26Apr 2016

Why Byron Scott Failed As A Leader

Lets face it, when it comes to leadership we have all failed. In fact, without failure it is impossible to become a good leader. Failure is the greatest teacher and if you are humble that teacher will make you a good leader one day. This leads me to Byron Scott, the now ex-coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. I have watched this team since I was a kid and I’ve never seen anything like the train wreck the past two years has brought to the Lakers team. The dysfunction on and off the floor was something you wouldn’t even believe in a movie, whether it was Russell taking secret videos of his teammates, or the team getting blown out by 40 it was hard not to watch this incredible train wreck. Coach Scott was responsible for this wreck just as much as Captain Edward John Smith was responsible for sinking the Titanic. The team was not very good and the players were too green but what this team suffered from the most was lack of leadership. There are three key areas he failed in that any leader can learn from.

Lack of Humility – This may go against conventional wisdom because most of our great athletes tend to not have a shred of humility. As Kobe Bryant once said, “There may not be an I in team but there is in win”. This may work as a player but as a leader the biggest trait you must have is the humility to see your faults and change. Coach Scott liked to call others who disagreed with him stupid, he publicly chastised his players and blamed every loss on his team. It’s no wonder he had issues communicating with his players. Because he thought he was better than everyone else nobody stepped up to help him. The players growth was stifled and he never developed a young leader to take over the reigns. In short, Scott coached with the same arrogance he played with. When I think of another athlete that never learned humility and has failed in the sport he loves so much Michael Jordan comes to mind. He has to be one of the the worst executives of all time and there is no reason for him to have that distinction other than his belief that he is better than everybody else.

No system – Coach Scott failed to set up a system within the organization that everyone would follow, a brand bible so to speak. When running an organization, whether sports or corporation, the first thing you must do is set in stone your core principles, what you’re trying to accomplish and how you’re going to get there. The past three years the Lakers have had no direction in what kind of free agent to pick or what kind of player to draft. Because they have no system, they don’t know how the pieces are supposed to fit together. People talk about how LaMarcus Aldridge walked away from his first choice Lakers because of analytic’s, but that really had nothing to do with it. When he showed up to he was blown away that the Lakers had no idea what they were looking for, how they were going to to play and how they planned on getting there. They tried to distract him by bringing in advertising firms and letting Kobe tell stories about his glory days. Not only was this stupid but it let him know this organization was a hot mess and led to him practically running out the door. Every great coach has a system and a way of doing things in which he’s able to plug the right kind of player into, the Spurs are the best example of this in the NBA but other great examples are Coach K at Duke and Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. All these coaches do an amazing job of not just signing good players, but good players that fit their system. A corporation is no different, look at the most successful companies and now think about their employees. Everyone knows what an Apple worker looks and talks like at their Genius Bar. You can walk into any Chick-Fil-A in America and you know you’re going to get a serving, respectful worker willing to go the extra mile for you. These companies hire the people that fit their DNA and that’s why they are great.

No Love – Okay, I’m not saying he should be in love with his players or team, but I am saying he needs to show the love. Other than Kobe he rarely, if ever lifted his players up. When they did good he would point out the one bad thing they did. When they did bad, he would belittle them and many times bench them for extended periods of time. Nothing was good enough for him and nobody was deserving. Take in contrast a coach like Pete Carroll, who has one of the toughest and hardest playing teams in the NFL. He is practically a cheerleader on the sidelines, gives the credit for every victory to his players and gushes about all the positives of this players every time he’s in front of the camera. He may be on the extreme end of things but he is a great example of the power of loving up on your players and team. It’s important to lift your people up personally and publicly. They will work harder for you and you will see them in a better light as well, sounds like a win win to me.

Coach Scott will probably never coach again but he can still be successful in his life if he takes the lessons he learned and applies them to his life going forward. We can all learn from this, see our failures for what they are and learn to be better people, leaders and difference makers in this world.

By: Todd Marinshaw. Todd owns and operates a sportswear business based in Orlando, FL and recently founded iPrevail, a non-profit organization focused on relief and rehabilitation for victims of disasters such as Typhoon Haiyan

19Aug 2015

Out Of The Ashes – Resurrecting a Struggling Business

by bandofbosses ⋅ Leave a Comment

Out Of The Ashes – Resurrecting a Struggling Business

There are many factors that can lead to a business struggling to survive. Change in consumer attitude toward your industry or product or change in the overall economy either up or down are a few macro reasons and can spell the death of your business, but the majority of time a business fails is because it’s lost it’s first love.

Remember when you first started your business. you didn’t know if you would make it but you wanted your business to stand for something. You were passionate and felt like your business did it better than anyone else. Then you got big and things changed, new people came in that do not understand your vision or love for what you do and it became more about compensation and health plans than it did about being the best in the business.

Before you know it life’s worries have made you forget why you got into business in the first place and that’s when things go downhill. Sometimes it’s drastic and unrecoverable but other times it’s more subtle and slowly degrades your business, product and pride in what you do at your business over time. Your baby has become a millstone around your neck with little to no options of getting out. In short, you have forgotten what got you there in the first place and you’ve lost your first love.

Is there hope for you and your business? There is if you do these 3 things..

1. Get back to the philosophy of why you started your business in the first place and train your employees on it as well. If it’s sports uniforms, spend meeting after meeting drilling into the heads of your group that you are here to deliver the best uniforms and the best service the customers have ever seen. Make sure they know it’s not just about making money but more importantly, it’s about making the customers ordering experience amazing while giving the athletes a uniform that will make them confident every time they hit the hardwood or the field. Your employees should be proud of what they do and sell and have the right reasons for working there. If someone does not get on board with your vision, let them go. No matter how good they are at their job you can’t have a cancer destroying your vision.

2. Do the things you did at first. What was your niche, what made your company unique? whatever it was get back to doing it. Maybe you own a bakery and when you started you stressed that anything your customer wanted, you could make it. This made you prosper but as you got bigger you realized the profit margins were better with simple or cookie cutter products that didn’t require as much customization so you went in that direction. That’s great, but you have to remember what made your clients loyal in the first place and make sure you still offer whatever it was that got your business off the ground in the first place. Before you know it your customer retention while be skyrocketing once again.

3. Start over with your personnel. I eluded to this in point one, but it’s important enough to mention all on it’s own. Everyone has to be sold out on your vision and where you’re going. Hiring good people is a constant need so you should always have an employment ad out with one or two people in waiting in case a current employee leaves or loses the vision of your company. Get rid of all clock watchers and unmotivated employees. An unmotivated employee is a like a virus in your company that can spread from one person to another and undermine everything you’re trying to accomplish. When you do have a good employee lift them up, pay them what they are worth and keep them in the loop so they stay a good employee. If you’re struggling with paying people more, just think how much it will cost you to lose one of your best employees and train someone new. I’m sure you will find it’s better to just pay them a little more money to keep them happy.

Your business can be great again and will be great again if your remember your first love and do the things that made you great in the first place. Don’t let the thought of quitting enter you mind and have faith in what makes you unique. Before you know it you will be back on your feet and loving what you do all over again.

06Jan 2015

Write down Goals? Only if you want to succeed

by bandofbosses ⋅ Leave a Comment

Every study done over the past 30 years has shown goals are one of the biggest keys to success and wealth, yet so few people actually write them down.

In the book “What They Don’t Teach You in the Harvard Business School”, Mark McCormack tells a study conducted on students in the 1979 Harvard MBA program where graduate students were asked the question: “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” The result, only 3% had written goals and plans, 13% had goals but they weren’t in writing and 84% had no goals at all. Ten years later, the same group was interviewed again and the results were shocking.

The 13% of the class who had goals, but did not write them down were earning twice the amount of the 84% who had no goals. The 3% who had written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97% of the class combined!

Many times people don’t write down goals because they just don’t see the importance of them, but now that we know how important goals are I’ll give a simple example of what a goal sheet should look like:

2015 PERSONAL/BUSINESS GOALS

Before you start, know the golden rule of goal setting!

SPECIFIC

MEASUREABLE

ATTAINABLE

REALISTIC

TIME BOUND

BUSINESS GOALS – Whether you are the owner of a company, a manager or an up and coming rep it’s important to have things you want to achieve each year. Below is an example of a manager or owner writing out a business goal

– What I want to Achieve

1. x% growth in revenue over last year

– How am I going to Achieve it?

1. Raise up a new sales manager

2. Hire x additional entry level sales reps

3. Raise up x number of reps to senior level

4. Generate x% Leads by running a Referral campaign

5. Bring Back x% of lost clients via a new Win-Back Campaign

– What I want to Start

1. I need to inspire my people during weekly meetings with great training on self improvement and specific skill sets.

– What I want to Stop

1. Being negative when we don’t hit out goals (ie Get rid of specific words that are morale busters)

– What I want to Keep Doing

1. Raising up new leaders

2. Showing up to the office ahead of everyone else

PERSONAL GOALS – Work hard, play hard. It’s important to set attainable personal goals for the year as well

– What I want to Achieve

1. Get my pilot’s license

– How am I going to Achieve it?

1. Save up $x for it

2. Pick out a great school and take up x classes

3. Start reading flight manuals by x date so I can get through course quicker

4. Set a realistic training schedule

– What I want to Start

1. Reading and discussing at least one marriage and one parenting book a year

– What I want to Stop

1. Yelling and making threats

– What I want to Keep Doing

1. Encouraging my kids to the best they can be by utilizing a great point system for them and me

There are many ways to create written goals. In business we usually start by identifying where are are at, our key issues, key priorities, and then setting quantifiable goals, which we then flesh out by brainstorming strategies then tactics. As a small business owner, I encourage my team members to keep it simple! Remember, complexity is the enemy of execution. Write it down in a way you understand. Grab a notepad, or start writing in your note taking app. Just remember, no matter how simple you want to keep it, make sure your goals are measurable and not vague and open ended.

The keys to success are simple to do but many times hard to follow, so keep your eyes on the road ahead and not on your rear view mirror. It’s easy to get distracted and defeated by past failures but with written goals you will keep your eyes and mind on the future and not on the past.

18Nov 2014

Positive Passion Minus Negative Passion=One Direction

by bandofbosses ⋅ Leave a Comment

Over the last half decade, I have seen more people lose hope for the life they dreamed of than I’d ever seen in all my life. The economy has not been great but at the root of the issue is not what has happened, it’s our perspective and attitude about what has happened. In a study conducted by Gallup over 142 countries, research has shown that only 13% of all employees are actively engaged at work. America has the highest rating at 29%, but this still means 71% are disengaged at work, and 24% are actively disengaged.

Go to many college classrooms and half the class will be asleep, texting, or not paying attention at all; Then follow those same kids to the bars that night and the place will be blowing up with excitement and fun. Go to many work places and you will see a bunch of people clock watching and just doing their time, but follow them home for the weekend and you will see the same lethargic person jumping up and down screaming or cheering their favorite Football team as if their life depended on it.

What makes the same person average at one thing, but amazing at the other? It is because they are fully engaged. Before we get into what that means, let’s start with what makes us fully engaged. PASSION. Passion is what drives us to marry the person of our dreams. Passion is gets us out of bed when we are young and train every day when we are playing sports. Passion is what makes us great, yet so few people have it when they get older.

What passions do we have that are due for purging and which ones need to be rekindled?

NEGATIVE PASSIONS:

Negative passions are not necessarily bad things to do, they are just not productive and don’t really do much to further your life.

We are passionate about our sports teams – There is nothing wrong with loving a football, baseball or basketball team. But when your entire week gets affected by the outcome of a game there is a problem. There is a commercial that came out recently with NFL player following fans around and yelling at them while they are shopping, at work and at home. I think it’s great because it puts in perspective how dumb it is to yell at your TV and get all distraught about a game that means absolutely nothing in your life. Whether they win or lose your life is still the same, so why freak out? Instead, spend a little time on Sunday reading or learning a new skill, I guarantee that will do more for your life then yelling at your favorite team.

We are passionate about our TV shows – The fanaticism we have for our favorite shows is alarming. There is nothing wrong with liking a show but if the highlight of the week is your favorite show, your priorities are in serious need of re-order. I’m blown away by all these ladies nowadays that fantasize about being hunted down and eaten by a vampire, only to have him fall in love with them because they have special blood? Seriously? The premise of that fantasy is too stupid to even comprehend, and yet millions of girls are dreaming about it and directing their passion to the shows and books that push that fiction.

We are passionate about ourselves – If I hear one more person say “I’m just learning how to love myself” I’m going to puke. What I’d like to say to them is “ You are great at loving you, just look at your FB page and check out all your selfies”. Americans have been raised to please themselves at all costs, whether its over eating, promiscuity, drinking problems or even selfie addictions. The thing I love about FB is that you can see exactly what kind of person they are in about 30 seconds of looking at their page. Unfortunately, American culture has turned most people into passionate self lovers, but instead of being passionate about your self love, be passionate about helping others. Focusing on family, friends and charities are just a few ways to get out of yourself and make a positive difference.

POSITIVE PASSIONS:

There are three basic passions that we know to be passionate about, but easily overlook in the busyness of our daily lives.

Passion for your family – When you’re young, many teenagers dream of getting away from their dysfunctional family and unfortunately there is usually good reason. Marriage is a lot of work and when two different people never learn to love their family over themselves what you usually get is disaster. This is a common problem in today’s family and the only way to fix it is to have two parents make the choice to stay passionate about each other and their kids. Take note I said choice, unlike what Hollywood wants you to believe, you don’t always wake up with passion every day of your life as a spouse or parent. But we are not animals, we are human, so we have the ability to control how we feel and how passionate we are about anything we want. This passion is the key to true happiness, if you are passionate about being a good husband or wife, father or mother, you will find happiness daily.

Passion for your faith – Many people choose to have no faith and without sounding condescending which I am sure I will anyway, I want to say I sincerely feel sad for them. To live a life without believing in something, someone greater than yourself is a life without meaning. Without meaning, your life will be like a ship in the sea that’s lost its engines, being tossed around and going with whatever tide comes your way. You can always tell a person that has weak or no beliefs because they end up getting passionate about whatever new philosophy or ideal comes along, then the next time you see them is something new and on and on it goes. What you believe in will be your compass. Where is your faith or lack of it taking you?

Passion for your career – This one goes back to my football comment above. What has more impact on your life, your career or your favorite sports team? Again, I love sports but in the end my career is quite a bit more important so why wouldn’t I put more passion in it? When you go to work, whether you work for someone else or for yourself, you must make a daily decision to be passionate about what you’re doing. The bible says if you are great at what you do you will work in front of kings. I think the point of this scripture is if you want to be esteemed, be excellent at whatever you do, especially the little things.

Passion in the right places will lead you to happiness, fulfillment and prosperity while passion in the wrong places will only take away from what matters most. Rethink what you are passionate about and see how fast you can change your direction.

11Nov 2014

Giving when you don’t have any? What’s the point in that…

by bandofbosses ⋅ Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of attending Dreamforce 2014 in San Francisco and I was lucky enough to watch one of the keynote speakers of the convention, Tony Robbins. Up to this time I had only heard of him but never really heard any of his motivational speeches. I’ve never seen a room full of highly educated, influential industry leaders get up on their feet, jump like they were at a party, scream like they were watching the Super Bowl, and waive their hands like they were ready for him to crowd surf. Not to mention pointing at each others face and screaming “I own you!”

There was a lot to learn, but what was amazing was to see how much his love of giving is at the core of everything he does. You can literally see the excitement in his eyes from 50 rows back every time he talks about helping others out and what great goals he has in the future for his giving. Tony Robbins doesn’t give anyone an excuse to not give, and basically called out the crowd, “Don’t kid yourselves, if you won’t give 1 cent out of a dollar, you wont give a million out of 100 million .” In short, giving is a state of the heart, and if you don’t start somewhere, you will never have the right heart when you are actually in a position to make a bigger impact.

It’s interesting-I have found that many times in my life when everything seems to be falling apart and my life seems to lack meaning is when I’m the most self centered and focused on my own needs. When I get outside of myself and help another out, all of a sudden my life doesn’t seem so hard or bad.

Here are a few reasons I have found to make giving a lifelong habit:

1. Giving makes me feel happy – If someone asks me what will make me happy I start dreaming about sailboats, living on the beach and traveling the world. Would this make me happy? If I was by myself the answer would be a resounding no, but if it meant taking my friends and family out on the boat, sharing vacations with my wife and kids and having the time to do some good in the lives of others I definitely believe it would. When I’m using my wealth to encourage others is when I’m at my happiest. I may not be rich, but what I do have bring me joy when I share it with others.

2. Giving is good for my health – When I’m focused on others and helping, I spend more time focused and less time worrying. Since I’m also happy I keep my weight down, my blood pressure down and my spirits up. Overall this keeps me healthy and ready to conquer the world.

3. Giving makes me friends – Years ago I watched a movie “Pay it Forward” and was amazed at the impact one little boy can have on others. In my life I have found that when I give “whether it is time, money, or labor”, I tend to make and keep my longest lasting friends. When I’m going into any relationship thinking about what I can get out of it is when I’m the least successful. This goes for business as well as personal life.

4. Giving makes me grateful – Whether you’re on the giving or receiving end of a gift, that gift can illicit feelings of gratitude. When I have given to families without food or home it makes me grateful for all that has been given to me, on the other end of the spectrum the ones I gave to are grateful for what they’ve been given and this benefits both parties by providing happiness, health and friendships.

5. Giving is Contagious – When we give, we don’t only help the immediate recipient of our gift. We also spur a ripple effect of generosity through our community, friends and family.

After looking at all the great benefits of giving, it helps me to see why God was so adamant about it. It’s one of the hardest things to do, but it’s a habit we desperately need if we are to stay grounded and humble in spite of whatever future blessings may come our way. As with a man as successful as Tony Robbins, you can tell what truly makes him happy is not all his accomplishments, money and fame, it’s the power he has to make a difference in other peoples lives. Personally, I don’t have anywhere near the kind of influence or power he does to help others and change lives but one thing I remember is that the scriptures say, “Each should give in accordance with what they have been given”. Simply put, we should make as much as an impact on others as we have the ability to.

01Oct 2014

Finding A Job: Acing The Interview

by bandofbosses ⋅ 1 Comment

Just getting an interview can be hard, especially in today’s economy, so when you do get one, it is important you hit a home run every time. Coming in unprepared is the best way to waste a great shot at a job. There’s a few easy things you can do every time which will ensure you make a good impression on the prospective employer.

Be Prepared – What does it mean to be prepared for an interview?

Look up the company website and learn everything you can about them. What year it started, what they sell, where their headquarters are, company philosophy, slogans, growth rate and future plans.
If you don’t already know, find out who will be interviewing you and who their boss is.
Write down a list of questions you have for the company on a notepad that you are bringing in
Have an idea of the salary range you may get from them so you don’t undersell yourself or ask for a ridiculous amount of money.
If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, make one. If you have one, update it. Employers do look so make sure the account is professional, up to date and relevant to the job you’re applying for.
Check your Facebook account and make sure you don’t have any inappropriate pictures or comments on your page. Again, employers look, and you don’t want the person interviewing you to be offended by you before you walk in the door.
Make sure you’re well groomed and if you have piercings in places other than your ears or Tattoos all over your body, the interview is not the time to show them off. Unless of course you are applying at a Tattoo or piercing shop or similar industries where looking the part is aligned with the company’s mission.

Dress to impress – Wow them from the start

Make it a rule of thumb to always dress at least one level up from standard company attire. If everyone wears T-shirts at work, wear a polo and slacks to the interview. If everyone wears polo shirts to work, wear a suit and tie. When in doubt of the company dress code, wear a suit and tie. If you don’t have a suit and tie, go to goodwill and pick one up for $20.
Do not wear perfume! Everyone has their own sense of what smells good and bad. If you choose a perfume or cologne the interviewer doesn’t like you will probably not get the job, so why chance it?
Make sure your shoes are polished and if you wear heels, keep them under 3 inches. It’s all about being professional so you should look the part.
Keep the colors neutral, the interview is not a great time to break out your new clubbing outfit. Red anything is out of the question because it portrays passion and anger. Instead, use black or grey, with blue or green accents if you’re wearing a suit. For the ladies any combination of these four colors will work.

Interview time!

Show up 5-10 minutes early. Never, ever, show up late, that’s minus 100 points in the mind of the interviewer. Also, don’t show up too early as that will most likely irritate the interviewer who thought they had time to accomplish something and now suddenly they don’t.
Bring an extra resume with you for the interviewer and hand it to them even if they don’t ask for it. Don’t assume they remembered to print your resume because sometimes they don’t and it creates an awkward situation if you don’t have an extra.
Give a firm handshake and make eye contact when you meet the interviewer. If you’re nervous, wipe your hands off before shaking their hand because nobody likes shaking a sweaty hand.
Answer their questions truthfully and tailor every answer to how it applies to the position you are interviewing for.
Never disparage a former employer, even if you used to work for Mr. Evil. It’s tasteless and makes the person interviewing you wonder if you will talk bad about them.
Talk about how you believe your skills that you’ve acquired will help the business, not the other way around. Nobody cares about how the business will further your career, they care about how you will further the company.
When the interviewer is done asking their questions, pull your notepad out and systematically go through the questions you wrote down that were not already answered. This shows you are organized, care about the job opportunity and put thought into the interview beforehand. All huge pluses in the mind of the employer.
Always ask the employer if there are any concerns they have about you that would keep them from hiring you. If they say no then your answer. in good humor, should be “Great, when do I start?” If the answer is yes, you need to immediately address the concern and repeat the question again. If this time they answer no then say “great, when do I start?”. If they say they need to do more interviews then say “Great, when is a good time for me to come in and interview again?”. This may sound aggressive and it is, but your chances of being hired will go up three-fold this way. In fact, it works so well that I have only done a second interview before being hired once in my life.

Walk out with a plan and another firm handshake. Never leave not knowing what’s next, whether it’s coming in to fill out paperwork next week for your new job or coming back for a second interview. In this way you will leave a positive lasting impression on the prospective employer and make it nearly impossible for them not to give you a strong consideration. Last but not least, take two minutes out in your car to write a thank you letter and drop it off in their mailbox before you leave. Your thoughtfulness will impress them and may just be what gets you the job over someone else.

12Aug 2014

Find A Job! Getting In The Door

by bandofbosses ⋅ 2 Comments

I’ve been hiring people for over 10 years now and I’m still blown away about how clueless most people seem to be when it comes to job hunting. What I find is that the older generation usually have pretty good resumes but lack great cover letters while the newer generation lack pretty much everything. It’s like nobody has ever taught our youth that one day they are going to have to grow up and get a job. Our families and colleges have completely failed the past couple of generations and now 85% of graduating seniors do not have jobs coming out of college. Some people are just lazy and there’s not much you can do for them but if you’re reading this I’m going to assume that you are not one of them. I’ve come up with a few tips to help people get back into the workplace.

I’m going to break this up into different parts for easier reading.

Below are five tips on how you can get in the door:

1. When looking for a job, that is your job – Get up early, dress in a button down shirt or polo and slacks, then go to a coffee shop with wifi, sit down and get started. You need to be going to all the major job site providers such as monster.com, indeed.com, careeerbuilder.com and snagajob.com just to name a few. There are also local job fairs you can go to and places like craigslist.com. If you are a college grad, most colleges have job boards you can visit online., where employers are actually looking for recent grads. Leave no stone unturned because 99% of the companies out there will only post their job listing in one or two places max!

2. Set goals for yourself – It’s easy to do step one and come home feeling like you accomplished a lot when in reality you didn’t do very much. Busy work is work that takes a lot of time but accomplishes very little. A great way to make sure you don’t fall victim to this mistake is to set daily goals of no less than 20 resumes sent. This may not sound like a lot but if you do it right it will take all day; More on that to follow…

3. Tailor each resume for the job – In a sea of resumes one of the biggest mistakes you can make is sending a generic resume with the heading (I’d like to get a job with a company I can grow to my potential in, yadayada, whatever). First of all, it’s not about you! In a world of self indulgence and entitlement this may come as a shock but if you haven’t heard this yet it’s time you did. Write a heading that pertains to the job at hand and how you will help the company, not the other way around. Then only include jobs on the resume that will strengthen that conviction. If you are lacking in jobs in that field include internships or any other activity that pertains to that position. Whether it is a software, a gatekeeper, or the hiring manager, the first one reading your resume will be short listing for the most likely match. MATCH is the keyword, not generic.

4. COVER LETTER – I’m amazed at how many resumes I get without cover letters. Covers letters are your opportunity to say what a resume never could. Show your intelligence, ability to learn and adapt, and your desire for that job in just two paragraphs! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve interviewed people I normally wouldn’t have because of great cover letters. When writing a cover letter be conversational and talk about how the skills you’ve obtained translate into you doing a great job in the position and in helping the company. End it by letting the hiring manager know what days and time you are available for interviews. Also, make sure you find out what the hiring managers name is and address them in the letter, do not say “To whom it may concern”. That just says you are either too limited mentally or too lazy to figure it out; Neither of which looks good on you.

5. Follow up– After submitting your relevant resume with an awesome cover letter take the time to call the hiring manager and ask if they received your resume. If they actually take your call, push for a time to come in and interview. You can’t get a job without seeing them face to face so that is the whole objective when calling in. Be aggressive but not pushy, simply say “I have time on (whatever days you can come in) to meet, do one of these days work for you?” Whether or not you actually talk to the hiring manager or just leave a voice mail make sure you do a follow up email within a few days asking if there is anything else they may need from them and thank them for their consideration.

If you follow these 5 steps you will get in the door for an interview, with luck you will have multiple interviews a week. Next week I’ll be writing about how to blow the hiring manager away once you get into the door, so stay tuned!

By: Todd Marinshaw. Todd owns and operates a sportswear business based in Orlando, FL and recently founded iPrevail, a non profit organization focused on relief and rehabilitation for victims of disasters such as Typhoon Haiyan

30May 2014

Will Jesus Make Me Rich?

by bandofbosses ⋅ 1 Comment

Will Jesus Make Me Rich?

America has long been the land of opportunity and for many years it was also considered a Christian Nation. I grew up like many believing the reason America was the richest, most powerful nation in the world was because we were a Christian Nation. Now that we are no longer a Christian Nation is it a coincidence we are also collapsing like a stack of cards? The messages in the bible can be very confusing so I’d like to break down a few misconceptions many people have in today’s day and age.

In the bible there are two covenants, the old and the new.. It doesn’t get much simpler then that but it has created a lot of confusion. For example:

Old Testament says in Psalm 112

1Praise the Lord.

Blessed are those who fear the Lord,

who find great delight in his commands.

2Their children will be mighty in the land;

the generation of the upright will be blessed.

3Wealth and riches are in their houses,

and their righteousness endures forever.

4Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,

for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.

5Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,

who conduct their affairs with justice.

Hmm, sounds like God blesses those who please him with money to me; but wait!

The New Testament says in Matthew 19

21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

His Disciples were astonished because the Old Testament taught that God blessed the righteous with wealth.

So which one is right?

Well, they both are right. You may be asking how two opposite ideologies could be right but it’s really quite simple. Jesus is not Santa God, running around throwing gifts on those who are nice and give coal to those who are naughty. He’s also not the “Ticket to a wealthy life” as many multi level marketing companies like to teach.

The best way to explain how they both are right is to tell you how being a Christian has affected my life and business. I am by no means close to being a rich man in American standards but I have a beautiful wife and three amazing kids along with a business and a nice place to live in. My needs are taken cared of and my relationships are fulfilling. Wealth to God is more than money, true wealth to God is a life filled with joy and a heart refined by fire. That doesn’t mean a Christian won’t get wealthy, but if he or she does it will be a byproduct of living a good life and being the best they can be at what they do. I consider myself wealthy in all the areas that matter except for monetarily. At the same time, when a person is bankrupt in their relationships and has a heart that’s never been tested because they run from their problems, it’s nearly impossible for them to ever attain true happiness, which is true wealth. They have more money than they can handle and think they can literally buy their way out of every situation. They forget about God, grow callous in their hearts and in the end have bankrupt souls.

So, will Jesus make you rich? Yes, but not in the way most people think of it. When you live your life as a Christian business owner and not as an owner that happens to be Christian the by-product of your beliefs will produce a business that has integrity, compassion and a never ending need to be the best at what you do. Profit is the inevitable result of a healthy business, and hopefully by the time God blesses us with that, we are ready to be used as good stewards of God’s riches.

21May 2014

Leaders Are Made

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30Apr 2014

Jesus In the Workplace

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The name of Jesus has become taboo in the workplace because of an increasingly fearful and political climate. Many employees can be fired for so much as inviting someone to church and it’s safe to say the anti-Christ movement in the business community has won the war in resounding fashion. Unless you own or are a part of a faith based organization, your options can be very limited. For the purposes of this article I will assume you own or have a prominent position in your company. Here I will talk about a few ways in which you can run your business as a Christian without hiding your faith or offending others.

1. The first thing I would recommend doing is to pray at your meetings.

This can really be scary for many people but it’s important that people know you are accountable to a higher power and that you rely on Him. The bible says: Luke 9:26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

I have to admit this is a tough scripture to follow. It’s easy on Sundays to praise God with like minded people, but it’s a whole another story to sit in front of a bunch of guys and girls who don’t necessarily share your opinions and may even look down at you for praying and still pray. If you want a business that has honesty, integrity and character it starts at the top (Christ, not you). You don’t want to just show up one morning and start praying unless you’re okay with a lot of weird looks and shock. Each employee needs to be taken aside privately and told what you will be doing from now on. Personally, I tell every new employee that “I’m a Christian so I like to pray over my business once a week; you don’t have to join along if you don’t want to but I want you to know what to expect.” If they are uncomfortable they can choose before ever working here to pursue other options but at least they won’t be blindsided at their first meeting. Below are a couple do’s and don’ts of praying:

DO:

1. Lift up your employees individually for the good they are doing

2. Ask God to bless your employees

3. Admit your dependence on Christ in front of them (humility is a good thing)

4. Keep it short and to the point

DON’T:

1. Insult others in your prayer

2. Put down other religions

3. Correct someone or the group during the prayer

4. Ridicule

5. Have a marathon prayer

2. Next, it’s important to put up your company core values based on biblical principles. Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Foster an atmosphere of honesty, integrity and respect; which is essential for any successful business but even more so the business owned by a Christian. At times it’s good to bring the core values up at meetings and ask people if they are sticking to them. Say what you mean and mean what you say!

3. Last but certainly not least is your own example. I Timothy 4:16 Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you. Once you tell people you’re a Christian and pray in meetings, they will look at everything you do. You will no longer be afforded the same leniency that other owners and bosses are given; you will now be held accountable for all your actions and if you fall you will most certainly be called a hypocrite. This is what makes professing your faith at work so scary. We all fall short and God knows I’ve made my share of mistakes and said things I wish I could take back, but in the end you will be judged on the whole of your work more then anything else.

You may be wondering if all this is worth it and rightly so. I can tell you from my experiences that if done right it’s more than worth it. I don’t use God to promise people riches because I don’t believe he’s some kind of magical fairy that grants us wishes. The benefits that I do get from running a business like this is the ability to walk into the doors each day and find satisfaction in the work I do. Also, each time I pray I hope it plants a mustard seed of faith in the people around me and maybe one day it could change their life. My business is my ministry, it’s the road I have chosen to travel and I think it’s fitting to end this with the famous poem of Robert frost.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

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