Inspirational Video: 091108-1 Billy Cox Motivation

Powerful words to inspire greatness in yourself and your team.  What he says is true and are words to live by, they are part of being a winner in life and in business.

Posted on Billy Cox Championship Sales blog and YouTube @ BillyCox01

The Art of Visual Thinking : The World :: American Express OPEN Forum

Intersting article, Visual Thinking is needed in all aspects of business and life.  I beleive highly in this and have use this concept through out my career and my life.  There have times when I have lost site of this due to situtaions and the culture of people around me, and when I have my performance has suffered.

With the world in the current state it is in economically we need more Visual Thinkers at all levels of business and life.  If we look at some of the big acheivements of the past few decades we can see visual thinking in areas for advancements in technology such as smart phones and Hybrid cars.  Our lives are enriched when this occurs and the world becomes a better place to live and work...

The Art of Visual Thinking : The World :: American Express OPEN Forum

The Business of Integration

As integration companies are formed and grow it is easy to lose site of the operations sides of the business. Sure there are plenty of ways to run a business, and there is a lot of duties to be performed, but how what tasks are needed and what is the right way of doing them?

Running a technology service business is very different from other businesses, the proper operations for others is not necessarily true for the integration company. Technology people are generally more creative and more knowledgeable than the average worker and need to be managed in a way that does not prevent good performance. The attached article shares some advice from Custom Integrators on some do's and don'ts that may not be known by everyone.

I particularly like the part about project management, this is a term that has grown in business and while I understand the need for the skill, it has turned into a way to micromanage employees. Micromanagement is not a good practice in general, but especially not in a technology development or service environment. The creative free thinking flow of ideas required for proper operation is limited when micromanagement exists. I will talk about this in the future.

For now read the attached article as it has some helpful tips on proper opertaions of an integration company.

6 Secrets to Success - CE Pro Magazine Article from CE Pro

Are You Really Listening to the Customer?

Here is a little quiz to see how well you pay attention to your customers..

Are You Really Listening to the Customer? | Sales Machine | BNET

After taking the quiz ask yourself, how well you listen to not only your customers, but other people in your company especially your employees.  I know a few managers who feel that they listen, however they would fail this test...