I have a big secret.  And I’ll have to keep it for a week.

I’m going to make an announcement next Friday that you are going to want to hear.

You see, I’ve been a little remiss in posting on this blog the last couple of months.  The announcement will help explain why.

You’ll get a few more details during the days to come.

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When you hear someone badmouthing someone else, what do you think? For me, the only opinion that’s affected is my opinion of the speaker. The accused isn’t there to defend himself, and I won’t assume he’s guilty until he’s had a chance to tell his side of the story. Giving feedback on someone’s poor performance or business ethics is one thing—gossiping and making harsh judgments is another entirely.

On the flip side, what do you think of a person who has great things to say about other people? Accolades about someone do suggest she is worth getting to know or working with, but my attention is first of all drawn to the speaker who is sending out a positive message. The positive things you say about others reflect positively on you. Only a person who is self-confident, secure, and happy spends time singing the praises of anyone else. The envious and insecure, on the other hand, never have much nice to say about anyone or anything.

So, go ahead and brag about your coworkers. It makes them look good and it makes you look good. Everybody wins.

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Wildly successful people are not the benefactors of luck anymore than those weighed down by despair and hopelessness are its victims. The life you are living has been shaped and paved by every decision you’ve made. Of course, we all face tough times, and unexpected gifts fall into our laps on occasion. Some have very little money to work with, while others inherit fortunes. These, though, are not the determinants of success. Success is shaped primarily by attitude and action. Everything else is icing. I truly believe that anyone who has a great blend of positive attitude and persistent action will succeed.

The beauty of this fact is that you are completely in control of your attitude and actions. No one can rob you of your thoughts or control how you convert those thoughts into action. No one else can shape your future. This is enormously empowering.

Attitude: Successful people expect success. They believe in themselves, and they are not concerned with what others would prescribe for them—not their business partners, friends, family members, or anyone else who might think they know best. Realizing that happiness is measured in individual doses, they seek out opportunities that have meaning to them and approach them with optimism and enthusiasm. When things go wrong, they quickly recover and get right back on track. Positive thinking and confidence are their hallmarks.

Action: Successful people take daily action to move toward their goals. They do not sit around wishing for what they want—they go out and get it. They do not always achieve their goals quickly, but because they are driven by their passions and loves, they persist relentlessly to make their dreams a reality. Obstacles are as common to superachievers as they are to anyone else. The difference is that they expect them, plan for them, and navigate through them expertly, improving their problem resolutions skills all the time. Nothing stops them from hitting their targets. Their bold and determined action gets them what they want every time.

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How do you keep in touch with your clients, particularly the longstanding ones? If your contact rarely goes beyond project meetings, status updates, and payment requests, here are some ideas on how to communicate and foster strong and lasting business relationships:

Handwritten notes. Set aside some time each week to handwrite a thoughtful card to a top client. Inform her of what you’re up to lately, inquire about her work, and thank her for her loyalty and business. This personal touch lets her know that she’s important and you’re happy to be working with her.

Lunch invitations. At least once a month, invite an important client out to lunch, or for a game of golf or tennis, whatever you know you’ll both enjoy. Once you establish a personal rapport, chances are improved that the business relationship will thrive.

Holiday cards/gifts. Let your clients know you care by sending out a card or gift basket for the holidays. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate—just something to show you’re thinking of them.

Your customers are your livelihood. Reward them with small tokens of your appreciation from time to time.

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Thanks to Phil Gerbyshak for the Ben Franklin quotation: “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” How true, and how inspiring!

From time to time, a client will talk to me about his envy for others who have gotten rich quickly, who are well liked and positive, who seem to attract success with no effort. My advice to such a person, of course, is always to dedicate his life to the pursuit of his own happiness. Contrary to popular opinion, happiness, success, and good fortune are absolutely unlimited in the world. Anyone who wants those things can have them. The problem is not supply. The supply of good fortune will always expand to meet demand, no matter how great. The problem is that too many people resign themselves to lack of fulfillment, to disappointment, and to bad luck. Instead of coming up with reasons not to pursue your dreams, focus on the wealth of opportunity and benefits you enjoy. Acknowledge and embrace your freedom to boundless happiness, then chase it down and catch it.

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Do you go the extra mile? This is one of the most obvious ways to show your commitment to offering value consistently. Of course, you don’t want to make a habit of being guilted into taking on more work than you should. Most business partners, though, won’t try to take advantage of you. They’ll ask you to work overtime or lend someone else a hand only when it’s really needed, and since everyone’s so stressed and burdened at these times, you get the benefits of being the hero who swoops in to save everyone!

As the hero, you are the person people will think of when they need someone they can trust. Going the distance time and again stamps your personal brand of reliability, good faith, and hard work in the minds of your business partners. And that means more opportunity and potential for success for you.

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Today’s interview is with Vincent, a family law attorney who left behind a lucrative IT career in his late 20s to pursue his passion. His Intrepreneurial characteristics and commitment to exceeding client expectations are the foundation for lasting success and personal growth.

What do you do? I’m an attorney. I practice mostly family law and represent clients in divorce, child custody and support, guardianship, and adoption proceedings. I also do a bit of criminal misdemeanor defense—mostly domestic violence and some traffic.

What are your career strengths? I’m passionate about issues that I care about, and I’m a very good advocate for my clients.

Vincent is passionate about his work and about helping people, so this a great choice of career for him.

Weaknesses? I have a hard time motivating myself to do things that I’m not familiar with.

Have you taken any action in the last five years to improve upon those weaknesses? I’ve forced myself to jump into new situations and sink or swim.

This is an excellent approach. Fear of the unknown is very common, and the best way to deal with it is to do exactly as Vincent does. The only way to stretch ourselves and expand our skills and experience is to try new things.

In your work, what unique value do you offer? My desire to learn and improve my own skills constantly has led me to a career that I am passionate about. That passion translates to strong advocacy for my clients and high quality, honest representation.

Once again, we see that the most driven and successful people are absolutely committed to continuous growth through learning and self improvement.

Do you use relationships to help you in your career? If so, how? My relationship with my family has been one of the reasons I am here today. My parents and brother helped to support me emotionally and financially when I quit my career in IT at 27 and became a full-time student again. I could not have made it through law school without them telling me I should pursue my dreams.

Having a support system of family and friends is tremendously helpful. If you feel you are lacking good support, start making an effort to get connected to people.

What is the single most important thing you can do to maximize your career success? I need to get involved in the local bar to meet other attorneys and network.

Vincent has a great support system, and he’s planning to widen it further with professional contacts. He’s on a very promising trajectory.

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Take a look at your competition, whether they’re colleagues, fellow entrepreneurs, or major companies in your field. What do they lack? Where are they falling short? How can you bridge that gap? You don’t have to be the biggest, the fastest, or the cheapest to win. You just have to provide essential services that your customers need, in the ways they need them. You have to solve problems better than your competitors and provide more value.

Your colleagues may be limiting themselves by their job descriptions. Can you seek out new opportunities for value creation and demonstration? Maybe other entrepreneurs in your area are unreliable. Can you provide solid, dependable, trustworthy services? Large companies may be so consumed with volume that they’ve lost their personal touch. What can you do to make business transactions more emotionally satisfying and valuable?

No matter your size, scope, budget, or framework, you have an opportunity to outperform the competition in some way.

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Joe, the Career Intense individual I have discussed a couple of times recently, just gave me a short update on his progress. Not long ago, Joe was recommended as a for a possible promotion, along with one of his coworkers. Less than two weeks into the training process leading up to the interview that will determine who gets the job, Joe has already run circles around the other guy. How? Most importantly, Joe never waits to be asked for help. He volunteers.

Each morning, he swings by the office of the supervisor training him and asks if there’s anything he can do to help on the project. In contrast, Joe’s counterpart waits for the work to come to him. Naturally, Joe ends up with more of the new, more challenging and interesting work, while his coworker remains stagnant in his Workplace Warrior role. With Joe’s endless enthusiasm, he has already begun establishing his reputation as a proactive go-getter. It’s no surprise that the supervisor has approached him for help most of the time.

Joe is an up-and-coming Intrepreneur. He understands the value he creates within the company and is often the first or the best at critical tasks. He is doing a terrific job of showcasing his personal brand, assertively selling himself every day, and building strong and productive relationships. He is moving ahead by leaps and bounds. He enjoys his work, his business partners love him, and he’s laying the foundation for a solid and rewarding future. He proves that you don’t have to be vindictive, deceitful, or back-stabbing to get the upper hand over your competitors. All you have to do is be yourself and do a great job.

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The second component of The Cycle of Continuous Improvement is value creation, and the third is value demonstration. An excellent way to realize both of these tasks is to volunteer to solve problems. Anytime you hear your boss, coworker, or customer vent about a problem, immediately jump in and offer to help. Whether you are currently able to solve the problem or not is irrelevant. You can learn, and you can demonstrate your willingness to create value that is immediately useful to your customer.

For instance, let’s say your supervisor is having trouble with a piece of software. You can, with grace, offer to look into the problem for him. If you aren’t able to solve the problem immediately, you can seek out an answer for him. Once you do, you will be viewed as the person who fixed a nagging problem. Perhaps a colleague is always complaining about a tedious or tricky element of her job. Could you offer assistance? If you do, she will appreciate the help and probably have good words to say about you. When a customer complains about services or products, particularly those with which you are directly involved, you have an excellent opportunity to respond and demonstrate your value. Customers love nothing more than being heard and having their feedback honored.

All of these scenarios involve you noticing a problem, equipping yourself (through training, elbow grease, or sheer will) to solve it, creating value, and demonstrating it to your business partners. That adds up to continuous improvement, personal equity, and lasting security for you. Everybody loves a problem solver who makes life easier. Establish a reputation ongoing willingness to resolve problems and you establish yourself as an irreplaceable asset.

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John Richardson raves about Career Intensity as a part of your personal development plan.  John says:

“I received an advance copy of Career Intensity, a new book from David Lorenzo, the other day. This is an amazing work and a great resource for business people as well as entrepreneurs. I found that David has great insight into career building and entrepreneurship.”

John’s blog is called MBA on the Run and I encourage you to make it part of your daily reading.

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Here are a few simple things you can do to differentiate yourself as an outstanding employee, service provider, or business partner:

Be reliable. Reliability is a trait that seems to be fading out. People make promises they can’t keep and deliver products and services that don’t live up to claims. Establish a reputation for always following through on your commitments. If you aren’t sure whether you can do something, be upfront about it. Never commit to do something you might not be able to do.

Personalize. People don’t want one-size-fits-all solutions. They want to be dealt with on an individual, customized basis. Invest a little bit of time and energy in getting to know your customers and colleagues. Remember details specific to them and their preferences. Doing so sets you apart and makes you more memorable to them.

Flex and bend. The business partner who is adaptable is appreciated by everyone. Whether you’re taking on new work you’ve never done before, filling in for someone who’s unexpectedly out of the office, or extending your service to meet your client’s needs, being flexible is good for you and your partner. In putting in a little extra effort, you fill a need and expand your own knowledge and experience.

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The Occupational Adventure reminds us to be careful about how we gauge success:

“Another belief that commonly stands in the way is what success looks like. Success, in our classic American definition, can be summed up in one simple word…MORE. As in more money, more status, more things. More money is easy to quantify. More happiness, on the other hand, is not. Guess which one gets used more often to measure success?”

I have found at many times in my life that I actually needed to remove elements to be more successful. Trimming the fat from your e-mail account, personal duties and obligations, participation in activities that suck away time but provide little return, projects that are more of a hassle than they’re worth, and draining relationships clears out precious time and room for what really matters to you.

If you feel you’re always clambering desperately for just that little bit more that will make you happy, stop. Let go. See what you have when you’re sitting still. Work with that. Move toward your destination coming from the starting point of your core.

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Earlier in the week, we talked about the demise of video giant Blockbuster. The Economist this month points out another towering superpower’s weak spots:

“The threat to Microsoft comes from online applications, which are changing how people use computers. Rather than relying on an operating system and its associated application software—bought in a box from Microsoft, and then loaded onto a PC—computer users are increasingly able to call up the software they need over the internet. Just as Amazon, Google, eBay and other firms provide services via the web, software companies are now selling software as a subscription service that can be accessed via a web-browser.”

This is just another example of why you shouldn’t fear competition of any size or at any scale. Opportunity for improvement and new ideas is ever present. Don’t fear anyone else’s strengths—exercise your own.

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Olivier Blanchard studies one of the mighty who fell:

“…here’s what sealed Blockbuster’s fate: It never reached out to us, the old core of once loyal customers. It never made us feel at home there. It never worked on making the Blockbuster experience a great one… or even a half-way decent one, at that.”

Visit any online hangout community (like friendster.com or myspace.com) and take a look around. When it comes to renting movies, everyone’s talking about Netflix.

What this says to me is that there is always room in any market, no matter how glutted and monopolized it may seem, for improvement. There is always the opportunity for the little guy with the big idea to swoop in and save the day. We the people know what we want. We knew what Blockbuster wasn’t giving us.

If you are inspired to start your own business but fear the competition, don’t. Identify their weak spots and provide a product or service that solves the problem. If there’s anything that refreshes a jaded consumer and turns him into a little kid again, it’s having a long-unmet want finally met and exceeded.

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Imagining: “Visualizing new possibilities for you company’s policies, practices, and products.”

In the famous words of Einstein, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”.

What separates the dazzling winners from everyone else is that they are able to envision a grand future. What turns them into winners is that they are able to leap into that future and do the hard work necessary to make it great.

Particularly for die-hard realists and people who have been trained (by parents, friends, or spouse) to be “responsible” and “stable”, indulging in imagination can be difficult. For every idea that’s even mildly revolutionary, a little voice chimes in, “Impossible. You can’t do that. That’s stupid. It’ll never work.” Quiet that voice and spend some time ruminating on your wild, far-out, fanciful ideas. Great leader do things that no one before them has done.

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Successful people dress the part. When they give presentations, they are usually the best-dressed in the room. Even if the dress code at the office is “business casual”, they kick it up a notch and stand out. For most of us, when we look better and our clothes are flattering, we feel better and project more confidence. Business Week gives a simple but very important piece of wardrobe advice:

“Men’s Wearhouse founder George Zimmer says most people make the mistake of wearing suits that don’t fit well—too loose, too tight, too long, too short. According to Zimmer and other wardrobe experts, a proper fit ranks as the single most important decision when buying and wearing a suit. If the store doesn’t offer expert tailoring, spend the money to get it done right.”

Just as you need the right fit in a career, you must have the right fit in clothing. Though this may seem trivial, these subtle matters of detail make a huge impact on perception.

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A young woman, Susan, was recently asking me for career advice. She felt moderately satisfied with her job, but she wasn’t thrilled with it and believed she could find something more in line with her passion and skills. The one big perk of her position was that it paid well, and she had been able to save quite a bit of money since she had started working there. I suggested to her that she use her savings to invest in herself and her career and pursue her passion.

A few days later, she called me and said that she had spoken to her supervisor about possibly terminating her employment. On the spot, she offered Susan a $15,000 (or 30%) raise. She told her she was so valuable to the company that they couldn’t bear to let her go.

The lesson here is not that threatening to leave is the way to get a great raise. The lesson is that you should never stay stuck because you believe nothing better is out there for you. You are a valuable person with unique talents. Use what you’ve got to shape a great life for yourself.

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Business leaders offer winning communication tips.

Here are my favorites:

1. Be clear and simple. Jack Welch, Former Chairman and CEO, General Electric, said, “Insecure managers create complexity.” Someone who is not able to explain something so that anyone can understand it most likely doesn’t understand it himself. Be clear, simple, and focused in all your business interactions. It’s hard not to respect and admire leaders who share their knowledge generously.

2. Tell stories. “An excellent storyteller, Neeleman (Chairman and CEO, JetBlue Airways) likes to recount anecdotes about employees who exceeded expectations.” We all like to have something to relate to. We’re nuts about stories—written, shown, and told.

3. Make eye contact. “Great business communicators (such as Rudy Giuliani, Chairman and CEO, Giuliani Partners) use eye contact to make an emotional connection with their audience.” Eye contact demonstrates self-confidence and openness, and helps establish a connection with the listener.

4. Look like a leader. “Not content to dress in geek chic like many of his counterparts in Silicon Valley, Ellison (CEO and Director, Oracle) wears finely tailored Italian suits and walks with commanding body language. Great business communicators know that packaging counts.” If you’re the center of attention, it can only help to dress nicely and make a favorable visual impression.

5. Be generous with praise and positivity. “Branson (Chairman, Virgin Group) believes in lavishing praise on his employees. Like flowers, he once said, people will grow if watered—but shrivel if left to dry.” A speaker who openly and readily acknowledges the strengths and accomplishments of others radiates self-confidence. Only an insecure person needs to be stingy with praise.

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A recent study conducted by Development Dimensions International reveals the leadership qualities prized most by HR managers:

1. Ability to bring in the numbers (71% surveyed cited this as critical)
2. Ability to mobilize or motivate a team (66%)

And tied for third…

3. a. Ability to take a stand and make tough decisions (59%)
b. Interpersonal skills (e.g., influence, coaching, networking, communication)

Beyond the bottom line, hiring managers are looking for motivators, decision makers, and influencers. All these characteristics can be cultivated in your personal and professional life. Decide upon a goal, make decisions to bring it to life, communicate your progress to others, and inspire. Job seekers would be wise to develop these skills and highlight them to potential employers.

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A friend of mine tells me she used to work for the Annual Fund Office, soliciting donations from alumni for her university. At the time, she had no experience in fund raising whatsoever. The job schedule and location were convenient, and she needed a little extra cash while she herself was in school. Within a few months, she had become the top earner in the office. “What did you do differently?” I asked her.

“I never used the script. I listened to people. I gave them something in exchange for their donation.”

At the core of her techniques was the connection she established with each person. By sharing anecdotes about her experience at the college, relating her lives to theirs, and emphasizing the team support aspect of their contributions, she convinced alumni to give $250, $1000, or more.

Beyond Shakespeare, Chekhov, and their ilk, scripts don’t work. People don’t want to feel like another number cranked out of a database. Give them something real, personal, and relatable, and they will respond. We’ve had enough of looping phone mazes with no finish line, form letters, one-size-fits-all treatment. This is the age of the individual.

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Glenn Ross at Allbusiness.com illuminates why you should stop at nothing to deliver great customer service. We’ve all been to stores where we either:

a) couldn’t find anyone to help us solve our problem
b) couldn’t find anyone who knew how to solve our problem, or
c) couldn’t find anyone who gave a flip about our problem.

When an employee gets it right, really right, his company enjoys repeat business and, if they’re lucky, a rave review on a public Web site for all the world to read. Information travels fast these days, and word-of-mouth is still the best form of advertising. Give people something great to talk about.

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This Business 2.0 article discusses the fact that companies don’t save by outsourcing their customer service to mediocre providers.

“…you’ll soon figure out that competing solely on price is a fool’s game. Even in retail: Tiffany is having a stunning year, and Whole Foods Market’s profits and stock price are way up—5 and 70 percent, respectively—in 2005. Neither of those companies seeks to compete on price. Their edge stems from perceived value—what consumers think they’ll get for their money.”

What sticks in your mind longer—a couple of bucks you save or stellar service you receive?

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This CNN Money article spotlights one man’s original thinking and the success that resulted. Don’t discount your crazy ideas. The world wants new and creative solutions to old problems.

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In the spirit of the high school eavesdropper, Boulder, Colorado market research firm Umbria is digging up consumer dirt posted in blogs.

“…the application knows that ‘awesome’ is a stronger endorsement than ‘pretty cool,’ and that ‘shoddy’ is less damning than ‘abominable,’ thanks to several employees with Ph.D.s in linguistics and artificial intelligence.”

A Fortune Small Business article points out that while Umbria commands only a 10% share of the blog research market, they have increased automation and engineered linguistic algorithms to refine search techniques and sort comments by age and gender, which amounts to cheaper and more immediately useful results for clients. Pretty cool.

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A recent Forbes article spotlights Zazzle.com, a new Web company that capitalizes on consumers’ desire for the unique. What do you get the guy who has everything? Postage stamps with his picture on them, of course! Customers can personalize T-shirts, stamps with real U.S. postage, posters, and cards, and they are not restricted by minimum orders or long waits.

Zazzle is not the first customized product site, but they have trumped the competition with their high quality, ease of use, flexibility, quick delivery, and attentive customer service.

The one who does the job better, smarter, and faster wins every time.

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One of the quickest ways to get you career to take off is to be first at something. Duct Tape Marketing has a post up about this topic.  Here’s the money quote

“The media loves firsts and so does the market. First to market is news!” 

First, best or different.  That’s the key to marketing your personal value.

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John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing has a great post about using your voice mail to help differentiate yourself. Why not use your voice mail as an opportunity to make an impression on the caller?

Recite a poem. Sing a song. Leave the sports scores from the previous day. Do something…anything (professional) to make an emotional impression on the mind of your caller.

Being different is what it’s all about.

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Seth has an interesting take on door-to-door sales in a post on his blog today. My grandfather made his living selling office products by going door-to-door and by making cold calls on the telephone. He made a good living and he was well respected in his community.

Today people do a lot of research before they buy just about anything. Everyone has a huge amount of information at their fingertips. We can do a quick search of the Internet and find the benefits and features of any product or service. In a few minutes we can compare several providers and determine who provides the best value. Door-to-door salespeople or cold call telemarketers are not needed anymore and in some cases, they are treated with distain.

My point: You need to be different in order to stand out from the rest of the pack. Seth would say that you have to be remarkable. Presenting benefits and features is not remarkable. If you want to make it in this day and age as a door-to-door salesperson you better be a fantastically charismatic person and make people want to establish a relationship with you.

In any sale, you are the product. Be different – be remarkable.

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There are three ways to have your company recognize your value. The best ways to have people recognize your value is to be first, to be the best or to be different.

Let me give you some examples:

Being First. In a corporate setting there are new policies handed down each and every day. There are some policies that are more important or have a higher profile, than others. A great way to stand out is to implement a new policy first. This is not only a smart career decision it is also a great way to offer input on the policy or procedure. The early adopters are often asked for their opinions on how a policy is perceived.

Being Best. The people who are the best in a particular business unit always get a significant amount of attention. They are looked to for advice whenever a major change is proposed – after all, no one wants to upset a top performer. The best performers are often given the most difficult assignments. This is an opportunity for you to shine. Tackle a difficult head on and you will definitely receive recognition for having determination.

Being Different. Blending in with the crowd is not the way to help people understand your value. Doing good things for others and keeping a positive attitude is one way to differentiate yourself. Another way is to offer to help new employees learn about the culture of the company when they first start. Offering help to people who are overwhelmed and out of their natural environment will definitely earn you positive recognition.

These are just a few ways you can be first, best or different. Can you think of others?

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