Google Lessons; 10 Relationship Tips; Smart Thinking; Complimentary Book

"...out-learning the competition" 

HEADLINES: (book fest)

You can't outperform your knowledge.
	Bob Bonwell Carpet Cleaning Megastore

Free Book on Writing a Book -- more below, but first...

Smart Thinking -- University of Texas-Austin Professor Art Markman is a great teacher - and his 52 minute online seminar about Smart Thinking, based on his book by the same title, is about giving your team a knowledge edge over the competition. More below, but second...

Lessons from Google's Leadership Change -- Larry Page, CEO, recently reshuffled the senior team at Google - and it makes sense. The key is keeping the more entrepreneurial members of the team doing innovation - and turning over the more mature product lines to execs that love managing - it's all about the S curve (start-up, growth, maturity) and knowing who is great at which part of the curve and then knowing where a product is on that curve. So I think Page's move is right - to take the guy that created Android, pull him out of running it, and tell him to go create some more!! Study this article if rethinking your own organizational structure.

10 Relationship Tips -- Brad Feld, the famous venture capitalist and co-founder of the TechStar movement, produced an insightful online seminar for us based on his book Do More Faster. Most recently he and his wife Amy have written a book entitled Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur. Here are their top 10 Quick Tips, knowledge useful for any busy executive of a growth firm:

1. Never Schedule High Priority Activities or Deadlines on Fridays: Doing so will likely create a scenario that drifts into Friday night, Saturday, and then Sunday. Always be realistic about the ebb and flow of the work cycle.
2. Don't Bring Up Charged Topics at Bedtime: Your bedroom should be a sanctuary and a safe haven from the demands of the world. Never start a conflict when you and your partner are in bed and dozing off to sleep.
3. Laugh and Laugh Often: We believe you can never hug each other enough, say you love each other too much, or laugh too often.
4. Apologize and Forgive: Practice apologizing when you hurt your partner's feelings. Offer forgiveness when your partner has been careless with your feelings. Know that you will try to be your best self but that you will often fail and will need to hone your apology skills.
5. Have a Life Dinner Once a Month: Make a reservation right now at one of your favorite restaurants. Go out--just the two of you. Buy your significant other a gift. Turn off your cell phones and hand them to the other person. Spend a long slow dinner enjoying each other's company.
6. Set Limits on Technology: You do not need to do just one more e-mail right before bedtime. You really don't. You need to sleep well and restore yourself and reset your brain chemistry during a nice night of rest. Those who need to take breaks from technology are often the least likely to do it.
7. Live Where You Want to Live: Pick the place where you want to live and build your life around it. Our contributors to the book, Mark and Pam Solon, say "We believe it's important for young people embarking on their lives to realize that geography matters in your happiness quotient and that it can even out-weigh the highest-paying job opportunities."
8. Life Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Another contributor to the book, Dave Jilk, says "If I could send my younger self a message from the future, it would tell me to treat my career more like a marathon than a sprint."
9. Commit to Each Other's Dreams: "Recognizing that one's partner is pursuing their dream, they are satisfied down to their soul and, in so being satisfied, are that much more alive. That level of aliveness is a gift few partners can ever give, and successful couples recognize this," say Tim Enwall and Hillary Hall.
10. Always Answer His or Her Calls! While it might seem like a small gesture, the cumulative impact of doing so on a regular basis shows your partner they matter to you.

To this last point, I watched an interview with Brad and during the interview his wife called and he took the call! People don't really care when it's your spouse.

Powerful Branding (and free book) -- Brad has cranked out 6 books with 2 more due this summer. If you want to build authority, credibility, and expertise in your market and generate more business, publishing your own book is one of the best, if not the best, ways to do it...and it is easier that you think. My friend Adam Witty has authored a new book entitled The Book Itch: Is There a Book in You? This book will quickly answer that question. Adam is giving away copies of the book to the first 250 insight readers that request them. Visit http://www.thebookitch.com/gazelles. Once they're gone they're gone, so request your free book now.

Smart Thinking -- Leading a team to achieve great things isn't always easy. In this Smart Thinking online seminar, Dr. Art Markman tells how to help your team outthink your competition and achieve your most important goals by building a workplace culture built around the application of cutting edge knowledge to get things done. In his online seminar you will learn:

• How to help your team identify critical gaps in their knowledge
• The best way to create working conditions that help your team excel
• Strategies for removing common workplace distractions
• How to foster the openness to try new ideas and collaboration
• The best way to spot the hidden connections among team members

Dr. Markman is the Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas at Austin and director of the Program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations. As always, money back guarantee.

All You Can Eat -- BTW, if you would like all your employees to have unlimited access to our 30+ online seminars, we have a flat fee of $5000/year. So if you have 50 employees, this works out to $100/year to access the top biz thinkers in the world and their knowledge - a built-in online corporate university for you - and we've done the hard work to pick the authors and topics that matter. Get all your employees in a rhythm of watching one per month and see their competence and confidence grow. Email Daniel Marcos if interested.

"You Can't Outperform Your Knowledge" -- I still marvel at the simplicity and power of this statement Bob so nonchalantly included in a note to me. Thinking it must have been spoken by some biz guru, I searched the internet and found nothing (OK, another cleaning company used it). I think we've found our new mantra - and the precise rationale for investing two days and attending our upcoming Leadership Summit in Orlando May 9 - 10. See you there.