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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Your Feelings & Your Bottom Line

by Rick Baker
On Jan 5, 2012

Business Leaders: how do you feel when your bottom line is positive, healthy, and growing?

When your bottom-line profits are pretty darned good, do you feel:

  • Terrible? or
  • Nothing? or
  • Pretty Darned Good?
I am going to hazard a guess and say, "When your bottom-line profits are pretty darned good you feel Pretty Darned Good".
 
So, to some degree, perhaps to a large degree, your bottom-line profits impact on how you feel.
 
There is a cause-and-effect at play here.
 
Good bottom lines lead to good feelings.
 
How about flipping it around...
 
Wouldn't you agree with the following: Good feelings lead to good bottom lines!
 
 
PS: In fact, isn't it impossible to imagine how bad feelings could ever lead to good bottom line profits?

How Successful People Act

by Rick Baker
On Dec 21, 2011

Years ago I was full of fury. At least, that's how one professional assessment described me. While in that state, as a result of a corporate change, I was given a new boss. My old boss was just fine and I felt no need for a new one. Regardless, I was in my car driving to the first meeting with my new boss. The drive took an hour so I had plenty of time to build up a head of steam. So I did. That assessment was accurate: by the time I arrived at my new boss' office I was full of fury. After we had shaken hands, I sat down in a chair across from him. My new boss asked me to be candid and let him know what was going on. I gave him an earful. In fact, I gave him more than two ears full. When I was done, he had a very pleasant look on his face and he thanked me.

I will never forget that day...the day I received my first real-life lesson on leadership...the day I met a friend for life.

Tags:

Attitude: Creating Positive Attitude | Emotions & Feelings @ Work

Emotions - Defined - Positive & Negative

by Rick Baker
On Dec 20, 2011

Napoleon Hill practiced and taught emotional control, seeing it as one of the keys to a pleasing and attractive personality.

He taught, feelings drive and hurl us...either up or down. It is a matter of self-control, actually - self-control over one's mind. It is as simple as accepting or rejecting emotions as they 'hit you'. It is as difficult as accepting or rejecting emotions as they 'hit you'. 

Self-control: simple and difficult.

Difficult because, when it comes to actions and habits, emotions play such a major role.

As a starting point, Napoleon Hill defined 7 positive emotions and 7 negative emotions.

 

 The 7 Positive Emotions

Love

Sex

Hope

Faith

Sympathy

Optimism

Loyalty

 

The 7 Negative Emotions

Fear*

Hatred

Anger

Greed

Jealousy

Revenge

Superstition

 

Footnote

Napoleon Hill defined 7 Fears:

  • Fear of Poverty
  • Fear of Criticism
  • Fear of Ill Health
  • Fear of Loss of Love
  • Fear of Old Age
  • Fear of Death
  • Fear of Loss of Liberty [he added this fear to the original 6 later in his life]

 

Tonic for Toxic Business

by Rick Baker
On Dec 16, 2011

Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.

When People are doing Processes in Situations - when People are doing business - the business culture can be described as:

  • as good as it gets
  • good
  • satisfactory
  • bad
  • as bad as it gets
A survey of business people, regular 'normal' folks, confirms:
 
Given a choice of work culture most people would choose 'as good as it gets' or 'good' or, at least, 'satisfactory'.
 
I would like to feel comfortable when I am working.
 
I would like to feel positive about my work environment.
 
I would like to enjoy my work environment.
 
I would like to be enthusiastic about my work environment.
 
I would like to be passionate about my work.
 
People say things like that.
 
People do not say things like...
 
I want to feel uncomfortable when I am at work.
 
I want my blood pressure to hit all-time highs every single workday.
 
I get a kick out of arguing with co-workers.
 
I like it when my boss takes a big strip off my hide...that's the way to keep me on track.
 
Hating the thought of another workday...that's what turns my crank.
 
Regardless, many business people struggle in a negative work culture every single workday.
 
Sometimes the work environment becomes so negative people become toxic. People become poisonous. Some people become infectious. And, sometimes work cultures become unhealthy. 
 
When work environments become unhealthy people have choices:
  • complain, which feeds spreads the problem
  • be silent, ignoring the unhealthy culture and doing nothing to address it
  • depart...either quit or fire people in an effort to ablate the unhealthy parts, much like a surgeon does
  • make constructive changes
Constructive Change means Constructive People Change, which means Individual People making Constructive Changes by removing Bad Habits and adding Good Habits. And, it means Individual People sharing stories about and celebrating the arrival and spread of new Good Habits.
 
Carefully planned new Actions are the keys to change...new Actions are the tonic!
 
 
 
 

Thought Tweet #358

by Rick Baker
On Nov 30, 2011
Thought Tweet #358 Some business people are so stressed out they are like attacks waiting for human encounters.
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
You don’t want these sorts of people on your team…do you? And, if you have some of them on your team then you want to figure out how to stop them from consuming so much of your time and your energy…right?

Tags:

Emotions & Feelings @ Work | Thought Tweets

The Wonderful World of Sales

by Rick Baker
On Nov 25, 2011

As you can see from my book reviews, I just read a sales book and re-read an old one.

The two books are called:

Stop Whining! Start Selling!

Profit-Producing Strategies for Explosive Sales Results

&

Stop Selling & Do Something Valuable

 

Stop whining, start selling, stop selling, & do something valuable.

What end's up & what's a salesperson to do?

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Sales.

No end to the sales advice...almost all of which is good advice.

***

Question: Why so much appetite for sales advice?

Answer: Because, for most folks Sales just keep getting tougher and tougher.

***

I am working at creating a simple & fool-proof recipe to help Salespeople.

Here are the primary ingredients in my Sales-Success Recipe:

  1. A compelling and precise answer to this question: 'Why are you in a Sales role?'
  2. A definite Purpose...a clear picture of a Career Goal.
  3. An emphatic commitment to Self-Discipline.
  4. A commitment to Life-Long Learning...about People.
 
Footnotes:
  1. The answer to the question 'Why are you in a Sales role?' is always 'telling'. Few answers cut the mustard. So, we need to keep our eyes and ears open for the answers that do cut the mustard. [All the less-than-acceptable answers signal future failure in the making.]
  2. Sales must be done 'on Purpose'...it is as simple as that.
  3. Self-discipline is essential because Sales roles tug at the Salesperson's emotions and emotions pull and shake Salespeople every which way but rarely point them in the successful direction.
  4. Life-Long Learning about People...remembering, People really do want to buy...buying stuff - well that's a perk enjoyed by most human beings.

Tags:

Emotions & Feelings @ Work | Sales

Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.