Magnetic Consulting Group

Great article for young professionals

25 Things Every Young Professional Should Know by Age 25. Great article, our favorite is #16

View Post

5 Lessons from a Dog

In Secrets of a Working Dog by Ellen Galvin and Patrick Galvin, Bella the Boxer outlines these canine principles of success in this dog-eat-dog world.

Dogs have a protocol for playtime. When they’re ready to play, they stick their butts in the air, plop their front legs on the ground and prick up their ears. Take some time out of your day to unwind, but take the necessary steps to ensure that it’s scheduled productive play, not simply a waste of time.

Become a better listener by wagging your tail more than your tongue. Great listening skills is an integral part of being a good communicator and leader. Many times, a frustrated individual just needs someone to listen to them, not necessarily to offer advice. Learn what your audience’s listening needs are to lend an open ear.

Assemble your pack. The most successful people are those who surround themselves with a network of colleagues, mentors and good friends. And if you don’t want to catch any fleas, a good place to start is to surround yourself with people whose habits you would like rubbed off on you.

“There are two kinds of people—those who come in a room and say, ‘Well, here I am’ or those that come in a room and people say “There you are.” Dogs are great at making us feel needed and valued, a trait we should learn to pass on to coworkers, employees or family.

Enjoy the simpler things in life. Whether it’s taking the time to sniff the flowers or enjoying the wind in a car ride, dogs have a genuine appreciation for the tiniest joys found in life. Take a page from our canine friends by looking for or treating yourself to something that makes you smile

This posting is excerpted from a speech EO speaker Jim Randel recently gave to EO New York.

Being an entrepreneur is tough … very tough. There are a myriad of reasons why some entrepreneurs make it big and others do not. In my speech, I spoke about the organic reasons why some business owners fall short of their goals. This message is not about capital or the economic climate; rather, it’s about those individual characteristics that keep some entrepreneurs performing below their potential.

Here are 10 reasons why some entrepreneurs underperform, along with the advice I gave to EO members during my presentation:

1. Passion: If you don’t have it for what you are doing, find something else to do. Being an entrepreneur is just too hard if you do not feel very strongly about what you are doing.
2. Physical and mental strength: If you think working hard is a 50-hour work week, please stay safe and sound under the covers of “a real job.”
3. Self-doubt: If you do not think you are entitled to big success, and if you do not think that you have what it takes, do not become an entrepreneur. At times, you will be the only one who believes in you.
4. Belief: Speaking of belief, if you do not believe your endeavor has a 1,000 percent chance of taking you to the moon, stay back on earth. Those who are tentative have no shot at reaching the moon.
5. Foresight: Can you see around corners? Look for opportunities at the edges. Pick up a good business book, like “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, which argues for staying out of the red water—that place where everyone competes and mauls themselves—and diving into open, blue (uncharted) water.
6. Guts: Do you have the stomach to persevere when you feel like a punching bag? Oftentimes, the difference between the successful person and the also-ran is that the success story got up off the ground one more time than the other.
7. Failure: Are you prepared to fail? A big public, gut-wrenching failure? If not, you may be playing it too safe. Failure is almost a rite of passage to success. You need to see the difference between an event of failure and a conclusion to the story.
8. Self-discipline: Do you have the willpower to make decisions for the right reasons? There are no guarantees of success, but one sure-fire way not to succeed is by making choices out of fatigue or frustration. You must be strong.
9. Fairness: Are you hung up on the belief that life is fair? If so, forget about being an entrepreneur. The strong survive. That’s it. If you are expecting anything else, stick to something safer.
10. Integrity: Yes, some jerks are big successes; however, in general, those who keep their commitments regardless of the people around them are more likely to succeed.

John Maxwell says there are three  characteristics needed to become a successful leader.

Consensus building:Abraham Lincoln was such a phenomenal leader because he understood the  importance of consensus building and bringing together the people around…

View Post

shared via WordPress.com