Thursday, May 31, 2007

Cross-pollinate Within Your Organization

Inspire advocates and critics. Invite outsiders – experts, customers, suppliers, and partners. Change hats to generate and evaluate ideas through cross-pollinate organization. To face today's complex challenges, you need to incorporate a wide range of styles, skills, and perspectives. In the new era of systemic innovation, it is more important for an organization to be cross-functionally excellent than functionally excellent.

Firms which are successful in realizing the full returns from their technologies and innovations are able to match their technological developments with complementary expertise in other areas of their business, such as manufacturing, distribution, human resources, marketing, and customer relationships. To lead these expertise development efforts, cross-functional teams, either formal or informal, need to be formed. These teams can also find new businesses in white spaces between existing business units.

Friday, May 25, 2007

SUCCESSFULLY IMPRISONED

Millions of people have graduated from college and gone on to have successful careers working for companies that are owned by other people. But is that type of success everything that is desired today or are people being deceived into believing that this success is all that is meant to be. People need to realize that the success achieved while working for someone is fleeting at best and still will not help you make ends meet when it comes to retirement. A retired person gets anywhere from 22 to 50% of the salary they received while they were working so consequently, they work another job to offset the pay cut they get during their retirement years and that is if they can still physically work at all. People who are successful in a job still have to answer to a boss who tells them when to take breaks and when to eat so essentially they have the same rights as convicted felons who have their time regimented by correction officers.


On the other hand the business owners can come and go as they please and take vacations whenever they want to with no worries at all. They are able to do that because they know that while they are on vacation other team owners are at the site helping to run the show with just as much of a vested interest as the vacationing owners in making certain that their business is successful. Business owners don’t have to worry about retirement because they know that money is always consistently coming in, even during their supposed retirement years.Successful wage workers have the benefit of paying all of the bills that they accumulated throughout their work years during retirement with half of the money they are used to receiving in addition to choosing for consumption the premier dog and cat foods on the market with their limited budget. Successful employee’s great ideas are used by owners to further the company’s goals without monetary compensation to the employees themselves. The choice is up to you, do you want to continue to be successfully imprisoned as a wage worker or do you want to step out on faith, become a company owner and with your business partners make a difference in stimulating today’s marketplace. I know what I’m doing but what about you?

Thursday, May 24, 2007


Teamwork is essential for competing in today's global arena, where individual perfection is not as desirable as a high level of collective performance. In knowledge based enterprises, teams are the norm rather than the exception. A critical feature of most teams is that they have a significant degree of empowerment, or decision-making authority. There are many different kinds of teams: top management teams, focused task forces, self-directed teams, concurrent engineering teams, product/service development and/or launch teams, quality improvement teams, and so on.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Money Problems?


Lee Russell speaks out!

Lets face it we all have money problems. What kind of money problems do you have? If you are having trouble deciding what kind of money problems you have. Let me break it down with two choices: not enough money, or to much money. Now what kind of money problem do you have? If your money problem is not enough money then it is time choose a new way of life. I know most of you were taught in school to get good grades, get a good paying job, and build good credit, only to bury yourself in a lifetime of debt. It is time to choose a way of life that is not taught in school, and only lived out by 10% of the population. Choose to be rich. The only way you can achieve your dreams is to change your mind set and believe in yourself. The only one holding you back is you. Go for it!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Keeping up with change


Have you ever run across a person who would not change at all and was set in his/her ways? Well congratulations, you can always run across someone like that if you haven't by now, just look in the mirror! Everybody has some degree of that aspect in their lives. Now the challenge is to learn how to decrease that aspect within us and learn how to more positively deal with change. By recognizing that life is about change like the waves crashing against the shoreline that are ever flowing, we can minimize the discomfort felt in changing times. You must be like water that will accommodate and take the shape of every vessel it fills. Within the marketplace successful businesses are run by people who are on the lookout and aware of the beginnings of change. The Toyota car industry is consistently successful because they are not dependant on just one type of vehicle, they offer a wide variety of automobiles to choose and purchase, from compacts, to suvs, to hybrid vehicles. People in business need to be mindful about getting caught in the "successful complacency trap" because there are numerous true life stories about companies that were secure in their past successes and did not feel that they should change with the times. A lot of those companies who thought "well it worked successfully back in the day" are now extinct or out of business, while those that survived learned that change was what they needed to continue to be in business. To successfully change in the marketplace you must be like the surfer riding the wave and becoming one with the movement of water, if not you'll sink and become another derelict company at the bottom of the sea.

Monday, May 14, 2007

When you are in a struggle, just smile!

In life we all will face something that will cause us to second guess our decision. I realize, that in these times we have to smile and not be afraid to ask for patience. Patience is not something that you get; it's something that you learn to accept while you are waiting.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Laziness is not an option!!

Why is the percentage of wealthy individuals in the United States only 1%? There are plenty of individuals who work hard physically but how about mentally, and why won't they do this to generate wealth? It's because the majority of people in the U.S. choose the lazy option. People would rather stay in the comfortable rut of their lives than go out and apply the experience they've accumulated to improve and stimulate the marketplace. If more people had the driving desire to reach for their dreams and work for it, their dreams would actually come true. Why won't more individuals do this? It's because they figure they have all the time in the world and that they will live forever in this dispensation. It's just like salvation, people are of the mindset nowadays of "I'll do it tomorrow, I just need more time to think this through" and than a heart attack occurs and it's too late to do anything else. The time to generate wealth for a lifetime is now! The time to apply those things you have learned is now! Don't be a part of the majority who live with the regrets of what they should have done with their lives, be a part of the ones who make a major impact in every ones lives. The time to act is now in order to make a difference, remember laziness is not an option, it's just an excuse to not do anything at all.

Thursday, May 10, 2007


What is Emotional Intelligence?

Everyone is primarily emotional. Everything that people do, or refrain from doing, is triggered by their deeper emotions.
"Emotional Intelligence" refers to your capacity to recognize your own feelings and those of others, for motivating yourself, and for managing emotions well in yourself and in your relationships. "It describes abilities distinct from, but complementary to, academic intelligence, the purely cognitive capabilities measured by IQ. Many people who are book smart but lack emotional intelligence end up working for people who have lower IQs than they but who excel in emotional intelligence skills."

Effective Leadership Skills

Research show that 67% of the essential competencies required for effective leadership today are emotional competencies. Emotionally intelligent leaders are more likely to achieve results and are effective in dealing with the complexity involved in leading change and organizational transformation. Transformational leadership arouses emotion and taps into the emotional and spiritual resources of an organization. It provides the emotional glue that causes organizations and the people in them to excel.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007


What does retirement hold for you? Long days on the golf course, daily lunches with your friends, or how about long strolls on the beach? For a large number of you, think again. For those of you who are depending on Uncle Sam to take care of you once you retire, to be honest, are in serious financial trouble. Retirement for you will consist of a job just to make ends meet. According to Census data in 2008 seventy eight million baby-boomers are eligible for retirement, and by 2011 all baby boomers will be eligible for retirement. According to the facts Social Security is set to run out in 2019. There are current reform plans on the table but why depend on someone else to take care of you and your money. I want each and everyone of you to start doing your homework. Pick a retirement age, the means you will need per month, and estimate how long you plan to live, or better yet how long do you want to continue to live without a retirement plan?

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Some Common Mistakes Made By Entrepreneurs in the Start-Up Phase


Whether you have been successful at starting a previous venture or never thought about creating a legal entity to extract money, the biggest character issue and most destructive to your business is thinking that you know everything. When I realize that I cannot make a decision on a matter, naturally I look for advice; this happens to be more often then not. Normally, the advice I need is on a general level so that I receive understanding, rather than help on a technical situation. It is very important to have a great group of individuals who think differently and promote your ability to think outside the box.

If you are looking to run a successful legal entity which extracts money at a consistent pace, then it is necessary to incorporate a group of advisors into your business; the board of directors. Unfortunately, many start-up companies or sole proprietors do not incorporate a board of directors into their equation. A board of directors (advisors) is designed to help businesses stay and play in the community. The board of directors can give the entrepreneur ideas, different perspectives, contacts and referrals, feedback, and advice.

Let’s take a moment mentally to really think about this…If you are a sole proprietor or a legal entity with a new idea, implementing that idea alone is very nerve-racking. The emotional feelings that come with implementing a new idea can keep you up all night because new thinking produces feelings that are very uncomfortable to you emotionally. Maybe it will work, and maybe it will not. You may have an understanding of how to pull it off, but still, you may not. If you had a board of advisors, you could run the idea past them first. They could provide insight to determine if it really is a great idea before you invest a lot of time and energy into it. They may even have ideas about how to improve it, or they may direct you to people who can help you to better implement the idea. That is the purpose of a board of advisors.

In order to run a successful company, you must be willing to lay down your ego and listen. The average sole proprietor or legal entity operating without a board of directors shows all of the signs that they know everything and that they are smarter than their help. Creating a strong, experienced team of advisors can make a huge difference in an early-stage legal entity. One of the things I have shared with partners over the years is how to incorporate different individuals to complement the other’s experience. When looking for board members, you will want people who:

1. Complement your experience by being strong in areas in which you are weak.
2. Have previous board experience.
3. Can give you proper guidance without playing the devil’s advocate.
4. Can receive your vision and can communicate it to others.

Word to the Wise: Never get lost running the day-to-day things and forget to lead the troops.