Eagles or Chickens?

To all employees frustrated with the boss that pushes you too hard:

Have you asked yourself yet WHY they might be pushing you to work harder? Maybe to see your potential? Everything used to be all cozy and happy, but now no more! Well, before you complain about this again I want to ask if you're an Eagle or a Chicken?

I know, strange question. Clearly you are human! But think about it: when eggs hatch and these birds are raising their young, two very different approaches are taken. For an eagle, it starts with how they build the nest-they've been planning this from the beginning! The nest is built to be a comfortable place on top. But at a certain age, the young birds are ready to do more. Momma Eagle does ask politely. What she does, is flip the nest. See, the plan at the beginning is to at first make that nest comfortable, but what the young ones don't know is that underneath all of that fluffy stuff are many sharp rocks and more sticks. When this nest is flipped the nest is no longer a cozy place to call home: it's somewhere those eagles want to get out of! So they learn! They learn to fly, to hunt, to be independent.

Chickens. Chickens are very different. They raise their flock, but then take them to the rest of the fowl in the coop, and soon begin to just wonder away and leave the chicks to their own devices. Little by little they push the lines of comfort to get the chicks to be independent. It sounds comfortable...and slow!

So again I ask: are you an Eagle or a Chicken? Will you deal with the rocky nest and learn and grow to your full potential even though it's probably uncomfortable? Or will you complain about the discomfort and wish you were a chicken?

Off to the Races!

The first Saturday in May..does it mean anything to you? Any horse lover out there knows this weekend marks yet another amazing display of speed and talent at the annual Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs!

Horse racing..much like NASCAR everyone is ready to watch them make a few left turns and see who makes it over the finish line first. But, what if your not a horse lover? Then I suppose it's just another weekend in May! But as a learning crowd, lets look at it again.

There's certain enjoyment gleaned from seeing improvements, the underdog be near the front, and many many other things. Though there is most definitely something more that we can see.

At the start of the race everyone is equal; the same distance is set to cover by all horses and jockeys. Some horses trained more, some have better breeding, but each has a fair shake to take home the prize. Such it is with business! In the professional world there are many different degrees and previous jobs held, but each of us can reach that goal we dearly desire-whatever it may be. The goal may be different; some to just finish the race, some to beat another horse in particular, actually win. It simply depends on who is setting the goal.

In the derby, the finish line does not move and it doesn't creep up on an unsuspecting competitor. They run, full speed ahead to reach that goal. A big photo-finish and the race has reached its end! Months and years of training and pushing makes that goal realized.

So in your professional life who is setting the goal? It should be no one other than yourself! So set the goal, but also realize that whatever your finish line looks like, it's not going to creep up on you unexpectedly. You have to learn, grow, gain experience, and remember that the big picture is what you're trying to get to. When you get there you may not have a cheering crowd, but the satisfaction of reaching the goal you've been pushing toward is unlike anything else.

Keep training. Keep pushing. Keep on doing the hard things that may just not feel worth it right now. If you're getting closer to the finish line, don't be the one that tries the win the race while stopping or running backward!

How To Succeed In Business By Really Trying

Originally posted at URL http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2012/05/13/how-to-succeed-in-business-by-really-trying/ 

By Victor Lipman

No sugar coating here.  Unless you’re fortunate enough to be born to take over a thriving family business or to get in on the ground floor of the next Facebook FB +2.51%, the road to business success is seldom a simple one.

In my experience and observation, success is much less the product of one brilliant idea than of a great deal of hard work, well-executed and sustained over a long period of time.

Even in the best of times, no one will just hand you a position of great value for nothing.  If your goal is vice presidency or partner or managing director or the c-suite, or whatever role has captured your imagination, no one can guarantee you’ll attain it.  But if hard work is the currency of success, there are things you can do to make that effort work as hard as possible for your up-and-coming career.  So with a tip of the cap to one the greatest musicals ever (“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”), here are five activities that can be worth really trying to put extra time into.

Learn the business – If you work for a sizable organization, and perhaps if you don’t, chances are your business has considerable complexity.  Take time to learn not just your particular role (that’s “table stakes”- you have to know it), but also to gain a broader understanding of the business: the competitive environment, the market forces at play, the company’s value proposition, sales model, pricing model, etc.  No one’s expecting you to become expert in all these fields, but gaining at least a working understanding of the key macro-level issues is always helpful.   Familiarity with these larger issues senior management is grappling with will only enhance your decision-making capabilities in your own role.

Make yourself indispensable – Take time to really understand what your manager needs.  Not just what is needed from you in your current role, but what are the troubling problems that keep him or her up at night?   Is it help with PowerPoints, an upcoming presentation to a hostile audience, delicate personnel problems, or dealing with regulators… to name just a few of a thousand possibilities.  Try to see things through the eyes of others.  The more substantive assistance you can provide, the more gaps you can fill, the more valuable you’ll be to an organization.

Provide solutions, not problems – The normal state of senior management is too much to do in too little time.   When wrestling with difficult issues in your own area, naturally you can’t always solve all the problems yourself.  But it definitely can be worth the extra time to not simply make your problems your manager’s.  Instead, present your manager with a carefully thought out range of viable options – ideally including your recommended solution – rather than just posing a vexing, time-consuming problem.  This approach demonstrates your critical thinking capabilities, and can be an appreciated time saver for a person with little time to spare.

Be a great collaborator – Good team players are valued.  Large complex projects always require people with diverse skills.  Attitude matters; effective collaborators often find themselves in demand.  Consider taking the time to volunteer for a large project that may be understaffed, even in an area outside your core expertise.  This can be a way of broadening your skill set and business knowledge, plus demonstrating your motivation.  Management appreciates self starters who ‘play well with others.’

Come early, stay late – The best point I can offer here is a story of my own.  While I’m an advocate in theory for as much work-life balance as possible, the fact is, if you want to get ahead, there will be periods in a career where there are no substitutes for grindingly long hours.  There was a period in my own career where I was especially motivated by the prospect of advancement and all that went with it, and had great respect for the organization and the work we were doing.  Accordingly, I resolved to myself  that no one in the 20-person department I worked in (including the SVP who managed the operation) would come in earlier or work later than I would.  Did I always achieve that?  No.  But did my diligence catch the attention of senior management and ultimately help my career?  Yes.  (The assumption here of course is that you’re not simply sitting around long hours playing video games or writing to your aunt… but doing real work and adding value!)

In the end of course, occupational success is preordained for no one.  Many talented people compete for relatively few coveted positions.  But you can take certain actions to improve your odds. And if you do, regardless of how things turn out in a particular instance, at the very least you’ll have the benefit of broadening your skills and the satisfaction of knowing you gave your very best effort.

Our Biggest Month Yet!

With the end of our first quarter under wraps we did a little reflecting. Over the last three months we've promoted two Executive Team Leaders, handfuls of Executive Team Trainers and we're about to promote a new Assistant Director in a number of days. These are just the promotions within the next few weeks. We have so many up and coming promotions, it's unreal! On top of that we broke the record for the highest number of sales on our campaign and in our office. We also had a two of our reps break the record for the highest number of sales in a week within our organization.

Tim and Nikki (Team Galaxy) broke the sales record for our organization.

There is so much success around us. We are rolling out some new competitions for prizes in the coming months, we will be attending our Top Performers Retreat in TWO weeks in the Bahamas, and to top it all off we have an organizational conference set for June. From a business aspect we will be announcing  new markets, new campaigns, new clients, expansion plans, and upcoming promotions. It really is an exciting time to be part of this team. 

All companies enjoy success. It's a natural fact of running a business. We're excited to see all of the opportunity and talent we have within the office. I may be biased, but I think we have the best team around. Everyone supports one another and is working toward a common goal, not to mention we're all great looking (that was a joke... but we are). AltairBC is ready to take the business world by storm. Watch out world!

Off to the ATL We Go!

Today marks a bittersweet time for our Altair family. We are saying goodbye to some of our colleagues as they travel down to open an expansion office in Atlanta, GA. We are so happy for them on their new adventure. We will also miss them in their absence.

Elizabeth Brennan has been with Altair since September of 2013. She was promoted to our Executive Team Leader position in October of 2014. She has developed many of her colleagues into the leaders they are now during her time at Altair. We are excited to see what amazing things this new opportunity holds for her.

Ryan Ruiz has been with Altair since September of 2013 as well. He's our resident talker (and by talker I mean it's a GREAT day if he says more than three words). I can see amazing opportunities in his future with this company.

Elicia Johnston started with Altair April 1st, 2014. She has such a lovely personality and an infectious laugh that will be missed in her absence. Her consistent performance has earned her a wildcard spot at our Top Performers Retreat in the Bahamas coming up in April.

Grant Viekman is on of the newest members of our Altair family, starting in August of 2014. It has been amazing fun watching Grant grow into a leader and entrepreneur while he's been with us. He also has the prettiest hair I've ever seen. He will be joining other members of our Altair family in a few weeks aboard a cruise ship in the Bahamas for some fun in the sun. Grant has also been proving his potential as a business owner over the last few months.

Jaron Watkins started out in our Ann Arbor office and transferred to our Grand Rapids office back in September. He has recently proven to be a top performer within the office and has been invited on our all expenses paid trip to the Bahamas. Jaron also holds many of the sales records we have standing in the office currently. It only goes to prove Jaron's will to succeed within our business. Because of this, I know we will see great things from him.

In our business, we spend so much time together as a group. We've all built relationships on both a personal and professional level. It's not that we'll never see you again. We will be seeing you in the near future at our Top Performers Retreat in the Bahamas and again at our company conference in June. But we won't see your faces every morning around the office. We won't see your posts to the team in our group text. We won't get to sit down with you and ask you how your weekend went or see you at events outside of the office. We will definitely be visiting you in your new, warm and sunny location in Atlanta.

Take the skills you have learned here and pass them onto others in your new location! You will be greatly missed. But this isn't goodbye, it's see you later.

The Truth About Success

Humans are fickle creatures. There are many "fair-weather friends" of celebrities, businesses, trends, politics, and individuals. While something looks glamorous we are all for it! Winning the lottery? Promises of grandeur? Any random trend is good for a while, but when the hype wears off, that's the end of the fan base.

We hear what we want to hear. Commercials on the TV will say "Call now and get a $500 value for $19.99!!!" Sounds great! Then we look at the fine print or call and buy it and here's what we missed: 19.99 per month for 3 months. Plus S+H. Small fee when paid for with a credit card. Any late payments will result in the end of the promotional price. 
Now it's not near as cool; and for good reason!

So now what happens when there's actually a good thing? People go to college and expect a 60k job right after graduation that they can just swoop into and live their dreams because they want to college! College is a great accomplishment to be sure, though the hard work continues after graduation. From one job to another, barely making ends meet, that was hardly the dream we thought it would be when someone signed us up to be adults!

The road to success is rarely, if ever, the straight arrow we think it will be. It's full of color and life! Ups and downs, wrong turns, huge learning curves, failures, small victories, and so much more!! Lets not make ourselves blind to the fact that no matter what goals we have, there will be a lot to learn on the way to success. We can make it there with patience and endurance of the junk that can make the hardship seem unbearable and not worth the prize at the end of the tunnel.

Just like TV the good thing is good, but it comes with things that could make it difficult, that could ruin the deal if you mess up-and lets be honest, not everything is within our control! So do we give up?

Now that, that is up to you!

Business: According to Settlers of Catan!

Settlers of Catan: a much loved board game. If you've never played or never heard of it, it is a game of development, of building cities and roads with the resources you gain from the land you build on. If you build on the wrong places, there is no way to get resources that you need to develope and (really) to win the game! The game of Catan symbolizes those resources with different cards. You can hold them in your hand for as long as you want, but you eventually can lose them if you keep too many undeveloped.

It is somewhat complicated to explain, but it is a great metaphor for a business or managing a team.

Owning a business requires that you have certain pieces or skills to really sustain that. Build in the right places and you have the correct resources to sustain and develop. A grocery store with no groceries will soon cease to exist! Advertising with no capital is rather impossible! A manager with no people to manage...is quite a laugh.

Without the necessary resources one cannot expect to be successful.

Not "cashing in" our resources can be just as detrimental. If you know the game, holding onto a ton of brick and wood does nothing for you, you have to use those to build roads! In the real business world, we can get so excited about our business that we don't realize that our plans for expansion aren't sustainable. We can be too generous with capital and end up closing the doors for lack of funding. On the other hand, there are some developments that need to be saved for, which means turning down a smaller opportunity for the bigger picture.

Being aware of what needs to be spent and what needs to be saved, what needs to be delegated and what you just need to do yourself, is a great skill that must be learned by any successful business person.

How Successful People Stay Calm

LinkedIn Influencer, Dr. Travis Bradberry, published this post originally on LinkedIn.

The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and we’ve found that 90 percent of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control.

If you follow our newsletter, you’ve read some startling research summaries that explore the havoc stress can wreak on one’s physical and mental health (such as the Yale study, which found that prolonged stress causes degeneration in the area of the brain responsible for self-control). The tricky thing about stress (and the anxiety that comes with it) is that it’s an absolutely necessary emotion. Our brains are wired such that it’s difficult to take action until we feel at least some level of this emotional state. In fact, performance peaks under the heightened activation that comes with moderate levels of stress. As long as the stress isn’t prolonged, it’s harmless.

Research from the University of California, Berkeley, reveals an upside to experiencing moderate levels of stress. But it also reinforces how important it is to keep stress under control. The study, led by post-doctoral fellow Elizabeth Kirby, found that the onset of stress entices the brain into growing new cells responsible for improved memory. However, this effect is only seen when stress is intermittent. As soon as the stress continues beyond a few moments into a prolonged state, it suppresses the brain’s ability to develop new cells.

“I think intermittent stressful events are probably what keeps the brain more alert, and you perform better when you are alert,” Kirby says. For animals, intermittent stress is the bulk of what they experience, in the form of physical threats in their immediate environment. Long ago, this was also the case for humans. As the human brain evolved and increased in complexity, we’ve developed the ability to worry and perseverate on events, which creates frequent experiences of prolonged stress.

Besides increasing your risk of heart disease, depression, and obesity, stress decreases your cognitive performance. Fortunately, though, unless a lion is chasing you, the bulk of your stress is subjective and under your control. Top performers have well-honed coping strategies that they employ under stressful circumstances. This lowers their stress levels regardless of what’s happening in their environment, ensuring that the stress they experience is intermittent and not prolonged.

While I’ve run across numerous effective strategies that successful people employ when faced with stress, what follows are ten of the best. Some of these strategies may seem obvious, but the real challenge lies in recognizing when you need to use them and having the wherewithal to actually do so in spite of your stress.

They Appreciate What They Have

Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the “right” thing to do. It also improves your mood, because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%. Research conducted at the University of California, Davis found that people who worked daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood, energy, and physical well-being. It’s likely that lower levels of cortisol played a major role in this.

They Avoid Asking “What If?”

“What if?” statements throw fuel on the fire of stress and worry. Things can go in a million different directions, and the more time you spend worrying about the possibilities, the less time you’ll spend focusing on taking action that will calm you down and keep your stress under control. Calm people know that asking “what if? will only take them to a place they don’t want—or need—to go.

They Stay Positive

Positive thoughts help make stress intermittent by focusing your brain’s attention onto something that is completely stress-free. You have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your attention. When things are going well, and your mood is good, this is relatively easy. When things are going poorly, and your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, this can be a challenge. In these moments, think about your day and identify one positive thing that happened, no matter how small. If you can't think of something from the current day, reflect on the previous day or even the previous week. Or perhaps you’re looking forward to an exciting event that you can focus your attention on. The point here is that you must have something positive that you're ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative.

They Disconnect

Given the importance of keeping stress intermittent, it’s easy to see how taking regular time off the grid can help keep your stress under control. When you make yourself available to your work 24/7, you expose yourself to a constant barrage of stressors. Forcing yourself offline and even—gulp!—turning off your phone gives your body a break from a constant source of stress. Studies have shown that something as simple as an email break can lower stress levels.

Technology enables constant communication and the expectation that you should be available 24/7. It is extremely difficult to enjoy a stress-free moment outside of work when an email that will change your train of thought and get you thinking (read: stressing) about work can drop onto your phone at any moment. If detaching yourself from work-related communication on weekday evenings is too big a challenge, then how about the weekend? Choose blocks of time where you cut the cord and go offline. You’ll be amazed at how refreshing these breaks are and how they reduce stress by putting a mental recharge into your weekly schedule. If you’re worried about the negative repercussions of taking this step, first try doing it at times when you’re unlikely to be contacted—maybe Sunday morning. As you grow more comfortable with it, and as your coworkers begin to accept the time you spend offline, gradually expand the amount of time you spend away from technology.

They Limit Their Caffeine Intake

Drinking caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline. Adrenaline is the source of the “fight-or-flight” response, a survival mechanism that forces you to stand up and fight or run for the hills when faced with a threat. The fight-or-flight mechanism sidesteps rational thinking in favor of a faster response. This is great when a bear is chasing you, but not so great when you’re responding to a curt email. When caffeine puts your brain and body into this hyperaroused state of stress, your emotions overrun your behavior. The stress that caffeine creates is far from intermittent, as its long half-life ensures that it takes its sweet time working its way out of your body.

They Sleep

I’ve beaten this one to death over the years and can’t say enough about the importance of sleep to increasing your emotional intelligence and managing your stress levels. When you sleep, your brain literally recharges, shuffling through the day’s memories and storing or discarding them (which causes dreams), so that you wake up alert and clear-headed. Your self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced when you don’t get enough—or the right kind—of sleep. Sleep deprivation raises stress hormone levels on its own, even without a stressor present. Stressful projects often make you feel as if you have no time to sleep, but taking the time to get a decent night’s sleep is often the one thing keeping you from getting things under control.

They Squash Negative Self-Talk

A big step in managing stress involves stopping negative self-talk in its tracks. The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. Most of our negative thoughts are just that—thoughts, not facts. When you find yourself believing the negative and pessimistic things your inner voice says, it's time to stop and write them down. Literally stop what you're doing and write down what you're thinking. Once you've taken a moment to slow down the negative momentum of your thoughts, you will be more rational and clear-headed in evaluating their veracity.

You can bet that your statements aren’t true any time you use words like “never,” “worst,” “ever,” etc. If your statements still look like facts once they’re on paper, take them to a friend or colleague you trust and see if he or she agrees with you. Then the truth will surely come out. When it feels like something always or never happens, this is just your brain’s natural threat tendency inflating the perceived frequency or severity of an event. Identifying and labeling your thoughts as thoughts by separating them from the facts will help you escape the cycle of negativity and move toward a positive new outlook.

They Reframe Their Perspective

Stress and worry are fueled by our own skewed perception of events. It’s easy to think that unrealistic deadlines, unforgiving bosses, and out-of-control traffic are the reasons we’re so stressed all the time. You can’t control your circumstances, but you can control how you respond to them. So before you spend too much time dwelling on something, take a minute to put the situation in perspective. If you aren’t sure when you need to do this, try looking for clues that your anxiety may not be proportional to the stressor. If you’re thinking in broad, sweeping statements such as “Everything is going wrong” or “Nothing will work out,” then you need to reframe the situation. A great way to correct this unproductive thought pattern is to list the specific things that actually are going wrong or not working out. Most likely you will come up with just some things—not everything—and the scope of these stressors will look much more limited than it initially appeared.

They Breathe

The easiest way to make stress intermittent lies in something that you have to do everyday anyway: breathing. The practice of being in the moment with your breathing will begin to train your brain to focus solely on the task at hand and get the stress monkey off your back. When you’re feeling stressed, take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. Close the door, put away all other distractions, and just sit in a chair and breathe. The goal is to spend the entire time focused only on your breathing, which will prevent your mind from wandering. Think about how it feels to breathe in and out. This sounds simple, but it’s hard to do for more than a minute or two. It’s all right if you get sidetracked by another thought; this is sure to happen at the beginning, and you just need to bring your focus back to your breathing. If staying focused on your breathing proves to be a real struggle, try counting each breath in and out until you get to 20, and then start again from 1. Don’t worry if you lose count; you can always just start over.

This task may seem too easy or even a little silly, but you’ll be surprised by how calm you feel afterward and how much easier it is to let go of distracting thoughts that otherwise seem to have lodged permanently inside your brain.

They Use Their Support System

It’s tempting, yet entirely ineffective, to attempt tackling everything by yourself. To be calm and productive, you need to recognize your weaknesses and ask for help when you need it. This means tapping into your support system when a situation is challenging enough for you to feel overwhelmed. Everyone has someone at work and/or outside work who is on their team, rooting for them, and ready to help them get the best from a difficult situation. Identify these individuals in your life and make an effort to seek their insight and assistance when you need it. Something as simple as talking about your worries will provide an outlet for your anxiety and stress and supply you with a new perspective on the situation. Most of the time, other people can see a solution that you can’t because they are not as emotionally invested in the situation. Asking for help will mitigate your stress and strengthen your relationships with those you rely upon. 

Setting Goals..And Reaching Them!

We're almost into February and and statistics tell us that four out of five people will just give up on resolutions by this time in the new year. Thirty-one days and we give up on bettering ourselves. It only takes in the realm of twenty-one days to make something a habit.

Why are we so bad at setting goals? Well...in all honesty the problem isn't setting goals, it's sticking to them and reaching them!

Many self-help and self-betterment publishings also say that writing down our goals we are more likely to attain them. Getting to the point where we are able not only to set the goals, but really stick to them is when we'll start to see more progress in our personal lives and in our professional, business lives.

A very common problem in goal setting is not breaking those goals down into doable, step-by-step portions. Owning a business or a philanthropy is a great goal, so what do you need to get there? You'll need capital and certain skills. If those are grant writing, payroll, hiring, interviewing, financial responsibilities of any kind, training employees, finding a client/customer base, and many, many other things. Plan how and where you'll acquire these skills and take the right steps to attain that goal.

Essentially just setting a goal is not enough: we have to think about them and make them attainable! Lets be more serious about any resolutions we have! Set them and make a plan so you can be that one person who's going to not let go of of your goals within the first thirty-one days of trying to achieve them!

2015! The Year to be a Better Leader

So as we begin 2015 many minds are pondering what do change and improve on. At Altair we are focusing our efforts on becoming better leaders. We see it as a two part process. First, to be more productive which will flow into seizing the opportunity that we have as a part of this business, and in turn these things naturally make us better leaders.

Being more productive with our time and energy alone will enable anyone to be conscious of the multitude of things that be accomplished. What do you need to do to make sure that your job is done and that the business you are a part of is thriving? Putting responsibilities in an efficient order, prioritizing; basically working smarter rather than harder!

When you're paying attention to the things that will benefit the company you are a part of, naturally those things will get you a leg up in any company! In a company like Altair, with so much room for growth getting the job done puts you in line for promotions. And who doesn't like a good promotion?? So seize that opportunity! Set your sights on what you want to accomplish in 2015 and go after them through all of that productivity you're going to have this year.

These things do more set you in line for personal gain, but they are the baby steps to being a better leader. Doing a job is different than being excellent at that job. Someone who knows what they're doing will be asked questions and be put into a leadership role naturally. Wanting an opportunity will drive you to do everything better and stand out in the crowd of employees that could be considered for promotions.

So lets resolve to become a better leader this year!

Giving Back for Christmas

We enjoy giving back here at Altair. We adopted a few families for Thanksgiving, filling boxes with all of the wonderfully traditional Thanksgiving foods and some special goodies requested by the families.

We had so much fun for Thanksgiving that we decided to provide gifts and meals for a family this Christmas. Through a local agency we were provided with a family's information and Christmas list. We spent the day in the office on Tuesday wrapping gifts, packing boxes, and buying groceries for the family. We dropped it all off to them later Tuesday evening. Words can not describe the look on the faces of the family members when we dropped everything off for them.

Through our opportunity here at Altair, we have been blessed with many opportunities to advance ourselves and become successful. We enjoy doing philanthropy year round but particularly around the holidays it is always amazing to give back to those less fortunate and we certainly do enjoy doing it. As an office, we all come together to decide on gifts, wrap them, and deliver them. Why shouldn't others have a splendid Christmas like we do?

What Makes a Fun Work Environment?

Is it the one with the boss that doesn't notice anything so you can slack off? The “cool” boss that thinks you’re so fantastic that they give you days off for no reason at all? Playing hooky and getting away with it?

When I sat down to think about what having fun at work means it occurred to me that if I asked ten people what they do for fun I would easily get ten different answers! Many of the things above do not make good business sense, even downright lazy. They include “fun” but no “work.” So how do we add them together?

Taking it down to simple grammar “fun” is the adjective describing the noun “work” (back to school house rock here!). It only goes to reason that a “fun work environment” cannot be had without a solid “work environment.”

A solid work environment calls for things that make money, sustain the business, and develop the individuals who are employed there. Any business is based on the sale of a particular product or service; from a dentist’s office to a plumber to a grocery store. Sales equal revenue, and as any one of us knows, revenue for the company equals paychecks and the occasional bonus! Not working means no pay. No one can expect to make money by going to the movies and getting ice cream all the time rather than getting up and heading to work. Slacking off means that at some point the doors will close and then your fulltime job becomes…job hunting, which no one likes having to do. Once we get past being lazy and having bad work ethic we can get to fun!

A FUN work environment will be different for everyone. Some like quiet, others like loud, moving around a lot, or being stationary. But we all know that a job can be perfect for you, but if the people you work with are rude, not fun, selfish, or any combination of unpleasant attributes. It’s the people that we work with that can make or break a job. No receptionist will tell you the highlight of their day was answering twenty phone calls, it was the stand out conversation on that one phone call that made them laugh! Inside the work place, when work is going well stress is low and spirits are high making conversation light and tension low. The same goes for being outside of work; If that’s going for a casual drink, watching the Big Ten game on Saturday afternoon, or karaoke for the brave few, it’s only fun with the right people and attitude.

So next time you think about slacking off…think about what you’re looking for: fun with no money (somehow!), a zero-fun-work-environment (because you’re slacking and no CEO likes a slacker!), or a fun work environment!

Becoming a Morning Person

Mornings are valuable to those of us working a 9 to 5. Most of us don't know how to have the most effective morning. I know I certainly didn't. When my alarm would go off I would most often hit the snooze button for a few extra, glorious minutes of "sleep". When I decided I couldn't stay in bed any longer and risk being late, I would drag myself out of my bed, carrying myself, still half asleep into the bathroom to begin my morning routine. To cash in on a few extra moments of sleep in the morning I would shower at night (clearly, I am all about sleep). Groggily I would brush my teeth, do my hair, and stagger into my bedroom and pick out an outfit, more often than not changing 100 times because my half asleep eyes can't make something work. I was always groggy and fatigued while at work for the first part of the day.

As an entrepreneur, business waits for no one. I was losing valuable time in the mornings because I was still trying to wake up. I began reading articles and scientific studies (I'm a nerd, I know) about how to increase productivity. Most of these pieces of written gold suggested a nailed down routine that called for discipline and action. I fought my attachment to sleep and decided it was worth a go.

1. Set up an effective nighttime routine and stick to it! Nighttime has nothing to do with morning, you say. Trust me, it definitely does. To ensure a smooth morning void of rushing around I always set up the night before. I pack a lunch so it is ready in my refrigerator, in the morning, it becomes a quick grab and go. I pick out my suit, ironing if I need to so everything is crisp. I stop checking my phone and turn off the TV and my computer 90 minutes before bed. The screens on all of our modern amenities actually make it harder to fall asleep. I still shower in the evening to allow myself time to relax. Before bed, I curl up with a cup of tea and read a book, any kind of book, business book, trashy romance novel, American Classic.

2. Set a bedtime. Have a specific bed time in which you turn off the lights and finally lay down. This is completely determined by the person themselves. Some people need 8 hours of sleep, some people need less and some people need more to feel rested. I personally, need about 8 hours, 7 hours and 40 minutes to be exact (we won't go into detail on how I determined this, it makes me sound crazy).

3. Stop hitting the snooze. When you hit the snooze your body goes back into sleep mode and instead of waking you up, it actually makes you more tired. I was the queen of pressing snooze. Once I stopped, I noticed immediately how quickly the groggy morning feeling went away and how much more prepared for my day I felt. A great tip for those of us that find it difficult to stop hitting snooze, place your alarm clock on the other side of the room so you physically have to get up to shut it off, you kill two birds with one stone.

4. Have a great morning stretch. I find even after this routine above, nothing wakes me up as much as a great stretch. Whether this is deliberate stretching like touching your toes or an awkward stretch that just feels so good (you all know exactly what I'm talking about), make sure you do it. The sooner the better, really.

5. Create a morning playlist. I always start my morning with a great playlist. Find songs that will wake you up and dare I say, songs to get you singing. This is especially effective if you shower at night rather than in the morning. For me, it gets the blood flowing and helps me get more energized for the day.

Don't get me wrong, sleep is a glorious thing. I would kill to go back to my college days when classes didn't start until noon, I could wake up on my own time and take forever to complete a morning routine so I would slowly but surely wake up. But, as I have entered the working girl world I have noticed that an effective morning routine can get you through even the earliest of mornings to help you feel awake and productive for the entire day.

Fish Theory

There are many theories for types of people. The Fish theory is one of my favorites. It encompasses the people I work with in my company. It helps me relate to people by understanding they type of person they are and what motivates them so that I can be a better mentor and coach to those people.

Fish Theory

Shark
A person who is a shark acts like a shark. They are blood thirsty, competitive, hungry. These people are typically money motivated. They will be motivated by any extra things they can take on to gain them an extra few dollars. I have people in my office that will work extra in order to make more money even if they've already made more than everyone else during the week. While coaching these people it is important to focus always on the money. How will what you're suggesting they try make them more money now and in the future?

Urchin
This person gobbles up knowledge, the more they know the better they'll do. They constantly what to know why we do things, how we do things, and every aspect of a situation. They ask a million questions, typically questions no one has asked or probably even thought of before. They also want to know all the fine details and ins and outs of your business. These people can be difficult to coach because they may ask questions that create problems where problems never were. The best way I've found to coach people like this is to be completely transparent with them, if they ask a question I don't know the answer to, I find one or point them in the direction of someone who would know. Involving Urchins in all aspects of a business process will help motivate them to replicate it. The more information and finite details they have, the more motivated they will be to complete a task and master it.

Whale
A person with a whale personality has a big heart and always wants to help. They care more about the betterment of people than of their own. A whale will work very hard for the good of others. They are cause motivated individuals. If your trying to expand your company by half its current size by the end of the month, this person will do whatever it takes to help you achieve that. They will stay late, come in early, or research innovative ideas to help move your company forward. For a whale personality, it is all about helping others. Using this as a coaching technique will help them. Coaching them in how doing something a specific way will better themselves will not be most beneficial. Coaching them on how that specific way will help the cause you're working towards will.

Dolphin
This personality type is the most fun to be around. They are extremely excited about work and about the culture and environment. They are also excited about the opportunity. They rarely have a bad day and even if they do they it's difficult to notice. Coaching these people involves focus on the opportunity. Most companies have an opportunity for advancement, focusing on that keeps Dolphin personalities engaged and motivated. Where are they going, how will they get there, what can they do to get there faster?

Everyone will be a little bit of one or the other. Find what you are most of and focus on this. Alert people around you that could coach you exactly how you need to be coached and what motivates you. All in all, this will make you the most successful and you will get the most out of your coaching as it will be definitively focused on what motivates you.

Hard Working People

Hard working individuals differentiate themselves from those that aren't willing to work as hard. We recently had a conference call in the office discussing the promotion of a colleague to a corporate position. When asked what she did to get herself into that position it wasn't being the best, or doing the most that got her to the top. Her answer was simple. She was a hard worker. She wasn't afraid to put in extra time to do her job properly.She understood that achieving most things in a business sense comes out of working hard. Most people have a tendency to give up when it gets difficult, she however, decided to push through the difficult situations and advance herself in her career.

This is an important lesson for all of us. In our organization there is a certain level of focus on a merit based system. Those that work harder or take more advantage of opportunities to learn and develop go further than those that don't do as much. This isn't true in all workplaces. I am fortunate enough to work in a place that focuses on this aspect and encourages it.

As a business partner I am constantly looking at the colleagues I have in my office and noticing the ones who are working harder to achieve a goal. Those are the people I want to spend time with, I want to help, I want to be around. To me, seeing others achieve goals is so motivating particularly when those goals are difficult for them to reach. The growth that takes place is amazing to see. I've had the privilege of being around many people who are willing to work hard for their goals. The hard workers will go out of their way to ensure that they are learning all they can about a business or specific job responsibilities. They hit goals in order to achieve more responsibilities. Depending on the workplace ideology, employee vs. entrepreneur, hard workers can be either intrinsically motivated to work hard or they can be motivated by the opportunity they have to better themselves and move up within a company.

I was always taught that working hard would get you to your goals and help you ultimately achieve success. In this business, I have seen it exemplified. I also work for an amazing company that rewards those that work for it in the most grandiose ways. All expenses paid trips to Miami and Las Vegas, group adventures to sporting events, like Lions games along with monetary bonuses and incentives. I have never worked for a company before that appreciated hard work. hard work is truly the gateway to bigger and better things.

Interview How To

We've all been in the position where we had to do an interview. Some of us may have been the interviewer. This blog was designed to give tips to interviewees based on what I look for while interviewing. In my office and in many others, preliminary interviews are conducted first with a candidate either over the phone or in person as an initial meet and greet for the employer to determine whether or not they believe someone would be a good fit for a position available in their office.

1. Give clear and concise answers. The preliminary interview is designed to be short, to allow an interviewer to see many candidates without spending too much time with them. Providing clear answers to the questions asked will show that you are well spoken and practiced. Understanding nerves, the more you practice before your interview, the more the answers you give to questions will sound more concise rather than nervously floundering for the answer you know you have.

2. Research, research, research. Everyone says it. Do your research! Most companies will at least have a website for you to check out and get a little more information on what the company values. Many businesses now have ties in social media which will typically be linked to their company websites. Google searches are also an excellent way to research everything about the company you're interviewing with. This knowledge helps you learn more about the company but also helps you sound informed about company culture, position, and their future plans. Doing your research can help you determine questions you may want to ask during your interview. You'll know what was covered on the website and what was not to keep the interviewer from repeating information you could have gathered yourself.

3. Dress professionally! I can't stress this enough. First impressions are everything, if you walk into a company your hoping for a job at and you look unprofessional or disheveled, you have a lot of making up to do in your interview. You want to stack the cards in your favor. This tip ties along with the previous tip. If you do research on the company, you can usually prepare how to dress. Another way to find out proper attire would be to ask when scheduling your interview or calling the company again to ensure that you'll dress appropriately. If you are unsure what they mean when they say "business casual" or "business professional", ask! You may think you'll look stupid, consider how stupid you'll look if you show up inappropriately dressed. Also, each company may have a different interpretation of what "business casual" and "business professional" look like. You can never be too dressed for an interview.

4. Arrive early. As a recruiter and interviewer I always noticed when people arrived. It told me a lot about how seriously they took the opportunity to interview with my company. If they arrived early I immediately knew that they were looking for a position, they saw my time as valuable, and they took my company seriously. I also noticed when people arrived just on time or late. First impressions are everything and that wasn't the way to make a first impression.

5. Bring at lease one copy of your resume. You probably submitted a resume to the company for their review which gained you the interview. Bring at least one copy of your resume to the interview as well so the interviewer(s) can reference it before they take you in and afterward when they are considering you for another interview or the position. Also, ensure that you take extra time to print your resume and account for any printer trouble you may encounter. It's unprofessional to you ask them to print it for you, particularly when they ask you to bring a copy with you. This is a first impression flaw that can be avoided.

6. Don't be afraid to ask for clarification. If you don't understand a question, ask the interviewer to repeat it or say it differently. This shows your concern for answering the question properly. Avoid trying to answer a question your unsure of, ask for clarification instead of answering it in a way that doesn't add to your interview or value as a candidate for a position.

7. Avoid explaining your life long story. If asked a question that requires personal explanation, include only the details that will contribute to your story, not every detail. I've done interviews where people tell much more than they need to. For me it won't immediately disqualify them but if the consideration comes down to a candidate that told too much versus the candidate that told enough, I will always choose the latter. Those doing interviews are busy, they have many things to accomplish in a day and filling their time with needless storytelling won't win you any points in the interview process.

Consider these tips when you go on your next interview. Remember, presentation is key. Dress appropriately and professionally and present yourself well. You want a new position and you don't want to cut yourself short on your attributes. Practice, research, and ask questions for every interview.

Let's be Leaders!

Being a leader is difficult. It's difficult to always be on top of things and always have the answers or the right answer for a situation. Just as much, as a leader, we're constantly in front of those we lead so awareness is key more than anything else. I have compiled a list of the things I've learned as a leader and recruiter along with things I've researched from reputable sites such as Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.

1. Lead by example. The only way to effectively lead is by setting the right example. No one likes a hypocrite. Before saying something to those we lead, we must first ask ourselves if we are doing the things we are asking others to do, if we are doing it correctly and efficiently, and if we could be doing more to make our example the best it can be. One of the best things I learned from being a leader is that those we lead will have 20% of our good habits and 80% of our bad. Though I disagree with the percentages the concept rings true. Those we lead will choose the things we do poorly often because they are a short cut to the bigger picture, they take less time or less effort. There can always be too little effort exerted for a task or situation but no one will every tell us as leaders we've gone too far above and beyond.

2. Have a mentor. Before entering the business world I was not a leader by any means. I was pretending to be a leader. A large contribution to why I became a better leader came from those that mentored me. Not only did I let them come to me to offer help, but I took the initiative to seek my own help with things I knew I was struggling with or wanted to know more about. Always seek help from those that are qualified, those that have been in your position in the past and have had a similar situation happen to them. They are the best to learn from, they've been through it and come out on the other side.

3. Have a no excuses mentality. For a leader there is no reason a task or goal isn't accomplished or reached. Leaders find a way no matter what to achieve what they have said they would or what they have set their mind to. This goes hand in hand with leading by example. Most of those that we lead will provide any excuse for why work isn't completed. For me, I would just prefer the truth. If work wasn't completed by those I was assigned to lead, rather than providing me with a laundry list of excuses, I preferred for them to tell me the truth. As a leader, these reasons are so much more valuable. I can teach and mentor based on these reasons rather than an excuse. We all fall short sometimes so it is my job as a leader to minimize the shortcomings to make a more efficient team.

4. Be solution oriented. It is easy to focus on the problems that arise during a day. A true leader will focus more on how to solve the problem. Innovation is key. Thinking outside of the box will help find solutions that fulfill the shortcomings of convention. Trust your instincts, if you think something may or may not work, try it and make adjustments as you go. Being a leader in business is about trial and error. What may work for you will not work for others and vice versa. Many times when I am having a problem, I will find out what others have done in the situation and put together the things I liked from all of them to form my own solution.

5. See the value in those you lead. Everyone on your team has something to offer. They all have different ideas and different talents that could lend themselves to situations you may run in to. Asking those you lead for advice does not make you a poor leader. It shows those on your team that you respect their abilities and want to utilize their talents. This will propel your leadership forward by showing your people you pay attention to their strengths. Most other employers or managers will not acknowledge individual strengths. Be the leader that focuses on the value of your employees.

6. Everyone has goals, focus on the goals of those you lead. Everyone likes to be cared about in their work environment. They spend 40 hours a week in the workplace. Be the leader to sit down with team members to determine their goals. Promoting a goal oriented environment allows your team to be more productive. It also means continuous growth for everyone in the team. As a leader, you probably have goals of your own. Most of these goals regarding your business will be affected by the individual goals set by your team. You will reach your goals when they reach theirs. This will also increase your teams overall satisfaction with you and your company.

7. If things aren't being done properly, it's probably due to lack of teaching. I found more often than not, if someone on my team didn't know something, most everyone on my team didn't know it. This was the same with regular day to day tasks. If tasks aren't being accomplished or being accomplished correctly it is usually due to lack of training rather than lack of will by the team. Take a look at why things aren't getting done properly to determine the reasons. Continuous teaching will also keep this problem from occurring or reoccurring. Many times when things are being done wrong it is because I, as the leader, had not taught it properly or didn't monitor that it was being done correctly. Awareness is key. This is also true for your team members. They may not know something, even if you know you've said it before. Reconsider how you say it again. They may need to hear it differently or see it again to really determine how to accomplish something.

This list is by no means the only things it takes to be a great leader. Everyone has their advice as to what can make someone better. These are just a few things I've found that helped me accomplish more with my team and to make sure I was bringing my A-game to my company everyday.

Does it Really Pay to be an Entrepreneur?

Since many of us were young, we have been raised on the idea that when we get older, we will work for a company with a boss, a set schedule, and yearly expected earnings. We will clock in, complete our work, and clock out. We will have to ask our boss for a raise, for time off, and for a change in our daily responsibilities. We will work until we are older thereafter we will retire to a comfy life of golfing and vacationing in Florida.

The less glamorous side of this working life that we imagined is that often, in an employee setting, one employee does more work than another. The boss won't grant all of the days off that we may have wanted to take, and our salary may not accurately reflect the work that we do or what we believe we're worth.

For those of us that have pursued an entrepreneurial workplace, there is generally a taboo around the uncertainty of entrepreneurship and those around us often will encourage us to just stick to convention and find a "stable" career elsewhere. In today's economy there isn't necessarily stability in any position. As a recruiter, I notice more and more often how many companies are still downsizing or closing due to economic hardship.

Forbes recently published an article titled "Does it Pay to Become an Entrepreneur?" In this article it states many compelling facts that suggest that more of us considering the employee workforce should much more seriously consider an entrepreneurial workforce instead. Entrepreneurs tend to make more than employees with a mean wage 50% higher.

How could this happen? Entrepreneurs control their environment. They make their environment work for them rather than the other way around. Not only are entrepreneurs more lucrative over time but they also enjoy their business much more. Of course you'll do what you love.

So, as an Entrepreneur, I would like to encourage everyone to at least pursue an entrepreneurial endeavor, just once to see if it could quite possibly be a great fit. It will be scary initially but give it time and it will pay off in happiness and of course in overall financial growth.

Reactionary vs. Visionary

There are two types of people in any given situation. The reactionary person and the visionary person.

Let's pretend you have a boat, you're in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Your boat strikes an iceberg (think Titanic style). Now you have a hole in your boat. The reactionary person will determine the best way to plug the hole right now, in the moment. The visionary person will devise solutions to avoid future icebergs.

We need both people in a business. One cannot be both. Those that are reactionary only deal with the problems at hand and their exact solutions. The visionary person will find a solution to prevent the problem from happening in the future. Those that are reactionary tend to repeat situations over and over rather than finding a fix for the situation permanently. The visionary person will find a future solution but has trouble handling the solution now. Obviously, you can see why we need both of these people on our boat or in our business.

There are many day to day situations that happen in the business world that we need to both handle immediately and prevent in the future. It is certainly beneficial to determine the type of problem solver you are as well as those around you. We can all learn from each other on how to think more like those that are our opposites.

To Sink or to Swim

It is the age old question, will you sink or will you swim? This question is also one that is posed frequently in business. When a problem arises, as an entrepreneur, you can choose to either sink or swim. The success of your business rides on which option is chosen. Our reference for sinking and swimming not only affects small day to day problems and tasks but also affects the large problems and tasks over time.

Let's consider a situation, in your business, a few associates in your office decide not to show up for work. You needed them because they were responsible to run a meeting for the other associates in your office. To sink, you as the entrepreneur would make a big deal out of the fact that the associates did not come in to work and now you have to cancel the meeting for the rest of your associates. Though this may not ruin your business, it definitely effects how your business runs on a day to day basis. The reason you chose for those associates to run that meeting was because the information they had to present was important to the development of your other associates in the office. The associates may learn what they needed to learn in that meeting at a later date, at the expense of your business until they do. As the entrepreneur, you can choose this option. Or you can do something else.

In the same situation if you as the entrepreneur choose to swim instead of counting on those associates to run the meeting and choosing to cancel the meeting because they failed to come to the office. You choose to run the meeting yourself. Your associates learn the things they needed to learn and your overall business runs better because you chose to teach what needed to be taught.

The world of an entrepreneur means more swimming than sinking. Sinking isn't an option. There are solutions to all of the problems we have in the day. Whether it be better planning or thinking of a solution quickly to ensure the betterment of your company. Remaining calm in moments of possible sink or swim allow the entrepreneur to make the best decisions for their company.