Social Media Properly Explained

Gary Vaybnerchuk built a $60 Million business utilizing Social Media.  Here is a short 18 minute interview you will find very interesting and a different perspective on the proper use of this gigantic media.

Source: youtube.com via Gary on Pinterest

Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law

By Michael Tanner Senior Fellow with the Cato Institute

It has been a year since President Obama's health care reform bill was signed into law.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents the most significant

transformation of the American health care system since Medicare and Medicaid. It will

fundamentally change nearly every aspect of health care, from insurance to the final

delivery of care.

The length and complexity of the legislation, combined with a debate that often generated

more heat than light, has led to massive confusion about the law's likely impact. But it is

now possible to analyze what is and is not in it, what it likely will and will not do. In

particular, we now know that

  -  While the new law will increase the number of Americans with insurance coverage, it falls significantly short of universal coverage. By 2019, roughly 21 million Americans will still be uninsured.

  -  The legislation will cost far more than advertised, more than $2.7 trillion over 10 years of full

implementation, and will add more than $823 billion to the national debt over the program's first 10 years.

  -  Most American workers and businesses will see little or no change in their skyrocketing insurance costs,while millions of others, including younger and healthier workers and those who buy insurance on their own through the nongroup market will actually see their premiums go up faster as a result of this legislation.

  -  The new law will increase taxes by more than $569 billion between now and 2019, and the burdens it places on business will significantly reduce economic growth and employment.

  -  While the law contains few direct provisions for rationing care, it nonetheless sets the stage for government rationing and interference with how doctors practice medicine.

  -  Millions of Americans who are happy with their current health insurance will not be able to keep it.

In short, the more we have learned about what is in this new law, the more it looks like bad news for American taxpayers, businesses, health-care providers, and patients.

5 Things To Do Every Day For Success

BY FC EXPERT BLOGGER DAYNA STEELE

 TEC wants you to have your best year yet in 2012; click for more advice and tips from Fast Company on how to work smarter, manage your career, and lead a more meaningful life.

"You get up at what time?"

I hear that a lot, along with "You are so lucky." So, I'm going to help out here and let you in on the secrets of my success. Well, not all of them--but enough to show you the foundation I try to build on every day.

1. Wake up early. For the next week, get up a half an hour earlier that you normally do--and get going. If you get a few more things done, then get up even earlier the next week. Early in the morning is a great time to get work done because most of your associates have not started emailing, tweeting, IMing, or posting yet.  *UPDATE: The rebuttal for those who want to argue this point

2. Read the headlines and watch the news. Not only should you know what is going on in the world, you will also be the first to recognize opportunities (if you followed #1) for you and your business--long before the competition has even had their first cup of coffee.

3. Send something to one person who can hire you or buy your product--something you promised to follow-up with, a quick email with a link to something relevant or a "Hey, just checking in to see how thing are going" email.

4. Touch base with an old friend or associate you haven't talked to in ages. Ask how they are, what are they working on and ask or suggest how you might help. You'll make their day.

5. Write a handwritten note to someone. Seriously. It is a lost art and makes quite an impression. There is always someone you can send a thank you note to--or you aren't doing things correctly.

A simple yet highly effective list. Try all five every weekday for a month. Then, tell me I'm right. If I'm wrong, I'll buy you a cup of coffee. When you finally wake up ...

Why Do People Do What They Do?

Excerpted from Lee Thayer "Leadership: Thinking Being Doing.

You've had the experience.  When people want to work at your place, they'll promise anything.  They will offer to be the answer to your prayer.  But after a few weeks, that same person may turn out to be as marginally mediocre as most of the others. 

People are far more likely to talk a good story than they are to provide one.  Promises are far easier to off than they are to fulfill.  You may even have noted this flaw in yourself.  Most people don't or can't "walk the talk" largely because they have never had to do so.

The lesson here is that you don't have to be a psychologist to understand people in fact the less psychological you are about this, the better off you will be.  For leaders, the reality of who people are and what they are capable of lies entirely in what that actually do - or don't do.

Consider motivation.  It is about causing people to do, or be, in ways consistent with your intentions.  But most people can't even cause themselves  to be different.  So why would you believe you can cause in them what you can't cause in yourself?

Motivation is largely a myth.  A very popular ingrained cultural myth.  They seem to work reliably only with the kind of people who have already bought into the rat race (lab mice were deprived of food or sex and were carefully observed to see how motivated they were to get one or the other. This was generalized to account for why people do what they do).  This seems to work with best with people who intend to do only as they are told, but expect to be rewarded for even trying.

So if we are not going to be psychological about it, why DO people do what they do?  The best - and most potent - answers to this question have little to do with either motivation or with things like desire or intention.  As a practical matter they do what they do, first, because they can.  If they are totally incapable of doing something, then you won't see them doing it.

So leaders attend to that condition first.  They make it necessary for people to be competent at what they are going to be required to do.  Here are some thought provokers:

• People do not become virtuosos even at being lazy except by practice.
• People do not become adept at not being engaged in what they are doing except through practice.  Everyone is born with their lights on.  You have to work to turn them off.
• Leaders rule of thumb: Don't practice what you don't want to get good at.  Don't let others practice what you do not want them to get good at.

Should You Join a Business Group?

Running a small business requires some level of expertise in many areas. There are management issues, marketing questions and financial realities. Trying to master all areas, or at least sort them all out, can be frustrating, exhausting and scary. Entrepreneurship differs from many other “professions” in that by definition you are on your own: no colleagues back at the office, no mentor or boss to show you the way. In addition, it is not just your paycheck that is at risk; it can be everything you have, not to mention money put up by friends and family.

I’ve learned that once you peel back the facade of most businesses, the inner workings look very similar. Whether it is a doctor’s practice, an insurance brokerage or a computer-board distributorship, there are common denominators, including customer service, cash flow, financial controls, people, sales and marketing. There are also partners, family members and personal issues that make the reality of running a small business much more than just an academic exercise.

To many, the cost may seem prohibitive. I understand.  But the question is, how many tips, warnings, insights and ideas would it take to make the investment worthwhile? It is hard to imagine sitting through 12 meetings with other business people — including one focused solely on you and your business — without learning something that would be worth that money and more. There is also something to be said for seeing evidence that you are not the only one who struggles. It can be a confidence builder just to know that all businesses have problems — some that you have, some that you don’t. The most valuable information you learn about problems is about the ones that haven’t hit you yet.

Beyond the money, there is also the issue of time, which can be even more challenging. It is hard for many owners to imagine being out of pocket for an entire day every month. Then again, this reminds me of the lumberjack who is too busy to sharpen his saw. The ironic part is that it’s often the people who are most convinced they couldn’t possibly find the time who are most in need of the guidance. 

Start with Why Revisited.

Vision without execution is hallucination.

Just as Thomas Edison reminds us in the quote above, a Why is useless until you can make it tangible. Our Why, to inspire people to do the things that inspire them, would just be a nice idea until we had some things to help you do that. The good news is, we do.

With a little discipline, anyone can learn to inspire. In our current reality of slower growth this can be a big differentiator to gain market share.

START WITH WHY offers an unconventional perspective that explains WHY some people and organizations are more innovative, more profitable, command greater loyalties from customers and employees alike and, most importantly, are able to repeat their success over and over. These are not the one hit wonders. These are the ones who change the course of industries or even society.

Because it’s all based on how people think and act, this unique view of the world has application in big business and small business, in politics and non-profit. Though some people have a natural ability to start with WHY, this book offers compelling evidence that, with a little discipline, anyone can learn how to do it.

How does one idea do so much? Simple. It doesn’t matter what you do, it matters WHY you do it.

Why the company was founded.  What cause is it trying to promote.

Everything I do is to allow people to grow personally and professionally.  Live to do what you do.  Have a passion for the why.

Why is a belief?  Purpose cause.  Intangible.

How is the action we take to realize that belief?

What is the result of those actions?   Tangible.  Say do, make, sell. Measurable.  

Long Range View Exercise

Based on the premise that the next 7 years will be different in many respects than it has been in the last 70 years and assume that the overall economy is in a 0% growth mode starting in 2011, there are at least three major challenges that need to be addressed.

Establish a Source of Funds

• Higher margins and lower costs.  Fire low margin customers.
• New or improved banking relationships.
• New investors – family, non banking sources.
• Merger or Acquisition potentials.
• Invest in equipment for efficiencies.
• Review of all business processes – seek out sustainable savings.
• Tight control of inventory/receivables to preserve cash.

Sales Growth Opportunities.

• Market Share opportunities from Competition
• New Products or Service offerings.
• Innovation to providing increased value.
• Mine existing accounts, New Customer in growth Markets/Segments.
• Export Opportunities.

People Investments.

• ‘A’ Players in Key Positions. 
• Right people on the right seat on the Bus.
• Providing people opportunities to increase their competencies.

As CEO, how are you going to adapt and overcome a “choppy” economy while facing both business upturns and recessions in this “lost decade” with 0% growth in GDP?  How are you going to be the exception to no growth in your business?

The Paradox of Freedom - by Greg Bustin

Americans celebrate our freedom from tyranny in the month of July. As we begin the second half of the year, it struck me that our personal and professional effectiveness for the balance of the year (and for the rest of our lives, for that matter) can be enhanced by acting more intentionally on our freedom of choice. Most of us have the freedom to choose.  We can choose where we want to live.  Where we want to work. What type of work we want to do. Who we want to associate with at work and live with at home. The paradox of freedom is that to be most effective at fully developing our thoughts into specific goals and then implementing a plan to achieve our goals, we must choose between what we are willing to accept and what we are unwilling to accept.   In other words, we have the freedom to choose our priorities. Likewise, we have the freedom to set aside those things that serve only to distract us from executing our priorities. It’s been said that the essence of a great strategy is sacrifice. To be the best at one thing, we must intentionally choose NOT to do other things. We must focus our thoughts.  And we must focus our actions. We must be disciplined in our thinking and in our execution of those thoughts.  We must work at it. Consider this thinking from Elton Trueblood, author of 33 books (most notably The Predicament of Man), chaplain to both Harvard and Stanford, and presidential advisor: “The basic paradox of freedom is that we are most free when we are bound. What matters is the character of our binding.  The one who would be an athlete but who is unwilling to discipline his body - is not free to excel on the field or the track.  His failure to train rigorously denies him the freedom to run with the desired speed and endurance.  Discipline is the price of freedom.” So as we continue to enjoy our many freedoms, we must continue to think intentionally about the values, beliefs and actions we live out every day in our professional and personal lives. We must be willing to make tough choices in order to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. That’s the paradox of freedom

You Have a Blind Spot

It doesn’t matter how successful you are or how many years you have been successful, you share one thing with every other leader out there – you have a “blind spot.” That’s right, you don’t know what you don’t know – and we call that your blind spot. People around you see things about how you run your business that you do not, and often those people are your employees and key executives. 

Why don’t they speak up and tell you? For one reason – they are not your peers. They have too much at stake to directly contradict you. So they will tell you some things, and they will withhold other things, no matter how many times you tell them you want them to be candid with you. And there are many, many more things that neither they nor you will see in advance. It’s the nature of business today – highly complex and constantly changing. The demands placed on your time and energy are unprecedented.

Imagine that you are sitting in a board room today, and picture yourself surrounded by other CEOs, Presidents, and business owners – of substantial businesses with many employees and complex demands. These folks have no stake in your game – they can afford to be totally honest with you, and they want only your greater success. 

Now picture yourself discussing one of your top business concerns – something that you must make a decision about and act on in the next 30 to 60 days. Now imagine your peers asking you relevant, penetrating questions – questions that help you uncover something highly important to the success of your initiative. And then imagine that at the end of the discussion – a candid, unvarnished discussion (remember, these folks have no stake in your game and can afford to be completely candid) – you have new solutions that go a step or two beyond where you were going prior to the discussion. 

Then, a few days later, you sit down with your TEC executive coach (that’s me) and flesh out your strategy in detail. Later, you share with the group the success you achieved as a result of their candid feedback. That’s what we do every month, and so much more.

Role Description versus Job Description – excerpted from Lee Thayer cont’d.

To review; a job description describes, more or less ambiguously, the activities that a person carries out in her job. Using job descriptions almost guarantees that the status quo will be maintained.

A role description, by contrast, describes unambiguously what a person in that role would be able to accomplish regardless of any adversity in order for the organization to fulfill its destiny – its story, its “why”.

A role is one of several indispensable functions for making that story turn out as intended. The people are players and they have a role to perform to make the story unfold as envisioned. A role description describes what the incumbent of that role has to accomplish in order for the

whole to evolve as intended.

The incumbent of a roIe description develops the competencies to perform that role, not relying on the skills or experiences they happen to bring to it. People act out themselves in job descriptions. A role description requires them to play, not themselves, but the performance demanded by the role.

The significant and very consequential difference is that job descriptions generate the present out of what worked in the past for a particular person. A role description, by contrast, outlines the contributions required of that role for the organization to fulfill its cause or mission in the future (its story/why).

The envisioned organization doesn't yet exist. It is the right people performing extraordinarily in the right roles that bring it into being. Most people have not lived under the influence of a cause or mission in life, and therefore never had - because they never needed - a role description designed to get them there.

Every person at every moment of the day is performing a role. But for most people most of the time, they are not conscious of what it is. They may have thought fleetingly about the future but didn't like thinking about the role description required to get them there. (Too demanding, too much accountability.) And most of the time their roles are in the default setting - meaning that their old habits and other people are pulling their strings.