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Editor: Dr. Wolf J. Rinke
Publisher: Wolf Rinke Associates, Inc.
(c) 2008 Wolf J. Rinke
Vol. 11 No. 2, April/May 2008
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
2. MONEY SAVING OFFER--FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
3. HOW TO ACHIEVE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN A TOUGH ECONOMY--PART I
4. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
5. HUMOR BREAK
6. ABOUT THE EDITOR
7. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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REALITY CHECK
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"After all is said and done, more is said than done."
--Unknown
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1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
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SECOND-HAND RUDENESS LOWERS PRODUCTIVITY
This interesting study found that people on the receiving end of verbal
abuse were less able to perform complex tasks requiring creativity,
flexibility and memory recall. Most startling, though, was the finding
that rudeness even impacted people who were indirectly exposed. The
counterpart of this is a CEO client in Denmark who goes out of his way
to be helpful to his team members. Who cares? In my recent taxi ride
back from the CEO's office the taxi driver provided me with unsolicited
feedback on how awesome the CEO was to work for. Mind you, this was
some 10 years ago at an entirely different company. Ask yourself: "What
is that kind of reputation worth to me?"
ACTION STEPS
Master Winning Management strategies described in my powerful book of
the same title. Find out how to get this book for FREE. See the special
offer below, www.WolfRinke.com.
Source: C. Porath and A. Erez, "Does Rudeness Really Matter? The
Effect of Rudeness on Task Performance and Helpfulness, Academy Management
Journal, 50 (5): 1181-1197, 2007.
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2. MONEY SAVING OFFER--FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
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Want to learn how to build a peak performance organization?
Listen to my six-CD audio album: "Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe
Strategies for Building High-Performance Organizations."
Over 5 hours of fail-safe management strategies to help you succeed
faster. According to Bill Marriott, these "strategies provide invaluable
guidance."
Price: $69.95+s/h and you get the book (same title) for FREE.
SAVE $24.95
You risk absolutely nothing! If for any reason the CD's are not everything
you expected, send them back to me and I will give you your money back.
The book is yours to keep!
Log onto www.wolfrinke.com/Specialwmbookcds.htm or call 800-828-9653.
Mention this ad when ordering by phone!
------------------------- Offer expires 5/15/2008 ------------------------------
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3. HOW TO ACHIEVE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN A TOUGH ECONOMY--PART I
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Everyone is using the "R" word--even Fed chief Ben Bernanke
talked about recession. Unless you are on another planet, it is likely
that your organization has gone through several "down sizings"
or "right sizings" as your boss likes to call it. Yet the
"powers to be" continue to insist on higher quality and increased
productivity with ever fewer employees. Time to get depressed, right?
Wrong!
Time to put yourself in the driver's seat of your career by developing
powerful new skills to enable you to survive during these tough times,
so that when the economy turns around, as it will, you will be ready
to take your career to the next level, faster.
TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR CAREER
The days when your employer looked out for your career are gone. Take
advantage of the following specific strategies to put yourself in charge
of your own career:
PICK YOUR PLACE OF WORK CAREFULLY
Exercise considerable care to find the right place of work. After all,
most of us spend at least one-third of the best years of our lives at
work. That is why you need to find a place of employment that has a
positive organizational climate. Here are easy things to look for: How
are people talking to each other? Are they upbeat, positive, energetic
and generally positively inclined toward the management team, their
coworkers and the organization? Check for negatives by noting how many
signs tell employees what not to do and how thick is the policy manual?
During your interview, ask to see the corporate vision, philosophy or
mission statement. If the interviewer does not know what you're talking
about, forget it. Such an organization does not know where it's going.
If there is a philosophy statement see what it says about the organization's
commitment to developing its human resources. If it says nothing, it's
very likely that the organization does not value its people. Also look
for an organization that is willing to pay you in accordance with how
you perform instead of how you conform by evaluating the promotion opportunities
for people who want to succeed, and who are willing to take calculated
risks. Perhaps most importantly, find employment where you can build
clusters of skills that are readily transferable across many different
organizations, such as project management skills.
PICK YOUR BOSS CAREFULLY
The right boss is a person who is, first and foremost, interested in
your personal and professional development, knows how to practice the
double win and is on his way to the top. Great bosses are also excellent
mentors or coaches; they tell it like it is, provide you with straight
advice, use their abundant mental energies to catch you doing things
right, are intent on making you look good, are committed to helping
you succeed and can take you along to the top. (If you are working for
such a person now, cultivate and nurture that relationship. It's worth
its weight in gold.)
KEEP YOUR RESUME FLOATING
Even if you have found a great job and a great boss, you should be scouting
for new and challenging positions all the time. Keeping your resume
floating is especially important if you are no longer being challenged
and growing in your current job. Remember, the day you get too comfortable
in your current job, you are vulnerable, and it's time to look for something
else, because it means that someone who gets paid less than you will
be able to do your job cheaper, faster and more effectively than you.
INVEST MORE IN YOURSELF THAN IN YOUR JOB
Some people are operating under the assumption that learning is only
valuable when it relates directly to their specialty or when it is paid
for by their employer. Unfortunately, that will not suffice in this
tough economy, where learning may be your only sustainable competitive
advantage. Given that we are in a tough economy you must invest in your
most important resource: yourself. You must be infinitely curious, be
a voracious lifelong learner and continually force yourself to get out
of the self-imposed "box." One way to do that is to get in
the habit of reading outside of your professional specialty for a half
an hour every day.
What if you can't seem to make time? Do what I do, listen to educational
audio programs in your car. It will enable you to learn without taking
away from your precious discretionary time. This new habit will keep
you on the cutting edge, provide you with all kinds of new entrepreneurial
ideas and help you stay motivated even on days when you experience a
temporary slump. (Check out my money saving offer in section #2, http://www.WolfRinke.com)
To become the best you can be invest 2-5% of your annual income in
your personal and professional development. I know it sounds counter-intuitive
when you are finding it tough to make ends meet. However, if you do
that consistently you will move yourself into the top 10% of your profession
and that will have a direct positive impact on your income even during
tough times.
THINK CONTRIBUTION NOT POSITION
In the good old days some people were more concerned with position titles
than results. In today's tough economy, however, the primary determinants
of success are results and outcomes, i.e., what specific impact do your
contributions have on customer service, quality, the bottom line and
other specific measurable outcomes? The current employer-employee "contract"
can best be summarized with the following statement from one of my clients:
"We will not provide you with job security. You will be employed
by us as long as you add value, and it is your responsibility to find
ways to add value at all times. In return, you can expect interesting
and important work, the freedom and resources to perform it well, compensation
that reflects your contribution, and the experience, training and development
that will be useful here and elsewhere."
In the next issue of this eNewsletter I will provide you with specific
strategies you need to master to not just survive, but thrive, in this
tough economy.
SOURCE: Based in part on Chapter 8 of my book: "Winning Management:
6 Fail-Safe Strategies for Building High-Performance Organizations."
(Get this book for FREE. See the special offer in section #2, http://www.WolfRinke.com)
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4. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
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4/17/08 Copenhagen, DK. "Energy: How to Maintain High Levels of
Internal Motivation," In-House Seminar, Toms Gruppen A/S.
8/22/08 Copenhagen, DK. "Education: How to Achieve Lasting Job
Security," In-House Seminar, Toms Gruppen A/S.
9/9/08 Philadelphia, PA. "Achieve Peak Performance by Increasing
Personal Effectiveness." Full day Institute of Management Studies
(IMS) seminar. Contact: Joe Paesani, Philadelphia@ims-online.com
10/3/08 Copenhagen, DK. "Perseverance: How to Deal More Effectively
with Change and Stress," In-House Seminar, Toms Gruppen A/S.
NOTE: I have other "in-house" presentations scheduled in
the U.S.A., Canada and Europe. Please let me know if you are interested
to preview me or bring me into your organization at reduced expenses
when I'm scheduled to be in your area. That way we can let you know
when I'm coming your way!
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5. HUMOR BREAK
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Understanding Engineers
An engineering student was asking his friend: "Where did you get
such a great bike?"
The engineer replied: "I was walking along yesterday, minding my
own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it
to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you
want."
The engineer nodded approvingly and said: "Good choice; the clothes
probably wouldn't have fit you anyway."
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6. ABOUT THE EDITOR
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Dr. Wolf J. Rinke, CSP is a highly effective management consultant and
executive coach who specializes in building peak performance organizations,
teams and individuals. He is the author of 14 books including "Don't
Oil the Squeaky Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership
Effectiveness" and "Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies
for Building High-Performance Organizations" available at www.WolfRinke.com.
Wolf is also an internationally recognized management/leadership keynote
speaker and seminar leader who delivers customized presentations that
combine story telling, humor and motivation with specific "how
to" action strategies that participants can apply immediately to
improve their management and leadership effectiveness. Preview a live
demo at www.WolfRinke.com. To take advantage of Dr. Rinke's services
contact us at 800-828-9653 or WolfRinke@aol.com
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7. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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We will not make your name or e-mail address available to anyone. Period!
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