Recently in Motivation Category

Starting a new job can be scary; the people are new, the place is new, the environment is new. However, you don't have to go through this experience alone. Finding a mentor during the first week of your new job is essential, and can lead to immense success down the road.

Mentors know how to handle situations that might be new to you as you enter a different job. If you come across a sticky situation, chances are your mentor has been through them before. They're always willing to share their experience and give advice to alleviate the situation. Mentors can do more than give advice. They can broaden your network. What a mentor says to you is equally as important as what a mentor says about you to other people. Having a mentor is so important because they not only want you to succeed, but they will help you do so.

One of my grandmother's favorite sayings was that you shouldn't "make mountains out of molehills." In business, very often HR departments and/or managers will blow things way out of proportion because they don't like a specific behavior of an employee or focus too much on a weakness.

What can you do in your business today to leave the molehills as molehills?

1. Focus on strengths in your team and complement them with others who have complimentary strengths.

2. If someone isn't good on the phone and you can give that role to someone else, do it! No sense wasting time with someone who has poor phone skills by trying to develop them into something they aren't.

3. Does someone frequently take bathroom breaks? Don't focus so much on that if they are being productive otherwise, especially if you have people who go on "smoke breaks" and you don't do anything to them

By: Katrina Schwarz, Braathe Enterprises Virtual Intern

Everyone has to deal with negative people at some point. How you go about dealing with such people in the workplace can affect the atmosphere for everyone, so it's wise to proceed with caution. Here are some guidelines for how to take action:

1) Find your place in the problem: Do you find yourself taking this person's negativity personally? Could you be overly sensitive to negativity? Do you complain about the negativity to your fellow coworkers? If so, you could be fanning the flames and contributing to the problem. Changing your own attitude could make the problem disappear. If you are not part of the issue, go on to the next step.

2) Communicate with the person in question: Try to understand why they're acting that way. Listen. Challenge the negativity by setting them straight if their attitude is caused by a misperception of work dynamics or offer a more positive outlook if the negativity is more general. Whatever you do, don't be confrontational, put blame on the person or devalue them in any way, as this may only aggravate the problem. If communicating doesn't change the other person's attitude, having some insight as to why they're so negative could help you change yours to be more understanding. If their complaints are caused by external factors rather than an attitude issue, move on to step three.

3) Find a solution: This is easiest if you're in a position to directly affect whatever it is that's bothering the person, be it something like a mistake on payroll or a team situation. If you're not in a position to help make changes, you could still make suggestions as to whom to turn to in order to get the problem fixed. Sometimes people are just frustrated and need some direction.

As with any other situation dealing with other people, tact, understanding and listening can go a long way in resolving conflict.

by Jonathan Nguyen, Braathe Enterprises Virtual Intern

I know it's a little rough. You have stomach pains. You have cramps. It might come up in a conversation with a coworker if it's really bothering you.

People who are ailing from things like a terminal illness, broken body parts, and any other condition under the medical rainbow don't always work their illnesses into everyday conversation. Many of them approach life from a hermeneutic of wellness. Instead of taking every opportunity to outline a litany of medical tests and prescription drugs, they cherish the opportunity to go to the office, take stupid meetings, and talk about celebrity gossip.

So here's what I learned: health issues shouldn't be minimized, but it's important to realize that it's the least interesting among us who hijack a conversation and talk about health.

I'm no downer and neither are you. Let's take some medicine and get on with the business of life.

Inside of each of us is a beautiful soul with tremendous gifts to offer to the world. You don't need anyone to tell you how great you are; you need to have some "inner conceit". Let others see your gifts by being a confident, classy person in all your interactions.

Have you seen the truly beautiful people you work with? These people walk around with grace, poise and confidence in every interaction.

Know that you are beautiful!

​Let's face it, when you are in charge of a group, there will always be that one person who is lagging a bit behind. Having one person who is a bit behind can set off the entire group dynamic. How do you fix it? How do you bring that person up to pace?
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First, you need to set up a talk with that person. Bring up what he/she is doing right; what he/she is good at. You want the person to feel like you are helping him/her and are interested in their improvement, not just being critical. After, telling the person what he/she is good at, then tell him/her what he/she need to improve on.
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Next, set up a plan on how he/she can improve. Set up deadlines on when duties should be made, and track the member to keep him/her accountable. Provide suggestions to help the member become or effective and proactive. Sometimes a little encouragement goes a long way. Show that member that their work and his/her efforts are valuable and has a large effect on the outcome of the entire group
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Finally, implement it. Track the member's progress and keep them accountable to the task, and never fail to remind the member that the work he/she is doing is important and has an effect on other people. In time, that lagging member will rise to be your star player.

Min Shan Lin attends USC and is a member of the Braathe Enterprises Virtual Internship Program

Sorry needn't be the hardest word. When you make mistakes, apologize.

If you don't say I'm sorry, you will be sorry! Make up for your mistakes by an honest apology and you will find whatever guilt or anguish you have been feeling will go away. It works in just about any situation. The smaller the transgression, that harder it may be, but just do it!

I often joke with my buddies that the announcers and NFL kiss Peyton Manning's butt so much he's lucky to be playing because of chafing. He is a great player, but please, as Bill Parcells once said "put away the anointing oil." He was surrounded by some great talent and although he was the leader, an effective leader shows just how effective they are by how things run when they aren't around

The risk that runs from kissing up to one employee or one player too much is if that player or employee leaves (or is injured), the team can go to shambles. The Colts last year felt this first hand. Without Manning, the team fell apart.

When you look at your organizational structure, don't put too much dependence on one person, nor give someone too much credit (even if they may deserve it). Always build in contingencies and support for your team for a day that may come when the person who you lean on is no longer around.

In the last 12 months, the NFL has made an incredible amount of human resources mistakes that continue to make the sport unwatchable and the league look like a joke, Here are some of the mistakes and how you can avoid them.

1. The Bountygate suspensions. The NFL encourages brutality by allowing people to hit people as hard as possible, yet when players offer money to do so, it's illegal. (Kind of a double standard.) When the suspensions were handed down, the only appeals process went through the person who handed down the suspension, the commissioner, which signals abuse of power.

2. The constant rule changes to protect only certain players. Quarterbacks, kickers, and "defenseless" receivers get special protection against hits, while others can basically assault one another with reckless abandon.

3. Defending referees who make mistakes by upholding bad calls. The call in the Seahawks game was clearly wrong on every level, yet the league refused to admit their mistakes. Instead, they put out a baloney filled statement that didn't acknowledge error.

4. Completely drooling over players like Peyton Manning when there are others who deserve more attention. Organizations that overly hype and promote one person over the others tend to alienate others.

5. Playing meaningless preseason games instead of adding more quality to the product, and then trying to force 2 more games on the players without additional compensation.
Making employees work more for the same or less pay will kill morale,

6. Blacking out games in cities when the team doesn't sell enough tickets. Only 70-100 thousand people can attend a game, yet the NFL punishes millions more if the game doesn't fill. If you want to develop a fan base, get a team involved in its community and encourage customer loyalty, forcing people to buy tickets is not the way to generate fans.

7. Publishing injury reports so the other team knows where to hit the opposition really hard.

These are just a few of my gripes and why I have given up on watching football altogether. I'd rather watch baseball where at least I know my game will be televised, people aren't trying to legally beat each other up and there is a greater sense of order.

Heard this author speak this Sunday morning on ESPN Radio. A very insightful view on how this applies to business practices

"Chances are you might know someone who is almost a psychopath. The coworker who throws you under the bus. The friend who constantly takes advantage of you. A politician on TV or even some beloved fictional characters. (Think Scarlett O'Hara or J.R. Ewing.)

When people are chronically callous, unreliable and manipulative, they can wreak havoc on those around them, making them what a new book calls an almost-psychopath."

To view more about this author, visit
http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=16598607