If my life is anything like yours, you have many opportunities that come your way everyday. People will come into your office and/or send you emails requesting your help on everything you can imagine. Can you participate in this group? Can you help me with this project? Can you review this report? Can you take care of this responsibility? Ther are many other questions that come regularly. So how can you wade through all the requests and still complete your core responsibilities? I have just the solution for you.

Even though many of the requests are for very important things that need to be done, you don’t personally have to fulfill all of them. You can delegate. When you delegate these requests or responsibilities to others, it is important to sift through them so you know what things you absolutely have to do yourself compared to what you can have others do for you. That is where the cost-benefit analysis is very useful.

The cost-benefit analysis will help you to know what you have to identify the things that you have to complete? Every time you get a request you should ask the following two questions:

1. What is the cost for me to do this project?
2. What are the benefits for me if I personally do this project?

Costs. When you think about the costs, you must consider all associated costs. Some things to consider are time required to complete the project, resources, financial costs, what will have to be put on hold to do this project first, etc.  There may also be other costs you will need to consider that are specific to your industry or line of work.  As you complete this review, be sure to keep your overall goals and objectives in mind so that you accurately identify the costs.

Benefits.  Many of the benefits will fall into the same categories as the costs.  When you consider the benefits, you should consider financial gains, experience this will give you, future opportunities that will come from this project, etc.  Just as with the costs, you should think about your overall goals and objectives when you identify the benefits. 

After performing a cost-benefit analysis, you will know if you should be the one to complete a particular assignment or responsibility.  You must realize that your time is very valuable and that there is only enough time in the day to do certain things.  You will never be able to do everything because you have limited resources.  If you do one thing you will be passing up a different thing.  Life is all about the choices we make.

What are some other techniques you use to effectively prioritize?  Please share your comments below!

Did you hear the story about the stay-at-home mom that became a millionaire? How did she do it? She did it by blogging. She and her husband were struggling to make ends meet so she started a blog. The purpose of her blog was to show everyone what she and her family were going through and how they were trying to save money, be more frugal, and overcome their situation. As she wrote, she gained more and more followers. She gained credibility as a money saving expert as she saved money and became financially stable. Once she gained her expert status, major television networks had her to speak on their shows about overcoming financial instability. They paid her big money for the speaking arrangements. From there, she started her own in-home business that focused on helping people gain financial stability.

I learned about this story through reading the book ME 2.0 by Dan Schawbel. Each person

has the ability to start their own blog. If you start a blog and post regularly, you will gain a following and you could be the next millionaire! Even if you don’t become the next millionaire, there are many benefits that come from blogging. Just for starters, I came up with a list of four benefits from blogging. Starting your own blog will help you do the following:

1. Establish your expertise
2. Develop a network
3. Gain supporters
4. Influence potential employers

As you begin your blog, you may find that in the beginning it is a challenge to post regularly. If, however, you continue to blog you will also gain credibility and have opportunities come to you.

Establish Your Expertise. When you start your blog you should focus it on an area that you are very familiar with. The subject should be something that you like. As you write about that topic, you will learn more and your expertise will grow. As you blog, you will be forced to write what you know which will clarify your thoughts. The more you blog, the more content you will have on the internet. The content will help people find you when they look for information on your specific subject.

Develop a Network. As people find your blog they will follow you. As your followers comment on your blog posts and you comment back, you will develop a network. Your followers will spread the word about what you are posting. They will help you to gain more exposure and they will support you. Potentially, the people within your network will have many different backgrounds.

Gain Supporters. As your network develops, your followers will become supporters. They will expect you to post regularly and they will create opportunities for you based on your subject expertise.

Influence Potential Employers. As you blog, you have the ability to influence your potential employers. Those that read your blog may be in positions where they can springboard your career to new levels. In line with your blog, there are other avenues you can use where your blog will strengthen your resume. One example is that you can link your blog to your Linked In account so when people read your resume they will see your blog posts. Your blog posts will validate your resume.

In addition to the four reasons to write a blog, there are many other benefits that will come as you blog. What are some other benefits you have seen from blogging? Why do you blog? Please submit your comments and thoughts in the comment section below.

Do you remember who your childhood heroes were? What did you like about them? What qualities did they have that made you look up to them? What did the heroes do to gain your trust or support? In today’s world everyone wants to have a hero and be a hero.

When I think of my heroes I think of people like my parents, grandparents, Steve Young, Jerry Rice,

Ronald Reagan, past leaders and coaches, etc. Each of these people played an important role in shaping me into who I am today.

Each hero was a hero for a different reason. Those that were close to me like my parents, grandparents, leaders, and coaches played a more personal role in my development. Those people that are famous heroes played a much different role.

I would like to suggest the importance of being a hero. My heroes were great examples to me in one way or another. In order to be a hero, you must have strong character.

My parents were very consistent as I grew up. They were always there for me whether I was good or bad. They always showed love towards me even if I made bad decisions at times. They were consistent in there love for me. My athletic heroes were people of good character even when others around them were not. They stuck to their values even when it was a challenge. Ronald Reagan was a hero because he stood for freedom and would not back down even when it wasn’t always the most popular choice.

Think of the characteristics of your heroes and do all you can to emulate them. You may not be at the level that they are at now, but if you take steps in the right direction every day, you will be well on your way. The heroes that you have were made one step at a time. Most of them walked slowly in the right direction to get to where they are. It is the same with each of us as we walk in the right direction. I have always felt like you are always on a path and while on that path you are either walking forward or backwards.

Who are some of your heroes and why are they your hero?

Please share your thoughts and comments under the comments section below!

Over the last little while I have watched a lot of what has been going on in the republican primary elections. Each candidate has their own set of strengths and weaknesses. With this election, as is common with every other election, each candidate focuses on reasons why he/she is the best candidate for the position. One thing most candidates agree on is that America has always been known as a country where people come because they want to be successful. With that in mind, why are Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum saying that Mitt Romney is less qualified to be President of the United States because he was successful?

Great leadership is carried out when the leader brings out the best in people. All other things equal, the leader helps the entire group, company, or organization to be successful.

In the business world, success comes in the form of higher profits, expansion, and growth. A result of success is that those running the company tend to gain financial freedom in their personal life. Everyone out there wants to be successful because they want financial freedom.

Why is success so strongly encouraged and then condemned once it is achieved? That is very contradictive. It undermines people getting a college education. It also undermines entrepreneurship.

Mitt Romney was very successful at Bain Capital where he created many jobs. When Romney led Bain Capital, a venture capital firm, he took over failing companies and helped them succeed. In order to help the failing companies succeed, he had to let some people go to stabilize the companies. Once the company was stable, Romney hired new people to help the companies grow, become successful, and increase profits. Why is Mitt Romney less qualified because he was an entrepreneur? Overall, he created many jobs and helped Bain Capital and the previously failing companies be successful.

Why is Romney being attacked by Gingrich, Santorum, and the media for being successful and helping the economy grow?

Want a free iPad?  Want a free laptop?  You deserve the good things in life!  You are entitled to the best because if anyone deserves it, you do.   In the past few years, I have heard more and more people arguing that they are entitled to things.  People claim entitlement for everything you can think of ranging from government support to jobs to the best entertainment.  There is a major trend of people feeling they deserve free things like iPods, iPhones, computers, laptops, TVs, etc.  There are so many people that feel they deserve the good things in life without putting forth the hard work and effort required to obtain them.

What’s worse is that people feel that, just because they breathe air, the world owes them the very best.  Entitlement is the idea of getting something for nothing.  There is an ever increasing thought that, “If everyone else has the latest and greatest, I should too.  I, however, should get it for free because I am entitled to it”.

All leaders everywhere need to stand up and teach the importance of hard work.  People need to learn how to do good old-fashion hard work to earn what they want out of life.  When someone is willing to work hard and put in their time, they can achieve whatever they want.  Dreams are realized when people work hard with a goal.  A major benefit of hard work is the sense of accomplishment.  People who work hard to achieve a goal and are successful in achieving it are much more satisfied in life.  They understand that hard work will always pay off.  It doesn’t always pay off in the exact way you expect, but it always pays off.

When I grew up I was very fortunate to have great examples to teach me hard work.  My parents, athletic coaches, teammates, and coworkers all taught me how to work hard.  They also showed me the benefits of hard work.  I am so grateful for the examples they set for me as they showed me the way to work hard.

What have you been able to achieve through hard work?  Why is hard work important to you?

Please share your thoughts and comments.

Today I received an email requesting information on how to get your foot in the door. Every leader out there started by getting their foot in the door. In today’s economic climate, this is a very valid question. Today’s economy is as bad as it has ever been in my lifetime and there are so many people that are fighting to get a job. That being said, there are many opportunities for employment out there for those willing to work hard. I regularly see jobs posted on job boards looking for qualified candidates. One major challenge to getting the job is getting your foot in the door. How can you get your foot in the door when there is so much competition? How can you stand out amongst all the other very qualified people also applying?

Whether you are in college, underemployed, unemployed, or just looking for a new position, there is a lot you can do to stand out. Understanding how difficult it is to stand out in this climate, I have four suggestions to stand out.

1. Work hard where you are. You should always work your very hardest. By working hard, you will stand out in what you are doing. People will be impressed when they see you give it your all. You don’t have to be the very best at what you do if you are willing to work harder than everyone else. When you do your very best, you are putting forth your best foot.

If you are a college student, work your hardest to get good grades and understand the material you are studying. If you are unemployed, work as hard as you can to get a job. Apply everywhere and talk to as many people as you can. Don’t be afraid of rejection. The same goes for the underemployed and those who want a different position. By putting forth your best effort, you will have opportunities come your way.

2. Understand the company for which you want to work. Once you find a company for which you want to work, do all you can to understand the company and its industry. Employers like it when people understand their company. It shows you are interested in the position and willing to do your research beforehand. Also, try to understand the challenges the company faces and what they have to do to overcome them. In addition to learning about the company, learn about their competition. By gaining a background understanding, you will be much more prepared for the opportunities within the company and the industry.

3. Make contact within the company. Once you have done the other two suggestions, you should try to make contact with someone within the company. If you have someone in your network that has a connection with someone in the company, get a referral from them. If they recommend you, it could go a long way. If you don’t know anyone with a connection to the company, don’t be discouraged. There are other ways to get your foot in the door. Probably the toughest way to get your foot in the door would be to do a cold call, but even that works. I received one of my college internships by calling engineering firms listed in the phone book. That internship opened a lot of doors and taught me a lot of lessons that prepared me for where I am now in my career.

Once you make contact with someone in the company, put your best foot forward. Let the person know that you are willing to do what it takes to get the job. Make the person your ally within the company by gaining their trust and respect. This will help build a great rapport.

4. Be prepared when the opportunity comes. Do your homework when you prepare your resume. Do what you can to know what your role will be in the company when you start. If you get the position, have foresight to know where you want to end up. Once you get an interview, think of possible questions they will ask you and prepare your answers. Use the internet as a resource for possible interview questions. For the interview ALWAYS dress up because it shows respect for the interviewers and the position.

What are other suggestions you have for getting your foot in the door? Please share your thoughts and comments.

Several years ago, I learned a very valuable leadership lesson from my mom.  We were having a discussion about different people.  At the time, I was very frustrated because some one I knew had done something that didn’t make sense to me.  I had thought through the whole situation before I came to that conclusion and their actions just didn’t make sense.  My mom heard my frustrations and said, “Brandon, some people just don’t think the same way you think.”  She then went on to explain that each person has a completely different upbringing and background so they think differently.  That, in some ways, was a turning point in my life.  She helped me to understand the importance of trying to see things through other people’s eyes.

In leadership it is very important to see things from the other person’s point of view. Whether you are talking to your employees, people in other departments, or your management team, you must know how to understand the other point of view.  I have some suggestions on how to try and think how others think.

It is very important to learn the backgrounds of others.  By learning the background story, you know where the other person comes from.  The following questions will help you better understand other people:

1. Where is the person from?
2. What type of previous work experience does the person have?
3. What type of people does the person normally work with?
4. Where does the person want to go in their career?

These questions will help you to better understand what causes the person to act the way they do.

Another way of understanding others is to put yourself in the other person’s shoes.  Running through scenarios of how you would act in their situation will give you a better idea of some of the stresses they may be seeing.  It helps you to have a perspective on what they may be looking at.

Overall, it is very important to understand that not everyone will think like you do.  Not everyone comes from a similar background or is trying to please the same people.  Whenever I have a good understanding of people and their background, I am much more understand them and think the way they do.

Have you ever had the experience of working with or leading someone that didn’t think like you? What tools did you use to understand them better?

Please leave a comment or your thoughts on this matter!!

As my blog post the other day stated, I have been out of the blogosphere for the last little while because of a job transfer.  It is very interesting how everything came about.

Have you ever had an experience that you felt happened because it was meant to happen that way?  That is exactly what happened with my recent job transfer.  Leading up to my new position I had gone through a number of set backs.  I had applied for three other supervisor positions in my company but was not the successful candidate.  At that point I was beginning to get discouraged.  After earning my MBA, I was hoping to progress to the next level.

In August 2011, I noticed that another new supervisor position had been posted.  After applying for three other positions in a short time and not being the successful candidate, I wasn’t sure I wanted to apply again right away. The time I spent applying for the other positions was hard on my family and myself because from one week to the next we didn’t know if we were going to be moving or not.  After thinking about the new supervisor job until the last day it was open, I finally decided I would apply because I felt a strong feeling telling me to apply.

About a week after I applied for the position, I was notified that I would get an interview.  Prior to the interview I did everything within my power to prepare for the interview, so I could walk away afterwards knowing I had done my very best.  Well, a couple weeks after the interview I got a call and I was notified that I got the position.

It was a huge blessing to get the position, but with it came a lot of concern and anxiety.  We had a house, lots of friends, and a very strong foundation that we would be leaving behind.  We had so much to do before we could move between finding renters for our house, finding a new place to live, and many other things.

Everything fell right into place.  We met with two property managers in one day and the second one already had renters lined up for our house.  We took a trip to the new area and the first house we visited had everything we were looking for.  Everything with the move was lined up and ready to go within a few days.  Pretty much everything worked out picture perfect.

We are now in the new area and we are slowly making new friends and becoming accustomed to the Southern California.  I am a God fearing man and I believe everything worked out like it did because God works miracles in the small and simple ways.

Please share any of your thoughts or comments.

As the Iowa caucus came to a close the results were so close that only eight votes separated the top two candidates.  It was the closest presidential GOP contest in U.S. history and Mitt Romney came out as the winner.  The close finish made me ask questions about what factors led to the resulting eight vote difference.  Because it is politics, there were many factors that led to a close finish, but I am going to look at just a few that relate to leadership.

To understand the leadership implications, we must first look at the background.  In 2008, Mitt Romney was the runner-up in the Iowa republican caucus.  Since then, he has maintained a high level of support with relatively minimal effort.  Because of this support, he did a limited amount of campaigning until the last three weeks prior to the caucus.  On the other hand, Rick Santorum spent a lot of time and effort doing door-to-door campaigning.  Santorum had a lot of people on the ground representing him.  He also held many meetings with the citizens of Iowa.  These two methods of connecting with the people helped Santorum gain a lot of support.  While Santorum and Romney took these approaches, the other candidates were fighting amongst themselves and losing supporters in the process.  Many of those supporting the other candidates began supporting Santorum in the final weeks prior to the election as a result of the fighting amongst the other candidates.

So what leadership lessons can we learn from this?  Each of the candidates had different voters (customers) that they had to appeal to in order to gain their support.  They also had representatives (supporters) that pled their case to the other voters (customers).  As leaders, you will have customers and supporters.  In your position as the leader, you need to understand the importance of each group and how to best work with them.

Customers As leaders it is very important to keep your customers happy.  Your customers can be your employees, coworkers, other businesses, the general public, or any other group you are trying to please.  Leaders won’t be able to please all their customers all the time, but they should do their very best to please as many as possible.  Without the support of the customers, leaders may be able to obtain short-term success, but they will not be able to maintain long-term success.  It is essential that leaders identify the customer expectations and either meet or succeed them.

Supporters In addition to maintaining your own customers, it is very helpful to have someone to plead your case.  The supporters will stand up and plead your case to everyone.  They will help you to be successful in many ways.  When others are going against you, the supporters will stand up and defend you.  In both the Romney and Santorum camps, there were a number of supporters helping them gain votes in the days and weeks leading up to the election.

Timeliness Another factor that played a major role in the election results was the timeline in which things occurred.  Several candidates surged at different times leading up to the election.  Rick Santorum, however, surged at the right time.  He remained under the radar for a majority of the campaigning process and then surged right when the voters had to make their final decisions.  As leaders it is very important to make decisions at the right time.  This is especially important when implementing change or initiating new programs.  Be very aware of the timeframes that you are making your decisions.

What leadership lessons did you learn from theIowaelection outcome?

The whole process of moving and getting situated in a new location has been very time consuming. It has taken a lot of time to figure out my new routine and how to effectively use my time to get everything done that I did in the past. Overall, it has been a great learning experience. It has challenged both my family and myself but through it we have learned a lot and grown closer together as a family.

During this transition period, I have not kept up on my blog. I am now situated and plan to resume blogging regularly. I am already in the process of writing another post that be up shortly. Thank you to all you who follow me regularly.