Try this one little trick on your video meetings to make them better

Here’s one little thing you can do to make your video meetings better.

Smile.

Just smile. That’s it. See what happens.

I bet you’ll be surprised by how the tenor of the meeting changes. How people respond. How they engage.

Most of all, I bet it changes you. Your thoughts, your reactions, your outlook.

Try it. In Zoom, Teams, Skype, BlueJeans, WebEx, whatever video conferencing app you’re using. Go ahead. Smile.

There's something bigger going on in your company

I worked with a company that was changing the way it operated. The strategy was interesting.

It was a huge company and their communications strategy was to send an email to all their employees telling them about this new way of doing things.

Here was the problem. The company told the employees to go read this very long, dense document that would explain everything. It literally read like an academic paper.

I read it many times. I’m still fuzzy on what it was all about.

That’s not a good approach.

It’s better to give employees an elevator speech.

Here’s why we’re doing this. This is where we’re going.

We’ll be great together. Now let’s get to work.

And hey, tell a story. People like stories.

Why perseverance is one of those things that should define you

Everyone benefits from this one thing.

Have this one thing and it will be a difference maker for you. So what’s this one thing? 

Perseverance.

Perseverance sets you apart. It carries you through your professional and personal life.

I can’t stress enough how much perseverance pays off.

By definition, it’s “steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” 

It’s believing in yourself despite seemingly endless setbacks. It’s enduring through exhaustion. It’s patience through frustration. It’s not giving up despite numerous rejections.

Don’t quit. Whatever you do, don’t quit.

Don’t be defined by rejections. Don’t let someone else determine your view of what you’ll bring to an organization. View those rejections as opportunities to learn.

After you as a job hunter, or your idea as an employee, or your pitch as an entrepreneur is turned down, take some time to self-reflect. What can you change or tweak? What can you improve?

Use those lessons to inform your next actions and help shape and guide your future applications, interviews and conversations. 

Be purposeful. Seek out expertise. Read. Study. Get to work!

So how does perseverance look for you? We’re on the cusp of a new year, a time for fresh starts, do overs, new commitments, and new goals.

If it’s not already, make “perseverance” a goal of yours. 

Try it. You have nothing to lose. And everything to gain.

Make your company better. Make the world better.

Several years ago, a boss I worked for decided to have an end-of-year company strategy session to do some brand identity.

Figure out who we were and what we’re about as a company.

It’s all good stuff. But it struck me that this person had launched the company and was running it for five or six years and couldn’t answer that for themself. This person truly needed someone else to do it for them.

That’s not good.

What’s your company about? What’s important to your company?

It should be a big-picture statement. Like, “My company makes the world a better place because we make (products) that help other companies be successful.”

Most importantly, how does what you do help your company do that thing or those things it’s all about?

Finish this sentence: I elevate my company’s brand by _____________________________.

And this one: I make my company better because _________________________________.

Now, try this one: I could make my company better by _____________________________.

Go do it.