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#Strategy : Why Attitude is More Important than IQ… Latest Study Shows that your Attitude is a Better Predictor of Your Success Than your IQ.

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Dweck found that People’s Core Attitudes Fall into One of Two categories: a Fixed Mindset or a Growth Mindset. With a Fixed Mindset, you believe you are who you are and you cannot change. This creates problems when you’re challenged because anything that appears to be more than you can handle is bound to make you feel hopeless and overwhelmed.

 

Success lies in how you handle defeat.

When it comes to success, it’s easy to think that people blessed with brains are inevitably going to leave the rest of us in the dust. But new research from Stanford University will change your mind (and your attitude).

Psychologist Carol Dweck has spent her entire career studying attitude and performance, and her latest study shows that your attitude is a better predictor of your success than your IQ.

Dweck found that people’s core attitudes fall into one of two categories: a Fixed Mindset or a Growth Mindset.

With a Fixed Mindset, you believe you are who you are and you cannot change. This creates problems when you’re challenged because anything that appears to be more than you can handle is bound to make you feel hopeless and overwhelmed.

People with a growth mindset believe that they can improve with effort. They outperform those with a fixed mindset, even when they have a lower IQ, because they embrace challenges, treating them as opportunities to learn something new.

Common sense would suggest that having ability, like being smart, inspires confidence. It does, but only while the going is easy. The deciding factor in life is how you handle setbacks and challenges. People with a growth mindset welcome setbacks with open arms.

According to Dweck, success in life is all about how you deal with failure. She describes the approach to failure of people with the growth mindset this way,

“Failure is information—we label it failure, but it’s more like, ‘This didn’t work, and I’m a problem solver, so I’ll try something else.'”

Regardless of which side of the chart you fall on, you can make changes and develop a growth mindset. What follows are some strategies that will fine-tune your mindset and help you make certain it’s as growth oriented as possible.

 

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Don’t stay helpless.

We all hit moments when we feel helpless. The test is how we react to that feeling.

We can either learn from it and move forward or let it drag us down.

There are countless successful people who would have never made it if they had succumbed to feelings of helplessness: Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas,” Oprah Winfrey was fired from her job as a TV anchor in Baltimore for being “too emotionally invested in her stories,” Henry Ford had two failed car companies prior to succeeding with Ford, and Steven Spielberg was rejected by USC’s Cinematic Arts School multiple times.

Imagine what would have happened if any of these people had a fixed mindset. They would have succumbed to the rejection and given up hope.

People with a growth mindset don’t feel helpless because they know that in order to be successful, you need to be willing to fail hard and then bounce right back.

Be passionate.

Empowered people pursue their passions relentlessly. There’s always going to be someone who’s more naturally talented than you are, but what you lack in talent, you can make up for in passion.

warren buffett

Alex Wong/GettyWarren Buffet uses the 5/25 technique to find his passions.

Empowered people’s passion is what drives their unrelenting pursuit of excellence. Warren Buffet recommends finding your truest passions using, what he calls, the 5/25 technique: Write down the 25 things that you care about the most. Then, cross out the bottom 20. The remaining 5 are your true passions. Everything else is merely a distraction.

Take action.

It’s not that people with a growth mindset are able to overcome their fears because they are braver than the rest of us; it’s just that they know fear and anxiety are paralyzing emotions and that the best way to overcome this paralysis is to take action.

People with a growth mindset are empowered, and empowered people know that there’s no such thing as a truly perfect moment to move forward. So why wait for one? Taking action turns all your worry and concern about failure into positive, focused energy.

Then go the extra mile (or two).

Empowered people give it their all, even on their worst days. They’re always pushing themselves to go the extra mile.

One of Bruce Lee’s pupils ran three miles every day with him. One day, they were about to hit the three-mile mark when Bruce said, “Let’s do two more.” His pupil was tired and said, “I’ll die if I run two more.” Bruce’s response? “Then do it.”

His pupil became so angry that he finished the full five miles. Exhausted and furious, he confronted Bruce about his comment, and Bruce explained it this way: “Quit and you might as well be dead. If you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there; you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”

bruce leeArchive Photos/Getty“Quit and you might as well be dead.”

If you aren’t getting a little bit better each day, then you’re most likely getting a little worse—and what kind of life is that?

Expect results.

People with a growth mindset know that they’re going to fail from time to time, but they never let that keep them from expecting results. Expecting results keeps you motivated and feeds the cycle of empowerment. After all, if you don’t think you’re going to succeed, then why bother?

Be flexible.

Everyone encounters unanticipated adversity. People with an empowered, growth-oriented mindset embrace adversity as a means for improvement, as opposed to something that holds them back. When an unexpected situation challenges an empowered person, they flex until they get results.

Don’t complain when things don’t go your way.

Complaining is an obvious sign of a fixed mindset. A growth mindset looks for opportunity in everything, so there’s no room for complaints.

Bringing It All Together

By keeping track of how you respond to the little things, you can work every day to keep yourself on the right side of the chart above.

Do you have a growth mindset? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr. Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the #1 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the cofounder of TalentSmart, the world’s leading provider of emotional intelligence tests and training, serving more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. Dr. Bradberry has written for, or been covered by, Newsweek, TIME, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review.

 

Businessinsider.com | September 15, 2015 | Travis Bradberry, LinkedIn

Your #Career : How To Get Ahead Instead Of Just Getting By…Sometimes Small, Mundane “Check-the-Box” Tasks Have to Get Done. However If you Spend All your Time on the Small Stuff, You’ll get By, but Not get Ahead.

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Here are 6 Reasons you’re Not Getting Anything Important Done at Work — Even When you Have the Time — and What to Do About Them:

First Sun Success Series

Sometimes small, mundane “check-the-box” tasks have to get done. For most people, it’s a problem if they never respond to email or fill out administrative reports (unsubmitted expenses, anyone?). However if you spend all your time on the small stuff, you’ll get by, but not get ahead.

I believe that there’s more for you in your life and career, so I wanted to share some insights gleaned from my own experience as the founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Training as well as an interview I did with Alexander Schultz, CEO of Complete Labs on what keeps us addicted to small tasks and how to get the big stuff done.

Here are 6 reasons you’re not getting anything important done at work — even when you have the time — and what to do about them:

1- “Cotton Candy” Wins

“We want a sense of achievement and accomplishment,” says Schultz. “When we get a lot of things done, it feels good. But just knocking to-do items off my checklist is not the progress I want to have.” Only doing small tasks is the equivalent of only eating cotton candy. You may end up with a quick sugar high but will soon crash and need more sugar to get you back up again. Your larger projects are like meat and vegetables: they take longer to chew and digest but leave you with a lasting sense of satisfaction.

To make it easier to make progress on these items, cut them up into as small of tasks as possible. That could mean listing out activities like sending an email to someone or editing the document after writing it. By dividing a big win into small celebrations, you’re still getting something of substance completed and making it easier to make progress.

 

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2- Mistrust of Your Memory

Another reason that you jump on little items immediately is because you fear you’ll forget to do them if they aren’t done now. Most likely you blame this on having a bad memory, but in reality it doesn’t matter how good or bad your memory is if you have the right systems in place. When you have a powerful to-do list, calendar system and email processing system, you know that you’ll get the right prompts at the right times to move items forward. By developing the right structure, even if it’s as simple as a notepad where you write down and review all your current to-do items, you can relax and focus on the bigger items at hand.

3- No Idea Where to Start

If you arrive at work, take a glance at your calendar, open your email and then just start bouncing through the day like a ping-pong ball hoping that you’ll land in the right place at the right time, you’re not alone. Many people take this sort of reactive approach to their work. When you aren’t aware of your priorities nor are you clear on when they need to get done, it’s incredibly hard to justify not taking care of the small stuff all the time.

To overcome this reactive tendency, I recommend that you review your projects and tasks lists on at least a weekly basis so that you can know what’s most important now. Then, if possible, slot in time to get the key items done on your calendar. Schultz also recommends writing your goals at the top of your to-do list and asking yourself, “Is this task aligned with what I want to accomplish and who I want to be?”

4- False Guilt

Yes, there’s a time and place to help your colleagues. But in almost every position, there’s also a time and place to focus on getting the work done that you need to do for yourself. Problems arise when external requests come at a faster rate or quantity than you can handle and you start to squeeze out the other work that you need to complete. This can lead to some people — especially people pleasers — feeling guilty for taking time to do their own work before everyone else is taken care of. But the truth is that if you don’t wrap up the projects only you can do, you’re not providing the most value for your company.

The key to overcoming this challenge is to pace the workflow. This means setting aside some time each week to drive your key projects forward, which then allows for work for others to fit into the remaining time slots available. This may mean that you don’t move ahead as quickly on other people’s projects, but in the larger picture that’s typically OK if you’re moving ahead on the most important goals.

5- Shame at Missed Deadlines

When you haven’t done something for a long time that you know you should do, even thinking about the task can trigger shame. So instead of making a dent in that big project, you answer another email.

To overcome this cycle, it’s important to recognize that everyone makes mistakes and has items they struggle to complete. It’s also helpful to talk about what’s going on with someone you trust since shame thrives in isolation. When you notice yourself avoiding a project and going into numbing behaviors, such as randomly checking social media, try to stop and recognize the root cause of these behaviors. This could mean sitting quietly and taking some deep breaths, journaling, or going on a walk and talking with a friend. The counterintuitive truth is that when you focus on your emotions and process them, you have the opportunity to release them and they’ll in turn have less impact on your behavior than if you just try to avoid them.

6- High Fives Required

Getting affirmation for your work feels good for most people. Depending on your personality type, it can be almost essential for getting things done. If you’re one of those people, don’t fight that tendency — work with it. You can do so by using online tools where you can post your activities and have others comment on them, work with a coach, or set up a buddy system with a friend to make progress on your bigger goals. That way you can get “Yahoo YHOO +1.28%!”s for each step along the way, even when the bigger project is far from complete.

If you are ready to really move forward in your career, stop letting the small stuff squelch your success.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time coach, the founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Training , and the author of How to Invest Your Time Like Money and The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success With Less Stress.

Forbes.com | August 11, 2015 | YEC Women

#Strategy : Coping with Failure: The Difference Between #Success & Failure…The One Thing Every Aspiring Freelancer, College Student, & Person with Access to a Time Machine Should Know.

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Persistency & Bravery always Trump Safe Bets & Proven Methods. And bravery doesn’t have to look like mountain climbing or standing on stage in front of 35,297 people.

Image: Getty Images

It’s all a balancing act. Perched on a tightrope, with high winds, and possibly some large, angry ravens pecking and cawing.

I make a living on the internet by being myself and sharing the things I’ve learned. But I’m also scared to be myself and share the things I’ve learned.

Some days, I don’t care about being judged. I’ll write 5,000 words about life with 48 cusses and sweatily hit “publish.” I’ll get 254 emails about how awful a person I am because I: work for myself, voice my opinions on the internet, and give myself permission to do silly things like cancelling an almost-funded kickstarter campaign or sponsoring my own podcast or writing about my pet rats in business magazines.

Other days, I care too much about being judged. What people think, who’ll be offended, what the contents of every single one of those 254 emails say and how right they are about everything that’s wrong or imperfect about me. I’ll write 5,000 words on 50 topics and delete every single one (without even hitting “save”).

 

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People tell me how lucky I am all the time. To have the life I want and be able to live it. And they’re right. I am really lucky. I don’t have to worry about being killed in a war and I wasn’t born into abject poverty. I live in an age when I’m able to communicate directly to the people I want to reach without having to go through any gatekeepers.

Everyone wants the secret. No, not the Rhonda Byrne kind. The secret to working for yourself, to making money, to building an audience, to getting somewhere. What’s the one tip you’d tell an aspiring freelancer or someone just out of school or someone who’s struggling to get their business off the ground?

To which I say, “Type words into the internet and money will come out!”

Just kidding (that doesn’t always work).

The truth is, I haven’t a clue.

Yes, I know and teach quite a bit on the subject of freelancing and business, but that really comes down to systems and processes that you can use to track, evaluate, and iterate on. I’d never teach or sell anything that guarantees success or preaches “There’s only one way to do things, and it’s this way…”

Sometimes the difference between success and failure comes down to how you perceive the results.

A lot of folks I know who do far better than I with money or reach don’t feel like they’re even close to successful. Some folks I know with neither of those things feel untouchably stoked about the life they’ve got. I don’t personally feel successful–mostly because there are still a million things I want to try and even more things I need to learn.

My only advice is to pick a direction that feels right to you and run screaming towards it. Wheee!!!!! You can always change directions later. Unless you die, then it probably doesn’t matter. But if it does matter when you die, let me know, OK? Also, try not to run in directions that greatly increase your chances of dying (like wrestling polar bears with ninja skills, for example–please don’t do that).

Persistency and bravery always trump safe bets and proven methods. And bravery doesn’t have to look like mountain climbing or standing on stage in front of 35,297 people. The bravest acts can be simply putting ourselves out there without knowing the outcome or reception or that 254 people are going to hate us for it.

For the most part, I enjoy being scared. This balancing act forces me to keep learning and questioning, and to feel brave because all I did was press the “publish” button.

PUBLISHED ON: JUL 27, 2015

#Leadership : 7 Challenges Successful People Overcome…Their Confidence in the Face of Hardship is Driven by the Ability to Let Go of the Negativity that Holds So many Otherwise Sensible People Back.

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It’s Truly Fascinating How Successful People Approach Problems. Where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to embrace and obstacles to overcome.

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Don't try and fit square pegs into round holes — change the shape of the hole.

Don’t try and fit square pegs into round holes — change the shape of the hole.

Their confidence in the face of hardship is driven by the ability to let go of the negativity that holds so many otherwise sensible people back.

Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania has studied this phenomenon more than anyone else has, and he’s found that success in life is driven by one critical distinction—whether you believe that your failures are produced by personal deficits beyond your control or that they are mistakes you can fix with effort.

Success isn’t the only thing determined by your mindset. Seligman has found much higher rates of depression in people who attribute their failures to personal deficits. Optimists fare better; they treat failure as learning experiences and believe they can do better in the future.

This success mindset requires emotional intelligence (EQ), and it’s no wonder that, among the million-plus people that TalentSmart has tested, 90% of top performers have high EQs.

Maintaining the success mindset isn’t easy. There are seven things, in particular, that tend to shatter it. These challenges drag people down because they appear to be barriers that cannot be overcome. Not so for successful people, as these seven challenges never hold them back.

1. Age

Age really is just a number. Successful people don’t let their age define who they are and what they are capable of. Just ask Betty White or any young, thriving entrepreneur.

I remember a professor in graduate school who told our class that we were all too young and inexperienced to do consulting work. He said we had to go work for another company for several years before we could hope to succeed as independent consultants. I was the youngest person in the class, and I sat there doing work for my consulting clients while he droned on.

Without fail, people feel compelled to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do because of your age. Don’t listen to them. Successful people certainly don’t. They follow their heart and allow their passion—not the body they’re living in—to be their guide.

They follow their heart and allow their passion—not the body they’re living in—to be their guide.

 

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2. What Other People Think

When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from comparing yourself to others, you are no longer the master of your own destiny. While it’s impossible to turn off your reactions to what others think of you, you don’t have to hold up your accomplishments to anyone else’s, and you can always take people’s opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes from within.

Successful people know that caring about what other people think is a waste of time and energy. When successful people feel good about something that they’ve done, they don’t let anyone’s opinions take that away from them.

No matter what other people think of you at any particular moment, one thing is certain—you’re never as good or bad as they say you are.

3. Toxic People

Successful people believe in a simple notion: you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

Just think about it—some of the most successful companies in recent history were founded by brilliant pairs. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple lived in the same neighborhood, Bill Gates and Paul Allen of Microsoft met in prep school, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google met at Stanford.

Just as great people help you to reach your full potential, toxic people drag you right down with them. Whether it’s negativity, cruelty, the victim syndrome, or just plain craziness, toxic people create stress and strife that should be avoided at all costs.

If you’re unhappy with where you are in your life, just take a look around. More often than not, the people you’ve surrounded yourself with are the root of your problems.

You’ll never reach your peak until you surround yourself with the right people.

4. Fear

Fear is nothing more than a lingering emotion that’s fueled by your imagination. Danger is real. It’s the uncomfortable rush of adrenaline you get when you almost step in front of a bus. Fear is a choice. Successful people know this better than anyone does, so they flip fear on its head. They are addicted to the euphoric feeling they get from conquering their fears.

Don’t ever hold back in life just because you feel scared. I often hear people say, “What’s the worst thing that can happen to you? Will it kill you?” Yet, death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you…

The worst thing that can happen to you is allowing yourself to die inside while you’re still alive.

5. Negativity

Life won’t always go the way you want it to, but when it comes down to it, you have the same 24 hours in the day as everyone else does. Successful people make their time count. Instead of complaining about how things could have been or should have been, they reflect on everything they have to be grateful for. Then they find the best solution available, tackle the problem, and move on.

When the negativity comes from someone else, successful people avoid it by setting limits and distancing themselves from it. Think of it this way:

If the complainer were smoking, would you sit there all afternoon inhaling the second-hand smoke?

Of course not. You’d distance yourself, and you should do the same with all negative people.

A great way to stop complainers in their tracks is to ask them how they intend to fix the problem they’re complaining about. They will either quiet down or redirect the conversation in a productive direction.

6. The Past or the Future
Like fear, the past and the future are products of your mind. No amount of guilt can change the past, and no amount of anxiety can change the future. Successful people know this, and they focus on living in the present moment. It’s impossible to reach your full potential if you’re constantly somewhere else, unable to fully embrace the reality (good or bad) of this very moment.

To live in the moment, you must do two things:

1) Accept your past. If you don’t make peace with your past, it will never leave you and it will create your future. Successful people know the only good time to look at the past is to see how far you’ve come.

2) Accept the uncertainty of the future, and don’t place unnecessary expectations upon yourself. Worry has no place in the here and now. As Mark Twain once said,

Worrying is like paying a debt you don’t owe.

 

7. The State of the World

Keep your eyes on the news for any length of time and you’ll see it’s just one endless cycle of war, violent attacks, fragile economies, failing companies, and environmental disasters. It’s easy to think the world is headed downhill fast.

And who knows? Maybe it is. But successful people don’t worry about that because they don’t get caught up in things they can’t control. Instead, they focus their energy on directing the two things that are completely within their power—their attention and their effort. They focus their attention on all the things they’re grateful for, and they look for the good that’s happening in the world. They focus their effort on doing what they can every single day to improve their own lives and the world around them, because these small steps are all it takes to make the world a better place.

They focus their effort on doing what they can every single day to improve their own lives and the world around them…

Bringing It All Together

Your success is driven by your mindset. With discipline and focus, you can ensure that these seven obstacles never hold you back from reaching your full potential.

What other challenges do successful people overcome? 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-founded TalentSmart, the world’s #1 provider of emotional intelligence tests and training, serving 75% of Fortune 500 Companies.

 

Forbes.com | July 21, 2015 | Travis Bradberry 

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#Leadership : The Daily Habits of 35 People at the Top of Their Game…Nearly 3 Dozen Successful Leaders Share the Rituals they Say Help them Succeed in Business & Life.

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When it Comes to Achieving Success, Actions Speak Louder than Words, Connections or Opportunities. Think about the importance of your daily habits, for example. Do you run five miles every morning because you value being fit and healthy? Or is it your regular routine to watch three hours of television every night because you feel the need to escape? Without a doubt what you achieve in life depends on your actions. Take it from 35 founders, entrepreneurs and executives who have achieved great things and credit simple daily rituals for helping them do it. Here are their quotes on what helps them get more out of business and life.

1. Hold back-to-back meetings in one location.

If I must have multiple meetings throughout a day, I often aim to set them back-to-back in one location. This way, I maintain efficiency and focus throughout the meetings, setting the pace according to the agenda and maximum time allotted [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][while] knowing we must get straight to the points at hand since the next meeting is impending. Additionally, placing these meetings back to back enables me to maintain a clear frame of mind during the times before and after the block of meetings, since I am freed from the constant self-reminders to be punctual to the next meeting.

– Tiffany Pham, founder and CEO of MOGUL, an award-winning technology platform for women.

2. Read voraciously.

My first job at Warner Bros. was preparing a daily press packet without internet. I had to read everything physically, clip pertinent articles, copy and distribute them to execs. This job taught me the power that one garners by knowing everything that’s going on in business and the world — who’s doing well and might be a candidate for a sale of a popular Warner Bros. TV series or movie and who is in trouble and might be a candidate and need a hit TV series or movie. One needs to be able to converse with other executives intelligently about their business.

–Eric Frankel, founder and CEO of AdGreetz, a cloud-based SaaS platform that empowers brands such as Intel, NBC and Toyota to deploy relevant, personalized video messages that build stronger customer relationships and increase engagement, activation and revenue.

3. Constantly triage your to-do list.

“The role of the CEO is really to keep the team focused on the most important topics, and it’s important that you do the same for yourself.”

–Vikram Aggarwal, CEO of EnergySage, a solar-marketplace company that recently secured a $1.5 million Series A round of funding and announced a partnership with Green America.

 

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4. Unsubscribe mercilessly.

I get a lot of unwanted email from folks who’ve subscribed me to lists that are irrelevant to me. I combat this clutter daily and find it’s a useful way of removing one distraction from my day.

–Apu Gupta, CEO of Curalate, a platform for marketing with images that works with 650 brands, reaching millions of consumers a day.

5. Block time on your calendar according to tasks.

It is so easy to fall into daily distractions, forcing you to play catch up the next day. This cycle can go on forever. Time blocking keeps me on track. I schedule a time frame where I am responding to emails, and then the next hour is blocked for meetings, etc.

–Jayna Cooke, CEO of EVENTup, an online marketplace for event venues that has listed more than 15,000 venues and attracts more than one million consumers a month.

6. Connect with your passion.

Every week I check in and participate with the product and technology teams. Even as the company has grown, I have forced myself to make time to stay connected. As an engineer, I personally enjoy participating in the technology challenges and love to learn about the solutions our team comes up with. Not only does it keep me up-to-date on latest ideas, but it also gives the team an opportunity to see the bigger picture and ask “why?” Not all startup CEO/founders are technologists, but each CEO has a passion. Staying connected with your passion will keep you engaged, even when your job evolves into bigger strategic thinking. Sometimes you have to let yourself have fun with the things you love.

–Alex Muller, CEO of GPShopper, a developer of mobile apps with a focus on the retail industry and annual revenue growth of 50 to 70 percent.

7. Limit the time spent on email every day.

It’s easy to get caught up answering emails all day and feeling like work is being done but by the end of the day realize that no progress has been made on strategically pushing the business forward. You just spent the whole day fighting fires and solving immediate problems but the to-do list remain the same as the day prior. Email can also be a bit of disruption given that it comes in in random intervals and thus can take focus away from projects and work that requires a continuous block of time and thinking. As a result, it is really important to invest blocks on time on email every day also block off times where email is not checked. I do not let email become the “default” work item because it eventually [becomes an] insidious kind of semi-procrastination.

–William Hsu, co-managing partner of Los Angeles-based VC Mucker Capital, which was ranked as the number two accelerator in the U.S. by Seed Accelerators Ranking, a joint study by MIT and Rice University.

8. Spend one hour outside every day.

As a digital-only company, almost all of my time is spent in an office in front of a computer. This is why I make it a rule to be outside for at least one hour a day. Be it walking my dog, riding my bike or just sitting at a patio with friends, I find being outside as a form of meditation. No matter if it’s broken into 20-minute chunks or late at night, the fresh air helps me relax, release any stress and restart my mind for the next challenge.

–Alex Matjanec, CEO of MyBankTracker, a Brooklyn-based personal finance and banking hub, which helps more than 1.5 million visitors a month make smarter banking decisions.

9. Use technology for Personal Relationship Management (PRM).

Every CEO has a to-do list or actions that they need to accomplish daily. While we have many strategic objectives and initiatives that we work on, one daily habit is to target relationships to accelerate or organizations progress. These include clients, partners, internal team members and board members. I weekly schedule an agenda of engagement with each of these relationships via a PRM tool, CallPlease which allows for real-time daily prioritization of these relationship interactions. I leverage the mobile CallPlease app on my iPhone and since it is a team-based system my executive admin can also support these interactions via a web console through its workflow.

–Kris Snyder, CEO of Vox Mobile, a Cleveland-based enterprise mobility solution provider with annual growth which trends above 30 percent, a recent funding round closing at $6.7 million, and consistent inclusion in Gartner’s MMS Magic Quadrant. Snyder is also the founder of the Global Enterprise Mobility Alliance (GEMA).

10. Prioritize key employee objectives.

I know that even my best employees have a range of focus and performance. In addition to motivating them through traditional recognition methods I’ve found that letting them know that their personal objectives are important to me earns their best efforts and loyalty. In the past this has included sponsoring night classes not directly related to their job and helping an employee secure a book deal with a major publisher.

–James Roche, CEO of Houseplans.com, a San Francisco-based stock home design site which has grown 25% year over year.

11. Focus on two to three things a day.

I can’t multi-task. It creates too much chaos.

–Tim Eisenhauer, president of San Diego software provider Axero Solutions, a profitable bootstrapped company with hundreds of customers playing in the crowded enterprise software market with huge venture-backed competitors.

12. Have a family dinner.

We may be co-founders, but we are also mom and dad to three daughters. No matter how hectic running a fast-growing startup is, we make sure to shut off the cell phones and have a family dinner with our girls. While many CEOs are still going strong at 6 p.m., we’re passing the green beans and focusing on what matters most to us — our family. What’s most amazing is how many of our business and marketing ideas have come from our twin 8-year-olds and our 11-year-old right at the dinner table.

–Scott and Missy Tannen, founders of Boll & Branch, a New York based company with a line of accessibly priced luxury bed linens which launched in January 2014 with first-year revenue topping $2 million and more than a $10 million run rate in its second year in business.

13. Get home on time.

I try and be religious about the time I leave my house in the morning for work and the time I get back. It helps balance things and ensures I am present, both physically and mentally, with my family.

–Jeff Braverman, CEO of snack and candy store Nuts.com which has grown revenue to $35 million, up from $1.5 million in 2002.

14. Exercise every day.

I try to run every day and science now shows a positive correlation between running and creativity. It has helped me maintain a sense of balance, it grounds me, and offers an outlet on my most stressful days, and allows me to lean into risk and uncertainty. What I find is that many people, especially executives, take the workouts off the calendar when they get busy or are dealing with a particularly stressful time in their careers or lives. It should be opposite. The more stressed out you may feel the more important it is to carve that time for workouts that nourish not only your body but your soul as well.

–Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods which has grown gross sales to $130.2 million.

15. Every morning read 20 to 30 unsolved customer support tickets.

I think proactively knowing about customer problems can really help you build a long-term intuition about the important things you need to get right when you build your company. And it helps you build empathy with the people that ultimately have to do the hard work of working through those customer problems.

–Suhail Doshi, CEO of Mixpanel, an analytics platform for mobile and web which helps companies gain insights into user activity and leverage this data to build better products. Mixpanel now tracks 50 billion actions people take in applications per month.

16. Check KPIs first thing in the morning.

As an organization grows, it’s easy to let a little distance get between the CEO and the day to day. By checking KPIs first thing in the morning, I already know the answer tohow we’ve been performing and can immediately move on to the why. I’m in a better position to ask my team important questions, and we can all work more efficiently and effectively.

–Michael Ortner, CEO of Capterra, a web service that has helped companies such as Coca-Cola, Walmart and The Home Depot find and purchase business software.

17. Be unpredictable.

Successful people predict trends but they are original and innovative. Have your own workflow, stick with it or break the rules, but try to stay ahead of others by gettting away of patterns.

–Serban Enache, CEO of global stock photo site Dreamstime.com, which has been used by more than 11 million users since its launch in 2000.

18. Always ask why.

So much of work becomes too focused on the what–the plan we’re writing, the project we’re trying to complete on time, the deadline we missed. We don’t ask “why” enough and it’s the best way to get context for the stuff we’re trying to get done. I’ve found asking it of myself is as important as asking it of the people I work with. It’s critical to staying grounded in what’s most important. I try to keep asking why until I can’t go any deeper. Then get going.

–Jay Simons, president of software company Atlassian which offers team collaboration products including JIRA, Confluence, Bitbucket, and HipChat which are collectively used by more than 48,000 companies worldwide.

19. Allow enough unscheduled time during the day to think, react or write.

This enables me to gets things done on the same day instead of allowing the guilt pile to build up. I keep blocks on my schedule to avoid over-scheduling each day… I am significantly more productive when I am not forced to multitask. Studies have shown that multitasking leads to inefficiency. By creating pockets of time in which I can work alone, I am able to accomplish tasks on the same day and also leave time for collaboration.

–Dr. Walter S. Scott, founder, executive vice president and chief technical officer of satellite imagery company DigitalGlobe, which provides images and geospatial content to U.S. government defense and intelligence agencies, international governments, every major online mapping platform such as Google and other commercial customers.

20. Exude positivity.

I’ve made it a habit to be a positive, enthusiastic source within my company. Even in the morning “hi” or “welcome” has huge ripple effects across the organization at scale. It seems so simple, but has the power to make employees feel valued and appreciated.

–Kris Duggan, CEO of BetterWorks, an employee-related goals platform that recently closed a $15.5 million Series A round and is more than doubling active users every quarter.

21. Prioritize a daily to-do list.

I’m a zero-inbox CEO. Occasionally I don’t get there, but each night I give it my all to power through via all available gmail shortcuts and give folks the responses they need as quickly and efficiently as possible. I hate feeling like a delay on my response might prevent Omada employees from quickly progressing their work.

–Sean Duffy, CEO of Omada Health, a digital-therapeutics company that was selected by Fast Company as one of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.”

22. Talk to people.

This is often described as “managing by wandering around” but don’t under-value it. Having random conversations with different people across the organization will really help you keep your ear to the ground on what is really happening. Be respectful and don’t interrupt people who are working but catching someone making a coffee in the kitchen, give them a big smile and learn a bit about their day in a friendly, non-creepy way. You will easily stay on top of the pulse of the organization.

–Jonathan Cogley, CEO and founder of IT security company Thycotic which ranks at the 2,671 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in 2014, up 760 spots from 2013.

23. Prepare budgets by initiatives and expected outcomes rather than by functions.

Thinking about spending this way keeps me focused on how each dollar contributes to building the company.

–Mike Zivin, cofounder and CEO of Whittl, an online appointment booking platform for neighborhood businesses, which recently raised a $3.3 million series A round with backing from GrubHub co-founder Mike Evans as well as GrubHub’s first VC, Origin Ventures in Chicago.

24. Get coached.

Olympic athletes have coaches — so should CEOs. I have had a coach for years, Ed Batista, who I work with at least biweekly to recognize and improve my weaknesses.

–Douglas Merrill, former CIO of Google and now CEO of ZestFinance, a big-data startup that uses more than 100,000 data points about an individual to figure out if he or she will pay back a loan.

25. Keep a close eye on the competition.

I use the first 15 minutes of each day to read competitive web sites and any press they might be receiving. Knowing what our competition is doing or thinking is critical to our ability to both win and keep business.

–Darin LeGrange, CEO of Aldera, a company that provides health plans (insurers) with the back-office technology that handles billing, claims processing, coverages, and more.

26. Get moving.

I am a huge believer in walking, and in moving around in general. At the very least, I make sure to get up from my chair every hour, and walk the office. Not only does this get the blood flowing, it helps me see what the team is working on and helps spur the spontaneous discussions that lead to new ideas and innovations. I also love to do walking meetings. Instead of going into a conference room, we’ll walk around our neighborhood, a mix of businesses and beautiful old houses and apartment buildings. I find this brings out more natural and authentic discussions, and keeps people in the moment – you can’t mentally check out like you can if you’re sitting at a table.

–David Kalt, founder and CEO of Reverb, a marketplace for musical instruments and gear that has raised about $5 million in funding and expects to do $130 million in transactions this year, up from $40 million last year.

27. Read the news about your industry first thing in the morning.

“The first thing I do once out of bed is read 15 to 30 minutes religiously. I jot down anything interesting for rumination vis a vis healthcare [such as] Netflix’s god mode, or Jaguar’s brainwave tracker. It’s amazing how many dots you can connect by just reading.”

–Ahmed Albaiti, founder and CEO of Medullan, a digital health innovation company that works with payers, providers, and pharma on patient engagement.

28. Adjust your perspective.

Every Tuesday at noon San Francisco administrators test the emergency alarm system, which I now use as a marker for a notable time in each week. Every Tuesday at Noon, I deliberately try to “let go of all things negative, retain all things positive, and march forward to a better week, and a better you!” Though this started as a personal habit, it’s become a company-wide event, across multiple time zones.

–Neha Sampat, CEO of digital tech solutions provider Built.io, which powers innovation at the intersection of enterprise mobility and the Internet of Things (IoT) for startups and Fortune 500 companies. Sampat also co-founded KurbKarma, was named a “San Francisco Business Times 40 under 40″ honoree, as well as one of “50 Women in Tech Dominating Silicon Valley” in 2015.

29. Get to inbox zero.

“Anything that’s not actionable immediately, I get out of my inbox. This frees me up to think and focus on the tasks that I know will take up most of my time, like building a team of amazing people who are smart, thoughtful and motivated who are trying to achieve something. That is the number 1 most important thing in building a company as I truly believe a company is only as good as what is made up of. ”

–Rick Morrison, CEO of Comprehend Systems, which works with big names in the life-sciences industry, such as Boston Scientific, Astellas, and AstraZeneca, modernizing and improving the quality in their clinical process through cloud-based tech.

30. Make a daily “top three” to-do list.

As CEO, my to-do list is never ending, so it’s important for me to prioritize. Typically, I’ll make a daily list of the three most important things I need to get done that day. It really helps to make my day more manageable. As a morning person, I tend to complete those activities before noon, which then gives me time to address other urgent items that come up during the day.

–Ratmir Timashev, CEO of Veeam, a data center backup company founded in 2006 which now employs more than 1,500 employees around the world and brings in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, with its sights on reaching $1 billion in revenue in the next five years.

31. Get up to speed with direct reports first thing.

Informally, I call each of my direct reports between 7 to 8 a.m. daily to catch up and get updates on various parts of the business.

–Michael MacDonald, CEO of nutrition and weight-loss company Medifast.

32. Plan your work and work your plan.

I think Evander Holyfield said that. But anyhow, I use [the project management app]Trello to manage my day-to-day. It’s color-coded between Hiring, Investor, Legal, Sales/Marketing/Press, Product, Admin, and JFDI. Every Sunday night, I get my week prepped by looking at my calendar and my Trello board. Then, every morning, I take a quick look at the Trello board and mentally prep myself for the day.

–Jason van den Brand, co-founder and CEO of online mortgage refinancing startupLenda, which graduated from Silicon Valley-based 500 Startups last year. Since then, the company raised its first round of funding, has been growing 40 percent month over month since December, and recently passed the $40 million mark in loans financed through the platform.

33. Keep a short to-do list.

I keep my to-do list short. Every morning I write down the three most important things I need to do that day to move the needle forward. This helps me to make sure I’m playing more offense than defense. It’s so easy to get bogged down in email and other people’s to-do lists that when you look up at the end of the day you realize you didn’t make any progress on the things that are most important. Keeping my to-do list forces me to prioritize and do just the things that are most important.

–Ethan Austin, founder of the online fundraising website Give Forward, which has raised more than $150 million and hosts 20,000 active fundraisers at any given time.

34. Take time to reflect.

As a CEO, you can’t be afraid of the decisions you make. But it’s just as dangerous to have full confidence in your decisions. Every day I reflect back on the effects of my decisions that day and how I can improve upon them in the future.

– John Yung, CEO of cloud application management platform Appcara which is used by customers including Sysorex, AIS, HP Cloud Services and Intermedia.

35. Be consistent and proactive.

I was an avid bodybuilder back in my college days and to succeed you had to be religiously consistent day after day with diet, nutrition and training. I applied the same in business. It takes time to create great products and a stable business so I’ve learned to succeed you have to remain consistent especially when you truly believe in something. It’s a two-edged sword that if not tamed can also have negative ramifications, so I also try to be proactive to know when to change angles when the need arises.

– Payman Taei, is CEO and founder of Visme a DIY online tool that has empowered over 200,000 businesses and non-profits create better presentations and infographics. He is also the founder ofHindSite Interactive an award-winning web agency that helps companies improve their online presence with effective websites.

What daily habits help you achieve more in business and life?

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
Image: Getty Images
Inc.com | July 13, 2015 | 

BY CHRISTINA DESMARAIS

Contributor, Inc.com

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#Strategy : 5 Ways To Use Life’s Challenges To Make You Better, Not Bitter…The “My-Life-Fell-Apart-at-Age-26 Club” is a Group that No One Wants to Join, but When We Do, we’re Always Eager to Meet the Other Members & Hear Their Stories.

/in /by

That Email was from Courtney Clark, and while our Stories Weren’t Quite the Same—I was Widowed at age 26 & She was Diagnosed with Cancer—we could relate to one another. But Clark’s story didn’t end after she beat Melanoma. Since then, she’s had two more recurrences of cancer. And as if that wasn’t enough to deal with, she also survived a brain aneurysm. Yet, rather than become bitter about the hand she’s been dealt, she chooses to spend her time teaching others about resilience.

Courtney Clark

The “My-Life-Fell-Apart-at-Age-26 Club” is a Group that No One Wants to Join, but When We Do, we’re Always Eager to Meet the Other Members & Hear Their Stories. So when I got an email a couple of weeks ago with a subject line that said, “My life blew up at age 26, too!” it caught my attention.

That email was from Courtney Clark, and while our stories weren’t quite the same—I was widowed at age 26 and she was diagnosed with cancer—we could relate to one another. But Clark’s story didn’t end after she beat Melanoma. Since then, she’s had two more recurrences of cancer. And as if that wasn’t enough to deal with, she also survived a brain aneurysm. Yet, rather than become bitter about the hand she’s been dealt, she chooses to spend her time teaching others about resilience.

Clark, who describes herself as the luckiest unlucky person in the world, is the author of The Giving Prescription, a book that describes how helping others provides physical and emotional healing to anyone going through traumatic circumstances. She’s also a keynote speaker and the founder of a nonprofit.

After several conversations with Clark, I wanted to know her secret to bouncing back after adversity. I asked her how has she’s handled so many health issues without turning into an angry, bitter person. Here are Clark’s five strategies for facing change and overcoming life’s challenges without resentment:

1. Concentrate on the Bull’s-Eye

Life is full of urgent activities—like that email that just pinged onto your computer as you were reading this sentence. In our busy lives, we often get distracted from the tasks that are really important, and start trying to do 25 other things, too.  But those 25 things put together are less important than the bull’s-eye. Particularly in times of challenge, you have to focus on what’s most important, and let the rest go.

 

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2. Be Willing to Go with Plan B

We’re told that successful people have plans. That’s true, but the really successful people are the ones who know what to do when their plan doesn’t work out. The key is learning how to let go of a plan that isn’t serving you.  I was diagnosed with cancer at 26 and learned that biological children weren’t likely in my future. Four years later, I met my teenaged son at a volunteer event. Motherhood doesn’t look like I expected, but my son is the child I was meant to parent. We have to let go of Plan A to make room for Plan B.

3. Focus on How You Deal, Not What You’re Dealt

Why did hundreds of people survive the Titanic, but Molly Brown is the only one who became infamous for it? Molly commandeered her lifeboat and organized months-long volunteer efforts on behalf of the other Titanic survivors, rallying everyone around her. Two people can be dealt the same issue, with dramatically different results.  Your life story isn’t about what happens to you, it’s about what you do from that moment on.

 

Forbes.com | July 13, 2015 | Amy Morin

 

#Leadership: Toxic #Boss? How Successful People Overcome Them…7 of the Most Common Types of Bad Bosses & the Strategies that #SuccessfulPeople Employ to Work Effectively with Them.

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Bad Bosses Contaminate the #Workplace. Some do so obliviously, while others smugly Manipulate their #Employees, using them as instruments of their own success.  Regardless of their methods, bad bosses cause irrevocable damage to their companies and employees by hindering performance and creating unnecessary stress.  The stress your boss causes is bad for your health. Multiple studieshave found that working for a bad boss increases your chance of having a heart attack by as much as 50%.

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Have you ever seen the movie Office Space? Don't be that guy.

Have you ever seen the movie Office Space? Don’t be that guy.

Even more troubling is the number of bad bosses out there. Gallup research found that 60% of Government Workers are Miserable because of Bad Bosses. In another study 69% of U.S. workers compared bosses with too much power to toddlers with too much power.

The comparisons don’t stop there. Significant percentages of U.S. workers describe their bosses as follows:

  • Self-oriented (60%)
  • Stubborn (49%)
  • Overly demanding (43%)
  • Impulsive (41%)
  • Interruptive (39%)

Most bosses aren’t surprised by these statistics. A DDI study found that 64% of managers admit that they need to work on their management skills. When asked where they should focus their efforts, managers overwhelmingly say, “Bringing in the numbers”; yet, they are most often fired for poor people skills.

TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and we’ve found that 90% of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control. One of their greatest gifts is the ability to neutralize toxic people—even those they report to. This is no easy task. It requires a great deal of emotional intelligence, a skill that top performers rely on.

While the best option when you have a bad boss is to seek other employment, this isn’t always possible.

Successful people know how to make the most of a bad situation. A bad boss doesn’t deter them because they understand that success is simply the product of how well you can play the hand you’ve been dealt. When that “hand” is a bad boss, successful people identify the type of bad boss they are working for and then use this information to neutralize their boss’ behavior.

What follows are 7 of the Most Common Types of Bad Bosses & the Strategies that #SuccessfulPeople Employ to Work Effectively with Them.

1. The Inappropriate Buddy

This is the boss who’s too friendly, and not in the fun, team-building sort of way. He is constantly inviting you to hang out outside of work and engages in unnecessary office gossip. He uses his influence to make friends at the expense of his work. He chooses favorites and creates divisions among employees, who become frustrated by the imbalance in attention and respect. He can’t make tough decisions involving employees or even fire those who need to be fired (unless he doesn’t like them). His office quickly becomes The Office.

How to neutralize an inappropriate buddy: The most important thing to do with this type of boss is to learn to set firm boundaries. Don’t allow his position to intimidate you. By consciously and proactively establishing a boundary, you can take control of the situation. For example, you can remain friendly with your boss throughout the day but still not be afraid to say no to drinks after work. The difficult part here is maintaining consistency with your boundaries, even if your boss is persistent. By distancing yourself from his behaviors that you deem inappropriate, you will still be able to succeed and even have a healthy relationship with your boss.

It’s important you don’t put up unnecessary boundaries that stop you from being seen as friendly (ideally, a friend). Instead of trying to change the crowd-pleaser and force him to be something he’s not, having him see you as an ally will put you in a stronger position than you could have anticipated.

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2. The Micromanager

This is the boss who makes you feel as if you are under constant surveillance. She thought your handwriting could use improvement, so she waited until you left work at 7:00 p.m. to throw away your pencils and replace them with the .9 lead mechanical pencils that have the “proper grip.” She has even handed back your 20-page report because you used a binder clip instead of a staple. The micromanager pays too much attention to small details, and her constant hovering makes employees feel discouraged, frustrated and even uncomfortable.

How to neutralize a micromanager: Successful people appeal to micromanagers by proving themselves to be flexible, competent, and disciplined while staying in constant communication. A micromanager is naturally drawn to the employee who produces work the way she envisions. The challenge with the micromanager is grasping the “envisioned way.” To do this, try asking specific questions about your project, check in frequently, and look for trends in the micromanager’s feedback.

Of course, this will not always work. Some micromanagers will never stop searching for something to over-analyze and micromanage. When this is the case, you must learn to derive your sense of satisfaction from within. Don’t allow your boss’ obsession with details to create feelings of inadequacy as this will only lead to further stress and underperformance. Remember, a good report without a staple is still a good report. Despite your boss’ fixation on detail, she appreciates your work; she just doesn’t know how to show it.

3. The Tyrant

The tyrant resorts to Machiavellian tactics and constantly makes decisions that feed his ego. His primary concern is maintaining power, and he will coerce and intimidate others to do so. The tyrant thinks of his employees as a criminal gang aboard his ship. He classifies people in his mind and treats them accordingly: High achievers who challenge his thinking are treated as mutinous. Those who support their achievements with gestures of loyalty find themselves in the position of first mate. Those who perform poorly are stuck cleaning the latrines and swabbing the decks.

How to neutralize a tyrant: A painful but effective strategy with the tyrant is to present your ideas in a way that allows him to take partial credit. The tyrant can then maintain his ego without having to shut down your idea. Always be quick to give him some credit, even though he is unlikely to reciprocate, because this will inevitably put you on his good side. Also, to survive a tyrant, you must choose your battles wisely. If you practice self-awareness and manage your emotions, you can rationally choose which battles are worth fighting and which ones you should just let go. This way, you won’t find yourself on latrine duty.

4. The Incompetent

This boss was promoted hastily or hired haphazardly and holds a position that is beyond her capabilities. Most likely, she is not completely incompetent, but she has people who report to her that have been at the company a lot longer and have information and skills that she lacks.

How to neutralize an incompetent: If you find yourself frustrated with this type of boss, it is likely because you have experience that she lacks. It is important to swallow your pride and share your experience and knowledge, without rubbing it in her face. Share the information that this boss needs to grow into her role, and you’ll become her ally and confidant.

5. The Robot

In the mind of the robot, you are employee number 72 with a production yield of 84% and experience level 91. This boss makes decisions based on the numbers, and when he’s forced to reach a conclusion without the proper data, he self-destructs. He makes little or no effort to connect with his employees, and instead, looks solely to the numbers to decide who is invaluable and who needs to go.

How to neutralize a robot: To succeed with a robot, you need to speak his language. When you have an idea, make certain you have the data to back it up. The same goes with your performance—you need to know what he values and be able to show it to him if you want to prove your worth. Once you’ve accomplished this, you can begin trying to nudge him out of his antisocial comfort zone. The trick is to find ways to connect with him directly, without being pushy or rude. Schedule face-to-face meetings and respond to some of his e-mails by knocking on his door. Forcing him to connect with you as a person, however so slightly, will make you more than a list of numbers and put a face to your name. Just because he’s all about the numbers, it doesn’t mean you can’t make yourself the exception. Do so in small doses, however, because he’s unlikely to respond well to the overbearing social type.

6. The Visionary

Her strength lies in her ideas and innovations. However, this entrepreneurial approach becomes dangerous when a plan or solution needs to be implemented, and she can’t bring herself to focus on the task at hand. When the time comes to execute her vision, she’s already off onto the next idea, and you’re left to figure things out on your own.

How to neutralize a visionary: To best deal with this type, reverse her train of thought. She naturally takes a broad perspective, so be quick to funnel things down into something smaller and more practical. To do so, ask a lot of specific questions that force her to rationally approach the issue and to consider potential obstacles to executing her broad ideas. Don’t refute her ideas directly, or she will feel criticized; instead, focus her attention on what it will take to realistically implement her plan. Oftentimes, your questions will diffuse her plan, and when they don’t, they’ll get her to understand—and commit to—the effort it’s going to take on her part to help make it happen.

7. The Seagull

We’ve all been there—sitting in the shadow of a seagull manager who decided it was time to roll up his sleeves, swoop in and squawk up a storm. Instead of taking the time to get the facts straight and work alongside the team to realize a viable solution, the seagull deposits steaming piles of formulaic advice and then abruptly takes off, leaving everyone else behind to clean up the mess. Seagulls interact with their employees only when there’s a fire to put out. Even then, they move in and out so hastily—and put so little thought into their approach—that they make bad situations worse by frustrating and alienating those who need them the most.

How to neutralize a seagull: A group approach works best with seagulls. If you can get the entire team to sit down with him and explain that his abrupt approach to solving problems makes it extremely difficult for everyone to perform at their best, this message is likely to be heard. If the entire group bands together and provides constructive, non-threatening feedback, the seagull will more often than not find a better way to work with his team. It’s easy to spot a seagull when you’re on the receiving end of their airborne dumps, but the manager doing the squawking is often unaware of the negative impact of his behavior. Have the group give him a little nudge, and things are bound to change for the better.

Bringing It All Together

If you think these strategies might help others, please share this article with your network. Research suggests that roughly half of them are currently working for a bad boss!

And please share your thoughts in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

Forbes.com | June 17, 2015 | Travis Bradberry 

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