Everybody loves a good secret. In fact, the juicier, the better. Why? Because we all love being insiders. We love the feeling of exclusivity, of knowing something that’s just ours and no one else’s. But in business, secrets do more than just stroke our egos.

We love having the upper hand. We love having the “unfair advantage,” to borrow entrepreneur Jason Cohen’s term. So when someone like Dr. Ivan Misner, founder and chairman of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization boasting 5.4 million referrals and more than $6.5 billion in resulting revenue, asks, “Do you want to know the secret to success?” you listen. What’s “the secret”? Well, there isn’t just one.

But think about this: “Success is the uncommon application of common knowledge.” In other words, when it comes to success, what matters isn’t so much learning something new but putting into practice what we already know. Here are four not-so-secret secrets of insanely successful people:

1. They have a vision.

According to Warren Bennis’s classic On Becoming a Leader, leadership is “the capacity to translate vision into reality.” This means that success starts with answering a fundamental question, What do I really want? Whether you call the answer to that question your mission statement, core values, brand identity or just your goals doesn’t really matter. Because “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Here’s how Bennis unpacks the idea: The leader has a clear idea of what he or she wants to do—professionally and personally—and the strength to persist in the face of setbacks, even failures. The key word is “clear.” And clarity means writing it down. In fact, as SUCCESS.com’s infographic on the habits of the world’s wealthiest people points out, two of the most statistically significant factors that set the richest people apart from everyone else is that 81 percent of them maintain a to-do list and 80 percent focus on accomplishing a specific goal.

2. They are honest.

Successful people tell the truth.This sounds so obvious that you might think it doesn’t even need to be said. But in a climate where the pressure to look good, perform well, eke out profits and win by any means necessary is constantly increasing, honesty is becoming a scarce commodity. And yet, honesty pays. According to research in Robert B. Cialdini’s Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, when companies “explained failures in their annual reports, those that pointed to internal and controllable factors had higher stock prices one year later than those that pointed to external and uncontrollable factors.” In other words, taking responsibility for our mistakes and admitting when we’re wrong isn’t just relationally smart—it’s financially savvy.

Another study, conducted by the Corporate Executive Board, found companies that “rated highly in the area of open communication” and encouraged honest feedback among their staff delivered a “10-year total shareholder return that was 270 percent more than other companies.” And what’s true for companies is just as true for us. As Bennis wrote, “Leaders never lie to themselves, especially about themselves…. You are your own raw material.”

3. They show gratitude. –

See more at: http://www.success.com/article/4-secrets-of-insanely-successful-people#sthash.bxZ5lwT6.dpuf

It’s 11 degrees outside. My team had a summer fun in February carry-in at work today. I grilled burgers, hot dogs, and BBQ salmon for them. A fun way to break the winter blues.  It was worth it seeing my teams’ smiling faces.

While strong senior leadership is very important, your company’s middle managers are your soldiers on the front lines, dealing with the day-to-day aspects of your business. They have more interaction with employees, so it would be logical to assume they have the best and most helpful insights. In earlier years, companies assumed that job title directly correlated with the employee’s ability to produce the next big idea. But it’s been proven time and time again that diversity of thought is the real idea generator. Innovation most often comes from the people involved in the front line aspects of the business.

Research has consistently shown that employees are more comfortable voicing opinions and concerns with mid-level management, and when their input is heard, are more likely to be engaged and motivated. In fact, as the level of management that is most closely in touch with every employee in your business, your managers are the conduit for communication and recognition.

They are the representatives of your leadership team that employees see and hear from daily, so middle managers are the most capable of assessing employee needs. Their face-to-face feedback signals what works and what doesn’t, what makes employees happy and what helps them thrive. So bringing middle managers into the relationship management aspects of your business will result in better business outcomes.

Read the  rest  here:  http://humanresources.about.com/od/motivationsuccess/qt/why-middle-management-is-key-to-your-companys-success.htm

Follow @DrKathyCramer on Twitter

Find her site here:  http://www.drkathycramer.com/

If you’re a leader you will at times need to tell people what to do. The least effective leaders must do that far more often than more effective leaders. But sooner or later even the most effective leader will need to give clear, concise direction. What some people might call an “order.”

I don’t like the word “order” so I’m going to call it direction. The most effective leaders know this leadership fact: how you say something is every bit as important as the something you say. In other words, how you give the direction is just as important as the direction you give.

The timing of providing your people direction is critical to how that direction is received. If you give direction to someone during a very stressful time their reaction is far less predictable. When someone’s emotions are running high they could have a very difficult time accepting “one more thing to do.”

The most effective leaders will look for a time when a person is more open to receiving direction. This of course requires a leader to know and understand their people but that’s not a significant challenge for an effective leader.

Effective leaders know that “tone” also makes a huge difference. 

Read  the  rest  here:  http://stevekeating.me/2015/02/06/how-you-say-it-really-matters/

The responsibility for great meetings is always the responsibility of the person leading the meeting.

Great meetings create focus, clarity, decisions, and useful activity.

The people around the table can’t wait to get back to useful work.

3 reasons we hate meetings:

1. The person running the meeting is inept.

2. Too long. Change the rule of thumb from 60 to 30 minutes.

3. Too detailed. Large groups working on details always expand irrelevant specks of dust into giant mountains of mud. Delegate details to individuals or groups of two or three, at most.

The 10 commandments of great meetings:

Law #1: Thou shalt always declare the purpose of the meeting before it happens.

The most important work of the meeting happens before the meeting. Confusion about purpose is always the result of inept leadership.

Law #2: All participants shalt understand and agree that the requirements of law #1 have been fully met.

Declaring the purpose of a meeting doesn’t mean everyone understands or aligns.

Law #3: Thou shalt meet to make decision, never to discuss.

Law #4: Everyone around the table shalt have a stake in the pie.

Law #5: The people closest to the work shalt talk the most.

Law #6: The most powerful person in the room shalt talk the least.

Law #7: Thou shalt engage in lively debate.

When law #6 is violated, law #7 won’t happen.

Read the  rest  here:  https://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/10-commandments-that-fix-all-lousy-meetings/

Leaders help their team see new horizons and encourage them to be eager for the journey.