Impressive Billionaires or Not?

News flash: "Australian tycoon is world's richest woman worth $29Billion" 

But "heiress to an iron-ore empire" suddenly sounds less impressive, even if it was up by $19Billion last year. And then we read that the woman she pushed back to #2 spot was Wal-Mart heiress Christy Walton.  So are these successful entrepreneurs we can learn from?

I think the ranking should be based on increase in their net worth from the starting point.  And even that might be an indicator of the skills as an investor (or the skills of their management people) more than their success as entrepreneurs.  So let's agree that for model entrepreneurs we need to look at what they built starting from zero.  That works, even if they started with lots of their own money.

So then we still can be comfortable with our role models, like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, etc. .... 

Rich heiresses, not so much.  

Are you the Entrepreneurial Type?

It's a question that I suggest entrepreneurs ask themselves before they commit to their business venture.  Am I really the entrepreneurial type?  Do I have the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur?  Am I likely to succeed in a business venture or should I make a new plan?

I usually advise that anyone can be an entrepreneur and start, build and grow a successful business if they are determined and persistent, talented and hard working; and they have a viable business concept. But it is still important to consider that you may actually be better suited to another option.  You will certainly be more satisfied and likely to achieve your potential if you spend your working hours in a career that is better matched to your personality, your individual preferences and where you are motivated by what appeals to you, rather than what is expected of you.

So I have developed a theory (very unscientific and certainly not as a professional psychologist) based on my observations of people who are happy and successful in their chosen careers. 

There are three basic personality types that fit certain careers best:

1. Creative spirit (entrepreneurial)

• Characteristics: determinedly independent, confident, constantly curious, questions conventional wisdom, always seeking a better way, balances vision (the dream) with practicality, action and results oriented.
• Occupations: entrepreneurs, artists, writers, research scientists, political activists, architects, designers, some managers and engineers.

2. Contributor

• Characteristics: loves to add talent to the team, thrives on collaboration, needs or provides leadership and a plan, seeks recognition by peers.
• Occupations: some managers and engineers, staff positions, civil servants.

3. Builder

• Characteristics: thirst for knowledge, proving their expertise, pursuing usefulness, providing valued service.
• Occupations: some scientists and engineers, tradesmen, doctors and nurses, social workers, teachers.

Recognizing your own personality type and preferences will help you to decide on your career plan and what situations to avoid.  Yes, there are more combinations and permutations of the three types I have described.  But if you recognize your own needs and what will motivate and satisfy you, you are much more likely to make the right choices for a long and satisfying career.

You do not need to be a psychologist to know that.

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses

The best managers have a fundamentally different understanding of workplace, company,

With thanks to Geoffrey James at "Sales Source" , this is worth repeating.

---

A few years back, I interviewed some of the most successful CEOs in the world in order to discover their management secrets. I learned that the "best of the best" tend to share the following eight core beliefs.

1. Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield.

Average bosses see business as a conflict between companies, departments and groups. They build huge armies of "troops" to order about, demonize competitors as "enemies," and treat customers as "territory" to be conquered.

Extraordinary bosses see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers ... and even competitors.

2. A company is a community, not a machine.

Average bosses consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by "pulling levers" and "steering the ship."

Extraordinary bosses see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

3. Management is service, not control.

Average bosses want employees to do exactly what they're told. They're hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the "wait and see what the boss says" mentality.

Extraordinary bosses set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.

4. My employees are my peers, not my children.

Average bosses see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can't be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds.

Extraordinary bosses treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.

5. Motivation comes from vision, not from fear.

Average bosses see fear--of getting fired, of ridicule, of loss of privilege--as a crucial way to motivate people. As a result, employees and managers alike become paralyzed and unable to make risky decisions.

Extraordinary bosses inspire people to see a better future and how they'll be a part of it. As a result, employees work harder because they believe in the organization's goals, truly enjoy what they're doing and (of course) know they'll share in the rewards.

6. Change equals growth, not pain.

Average bosses see change as both complicated and threatening, something to be endured only when a firm is in desperate shape. They subconsciously torpedo change ... until it's too late.

Extraordinary bosses see change as an inevitable part of life. While they don't value change for its own sake, they know that success is only possible if employees and organization embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.

7. Technology offers empowerment, not automation.

Average bosses adhere to the old IT-centric view that technology is primarily a way to strengthen management control and increase predictability. They install centralized computer systems that dehumanize and antagonize employees.

Extraordinary bosses see technology as a way to free human beings to be creative and to build better relationships. They adapt their back-office systems to the tools, like smartphones and tablets, that people actually want to use.

8. Work should be fun, not mere toil.

Average bosses buy into the notion that work is, at best, a necessary evil. They fully expect employees to resent having to work, and therefore tend to subconsciously define themselves as oppressors and their employees as victims. Everyone then behaves accordingly.

Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

Geoffrey James' "Sales Source" (formerly "Sales Machine" on CBS) is the world's most-visited sales-oriented blog. His best posts, with many extras, are in his new book: How to Say It: Business to Business Selling. @Sales_Source

I'm back

It's been a while since I've updated this Blog, but I'm back at it. 

After a year of living dangerously in the corporate world.  Not any more fun than it was the last time, some 27 years ago.  Great reminder why so many entrepreneurs prefer to be self-employed - less corporate crap and less dependent on somebody else's bad decision making and uninspiring leadership.

So a year older and a little wiser, I will be sharing more insights, ideas and inspiration for entrepreneurs who aer interested in being better in order to do better - for themselves and their families, their companies and their employees.

Stay tuned, I'll be here again soon.

Be well, sell like hell,
Del