Black In Business

 Celebrate the victories.

Look for things to celebrate. Some accomplishments are marathons not dashes and may take months or even years. Discover milestones along the way to acknowledge and celebrate.

9)

Make it fun

If you enjoy and maybe even love your work then it is not work. If you have fun all day while being the best at something, it will be easy to work hard.

10)

Set goals and plan to get there.

The plan includes hard work, you must have a road map and be public with your goals. Write your goals down and share them with some one that cares about you. It is not what the dream is, it is what the dream does. Many people talk about getting more exercise, a dream, but if they actually start a work out plan, their dream has merit.

When Coach Lovie Smith took over as coach of da Bears he set 3 goals; Beat Green Bay, win the division, win the super bowl! 2 down and 1 to go. A vivid example of the power of goal setting, 7 wins&  0 losses, including beating Green Bay

5)

 Be positive

Ensure you have your game face on. Always be ready to do business or do your job. No matter how difficult things get, or what you have experienced, you never have to hide your feelings because you are filled with joy and energy.

6)

Hang with the best

If you want to be a star, hang with successful people. Find co workers and friends that want to be great at what they do. Do not allow people to complain about anything when you are trying to focus on being great. This is not to say be unrealistic, but rather look for solutions rather than problems.

7)

Keep Hope Alive

This can be expressed as confidence. Reverend Jackson, always talks about hope. With out hope we have nothing. You must prepare yourself in order to know your task can happen. You must never lose faith in yourself.

I recently spoke with some successful blacks in business. They are great at what they do and some commonalities became apparent. These guys are in the fields of, medicine, law, sales, law enforcement, and public service leadership. Over the next couple of postings I will review their insights as to the 10 aspects needed for success. Our hope that this is confirmation for most and  an opportunity to measure your self for improvement opportunity. We desire that It will inspire some comments as to other factors needed for more folks to share the dream.

1)

Be prepared

I always knew as a salesman I might come across a competitor, who was better looking, smarter, more glib, and maybe even had a better product. Being a salesman of high confidence, I felt those things were unlikely, but possible. The one thing I refused to let happen, was for someone to be more prepared to do business than me.

2)

Be proud

Take pride in your performance, if you want to do a good job. Let the people you work for or your customers know, their total satisfaction is your goal. You care more about meeting customer needs, both internal customers and external customers, than the money you earn.

3)

Look good

This does not mean be the best dressed or best looking, but rather exhibit a commanding memorable appearence. What can you do to stand out in a crowd.

4)

Become an expert

Know every thing there is to know about what your field is. Make yourself a professional and continue to study, rehearse, and improve. The best sports figures in the world practice every day. Our world leaders practice important speeches, yet some of us wing it, do not try to improve our skills and do not reach our potential!

Hate the way the country is going? Feel bad regarding the way the world views us? Sick of paying for a unethical  and unneccesary war? Sick of hate crimes? Discourage by corporations lack of opportunties for Black Americans? Want betters schools for our children?More money to support Black businesses. Want our young military to come home? Then vote. Think about what a Democratic Congress can do for opportunity in this country. Go take a look at your total tax payment for the pass 4 years, is the country spending your money on your issues ?

A while back I read some ideas regarding being pumped upped for work. Reading quotes is cool and can be shared. My reading suggested to not watch the news or listen to it, most news is bad news and may leave us discouraged. It is clear in business, definely for blackinbusiness, we must put our problems behind us and be happy and excited when we work. I always listen to music in my car and have found, greatness can come from a great attitude, and great music can contribute to it.

My current CD in my car are by; Sonny Rollins,Coup,Ice Cube,Mckoy Tyner, and Corrine Bailey Rae. In fact, Sonny Rollins in in twice, and Corrine Bailey Rae is a fresh new sound. A morning work out is another way to start the day uplifted, go to the gym at 6am and you will arrive at the office feeling as though, you already made something happen.

In closing, a quote from the late and great, John Johnson, founder of Ebony magazine . ” It is not what the dream is, it is what the dream does!”