The exceptional organisation according to Tom Peters associate Ed Michaels, is one that provides and nurtures rigourously the following…
“Remarkable challenges, rapid professional growth, respect, satisfaction, fun, stunning opportunity, exceptional reward, amazing peer group, full membership in ‘Club Adventure’, maximized future employability…”
All this leads to attracting more of the right people both internally and externally. In […]

No this is not about Homer Simpson getting a helper monkey! it’s about the ideal clients we all want to chase, but hey there are issues about going for gold, its time, money and often our attitude.
Firstly the ideal customer “monkey” is at the top of the tree, try to climb it too fast you […]

In business there are many things to consider, but one of the most overlooked is the fact that you have to deal with people, staff, customers, suppliers, partners and support teams (accountants coaches and the like). The factor that makes or breaks the relationship that’s built is your attitude. But what is it, and specifically […]

 Okay world, here are my 3 favourite articles for the period Sept 2006 - 2007 our first year of www.freebusinesstips.com.au
Jenny Stilwell  3 pillars… Because at the time it knocked me flat! I loved the depth yet a simplstic approach that ANYONE in business could follow. I love most of Jenny’s work and so the link […]

When asked to write a short article on my favorite Free Business Tips blog stories I answered, “yes” before I should have. Have you read the stories?! Choosing my favorite stories is like choosing my favorite child. I mean sure, I’m always going to choose my own … but then when it comes down to […]

Today you are doing what SPECIFICALLY…
- to make your business more profitable?
- to cause the staff to LOVE you?
- to cause the customers to LOVE you and your team?
- to cause your suppliers to jump through hoops to give you great deals (and LOVE you)?
- to ensure your workplace is the best place […]

Caring for your staff can lead to respect, the word caring means showing positive and real interest towards each other. I am suggesting we take a caring approach to build the love we have so we can avoid, bullying in the workplace, foster greater connection with our customers and staff.
This article mixes well with “Your […]

Your staff and great service… EASY!
When it comes to service, practically all organisations I come across say they aim to have great service and if they don’t have it they will work on it. Problem is not many know how to make their service great, let alone good. Lets check out a bunch of points […]

If you are willing to learn how to listen, it will take hard work to learn the skills and constant practice to stay in shape. However, it is all worth it. Remember, people feel relieved when they find someone who understands what they have to say. Once you truly understand others by actively listening to […]

For a sustained good image, master emotional self-control. “Those who command themselves,” goes an old saying, “command others.” That is true, and it means being disciplined enough to put your personal feelings on hold even when tempted to blow your stack.
If you otherwise make a great first impression, yet allow yourself to be pushed over […]

A mentor is someone you admire and under whom you can study. Throughout history, the mentor-protégé relationship has proven quite fruitful. Socrates was one of the early mentors. Plato and Aristotle studied under him and later emerged as great philosophers in their own right. I was fortunate enough to have several mentors - each for […]

You might be tempted to say, “What’s wrong with a little competition?” Nothing’s wrong with it. It’s healthy. It’s when your need to compete and be superior to someone else gets in the way of the best possible outcome for both of you. That’s when competition becomes a liability. I’m talking about the kind of […]

Of increasing annoyance is the challenge employers face in dealing with Bullying in the workplace. No longer is it just a blue collar “stir up the new apprentice with some pranks issue” but it’s a bigger issue involving all business types. It seems there are as many bullies as there are workplaces.
Finding out you have […]

I took a list at the Australian Business Review Weekly’s top 200 rich list.
I was not in it… BUT plenty were (200 in fact) what struck me was the list at the back of the notables that were dropped off the list from last itme, one person still had a fortune of $121mil but it […]

The news today is saying they will drop 600 jobs at Ford in Geelong in the casting plant, as they can get the engines cheaper o/s. That might be true but what about the carnage… not just the jobs, the investment.
The Victorian Government has put in over 60million dollars investing in the car maker to […]

Okay some of you are saying “another one!”, we have a one pager, a fully blown (dunno how many) pager and now I have seen everything a 12 pager!
That’s okay I figure whatever works for you is a great plan to have. Too many clients have plans that don’t work, or no plan which I […]

Ford may dump workers at its Geelong (Aust) plant in a chance to rebound from a slump in sales of its larger engines produced at the plant. This has people from all sectors of Government and industry bodies jumping to try and stem the flow on effect this may have IF it happens. My view, […]

No not the keys to the car, the keys to my business success!
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a few keys to making your business better? For many in business its about building the team they have so they can leverage their time and money more effectively. So here goes, check these key tips out […]

People are only as good as what they know. That’s a simple piece of information everyone should know. But very importantly in business its a great thing to be aware of with staff and customers alike. You might assume they know lots of things like you do, but when push comes to shove you might […]

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you can’t argue that pop queen Madonna and domestic doyenne Martha Stewart are two master marketers.  One is a calculated maverick who’s stayed at what has to be the world’s toughest and most fickle business for nearly a quarter century.  The other turned an at-home catering business into a multimedia […]

If you can’t manage yourself, don’t expect to manage a business, or other people, or clients, well.
We use a really effective technique to help our clients self-manage. “Big Rocks” is a management concept of sorts which has been used in various ways for some time. It’s a concept which I use with all […]

“Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today.” (My Mother, ever since I can remember.)
Procrastination is like a virus. It creeps up on you slowly, drains you of energy, and is difficult to get rid of if your resistance is low. Procrastination is a close relative of incompetence and a first cousin to […]

“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.” In addition, if you keep doing what you have always done when conditions radically change, you will get a lot less than you have always gotten. How much can you accomplish when you really see things as they are - […]

Is your business profile telling you you are doomed to a life of mediocrity, or that there is hope for the future?
Take a look at the profile (see the PDF attachment Business Profiles) and ask yourself the following.
1. Are you at a clear profile level, or moving between them?
2. Is the profile level totally […]

Awareness refers to a continuously heightened sensitivity to what is going on in both your internal and your external environment. It has two separate but closely related ways of expressing itself. You must be aware of what is outside you — aware of the subtle behaviors of the people around you. In addition, you must […]

With the natural differences among the four behavioral types in mind, pretend that you want to give four people 15-20 minutes to make three simple decisions:
1. Where the next meeting will take place
2. When it will happen
3. The theme of the meeting
Quite by accident, your group consists of one Relater, one Thinker, one Director, and […]

Actually, it is — and we all should care because it’s enthusiasm, not apathy, that makes the world go ’round. John Wesley, the famous founder of Methodism, was asked how he was able to attract such crowds when he preached. He replied, “I just set myself on fire and people will come from miles to […]

“The longest journey on earth begins with a single step.”
(Anonymous)
Can you remember when you first learned how to drive a car? Before you learned how, you were in the Ignorance stage. You didn’t know how to drive the car and you didn’t even know why you didn’t know how to drive it.
When you first went […]

Our society is moving toward a view of artistic genius that is both new and old. It is new in the sense that truly incredible tools and technologies are now available for creative work. It is old because our present view of the artist’s place in society has much more in common with the Middle […]

Here’s a thought – Imagine two years down the track (visualise clearly now) that you have a business that is running itself, and people call you saying how brilliant the staff are, the range of services is to die for and they love the level of service they get! You drop in to the office […]

One of the interesting things about great leaders is the degree to which they’re tolerant of people who are very different from themselves. Under the most difficult circumstances in the Second World War, Dwight Eisenhower managed to create a coalition including the egomaniacal Viscount Montgomery, the self-effacing Omar Bradley, and the gifted but totally bizarre […]

Some times it’s too Easy to see the bad stuff in customer service, so now lets use this as motivation to get really good at customer service.
Ask…

What does our team do at the first greeting of a prospect? (imagine a retail environment).

What do they do BEFORE the first greeting (customer is looking in the window, […]

Have you ever been having an important conversation, in which the other person is telling you something you need to know, and while you know you should give your full attention to what’s being said, you just can’t stop thinking about that annoying sound of static coming from a nearby radio? Or you can’t stop […]

A fascinating study was conducted at the University of Stamford some years ago. Four-year-old children were placed in a room, one by one, and a marshmallow was placed in front of them. Each child was told that if they didn’t eat the marshmallow in fifteen minutes, they would get two; but if they ate the […]

One major aspect of your personal image comes from how well you’ve developed what’s inside your skull. I’m not talking about a high IQ or your skill at Trivial Pursuit. I’m referring to your mental fitness.
Can your mind lift abstract concepts from The Wall Street Journal or from the professional journal in your field? Can […]

I Just watched a very compelling and inded  inspiring  interview on TV, (Talking Heads ABC TV May 7th) with the legendary Australian entrepreneur and businessman Dick Smith. At age 62 he has achieved more than many would consider doing in two lifetimes, let alone one.
For those overseas (and those locals who may have forgotten.) Dick […]

I’ll see it when I believe it!
It has been estimated that we each have upwards of 50,000 thoughts per day. How many of yours are negative? Sometimes you have to do a mental spring-cleaning to get rid of those negative thoughts that have become ingrained attitudes. Stopping self-destructive thoughts is like stopping any other bad […]

During the 1980’s I had the privilege of working with an American speaker by the name of Roger Dawson. Roger is the author of a number of excellent books on negotiating and persuasion and he lives in California. I used to bring Roger to Australia to conduct his seminars and we’ve been friends for over […]

Think you have what it takes to be an consultant or a coach? I wasn’t so sure I knew when I first started in 1999. All I knew was I desperately wanted to work from home to raise my two sons after my divorce. It took a lot of trial and error to get to […]

Adapt your connections with people!
When you are speaking with someone, how well do you speak the other person’s language? How well you get on that person’s wavelength? There are some people, as professional as they are, as knowledgeable as they are, as helpful as they are, that simply just rub you the wrong way. They […]

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountain top, I won’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long time. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s […]

Organizational conflict can occur at several levels: between individuals, between groups and between organizations. While we will focus on interpersonal conflict, the principles and ideas discussed here are also valid for inter-group and inter-organizational conflicts.
Conflict typically proceeds through four stages even if each step is not recognized as such. The phases identified by theorist Louis […]

Because street smarts are so important to every part of your life, here is a quick review of the major elements that go into street smarts. Print this list out and keep it with you, for a regular reminder to be street smart every day.
I. Heightened Awareness
A. Trust your intuition
B. Develop perceptiveness and ability to […]

Australia, Sunday the 15th April, travellers returning from Hawaii via one of our local airlines, the aircraft has technical issues so they were held up for up to three days. The overriding issue all travellers  interviewed on TV mentioned was, “They did not tell us what was going on…”
So they were frustrated, many saying they […]

Enjoy this compiled list of “Tonyisms” with your morning cup of coffee!
- To achieve more and better results, more resourcefulness is as important as more resources.
- Anything in excess is a poison.
- One of the problems with the future is that good things always take longer than they should, whereas bad things happen right away.
- […]