How to build key relationships at Work

• With manager: How employees and their managers get along is one of the strongest employee retention drivers. Ask your prospective manager during the interview process how he makes decisions and how he evaluates talent or superior performance.
• With peers: Ask who you will be working with and how the people within the department interact. How have the relationships been in the past? Is there much interdependence? What will your colleagues expect of someone in your position?
• With subordinates: Ask about the strengths and weaknesses of employees who might be working for you. Then decide if you have the skills to effectively manage them or if they have the skills to help the team achieve success.

Key Drivers of Job Satisfaction

Relationships	With manager, With peers, With subordinates
Work/life balance	Location/commute. Travel, Amount of work
Kind of work	Autonomy, Type of Work, Contribution, Growth opportunities
The company	Values, Leadership, Industry
Financial considerations	Base Pay, Incentive Pay

Commit to work at your Goals

Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before her book was published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But you know he said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."  Don’t let your failures define you – let them teach you. 

Beginning today, whatever you choose to do, commit to it and work at it. 

Never Give Up

Many people look at life as work. We approach it and try to handle it like a job. We complain about it. We blame others when it is not working. We hold someone else responsible when it does not give us what we want. Some of us give up on life. We move from day to day, with no plan, no goals and ultimately no rewards. We fail to understand that if life is work, the better we do it, the better it will pay us.

Leadership v Management

Leadership                                          Management

·         Leaders see People                  Managers see Things

·         Leaders see Spontaneity          Managers see Structure

·         Leaders see Empowerment      Managers see Control

·         Leaders see Effectiveness        Managers see Efficiency

·         Leaders see Programmer         Managers see Program

·         Leaders see Investment           Managers see Expense

·         Leaders see Principles             Managers see Techniques

·         Leaders see Transformation    Managers see Transactions

4 Meeting Types

Meeting Type	Time Required	Purpose	Keys to Success
Daily Check-in	5 Minutes	Share Daily Schedule & Activities	1.      Stand Up 2.      Keep it Administrative 3.      If someone can’t make-it continue with meeting
Weekly Tactical	45-90 Minutes	Review Ø  Weekly Activities Ø  Resolve Obstacles & Issues	1.      Set agenda after initial reports 2.      Postpone strategic issues
Monthly Strategic	2-4 hours	Discuss, Analyze, Brainstorm  & Decide critical issues affecting long-term success	1.      Limit to 1 or 2 topics 2.      Prepare & Research 3.      Engage in good conflict
Quarterly Off-Site Review	1-2 days	Review Ø  Strategy Ø  Industry Trends Ø  Competition Ø  Key Personnel Ø  Team Development	1.      Get out of office 2.      Focus on work: Limit Social Activities 3.      Avoid overstructure

Words to Live By

I will look into the heart of a rose; or the eyes of a newborn baby and again know perfection.

I take responsibility for creating my own life story through the choices I have made;

to blame others is to give away my personal power. I shall make a small difference on this planet

through the work I do - when I leave I will have done my share. I shall live, love, laugh,

and learn on my journey.