Back in 2007 I published an article by fellow coach Vanessa Vinos called “How Do You Measure Success?“. Three years down the line, this question is just as relevant - if not more so. That’s why this video by Chip Conley caught my eye, who set out in search for a business model for happiness.
Do you have your “business model” for the success and happiness you need in your life? How does your career or business factor into that model? Most importantly: What do you do to regularly double-check that you are still on track, and that the track is the one you are supposed to be on?
I confess, I regularly follow “Dear Abby”. Recently she did a follow-up on a letter from a woman disgruntled by what she perceived as a colleague’s lax work ethic. This woman felt it was unfair to her that her colleague took time off to attend her children’s school activities and beauty appointments, for example.
The responses Abby received from other readers on her answer were mixed. Some joined in to mourn the overall decline in work ethic, while others pointed out how the game has changed - and many companies have missed out on changing with it. These changes include:
Dear Friends,
Active participation increases your employees’ sense of co-ownership of the overall corporate vision, and it strengthens both their motivation and their loyalty. Listen to the podcast to find out more about the “participation principle”
Both as a leadership coach and presentations skills trainer, this presentation was a pleasure to watch! Adapted from Dan Pink’s book, Drive, it shows you why money is no longer the key motivator in the workplace, and why paying some employees more can even lead to decreased productivity.
So, when does money still serve as a motivational factor and what can be done to motivate people once monetary rewards reach the tipping point?
In other words: How can you successfully bolster and maintain employee engagement in the workplace of the 21st century?
I rung in 2010 with several new projects on my personal roster. One of them is coming to fruition right now, so I’d like to share the preliminary results with you.
Beginning with the Creating Living Leadership series “Leadership Bytes“, I am podcasting some of the most successful leadership tips I’ve developed over the past two years. The first titles in the series:
My plan is to have no less than 15 leadership info-bytes online by June 2010 - and to begin augmenting my English-language podcasts with German-language editions by the beginning of March.
This has been my week for discovering new and inspirational videos online. I’ve already shared Garr Reynolds and Rory Sutherland. To make the magical trio perfect I want to add Richard St. John to the mix.
I especially loved his story of how this particular presentation came to be: Confronted by a question from a high school student that he couldn’t answer, Richard didn’t just let the subject drop. Instead he approached people who should know (and you’ll see what I mean when you watch the video) and asked them what they think.
This presentation - a 3-minute romp through a presentation that normally takes 2 hours - gives us the essential ingredients we need to be(come) successful:
“…Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself. Rory Sutherland makes the daring assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider real value — and his conclusion has interesting consequences for how we look at life…”
For many years I was the head of what was arguably the largest internal training unit of a major international ad agency in continental Europe. It was not only my responsibility to outline a program and deliver key training modules myself. I also vetted interesting and innovative speakers to come and inspire our agency’s staff by reminding us all that there was something more to advertising than how quickly branding was establishing after the onset of a commercial or how large the packshot was at the end of the ad. These people came from many walks of life; e.g.:
Especially working with young professionals, I like to talk about finding joy in what you do. We spend much too much time on the job to simply consider it a way to earn money. How can we expect long-term happiness and any type of real success in our work, if we don’t get the feeling that we are using our strengths and talents while growing by doing?
