Today's post sees the launch of the Omerisms Podcast, where I discuss, explore and debate interesting business, career and personal development topics with interesting business leaders across industries and across the world. The goal is to do one of these a month and speak with individuals (and sometimes even myself!) who bring an interesting perspective to the topic.

I'm a terrible golfer.

I took maybe 5 lessons back in the late 90's and all of that lesson time was spent on my long game (or "hitting the ball far and with accuracy" in layman, non-golfing terms). As a result, my long game is not bad. Not great, but not completely horrible.

I was listening to a podcast interview with Adam Duritz, founding member and principal songwriter for the rock band, Counting Crows, in which he discussed his approach to building the band's audience around the world over the next 5 years:

So if you were in the US over the last weekend, you couldn't help but experience the Event that is the Super Bowl, played this year between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. The biggest sporting event in America, it is a tour de force of strategy, marketing, hype, glitz and glamor. Oh, and a bit of (American) football, as well. 

It's a pretty simple rule but difficult to always remember.

Because from the time we're kids, we're conditioned to work within a structure. To follow the norms defined by others. To live within someone else's construct.

Are you a good leader?

How do you judge whether you're good, OK, or not so great as a leader?

What is your 'true' definition of leadership anyway?

Successful ventures are always centered around a single great idea. A great idea that has the power to move people, industries and nations.

But in order for the idea to flourish, in order for it to move through its optimal trajectory, it cannot be subject to boundaries, constraints or limitations. 

Clients are always right. 

Aren't they?

We're so used to repeating that mantra that I think at times we lose sight of what it actually means to have a strong Client/Provider relationship.

Tucked away in the heart of Central District in Hong Kong is a small, hole-in-the-wall eatery called Lan Fong Yuen.

Lan Fong Yuen is a Cha Chaan Teng, or tea café, that’s been around since 1953, and if you aren’t looking carefully for it, you could easily walk right by it.

The last two decades has seen technology upend almost every industry, transforming everything from 'sacred' business models to how we deliver and receive product, service and content. So much so that we're at the point now, where we kind of take this for granted.

But every so often, we're reminded that we can still be surprised.

In sales, the need to 'close' is strong. 

Our ability to close, and our success in being able to do so, defines our success as salespeople. This is natural and makes sense.

Are you proposing a new idea to change your department? Are you considering a way(s) to revamp your function or organization? Maybe you have an idea for a new venture?

How do you tell if your idea is good, or great?

One way is to observe the types of reactions you get to it.

When I was in management consulting, the best partners I worked with, were the ones who could not only 'schmooze' with clients, but who also knew their content i.e. what it was they were selling, in a reasonable level of detail. That may sound obvious, but you'd be surprised.

The start of a new year brings a new impetus for both customers and salespeople.

Customers (or prospects) have goals for the year, initiatives to execute and budgets to help them get those initiatives done. 

Sales folks have products and services to sell, territories to canvas and, very definitely, quotas to hit.

As 2016 comes to an end, I wanted to take a moment to say Thank You to all of you who have taken the time to read this blog since I started it a few months ago.

My goal was, and is, to have a central place to share my perspectives and ideas on business, psychology, aspirations and life in general. I wanted to do this in a way that was true to my own values, helpful, (hopefully) original and, consistent.

Is talent innate? Or, is it something that's developed and nurtured over time? 

Was Michael Jordan's talent innate? Is Lionel Messi's? Bruce Springsteen? Or, in the business world, Steve Jobs? Bill Gates? Or anyone else you consider to be successful?

I had a different post written for today, but considering we're in the holiday season and this is the time of year where we typically take stock of the last 12 months and begin to think about the next 12, I thought I'd share something more fitting for the occasion.

If you're going to hold, attend or call into, a meeting, then it's incumbent on you to observe one simple rule:

Pay attention.

Don't look at your phone. Don't check emails on your laptop. Don't read your notes and other papers.

When we talk about the success of a product, a team or an organization, we spend a lot of time discussing what it took to achieve that success.

Strategy. Tactics. The tailwinds in the immediate environment. Competitive missteps.

And all of those points are relevant. Appropriate. Important to discuss

Great organizations demand extraordinary efforts.

Extraordinary efforts come from individual work ethic.

And a strong work ethic is disruptive. It can be personally inconveniencing.