Posted on April 5th, 2012 by Keith Ferrazzi
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Back in mid-January, a Tweet from Niall Doherty popped up on my radar:
I asked him if he'd write us a guest blog post to report back on his "Month of Generosity" and he agreed to keep us posted on his experience. Last week Niall sent in his report on what happened when he shifted his focus from his own success to helping those around him achieve more. Here is his story.
By: Niall Doherty
While reading Never Eat Alone for the first time earlier this year, I was particularly struck by the following words...
“You can be more successful in two months by becoming really interested in other people’s success than you can in two years trying to get other people interested in your own success.”
Throughout the previous months I'd come to realize just how addicted I was to self-promotion. I would often get so caught up in telling my own story and sharing my own ideas (either via my blog or in-person conversation), that I'd usually fail to find out the interesting stories of others and learn from them.
Keith's words above were the nudge I needed to finally go ahead and take steps to remedy this.
And so I came up with The Month Of No Self Promo. The idea was to flip everything for the month of February. What would happen if I held back on all forms of self-promotion and instead devoted my time and energy to helping others succeed? What would happen if I resisted the urge to tell my story and instead encouraged other people to tell theirs?
I crafted a handful of rules to abide by for the month: Read more →
Posted on April 3rd, 2012 by Keith Ferrazzi
MyGreenlight friend and contributor Michael Margolis is offering a cool (and free) 5-part video series as part of the run up to his virtual 
Reinvention Summit 2, the world’s largest online conference on storytelling on April 16-20 - check it out.
Storytelling is an indispensable skill that goes hand in hand with building your network. You can use it to reposition and grow your company, champion a cause, or reboot your career.
Remember my advice in Never Eat Alone to "be interesting" as you build new relationships? Stories are one of the best ways to do that. From the book:
Virtually everyone new you meet in a situation is asking themselves a variation on one question: “Would I want to spend an hour eating lunch with this person?”
Consultants call it the airport question. In the lengthy interview process that that industry had become famous for – a peppering of complicated case studies and logic-testing puzzles – the one question consultants use to choose one person over a pool of equally talented candidates is the one question they ask only of themselves: “If I were trapped in John F. Kennedy Airport for a few hours [and all travel-weary consultants inevitably spend too much time in airports], would I spend it with this person?”
Have you worked on telling the fascinating story of your career, both verbally and in resumes, bios, and online profiles?
Posted on January 4th, 2012 by admin
JOEL A. GARFINKLE is recognized as one of the top 50 coaches in the U.S., having worked with many of the world's leading companies. He is the author of 
seven books, including Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level. View his books and FREE articles at his Leadership Coaching website. You can also subscribe to his Leadership Development newsletter and receive the FREE e-book, 40 Proven Strategies to Get Promoted Now!
According to a survey conducted by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in 2010, approximately 18% of corporate directors are women and 14.5% are minorities. To put this into perspective, the number of women and minorities on corporate boards is less than half what would be expected based on their proportion of the general population.
The fact that there is a discrepancy is indisputable, but the reason for the shortfall is not so clear. Is it blatant discrimination, or is there something else at work here? The answer is probably a combination of both.
I have worked with many women and minorities in my executive coaching business and I have found that when they apply the principles of perception, visibility, and influence—what I refer to as the PVI model—they are able to advance their careers faster and further than they previously thought possible. They do this by earning the respect of their colleagues and bosses, becoming known throughout the company as someone who can be depended on to solve problems and deliver quality work, and learning how to exert their influence at all levels of the organization.
Many of the challenges faced by women and minorities in the workplace can be attributed to cultural differences and differences in the way boys and girls are raised. These challenges can be overcome if you are aware of them and adapt your behavior to change the way you are perceived.
Here are three challenges women and minorities might face, along with strategies you can use to overcome them. Read more →
Posted on October 14th, 2011 by Sara Grace
Check out a few of the great posts that appeared on the myGreenlight blog this week:
Enjoy!
Posted on October 4th, 2011 by Keith Ferrazzi
Controversial was right: Thank you to the 80+ readers who responded on the blog to my question about your level of comfort and success blending 
your personal and professional lives.
Most of you spoke enthusiastically to being “one self” at work and at home, and listed the many benefits of doing so – with a canny awareness for the need to set both personal and professional boundaries.
But I’m more interested right now in pulling the contras into the spotlight. Here’s four that I think are representative of the very real challenges and fears that can come with blending:
- Hostile/Competitive Workplace: “My coworkers would use anything they could learn about you to screw you and your career. You are talking idealistic nonsense… My coworkers [at a large white collar office were the education level is graduate level or higher] are the enemy. That is the real world in private industry. Most people do not work in Disney Land. And never help out a fellow employee. That shows you are weak and a loser.” – Albert
- Worry about Getting Stuck on the Mommy Track: “When my children were small, I occasionally needed to take time off to attend school functions or to care for them, if they were ill. The problem is that this is how women end up on the ‘Mommy Track.’ In addition, discussing one's personal life at work is (seen as) unprofessional. If I had it to do over, I would have kept my mouth shut and just used my own vacation or sick days, without letting anyone know why.” – Karen Read more →
Posted on September 23rd, 2011 by Sara Grace
Check out some of the posts that have been on the myGreenlight blog this week:
Posted on August 9th, 2011 by Keith Ferrazzi
Today's post is an RMA Master's Mission. I hope you enjoy it.-KF
In order to get power, people must act as if they have power, whether they feel it or not. Authority is 20 percent given, 80 percent taken. “People often don’t ask for what they want and are afraid of standing out too much because they worry that others may resent or dislike their behavior, seeing them as self-promoting,” writes author Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer. “You need to get over the idea that you need to be liked by everybody and that likeability is important in creating a path to power, and you need to be willing to put yourself forward. If you don’t, who will?”
Pfeffer cites the best-selling author of The Four-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss, who has made an art out of being memorable. Ferriss basks in the outrageous, using provocative language to make counter-intuitive claims, always looking for an opportunity to raise his visibility. A new best-selling book, invites to keynote the most prestigious conferences, and an army of blog followers speak to the impressive results.
That's why Pfeffer counsels prospective power brokers to speak up, make demands, and learn to stand out. Write for the company blog or magazine; organize a social or philanthropic event, advocate for some kind of workplace change. Your Mission: get noticed!
What have you done or plan to do to stand out from the crowd?
Mission Adapted from: Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer's Power: Why Some People Have It - And Others Don't
Posted on July 7th, 2011 by Keith Ferrazzi
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!
***
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.
Posted on June 23rd, 2011 by Keith Ferrazzi
Any smart employer chooses substance over style. But the truth is, it’s a lot easier to master style – so why not give yourself an easy leg up?
I’m very particular with my suits and tailoring, but I’m not a fashion expert. So I asked the team at the online style consultancy Haberdasher to share some wardrobe tips.
Men:
- Nothing is more important with a suit than fit, so get it tailored. Here’s the formula: the jacket should be large enough so as not to crowd the shoulders, yet when buttoned, be smooth against the stomach.
- Pants: If they’re correctly draped, they should create a clean line, visually, from the top of the suit all the way to the bottom.
- Color: a dark conservative suit in navy, charcoal, or pinstripe with minimal pattern and texture exudes power and authority. For a friendlier look, olive, tans, and medium gray shades work well.
- Shoes: Keep your shoes shined. It's one of the biggest things people look for in men's dressing.
Women:
- Tailoring is equally important for women, particularly for suits.
- Avoid crazy color patterns and overly bright hues – they can be distracting.
- Jewelry is a great way to express personality, but less is more: A statement necklace can add dimension to a sharp suit, or simply a great timepiece or gold cuff bracelet.
- Shoes: Keep them simple, and make sure they’re in good shape. If they’re scuffed or have worn-down heels, take them to the repair shop. If they can’t be rehabilitated, buy new ones.
Haberdasher is offering those of you that live in Los Angeles or Orange County (they are in the process of expanding to other major cities) the first hour free for any of its personal styling services. They only work with men right now, but plan to change that soon. Simply enter the code “Keith” at check out at www.haberdasherstyle.com.
Posted on April 7th, 2011 by Keith Ferrazzi
My friend Karen Salmansohn is a best-selling author that is known for creating "self help for people who wouldn't be caught dead doing self help." Every morning she starts the day by posting a new Set Your Intention for the Day poster on her blog. Here are a few of my favorites.
What a great way to motivate people. Contact Karen at karen at notsalmon.com. To see all of her posters check out her blog at notsalmon.com.
Which of these posters is your favorite?
