Ways to tell a good business story

6 ideas 4.2K reads

📰 Article

Improve These 7 Universal Skills

What does success look like? What do you want from life? What career do you want? Most of us answer "I don't know." That's okay. But make sure you spend your time on improving these 7 universal skills you can always rely on. With these skills you can face every challenge of life.

2 ideas 2K reads

7 Tips For Finding Your Passion

"Life is short. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now."

7 ideas 3.2K reads

Measure What Matters

#1 New York Times Bestseller Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) has helped tech giants from Intel to Google achieve explosive growth—and how it can help any organization thrive. In the fall of 1999, John Doerr met with the founders of a start-up whom he'd just given $12.5 million, the biggest investment of his career. Larry Page and Sergey Brin had amazing technology, entrepreneurial energy, and sky-high ambitions, but no real business plan. For Google to change the world (or even to survive), Page and Brin had to learn how to make tough choices on priorities while keeping their team on track. They'd have to know when to pull the plug on losing propositions, to fail fast. And they needed timely, relevant data to track their progress—to measure what mattered. Doerr taught them about a proven approach to operating excellence: Objectives and Key Results. He had first discovered OKRs in the 1970s as an engineer at Intel, where the legendary Andy Grove ("the greatest manager of his or any era") drove the best-run company Doerr had ever seen. Later, as a venture capitalist, Doerr shared Grove's brainchild with more than fifty companies. Wherever the process was faithfully practiced, it worked. In this goal-setting system, objectives define what we seek to achieve; key results are how those top-priority goals will be attained with specific, measurable actions within a set time frame. Everyone's goals, from entry level to CEO, are transparent to the entire organization. The benefits are profound. OKRs surface an organization's most important work. They focus effort and foster coordination. They keep employees on track. They link objectives across silos to unify and strengthen the entire company. Along the way, OKRs enhance workplace satisfaction and boost retention. In Measure What Matters, Doerr shares a broad range of first-person, behind-the-scenes case studies, with narrators including Bono and Bill Gates, to demonstrate the focus, agility, and explosive growth that OKRs have spurred at so many great organizations. This book will help a new generation of leaders capture the same magic.

19 ideas 14.7K reads

Influence, New and Expanded

The foundational and wildly popular go-to resource for influence and persuasion—a renowned international bestseller, with over 5 million copies sold—now revised adding: new research, new insights, new examples, and online applications. In the new edition of this highly acclaimed bestseller, Robert Cialdini—New York Times bestselling author of Pre-Suasion and the seminal expert in the fields of influence and persuasion—explains the psychology of why people say yes and how to apply these insights ethically in business and everyday settings. Using memorable stories and relatable examples, Cialdini makes this crucially important subject surprisingly easy. With Cialdini as a guide, you don’t have to be a scientist to learn how to use this science. You’ll learn Cialdini’s Universal Principles of Influence, including new research and new uses so you can become an even more skilled persuader—and just as importantly, you’ll learn how to defend yourself against unethical influence attempts. You may think you know these principles, but without understanding their intricacies, you may be ceding their power to someone else. Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion: Reciprocation Commitment and Consistency Social Proof Liking Authority Scarcity Unity, the newest principle for this edition Understanding and applying the principles ethically is cost-free and deceptively easy. Backed by Dr. Cialdini’s 35 years of evidence-based, peer-reviewed scientific research—including a three-year field study on what leads people to change—Influence is a comprehensive guide to using these principles to move others in your direction.

7 ideas 10.9K reads

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Career Changers Make

As a career coach and a career reinventer myself, I can confidently say that changing your career to something that is more suited to your values, needs, skills, and interests, is doable today, even in these tough economic times. But to switch careers effectively and achieve a positive outcome, you need four things: clarity, courage, confidence, and competence.

6 ideas 4.9K reads

📰 Article

Six business lessons from The Wolf of Wall Street - remarkably there are some - SmartCompany

The Wolf of Wall Street film is an intoxicating mix of seedy stock market practices, suave sales techniques, charismatic but corrupt businessmen and mountains and mountains of cash. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort, the infamous Wall Street stock market guru who built an incredible fortune selling penny stocks and laundering money, before facing the wrath of the FBI, prison time and millions of dollars in fines.

7 ideas 6K reads

Making Ideas Happen

How the world's leading innovators push their ideas to fruition again and again Edison famously said that genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration. Ideas for new businesses, solutions to the world's problems, and artistic breakthroughs are common, but great execution is rare. According to Scott Belsky, the capacity to make ideas happen can be developed by anyone willing to develop their organizational habits and leadership capability. That's why he founded Behance, a company that helps creative people and teams across industries develop these skills. Belsky has spent six years studying the habits of creative people and teams that are especially productive-the ones who make their ideas happen time and time again. After interviewing hundreds of successful creatives, he has compiled their most powerful-and often counterintuitive-practices, such as: •Generate ideas in moderation and kill ideas liberally •Prioritize through nagging •Encourage fighting within your team While many of us obsess about discovering great new ideas, Belsky shows why it's better to develop the capacity to make ideas happen-a capacity that endures over time.

4 ideas 16.4K reads

motivating yourself to study

🚶 On a walk

30 ideas 11.1K reads

The Great CEO Within: The Tactical Guide to Company Building

Matt Mochary coaches the CEOs of many of the fastest-scaling technology companies in Silicon Valley. With The Great CEO Within, he shares his highly effective leadership and business-operating tools with any CEO or manager in the world. Learn how to efficiently scale your business from startup to corporation by implementing a system of accountability, effective problem-solving, and transparent feedback. Becoming a great CEO requires training. For a founding CEO, there is precious little time to complete that training, especially at the helm of a rapidly growing company. Now you have the guidance you need in one book.

27 ideas 3.4K reads

📰 Article

Curiosity: The Key To A Long Life - Darius Foroux

Stay curious. Keep learning new things, keep innovating. Don’t “retire” and call it quits. You’re toast the moment you do that. Curiosity keeps you young.

3 ideas 5.4K reads

📰 Article

How to Turn Your Passion Into Profit

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. After her father experienced a severe brain injury in 2005, Robin Gentry McGee was determined to save his life. Due to the severity of his condition, she and her family were advised to discontinue life support.

4 ideas 4.5K reads

How to Get Rich (without getting lucky): Naval Ravikant

🚶 On a walk

39 ideas 5.1K reads

How to do thoughtful work when you just can’t focus

Telling yourself to snap out of it and get to strategic work is not so easy. Turn to a few of these tips to help you reset and absorb the bigger picture around you.

4 ideas 3.9K reads

📰 Article

5 Inspiring Bruce Lee Philosophies Applied on Entrepreneurship

There has never been a pop culture icon who transcended his realm more than Bruce Lee. Ask any member of any generation and 10 out of 10 times, they will know who Bruce Lee is. Lee was a visionary -...

5 ideas 4.6K reads

The Surprising Science of Meetings

Preface -- Setting the meeting stage -- So many meetings and so much frustration -- Get rid of meetings? no, solve meetings through science -- Evidence-based strategies for leaders -- The image in the mirror is likely wrong -- Meet for 48 minutes -- Agendas are a hollow crutch -- The bigger, the badder -- Don't get too comfortable in that chair -- Deflate negative energy from the start -- No more talking! -- The folly of the remote call-in meeting -- Putting it all together -- Epilogue: trying to get ahead of the science' using science -- Tool: meeting quality self-assessment -- Tool: sample engagement survey and 360 feedback questions on meetings -- Tool: good meeting facilitation checklist -- Tool: huddle implementation checklist -- Tool: agenda template -- Tool: guide to taking good meeting minutes/notes -- Tool: expectations assessment -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Index

18 ideas 12.5K reads

7 Best Practices for Networking That Actually Work

Your network is your net worth. When people think about networking, they imagine themselves walking around a big event, trying their best to be extroverted. They think about shaking hands and exchanging business cards, with the hope that sometime in the not-so-distant future an unbelievable opportunity will fall right into their lap.

6 ideas 4.2K reads

Why Failure Is Essential To Success

Failure is not a step backward; it's an excellent stepping stone to success. We never learn to move out of our comfort zone if we don't overcome our fear of failure. The most progressive companies deliberately seek employees with track records reflecting both failure and success.

4 ideas 3.6K reads

Building a StoryBrand

More than half-a-million business leaders have discovered the power of the StoryBrand Framework, created by New York Times best-selling author and marketing expert Donald Miller. And they are making millions. If you use the wrong words to talk about your product, nobody will buy it. Marketers and business owners struggle to effectively connect with their customers, costing them and their companies millions in lost revenue. In a world filled with constant, on-demand distractions, it has become near-impossible for business owners to effectively cut through the noise to reach their customers, something Donald Miller knows first-hand. In this book, he shares the proven system he has created to help you engage and truly influence customers. The StoryBrand process is a proven solution to the struggle business leaders face when talking about their companies. Without a clear, distinct message, customers will not understand what you can do for them and are unwilling to engage, causing you to lose potential sales, opportunities for customer engagement, and much more. In Building a StoryBrand, Donald Miller teaches marketers and business owners to use the seven universal elements of powerful stories to dramatically improve how they connect with customers and grow their businesses. His proven process has helped thousands of companies engage with their existing customers, giving them the ultimate competitive advantage. Building a StoryBrand does this by teaching you: The seven universal story points all humans respond to; The real reason customers make purchases; How to simplify a brand message so people understand it; and How to create the most effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media. Whether you are the marketing director of a multibillion-dollar company, the owner of a small business, a politician running for office, or the lead singer of a rock band, Building a StoryBrand will forever transform the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.

19 ideas 3.8K reads

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Although we have been successful in our careers, they have not turned out quite as we expected. We both have changed positions several times-for all the right reasons-but there are no pension plans vesting on our behalf. Our retirement funds are growing only through our individual contributions. Michael and I have a wonderful marriage with three great children. As I write this, two are in college and one is just beginning high school. We have spent a fortune making sure our children have received the best education available. One day in 1996, one of my children came home disillusioned with school. He was bored and tired of studying. “Why should I put time into studying subjects I will never use in real life?” he protested. Without thinking, I responded, “Because if you don't get good grades, you won't get into college.” “Regardless of whether I go to college,” he replied, “I'm going to be rich.”

8 ideas 14.1K reads