11 Pitfalls to Avoid in Difficult Business Communication

Some people are so disrespectful in their message delivery or unaware of how their actions negatively impact others that it is easy to get distracted by their bad behavior. Focus on the content of their message and try to understand what is important to them. You can do this by asking considerate and thoughtful questions which demonstrate respect for what they have to say. It will also help you to understand their perspective, and not be derailed by their antics. … Read More»

9 Ways to Ensure Your Shareholders Are Happy With Your Company’s Performance

You followed your entrepreneurial spirit, came up with an idea, raised capital and started your own company. Now you spend a great deal of energy keeping your customers, suppliers and employees happy. But are you forgetting someone? What about your shareholders? We asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council for their advice on how to maintain a positive, open relationship with shareholders…. Read More»

10 Tools to Pump Up Workplace Productivity in the New Year

Business owners are always looking for ways to improve workplace productivity in their offices. Can work get done better, faster, or smarter? You may not realize it, but your employees are probably thinking the same way. Here are ten tools geared for a global audience they can use to improve performance and work smarter.
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5 Technologies That Will Transform Your Business Decisions

True success in the business world often depends making the right business decisions at the right time. This has only grown more complicated over the years as organizations are inundated with increasingly complex problems. If you feel overwhelmed at times when making these decisions, you’re not alone. But in much the same way that technology has made crucial decisions more common, it can also aid in ensuring you make the correct call.
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It’s Never About Having the Best Product… or Is It?

“It’s never about the best product, and always about the strategy”. Indeed, it’s always about searching for the best strategy to deliver a cohesive, well defined product. Well, while this is largely accepted, our work with some of the most celebrated companies in the world has uncovered that the opposite is also true. In other words, that it is always about searching for the best product to execute on a well-defined strategy.
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4 Business Lessons We Can Learn from the “Crazy Ones”

Steve Jobs called them the ‘crazy ones’: the daring and brilliant minds who were crazy enough to think they could change the world. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, we could learn from the best practices they have applied. What connects the so-called crazy ones is the fact that they all left the path of average and moved to the edges. Here are four characteristics of the crazy ones we can all learn valuable business lessons from…. Read More»

Innovation: Are You Innovative Enough in Your Approach

Innovation has become the workout regimen of the business world. Companies all claim to do it, or like to believe they do, but, very few actually see results. It’s not the innovation or the exercise itself that fails to deliver; it’s the approach. Just as running 10 miles a day won’t land you the perfect body, creating an innovation team and setting it free won’t translate to industry-changing products… Read More»

How to Make the Most of Strategic Business Partnerships

Massive tasks or projects have the capacity to strain the limits of any company’s knowledge and resources at times. The CEO must decide if it’s worth spending valuable time and money to tackle something that could dramatically affect the team’s productivity. Often, only an outside third party can knock out those projects and get the company from point A to point B. Finding a third party that can work seamlessly with your own business may seem daunting. But leveraging outside partnerships is often more effective, and less expensive, than taking big projects on yourself…. Read More»

Negotiation Techniques That Never Fail [Infographic]

Pro-active listening is just one such technique for more effective negotiating, but for many it’s the gateway to a new form of positive compromise. To tune up the other aspects of your technique, be sure to check out this new infographic which identifies and explains seven effective tools to boost anyone’s game, from business beginner to seasoned entrepreneur…. Read More»

3 Steps to Creating Efficiency, in Good Times and Bad

Most companies focus almost exclusively on revenue growth and market share and overlook the importance of operational excellence. When the good times come to an end those companies are left reworking their costs and searching for efficiency, sometimes for the first time. The following three strategies can streamline your financial and operational processes to increase return on investment, without trimming your workforce…. Read More»