Author Dies; 5 Lessons; Technique Lands Huge Deal; Vote for Sam

"…keeping you great"

HEADLINES:

Author of "The Goal" Dies — Eli Goldratt, creator of TOC (Theory of Constraints) and author of one of the best-selling business fables in history, died in Israel last Saturday at the age of 64. With over 5 million copies in print in 35 languages, Goldratt's book is in my top 10 list of books all business leaders should read – it's so foundational to understanding where to focus limited resources. He'll be hugely missed.

5 Lessons from IBM's 100th Anniversary — born June 16, 1911, IBM has seen its net income increase from $800,000 to $14.8 billion and its stock increase by 40,000 percent! Fortune has been tracking IBM's history for decades and has outlined 5 lessons all CEOs can learn from their 100 years of success. Take three minutes to scan at least the subheads listing the 5 lessons.

Critical Technique Helps QuEST Land $300 Million Contract — deploying Dr. Victoria Medvec's "synchronous communication" negotiating technique and others, Bangalore-based QuEST landed a significant Airbus contract. "Suffice it to say we wouldn't be here if at a critical juncture in the campaign we had not deployed this technique," described Ajay Prabhu, COO. Synchronous communication means you handle all negotiations face-to-face or directly over the phone – no email!! See their bold move next as they were bidding against huge firms like Infosys.

Bold Decision — to continue, Prabhu notes "It was a long campaign and at one stage we suffered a severe setback; it was like sliding down the tube in the snake & ladder game. So we took a team of 8 people and parked in a hotel outside the customer's location (UK), booked a business center and started from scratch. Some of the team members would talk to multiple people at the customer site to really understand and unravel customers' challenges and the rest would give shape to a proposal that would address it just right. We validated our approach multiple times by cross-checking against the voice of the customer. After ten days, at the end of a long night reminiscent of the University days, we submitted the proposal which turned out to be the winner. This one is for the QuEST history books." The new Airbus OD Center Inauguration was June 8 – congrats to QuEST.

High Stakes Negotiation — QuEST, which has been a Gazelles client for almost three years, has been a great student of business, utilizing books, online courses, and live workshops to educate their team. Here's a link to Professor Dr. Medvec's "High Stakes Negotiation" online seminar – just scroll down the "Execution" column. In addition, here's the link to her full 2.5 hour modularized course. Effective negotiation skills, especially when the stakes are high, are key for any middle to upper manager to learn.

Coastal Contacts' Y-Gen Video — 63% of Vancouver-based Coastal Contacts workforce are Millennials. To kick off their latest quarterly theme, Coastal produced a lip-sync video to the tune "Jumpstart" (they are jumpstarting their glasses business). Take a couple minutes to view this entertaining video. Notes Darren Hutchinson, their PR Specialist, "the video really demonstrates our core values and culture — those belonging to Generation Y really love this type of social event which we hope will help to retain and attract more. We did this on the Friday of a long weekend and hosted a BBQ for staff and invited all of their family members to join in the fun. It was an amazing success."

Change the View Initiative — along the same lines as Tom's Shoes, the video highlights Coastal's "Change the View" program where for every pair of glasses that are purchased, they are donating a pair to someone in need. Their latest trip was to Panama.

Sam Needs Your Vote — Sam Goodner, CEO of Catapult Systems, has contributed so many best practices I've been able to share with you, let's return the favor and put him over the top in his competition for Austin's Fittest Entrepreneur competition. Take 15 seconds to click this link and vote. Why did he do it? Notes Sam "No, I'm not running for political office…it's worse, my wonderful marketing team signed me up (publicity for the company)." Anyway, Sam made the final six (three men and three women entrepreneurs – see their videos). Go to http://fittestentrepreneurs.org/vote-now, fill in your name and email address, and cast your vote. If you feel like having your spouse, kid, or pet vote as well, that's probably fine too, as long as they have a valid email address. Voting closes on June 20th at midnight. Concludes Sam, "I know that I will be getting flack for that video for years to come!"