Tag Archives: leadership

3 Simple Ways to Build Company Culture

May 18, 2010 – 10:19 am

Company culture is one of the most important things you can focus on. It doesn’t matter if you are starting a business, running a small business or leading a 300 person company. Your culture is your direct link to your brand AND its longevity. Why? People support things they relate to and believe in, as I spoke about in this recent post about leadership perspective. If you’re not building your company culture, then you’re losing the game. Here are 3 Simple Ways to Build Company Culture: Find your Company Values: What does your company stand for? What do your employees believe in? What motivates them? Brands that thrive are the ones that unite its employees with its customers for a greater purpose. What’s yours? Stop Changing What You Offer: When companies struggle (I saw this a lot during the recession), they start reinventing themselves. That is not always necessary. Know which products and services are your biggest seller and find things that compliment that. No need to reinvent the wheel. Grow and Nurture Your Leaders: Employees can be your biggest evangelists. So can your customers. Consider them all leaders representing your company. How can you grow and nurture them into [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)

35+ Business and Leadership Quotes for Entrepreneurs

May 14, 2010 – 8:43 am
Lao Tzu-Love this guy!

We all need inspiration. Becoming an entrepreneur and starting a business, as well as growing it into a successful small business takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. If you’re on this road, then here are some business and leadership quotes that may help you along the way. 1. “The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes” -Tony Blair 2. “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 3. “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” -Ken Blanchard 4. “You do not lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.” -Dwight D. Eisenhower 5. “A good leader is not the person who does things right, but the person who finds the right things to do.” -Anthony T. Dadova 6. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” -John Quincy Adams 7. “Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy.” -Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf 8. [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (5)

Entrepreneurs, are you afraid? The Only Thing You Need..

May 6, 2010 – 9:02 am

Entrepreneurs, artists, small business owners, parents learning social media basics to watch over their kids, it doesn’t matter. I see it all the time. People share with me what holds them back and it is ALWAYS the same: FEAR! Though fear can hold us back (and even paralyze us), there is only ONE thing you need to do to overcome it: No matter how small a step, continue to move forward toward your goal or objective. Life, like water, is meant to flow, move forward. We must flow with it. So, do just that. Put one foot in front of another. What situation have you had in your life where you found that you were forced to move forward, but you were glad you did? Did someone you love pass away? Did you get divorced or have a terribly break up and thought you would never move on? Have you ever been put in a position where you were not sure how you were going to pay your rent and you were forced to find a way? Share with us how you put one foot in front of another and why you were glad you did. We can all benefit [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

Leadership: How to Build a Winning Team!

April 26, 2010 – 9:16 am
Leadership: Building a Winning Team

You’ve heard the saying that “people are a company’s greatest asset,” right? It’s true! Your company (no matter if you work from home or have a small business) is only as good as the people running it – on all levels. That is why is it vital to pick the right people. Even if you’re outsourcing your work. So, who are the right people? How do you know whether or not a person will work out? This answer varies from company to company. The first step is to sit down and look at your company’s long term goals. How is your company looking to grow? What are the qualities that you would like in your ideal employee? What skills and assets are absolutely essential for each employee to embody? Your answers will allow you to determine the qualifications you expect of your employees. For example, if expansion and growth are important, you may want employees who are flexible (because growth requires change), innovative (because growth requires creativity), and looking for advancement (because growth offers opportunities). If you want to specialize in a specific niche, you’ll need employees with specialized skills to match. If you’re trying to improve quality, hiring employees [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (9)

Time Management Tools and Skills

April 22, 2010 – 9:00 am

Are you looking for ways to hone your time management skills and have more freedom? I had the pleasure to meet the late Carnegie Mellon professor, Randy Pausch (author of The Last Lecture). He was a wealth of knowledge.  Here is a wonderful Youtube video where he shows his tricks on gaining more time back.

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments (2)

How to Follow Your Instincts in Business (and Life)

April 15, 2010 – 9:03 am

Your instincts are your best friend, whether you are a leader, working a 9 to 5 or a working from home entrepreneur. Check out my video about how to follow your instincts and let me know what you think.

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Spirituality, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)

Tony Robbins Tells You How to Communicate with Me

April 8, 2010 – 1:40 pm

As a CEO and leader, I want to know what motivates me. Don’t you? So, when a friend passed this free evaluation from Tony Robbins onto a few of us, of course I took it. The entire thing was pretty dead on. What I was most intrigued with was the page that told other people how they should communicate me with. Take a look: How should people communicate with you? What motivates you? Feel free to post here or on Facebook or through Twitter!

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Happiness, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments (3)

Starting a Business? Free Business Tips on Facebook

April 7, 2010 – 9:02 am

Are you on Facebook? With “How to Start Your Business with $100” coming out soon, I wanted a place to give free business tips. Check out the Video and what I am thinking! Also, if you just want to check out the fan page: How to Start Your Business with $100 Promote Your Page Too

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Which Business Strategies are Working for You?

April 6, 2010 – 9:48 am

With spring upon us, its a great time for entrepreneurs, small business owners and leaders to figure out which business strategies are working and which ones should be ditched. Watch the video and let me know what you think!

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Entrepreneurs to 9 to 5: Need a Project Manager?

March 26, 2010 – 9:13 am

Whether you work from home or a 9 to 5 workweek, I’m sure you have a ton of projects, am I right?  There is something exhilarating about starting a fresh project, especially in a leadership role. Well-managed projects make me feel productive and constantly on the move; but when there are several projects going on at once, I tend to lose my marbles, and long for an outside source to keep me in check and on the right path. Project management is a full-time job for some people, and with good reason. It involves planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. Project managers can help manage the scope, quality, time-allotted, and budget for a project.  This is a great service for home based business entrepreneurs. Some project management tools and services I like to employ are: Yugma, a desktop sharing and collaboration service that allows you to share your computer screen in real-time. Yugma allows you to host a virtual meeting between multiple project contributors, allowing different players to serve as presenters by way of their home computers. Yugma’s services allow project collabora­tors to communicate efficiently and effectively with remote [...]

By Ja-Naé Duane | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (4)