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Culture &amp; Workplace

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Culture &amp; Workplace | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

Here's what you need to know to understand the different types of personality and how to use people's personality traits to achieve success.

Here's what you need to know to understand the different types of personality and how to use people's personality traits to achieve success. | SUCCESS

How to Understand People's Personality Types

How to Understand People&#8217;s Personality Types

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How to Understand the Different Types of Personality | SUCCESS

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The formula for maintaining a workplace with happy employees is straightforward, psychologists and researchers say. However, it’s just not always a piece of cake.



Entertainment perks and employee-friendly campuses take center stage when Google and SAS claim top spots on “Best Places to Work” lists. But what’s more important is the process these companies use to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-design-a-strong-work-culture-with-melissa-daimler/">figure out their cultures</a>.



“It’s not about jolly, jolly basketball courts and Friday everybody gets cake,” says Noelle Nelson, Ph.D., psychologist and author of over a dozen books, including <a href="https://amzn.to/3U4irDI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Make More Money by Making Your Employees Happy</a>. “It’s about things like workplace safety, clean restrooms, flextime.”



Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS, the North Carolina-based business analytics software company, follows a seemingly simple philosophy: Treat employees like they’re making a difference, and they will. Google brings the same intellectual prowess and zeal to its workplace programs that it uses to create computer eyeglasses.



<h2>The Keys to Keeping Employees Happy</h2>



Regardless of the type of business, the process to creating a happy work environment starts with some fundamentals:



<ul><li><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/how-to-hire-well">Make wise choices in hiring</a>.</li><li>Clearly communicate your company’s reason for being and its cultural goals.</li><li>Nurture civility.</li><li><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/10-things-effective-leaders-do-to-encourage-innovation/">Encourage innovative thinking</a>.</li><li>Recognize the positive.</li><li>Find out what is important to the people around you, and how that may differ from one to the next.</li><li>Determine what perks are important to whom.</li><li>Share the gain as well as the pain.</li><li>Don’t micromanage every move in the house.</li><li>Look people in the eye.</li><li>Mean what you say, and vice versa.</li></ul>



<h2>The Importance of Happy Employees</h2>



There is mounting evidence that keeping employees happy leads to <a href="https://deliverypdf.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=020102027024074109126114078093017014122017071012062030101001071122112065067005127029056029020062102033001068101030082114120117015072091036076108090001007028067066067085066040012002067074003109113109112074101100118121075005121069065114087067021072006072&amp;EXT=pdf&amp;INDEX=TRUE" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">increased productivity and profitability</a>. But Nelson says mainstream acceptance of those facts is occurring at a glacial pace.



“We are still at what I call the 10% level,” she says. “Those who get it, really get it. They understand that it’s about paying attention to what matters to employees that’s the secret, if you will, to happiness in the workplace.”



Nelson explains that a 2004 Labor Department study really drove home a critical issue she had observed in her practice. The study reported the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs was because they felt unappreciated.



In her experiences as a trial consultant in civil cases, “over time, I realized that for the vast majority of lawsuits that I worked, somebody was not feeling appreciated and that’s why they sued,” she says. “And it sounds very simplistic, but I guarantee you that whether it was a software developer that felt he got eaten up by the big guys or a wrongful termination case, it was amazing how over and over and over again, it was simply lack of appreciation—meaning that somebody felt that they were taken for granted or worse: disrespected, dismissed, devalued.”



Those courtroom experiences launched Nelson into an exploration of workplace practices. In her ensuing research, Nelson, who has never worked for a corporation, got to see the flip side. She got to see what it is like in a company where “<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/5-key-insights-on-treating-employees-with-love-from-leadership-experts-three-and-jackie-carpenter/">the employees are valued</a>, where the clients and customers and vendors are appreciated overtly, where what matters to them matters to the company,” she says. “And the difference is astounding.”



<h2 id="h-an-evolving-terminology">An Evolving Terminology</h2>



Employee “happiness” wasn’t part of Peter Drucker’s lexicon. Certainly, the concept was not on the list of critical concerns in 1939 when he began writing his first book. He wrote 39 books that eventually led to him being known as the “father of modern management.” Drucker did, however, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-speak-well-and-listen-better/">put great currency in listening</a>, asking questions and letting natural patterns emerge from the answers.



“Months before his death in 2005, he told me that happiness was too big of a word, but that people who were satisfied and contented tended to, as he put it, ‘live in more than one world,’” says Bruce Rosenstein, who published his second Drucker-inspired book, <a href="https://amzn.to/3zDHyoB" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way</a>, in 2013.



<h3>Happy Employees Are Successful, Not Vice Versa</h3>



Among Drucker’s key concepts and touchstones were meaning, purpose, accomplishment and achievement, Rosenstein notes. “He believed that developing and nurturing a sense of responsibility and accountability brought success for individuals and organizations.”



The main thrust of Shawn Achor's research is the notion that optimism and happiness will lead to success rather than the other way around. He is the author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3DtMKMZ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life</a>. Achor was a teaching assistant for Harvard’s positive psychology course, taught by his mentor, Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D. The class was among the university’s most popular courses.



Achor is also the founder of the consulting firm Good Think Inc. It researches positive outliers—people who are well above average—“to understand where human potential, success and happiness intersect.”



<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-find-freedom-from-toxic-hustle-culture/">The prevailing career formula</a>—work harder, be more successful, be happier—doesn’t work because “our brain changes the goal post,” he explains.



Instead of an employee's success making them happy, the reverse is true. “Our research shows that when the human brain is positive, you have 31% higher levels of productivity, 23% fewer fatigue-related symptoms and are 40% more likely to get a promotion. The greatest competitive advantage you can possibly have is a positively charged brain,” Achor says.



<h2 id="h-putting-theory-into-practice">Putting Theory into Practice</h2>



For organizations big and small, nurturing these positively charged brains can be simple in theory. Yet it can be difficult for their leaders to instigate, especially in challenging economic times.



Nelson likes to cite Alcoa Inc.’s experience as one of the most dramatic examples of a company turning itself around by listening to its employees.



When future Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neill assumed control in 1987, the almost 100-year-old company had experienced a significant downturn. It was losing customers. “A new CEO comes in, and all the stockholders and investors and so forth are expecting him to talk about a turnaround, making a profit and slashing budgets, and all the rest of it because the company has been losing money like crazy,” Nelson says. “But instead, he said we’re going to focus on one thing and one thing only: worker safety, which was a huge concern of his workforce. And literally within a year, within just one year, their profits hit a record high. By the time he stepped down, 13 years later, the company’s annual income was 500% larger than before.”



<h3>Happy Employees Aren't Just for Big Businesses</h3>



Nelson cites another example of how policy focused on keeping employees happy can work in a small-business environment. Based in New Richmond, Wisconsin, JA Counter was founded in 1976 as an insurance agency. It later expanded into the securities arena. The company, which employed just 14 people, implemented a modest flextime and flex-place program based on one developed and implemented by Best Buy. As a result, JA Counter’s expenses decreased 23% and net income increased 94%, she says.



Small-business people often think they can’t offer day care or some other cost-challenging measure, Nelson says. “But one of the most basic steps that a person can do costs nothing except literally a moment of attention and time. That is, to systematically catch your employees, whether you have one of them or 50, in the act of doing something right.



“Most employees feel like they are literally invisible until they mess up, and that’s a horrible feeling. You can be invisible, churning out your best day after day, and nobody says squat to you. And then you make one mess-up—it could be a small mistake or a big fat one—and that’s it. I don’t want to say it’s all over, but your self-esteem gets tanked. You get openly berated in one form or another, or it goes in your personnel file, and all of those days and all of those hours that you really stood up at the plate are meaningless.”



<h2 id="h-the-most-critical-choice">The Most Critical Choice</h2>



In a 2013 e-book, <a href="https://amzn.to/3fRnAA1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Got A Bad Boss? Work That Boss to Get What You Want at Work</a>, Nelson cites a Gallup Inc. <a href="https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/employee-relations/Documents/Gallup-2013-State-of-the-American-Workplace-Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">State of the American Workplace report</a> which found that “of the approximately 100 million people in America who hold full-time jobs, 30 million (30%) are engaged and inspired at work…. At the other end of the spectrum are roughly 20 million (20%) employees who are actively disengaged. These employees, who have bosses from hell that make them miserable, roam the halls spreading discontent. The other 50 million (50%) American workers are not engaged. They’re just kind of present, but not inspired by their work or their managers.”



“Active disengagement” costs the U.S. an estimated $450 to $550 billion annually. Meanwhile companies whose employees are engaged “have higher earnings per share (EPS) and seem to have recovered from the recession at a faster rate.”&nbsp; Smaller companies—those with fewer than 10 people—expressed the highest employee engagement (42%), “suggesting something unique and beneficial about working in a smaller, tight-knit work environment when it comes to engagement,” according to the Gallup report.



<h2 id="h-navigating-the-road-to-happy-employees">Navigating the Road to Happy Employees</h2>



<h3>Ask Employees for Input</h3>



The biggest mistakes many managers make? They forget to ask their employees what they think would make their companies the best places to work, Nelson says.



The same thing goes for rewards and recognition programs, she notes. “Don’t assume that everybody wants a Starbucks card or $10 on Amazon. Include in their annual reviews a checklist of a dozen comparable things and have them select the one they prefer. Maybe that will be cash. Maybe it’s a half a day off.”



In a similar vein, too many companies still look upon an annual review as a justification for why a person doesn't earn a promotion or raise, instead of the productive opportunity it can be. “But this does take some serious thinking,” Nelson says. “It can be a conversation that starts out with the employer or the supervisor asking the employee, ‘How do you feel you did this year? What are you most pleased about with what you did this year?’”



This process is particularly critical in the entrepreneurial process, Nelson says. A startup often launches as a tight, functional, two- or three-person core that enjoys the benefits and the hardships together. Keeping that focus and camaraderie can be difficult as the enterprise grows. But “the cultural shift calls for the leaders to see employees as allies, not servants,” she says.



<h3>Communicate Changes When Possible</h3>



“Now, you don’t share everything with your allies, but you share a lot. And what employees really resent is to be the last ones to find out about the merger, or the consultant coming in, or the downsizing, or the change of facility, or the new software. I’m not talking about sharing every single little bit of information—some of it is only appropriate for your three or four founders. But if you share basic information as you go along, people have a better understanding of why something is turning negative and perhaps what steps you’re taking right away to turn it positive. Right alongside that—and this is what happens too often as companies grow past the two- or three-person level—is that they do not solicit, actively solicit, opinion and solutions from the newer hires,” Nelson continues.



<h3>Keep Generational Differences in Mind</h3>



Finally, today’s manager needs to be cognizant of the challenges of managing generational differences. Baby boomers, Gen Xers and millennials may have very different ways of looking at work and goals, Nelson says. “Don’t clump all your employees in one basket.



“You’ve got to speak to your people individually as well as collectively. And then you’ve got to use your common sense, look at your budget and see what you can do. But there’s nothing that says that all employees must be treated alike—especially when it comes to rewards and recognition. I think that’s a big mistake. Employee of the month just does not cut it for most employees,” she continues.



This article was published in July 2014 and has been updated. Photo by adriaticfoto/Shutterstock

Regardless of the type of business, creating a happy work environment starts with some fundamentals. Here’s how to keep employees happy.

Regardless of the type of business, creating a happy work environment starts with some fundamentals. Here’s how to keep employees happy. | SUCCESS

Discover the Formula for Happy Employees

This is How to Keep Your Employees Happy | SUCCESS

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Who Needs an Office? 10 Entrepreneurs Weigh In on the Future of Virtual Work

Future of Work

Future of Work Archives

Future of Work | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

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For that matter, who needs to travel to a meeting? Virtual tools and resources can help you hire, manage projects, collaborate with far-flung team members and even make it look like you really do have an office.



Scott Gerber is just as comfortable <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/working-remotely-heres-how-to-do-it-right/">working at home</a>, in coffee shops or in shared workspaces. But around 2006, when he was starting his short-video production company, Sizzle It!, he thought he needed the credibility of a Madison Avenue address to attract top-tier clients. So, he paid $300 a year to borrow one from ManhattanVirtualOffice.com. That decision paid off, saving him $100,000 in rent and ultimately helping attract clients that included Procter &amp; Gamble and The Gap.



Gerber, 38, now a serial entrepreneur and author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3R89Y15" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Superconnector: Stop Networking and Start Building Business Relationships that Matter</a>, published in 2018, has become an evangelist for entrepreneurship, particularly for resourceful young go-getters who may not be cut out for life as cubicle dwellers. He even founded a nonprofit for Gen Y entrepreneurs, YoungEntrepreneurCouncil.com (YEC). As such, he’s always on the lookout for new ways, resources and tools to gain a competitive advantage.



“Entrepreneurs need to make sure they are in the know about the latest tools and SaaS resources. You never know when a $20-per-month service can save you thousands and help you scale up—all without making any client the wiser,” he says. “Virtual tools are vital for young entrepreneurs. They allow business owners to create systems, automation and infrastructure in a matter of minutes, while simultaneously enabling them to build credibility and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/could-you-work-in-a-virtual-reality-virbela/">compete at a higher level</a>.”



Finding the right virtual tools for a startup is essential. Sometimes the only viable course of action involves a trial-and-error path in determining what works best for each entrepreneur.



SUCCESS sought out the opinions of some young entrepreneurs on what are proving to be the best tools in their enterprising toolboxes. Respondents included members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a global network that also operates the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards program for college students who own and run businesses while attending a college or university (awarded in November). We also asked Gerber to reach out to YEC members for their input.



Some common favorites include Google apps, Grasshopper, Skype and Dropbox. And we got some unexpected comments too, like this one from Cliff Michaels, past president of EO Los Angeles: “If you are visual and tactile, which I am, there is nothing better than a good old-fashioned notepad—on your computer desktop or physical desk. Once you have to go too many layers into a software tool, it’s a time and focus killer. Old school, baby!”



Here are more entrepreneurs’ tips:



1. “Virtual doesn’t mean alone: Whether you work in an office, at home, at a coffee shop, or on a beach, people are your most valuable asset,” says Natalie MacNeil of <a href="https://nataliemacneil.com/thecollective/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Collective</a>. She recommends Elance.com [now Upwork] as a virtual human resources department for hiring and managing people. “Use it to find your logo designer, website developer, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-and-why-to-hire-a-virtual-assistant/">virtual assistant</a> and other people who can help you build a successful virtual business.”



2. For project management, Devesh Dwivedi of <a href="http://www.breakingthe9to5jail.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BreakingThe9to5Jail.com</a> says “I love BaseCamp. It has made us [nearly] 100% virtual. It has every possible feature for project management, and other products from 37signals’ Suite [web-based apps for collaboration, sharing information and making decisions]. It is inexpensive and easy to use because once you’ve subscribed, anyone—e.g. your clients, vendors and employees—can simply join in via web without… downloading or signing up.”



3. Matt Mickiewicz of <a href="https://99designs.com/?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_term=%2B99designs&amp;hsa_acc=9751465130&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;hsa_kw=%2B99designs&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ad=605427308786&amp;hsa_tgt=kwd-20567039928&amp;hsa_grp=28862790557&amp;hsa_mt=b&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_cam=115206317&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_network=g&amp;utm_creative=605427308786&amp;utm_term=%2B99designs&amp;utm_placement=&amp;utm_device=c&amp;utm_campaign=US%20-%2099designs%20Branded&amp;utm_content=99designs%20-%20nonexact&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwn4qWBhCvARIsAFNAMii0LBdsOBV7A7IUkqoNeZlvnhWCay3ICoHX3uISGNYqzQfYp3ngSmgaAkQQEALw_wcB" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">99designs</a> recommends taking advantage of subscription services. “It’s cheaper and easier to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/could-you-work-in-a-virtual-reality-virbela/">create a virtual office</a> than ever before. Start off by getting a mailbox at a local UPS, get set up with a toll-free phone number through Grasshopper.com, register a professional domain name at NameCheap.com, and get business cards and marketing material from Vistaprint or PrintingForLess.com.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://bambee.grsm.io/SUCCESS" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><img src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Female-Get-a-Dedicated-HR-Manager-728090.jpg" alt="Bambee - Get a Dedicated HR Manager" class="wp-image-65734"/></a></figure>



4. Keep it simple, says Kent Healy of Healo Capital. “Some web services I suggest are GoToMyPC for international access to one base hard drive, and Evernote for paperless document and image management. More features are not always better.”



5. Using an online fax service can save you some money, says Ashley Bodi of SWK Technologies. “You don’t need a printer, toner or ink, and it makes it easy to transfer if you move rather than setting up a new line every time. I recommend Grasshopper or eVoice to help your small business stay mobile and on the go. Both services are awesome and help you with everything you need.”



6. Kris Ruby of <a href="https://rubymediagroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ruby Media Group LLC</a> is a big proponent of virtual offices. “If you are on a shoestring budget, utilize services like Stark Office Suites or Regus, which will keep your overhead to a minimum,” she says. “I was able to move in and start working immediately without worrying about internet or phones, and I even have a receptionist answering calls for me.”



7. Eric Bahn of <a href="https://www.hustlefund.vc/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hustle Fund</a> recommends oDesk.com [now Upwork] to hire low-cost engineering talent if you’re <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-launch-and-maintain-a-successful-e-commerce-business/">building a web-based business</a>. “oDesk is a directory of international contractors. Take some time to interview and vet the engineers with high ratings and lots of logged contract hours—it’s a good filter for finding good talent initially.”



8. Elizabeth Saunders of <a href="https://reallifee.com/wp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Real Life E®</a> offers a wise word of advice: “Reduce, reuse and recycle: For instance, your current software, email provider, phone service and office equipment may be most—if not all—of what you need to start. Also, you can begin with free web services like ZOHO CRM [for managing your sales, marketing, customer support and inventory in a single system] and upgrade after your business has earned the cash to pay for new purchases.”



9. Cliff Michaels, the former president of EO Los Angeles, recommends HootSuite as a simple one-click to push messages on Facebook, Twitter and other social media. His favorite free software is Pandora for instant access to music. His biggest virtual tool mistakes include web-based templates, which he says are often inflexible. “Also, trying to add complicated tools like heavy customer relationship management kills focus and time management. Simpler is best: Most CRM tools, for example, are overloaded with access features never used and they try to lock you in to their contracts, making it hard to switch over.”



10. Connor Hood of <a href="https://mayvenstudios.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mayven Studios</a> likes RescueTime <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/rohn-5-tips-for-using-your-time-wisely/">for time management</a>, and he offers another piece of advice: “Do not fall into the trap of trying too many things and not using the important ones to their fullest potential. Just because it’s ‘cool’ and ‘new’ doesn’t mean you need to use it for your business.”



This article was published in October 2011 and has been updated. Photo by Jaem Prueangwet/Shutterstock

Finding the right virtual tools for a startup is essential. Sometimes the only viable course of action involves a trial-and-error path in determining what works best for each entrepreneur.

Finding the right virtual tools for a startup is essential. Sometimes the only viable course of action involves a trial-and-error path in determining what works best for each entrepreneur. | SUCCESS

Future of Virtual Work: 10 Entrepreneurs Share Insights

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Tom Hopkins is having another unbelievable day. Just ask him.



“I tell people in sales that you can be having the worst day of your life, but no one has to know it,” says Hopkins, a sales seminar dynamo and the co-author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3tdjZ34" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">When Buyers Say No: Essential Strategies for Keeping a Sale Moving Forward</a>. “When people ask you how business is, just be honest and say, ‘Unbelievable,’ and they will assume you mean it’s great.”



Whether you spend your days making sales calls, pitching to clients or investors, running a company, or just navigating through life, failure and the word no will inevitably dog you. Successful people are the ones who understand what a no moment means, how to put it into perspective and how to work toward the next yes.



History is rich with such lessons.



<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/profiles-in-greatness-winston-churchill">Winston Churchill</a>, the World War II-era British prime minister who navigated his country through a series of disappointments and hard times before the Allied victory, realized that “<a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/06/28/success/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">success is stumbling from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm</a>.”



Author <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/stephen-king-of-business">Stephen King</a> tossed the opening pages of his first published novel, <a href="https://amzn.to/3tcxujr" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Carrie</a>, into the trash after publishing houses rejected him. His wife, Tabitha, retrieved the manuscript and urged King to finish it. Eventually, Carrie became a best-selling book and a successful movie, and King’s ensuing books have sold more than 350 million copies, with myriad others being made into profitable television and film projects.



Another story often told in motivational training exercises is of <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/famous-failures">Michael Jordan</a> being cut from his high school’s varsity basketball team. After that setback, Jordan once noted, he went on to experience failure throughout his playing days. At one point during his amazing career, he reckoned he had missed more than 9,000 shots, lost almost 300 games, and on 26 occasions missed what would have been a game-winning shot. And that doesn’t even count the disastrous attempt at a baseball career.



“I have failed over, and over, and over again in my life,” Jordan said in a memorable Nike commercial. “And that is why I succeed.” The six-time NBA champion was voted Most Valuable Player five times and used his on-court success to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-complete-guide-to-money-how-to-create-wealth/">build a worldwide brand</a>.



The game is different, but the process is the same for becoming successful when selling or in the face of <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-overcome-your-fear-of-rejection/">business rejection</a>.



“The first realization is there’s no magic bullet for closing every deal,” says Hopkins, who first cut his sales teeth in real estate. “Sometimes you know you have to walk away empty-handed. The key is to realize that no isn’t an automatic failure.”



Likewise, rejection and the miserable feeling it leaves occur in a variety of work-related situations on a daily basis. But if rendered correctly, they actually drive a healthy system of competition and ensure a high standard of work. These instances are often painful, but many moments of rejection are opportunities for learning, notes Susan Heathfield, an organizational development consultant since 1987.



“Rejection sends a powerful message, so you need to make sure that you are reading the right cues in any rejection you experience,” says Heathfield, who has worked as a human resources director and co-owns a software company with her husband. “You can only accomplish these two tasks: learning and responding to the intended message. If you are willing to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/courage-its-the-secret-to-getting-everything-you-want-in-life/">practice personal courage</a> and seek out feedback following your rejection, you can do both.”



<h2 id="h-let-s-make-a-deal">Let’s Make a Deal</h2>



“The average American won’t say yes—meaning yes to spending money—until they first come up with some type of no,” says Hopkins, who ran the leading Coldwell Banker Real Estate office in the country for several years. “You learn to handle that concept, learn the dialogue and keep them moving toward the yes. I found, over the years, that the guys who made the most money got rejected the most, and they didn’t take it personally.”



Hopkins has written 18 books, including <a href="https://amzn.to/3IdKVnx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to Master the Art of Selling</a>, which has sold more than 1.4 million copies. In 1976, he founded Tom Hopkins International Inc., through which he produced seminars, books, and audio and video training programs. More than 4 million people have attended his seminars worldwide.



During the course of his sessions, he connects with the audience by saying that if they ended up with good kids; they had to have done some selling in the process of parenting. If they get a promotion over other candidates, they have done some selling that led to the promotion. If they stay married in the world today, both spouses are doing great sales jobs to make it happen.



“My goal is to try to convince them that, hey, selling is not bad,” he says. “It’s not luck, wit, charm and a smile like most people think. It truly is a science. The foundation is getting over the fear that you will be told no and then learning what to say to cope with no.”



A no can come in different forms, he explains. “‘I want to think it over’ can be a no, or it can be a stall tactic,” he says. “It may be that the people need more information, or that they really need to go home and think it over, and they’ll call you back. Each no is just a fork in the road, and you need to see where that new path leads you. Is it a dead-end, or is it yet another road that goes somewhere else?”



Here are some of no’s alternate definitions and what that preliminary “nope” on a sales call can mean:



<ol><li>I’m confused. Perhaps the customer or client hasn’t had all of his questions answered yet. Keep going. The client education process is inherent to selling. “If the buyer consistently asks for more information after your initial closing attempt, then it is time to make an adjustment in your presentation,” says Hopkins. “Investigate further to determine what aspect of your presentation isn’t clear.”</li><li>Now’s not a good time. The buyer’s no might just be a way of slowing the sales process down. Some people initially turn down all offers as a defense mechanism. They may just be buying time to think. Give them some breathing room.</li><li>There’s something you’re missing. Perhaps the buyer hasn’t told you everything about his or her circumstances, needs and price range.</li><li>Not quite. The buyer’s no may mean, “not in that size or color.” Or it could be financial. Ask questions to clarify what the potential clients mean.</li><li>Not from you. Sometimes you just don’t make the <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/nurture-your-network">personal connection</a> needed in sales. It’s critical to make a strong first impression on buyers—be sincere and be polite.</li></ol>



Handling rejection is not a test of will, but a matter of preparation, perspective and attitude, Hopkins says.



<h2 id="h-the-five-moves">The Five Moves</h2>



“One of the statistics most people don’t realize, and I’m now really talking about sales, is that the top producers don’t accomplish the final closing until they’ve had five attempts—meaning they’re five different moves into the close. This is why you have to learn to transform the no into the maybe, then transform the maybe into the yes, and of course most of this is done by the words that we communicate,” Hopkins says.



The three basic activities in any sales situation are making statements, asking questions and remaining silent, Hopkins says: Be comprehensive in the pitch, ask probing questions about the buyer’s needs, request that the buyer take action, and then remain silent until the speaker talks again. “Silence is simple but powerful,” he says.



“People will say yes based more on your belief and conviction than on your product knowledge or technical skills,” Hopkins says. “A while back, I played golf with Wayne Gretzky, and I asked him why he thought he did so well in hockey. He told me he had a true passion for every aspect of the game, for winning, for responding to his opponents chasing him around the ice, all of it.”



Not <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-be-a-better-listener/">listening to client reactions</a> is one of the worst things a salesperson can do in the heat of a proposal, Hopkins says. “I teach that there are three types of listeners—the poor listener, who doesn’t hear most of the words because his or her whole focus is on what to say next; the average listener, who hears maybe half of the words; and<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/why-the-empathetic-leader-is-the-best-leader"> the empathetic listener</a>, who is so focused that he or she hears even the messages hidden behind the words, many of which are defense barriers because people are nervous and afraid of being sold to, so they come up with these things.”



Heathfield notes that perceptive listening can inspire creative thinking. “If you discover the no you received is because your pricing is not competitive, go look at your pricing and see if there is something you can do,” she says. “Instead, a lot of people just give up at that point.”



Hopkins tells the story of a man who came up to him after a seminar and said that attending one of his sessions two years prior had changed how he worked and dramatically improved his fortunes. “He told me that he was a retired colonel in the armed forces, and he did terribly in sales at first because he was still trying to command his customers to buy what they needed,” Hopkins says. “He took to heart what I said at the previous seminar about listening, and he became one of his company’s top producers.”



<h2 id="h-if-the-answer-is-still-no">If the Answer Is Still No</h2>



Understanding when no really means no is critical. Not doing so can damage any future business with a prospective client, Hopkins says. “I like to tell people that no is just the first part of nothing, as in, ‘If you say no to me tonight, Mr. Johnson, then I feel you’re gaining nothing from the benefits we have to offer.’ Then let Mr. Johnson ponder that without any further pressure.”



In any event, remain positive, Hopkins says. If three unsuccessful sales calls in a row leave you frustrated, don’t let it color the fourth pitch. One formula Hopkins recommends is connecting the fruitless sales calls to deals you close.



“Using your own closing ratio, figure out how many contacts it takes, on average, to make one sale,” Hopkins says. “For example, if you close one out of every five contacts and you earn $1,000 per sale, that means each of those four rejections gets you one step closer to your $1,000. So tell yourself they are worth $250 each in the process. When you hear that definitive no, think to yourself, “Thanks for my $250.”



Each sales call is a new chapter in<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/happy-negotiating"> negotiation</a>.



<a href="https://www.pon.harvard.edu/research_projects/harvard-negotiation-project/hnp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Harvard Negotiation Project</a>, created at Harvard Law School in 1979 to consider global issues that involve conflicts between nations, has spawned books such as <a href="https://amzn.to/3I6KxHy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In</a> by Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton. Getting to Yes advanced the theory of “principled negotiation”—how to separate pre-existing and underlying relationship issues from the discussions at hand and focus on each side’s interests, how to develop options for mutual gain, and how to use independent standards of fairness to avoid a bitter contest of wills.



<h2 id="h-being-the-boss">Being the Boss</h2>



The Harvard Negotiation Project’s process of compromise is based on three criteria: It should produce a reasonable agreement, if an agreement is possible; it should be efficient, and it should improve or at least not damage the relationship between the parties.



“I think the damaging relationships part is particularly important in workplace issues,” Heathfield says.



The key factor to remember for entrepreneurs and other <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/be-a-better-manager-with-these-4-tips">managers of people</a> is that when an employee comes up with an idea, you need to respond to it; she says. If your answer is no, “Tell them, ‘I’ve heard you. Yes, there are aspects of that idea that I love. It’s not practical at the moment for these reasons,’ and give the employee an actual response for why their idea is not going to be implemented.”



Too much of the time when employees present their ideas, the concepts fall into a black hole, Heathfield says. Because there is a fear of hurt feelings, “no one responds. The employee is left totally up in the air and doesn’t know what’s going on when simple responses would have solved and cured that whole problem.”



When employees receive no feedback, they don’t know what to do, so they become repetitive, Heathfield says. “They keep putting forth the same idea, hoping that they can batter down the resistance. They often turn into whiners, because they bring it up, and they bring it up, and they bring it up, and they drive you crazy. But if you’re a manager or a business owner and you’ve got a person doing that, understand it’s your fault. You haven’t allowed that person to understand that you really did hear them out and listened to them, you objectively considered their idea, and you’re rejecting it for reasons X, Y and Z.”



<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/5-strategies-for-giving-phenomenal-feedback/">Being open to that feedback</a>, soliciting it, and then being able to deal with and address it is crucial for an employee with an idea, or anyone trying to sell, Heathfield says.



“My husband and I have 300 employees, and there are a few that need some serious feedback from me,” Heathfield says. “One of them is having lunch with me on Tuesday, and he is going to get it. That’s part of the honest appraisal. It’s my duty to let him know that he isn’t succeeding at the level that I honestly believe he can succeed at in our company.”



<h2 id="h-the-bottom-line">The Bottom Line</h2>



Accurate self-appraisal, the ability to respond to feedback and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-solopreneurs-guide-to-email-marketing/">keeping rejection in perspective</a>: These are all powerful tools when on sales calls, whether you’re out on the entrepreneurial limb or in a leadership environment.



History has proved this time and again.



Robert M. Pirsig spent over four years writing<a href="https://amzn.to/3MQVUH0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance</a> in the wee hours of the morning before going to work at his day job as a contract writer, only to have publishers reject the book 121 times, which landed him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for most rejections by a best-seller. The University of Southern California turned <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/1982-achiever-of-the-year-steven-spielberg">Steven Spielberg</a> down at least twice for admission (the prolific filmmaker eventually received an honorary degree from the school in 1994 and two years later became a trustee). And legend has it more than 1,000 restaurants rejected the secret chicken-seasoning recipe of Harland David Sanders before someone finally accepted it (the “colonel’s” legacy is KFC).



As with most things, Dr. Seuss explains it best. In<a href="https://amzn.to/3q2XGuY" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Oh, The Places You'll Go!</a>, the legendary author of children’s books wrote optimistically, “You have brains in your head. Your feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” This was the insight of Theodor Seuss Geisel, who had his first book rejected 27 times before he closed the deal to get it published.



This article was published in September 2014 and has been updated. Photo by @Chawki/Twenty20.

Successful people are the ones who understand what a no moment means, how to put it into perspective and how to work toward the next yes.

Successful people are the ones who understand what a no moment means, how to put it into perspective and how to work toward the next yes. | SUCCESS

A Manual for Dealing with Rejection

A Manual for Dealing with Rejection | SUCCESS

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Personal Development

Personal Development Archives

Personal Development | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

The most effective way to get more done is to spend less time doing it, says Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, a New York-based company with a mission to change the way the world works.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re not creating space for renewal and refueling, it&rsquo;s like driving a Formula 1 car around a track and thinking that you&rsquo;re going to win by being the person who drove the fastest for the longest the most continuously,&rdquo; Schwartz says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not even true for a car. If you don&rsquo;t make strategic pit stops to deal with the emptiness of your gas tank and the wear done to your tires, you&rsquo;re not going to win the race.&rdquo;The author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GNIZ3K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B005GNIZ3K&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=QJJMUW2NZ5HWJKJ2">Be Excellent at Anything: The Four Keys To Transforming the Way We Work and Live</a>, Schwartz cites a growing body of multidisciplinary research that shows strategic renewal&mdash;including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office, and longer, more frequent vacations&mdash;significantly boosts workplace productivity.The more-is-better, machine-driven mantra spawned by the Industrial Revolution remains prevalent in many organizations today even as computer technology has exponentially accelerated the pace of information and function. But humans are not machines that can grind away without renewing the energy they expend, Schwartz explains.Changing the MindsetSchwartz cites the work of Florida State University&rsquo;s K. Anders Ericsson as being a game changer in this subject area. Ericsson&rsquo;s research of high-performance individuals, including musicians, athletes, actors and chess players, found that elite performers typically practice in uninterrupted sessions that last no more than 90 minutes.&ldquo;To maximize gains from long-term practice, individuals must avoid exhaustion and must limit practice to an amount from which they can completely recover on a daily or weekly basis,&rdquo; Ericsson concluded. These <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/what-the-most-successful-people-do-before-breakfast" target="_blank" title="What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast | SUCCESS.com " rel="noopener">elite producers begin in the morning</a>, take a break between sessions, and rarely work for more than 4&frac12; hours in any given day.Schwartz notes that the body regularly sends signals it needs a break during these intervals, but a person often overrides those signals, depending on caffeine, sugar and the body&rsquo;s emergency reserves&mdash;the stress hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol&mdash;to mask the need.&ldquo;The key is to prioritize your most important work and do it when you have the most energy,&rdquo; Schwartz says. &ldquo;You also must evaluate the value of how you feel when you&rsquo;re working even more than how many hours you put in.&rdquo;Recently the Draugiem Group, a social networking company, used its time-tracking productivity app DeskTime to follow the habits of its employees. Draugiem found the top 10&nbsp;percent of its most productive people didn&rsquo;t log more hours than other employees. &ldquo;The most productive employees didn&rsquo;t work full eight-hour days, and they took 17-minute breaks for every 52 minutes of work with intense purpose, allowing their brains time to rejuvenate and prepare for the next work period,&rdquo; the company reported.The 52-minute clock time is not as important as being self-aware of how much we can do and when we need a break, says Susan Fletcher, Ph.D., a Texas psychologist and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0980096901/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0980096901&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=4HDCML6OCHJLNPNX">Working in the Smart Zone: Smart Strategies to Be a Top Performer at Work and at Home</a> .&ldquo;We have to pay attention to our energy levels just like we have to pay attention to when we&rsquo;re hungry, when we need to go to the rest room and so on,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;We have to have such good self-awareness&mdash;cognitively, physically and emotionally&mdash;that we do what works best for us.&rdquo;Nurturing Brain FunctionPrevalent research also confirms that being a multitasker decreases productivity, Fletcher says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important to find cognitive emotional white space as an alternative to being a multitasker. It increases productivity.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s only so much that a brain can take in, Schwartz notes. &ldquo;In fact, it&rsquo;s surprisingly little at any given time that you&rsquo;re capable of understanding in the moment, let alone retaining. If you multiply that by five, 50, 500, you really are essentially trying to pour water into a full glass. Whatever is already in there is going to spill out. You might get something new in, but you&rsquo;re going to lose something in the process. The remedy is not doing more things for longer, but to the contrary, and that&rsquo;s why finding that white space is important. Manage your energy such that you occasionally empty the tank so that there&rsquo;s room for more stuff to come in.&rdquo;The normal stress of the day is not the enemy, Schwartz says. &ldquo;Stress is something you need to expand functional capacity. If you want to build the biceps, you stress the muscle. If you don&rsquo;t recover after stressing the biceps and you keep stressing it, then it breaks down. On the other hand, if you don&rsquo;t stress the muscle enough, there is no increase in strength. At the end of four weeks, you can be weaker. Too much stress or too little stress is equally costly. It&rsquo;s really this shift to understanding that we are physiologically designed to pause, and when we do, we are healthier, and we don&rsquo;t get sick.&rdquo;People often mistake the productivity process as merely one of managing time better. &ldquo;All these apps we can use, all the bells and whistles that can go off to tell us what to do, that really isn&rsquo;t the key,&rdquo; Fletcher says, &ldquo;I always say that time management is for rookies. That&rsquo;s a place to start. But the place to focus on is our attention and energy, because some things give us energy and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/4-tips-to-turn-off-the-distractions" target="_blank" title="4 Tips to Turn Off the Distractions | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">some things suck us dry</a>.&rdquo;Balancing Our Energy NeedsSchwartz has long advocated that people are at their best when they move between expending energy and intermittently renewing their four energy needs: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.Stepping away from one task to another doesn&rsquo;t buy renewal time, he says. &ldquo;Working on a difficult project for an hour and a half and then answering your email isn&rsquo;t a break. What you&rsquo;re looking for are forms of renewal that restore you, make you feel refreshed.&rdquo;There isn&rsquo;t one formula for that process. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very personal,&rdquo; Schwartz says. &ldquo;All you have to do is ask yourself the question, How is it that I feel when I&rsquo;m at my best? Most people answer that question, saying, I feel happy, engaged, excited, focused, in the zone. Exactly. When you notice that you&rsquo;re not feeling that way, you need to be in renewal.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s critical to learn to be aware of how you&rsquo;re feeling because you can&rsquo;t change what you don&rsquo;t notice, he says.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re sitting, stand. If you&rsquo;re standing, sit. If you&rsquo;re inside, go outside. If you&rsquo;re in artificial light, seek out natural light. That&rsquo;s why renewal can be either active or passive. If you&rsquo;re sedentary, it&rsquo;s an especially good renewal to move, whether that means taking a walk or going up and down stairs or doing some sort of more strenuous physical activity. What the physical movement does is it quiets the mind and calms the emotions, and that&rsquo;s a very valuable source of renewal. Passive renewal is you go quiet. You meditate. You breathe. You make a phone call to somebody you love. You take a nap. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/videos/youtube/3-yoga-poses-you-can-do-at-your-desk" target="_blank" title="3 Yoga Poses You Can Do at Your Desk | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">You do a very gentle form of yoga</a>.&rdquo;Taking a break in the middle of the day to do something that gets everything flowing better increases productivity for a lot of people, Fletcher says.&ldquo;The purpose of your exercise is different than just getting it in during the morning or at night,&rdquo; she notes. &ldquo;Many people start to remember things they forgot throughout the day when they go to bed at night. That&rsquo;s because there is less competition for thought at that point. But if you work out in the middle of the day&mdash;even if it&rsquo;s just a walk by yourself&mdash;that allows the reflection process to happen when it can be more productive. You also can schedule creative time or just reading or working on your to-do list for the week. These things won&rsquo;t happen by default.&rdquo;The simple task of preparing ahead of time for meetings instead of waiting until the last minute can greatly increase how productive we are, Fletcher notes. &ldquo;You need some bullet points. The preparation determines how successful you&rsquo;re going to be.&rdquo; She also urges arriving a few minutes early to let your brain settle.A to-do list can obviously be a valuable tool, Fletcher says, but &ldquo;if you have one big long list&mdash;and this is old Stephen Covey stuff&mdash;you&rsquo;re more reminded of what you haven&rsquo;t finished compared to what you have. Map out your to-do list over a week&rsquo;s time. Thursday may be a better day to return phone calls than trying to squeeze them in on days where you have more activities.&rdquo;And although some people take on the easiest tasks on their list to build momentum and to start checking things off quickly, Fletcher notes that research indicates that tackling the toughest thing first &ldquo;helps you feel powerful in a productive way.&rdquo;Likewise, she avoids a recap of the day but instead considers what needs to happen tomorrow. &ldquo;Move some unfinished tasks to tomorrow, but it&rsquo;s not productive to get bogged down in what didn&rsquo;t happen.&rdquo;The idea of a daytime nap might be at odds with the prevailing work ethic in most companies, where downtime is typically viewed as time wasted, but University of California, Riverside, professor Sara C. Mednick&rsquo;s research in the science of napping shows that a midday shut-eye can help cognitive functions, problem-solving, perceptual learning and verbal memory. Her studies also found that a 60- to 90-minute nap improved memory test results as fully as did eight hours of sleep.Outside the Office BoxThere are critical, if not sometimes obvious, steps in the renewal process outside the office that can boost performance as well. A Harvard study published in 2011 estimated that sleep deprivation costs American companies $63.2 billion a year in lost productivity.&ldquo;If you were going to change one single behavior in your life to be more productive for the vast majority of the population, it would be to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/eat-move-and-sleep-your-way-to-a-longer-healthier-life" target="_blank" title="Eat, Move and Sleep Your Way to a Longer, Healthier Life | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">sleep more</a>,&rdquo; Schwartz says.Fletcher also urges clients to spend some time alone, whether it&rsquo;s driving to work or traveling. &ldquo;Get rid of all the chatter,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Be comfortable with your own company because that&rsquo;s when you really get in tune with what&rsquo;s important. If we cannot center ourselves, we start to carry out other people&rsquo;s agendas rather than our own.&ldquo;We have to unplug big time. We rely too much on being accessible. As a clinician, I&rsquo;ve had to tell people to take Facebook off the phone, because they will complain about how they&rsquo;re not productive but immediately start talking about their Facebook page. We rely too much on that. It gives us a sense of camaraderie, but it&rsquo;s at the expense of [live] camaraderie that&rsquo;s a lot healthier. It&rsquo;s a different part of the brain. We need to be deliberate about those things.&rdquo;The most important thing we can do for our well-being is to pursue things we enjoy, Schwartz says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s emotional renewal. That&rsquo;s not physical renewal, although it sometimes can be. If you think about it, what is resilience? Resilience is the ability to bounce back quickly from some form of adversity. You&rsquo;re more resilient when you have more positive emotions in the tank, so that when something bad happens it doesn&rsquo;t put you in a complete abject despair and emptiness. You have enough in the tank to bounce back.&rdquo;Take Those Vacation DaysGetting away from the office and completely disconnecting from it is critical, both Schwartz and Fletcher note. In 2006 the accounting firm Ernst &amp; Young did an internal study of its 50,000 employees and found that for each additional 10 hours of vacation taken, their year-end performance ratings from supervisors (on a scale of 1 to 5) improved by 8 percent. Yet a Harris Interactive survey found that Americans left an average of 9.2 vacation days unused in 2012&mdash;up from 6.2 days in 2011.&ldquo;I think deferring vacation has actually gotten worse, because in the aftermath of the last recession, I think people were terrified to take vacations because they assumed their jobs might be gone if they left,&rdquo; Schwartz says. &ldquo;The digital world has made people feel that somehow they can&rsquo;t disconnect even when they go on vacation, and that they certainly can&rsquo;t go away for very long.&rdquo;The Energy Project keeps pushing the envelope with its employees to determine <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/6-tips-to-balance-the-work-life-seesaw" target="_blank" title="6 Tips to Balance the Work-Life Seesaw | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">the optimal balance between work and vacation</a>, Schwartz says. &ldquo;The company offers all employees in their first year five weeks of vacation, in their second year six weeks of vacation, and in their fifth year seven weeks of vacation,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If we assess it from the bottom line, we&rsquo;ve had spectacular growth that&rsquo;s kept increasing even as we&rsquo;ve added more time off for people.&rdquo;For years The Energy Project had worked at the individual level to teach people strategies and an understanding of this energy-versus-time idea, Schwartz says. &ldquo;We got fooled into believing that because people loved it, it meant that it was changing both the way they worked and, more importantly, the way organizations worked,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;What we eventually discovered is they love it, but they can&rsquo;t do it because the organization resists. When we go in today, we tell organizations right from the start, if you only want us to train individuals to get better at this, we&rsquo;ll do it, but it won&rsquo;t change the problem. It&rsquo;s classic: You are pulling the weed, but the weed has still got roots way deeper; it&rsquo;s just going to sprout back up in no time.&rdquo;The biggest step in taking control of productivity is the first one. So start your engine: Just know when to put on the brakes, refuel and find that checkered flag.<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/6-productivity-tips-from-people-who-get-things-done" target="_self" title="6 Productivity Tips from People Who Get Things Done | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener">Check out 6 productivity tips from people who get things done, like Mark Zuckerberg and Marissa Mayer.&nbsp; </a>

[node:summary] - Research shows that frequent breaks boost energy levels and increase performance.

The most effective way to get more done is to spend less time doing it, says Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, a New York-based company with a | SUCCESS

Want to Get More Done? Know the No. 1 Productivity Tip

Want to Get More Done? Know the No. 1 Productivity Tip | SUCCESS

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Ray Davis has fashioned a storybook career out of hard work, a knack for solving problems and his habit of listening closely to others.The 71-year-old holds about 80 patents, and through his Dallas-based company <a href="https://www.adcoindustries.com/about/history.html" target="_blank" title="ADCO | History | ADCOIndustries.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">ADCO Industries</a> has designed and sold millions of products that have allowed businesses to improve safety standards and boost profits. Among those products are 35 types of box cutters and the Sit and Shop retail cart&mdash;introduced in 1984, long before the Americans with Disabilities Act. All of these inventions began with a client and a need, with Davis applying his dogged inventiveness and drive to come up with a solution.Along the way he forged trusted relationships with powerful, savvy people like <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/sam-waltons-rules-for-success" target="_blank" title="Sam Walton's Rules for Success | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wal-Mart patriarch Sam Walton</a>, which helped when he set out on his own in the 1970s.Davis&rsquo;s mind never stops: A member of his executive team explains, &ldquo;You have to be careful what you say around here, because Ray will go and not sleep for the next three nights developing a solution.&rdquo;Davis recently spent some time with SUCCESS to talk about his entrepreneurial journey, problem-solving and the importance of loving the work we do.Q: You were helping Wal-Mart with store openings when Sam Walton made a special request of you. How did the Sit and Shop cart come about?A: His daughter had been in a bad car crash down in Mexico. But he wanted her to be able to continue to travel to store openings with him. He asked me to go out and find some type of sit-down cart for people who need assistance walking around in one of the stores. I couldn&rsquo;t find anything like that. So I sat down and figured out the <a href="https://www.adcoindustries.com/products/handicap-carts/sit-and-shop.html" target="_blank" title="ADCO | Sit &amp; Shop | ADCOIndustries.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sit and Shop</a>. That probably remains the most public product I&rsquo;ve ever made&mdash;more than 2 million people every day get in and out of one of my chairs in a retail store.Q: What personal experiences led to your long connection with box-cutting tools?A: I was cutting in a store aisle and somebody pushed a shopping cart into me. It left a pretty good scar on my arm, and I bled quite a bit. But it was never life-threatening.Later I witnessed an accident in Louisiana that still bothers me today. A young woman&mdash;a new mother, just 19&mdash;was cutting open a box, and she placed the cutting tool into the pocket of her pants. When she tried to take the cutter from her pocket, she sliced her leg, hitting an artery. I stayed with her, trying to stop the bleeding, but she nearly bled to death. The EMTs saved her life. That accident steeled me to action.This happened in 1978, and it took me several years to develop something I could manufacture myself. I patented it in 1980, and that first box cutter I came up with [built with a spring-loaded safety guard] is still being sold. And believe it or not, nobody I know of has ever cut himself or herself with that cutter!Q: Do you have a formal process for problem-solving? And can your outlook be learned, or is it inherent to you?A: I will pick a particular problem that is not unique to one person but might have a marketable solution to it&mdash;make this, and 1,000 or hundreds of thousands of people will buy it. I try to learn the source of the &nbsp;problem&hellip;.I think it can be learned. But, No. 1, you need to know that the business you&rsquo;re going into is what you want to do, because it&rsquo;s like getting married&mdash;you can&rsquo;t just partially get married. You have to make a commitment in soul, and body, and energy&mdash;everything. You eat, sleep and drink what you&rsquo;re doing if you really want to be successful. Because there are going to be so many obstacles, things that you didn&rsquo;t think of, that will get in the way. And if you let them stop you, you&rsquo;ll fail. So if you can&rsquo;t get in the door one way, go to the back door. Do whatever you have to do. Don&rsquo;t give up.Q: What is the key to success then?A: Pure determination. People appreciate and hear in your voice that you know what you&rsquo;re talking about if you&rsquo;re confident about what you&rsquo;re doing. And if you&rsquo;re not, you can&rsquo;t fake that. Either it comes across or it&nbsp;doesn&rsquo;t.It&rsquo;s kind of like <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/five-reasons-why-fear-can-make-you-better" target="_blank" title="Five Reasons Why Fear Can Make You Better | SUCCESS.com/Blog" rel="noopener noreferrer">t</a>he adrenaline that you get when fear hits you. They say it can help people pick up things that they couldn&rsquo;t normally. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/do-all-entrepreneurs-have-adhd" target="_blank" title="Do All Entrepreneurs Have ADHD? | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">An entrepreneur has that adrenaline</a> going all the time.Q: What advice do you offer to entrepreneurs?A: Make sure you know everything there is to know about what you&rsquo;re going to do and write down your goals. Make sure that you know what success is for you. Don&rsquo;t just go out there and say, &lsquo;Well, I want to make money,&rsquo; or &lsquo;I want to do this.&rsquo; Write, &lsquo;I want to sell 10 million of these. I want to sell 5 million of those. And I want to do it by such and such a time.&rsquo; And then make it happen. Go out and make it happen. If you don&rsquo;t <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/1-on-1-how-to-set-a-goal-and-achieve-it" target="_blank" title="1-on-1: How to Set a Goal and Achieve It | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">set goals for what you want to achieve</a>, how do you know when you&rsquo;ve gotten to where you want to be?

Ray Davis has fashioned a storybook career out of hard work, a knack for solving problems and his habit of listening closely to others.The 71-year-old

Ray Davis has fashioned a storybook career out of hard work, a knack for solving problems and his habit of listening closely to others.The 71-year-old | SUCCESS

Go Inside an Inventor’s Restless Mind

Go Inside an Inventor’s Restless Mind | SUCCESS

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An engaged workforce is a happy workforce. In its latest <a href="https://www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/163007/state-american-workplace.aspx" target="_blank" title="State of American Workplace | Gallup.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">The State of the American Workplace poll</a>, Gallup focused on 12 actionable workplace elements that can be proven to coincide with performance. Employee engagement was highest among companies that had the four following traits:1. Strategy and leadership philosophy: Although most organizations now recognize the central role employee engagement plays in driving profit and growth, leaders still fail to provide a clear vision to their people of how engagement connects to the company&rsquo;s mission and growth strategy&hellip;. The best leaders understand that there is an emotional undercurrent to everything they do, which affects how they conduct business every day.TIP: Take a strategic, top-down approach to engaging leadership teams and then cascade engagement through the ranks of managers to employees on the front lines.2. Accountability and performance: Highly engaged organizations hold managers accountable&mdash;not just for their team&rsquo;s engagement, but also for how it relates to their team&rsquo;s overall performance.TIP: Embed engagement into managers&rsquo; balanced scorecards and use it as performance-evaluation criteria.3. Communication and knowledge management: Leaders in the best organizations take a strategic approach to aligning their employee-engagement communication efforts. They find ways to communicate engagement&rsquo;s impact throughout the year and share engagement tools and best practices within the organization.TIP: Use every opportunity, touch point, and available communication channel to reinforce and recognize the organization&rsquo;s <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/6-ways-to-empower-employees" target="_blank" title="6 Ways to Empower Employees | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">commitment to employee engagement</a>. Try to fully integrate employee engagement into the organization&rsquo;s lexicon.4. Development and ongoing learning opportunities: The world&rsquo;s top-performing organizations start engaging employees from the minute they show up on the first day. These organizations have well-defined and comprehensive leader and manager development programs, but they also go one step further&mdash;they fully integrate employee engagement into these programs.TIP: Take a look at your leadership and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/how-to-develop-a-culture-of-personal-growth" target="_blank" title="How To: Develop a Culture of Personal Growth | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">personal development programs</a> and see where you can seamlessly coordinate employee engagement into your ongoing efforts.<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/make-your-company-happier-and-healthier" target="_self" title="Make Your Company Happier and Healthier | SUCCESS.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Happiness and good health go hand in hand. Find out four low- and no-cost ways to make your company healthier and, therefore, happier.</a>

An engaged workforce is a happy workforce. In its latest The State of the American Workplace poll, Gallup focused on 12 actionable workplace elements that

An engaged workforce is a happy workforce. In its latest The State of the American Workplace poll, Gallup focused on 12 actionable workplace elements that | SUCCESS

4 Tenets of a Happy Workplace

4 Tenets of a Happy Workplace | SUCCESS

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