Are you giving your very best efforts at work? Are you fighting for that promotion? Why? One of the dangers about promotion is that you might get into a position that you can’t handle and then you will suck according to David Burkus. I totally agree with him on this. I have included a short clip from one of his speeches below, watch it and learn. I have a similar view on promotions, as it is not getting a “better” job or more money and responsibility. A promotion starts inside your head and what you are promoting is your knowledge. …

I just got a question about how to ignite the spark in a salesperson from a friend. He has just become a store manager, selling clothes. He says that his team is loyal, but lack fighting for sales. He wonders how to handle this situation and get the employees to see the importance of selling. I sat down to write him an answer this evening, but hey, there are a lot of good brains out there in the World Wide Web, so why not ask? How can we help him boost sales in his clothing department?
I believe that it …

1. Work systematically
Make sure to have a goal and purpose with your work. Find out what will make your day great and go and get it. Use checklists to write down stuff you need to do. Look at your day, decide for a period of time and work as hard as you can to reach your goal.
2. Follow the rules (but bend them once in a while)
Find out the rules of the game and follow them. Do not be a troublemaker or argue about the rules. You can talk about the rules in a constructive way. If you need to …

Work philosophy kind of got my way today. Is it possible to teach a team to work hard together without a leader or manager? The team is responsible for reaching the goals. The team is responsible for filing the reports. The team is responsible for training and getting the job done? Or will a team crumble without supervision? How will no manager impact results and productivity? Will they all slack? Does the team need incentives, or should intrinsic motivation be enough? I would love if I was redundant at work, and if I for some reason disappear, I would know …

Ann hates John, he is rude and offensive. His jokes are cruel and he does a lousy job. Ann is picking up Johns slack all the time. Ann is building frustration and snaps at Jane that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jane is a complainer and talks to the manager about Ann. Ann and Jane are called into a meeting and Ann apologizes and explains that she is just under a bit stress. Ann is even more frustrated.
Who has the worst experience at work?
When you have personal conflicts at the office, there are …

I am thinking about the impact of social media and the paradigm shift this has caused in modern businesses. Traditionally brick and mortar companies have been founded upon thoroughly planning and research. A lot of established large companies are now trying to ride the social media wave. I am sitting with the impression that those that succeed with social media is the companies that either have a CEO that knows how to use it, or manage to delegate the full responsibility to people that knows how to use it.
Get rid of the plans, Social Media is the information highway
Large companies …

Being motivated equals the ability to achieve goals and completing tasks faster. Business leaders chase better results and need even more “motivated” employees. And the motivated employees provide even better results on paper. Motivation does not work as easy as we expect it to do. Have you tried dieting? Learning a new language? It is hard, and most likely you will fail. Motivational coaches are being brought in to provide more motivation and better results. It might work, but you need to know motivation is also about failure and resistance.
Motivational factors
Motivation is a multidimensional phenomenon. It is driven by inner …

I am a big fan of Srikumar Rao’s writing. And his latest book Happiness at Work changed my thinking already at chapter two. This book does provide an interesting way of thinking about challenges in your life. The book is about happiness at work, but it works on other areas of life as well.
It is a thought-provoking book that challenge the way you think. It is capable of changing your life in an instant. I got the book at Amazon.com and when it arrived in the mail I felt the thrill and had high expectations, and it exceeded my expectations at once, …