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Good Leaders Are Good Learners

Although organizations spend more than  $24 billion  annually on leadership development, many leaders who have attended leadership programs struggle to implement what they’ve learned. It’s not because the programs are bad but because  leadership is best learned from experience . Still, simply being an experienced leader doesn’t elevate a person’s skills. Like most of us, leaders often go through their experiences somewhat mindlessly, accomplishing tasks but learning little about themselves and their impact. Our research on leadership development shows that leaders who are  in learning mode   develop stronger leadership skills than their peers. Building on Susan Ashford and Scott DeRue’s  mindful engagement  experiential learning cycle, we found that leaders who exhibit a growth mindset diligently work through each of the following three phases of the experiential learning cycle. First, leaders set challenging learning goals in the form of “I need to learn how to…” For some

How to Save Money on Flights With a VPN

Whether you are traveling for leisure or for business, finding flight deals that won’t take a bite out of your wallet can be very challenging. Going through the many travel comparison websites just to find a good deal can be time-consuming, and the worst part is the prices keep fluctuating upwards. The reason why you may be unable to consistently pin down a good deal on flight prices is comparison websites usually track your location and serve you prices based on where you are browsing from and the demand rate in your specific location. Flight comparison websites track your location using: Cookies:  Cookies track and store your browsing history, so comparison sites are able to detect when you query the search engines for the same search item several times and as such increase the price of available flights. IP Address:  Your IP address, also known as Internet Protocol, is arguably the easiest way travel sites are able to detect your location and therefore serve you diff

9 Low-Budget Marketing Strategies Every Startup Can Afford

Many cash-strapped startups abandon the "superfluous" investment of marketing. Big mistake, because marketing can actually provide that cash. Startups face many challenges, but none as precarious or life-threatening as the struggle to remain cash positive. The  Minority Business Development Agency  (MBDA) estimates the average cost to start a business to be  in the neighborhood of $30,000 ; and there’s significant variance in this figure, with some businesses starting out for just a few hundred dollars and others requiring upwards of millions. But, remember: These numbers are only startup costs. In addition, new companies have to pay thousands a month in team salaries, office-leasing fees, raw materials and other ongoing operational costs -- all while struggling to secure enough revenue to stay afloat. Caught in this dire financial balancing act, most entrepreneurs end up abandoning investments they come to view as superfluous, such as marketing and advertisi

3 Simple Product Development Lessons All Entrepreneurs Should Remember

Here are the things I have always kept in mind in continually working to evolve the companies I've run. There is a long simmering, rather interesting argument around the notion of "nurture vs. nature" as it relates to human beings and their abilities. The Eddie Murphy film  Trading Places  was actually based on it, with a bet revolving around whether he could learn the commodities business without being born a blue blood. I’m often asked whether entrepreneurs are born or made, and I firmly believe that entrepreneurs are born. Why? Because the mark of a good entrepreneur is that you’re never satisfied, you’re not OK with the status quo and you’re out to change the world no matter how large or small. Even looking back to my youth, I was always the kid in school to ask “why?” and I’m sure that rings true for many of us. It’s that energy -- the unwillingness to stand pat and let that “why” vanish from the back of your mind -- that drives  successful  entrepren

8 Reasons a Powerful Personal Brand Will Make You Successful

Opportunity will find you and your business when you have a strong brand. If you don't have a powerful and visible personal brand, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage in almost every aspect of your professional, business and personal life. Personal branding has become a requirement for anyone looking to grow their business, get a better job, get noticed by the press, take their career to the next level or meet new, high quality friends. Personal branding is the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands -- the ongoing process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about an individual. Everyone has a unique personal brand, whether they know it or not. But what we should all be striving for is a powerful, attractive and visible personal brand. I define that as an online and in-person authentic display of the engaging aspects of your professional and personal activities and interests. In my previous artic

My Virtual Assistant Tried to Steal From Me. Here's What You Should Know.

What you can learn from my experience. In my lifestyle business, I generate income in several different ways. I write for publications (for exposure and pay) and books, coach clients, speak at events, consult at and for large multinational corporations and sell digital information products. To run a half-million-dollar-a-year business, I have been using a team of four virtual assistants for administrative tasks and two freelancers for the technical parts.  A few weeks ago, I walked away from a consulting deal that I was negotiating with a company here in Asia (I'm writing this article to you from Seoul, South Korea). The deal fell apart because the company wanted to own all of my content after I presented it. They offered a six-figure consulting contract for the intellectual property rights.  My attorney and I tried to offer many other options, but they were adamant. They wanted to own the content so they could repackage it and sell it as their own. I walked away f

25 Habits of Successful and Extremely Happy People

Quality sleep, big dreams and meaningful conversations are all part of the mix for those lucky enough to call themselves "happy." What's the secret to happiness? That can differ according to the person involved. But we do know that happy people have different habits and think differently than those who are miserable. So, the good news is, if you're trying to be one of those happy people, recognize that that desired emotion comes from within and that you have the power to literally turn that frown upside down by mastering some simple habits. Here's what happy people do and don't do . . . 1. They savor the moment. Do old cliches like "stopping to smell the roses" and "it's the little things in life" really lead to happiness? Yep. Researchers  call this "savoring," which is all about paying attention to the moment. Instead of multitasking and being focused on the past and future and on the present ne