What roles do your family, friends, colleagues, employees and even new acquaintances play in your everyday life? EO member, James Ashcroft, reflects upon three types of relationships in this post from his personal blog.
Categories: Best Practices general Guest contributors Inspirational Lessons Learned
By Vivek Bhargava, an EO Mumbai member and managing director of iProspect Communicate 2
My father was on the ventilator, and I was in the visitor’s lounge of the hospital unable to sleep … it was the perfect time to set my life goals. I thought to myself: What is the simplest, all-encompassing goal I could set for myself? And then it hit me: I want to lead a joyous life … every minute of every day!
To me, being successful meant I would only do things that gave me joy, and that I have the freedom to say no to all of the things that don’t bring me joy. Once I figured this out, it was just a matter of identifying the things that gave me immense joy. They are as follows:
Tags: finance philosophy tips
By David Lapin, special to Overdrive
People of different cultures all admire and idealize perfection. They differ only in how they seek it.
In researching what differentiates people, I learned more about what makes them the same than what makes them different. This is particularly so when it comes to their beliefs and values. None of the tens of thousands of people I have met and worked with in over thirty different countries has bad values.
I have explored the values of criminals in prison, of illiterate workers in Africa, CEOs and PhDs in the U.S. and Europe, and religious leaders in the Middle East and Asia; they all share the same good values. Each of them would like their children to be honest, upright, contributive members of society, who in turn will raise good families themselves.
Categories: general
Tags: book excerpt book talk lead by greatness management perfection philosophy research
By Chris Grivas, special to Overdrive
The “mystery” of innovation often seems like a cloud-covered grail always just out of reach of people looking to make their business stand out. We look at great innovations like the iPhone, Twitter or microwave oven, and wonder how we can do that.
We search for that breakthrough idea as if it were a lottery ticket; all we have to do is pick the numbers and we are set for life. The thing is that the odds of finding that idea though just sitting down and generating ideas with your team are about the same as winning the lottery. Generating ideas does not equal innovation … it’s only one step to getting there. The key to deliberate creativity is to understand and apply the whole process and not be bogged down or enamored by just one part of it.
Categories: general
Tags: best practices creativity innovation philosophy strategy
By Jim Beach, co-author of School for Startups.
Ask the average person on street, “What two words most describe entrepreneurs?” and the answer is “creative” and “risk-taker.” Most formal definitions go something like this: “one who starts, organizes, and assumes the risk of an enterprise.” Both this connotation and denotation perpetuate inaction and are part of the problem in today’s economy – it stifles entrepreneurship. Instead of starting businesses, fantastic would-be entrepreneurs are waiting for a creativity lightning bolt and an interest-free loan for startup capital.
Categories: general
Tags: general business jim beach philosophy school for startups
By Mark Graham, an EO Toronto member and president of Right Sleeve Marketing, Inc.
A few years ago, my family and I rented a cottage in rural France for a month. It happened at a hectic time in our personal and business lives, and I felt that going away for an extended break would give me some much needed perspective.
Categories: general
Tags: break entrepreneurs' organization eo lessons learned philosophy tips travel vacation
By Luis Rosario, director of communications/event relations for MorningCoach.com.
Loneliness comes in many forms. Sometimes we are lonely in a relationship, at work, from the effects of substance abuse, even in our daily activities. These things that we associate ourselves with may lead to a sense of dependency and attachment that is often hard to break. As social creatures we put ourselves in boxes based on characteristics that define who we are, creating labels with our self-identity.
Categories: general
Tags: inspirational lonliness philosophy regaining control self-identity
In this article by entrepreneur Reg Athwal, we look at how individuals can best leverage their talents for greater purposes. Here’s an excerpt:
“With 6.8 billion people on the planet and more to come, I believe it is a ‘must’ for everyone to discover their talent(s) and unleash them in their lifetime. I almost see it as a crime if one doesn’t do this. Everyone is born with multiple talents; in most cases, 50 percent of our DNA is innate and we can thank all our forefathers for giving us a bit. The majority of the second 50 percent is acquired between the age of 0 to 18. So, by the time we are 18 years of age, we have around 90 percent of the information we need, with clear signs from our childhood as to what our talents are. However, most people never discover them, leave them unused or repress them for decades.”
To read the full article, click here.
Categories: general
Tags: motivational opinion philosophy talent talent management tips
