Dealing with Negative People

Welcome to life. You will always have a negative person nearby no matter how hard you try to escape them. What do you do, however, if you hire or work with a negative person? Well, I have a few tried and tested tips that work!

First, try to avoid them if possible. Sure, you work with them but that doesn’t mean you need to engage with them beyond a professional level. If they hang out in a certain snacking area, bring your own food. If they show up at your desk to “talk”, excuse yourself and find some copying to do.  If they're customers that you can't avoid, stay cordial and friendly but don't get sucked into a deeper relationship. Finally, make sure you draw boundaries with these people and YOU have to stick to them because they surely will not.

You also want to avoid being too positive with them. Reverse psychology doesn’t work on negative people. In fact, it is a breeding bed of challenging encounters for them. They will feed on counter-acting your positivity with negativity. Remember to remain neutral and to not get sucked into their negativity- which is harder done than said.

Finally, changed their words around and re-present them.  Negative people use negative tones and phrases.  If client A states “well, you know, if this is the best you can do then I guess it is ok”, simply reword it back to them. This tricks them into thinking what they said is acceptable, when really it isn’t and you are putting it back in their face- politely, of course. A good example of re-presenting the example above would be to say, “You’re right. This is the best work I can do and I’m glad we see eye to eye on the final product.”  See how this worked? It is amazing what can be accomplished by simply rephrasing something, right?!

It’s hard to be upbeat when you have a negative person around. Sometimes you have to deal with him or her- there is no escape. In these situations just remember my tips above.

Until tomorrow,

Coco the CEO

“Yuck” – These 3 Phrases Make You Sound Stupid!

Here is the thing, I hate when people don’t use words and phrases properly. Not only is this ineffective, it makes them look stupid.  I go to many meetings. Here are three phrases I would encourage everyone to stop using right now because they are worn out and make you look dumb.

Let me start with “synergy”, which is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as "the increased effectiveness that results when two or more people or businesses work together.” Duh! This means anyone who works together on a project possesses synergy. I know plenty of people who work together and results of a project are increased but have no synergy. In fact, they backstab and claw at one another.

Second is “peel back the layers of an onion”. Are we working at Outback Steak House? What onion? What layers? If we need to remove layers to identify a goal or an outcome then the problem isn’t the onion- the problem is the people wanting to “peel back”!  There is no onion.  Call a duck a duck and start moving forward.

Finally, “can I be honest”. This basically means that anything else you say without this phrase in front of it is either a lie or a horrible exaggeration. People should always be on the receiving end of honesty – especially in business. Don’t use this phrase. It makes you look stupid and like a liar!

Do you have a business phrase that gets under your skin? Share it with me. I can’t wait to read your comments.

Coco the CEO

Sins of the Entrepreneur

 Not everyone is going to make it in business- no matter how hard one tries. Why? Well, either you are born with the entrepreneur spirit or you’re not. It is this simple! Below are 5 Sins of “entrepreneurs” that real business leaders use to identify the wanna-bes from the real deals.

1.       They aren’t trying to be something they aren’t. Yes, real business leaders have faith in their own ideas. They don’t spend their time copying the ideas of others.  They either take a concept and make it better or they promote their own vision.

2.       Money is an afterthought. Real business people know money will be a point of stress forever, regardless of how much is in the bank.  Business owners focus on growth, often working under their value, to create a customer base and then keep it.

3.       They have no day job. No one can run a business while working for someone else- at least not effectively. If a business owner has a day job, they’re fake. They aren’t making it and they have no idea how to make it.

4.       They don’t care about fear. Sure, they may be afraid at times but they don’t let fear stand between them and success.

5.       Mentors- Yeah Right.  Business owners will seek our professional advice. Hey, we don’t know it all. However, mentors are not for the mighty or the visionary. Mentors help people find their way out of the maze when they can’t see the exit in front of their faces. Business owners know where there is no exit- that one must be created.

Until next time,

Coco the CEO 

Are You A Business Diva?

Here it is, the moment of truth…. Are you a business diva? I wanted to write this blog after dealing with so many women in the workplace today. People say men can be hard to do business with. Maybe. But nothing compares to a diva woman in the workplace, especially if she is the boss. How can I say this? Well, I own several companies and guess what… I am a woman!

I deal with other women day in and day out and I am sad to say there is an ignorant demographic of women business owners out there that I deem as divas. These are women who are not successful but holding on. They have an attitude that stumps their ability to grow as a woman and a business owner because they are too busy not helping others or leading with grace. 

How do you know if you are a business diva? I’ve listed some signs below;

1. You complain.  Life is imperfect. People can’t read your mind. If you are not providing tools or constructive criticism to help others, you are setting them up for failure and your complaints only validate this to yourself. Complaints never helped anyone grow.  Learn from your complaints in order to help your own company grow and correct a fellow woman or peer. 

2. Your verbiage is ‘off the chain’. Ever notice how some women help themselves look stupid by not having a grasp on the basic English language? I once spoke with a woman who used “irregardless” over and over when putting someone else down. This isn’t even a word! Years later, frustrated employees mocked their boss by putting up a voicemail with animation on YouTube with an “irregardless” remix. Don’t let your ignorance come back to bite you. Speak elegantly and know the meaning of words. Otherwise, you are a diva and not a true business owner. 

3. Don’t make friends with employees. I say this because I see women do this. They make friends with their employees, or worse- clients, and then when it comes time to play the role of the boss they bring up personal situations. This is terrible and classifies you as a diva.  You shouldn’t be friends with your employees or your clients in the first place. More so, you shouldn’t throw personal situations or occurrences up to them when dealing with a business matter.

Until next time, 

Coco the CEO 

Is Your Website Concept Boring?

One of my business ventures is website design. I have clients who have concepts at the start of each relationship as to how their websites should look. Often, these clients are relying upon someone else’s branded design to define their own message. This is a huge no-no. I never understood why a client would want to look like their competition! 1) It shows you’re into stealing (sorry, borrowing) creative concepts and 2) It doesn’t define your own brand.

Another challenge are the clients who don’t understand that what may look nice doesn’t equate to actually being functional. A key element of this is Responsive web design (RWD), a common strategy being used today to accommodate the multiple ways a website may be accessed. It is an experienced based design that looks good on any mobile, desktop or other device.

I recently read “You need a content management system (CMS) to simplify the task of managing a website. In the old days, website content was managed by creating an HTML file on your computer and uploading it to a web server, where it was accessible to the world. The problem was that sites started to get very large, with thousands of pages. When you wanted to update something minor like the copyright date in the footer, you needed to update every file on the site. Enter the CMS.” I agree. CMS is important to every single website out there. You need to have a website that both looks great and feeds into search engines properly. There are plenty of CMS options available, some free and some not. Either way, if you don’t have one- you’re in trouble.

Boring website concepts are often the highest ranked domains on Google and alike search engines. So, ask yourself today do you want to look like your competitor or do you want to blow them away?

Coco the CEO