A collection of links to the very best articles, tips and tools for personal, professional and business success.

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Honing In On Home-Based Businesses

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By Bigg Success Staff
Novemeber 25, 2007

Home Office

If you’re in business, or thinking of starting one, you should check out StartupNation’s first annual Home-Based 100. They chose ten winners in ten categories: best financial performers, most innovative, highest vote-getters, boomers back in business, greenest, yummiest, wackiest, grungiest, worldliest, and most slacker-friendly.

Kudos to StartupNation for this unique list, which highlights the growing trend of people choosing to work from home, as well as large companies marketing to those people. In fact, three large companies sponsored this study – Microsoft Office Live Small Business, Dell, and Southwest Airlines.

Here’s five things you can learn from this group:

    • Be passionate about what you do.

As one might expect from people who combine work space with personal space, the Home-Based 100 often don’t separate who they are from what they do. This helps fuel their success, rather than detracting from it. You may find that the best way for you to balance your work life and your personal life is to combine them!

    • Embrace change.

Most of the Home-Based 100 are baby boomers who had succeeded in Corporate America, but wanted out for various reasons. Some were just ready for a change. Others couldn’t find the time to execute the idea they had, while still working for someone else. Yet others just wanted more family time and saw working at home as a sure-fire way to get that.

    • Use technology extensively.

Technology allows you to work at home with others who work at home. Your whole workforce can be home-based! This is one of the most interesting things pointed out by Startup Nation’s study. Home-based doesn’t mean solo! You may choose to work without employees, but you don’t have to do so.

    • Outsource extensively.

You can’t do it all yourself. Nor should you. The Home-Based 100 outsource extensively. Stick with what you know and do well. Pay someone else to do the rest.

    • Go for it, now!

If you have the desire to work from home, go for it. Don’t let the 13 fear of failure ]stop you. The people in the Home-Based 100 didn’t. Look where they are now. You can do it, too! Don’t hesitate – do something today!

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Leadership Lessons From Fallen Leaders

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By Bigg Success Staff
Novemeber 25, 2007

Career Builder

We’re told to learn from our mistakes. It’s even better to learn from the mistakes of others. Recently, there’s been a slew of turnover in senior-level positions in Corporate America. Here are six lessons in leadership that you can learn from their very public departures.

  • Deliver daily

    • Doing your job well is the first step to earning the respect of others. If you want to be a leader, you have to show people that you’re a goal-getter, not just a goal-setter. Otherwise, how can you expect them to do otherwise?

    You can’t rest on your laurels, but you also shouldn’t get discouraged if you fall a little short of the mark. Seek to win every day, but remember to 7 get over today tomorrow.]

  • Hold yourself to the highest standards.

    • Nobody respects a phony. You can’t expect others (especially subordinates) to behave differently than you. You have to walk your talk.

    Many people do the opposite. They hope nobody sees them breaking the rules. They think that nobody will notice if they cut corners. It doesn’t work. You will certainly destroy people’s trust if you fail to apply this lesson.

  • Show respect to get respect.

    • You can’t expect anybody to respect somebody who treats him or her like a nobody. People won’t follow people they don’t respect. Genuinely value the unique talents and personalities of those around you.

    Develop a deep appreciation for skills you don’t have. You need people with those abilities more than someone with your own expertise.

  • Take a genuine interest in others.

    • You have to take an interest. And it must be genuine. Otherwise, it’s worst than not showing interest at all.

    This is a basic lesson in human interaction. Show people that you’re interested in them. Listen. Relate. They will support you because they like you. Now they want to see you succeed.

  • Connect at different levels.

    • Strive to connect with people above and below you in your organization. Get to know your boss. Really understanding his or her challenges helps you make an impact. Ditto for you subordinates. Serve them by understanding.

    If you’re not a senior-level manager, try to understand their point-of-view. Doing so helps you understand the big picture. If you’re not on the front-line, be sure to make some friends there, too. You’ll understand the challenges faced by the people on whom everyone else depends for their job.

  • Feed the feedback.

    • Seek advice from anywhere and everywhere you can get it. Welcome people’s suggestions. Thank them each and every time they offer one.

    People love to feel like they’re a part of something bigger. Eventually, you’ll find a few who have particularly valuable insight. Let them know. Give them credit. Watch them support you even more!

    Find at least one mentor – inside or outside the organization, or both. You want someone to whom you feel accountable. Someone who can bounce ideas off without worrying about any repercussions.

There are lessons to be learned from fallen leaders. Expect more from yourself than you expect from others. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Be the role-model for others you want for yourself! Make these six lessons a part of your daily life and you’ll find people lining up to follow you.

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John Wooden’s Pyramid Of Success

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By Bigg Success Staff
November, 25 2007

Timeless Principles

Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success book cover

On a previous post, in The BIGG Success Show, we discussed definitions of success. We said that our favorite definition is by John Wooden. He was named ESPN’s coach of the twentieth century. Believe it or not, we think that honor doesn’t begin to fully recognize his accomplishments:

Read more

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Review: Geek Gap

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By Bigg Success Staff
November, 25 2007

Bigg Book Review

The Geek Gap: Why Business And Technology Professionals Don’t Understand Each Other And Why They Need Each Other to Survive

Book by Bill Pfleging and Minda Zetlin 

Technology and business pros (“geeks” and “suits”, respectively, in this book) often find working together to be a challenge. Bill Pfleging, self-proclaimed geek, and Minda Zetlin, representing the suits, have written this insightful book to help you understand the other side.

As the use of technology continues to proliferate, you’ll find that knowing how to close the gap between the two worlds is a critical skill.

First, seek to understand
In this book, you’ll find a specific example of Steven Covey’s general principle – “seek first to understand” – as discussed in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The authors assert that geeks like to solve problems, while suits rely on influencing people. Through numerous examples, you’ll come to understand the other side, so they can understand you.

Then, learn to value
Suits view technology as a tool to accomplish their goals; geeks see technology as a “living, breathing thing.” These diverse points-of-view strengthen your organization.

Whether you’re a geek or a suit, you’ll find practical suggestions to help you learn to value the complementary skill sets of your co-workers. That’s a skill that will help you advance in your career.

Final note
While this book reports to be about geeks and suits, it’s really a book about working with people who think differently than you. If you want to improve your ability to communicate with others, we think you’ll find this book useful.

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The Art Of Seeing Opportunity In Adversity

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By Bigg Success Staff
November, 25 2007

John Bramblitt jpg 

Success Stories 

John Bramblitt is an unusually gifted painter. More importantly, he is an inspiration to countless numbers of people. We think you’ll be as inspired by him as we have been.

You see John has dealt with adversity for most of his life. He first experienced a seizure over twenty years ago. He had a kidney removed as a kid. He endures hearing loss. At eleven, he required glasses.

If all that wasn’t enough for a young man who had just turned thirty, he began noticing that his friends’ faces weren’t clear. A doctor diagnosed that he was going blind. The cause of his blindness is still unknown.

In the six years since, John has experienced a lot. At first, he was sad, frustrated, and
angry. He turned to painting, in part, to symbolically give God the finger. That’s when he made an amazing discovery.

He sees better now than he did before.

He says he sees with one hand, while feeling the paint with the other. The more he painted, the less angry he was. He found that, what he thought was a curse, has turned into a blessing.

So what can we learn from John Bramblitt?

Use all your available senses. You possess more abilities than even you know. Look at each day as an opportunity to discover gifts you didn’t know you had. To practice this, check out our 8 visualization exercise.]

Become adept at adapting. John learned that he could distinguish colors by their feel. He developed his memory so he could picture the painting in his mind as he touches it with his hands. Get excited about all you can learn when challenges come your way!

Know when to quit. John knows a painting is done when doing any more would take away from it. We recently discussed John Wooden’s 6 definition of success.] We said that
you must do all you can, but that’s all you need to do. When you do that, you have peace of mind. John achieves this with every one of his paintings, then he quits.

To learn more about John, check out the following links:

See John’s paintings. You’ll be amazed at this young man’s talent.

View John’s documentary video. It’s fairly large, so be patient while it loads. It’s worth the wait!

View the Texas Country Reporter video on You Tube. It’s shorter than the previous video, but still tells the story well.