by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, Team Manager Skills
My CEO executive coaching clients frequently wonder how best to motivate and retain key employees. The question often takes the form of, “Should I give her an unscheduled bonus or a raise?” The business owner often tends toward a raise because it defers the cash outlay. My study of psychology recommends the bonus.
I have written about Professor Christopher Hsee of the Booth School of Business before. Recently he spoke explicitly about the bonus vs. raise question. “If you ask a typical employee, he or she will tell you they want the salary. But that’s because they don’t understand psychology,” Hsee said. “You should give them the bonus instead. Salary is stable and people adapt to the new salary level quickly. Bonuses are not as easy to adapt to.”
Hsee also supports my advice about giving a gift, particularly something the employee wants but might not indulge in. “Give somebody something they like but won’t (more…)
by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, Stress Management
If the scientific evidence I have presented has not convinced you to get enough sleep perhaps this celebrity endorsement will tip the balance.
by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, Leadership Development
The telephone and Internet were still not connected three days after moving our office. I had spent way too much time on hold and hearing excuses from Verizon. I needed to get free of their bureaucracy to focus on running my business. So I called in the Marines. Actually just one former Marine, a recently retired Colonel. For some jobs one Marine is plenty.
“Chet,” I said, “I know you are an executive here and you have plenty to do. So do I. We need telecomm restored ASAP. Do what you can. Okay?”
“Sure, boss.” Chet replied, “Whatever it takes.”
I was a little concerned by the martial fire in his eyes when he said, “Whatever it takes,” but I was determined
to get the business back online and myself focused on other tasks.
“Right,” I said, “Get it done.”
When I walked into the office the next morning (more…)
by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, Technology Tips
I just noticed an interesting feature on Twitter. Under “Profile” is a “Similar to You” section. Tens of millions of people have Twitter accounts. Every executive coach, consultant, and adviser, it seems, has a Twitter account.
Only one is similar to Tony Mayo. Stephen Covey, best-selling author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
No one else is similar to me, even Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence, though he does subscribe to my feed. So can you.
by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, For Executive Coaches, Technology Tips
I have been very happy with an easy, free, browser-based screen sharing facility called Join.Me. That is also the web address: join dot me (not dot com).
I often “dig into the numbers” with my CEO executive coaching clients, sometimes with the help of my free Excel templates (see them here). This tool allows us to see and work on the same screen together though we are miles apart.
Join.Me is so simple, with no software to download or install and no firewall or security issues, that even top executives can use it on the fly.
–join.me – Free Screen Sharing.
by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, Quotes and Aphorisms
we are fundamentally free:
free to view our life,
and respond to it,
as a loving gift
or not.
To love or not to love, that is the question. No argument or evidence can strip us of this freedom that lies at the root of our being and is therefore so ineradicable. How we choose to respond to this awareness—the awareness that love makes us whole and that we are free to love or not—seals our character and defines who we are. An awareness of the power of love and forgiveness forms, in John Fetzer’s phrase, “a community of freedom.”
How we choose, in that freedom, to live out our awareness of the power to love and forgive can completely transform our lives as well as the life of, and the lives in, the world around us.
–Lawrence E. Sullivan
Pres. and CEO
Fetzer Institute
in Fetzer Institute News
by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, How to Set Goals, Technology Tips
I frequently encourage my CEO executive coaching clients to set specific measurable goals and to chart their progress visually. For example, my free trailing twelve month Excel template is very popular. Download it by clicking here.
Here is an even simpler and more visually striking graphic you can use. Enter your own title, goal amount and current status and get a one page, printable thermometer to display your progress for yourself or the entire team.
Click here to download your free copy now. No registration required.
Feel free to share this with your friends and colleagues. Please do not remove my name or web address from the Excel spreadsheet.
You may also download an improved version with schedule information, too, e.g., for a monthly goal the thermometer displays how much of the month has passed. Get it for free by clicking here.
See also Tony’s complete goal setting kit, with audio and workbook,
free on this blog.
by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners
The pursuit of happiness may be simple but it is seldom easy. As renowned psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow, reports,
“You have to work at it.”
Other key elements are:
- Sleep
- Money enough for necessities
- Physical activity
- Social activity
—The pursuit of happiness
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, For Salespeople, Sales Techniques
The Wall Street Journal has a good survey of the scientific research supporting the health, relationship, and psychological benefits of practicing gratitude. It also includes a nice graphic you can use with your children to foster their attitude of gratitude.
by Tony Mayo | For Business Owners, Quotes and Aphorisms
Business is where you practice your human skills. It’s where you grow.
You have to grow!
You grow as a person, and then you will grow in business. That’s how you go forward.
–Andrew Cherng
Founder & Co-CEO
Panda Express
in General Tso, Meet Steven Covey
BusinessWeek
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