Entries by First Sun Team

#Leadership : This 100-Year-Old To-Do List Hack Still Works Like A Charm…The “Ivy Lee Method” is Stupidly Simple, and That’s Partly Why It’s so Effective.

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 By 1918, Charles M. Schwab was one of the richest men in the world. Schwab (oddly enough, no relation to Charles R. Schwab, founder of the Charles Schwab Corporation) was the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the largest shipbuilder and the second-largest steel producer in the U.S. at the time. The famous inventor Thomas Edison […]

#Life : 5 Simple Habits that Will Make you a More Positive Person…You can Adopt Simple Daily Practices that will Rewire your Psychology to Tend More Towards a Positive Outlook.

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Are optimists born or made?  We tend to think of those who see the sunnier side of life as having been blessed with a positive disposition. And it’s true that some significant portion of our happiness is probably determined by our pre-set tendency towards melancholy or cheer. But according to science, positivity is also very […]

#Leadership : 5 Things You Can Do At Home To Improve Your Life At Work…Don’t Underestimate the Power of Small Things Done at Home to Impact Success on the Job.

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 We all want to find happiness at work and at home, but 24% of U.S. employees say the balancing act is getting tougher to manage, according to a study by Ernst & Young (EY). That’s because work is spilling into time that should be spent on personal pursuits. About half of managers work more than […]

#Leadership : Great Leaders Replace Rules With Accountability…Is it Possible to Replace 90% of All Company Rules? So, What’s your Answer?

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Recently we explored “Why Good Companies Have So Many Bad Rules” and “Why Almost All Rules And Policies Have Bad Outcomes.”  So what is better than rules? How can we replace rules with something that still encourages the best behaviors? In a word: Accountability. Yves Morieux, a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group, urges companies […]

#Leadership : 6 Effective Ways To Get What You Want In Life…Gratitude is the Greatest Drug on the Planet . And there is no side effect. From Hand-Written Thank-You Notes to Taking Two Minutes and Writing Down as Many Things you’re Grateful For as Possible: When we Actually take a Moment to Focus Exclusively on Gratitude, it Shifts our Mood. This is Real Stuff. This Really Works.

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Here are the highlights from my recent interview with Dave Kerpen, New York Times NYT +0.85% bestselling author and founder of Likeable Media, and his thoughts on outsourcing social media, being selfless, differentiating, staying top of mind and gratitude. William: Let’s talk about the connection between your new book, The Art of People,and the kind […]

#Leadership : 5 Reasons Employees Don’t Trust Their Boss or Their Company…Recent Report find that a Lot of Workers are Very Skeptical of their Bosses, and the Companies they Work For. In Concert, that Impacts Productivity, can Lead to a Toxic Workplace, and Hurts the Bottom Line.

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Trust and loyalty are difficult to come by in the professional world. While the millennial generation seems happy enough to job-hop their way to the top, more and more employers are looking for ways to increase employee loyalty within their organizations. Finding new and trustworthy employees is difficult and expensive, and even as many people are […]

Your #Career : How To Tell If You’ll Fit Into A Company’s Culture Before You Take The Job…An Interview isn’t Always the Best Place to Learn What it’s Really Like to Work in a New Office, But There are Ways to Find Out.

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Jocelyn Greenky really hates fluorescent lights, so when she started a new job years ago, she showed up with a floor lamp a few weeks in and dragged it over to her desk.  “It did not go over well,” she says. That’s how Greenky discovered that every office has its own culture—and as a result, […]

#Leadership : 6 Concepts Your Millennial Employees Wish You Understood…One of the Things you Learn very Quickly, When you Hire a Staff, Is that a Bad Boss is the No. 1 Reason Why People Quit their Jobs.

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One of the most fraught challenges that an manager/entrepreneur can face is the management of employees. Plenty of books have been written on the subject; plenty of classes have been taught. But it’s only when you’re suddenly sharing an office full of millennials with their own distinct personalities, strengths, weaknesses and dreams – each of whom […]

#Life : The 4 Attributes You Must Develop to Achieve Everything You Want in Life…Everyone wants Success. But are You Willing to Change?

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Without change, there can be no growth. And in order to get what you’ve never had, you must become someone you’ve never been. Before you go into the woods, you’ll need a map. Rest assured others have forged the route before you. Their experiences can help guide you to your own best you. Live forward […]

#Leadership : How to Get the Best from your Employees without Burning them Out…What is it that Drives Employees to Lose Faith in their Employers, Lose Motivation in their Careers, and Drives them Away from your Company and to Another?

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We all want to maximize productivity within our businesses, large or small, yet the techniques of the past are rarely sufficient for a modern workforce. More and more, I’m finding that the personal touch goes a long way toward employee productivity, as well as morale and retention. What is it that drives employees to lose faith […]