With the holidays upon us (and stress levels rising), I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on the importance of Thanksgiving. What I love about this holiday is that it is universally appealing. One doesn’t need to be affiliated with any particular faith or belief system to appreciate the benefits of giving thanks. And, yes, being thankful is beneficial. As Shawn Achor writes in The Happiness Advantage, gratitude is a key to happiness. The holiday of Thanksgiving can b

Social scientists and researchers would define triangulation as using multiple methods to ensure the validity of data or results. In business, we triangulate a problem by looking at it from different perspectives. The point of this approach is to ensure a solution has been properly vetted. A former boss of mine (and brilliant mind) constantly challenged my strategic recommendations with: “Did you look at it this way? What about that way?” This barrage continued until he was s

Years ago I believed there were three factors to job satisfaction: Love your work Your work helps others Make more money than your friends One of these factors isn’t enough. It takes two to be truly satisfied with one’s job. Years later, I realized my theory was missing one key factor: feeling appreciated. In fact, this factor may outweigh all the others. Productivity and longevity are byproducts of job satisfaction. On the other hand, a revolving door of frustrated employees

Benjamin Franklin understood the importance of his personal brand image and leveraged that knowledge to his advantage. In Benjamin Franklin, An American Life, Walter Isaacson wrote: “From his first moments in Philadelphia, Franklin cared about such appearances. American individualists sometimes boast of not worrying about what others think of them. Franklin, more typically, nurtured his reputation, as a matter of both pride and utility, and he became the country’s first unaba

A good positioning statement goes something like this: We do this thing for these people in this way. That means there are only three ways to differentiate your brand: The thing you do. The people you serve. The way in which you conduct your business. That’s it. So, what makes your brand different? Sign up here to join my tribe of folks with big brains and even bigger hearts. You will receive my weekly blog plus FREE access to the Personal Brand Image Online Workshop!