SELF IMPROVEMENT AND MOTIVATION

More than 50% of new managers fail within 18 months, according to a study published in Inc.com. One third of executives in Fortune 500 companies do not make it past 3 years. The main reason - they drive away key personnel. 2 out of every 3 people who quit cite lack of appreciation - according to Forbes.com "People do not leave bad jobs. They leave bad managers." According to Harvard Business Review - treating employees like commodities is even more common now than ever before. For as long as we treat employees like commodities, as a means to an end, we will never get their loyalty. Everyone wants loyal employees, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to earn their loyalty. It all starts at the hiring process - whether candidates are treated with respect then. --- A recruiter called me once and said that he knows that I have been looking for some time for someone with a rare skill, and that he has someone with that skill. He said he will not charge his recruitment fe...

Though I've been studying happiness for years, some of my most important learnings came from my own experience. There is much scientific research to back these up, but the only way to test them is to give them a shot. Check out three important tips for how to be happier: 1. Stop chasing BIG HAPPINESS Many of us may think that big life events -- getting married, having kids, moving to a big house -- or achievements -- getting a promotion or a raise, finishing a marathon, losing 10 pounds -- are what will result in us feeling happier. But research shows that it's the small, everyday events that have a far greater impact on how happy we feel. Pausing to savor something that is already part of your life is one of the best daily practices you can adopt to improve your mood and live with a more positive attitude. 2. Make everyday routines a tiny bit more special I juggle running a start-up with being a husband to a very active wife and my 2 dogs, so I get what it’s like to be really ...

What authentic people do differently than the rest of us, and how you can too  We tend to value "genuine" people and think poorly of those whom we perceive as being "fake"—but why is that? After all, what motivates "fakeness" is an effort to appear more appealing or impressive, so shouldn’t we find people who care about our opinions more appealing than those who, by definition, do their own thing regardless of what we think? Well, no, we shouldn’t—and for three basic reasons: We are much more likely to trust a genuine person than a fake one because we believe those who are true to themselves are also likely to be truer and more honest with  us . We often associate genuineness with appealing traits, such as strength of character and emotional  resilience —and correctly so, as being true to yourself takes  confidence , tenacity, and often even bravery.  We are attracted to uniqueness and individuality, qualities genuine people usually have in spades...

Always do your best......speak your truth. There are times in our lives that we connect with someone who encourages us, who invites the best in us to come back to life, and who most importantly gives us an opportunity to speak our truth. We all have things that we know about ourselves, about the people we spend our days with, and about our world that we don't acknowledge often enough. This knowledge is kept quietly packed away just beneath our consciousness so that we feel and experience the gap between what we know and what we say. These gaps are the cracks in our ability to take what we know and to use it towards making things better. After all if you know something, and you know it isn't right, and you don't speak about it, then you are a part of the problem. We are conditioned to think that we need to just accept things as "part of life" but dishonesty is not something that you should accept in your life. After all if you can see how things could be better, if...

COURAGE Courageous leaders lead with principles. Without courage they will not make a difference; they won't have the difficult conversations; they won't make the unpopular decisions that leads to change; and they won’t get off the starting block as a leader.   Aristotle called courage the first virtue because it makes all of the other virtues possible. Leadership means making bold and often unpopular decisions. Leadership takes courage - showing up fiercely and completely, bringing your vulnerabilities, imperfections, and inadequacies, but not being driven by them takes courage. And it takes courage, lots of it, to ask for help. All good leaders do not see asking for help as weakness; they see it as a strength.  Courage is neither an intellectual quality nor can it be taught in the classroom; it can only be gained through multiple experiences involving some sort of personal risk. Courage and comfort will never be friends. If you are comfortable, chances are you aren’t learnin...

Surround yourself with people who challenge you, who make you better, who make you happy. The beauty of it is that you will lift them higher, too. Do not just look for 3-7 years of experience when hiring. All age groups are so important - all of them. I hired veterans whom I learned from, and I hired freshers who learned from me. Even with freshers I was always learning - how to lead, how to help, how to inspire. Every time it was a mutually rewarding experience. I still have a lot to learn, and always will. Life is a journey. Always be a student. You will go far. Agree ?

There’s nothing worse in business than firing someone.  I’m not usually the one who does it at VaynerMedia anymore since we’ve grown to so many employees, but when I did I would spend a month figuring out how to make myself feel better about it.  We’re not in the one-, two- or three-strike policy here at VaynerMedia. We actually have enormous continuity, and I think part of that is thanks to the firing policy.  People see that we try to handle things with empathy and grace. 1. TRY NOT TO LET THE FIRING COME AS A SURPRISE.  At VaynerMedia, we do our best to give employees as much feedback and help when they need it.  We work hard with people to try to help them achieve what they wanted to do when they came on board, or to help them find a better fit within the company. I think word of that effort gets around, and it makes people feel good about working here. Here’s how to manage underperforming employees:  1. Take the blame. 2. Start to communicate better....