones who have their mind in the game.