25 things strong leaders tell their team members

From Liz Ryan's Forbes article. Managers who have attended MDS can relate to these easily.

Here are 25 things awesome managers say to their teammates all the time. Which of these can you try right away?

1. Thanks for having that incredible idea!

2. You know, you are really good at this. I’m so glad you are working on this project.

3. How can I help you with anything that’s in your way?

4. Let me know if you run into any snags. Your success here is a big priority for me.

5. I don’t know the answer. What’s your opinion?

6. I do have a strong opinion about that, but I want to hear your thoughts. I’m sure they will inform my viewpoint, too.

7. Listen, I trust you to do this project the way you think best. Put together a plan, please, and show it to me. Then we can confirm it and you’ll be off and running.

8. I have a favor to ask you about switching priorities. Is now a good time to talk about that?

9. Thanks again for the amazing effort you put into that assignment.

10. I noticed that you showed Terry how to work the inventory adjustment report, and I appreciate it a lot.

11. What did I say in the staff meeting that set you back? Your face changed and I could see I surprised or upset you. Can you please tell me what it was?

12. I know you were disappointed that we organized the project differently from what you recommended, and I wanted to tell you that I appreciated your suggestions. I can walk you through the reasons I decided to schedule the project differently. I don’t want you to feel that I’m ignoring your views, and I want you to keep sharing your opinions.

13. What can I do to be a stronger manager for you and help you more?

14. I wanted to tell you that I’ve learned a lot from you — so thanks!

15. What are you waiting for from me, that I haven’t gotten back to you on yet?

16. It seems like there may be confusion between your role and Sarah’s, and the intersection between your two job descriptions. Is that a topic we should talk about?

17. How are you holding up? How’s your workload?

18. I wanted to tell you right away that everyone at the Managers Meeting loved your presentation — tremendous job!

19. What do you want to learn in the company that I can help you learn? Who do you want to meet on the executive team? Let me introduce you.

20. I want to support and promote your ideas, and I need your help. Can you lay out your argument on paper so we can walk through it?

21. Listen, you are a very important person on this team. I want to make sure you get the information, support and tools you need. Let me know if I’m not doing that.

22. Do you understand how our company makes money and how the organization works? I want to hear your questions and answer them because the more you know, the more effective you’ll be at your job and the more great ideas you’ll be able to come up with.

23. I heard that you had a tough day yesterday with the rescheduled customer demo. I’m sorry to hear about. Do you want to talk about it?

24. How can I help you reach your goals — your goals in this job and your career goals going forward?

25. Have I told you recently how grateful I am that you work here? Let me tell you again!

Decide, Commit, Resolve

Decide, commit and resolve to gain momentum and become a leader that ignites and impacts everything and everybody. Nice little (2.5 min) video by Tony Robbins.

What RamP's Reading (Oct'16)

Pre-suasion: A revolutionary way to influence and persuade

Influence established Rob Cialdini as the world’s foremost authority on the science of persuasion, winning plaudits from such figures as Dan Pink, Chip Heath and Tom Peters. In Pre-suasion, Cialdini builds on his investigations into the subtle world of influence to reveal that the best persuaders succeed not only because of what they say or how they say it, but because of what they do in the moment before they deliver their message. In the process he draws on a series of compelling case studies and a profound understanding of human psychology to offer a ground-breaking work that is both fascinating and brilliantly practical.

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A corporate fool's guide to surviving with grace

Creativity is crucial to business success. But too often, even the most innovative organization quickly becomes a "giant hairball"--a tangled, impenetrable mass of rules, traditions, and systems, all based on what worked in the past--that exercises an inexorable pull into mediocrity. Gordon McKenzie worked at Hallmark Cards for thirty years, many of which he spent inspiring his colleagues to slip the bonds of Corporate Normalcy and rise to orbit--to a mode of dreaming, daring and doing above and beyond the rubber-stamp confines of the administrative mind-set. It will be a must-read for any manager looking for new ways to invigorate employees, and any professional who wants to achieve his or her best, most self-expressive, most creative and fulfilling work.

Ego is the Enemy: The fight to master our greatest opponent

Ego is our biggest enemy. Early in our careers, it can prevent us from learning and developing our talents. When we taste success, ego can blind us to our own faults, alienate us from others and lead to our downfall. In failure, ego is devastating and makes recovery all the more difficult. It is only by identifying our ego, speaking to its desires and systematically disarming it that we can create our best work. Organised into bite-sized observations featuring characters and narratives that illustrate themes and life lessons designed to resonate, uplift and inspire, Ego is the Enemy shows how you can be humble in your aspirations, gracious in your success and resilient in your failures. It is an inspiring and timely reminder that humility and confidence are still our greatest friends when confronting the challenges of a culture which tends to fan the flames of ego and encourage the cult of personality at all costs.

The chance of a lifetime

Couldn't help sharing this post from Seth Godin

The Success Cycle

The Richest man in Babylon

I'm highly indebted to a mentor who asked me to read "The Richest man in Babylon" when I had just started my career and I've diligently followed the advice and have been reaping and continue to reap benefits. If you want to read only one book on money management I highly recommend this (free pdf here).

Here are the 7 laws. Like gravity, they are universal and unchanging.

LO, MONEY IS PLENTIFUL
FOR THOSE WHO UNDERSTAND
THE SIMPLE RULES OF ITS ACQUISITION

1. Start thy purse to fattening 
2. Control thy expenditures 
3. Make thy gold multiply 
4. Guard thy treasures from loss 
5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment 
6. Insure a future income 
7. Increase thy ability to earn 

And here are the rules for the Gold:

• Gold comes gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family
• Gold labours diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field
• Gold clings to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling
• Gold slips away from the man who invests it in business or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep
• Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who follows the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment

The two pains

There are only two pains:

1. The pain of discipline

2. The pain of regret

The pain of discipline weighs in grams and the pain of regret weighs in tons. Choose your pains wisely.