Especially in these tough economic times, keep up your friends and contacts. People over use the word “networking” when they think about developing contacts and finding job information. But networking is more than that. It is all about you trying to help other people. If that is happening, then you have a network that is there when you need help. Wherever you are, you are two steps ahead of someone else, so give them a hand.

I got a hyacinth plant today because it smelled like spring. It was already blooming, or I don’t think I would have recognized it as anything worthwhile. A dried up bulb isn’t very impressive. What we see, touch, hear or smell isn’t always as things truly are. Look twice. FInd the bloom.

Talented people sometimes doubt their abilities when that talent is unrewarded. When they doubt their abilities, they might look for places where they feel their efforts ARE rewarded. Good managers know that good people need ot know that their efforts are rewarded. Good families members know that as well. Make sure that you let the people in your life know that they are appreciated too.

People often shy away from asking employees or bosses for what they want or need. They are afraid they will be rejected or become unpopular. A lack of clearly articulating requests creates uncertainty. Most people want more information, not less. Withholding negative information does not help either. Quality people can figure out a way to solve problems, and they need as much information as they can get. You owe it to the people around you to provide them with clear communication.

Rewarding good behavior only works if the reward has some meaning for the recipient.

I heard that this morning and thought it was a great way to encourage leaders to take responsibility for their people and their organizations.  It came from Nolan Consulting.

Uncertainty abot hte economy abounds. While a (very) small part of me is pleased as punch that a lot of people are finally paying attention to the economy, I am dismayed by the lack of correct informaton. Opinions are not nearly as helpful as facts. Fact: 90% of people are not persoanlly affected by the rising unemployment and housing debacle.
Fact: Some people really should not have bought houses on speculation. Fact: Anyone who cannot find a job right now is probably having a rough go of it. The media telling them it is going to be worse everyday does not help. Turn off the tv!

Sometimes in our rush to return emails and take care of the immediate things that we face every morning we forget to focus on what is important to our business – which is to have a product that people want. SO make sure that the first thing you do every day is to do something that will help you make money. Make that difficult phone call or get through the paperwork needed before a product is launched.

Make sure to schedule the time in your day.  There are 1440 minutes in a day, which is a lot of time.  If most people sleep 7 hours a night and watch 3 hours of tv, and then spend 9-10 hours getting to and being at work, it does not leave much time for doing things that fuel ourselves.  Make time to fuel ourselves.