Standards

Getting More by Stuart Diamond – Book Review

By Brandon W. Jones on June 23, 2017 1

Getting More: How You Can Negotiate To Succeed In Work And Life by Stuart Diamond is one of my favorite books. I strongly recommend this book to every leader. Stuart Diamond teaches a method of negotiation that is different from some of the more common types of negotiation of getting to yes, getting to no, or doing what it takes to make the deal. Instead, he focuses on negotiating with each person so that everyone comes away happy because they got what they wanted.

When Do You Negotiate?

Often people think negotiations only happens when people are closing a business deal, getting their client out of a jam in the courtroom, or buying a car on a car lot. Although each scenario involves negotiations, did you know you are always negotiating? Here is just a short list of examples of people/scenarios where you negotiate:

Interactions with your
- Spouse
- Children
- Friends
- Neighbors
Shopping
Traveling
Requesting Refunds
Restaurants
And… Pretty much anytime you have a human interaction!

Perform A Leadership Evaluation

By Brandon W. Jones on October 21, 2014 2

In the last few years, there have been many leaders ranging from supervisors to CEOs that have let their standards slip. They slowly became deceitful and dishonest. The lies and deception gradually grew to the point where it led to their downfall. Some of them fell so deeply that in addition to losing their jobs, they got arrested and lost their freedoms.

Often these leaders fell because they did not have any system in place to evaluate their actions. The were not performing a leadership evaluation or doing anything else to keep themselves in check.

Leadership Evaluation

Leadership is done right when leaders constantly seek improvement and perform a periodic leadership evaluation. The leadership evaluation help you to grow and learn so you can improve by making appropriate changes in your behavior.

To perform an effective leadership evaluation, you need to look at your actions past, present and in the future. Additionally, the leadership evaluation should be set up in a way that it addresses the tough questions.

Evaluate your past

The following questions will help you evaluate your past:

How long have you been the leader?
What did you do to become the leader?
What past decisions helped you become a leader?
Are you still making those decisions?
What did they do to teach you?
What type of a group do you lead?
How did you become the leader?
Where did you come from to get to where you are now?

As you understand your past and the path that led to you being the leader you will gain perspective on your past and strengthens your vision for the future.

[Read more…] about Perform A Leadership Evaluation

How to Lead Your Business With Integrity

By Brandon W. Jones on December 27, 2013 2

Integrity is defined as, “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.” It’s a characteristic that’s getting harder and harder to find in today’s business climate, but that doesn’t mean it’s not something worth striving for in your own professional life. Particularly if you own your own company or are in a position of leadership, integrity should be something you actively consider every day.

So, what does leading your business with integrity mean today? Here are a few ways to be the boss without compromising your morals.

First, you’ve got to know what you stand for.
It’s impossible to expect something from other people you don’t even know to expect from yourself. Spend some time identifying the qualities you respect in other leaders and just in people in general. Odds are, things like honesty, dependability, and trustworthiness all stick out. Try to define the three characteristics you’d like to be described as and actively work towards those goals every single day. [Read more…] about How to Lead Your Business With Integrity

Developing Leadership Excellence

By Brandon W. Jones on April 23, 2013 3

Leadership excellence is a state of being that takes time to develop. Leadership excellence can, however, be developed more quickly when one understands the values and characteristics of great leaders. Great leaders have many great attributes.

Leadership Excellence in Action

Several years ago, I had a leader in Boy Scouts that taught me what it means to obtain leadership excellence. He worked as a physician’s assistant and was very busy at times, but he always made himself available to me and other boys in our scout troop. In his leadership he showed vision, charisma, innovation, honesty, accountability, integrity, compassion, honor, trust, boldness, confidence, work ethic, and many other great leadership traits. At each activity, he required that we live up to the standards that he lived by and those that were taught in boy scouts. Because I was young, this had a great impression on me. I learned a lot from him. He gave me confidence that it was possible to be the person that we were taught to be by how he embodied leadership excellence. [Read more…] about Developing Leadership Excellence

Knowing When to Follow the Trend

By Brandon W. Jones on June 15, 2011 2

Recently, I purchased a smart phone. It took me a while to buy a smart phone, but now that I have one I love it. I have found all kinds of applications (apps) to make life easier. I have also found that there are many companies without apps that are missing out on profit opportunities. They have not entered the market smart phone market yet so they are now behind the competition.

Follow The Right Trend

In many cases there is wisdom in waiting to see if a trend sticks before spending time, money, and effort following the trend. When the trend is temporary the companies that invest early lose a lot of money which may cause challenges for survival.

Risk vs. Reward

On the flip side, strategically waiting too long to enter/follow a new trend can cause a major setback for a company if they wait too long to enter the market. [Read more…] about Knowing When to Follow the Trend

Leaders, Obtain And Keep The Right People: Part 2 of 3

By Brandon W. Jones on February 26, 2011 2

One major problem I have seen with the fire happy leaders is that they don’t properly train their employees. These leaders can’t keep the right people because they don’t give them the proper training from the very beginning and then they expect them to know more than they should. All the employees must be trained on the following:

1. The Company Policies and Procedures

In many of the large corporations that exist, there is a specific set of training sessions that every employee must go through when they are hired. As a part of the training session, HR or some other department reviews all the policies and procedures of the organization. This is very important because this training teaches the employees what they can and can’t do within the organization.