#Leadership : 11 Ways Successful People Overcome Uncertainty…The Ability to Strategically Manage Ambiguity is One of the Most Important Skills You can Cultivate in an Increasingly Uncertain Business Environment.

December 21, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Our brains are hardwired to make much of modern life difficult. This is especially true when it comes to dealing with uncertainty. On the bright side, if you know the right tricks, you can override your brain’s irrational tendencies and handle uncertainty effectively.

Our brains give us fits when facing uncertainty because they’re wired to react to it with fear. In a recent study, a Caltech neuroeconomist imaged subjects’ brains as they were forced to make increasingly uncertain bets—the same kind of bets we’re forced to make on a regular basis in business.

The less information the subjects had to go on, the more irrational and erratic their decisions became. You might think the opposite would be true—the less information we have, the more careful and rational we are in evaluating the validity of that information. Not so. As the uncertainty of the scenarios increased, the subjects’ brains shifted control over to the limbic system, the place where emotions, such as anxiety and fear, are generated.

This brain quirk worked great eons ago, when cavemen entered an unfamiliar area and didn’t know who or what might be lurking behind the bushes. Overwhelming caution and fear ensured survival. But that’s not the case today. This mechanism, which hasn’t evolved, is a hindrance in the world of business, where uncertainty rules and important decisions must be made every day with minimal information.

As we face uncertainty, our brains push us to overreact. Successful people are able to override this mechanism and shift their thinking in a rational direction. This requires emotional intelligence (EQ), and it’s no wonder that—among the 1 million-plus people that TalentSmart has tested—90% of top performers have high EQs. They earn an average of $28,000 more per year than their low-EQ counterparts do.

To boost your EQ, you have to get good at making sound decisions in the face of uncertainty, even when your brain fights against this. Fear not! There are proven strategies that you can use to improve the quality of your decisions when your emotions are clouding your judgment. What follows are eleven of the best strategies that successful people use in these moments.

1. They quiet their limbic systems

The limbic system responds to uncertainty with a knee-jerk fear reaction, and fear inhibits good decision-making. People who are good at dealing with uncertainty are wary of this fear and spot it as soon as it begins to surface. In this way, they can contain it before it gets out of control. Once they are aware of the fear, they label all the irrational thoughts that try to intensify it as irrational fears—not reality—and the fear subsides. Then they can focus more accurately and rationally on the information they have to go on. Throughout the process, they remind themselves that a primitive part of their brain is trying to take over and that the logical part needs to be the one in charge. In other words, they tell their limbic system to settle down and be quiet until a hungry tiger shows up.

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2. They stay positive

Positive thoughts quiet fear and irrational thinking by focusing your brain’s attention on something that is completely stress-free. You have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your attention. When things are going well and your mood is good, this is relatively easy. When you’re stressing over a tough decision and your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, this can be a challenge. In these moments, think about your day, and identify one positive thing that happened, no matter how small. If you can’t think of anything from the current day, reflect on the previous day or days or even the previous week, or perhaps you’re looking forward to an exciting event. The point here is that you must have something positive that you’re ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative due to the stress of uncertainty.

3. They know what they know—and what they don’t

When uncertainty makes a decision difficult, it’s easy to feel as if everything is uncertain, but that’s hardly ever the case. People who excel at managing uncertainty start by taking stock of what they know and what they don’t know and assigning a factor of importance to each. They gather all the facts they have, and they take their best shot at compiling a list of things they don’t know, for example, what a country’s currency is going to do or what strategy a competitor will employ. They actually try to identify as many of these things as possible because this takes away their power.

4. They embrace that which they can’t control

We all like to be in control. After all, people who feel like they’re at the mercy of their surroundings never get anywhere in life. But this desire for control can backfire when you see everything that you can’t control or don’t know as a personal failure. People who excel at managing uncertainty aren’t afraid to acknowledge what’s causing it. In other words, successful people live in the real world. They don’t paint any situation as better or worse than it actually is, and they analyze the facts for what they are. They know that the only thing they really control is the process through which they reach their decisions. That’s the only rational way to handle the unknown, and the best way to keep your head on level ground. Don’t be afraid to step up and say, “Here’s what we don’t know, but we’re going forward based on what we do know. We may make mistakes, but that’s a lot better than standing still.”

Bringing It All Together: The ability to strategically manage ambiguity is one of the most important skills you can cultivate in an increasingly uncertain business environment. Try the strategies and your ability to handle uncertainty will take a huge step in the right direction.

5. They focus only on what matters

Some decisions can make or break your company. Most just aren’t thatimportant. The people who are the best at making decisions in the face of uncertainty don’t waste their time getting stuck on decisions where the biggest risk is looking foolish in front of their co-workers. When it comes down to it, almost every decision contains at least a small factor of uncertainty—it’s an inevitable part of doing business. Learning to properly balance the many decisions on your plate, however, allows you to focus your energy on the things that matter and to make more informed choices. It also removes the unnecessary pressure and distraction caused by a flurry of small worries.

6. They don’t seek perfection

Emotionally intelligent people don’t set perfection as their target because they know there’s no such thing as a perfect decision in an uncertain situation. Think about it: human beings, by our very nature, are fallible. When perfection is your goal, you’re always left with a nagging sense of failure, and you end up spending your time lamenting what you failed to accomplish and what you should have done differently, instead of enjoying what you were able to achieve.

7. They don’t dwell on problems

Where you focus your attention determines your emotional state. When you fixate on the problems that you’re facing, you create and prolong negative emotions and stress, which hinders performance. When you focus on actions to better yourself and your circumstances, you create a sense of personal efficacy that produces positive emotions and improves performance. Emotionally intelligent people don’t allow themselves to become preoccupied with the uncertainties they face. Instead, they focus all their attention and effort on what they can do, in spite of the uncertainty, to better their situation.

8. They know when to trust their gut

Our ancestors relied on their intuition—their gut instinct—for survival. Since most of us don’t face life-or-death decisions every day, we have to learn how to use this instinct to our benefit. Often we make the mistake of talking ourselves out of listening to our gut instinct, or we go too far in the other direction and impulsively dive into a situation, mistaking our assumptions for instincts. People who successfully deal with uncertainty recognize and embrace the power of their gut instincts, and they rely on some tried-and-true strategies to do so successfully:

They recognize their own filters. They’re able to identify when they’re being overly influenced by their assumptions and emotions or by another person’s opinion, for example. Their ability to filter out the feelings that aren’t coming from their intuition helps them focus on what is.

They give their intuition some space. Gut instincts can’t be forced. Our intuition works best when we’re not pressuring it to come up with a solution. Albert Einstein said he got his best ideas while sailing, and when Steve Jobs was faced with a tough problem, he’d head out for a walk.

They build a track record. People who deal well with uncertainty take the time to practice their intuition. They start by listening to their gut on small things and seeing how it goes so that they’ll know whether they can trust it when something big comes around.

9. They have contingency plans . . .

Staying on top of uncertainty is as much about planning for failure as it is about hoping for the best. Experts at handling uncertainty aren’t afraid to admit that they could be wrong, and that frees them up to make detailed, rational, and transparent contingency plans before taking action. Successful people know they aren’t always going to make the right decision. They know how to absorb and understand mistakes so that they can make better decisions in the future. And they never let mistakes get them down for too long.

10. . . . but they don’t ask, “What if?”

“What if?” statements throw fuel on the fire of stress and worry, and there’s no place for them in your thinking once you have good contingency plans in place. Things can go in a million different directions, and the more time you spend worrying about the possibilities, the less time you’ll spend focusing on taking action that will calm you down and keep your stress under control. Successful people know that asking “what if?” will only take them to a place they don’t want, or need, to go to.

11. When all else fails, they breathe

You have to remain calm to make good decisions in the face of uncertainty. An easy way to do this lies in something that you have to do every day anyway—breathing. The practice of being in the moment with your breathing trains your brain to focus solely on the task at hand and quiets distracting thoughts. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. Close the door, put away all other distractions, and just sit in a chair and breathe. The goal is to spend the entire time focused only on your breathing, which will prevent your mind from wandering. Think about how it feels to breathe in and out. This sounds simple, but it’s hard to do for more than a minute or two. It’s all right if you get sidetracked by another thought—this is sure to happen at the beginning—and you just need to bring your focus back to your breathing. If staying focused on your breathing proves to be a real struggle, try counting each breath in and out until you get to twenty, and then start again from one. Don’t worry if you lose count; you can always just start over. This task may seem too easy or even a little silly, but you’ll be surprised by how calm you feel afterward and how much easier it is to let go of distracting thoughts that otherwise seem to lodge permanently inside your brain.

Bringing It All Together

The ability to strategically manage ambiguity is one of the most important skills you can cultivate in an increasingly uncertain business environment. Try the strategies above, and your ability to handle uncertainty will take a huge step in the right direction.

How do your skills measure up? What do you do when faced with uncertainty? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

Travis co-wrote the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and co-foundedTalentSmart, the world’s #1 provider of emotional intelligence tests and training, serving 75% of Fortune 500 Companies.

Forbes.com | December 21, 2015 | Travis Bradberry

#Leadership : How to Train your Brain to Make Better Decisions…Researchers have Shown this Growth-Mindset #Strategy of Changing How you Interpret an Event will Change Negative Response Patterns.

December 20, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Overcoming obstacles is synonymous with entrepreneurship. The ability to engage with difficulties and stress in an empowering way is described as the biggest factor for success in life — more significant than your IQ, social networks, physical health, or socio-economic background.

When you encounter stressful situations, there are two basic ways your brain will respond: fight or flight. Whether you fight or flee can be boiled down to how you’ve been conditioned from past experiences. This negative pattern of responses is known as “learned helplessness.” If you’ve given a terrible presentation at a business meeting, you’ll have a stress-induced flight response in similar future scenarios.

To create a pattern of empowering “fight” responses when you encounter a stressful or difficult situation, adjust your explanatory style from pessimistic to optimistic, at three key points: the cause (internal vs. external); the timeframe (stable vs. unstable); and the context (global vs. specific).

If left unchecked, this pattern of “learned” avoidance behaviors will lead to passive and poor decisions. You cannot dominate in entrepreneurship and leadership if you have a pattern of unhealthy risk-averse decisions — always fleeing from challenges.

The good news is, researchers have found that learned helplessness can be short-circuited depending your “explanatory style” or “attribution style.” After encountering a stressful situation, before a passive behavior is “learned,” you first have to interpret the experience, and that interpretation can be changed. Your fight-or-flight respond is visceral, until you learn to stop and ask, “Why?”

These explanatory or attributional styles can be categorized in three ways:

1. Internal vs. external.

This is how you explain the cause of an event, where you attach the “responsibility.” Making it internal means you see yourself as the cause, rather than an external factor. Example: “I’m terrible at giving presentations” (internal), as opposed to “the material was challenging to explain” (external).

2. Stable vs. unstable.

This is how you explain the lifespan an event; whether an experience has permanent effects, or is transient. Example: “I always forget names, I was born with a terrible memory” (stable), as opposed to “I didn’t get enough sleep last night, my memory is a little off this morning” (unstable).

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3. Global vs. specific

This is how you explain the context of an event; whether the situation is universal across all environments or unique to one environment. Example: “I don’t enjoy meeting people at conferences” (global), as opposed to “I didn’t enjoy meeting the people at that last conference” (specific).

What’s the best explanatory style?

Explanatory styles can be divided simply into optimistic and pessimistic. So, a person who responds to challenges with pessimistic attributions will believe they were born “dumb;” that their lack of intelligence is permanent; and will never succeed in any job. This person responds with a “flight-response.”

Reframing the cause, the lifespan, and the context with an optimistic lens means this person believes they were born with great resilience; that their struggles are temporary and change happens over time; and they have the ability to succeed in any career, regardless of past failures. This person responds with a “fight-response.”

These reframing techniques can sound like wishful thinking or making excuses, but researchers have shown this growth-mindset strategy of changing how you interpret an event will change negative response patterns.

To create a pattern of empowering “fight” responses when you encounter a stressful or difficult situation, adjust your explanatory style from pessimistic to optimistic, at three key points: the cause (internal vs. external); the timeframe (stable vs. unstable); and the context (global vs. specific).

December 19, 2015 | Thai Nguyen, Entrepreneur

Your #Career : 5 Strategies to get Constant #Promotions …What’s the Secret to Getting to the #C-Suite? Being Self-Critical, Self-Aware, & Keeping your Ego in Check.

December 20, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Climbing the career ladder doesn’t happen though hard work alone. But the skills it takes to reach the C-suite might not always be that clear.

Krisi Rossi O’Donnell, chief recruiting officer for the staffing and recruiting firm LaSalle Network, has cracked the code. She started at LaSalle 11 years ago as a temporary office assistant and has been promoted 10 times.

Over the course of her momentous climb to the C-Suite, she has developed five strategies, including self-criticism and self-awareness, that have worked well for her and that she now shares with fellow employees (she currently manages about 60 people across multiple offices) as well as with job candidates who use the Network’s career counseling services.

1. ELIMINATE MICROMANAGEMENT THROUGH SELF-CRITICISM

O’Donnell explains that “in order to make sure you are doing your job as best you can, without being constantly supervised, you need to have some checks and balances to ensure you are not only doing your best at the moment, but that you continue moving forward and do it better the next time.”

Ask yourself how you can contribute. “What do you know?” O’Donnell asks. “How can you position yourself to have value? It is not how can I be important.” An offshoot of consistent self-criticism—in addition to helping to enhance your capabilities over time—is that you will experience less micromanagement from your boss(es).

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2. BE SELF-AWARE

Knowing where you need to improve is vitally important to continued growth and further steps up the career ladder. In other words, being self-critical does not work unless you are also self-aware. Being self-aware is a process, she adds.

THE MINUTE PEOPLE THINK THEY NO LONGER NEED DIRECTION OR FEEDBACK BECAUSE THEY DO THEIR JOB PERFECTLY IS THE MINUTE THEY SLIP AND FALL BEHIND.

“It is not a single moment in time. You have to think through things entirely by looking at the beginning, middle, end, outcomes, relationships, and interactions. People who are more self-aware, who can read across the table and know when somebody is not paying attention, or when what they are saying is not hitting the right spot, these people are more capable and take full advantage of being self-aware and self-critical.”

3. SEEK NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

How do you know more precisely where you need to improve when you are already fully cognizant and dedicated to high levels of work fortitude through self-criticism and self-awareness? “Encourage and gather feedback,” O’Donnell says. This means, in addition to frequently evaluating yourself, actively seek out ways to improve through other peoples’ suggestions.

For example, if you make a presentation at a meeting, don’t wait for one of your colleagues to offer a reaction to how well you did. “People intuitively want to be nice to each other, so when you are in a meeting in which you messed up, the person you are with may not tell you. They may tell other people,” however. So don’t be afraid to sincerely ask for substantial feedback. “You would rather know the truth and be able to overcome it instead of living a lie and never being able to max yourself out.”

4. THINK OF MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS TO EVERYTHING

An outgrowth of being self-critical and self-aware is that you start paying closer attention and gain a better understanding of how to be prepared for any given situation. “Even when you win, look back and say is this the only way I could have played it, are there other ways that I may be less comfortable with that I could have played,” O’Donnell explains.

YOUR FIRST INCLINATION TO DO A JOB RIGHT IS MORE THAN LIKELY COMING FROM YOUR COMFORT ZONE.

Understand that perhaps your first inclination to do a job right is more than likely coming from your comfort zone, says O’Donnell. But, simply executing instead of thinking a bit more out of the box and even taking some risks to come up with alternative (and possibly more creative and interesting) solutions, can hold you back. “Speak to your manager about multiple options,” she says. “Your career will change if you are bringing in solutions as opposed to just executing.”

5. KEEP YOUR EGO IN CHECK

“The minute people think they no longer need direction or feedback because they do their job perfectly is the minute they slip and fall behind,” O’Donnell says. “Continuously questioning your process keeps you from developing an ego.” Always be receptive, and if you don’t agree with what some of your colleagues might have to say, “learn from it and recognize that, while you don’t agree, somebody else in the room felt that way and perception matters.”

FastCompany.com | December 11, 2015 | GEORGE LORENZO

Your #Career : The 10 most Popular Free Online Courses for #Professionals …. Your #Education Shouldn’t Stop When you Leave the Classroom. Learning New Skills is a Great Way to Expand your Mind & Get Ahead in your Career

December 19, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Your education shouldn’t stop when you leave the classroom. Learning new skills is a great way to expand your mind and get ahead in your career — and it’s easier than ever with a plethora of online classes just a click away.

A good place to start is with this year’s most popular Courseracourses from top universities. They range from an introduction to the programming language Python to mastering the art of negotiating. All are free, but some have paid versions that offer more extensive experiences.

Read on to see this year’s top 10, courtesy of Coursera.

10. Introduction to Financial Accounting — University of Pennsylvania

Wharton professor Brian J. Bushee teaches the basics of accounting in this course. By the end, you’ll know how to confidently read an income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows.

It’s one of four courses in Wharton’s business foundation Coursera package, which costs you $595 for the classes and a capstone project, all graded. If you don’t care about a certificate or being part of a cohort that can interact with each other and the professors, you can work through each course for free.

Next session: December 28 — February 1

Find it here >>

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9. Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills — University of Michigan

Ross School of Business professor George Siedel has taught negotiation classes around the world and says his research-based class is useful whether you’re trying to secure a million-dollar investment in your business or to lower the cost of your cable bill.

Next session:Always available

Find it here

8. An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python (Part 1) — Rice University

Python is one of the world’s top five programming languages and is used at organizations like Google, Yahoo, and NASA. It’s a high-level language, but a novice can learn the basics relatively easily.

Rice professors Joe Warren, Scott Rixner, John Greiner, and Stephen Wong keep the course interesting by having students use Python to build simple games like Pong and Asteroids.

Next session: January 9 — February 2

Find it here >>

7. Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and the Modern World — University of Virginia

This course from University of Virginia professors David Francis Germano and Kurt R. Schaeffer takes a look at multiple Tibetan Buddhist meditation traditions from historical, religious, scientific, and practical purposes.

It’s a multilayered introduction to the roots of an increasingly secularized practice.

Upcoming session:Always available

Find it here >>

6. The Data Scientist’s Toolbox — Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins professors Jeff Leek, Roger D. Peng, and Brian Caffo use this two-part course to give an overview of what exactly data scientists do, as well as to introduce students to some of their tools: version control, markdown, git, GitHub, R, and RStudio.

It’s one of nine courses in the data-science introductory package, which costs $470 for full participation and a certificate of completion.

Next session: Current session still open, ends January 2

Find it here >>

5. R Programming — Johns Hopkins University

This is another class in the Johns Hopkins data-science package. It introduces students to the R programming language, which is the world’s most popular language for data analysis.

Next session:Current session still open, ends January 2

Find it here >>

4. Machine Learning — Stanford University

If you’ve been wanting to learn more about artificial intelligence, this is a great place to start. Stanford associate professor and Coursera cofounder Andrew Ng uses case studies and programming exercises to illustrate some of the ways machines learn.

Next session: December 28 — March 21

Find it here >>

3. Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python) — University of Michigan

This is another Python course, from Michigan professor Charles Severance.

It’s part one of five, so consider this one if you’re looking for a more thorough foundation.

Next session:Current session still open, enrollment ends December 21

Find it here >>

2. Mastering Data Analysis in Excel — Duke University

Duke post-doctoral fellow Jana Schaich Borg and director of the Center for Quantitative Modeling Daniel Egger teach students how to use Excel to understand the concepts behind uncertainty-reduction and information-gain predictive models that data scientists use.

It’s one of four courses in Duke’s data science package, which costs $395 for full participation.

Next session: December 14 — February 1

Find it here >>

1. Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects — University of California at San Diego

Oakland University professor Barbara Oakley and Salk Institute professor Terrence Sejnowski use studies of brain chemistry to determine the best ways to approach a new subject, memorize facts, and deal with procrastination.

The instructors make a bold claim: “If you’ve ever wanted to become better at anything, this course will help serve as your guide.”

Next session: January 4 — February 7

Find it here >>

Businessinsider.com | December 13, 2015 | Richard Feloni

#Leadership : 7 Reasons Why your #WorkMeetings are a Waste of Time — & How to Fix Them…There are a Few Small Fixes you can Make that will Transform your #Meetings from Breaded Blocks on your Schedule into Efficient Ways to Realign your Team.

December 19, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Team meetings can be massive wastes of time. Instead of taking a few moments to catch up and develop ideas, you and your colleagues proceed to either doze off or check email as someone drones on.

The good news is there are a few small fixes you can make that will transform your meetings from dreaded blocks on your schedule into efficient ways to realign your team.

We asked Jessica Pryce-Jones, co-CEO of iOpener Institute and co-author of “Running Great Meetings & Workshops For Dummies,” to share her best advice.

After working with companies like American Express and Coca-Cola, she found common reasons why most meetings are wastes of time and how to fix them.

1. They have no purpose or structure.

Even a single daydreaming employee is a bad sign.

If your meetings are stretching on much longer than they should be, they likely lack a clear purpose. Before the meeting begins, tell your team what the main objective of getting together is, and determine how it will progress.

Pryce-Jones recommends saving the “meat” of the meeting for the middle, after everyone has focused on the task at hand but before their minds start drifting.

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2. The moderator is stretched too thin.

The person running the meeting may be trying to juggle too many things at once.

You can’t properly manage the meeting if you’re trying to do everything at once.

Pryce-Jones suggests having a “wingman” who is responsible for the little things, like bringing refreshments and making sure the projector is working, as well as ensuring the team sticks to the agenda. Ask them to let you know if you’re falling behind schedule or if the meeting is no longer constructive.

3. The moderator isn’t the best person to run all parts of it.

The moderator should know when to turn the meeting over.

If you know that a particular team member knows more about a topic of discussion than you do, let them lead that part of the meeting to keep things moving quickly. It keeps you from stumbling and keeps your team alert and ready to speak.

4. There are no ground rules for conduct.

Allow employees to say what they need to, without letting the meeting go off the rails.

Pryce-Jones says that frustration arises when employees hold back their feelings in meetings because they’re afraid of stepping on each other’s toes.

Avoid this frustration by establishing a code of conduct. Set a time limit on the meeting and consider allotting set portions of time each employee will speak. Ask the wingman to be responsible for letting the team members know if they are being too vague or verbose, and don’t let politeness interfere with getting things done.

“You’ve got to have a little bit of tension, because that’s where the real value is added,” Pryce-Jones says.

5. The meetings aren’t relevant to everyone in attendance.

Avoid “submeetings.”

If employees are constantly sneaking emails on their smartphones or tablets rather than writing down relevant notes, “that is a strong signal to me that the content of the meeting is not correct,” Pryce-Jones says.

Likewise, if you find that your meetings have become a series of “submeetings” in which you’re only fully engaging one or two employees at a time while everyone else checks their phone or daydreams, then you’re wasting time. Keep meetings relevant for everyone involved by utilizing other forms of communication that don’t require getting the team together, whether that be through one-on-one meetings or business group messaging services like Slack.

6. There are no followups.

Make sure the objectives you discussed get completed.

Communication is key to successful meetings, especially if you’re experimenting with finding the ideal format for your team. Keep track of your meetings, and don’t rely on just your own thoughts. If you tried a time limit, ask your employees if they felt that the meeting went more smoothly or got cut short. Get a sense of whether or not your team thinks the purpose you set out to achieve at the beginning was actually fulfilled. Be open to suggestions on how the meeting can be improved.

7. They’re getting stale.

Go out for coffee every now and then.

Regular meetings can become repetitive and boring and therefore not as productive. Sometimes all that’s required to bring energy and good ideas back to the table is a change of scenery, Pryce-Jones says. Try going to a nearby cafe or even a bar and treat your team to coffee or beer.

As always, ask your team if they enjoyed the change of pace. If they enjoyed it but didn’t find it constructive, try something else the next time. It’s never a complete waste of time, says Pryce-Jones, since “a bit of socializing is never going to hurt things.”

Businessinsider.com | December 19, 2015 | Richard Feloni

#Strategy : The 5 Biggest Things In Tech You Missed This Week: 12/19 … Here are 5 Things that Happened in the World of #Technology this Past Week & Why they’re Important for your #Business (& mine). Did you Miss Them?

December 19, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Here are five things that happened in the world of technology this past week and why they’re important for your business (and mine). Did you miss them?

1. Facebook FB -1.92% quietly tests a new way to find (and review) local businesses (and Yelp’s stock plunges).

From Business Insider: ”Facebook has quietly started testing a new recommendation service that lets users find the top-rated and reviewed local businesses in their area.The service looks similar to Yelp, which saw its stock plunge nearly 8% this morning. It finished the day down more than 9%.”

Why this is important for your business:

Facebook has been on a nationwide tour and continues to reach out to small businesses as a platform for applications, messaging and of course advertising. So many of my small business clients rely on Facebook for new leads and customer engagement and would be more than happy to leave Yelp for a similar service on the social media giant’s platform. This could be a move you make in 2016 too.

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2. The FAA says that small drones must be registered by February.

From BGR: ”Just in time for the holidays, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) earlier this week donned their Grinch costume and announced that individuals with drones that weigh more than half a pound (.55 pounds or 250 grams, to be exact) will have to register it with the FAA. On top of that, the registration process requires drone owners to fork over $5. It may sound like your everyday email scam at first glance, but rest assured that the FAA’s new guidelines are legit and are set to go into effect on December 21. To encourage drone registration, the FAA is willing to waive the aforementioned $5 fee if users register by January 20, 2016.”
Why this is important for your business:
Drones are for real. Amazon is testing delivery services in other countries and is ready to do the same in the U.S. Many companies are using drones to conduct surveys, cover news, photograph real estate and perform surveillance. Future drone technology will enable delivery of products and advertising at sporting events, to name a few applications. And many small businesses will be part of this opportunity.
3. A study finds that the leading cause of data breaches is employee error.
From The Wall Street Journal: ”‘Employee error’ turns out to be the most common reason for a data breach at companies, according to a new cybersecurity report released Wednesday by the Association of Corporate Counsel. This means the breach occurred as the result of a mistake the employee made, such as accidentally sending an email with sensitive information to someone outside the company.The report, which contained survey responses from more than 1,000 in-house lawyers in 30 countries, found that 30% of breaches this year occurred as a result of employee error. Other common reasons for a breach included unauthorized access by insiders intending to steal company data and phishing attacks, when third parties send spam emails designed to trick employees into giving up their personal information.”
Why this is important for your business:
This item was from the previous week, but it’s important enough to include. Sure, you can spend money on software and technical people to ensure your data is protected. But it’s the common sense and oftentimes innocent mistakes made by your own employees that put you most at risk. So put some money aside for training this year. It may save you a lot in the end.
4. Messaging start-up Slack creates an $80 million fund to invest in other start-ups.
From Bloomberg: ”The startup, which runs a popular corporate chat service, is forming an $80 million venture fund to invest in other startups. Stewart Butterfield, chief executive officer of Slack, said his company is contributing more than half of the total fund. The rest will come from some of Slack’s own backers. The fund will invest about $100,000 to $250,000 in smaller startups building applications that work with Slack’s messaging service, Butterfield said.”
Why this is important for your business:
Tech firms survive on their relationships with other tech firms. Butterfield wants to fund companies that create technologies which in turn increases his company’s value. Smart. And a good opportunity if you run a tech firm.
5. Ford is officially bringing its self-driving cars to California’s public roads.
From Quartz: ”The American automaker announced plans to begin testing its fully-autonomous Fusion Hybrid model on public streets in 2016, as part of a state-run Department of Motor Vehicle program. The Detroit, Michigan-based company joins Alphabet’s Google, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, Tesla, Nissan, BMW, Honda and others permitted to test self-driving cars in California—speeding up the race to make such vehicles publicly available.
Why this is important for your business:
Look for self-driving lanes and highways in the next few years where your employees can get work done while commuting to work and your products can be shipped on trucks that navigate on their own. And look to benefit from more productivity and lower transport costs.
Oh, and that Large Hadron Collider in Europe may have detected a new particle (and makes us realize just how little we still know about the world).
Besides Forbes, Gene Marks is a speaker and writer for other well-known outlets and runs a 10 person technology firm near Philadelphia.
speaker and writer for other well-known outlets.
Forbes.com | December 19, 2015 | Gene Marks

#Leadership : The Only Thing Not to Fear Is Success Itself …. Can you Imagine an #Entrepreneur/ #Manager Who is Actually Afraid of #Success? None will Ever Admit it Openly, but I’m a Strong Believer that Actions or Lack of Action Speaks Louder than Words.

December 19, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Can you imagine an entrepreneur/manager who is actually afraid of success? None will ever admit it openly, but I’m a strong believer that actions or lack of action speaks louder than words. In my years of advising startups, I’ve seen too many cases of seemingly irrational actions, or just freezing with that “deer in the headlights” look when it’s time to make a critical move.

I see it in the technologists who never get around to shipping their product, nominally because it isn’t finished yet. I see it in the business person who has plenty of funding, but won’t spend a dime on marketing to get the word out, just to conserve resources. After years of hard work, they always have rational excuses but really no one to blame but their own internal fears of success.

So, if your startup seems stuck in a rut these days, maybe it’s time to take a hard look at these common internal challenges, to see if you are actually the real limit to your success in business than the faltering economy or tough competitors:

1. You need to be in control of every detail.

Control freaks find it hard to survive as entrepreneurs, primarily because none of us have the time or skills to do everything that needs to be done in a business. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from advisors and to hire help (do what needs to be done) rather than just helpers (do what you tell them).

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2. You just want to be treated as another member of the team.

Every successful business needs someone in charge — the buck stops here, and hard decisions have to be made. Some entrepreneurs fear being seen as the boss, so they try to make every move a team decision often resulting in no decision or analysis paralysis. It’s time to be the leader.

3. You don’t want to give up your current lifestyle.

Some entrepreneurs unconsciously fear that the focus and dedication required for success will change their lifestyle to one they don’t enjoy or their friends won’t appreciate. In fact, one of the many challenges of a new business is to balance personal and family life and continue outside activities. Face it.

4. You’re afraid to ask for and spend other people’s money.

It takes money to make money. Real startup growth usually requires an initial infusion of cash to kick-start marketing, hire staff and build inventory. Soliciting and managing outside funds is a fear that every entrepreneur has to overcome for success. The challenge is not to let it get too easy.

5. You’re unable to take enough risk due to fear of failure.

There are no certainties in business, so taking a risk is required, and one or more failures is about average. Neither is life-threatening, and true friends and family will not desert you after a few setbacks. Successful entrepreneurs never give up and wear their failures as a badge of courage.

6. You can’t possibly be smart enough to succeed in business.

Maybe your parents were not supportive, or you struggled in school, so your self-confidence has never risen above a certain point. These fears can be overcome, by setting small milestones early and often and working upward. Business success requires street smarts, not book smarts.

7. You hate stepping out of your comfort zone.

Even experienced entrepreneurs often keep coming back to the same formulas and tools, which worked at some level and at some point in time. The challenge is that the business world keeps changing, and future success requires new creativity and innovation. Force yourself to step outside the box.

Successful entrepreneurs almost always start with a vision and a higher level purpose than just making money. It helps to communicate this higher purpose, to motivate you and overcome the fear of the unknown. Success does not require that you be fearless, but only that you be determined to transform fears into positive learning actions rather than negative roadblocks.

The ultimate fear to overcome is the fear of success per se. This is the most debilitating, since it usually comes from a deep-seated desire to conform and blend in. It can cause you to lose faith in your abilities and give up your vision at the slightest setback. Keep your vision and purpose at the forefront to motivate you and allow you to step beyond all your fears to the entrepreneurial success you deserve.

Article Posted on December 18, 2015

<b>Get Your Valuation</b>

Author: Martin Zwilling

Veteran startup mentor, executive, blogger, author, tech professional, and Angel investor.

Martin Zwilling is the founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to startup founders and small business owners. The author of Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur? and Attracting an Angel, he writes a daily blog for entrepreneurs and dispenses advice on the subject of startups.

#Leadership : Why #Millennials Don’t Want To Work For You(& your Company)….Millennials will Represent 40% of the Total #Workforce by 2020. Like It or Not, They are Critical to the #Success & Sustainability of your #Business . If they Don’t Want to #Work for You, your #Organization will Die.

December 16, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

If you want to attract and retain the best talent, you need to face reality and start thinking radically different. Don’t address the issue by trying to design more interesting jobs. Millennials don’t want jobs. They want lives.

Instead of focusing on milking whatever you can out of the younger generation workforce before they move on in 1.5 to 3 years, you need to stop and listen. Organizations themselves are causing these low tenure stats, not Gen Y and Z.

Younger generation workers are not shy about telling you what they want. Their way of looking at the world and life is often misunderstood by later generation managers. They don’t buy into the concept of sitting at a cluttered desk ten hours a day trying to look busy for a boss. They see a bigger picture, leveraged by technology. This means the ability to add meaningful value from anywhere at anytime.

Despite what you think you can get out of this new talent pool in the short run, it is overshadowed by the benefits of a long tenured relationship. In all cases, a revolving door of good talent is expensive and disruptive to your business and customers.

Here are four ways you can attract and retain the best of Gen Y and Z and redirect low tenure trends.

1. Create An Entrepreneurial Culture

72% of Millennials would like to be their own boss. Being your own boss usually means you can work when, where and how you like as long as you are delivering results. It offers freedom, flexibility and eliminates the need for conversations around the dead notion of work/life balance. With current technology, work and life today are fungible – they look the same. Being your own boss is a lifestyle, not a job.

One of LinkedIn’s core values is “Act like an owner.” The statement is more than words to them. They built their culture around this tenet which mirrors the life of an entrepreneur: unlimited vacation in line with business needs, “inDays” one Friday a month where employees can work on personal projects, $5,000 a year for professional education, a platform called “Incubator” allowing employees to pitch ideas to executives, an opportunity to compete for up to a $10,000 donation to an employee’s favorite charity or to start their own, and personal grants to allow opportunities to be involved in independent charity work.

I recently had lunch with a friend of mine who works at LinkedIn’s Mountain View, CA headquarters. We ate at their on-site café. It reminded me of an expensive Las Vegas buffet I had paid for a week earlier. Here employees take what they want and eat for free. They don’t even need to checkout with someone before heading to their table. But it gets better. They also allow family and friends to visit employees for meals and eat for free, too. I was told that on Friday mornings employees have their parents, grandparents, children, and friends eating breakfast with them. LinkedIn does not track who eats the meals. It trusts its employees to enjoy the benefit as part of work-life integration, not balance.

If you embrace Gen Y and Z’s entrepreneurial spirit and build a culture to support, rather than crush it, they will not need to leave your company to fulfill this desire. In any case, results are all that really matter. If you are focusing on anything else, you have it wrong. Plus, in many cases outside pursuits enhances an employee’s ability to do their job and positively promotes the organizational brand to the younger generations desiring such flexibility. Arizona based software company InfusionSoft actively encourages employees to have side businesses to strengthen their ability to better serve the organization’s customers. From a customer perspective, it works.

Giving your employees the flexibility and freedom – where possible – to be their own boss with a focus exclusively on results, produces greater employee engagement, loyalty and ultimately better business results.

Don’t offer flexibility under a false pretense though. If you say it is okay to work from home, don’t make employees feel guilty for using the benefit. If you ask employees to forward you annual personal objectives along with business ones, read, acknowledge, address and support both. False and insincere organizational practices propagate the low tenure stats attributed to Gen Y and Z.

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2. Think Like A Trauma Ward

Over my career I’ve had the chance to work in many diverse industries, including 11 years in the medical industry. When I think of effective teams and the concept of true collaboration for a common purpose, there is no better example than a medical trauma ward. On such a team, competition, silos and politics are dangerous. Everyone must be unified and focused on a single outcome to achieve success. It is a matter of life or death.

88% of Millennials prefer to collaborate versus compete with others. This goes against the grain of many traditional organizations whose employees and departments spend more time competing internally against themselves versus their outside competition. Gen Y and Z don’t want to work in such an environment.

The new workforce is interested in working together to make the world a better place. An organization that truly embraces and lives a “one team” mentality will attract and retain the best of Gen Y and Z.

3. Facilitate Life Success

A critical step towards continuous organizational improvement and attracting/retaining the best of the younger generation workforce is the recognition that people’s lives matter on a whole. Gen Y and Z get this and demands it of their employers.

“Help people succeed in life” has been my motto since I started working in human resources 16 years ago. This means sincerely caring about the success of people beyond the job they are doing for you – 360 degrees – their job, career, personal interests, health, happiness, family and friends. When I was asked to launch an employee engagement initiative at Tesla Motors this year, it was with this goal in mind. Tesla360 – built on my Engagement360 platform – was aimed at enhancing the level of organizational care toward Tesla’s employees in order to facilitate success at work and at home. Such care has been proven to drive high employee engagement and business results.

Organizations are not special, but the way they care about the success of their people is. While Tesla is in the early stages of this transition, it understands the importance of creating a successful life for its people to maximize their engagement, retention, business results and ultimately their ability to change the world.

Supporting the life success of your employees requires leaders and managers who are strong coaches and mentors. They should focus on both short- and long-term career and personal objectives. 79% of Millennials say this is important to them.

4. Communicate How You Are Changing The World

I was recently honored to be the keynote speaker at AAPEX 2015, the world’s largest auto care industry event in the world, held in Las Vegas. It attracted around 150,000 people. At this event the industry spent a good amount of time talking about how auto care affects the lives of people around the world and keeps humanity moving.

Without this nearly $500 billion industry, many could not get safely to work and back home each day, drop off and pick up their children from school, enjoy family vacations or transport loved ones to deliver babies or to doctors to keep them healthy. This same industry also aids policemen and firemen in protecting communities. It helps gardeners and sanitation workers keep cities clean and maintained, and also ensures essential vehicles build roads, buildings and homes.

In order to attract and retain top talent from Gen Y and Z to career opportunities, it is imperative that you and they know how the required work is having a positive impact on the world. This understanding and alignment is what will excite the next-generation workforce and where the true magic happens when it comes to engaging people, fulfilling organizational purpose, and driving business results.

Most businesses are not established to make money. They are started for a higher reason. If you begin right, the money follows. Imagine if the visionary Walt Disney had stood in front of a group of potential supporters and said, “I want to build a theme park centered around an animated mouse to make money.”

Know your industry and organization’s purpose. Know how you make the world a better place. If you can’t connect the dots, Gen Y and Z will look elsewhere. 64% of Millennials say it’s a priority for them. GE’s current career opportunitycommercials proclaiming, “Get yourself a world-changing job” makes this clear.

To gain further clarity on your organizational purpose, ask and answer:

How does my organization positively affect the lives of others?

Why was my organization started in the first place?

One of my favorite quotes is, “If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.” The next generation workforce is not interested in work. They are not lazy. They don’t think the world owes them a living. They want more out of life and want to leave the world a better place because they lived. If skilled and trained leaders and managers effectively communicate and align organizational and employee purpose, focus on outcomes not office hours, sincerely care about the life success of their people, plus pull employees together through shared purpose, then organizations will experience greater employee and customer engagement, less short-tenured turnover, and greater business success.

If you let Gen Y and Z be who they are – what makes them great – and build a culture to support them, your talent pipeline will be plentiful and your retention high.

For more information about me and my new book How to Find a Job, Career and Life You Love and companion recording, Surrender to Your Purpose go toLouisEfron.com, Amazon.com and iTunes.

Forbes.com | December 13, 2015 | Louis Efron

#Leadership : 11 Tweaks To Your Morning Routine Will Make Your Entire Day More #Productive … ‘If Today were the Last Day of my Life, Would I Want to Do What I am About to Do Today?’ And whenever the Answer has Been ‘No’ for Too Many Days in a Row, I know I Need to Change Something.” – Steve Jobs

December 16, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

I don’t know anyone who couldn’t use a little boost in their energy, productivity,and self-control. Researchers at the University of Nottingham recently published findings from their exploration of 83 separate studies on energy and self-control. What they found will change the way you start your day.

The researchers found that self-control and energy are not only intricately linked but also finite, daily resources that tire much like a muscle. Even though we don’t always realize it, as the day goes on, we have increased difficulty exerting self-control and focusing on our work. As self-control wears out, we feel tired and find tasks to be more difficult and our mood sours.

This exhaustion of self-control kills your productivity, and it makes the morning hours, when self-control is highest, the most important hours of the day.

But the trick isn’t just to spend your morning hours working; it’s to do the right things in the morning that will make your energy and self-control last as long as possible.

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” – Steve Jobs

The Nottingham research has led me to uncover 11 powerful ways we can break bad habits in the morning and maximize our energy and self-control throughout the day.

Whether you naturally wake up feeling alert and productive or wake up with the brainpower of a zombie, these tips will help you transform your morning routine and set a positive tone that lasts the entire day.

#1 Start with exercise

Researchers at the University of Bristol found that people who exercise during the workday have more energy and a more positive outlook, which are both critical to getting things done. Getting your body moving for as little as 10 minutes releases GABA, a neurotransmitter that makes your brain feel soothed and keeps you in control of your impulses. Exercising first thing in the morning ensures that you’ll have the time for it, and it improves your self-control and energy levels all day long.

#2 But drink some lemon water first

Drinking lemon water as soon as you wake up spikes your energy levels physically and mentally. Lemon water gives you steady, natural energy that lasts the length of the day by improving nutrient absorption in your stomach. You need to drink it first thing in the morning (on an empty stomach) to ensure full absorption. You should also wait 15-30 minutes after drinking it before eating (perfect time to squeeze in some exercise). Lemons are packed with nutrients; they’re chock full of potassium, vitamin C, and antioxidants. If you’re under 150 pounds, drink the juice of half a lemon (a full lemon if you’re over 150 pounds). Don’t drink the juice without water because it’s hard on your teeth.

#3 No screen time until breakfast

When you dive straight into e-mails, texts, and Facebook, you lose focus and your morning succumbs to the wants and needs of other people. It’s much healthier to take those precious first moments of the day to do something relaxing that sets a calm, positive tone for your day. Jumping right into electronics has the opposite effect—it’s a frantic way to start your day. Exercising, meditating, or even watching the birds out the window are all great ways to start the day.

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#4 Eat a real breakfast

Eating anything at all for breakfast puts you ahead of a lot of people. People who eat breakfast are less likely to be obese, they have more stable blood-sugar levels, and they tend to be less hungry over the course of the day. And these are just the statistics for people who eat any breakfast. When you eat a healthy breakfast, the doors to a productive day swing wide open. A healthy breakfast gives you energy, improves your short-term memory, and helps you to concentrate more intensely and for longer periods.

#5 Set goals for the day

Research shows that having concrete goals is correlated with huge increases in confidence and feelings of control. Setting goals specific to the day puts everything into motion. Narrow your goals down to a few achievable ones that can easily be broken down into steps. Vague goals such as “I want to finish writing my article” are counter-productive because they fail to include the “how” of things. The same goal re-phrased in a more functional way would read something like this: “I am going to finish my article by writing each of the three sections, spending no more than an hour on each section.” Now, you have more than simply something you want to achieve—you have a way to achieve it.

Getting your morning started off right at home is important, but it’s only half the battle. If you fail to maintain that tone once you set foot in the office, your morning can lose momentum quickly. Here’s how you can maintain a productive tone once you hit the office:

#1 First, clean your workspace

Even though it’s a pain to clean right when you get into work, it makes a big difference to your ability to concentrate. A Princeton University study found that people who worked in a clean workspace out-performed those who worked in a cluttered one because clutter pulls your attention away from your work. In fact, the effects of clutter on concentration are not all that different from the effects of multi-tasking.

#2 No e-mail until you’ve eaten three frogs

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” – Mark Twain

“Eating a frog” is the greatest antidote to procrastination, and the most productive people know the importance of biting into this delicacy first thing in the morning. In other words, spend your morning on something that requires a high level of concentration that you don’t want to do, and you’ll get it done in short order. Make a habit of eating three frogs before you check your e-mail because e-mail is a major distraction that enables procrastination and wastes precious mental energy.

#3 Assign times to your to-do list, and monitor your progress against your goals

To-do lists are helpful for making sure you don’t forget anything, but beyond that, they can be misleading. For example, if you have three hours of meetings and eight hours of work, chances are you won’t be able to get everything done. However, a typical to-do list doesn’t tell you that you have eight hours of work; it only tells you that you have ten things you need to do. When you add time frames to your do-list, it becomes exponentially more effective. It pushes you to avoid procrastinating or multi-tasking in order to complete things within the allotted time. It also shows you what is and isn’t feasible so that you can prioritize your day accordingly.

There’s no point in setting goals in the morning if you don’t check in on them. Look at what you’ve done so far with a critical eye. If you realize you’re behind schedule or doing a shoddy job, it’s important to adjust your goals or your work ethic so that you can move intentionally through your day.

#4 Keep morning meetings on schedule

Meetings are the biggest time waster there is, and they can ruin an otherwise productive morning. People who use their mornings effectively know that a meeting will drag on forever if they let it, so they inform everyone at the onset that they’ll stick to the intended schedule. This sets a limit that motivates everyone to be more focused and efficient. Keep your morning meetings on time, and your entire day will stay on track.

#5 Don’t multitask

Multi-tasking in the morning—when you have lots to do, tons of energy, and it feels like you can do two or three things at once—is tempting, but it sets your whole day back. Research conducted at Stanford University confirmed that multitasking is less productive than doing a single thing at a time. The researchers found that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information cannot pay attention, recall information, or switch from one job to another as well as those who complete one task at a time.

But what if some people have a special gift for multitasking? The Stanford researchers compared groups of people based on their tendency to multitask and their belief that it helps their performance. They found that heavy multitaskers (those who multitask a lot and feel that it boosts their performance) were actually worse at multitasking than those who like to do a single thing at a time. The frequent multitaskers performed worse because they had more trouble organizing their thoughts and filtering out irrelevant information, and they were slower at switching from one task to another. Ouch!

Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus adequately on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully.

#6 Say no

No is a powerful word that will protect your precious mornings. When it’s time to say no, avoid phrases such as “I don’t think I can” or “I’m not certain.” Saying no to a new commitment honors your existing commitments and gives you the opportunity to successfully fulfill them while your mind is fresh. Research conducted at the University of California in San Francisco showed that the more difficulty that you have saying no, the more likely you are to experience stress, burnout, and even depression. Learn to use no, and it will lift your mood as well as your productivity.

Bringing it all together

The right morning routine can make your day, every day. The trick is to be intentional about your mornings, understanding that a.m. hours are precious and should be handled with care.

What do you do in the morning to start your day off right? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

Forbes.com | December 15, 2015 | Travis Bradberry

#Leadership : 3 Tips To Close Out The Year Strong From The Best Coach In College Football… Like Saban’s “Process,” you Must stay Focused on the Play Ahead—but What is that Play for You? What Do you Have to be Focused on Today that Could Bring you #Success Tomorrow?

December 14, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

‘Tis the season to be…stressed. If you’re reading this blog, most likely you’re doing so on a smartphone while flying by the seat of your pants, trying to meet deadlines and end-of-year sales goals. Your email inbox is overflowing, and the pressure to plan (or attend) all those delightful holiday parties may be sending you to the edge. This is the uncomfortable truth: It’s normal to feel overwhelmed during this time of year.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban leads the team onto the field for warmups in an NCAA football game, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

But how, among all these challenges, do you close out the year strong?

If there’s anyone who has mastered the art of keeping a team focused, it’s Nick Saban, head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Saban has won three championships with the Tide and he’s currently in the national championship hunt again. He credits the success to his “Process,” a simple yet effective method of breaking down goals into manageable, bite-sized pieces…especially in challenging times. You don’t have to like Saban or Alabama to learn from him.

Some of his tips:

1 – Focus on the moment at hand

Saban framed the “Process” when he was coaching at Michigan State. Shortly before playing No. 1 ranked Ohio State, Saban told the Spartans to focus on executing the next play and not to worry about winning. The outcome: Michigan State upset the Buckeyes 28-24, giving Saban one of the first major wins in his storied career.

This is a simple yet profound tactic. Humans spend too much time thinking about past mistakes or way-in-the-future events; such micro-focus can have paralyzing effects on a team. Saban teaches his players to win the moment— it’s not about what was accomplished in the past and tomorrow isn’t promised for anyone. Winning is about the present.

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2 – Eliminate the clutter

Saban’s “Process” depends on clarity, not messiness. “Eliminate the clutter and all the things that are going on outside and focus on the things that you can control,” he shared in interview with the New York Times.

If you are having difficulty with goal completion, consider cutting down all non-essentials from your time and focus. You can start by examining your email, desk and even the upcoming list of meetings on your calendar—whatever isn’t contributing to your primary goal needs to be reassessed…or dropped altogether.

Like Saban’s “Process,” you must stay focused on the play ahead—but what is that play for you? What do you have to be focused on today that could bring you success tomorrow? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

3 – Champions have mental toughness and discipline

Saban’s Crimson Tide have endured more than just the SEC’s blistering defenses, but also face media scrutiny and the constant pressure to succeed to annually high expectations. Like many of the Great leaders in sports, Saban refers to adversity as a “friend” and credits mental toughness with helping his team face challenges. He often tells his players that the majority of people avoid the things they don’t like to do, but the Great Ones make a daily choice to face difficulties head on.

Most people have trouble accomplishing their goals because it’s very difficult to maintain the laser-focus required to reach them. This is especially true during the holiday season—one of the busiest times of the year. (Right now I am planning a holiday trip with my family, finishing the editing of a new book on the habits of great teams, and post-release marketing on my current release “Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates”…yes, I’m feeling it!)

Consistent winners know what it takes to handle each day’s business with authority. Success in crucial moments depends on sticking to your game plan, blocking out all distractions and facing adversity head on —that’s what the Great ones do.

Hopefully all of you are well on your way to completing some amazing goals in 2015, and will make 2016 even greater. Like Saban’s “Process,” you must stay focused on the play ahead—but what is that play for you? What do you have to be focused on today that could bring you success tomorrow? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Forbes.com | December 14, 2015 | Don Yaeger