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Thursday’s Celebrity Apprentice was a pretty lackluster episode. I was excited to see Marilu Henner and Vincent Pastore square off. I like both of them, but Marilu seems to be a much stronger leader than Vincent. I wasn’t sure who I was rooting for. I mean, I love it when Omarosa’s team loses, but I don’t want to see Marilu go.
The women have severe cohesiveness issues, thanks largely due to Omorosa. On the other hand, the guys, who work very well together, had some pre-task fireworks themselves. Which brings me to…
This show keeps getting more and more interesting. It’s funny because here we have a bunch of people who are so successful and therefore so self confident in their own abilities that they think they are “king”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a display of misplaced arrogance than what Gene Simmons displayed on Thursday night. He was so confident in himself, yet so far off the mark.
It’s always fun to watch the beginning of each Apprentice episode. When the candidates return from the boardroom and greet everybody it’s either to wild celebration or muted disdain. Or even a combination of both. This week I felt myself cringing even before Omarosa opened the door to the suite where the rest of the players anxiously awaited the return of the boardroom survivors. Every time she opened her mouth I just wanted to slap her. Ah, the joys of watching someone who thinks more highly of themselves than they ought.
It’s great how many business lessons can be found in a single episode. But what I find amazing is that you often find the wrong lessons. Things that shouldn’t be true, but are. These are not so much lessons you want to take away and say “I want to do that” but lessons to store somewhere to refer back and say, yeah, that’s how it is sometimes. Of course this brings me to…
Last Thursday kicked off the new season of The Apprentice. I really believed last season would be the last, but as long as you got another schtick to pull out of your magic bag, perhaps you can generate some new excitement. And that brings us to…
Business Lesson #1: It’s not over until you say it’s over.
Many people in business fail because they give up before they should. A number of times when things were rough for my business, I was ready to throw in the towel. But I could never quite bring myself to call it quits. I always felt like I had more to give and a lot more to gain. And I have to say, I’m glad I never gave into the conventional wisdom during those times.
Last year I made it a New Years Resolution goal to read a book a week. I’ve actually had that goal for the past several years now but it wasn’t until this year that I started documenting all my reading so I’d actually know if I hit my mark. I did.
So if you ever want to know what a person like me reads, here you go. This list incorporates all my business and personal reading. The links will either go to my reviews of the books which I have already posted here on the blog or directly to the Amazon product page.
Every business goes through tough times. Expecting to have season after season of continuous growth without any dips or downturns is pretty much unreasonable. And despite all your strong marketing pushes, there will always be times when business isn’t as swift as you’d like it to be. But that doesn’t have to be cause for concern. Well, OK, concern is good, but there are things that you can do to make slow times a whole lot less stressful on you and your finances.
Another year has almost gone? How is your overall profit looking? Maybe itâs not quite what you had expected for the year. Well, step it up! Encourage yourself and employees to think outside the box the way many successful big and small fish companies have. Yes there may be failure but from failure youâll learn and grow. âItâs fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.â â Bill Gates.
Get together with your employees and take a look at your company; what would they change? You hired them so I hope you have some interest in what they really think. Drive out the fear! Create an atmosphere in which employees are not afraid to ask questions or to point out problems. âWhen employees and employers, even coworkers, have a commitment to one another, everyone benefits.â-Donald Trump.
Here are some business stories to get everyoneâs creative juices flowing:
We all have had our share of good and poor customer service, but my experience with Wal-Mart is one that I will not forget, and I was appalled to receive such unpleasant customer service.
I went to Wal-Mart to purchase a cover for my electric blanket but was unable to find it in the department that carries all the blankets. I finally found someone who I thought would be able to assist me, but I should remind you that I put emphasis on the word âthought.â I guess it just wasnât her day, because when I asked her where I could find the covers for an electric blanket, she told me I needed to look in the aisle with all the blankets. I explained to her that I was unable to locate one, and needed her assistance. She just groaned and told me to follow her. On the way over to the department, two people were looking at some yarn and knocked a ball off the shelf. She said in a very stern voice, âYou better pick that yarn up.â
The woman who was âassistingâ me said she would be right back because she would ask the associate who worked in bedding where we could find the covers. She finally returned with the answer that they were sold out of electric blankets and covers. I tried to ask her where I could find the covers, but she just ignored me and walked offâ¦guess she was done with me.
In that situation, to better assist a customer, I would have tried to locate the cover for the electric blanket in another Wal-Mart. The associate could have called around to other Wal-Mart stores to see if they were stocked with the covers, at least to please me, the customer. Having a happy customer is more beneficial than an unhappy customer because an unhappy customer is like a domino effect; that unhappy customer tells five people what happened then those people tell others, and so on. It can hurt oneâs business. All I have to say is do what you can to please the customer. I know this from my 10 years of experience in customer service.
We all want to know if we have what it takes so succeed. Let’s find out by answering these three simple questions:
1) Are you happy?
Your happiness should not be determined by your current situation. Where you are, what you do, how much you make are not things that determine happiness. True happiness must come from within. If you’re not happy with who you are now then chances are that you’ll not be happy in a different job, different location or with more money. For you, then, success can never really be achieved. It won’t matter how much money you have or how many people look to you as a mentor, you won’t be happy until you get just a little more. Being happy today allows you to be successful tomorrow.
When was the last time someone received a thank you note from you? Been a while? Don’t assume that people know you appreciate them or their help. Tell them. You know yourself how much a thank you means — and how good it makes you feel when someone says it. Take the time to thank people no matter how busy you are.
There are countless articles and business tycoons that swear by the mighty thank you note. Management guru Peter F. Drucker, honorary chairman of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, attributes much of his success in life to his early habit of writing 10 to 12 thank you notes a day. Ken Langone, VC and Home Depot Founder states “The two most powerful things in existence: a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.” Southwest requires it in their hiring criteria, “We look for listening, caring, smiling, saying ‘Thank you,’ being warm.”â Colleen Barrett, president, Southwest Airlines.
Hire Stoney deGeyter or the rest of the Pole Position Marketing team for your in-house training, conference or other search marketing events. Contact us for more information.
Thursday’s Celebrity Apprentice was a pretty lackluster episode. I was excited to see Marilu Henner and Vincent Pastore square off. I like both of them, but Marilu seems to be a much stronger leader than Vincent. I wasn’t sure who I was rooting for. I mean, I love it when Omarosa’s team loses, but I don’t want to see Marilu go.
Every business goes through tough times. Expecting to have season after season of continuous growth without any dips or downturns is pretty much unreasonable. And despite all your strong marketing pushes, there will always be times when business isn’t as swift as you’d like it to be. But that doesn’t have to be cause for concern. Well, OK, concern is good, but there are things that you can do to make slow times a whole lot less stressful on you and your finances.
Your happiness should not be determined by your current situation. Where you are, what you do, how much you make are not things that determine happiness. True happiness must come from within. If you’re not happy with who you are now then chances are that you’ll not be happy in a different job, different location or with more money. For you, then, success can never really be achieved. It won’t matter how much money you have or how many people look to you as a mentor, you won’t be happy until you get just a little more. Being happy today allows you to be successful tomorrow.
