Dale Carnegie's Paradox

A quick thanks to a couple of media outlets that mentioned the blog this week:

The Amtower Report, May 8 edition: http://www.federaldirect.net/newsletter.html, for a candid view of all that is B2G

DC Blogs: http://www.dcblogs.com/, a great central repository for all blogs DC

Took last night off and rested for the most part. Felt like the rest was needed in order to focus on the people I am meeting with, their needs, etc., and see what can be done to help them in their various situations.

This week I’ve been listening to the first half of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People. It’s the basis of my sales training five years ago and a cornerstone of the company’s mission, and listening to it reminds me of many little nuances to human relationships that I let slip. Staying in a learning environment, whether it’s reading, listening to other people, or taking training courses is so important. If I had to summarize: Get out of yourself and your self-based wants, and get into others' needs.

The funny thing about Dale Carnegie is that practicing the principles makes me happier. By helping and thinking of others, I feel better… a divine paradox. So in theory it’s really simple, just be as useful to others as possible without any self-based motives.

Quick growth and infrastructure updates: One of the two leads I had verbally closed decided to pull out for PR, but wants my help for BD, which is something that extends beyond the scope and mission of the company. I will try to help this entity out and provide them some leads, but from a work standpoint, this has to be passed on... Focus, focus, focus. Also on the BD front, a couple of new leads this week, and the RFP looks like it is in great shape. The agency that referred the lead to me will layout the RFP on Wednesday next week, and it goes out to the Fortune 100 next Friday. We should definitely be invited to the next round.

My very wise board of advisors has recommended I don’t hire until a major deal comes in, something I wholeheartedly agree with. 1099s will do until that point. Ditto for any other major purchase. Got to keep the burn rate low. Lastly, finally getting somewhere with the accountant activities. Next week I am interviewing three vendors.

I won't blog again until Monday, so have a great weekend.