Need Inspiration? Three 'Doing Good' Success Stories

Need Inspiration? Three 'Doing Good' Success Stories: We follow up with some of our do-gooders from past columns.

How to create compelling content for social media

How to create compelling content for social media: It's more than just tweaking (or copying) your competitor's winning formula.

How to Nail the Interview -- When You're the Interviewer

How to Nail the Interview -- When You're the Interviewer: Last year, I was tasked with hiring 11 of the best graduates from the class of 2011 for my company, Inflection. We called it ?11411.? We had 350 applicants?and ultimately made 18 offers and hired 17 outstanding graduates from Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and other top schools. And along the way, I interviewed over 100 applicants.

How To Build A Leadership Funnel At Your Company

How To Build A Leadership Funnel At Your Company: The ?Sales Funnel? is one of the most tried and true tools in business today. For every prospect you put into the top of the funnel, only a small percentage will drop out of the bottom of the funnel as a closed sale. Unless the funnel is constantly replenished at the top, it will experience moments when no sales drop out of the bottom. Every CEO, VP of Sales, and sales rep understands the importance of constant vigilance over the funnel ? or else deal with the consequences of dry spots as they go on.

3 Ways Women Can Brag About Their Companies

3 Ways Women Can Brag About Their Companies: Shout it from the rooftops! Tell the world your business is booming and you?re one helluva entrepreneur.

5 Ways to Determine If Your Communication Style is Hurting Your Career

5 Ways to Determine If Your Communication Style is Hurting Your Career: Our communication style and approach speak volumes about how we view ourselves and others.  It also reveals important clues about our sense of worth, power and ability to lead and manage effectively.  Everything we do is communication ? we can?t NOT communicate.

How to Make Better Business Decisions

How to Make Better Business Decisions: In 1999, Michael Schrage wrote Serious Play: How the World?s Best Companies Simulate to Innovate. More than a decade later, the trends he identified ? including the importance of using models, simulations, and prototypes to enhance business performance ? have only intensified. ?The economics of playing with representations of ideas has been transformed,? Schrage told me in a recent podcast interview. ?Today, you can do these things far faster and far better.? So how can you and your company take use ?serious play? to improve your strategy, performance, and decision making? Here are three techniques to consider:

Don't prioritize activity over effectiveness in B2B marketing

Don't prioritize activity over effectiveness in B2B marketing: People find comfort in activity. But in marketing, activity is not always the best tactic.

How Body Language Can Help--or Hurt--How You Lead

How Body Language Can Help--or Hurt--How You Lead: I coach people like you ? successful managers, team leaders, entrepreneurs, and senior executives who are looking for ways to become even more effective in their ability to relate with and influence others.

Suze Orman's Top Five Money Mistakes You Can't Afford To Make

Suze Orman's Top Five Money Mistakes You Can't Afford To Make: ?Here we have a financially responsible woman who made the mistake of being a friend to someone else instead of a friend to herself,? financial expert Suze Orman says about an audience member on the latest episode of America?s Money Class with Suze Orman on OWN.

How To Lead Change: 3 Simple Steps

How To Lead Change: 3 Simple Steps: First the bad news: If you’re not willing to embrace change you’re not ready to lead. Put simply, leadership is not a static endeavor. In fact, leadership demands fluidity, which requires the willingness to recognize the need for change, and finally, the ability to lead change. Now the good news: As much as some people want to create complexity around the topic of leading change, the reality is creating, managing and leading change is really quite simple.  To prove my point, I’ll not only explain the entire change life-cycle in three short paragraphs, but I’ll do it in simple terms that anyone can understand. As a bonus I’ll also give you 10 items to assess in evaluating whether the change you’re considering is value added, or just change for the sake of change…

3 Signs Your Financial Advisor Relationship Isn't Working Out

3 Signs Your Financial Advisor Relationship Isn't Working Out: Finding the right financial advisor is a bit like finding the right doctor. You won't truly know if it's the right one until you've met and worked together.

Five Steps to Generating Better Business Referrals

Five Steps to Generating Better Business Referrals: Your best source of new business is referrals from happy customers or clients. You cannot receive a better lead than one that been sent your way with a strong referral. You cannot have a more motivated prospect arrive in your store or restaurant than someone sent there by a raving fan.

How to Create a Profitable Business Idea

How to Create a Profitable Business Idea: To do so, you'll need to understand the value proposition you're creating. Consider these steps to put your startup idea to the test.

Avoid Useless Business Training Courses

Avoid Useless Business Training Courses: Options abound, from nonprofits that offer free classes to courses that cost thousands. Experienced business owners explain how to vet them

Three Ways to Avoid Short Sighted and Ineffective Financial Decisions

Three Ways to Avoid Short Sighted and Ineffective Financial Decisions: I notice that many people approach their financial decisions like a math problem as if the right calculation will always solve the problem. Maybe it is because we live in such a complex world today and technology, though supposed to help to make things easier, actually can make decision making more difficult.  Look at all the financial calculators and financial planning programs available free of charge on just about every financial website.  Are Americans any better prepared for retirement because of them? No.  Are they any better at meeting their financial goals with the 24-hour financial news cycle?  Probably not.

Five Steps to Generating Better Business Referrals

Five Steps to Generating Better Business Referrals: Your best source of new business is referrals from happy customers or clients. You cannot receive a better lead than one that been sent your way with a strong referral. You cannot have a more motivated prospect arrive in your store or restaurant than someone sent there by a raving fan.

8 Key Elements Make Your Business Transformative

8 Key Elements Make Your Business Transformative: Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. But unfortunately, most of these ideas fail at the execution level, or are not truly innovative. Entrepreneurs who have been really transformative, like Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, seemed to know how to deal with all the right elements.

How to implement blogging at a B2B or technical company

How to implement blogging at a B2B or technical company: Blogging isn't easy. But at my company, we've developed a useful model for creating content.

5 ways to escape middle-management hell

5 ways to escape middle-management hell: Tired of responsibility without rewards? The best way to get out is to strike out on your own.