Photo credit: David Carlson

Peter Guber, who at the time was an MBA student at NYU, got the job offer of a lifetime: Columbia Pictures offered him a starting salary at more than double his other offers, they would pay for his family to move out to California, they would provide a one-year living allowance, they would pay off his student loans in full, and to top it off, they said if he was unhappy living in California they would arrange for him to move back to New York at their cost.

Guber has come a long way from that initial job offer from Columbia. By the age of thirty he was already running the studio, later on in his career he served as the CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, he has produced iconic hits such as Batman and Flashdance, and today he is the CEO of Mandalay Entertainment as well as the co-owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

Not only do these accomplishments make my jaw drop, but they also pique my curiosity and make me wonder how did he do it? A lot of the underlying principles to Guber’s success can be absorbed by dissecting his method to securing that initial, mouth-watering job offer from Columbia Pictures. So of course, as I sat down with Guber to interview him for my book, I couldn’t wait to ask him how he made it happen.

The following three rules, if applied with the right combination of fearlessness, tenacity, and authenticity, can literally change the entire course of your career. Based on his experience interviewing and securing that job offer from Columbia Pictures, here is Peter Guber’s remarkable and uncommon interview advice: Read more →

4 comments // In career

If you’re looking for a new gig, whether it’s your first or your 10th, you’re doing a lot of writing. Cover letters, emails, versions of your resume... At no other time is clean, clear concise writing more important – and that means you need to brush up on your grammar, too. Yes, punctuation counts. You don’t want to be pushed to the “no” pile because you were sloppy with your commas.

Enter Mignon Fogarty, the founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips network and author of the new books Grammar Girl’s 101 Misused Words You’ll Never Confuse Again and Grammar Girl’s 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know.

Here’s a post from her on something that’s stumped me before and I’m sure plenty of you – when to use a comma. Thanks Mignon!

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Commas Are Not Confetti

That "rule" you learned about using a comma when you'd pause if you were speaking is not a real rule. It might get you the right answer slightly more than half the time--a good stat for baseball, but not for writing. Such random comma usage is sometimes called the “Shatner comma”: Must, go, now.

Commas are one of the trickiest punctuation marks because there are so many different rules. Learn them so you don't write "Let's eat grandma," instead of "Let's eat, grandma." Here are the basics:

Direct Address (The Grandma Rule)

When addressing someone by name or nickname in a sentence, you need a comma.

John, go get the CEO’s double mocha.
He can get it himself, Dave.
You’re fired, John.

Serial Comma (The Oxford Comma)

The comma before the “and” at the end of a sentence can be optional depending on the style you follow. The AP Stylebook recommends using the serial comma when it’s needed for clarity; the Chicago Manual of Style recommends using it all the time.

The CEO likes a double shot, whipped cream, and sprinkles. (Chicago)
The CEO likes a double shot, whipped cream and sprinkles. (AP)

Appositives

When you’re clarifying who a person is by adding a name, use a comma.

The CEO, Skippy Robinson, goes crazy if he doesn’t get his sprinkles.

If-Clauses

If the if-clause comes at the beginning of a sentence, put a comma after it. If it comes at the end, don’t use a comma.

If Skippy doesn’t get his sprinkles, it’s best to hide in the bathroom.
Hide in the bathroom if Skippy doesn’t get his sprinkles.

Compound Sentences

When you join two sentences with a conjunction such as “and,” “but,” “or,” or “so,” use a comma.

Dave hid in the bathroom, but John eventually came to his senses and got Skippy some coffee.

These are just some of the most common comma rules--plenty more will keep you guessing--but it’s a start. Put, your, knowledge, to, good, use.

0 comments // In career

Kevin Eikenberry is an author, speaker, trainer, consultant, and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. His new book, co-authored with Guy Harris, From Bud to Boss – Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership launched on February 15th.-KF

Three Transition Challenges and Suggestions by Kevin Eikenberry

When you move from bud to boss, from being an individual contributor to a team to being the leader of the team, you face three transitions.

The Transition of Relationships – When you change jobs, relationships change. You have a new boss, and even if you knew the boss before, it is different. If you were promoted from within you have significant changes in the dynamics with your former peers.

The Transition of Skills - When you get a new role, new skills are required. While this might be most noticeable as you first become a leader or supervisor, it is true in all promotions. The new job places new expectations on you which require new, enhanced or advanced skills.

The Transition of Perspective or Mindset - When you get promoted, you are invited to new meetings, are privy to new information, and must, if you want to be successful, think about the world in new ways. Of the three, this one is most often neglected or ignored. It is a more subtle transition, and when recognized will bring the biggest jump in performance.

So what are some ways to deal with or overcome these challenges?

Read more →

0 comments // In career

I met sales trainer Greg A. Cozine recently at a lunch set up by RMA’s West Coast head of sales. Greg shared some great insights into the sales process, so I asked him to put together a guest blog to share one with all of you.

Here’s Greg with the easy-to-implement tip that he has found has a HUGE effect on his trainees’ success:

Understanding the difference between a suggestion and a direction is one of those nuances in the sales process that can really have a huge impact on your closing ratio.

Suggestions are close cousins of opinions. You know what they say about opinions right? Everybody has one...at least one. While well thought out opinions and helpful suggestions can be useful in moving your presentation forward…in and of themselves they do not actually close deals. In the closing process, ultimately what really matters is not what you suggest to your prospect/client but what you actually direct them to do.

Here’s an example of what I mean in day to day life. Suppose I want to get a group of coworkers to head out to a great sushi spot for lunch. If I say, “Hey guys, I heard of this new sushi place that’s supposed to be really good. Do you want to give it a try?” In effect what I’m doing is asking for their opinion. But if I’m really confident in what I’m offering why am I hedging?  Instead, I should say, “Guys, there’s this great new sushi place… you’re going to love it…let’s go!”

By being directive, you instill confidence in those that are receiving your offer. People often have a need and desire to be directed and to be directed by people who have absolute confidence in their product or services, especially when what’s being offered is something new. This can apply to lunch or a major financial transaction.  Now, of course, you’d better have solid reasoning and intelligence behind your directive – you need to deliver the goods! If the sushi absolutely sucks, it’ll be the last time anyone ever takes a lunch direction from you.

Suggestive: “Brett, I know this is a new approach for your company but I think if you give it a try you’ll not be disappointed…and I promise I’ll give you great customer service with the deal…so what do you think…you want to give it a try?’

Response: “Well let me think about this a little and I’ll get back to you blah blah blah…”

By being suggestive as in the example above, you’re just setting yourself up for an ambiguous reply. Everybody wants to hedge their bets, especially if they are offered a hedge.

So here’s the directive approach:

“Brett, this offering is going to get results that make a difference – and we’ll back that up with customer service that is second to none…let’s do it.”

Response: “So how much is the total cost again? And how does your customer service work? Will that be primarily through emails and phone or will you come to the office for follow up…”

Now the prospect is asking buying questions…which is exactly what you want.

If you’re speaking to a real qualified buyer (the decision maker) and you’ve given a great presentation and all that goes with it along the way…you’ve earned the right to be directive and ask for the deal! If the buyer has any unanswered questions there is nothing like asking for the deal to get him/her to start asking them. Don’t hedge and don’t think that asking for the deal means you’re being aggressive. Rather, you are confident of what you can deliver.

Think about the film business: I’ve yet to see a film that has a “suggested by” in the credits. It’s called a director for a reason…as in “directed by.”  And nothing attracts great actors like a director who is absolutely confident about what they want, why they want it and how to achieve it. Same thing applies to the relationship between you and your prospect or clients. This is your movie! Be the director!

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

Greg A. Cozine is a sales trainer, coach, and speaker with over 25 years of experience.

3 comments // In career

No one can give you clearer advice about how to run a great company than Mark Thompson and Brian Tracy. Now, Build a Great Business! is the perfect prescription for a much more profitable and personally rewarding business.  Here, for example, is a checklist from the book on how to develop a great marketing plan.

1. What exactly do you sell, defined in terms of what your product or service actually does to improve the life or work of your customer?

2. What is your competitive advantage? What are the core competencies that make your product or service superior to anything else available?

3. Describe your ideal customer. Who wants, needs, and is most willing to pay for the benefits provided by your product or service?

4. What are your most effective marketing methods? How do you attract the greatest number of qualified customers?

5. Who or what are your biggest competitors in the sale of your products or services, and how do you differentiate your products or services from those of your competitors?

6. How can you encourage your customers to participate and contribute more to your company's marketing and product development? How can you create a community for your customers to share ideas, enthusiasm, and challenges in your market?

7. What changes could you make in your products, prices, promotions, places, positioning, packaging, or people - the seven P's of your marketing mix - to make your offerings more desirable to your target market?

Brian Tracy and Mark Thompson focus on SIX other areas of business including Leadership, Business Planning, Hiring, Offering a Great Product or Service, and Designing a Great Sales Process. For more information and for thousands in bonuses, click here.

What one action are you going to take immediately as the result of your answers to the previous seven questions?

2 comments // In career

Tuesday I posted the questions I answered for to the GMA Advice Guru application. Here’s another one.

What would you tell this person: "My boss keeps taking credit for my ideas. What should I do?" (150 words or less)

You need your boss to become your evangelist -- ideally without even realizing that’s what’s happening.  Keep doing everything you can to make him or her successful; over time, in most cases, senior executives realize how important junior employees are to their successes -- and they begin to behave accordingly.  The last thing a successful boss wants is to lose the employee who’s doing all the best work!

To that end, your strategy also needs to be promotional.  Don’t limit your creativity to only your boss -- start networking in (and outside) the company, and generously offer to take on additional tasks for others around you.  Your talents will only go unnoticed if you let them go unnoticed; the  brighter your light shines, the more people will see it -- perhaps even including your boss, who, day in and day out, is closer to your wattage than almost anyone else.

How have you turned a difficult boss into your ally?

4 comments // In career

Success stories are rolling in from our pilot Relationship Masters Academy group.  It is amazing to see what can happen in a short time when people really start working on their relationships!

Today’s RMA success story comes from Jason Owens – and below it you’ll find more tips that you can apply to your own life.

“Thanks to my RMA lifeline I am now in a new job!

The economy has many companies, including mine, pulling back and not creating new positions.  When I started my job search in January, I vowed to use my network rather than apply to an endless stream of jobs from the internet.

I pulled out my ace of spades about 3 weeks ago by placing a call to one of my lifelines, who works here at my company. In 21 days I went from that phone call to a position being created and funded in this economic climate. Truly remarkable.

Yesterday I started my new position, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Many thanks to Keith, Sara and the rest of the FG team for making RMA such a fantastic program!” -- Jason

Takeaways from Jason’s success?

1. Always ask for help! The people who are close to you want to help you out, so give them the chance to do so!

2. Don’t assume that you’re at the top of anyone’s mind but your own. Jason’s “ace” was at the same company, but until Jason reached out to him, he probably didn’t give much thought to Jason’s immediate future.

3. Strong relationships can move mountains – or at least budgets! – if you’ve taken the time to build them before you need them. So get started, today!

Do you have a relationship success story?  Share it!

1 comment // In career

Meghna heads up the High Impact Teams consulting practice at Ferrazzi Greenlight with Keith. She is based in New York City. If you have questions or want to increase your team's impact, contact her at mmajmudar at ferrazzigreenlight dot com.

Economic change is in the air. I just finished a series of interviews with HR executives from around the country and there was one message – the economy is turning around, companies will be hiring, and people will be moving. After a couple of difficult years, people are ready to try out those greener pastures.

So how do you make sure you make it to those pastures without burning bridges?

1. Make sure the decision comes from an objective and grounded place. We all have our moments when we feel under-appreciated and not paid well enough where you just want to storm off and not look back. But it’s important to realize that there’s a story being written about your career. Are you telling a story of learning and growth? Or are you telling a victim’s story? As this blog describes, job-hopping has its dark side.

2. Find the time to TELL your boss when he or she can focus on the conversation. An e-mail late at night, a voicemail? That can leave a bad taste. Tell them clearly that you’re leaving, where you’re going and if they ask, what can be improved. You don’t have to share the gory details of your decision-making. But the broad brush strokes, in a conversation, will suffice.

3. Apply the lessons of candor, accountability, generosity, and intimacy in the conversation and before your final day. How can you best be in service to your boss and your company before you leave? Transitioning important projects, transferring knowledge, or helping to hire your replacement will go a long way.

I’m curious - what’s worked for you in making a graceful job change?

3 comments // In career

Larry King made my day once by mentioning me in the same breath as Harvey MacKay. So needless to say I'm thrilled to have Harvey, the best-selling author of Swim with the Sharks, as a guest tipster here. He's got a new book out, Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You.

If you’re smart enough to buy it before Feb. 26th you get a bunch of great freebies, including a money-back guarantee if you don’t land a job in six months! The info on the free stuff is all on Harvey's site.

And now, here’s Harvey’s tip:

YOU CAN'T GET ANYWHERE UNLESS YOU START
By Harvey MacCay, adapted from the new Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door

Today I'm chairman of a $100 million envelope company. Outside of paper routes and setting pins in a bowling alley, my first real job was as a summer fill-in at Howard's Men's Store in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota.

Sounds like a pretty remote switch, but was it really? I still consider a CEO to be any firm's #1 salesman, and what I learned about sales at Howard's was epic:

• Choices: Never put more than three ties on the counter. It only confuses the customer.
• Convenience: Never start locking up, even if the customer is a couple minutes late.
• Commitment: When the customer tries on the pants, it's usually a done deal.

How you tackle your first job will likely shape how you manage your career for the rest of life. And, I surely learned from my share of mistakes: such as asking for time off, even though the main reason I was hired was so that senior staff could enjoy their vacations.

If you're like most people, you'll churn through 3-5 career shifts and 12-15 job changes in your working life. Smart people probably switch less, and they surely determine when and why they make most of the changes.

The difference starts with positive attitude and perseverance. Remember, if you think you can . . . or if you think you can't . . . you're right.

Question for readers: What did YOU learn from your first job?

18 comments // In career

For the first time ever, I'm selling a digital download! This was a live webinar with Stanford MBAs on how to recession-proof the path to your dream job.

You can read more about it (and buy it!) on this page:

A Simple 5-Step Program to Land Your Dream Job in 2010

0 comments // In career