Imitation is the costliest form
of flattery
Everyone knows that the Snuggie
is a blanket with arms -- but
few may realize that at least
two other manufacturers were
making a similar product before
Snuggie came along. Lawyers say
it's important to protect your
ideas with a patent, and
applications can cost as little
as $500. Even with protection,
however, entrepreneurs should
constantly innovate to keep
ahead of imitators, experts
warn.
USA TODAY
3 ways to spot when someone is
lying
There are verbal and nonverbal
cues that someone is not telling
the truth, says Pamela Meyer,
author of "Liespotting: Proven
Techniques to Detect Deception."
For example, someone may be
lying if they provide too many
inappropriate details, "as if to
prove to you they are telling
the truth," she says. Another
sign: "They will look you in the
eye too much, as if to appear
honest, when in fact most people
telling the truth only look you
in the eye a comfortable 60% of
the time."
SmartBrief/SmartBlog on
Workforce
Why e-mail is no place for
arguments
E-mail is a great invention for
simple communication, "but it's
not personal and it doesn't work
for personal arguments," Tim
Berry warns. Lacking any human
inflection, e-mail can only make
an argument worse. Instead, work
out differences the
old-fashioned way: "Talk about
it. Walk across the hall or get
on the phone. You'll be glad you
did."
Planning Startups Stories blog
Branson: Empires start with
enjoyment
Richard Branson writes that he
wasn't looking to create an
empire when he launched Virgin
Group in a London basement. "I
set out to create something I
enjoyed that would pay the
bills," he writes, suggesting
that other entrepreneurs do the
same. Among his other tips:
Shake up the sector you're
working in and create something
employees can be proud of.
Entrepreneur.com
Not a natural-born negotiator?
No problem
Honing your skills as a
negotiator can be an important
career-development tool. To
improve in the hot seat, make
sure you're not in an emotional
state when you start to talk to
the other party. Determining
what both sides have in common
also helps, along with being a
good, active listener.
The Customer Collective
Beware of too much
self-confidence
Self-confidence is a virtual
requirement for entrepreneurial
success, but "overdosing on
confidence" can ruin a business,
John Baldoni writes. Do you
always have lunch with the same
people? Rarely speak to a
customer? Make most decisions
without consulting others? Those
are among the warning signs that
your confidence may be verging
into hubris, according to
Baldoni.
Harvard Business Review
online/The Conversation blog
10 common startup screw-ups
Are you a "solopreneur" simply
because there's no margin in
your pricing to allow for new
hires? If so, you're making the
No. 1 mistake of new
entrepreneurs, Rosalind Resnick
writes. Among the other errors
on her list: emphasizing product
development over sales and
overpaying to acquire new
customers.
The Wall Street Journal
An entrepreneur's 10 success
tips
Chicago entrepreneur Jay Goltz
writes that he was recently
asked by a young admirer -- or
an admirer of his car, at least
-- "How can I be successful like
you?" The question has haunted
him, Goltz writes, prompting him
to offer 10 success tips for
entrepreneurs. Leading the list:
Find an area where you can be
better than everyone else,
accept risk and act responsibly.
NYTimes.com/You're the Boss blog
7 steps to better
self-discipline
Entrepreneurs who work
independently can sometimes find
it hard to maintain the
discipline necessary to build a
business. Georgina Laidlaw has
seven tips for channeling your
inner drill sergeant, including
starting with a plan, building
in rewards and making public
promises about delivery
deadlines.
Web Worker Daily
Power is not the point of
leadership
As Tony Hayward makes his exit
from BP, Bill Taylor wonders:
Why is it so hard to find role
models in the business world?
The problem, he writes, is that
greatness too often is measured
by power instead of values,
ideas and humanity. The best
leaders "don't just outcompete
their rivals, but redefine the
sense of what's possible -- what
really matters -- in their
fields."
Harvard Business Review
online/Bill Taylor blog
Confidence that develops from
having resolved challenges.
5 steps to digging out of a
productivity rut
If you feel yourself getting out
of sync with your work, you can
move yourself back into a more
productive state by recognizing
signs that you're getting off
task -- such as feeling uneasy
or nervous, say Rosemary Tator
and Alesia Latson, authors of
"More Time for You: A Powerful
System to Organize Your Work and
Get Things Done." Once you see
the signs, you can take steps to
refocus through breathing
exercises, choosing a different
task or setting a time limit for
a certain job.
SmartBrief/SmartBlog on
Workforce
How to out-negotiate any
opponent
There are five basic ways to win
a negotiation, and if you master
them then you should be able to
triumph in virtually any
business situation, writes Steve
Tobak. The essential thing is to
figure out whether you need to
destroy your opponent, to create
a win-win situation or to strike
a balance between the two. While
a few negotiating situations are
genuinely zero-sum, Tobak
writes, more often than not your
role as a negotiator is simply
to find areas of mutual
interest, so that both sides can
walk away feeling like winners.
BNET/The Corner Office blog
How to defeat a midlevel
micromanager
Middle managers who micromanage
their team can put a brake on
your company's productivity and
disrupt your ability to execute
your broader strategies, writes
Mike Henry. The first step to
defeating obsessive midlevel
managers is to spot what's going
on, Henry writes; only then can
you seek to address the fear of
failure that lies at the heart
of the problem. "Put the courage
into them that their people can
do the job and that they can
lead with freedom," he notes.
LeadChangeGroup.com
7 ways to dress more like a
leader
If you're a corporate genius
that people are falling over
themselves to work for, then you
can get away with wearing what
you like -- but all other bosses
should do their best to look
presentable, writes Steve Tobak.
Smart clothes can help managers
make good first impressions on
peers and employees, Tobak adds,
although they still need plenty
of charisma and business smarts
to back up that initial
impression. "When someone's
smartly dressed in business
attire, I think sharp and savvy.
Unless of course he turns out to
be an idiot. Then he's just an
idiot in a suit," Tobak writes.
BNET/The Corner Office blog
Have you got the leadership
gene?
Biologists are looking to win a
spot in America's business
schools by studying the genetics
and biochemistry of management.
Researchers have already found
that genetic variations can
explain a leader's successes and
failures, and that variations in
sex hormones play a role in
sales. "Management science looks
set for a thorough,
biology-inspired overhaul,"
according to The Economist.
"Expect plenty more lab coats in
business-school corridors."
The Economist
Is your style stifling your
workers' creativity?
Everyone knows that good
leadership is the key to good
innovation, so why do so many
workers say their bosses are the
problem? Most leaders tend to be
exclusively maintenance- or
innovation-oriented, writes
Alexander Hiam -- and a balance
of both strategies is needed to
turn bright ideas into viable,
marketable products and
services. To foster innovation,
either consciously teach
yourself to chew gum and walk,
or bring in a co-manager whose
talents compensate for your
weaknesses, Hiam advises.
Great Leadership
Would you survive a CEO
evaluation?
U.S. boards are getting tough
with their CEOs, and many are
requiring bosses to go through
rigorous assessment processes,
writes Sharon M. Daniels. To get
a sense of whether you'd survive
a review, take a long, hard look
at your performance in six key
areas including self-awareness,
ingenuity, inspirational
leadership and corporate
citizenship.
Directorship.com
12 skills leaders will need to
succeed
As the workplace and the global
economy evolve, leaders will
need new skills and new
management styles, writes Alan
Murray. The best leaders will be
those who stay flexible, plan
ahead and proactively seek out
new strategies and new ways of
thinking about the world around
them. "Managers will not be able
to assume they know the answer
-- because more often than not,
they won't," Murray writes.
"You'll need to be willing to
hear hard truths from your
employees, your customers, your
suppliers and anyone else closer
to a changing marketplace than
you are."
The Wall Street Journal
3 rules for giving feedback
without making things worse
Giving feedback to both
successful and failing employees
is part and parcel of being a
leader -- but many people give
feedback in ways that are deeply
counterproductive, writes
psychologist Heidi Grant
Halvorson. Try to avoid praising
people for either raw ability or
effort, she suggests; instead,
focus on pointing out specific
things that people got right or
wrong, to enable them to
reproduce their successes and
avoid repeating their failures.
SmartBrief/SmartBlog on
Workforce
Are you the next Steve Jobs?
Guess again
Virtually every ambitious
business leader sees themselves
as the next Steve Jobs -- and
virtually all of them are dead
wrong, writes Dan Pallotta. It's
fine to try to channel Jobs'
creativity and managerial
prowess, Pallotta argues, but
there's nothing to be gained
from weighing your own skills
against someone who's clearly
out of your league. "Such
comparisons spiral you into
depression. They demotivate you,
demoralize you, and generally
suck every last bit of
enthusiasm and aliveness out of
you," Pallotta writes.
Harvard Business Review
online/Dan Pallotta blog
Why hard work and talent aren't
enough
To reach the pinnacle of your
profession and become a
powerful, effective leader, you
need more than just hard work
and talent -- you need the
active support of those who've
already made it to the top, says
Stanford University professor
Jeffrey Pfeffer. That means that
networking and securing
high-level mentors is the key to
winning a corner office, Pfeffer
argues. "What will make you
successful are those people
higher up who have power over
your career. Your job is to make
them want to make you
successful," he says.
BNET
Yahoo CEO: Forget about fairy
dust
Yahoo chief Carol Bartz says
that she can't use "fairy dust"
to change her company's
direction or fortunes and that
investors will have to give her
time to reshape the company
gradually. So far, Bartz has
focused on shedding unnecessary
costs and strengthening Yahoo's
international reach, but she
warns the turnaround remains a
work in progress.
The Wall Street Journal
Are you giving your workers
enough love?
U.S. business leaders need to
show their workers a little more
love, writes executive coach
Debbie Robins. By putting their
workers' well-being first,
leaders inspire loyalty, boost
productivity, burnish their
public image and ultimately make
their companies more
competitive, Robins argues. "The
companies that have awakened to
human capital as their
organization's greatest asset
are raking it in," she writes.
"It's time to take the word LOVE
out of your CEO closet, dust it
off, and put it to work."
The Huffington Post
Why new CEOs need to hold their
fire
When you first become the leader
of an organization, resist the
temptation to make big, sweeping
decisions before you're truly
ready, says Richard R. Buery
Jr., CEO of the Children's Aid
Society. Take it slow and learn
the lay of the land before
trying to shake things up, Buery
advises. "And if that means that
you're taking more time to make
changes, that's great because
you're more likely to make good
decisions," he says.
The New York Times (free
registration)
What your receptionist knows
that you don't
Business leaders should
cultivate close relationships
with their front-desk staff,
writes Issie Lapowsky.
Receptionists can offer valuable
intel on team dynamics and
employee morale, and you can tap
into that knowledge to improve
your outreach, management and
training programs, Lapowsky
points out.
Inc.com
Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke's secret
weapon: Post-It notes
As CEO of the world's biggest
company, Wal-Mart's Mike Duke
has plenty on his plate. To stay
on schedule, Duke makes a point
of keeping his in-box and
voice-mail messages empty, and
he keeps information pertaining
to his direct reports carefully
organized using color-coded
Post-It notes. "It's a follow-up
mechanism," he explains.
CNNMoney.com/Fortune
10 business books you should
never read
There are plenty of good
business books out there, writes
Geoffrey James -- and then there
are the 10 books on this list.
From works arguing that CEOs
should be treated like gods to
tomes promising to help you lead
like Attila the Hun, James
writes, these books would have
been better left unwritten, and
should certainly be left unread.
BNET/Sales Machine blog
7 hints that you're a lousy
leader
Most bad managers don't realize
how awful they are -- so if
you're worried about your
leadership skills, you're
probably doing fine, writes
Steve Tobak. Still, it's worth
keeping an eye out for
early-warning signs like sudden
silences when you walk into a
room, an inability to make
speedy decisions and a lack of
support from former allies.
BNET/The Corner Office blog
7 ways to make the most of
sleepless nights
Lawyers often struggle with
insomnia, but rather than
fighting the tide, it's usually
best to make the most of your
white nights, writes Debra L.
Bruce. Keep a pen and paper by
the bed so you can jot down
ideas that come to you while you
stare at the ceiling, or simply
get out of bed and start work.
"Through the miracle of
technology, I can get up and
take care of that work that I am
worried about getting done, even
in the middle of the night,"
Bruce writes. "Perhaps
afterwards I can sleep late
because I've already
accomplished so much."
The Legal Intelligencer
(Philadelphia) (free
registration)
Are you being mean enough to
your workers?
Leaders who worry about whether
their workers think they're mean
are putting their organization
at risk, writes Mike Figliuolo.
It's time for everyone to stop
whining, start acting like
adults and accept that sometimes
brutal dressing-downs are in
everyone's best interest. "Don't
deliberately hurt feelings but
for crying out loud tell people
what you really think," he
writes. "Being 'nice' for the
sake of avoiding conflict is
dysfunctional."
ThoughtLeaders blog
Can you name your 3 core
responsibilities?
Many business leaders find it
surprisingly hard to explain
what their job actually entails,
writes Fred Wilson. It's worth
remembering that the CEO's
responsibilities boil down to
just three things: devising and
articulating a strategy for the
company, hiring the talent to
execute that vision and making
sure the company doesn't run out
of cash along the way. "If you
cannot do these three things
well, you will not be a great
CEO," Wilson writes.
A VC blog
Why e-mail is your enemy
You need to quit communicating
by e-mail and start putting in
more face-time with your team,
says Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted.
Only by being visible and
available can bosses keep a
finger on their company's pulse
and resolve problems before they
spin out of control, Rorsted
argues. "E-mail is very often
disruptive in corporate
cultures," he says. "I am
convinced that e-mail does not
replace presence."
The New York Times (free
registration)
Want to be a superhero CEO? Get
a sidekick
If you want to be a truly heroic
business leader, you don't need
a mask and a cape -- just a
sidekick, writes Rob Enderle. A
powerful deputy can mitigate
many of a CEO's shortcomings and
can be the difference between an
executive's success and failure.
"The advantage of a sidekick
can't be understated," Enderle
writes. "It seems like the
consistent lesson from failed
CEOs is that they often don't
realize the value of a trusted
lieutenant."
ITBusinessEdge.com
You can't solve every fight
simply by talking
Most management theorists
believe conflict emerges through
miscommunication, but it's just
as plausible to argue that it
emerges from genuine differences
in interest, argues Matthew
Stewart. The first theory
suggests that conflicts can be
resolved simply through
discussion; the second demands
more difficult, more effective
practical solutions. "One theory
is like going to the movies. The
other is like living in the real
world," Stewart writes.
Strategy+Business (free
registration)
5 ways to inspire your company's
midlevel leaders
Managing managers is a skill
unto itself, writes Darren Dahl.
To keep your company's midlevel
leaders in line, be sure to
drive home your goals and
broader strategies at every
opportunity -- and model the
kind of leadership you expect to
see from those further down the
ladder. "One of the mistakes any
CEO can make is forgetting to
look in the mirror," Dahl
writes.
Inc.com
How to handle a narcissistic
employee
Psychologists say that
narcissism is a measurable
trait, and one that has specific
and predictable consequences in
the workplace. To manage a
narcissistic employee,
anticipate potential problems
and set clear boundaries,
advises Bret Simmons.
TheLeaderLab.org
Can geeks learn to be good
leaders?
Geeks seldom make great leaders
-- which is causing problems at
America's tech companies, where
people promoted for their
technical wizardry are expected
to start managing people, write
Robert Fulmer and Byron Hanson.
To solve the sector's leadership
crisis, companies need to start
nurturing and rewarding
leadership skills as well as
sheer brainpower. "If tech
companies want to encourage
coaching and mentoring, they
need to recognize and reward
employees for doing it," Fulmer
and Hanson argue.
The Wall Street Journal
Understanding's Apple's true
strength
Sure, Apple's CEO is a fantastic
leader, writes Thomas A.
Stewart, but the tech giant's
real secret weapon is its
strategic fluidity. By refusing
to compromise on quality, the
company has been able to offer a
consistent value proposition
across a wide range of sectors.
"Every academic strategist will
tell you that kind of breadth is
impossible; it's one of those
things that work in practice but
not in theory," Stewart notes.
BNET/The Strategist blog
So you think you can lie?
Researchers have combed through
transcripts of 30,000
executive-level conference
calls, and they've figured out
the signs that betray CEOs who
tell fibs about their companies'
finances. Swearing, using fewer
hesitation words and referring
to yourself in the third-person
are all tell-tale signs that an
executive is talking through
their hat. Researchers say the
study should help investors spot
dishonest bosses -- and perhaps
also help PR teams coach
executives to sound more
convincing.
The Economist
7 ways to make your team
miserable
There's a movement afoot to
require nurses to wear white
again -- even though they spend
most of their time getting
spattered by patients' bodily
fluids. That's a prime example
of the ways in which managers
can make their staff miserable
by being insensitive to the
reality of their working lives,
writes Suzanne Lucas. Other ways
to make your team hate you:
Ignore problem employees, fail
to explain your decisions and
refuse to reward employees when
their hard work pays off.
BNET/Evil HR Lady blog
