Rfn2004's Blog

Sample 360 Degree Feedback Questionnaire

rfn2004 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:58:43 +0000

Survey Questions:

Scale:
1 – Strongly Disagree
2 – Disagree
3 – Neither Agree nor Disagree
4 – Agree
5 – Strongly Agree
6 – Not Applicable
1. Implements practices and processes that drive accountability for results. -
2. Translates strategies into SMART* goals, tactics, action plans and deliverables and sets accountability for team. -
3. Removes obstacles to performance. -
4. Follows through on commitments. -
5. Holds self and others accountable for results. -
6. Delivers quality work. -
7. Creates clear vision that delivers results. -
8. Accountable for delivering on internal and external clients’/customers’ expectations. -
9. Puts processes in place to deliver high-quality service to internal and external clients/customers. -
10. Builds collaborative and productive relationships with clients/customers. -
11. Ensures internal and external client/customer perspective is at the forefront of all business decisions and initiatives. -
12. Demonstrates a sincere interest in working together to achieve a common goal. -
13. Demonstrates flexibility of approach with others. -
14. Treats others with respect and dignity. -
15. Builds broad-based business relationships across organization. -
16. Surfaces and resolves conflict with minimal noise. -
17. Fosters high levels of accountability through balanced performance management discipline. – 4
18. Coaches and creates an environment for professional development. -
19. Sets stretch performance goals for self and others. -
20. Attracts and develops top talent. -
21. Creates an environment that engages and embraces diverse backgrounds and perspectives. -
22. Continually raises the bar for team and peers. -
23. Paints a compelling picture of the future and connects it to associates by linking individual goals to the business. -
24. Effectively influences peers and colleagues to promote and sell ideas. -
25. Creates positive energy in the face of challenges. -
26. Demonstrates credibility; Inspiring others to follow leadership essentials and sets accountability for results. -
27. Demonstrates a commitment to self-improvement as a leader and holds self accountable. -
28. Acknowledges and celebrates individual and team accomplishments through specific recognition and rewards. -
29. Effectively communicates our business strategy and approach. -
30. Demonstrates a perspective that is much broader than one function or unit. -
31. Demonstrates understanding of our industry and business trends. -
32. Clearly identifies business issues; makes sound business decisions. -
33. Acts with purpose when faced with ambiguity. -
34. Tactfully dispenses direct and actionable feedback. -
35. Takes a stand on controversial and unpopular issues. -
36. Makes tough business and people decisions. -
37. Acts with integrity. -
38. Positively addresses conflicts in ways that maintain productive relationships and maximize business results. -
39. Encourages future opportunities and possibilities (new business opportunities, process improvements, etc.) -
40. Challenges status quo. -
41. Pushes for breakthrough ideas. -
42. Creates an environment that fosters appropriate risk taking. -
43. Approaches change or newness positively. -
44. What makes this person an effective leader? –

45. What could this person do differently to improve his/her leadership effectiveness? –

Think & Grow Rich – Blueprint For Success! 14 Steps to Financial Freedom & Wealth

rfn2004 — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:48:09 +0000

Think & Grow Rich!
Think and Grow Rich alongside the Science of Getting Rich are very useful tools to help you change your mindset with regards to attracting wealth and creating success and financial freedom. Here are 14 simple steps ~ Your Blueprint for success! You need to use all the steps and most importantly keep working it….
1) Desire ~ Have the desire to create wealth
2) Faith ~ Take a leap of faith and know that you WILL be successful
3) Auto suggestion, Visualization & Affirmations ~ Use your mind power to attract your desires
4) Specialized knowledge in your field ~ Become an expert in your chosen field, learn your trade
5) Imagination ~ Project yourself into a space which may not already exist use your subconscious
6) Organized planning ~ Be efficient, orderly and organized in your steps
7) Decision ~ Make the decision to success, let your plan B be to make plan A work
8 ) Persistence ~ You can move mountains if you are persistent, keep on keeping on
9) Power of mastermind ~ Mastermind with successful people, leaders and champions in life
10) Channel your energies into the desire for success and wealth ~ Dynamic energy
11) Subconscious mind ~ Things which you set up in your subconscious will be drawn into your conscious mind
12) The Brain ~ Keep your brain sharp expand, challenge and exercise it. Challenge your mind to grow!
13) The 6th Sense ~ Intuition, gut instincts, hunches and trusting your vibes in situations
14) Loose the fear ~ Dont be afraid, second guess or worry move past it.
The exciting opportunities in life are always outside your comfort zone, you will need courage but the rewards will be worth it. The feeling you experience once you push past this is truly amazing. These are taken from Napoleon Hills principles used in his book Think and Grow Rich many years ago, I used these principles to gain both my personal and financial freedom for which I am eternally grateful.
You too can Think and Grow Rich! To learn more about Liz you are invited to click here Create Personal & Financial Freedom

bussiness survey

rfn2004 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:02:05 +0000

1 You are intensely goal oriented: You have clear, specific, written goals and plans for each part of your business and personal life:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
2 You have a complete business plan developed in writing, like a blueprint, that you use to guide your activities each day:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
3 You have accurately identified your target market, your ideal customer, and you know who they are, how many there are, where they are, and why they would buy your product or service.
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
4 You have clearly identified your major and minor competitors and you have developed a clear competitive advantage that makes your product or service superior to anything else available:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
5 You know the four elements of the marketing mix that determine business success or failure, and the five rules for selling anything that you must follow in all your promotional activities:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
6 You have a complete sales plan and a proven sales process to convert prospects into customers consistently and dependably:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
7 You are thoroughly familiar with the basic strategies, methods and techniques of marketing that are required to attract new customers to your business:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
8 You have a thoroughly developed advertising and promotion campaign in place that generates a steady stream of qualified prospects:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
9 You know the seven most popular ways of attracting new customers and you use as many of them as possible in your sales and marketing activities:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
10 You know the 24 most popular ways that products/services are sold and you have a plan to sell using as many of them as possible:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
11 You have developed the disciplines of successful entrepreneurs – planning, organizing, staffing, delegating, measuring, masterminding and managing – and you practice them daily:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
12 You are continually looking for new products and services that you can introduce to replace your product offerings that are no longer successful in the current marketplace:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
13 You have conducted one or more market tests on your new products or services with potential customers to ensure that people will buy it when you bring it to market:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
14 You have accurately determined all your costs of bringing your product to market, including direct costs, indirect costs, variable costs, sales costs, advertising costs, staff costs, office costs and others:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
15 You have determined the exact prices you can charge for your product to earn profit, including introductory prices, retail prices, wholesale prices, discount prices, and competitive prices:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
16 You have created a complete business budget that includes all revenues, expenses, costs and projections for profits and losses for the next 12-18 months:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
17 You have conducted a break-even analysis of each product or service, a break-even analysis for your total business, and determined your probabilities of success in each area:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
18 You are aware of the 15 different ways that entrepreneurs can raise money to operate their businesses and you utilize as many of them as necessary:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
19 You are thoroughly familiar with the process of finding and dealing with the right bank, getting the bank to lend you money, and maintaining a strong banking relationship:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
20 You focus single-mindedly on financial results in every activity, continually evaluating everything you do in terms of profit and loss.
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
21 You know the basics of business success, the ten reasons why businesses succeed, and the 15 reasons for business failure:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
22 You know the advantages and disadvantages of buying or building a business, and the essential questions you must ask and answer before you buy a business of any kind:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
23 You have a complete accounting and management information system that gives you accurate reports on sales, revenues, payables, receivables, assets and liabilities, weekly and monthly:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
24 You have developed a complete business system that spells out each step and activity of attracting new prospects, selling, delivering, getting payment, servicing customers, and procedures for all internal operations:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
25 You have analyzed your company against the 7 P’s – Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Packaging, Positioning and People – and you continually seek ways to improve in each area:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
26 You have determined the exact description of your ideal customers and you know who they are, why they buy, when they buy, where they live or work, and how to approach them:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
27 You know how to design, write and place excellent advertising messages and copy to increase response rates and attract more customers:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
28 You have a complete customer service strategy that ensures high levels of customer satisfaction and repeat business:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
29 You have a complete distribution channel strategy, and you are continually seeking new and better ways to distribute your existing products and services to more customers in different ways:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable
30 You have a series of profit improvement strategies that you apply continually to attract more and better prospects, convert them to customers, increase sales and boost profits:
Select Your Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Applicable

submitexpress

rfn2004 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:10:27 +0000

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http://www.submitexpress.com/”>Search Engine

Marie Diamond’s Sparkle of Wisdom

rfn2004 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:56:52 +0000

Marie Diamond’s Sparkle of Wisdom #10

You feel like this is the day for success.

Well, then, start right now to dress up for success, walk like a successful person, shake hands with confidence, smile like some one that had their first big success: from cheek to cheek.
And success will come your way.

Enjoy another Double Happy Day—
Happiness inside you, and Happiness around you!

Marie Diamond’s Sparkle of Wisdom #9

Did you ever experience that you have been somewhere before, but think it could not have been possible?

Or you meet someone and it feels like you have known them forever?

Well, you have been there before and you met this person before. You did it in your dreams and fantasies. You attracted them in, or you have been

there in a previous life experience.

Just enjoy the re-connection

Marie Diamond’s Sparkle of Wisdom #8

Have you lately helped a friend? Have you given an extra-large tip to a waiter, or donated something to a beggar? Did you do something good, or were you very much focused on yourself?

Remember: The friend, the waiter, and the beggar are the reflection of yourself. What you give to others will come back to you a thousandfold

Marie Diamond’s Sparkle of Wisdom #7

Don’t have quick enough results from all your efforts? Perhaps you need to space-clear your life.

The universe/God can only bring you gifts if you have created space for the gifts to come in.

Start with de-cluttering your computer of old files, old emails, and old programs.

Is your voicemail filled with old calls that should be deleted? Take 20 minutes time to do this, and I’ll bet the long-expected calls will come in.

Marie Diamond’s Sparkle of Wisdom #6

Did you say “Hello” to yourself today? With a smile?

If not, go to the nearest mirror and see how

beautiful you are. Say “hi (your name)”, and smile at yourself.

Don’t focus on the wrinkles, the hair, or the spots on your clothes, but rather focus on the light in your eyes, your smile, and give yourself a

great compliment

Marie Diamond’s Sparkle of Wisdom #4

You can start bringing tenderness into your life right now.

Start wearing soft clothing like velvet, silks, and soft wool that feels tender to your body.

Wash your hair with silky shampoos and take bubble baths with

essentials oils. Take some time off to relax in a hot bath with tender music.

Love yourself tender…today

Marie Diamond’s Sparkle of Wisdom #3

As in the beginning the universe/God created light in his space called the world, you can create light in your space.

Make sure all lights are working. If you feel your space is too dark, install brighter lighting.

Enlighten your world by lightening up your space. Go shopping for some new bulbs.

Marie Diamond’s Sparkle of Wisdom #2

When you enter your home, are there boxes out?

Shoes or clothes laying on the ground?

Let the universe come in and see order so this order can be reflected inside you.

Chaos at your entrance will make chaos in your life.

Do something about this today

Jamie Dimons Inspirations

rfn2004 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:25:02 +0000

JPMorgan Chase chairman Jamie Dimons life could be straight out of a Jeffrey Archer novelhe was hired out of Harvard B-school by a billionaire who became like a father to him before they parted ways; he went from being heir-apparent at the worlds largest financial services company to working at a smaller, struggling bank; a few years later, he returned from Chicago to New York in a blaze of glory and now heads Americas largest and most influential bank (with assets of about $2.3 trillion). Today, he is arguably the worlds most powerful banker (at least in the private sector). Its an empowering tale in an era of job losses.
Dimons dramatic falling out with Sandy Weill has passed into financial folklore. The two men had worked closely together for about 15 years before they took over Citigroup. Dimon was widely seen as Weills successor at Citi, but in 1998, Weill fired Dimon (speculation has it that Dimon passed Weills daughter over for a promotion).
When TOI met Dimon in Mumbai, we couldnt resist asking him about that episode. Sandy told me you have to resign. So, I said OK . I called my wife and told her, I have to tell you something, it isnt a joke. I was concerned about my three daughters, who were then 12, 10 and 8. I didnt want them to hear about it in school, or read it in the papers. I sat them down and said, Girls, I want you to know I resigned… I was fired.
The youngest one said, Dad, will we have to sleep on the streets now The middle one asked, Can I still go to college And the eldest said, Can I have your cellphone now, because you wont be needing it

After wed finished laughing , Dimon turned philosophical . It was my net worth that was involved there, not my self-worth . I remained the same person that I was the minute before, and I was determined that my values and behaviour wouldnt change. Of course, there were times when I was depressed. I would walk into a room and people would treat me like a leper. But often, while jogging in Central Park, Id be asked, Are you Jamie Dimon and when I said yes, theyd pat me on my back and say Yeah! as if I was Robin Hood.
Everyone has their ups and downs. Tell me one person you admire, not just in business, but in life, and youll find they had their share. Nelson Mandela walked out of prison after 27 years, magnanimous to his captors. You have to get up, brush yourself and move on.
Dimon moved on to Bank One in Chicago, turned it around, and merged it with JPMorgan in a deal that ended with him becoming chairman and CEO of JPMorgan. Then, in October 2006, he decided to pull out of sub-prime loans even as other banks bet huge amounts on them. The result: JPMorgan was the only bank with enough cash to acquire the ailing Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual when they were on the brink of collapse. Today, JPMorgan has surged far ahead of the crisis-ridden Citigroup. So, is revenge sweet
No, he said promptly. I still have a lot of friends there and what happened was so hard on people. I could play a sport with you and want to beat the hell out of you. But if you break a leg or have a heart attack, Ill take you to hospital. I truly want Citi to get better. Citis problems are bad for Citi, for the people there, for America, and not good for JPMorgan. Also, its a terrible mistake to measure yourself by someone else doing badly. I want us to grow for us. Like Mandela said, If you spend your life on revenge , then you are beholden to the prior people. You haven’t moved on, youre still responding to them.

Source- Times of India Mumbai.

Ten Ways to Make a Difference

rfn2004 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:18:14 +0000

If you want to make a change, consider this checklist of 10 ways, to inspire you in your career and enhance your work‐life balance. The simple suggestions below are meant to generate new ideas, stimulating you to think and act in ways that will not only benefit you, but our world as well, including process and company.
Raise the bar. Expect more and deliver more. Speak up! Dress up! Raise your own personal standards. Dont settle for the status quo and dont accept mediocrity.
Get connected. Get out of the office, turn off the Blackberry and spend quality time with people, face to face.
Live true to your values. Whats really important to you? Are your actions and communication in keeping with your core values? Clarity of purpose and intention catapult individuals to the pinnacle of their success.
Mentor someone. Reach out to a student, a budding entrepreneur or a new employee and support their efforts any way you can. Theyll never forget you!
Ask for help when you need it. Cull an advisory board, get a mentor, work with a coach or hire a consultant. The most successful business people are surrounded by the best and brightest. Find them and bring them into your circle.
Take care of yourself. Use it or lose it is absolutely true. You can’t climb the mountain to your personal pinnacle if you are out of shape, so resolve to get healthy so you can enjoy the journey as well as your ultimate destination.
Learn. Expand your knowledge and skills by taking a class, getting a degree or simply reading up on topics of interest. Every time you learn, you create new neural pathways in the brain. Not bad for just reading a book.
Get passionate. Get fired up about something a cause, a project, a new business venture or a political issue. Let’s banish complacency, now.
Innovate. If you’re stuck in the ,we have always done it this way”mentality, thereʹs no better time to get out of the quagmire and change your thinking. Try something new, even if itʹs just a different route to work.
Assess your career. Do you love what you do? Would you do it for free? If you canʹt wholeheartedly answer ʺyes,ʺ perhaps itʹs time for a change.
Debra Davenport, PhD, is an Executive Professional Mentor and the president of DavenportFolio, a licensed firm with offices in Phoenix and Los Angeles that mentors entrepreneurs and professionals. She is the creator of the Certified Professional Mentor designation and certification program and the author of ʺThe Ten Commitments of Highly Successful Peopleʺ and can be reached at debra@davenportfolio.com.

Peter Drucker’s mantras for success

rfn2004 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:29:49 +0000

Each time you read something Peter Drucker has said, there’s the sensation that a flash bulb has gone off inside your head. This is because the Drucker-isms, as the legendary management gurus’s mantras as known, are something you’ve always known; but rarely heard put so succinctly.
Born on November 19, 1909, Drucker was the giant who defined management and aided in the rise of the modern corporations. Over the last few decades, new gurus may have replaced Drucker, but his books and his management principles continue to be steadfast bedrock of the corporate world.
Among the other hats he donned included that of a finance reporter in Germany early stages of his career. Drucker, who was born in Vienna, moved to England — where he had studied — to escape Hitler. He took up a job as a securities analyst for an insurance firm. Four years later, he moved to the United States, where he began his academic career.
Drucker, who has authored numerous books on the principles that should govern the corporate world, helped develop the US’s first executive MBA programme at the Claremont Graduate University; the university’s management school is known as the Peter F Drucker School of Management (it was named in his honour in 1987).
He died on November 11, 2005, disillusioned with the increasingly capitalistic trend being displayed by the business world. His principles, however, stand rock-steady and continue to inspire millions of employees, employers and entrepreneurs across the world.
• Efficiency is doing better what is already being done.
• The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.
• Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.
• No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.
• The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.
• Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.
• Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.
• All one has to do is to learn to say ‘no’ if an activity contributes nothing.
• What is the first duty — and the continuing responsibility — of the business manager? To strive for the best possible economic results from the resources currently employed or available.
• People do not know that you cannot successfully innovate in an existing organization unless you systematically abandon. As long as you eliminate, you’ll eat again. But if you stop eliminating, you don’t last long.
• Leaders shouldn’t attach moral significance to their ideas: Do that; and you can’t compromise.
• The only things that evolve by themselves in an organization are disorder, friction, and malperformance.
• One cannot buy, rent or hire more time. The supply of time is totally inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not go up. There is no price for it. Time is totally perishable and cannot be stored. Yesterday’s time is gone forever, and will never come back. Time is always in short supply. There is no substitute for time. Everything requires time. All work takes place in, and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable and necessary resource.
• The really important things are said over cocktails and are never done.
• Doing the right thing is more important than doing the thing right.
• Concentration is the key to economic results. No other principles of effectiveness is violated as constantly today as the basic principle of concentration.
• Long range planning does not deal with future decisions, but with the future of present decisions.
• Leadership is not magnetic personality — that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not ‘making friends and influencing people’ — that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.
• What gets measured, gets managed.
• No decision has been made unless carrying it out in specific steps has become someone’s work assignment and responsibility.
• Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.
• Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings the better.
• The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.
• Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you’ve got.
• Objectives are not fate; they are direction. They are not commands; they are commitments. They do not determine the future; they are means to mobilize the resources and energies of the business for the making of the future.
• Any organization develops people: It has no choice. It either helps them grow or stunts them.
• Don’t take on things you don’t believe in and that you yourself are not good at. Learn to say no.
• If you can’t establish clear career priorities by yourself, use friends and business acquaintances as a sounding board. They will want to help. Ask them to help you determine your ‘first things’ and ‘second things.’ Or seek an outside coach or advisor to help you focus. Because if you don’t know what your ‘first things’ are, you simply can’t do them FIRST.
• Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance. In teaching we rely on the? naturals’, the ones who somehow know how to teach.
• Don’t travel too much. Organize your travel. It is important that you see people and that you are seen by people maybe once or twice a year. Otherwise, don’t travel. Make them come to see you.
• The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say ‘I’. And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say ‘I’. They don’t think ‘I’. They think ‘we’; they think ‘team’. They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but ‘we’ gets the credit… This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.
• Too many leaders try to do a little bit of 25 things and get nothing done. They are very popular because they always say yes. But they get nothing done.
• Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.
• The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.
• Again, let’s start out discussing what not to do. Don’t try to be somebody else. By now you have your style. This is how you get things done.
• Leaders communicate in the sense that people around them know what they are trying to do. They are purpose driven — yes, mission driven. They know how to establish a mission.
• I tell all my clients that it is absolutely imperative that they spend a few weeks each year outside their own business and actively working in the marketplace, or in a university lab in the case of technical people. The best way is for the chief executive officer to take the place of a salesman twice a year for two weeks.
• Few top executives can even imagine the hatred, contempt and fury that has been created — not primarily among blue-collar workers who never had an exalted opinion of the ‘bosses’ — but among their middle management and professional people.
• When you are the chief executive, you’re the prisoner of your organization. The moment you’re in the office, everybody comes to you and wants something, and it is useless to lock the door. They’ll break in. So, you have to get outside the office. But still, that isn’t traveling. That’s being at home or having a secret office elsewhere. When you’re alone, in your secret office, ask the question, ‘What needs to be done?’ Develop your priorities and don’t have more than two. I don’t know anybody who can do three things at the same time and do them well. Do one task at a time or two tasks at a time. That’s it. OK, two works better for most. Most people need the change of pace. But, when you are finished with two jobs or reach the point where it’s futile, make the list again. Don’t go back to priority three. At that point, it’s obsolete.
• We suffer from over-choice: 67 varieties of toothpaste, 487 styles of shoes, 186 brands of cell phones with 137 telephone companies. We demand more variety than we could possibly need or want; and as a result, we get lost in options, opportunities, and choices. There are 87 varieties of lawyers, and 75 specialties inside medicine. The world of work can be a confusing landscape.
• That people even in well paid jobs choose ever earlier retirement is a severe indictment of our organizations — not just business, but government service, the universities. These people don’t find their jobs interesting.
• A critical question for leaders is: ‘When do you stop pouring resources into things that have achieved their purpose?’
• Morale in an organization does not mean that ‘people get along together’; the test is performance not conformance.
• An employer has no business with a man’s personality. Employment is a specific contract calling for a specific performance… Any attempt to go beyond that is usurpation. It is immoral as well as an illegal intrusion of privacy. It is abuse of power. An employee owes no ‘loyalty,’ he owes no ‘love’ and no ‘attitudes’ — he owes performance and nothing else.
• Ideas are somewhat like babies — they are born small, immature, and shapeless. They are promise rather than fulfillment. In the innovative company, executives do not say, ‘This is a damn-fool idea.’ Instead they ask, ‘What would be needed to make this embryonic, half-baked, foolish idea into something that makes sense, that is an opportunity for us?’
• Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship… the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.
• Once a year ask the boss, ‘What do I or my people do that helps you to do your job?’ and ‘What do I or my people do that hampers you?’
• Great leaders find out whether they picked the truly important things to do. I’ve seen a great many people who are exceedingly good at execution, but exceedingly poor at picking the important things. They are magnificent at getting the unimportant things done. They have an impressive record of achievement on trivial matters.
• How does one display integrity? ‘By asking, especially when taking on office: What is the foremost need of the institution?and therefore my first task and duty?’
• Ask yourself: What major change in the economy, market or knowledge would enable our company to conduct business the way we really would like to do it, the way we would really obtain economic results?
• Ask yourself: What would happen if this were not done at all?
• So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.
• The subordinate’s job is not to reform or re-educate the boss, not to make him conform to what the business schools or the management book say bosses should be like. It is to enable a particular boss to perform as a unique individual.
• Effective leaders check their performance. They write down, ?What do I hope to achieve if I take on this assignment?’ They put away their goals for six months and then come back and check their performance against goals. This way, they find out what they do well and what they do poorly.
• The individual is the central, rarest, most precious capital resource of our society.
• The most efficient way to produce anything is to bring together under one management as many as possible of the activities needed to turn out the product.
• The computer is a moron.
• Successful leaders make sure that they succeed! They are not afraid of strength in others.
• The CEO needs to ask of his associates, ‘What are you focusing on?’ Ask your associates, ‘You put this on top of your priority list — why?’ The reason may be the right one, but it may also be that this associate of yours is a salesman who persuades you that his priorities are correct when they are not.
• Free enterprise cannot be justified as being good for business. It can be justified only as being good for society.
• Executives owe it to the organization and to their fellow workers not to tolerate nonperforming individuals in important jobs.
• A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge.
• Accept the fact that we have to treat almost anybody as a volunteer.
• Business, that’s easily defined — it’s other people’s money.
• Few companies that installed computers to reduce the employment of clerks have realized their expectations… They now need more and more expensive clerks even though they call them ‘operators’ or ‘programmers.’
• What’s absolutely unforgivable is the financial benefit top management people get for laying off people. There is no excuse for it. No justification. This is morally and socially unforgivable, and we will pay a heavy price for it.
• Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
• A man should never be appointed into a managerial position if his vision focuses on people’s weaknesses rather than on their strengths.
• Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.
• Performing organizations enjoy what they’re doing.

Origination of company names

rfn2004 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:18:02 +0000

Mercedes:
This was actually financier’s daughter’s name.
Adobe:
This came from the name of the river Adobe Creek that ran behind the house of founder John Warnock.
Apple Computers:
It was the favourite fruit of founder Steve Jobbs.He was three months late for filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call his company Apple Computers if the other colleagues didn’t suggest a better name by 5 0′clock.
CISCO:
It is not an acronym as popuraily believed.Its short for San Francisco.
Compaq:
This name was formed by using COMp, for computer and PAQ to denote a small integral object.
Corel:
The name was derived from the founder’s name Dr. Michael Cowpland. It stands for COwpland Research Laboratory.
Google:
The name started as a joke boasting about the amount of information the search-engine would be able to search. It was originally named ‘Googol’, a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. After founders – Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page presented their project to an angel investor; they received a cheque made out to ‘Google’.
Hotmail:
Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending in ‘mail’ and finally settled for hotmail as it included the letters “html” – the programming language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective uppercasing.
Hewlett Packard :
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.
Intel:
Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company ‘Moore Noyce’ but that was already trademarked by a hotel chain so they had to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics.
Lotus (Notes) :
Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from ‘The Lotus Position’ or ‘Padmasana’. Kapor used to be a teacher of ranscendental Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Microsoft:
Coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the ‘-’ was removed later on.
Motorola:
Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started manufacturing radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time was called Victrola.
ORACLE:
Larry Ellison and Bob Oats were working on a consulting project for the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The code name for the project was called Oracle (the CIA saw this as the system to give answers to all questions or something such). The project was designed to help use the newly written SQL code by IBM. The project eventually was terminated but Larry and Bob decided to finish what they started and bring it to the world. They kept the name Oracle and created the RDBMS engine. Later they kept the same name for the company.
Sony:
It originated from the Latin word ‘sonus’ meaning sound, and ‘sonny’ a slang used by Americans to refer to a bright youngster.
SUN:
Founded by 4 Stanford University buddies, SUN is the acronym for Stanford University Network. Andreas Bechtolsheim built a microcomputer; Vinod Khosla recruited him and Scott McNealy to manufacture computers based on it, and Bill Joy to develop a UNIX-based OS for the computer.
Apache:
It got its name because its founders got started by applying patches to code written for NCSA’s httpd daemon. The result was ‘A PAtCHy’server — thus, the name Apache Jakarta (project from Apache): A project constituted by SUN and Apache to create a web server handling servlets and JSPs. Jakarta was name of the conference room at SUN where most of the meetings between SUN and Apache took place.
Tomcat:
The servlet part of the Jakarta project. Tomcat was the code name for the JSDK 2.1 project inside SUN.
C:
Dennis Ritchie improved on the B programming language and called it ‘New B’.He later called it C. Earlier B was created by Ken Thompson as a revision of the Bon programming language (named after his wife Bonnie).
C++:
Bjarne Stroustrup called his new language ‘C with Classes’ and then ‘new C’. Because of which the original C began to be called ‘old C’ which was considered insulting to the C community. At this time Rick Mascitti suggested the name C++ as a successor to C.
GNU:
A species of African antelope. Founder of the GNU project Richard Stallman liked the name because of the humor associated with its pronunciation and was also influenced by the children’s song ‘The Gnu Song’ which is a song sung by a gnu. Also it fitted into the recursive acronym culture with ‘GNU’s Not Unix’.
Java:
Originally called Oak by creator James Gosling, from the tree that stood outside his window, the programming team had to look for a substitute as there was no other language with the same name. Java was selected from a list of suggestions. It came from the name of the coffee that the programmers drank.
LG:
Combination of two popular Korean brands Lucky and Goldstar.
Linux:
Linus Torvalds originally used the Minix OS on his system which he replaced by his OS. Hence the working name was Linux (Linus’ Minix). He thought the name to be too egotistical and planned to name it Freax(free + freak + x).His friend Ari Lemmke encouraged Linus to upload it to a network so it could be easily downloaded. Ari gave Linus a directory called linux on his FTP server, as he did not like the name Freax.(Linus’ parents named himafter two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling) .
Mozilla:
When Marc Andreesen, founder of Netscape, created a browser to replace Mosaic (also developed by him), it was named Mozilla (Mosaic-Killer, Godzilla).The marketing guys didn’t like the name however and it was re-christened Netscape Navigator.
Red Hat:
Company founder Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacrosse team cap (with red and white stripes) while at college by his grandfather. He lost it and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return his Red Hat if found by anyone!
SAP:
“Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing”, formed by 4 ex-IBM employees who used to work in the ‘Systems/Applications/Projects’ group of IBM.
SCO (UNIX):
From Santa Cruz Operation. The company’s office was in Santa Cruz.
UNIX:
When Bell Labs pulled out of MULTICS (MULTiplexed Information and Computing System), which was originally a joint Bell/GE/MIT project, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labs wrote a simpler version of the OS.They needed the OS to run the game Space War which was compiled under MULTICS.It was called UNICS – UNIplexed operating and Computing System
by Brian Kernighan. It was later shortened to UNIX.
Xerox:
The inventor, Chestor Carlson, named his product trying to say `dry’ (as it was dry copying, markedly different from the then prevailing wet copying).The Greek root `xer’ means dry.
Yahoo!:
The word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves yahoos.
3M:
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company started off by mining the material corundum used to make sandpaper.

How to Manage Your Boss

rfn2004 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:08:35 +0000

It’s nice to imagine that the success of your career rests upon your basic competence at doing your job, but that’s only half the picture. Raises, promotions, and other perks depend directly on how well you can manage your boss. If he or she doesn’t warm up to you—or worse, doesn’t remember that you exist—you’ll never land the plum assignments you need to get ahead. In addition to performing well, you have to make sure the boss knows about all the things you’re doing right, while also building personal rapport so that he or she will keep your best interests in mind.

STEP 1:
Make “Keeping the Boss in the Loop” a Regular Activity
Goal: Reassure your boss that you know what you’re doing.
The secret fear of every boss is that employees are screwing up and either not telling anyone or (even worse) aren’t aware there’s a problem. To reassure themselves, bosses may sometimes pick an aspect of an employee’s job and begin randomly asking penetrating questions about the details. If you answer these queries with grace and aplomb, the boss assumes you’re competent. Hesitate or evade, and the boss may assume all your work is slipshod.
Since you don’t know in advance which questions your boss might ask, be prepared for every contingency. “One of the dumbest moves you can make is to walk into the boss’s office unprepared,” says Jack Cooper, the former CIO of Bristol-Myers Squibb. “For every hour that you’ll spend meeting with your boss, you should spend ten hours making sure you can answer any questions that the boss might ask.”
Ten hours of prep? For a one-hour meeting? Okay, that’s probably overkill for a typical employee who interacts with his boss on a daily basis. But for senior managers at big companies where meeting with the CEO is an event on par with a presidential visit, Cooper’s 10-to-1 formula makes sense.

Checklist
What Your Boss Expects: The Basics
1. Credibility. Follow through on assignments and do what you say you’re going to. If you want your boss to trust you, your word has to carry weight.
2. Professionalism. Bosses appreciate individuals who are serious about what they do and willing to take the time to achieve a deep understanding of their craft.
3. Integrity. The test of integrity is whether you’ll take a stand, even when it’s unpopular with your boss. The boss has the final decision, but it’s your job to make sure it’s the right one.
4. Caring. Bosses value relationships with direct reports who care about them. Show that you’re truly concerned about what the boss has to say by responding with solutions rather than complaints or excuses.
5. Knowledge. Bosses need people who have unique expertise. You don’t have to be a pro at everything, but you do need a specific area of knowledge that your boss values.
STEP 2:
Create a Core Message for Your Boss
Goal: Bosses are forgetful. Make sure yours knows just how valuable you are.
When you’re working your butt off, it’s easy to assume that your boss knows exactly what you’re doing. But even though she may have assigned your work to you, in the crush of daily pressures and changing priorities, your contribution easily gets lost in the shuffle. Worse, you could end up pursuing goals that no are longer important priorities.
According to Spencer Clark, a former general manager at General Electric, the cure for this creeping invisibility is to become a one-person marketing group, constantly positioning your contribution. “Your most important task is to market your services to your immediate boss,” Clark says.
To do this, create a “core message”—a brief summary of exactly what you’re doing and why it’s vital to the boss’s success. A core message might be, “My team is designing the follow-on products to our most successful product line,” or “I’m recruiting the hard-to-find technical personnel required for the new R&D facility.” Then, Clark suggests, find a way to work that message into every conversation that you have with your boss—even hallway chats.

Hot Tip
Self Promotion without Smarminess
If marketing yourself to your own boss feels a little slimy, think about ways you can casually talk things up without overselling—and without driving your core message into the ground. Each interaction should add new information, and when you can, fold the message into the day’s news, for example: “I just got off the phone with a candidate for the R&D job. We’re getting resumes from some really impressive people.”
STEP 3:
Tap a Vital Resource: The Boss’s Influencers
Goal: Enlist others to spread the word about your importance to the company.
You may think you have a one-on-one relationship with your boss, but you’re actually part of a crowd of people—from your peers to your boss’s peers to your boss’s bosses—who influence the boss’s decision-making. Their comments and gossip will inevitably affect your boss’s opinion of you and your work, so you want to be certain that, if they’re not actively singing your praises, at least they’re reading from the same hymnal.
Create a list of everyone who carries weight with your boss. Include their job title and whatever you know about their background and role inside your firm. Now craft a variation of your core message that positions what you’re doing as helpful to each person. Then use that to frame any conversations you have with them. “You want a consistent message coming from the entire organization, not crossed wires that might confuse the boss about your importance to the organization,” says Ken Evans, former North American VP of sales and marketing at Waste Management.

For Example
Supporting Messages
Audience Message
Your Boss (VP of Marketing) I’m developing a channel sales program that will increase revenue and profit. (core message)
VP of Engineering This new program will get the products you’re designing out to as many people as possible.
VP of Manufacturing With channel sales, we’ll be able to predict demand, which will cut down on job overruns.
VP of Human Resources The program I’m developing will let us expand the business without exceeding headcount limitations.
CFO With channel sales, we can sell products at a 20 percent higher gross margin than with direct sales.

STEP 4:
Goal: Understand where he came from in order to know what he expects.
Now that you’ve convinced the boss that you’re competent, it’s time to make yourself invaluable. To do this, you deliver what the boss wants—even before he knows he wants it. Over time, of course, you can observe and learn, but fast-track the process by researching the boss’s career and asking questions that will help you understand his way of thinking. This activity has a side-benefit—your boss will be flattered that you’re interested.
Use the Internet, the grapevine, and the boss’s admin to learn about the boss’s work history. Then, when appropriate, find opportunities (such as during lunch or offsite meetings) to express a healthy curiosity about your boss’s experience. Apart from the fact that most everyone enjoys talking about themselves, bosses find this kind of inquiry valuable because it provides an opportunity to explain the logic of their decision-making processes. “Understanding somebody’s background always helps illustrate how that person might approach a situation,” says Mike Fister, CEO of Cadence Design Systems and a former senior vice president of the Enterprise Platforms Group at Intel. “I often find myself drawing on my experiences at Intel to illustrate a strategic or tactical point.”

Nitty Gritty
Sample Questions for Your Boss
• I was on the web learning more about our industry and I noticed that you presented at the [name] conference. What kind of response did you get?”
• “Your admin mentioned you used to work for [name of firm]. What was the most valuable thing you learned from that experience?”
• “I hear you used to work in the [name] industry. What are the main differences between the way that industry runs and the way this one runs?”

STEP 4:
Cultivate Compatible Personal Interests
Goal: Do you play golf? Love football? If not, it may be time to start.
The ideal situation is to have a boss who looks out for your interests during difficult times. This protectiveness is nurtured when the boss thinks of you not just as a competent contributor but as a kindred spirit. If you want a more expansive and resilient relationship with the boss, cultivate an interest in something that also interests the boss. Ideally, this should be an interest or activity that segues nicely into the work experience. For example, if your boss likes to talk business while playing golf, learning to play—and enjoy the game—will inevitably bring you closer.
“To really understand your boss, you need to see him or her as a person, not just as a business contact,” explains Dilip Phadke, Hewlett Packard’s director of business development strategic initiatives. “My current manager is a big soccer fan, and although I was never particularly interested in soccer, I keep up on the topic because it gives us something to talk about that’s not directly work-related but can be used to illustrate the value of teamwork, planning, and so forth.”