Danny Cahill: Harper's Rules - Author interview

Keynote speaker, recruiter, and the owner of Hobson & Associates, Danny Cahill, was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about his fascinating and advice filled business fable Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship.

Danny Cahill describes the fictional career change by successful business executive Casey Matthews, who through the guidance of headhunter Harper Scott, discovers the similarities of dating and finding the right job and for finding the right partner in both aspects of life.

Thanks to Danny Cahill for his time, and for his interesting and comprehensive responses to the questions. They are greatly appreciated.

What was the background to writing this book Harper's Rules?

My universes collided. As the owner of one of the country’s premier search firms, I knew a recession ending meant a plethora of the same old, boring books on “job search strategies.” At the same time I had been dating post divorce, and found that many of the strategies I advocated for a successful job search, related directly to dating. (what is a committed relationship, really, if not a non compete?) So I cast the book as a woman’s journey, Casey is recently divorced, angst ridden about “getting back out there,” and doesn’t like her job. Her Uber headhunter, Harper Scott, promises her that by following the “new” rules of job searching, relationship searching will be easier.

You choose to describe and present your job finding ideas as a business novel. Why did you choose this business fable format?

I’ve been a professional playwright in my other life, and I give seminars for a living on the world of careers. I have found people learn more through narrative, through story and character. I knew people would learn more about writing a resume if Casey actually had to put one together for an interview she was nervous about. Or that her first date in a long time would show people more about how difficult interviewing is emotionally. I don’t see why all of these career books have to be enumerated lists. We can learn and have a fast paced fun fiction ride too!

You describe finding the right job to be similar to all personal relationships. What do you mean by that?

You never have to ask people if their family is important. They’ll gasp and say it is the most important thing in their life. And of course it’s true. But you spend more time with your co-workers than you do with your family if you don’t count sleeping. People define themselves through their work. Losing a loved one is always tops on the list of “terrible things” that happen to us. Losing a job makes that list to. In my view, when you lose a job, you often lose several loved ones as well. Jobs, like relationships, are the source of our joy and sorrow.



Danny Cahill (photo left)

How can a person end their current job successfully without burning bridges and harming current relationships that are working well?

We often send the wrong signal when we give notice, usually because we feel vaguely guilty for having lied about days off when we were interviewing and for letting our boss down. So we make it worse, by turning the meeting into a therapy session. We hedge, we say it isn’t personal, we cry, we emote. Harper walks Casey through some tough love in this chapter. It is an informational meeting, made far less painful if you keep it short and sweet. You are leaving, your decision is irrevocable. You feel you made a contribution and hope they agree and will give you a sterling reference. You will give two weeks. You’re done. Tear that band-aid off

When many people leave a job, they very often receive a counteroffer to get them to reconsider staying. Why do you recommend turning the offer down?

In the counter offer chapter, Casey’s ex husband wants her back, months after the divorce. This is a counter offer! But he cheated on her to end the marriage. What will be different once this initial excitement wears off. Nothing. Harper tells her trust is almost never fully restored, at home or work. We all deserve to live and work without reservation.

How important are networking, and the creation and development of personal and business contacts, to finding that dream job?

Networking is critical but it is also misunderstood. Social media has made us passive. We post and wait. In the networking chapter Harper shows Casey how to access her “personal supply chain.” Most people get their own jobs without any use of headhunters or job boards, but you must be aggressive and proactive.

Everyone talks about resumes, and opinions differ widely about them. What is the real truth about resumes?

The biggest myth is that you have ONE resume. That is o-l-d school. Harper shows Casey how to customize your resume for each posting you respond to. Technology makes this easy. You accent different strengths and different parts of you background for different jobs. You need to re think your resume. How will people find it in a search engine is more important than how pretty it looks!

How can a prospective job seeker prepare more effectively for that all important job interview?

Here technology helps a lot. People rarely revise their first impression. So you need to open strong on an interview. So Harper shows Casey how to do her homework and research on the web the background of the person you are meeting. So now you go in and unlike every other candidate he has met you boldly say: “John, recognize you from your picture on Linked In, so let’s get condolences out of the way, I know you played for Butler so getting beat by Uconn, ouch, ouch”….he smiles, you smile, you CLICK!

How can the interview be made more successful for the job seeker so that a job offer is the result?

An interview is a test of your enthusiasm. So show some. Harper tells Casey to not leave that first interview without 1) asking for the second interview. 2) asking what if any concerns they have 3) offering references. And if it is a final interview, directly ask for the job. Nothing fancy or eloquent required. “Mary, I want you to know flat out I want this job. Will you be making an offer to me?”

What is the proper procedure and etiquette for following up after an interview?

Hand written notes are called for in most “how to” books. I’m sure it worked in the Elizabethan Age but nowadays Email Rules. A short follow up note saying 1) thanks for your time 2) here are 3 bullet points of where my background matches your needs (Harper calls this “linkage”) 3) Asking for the next step….must be sent within a few hours of the meeting.

How can a person work several interviews at the same time in such a way as to avoid problems?

This is where the Harper’s Rules central analogy to dating comes into play. Casey has one interview and wants to stop because she loves the job. Then she goes on a date and sees no reason to date anyone else. He’s “nice” and she’s lonely. Why bother. Because choice is the essence of freedom and success. You need make no apologies that you are continuing to look until someone makes a compelling offer. Ironically, this only gives you more leverage, or to quote Harper, “we want what others want.”

How can the best possible deal be made for the job seeker when the job is being offered?

Stay neutral when it comes to money. Tell them what you are currently making, if employed, or what your last W2 was if you are unemployed. When we grab a number out of the air we risk being perceived as too expensive or worse, unqualified due to your low salary.

What is the one piece of advice that all would be, and current job seekers, should remember?

Your story is not yet written. You are not “stuck.” Ever. I believe passionately that we don’t have to accept that “home is great but work, not so much” or “work rocks, but I have no reason to go home I’m so miserable there. Harper shows Casey you can have both. At one time.

What is next for Danny Cahill?

Well, I’m blessed. I do what I was meant to do. I work with amazing people and we have a great time doing important work. And when I can, I write, or I think about writing, or think about thinking about writing.

***************

My book review of Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship by Danny Cahill.

Danny Cahill is the author of Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship. A popular keynote speaker and recruiter, he is the owner of Hobson & Associates, one of America’s largest search firms. He is also the founder of www.AccordingtoDanny.com, an online training and mentoring company dedicated to enhancing the skills and jump starting the spirits of recruiters worldwide. For more information, please visit www.harpersrules.com or www.hobsonassoc.com

Tags: Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship, Danny Cahill, finding the right career and relationship, business author interviews.

Harper's Rules by Danny Cahill - Book review

Harper's Rules

A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship

By: Danny Cahill

Published: April 1, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 144 pages
ISBN-10: 9781608321001
ISBN-13: 978-1608321001
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group




"'There is no difference between making decisions in your career path and making decisions in your romantic life'", writes keynote speaker, recruiter, and the owner of Hobson & Associates Danny Cahill, in his fascinating and advice filled business fable Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship. The author presents the fictional career change by successful business executive Casey Matthews, who through the guidance of headhunter Harper Scott, discovers the similarities of dating and finding the right job and for finding the right partner in both aspects of life.

Danny Cahill provides an important connection between dating to find the right life partner, with interviewing for several jobs to discover the best fit for a person's career. The author presents the similarities between these two often disconnected aspects of life through the engaging characters of the recently divorced job seeker Casey Matthews and experienced headhunter Harper Scott. Taking a unique twist on the concept of the dating rules, Danny Cahill demonstrates how the dating and employment seeking analogy helps clarify goals, provides a process to follow, and the tools for putting them all together. The author uses a delightful mix of humor and sound advice to share his proven techniques, that are as equally effective for finding suitable careers, as for meeting desirable marriage partners. This intriguing parallel gives the business parable depth and a relevance to everyone in either or both life situations.



Danny Cahill (photo left) offers valuable tips for transforming dating or job hunting into both a positive but an enjoyable, results oriented event. The rules are presented in a lighthearted manner, through sympathetic and likeable characters. Along the way, the author guides the reader through the mazes and potential pitfalls awaiting those in either the dating game or seeking a new career. A few of the rules help the reader to:

* Know when it's time to leave a job or end a relationship
* Say good-bye without burning bridges or causing heartbreak
* Job hunt or find dates through networking online and offline
* Send out the right resume or post the right dating profile
* Interview or date well putting your best foot forward
* Negotiate an offer for a job or decide to continue dating

For me, the power of the book is how Danny Cahill offers a unique concept for sharing real world tested job seeking advice through the remarkably similar dating analogy. The creation of a fictional story using the dual discovery of the ideal career opportunity and meeting the right life partner, helps emphasize the concepts. The rules appear in the two seemingly different life circumstances, and reinforce the ideas for achieving a successful resolution to seeking employment and finding a mate.

Just as Harper Scott guides Casey Matthews to a successful resolution to her job hunt, and an exciting future relationship, the reader learns how to achieve positive results as well. In creative thinking, it's a proven concept to compare two seemingly unrelated ideas to seek commonalities and parallels. The overlay of the rules of dating onto the world of job search provides a mutually reinforcing of the techniques, for the reader, as it did for Casey. The use of a business fable offers an enjoyable and entertaining format for learning some complex yet critical methods for enhancing both employment seeking and romantic relationships.

I highly recommend the engaging and idea packed book Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship by Danny Cahill, to anyone seeking a different approach to finding the career of their dreams. Through the framework of a business fable, the rules of dating are transferred successfully to discovering and landing the ideal career.

Read the fun and witty book Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship by Danny Cahill, and apply the proven tools and techniques to your own romantic relationships and employment seeking activities. This book will create positive outcomes in both aspects of your life.

Tags: Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship, Danny Cahill, finding the right career and relationship, business book reviews.

Julie Sedivy: Sold on Language - Author interview

Language scientist and Adjunct Professor of Linguistics and Psychology at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Julie Sedivy was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about her perceptive and groundbreaking book, co-authored with Greg Carlson Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You.

Julie Sedivy describes how intense marketplace competition forges the very language and word choices that advertisers and marketers use to persuade potential customers to purchase the offered goods and services.

Thanks to Julie Sedivy for her time, and for her comprehensive responses to the questions. They are greatly appreciated.

What was the background to writing this book Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You?

Julie Sedivy: I’m trained as a language scientist, and have spent the last 20 years immersed in research on language and the mind. It has a way of leaking into your everyday encounters with language—you start to notice certain linguistic devices and think about their psychological impact. It also became clear to me that many of these devices worked their magic at a level that wasn’t easy to access consciously. To anyone studying the human mind, this isn’t all that surprising, since we know that a great deal of our thought processes happen quite automatically and without conscious deliberation, all the while shaping our behavior.

But at the same time, it feels like our choices are made by consciously weighing arguments and information, because the rest of our cognition hums along without our awareness! So we can have very mistaken beliefs about our own responses if we simply rely on our own intuitions about how we think and choose. This book is an attempt to bridge that gap. Greg Carlson (my co-author) and I were hoping to give readers the tools to begin to make the same kinds of observations about ads that we were able to make based on our scientific training.

How important is the role of choice as created through advertising, and is there a downside to that wide range of choice as well?

Julie Sedivy: For sure, advertising makes it possible for new products to break into the marketplace, increasing our range of options, and in many cases, creating better options. But the huge range of choices can and does lead to cognitive paralysis. There’s evidence that when faced with too many choices of products, people are less likely to choose any of them, because the task is simply too daunting. A proliferation of choices also has profound effects on the nature of advertising practices simply because it leads to increased ad clutter.

When there’s brutal competition among advertisers for your mental real estate, there’s a tendency to move away from information-rich ads that play to your conscious thought processes, and towards ad messages that can be effective even with shallow or unconscious levels of attention. From the consumer’s perspective, this diminishes the level of control that he or she ultimately has over their responses to ads.



Julie Sedivy (photo left)

Advertisers speak to potential customers in very short messages. How does the choice of language used in the advertisement change its impact?

Julie Sedivy: Because of its compression, advertising these days is a lot like poetry: every single word has to be the right word. And small words can really change the meaning or impression of an ad. One example we use in the book is the very brief tagline for Altoids Mints, which has over the years proclaimed its product as “The Curiously Strong Mints.” The same phrase would have much less impact without the tiny word “the”. The purpose of the tagline is not just to inform you that the mints are curiously strong, but to suggest that they’re the only ones that are, and what’s more, that these are those curiously strong mints that everyone’s been talking about. I think of poetry and advertising both as requiring an Olympic level of verbal mastery.

Are more advertisers targeting the unconscious mind to achieve greater message response?

Julie Sedivy: Yes, you can see some striking differences between the ads produced in the 1950s and 1960s by advertising giants such as David Ogilvy, and the ads we see nowadays. The older ads tend to tell you a great deal more about the product, whereas today’s marketing is much more heavily focused on emotional responses and impressions—and increasingly, on activating certain social identities. Some of these changes are due to the sheer volume of advertising, as I mentioned earlier, where ads have to be able to have an impact even if you’re not devoting your full attention to them.

And the increasing compression of advertising in terms of its length has also resulted in the need for messages whose effects reverberate well beyond what’s there on their surface meanings. But this already-existing trend towards less consciously-processed information in ads has certainly been accelerated by the scientific research over the last decade or two. We’re finding out that unconscious—and even subliminal—messages can have much more impact on our behavior than we’d thought and the advertising industry is taking note of these developments.

How has the latest research in brain science changed the way that advertisers use language?

Julie Sedivy: One area where you see a lot of attention to the unconscious associations that can be triggered by language is in the political arena. A fascinating discussion of political language can be found in “Words that Work”, a 2007 book published by Frank Luntz, a political consultant for the Republican Party, and advisor to Preston Manning and the Reform Party in Canada. For example, Luntz suggests that the phrase “exploring for energy” evokes more positive feelings than “drilling for oil”. Doesn’t it bring to mind open vistas and courageous mavericks, rather than heavy machinery and black goop? There are close ties between politics and experts in language and psychology on both ends of the ideological spectrum. For instance, Drew Westen’s book “The Political Brain,” in which he argued that liberal political messaging needs to better tap into unconscious processes, was credited with influencing Democratic campaign strategies in recent years.

You describe ads in the book as not saying what they mean, or meaning what they say. What do you mean by that?

Julie Sedivy: A great deal of meaning that we derive from language comes not from the words themselves, but from inferences that we make from filling in gaps, or reading between the lines. For example, a few decades ago, Ford came out with the rather startling claim that “The new Ford is 700% quieter.” But it didn’t specify: quieter than what? Consumers would quite predictably assume that this meant “quieter than the old model,” or “quieter than the competition.” But when pressed to substantiate the claim, Ford somewhat disingenuously said that what they meant was that it was 700% quieter on the inside of the car than on the outside. This is an extreme example, but the use of implications that rely on the audience to connect the dots are very common in advertising.

Are different messages with entirely different words used to reach different target markets?

Julie Sedivy: Yes, you often see this with large companies that advertise their products to a big swath of population, but try to personalize their messages to specific segments so as to create a more intimate relationship with the consumer. McDonald’s is one company that has done this, having mounted different websites aimed at, for example, African-American, and Hispanic-America populations. There are also some beautiful examples of regional ads that McDonald’s aired in New England, using a dialect that was completely incomprehensible to outsiders. I’ve blogged about this ad campaign on my blog at Psychology Today: http://t.co/ksDO9AS

How has the use of language affected the range of choice for consumers in making their buying decisions?

Julie Sedivy: One very interesting development is the increasing trend in marketing products as expressing a certain identity and set of values. This means that the marketplace can contain many different products that are very similar to each other in terms of the product features, but that have different identities attached to them. This increases the number of options, but also constrains choice in interesting ways. For instance, in the book, we talk about some friends of mine who were deciding between the purchase of a Subaru and a Passat with very similar features, but in the end, chose the Subaru simply because, in their words, “We’re just not Passat people.”

What is the future of language use research in advertising?

Julie Sedivy: I think there’s a whole set of interesting questions that have to do with individual differences in terms of cognitive style and personality traits. The science of persuasion is actually turning out to be quite complex. It’s hard to identify a single variable that will always enhance persuasion, and sometimes the same variable will actually decrease persuasion. Its effects often depend on the situation, but also on the psychological make-up of the recipient of the message. Given the growing interest in personalizing advertising messages, and in marketing to specific audiences, I think there will be a lot of research action in this particular area.

What is next for Julie Sedivy?

Julie Sedivy: At the moment, I’m working on a number of projects that stem from my own love affair with language. I’m working on a textbook on the psychology of language, and I’m flexing my verbal muscles and writing a book of poetry (who knows, I may even wrihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifte some ads). But I foresee many of my efforts in the near future to be aimed at educating a broad audience about the nature of persuasion, especially as it applies to political contexts. Here, I feel it’s really quite important for us to understand how we as citizens respond to persuasive messages. There’s too much at stake for us to be making these choices unconsciously. So I imagine I will do a fair bit of teaching, speaking and writing on this topic.

*****************

My book review of Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You by Julie Sedivy and Greg Carlson.

Julie Sedivy is Adjunct Professor of Linguistics and Psychology at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She has published dozens of research articles on her experimental studies of language comprehension and production in children and adults. She has served as Associate Editor for the journal Linguistics and Philosophy, and currently writes the Sold on Language blog for Psychology Today.

Tags: Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You, Julie Sedivy, Greg Carlson, advertising language, business author interviews.

Sold on Language by Julie Sedivy & Greg Carlson - Book review

Sold on Language

How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You

By: Julie Sedivy, Greg Carlson

March 15, 2011
Format: Paperback, 330 pages
ISBN-10: 0470683090
ISBN-13: 978-0470683095
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell













We rarely truly understand exactly how and why we respond to advertising", write language scientists Julie Sedivy and Greg Carlson, in their perceptive and groundbreaking book Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You. The authors describe how intense marketplace competition forges the very language and word choices that advertisers and marketers use to persuade potential customers to purchase the offered goods and services.



Julie Sedivy (photo left) and Greg Carlson recognize that consumers are inundated with advertising messages and images on a continual basis, resulting in information overload. With so many marketing messages flooding the media, and people's daily lives, advertisers have applied a form of reductionism to create impressions through brand images and language itself. The evoking of a brand name is designed to create certain emotional responses. More than images, the power of language and the subtle use of linguistics, accent, and word emphasis form even deeper impressions in the consumer's unconscious mind. In the end, according to the authors, these endless messages don't provide limitless choice, but perhaps even the end of the idea of choice itself.



Greg Carlson (photo left) and Julie Sedivy understand that twenty-first commerce provides seemingly inexhaustible choices of products competing fiercely for the attention of consumers. There is a problem that arises, according to the authors, that more supposed choices may really mean less real choice. The advertisers utilize every aspect of psychology and language at their disposal to convince people to buy their wares. For the authors, choice is really an illusion not only perpetrated by advertising messages, but also within the mind of what the authors call the unconscious consumer. Through various language usage forms, patterns, and image creation, the mind of the potential customer is penetrated and transformed in ways both covert and overt in nature. The power and marketing potential of every word is considered by advertisers, and the unconscious power of language forms the basis of the persuasion. Words may not be used in the everyday manner, but their very usage creates familiar images, whether true or a false illusion. The authors demonstrate how to understand the power of language, and provide the means to counter their seductive messages.

For me, the power of the book is how Julie Sedivy and Greg Carlson dive beneath the surface of the ubiquitous torrent of advertising messages, and provide a rich analysis of the persuasive power of words. Through a combination of linguistic theory, the latest scientific research, and real world examples, the authors present a comprehensive portrait of the impressions made at an unconscious level through words, sounds, images, and even accents. The authors point out how people believe they are making rational choices based on product features and benefits, but that the opposite is true.

Through the emotional and unconscious effect of language, the myth of rational decision making and even of choice is shattered. Choice, for the authors, is merely a well groomed illusion. Words have many layers of meanings, and different regions and personalities perceive words and their emotional impact differently. The concentrating of phrases into words and then into sounds all have an unconscious effect on the potential buyer. The words control the purchasing behavior of the consumer through the unconscious. The authors provide the defenses necessary to pull the curtain back on the use of language, words, shades of meaning, sounds, and accents. This book is self defense tool to sift through the surfeit of advertising messages, to help consumers form real choices in their buying decisions.

I highly recommend the landmark and must read book Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You by Julie Sedivy and Greg Carlson, to anyone seeking an open, honest, as well an engaging study into the nature of advertising messages, brands, and the words used to market products. This eye opening book will change the way readers approach advertising messages and the illusion that the market offers real choice.

Read the well reasoned and strongly researched book Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You by Julie Sedivy and Greg Carlson, and discover the inside world of advertising and its use of the subtle nuances of words and language, to induce us to buy products. You will never think of advertising, language, and the supposed range of product choice in the same way again.

Tags: Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You, Julie Sedivy, Greg Carlson, advertising language, business book reviews.

Russell Bishop: Workarounds That Work Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



Internationally known speaker, educator, coach, consultant, and author of the practical and solutions oriented book Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work, Russell Bishop, describes how to get around those bothersome obstacles that prevent people from doing their work. Russell Bishop describes the right way to end those roadblocks by owning the solution, responding with flexibility, and controlling what variables you can. Russell Bishop shares ideas for boosting productivity through developing a strategy for getting around, over, or through those troublesome workplace barriers. Through the basic elements of intention, accountability, and response-ability you can move forward and get past those obstacles.

Russell Bishop is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Thursday, April 28, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Iernationally known speaker, educator, coach, consultant, and author of the practical and solutions oriented book Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work, Russell Bishop, describes how to get around those bothersome obstacles that prevent people from doing their work. You will learn:

* What is meant by a workaround and why they are necessary

* Why blaming others and the organizational processes is not a solution

* Why established practices won't solve those challenges large and small

* How to use an empowering method to facilitate and apply real solutions



Russell Bishop (photo left) has started five successful companies and consulted to leadership teams around the world. As a result, Russell has become a recognized expert in personal and organization transformation, helping individuals and companies create unparalleled success.

One of the early pioneers in the field of large group personal development, he created Insight Seminars in 1978. To date, well over one million people in 34 countries have graduated from Insight.

In 2000, Russell started Bishop & Bishop, a business consulting firm specializing in performance acceleration helping companies implement business strategies and achieve dynamic performance improvement.

His clients include Fortune 500 companies in aerospace, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, information technology, telecommunications and energy. He has extensive international experience working in England, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Hong Kong, as well as all across North and South America.

In addition to his consulting practice, Russell is the Senior Editor-at-Large for the Huffington Post. His weekly blog is read by tens of thousands of readers and focuses on improving the quality of life on every level.

Russell received a Master's degree in Educational Psychology from the University of California at Davis and currently resides in Santa Barbara, California with his wife, Valerie. Russell is an avid golfer and amateur chef.

My book review of Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work by Russell Bishop.

Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with internationally known speaker, educator, coach, consultant, and author of the practical and solutions oriented book Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work, Russell Bishop, as he describes how to get around those bothersome obstacles that prevent people from doing their work. Russell Bishop describes the right way to end those roadblocks by owning the solution, responding with flexibility, and controlling what variables you can. Russell Bishop shares ideas for boosting productivity through developing a strategy for getting around, over, or through those troublesome workplace barriers. Through the basic elements of intention, accountability, and response-ability you can move forward and get past those obstacles on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work, Russell Bishop, enhanced productivity, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

Workarounds That Work by Russell Bishop - Book review

Workarounds That Work

How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work

By: Russell Bishop

Published: December 15, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 9780071752039
ISBN-13: 978-0071752039
Publisher: McGraw-Hill











"1n the day-to-day world of business, all manner of situations show up that require workarounds. Sometimes workarounds are fairly innocuous, and other times they can be pretty risky", writes internationally known speaker, educator, coach, and consultant Russell Bishop, in his practical and solutions oriented book Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work. The author describes how processes and daily events can stand in the way of getting the real work in an organization completed, and what to do to solve the problem.

Russell Bishop recognizes that the first response from managers is to very often blame others, and to go along with outdated processes, rather than attempt to make real change. For the author, the first and most important workaround is for managers to change their own ideas, beliefs, and approach to challenging events and organizational obstacles. Instead of blaming others, and spending time complaining about the roadblocks, the author recommends taking responsibility for discovering and facilitating real solutions. Russell Bishop suggests that every manager should do what they can to make a difference with any initiative that requires only their own permission to set in motion. While workarounds can be simple or very complex, the very act of taking ownership and accepting personal responsibility for solving the problem, will go far toward removing the barriers that stand in the way of productivity.



Russell Bishop (photo left) understands the concept of workarounds. The author sees workarounds in the form of finding a way to achieve goals or perform tasks when the usual method or process fails to accomplish the desired results. With that simple, yet very logical premise in mind, Russell Bishop offers a reusable set of common elements that can be applied to solve even the most challenging barricades to the getting things done properly and on time. The three elements are:

* Intention - focus on and commitment to change
* Accountability - owning the result of that change
* Response-ability - choosing to control and influence where possible

Instead of the usual responses to work roadblocks, Russell Bishop provides a means to uncover and facilitate real solutions. The standard responses of going along with the prescribed bureaucratic systems, placing blame on other people and processes, demanding consensus on every detail, and becoming trampled by the preponderance of issues are no longer useful in the modern organization. Instead, the strategies provided in the book will help achieve the organizational goals, as well as establish a manager's reputation within the company as someone who gets results, no matter what obstacles are strewn in the path.

For me, the power of the book is how Russell Bishop takes a hands on, action oriented approach to creating both short and long term workarounds to the roadblocks faced by managers. Unlike many books on organizational behavior and change, Russell Bishop describes the daily small irritants that get in the way of accomplishing tasks, as well as the larger systemic issues that hamper or even block organization wide productivity. The author presents very hands on types of solutions, and an approach that can be used for any challenge large or small. Instead of blaming others and the processes in place currently, the author recommends that managers do what they can through taking ownership of the problem, seeking out a workable solution, and accepting responsibility for its implementation.

Russell Bishop dispels many of the myths that have grown up around organizational workarounds, and the usual prescriptions for getting around them. One of the keys to the book is how the author points out that many of the obstacles are easily circumvented, and that once overcome, then the important work can be accomplished. At the same time, the author acknowledges that some barriers are very formidable and require an overall change within the organization itself, requiring a fresh approach by company leadership. Instead of fighting the constant nagging fires within the business, Russell Bishop offers an opportunity to embrace real solutions to actual problems. The managers who utilize the methods suggested in this book will be seen as people who get things done regardless of the challenges faced in their jobs. That is a powerful reputation for any manager and leader to acquire and keep over the course of one's career.

I highly recommend the engaging and empowering book Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work by Russell Bishop, to any managers or business leaders seeking a practical and results based method of approaching and solving the most persistent and nagging challenges that prevent people from doing the important work in their jobs. For organizations, the problem of roadblocks is widespread, and the need for useful workarounds is great, and this book provides the tools to discover and apply useable solutions.

Read the inspirational and change creating book Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work by Russell Bishop, and put the power of workarounds into action in accomplishing your daily and longer term tasks and goals. There is real value to any manager, as well as to the entire company, of enhancing productivity and greater results, through the application of successful workarounds. This book will enlighten and motivate you to initiate and implement the changes necessary to really get things done right and on time.

Tags: Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work, Russell Bishop, enhanced productivity, business book reviews.

Alan Levy: BlogTalkRadio News & Developments - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



BlogTalkRadio CEO Alan Levy shares the latest news and developments taking place at BlogTalkRadio. He will discuss the new look website and the features available for hosts and listeners. Learn about the growth and extended reach of Cinch, and its expanding usage and audience. Find out about how the new Premium hosting concept is working effectively. Alan Levy will also point to the growth of corporate labeled hosting on BlogTalkRadio. Discover how the growth of BlogTalkRadio is taking off as never before.

Alan Levy is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Tuesday, April 26, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.


BlogTalkRadio CEO Alan Levy shares the latest news and developments taking place at BlogTalkRadio. He will discuss the new look website and the features available for hosts and listeners. Learn about the growth and extended reach of Cinch, and its expanding usage and audience. You will learn:

* How BlogTalkkRadio is expanding into corporate business radio shows

* How CinchCast is growing and becoming a must use and listen feature

* How social media dovetails so well with internet radio

* More exciting news and announcements from BlogTalkRadio



Alan Levy (photo left) CEO along with Bob Charish founded BlogTalkRadio in August 2006. The concept for BlogTalkRadio was developed by Levy as he mourned his father’s passing. Levy maintained a blog, www.theinspirationalvisit.blogspot.com to update his family and friends on his father’s health - and later as a memorial to his life. Levy thought by combining blogging and telecommunications, a true immediate two-way interactive online platform could be established. This led to the birth of BlogTalkRadio.

In addition to BlogTalkRadio, Levy is a principal shareholder of XChange Telecommunications, a local telephone provider and myphonecompany.com, a VOIP company, both of which were founded in 2002. XChange powers BlogTalkRadio’s telephone needs. From December 1999 to March 2000, Levy served as Chief Operating Officer at Viatel Inc. (NASDAQ – VYTL), a facility based global telecommunications company. In December 1999, Viatel Inc acquired Destia Communications in an all stock transaction valued at $1.2 billion.



Prior to Viatel Inc, Levy served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Destia Communications (NASDAQ - DEST) from July 1996 to December 1999. The company sold an array communications services including voice, data, and ISP services with sales operations in eleven countries including the US, UK and most of Western Europe. When Levy joined Destia in August 1996, the company had 40 employees in two countries, 10,000 customers and revenue of $2 million per month. Under Levy’s leadership, Destia grew to 1200 employees, 550,000 customers (with a growth rate of 50,000 customers per quarter, and annual run rate revenue of $400 million).

From October 1993 to July 1996, Levy held positions including Managing Director Europe, Executive VP of Legal and Finance, and Chief Financial Officer at Viatel. He joined the company after George Soros purchased a 20% minority stake in the company. During his tenure, the company raised more than $100 million to deploy a pan European fiber network and establish sales and marketing organizations throughout Western Europe.

Prior to joining Viatel, Levy was a Certified Public Accountant in New York City. Alan Levy graduated from Boston University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting

Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with BlogTalkRadio CEO Alan Levy shares the latest news and developments taking place at BlogTalkRadio. He will discuss the new look website and the features available for hosts and listeners. Learn about the growth and extended reach of Cinch, and its expanding usage and audience. Find out about how the new Premium hosting concept is working effectively. Alan Levy will also point to the growth of corporate labeled hosting on BlogTalkRadio. Discover how the growth of BlogTalkRadio is taking off as never before on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: BlogTalkRadio news and future plans, Alan Levy, Cinch API, CinchCast, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

B2B Street Fighting by Brian J. Dietmeyer - Book review

B2B Street Fighting

Next Generation Business-to-Business Negotiation

By: Brian j. Dietmeyer

Published: 2011
Format: Perfect Paperback, 179 pages
ISBN-10: 0615368301
ISBN-13: 978-0615368306
Publisher: Think! Inc.









"It's time to redefine not only how we negotiate business-to-business deals but the nature of the deals themselves", writes President and CEO of Think! Inc., Brian J. Dietmeyer, in his results oriented and very effective book B2B Street Fighting - Next Generation Business-to-Business Negotiation. The author dispels many of the myths that have grown up around negotiation, and replaces them with a practical and reusable negotiation system, that provides a real advantage over the other side.

Brian J. Dietmeyer turns the entire field of business-to-business negotiation upside down. The author describes how the very concept of negotiation itself has changed with the downturn in the economy. The customer has become more cautious, and much more demanding during the negotiation process, rendering the traditional means of reaching an agreement obsolete. In their place, Brian Deitmeyer proposes an entirely fresh approach to negotiating deals. The author points to the following dramatic changes in the negotiation landscape that have changed the rules for bargaining:

* More professional buyers
* Increasing price focus
* More commoditization pressure
* Increasingly irrational competitive behavior
* Fewer long term, bigger, and more complex deals



Brian J. Dietmeyer (photo left) addresses each of these sea changes in the world of negotiations through the development of a repeatable negotiation process. Through a combination of planning, anticipation, and preparation, the author offers a powerful alternative to traditional negotiation techniques. With this new approach on hand, and an understanding of the standard negotiating tactics employed by the customer, negotiations becomes not only a process template, but becomes predictable as well. Brian Deitmeyer shares three counter punches to neutralize the concerns about price to a conversation about value and services. The three proposed countermeasures are:

* Consequence of No Agreement Analysis (CNA)
* Trading
* Multiple Equal Offers

For me, the power of the book is how Brian J. Dietmeyer recognizes that the entire arena of negotiations has changed dramatically, and offers a value and service based alternative negotiating strategy. The author points out that the new tactics employed by customers are really opportunities to demonstrate value to the customer. Instead of these new buyer objections being barriers to win-win deal making, Brian J. Dietmeyer shows the seller how to transform them into positives for increasing sales levels. Through greater preparation and anticipation of what the author considers predictable negotiation ploys, the seller can turn objections into added value sales.

Brian J. Dietmeyer creates an entire negotiation system that is both predictable and repeatable in any negotiating setting. What really turns the B2B system into a power tool for sellers is the development of a system employing the three proven counter punches. Each of the three techniques can be utilized to move beyond any impasse and to overcome any old school tactics. Indeed, Brian J. Dietmeyer makes it clear that generally accepted negotiation methods are no longer effective, and are even playing into the hands of today's professionally trained buyers. Instead of entering into a negotiation from a position of weakness and a belief that negotiations are somehow random and isolated events, the author provides a consistently usable process.

I highly recommend the playing field leveling book B2B Street Fighting - Next Generation Business-to-Business Negotiation by Brian J. Dietmeyer, to anyone seeking a proactive and repeatable approach to successful business-to-business negotiation. This author uses a direct and straight to the point framework for the book that reflects the process oriented negotiation strategy recommended in the book.

Read the valuable and reality based book B2B Street Fighting - Next Generation Business-to-Business Negotiation by Brian J. Dietmeyer, and discover how to overcome the barriers posed by the professional buyers. This book will not only place any business sales person on equal footing with buyers, but will give them the upper hand in negotiations. The result will be more sales and better relationships with purchasing representatives and customers in general.

Tags: B2B Street Fighting - Next Generation Business-to-Business Negotiation, Brian J. Dietmeyer, enhanced negotiation strategies, business book reviews.

Boombustology by Vikram Mansharamani - Book review

Boombustology

Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst

By: Vikram Mansharamani

March 8, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
ISBN-10: 9780470879467
ISBN-13: 978-0470879467
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons,Inc.














"The world is in the midst of an accelerating sequence of boom and bust cycles, and despite these developments, no organized, multidisciplinary framework exists in thinking about them. This book hopes to provide that framework", writes experienced global equity investor, venture capitalist, management consultant, and lecturer at Yale University, Vikram Mansharamani, in his brilliant and thought provoking book Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst. The author provides a unique, and multifaceted approach to the context in which investment decisions and economic philosophies are created and put into action.

Vikram Mansharamani offers a three pronged approach to the phenomena of economic bubbles and their subsequent burst. To fully understand why bubbles occur, the author recognizes that both macro-economic and micro-economic forces are at work. In the first of the three prongs, Vikram Mansharamani points out that only a multidisciplinary study will uncover the many forces that create booms, bubbles, and crashes. In the second step, the author examines the historical context and conditions that created past bubbles and crashes. In the third prong, Vikram Mansharamani creates a forward looking framework that identifies future bubbles and downturns. Since the author examines the extreme events of the economy, the system is designed to locate, isolate, understand, and then forecast the cycles in real time. The overall goal that Vikram Mansharamani seeks to address is the actual prediction of bubbles and crashes based on his groundbreaking methodology.



Vikram Mansharamani (photo left) emphasizes the multidimensional approach to understanding the nature of booms and busts. As a result, the format of the book itself is designed to implement the holistic methodology presented by the author. The various chapters focus on:

* Microeconomics of booms and busts focusing on prices
* Credit cycles and and financial instability
* Cognitive biases in human decision making
* Politics of property rights and societal means of value determination
* Emergent perspective based on biology influence on human actions
* Historical analysis of past and recent bubbles and collapses
* The five lenses and how to identify emerging bubbles
* Using the methodology to assess the economy of China

The result is a panoramic overview of the world of economics from fiscal, monetary, behavioral, biological, and historical points of view.

For me, the power of the book is how Vikram Mansharamani creates a holistic and multidisciplinary methodology intended to forecast the development of unsustainable bubbles and their subsequent collapse. While most economic theories of bubble and bust cycles consider only the financial and economic aspects of the booms and their usually tragic aftermath, the author adds the crucial social and cultural clues to bubble creation. For the author, bubbles are just as much a social herding phenomenon as they are a financial or economic phenomenon. Vikram Mansharamani challenges successfully and forcefully the very flawed rational economic markets theory as inadequate for explaining the rise of bubble creation and psychology.

Vikram Mansharamani offers a fascinating methodology for pinpointing potentially unstable bubbles as they appear; even in their very earliest stages of development. Not content with simply espousing a theory, the author utilizes it to analyze the bubble aspects, and potential bust, of the Chinese economy. By setting the model to studying a real world example, Vikram Mansharamani risks failure, but that is the only real way to test the methodology. For that courage, the author is to be commended, and if successful, the framework can be applied to other potential bubbles as they begin to expand in any economy. The book isn't a truly economic theory so much as its a brilliant methodology for pinpointing the causes and growth of unsustainable financial bubbles and their attendant social, cultural, and psychological underpinnings.

I highly recopmmend the engaging and well presented book Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst by Vikram Mansharamani, to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of how unsustainable bubbles form and take over the culture and society in which they form. This book provides a context based approach to the extremes of pricing and behavioral economics.

Read the important and fascinating book Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst by Vikram Mansharamani, and discover how unstable bubbles really form in any economy and how to spot them early so as to benefit financially from their expansion. At the same time, the author points out how to understand when a bubble becomes unsustainable and facing a collapse so as to protect one's own investment. Should the author's methodology prove accurate and reliable in a real world economic context, this book will become a classic, and a must read for decades to come.

Tags: Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst, Vikram Mansharamani, financial bubbles and collapses, economics book reviews.

Andrea Michaels: Reflections of a Successful Wallflower - Author interview

Internationally renowned events planner, and founder of Extraordinary Events, Andrea Michaels, was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about her inspirational and deeply personal book Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life.

Andrea Michaels shares her personal voyage to personal fulfillment, as one intertwined and often indistinguishable from her very successful business career.

Thanks to Andrea Michaels for her time, and for her insightful and intriguing responses to the questions. They are greatly appreciated.






What was the background to writing this book Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life?

Andrea Michaels: To me, writing is the ultimate form of self expression. I love to write. I love to paint pictures with words. I have lived a very full, often challenging, and seemingly stressful life and have “coped” and so often folks have asked me things like, “how do you stay so calm?” or “with all you’ve been through you should write a book. So I thought, “yes, I should” and it would be not only a fun way of sharing my thoughts but also might help empower people facing those same (or similar) challenges and better yet, demonstrate that no matter what comes to us, we can survive and live fully in the moment.

What I find most interesting is that so many people are baffled by the title, but it’s accurate. My inner (and sometimes outer) self is definitely a wallflower.

BUT what drove me the most was that to me books are the ultimate “I was here and I have a place in history” experience. Whether Charles Dickens or Margaret Mitchell, books will live on long after we are gone. And I wanted to be a part of that. When I received a notice that the book was registered in The Library of Congress I was thrilled. No matter that every book written is registered there. MINE is, too.

Your book is about lessons in business and in life. Very often the two aspects are separated in business books but you take a different approach. How did you reconcile the life and work balance?

Andrea Michaels: I really believe that they are the same. A business divorce and a personal divorce can be much the same. Betrayal of trust is the same no matter the relationship. Lying and/or cheating are lying and/or cheating no matter where they take place. I learned valuable lessons about my personal life from business experiences and vice-versa. How to communicate with a client is no different than the skills is takes to communicate with family or friends. Dealing with the stress of relationships is the same. Whether you cannot pay your home bills or your business bills takes on the same aspects. So how do you deal with those challenges? The same way. Head on. With solutions and not self pitying denial

You are an events planner. How did you become an events planner?

Andrea Michaels: By accident. I was going to be the next Sidney Poitier (for those old enough to remember) in “To Sir With Love”. I was going to change the world; save youths and turn deprived young criminals into achieving and productive members of society. My degree is in Criminal Sociology/Psychology and I went out to be the un-caped crusader. While I was going to school (simultaneously raising a toddler by myself) I found a part time job with a bandleader (a long story, but it’s in the book) and typed and filed for $2.00 an hour. But had fun because musicians are fun people to be around. Well, I graduated and did my Don Quixote years but found that I was accomplishing nothing.

I didn’t save anyone and I was getting more and more depressed. I stayed in touch with the bandleader and kept telling him that there was much opportunity for him in a non-existent industry (events in the 1970’s) and one day he called me and said, “if you’re interested in rejoining me and developing that industry, come back” (another long tale) and I did. Event planners didn’t exist; events hardly existed, but I like challenge and I have a very fertile imagination so instead of just booking bands I decided there was more that could be done and started doing things like themed events, headliners for corporate events, and thus it grew. So did the industry.



Andrea Michaels (photo left)

You write about the problems faced by women with the glass ceiling. What are the challenges faced by someone in the events planning profession in circumventing that problem?

Andrea Michaels: There is often still a “good old boys network” in some industries, such as automotive. Though the events industry is very accepting of women, we still have to work with clients who are not quite as receptive to working with women. And this is true of many international clients who are not as forward thinking as we are in the U.S.A. So the challenge is met by acting very professionally, being very well educated in the businesses of our clients, and not acting too aggressively in making our position known. In other words, beating our “femaleness” into the ground gets us nowhere.

Acting with dignity gains us far more. The days of flirtatiousness to get business (“Mad Men” is not today’s world) is gone. I think women always need to take the higher ground. Drinking with the boys is not the way to gain respect. Having men on your team is a good way of evening the playing field and operating with a team approach gives you a good safety net of making your client comfortable under all circumstances. And I would tell anyone no matter what sex they are, if you meet a client that you don’t click with, don’t force yourself on them. Give it up to someone else on your team who is a better match. In the end, it’s getting business and making them happy that counts.

One of the themes of your book is creative problem solving. How can a business person develop a sense of creative thinking to meet the challenges in their business as you did you did in yours?

Andrea Michaels: My stance on this is always the analogy of taking a road trip You know the destination and you need to figure out the best way of getting there. If you reach a dead end or a detour, what do you do? Do you stop and sit there forever? Do you turn around and go home? Or do you figure out the best alternate route and keep driving? Well, that’s business, too. When facing an obstacle or challenge, you figure out the best way of getting to your “destination” and you take that route. That’s how you problem solve. Not by dwelling on or analyzing the problem ad nauseum, but by thinking of possible solutions and acting on them decisively.

One of the intriguing aspects of your book is that each chapter represents a challenge and a solution. What lessons can a business person draw from your experience in overcoming problems?

Andrea Michaels: That there is ALWAYS a solution. And in business and in life, stressing out about the challenge accomplishes nothing. Clear thinking and a positive attitude can solve anything and usually quite quickly. Add to that honesty and transparency about what the problem might be is also a good road to take. Hiding reality accomplishes very little. Several readers have told me, “Oh, I never could have handled that situation” (a typical chapter) and my answer is, “of course you could” Nothing I’ve done has been monumentally inventive; just the realization that I wasn’t going to read about it in the New York Times a hundred years from now and that no one lost their life over it puts it into much better perspective.

How are the lessons learned in working with people in the events planning profession applicable to one's personal life?

Andrea Michaels: People are people. Some are creative. Some aren’t. Some communicate well. Some don’t. You always need to look at the other person (business of personal) and see things from their perspective and then communicate with them in a way they will understand. To be trite, listen. Always listen. It’s not about what YOU have to say. It’s about what THEY have to say. With that in mind, if you respond to what you’ve heard, everyone will think you’re the smartest person they’ve ever met.

What is the one piece of advice would you give to anyone in business or entrepreneurship about meeting challenges?

Andrea Michaels: Don’t stress out about them. They are a very normal part of everyday life.

Be honest with yourself and with everyone else.

Always aim for the highest ground and never be sucked into doing less than your best.

(Sorry, you’ll have to pick one if three are too many)

What is next for Andrea Michaels?

Andrea Michaels: I’m 67 years old and I have no intention of “quitting”. I love the challenges of life and business and I want to continue to have fun teaching, mentoring, exploring and growing my world every day. Maybe another book?

************

My book review of Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life by Andrea Michaels.

Tags: Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life, Andrea Michaels, overcoming personal obstacles, business author interviews.

Reflections of a Successful Wallflower by Andrea Michaels - Book review

Reflections of a Successful Wallflower

Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life

By: Andrea Michaels

Published: February 17, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 340 pages
ISBN-10: 1432749099
ISBN-13: 978-1432749095
Publisher: Outskirts Press












"We all have different paths on our personal journeys...and this book will you about mine, filled with search for approval, for recognition, for admiration and self esteem", writes internationally renowned events planner and founder of Extraordinary Events, Andrea Michaels in her inspirational and deeply personal book Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life. The author shares her personal voyage to personal fulfillment, as one intertwined and often indistinguishable, from her very successful business career.

Andrea Michaels describes, not only her Hall of Fame leadership in the events planning industry, but also shines a light on her own personal self doubts and insecurities. In a book that reads like peeking into a very introspective personal diary, the author presents an unvarnished perspective into both her triumphs and failures. As Andrea Michaels makes clear, she learned more from her mistakes than from her successes, and offers insights into the lessons gleaned from her often disappointing moments. As an event planner, the nature of her business required innovation and creativity for success. As a result, Andrea Michaels offers her experiences in utilizing leading edge technology and initiating the use of branding in her industry. At the same time, the author presents an even more important aspect of her company. She lays open her own fears, inner barriers, and self doubts, that she overcomes with aplomb and flair.



Andrea Michaels (photo left) is rightly regarded as a pioneer and leader in her chosen industry of event planning. Her record of creating some of the most memorable and interactive theme driven experiences is a legend in event production. More intriguing than even this tremendous business record, is the the fascinating woman behind the scenes. Andrea Michaels admits openly that she has always been the shy self-confessed wallflower of the book title. Reflecting on her past errors and achievements, the author offers a true gift to her readers. She shares the gift of education in business, and in the life lessons often learned in hard and painful ways. As a woman entrepreneur, Andrea Michaels discovered techniques for circumventing the ubiquitous glass ceilings, and for balancing work and family life. Every chapter is a story in the author's personal quest, and each chapter contains both a lesson on business, and on life itself.

For me, the power of the book is how Andrea Michaels combines both the story of her event planning business, and the tale of her personal journey to empowerment as a woman and as an individual. This is a book that can be read in several ways, witheach one yielding valuable insights for the reader. One method for considering the book is as a guide to achieving success as an entrepreneur. Another approach is to examine the book for ideas in overcoming business obstacles. A third way to peruse the book is the deeper understanding of the personal challenges faced and met head on successfully by the author. A fourth, and most beneficial way to read this fine book is to discover the interplay between Andrea Michaels as a person with her outstanding achievements in her business life.

I highly recommend the idea packed and fascinating book Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life by Andrea Michaels, to anyone seeking a deeply insightful examination of the world of event planning and the amazing woman who made it all possible. Andrea Michaels is a captivating storyteller who will keep your attention from the first page to the very end.

Read the lesson filled and engaging book Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life by Andrea Michaels, and travel along side the author as she lives her business dream, while maintaining a balanced family life. The book packs an emotional punch that helps the lessons stay with you long after the book is over. Andrea Michaels may have been a wallflower, but she was also in the heart of the action. Her story is one well worth reading for anyone.

Tags: Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life, Andrea Michaels, overcoming personal obstacles, business book reviews.

Do The Work! by Steven Pressfield - Book review

Do The Work!

By: Steven Pressfield

Published: April 20, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 112 pages
ISBN-10: 1936719010
ISBN-13: 978-1936719013
Publisher: The Domino Project











"We'll hit every predictable Resistance Point along the way - those junctures where fear, self-sabotage, procrastination, self-doubt, and all those other demons we're all so familiar with can be counted on to strike", writes acclaimed author Steven Pressfield, in his inspirational guide to overcoming personal barriers Do The Work!. The author presents the tools and concepts that helped in his personal quest to achieve his goals despite the constant challenge from internal resistance and obstacles.

Steven Pressfield understands that overcoming the inner voices of objection to doing the work necessary to complete a task is critical for success. As a renowned, bestselling author, Steven Pressfield would appear the very epitome of someone who lacked personal demons blocking his creative flow of words. Instead, as he describes in this motivational text, even the most prolific writers are accosted by the self-doubts and inner conflicts shared by everyone. What the author refers to as a chattering brain is that inner dialogue that operates to sabotage even the best planned projects. As a result, Steven Pressfield offers the tools and techniques that propelled him past the barricades to performing the job at hand.



Steven Pressfield (photo left) provides a veritable manifesto against those darkness of the soul moments when the brain chatter is at its most prevalent. In this deceptively simple books, the author shares the strategies he employed to beat back the resistance and negative thoughts that stand in the way of greatness. Steven Pressfield identifies the traits of that arch foe resistance, its characteristics, and its means of attack. In opposition to these forces of darkness, the author presents his allies, strategies, and inner strength builders to succumb the ever present foe. Steven Pressfield outlines the lay of the land, the nature of the treacherous enemy and its habits, and then shares his proven tactics for winning the battle within. Part personal journey, part tactics and strategies, and part helpful stories and anecdotes, the book is a treasure chest of ideas and inspirational concepts to achieve the very best from work and life.

For me, the power of the book is how master writer Steven Pressfield transforms the concept of inner obstacles into a guide to success. Through a powerful combination of personal stories and revelations, the author shares his own vulnerability and his own inner trials openly and honestly. At the same time, Steven Pressfield discovers universal truths, of the common resistance that afflicts everyone, and how to surpass their tantalizing pull downward. By adding additional examples from various walks of life and works of literature, the author clarifies his concepts and strengthens their value. Whether a person is a writer, artist, entrepreneur, or manager, the constant nagging of that confidence shattering inner conversation, the strategies contained in this engaging book offer wisdom and the motivation to do the work.

I highly recommend the idea packed and insightful book Do The Work! by Steven Pressfield, to anyone seeking to overcome the artificial and soul destroying doubts that attach themselves to our deepest thoughts. This book will dispel those unfounded fears, and steer us toward the stars.

Read the enjoyable and profound book Do The Work! by Steven Pressfield, and learn how to reach your destiny through doing the work necessary to achieve greatness. This book is a compass to keep your course straight and true as you embark on that most important voyage to personal success.

Tags: Do The Work!, Steven Pressfield, overcoming personal obstacles, business book reviews.