1. 12 Most Standout Ways
To Be Likeable
Dave Kerpen
Featured image courtesy of Thomas Hawk licensed via
Creative Commons.

2.  Being likeable will help you in your
job, business, relationships, and life. I interviewed dozens of
successful business leaders to determine what made them
so likeable and their companies so successful. Below are the
12 most important principles to integrate into your work and
life to optimize success:

3. 1. Listening
 Listening is the foundation of any good business. Great
leaders listen to what their customers and prospects want
and need, and they listen to the challenges those customers
face. They listen to colleagues and are open to new ideas.
They listen to shareholders, investors, and competitors.

4. 2. Storytelling
 After listening, leaders need to tell great stories in order to
sell their products, but more important, in order to sell their
ideas. Storytelling is what captivates people and drives them
to take action. A likeable leader has a strong vision and
purpose and always has stories to sell that vision.

5. 3. Authenticity
 Great leaders are who they say they are, and they have
integrity beyond compare. Vulnerability and humility are
hallmarks of the authentic leader and create a
positive, attractive energy. Customers, employees, and
media all want to help an authentic person to succeed. There
used to be a divide between one’s public self and private
self, but the social internet has blurred that line. Likeable
leaders are transparent about who they are online, merging
their personal and professional lives together.

6. 4. Transparency
 There is nowhere to hide anymore, and businesspeople who
attempt to keep secrets will eventually be exposed.
Openness and honesty lead to happier staff and customers
— and a happier you.

7. 5. Team playing
 No matter how small your organization, you interact with
others every day. Letting others shine, encouraging
innovative ideas, and following other rules for working in
teams will help you become a more likeable leader. You’ll
need a culture of success within your organization, one that
includes out-of-the-box thinking.

8. 6. Responsiveness
 Today’s leaders are responsive to their
customers, staff, investors, and prospects. Every stakeholder
is a potential viral sparkplug, for better or for worse, and the
winning leader is one who recognizes this and insists upon a
culture of responsiveness. Responding shows you care and
gives your customers and employees a say, allowing them to
make a positive impact on your company.

9. 7. Adaptability
 There has never been a faster-changing marketplace than
the one we live in today. Leaders must be flexible in
managing changing opportunities and challenges and nimble
enough to pivot at the right moment. Stubbornness is no
longer desirable. Instead, humility and the willingness to
adapt mark a great leader.

10. 8. Passion
 Those who love what they do don’t have to work a day in
their lives. People who are able to bring passion to their
business have a remarkable advantage, as that passion is
contagious to customers and colleagues alike. Finding and
increasing your passion will absolutely affect your bottom
line.

11. 9. Surprise and delight
 Most people like surprises in their day-to-day lives. Likeable
leaders underpromise and overdeliver, assuring that
customers and staff are surprised in a positive way. There
are a plethora of ways to surprise without spending extra
money. We all like to be delighted — surprise and delight
create incredible word-of-mouth marketing opportunities.

12. 10. Simplicity
 The world is more complex than ever before, and yet what
customers often respond to best is simplicity — in
design, form, and function. Taking complex
projects, challenges, and ideas and distilling them to their
simplest components allows customers, staff, and other
stakeholders to better understand and buy into your vision.
We humans all crave simplicity, and so the likeable leader
must be focused and deliver simplicity.

13. 11. Gratefulness
 Likeable leaders are ever grateful for the people who
contribute to their opportunities and success. Being
appreciative and saying thank you to
mentors, customers, colleagues, and other stakeholders
keeps leaders humble, appreciated, and well received. It also
makes you feel great, and karma is always returned to the
bottom line.

14. 12. The Golden Rule: Above all
else, treat others as you’d like to
be treated
 By showing others the same courtesy you expect from
them, you will gain more respect from
coworkers, customers, and business partners. Holding others
in high regard demonstrates your company’s likeability and
motivates others to work with you. This seems so simple, as
do so many of these principles — and yet many people, too
concerned with making money or getting by, fail to truly adopt
these key concepts.
 Which of these principles are most important to you — what
makes you likeable?

15. Paul Spiegelman
10 Leadership Practices to Stop
Today

16. If you want to be the best in your industry,
you have to get rid of your outdated
management style.
 You might not feel it day-to-day, but business management is
in a major transition. The old days of command-and-control
leadership are fading in favor of what might be better termed
a trust-and-track method, in which people are not just told
what to do, but why they are doing it. More formally, we're
moving from what was called "transactional" leadership to
"transformative" leadership. And there's no turning back.

17. Engagement Culture
 Business owners certainly have a long way to go, especially
in more established companies where old practices die
hard. But you can see increasing evidence that by creating a
company with a clear purpose and values, you'll find your
employees connect themselves to something bigger, and that
increases productivity. In other words, a culture of
engagement leads to greater customer loyalty, and better
financial success.
 Here's my list of "old school" practices you ought to
chuck, and "new school" practices to champion instead:

18. 1. Control
OUT IN
 Micro-management  Empowerment
 the need to control every  the ability to give your
aspect of your company people some rope--even
rope to make mistakes
without blame.

19. 2. Leadership style
OUT IN
 Management by walking  Leadership
around the office  by watching and
 it is no longer enough to be listening, engaging in
visible. conversation, implementing
the ideas presented to
you, and distributing the
results.

20. 3. Breadth of knowledge
OUT IN
 Pretending you know  Knowing your leadership
everything team members and trusting
 You don't have all the them.
answers, so why try to  Choose great people who
make people think you do? have the right skills and fit
the culture. And get out of
the way.

21. 4. Mistake
OUT IN
 No mistakes  Learning from mistakes
 or a "no tolerance policy"  or being the first to admit an
some still think works. error.

22. 5. Drive
OUT IN
 The balance sheet drives  People drive the business
the business  boosting customer loyalty,
 and informs all other and profit.
decisions.

23. 6. Competency
OUT IN
 Job competency is  Recruit "A" players
sufficient.  who will go the extra mile.
 Do the job asked, and you'll They're out there.
survive.

24. 7. Where to invest
OUT IN
 Invest in technology  Invest in people.
 to increase productivity

25. 8. Change management
OUT IN
 Demand change  Nurture change
 be very specific about what  your people can come up
you want and when with the best ideas and you
can give them credit for it.

26. 9. Atmosphere
OUT IN
 Fried food in the cafeteria.  Wellness in the workplace.

27. 10. Rewards and incentives
OUT IN
 Incentives  Rewards
 pay employees more money  being valued matters more
and they'll do more. than money.
So ask yourself which of these out-of-date
practices you're still using. There's no time like
now to try something new.

28. Jeff Haden
8 Things Remarkably Successful
People Do
The most successful people in
business work differently. See what
they do--and why it works.
I'm fortunate to know a number of
remarkably successful people. I've
described howthese people share
a set of specific perspectives and
beliefs.
They also share a number of
habits:

29. 1. They don't create back-up plans.
 Back-up plans can help you sleep easier at night. Back-up
plans can also create an easy out when times get tough.
 You'll work a lot harder and a lot longer if your primary plan
simply has to work because there is no other option. Total
commitment--without a safety net--will spur you to work
harder than you ever imagined possible.
 If somehow the worst does happen (and the "worst" is never
as bad as you think) trust that you will find a way to rebound.
As long as you keep working hard and keep learning from
your mistakes, you always will.

30. 2. They do the work...
 You can be good with a little effort. You can be really good
with a little more effort.
 But you can't be great--at anything--unless you put in an
incredible amount of focused effort.
 Scratch the surface of any person with rare skills and you'll
find a person who has put thousands of hours of effort into
developing those skills.
 There are no shortcuts. There are no overnight successes.
Everyone has heard about the 10,000 hours principle but no
one follows it... except remarkably successful people.
 So start doing the work now. Time is wasting.

31. 3. ...and they work a lot more.
 Forget the Sheryl Sandberg "I leave every day at
5:30" stories. I'm sure she does. But she's not you.
 Every extremely successful entrepreneur I know (personally)
works more hours than the average person--a lot more. They
have long lists of things they want to get done. So they have
to put in lots of time.
 Better yet, they want to put in lots of time.
 If you don't embrace a workload others would consider crazy
then your goal doesn't mean that much to you--or it's not
particularly difficult to achieve. Either way you won't be
remarkably successful.

32. 4. They avoid the crowds.
 Conventional wisdom yields conventional results. Joining the
crowd--no matter how trendy the crowd or "hot" the
opportunity--is a recipe for mediocrity.
 Remarkably successful people habitually do what other
people won't do. They go where others won't go because
there's a lot less competition and a much greater chance for
success.

33. 5. They start at the end...
 Average success is often based on setting average goals.
 Decide what you really want: to be the best, the fastest, the
cheapest, the biggest, whatever. Aim for the ultimate. Decide
where you want to end up. That is your goal.
 Then you can work backwards and lay out every step along
the way.
 Never start small where goals are concerned. You'll make
better decisions--and find it much easier to work a lot harder-
-when your ultimate goal is ultimate success.

34. 6. ... and they don't stop there.
 Achieving a goal--no matter how huge--isn't the finish line for
highly successful people. Achieving one huge goal just creates a
launching pad for achieving another huge goal.
 Maybe you want to create a $100 million business; once you do
you can leverage your contacts and influence to create a
charitable foundation for a cause you believe in. Then your
business and humanitarian success can create a platform for
speaking, writing, and thought leadership. Then...
 The process of becoming remarkably successful in one field will
give you the skills and network to be remarkably successful in
many other fields.
 Remarkably successful people don't try to win just one race.
They expect and plan to win a number of subsequent races.

35. 7. They sell.
 I once asked a number of business owners and CEOs to name the one
skill they felt contributed the most to their success. Each said the ability
to sell.
 Keep in mind selling isn't manipulating, pressuring, or cajoling. Selling is
explaining the logic and benefits of a decision or position. Selling is
convincing other people to work with you. Selling is overcoming
objections and roadblocks.
 Selling is the foundation of business and personal success: knowing
how to negotiate, to deal with "no," to maintain confidence and self-
esteem in the face of rejection, to communicate effectively with a wide
range of people, to build long-term relationships...
 When you truly believe in your idea, or your company, or yourself then
you don't need to have a huge ego or a huge personality. You don't
need to "sell."
 You just need to communicate.

36. 8. They are never too proud.
 To admit they made a mistake. To say they are sorry. To have
big dreams. To admit they owe their success to others. To
poke fun at themselves. To ask for help.
 To fail.
 And to try again.

37. Geoffrey James
9 Daily Habits That Will Make
You Happier

38. Be Happy
 These minor changes in your daily routine will make a major
difference in your life and career.
 Happiness is the only true measure of personal success.
Making other people happy is the highest expression of
success, but it's almost impossible to make others happy if
you're not happy yourself.
 With that in mind, here are nine small changes that you can
make to your daily routine that, if you're like most people, will
immediately increase the amount of happiness in your life:

39. 1. Start each day with expectation.
 If there's any big truth about life, it's that it usually lives up to
(or down to) your expectations. Therefore, when you rise
from bed, make your first thought: "something wonderful is
going to happen today." Guess what? You're probably right.

40. 2. Take time to plan and prioritize.
 The most common source of stress is the perception that
you've got too much work to do. Rather than obsess about
it, pick one thing that, if you get it done today, will move you
closer to your highest goal and purpose in life. Then do that
first.

41. 3. Give a gift to everyone you meet.
 I'm not talking about a formal, wrapped-up present. Your gift
can be your smile, a word of thanks or encouragement, a
gesture of politeness, even a friendly nod. And never pass
beggars without leaving them something. Peace of mind is
worth the spare change.

42. 4. Deflect partisan conversations.
 Arguments about politics and religion never have a "right"
answer but they definitely get people all riled up over things
they can't control. When such topics surface, bow out by
saying something like: "Thinking about that stuff makes my
head hurt."

43. 5. Assume people have good intentions.
 Since you can't read minds, you don't really know the "why"
behind the "what" that people do. Imputing evil motives to
other people's weird behaviors adds extra misery to
life, while assuming good intentions leaves you open to
reconciliation.

44. 6. Eat high quality food slowly.
 Sometimes we can't avoid scarfing something quick to keep
us up and running. Even so, at least once a day try to eat
something really delicious, like a small chunk of fine cheese
or an imported chocolate. Focus on it; taste it; savor it.

45. 7. Let go of your results.
 The big enemy of happiness is worry, which comes from
focusing on events that are outside your control. Once you've
taken action, there's usually nothing more you can do. Focus
on the job at hand rather than some weird fantasy of
what might happen.

46. 8. Turn off "background" TV.
 Many households leave their TVs on as "background noise"
while they're doing other things. The entire point of broadcast
TV is to make you dissatisfied with your life so that you'll buy
more stuff. Why subliminally program yourself to be a
mindless consumer?

47. 9. End each day with gratitude.
 Just before you go to bed, write down at least one wonderful
thing that happened. It might be something as small as a
making a child laugh or something as huge as a million dollar
deal. Whatever it is, be grateful for that day because it will
never come again.

48. Have a nice day
Thank you
Chao O.