Many of us in business tend to shy away from increasing our networking contacts. For others, it comes natural and there are even some people that thrive on it. These are of course, the extroverts that drive those of us that may be in the middle of the extremes a little crazy. In her bestselling, self-help book, How to Work a Room, Susan RoAne helps us to break out of our shell and gain more confidence in making contacts. RoAne explains the importance of active listening, of purposeful conversation starters, of leaving a great impression, of providing the perfect handshake ...

Many of us learn as a child that if we eat our vegetables we will grow up to be big and strong. Some of us also learned that if we practice our sport, musical instrument, singing, or anything else that we will excel at that particular endeavor. It turns out that both were true (except for eating beets… yuck)! to some extent. In his well-researched book, Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, Geoff Colvin explores how deliberate effort and hard work toward a task or profession is more important than talent. Colvin’s book is ...

Thousands of books have been written on the subject of motivation which have been read by millions of readers. Millions more have attended motivational seminars and conferences to listen to their favorite motivational speakers espouse words of wisdom that light fires under the derrieres of attendees. But there are some people who believe motivational tools are not needed to get people moving and that people just need to pull up their bootstraps and get busy; if only it were that easy. One of my favorite quotes by Zig Ziglar is, “People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither ...

Over the years, the word networking has taken on a new dimension, and not for the better. If you are like me, attending a networking event just to hand out business cards and chat for thirty seconds to someone who hands you a business card and moves on to the next person, is not my idea of building a network. The most successful business people are those who build relationships and use networking in order to help others instead of just looking at what others can do for them. Learning how to network is a great way to build lasting ...

Do you ever wonder what the next big thing in business will be or where it will come from? For those of us that recall the success of Hush Puppies or the 1998 book, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, that reached a sales mark of two and a half million copies, the success was carried to great heights based on the product reaching a tipping point. The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold and spreads with incredible speed through society. In his book, The Tipping Point, Gladwell shows how ...