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Text Box: I hope business is good for you! Here are some tips, best practices, and fun stuff you might find useful. Enjoy!            - Ernie

Text Box: February 2008

Text Box: See you next issue! Ernie ernest@ealewisconsulting.com

Text Box: This picture was sent in by Thomas in Washington. Makes you wonder. :-)   - Thanks Thomas!

Text Box: Fun Stuff According to Yahoo News and from the British industry magazine “The Bookseller,” the nominees for the oddest book title of the year include: -- "I Was Tortured by the Pygmy Love Queen" by Jasper McCutcheon; -- "How to Write a How to Write Book" by Brian Paddock; -- "Are Women Human? And Other International Dialogues" by Catharine A. MacKinnon; -- "Cheese Problems Solved" by P.L.H McSweeney; -- "If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs" by Big Boom; -- "People who Mattered in Southend and Beyond: From King Canute to Doctor Feelgood" by Dee Gordon.   You can vote on their website at: www.thebookseller.com, and the winner of this, The Diagram Prize, will be announced on March 28th.   Last year's winner?  "The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification.” The first winner in 1978 was, "Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice." The 1988 winner, “Developments in Dairy Cow Breeding and Management: and New Opportunities to Widen the Uses of Straw.” The 1996 winner, “Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers.” :-)

Text Box: Steps to Getting Ahead Looking to move up in your organization? Here are some basic things you can to do to help make it happen: 1) Know Your Company - Learn everything you can about your company. Understand the mission and vision, know the goals and objectives, who does what, where, and when. The more knowledgeable you are the better your decision making and problem solving and the more successful your efforts for advancement. 2) Think Strategic - Plan your own course. Understand how you fit in and what you need to do to get to the next level. Know what resources are available and what your strengths and weaknesses are. If you are not sure, ask for feedback. Listen to that feedback and improve where you need to. 3) Get Valuable - Improve your skill set, stay focused, create and innovate, and become a problem solver. Being able to bring solutions to the table that  help the company get past roadblocks creates real value. Improvements in productivity, morale, organization, etc. translates to the bottom line. 4) Accept More Responsibility - To get to the next level, you need to step up, plain and simple. Taking on more and new responsibilities shows others you have the courage and desire to move up and the ability to handle it. 5) Communicate Your Desire -  In all of the above, give people an idea of why you are doing what you are doing. Not everyone will automatically understand your desires and know your plans so don’t assume so. For the most part, people will admire your ambitions and be willing to help you get there. Really! :-)

Text Box: Try to do this one quickly!   A new street is built with one hundred new houses, numbered 1 to 100. How many number 9's are required to number all the houses?   * Answer at the bottom!

Text Box: In This Issue a) Steps to Getting Ahead b) Notable Quote: Tiger Woods c) Brain Teaser: Test Your Creativity! d) Roadblocks to Successful Coaching e) Helpful Tip: Effective Writing for Business f) Fun Stuff: Oddest Book Title of the Year

Text Box:   “Days when you just don't have it, you don't mail it in, you don't pack it in, you give it everything you've got. You grind it out, I don't care what kind of game you have, you somehow try and find a way to get it done ... That's part of my attitude and belief, that you should always have the switch on. You can't turn it on and off.”   - Tiger Woods,   From Notable Quotes at http://www.notable-quotes.com

Text Box: Notable Quote

Text Box:   Executive Coaching  · Strategic Planning  · Team Building  · Continuous Improvement  · Professional Development © 2008, E.A. Lewis Consulting          www.ealewisconsulting.com

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Text Box: Brain Teaser

Text Box:  “Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly.”   - Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, Aug. 19, 1785