41 questions every business leader should ask (The Invisible Thread) Change is the only constant in the world, there’s no doubt about it. Today more than ever, businesses must face – and effectively manage – rising change and complexity. Uncertainty is everywhere we look. From marketplace shifts to surprise disruptions, managing this new reality is not an easy task. If you think about our organizations today, they are all part of a dynamic business network of relationships with customers, partners and suppliers that shape the way we do business. Bottom line is that the time is up for sitting on the sidelines. As you consider the processes that make your business run, here are 41 key questions you should ask yourself: Does your organization change effectively when it needs to? Tags: ceo business-agility business-leader featured change questions cio agile cto complexity it-leader
» Blog Archive » Calculate This! 100 Financial Calculators Every Entrepreneur Needs Calculate This! 100 Financial Calculators Every Entrepreneur Needs Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 1:27pm by Site Administrator By Eliza Morgan Many entrepreneurs don’t have the luxury of having a separate accounting department, instead doing their own number crunching. Business Operations Don’t get caught off guard by the unexpected financial pitfalls of owning a business. Loans Unless you’re bootstrapping it, or you’ve come into quite a financial windfall, it’s likely that your business will need a few loans to get up and running. Debt Management Don’t let your loans get out of hand. Business Debt Consolidation: Have multiple business credit cards or loans holding debt for your company? Investment Make your business and personal investment tracking easy with these investment calculators. Taxes Unfortunately, taxes are an inevitable part of any business’ day to day life. Personnel Make the business of doing your payroll easier with these free calculators. Personal Finance
How to pick a co-founder &045; Venture Hacks Naval · November 12th, 2009 Update: Also see our 40-minute interview on this topic. Picking a co-founder is your most important decision. It’s more important than your product, market, and investors. The ideal founding team is two individuals, with a history of working together, of similar age and financial standing, with mutual respect. One is good at building products and the other is good at selling them. The power of two Two is the right number — avoid the three-body problem. One founder companies can work, against the odds (hello, Mark Zuckerberg). Two founders works because unanimity is possible, there are no founder politics, interests can easily align, and founder stakes are high post-financing. Someone you have history with You wouldn’t marry someone you’d just met. One builds, one sells The best builders can prototype and perhaps even build the entire product, end-to-end. The seller doesn’t have to be a “salesman” or “business guy”. Aligned motives required Don’t settle FAQs
22 Killer Personal Development Resources You're Missing Out On You’ve got the personal development itch once again. You know the feeling. Maybe you want to be more productive, finally tackle that goal of yours, or start waking up earlier. So you go to Google or your favorite personal development blogs. Maybe if you still haven’t found what you’re looking for you try searching for a Youtube video or ask your Facebook friends if they know of any good sites. And that’s it. Sometimes you find what you need, but you still have a sense that there’s got to be more. And that’s where you get stuck. Today I hope to change that by sharing with you 22 of the killer personal development resources you’re missing out on. 1. I know, you thought Reddit was just for gamers, atheists, and students – but that’s a misconception. 2. Mindbloom.com is a nifty personal development web application. 3. Lately, it seems there have been hundreds of eLearning websites popping up across the web. 4. 6. Stumbleupon is another excellent resource for personal development. 7. 8. 9. 10.
team building games ideas, exercises, business games and activities for corporate team building, training, management, motivation, kids activities and childrens party games teamwork Great teamwork makes things happen more than anything else in organizations. The diagram representing McGregor's X-Y Theory helps illustrate how and why empowered teams get the best results. Empowering people is more about attitude and behaviour towards staff than processes and tools. At the heart of this approach is love and spirituality which helps bring mutual respect, compassion, and humanity to work. using and planning team-building activities People are best motivated if you can involve them in designing and deciding the activities - ask them. team exercises and events for developing ethical organizations Team-building exercises and activities also provide a wonderful opportunity to bring to life the increasing awareness and interest in 'ethical organizations'. Ensure that team-building activities and all corporate events comply with equality and discrimination policy and law in respect of gender, race, disability, age, etc. corporate events and social responsibility
106 Excuses That Prevent You From Ever Becoming Great The following is a rare guest post, this time coming from Tommy Walker. Tommy Walker is an Online Marketing Strategist and host of “Inside the Mind” a fresh and entertaining video show about Internet Marketing Strategy. Be honest. On any given day, you have tasks you’d like to finish because you know they’d positively impact your business, and tasks you actually do. You trick yourself into thinking that keeping up with industry news, and reading the latest “10 tips to ______” post is “working”. You know better, but some part of you believes that simply reading the article will help you move forward. That having a deep understanding of all things online marketing will better position you when the time is right. But that time doesn’t come. Something is holding you back, and you can’t quite put your finger on it. You may have one excuse; you may have several. What follows are 106 of the most common excuses you might tell yourself. You don’t have the knowledge. “Google.” Spend time to find it. A.)
20 ways to motivate your employees without raising their pay. It is a costly mistake to get lost in the false theory that more money equals happy employees. Believing this is costing you valuable time, revenue, employees...and even threatening your own job. Cash will always be a major factor in motivating people and a solid compensation plan is critical to attracting and keeping key personnel. Too many bonus or commission checks get cashed, spent and forgotten just that quickly. One alternative to giving commissions or bonus dollars is to give gifts through a catalog point system. The company you choose will provide you with catalogs, price sheets and point checks at no charge. The stimulation involved is long-lasting. Whenever I have implemented this program, the employees are overwhelmingly in favor of the point system as opposed to cash. With solid compensation in place, let's look at non-monetary motivation...20 steps to success. 1. 2. Using plaques or trophies is another effective way of applauding your people. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Top 40 Useful Sites To Learn New Skills The web is a powerful resource that can easily help you learn new skills. You just have to know where to look. Sure, you can use Google, Yahoo, or Bing to search for sites where you can learn new skills , but I figured I’d save you some time. Here are the top 40 sites I have personally used over the last few years when I want to learn something new. Hack a Day - Hack a Day serves up fresh hacks (short tutorials) every day from around the web and one in-depth ‘How-To hack’ guide each week.eHow - eHow is an online community dedicated to providing visitors the ability to research, share, and discuss solutions and tips for completing day-to-day tasks and projects.Wired How-To Wiki - Collaborate with Wired editors and help them build their extensive library of projects, hacks, tricks and tips.
Tips To Plan And Schedule Efficiently Use a daytimer or calendar that is large enough to write down what you need to do and when. You may want the page big enough to record brief facts, or telephone numbers you need to call, or short directions to where you need to go. Many ADDers find computer programs for planning and time management very beneficial. Tasks only you can do. Follow up on any tasks that are delegated. 50 Life Hacks to Simplify your World Life hacks are little ways to make our lives easier. These low-budget tips and trick can help you organize and de-clutter space; prolong and preserve your products; or teach you something (e.g., tie a full Windsor) that you simply did not know before. Most of these came from a great post on tumblr. There is also a great subreddit ‘r/lifehacks‘ with some fantastic tips as well. 20. Separate egg yolks like a boss 40. Sources – muxedo task: 99 Life Hacks to make your life easier! If you enjoyed this post, the Sifter highly recommends:
Web Hosting, Shared Web Hosting, Virtual Private Server, Dedicated Servers by DreamHost 45 Kick-Ass Resources for Online Entrepreneurs Few people talk about this great productivity tip… You will reach your goals faster and easier if you’re willing to learn from others. Using brilliant, well-crafted resources created specifically for online entrepreneurs improves your online productivity. Below I have a long list of resources, most of which I’ve used myself. The rest come highly recommended from my mentors and online business friends. Enjoy the list. I’ve arranged the resources from those helpful to beginners to those suited to more advanced entrepreneurs. The links to these resources are not affiliate links. Helpful from the word go… If you’re new to online business, you’ll find value in the following resources. 1. Before you can blog, collect email addresses or sell anything, you need a little piece of real estate on a reliable web server. 2. I’m hoping that no one laughs at this resource recommendation. 3. Today web design is easy. Productive Entrepreneur is running the Genesis framework and the Prose child theme. 4. 5.