People don't care how much you know... until they know how much you care.
John C. Maxwell on leadership.
The personal Blog of Howard Mann. Author, Speaker & Entrepreneur. - January 7th, 2009
15
Oct
08
Oct
08
Rock The Basics!
The current economic situation sees a lot of people talking about the power of returning to the basics. ( Hooo....rayyy!) Get inspired to do it yourself by reading the posts linked below and then set aside a few hours (or a day) and figure out what YOUR basics actually are.
What is at the core of the promise you make to your clients, customers, staff, boss, wife, children,etc...?
What does the perfect execution of each one look, feel and sound like? And the usual 3 questions I always ask: What do you (specifically) need to do to get there, who will do it and when will it be done?
But don't believe me...
Tom Peters wrote about it here:
"The Basics Are the Basics Are the Basics Are the Basics: The Worse the Times the Better They Work... We get in trouble when we forget the basics. We get out of trouble when we remember the basics. We stay out of trouble when we become perpetually "insane" about the basics.
Douglas Rushkoff returns to it here:
"I’d love for businesspeople who feel all is lost to recognize that this is such a perfect moment to return to core competency, to remember what it was about their industries that excited them to begin with, and to reconnect with the processes and attitudes that make work fun and meaningful again.
It’s not too late."
On a Macro level Thomas Friedman quoted Dov Seidman in his op-ed piece today:
"In a connected world,” Seidman said to me, “countries, governments and companies also have character, and their character — how they do what they do, how they keep promises, how they make decisions, how things really happen inside, how they connect and collaborate, how they engender trust, how they relate to their customers, to the environment and to the communities in which they operate — is now their fate.”
Latest Posts
Archives
- December, 2008 (3)
- November, 2008 (15)
- October, 2008 (10)
- September, 2008 (11)
- August, 2008 (9)
Quick Posts
Run, don't walk, and read The First Time CEO's Recession Survival Guide written by Redfin online Real Estate CEO Glenn Kelman. My favorite is #1 "Compete With Your Successor - I often think about what my replacement will do after I’m fired. She won’t have emotional commitments to decisions that I already regret."
Rajesh Setty is giving away his great book "Life Beyond Code. Learn to Distinguish Yourself in 9 Simple Steps!" A very nice and useful Thanksgiving gift to yourself. Download it here.
It seems the commenting feature on the blog posts has not been working properly. I apologize. It is now fixed. Please do comment and join the discussion.
Great Harvard Business post on lessons that can be learned by the Obama campaign. Loved this part on the importance on purpose: "Bigness of purpose is what separates 20th century and 21st century organizations: yesterday, we built huge corporations to do tiny, incremental things - tomorrow, we must build small organizations that can do tremendously massive things."
Tom Peters: 100 Ways to Succeed #146: "Obsess On The Basics! Now, More Than Ever!" "....Keep on each other over those basics—and be liberal with the kudos for those who go an extra millimeter to do a "trivial" job especially well."
The VC's are yelling from the roof tops for startups to batten down the hatches. Like I said in my post from the other day, you have to double down AND batten down. What all of this really means is, of course, you need to get back to the business basics that have always worked and always will.
The smart folks over at Behance have launched an online project collaboration tool that follows their Action Method paper system. Watch the online video tour to get an idea of how it works. Looks like a simple and effective ways to track the individual action items for projects and goals.
Tom Peters and Seth Godin on one stage taking questions from Inc. 500 business owners. Priceless wisdom on a wide variety of topics. Click here to watch then sit back and enjoy!
"It’s easy to say that entrepreneurs will create jobs and big companies
will create unemployment, but this is simplistic. The real question is
who will innovate. A 50-year-old company can innovate as well as two guys/gals in a garage." From an interview with Guy Kawasaki discussing the ideas in his new book Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition
"If you want to make your website better at turning visitors into customers (or subscribers), you need to understand why most of your visitors are leaving!" a helpful article to drive home the point that launching your web site is the easy part. If you want your web site to deliver real results for your business then you need to work at with persistence.
Howard Mann is a speaker, author and entrepreneur. He is on a mission to get businesses to thrive in every way, in good times and bad, by relentlessly sticking to their basics. Learn more.
Get The Book
Your Business Brickyard will reconnect you to the basics that will make your business more fun to run.
Download the complete Book as a PDF for FREE by clicking here. OR buy the hardcover for yourself, a valued client or a business owner you know that could use a boost. Links: Amazon.com or 800-CEO-READ.
The little eBook of Business Jokes
The Little eBook of Business Jokes. 9 jokes to make you laugh and smile. Why? Because business has become a place of too much stress and laughter is still the best medicine.
Download it now and share with anyone and everyone that could use a laugh.
Speaking Engagements
Getting your business to focus on the basics starts with a strong call to action and specific steps that you can take that same day. Howard's talks have been called a one to one mentoring session regardless of the size of the audience. They are highly practical, personal, motivation and fun! Book Howard Mann to speak at your next event or set up a Business Brickyard workshop.Click here to learn more.
Post new comment