Below is a list of useful resources I often review and send to high performers who want to continually improve themselves:

Leading People and Organizations

• Mindsets and practices of the best CEOs (McKinsey – pdf version)

• What makes an effective executive (Harvard Business Review)

• Google’s new manager training (facilitator guide, slides, and workbook)

• An atlas of strategy traps (Boston Consulting Group)

• What makes a leader (Harvard Business Review – pdf version)

Communicating Effectively

• Think fast, talk smart (video – Stanford Graduate School of Business)

• Three strategies for introverts to speak up in meetings (Fast Company)

• How to have difficult conversations and stay true to yourself (Lean In – guide)

• A plain English handbook (pdf – Securities and Exchange Commission)

Managing Your Career

• How to pick a career (that actually fits you) (Wait but Why)

• Top 10 practical tips for managing up (LinkedIn)

• The brand called You (Fast Company)

• Why you hate work (NY Times)

Mastering Yourself

• Managing oneself (Harvard Business Review – summary)

• How to get strong (NY Times)

• Why procrastinators procrastinate (Wait but Why)

• How to find a hobby (NY Times)

If you want to go beyond articles and dive deeper into any one of these topics, check out Robert’s book recommendations. If you know of other highly practical resources that you reference frequently, feel free to send them to us or share them in the comments section.

Photo by Syd Wachs

The post Timeless resources to help you be more effective at work (updated Jan 2020) appeared first on Robert Chen.

Walmart’s phenomenal growth wasn’t because of some secret sauce or tremendous luck, but rather it stems from a consistent application of hard work, continuous improvement, grit, client service, and strong financial management.

If you’re interested in building a sustainable business or career, apply Sam Walton’s 10 rules for success:

1. Commit to your business

Find something you’re passionate about and stick to it. If you’re a top performer, you’ll have many options and it’s easy to be enticed by the different opportunities that come your way. Resist the bright shiny objects in your career path and commit to your life’s work.

If you’re not sure what that work might be or what you’re passionate about, sign up for my free Know What You Want course. It’ll get you moving in the right direction.

Once you commit, be biased towards taking action and expect to win. When you are optimistic about your chances to succeed, it makes it easier for you to be resourceful and to persist until you win.

2. Partner with your team

To succeed, it’s paramount for your employees, peers, and stakeholders to be invested in you and your company or project. To get their buy-in, find ways to share credit and profits with your team so they feel better off when you and the firm are doing well. People follow leaders who will leave them better off.

Walton echoes British entrepreneur Richard Branson, “If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”

3. Challenge your team

To build a world-class firm or career, set high goals and expectations for yourself and those around you. Encourage competition and find ways to keep the score to build accountability. Value hard work, innovation, and integrity and build teams that exude similar values.

As you institutionalize best practices, don’t be too predictable. Always keep things moving forward so your people and firm stay fresh. To hold people accountable, identify measurable performance indicators that connect to the value added to the firm.

4. Communicate openly and thoroughly to your team

Proactively empower your team by being transparent and sharing important information about the business. The more your people know the more they will understand how to focus their energy on the right things. Sam Walton believed the value for empowering your employees far outweigh the risk of competitors gaining access to the inner workings of your business.

Communicate often through staff meetings and written updates. Use these touch points to share information in a timely manner, provide a sounding board to your people, and boost your team’s morale.

5. Appreciate everything your people do for you and the business

It never hurts to be thankful.

To effectively show gratitude, be observant and notice when those around you are doing the right things. Then depending on the person, show appreciation either publicly or privately to recognize their specific actions. Specificity shows people you’re paying attention, which also shows that you care.

6. Celebrate your successes (and failures)

When you reach the top of the mountain you’ve decided to climb, take time to soak it in and celebrate. Reflect on what you did right and what you could do better. Thank all the people who helped you achieve your success and share credit with the people involved.

When you fail, take responsibility but don’t take yourself too seriously. Find humor in the situation and have fun. If you’re in a business you’re passionate about (see #1), know that any setback is only a small part of your overall journey. As long as you learn from your failures, each one will be a building block for your future success.

7. Listen to everyone

To be successful, find ways to listen to everything that’s going around you – in your department, company, and industry. Build trust with people around you so they open up to you and feel safe to share what they see is happening. If you have employees who report to you, push power down and pull info and ideas up. When you hear great ideas, share them with others in the firm.

Throughout his career, Sam would often visit his competitors to learn from their best practices and implement them in his stores. Sam’s Club was a direct result of listening to his competitors. Don’t be afraid to build on what others are doing. Everyone has a lesson to teach you.

8. Exceed your clients’ expectations

Give the people you serve what they want and a little more. This means constantly updating your understanding of what matters to your clients. Show that you appreciate them. When you make a mistake, apologize, and don’t make excuses. Just fix the issue and make good on your mistake.

Your business and career grow because your clients support you. Keep looking for ways to serve your customers better than anyone else. What else can you do to guarantee your client’s satisfaction?

9. Control your expenses better than your competition

If you want to succeed in business and in life, manage your finances and operations effectively. Whether it’s your company, department, or project, the ability to understand the drivers of your business and create sustainable profits is what will boost your value to the company.

If you’re not sure how to read financial statements or manage a P&L, take a class or consider an MBA. If you don’t, you won’t be able to compete and competition is unavoidable. To win, be passionate about competing and compete to win.

10. Swim upstream

When you feel strongly about a trend or idea, stick to your convictions even if it means going against the crowd. Leaders lead by changing and improving the status quo. Anytime you’re leading change, there will be dissuaders.

Keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to change your mind if you realize you’re wrong.

If you’re passionate about being successful, take inventory on how you’re doing on these 10 tips. If you found these ideas useful, consider tips from these other top CEOs – Ken Chenault (American Express), Alex Gorsky (Johnson and Johnson), and Mary Barra (General Motors).

The post 10 Reasons for Walmart’s Success – Sam Walton: Made in America appeared first on Robert Chen.

During a recent trip to Los Angeles, the head of sales for a top financial services firm reflected on his career and shared with me that the #1 factor for most employee’s success, including executives, is the quality of their boss.

When you work for a manager who is a superstar, they will continue to move up in their career, which creates space for you to advance. If they get promoted, there is a good chance that they will actively pull you up with them as long as you have a strong working relationship and continue to perform.

If you don’t work for a top performer, you run the risk of that person seeing you as a threat since there is a good chance you’ll end up taking their job. Instead of focusing on their goals and finding ways to outperform their peers, they will expend their energy holding you back and shooting down your ideas. It’s not personal, it’s self-preservation.

Poor performing managers will also have trouble fighting for the limited resources of the firm and influencing the organization to focus on your team’s initiatives. This means working with smaller budgets and working on low-priority projects.

If you are a high-performer, you want to work for someone who is constantly growing so you don’t outgrow them. An easy way to tell whether someone is a superstar is to look at their work history. In their LinkedIn profile, bio, resume or website, do you see any of the following:

• Promotions every 2-3 years
• Activities that show they are learning new skills
• Thought leadership or involvement in industry groups
• Recommendations or endorsements from others
• Credentials that match those of the senior leadership team

You may want to change your boss if they are (1) staying stuck as a mid or lower-level employee that’s been in the same role, title, and function for the last 10 years, (2) trying to limit your exposure to other senior people or departments, or (3) constantly taking credit for your work.

Your boss matters so if you are ambitious and want to move up in your career, follow someone who is heading to the top. If you work for a true superstar, they will pave the way for you as long as you can keep up just like you will pave the way for those behind you. If you can’t find a great boss and still want to move up quickly in your career, then you might have to switch firms or strike out on your own.

Photo by Kiran Foster

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