Failure

Blog Writing For a Busy Audience

By Brandon W. Jones on March 14, 2013 3

Blog writing is a very common topic on the internet. Many people have done well financially by starting a blog for themselves, their company, or a product they sell. So what does it take to do well at blog writing? What does it take to keep people reading your blog posts? In a world with leaders blogging about leadership and other topics on a regular basis, how do you keep your blog relevant? I have seen three suggestions to keep your blog relevant and help you to be successful at blog writing.

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Blog writing for your audience

First, write great content!

The first key to successful blog writing is to produce great content. Ask yourself the questions, “Of all the blogs out there, why does my blog stand out? What is my niche? How do I keep people coming back to read more?” By asking these questions you will be able to define your target niche and target audience. From there, your blog writing can be directed towards that specific audience so your content is very relevant to their needs. Your content is king in getting people to come to your blog regularly. When blog writing, it is important that you understand the topics you write about.

Dishonesty: The Fall Of A Leader

By Brandon W. Jones on May 15, 2012 4

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the CEO of Yahoo, Scott Thompson. He was in the news because he had only been with Yahoo for a short time and already was making major layoffs. Well, once again he has gotten himself into the spotlight. This time it is for his dishonesty.

Mistakes

Over the last few months since Scott Thompson took over as CEO, Yahoo has continued to struggle. In a recent regulatory filing, it was encountered that Scott’s resume erroneously said he had earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science when in fact he only had a degree in accounting. [Read more…] about Dishonesty: The Fall Of A Leader

This Week’s Top 5 Leadership Posts – 5/9/2012

By Brandon W. Jones on May 9, 2012 0

This week’s top five leadership posts will help motivate you to be a better leader. The leadership posts have a lot of good content that you can use to improve your leadership abilities. The topics of this week’s posts are learning from mistakes, living out your dreams, obstacles that get in the way of change, the importance of thanking your team, and accomplishing your goals. I hope you enjoy!

The Top 5 Mistakes Leaders Make by Beth Armknecht Miller

Over the years, I have worked with hundreds of leaders many who have displayed specific leadership shortfalls, that when improved, have had a positive impact on the effectiveness and profitability of the organization. Both new and experienced manager/leaders can make these top five mistakes; which one is your Achilles heel? And what is your plan to improve?

Focusing on the urgent and not the important
Lack of consistent communication
Ineffective feedback
Failing to define clear goals
Misunderstanding motivation

Brandon’s Thoughts
I really like the points that Beth made. It is very important to not fall prey to any of these pitfalls. As a leader, it is so important to regularly evaluate your performance and identify what works well and what does not. As you do that, you will avoid the mistakes other people had to painstakingly go through. [Read more…] about This Week’s Top 5 Leadership Posts – 5/9/2012

Titanic-size Leadership Failures

By Brandon W. Jones on April 13, 2012 0

With the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, there are many articles being written about the historic event. In addition, there are many commemoration ceremonies happening. The Wall Street Journal published an article titled Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Titanic Business 100 Years Later by Ben Casselman And Ann Zimmerman.

The article discussed some events that will go on this weekend. In the Fox Theatre in downtown St. Luis they will be holding “an elaborate re-creation of the final first-class meal aboard the ship.” “Memorial events are being held in Cherbourg, France, where the ship headed from Southampton, and Cobh, Ireland, its final port of call, as well as Cape Race, Newfoundland, which received the ship’s distress signals.”

Lessons From Leadership Failures

With all the news of the Titanic shipwreck, it got me thinking about leadership lessons on leadership failures that can be learned from the tragedy.

Listen To The Little People

Prior to the Titanic crash into the iceberg, there were many warnings from the crewman that there was an iceberg ahead but the captain failed to listen. As leaders, you should listen to ALL your employees, including the people that have what seem like insignificant roles. Every employee has a different role and with that comes a different point of view. As the leader, you can gain perspective from all your employees at each levels. As you hear their advice and feedback, be sure to listen to what they say, and take it into consideration when you make your decisions. [Read more…] about Titanic-size Leadership Failures

Weekly Top 5 Leadership Posts

By Brandon W. Jones on April 12, 2012 8

Each week there are new leadership challenges that every leader faces. They face challenges to succeed and produce desired results for their clients and superiors. Because the demands are so strong, I am always looking at ways to do things better and more effectively. The weekly top 5 leadership posts below give pointers on how to help you, as the leader, succeed in addition to your followers.

How To Choose Not To Be Offended by Jeremy Statton

Has anyone ever offended you?

Reasons to find offense surround us. Bosses. Employees. Presidential candidates. Religions. Kentucky Wildcat fans.

Offense seems to be an obligation. A natural response to someone else. When we see things that we do not like, we feel we have no choice but to become upset. And express it adamantly.

We view our response as outside of our hands. We are only reacting to others.

Brandon’s Thoughts
When you choose to be offended you must understand that it is a choice within your control. No one can force you to be offended. As leaders, you should grow tough skin and be willing to take criticism. If you get offended every time you receive criticism, you are not cut out for leadership. Leaders must take criticism as an opportunity to learn from past experiences. [Read more…] about Weekly Top 5 Leadership Posts

How To Make Your Meetings Fail

By Brandon W. Jones on April 11, 2012 0

Have you ever been in a meeting that got way off track? Or, have you sat in a meeting that had an agenda that was not effective? Have you sat in a meeting that was a great meeting where a lot was accomplished but you didn’t even need to be there? These are all perfect ways to make a meeting fail. There are three things that will make a meeting fail quicker than anything else.

No Agenda

Don’t prepare an agenda so no one knows what you are supposed to talk about. When a meeting doesn’t have an agenda, you have set up the meeting to fail. People will show up having no idea what the purpose of the meeting is. Without an agenda you will not know how much time to talk about each item. Ultimately, failure to have an agenda will lead to a failed meeting. [Read more…] about How To Make Your Meetings Fail