Productivity

Effective listening is more than just letting others finish their sentences!

You’ll need to understand and remember exactly what they said, if you ever want to get good at this whole “listening” thing! That’s the only way you’ll ever learn to build “real” relationships, resolve “actual” conflicts, or offer any “viable” solutions to those you want to help. Listening is 100% the best way to sell your ideas, services or products (note: without it, you won’t ever have a decent client base). It’s like a fine art that should be practiced by more people in this country!

Now, if you’re like most citizens of this greed-driven nation, then there’s a great chance that you are often interrupting others while they are still talking. And when someone calls you on it, I bet your response is, “Long-winded, one-sided conversations are sheer hell,” and while this might be true, two wrongs will never make a right — try showing some damn respect for other people, besides yourself, for once! Then be prepared to listen to them without consistently interrupting what they have to say! Continued

Know how I can tell that this country is all kinds of screwed up?

Rush Limbaugh actually has people listening to his garbage, that’s how! This guy is a complete a-hole from the get-go: he’s abusive to minorities, but will always champion various special interest groups: multi-millionaires, bankers, owners of private planes and yachts, drug companies, etc. However, in a strange turn of events, these aren’t the kind of people who listen to this rich crackhead’s nasty spew of hatred — it’s actually the poor and ignorant (weird huh?)! What the hell America … why are we giving this guy airtime? Why am I talking about him right now? What makes this d@#k so damn special? I wanted answers to these questions, so I did a little research, and this is what I have discovered about this jerk-off (in my five-minute Google session [any longer and I would have hung myself. I’m not kidding]) … Continued

Life as a Phillies fan is looking better than it has in ages!

Take last season for example: the end results didn’t exactly jive with everything you knew about the game, now did it? And that’s exactly the point in watching … that’s why baseball is in the true fan’s blood. No, the best team doesn’t always have to win, and do you know why? Well, because the world would not be worth living in if that was the case. And maybe, just maybe, the supposedly “losingest team in baseball” can bring home the big trophy for their thick-and-thin fans every once in a while (which they did on that most glorious of October nights). Despite all their losses and tough seasons, they’ve actually played for something bigger than themselves and eventually won it all!

Now, this is what pisses me off about phony fans: They’re brought up to believe that their team has to win each and every time. They’ll argue about who’s a better team, who’s a better player, why some player belongs in the Hall of Fame, or whatever other stats they can incorrectly throw out there. And do you know what? Sometimes, in sports, the unexplainable happens. Sometimes the underdog deserves to win, which is always followed by those same fair-weather fans coming out to the park afterwards with their just-bought jerseys and “Let’s Go Phillies, Let’s Go!” rants (man, I’d love to throw some red paint on those jerks, PETA-style). Continued

Are you managing a bunch of not-my-jobbers. If so, you’re not alone …

The “I don’t give a flying crap about my job” syndrome happens every day — every single day (so you’re definitely not alone! Feeling better yet? Well, you should be). Many people get this way when they become bored with their job, and no longer see the forest through the trees (read: see how their contributions are fulfilling the goals of the company). So what is causing these “bad” attitudes? Are your employees exhibiting them? Frustrated (good … at least you care)? Read on …

Most companies these days are trying to do “more with less”! Heads are being chopped, and remaining workers are being forced to pick up the slack. This is causing these survivors to wander around lost throughout their slimmed-down organization, and become less willing to step up and act as a guide. In this highly-pressured atmosphere, many of your staff members will immediately assume that you want to turn your short-staffed situation into their new-duties problem. They are, quite understandably, going to try and avoid this new burden that you’re now placing on their shoulders. So how then are you going to earn the cooperation and respect you’ll need to get the job done? I have a few suggestions … Continued

You’ll never get what you want if the other side doesn’t know you want it!

As an example of this, let’s take customer service: there are always going to be situations in which a company or organization messes up badly, whether due to their products being poorly designed or their workers being just plain lazy. And guess what … you’ve got to let them know that you don’t appreciate being jacked around in either case. Essentially, you’ve got to let these companies know how they screwed up, why it makes you mad that they screwed up and finally: what they must do to make it right. The best way to accomplish these three goals is through a thorough, yet kind, complaint letter. You’ve never written one before, you say? Well that’s ok, because I’m here to help (because that’s what I do) …

Here are five key ingredients that are used in every effective, attention-getting complaint: Continued