There is No Maximum to Human Potential

Crib Sheet Is Key to Straight 'A' Performance

Buying the answers may have been grounds for dismissal in school, but it's a sure way to win in business.

by Ann Amati, new HumanPoint associate

I have a friend who teaches sixth grade Language Arts. One of the disciplines she teaches is spelling. Every Monday she writes ten words on the blackboard, turns to her students and says, "These are the answers to Friday's test."

Isn't school great? You're told what's expected of you. It's either handed to you or you're told exactly where to find it. If you make a mistake, there is someone there to correct you immediately-someone who really wants to see you score 100% all the time. The best thing is, you always know where you stand and how you were judged. If you want to improve, all you have to do is apply the lessons that are handed to you.

Why can't business be that clear? It's hard to know where we stand with our customers and why-especially with our external customers. Why do they buy from us? Just how loyal are they? What factors are we being judged by? What changes could we make to strengthen the relationship? How can we review the answers to the test in advance?

How? Ask. Your customers will tell you, but unlike in school where it was the teacher's job to hand you information, now you have to ask for it. In college it was an infraction to buy the answers to the test in advance. In business, it's smart. Whether you buy with the opportunity cost of your internal resources or with dollars paid to an external resource, take the initiative and ask your customers. During the heyday of Total Quality Management, lots of businesses conducted some form of customer satisfaction surveying. As the bloom fell off the TQM rose, most companies' surveying programs ended. But customers grade you whether you studied for the test or not. 

This article was published in Top Talent Trends, a monthly newsletter produced by HumanPoint.  To subscribe click here. 

What Matters Most to Mature Workers

•Comprehensive retirement package  (16%)

•Comprehensive benefits package  (14%)

•Work that enables me to learn & grow  (13%)

•Work that is personally stimulating  (12%)

•Workplace that is enjoyable  (11%) 

•Flexible work schedule  (8%)

•10% more in total compensation  (8%)

•Work that is worthwhile to society  (7%)

•Flexible workplace  (6%)

•Two additional weeks of paid vacation  (5%)

Source: The New Employee/Employer Equation Survey

Work Life Balance

Work-life balance is one of the greatest challenges facing executives today.  Mastery of work-life balance holds the keys to career advancement and greater enjoyment of life.  Time is a limited resource – there are only 24 hours in a day – and if we want to maximize our productivity and find the highest and best use of our limited time, we have to find ways of doing things more efficiently.  Eating healthy is an engine that drives success on both sides of the work-life balance equation.  Good nutrition will help you work smarter, relax easier, and recover from stress faster.  Eating healthy helps you keep a more even keel throughout the day, minimizing those highs and lows, enabling you to focus better.  And healthy eating plus moderate exercise will keep your weight down and your energy up – in concert these effects will improve your self-image and productivity, increasing the likelihood of advancement in the workplace.  There are also great psychological benefits to be gained from successfully preparing a meal and sharing it with the people who matter in your life.  It increases your sense of self-confidence and improves your interpersonal relationships, creating a “virtuous circle” of self-improvement.  OK, there are lots of great things to be gained by eating healthy.  But with the limited amount of time you have to work with, planning and executing healthy meals is difficult – unless you have some help.  And one of the keys to success in life is knowing when to ask for help.

My friend and colleague NJ Shelsby recognized the need for help in this area and created a simple yet powerful online meal planning system called HastyChef.com.  HastyChef was designed for people who want to cook healthy dinners, but don't have time to plan the meals, find the recipes, figure out the shopping list, or spend a lot time cooking.  A 5-day planner suggests healthy meals for each night.  Take the plan as offered or customize it to suit your preferences and schedule ... move dishes around, change serving sizes, review recipes, select from your saved favorites.  It takes only a few minutes to plan an entire week's worth of dinners.  And as you change your meal plan, your customized shopping list and recipes are automatically updated.  Once your meal plan for the week is set, just print out your shopping list and go.  Then each night use the automatically created instructions to cook dinner and put a healthy family meal on the table in about 30 minutes.  It really is a no brainer.  And because HastyChef makes it so easy, you can eat healthier and gain all the positive work-life benefits that come with it.

HastyChef has generously offered to provide my readers with a discounted subscription price.  Take advantage of their free two-week trial and if you choose to continue your subscription, the rate will be only $19.96 a month, which is a 20% discount off the regular $24.95 rate.  And the 20% discount is good for the entire life of your subscription.  To receive your discount, just enter the promo code “AmyH” when you sign up at www.HastyChef.com.  This offer is good until June 1^st, 2008 so take advantage of it.  Once you start using HastyChef to plan and cook healthy dinners, I think you'll see it have a huge positive impact on your work-life balance and the success you achieve both in your career and at home.

What Matters Most to Young Workers

•Comprehensive benefits package  (19%)

•Workplace that is enjoyable  (13%)

•Work that enables me to learn & grow  (12%)

•Comprehensive retirement package  (10%)

•Work that is personally stimulating  (10%)

•Flexible work schedule  (10%)

•10% more in total compensation  (8%)

•Two additional weeks paid vacation  (7%)

•Work that is worthwhile to society  (6%)

•Flexible workplace  (5%)

Source: The New Employee/Employer Equation Survey