However, for several nights in a row, I did not get to bed until almost midnight. As a result, I slept in longer and stopped running. I became irritable and started losing focus. It was clear that I needed to change something—and now!

My experience isn’t unique. Every where I go, people seem to be overwhelmed by the volume of their work. With layoffs in many businesses, employees are pulling double-duty. It’s time to get serious and triage our workloads.

Late one night, I caught myself saying to my wife Gail for the third time, “Just a few more minutes, Honey. I’m almost done.” Immediately, I realized I was lying to her and to myself. I closed my laptop and jotted down a list of ten things that had kept me from completing their work. Do these apply to you?

1. Too many meetings. How many of meetings actually advance my agenda and the reason I was hired in the first place. Too often, meetings are simply a way for people to procrastinate and avoid taking responsibility for their decisions. It’s much easier to let “the group” make the decision. Some meetings are legitimate, to be sure. But how many issues can I handle without resorting to a meeting? I need ask, “Do we really need a meeting to address that issue?”
2. Mindlessly surfing the web. When I was growing up, television was the big time-waster. Now it is the Internet. You look at this Web page, click on that link, visit another page, and then click on another link. Before you know it, you have wasted hours and hours and have nothing to show for it. It’s time to limit our time online. I think I might even try scheduling my Web time.
3. Being distracted by online pings. I shoot to have my inbox at zero by the end of the day. But do I really need to respond to every message in real time? Do you? Unless you are in customer service, probably not. You can accomplish the same goal by “batching” your inbox processing into distinct blocks of time. This includes Twitter, Facebook, and other social media services.
4. Allowing people to drop in without an agenda. I usually work with my door open. I want to be accessible to my people. But some people abuse this. They drop by without and agenda and eat up time I don’t have. I always feel badly about bringing the meeting to a close. But if I don’t say “no” to them, I will have to say “no” to more important projects—and perhaps even my family. I am willing to chat for a bit, but I have to be more courageous about standing up and walking my guests to the door.
5. Being consumed by the urgent. Modern culture is addicted to urgency. People demand an instant response. It is part of our increasingly me-centered world. Everything revolves around my agenda and my priorities. But how much of it is truly urgent. My daughter Megan often reminds me, “Dad, you’re not saving lives; you’re just making books.” Nothing like a big dose of perspective!
6. Being a perfectionist. Honestly, this is my besetting sin. (Or I should say, one of them.) I am constantly tweaking my projects. The problem is that it always feels like the change is smaller than it really is. This will just take a minute, I think to myself. Two hours later, I am still working on the same project. I like G.K. Chesterton’s quote: “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” In other words, not everything has to be perfect. Just get it out the door!
7. Refusing to delegate. This one is also tough for me. I can’t argue that I don’t have anyone to help. I have plenty of resources available. But I kid myself into thinking it will be faster if I just do it myself. I don’t want to take the time to explain to someone else how I want it done. Frankly, my own arrogance is probably at the root of this one. I need to take my own advice.
8. Not starting the day with a to-do list. I am so much more productive when I take ten minutes and actually decide what tasks I want to accomplish TODAY. I use a software package called Things, and it is perfect for this. I can take any of my tasks and assign them to the “Today Focus.” (They also have an iPhone app that syncs with the desktop.) When I just launch into the day without a to-do list, I pay for it later—in spades.
9. Not committing to an end time. As the old adage goes, “Work expands to the time allotted to it.” This explains why the week before your vacation is one of the most productive weeks of the year. You have a fixed end-time, and that forces you to be efficient. However, this also works with your daily schedule. I have a rule that I observe religiously: I leave the office by 6:00 p.m. My problem is that I sometimes take work home and then allow my evenings to become a buffer for the overflow. This has to stop.
10. Not scheduling time to work. If I don’t have a plan for my day, chances are, someone else does. On Sunday evenings, I go through and schedule blocks of time that I call “Office Work.” These are essentially appointments with myself to get specific projects done. When other people check my calendar, these blocks show up as “busy.” If someone asks me if I am free at that time, I can legitimately say, “No, I’m afraid I have another commitment at that time.” This has been one of the most helpful tools in my toolbox.

If you are feeling like your work/life balance is out of kilter, maybe it’s time for you to make a list of the reasons you aren’t done yet. If you are reading this after hours, that could be a clue.

1. How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week
2. The Importance of the Weekly Review
3. Ten Annoying Meeting Behaviors
4. Workload Triage
5. Why Most Meetings Still Suck

You might remember the Heath brothers from their bestselling book, Made to Stick. I have personally read it through three times. It is must reading for professional communicators and presenters—or anyone who wants their message to be memorable.

In their newest book, the Heaths outline the psychology of change. They begin by explaining that our brain is comprised of two systems: the rationale and the emotional. Building on the work of psychologist Jonathan Haidt and his book, The Happiness Hypothesis, they employ the metaphor of a Rider on an Elephant. The Rider represents the rationale side of our brain; the Elephant represents the emotional side. When these two systems are in alignment, change comes rapidly and easily. When they are not, change is slow and difficult.

After the first chapter which describes the challenges of change, the book is divided into three sections, expressed as three action-steps necessary to effect change:

1. Direct the Rider
• Find the Bright Spots
• Script the Critical Moves
• Point to the Destination
2. Motivate the Elephant
• Find the Feeling
• Shrink the Change
• Grow the People
3. Shape the Path
• Tweak the Environment
• Build Habits
• Rally the Herd
• Keep the Change Going

The authors use numerous, real-world examples to illustrate their concepts. I found these fascinating—and memorable. I also liked the “Clinics” they sprinkled throughout the book as “sidebars.” These provided hypothetical situations that give me a chance to apply what I had learned.

I have already begun to use many of the Switch principles in my own life and in my company. It is amazing how simple and effective they are. The book was an easy read and one that I will be going back to again and again. I have now added it to my list of top ten business books.

Just to prove how valuable I think this book is, I am recommending it to you despite the fact that it was not published by Thomas Nelson. It was published by Broadway Business, an imprint of Random House. They have graciously made 50 copies of Switch available to my readers.

To get a chance at snagging one, you must take the following three actions:

1. Leave a comment below. Tell me why you want this book. Be creative. I really do read these comments and base my decisions on them.
2. Fill out the special form. I have set up a separate contact form to make it convenient for you to provide your mailing address. Please do not put your shipping address in your comment. This will automatically disqualify you.
3. Twitter a link to this post. You can do so automatically by clicking here. (Feel free to modify the actual text.) If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can use Facebook.

On Friday, March 19, 2010, I will select 50 people, based solely on my arbitrary and subjective evaluation of their comments. If you are one of those selected, Lindsey Nobles on my team will notify you via email. If you don’t hear from her, you can assume you didn’t make the cut.

1. Book Notes: An Interview with Seth Godin
2. Book Notes: Mentor Like Jesus by Regi Campbell
3. Book Notes: Derailed by Tim Irwin
4. Book Notes: Free by Chris Anderson

A successful blog is more than just design. But you knew that already, right? As someone who’s not only been blogging since 2001 but who’s also been designing/developing blogs for nearly just as long, it’s been fascinating to observe how unbalanced blogging strategies can be when it comes to being successful.

For example, many blogs bank on their custom design, look-and-feel, and try to capture an audience by how “pretty” their blog is. You know as well as I that this is only sustainable to a point. Any design, as good as it might be, gets old. A fresh coat of paint might do the trick, but most people can’t afford a redesign every three months or so.

As a result, many blogs will tell you (or scream at you) “Content is King!” and they are right—to a point. Good content, from my perspective, might be “good” on it’s own merit, but it doesn’t do any good without people reading it. I think most people believe they publish good content; the difference is the amount of people (site visitors and page views specifically), that actually get there.

So what’s it going to take?

The easiest answer is, “All of the above.” But there’s one factor that many people don’t consider nearly as much as they should. This is what I call the third ingredient of a successful blog: Good quality code. Solid code paves the way for strategic site architecture, load speed optimization (which is a factor is search rankings), search engine optimization (SEO), and a good end-user experience.

That’s one of the reasons I developed the Standard Theme, an amazing blogging theme for users of self-hosted WordPress installations. Essentially I was tired of having to design on top of blog existing blog themes that weren’t polished or by people who didn’t care about how the actual blog ran in the “backend” (or underneath the hood).

But what I’ve learned is that some of the most successful blogs out there not only have great content and a decent (doesn’t have to be crazy-awesome or pricey) design, they are also crafted well in terms of their code. They also:

• Are SEO-optimized (so people can more easily find you)
• Take into account load-speed
• Are cross-browser compatible
• Use valid technical standards (e.g., XHTML/CSS, PHP, advanced asynchronous analytics, etc.)
• Employ best practices for making it easy to virally share the content (check out our demo with a neat persistent twitter and facebook sharing option)

These are only a few of the things that we’ve meticulously included in the theme. You’ll want to check out all the options and features right on the Standard Theme homepage.

Finally, while you might think the design of the Standard Theme unimpressive, there’s a strategy involved with that: Here’s what I’ve learned from helping many new bloggers launch their blogs: Spending too much time on design is not smart for the “new” blogger. Why? Because in my experience they’ll want to change it after a few months or so. We did that here with Michael’s blog. As he began using WordPress (having switched from TypePad), he learned what his readers wanted and desired. Based on that, we adjusted the strategy and changed the design.

As a result, “new” bloggers need to be concentrating primarily on developing good content, getting it out there to the public (social media sharing), and developing their particular niche and/or culture. The design can always be changed later. Fortunately, Standard Theme makes that a snap.

Regardless, you want to start with something solid and flexible. That’s exactly why I developed Standard Theme. It provides a great foundation that you will not outgrow.

1. How to Start a Blog
2. 7 Strategies for Increasing Your Blog Comments
3. Focus on Blog Content Before Traffic
4. Welcome to My Blog 3.0
5. Behind the Scenes of My Redesigned Blog

However, my friend, John Saddington, suggested that the whole “2.0 thing” was already passé. I thought about “Leadership 3.0,” but that seemed contrived. So I decided to start from scratch.

As a result, I have been thinking about alternative book titles for the past several weeks. I have developed a recent bias toward one-word titles, such as Linchpin, Switch, and Rework. This has forced me to try and distill the essence of the topic and summarize it in one word. The word I have chosen is Shift.

This seems like the right metaphor—at least for what I want to communicate about leadership. My rationale is that leaders exist for the sake of creating shift. This is their primary work. If you are happy with the status quo, you don’t need a leader. But the moment you want something to change—to shift—that’s when you need to bring in a leader.

Shift has three different components:

1. A shift in direction. Like steering a car onto a different road, effective leaders shift the trajectory of the organization. They determine the destination and then decide the best way to get there. The first task is vision; the second is strategy. And they always come in that order.
2. A shift in velocity. Like changing the speed of a car, effective leaders adjust the velocity of the organization. They may let off the gas to slow down and gain clarity. Or they might step on the gas to arrive at the destination sooner. Regardless, they are sensitive to how fast the organization is moving. They adjust their speed in order to get the organization to its chosen destination quickly but safely.
3. A shift in efficiency. Like the transmission in a car, effective leaders now how to make efficient use of their resources. It is possible to get from point A to point B with just a steering wheel and an accelerator. But a transmission makes it possible to get there faster and with fewer resources. Good leaders always have one hand on the stick shift, always looking for the most efficient way to get the job done.

I am planning to use these components as the basic structure of the book. Each one will be a section comprised of several chapters. The next step is to start outlining those chapters.

By the way, I am aware that there are several other books with this same title. However, none are about leadership. Titles can’t be copyrighted, so it’s not a problem.

Question: Does this title work for you? What would you suggest as a subtitle?
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:


1. Shift the Drift
2. The Five Marks of Authentic Leadership
3. Leadership 2.0
4. Leadership and Accountability
5. Leadership: Control vs. Influence

]]> http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/shift-the-essence-of-leadership.html/feed 125 http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/shift-the-essence-of-leadership.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michaelhyatt/~3/zXsw5lZiKIg/the-five-marks-of-authentic-leadership.html http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/the-five-marks-of-authentic-leadership.html#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:00:16 +0000 Michael Hyatt http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/the-five-marks-of-authentic-leadership.html
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:
1. Leadership: Control vs. Influence
2. 20 Questions to Ask Other Leaders
3. Leadership and Accountability
4. Maximum Impact Club Interviews Me on Leadership
]]> Many people have written on what it means to be a leader. Almost everyone identifies influence as the primary characteristic. By definition, this means that leadership and position are two different things. You can have a title, and a position of power, but this does not mean that you are a leader. Even people without these things can exert influence and thus leadership.



Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/PeskyMonkey

But leadership is more than influence. It certainly includes influence, but it is more. I believe it includes at least five characteristics. I call these the five marks of authentic leadership:

1. Authentic leaders have insight. Sometimes we refer to this as vision, but that usually has exclusive reference to the future. While leaders must have vision, they need more. They need wisdom and discernment. They need to be able to look at complex situations, gain clarity, and determine a course of action. In the Bible, “[The] men of Issachar … understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32). This is what I mean by insight.
2. Authentic leaders demonstrate initiative. They go first. They don’t sit on the sidelines. They don’t ask others to do what they are unwilling to do themselves. Instead, they lead by example. Lt. Col. Hal Moore is a great example of this. Famously depicted by Mel Gibson in the movie, We Were Soldiers, Lt. Moore told his troops, before leaving for Vietnam,
   

   We are going into battle against a tough and determined enemy. I can’t promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God: that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I’ll be the last to step off. And I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together, so help me God.”

3. Authentic leaders exert influence. It’s no coincidence that influence and influenza (the flu) come from the same root word. Real leaders are contagious. People “catch” what they have. People are drawn to their vision and their values. They are able to gather a following and move people to act. To change metaphors, they are like human wave pools, creating a ripple effect wherever they go.
4. Authentic leaders have impact. At the end of the day, leaders make a difference. The world is changed because of their leadership. They are able to create real and lasting change. Unless something has shifted, they aren’t leaders. They are only entertainers. There is a big difference. The measure of leadership cannot be found in the leader; it is found in the impact the leader has on his or her followers.
5. Authentic leaders exercise integrity. Not every leader is benevolent. Adolf Hitler was a leader, as was Mao Zedong and Josef Stalin. They had insight, initiative, influence, and impact. Yet their lives were not integrated with the highest values. Integrity—or the lack thereof—ultimately determines the quality of a person’s impact. In a sense, this is the foundation of authentic leadership.

Leaders must be deliberate and intentional if they are to be successful. These five qualities can guide us as we grow in our ability to lead.

Question: Do these attributes mark your leadership? Where can you improve?
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:


1. Leadership: Control vs. Influence
2. 20 Questions to Ask Other Leaders
3. Leadership and Accountability
4. Maximum Impact Club Interviews Me on Leadership

]]> http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/the-five-marks-of-authentic-leadership.html/feed 74 http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/the-five-marks-of-authentic-leadership.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michaelhyatt/~3/fFQAIpRZwd8/why-authors-agents-and-publishers-should-embrace-google-book-search.html http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/why-authors-agents-and-publishers-should-embrace-google-book-search.html#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:00:13 +0000 Michael Hyatt http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/why-authors-agents-and-publishers-should-embrace-google-book-search.html Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:
1. Top Ten Book Publishers in America (Through March 2008)
2. Top Ten U.S. Book Publishers for 2009
3. Advice to First-Time Authors
4. Literary Agents Who Represent Christian Authors
]]> Since Google introduced its Book Search program, we have been fielding questions from authors and agents. They are concerned that Google has scanned their books and the results are showing up in Google search. The primary concern is that consumers will not buy books because. Why? Two reasons:



• Because consumers can read them online
• Because consumers can copy and paste the content to their computer and then print out the book

In my opinion, both fears are unfounded.

Two weeks ago, we had a representative of Google visit our Nashville campus and present a Google Technology Seminar for about 100 of our publishing and sales staff. I attended as well. The seminar was extremely helpful. It provided an overview of both Google’s philosophy, technology, and future plans.

I came to the meeting skeptical but left convinced that Google has already addressed most of my major concerns. Based on the information Google provided to us—and with thanks to Tod Shuttleworth for his excellent meeting summary—I believe authors, agents, and publishers should embrace Google Book Search rather than fear it:

1. Google Book Search creates greater book awareness. Google, the most popular search engine by far, helps put books in front of people who might not have thought a book could be an answer to their query. They are, after all, using Google to find something. As authors, agents, and publishers, we believe books are a great place to find an answer. However, if they don’t show up in the Google search results, consumers are will seek their answers elsewhere.
2. The biggest problem authors face today is obscurity not piracy. With more than 500,000 new books published annually, it is difficult for authors to get noticed. The competition has never been more fierce. In addition, consumers spend four to five times more time on the Internet than they spend reading newspapers or magazines where publishers have traditionally promoted their books. Google Book Search puts these books where people are more likely to find them. They do this with every book, frontlist and backlist, using the book’s most compelling feature: its very own content.
3. Most people have no desire to read a book on their computer. It’s just too much work. In addition, Google intentionally renders pages at a lower resolution to make them a less-than-optimal reading experience. The resolution is good enough for sampling the content, but it is not good enough for reading more than a few pages. Unlike dedicated e-reader devices, Google Book Search is not optimized for book-length reading. Google’s goal is discovery and sampling not content-delivery.
4. Google only allows users to preview 20 percent of a book’s content. Consumers can do this—and more—in a traditional bookstore today. Why shouldn’t they be able to do it online? In addition, Google does not allow copying, pasting or printing. Publishers can increase amount of content they make available (up to 100 percent), but they cannot turn on copying, pasting or printing in the basic preview program. However, Google will make this option available via their Google Editions program, but this is only for paid content, once a consumer has actually bought the book.

I am impressed by how responsive Google has been to the concerns of the publishing community. I believe they are going to make it possible for more consumers to discover great new content that they would have otherwise missed. Rather than being something we should fear, Google Book Search is something we should embrace. If we do, I think we will find that our content is suddenly more relevant than ever.

Update: Here are some resources from Google for publishers and authors.

Question: How do you feel about Google Book Search? What concerns do you have that I have not addressed?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:


1. Top Ten Book Publishers in America (Through March 2008)
2. Top Ten U.S. Book Publishers for 2009
3. Advice to First-Time Authors
4. Literary Agents Who Represent Christian Authors

]]> http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/why-authors-agents-and-publishers-should-embrace-google-book-search.html/feed 38 http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/why-authors-agents-and-publishers-should-embrace-google-book-search.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michaelhyatt/~3/dpRVwwGPTb4/you%e2%80%99re-invited-backstage-to-the-chick-fil-a-leadercast.html http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/you%e2%80%99re-invited-backstage-to-the-chick-fil-a-leadercast.html#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:00:01 +0000 Michael Hyatt http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/you%e2%80%99re-invited-backstage-at-the-chick-fil-a-leadercast.html Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:
1. The Chick-fil-A Leadercast
2. Join Me for Breakfast in Sunriver, Oregon!
3. The Catalyst Conference
4. The Catalyst One-Day Leadership Conference
]]> As I have written before, I will be attending the Chick-fil-A Leadercast on May 7, 2010. This is a one-day leadership event that will take place in Atlanta, Georgia and will be broadcast to 500 host locations throughout the country via satellite or internet downlink. They are expecting nearly 70,000 attendees, between the live site in Atlanta and the rest of North America.



Since the time I first blogged about it, GIANT Impact, the company producing the event with Chick-fil-A, has asked me to host “Backstage Leadercast.” I will be in the “Green Room,” interviewing the speakers as they come and go. This will be broadcast on the Web before the event, during the breaks, and after the event.

I will be talking with:

• Jim Collins: Author of Good to Great, How the Mighty Fall, and co-author of Built to Last;
• Chip Heath: Author of Made to Stick (along with his brother), columnist for Fast Company, and Stanford Professor;
• John C. Maxwell: Leadership expert and best-selling author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and Put Your Dream to the Test;
• Mark Sanborn: Best-selling author of The Fred Factor and popular corporate speaker;
• Ben Carson: Neurosurgeon and Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and
• Several more!

You can read some of the testimonials of previous attendees here.

The Chick-fil-A Leadercast is still looking for a few more host churches to participate in this event. If you are a pastor, church staff member, or lay leader, this is a great way for your church to reach the business leaders in your community. Specifically, it will enable you to:

• Invite people into your church that might otherwise never darken the door
• Build relationships that will create opportunities for significant, spiritual conversations after the event
• Become the church known for speaking to the needs of the local business community
• Offer relevant leadership training for business leaders in your city
• Generate alternative revenue

You can find out more about becoming a host site by clicking here. Just for requesting more information, they will give you a free John C. Maxwell audio lesson and fill-in-the-blank notes, entitled, “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway.”

If you want to attend the in-person event in Atlanta, you can get $10 off the registration price by clicking here and entering the priority code HYATT.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Questions: Are you planning to attend the Chick-fil-A Leadercast? Is your church hosting it?
Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:


1. The Chick-fil-A Leadercast
2. Join Me for Breakfast in Sunriver, Oregon!
3. The Catalyst Conference
4. The Catalyst One-Day Leadership Conference

]]> http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/you%e2%80%99re-invited-backstage-to-the-chick-fil-a-leadercast.html/feed 16 http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/you%e2%80%99re-invited-backstage-to-the-chick-fil-a-leadercast.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michaelhyatt/~3/mEicCyCZXuI/book-notes-crush-it-by-gary-vaynerchuk.html http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/book-notes-crush-it-by-gary-vaynerchuk.html#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:00:31 +0000 Michael Hyatt http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/book-notes-crush-it-by-gary-vaynerchuk.html Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuck shows you how. In a moment, I will tell you how to get a copy FREE.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:
1. Book Notes: Interview with Donald Miller, Part 1
2. Book Notes: Free by Chris Anderson
3. Book Notes: Interview with Donald Miller, Part 3
4. Book Notes: Interview with Donald Miller, Part 2
]]> Social media has changed everything. It is now possible for you to take the thing you are most passionate about, create a social media platform, and build a real business that makes serious bucks. In his New York Times bestseller, Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuck shows you how. In a moment, I will tell you how to get a copy FREE.
If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here

First, who is Gary Vaynerchuk? He is the host of Wine Library TV and quite possibly the most passionate person on the planet. Think: human concentrate. Just add video and ba-bam. His energy level is illegal in seventeen states.

Gary’s family immigrated from Belarus in 1978, when he was just a toddler. His dad started a discount liquor business in Springfield, New Jersey and encouraged his young son in his entrepreneurial exploits. While he hated school and did poorly, he excelled at business— especially marketing. He began with a lemonade stand, went on to a lucrative baseball card business, and then graduated to a spot in his family’s retail wine business.

On February 21, 2006, at the age of 30, everything changed. Gary launched a video podcast called Wine Library TV. With his passion, humor, and transparency, he became a new media sensation. As a result, he was invited to appear on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Ellen Degeneres, and Nightline. His Internet videos went viral.

I first discovered Gary by stumbling onto a video of a speech he had delivered. Frankly, I was turned off, mostly because of his coarse language. (He says he is working on cleaning up his act.) I turned it off after about 60 seconds and moved on.

However, when Crush It! hit the New York Times bestsellers list, I decided to give Gary another try. I downloaded the audio version of the book and listened to it while running. I totally bought into his philosophy of work and social media. With his obvious passion, real-world experience, and off-script comments and humor, I became a fan.

The premise of the book is simple: life is too short to spend it on a job you hate. Instead, you need to identify your passion, make use of social media tools to get your message out, and then build a business you love. Sound impossible? Gary did it, and he shows you how in his book.

Granted, he didn’t start from scratch. His dad’s liquor business was already doing about $4 million a year in revenue. But he took it from there and created a $60 million-a-year online business!

Crush It! is a quick and inspiring read. He discusses:

• The role of passion in your life and work
• How to build your personal brand
• Why you must create great content
• The game-changing possibilities of social media
• The importance of authenticity in delivering your message
• How to monetize your passion and create a new life for yourself

The book is short—only 142 pages. I savored every chapter. Even though I listened to the unabridged audio book, I have already started reading the print version. It is that good!



Just to prove how valuable I think this book is, I am recommending it to you despite the fact that it was not published by Thomas Nelson. It was published by HarperStudio, an imprint of HarperCollins. They have graciously made 50 copies of Crush It! available to my readers.

Notice: This offer is now over. I have picked 50 people to receive a free copy of Gary’s book. I have none left. However, stay tuned for future offers. I am leaving the original text intact below for the historical record.

To get a chance at snagging one, you must take the following three actions:

1. Leave a comment below. Tell me why you want this book. Be creative. I really do read these comments and base my decisions on them.
2. Fill out the special form. I have set up a separate contact form to make it convenient for you to provide your mailing address. Please do not put your shipping address in your comment. This will automatically disqualify you.
3. Twitter a link to this post. You can do so automatically by clicking here. If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can use Facebook.

On Friday, March 5, 2010, I will select 50 people, based solely on my arbitrary and subjective evaluation of their comments. If you are one of those selected, Lindsey Nobles on my team will notify you via email. If you don’t hear from her, you can assume you didn’t make the cut.

Question: Why do you want a copy of this book? If I give you a copy, do you promise to read it?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:


1. Book Notes: Interview with Donald Miller, Part 1
2. Book Notes: Free by Chris Anderson
3. Book Notes: Interview with Donald Miller, Part 3
4. Book Notes: Interview with Donald Miller, Part 2

]]> http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/book-notes-crush-it-by-gary-vaynerchuk.html/feed 323 http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/03/book-notes-crush-it-by-gary-vaynerchuk.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michaelhyatt/~3/Uc-Ia4CP0mo/five-ways-leaders-can-avoid-the-pitfall-of-pride.html http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/02/five-ways-leaders-can-avoid-the-pitfall-of-pride.html#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:00:44 +0000 Michael Hyatt http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/02/five-ways-leaders-can-avoid-the-pitfall-of-pride.html Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:
1. Five Characteristics of Weak Leaders
2. Four Characteristics of Inspirational Leaders
3. How Do Leaders Create Alignment?
4. 20 Questions to Ask Other Leaders
5. Five Ways to Energize Your Team
]]> This is a guest post by Mike Hawkins. He is the author of Activating Your Ambition: A Guide to Coaching the Best Out of Yourself and Others and the president of Alpine Link Corporation, a consulting firm specializing in leadership development and sales performance improvement. If you would like to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Being a leader means you have followers. Having followers means you have power. Having power means you have a responsibility to be responsible. Corporate leaders, parents, preachers, teachers, community leaders, and politicians have a higher standard to live up to because of their ability to influence. And the larger your circle of influence, the larger your responsibility.



Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/jgroup

People follow someone because either: a) they have extrinsic “power of position” (e.g. they are the boss or parent) or b) they have intrinsic “power of resources” (e.g. they possess wisdom, money, or access to others). Great leaders don’t abuse this power. They know that if it weren’t for followers, they wouldn’t be a leader. They don’t focus on themselves, but on what they can do to enable their employees, children, or constituents. It is a subtle difference in mindset, but makes a huge difference in how they operate.

In defense of leaders who have trouble remembering why they are leaders, leadership can make you proud. It has a tendency to make you self-centered. It is easy to feel a sense of personal accomplishment when your team’s efforts result in something positive. It is easy to confuse the promotion of your people, products, and services with the promotion of yourself. The line between confidence and pride is a thin one.

Yet great leaders resist the temptation to take credit for their team’s efforts. They base their confidence on their own God-given talents, self-discipline, integrity, and competence. They don’t need to take confidence away from others to prove themselves. They are secure. Their effort speaks for itself. In fact, great leaders are humble. They have no need for self-aggrandizement. They focus on their employees, children, and constituents—not themselves.

Be careful with pride. It can bury itself in your subconscious and sabotage you. It will permeate your thoughts, words, and actions. Without intending, you will come across as arrogant, conceited, and selfish. These are not qualities that endear people to you. Consider these five principles to maintain your humility:

1. Seek feedback. Ask those that know you well for their candid and constructive feedback. Ask if your style, tone, or content has any arrogance to it. Be accessible and maintain an open-door policy where people can share their thoughts with you without fear of reprisal.
2. Test your motives. Consider why you do what you do. Do you lead a Bible study for your personal enjoyment or to help others? When in meetings, are you willing to let others do most of the talking? Do you give your children a chance to explain themselves or are you quick to apply a heavy hand of discipline because you can. Bring into your consciousness your true motives.
3. Know your responsibility. Realize your responsibility as a leader is to lead people, not to exercise your power over them. Your value-add is often invisible. It is what your constituents do that validates your leadership, not what you do yourself. Focus on helping and enabling others. It will come back to you like the repayment of a loan, with interest.
4. Ground your confidence in yourself. Don’t depend on the perceptions of others for your self-confidence. If you do, you will be on a constant roller coaster ride. Your mood and self-esteem will constantly go up and down by no cause of your own. You may not be perfect, but neither is anyone else. Strive to improve yourself, but be confident in yourself as you are. Don’t feel like you need to brag on yourself in order to receive validation from others.
5. Know how to promote your value-add. There are occasions when people need to understand your value-add. Customers, investors, and supporters need to know that their resources are being put to good use. You can toot your own horn without being conceited. Focus on your constituents and the benefits to them. It is about them, the results, the team, and the value-add itself. It is not about what you did. Be careful about using the “I” word, especially when it should be the “we” word.

Follow these five principles to keep your pride in check and your leadership in top shape.

Questions: Is your leadership marked by humility? What are some of the ways you see pride seeping into your interaction with others?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:


1. Five Characteristics of Weak Leaders
2. Four Characteristics of Inspirational Leaders
3. How Do Leaders Create Alignment?
4. 20 Questions to Ask Other Leaders
5. Five Ways to Energize Your Team

]]> http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/02/five-ways-leaders-can-avoid-the-pitfall-of-pride.html/feed 20 http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/02/five-ways-leaders-can-avoid-the-pitfall-of-pride.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michaelhyatt/~3/ARxVsSi8Rkk/the-o%e2%80%99reilly-tools-of-change-for-publishing-conference.html http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/02/the-o%e2%80%99reilly-tools-of-change-for-publishing-conference.html#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:00:13 +0000 Michael Hyatt http://michaelhyatt.com/2010/02/the-o%e2%80%99reilly-tools-of-change-for-publishing-conference.html O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference in New York. This conference is designed to address the issues related to publishing and technology. This was my second year to attend. Five of my colleagues from Thomas Nelson accompanied me. As was the case last year, my head is exploding. The presentations were excellent. They covered all the current issues and gave us a glimpse of the future.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:
1. The End of Book Publishing As We Know It
2. A Change in Our Trade Show Strategy
3. My Dream iPad Book Application
4. Print-on-Demand and the Future of Publishing
5. Four Essentials for eBook Success
]]> I have spent the last three days at the O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference in New York. This conference is designed to address the issues related to publishing and technology. This was my second year to attend. Five of my colleagues from Thomas Nelson accompanied me.



Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/morkeman

As was the case last year, my head is exploding. The presentations were excellent. They covered all the current issues and gave us a glimpse of the future. I am always surprised by who doesn’t show up at this conference. (If you are in book publishing and don’t attend this conference, you are putting your company and your career at serious risk.)

From my perspective, three presentations stood out. If I had to give Olympic Medals, I would have awarded them as follows:

1. Gold Medal: Skip Prichard, President and CEO of Ingram Content Group, spoke on the topic, “Are Ebooks Dead?” In my opinion, this was the best presentation of the conference. Skip’s slides were killer. (Nancy Duarte and Garr Reynolds would have been proud.) His delivery was flawless. He was totally engaged and played “full out.” His message was inspiring and made me proud to be involved in publishing. You can watch his presentation—and sample the TOC conference—on YouTube.
2. Silver Medal: Ariana Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, was also outstanding. She spoke on the topic, “Publishing is Dead; Long Live Publishing!” Her presentation was stylistically very different from Skip’s. For starters, she didn’t have any slides. But her content was provocative and engaging. She definitely “gets it” in terms of new media and is a true practitioner rather than a theorist. You can watch her presentation on YouTube.
3. Bronze Medal: Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, was the host of the conference and the final speaker. He spoke on “The Future of Digital Distribution and Ebook Marketing.” He made a powerful case for why publishers are not going away any time soon. For starters, retailers want and need someone to aggregate the content. They are unwilling to deal with thousands of individual authors. Second, publishers act as a filter and bestow status on the authors they publish. Both of these functions are still valuable in the digital world.

There’s no way I can recap all that I learned. Frankly, I am still processing much of it. However, I thought I would share just a few of the quotes that I jotted down in my notes:

• “Nearly one quarter of Ebook consumers are exclusively buying Ebooks (unless no Ebook option exists).” —Kelly Gallagher, R.R. Bowker
• “Compare how long it takes to consume various media: Songs take three minutes, sitcoms take thirty minutes, movies take one-hundred minutes, and books nine hundred minutes.” If you are a publisher, you better make it worth the consumer’s investment.” (I didn’t note who said this.)
• “Klout.com measures your Twitter clout. It is an amazing tool with lots of important metrics.” –Mike Hendrickson, O’Reilly Media
• “There is no fundamental right to survive.” –Skip Prichard in reference to publishers and booksellers
• “The more we try to go back to the Golden Age of publishing, the more we miss the current Golden Age. We are living in the age of engagement.” —Arianna Huffington
• “Often book reviews are conversation-enders. They need to be conversation-starters.” –Arianna Huffington
• “Self-expression is the new entertainment. This is why millions of people blog.” –Arianna Huffington”
• “As publishers, we have to run two companies: a traditional print business and a digital startup.” -Dominique Raccah, Founder and CEO of Sourcebooks
• “I could have titled my talk ‘Why There Will Always Be Publishers.’” –Tim O’Reilly
• “The ugly stuff will always have to be done.” –John Ingram, as quoted by Tim O’Reilly
• “Obscurity is a bigger problem for authors than piracy.” –Tim O’Reilly
• “There are more than 21 eBook channels already. Authors can’t possibly get to these and do what they do best.” –Tim O’Reilly
• “In social networks, you gain and bestow status through those you associate with.” –Tim O’Reilly
• “A key function of a publishing brand is the bestowal of status by who and what you pay attention to.” –Tim O’Reilly
• “Create more value than you capture.” –Tim O’Reilly

I hope to expand on some of these idea in future blog posts. I was particularly struck by Tim O’Reilly’s statement on “Why There Will Always Be Publishers.” He made it crystal clear what publishers must do to remain relevant in the publishing eco-system.

Questions: Did any of these quotes strike you? If so, which ones?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related posts:


1. The End of Book Publishing As We Know It
2. A Change in Our Trade Show Strategy
3. My Dream iPad Book Application
4. Print-on-Demand and the Future of Publishing
5. Four Essentials for eBook Success

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