It’s valuable for your business to create space in your day to do nothing at all
By Raj Jana
You want to change the world, so you work long, tireless hours, your mind never shuts off, and your body never rests. It feels as if your life is burning on both ends of the candlestick, but you can’t seem to let yourself stop.
I used to live that way, too. The idea of taking a break or resting was unimaginable. And the few evenings when I attempted to unwind and enjoy some free time, all I did was feel guilty about stepping away. I’d wind up returning to work later into the night than usual.
Was…
Turnover is normal. If 30 percent of your staff leaves, that’s devastating.
By Suzanne Lucas
“The great resignation is coming,” says Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management at Texas A&M University.
This makes it sound like it’s some asteroid or maybe sharks, and all we can do is brace ourselves, get our post-apocalyptic jumpsuits ready, and invest in cryptocurrency. Or something.
Klotz is right to expect a great resignation — turnover is normal, and people postpone leaving jobs in times of uncertainty. We can all say, with a surety, that life has been uncertain for the past 15 months or so. And it makes sense that the response is people resigning.
…
What’s it like to work at two of the most influential companies in tech? A former employee tells all.
By Justin Bariso
They’re two of the biggest and most influential companies on the planet, but in many ways Amazon and Google are polar opposites when it comes to company culture and business strategy.
Richard Russell spent over eight years collectively at both Google and Amazon before founding his own company, where he teaches others how to apply the principles and tools he’s learned to their own businesses.
I sat down recently with Russell to demystify some of the differences between his former employers, and to highlight some of the key lessons he now shares with his clients.
Hiring
According to…
It had nothing to do with the products
By Jason Aten
The return of Steve Jobs to the role of Apple’s CEO in 1997, it could be argued, was one of the most important moments in the history of business. At the time, it would have been hard to foresee just how influential Apple would become. It’s not an overstatement to say the company was in pretty rough shape.
It was in 1997 that Jobs stood onstage and told the company’s loyal fans that the company had taken a $150 million investment from Microsoft, one of its most fierce rivals. …
Business leaders have great ideas, but don’t always share them clearly in writing. It’s time to change that.
By Entrepreneurs’ Organization
Jeff Bradford, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member in Nashville, is the founder of the Bradford Group and president of Bradford Dalton Group, a full-service public relations and advertising agency with offices in Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Nashville. We asked Jeff how you can improve your writing skills. Here’s what he shared:
I’ve spent a lifetime learning how to write and edit other people’s writing. Below is a collection of tips I’ve amassed over the years to help you become a better writer.
Good writing is good thinking.
Too often, I see people simply throw everything they know on the page with nothing connecting…
Why your pitch deck might be killing your chances of startup success
By Kelly Main
As entrepreneurs — and dreamers — we’ve all been there with that genius, million-dollar idea. But these ideas often require large sums of money to get off the ground, leading you to assume that you need to pursue investors. However, chasing money isn’t always the best move in the early days of building a startup. Unless you have a record of building successful startups, seeking capital too early is a surefire way to burn your business before you even build it.
Statistically, only about 1 percent of pitch decks attract investors and land investment money. Of course…
While working long hours is for some a badge of honor, there’s a definite downside
By Jeff Haden
I’m a fan of hard work. If you’re not particularly smart, or talented, or skilled (in short, if you’re me), then hard work may be your only competitive advantage.
If you can’t outthink or outsmart or out-innovate other people, well, you can at least outwork them.
As Elon Musk once said, “Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.” To Musk, 80-hour weeks are sustainable, with occasional 100-hour spikes.
But Musk’s idea of what is sustainable doesn’t align with a significant body of research that reveals the physical toll associated with consistently working long hours.
When managers get this right, science says organizations can realize a 22% reduction in turnover and a 10% increase in productivity
By Marcel Schwantes
Globally, one in two employees know what is expected of them at work. That means half of employees worldwide are unsure about their roles, according to Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams, by Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup and Jim Harter, Ph.D., Gallup’s Chief Workplace Scientist.
Even worse, the authors note, those employees are stressed and anxious — even losing sleep — because they don’t know what their boss wants from them. Half don’t know if they’re succeeding or failing. This damages their career wellbeing.
Those who report unclear expectations at…
There are unintended consequences of this widely used program to recruit talent
By Jim Schleckser
The topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has risen to a high level of attention within corporate America. It’s now a critical issue on every CEO’s desk, and just about every organization out there has put together DEI teams to try and improve their performance in each of these areas.
One of the concerns people target when trying to tackle DEI are the structural impediments that get in the way of improving diversity inside an organization. …
Why leaving more slack in your days will actually make you more productive
By Jessica Stillman
Elon Musk plans his days in five-minute increments. Tim Cook gets up at 3:45am. Tony Robbins plunges into ice water every morning. Read enough stories like these and you could be forgiven for concluding that extreme productivity demands extreme and unpleasant action.
But according to a thoughtful new post on blog Farnam Street, you’d be wrong. There’s a paradox at the heart of productivity, the post contends, and it means you’ll actually get more done if you skip the heroics and instead leave more slack in your schedule.
To be more productive…. slack off more?
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