Utopia

How to Use the Psychology of Colors When Marketing

2017-04-19T21:23:00.000+06:00

Do you feel tranquilly calm when surrounded by green fields and blue skies? Or perhaps slightly alarmed when staring at a red stop sign?

Color has been known to have a powerful psychological impact on people’s behavior and decisions, and this knowledge has been harnessed all too well by designers and marketers alike. Color can often be the sole reason someone purchases a product, where 93% of buyers focus on visual appearance and almost 85% claim color to be their primary reason for purchase!

How do Colors Influence People?

Red – Creates a sense of urgency, which is good for clearance sales. Encourages appetite, thus is frequently used by fast-food chains. Physically stimulates the body, raising blood pressure and heart rate, associated with movement, excitement, and passion.

Blue – The preferred color of men. It’s associated with peace, water, tranquility, and reliability. Blue provides a sense of security, curbs appetite, and stimulates productivity. The most common color used by conservative brands looking to promote trust in their products.

Green – Associated with health, tranquility, power, and nature. Used in stores to relax customers and for promoting environmental issues. Green stimulates harmony in your brain and encourages a balance leading to decisiveness.

Purple – Commonly associated with royalty, wisdom, and respect. Stimulates problem solving as well as creativity. Frequently used to promote beauty and anti-aging products.

Orange & Yellow – Cheerful colors that promote optimism. Yellow can make babies cry, while orange can trigger a sense of caution. Used to create a sense of anxiety that can draw in impulsive buyers and window shoppers.

Black – Associated with authority, power, stability, and strength. Often a symbol of intelligence, but can become overwhelming if used to frequently.

Grey – Symbolizes feelings of practicality, old age, and solidarity. But too much grey can lead to feelings of nothingness and depression.

White – Associated with feelings of purity, cleanliness and safety. Can be used to project an absence of color or neutrality. White space helps spark creativity since it can be perceived as an unaltered, clean state.

Properly Using Color Theory

Use contrasts to reduce eyestrain and allow readers to focus their attention on specific items. Vibrancy can dictate the emotional response users have to your design.

For example, choosing brighter colors can lead users to feel more energetic, which can evoke better responses and reactions. But if your website is information-intensive, you may find that a darker color theme will make it easier for readers to process all your data.

How Are Major Brands Using Colors?

Source: Small Biz Trends

Shared by: Mizanur Rahman

Difference Between #Lean , #Six_Sigma and #Lean_Six_Sigma

2017-02-27T20:41:00.001+06:00

Giving the fact that many customers may be interested to implement their projects thru Lean and/or Six Sigma, A lot of people get confused between them.

In this Article I will introduce you to the methodologies of Lean , Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma. People with no experience in this area can get an idea what it is all about. So let's begin:

Section I: Lean Methodology

What is Lean ?

Lean is a set of problem solving tools to reduce or eliminate activities that don't add value to the process. It emphasizes removing wasteful steps in a process and taking only value added steps. The Lean method ensures high quality and customer satisfaction. It is a never ending process of waste removal.

What is "Value" ?

Depending on the type of business process, the customer defines value. The activities can be classified into three types. They are:

Non- Value added activity: These activities do not add any value to the process. They form the wasteful steps.

Value added activity: These activities add value to the process and are essential. They improve processes for productivity and quality.

Enabling value added activity: These activities do not add value to a customer. They are necessary for continuity of a business process.

Removing Waste

Using the Lean methodology, you can remove these eight types of waste. "DOWNTIME" is the acronym for the eight wastes.

The Five Principles of Lean

These Lean principles can be applied to any process to reduce the wastes. They are:

1. Value Stream Mapping: The customer defines the value of a product or service. The activities are classified into three parts: Non Value added, Value added and Enabling value added. The value stream mapping shows the workflow process steps for a product or service.

The value mapping process helps to identify and eliminate non value adding activities. This helps reduce the delays in a process and improve quality of service.

2. System Beat Time: The beat time is the rate at which a product must be ready to meet the customer demand. This ensures smooth workflow of the process without any disruptions.

3. Root Cause Analysis: It is necessary to find out the root cause of waste in a process. Using the 5 Why's tool and a cause and effect diagram is an effective way of root cause analysis. Here is a sample image:

4. Balancing and Workflow Management: Systems designed on beat time principles allow easy workflows. The production system must be able to handle customer demands at any time.

This means use of resources/materials on a need basis. It is known as Load balancing. This means replacing material used for building a product. It also helps to remove excess inventory.

5. Improving the system: There must be consistent efforts to improve the existing business process as per changing customer needs. This ensures removal of waste and quality service to customers.

Now let us read about management approach of Six Sigma.

Section II: Six Sigma

What is Six Sigma ?

Six Sigma is a data driven problem solving methodology. The focus is on process variations and emphasis is given to customer satisfaction. Continuous process improvement with low defects is the goal of this method.

Goal of Six Sigma:

The Six Sigma method aims for a process to be 99.99996 % defect free. In other words, a process results in 3.4 defects per million opportunities or less.

Problem solving in Six Sigma is done using the DMAIC/DMADV framework. There are five stages in this DMAIC framework. They are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. Also five stages through DMADV framework, they are Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify.

Section III: Lean Six Sigma

So far we have read about the methodologies of Lean and Six Sigma. The next question on everyone's mind would be "What is Lean Six Sigma"? Let's find out......

Lean Six Sigma combines the strategies of Lean and Six Sigma. The principles of Lean Six Sigma help to improve the efficiency and quality of the process.

In this management approach, the lean methodology is used first to remove the waste in a process. After this is complete, the Six Sigma tools are used to improve process variations. The combination of these two methods helps to develop streamlined processes with high quality.

The Lean Six Sigma management approach finds wide application across industries. It leads to rapid changes in an organization's performance. Lean Six Sigma has become popular in various companies in the world. They can be product or service oriented companies. The LSS method has improved processes making them efficient. This is possible because of total employee involvement and commitment to customer satisfaction.

Practitioners of Lean Six Sigma are given "Belts" signifying level of experience.

I hope you understood the differences between these three management approaches. They have their benefits when applied to different business processes. They improve the quality of existing processes and make you a better manager.

Source: Ahmed El-Askalany, CSTE, CSQA, PMP, CQIA, ITIL

Cockroach Theory- A beautiful speech by Sundar Pichai

2016-03-17T12:20:00.001+06:00

The cockroach theory for self development

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady.

She started screaming out of fear.

With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but ...it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.

In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt.

When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior?

If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?

He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of those people to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach, that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the story:

I understood, I should not react in life.

I should always respond.

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of.

A beautiful way to understand............LIFE.

Person who is HAPPY is not because Everything is RIGHT in his Life..

He is HAPPY because his Attitude towards Everything in his Life is Right..!!

Source: Divya Brahmbhatt (CSWE)

Time to Brand Yourself

2015-06-26T13:16:00.001+06:00

It is true that something conspicuous always catches the eye of the beholder. We walk in the crowd surrounded by on-going bustle of the city; we see what we want to see yet with different perception. In professional domain one can never sit in the cave and acclaim to be a desirable one for an opportunity. That’s where the question arises- Am I visible enough to be called as a brand? Am I participating virtually enough? Or, am I marketing myself in the right manner?

The hottest trend in the market right now is to create your own space somewhere, just like a brand. Indeed, it all starts with personal branding which is nothing but a self-discovery and self-indulgence. According to social media experts, it is very important to build yourself as a brand. Employers and candidates are highly co-related to each other, like peas in a pod. So, if they are not finding each other at the right time – that’s a call for SOS.

Let’s focus on a few areas which can help you form into some admirable brand -

1. Knowing yourself inside out – personal branding lets you understand your basic characteristics, personality traits and attributes. Before you lash out with specifications it is important to have a thorough understanding of your domain, interest areas, passion, strength, weaknesses and goals. It works like an internal scanner of what you believe in and want to portray to others. Be smart enough to reflect your accomplishments in relation to your personal and work front till date.

2. Setting your target – time to set your target audience, viewers, followers and future clients. Once you are clear with your personal branding essentials it is important to build your network through right virtual platform. These platforms further can be understood in the form social media platforms

3. Exploiting social media platforms – in this virtual space there are a number of platforms available for relationship building. Foremost method is to endorse yourself on LinkedIn- this can be considered as a replica of your resume but with a focus on making relationship with future possible network. After all, it is highly important to know the difference between your Resume and LinkedIn profile.

Blogging is another medium to outreach your viewers and followers with right amount of information and ideas. Keep in mind that on social media the quality of content and right usage of keywords defines the foundation of you as a brand. Likewise, other mediums like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Guest Forums – allow you to maintain the flow of desirable amount of information each comprising of different nature.

4. Stay alive – right communication and networking is an ultimate tonic to form a sustainable brand. You need to keep nurturing your network more and more with right frequency of updates, sharing and variation. Perceive it as a massive reach of your only brand in completion with a lot many others in the crowd. In the midst of focusing on what should be done, make sure you implement them in the rightest of manner –

You need to understand there’s a fine difference between personal branding & business branding, yet they both portray the vision and mission in the end.

It is all about being rational enough to self-execute with right tone, right pitch and right keywords on social media sites. Bragging about oneself will drop the end purpose.

Everything goes smooth with being truthful to what you express. Sincerity in branding can lead you to great heights.

Always remember that your ultimate aim is to be a good resource in the market. Be a likable brand throughout so that you end up becoming an asset to others.

All in all, going by the progress in personal and professional space, rising like a brand is itself a story reflection of you. In the end, a brand can never grow without an acceptance of right feedback and change. So, break the void and outshine like a brand.

Source: Aamyre Shareef

Full Body Leadership Medical Evaluation

2015-02-06T00:17:00.001+06:00

When last have you stopped to take a full body leadership medical examination? This is absolutely crucial for diagnosing existing ailments acts as a preventative measure for discovering other conditions in their early stages.

It is imperative that you first seek a Physician Consultation – Do you have a Mentor or a strong Support Network you can confide in? Early detection is key. Leadership can be stressful at times. How well do you handle the dissenting voices? Do you crumble under pressure? To begin with, you will be required to undergo a blood test to determine your blood type and pressure. If your blood type is “Be Positive.” (B+) and your pressure is normal, this a great starting point.

Depending on the results of your consultation (MRI / CT Scan), the following 10 Examinations could be recommended.

1) Pulmonary Function Test –The cells of the human body require a constant stream of oxygen to stay alive. The respiratory system provides oxygen to the body’s cells. Do you breathe Passion and Purpose? Passion is the “breath of life. Lack of passion is fatal. Passion is an intense emotion, compelling enthusiasm or desire for something. It’s the fire that burns within. Is your fire still burning bright or has it gone dim? “Passion is oxygen of the soul.” Bill Butler

2) Electrocardiogram (ECG) -The heart represents the seat of emotions. Do you display Empathy, Compassion and Authenticity? Leaders with empathy use their knowledge to improve their companies in subtle, but important ways. This doesn't mean that they agree with everyone's view or try to please everybody. Rather, they ‘thoughtfully consider employees' feelings – along with other factors – in the process of making intelligent decisions." Dr. Daniel Goleman

3) Brain Intelligence Test(IQ) - Do you think outside the box? Do you surround yourself with smart, passionate and competent individuals? An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. It’s important to build a strong team and welcome fresh opinions, perspectives and honest feedback. Creativity and Innovation are the lifeblood of any organization.“If we do not employ creativity as a core cultural imperative in business, we will be stuck in yesterday’s success” Erik Wahl)

4) Ultrasound of Abdomen - The intestines function are to digest food and to enable the nutrients released from that food to enter into the bloodstream. Does truth reside in your inward parts? Does Honesty and Integrity run through your veins? A leader needs to be trusted and be known to live by ethical principles.

5) Speech and Hearing Assessment. Is your speech seasoned with salt? Do practice passive or active listening? Active listening is simply being receptive by paying attention to the meaning behind the speaker’s words. A good leader is a good listener. Developing excellent Communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. "If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter." -Gilbert Amelio. Emotional Intelligence – (relational wellness) plays a big part in effective communication. You may be also required to take this test which is a subset. Leaders possessing high EQ are able to communicate more effectively and therefore influence and inspire others.

6) A Comprehensive Eye Exam is crucial to avoid the classic “blind leading the blind” syndrome. Do you have sight or vision? Sight is confined to your current environment, while Vision sees beyond your now to your future possibilities. Great leaders understand the power of vision and they capitalize on it by painting a clear vision of the future. Having good vision is necessary, it will keep you on track. It also illuminates the whole body and serves as a beacon to your employees.

7) Rheumatoid Factor Test- Arthritis can cause joint pain and stiffness in your hands and may greatly affect your ability to complete simple tasks. Competence goes beyond words. It’s the leader’s ability to say it, plan it, and do it in such a way that others know that you know how ~ John. C. Maxwell

8) Blood Glucose Test – If you have diabetes, your feet are vulnerable to a variety of problems. Do you prefer “sweet” settings and so keep in your comfort zone? Are you a Risk Taker? Do you embrace change? "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

9) Muscle Strength, Endurance and Flexibility Test – Muscles are the "engine" that your body uses to propel itself. It would be impossible for you to do anything without your muscles. Perseverance - To build muscle, you will have to complete the Ironman Leadership Triathlon: Swim through failure, Jump over rejection and Climb above obstacles. "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other" Walter Elliott

10) Skeletal X- Ray- The skeletal system provides the base framework to which all the other tissues and organs attach, giving shape to the human body. Where do you get your Self Worth from? Do you separate who you are from what you do? Many leaders lose their sense of self / identity in their leadership function and depend on their title to define them.

Acceptance and Admittance is fundamental to dealing with unwholesome leadership.

Depending on your diagnosis the following may be proposed:

Body Cleanse - Harboring toxic emotions can lead to a buildup of harmful pathogens which can thwart your thought and problem solving process. If you have been burned (betrayed) just apply ice. It’s also important to undergo a detoxification programme to flush the body of viruses thus ensuring proper PH (acid-alkaline) balance. To maintain equilibrium you can either be administered an injection of Life lessons Successful Leaders wished they had learned Earlier or be referred to a psychologist in severe cases.

Exercise coupled with Diet Counseling is important if you have lifestyle diseases. (10 Exercise Tips for Professionals). A healthy diet will build up your body and sustain your strength. Remember to drink plenty of water and other fluids to stay hydrated. The temperature at the top can sometimes soar to record highs. You don’t want to get heat stroke. Additionally, if your daily nutritional intake is insufficient, you may require an additional vitamin and mineral supplement: The Three pills every Leader should take – Stillness, Silence and Solitude.

However, if your leadership has flat-lined it may require a dose of Electric shock by a defibrillator (employee surveys) to wake you up into reality. You then will be transported to the operating theatre to view 10 Tips to Boost Employee Morale.

Consequently, if you do not heed the physician’s coaching, this can be very costly to the company, resulting in falling share prices. By not taking prescribed medication such as antibiotics on time, your condition can become life-threatening which can abruptly conclude your leadership presence. Therefore, placing a pint-size adhesive bandage on a severe infection is pointless. You will have to go under the knife (surgery). Surgical removal of negative growths is essential to stop them from spreading. It can be painful but it will be well appreciated by all those under your care.

Source: Brigette Hyacinth

Are you a Change Manager or a Change Leader?

2014-12-29T22:07:00.000+06:00

Change is constant, and as we move into the future we find change happening around us impacting both our personal and professional lives. Embracing change and being able to cope with the circumstances is one thing, but managing or leading change is another thing completely.

Here’s something for you to mull over-Most people often ask about the difference between change management and change leadership. The difference between the two is actually quite significant and those terms are not interchangeable.

The term Change Management is what most everyone is used to. This refers to structures to keep change under control by managing change as it comes to minimize distractions or obstructions. It doesn’t refer to creating or anticipating the need for change.

Change Management involves thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation, but most importantly, the consultation and involvement of those who will be impacted by the change. We often fail to ask ourselves the question: How will those affected by this change react?

Change Leadership on the other hand concerns those driving forces and visions that fuel the transformation. It is the engine that makes the process go faster, smarter and more efficiently. It is mostly associated with large-scale changes.

Most people you talk to will talk about change management and managing change. This is what they’re used to. They’re usually trying to push things through at a very high speed and minimize disruption. It’s sometimes done through external consultants that are good at that in collaboration with task forces that are basically given the whole goal of “push this thing along”.

And change leadership is just fundamentally different—it’s an engine. It’s more about the big vision and what change an organization needs to move all its forces from good to great. It’s more about masses of people who want to make something happen. It’s about empowering lots and lots of people.

However, change leadership has the potential to get things a little bit out of control. You don’t have the same degree of making sure that everything happens in a way you want at a time you want when you have the 1,000 horsepower engine. What you want to do, of course, is have a highly skilled driver and a heck of a car, which will make sure your risks are minimum. But it is fundamentally different.

The world, as we all know it right now, talks about, thinks about, and does change management.-it doesn’t do much change leadership, since change leadership is associated with the bigger leaps that we have to make, associated with opportunities that are coming at us faster, staying open for a shorter period of time, bigger hazards and bullets coming at us faster, so you really have to make a larger leap at a faster speed.

Change leadership is going to be the big challenge in the future, and the fact that almost nobody is very good at it is—well, it’s obviously something to think about.

Source: Haitham Mattar

Leadership Lesson: The Wisdom of Failure

2014-12-29T21:53:00.001+06:00

Looking back, as we approach another year end and tabulating whether my successes have been more than my failures. It’s clear that failure has left its imprint.

The hardest blow came in the form of failing a major exam. The pain was crippling. It did knock me out for a bit. But after all, how do you climb back onto the saddle when the horse has flung you off: when your plans fall to pieces? Life will constantly test your resolve and level of commitment.

If only we could have patience in the midst of our trials. Coping with rejection and apparent failure is a serious matter. The tragic death of John Kennedy Toole (American novelist born in 1937) screams this truth. No publisher would touch Toole’s book. He began suffering from paranoia and depression. In a vain attempt to kill the pain, he committed suicide at the age of 31. Toole's novels were rejected during his lifetime. However, posthumously, he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980.

If you focus on positive thinking, even the harshest defeat is only a stepping-stone.

Never let Success get to your Head. Never let Failure get to your Heart. “I didn’t get consumed by losses,” said the legendary NFL coach Don Shula, “and I didn’t get overwhelmed by successes.”

Many of us have stifled our life by heeding some misguided critic who implied we were not good enough. Few things in life are certain but failure is.

Failure seems as something to be avoided at all cost. Although it leaves a sour taste, we should embrace failure for the learning opportunity it is. Failure is the oldest teacher, and perhaps the wisest of them all. Some things are impossible to completely grasp without first falling down.

We live in a culture that values perfectionism and failure is often viewed as a sign of weakness. People become so fixated on not failing that they never move forward. When it comes to failing, our egos are our own worst enemies. It's easier to accept failure in private, but once the failure is obvious to everyone around you, it's becomes harder to accept it. Holding onto failures for way too long is destructive.

The Importance of Failure

· It’s a learning Experience – Failure drives us to change. It represents opportunity and growth. It gives new direction. There is always one or more lessons to learn in what you may see as a failure.

· It builds Character – We learn how to behave when we finally accomplish our goals. The humility we gain through our failures allows us to better handle and appreciate success.

· It makes you Stronger – It’s with persistence we overcome failure to achieve success . When people fail, they feel unaccomplished, and so they try again and again, until they finally reach success.

· Your chances of Succeeding Increases – Failures are the pillars for success. You gain experiences you could not get any other way. Some things can only be learned through trial and error.

· Failure is a type of Freedom – Why? Because the worst has happened. Now, you can relax and rebuild again.

Success does not come easy. Everyone must face one hurdle after another. If you think that once you have the success you crave, you can relax, you are sadly mistaken.

Failure can be costly, not only emotionally but financially as well. Some industries are very unforgiving as one or more failures may instantly get you the boot. The worse thing anyone can do, is not learn from failures.

In recent years, more and more executives have embraced the point of view, that failure is a prerequisite to invention. The fastest way to succeed,” IBM’s Thomas Watson, Sr., once said, “is to double your failure rate.” The growing acceptance of failure is changing the way companies approach innovation.

However, distinguishing between excusable and inexcusable failure is crucial. Managing failure is key. Some mistakes are unpardonable for example producing and marketing a dysfunctional product caused by poor quality control. Encouraging failure doesn’t mean abandoning or supervision or respect for sound practices. Managing for failure requires leaders to be more engaged, not less.

I would like to share 20 Powerful Quotes on failure:

1. "You always pass failure on your way to success." ~Mickey Rooney

2. "A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in the experience." ~Elbert Hubbard

3. "Failure is the tuition you pay for success." ~Walter Brunell

4. "Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have. ~Dale Carnegie

5. "Success represents the 1% of your work which results from the 99% that is called failure." ~Soichiro Honda

6. "The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.” ~Paramahansa Yogananda

7. "Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes it’s built on catastrophe." ~Sumner Redstone

8. "Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor." ~Truman Capote

9. "There is no failure. Only feedback." ~Robert Allen

10. "Remember that failure is an event, not a person." ~Zig ziglar

11. "Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough." ~Og Mandino

12. "Its fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure." ~Bill Gates

13. "Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again." ~Richard Branson

14. "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying." ~Michael Jordan

15." Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." ~Napoleon Hill

16. "Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." ~Henry Ford

17." My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure." ~Abraham Lincoln

18. "I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." ~Thomas Edison

19. "Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. "~F. Scott Fitzgerald

20. Our best success often come after our greatest disappointments. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Finally, don’t let the fear of failure hold you back.

Remember to take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise. Always find joy in your journey for as George Bailey said it best “It’s a Wonderful Life!”

Source: Brigette Hyacinth

7 P’s Leaders use to Achieve Goals

2014-12-29T21:33:00.001+06:00

A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and deadline. Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow. Here are 7 P's Leader's use to achieve their goals:

Purpose is the reason you journey. A purpose serves as a lighthouse. It gives instant focus and direction. A life without purpose is like a ship without a sail drifting aimlessly. Have a vision and mission statement. Ask yourself what's really important to you, what are you good at, and what you would like to have achieved when you look back at the end of your life? "Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction." - John F. Kennedy

Passion is the fire that lights your way. Thomas Edison failed more than 1,000 times when trying to create the light bulb. When asked about it, Edison allegedly said, "I have not failed 1,000 times. I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb."

Perseverance - Probably one of the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business, his fiancee died. He suffered a nervous breakdown. However in 1860, he was elected the 16th President of the United States. Pain – Get accustom to rejection and failure and take it in good stride. Never take things personally and no pity–parties allowed. The road to success is not smooth. “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”- Abraham Lincoln

Planning - Preparation -Positioning- Les Brown worked as an errand boy in a radio station. He often stayed in the control rooms and soaked up whatever he could until the deejays would ask him to leave. Then, back in his bedroom at night, he practiced. One day while Les was at the station an opportunity presented itself and he was ready. He blew away the audience and the station manager. “It's better to be prepared for an opportunity, and not have one than to have one and not be Prepared” - Les Brown

People – Invest and form meaningful relationships. Have a good supportive network of people you can really trust, who believe in you, are honest with you and will encourage you. Networking is key. The friendship between Henry Ford and Thomas Edison spanned more than 30 years. “Iron sharpens iron”. From their earliest meetings, they encouraged and inspired one another, often contributing to each other's work.“If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions.” - Carlson Gracie

Patience - For everything there is a time and season. ”No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can't produce ababy in one month by getting nine women pregnant” - Warren Buffett

Positive Thinking - Always believe in yourself and have confidence in your abilities. “Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade.Your mind will seek to develop the picture... Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.” ― Norman Vincent Peale.

Personal development is a vital part in a person’s growth and maturity. It is like how you nurture a plant. People give more importance to academic and professional achievement rather than personal growth. This has caused a lot of emotional struggles. “Personal development is a major time-saver. The better you become, the less time it takes you to achieve your goals” Brian Tracy

Pray - Prayer brings Peace of mind in the midst of turmoil. Just trust God and have Faith that all things work out for your good. Praise Him and be Thankful. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. Never underestimate the power of prayer. “Every time I have had a breakthrough in my life, it has been because of Prayer” John Maxwell

Source: Brigette Hyacinth

The Full Text Of Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement Speech

2013-12-06T19:37:00.002+06:00

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Source: Business Insider

The Secret to Selling Your Brand With One Sentence

2013-12-06T14:37:00.000+06:00

You believe in the importance of your vision, but how do you get others to stop and listen to you? There will be many instances when you don’t have a lot of time to grab someone’s attention, be it a potential investor or a licensee. That’s why you need to be able to summarize the benefit of your business idea in a single, powerful sentence -- a sentence that is so direct and compelling, it stops whoever reads or hears it dead in their tracks. A good one-line benefit statement should make someone think: "I want to know more about that."

I’ve learned that if I craft just the right sentence, it’s all I need to get people to listen to my pitch, open my emails and answer my calls. I still remember the day the iPod launched and Steve Jobs called it “a thousand songs in your pocket.” Wow. That's captivating. He didn’t have to explain any further. We wanted it already!

People don’t care about how something works.They want to know what it’s going to do for them.

Newspapers, tabloids, and these days, Twitter have been making use of the headline for years. How often do you find yourself on a webpage you never intended to visit, all because a headline was so tempting, you had to click on it? That should give you an idea of what I’m talking about. Creating excellent one-line benefit statements isn’t an easy skill, but it’s an important one, because it can be used to explain your idea in so many different kinds of situations in an attractive, successful way.

Sometimes, you only get one chance to make an impression. Cut through the clutter to make it count! Here three ways to create an awesome one-line benefit statement:

1. Make it emotional.
Why should people care about what you have to say? Grab them with something they can relate to. Benefits sell ideas, not facts. What is your idea going to do for the consumer or the world? Don’t be afraid to use emotion. People are motivated by their emotions more often than they are motivated by reason. Emotion also evokes visual imagery -- if people can begin to see your idea, that’s a good thing. Some emotional words include: "free", "incredible" and "unbelievable."

2. Keep it short.
Like -- really short. I’m talking no more than 10 to 12 words, ideally less. Remember, you don’t have much time. If your statement is too long, people may move on before they’ve even finished reading or hearing it. Don’t be intimidated by using fewer words. This is a really good exercise in general. Too often, I ask an inventor or entrepreneur to tell me about his or her idea and I’m overwhelmed with a five-minute speech. "What is he talking about again?" I find myself thinking. I’m not even sure. Brevity forces clarity.

3. Use numbers.
Numbers convey specificity. Look around you. Headlines with numbers dominate our world. One has only to look at Buzzfeed to understand the power of numbers.

Here are some examples of one-line benefit statements my students and I have used with great success in the past:

“The most versatile organization system available.”
“The store all, carry all, go anywhere elevated pet feeder.”
“This label will increase space on your packaging by 75 percent.”

Try out potential statements on everyone you know. Which one has the greatest impact? Ask for feedback. Then, start using this line all over the place. When someone asks: “So what is it you’re working on again?” you will have a great answer!

Source: Stephen Key

This Is the 23-Year-Old Entrepreneur Who Just Turned Down $3 Billion From Facebook

2013-12-06T14:15:00.003+06:00

For many entrepreneurs, the dream is to launch a kickass startup, grow it into a powerhouse and then sell it off or go public. In other words, to walk away with a boatload of cash in your bank account.

So what happened when a 23-year-old business owner was offered $3 billion for his company? He said no.

That's right. Not interested.

That young entrepreneur is Evan Spiegel, the co-founder and chief executive of messaging service Snapchat. The mega-offer he is said to have turned down came from Facebook.

We're not talking about cheeseburgers here. Three billion -- in cash. Who the heck turns down $3 billion?

Maybe Spiegel wasn't stoked about working for Mark Zuckerberg. Fair enough. Other reports indicate that Spiegel might be holding out for a better offer.

More than $3 billion? For Snapchat? If he's holding out, Spiegel is either crazy or crazy like a fox.

A press representative at Snapchat could not be immediately reached for comment. But we found this fairly detailed profile of Spiegel published last month by L.A. Weekly. Below are some of the more interesting details about the young man who just turned down billions of dollars for his startup (which, by the way, isn't generating any revenue but has raised $73 million from investors):

Spiegel was born in 1990, the oldest child of two attorneys. He was raised in a $2 million house in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Growing up, Spiegel and his two younger sisters attended a private prep school in Santa Monica, Calif., where they were "assisted by tutors, some of whom charged up to $250 an hour."
Spiegel was into all things geek but wasn't necessarily a geek himself. According to the report: "Yes, he was into computers as a kid, but he was just as proficient at snowboarding."
In April 2007, Spiegel's parents divorced.
By the time Spiegel hit high school he'd become an "expert party thrower," and then was made social chair of his fraternity at Stanford.
At Stanford, his connections landed him opportunities to meet major players in tech, including Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube. His mentor was Scott Cook, the cheif executive of Intuit.
The idea for the Snapchat was born from a conversation about sexting among his fraternity brothers.
Spiegel dropped out a few credits shy of graduation to work on Snapchat full-time.
Snapchat is headquartered in a bungalow on the Venice boardwalk.
Without much media attention in the early days, Snapchat relied on word-of-mouth among teenagers. In February 2012, the app had 40,000 users and was processing 60 million messages a day. (Snapchat says it now processes more than 350 million messages a day.)
At that point, Spiegel and his other co-founder were "maxing out their credit cards" to pay for servers, etc.
A former frat brother of Spiegel's, Frank "Reggie" Brown IV, is suing Snapchat claiming he was an ousted co-founder who actually came up with the idea for an app that can send self-deleting photo messages.
Spiegel, according to L.A. Weekly, has the "Silicon Valley habit of mentioning that he is leading a revolution." Despite how "revolutionary" Snapchat may or may not be, perhaps this explains why he might be holding out for more moolah.

Source : Jason Fell

Seven Ways to Energize Sales

2013-12-06T13:25:00.000+06:00

In this highly competitive marketplace, it's vital to keep your marketing campaigns fresh, new and on target. This fall, kick your marketing into high gear with this seven-point checklist.

1. Reestablish Listening Posts

Smart marketing relies entirely on understanding your customer. You need to know not only who they are and what they buy, but why they buy -- and why they choose to buy from you. Redouble your efforts at dialogue through social media, message boards and blogs. And get direct feedback from customers or clients, or via your front-line salespeople.

2. Announce Special Promotions

Use special incentives to draw customers to short-term promotions. This fall (much like the last), cost-conscious consumers are looking for good prices and great value, and promotions are a winner with most all economic groups. Coupons are increasingly vital, and there is a major rise in the desirability of online coupons.

3. Polish Lead Management

Over the summer, lead tracking and follow up may have become a bit haphazard. Be certain everyone who takes inbound calls asks every new lead where they heard about your company. Make the leads generated by your online, print and broadcast advertising trackable. And where possible follow up all leads within 24 hours. Today's sales are built on trusting relationships that grow from excellent customer service.

4. Focus On Fresh Ideas

Don't rely exclusively on a small team or just your marketing staff to produce fresh ideas. Make innovation everyone's responsibility this fall with brainstorming sessions, company retreats or by giving special recognition to individuals with the smartest suggestions. If your business has few employees, assemble a seasoned advisory board or form an online advisory group made up of members of your target audience to give input in exchange for sales perks.

5. Renew Retention Campaigns

Do you have regular e-mail or direct mail promotions that go out to your entire customer base? This fall, use e-mail to crank up your retention campaign by putting it on a consistent weekly or biweekly schedule. Soon you'll have discovered which incentives and messages work best to retain and upsell current customers and convert prospects, and yield the highest return on investment.

6. Enhance Your Giving

In this era of rising social responsibility, customers and prospects want to know you're a good corporate citizen, and this is a great time to align with a nonprofit. Businesses that rely on local customers benefit from helping community-based causes. You can provide pro bono services or undertake a promotional campaign to raise charitable funds. Just be sure to promote the undertaking via your website and the press. You'll provide help where it's needed most and earn appreciation from customers that leads to sales.

7. Freshen Your Content

When was the last time you updated the content of your website and your family of sales and marketing tools? Since your website is generally the first place prospects go to learn more about your business, it's crucial the site's appearance and themes are current. Imagine someone following a logical path from your website through each step in your sales process, and make sure all materials and messages they encounter flow seamlessly from one to the next. With more shoppers than ever browsing the Web this fall, it's a great way to jumpstart sales.

Source : Kim T. Gordon

Bill Gates Speech at Harvard (Part 1)

2011-08-25T23:54:00.003+06:00

How To Be A Master Public Speaker

2010-04-01T12:03:00.002+06:00

She was just shy of her 17th birthday. I was a year younger. It was my first time, but she was like a pro. When she started, my back stiffened and even my knuckles started to sweat. You see, my classmate and I were giving a presentation to our entire school. I was so nervous I had to clamp my hands to the lectern to steady my shaking body.

My only saving grace was so that no one heard the guttural sounds of fear groaning out of my mouth, because I was shaking so far from the microphone. Afterward, I was so embarrassed that I set myself a new goal. I would overcome my fear and become a proficient public speaker. I took a course in speaking, trained hard and even spoke in competitions at local Rotary clubs.

Now I travel the world from the U.S. to Thailand to Amsterdam doing several dozen paid speaking engagements a year. Public speaking is an invaluable skill no matter what your job is, whether you are in sales, need to talk to investors or just want to be better at getting buy-in from your colleagues. Considering how important a skill it is and how it scares so many people, it is amazing how few schools make it a course requirement. I assure you, though: If I could overcome my fears and get better at it, then you can, too.

Here are three rules for successful public speaking that helped me:

The first rule is to ask a lot of questions. I usually engage the audience by asking questions, just as your professors asked you them in seminars. Asking questions helps get the audience really thinking about the issues you're raising and your solutions. Now, if I'm speaking to an audience of 3,000, it can't always be interactive. But I can still ask questions like, "When you are buying a car, why do you choose a Ford over a Toyota ( TM - news - people )?" "What marketing campaigns do you think have failed, and why?" Those rhetorical questions help engage audiences and keep them away from their text messages and e-mails.

Similarly, try not to talk too much about yourself or your company at the beginning of a speech. Get right to what will matter to the audience. The first 30 seconds of a presentation are critical. That's when the audience decides whether to listen to you or surf for last night's box scores on its iPhones.

No one wants to hear about how big your company is or where you went to school. I just hate it when an executive starts off a speech at a conference with a slide introducing the history of his big, familiar company. I mean, seriously, we all know what Coca-Cola ( KO - news - people ) is and that even yak herders in Nepal drink it. Just get right into the meat of your speech.

The key: Don't talk at the audience. Talk with it.

The second rule of successful public speaking is to tell stories to illustrate your points. Don't just tell people what you think; show them, with specific examples and tales. I recently gave a speech about China's Internet to corporate executives who had flown to Hong Kong from around the world. Most of them had never been to Asia before. Based on what they had read and heard about Google ( GOOG - news - people ) in China, they thought Chinese people had little access to the Internet, and what little they had was like a black hole. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Instead of just telling the audience that China's Internet is robust, I showed them, by talking about Lily, a 21-year-old student in Chengdu my firm had interviewed about her Internet and mobile phone habits. Lily spends nearly five hours a day online, uses Twitter-like microblogging services on Sina and buys cosmetics and clothes online. She also actively uses her mobile phone to browse the Internet and play games. With that simple illustration, Chinese Internet users went from being a nebulous abstraction in the audience's minds to something tangible and even understandable.

The third rule is to go easy on the PowerPoint. I generally don't even use PowerPoint when I give a speech. It can be a useful tool for showing graphs or visual aids to complement important points, but too many people make it the focus of their presentations, in place of themselves and their actual message. Most audience members' minds go numb when they see too many slides or they're too densely packed with information. They tune out and start surfing the Web on their handhelds, especially when the animations and sound effects start.

More often than not, when someone has too many slides I find myself paying attention to what slide out of how many we are on instead of what the speaker's saying. Can we really be on slide 7 of 85? I become a master doodler. Desperation settles in.

How can you make PowerPoint effective? Be simple. Use short words and phrases to make large conceptual points, and never go longer than 10 slides. Get the audience to focus on you and your words, not the slides. When you have too many dense slides, the audience takes notes but doesn't really listen and comprehend what is going on. That is a waste. There is no better time than during a speech to make a business case for your point. Use PowerPoint as a tool to help get your ideas across.

Giving a speech is pointless if no one is paying attention. You need to grab your audience from the beginning by asking questions, telling stories and relying on your own speaking rather than a bunch of boring slides. If you can do those three things, then your battle is already half-won.

By: Shaun Rein Source: Forbes.Com

Attitude

2010-02-28T20:19:00.000+06:00

I've just watched this great video and thought you might also love to see it: http://www.powerofattitudemovie.com/

The best motivation video

2010-01-18T16:12:00.001+06:00

CULTURE: Impact on Business

2009-09-08T16:39:00.005+07:00

Culture is a strong aspect for building a marketing strategy which includes origins such as geography, history, political economy, technology etc and elements such as cultural values, symbols, and beliefs and so on. Culture is a great attribute for a generation. It has an important impact on the corporate world. We are always moving, our corporate life allows us to face with this issue called culture. We always have to have a broad knowledge about the culture of a country. History can give us many examples on this matter.

Once a toy company in USA wanted to spread their business in the Japan. For this, they exported a toy which included a box filled with 4 colorful balls. The package was very attractive, but it did not sell in Japan. So, the company investigated the matter and found out that the number four was the fault. In Japan 4 is pronounced "shi" which means death. It is an ancient believe and till now the number is considered as a symbol of death. Many traditional hotels and hospitals in Japan do not use the number 4 in any of their rooms. So, the American company withdrawn all the products and repacked it with less or more than 4 balls. This time, it was a hit sale. This example explains that sometimes consumer buy things according to the belief of their country.

Another story goes like this, America and Mexico is in the same geographical location. Though Americans say that Mexico and America are friends because they are geographically neighbor but Mexico argues that they may be geographically neighbor but their culture is totally different. So, in order to connect the two countries they should know about their culture.

Even doing my job, I have to work with many foreigners. While working with them, I had to learn about their culture to properly communicate with them. Also in my Country Bangladesh, we have so many different cultures, sometimes I fall in many false positions. Last time I visited Sylhet, a district in my Country, I went to a restaurant and ordered “Puri” (Puri is a food item which made of lentils and flour) as I asked for “Puri” the waiter starred at me very angrily. Later I found out that “Puri” means Girls in Sylhety language. As I did not know the local language, I faced this problem.

From all these examples, we can see that culture is connected very strongly with our day to day life and corporate life as well. In my first article as I mentioned about SRC (Self Reference Criterion) and there is another point “Ethnocentrism”, by using these two points we can realize about others culture. So, we should nurture these cultures as we move forward in this world. We do not want to change a culture; we just want to work with it by sharing their thoughts and beliefs. The basis of production and consumption is made on decisions using their cultural based knowledge. For a good leader, the knowledge of culture is very important.

This is totally my own opinion. I know that culture is a huge aspects but I tried my best to present it in a simple way.

By: Me

Join the Million Leader Mandate at www.leadcap.org

Leadership and Communication

2009-08-12T13:59:00.006+07:00

Communication is the basic way that can exchange information, ideas, thoughts and emotions. This will help you to move forward and hold an active leadership. Nowadays, there are few people who have the ability to properly communicate and these types of lacking are found in many organizations and causes major problem, much confusion arises and can cause a good plan to fail. A well and sophisticated communication is very important because the chain of understanding integrates the members of an organization from top to bottom, bottom to top, and side to side. There are so many people are found in an organization who simply lose their position or fall back due to lack of proper communication.

Communication is a three steps process i.e. thoughts, encoding and decoding. Firstly the content of the mind is send in the form of concept, information, idea or emotion from the sender then it is send to the receiver in words or other symbols and lastly the words or symbols is translated and sends an appropriate reply via the same channel.

Communication might be verbal, non verbal or visual, formal or informal. In research, it is found that 55% from the visual components, 38% from hearing components and 7% from language. Whatever may be the ways of communication is, it should be carried out effectively. In an organization, these ways of communication are encountered everyday.

Once a philosopher said “When you know something, say what you know. When you don't know something, say that you don't know.” Communication is something that is act upon you. This is the way that will help you reveal your task.

In an organization, public relations, marketing, branding, customer relations, advertising, research and development, corporate relations, consumer behavior plays a vital role and all these are based on communication. Communication mainly depends on some channels such as email, radio, media, telecoms, presentations, social networking and face to face. Besides that there are many other ways of communication and all these method circumstantial.

There are different kinds of barriers in communication. These may be cultural, environmental, backgrounds, lack of knowledge and ideas, ego, nervousness and lack of confident. A good leader always works through these barriers.

Leadership and communication is always bond together. Without a good communication skill, a leader fails to commit according to his strategy and also fails to manage an organization smoothly. In an organization or to a leader, it is another basic parts to earn the goals. There is a difference in communication skill at both corporate and field level. A situation will indicate what kind of communication skill is necessary. Lastly, we can say that communication is a soul for an organization.

By: Me

Join the Million Leader Mandate at www.leadcap.org

Leadership

2009-07-28T21:45:00.010+07:00

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. A definition more inclusive of followers comes from Alan Keith of Genentech who said "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen."
Leader is a person who holds the key to success. In my perspective, leadership stands for -

L-Learning

E-Experience

A-Attitude

D-Determination

E-Efficiency

R-Reliable

S-Strength

H-Honesty

I-Innovative

P-Patience

If you want to be a good leader you have to achieve all these qualities. Leadership is a very relevant aspect of an organizational context.

Learning:

Learning is an important part of being a good leader. It is the basis of all the other characters of leadership. To be a good leader one must have minimum knowledge of everything seen and heard. But above all ‘know thyself’ then you can move towards the next level of learning.

Experience:

‘Life without experience is like a ship without a sail’. As a ship can’t reach its destination without a sail, like that without experience you cannot reach your goal. Many obstacles will come forth while trying to gain these goals, only experience will remind you how to face those obstacles. Experience is earned by sharing ideas and views with people around you and from around everything.

Attitude:

The first look reflects the overall character of a person. Attitude attracts every one around you. It will help you to interact with other people. This is an important attribute of a leader. Once it is lost it is gone forever.

Determination:

It is a necessary part of a leader. When you are determined what you really want then you can achieve that. This helps you form all the other points of a leadership. Determination will lead you to your destiny.

Efficiency:

To be a good leader you must prove how much capability you have to do a job. By increasing your capability level you can reveal yourself as competent. Always keep in mind –Nothing is impossible.

Reliable:

It means how much someone can depend on you. This character helps you connect with other people. A reliable leader can bring good fortune to the organization as well as to the nation.

Strength:

In a leadership strength doesn’t mean to show off power, it means strength of mind. Always show courage so that none can break you down. Whatever may be the situation strength can help you win all hard things. It helps you to be confident. A strong mind builds a strong leader.

Honesty:

As the saying goes ‘Honesty is the best policy’. Trust is important to build a good job. Fake cannot bring good fortune. Even if it does it will for a short time. Only truth and honesty can bring the real taste of life.

Innovation:

Necessity is the mother of all invention. We create something new everyday cause we need to fulfill our dreams and it is a great challenge. Innovation separates a man from others and helps to move toward a greater goal. An innovative leader is always a great leader.

Patience:

Rome was not built in one day. To achieve something greater we must have patience. All things come round to him who will have patience.

Beside these points stated above, a good leader has other qualities, which includes situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values and intelligence among others. Also have the quality of SRC (Self Reference Criterion). It’s a practical guide to get along with others cultures.

By: Me

Join the Million Leader Mandate at www.leadcap.org

When They Require Experience And You Have None

2009-07-16T15:46:00.013+07:00

1. Intern

Internships have never been more competitive than this year. If you can afford to, volunteer to work without pay, just to gain experience and network.

2. Apply for the Right Jobs

Learn as much as possible about any position before you apply for it, and only apply for ones you're qualified for. Ask yourself if a hiring manager is likely to say you don't have enough experience. If so, have an answer prepared. Prepare your resume and cover letter so that they address your relevant skills rather than how long you've worked.

3. Join Your Industry's Professional Association

Attend its monthly meetings and annual conference too. Introduce yourself to other members, and ask for their advice and if they know of anyone you should meet. Also, join committees and hold leadership positions in them. That way, you will meet the most active people in your profession.

4. Take Classes

If you repeatedly hear that you lack a particular skill, take a class or two in that area and put it on your resume. Employers will be impressed by your initiative. It should answer any questions they have about your skill level.

5. Volunteer

Find a nonprofit that will allow you to gain skills in your chosen field. For example, if you're looking for a job in marketing or public relations, volunteer at an organization that will allow you to help out in those areas. The Taproot Foundation matches up professionals with organizations that need their skills. It operates in seven U.S. cities in a variety of fields, including finance, marketing and information technology. Volunteers work in teams of five (they can do so remotely) for at least five hours a week, for periods of five months. If you accept a full-time job during your volunteer period, you're still expected to complete the free work.

By - Tara Weiss. Source - Forbes.Com

The Top Things To Do When You Can't Get A Job

2009-07-16T15:27:00.007+07:00

1. Check your résumé for correct grammar and spelling.

You cannot succeed if your résumé isn't 100% error-free. There's no room for sloppiness in this competitive market.

2. Emphasize results.

Don't just list your daily responsibilities on your résumé, detail results. If you saved the company money, brought in new clients or managed a team that didn't have any turnover, describe all that.

3. Write the right cover letter.

Don't let it be a regurgitation of your résumé. It should make the case for why you should be hired. The first paragraph should be an introduction saying, I'm applying for this position. The middle paragraphs should highlight the critical three elements of the job description and why you can do them exceptionally well. Use the language of the job ad itself. The last paragraph should thank the interviewer for his or her time and say when you'll follow up.

4. Practice interviewing.

Research each company you go to for a job interview, and practice answering the questions you'll most likely get. Interviewers usually ask what your greatest strengths and weakness are, so come prepared with answers to those. As for your weakness, spin it in a positive manner. For instance, if you're nervous about speaking in public, mention that as a weakness, but also say that you're working at it and getting more confident all the time.

5. Project confidence.

This helps a lot in landing a job. Look each person you interview with in the eye, offer a firm handshake and try to answer every question with assurance. You'll get more confident every time you practice answering interview questions.

6. Be positive.

Never say anything negative during an interview. Especially never say anything negative about co-workers, managers and companies you've been employed with.

7. Don't undersell yourself.

Boldly state your accomplishments. Don't boast, but do lay out all the reasons you're a good fit for the job.

By - Tara Weiss, Source Forbes.Com

In Depth: 10 Ways To Sharpen Your Leadership Skills

2009-07-15T14:12:00.008+07:00

1. Be Self-Aware

"The best leaders are those that are aware of their style," says Gayle Lantz, a corporate consultant. Take a moment to evaluate the way you lead, so you can define ways to improve or adapt to your organization's changing needs.

2. Make Sure Your Values Align With Your Company's Values

"It's important to take cues from your organization and understand its organizational culture," Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants' Chief Operating Officer Niki Leondakis says.

3. Pay Attention to How Your Company Identifies Success

"Whether you're in a meeting or at an awards ceremony, watch and observe," Leondakis says. "Take note of who is being rewarded and why, and try to incorporate a little bit of that into your own style."

4. Ask Questions

Women typically communicate ideas through examples and anecdotes, according to organizational development consultant Joni Daniels. If you're having trouble getting your point across this way, try to ask questions in order to initiate a dialogue with colleagues.

5. But Don't Ask About "Feelings"

If you've ever asked a boyfriend or husband about his feelings, you've probably experienced the same blank stare this question is likely to elicit from employees. Instead of asking your team how they feel about something, Daniels suggests you ask for their reactions, thoughts or observations.

6. Treat Employees Like Clients or Customers

Some women have adopted an aggressive leadership style most commonly seen in men, says J.T. O'Donnell, a workplace consultant and founder of the Web site Careeralism.com. But, if you're looking to soften your image, start by giving your staff the same respect you show to clients.

7. Take Care of Your Life and Relationships Outside of the Office

Rightly or wrongly, colleagues and bosses judge women on their personal lives as well as their career successes. "If you're getting it done at work because you're sending people crazy all-cap e-mails on a Saturday, you're not going to climb the ladder any further," O'Donnell says.

8. Find Balance

"The most successful team or organization combines the stereotypical male and female traits," Leondakis says. "You need that balance of the male energy and the female energy." Pay attention to your co-workers' styles; choose team members that will complement you and try to adapt to complement them.

9. Listen to Your Team, but Don't Be Afraid to Make a Decision

Women typically seek a consensual agreement from their teams, even if they know what decision they are going to make from the start, explains O'Donnell. Don't be afraid to go with your gut or stand up for your choices even if you can't get everyone on board.

10. Make Time for Your Own Work

After building strong working relationships women often find their time eaten up by colleagues seeking guidance and advice. Leondakis makes sure to schedule office time on her calendar, so she has some "free" time during the day to do her own work, think or plan.

By - Amanda Ernst, Source - Forbes.Com

Look Before You Leap To A New Job, Even Now

2009-07-15T12:34:00.007+07:00

This may not be the best time to accept an alluring offer....

You're one of the lucky ones if you've held onto your job in this recession and gotten an offer of another job too. But before you jump at that offer, do some serious research into both the job and the company. Weigh the opportunities and job security you have with your current employer against what likely awaits you at the new company.

"Don't get blindsided by the enthusiasm of the moment, of getting a job offer," says Laura Hill, founder of Careers in Motion, a Manhattan-based career-coaching firm.

First consider what your career goals are. Where do you want to be in five or 10 years? Will this new opportunity help you get there? Will you learn new skills that will help make you more marketable? Will you have more responsibility?

If the answer to all those questions is yes, do everything you can to find out how stable the new company is compared with the one you're at now. Of course you might learn only good things and still end up getting laid off, but there are definite red flags to look out for. Your goal is to avoid switching companies and then getting downsized out of a job three months later.

Do a Google ( GOOG - news - people ) news search to learn about what's gone on with the company and the industry over the past six months. And set up a Google news alert for future reports. That will help you stay current on what's occurring right now. Look out for acquisitions and mergers, product launches, executive and managerial reshufflings, lawsuits. Public companies are often the focus of message boards where current and former employees post. Some of what you read on them can be rumors, but they're worth looking at to see what people are saying. Also, if you're connected on LinkedIn to any current or recently departed employees at the company, try to get their insiders' views "One question to ask a hiring manager during the interview is, 'What are the challenges your company faces now?'" says Hill. "The truth is never as rosy as they represent. They're trying to recruit you, so they'll say it's better than it really is." Still, their response may suggest other things for you to explore in your research.

Once you've gotten the big picture, get more information on the department you'll be joining and the actual job. Find out why the job is open. That could reveal a lot about what it would be like to work there and how secure the position is. If the previous employee got promoted or left for a better opportunity at a different company, that's a positive sign, since it shows that the job can lead to career growth. But if there has been a lot of turnover in the position, that's something to investigate. Is there a boss who's difficult to deal with? Are the expectations unrealistic? Perhaps the position was just created, because a new product line is launching or additional clients are signing on.

Be cautious about being hired to solve a particular problem. "I'd be leery of that opportunity," says Rick Smith, author of The Leap: How 3 Simple Changes Can Propel Your Career from Good to Great. "That's a short term opportunity. You want them to want you to grow with them. You want to be hired for your potential."

Money is often the deciding factor. Try not to let it be, says Caroline Ceniza-Levine, a job coach at the career Web site Vault. If salary is the sole reason you'd switch jobs and you're happy in your current position, try negotiating with your manager. Just be sensitive about how you go about it.

Ceniza-Levine recommends saying something like this: "I've been approached by someone from another company who has been persistent and flattering about getting me to join their firm. I've talked to that person because I thought it would be good to know what's going on in the market. I actually learned some interesting things about what they're doing that could be helpful to us. [However, never share proprietary information you've been told in confidence during a job interview.] What stopped me in my tracks was the fact that the salary they were talking about was 10% more than I'm making now. Can we talk about that? I'm very happy here, but knowing that I'm leaving that money on the table is tough.

"That is a non-threatening way of raising the money issue. It's almost like you're looking to the boss just for advice," says Ceniza-Levine. You likely won't get the amount the other company is offering, but even a little bump will be helpful, particularly if you like where you are.

If you do decide to go with the new job, you don't necessarily want to be making the highest salary there. "Big salaries can attract attention in tough times," says Hill. "If you go in as a really highly paid new hire, they have huge expectations. That can set you up for failure."

Finally, how much do you like your boss and co-workers? Don't underestimate the importance of that, since congeniality in the workplace can be hard to find. "If you get along unusually well," says Hill, "that should set a high bar for making a change."

By - Tara Weiss, Source: Forbes.Com

Top name brands implicated in Amazon destruction | Greenpeace USA

2009-07-10T22:08:00.002+07:00

Top name brands implicated in Amazon destruction | Greenpeace USA

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GreenPeace.org

2009-07-02T14:17:00.004+07:00

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