Right Attitudes » Ideas for Impact
» by Nagesh Belludi

You accomplish victory step by step, not by leaps and bounds.
* Lyn St. James

A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart.
* Jonathan Swift

Achievement is largely the product of steadily
raising one’s level of aspiration and expectation.
* Jack Nicklaus

Quality questions create a quality life.
Successful people ask better questions,
and as a result, they get better answers.
* Anthony Robbins

We are all dreaming of some magical
rose garden over the horizon-instead of
enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.
* Dale Carnegie

Laugh to forget,
but don’t forget to laugh.
* Arnold Glasow

Ideas, like individuals, live and die.
They flourish, according to their nature,
in one soil or climate and droop in another.
They are the vegetation of the mental world.
* Macneile Dixon

Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by
forgetting ideas which one has not time to write down.
* Hector Louis Berlioz

Just as appetite comes from eating,
so work brings inspiration,
if inspiration is not discernible at the beginning.
* Igor Stravinsky

Sins cannot be undone, only forgiven.
* Igor Stravinsky

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

True friendship is like sound health;
the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.
* Charles Caleb Colton

To achieve more and better results,
more resourcefulness is as important as more resources.
* Tony Alessandra

If you ever get a second chance in life
for something, you’ve got to go all the way.
* Lance Armstrong

Know that although in the eternal scheme of things you are small,
you are also unique and irreplaceable,
as are all your fellow humans everywhere in the world.
* Margaret Laurence

You cannot dream yourself into a character;
you must hammer and forge yourself one.
* James A. Froude

It takes courage to live a life, any life.
* Erica Jong

The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice.
* George Eliot

Remember that time is money.
* Benjamin Franklin

If it’s worth doing,
it’s worth doing well.
* Seth Godin

It is time for us all to cheer for the doer,
the achiever – the one who recognizes
the challenge and does something about it.
* Vincent T. Lombardi

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming,
we lose the excitement of possibilities.
Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.
* Gloria Steinem

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

Michael Dell is the founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Dell, Inc. [NASDAQ: DELL], a leading computer-hardware business. Michael started his company at age 19 out of a dormitory room at the University of Texas at Austin. Last year, the Forbes magazine estimated Michael Dell’s net worth at $15.5 billion and ranked him ninth in a list of the 400 richest Americans. Michael Dell, currently 41, is the primary benefactor of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, a charitable foundation that focuses on children’s education and health programs in the United States, India, and other geographies.

In an essay entitled “Secrets from Successful CEOs,” author and investor Mark Breier identifies Michael Dell’s email communication style. This essay is part of the book “Leading Authorities in Business,” edited by Marshall Goldsmith and James Belasco.

Michael Dell’s Email Practice

Michael Dell understands that the key to email is keeping the exchanges fast and short. He replies to nearly every message in several hours. He raises brevity to an art, never sending a three-word answer when a single word (’yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘thanks,’ or ’sorry’) will do. He reduces clutter by copying only those who really need to see a copy, and he delegates ruthlessly via email: “I’m copying Jane Smith on this. She’ll follow up with you by two this afternoon.” Keeping emails fast and short facilitates action—and results.

Call for Action

Email is one of the most efficient—albeit often misused—forms of communication. For higher productivity with your email, focus on these essential steps.

• Be as succinct as possible. State the objective of your email in a meaningful subject line. Explain the context and describe what you expect from the recipient at the earliest point in the body of the message.
• When replying to emails, include just enough of the thread or any preceding communication to help the recipient understand the context. When attaching supporting material—a report or a project proposal, for example—include an excerpt or a relevant summary in the body of the message.
• Copy only those “who really need to see a copy.”
• Re-read your composition before sending the message. Anticipate any supplementary information the recipient could use to take action on your expectations. Include additional references if necessary.

Attention to such details during composing emails can help your recipients grasp the intent of your communication and facilitate prompt action and quick results.

Credits: Michael Dell’s photo courtesy of Dell, Inc.

***See other articles related to Ideas for Impact, email, email communication, effective communication, Michael Dell

To love what you do and feel that it matters
— how could anything be more fun?
* Katharine Graham

We are all dreaming of some
magical rose garden over the horizon-
instead of enjoying the roses
blooming outside our windows today.
* Dale Carnegie

The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now.
* James Baldwin

Do one thing every day that scares you.
* Eleanor Roosevelt

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word – excellence.
To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.
* Pearl S. Buck

For us is the life of action, of strenuous performance of duty;
let us live in the harness, striving mightily;
let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.
* Theodore Roosevelt

Logic will get you from A to B.
Imagination will take you everywhere.
* Albert Einstein

It often requires more courage to
dare to do right than to fear to do wrong.
* Abraham Lincoln

It is more rewarding to watch money change
the world than watch it accumulate.
* Gloria Steinem

One cannot get through life without pain.
What we can do is choose how to use the pain life presents to us.
* Bernie Siegel

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

We regard the physical space around our bodies as personal territories. Subconsciously, we consider ourselves the center of a series of invisible bubbles—each bubble representing a comfort zone. American anthropologist Edward Hall defined four personal spaces in his classic book ‘The Hidden Dimension‘ (1966.)

1. Intimate space for interacting with significant people and for hand-shaking, whispering, etc. with friends and acquaintances—touch to 1.5 feet away
2. Casual space for interacting with close friends—1.5 feet to 4 feet away
3. Social space for interacting with acquaintances—4 feet to 12 feet away
4. Public space for interacting with relatively anonymous people—further than 12 feet away

Personal Spaces Represent Comfort Zones

The distances associated with the comfort zones above depend on one’s cultural upbringing. During an interaction, the nature of the interpersonal relationships and/or the context of interaction may affect comfort zones too. Consequently,

• Personal spaces are larger for two strangers in a conversation.
• Women tend to have smaller personal spaces when interacting with other women.
• Westerners tend to require larger personal spaces. People from India, China and other Asian cultures are used to crowded cities, packed public busses, and such—hence, they are more comfortable standing close to other people.
• Two individuals in an argument expect each other to be as far as possible. If one of them moves closer, the other person may interpret this move as a sign of aggression.

Significance of Personal Spaces

The significance of this concept of personal space is obvious: we feel uncomfortable if a person enters a space that we do not desire him/her to be in.

• During hand-shaking, do not get too close to the other person. Being within the other person’s arm-length ensures you are within his/her personal zone, and out of the intimate zone.
• Stay within the friendly zone if you want a casual conversation with a celebrity.
• When talking to or walking with somebody else, if the other person backs away a little, it is likely that you are encroaching his/her comfort zone. Be mindful of the other person’s requirements—do not try to close the gap.

***See other articles related to Cross-cultural interaction, interaction, interpersonal skills, people skills

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake,
not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.
* Henry David Thoreau

Nurture your minds with great thoughts,
to believe in the heroic makes heroes.
* Benjamin Disraeli

To be idle is a short road to death
and to be diligent is a way of life;
foolish people are idle,
wise people are diligent.
* Gouthama Buddha

What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a
moment the shining, elusive element which is life itself.
* Willa Cather

Death is a challenge.
It tells us not to waste time…
It tells us to tell each other right now that we love each other.
* Leo Buscalia

Anything’s possible.
You can be told you have a 90% chance or a 50% chance or a 1% chance,
but you have to believe, and you have to fight.
* Lance Armstrong

It may be doubtful, at first,
whether a person is an enemy or friend.
Meat, if not properly digested, becomes poison;
But poison, if used rightly, may turn medicinal.
* Saskya Pandita

Happiness grows in our own gardens,
and it is not to be picked up in strangers garden.
* Voltaire

Mind is the master power that molds and makes,
And we are Mind, and evermore we take
The tool of thought, and shaping what we will,
Bring forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills.
We think in secret, and it comes to pass -
Our world is but our looking glass.
* James Allen

Salvation Of The Dawn
Look to this day,
For it is life,
The very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the truths
And realities of your existence;
The bliss of growth
The glory of action, and
The splendor of beauty;
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today well lived makes
Every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.
Such is the salvation of the dawn.
* Bhagavadgita

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

Ethel Grodzins Romm was the President and CEO of NITON Corporation, a maker of scientific equipment. NITON is currently part of Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO.) Ethel is an accomplished engineer, entrepreneur and author.

Guy Kawasaki features Ethel Romm in his book ‘Hindsights: The Wisdom and Breakthroughs of Remarkable People.’ In her interview for this book, Ethel emphasizes the need for leaders to build consensus instead of enforcing their will.

Ethel Romm on Building Consensus

“Business is a garden of forked paths, and when we can’t agree on which one to take, then I make the call. There are occasions when you have to say, ‘I’m the president, and it’s got to go this way,’ but that’s the weakest appeal of all.”

“If it’s everybody’s decision—if everyone has helped to make it, or talked you out of something—then we’re all rowing together. Bosses say, ‘Go!’; leaders say, ‘Let’s go!’”

Sometimes, it is difficult for managers “to see why or how they are inefficient. They believe that they are succeeding—after all, nobody mutinies. They fail to understand that when you are the boss, everyone salutes you and follows your orders, regardless of your personality.”

“Thus, they are misled into believing that their meanness or callousness is keeping everyone in line. They can easily get the idea that if they don’t command, control, and coerce, the place will fall apart. The feedback is all wrong.”

Call for Action

Quite often, members of a team may realize that they have very little influence on the decision-making process and withdraw from active participation. However, the team buy-in on the decision to ensure prompt follow-up on expected contributions. Building consensus as part of the decision-making process, therefore, is one of the core team skills—for team members and team leaders.

Listen to every idea offered during a team conversation. Do not ignore or sidestep any ideas or concerns. Do not criticize or show objection. Instead, seek clarifications and discuss: “That is a great idea. And, one of the challenges we will face is…. How shall we work around that? What if we modify…? How about…?” Differences of opinion are natural and expected. Work on reaching decisions by building on the agreements.

As Dwight Eisenhower said, “Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.

***See other articles related to ideas for impact, Building Consensus, team skills, leaders and bosses, leadership skills, managerial skills, decision-making