Asking for Support to Get Things Done

VotingIf you need cooperation on something, ask for support before you go public. People want to follow thru on commitments.

In 1987, a social scientist named Anthony Greenwald asked voters on election-day eve if they’d vote.

100% said yes.

On election day, 86.7% of those asked went to the polls compared to 61.5% of those in the “control group” who were not asked.

standardMay 12Tom SalonekCommunication

Communicating Good vs. Bad News

good-vs-bad-newsWhen communicating good vs. bad news, use the following approach:

  • Have good news?  Share it has it happens.  Research says we like winning.  Winning $5 twice feels better than $10 once.  In business, if you have good stuff to share, share it has it happens.
  • Have bad news?  Bunch it up.  Research says we don’t like losing. Losing $10 once versus $5 twice isn’t as good.  In working with others, if you have bad stuff to communicate, before you share it, ask, “What else should I know?” Have one conversation to cover all bad news.
standardMay 5Tom SalonekCommunication

Lessons on Learning

School-EnglandIn a recent article in The Economist, my favorite magazine (minus any that report on realty TV ;-)., has a great article entitled “A very British business: Some lessons from the success of Britain’s elite private schools.” The article notes three areas where business could learn a lesson from (essentially) K-12 schools in Britian:

  1. “The first is that ‘tradition’ and ‘innovation’ need not be mutually exclusive.”  In short, you can be in a business and still have enough vision to innovate/re-envision the business.
  2. “Performance measurement isn’t something performers are scared of. “I had a call today with a former long-term client.  His son is looking at attending a boot camp.  I shared to ask for scores and placement rates at program completion.
  3. “…insiders can make the best revolutionaries.” In the article, it shares that effective transformers can come from inside a business.  I agree.

 

 

standardApril 30Tom SalonekHappy Employees

Small Business State of the State

Small-BizThe state of small business, in my opinion, is pretty fascinating.  Here are some stats from a Business Insider infographic:

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  • The U.S. government defines small business as less than 500 employees and 50% of workers work for small businesses
  • 65% of new jobs since ’95 are in small businesses
  • Only 7 out of 10 new employers last two years, half last five years, a third make it 10 years, and only one out of four makes it 15 years
standardApril 28Tom SalonekSmall Business