January 20, 2012 – 11:40 am
I was walking to get my morning coffee, when I saw them. Huddled together around a table with icy noses, their girl sashes gave them away: Girl Scouts. Though their dedication and frozen faces weakened me to buy 3 boxes of thin mints, it also made me think about the leadership lessons we can learn from these little ladies. In honor of the organization’s 100th Anniversary, here are 3 lessons we can learn from the Girl Scouts: The Leaders: Lessons from the Girl Scouts View more presentations from Ja-Naé Duane What other lessons can we learned from this organization? How you ever been a Girl Scout or a Boy Scout? What leadership skills did it instill into you? We would love to hear from you. Related Posts How to Recognize Opportunity How to Read Body Language 50+ Business and Leadership Quotes
I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts the other night and there was a discussion whether aptitude or attitude was more important in defining individual success. I believe attitude is far more important than aptitude. All the talent, knowledge, and skill in the world will not make someone a success in life if they do not learn how to apply it productively. I believe those of us who do reach our dreams are usually just the people who have accumulated the best habits. Humans are creatures of habit. Our bodies and minds want us to be stuck in a comfortable routine of homeostasis. Subconsciously, your inner self is thinking only about survival and not about success, “I’ve survived this far doing what I’ve always done, so changing can only risk danger.” So picking up a new habit or getting rid of an old one is a lot harder than we think. We subconsciously fight against such change. But the ability to form new habits is ultimately the key to success, so I want to share these 6 habit-forming steps with you: 1. Do it for 30 Days – The common consensus is that it takes about 21 [...]
Have you ever had the morning where two cups of coffee wasn’t even to get you going to tackle the day? The type of morning where your bed is so comfortable that you wonder why you ever leave it to do other things? Yes, it is that type of morning. We all need a little motivation from time to time. One way that always gets me going are quotes that I love. From Vince Lombardi to Lao Tzu, here are 50+ quotes to help kick start your day! 1. “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” -Lao Tzu 2. “Leadership rests not only upon ability, not only upon capacity; having the capacity to lead is not enough. The leader must be willing to use it. His leadership is then based on truth and character. There must be truth in the purpose and will power in the character.” -Vince Lombardi 3. Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. – Norman Schwarzkopf 4. The golden rule for every business man is [...]
I shared a late dinner with my friend Janice recently. Janice is mostly successful pursuing her own projects, but often lets her pessimism impede her success. She’s always thinks something bad will happen that will totally derail one of her projects. Then, when something good does happen, she doesn’t believe she deserves it and waits for the other shoe to drop. Does this sound like you? Too often we allow negativity to get in the way of our success by feeling undeserving of that success. We all must learn to receive and accept the good things that happen to us as the rewards of our hard work. If you do not know how to receive, you may never get what you want. Here’s how you can be more receptive. 1. Notice Your Work. Success more often comes from working smart rather than working hard. But since most people believe that success is they payoff of hard work, they do not feel like they deserve it if it came from smart work. This is not true. Always take time to think about the effort you put in and commend yourself for working smart to achieve your goals. This will help you [...]
This weekend, I met with my friend Mark who explained to me that his overconfidence actually got in the way of his success. I know, this flies in the face of everything we keep hearing about “confident people are successful people.” But the problem for Mark was his cockiness; thinking he knew it all. Believing he always knew what was best often ended up tripping him up in the long run. Confidence is good, and something we should all strive for. But some lament being overconfident and getting in over their head. The secret is to know your limitations and strike a balance between confidence, which inspires others, and cockiness, which alienates others. Here are three ways to cultivate confidence while tempering overconfidence: 1. Display confidence, but always question yourself. Even the most confident among us have doubts. But lingering doubts undermine the confidence of those who work under us, eventually unwinding the trust others have in your leadership and the task at hand. Leaders need to be a source of guidance to inspire others and keep group confidence strong. But at the same time, you should always continue to question and reassess your decisions in private. 2. Know when [...]
I was talking with my friend Kathy over lunch who had a clever idea for a business but did not believe she had the skills necessary to execute it. This made me think of how most people believe successful people are multi-skilled individuals with jack-of-all trade talents and abilities. But the truth is one of the most ubiquitous trait of a successful business owner is being able to find and keep the right people for the right jobs. Successful businesses attract the right talent. Therefore, becoming a talent magnet should be at the top of every manager’s list. Here are three habits you should cultivate in order to create a team of talented individuals: 1. Build relationships with talented people before you need them. Don’t wait until you need someone with a specific skill before engaging with such a person. For example, you might be able to handle your own accounting now, but when your business grows you’ll want a talented and reliable accountant to handle that end of your business. Never stop networking in your industry. Determine who has the talent are and what inspires them about their work. Cultivate these relationships early because they will come in handy [...]
By Ja-Naé Duane
|
Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Uncategorized
|
Also tagged business, entrepreneurs, home-based business, how to start a business, small business, the freelancer, wahm, working from home
|
I have a friend who has acquired many different skills, from automobile repair to computer programming. One time when I asked him where he learned so many skills, his answer was simple – he taught himself through “trial and error.” He allowed himself to fail until he learned the skill. This has made me think a lot about failure and how important it is to allow yourself to fail. All of my successes have come from failure. Projects never end up the way I originally intend, people who seemed like they could be accountable could not, and businesses took longer to make a profit than I had anticipated. But the English language has made us equate failing with being a failure, when in fact failing is necessary in order to succeed. If we never allow ourselves to fail, then, unless we are born perfect, we’ll never attempt to learn or do anything that risks failure. When I started my first business, I made many mistakes and “failures” before I got it right. I didn’t give up or get discouraged because I understood that failing was just a step towards success. And I was right. In order to succeed, you must [...]
April 11, 2011 – 10:06 am
This morning, I spoke to a group of women entrepreneurs over breakfast. After the talk, one of them came up to me and asked how I assess risk. She disclosed that she had a few businesses and they have never really taken off the way she thought they would. She asked me what I would do if I was in her situation. That’s easy for me to answer, because I’ve been in that situation many times! There are a ton of ideas that I thought would be good project and ventures – and they just weren’t. I’ve had ideas crash and burn just like everyone. It’s all part of the process and it led and led to a lot of trial and error (and a loss of money). Fortunately, I have learned from these experiences and developed a system for what businesses I start and how I invest in them. And now you can benefit from my mistakes and experience by following my rules: 1. Less is More. When I am assessing a new product or service, I determine the value of the minimum product or service I can create to shop around. How can I bundle the most minimal version [...]
My good friend Chuck is a big ideas guy. You know, one of those guys who has about 15 fantastic ideas a day. But when he starts to implement them, he often stops suddenly, usually right before the work finally pays off. Why? Maybe it’s a loss of interest, or new projects come up, or it’s just a lack of follow-through required to be successful. So, when we sit down and talk, he wonders why he isn’t as successful as he thinks he should be and cannot understand why. Sound familiar? Maybe like someone you know or are. Allow me to let you in on a big secret that I have learned through my own countless trial and error. Successful people do not necessarily have some incredible talent, skill, or ability that makes them a success. They simply have learned to deal with the biggest obstacle in the way of success, themselves. Why does Chuck, and a lot of people you and I both probably know, so often abandon big ideas when they are so close to completion? The reason might be because of how we feel about our goals and dreams. Dreaming of success makes us feel better about [...]
Life has an interesting way of presenting its lessons sometimes. The Our Revolution road trip was no exception. Below is very personal account of the biggest lesson I have learned on the trip: The Power of Vulnerability. This has been an eye opener for me and has changed much of how I do business and even interact with others. What have you learned recently that has informed how you walk through life or do business? What do you think holds you back? We would love to hear from you! Related Posts: The Secret of Flexibility Leadership: How to Build a Winning Team! 35+ Business and Leadership Quotes for Entrepreneurs
