Beware of the seven most lethal tech sins in business.

While tough economic times linger, companies large and small are still investing in something that’s critical to their business: information technology. Whether it’s to protect data or plan for disaster recovery, streamline processes or better integrate systems, enhance remote access or mobile computing, company leaders are focusing on information technology to ensure that their operations and their people are ultraefficient today and in the future — no matter what the economic conditions. Read more

Getting an offer is only part of the job in finding new employment. Here’s how to sweeten your compensation deal.

A lot of talented folks are out of work or “in transition” in Central Florida these days, and most are doing whatever they can to land a new job. When that goal is finally reached, when someone says, “We love you; please come to work for us,” the tendency is to respond with, “Thank you, YES.” Read more

HR specialists, take note: Emotional intelligence — EQ — is the single biggest predictor of success among knowledge workers.

“Made in China” just doesn’t mean what it used to. Manual labor from the country’s 1.3 billion citizens was long considered its sole competitive advantage in the global economy. While American business has turned a blind eye to the Chinese laborer, the country’s burgeoning skilled workforce now stands as the biggest competitive threat to American business today.

How did this happen?

Forget that Wal-Mart imports $25 billion in goods from China annually — that’s old news. Today, the country has the knowledge workers needed to take hold of sectors like finance, telecommunications and computing.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

Knowledge workers everywhere lean on soft skills to perform, and a flood of research during the last decade shows that emotional intelligence, or EQ, is the single biggest predictor of their success. EQ is the “something” that is a bit intangible in each of us. It gives a powerful name to the way we manage behavior, navigate social complexities and make personal decisions that achieve positive results. To be successful today, a person must maximize those skills, for it is the worker able to employ a unique blend of reason and feeling who earns the greatest results.

A 1998 Harvard Business Review article covering leadership and EQ was the most popular article in the magazine’s four-decade history. More recently, an unusually intense interest in EQ motivated a team of TalentSmart researchers to spend their summer measuring this skill in 3,000 top Chinese executives. The executives who participated in the study were Chinese nationals from the public and private sectors who completed the Chinese translation of the most widely used American EQ test, the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal.

What did the American researchers find? There were two major findings. One was expected, and the other took them by surprise.

First, Chinese executives had scores similar to those of U.S. executives in emotional awareness, the ability to understand one’s own emotions and accurately spot them in others. The surprise second finding points to what is likely a key ingredient in China’s economic success and a serious threat to America’s ability to compete in the global marketplace: discipline. American executives averaged 15 points lower than their Chinese counterparts in self-management and relationship management, the two EQ skills that have the strongest ties to job performance.

Self- and relationship management are the skills that capture an executive’s ability to use emotions to his/her benefit in managing time, making good decisions and relating to others. It appears that, unlike their American counterparts, Chinese executives use awareness of emotions to their benefit at work — and in business, actions speak louder than words.

What’s happening here?

Chinese executives are living the qualities that American executives only pay lip service to. Americans like the way EQ looks on paper, but they don’t walk their talk. The typical American leader is not willing to expend much energy in seeking feedback, getting to know his or her peers and following through on commitments. Making business personal is nothing new in China. Executives ordinarily schedule dinner meetings with their staff to talk about business trends, career aspirations and family. People expect their leaders to set an eminent example of decision making, connecting with others and improving relationships. There is genuine shame in not fulfilling these duties; people really care; everyone knows it’s important.

There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “Give a man a pole, and he’ll catch a fish a week. Tell him what bait to use, and he’ll catch a fish a day. Show him how and where to fish, and he’ll have fish to eat for a lifetime.” Since EQ is not something we’re born with, it has to be honed with knowledge and practice. Often, fulfilling a leadership role can feel a lot like you’re the one fishing in an unfamiliar lake. If you want to increase your EQ, you’ll have to take the potentially difficult first step of testing yourself.

It’s the only way to learn where and how you can change it for the better.

Editor’s note: Travis Bradberry, PhD, is the award-winning author of “Emotional Intelligence 2.0,” a book that includes a pass-code for readers to use to test their EQ online. He is the president and co-founder of TalentSmart, a global think tank and consultancy that serves 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies. His best-selling books have been translated into 25 languages and are sold in more than 150 countries.

Take it from Will Smith. While people are scrambling to show employers they have what it takes, the secret to success may be simpler than they think.

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably spent the past year fretting about the economy, the stock market, the job market, the future. Maybe you’ve spent so much time worrying about what could happen that you’ve lost sight of the plans you had all along. You know, those dreams about getting ahead and aspiring to bigger and better things.

It’s easy to get complacent, even in the good times. But when you’re paralyzed by fear that it could all be gone tomorrow, the temptation to lie low and not make waves can be almost overwhelming.

Don’t succumb. Read more

While money is tight, you don’t necessarily have to squeeze your holiday party plans.  In fact, you can get more than you pay for.

by Tony Porcellini

As we reach the end of what has been a difficult financial year, it’s more important than ever for businesses to show their employees that they are appreciated and valued assets of the organization. And there is no better way of doing this than by throwing a memorable holiday party.

Read more

Self-promotion, if done correctly, can advance your career while maintaining your humility.

The term “self promotion” often carries a negative connotation, and with good reason. No one enjoys associating with someone whose solution to every problem starts, and ends, with the letter “I.”

At the same time, unless others know what you do — and can do — chances are they will never realize they need your services. Instead of approaching this topic as “Me: 101,” however, let’s take a different approach and focus on how to communicate your value to those with whom you come in contact. Read more

Winning in sports and business require many of the same strategies and much of the same leadership ability and intensity.

We have all seen or experienced the phenomenon: a frenzied crowd chanting and cheering, with the stadium or arena virtually rocking with excitement.

Home-team fans can almost singlehandedly will their team to accomplish the miraculous. The home-field advantage can take a good team and propel it to greatness while intimidating the opponents and creating tension in their actions that lowers their on-field performance at the most inopportune time.

Knowing this to be possible in sports, can a home-field advantage be created in business? Absolutely.

An examination of the home-field advantage model and business situations in which it has been used provides useful insights that businesses can incorporate
into their winning strategies.   Read more