Today Wayne Turmel talks to Dr. Marty Seldman about Executive Stamina, which is almost as important as middle management stamina. We’re in this for the long haul, how do we keep body soul and career together? Also we take a look at the first marathon as well as wise words from Napoleon…. Dr. Marty Seldman Show Notes 0:00 Welcome to the show. Business is a marathon, not a sprint so we’re talking stamina today. Not only are we talking to Dr. Marty Seldman co-author of “Executive Stamina- How to Optimize Time, Energy and Productivity To Achieve Peak Performance”. We are also taking a look at Phidippides, the first marathon runner and someone who needed to learn the fine art of delegation. 3:15 The “Quote of the Week” is from Napoleon Bonaparte- forget guts…. endurance is the greatest virtue. 4:17 Welcome Marty Seldman, who along with his son Joshua, wrote the book. Joshua is a 24-hour endurance cycling coach. Show off. Stamina is both the day to day energy to perform at a high level, but it’s also about the term of your career. The two laws at work are ‘The Law of Diminishing Returns’ and the “Law of Gradual Change”. 9:02 Our listeners are a hard-working, dedicated group, so how can working harder have diminishing returns? We are over-committed and don’t realize what the tradeoffs are. 12:05 What are some of the warning signs that we are shifting and drifting? Are you doing the minimum to sustain relationships and your health? 14:48 5 areas to pay attention to: Work/Life Alignment Health and Wellness Job Performance/Business Results Career Management Maintaining positive relationships 17:43 How can you maintain networking and watch out for your career while still playing nicely with the other kids? 20:50 Okay, I know I should exercise and it just doesn’t happen. Why not? What the heck is wrong with me and what’s the minimum I can do and still say I’ve done it? 26:50 What’s the one thing Marty would change for most of us? Overcommitting and not maintaining boundaries. I also do not recommend slapping people like George C Scott in Patton, but I understand the temptation. Resources Officepolitics.com Robin Sharma’s blog Don’t let the weasels get you down!!! Less

This sales podcast is focused on how to prioritize an invest in our staff for maximum ROI as an organizational leader. This is blogathon entry number 21 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause. Less

Today on The Bigg Success Show, we welcomed Phil Rosenberg. Phil is the founder of reCareered, a career coaching service that helps job searchers get past the biggest challenge in today’s competitive jobs market – to get noticed.   Phil, what does reCareered mean?     It means someone who is seeking a job change, or trying to revitalize their career, or someone who is between jobs and wants help with how the job markets have changed in the last eight years or so.   How has the job market changed?     Eight years ago, the majority of resumes were delivered on paper. Around 2000, it changed to where most resumes were delivered digitally.   And how does that change the resume itself?     It changes it completely. The paper-based resume had to be static. The only way to customize it was by a cover letter. A digital resume can be searched. It also increased the number of resumes that went into most companies, by as many as ten-fold.   We always hear about search engine optimization and how you want to rank at the tops of the pages for Google. But apparently you can do the same for your resume … it can be optimized?   You bet, and it’s especially critical in today’s world. Most major employers get thousands of resumes for each job, but they only staff to look at twenty to thirty. That’s two to three percent. So your goal, in submitting your resume today, is getting to the top two or three percent. Through resume search optimization, you can manage that process rather than have it be random. My strategy with my clients is to make a resume a single-use document – to have it infinitely customizable so that you’re gaming the search engine and forcing it higher up the search page.   How do we make a good impression right upfront?     There’s been research from the University of Toledo and Stanford University that states that interview decisions are made within the first two to thirty seconds. That blew me away. The rest of the interview is just somebody justifying their initial decision. So it’s a “gut feel” decision that may occur even before you shake hands. It’s all about preparation. Learn about your client – how they communicate (verbally and non-verbally), how they dress, how they look. If you want a job, go to a place that’s close to their office and sit there during lunch. Talk to people from that company who are getting lunch there. On a Friday night, go to Happy Hour at a bar close to their office and talk to people from that company. When you talk to them, watch their body movements. What’s the tone they use? What’s the speed they use to talk? You can also do that with their written communication – their web site, annual reports, press releases. The key to all this is communicating to your audience that it seems like you already work there.   It reminds me of the book, Guerilla Selling. It’s all about learning about your customer, in that case, but in the case the employer you’re going after – getting as much information as you can, wherever you can. It’s amazing how much information you can gather.   Sure. That’s also an effective way to use LinkedIn, Facebook or your own personal network. Chances are you have contacts within that company. A lot of people only use those contacts to see what jobs are available and to ask them to pass their resume along. They leave out some of the greatest uses of a network – talking to people within an organization to find out what an organization is like and what the communication style is like. Listening for how they’re answering questions rather than just what they’re saying.   This is fantastic advice because you do want to fit in. It’s all about mimicking. When you’re at an interview, should you sit up straight and lean forward or should you try to have your body language be similar to the body language of the interviewer? From what I’ve read, you should try to mimic that person.   That’s exactly what you’re doing – it’s called mirroring. You’re trying to show that you fit in. You speak the same language. You’re really trying to act like you already work at the company. It takes a ton of preparation. A lot of people aren’t willing to put that preparation in, but the people who do get a huge, almost an unfair, advantage. Phil's links You can get free daily job tips from Phil at his blog or visit his main site, reCareered, the place for resume search optimization and job search 2.0.  Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.  Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. ShareThis Less

Today on The Bigg Success Show , we welcomed Melissa Giovagnoli. Melissa is an author, speaker, coach and entrepreneur. Of her 11 books, four have been on the best seller’s list and one was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is one of the world’s leading experts on networking and has appeared on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, and Fox. She was recently named the “best networker in Chicago” by Crain’s. Networking vs. Networlding We asked Melissa for her best networking tip. She says not to think of it as networking, but think of it as networlding, which is the title of one of her books. Networlding expands opportunities rather than limiting them. As a networker, you might set a goal of meeting two people. If you’re a networlder, you would set a goal of meeting two people who you can form a long-term relationship with and build opportunities for you, for them, and for the greater good. The “overstuffed Rolodex syndrome” Many people confuse activity with accomplishment. You leverage your network by thinking about who would be good connections for you. Start with people who have complementary values. With the online world, you can have quality and quantity by being specific about what you ask for to create a vibrant exchange. 7 levels of support Networking isn’t about taking. It’s also not about just giving. You can support people:   Emotionally By providing information By providing knowledge (information plus experiences) By promoting them Through wisdom sharing (the 20 percent that will yield 80 percent) By creating transformational opportunities Community (creating the greatest good for the greatest number) Links to Melissa’s sites networlding2.org This is Melissa’s most interactive community. The goal is for members to support each other in achieving their respective goals. You can create your own profile and build your own private circle around your special interest. Networlding E-Learning Here you’ll get six FREE lessons on networking for business and sales or networking for jobs. Melissa will also help you with writing a book. If you’re really serious about it, contact her. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.  Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Related posts Relationship Building Blocks 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success 3 Keys to Effective Networking The Two Most Powerful Words You Can Use The Other Pause that Refreshes  ShareThis Less

On today’s cast, we complete our discussion on coaching directs on interpersonal skills. Of course, if you haven’t listened to last week’s cast, you may want to start there. Less

This cast tells you how to begin a process of coaching a direct on interpersonal skills. Soft Skills! How many times have you heard, “hired for technical skills, fired for (lack of) people skills”? It may be common wisdom (an oxymoron if there ever was one), but it’s still true. The path to greater success in most organizations, big and small, is more quickly achieved by improving one’s relationships and communication skills than it is by learning more technical knowledge. Yes, results trump everything; but the higher you go, the more your results hinge on your abilities to get along and to get others to go along. And yet, far too few managers are willing to coach directs on interpersonal skills: how they speak, how they create and maintain relationships, how they listen. In this first of a series of casts, we lay out the basics of interpersonal skill coaching, and tell you which of the skills to start with. Can you guess which it is? Less

In Annie Get Your Gun, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler show their competitive sides as they sing the now well-known song Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better. With all due respect to Irving Berlin, the great writer of this song, we’re putting our own twist on it … anything I can do, you can do better! A blooming mistake Jim McCann was a social worker. He got a part-time job in a flower shop to make ends meet. A few years later, he started his own flower business. He made some money, but not that much. So he opened another shop. And then another. Over ten years, he ended up with fourteen flower shops. One morning, he was listening to the radio as he got ready for work. He had a fresh idea – a nationwide flower service. He found a bankrupt company which had stopped doing business several years earlier. Its only asset was a toll-free phone number – 1-800-FLOWERS. Now this was before the internet when ordering via telephone was huge. He really wanted this phone number. So he agreed to buy the company and assume the debt. He figured their liabilities had to be pretty insignificant, since they hadn’t done any business for years. After buying the company, he found out how wrong he was. It turned out they were $7 million in debt. His friends advised him to declare bankruptcy, but he pressed on. It took about five years to pay off the debt, but he did. And last year his little business sold over $750 million of flowers! Learn from Your (and Our) Mistakes So Jim McCann learned a valuable lesson about due diligence. But anyone who wants to buy a business can learn this lesson without having to go through a similar experience. You can do anything better than me by learning from my mistakes so you don’t have to make them yourself. Learning from your mistakes is good; learning from mine is better. You’ll succeed faster! Shared Success With information so prevalent today, there’s another way our title applies. In many cases, it doesn’t make sense to hoard information, you’re better off sharing it. The final step of mastering any craft is the desire and ability to mentor others. And an interesting thing happens as you do that … the people you’re mentoring may, at some point, start doing better than you. Then the teacher begins to learn from the student. So the teacher performs better. And the student learns and performs better. Anything we can do, we can do better! You both help each other grow.   Teach us something! Click on our comment link below Click on the Share This button below to Digg, Stumble, Mixx more Our bigg quote today is by the great Will Rogers, who said, “A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.” It’s the smart thing to do! Next time, we’ll discuss how to have the discipline to invest even if you don’t have the discipline to invest. Until then, here’s to your bigg success! Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.  Related posts  Jungle Love – Living With Coopetition It’s Safest To Stick To What You Know Leadership Lessons From Fallen Leaders Lessons Learned From A Bankrupt Business Owner  (Image by andresfib,CC 2.0) ShareThis Less

Here in the United States, March Madness is winding down. The Final Four NCAA basketball teams will play tomorrow with the winners meeting Monday for the championship. That got us thinking about how great coaches build winning teams. So we decided to compare the style of two of the greatest – Bobby Knight and John Wooden. Bobby Knight spent most of his career at Indiana and recently retired from Texas Tech. He won more games than any other coach in the history of college basketball. He also made more NCAA tournament appearances than anyone else. He won three championships (tied for third) and was selected the coach of the year four times. John Wooden , the Wizard of Westwood, spent most of his career at UCLA. While there he won a record ten championships, including an amazing seven in a row. He holds the record for most games won in a row (88) and most undefeated seasons (4). Bobby Knight’s way – Build your playbook and recruit the best talent for it. Bobby Knight was known for his “motion offense” and aggressive man-to-man defense. Knight only recruited players that fit his model. He had a system; his players had to mold themselves to it. This is the most common way to build your team. Design your playbook. Determine the duties of each position and recruit people to fill it. Then hold them accountable. John Wooden’s way – Find the best talent and build your playbook around them. Wooden played the game based on who he had. Some years, that meant great guards; at other times, he built around a big man in the middle. Sometimes he played man-to-man; sometimes he played zone – it all depended on his players. This isn’t as commonly practiced in business as Knight’s strategy. In basketball, you have seasons. In business, you don’t. But you do have phases. In each phase, you’re trying to accomplish certain things so you can move on to the next phase. That’s where Wooden’s strategy works – think about what you need to accomplish in this phase and who would best help you accomplish it. Then go get your players! Jake’s Take – Top 5 reasons your team didn’t make the Final Four #5 – Your players stayed up too late catching the midnight showing of "Horton Hears a Who." #4 – Your coach went a little too far with the motivational tools he picked up at Guantanamo Bay. #3 – Your team was too pre-occupied with midterms and grad school applications to focus on silly things like sports. #2 – They did the right thing by losing and thus avoiding the inevitable riots and on-campus arson incidents that happen when teams win the national championship. #1 – At least by losing, they can finally get those cheerleaders and the pep band to shut the heck up. Our bigg quote today is by Jean-Claude Kelly: “The best and fastest way to learn a sport is to watch and imitate a champion.” So learn from these champions to build your winning team. Next time, we’ll discuss a key component that gets people to buy into your personal brand. Until then, here’s to your bigg success! Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.  Find out when we post new articles. Subscribe to the Bigg Success Weekly. Related posts  7 Steps To Lead Your Troops To Victory V Is For Victory: Spell It Out For Your Troops Your Leading Role: Define The Roles Of Your Troops Create a Code of Conduct to Create a Covenant with Your Troops 5 Things You Must Do to Lead by Example 4 Characteristics of Constructive Criticism  4 Pointers for Praising Your People  (Image by powerbooktrance,CC 2.0) ShareThis Less

This cast describes the role of Coaching in the Management Trinity, and makes a KEY recommendation regarding development of directs and performance management. This week, we cover the Coaching Model’s inclusion in the Management Trinity. It’s BY FAR the least used of the Trinity. That’s too bad, because it only takes 5 minutes a week per direct to coach them. FIVE MINUTES A WEEK! Who would want to go to their boss and say, “I didn’t coach my people this YEAR, because over the course of the year it would have taken me 4 hours, and I didn’t want to spend that much time on it.” Not if you worked for us. At least, not for long. Less

Bigg Challenge: We received a question from Gary, one of our listeners. He graduated from college a few years ago with a liberal arts degree. He had planned to go to law school, but didn’t want even more debt. He tried to get a job in his field, but didn’t find one. So he’s still delivering pizza, a job he started in college. He feels trapped. He’s applied for a number of jobs, but has been told that he’s not qualified because of his inexperience. He wants our advice on how to get out of his dead-end job. Bigg Advice: Sometimes you know you have more potential than your job offers. It sounds like you’re in that position, Gary. But keep your chin up – you’ll find a rewarding career if you keep trying. You don’t find your current job challenging. But here’s the good news – when you go home, your job doesn’t go with you. Think about these two questions: What are you passionate about? Are there opportunities to do something part-time in that field? Get your foot in the door. On the show, Mary-Lynn said that, when she was young, she wanted to work full-time in radio as a disc jockey. She didn’t have the experience or the skills required. So she got a full-time job as a waitress and worked part-time at a local radio station. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, she volunteered her time so she could learn the skills she needed. She wasn’t getting paid for that time, but she was investing in her future. It paid off! Within a year, she got a full-time job as a disc jockey! Get your foot in the door. From janitor to mogul As a kid, Sean Combs knew that he wanted to be in the music business. He went to New York and volunteered to be the janitor at a record company. They were growing fast because hip hop was hot. They needed people. They were comfortable with him. They knew that he had a good ear for talent. He had proven himself. In a year, he became the Vice President of Marketing. We know the rest! Part-time business Would you like to start your own business? Could you do it part-time? A lot of businesses – like Dell, Microsoft, and Apple – started part-time. On the show, George said that he was a salesperson when he was young. After his work was done for the day, he devoted his time to his part-time business. Within two years, he opened a store, which provided him a full-time salary. Back to school You mentioned law school, Gary – why not go back now? You may have to take on some debt, but most lawyers get paid well. Odds are you’ll be able to pay it off quickly. It doesn’t have to be law school. Maybe there’s something else you’re passionate about that offers great opportunities now and in the future. Thanks, Gary, for sending us your bigg challenge. We wish you bigg success! Do you have a suggestion for Gary? Leave a comment below. Our Bigg Quote comes from Cullen Hightower. “Worry compounds the futility of being trapped on a dead-end street. Thinking opens new avenues.” But that’s just the start! After you’ve thought about your escape route, put it in gear and burn some rubber getting out of there! Next time, with the Super Bowl upon us, we’re going to discuss how to fumble forward, toward the end zone. Until then, here’s to your bigg success! Read more Bigg Challenges   ShareThis Less