Disqus - Latest Comments for StevenJBarker

Re: The @mentions are here!

StevenJBarker — Sat, 07 May 2016 21:54:20 -0000

When is this scheduled to go live on mobile platforms?

Re: Read This Before Our Next Meeting

StevenJBarker — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 21:37:44 -0000

RTBONM was good but if you put it on a scale across from Patrick Lencioni's Death by Meeting and Death by Meeting has it beat. Lencioni delivers a little more practical application.

Re:

StevenJBarker — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 13:37:29 -0000

Glad you liked them. They are some of our favorites.

Re: I Choose To Be Inspired

StevenJBarker — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:26:33 -0000

Robert, have you read Trust Agents by Chris Brogan?

Re: The Most Important Vocational Question

StevenJBarker — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:10:52 -0000

The strengths finder assessment is essential to this exercise. Though I did Marcus Buckingham's version (http://www.tmbc.com/about-m..., it is based off the same Gallup research, and hugely valuable!

Strengths don't point to a specific "career" as you said, but they are the tool necessary to assess any opportunity/problem presented to you.

Re: http://stevenjbarker.com/post/4664507476

StevenJBarker — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:06:23 -0000

Thanks for your concern Jen. Car is not moving.

Re: http://stevenjbarker.com/post/4664507476

StevenJBarker — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:57:50 -0000

Annekeph, to quote a previous comment:

"p.s. Hide those toys or donate them. Joy comes in all different ways....even quiet ones."

Could offer a noisy to exchange/buy back the noisy toy.

Re: http://stevenjbarker.com/post/4664507476

StevenJBarker — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:28:03 -0000

Install timer on noisy toy.

Re: http://stevenjbarker.com/post/4664507476

StevenJBarker — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 22:00:14 -0000

Love it.

Re: The Delicious Allure of Failure

StevenJBarker — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 01:14:58 -0000

Failure is ALWAYS valuable if it causes forward movement.

Like you said, Chris, "Real failure is giving up."

Re: http://garyvaynerchuk.com/post/1425846656

StevenJBarker — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:30:58 -0000

I agree, free your employees up to be more open in the social network world. There is probably some value to train them as you open the gates. Give them the tools to succeed (how to avoid the bait, dealing with trolls, disclosing internal info, etc.)

Re: Improve Your Voicemail

StevenJBarker — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 03:02:31 -0000

First name, last name, phone number = GREAT!
First name, last name, phone number, subject of call = EVEN BETTER! (I know I'm echoing Mary)

I would add - don't leave a "meatless" message asking for a call back to discuss _______. Start discussing (while keeping it short). Make the message actionable or informative. What you are saying needs to be moving the conversation forward.

*I must add, Chris, that is one heck of a steady hand!

Re: Make it easy for customers to pay early. Incentives not extra work.

StevenJBarker — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:47:38 -0000

If you're going to keep your payment complicated you better believe that your customer REALLY wants your product. We will stand in a line at a retailer because we have no other real option (that's convenient that is). We've got options online.

Plus, a good payment experience adds to the overall experience and impression of your brand. If you make my life easier I like that...and I'll be back. But make me sign up for your newsletter, now have to remember and confirm a new password and set up a profile for my cat before I pay and I'm not going to have a good taste in my mouth. Bad first impression.

Re: Getting rid of my shit

StevenJBarker — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:55:44 -0000

I will say I only know Derek in a limited capacity, but I've got to disagree on the consistency comment. Derek seems dead on to me. The goal here is to be quickly adaptable and it looks like Tatango and Derek are both very effectively moving in that direction.

To be honest, I wouldn't feel any more secure if Derek had a huge home, a nice car, a boat and a plane. Operating/living beyond your means is just as unstable.

Now with all that said, Derek, don't get me wrong. When you buy the plane, I want a ride.

Re: How Many Bonuses Are Enough?

StevenJBarker — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:35:02 -0000

I know I'm only echoing here, but after reading this I looked at my "read this stuff" folder. Currently it holds 53 items. Of those I've cracked open 3...yet, I'm still a sucker for free.

Re: Fragmnt.tv | Building Unbreakable Teams - Ideas - Team Decisions : Episode 67

StevenJBarker — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:27:34 -0000

Thanks Gerry.

Re: Go Map Yourself

StevenJBarker — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:58:44 -0000

I feel very much the same Chris. But I've actually found myself using one for business and one friends. I don't mind "running into" that inner circle while I'm out with my kids but I will only share my location with the world when my schedule is more accomidating.

Re: http://garyvaynerchuk.com/post/739570536

StevenJBarker — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:35:27 -0000

You once said to me: "You've got to know the players." I think that applies as much to this as it did to work/life balance. Know yourself, be yourself.

Don't be a clone...it doesn't pay.

Re: Can You Work From an iPad?

StevenJBarker — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:05:12 -0000

This made me revisit my own daily routine. Man it's valuable to assess that every once and a while!

Re: http://garyvaynerchuk.com/post/644827703

StevenJBarker — Sun, 30 May 2010 01:33:29 -0000

Gary, thank you so much for the introduction to Kathy. You've open a new library of knowledge to me. Studying the followers seems so simple, but as it often is simple is often smartest. It's only really worth your effort if you are somehow making someone else better.

Re: Fragmnt.tv | Building Unbreakable Teams - Ideas - Hand Picked Position : Episode 57

StevenJBarker — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:35:44 -0000

Michael, thanks for the comment. I do enjoy our exchanges.

You do have to be able to deliver when you ask for the opportunity. We are on the same page there. But when it comes to what you call the "positive illusion" I want to offer another perspective. A stranger has very little data to make an accurate ranking. They can offer observations, but they will never understand an individual's best contribution with only simple surveillance.

Now when it comes to peers understanding you better then you know yourself I see a fatal flaw. Any observation a peer makes is relative to their own abilities. Again there can be value in this information but it is not the end all. If I think you are a great problem solver, all I am saying is that I think you are better problem solver than me.

Other people don't have the ability to clearly understand your passion or your values. Let's call it a relative assessment. A stranger will not understand you enough to recognize your ultimate contribution and a peer merely is recommending you on the basis that you are better for the job than they would be.

Only you can know what excites you, only you know how you are wired.

Finally, I feel that your definition of a hand picked position is limited and lacks ambition. Those who have moved into a "perfect" role did not get there because they were complacent. They are there because they wanted more, they delivered more and because they put themselves in a position that they were energized by.

Re: http://garyvaynerchuk.com/post/539229914

StevenJBarker — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:53:40 -0000

Hey Gary. Loved this but can you turn off the auto start.

Re: Fragmnt.tv | Building Unbreakable Teams - Ideas - Managing Team Burnout : Episode 54

StevenJBarker — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:14:55 -0000

Those are great questions Zoe. Implementation this idea is more related to how well we know our wiring. Sharing you "life-outside" may be beneficial for some teams but that's not at the core of what I'm referring to.

Accomplishing this idea requires that you and your leader understand what gives you energy. What do you do that results in your batteries being charged? For example, if you love planning, and I mean love it...to the point where finishing a plan leaves blood coursing through your veins, are you doing that? Is that a big part of your job?

Then, while you are actually being energized by your "day job" is your manager allowing you to enjoy the extracurricular things in life?

So you and your manager need to know what gives you energy at work and then what's important to you after the bell rings. If the two of you can harness and capitalize on that energy, during the work day, and allow you to have freedom (and flexibility) to do what's important to you during the "off" hours, you've hit a home run.

To answer your second question. Yes, you need to talk about what you enjoy in your personal life, for the purpose of helping you team leader better manage the team. Keep it work appropriate, but don't compartmentalize professional and personal completely, leave the door open a crack.

Re: Team Building? Try Machine Building!

StevenJBarker — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:08:38 -0000

Interesting. What do participants find is most valuable when they “think in ways they aren’t used to?" I would anticipate that the act of building something has a different outcome as compared to group activities or group problem solving.

Re: Fragmnt.tv | Building Unbreakable Teams - Ideas - Magic of Milestones : Episode 52

StevenJBarker — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:43:51 -0000

Thanks Daniel.

Don't forget that sometimes developing teams of three can be just as difficult as teams of ten. It's all about developing a health team environment.