Hug Your People

Some of you may recall Jack Mitchell's last book, Hug Your Customers. In it he discussed how to nurture and maintain customer relationships using his "hug" method. In his new offering, Mitchell's embrace of his customer base has been expanded to his employees. He noticed that if there is not praise or recognition for a job well done, there isn't the same incentive to try again--even when one maintains the monetary comfort from the job.

It is not complicated to comprehend that people are happy and content when they are rewarded in humane ways, but people often forget that they are dealing with, well, other people. Mitchell stresses that we shouldn't lose the humanity in business relations and that everyone needs a hug. A random hug in this day and age may result in sexual harassment, so hugs can and should take on different forms. He suggests many ways to do this, from using a nickname, to a quick email recognizing a good job or an unexpected little token/gift from a superior or co-worker.

The Mitchell Blueprint to hugging your employees has five principles: Nice, Trust, Pride, Include and Recognize. He goes into all these aspects in the book, giving examples of each principle. In the Nice chapter, for instance, he explains how important it is to just be nice to people, and how easy it can be. He shows how easy it can be to forget this as well. One simple way companies stay "Nice" is by getting "Nice" employees. Mitchell suggests different ways to notice these traits, many in an interview--the handshake, meeting eyes, the way they sit--and offers open ended questions to use in this situation such as "Share the nicest thing you've done to another person" or "Who is the nicest person you know."

Mitchell also talks about the importance of maintaining a fun working atmosphere. Sure, business has to get done, but like his son Bob tells his people during a meeting, "Let's all make twenty customer calls today, but let's have fun doing it." It is in this atmosphere that the Trust Principle comes into play. People that work for a "fun" place also have to take responsibility for their actions and how they affect others.

The Mitchell Blueprint, with its five principles, helps companies develop ways they can incorporate "hugs" in their company. Each principle makes up a part of the book, and each part contains a study guide. This may seem elementary to a lot of business people (and it should) but it is a great reminder that people like to be assured, patted on the back and given a hug once in awhile, and this book reminds us all of that.

Hug Your People: The Proven Way to Hire, Inspire and Recognize Your Employees and Achieve Remarkable Results, by Jack Mitchell, Hyperion, 288 pages, $19.95, Hardcover, March 2008, ISBN 9781401322373

Quoted from : http://800ceoread.com/blog/

The Go-Giver

Bob Burg and John David Mann have written an interesting parable around the life of "Joe," a highly ambitious guy who comes to a dead end when he can't create the two things he needs to succeed: clout and leverage. In his pursuit of obtaining these things, he meets "Pindar," a smart, kind, and extremely wealthy man who seems to have everything Joe wants. After meeting with Pindar, Joe realizes that he's on a much bigger quest than he anticipated, and learns through Pindar and his associates that the most optimal way to receive is to give. By learning and practicing Pindar's "Five Laws," Joe obtains not only clout and leverage, but a life fulfilled far beyond the old goals he used to have.

The process is much more complicated than he expected though. In fact, a constant shift in perspective, a breaking of usual habits, and an adoption of seemingly illogical business practices had to take place. In his meetings with Pindar and associates, Joe examines such things as why people crowd into restaurants with good food while tables sit empty at places with excellent food; he sees meeting rooms with executives using finger paints as part of their creative process; and he learns about creating a huge network of influence by placing other people's interests first.

Each lesson is themed with the idea that the more you put other people first, and the more you provide for them, the more you'll be able to receive. The book states, "Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment." In business, it is typical to focus on what we are going to get and how we are going to get it. The Go-Giver reminds us to focus on the important point of what we are going to give to people. As shown throughout the book, this focus turns business from a 50/50 proposition to a 100% success.

The Go-Giver: A Little Story about a Powerful Business Idea, by Bob Burg and John David Mann, Portfolio, 112 pages, $19.95, Hardcover, December 2007, ISBN 9781591842002

Quoted from : http://800ceoread.com/blog/

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures, by Dan Roam.

"You see, Freddie," I said, "Lots of people these days are very worried and confused about how to create a useful website. But the way I think about it, there are really only three things that we need to define. The first is the brand itself. The other two are the content and the function." Then I drew in two more circles and labeled them appropriately, then continued, "If we can determine what to put in these three circles, then we can build any site to serve any audience."
"The question is: how do we know what these three should contain. The answer is this." I drew a little smiley face next to each circle and wrote a caption for each. "What people want to DO (or what we want them to do) determines function; what people want to KNOW (or what we want them to know) determines content; and what we want them to REMEMBER determines the brand."

Quoted from : 800CEOread blog

The drive for mediocrity

Maybe it should be, "the forces for mediocrity"...

There's a myth that all you need to do is outline your vision and prove it's right—then, quite suddenly, people will line up and support you.

In fact, the opposite is true. Remarkable visions and genuine insight are always met with resistance. And when you start to make progress, your efforts are met with even more resistance. Products, services, career paths... whatever it is, the forces for mediocrity will align to stop you, forgiving no errors and never backing down until it's over.

If it were any other way, it would be easy. And if it were any other way, everyone would do it and your work would ultimately be devalued. The yin and yang are clear: without people pushing against your quest to do something worth talking about, it's unlikely it would be worth the
journey. Persist.

Quoted from Seth Godin