How do you look at your competitors? Do you feel that they’re putting you out of business or even that they’re stealing customers from you? Or do you feel that they are actually helping you to grow?

In a capitalist economy, competition is part of the game. If you don’t have competition, you are not in business. The more competition you have, the greater the demand is for your services and the more potential you have to grow. Competition builds awareness: it creates public need for a product or service. And you can benefit from competition if you give people reasons to satisfy their need with your company. Continue reading →

One of the habits of successful people is that they are always interested in what they can learn from those who have already succeeded. An example of this quality comes from Debbi Fields, the founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies Inc. At the age of 20, Fields decided to look for a business she could control and grow. She believed she could bake cookies that people would want to buy, so she convinced her bank in 1977 to finance her first cookie store in Palo Alto, California. The people around her kept telling her (with her best interests in mind, of course), “A cookie store is such a bad idea, and anyway, market research shows that people want crispy cookies, not the soft and chewy cookies you make.” Continue reading →

We all get criticized — that’s a fact of life — but most of us have a hard time accepting it. We want to believe that others understand and admire everything we do, or we’d at least prefer them not to point out our flaws. Whenever our actions or intentions get criticized, it’s hard not to respond by feeling defensive and angry. And yet to grow, we have to learn and the best way to learn is stay open to the feedback of others. To help you short-circuit your automatic anger when getting criticized, try to keep a few questions in mind.  Continue reading →

Almost all of us want to be liked and this is especially true in the business world, where so much depends upon building relationships with customers and clients. Some people try to be likeable by being funny or entertaining but while this may work in a social setting, it is less successful in a corporate environment. When it comes to business, people want to work with the people they trust, and you don’t build trust with a sense of humor. The ability to make people laugh can serve as a good ice breaker but it’s not going to build a business relationship. Continue reading →

When the economy heads downhill, some people come up with creative ideas to get ahead. One such idea came from Michael Crews Development, a housing developer based in southern California, where home sales are down dramatically and the towns are littered with foreclosure signs. Michael Crews recently finished a large luxury development in San Pasqual Valley and now they had to sell all those houses. So here’s the deal they came up with: Buy one, get one free! Continue reading →

Most people appreciate change — as long as it’s happening in someone else’s life. We all admire those who face major challenges in their lives and grow from their experiences to become better and stronger people. How brave and exciting! What a terrific story! But when we face change in our own lives, we feel very different emotions: we feel doubt and fear, annoyance and anger, sadness and guilt. Continue reading →

Do you know the title of one of the best-selling business books of this year—and of the past 70 years? Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People was a hit when it was first published in 1936 and 15 million copies later, it’s still just as popular and as helpful today. That’s because Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated: Talk about what people want and help them get it. Never neglect a kindness. Start out by emphasizing areas of agreement. Let people come to your conclusions. Praise the good; minimize the bad. Continue reading →

What do you do when the economy starts to resemble a rollercoaster gone wild? You stay focused. The dictionary defines focus as “the concentration of attention or energy on something.” Attention, energy: it’s true that these two qualities are essential. But if you want to build some forward momentum in this economy, no matter how wild the ride gets, you need to replace the word “or” with the word “and.” You need both attention and energy. Continue reading →

Have you ever wondered why some talented people reach their full potential while otherequally talented people do not?

This has been a question that Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has asked for over three decades. And after much research, she concluded that the answer lies in how people think about developing talent. Some people believe that they are born with certain talents and that they should work with what they have. Others, on the other hand, believe that they can develop new talents by adopting a “growing mind” attitude. Continue reading →

You just can’t say enough about the value of listening. Learning how to listen is one of the essential skills for success in life, both personally and professionally. Of course, many of our waking hours are spent communicating — we’re talking and replying all the time, all of which involves listening. So you might wonder, what’s to learn? But how much time do we spend really listening to what’s being said? Continue reading →