Bud Bilanich | The Common Sense Guy

Don't Take It Personally

The October issue of Oprah Magazine has an interesting article by Cathie Black.  Ms. Black is the President of Hearst Magazines.  She has written a book called Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) which gives advice on how to build a great career.

I read the article and believe that Ms. Black’s advice is great common sense – for anyone interested in becoming a career and life success, for leaders and for entrepreneurs.  Here is an overview of her Seven Rules for a Really Big Career.

1. Take risks that are calculated, not crazy.
2. The worst-case scenario is rarely as bad as you think.
3. Don’t personalize things that aren’t personal.
4. It’s best in the long run to make yourself a grudge-free zone.
5. Be generous with praise and careful with criticism.
6. Know the rules, so you know which ones to break.
7. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission.

These are seven common sense rules that I really like.  I really like rule 3 – “don’t personalize things that aren’t personal.”  How true.  Many people are quite narcissistic.  They think that every thing that happens – positive and negative – in their lives is somehow a direct result of someone acting in a manner that is designed to either help or hurt them.

This simply is not true.  We all have to get over ourselves.  Most people don’t wake up in the morning and say to themselves, “I’m going to do everything I can to make Bud’s – or your – life miserable today.”  I always advise people to assume good intentions on the part of others.  If you do, you’ll find that a lot of things that you believe were directed at you, were just the other person’s way of doing his of her job.

The common sense point for today is simple.  Pay attention to all of Cathie Black’s rules.  But pay the closest attention to rule number 3 – “don’t personalize things that aren’t personal” – and you’ll be able to build better relationships with the people you lead and those with whom you do business.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blog: www.SuccessCommonSense.com for common sense advice on becoming the career and life success you are meant to be and to get a copy of my new ebook Star Power: Common Sense Ideas for Career and Life Success.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

US News and World Report on Careers

The US News and World Report 2007 Career Guide is currently on newsstands.  I’m interested in helping people become successful in their lives and careers, so I picked up a copy this weekend.

An article entitled, Beyond Graduation: Getting That Degree is Just the First Step, had some good common sense advice for new grads – and for anyone interested in building a great career.  I've highlighted the salient points in the article, and added my thoughts about each point.

Consider alternatives to grad school.  “Not all training occurs within the halls of academe.  If you aspire to a career in business, you might want to start at the elbow of a talented manager or two.”  I agree.  You can learn a lot just by watching someone who is good at what he or she does.

Ask questions.  “Thoughtful questions are the key to learning.  Plus, you will impress your instructors and supervisors.  That can mean strong letters of recommendation and an inside track on job leads.”  I agree with this advice too.  Questions show that you are thinking and want to learn – two qualities that are always appreciated by senior people.

Be picky.  “Don’t jump at the first job you are offered.  Cast a wide net when you are looking.  Answer lots of ads, tell everyone you know that you are looking for a job.  When you get an interview, ask questions to determine if the company is right for you.  You’ll make a better decision, and you’ll impress employers with your curiosity and confidence.”  Again, I agree.  It’s difficult to be without a job, but it’s even more difficult to be unhappy with your company and work.

Be humble.  “Ask plenty of questions in your first few weeks.  But also do what you’re told and see how things work out.  At a minimum, you’ll prove that you’re willing to pay your dues.”  True.  But don’t be afraid to speak your mind when you encounter something that doesn’t make sense.  Just be respectful when you do.

Seek opportunities.  “Identify the most knowledgeable and influential people in your organization.  Make a point of asking them questions and offering to help them.  You’ll learn a lot, and make connections that will help you – with career guidance and job tips -- in the future.”  Great point.  You’ll be surprised at how many people will be willing to mentor and help you in your career -- if you’re willing to ask.

Think like a leader.  “It’s never too early to start thinking as if you are leader: someone to whom others look up.  Worker bees who simply keep their heads down often feel like small cogs in a large machine.  Get in the habit of asking yourself, “what might be a better way?”  Share your ideas with colleagues.  Listen to their reactions; don’t accept or reject ideas without reflection.”  The best point.  Always think as if you are running the business.  Make decisions on what is the best thing for the business.  At a minimum, ask yourself what your boss, or his or her boss, would do in a given situation.

This is some good, common sense advice for building a great career.  Think about it, and put it to use to build your own career.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blog: www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming the life and career star you are meant to be.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

A CEO Checklist

The March 2007 issue of Executive Leadership has an interesting piece entitled CEO Checklist.  In the article, Leo Hindery, former YES Network CEO, lists what he says are the essential traits that any CEO needs to be successful.

• Being bright, educated and well informed.
• Having an inquiring mind.
• Showing a willingness to work hard.
• Staying in good physical condition.
• Displaying honesty and ethics.
• Presenting a sense of fair play.
• Feeling comfortable with yourself.
• Displaying a genuine love of people.
• Taking risks.
• Admitting being wrong.
• Making tough decisions quickly.
• Demonstrating patience…up to a point.
• Having the knack for spotting talent.
• Delegating decisively.
• Knowing where the buck really stops.

I think this is a pretty good list – and one that applies to success at any level of an organization, not just the CEO.  There are a few items on this list that I think are important but are often ignored: being well informed, willingness to work hard, being comfortable with yourself are all important to career and life success, but sometimes are overlooked.

That’s my take on Mr. Hendery’s list.  What’s yours?

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blog: www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming a success in your life and career.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

View Change as an Opportunity, Not an Obstacle

The other day, I picked up a little book called The Top Performers Guide to Change: Essential Skills That Put You on Top.  If you’ve read my book 4 Secrets of High Performing Organizations, you know that I am interested in high performance.  Effective change management is often one of the biggest impediments to high performance. 

In The Top Performers Guide to Change, authors Tim Ursiny and Barbara Kay do a good job of summing up important ideas about change and change management in a concise manner.  The book’s seven chapters are only 116 pages – perfect airplane reading.  At the end of each chapter, Dr. Ursiny (or Dr. Tim as he refers to himself) and Ms. Kay provide several reflection questions that help readers apply the points in the chapter to their personal situations. 

For example, Chapter 4, Increasing Your Luck During Times of Change, ends with these reflection questions:

• When was the last time you felt really lucky?  What did you believe or feel at the time that might have added to your luck?  What actions did you take that may have increased your luck?
• Think of a situation that you are avoiding that could possibly create some great opportunity for you.  What step could you take toward that opportunity?
• How might you apply the concepts of immunization, rebound, hardiness and adaptability (all discussed in the chapter) to train yourself in building psychological immunity to the effects of change?

I like this approach, as it encourages active involvement on the part of the reader.  Books, by their very nature, are an asynchronous form of communication.  By including these reflection questions, Dr. Ursiny and Ms. Kay do their best to engage the reader and get him or her to take action.

I also liked the Appendix.  In the introduction to the Appendix, Dr. Ursiny and Ms. Kay say:

• “In this Appendix we bring together the most important elements in each chapter to help you create a plan for dealing with change.  We have written this Appendix to mirror the chapters in the book so that you can return to that chapter if you need clarification or more information.”

Readers with little time might want to begin with the Appendix as it highlights the important points of each chapter and is a guide for creating a personal plan for dealing with important changes. 

In short, The Top Performers Guide to Change is a nice little book.  It is a concise guide to treating change as an opportunity and not an obstacle.  It’s a quick read, that’s well worth your time -- especially if you are dealing with change in your life and career.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blog: www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming a success in your life and career.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Soft Skills Are Important Too

Monday’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting article entitled MBA Programs Hone ‘Soft Skills’.  In part, the article said, “business schools are devoting greater attention to topics such as teamwork, leadership, and communicating – the ‘softer’ side of management.”  Pfred Dvorak the author, said that prominent MBA programs at Dartmouth, MIT, USC and Stanford are focusing more of their instruction on soft skills like communication and brokering compromises.

To me, this is good news and bad news.  It’s good news in that I have long held that the higher one goes in an organization, the less important hard skills become.   It’s bad news because I think it’s a shame that a move to teaching soft skills in business schools is long overdue.

In my star power model of career and life success, I argue that there are five keys to success: Self Confidence, Personal Impact, Outstanding Performance, Communication Skills and Interpersonal Competence.  Only one of these five – Outstanding Performance -- is rooted in hard skills.  The other four are all soft skills.  (See my other blog www.CareerSuperStar.com for more information than you probably want on each of these five.  The posts on February 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 will give you a good overview of my thinking in this area.)

To me it’s just common sense.  The higher you go in an organization, the more you have to rely on other people to get the work done.  The more you rely on other people, the more you need to be self confident, make a positive personal impact, have good communication skills and be interpersonally competent.  I’m glad to see that leading business schools are starting to figure this out.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blog: www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming a success in your life and career.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

Do the Right Thing

This should be a great week for Steve Jobs.  On Tuesday, he introduced the new Apple iPhone.  Apple share jumped 8% to close at a record $92.57 on Tuesday.  The Tuesday January 9, 2007 edition of USA Today said that Jobs is “a visionary who changed the way the world works, and the messiah who saved Apple form oblivion a decade ago.”

However, in the next paragraph, the article went on to say “yet on the day of Job’s triumphant  moment, he finds himself on the defensive over an issue that swept through Silicon Valley and a swath of Corporate America in 2006 like a California brushfire: the backdating of stock options.

Steve Jobs is caught up in an ethical scandal – and it’s too bad, because it appears that he never benefited from the back dating (a practice that moves option grant dates to a date where those receiving the option grants will benefit from a lower price at which they can exercise their options).

Read on...

101 Common Sense Tips for Building a Great Career Gets Rave Review

I got a nice surprise in my e mail in box this morning – a link to a review of one of my Common Sense Tips Booklets: 101 Common Sense Ideas for Building a Great Career.  The review appeared on Reader Views, and was written by Richard Blake.  Mr. Blake gave my little booklet five stars (out of five).

Read on for the review…

Bertice Berry's Recipe for Success

The October 2006 issue of Professional Speaker, the official magazine of the National Speakers Association, has a very interesting article by Dr. Bertice Berry.  It’s called Getting Back to Substance.

Dr. Berry says “our substance or essence rests in who we be”.  Her “recipe” for substance has four main ingredients: Excellence, Research, Preparation and Connect and Engage.  Dr. Berry’s article is directed at people like me – professional speakers.  However, I believe her four ingredients can help you cook up (excuse my pun) success in any business or career.  Let’s look at each of them...

Kathlynn McConnell's Nine Principles of Success

I had the opportunity to hear a great speaker today: Kathlynn McConnell.  She calls herself a life refueler.  I certainly felt energized and refueled after hearing her inspiring talk called Nine Principles of Success…

More on Positive Personal Impact

Yesterday, I wrote about personal impact.  Today, I’d like to share my 15 Common Sense Tips for Building Powerful Personal Impact…