ChangeThis: Issue 101

After our 100th issue in November, and spreading ideas and information in manifesto form each and every month for the past seven years, we took a (much needed) month off to reflect, refresh, and refocus...and to keep an eye out for the end of the world.

Well, the world didn't end, so we're back at it this month, trying to inspire positive change individual reader by individual reader. So, without further ado, here is ChangeThis: Issue 101.

Leapfrogging to Breakthroughs by Soren Kaplan

"Surprise is the enemy. Or, is it? Could we be overlooking—even resisting—one of the most essential catalysts of personal and business breakthroughs? Could we be ignoring the most fundamental tool that anyone can use to create disruptive innovation and change?"

Overemphasis on Profit Erodes Your Bottom Line: Why Purpose-Driven Salespeople Wildly Outperform Their Quota-Driven Counterparts
by Lisa Earle McLeod

"Most people believe that money is the primary motivator for top salespeople and that doing good by the world runs a distant second. That belief is wrong."

Service Failure: Do You Really Care About Your Customer? by Jeff Toister

"Executives may claim to care about their customers, but their actions frequently suggest just the opposite. ... I know what you are thinking. You're different. You truly care about your customers ... Still, do you really care about customer service?"

You—According to Them: Accelerating Career Success By Understanding—and Boosting—Your Reputation by Sara Canaday

"'Reputation' is not a line item we can find on a corporate income statement. But honestly, it should be. Instead it's lurking in there, living pervasively below the surface of the carefully calculated revenues and expenses."

Forget Today: Start at the End by Dave Lavinsky

"In business, as in everything else, you need to have a clear vision of where you want to go. Then, and only then, can you create a plan to follow to get you there. The key is to "start at the end." Figure out where you want to go. And then you can reverse engineer the path to get there."

Why It Pays to Be Likeable by Dave Kerpen

"The speed and ease with which information travels—the good, the bad and the ugly—is faster than ever before, and only accelerating. Today, the brands that succeed aren't the ones that spend the most money on disruptive advertising—they're the ones that spend the most money on creating valuable, meaningful products and customer service."