Know, Like and Trust

Bob Burg is a networking expert who is well known for his philosophy on relationships (from his book Endless Referrals): “All things being equal, people do business with, and refer business to people they know, like and trust.”

What are you doing every day to make sure more people know you, like you and trust you?

Ambition and the Modern Careerist

Somewhere along the way, ambition went out of style, or at least showing it did. Recently, articles about Olympic snowboarder Shaun White reported that he is wildly unpopular among his fellow snowboarders despite the fact that he almost singlehandedly brought the sport to the world stage. Other snowboarders found his ambition to win unseemly.

What’s in a Name?

But names do matter. Your name is linked to first impressions from a very early age. A survey of 30,000 teachers revealed that 49 percent make assumptions about kids based on their names, and that they perceived some names as trouble makers (hint: don’t name your rambunctious boy Jack.)

Mapping Relationships at Work

When you understand where people stand and how they think, you may be able to form more productive relationships. It’s not necessarily about being liked and having friends; it’s about having cordial relationships based on respect. Those are the kind of relationships that help you get things done.

Power Surges

“Power” is a word that many of us associate with unpleasant ideas: it makes us think of egocentric politicians and crazy movie villains. Somewhere along the way, power and abuse became linked in our cultural lexicon. But almost everyone has some sort of personal or positional power that they exercise in the office, even if we don’t often call it by name.