common sense

Action Breeds Confidence

Bud Bilanich — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:12:01 -0400

Teddy Roosevelt is John McCain’s hero. If you live in the USA, you know Teddy, he was the 26th President of the United States, the man for whom the Teddy Bear is named and the fourth guy on Mount Rushmore – along with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Teddy was always good for a quote. I love his “arena” quote…

Etiquette and Personal Branding

Bud Bilanich — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:17:32 -0400

The other day I saw a great blog post entitled “Good Branding Requires Good Business Etiquette.” I was intrigued because I discuss three keys to creating positive personal impact in my latest book, Straight Talk for Success: 1) build and nurture your unique personal brand; 2) dress for success; and 3) know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.

Lessons in Building Self-Confidence from Helen Gurley Brown

Bud Bilanich — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:03:28 -0400

Do you know Helen Gurley Brown? She is a publishing legend – the original Cosmo Girl. She became the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1965. She held that job until 1997 when she became the editor in chief of the international edition of Cosmo. Now, she is 86 years old, and oversees the production of nearly 60 international editions of Cosmopolitan.

Four Tips for Dealing With Anger

Bud Bilanich — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:32:11 -0400

If you want to become interpersonally competent, you need to do three things. 1) Get to know yourself; your likes, dislikes, hot buttons etc. Use this knowledge to help you better understand others. 2) Build strong relationships with the important people in your life. 3) Resolve conflict in a positive manner.

How to Use Voice Mail Effectively

Bud Bilanich — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:08:30 -0400

Dynamic communication is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become a dynamic communicator, you need to master three types of skills: conversation, writing and presenting.

Lifelong Learning and Outstanding Performance

Bud Bilanich — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:31:57 -0400

Outstanding performance is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become an outstanding performer, you need to do three things: 1) Stay technically competent by becoming a lifelong learner; 2) Set and achieve high goals; and 3) Get organized.

Be Gracious: Create Positive Personal Impact

Bud Bilanich — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:38:54 -0400

The ability to create positive personal impact is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to create positive personal impact, you need to do three things. 1) Create, develop and nurture your personal brand. 2) Dress for success. 3) Know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.

On Sunday, I received an e mail from a young guy, named Jim whose boss had given him a copy of Straight Talk. In part, here’s what it said…

Self confidence and The Power of Positive Thinking

Bud Bilanich — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:40:52 -0400

Self confidence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in “Straight Talk for Success.” If you want to become self confident, you need to do three things. 1) Become an optimist. 2) Face your fears and act. 3) Surround yourself with positive people.

Be Happy About the Success of Others

Bud Bilanich — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:10:55 -0400

Interpersonal competence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become interpersonally competent, you need to do three things: 1) get to know yourself; 2) Build strong, lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with the important people in your life; 3) Learn how to resolve conflict constructively.

Sloppy Speech Habits Hinder, Rather Than Help, Dynamic Communication

Bud Bilanich — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:11:32 -0400

Peggy Williams -- A Unique and Authentic Personal Brand

Bud Bilanich — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:26:59 -0400

If you want to create positive personal impact, you need to do three things: 1) Create, develop and nurture your unique personal brand; 2) Dress for success; and 3) Know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.

Today I’d like to tell you the story of Peggy Williams, a woman with a very unique personal brand. Peggy just retired after 10 years as President of Ithaca College. Ithaca is an elite liberal arts institution. Ithaca is expensive and hard to get into. You might expect that the Ithaca president would be conservative and a bit of a stuffed shirt.

Self

Bud Bilanich — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:45:14 -0400

Self confidence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become self confident you need to do three things. 1) Become an optimist. 2) Face your fears and act. 3) Surround yourself with positive people.

I love it when things converge. I was watching a cd by Mike Litman on internet marketing the other day, and Mike showed a slide that had four bullet points, one of which said:

Be Positive, Reliable and Easy to Get Along With

Bud Bilanich — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:23:58 -0400

Interpersonal competence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become interpersonally competent, you need to do three things: 1) Get to know yourself, so you can better know others; 2) Build strong, lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with the important people in your life; and 3) Learn how to resolve conflict in a positive manner.

7 Keys to Effective Listening

Bud Bilanich — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:54:01 -0400

Dynamic communication is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become a dynamic communicator, you need to develop three skills: conversation, writing and presenting.

Don't Let Stress Drag Down Your Performance

Bud Bilanich — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:24:51 -0400

Outstanding performance is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become an outstanding performer, you need to do three things: 1) Become a lifelong learner; 2) Set and achieve high goals; and 3) Get organized.

In addition, you need to be healthy so you can perform at your best.

Enthusiasm and Positive Personal Impact

Bud Bilanich — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:05:44 -0400

Your ability to create positive personal impact is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to create positive personal impact, you have do three things: 1) Create, build and nurture your own unique and powerful personal brand; 2) dress for success; and 3) know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.

Recently however, I have come to realize an important characteristic that underlies all three of these success tactics – enthusiasm.

Find a Mentor to Help You Rebel Against Rejection

Bud Bilanich — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:10:08 -0400

Self confidence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become self confident, you need things: 1) Become an optimist; 2) Face your fears and act; and 3) Surround yourself with positive people.

How to Develop Your Relationship Intelligence

Bud Bilanich — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:33:09 -0400

Interpersonal competence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight talk for Success. If you want to become interpersonally competent, you need to do three things: 1) get to know yourself; 2) build strong, lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with the important people in your life; and 3) resolve conflict constructively.

The Preacher, The Farmer and Dynamic Communication

Bud Bilanich — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:16:48 -0400

Dynamic communication is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become a dynamic communicator, you need to develop three basic communication skills. You must become a great conversationalist. You must write clearly and succinctly. You must present well to groups of two or 200.

Learn to Perform

Bud Bilanich — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:23:38 -0400

Outstanding performance is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success.If you want to become an outstanding performer, you need to do three things: 1) Become a lifelong learner; 2) Set and achieve high goals; and 3) Get organized.

The Naked Cowboy and Personal Branding

Bud Bilanich — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:04:51 -0400

Positive personal impact is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to create positive personal impact you need to do three things: 1) build and nurture your personal brand; 2) dress for success; and 3) know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.

Empathy and Interpersonal Competence

Bud Bilanich — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:10:46 -0400

Interpersonal competence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. Interpersonally competent: people have a deep understanding of themselves and what drive them, build strong relationships with others, and resolve conflict positively.

Precision in Language Makes for Effective Communication

Bud Bilanich — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:50:53 -0400

Dynamic communication is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become a dynamic communicator, you need to develop three types of skills: conversation skills, writing skills and presentation skills.

In which of these skills are you strong? In which of them are you weak? Please leave a comment telling us how you developed your strength and what you are doing to address your weakest communication skill.

Zig Ziglar and Outstanding Performance

Bud Bilanich — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:43:48 -0400

Outstanding performance is one of the keys to success that I discuss in my latest book, Straight Talk for Success. If you want to become an outstanding performer, you need to do three things: 1) become a lifelong learner; 2) set and achieve high goals; and 3) get organized.

Creating Positive Personal Impact

Bud Bilanich — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:01:41 -0400

Yesterday was Labor Day in the USA – the traditional end of summer for us, even though the calendar says we have 22 more days to go. I did not do a blog post. I celebrated by taking off for the entire three day weekend, I rode my bike, saw a few movies, and watched a lot of US Open tennis.