Super Salads

It’s National Salad Month, and to celebrate I’ve got some delicious salads for the whole family!

Green:

Shrimp and snap pea with ginger dressing

Pea shoot and baby artichoke salad

Butter lettuce with poached salmon

Chop chop salad

Grilled flank steak salad

Cobb salad

Pork barley salad

Raw tuscan kale with pecorino

Asparagus, frisee, edamame and parsley salad

Stacked summer vegetable salad

Pasta:

Pasta salad with fresh herbs

Garden pasta salad with chicken

Sesame bean and pasta salad

Use your noodle salad

Antipasto salad

Summer vegetable pasta salad

Gazpacho crab and pasta salad

More:

Corny bean salad

Turkey Waldorf salad

Corn avocado and tomato salad

Asian chicken slaw

Thai cucumber salad

Stuffed tomato flowers

Roasted beet salad with arugula, pistachios, and shaved pecorino

Potato salad

Salsa, black bean and rice salad

Guacamole salad

Broccoli salad

Dressings:

Ranch

Creamy lemony pepper Parmesan

Honey mustard

Mango lime

Mediterranean

Fresh herb vinaigrette

Sweet sesame

What are your favorite salads and dressings?

The Value of Money

Today we’re continuing our discussion on how to be world class business leaders.  In addition to learning and having good habits, another way to be a world class business leader is to be a millionaire (or billionaire).  This may sound strange since we’ve learned over the past few years that you can do so much with so little financially, so why should money be one way to become a world class leader?

Well, when you have money you can pay people what they’re worth.  Yes you can hire some people for less than the monetary value that they’re worth if you have some other value added option that they are interested in.  But, money does speak loudly and it feels good to be able to pay someone what they’re worth, in proportion to the value they contribute to your company.

Education, both for yourself and your employees.  There are lots of great free and low-cost opportunities out there, some of them are excellent, and occasionally they’re better than the very pricy ones.  But when you have the money to be able to consistently offer your employees (and yourself) the opportunity to grow and develop personally and professionally, everyone (including your bottom line) will benefit.

You can contribute to improving your neighborhood and the world.  You’ve probably seen signs on a highway near you saying that that area’s cleanup was sponsored by some company.  Maybe you’ve purchased something from a company that donates a portion of your purchase to a school in Africa or other cause.  There are tons of individuals and companies out there that are doing their best to make a difference in the world, beyond that of their work.  Many customers choose to do business with a company because of the contribution they make to the world.

Yes, you can do great things with little, including hiring good people, having quality products, providing good customer service, or making an impact on your neighborhood and others with only a little money.  But with more money comes more responsibility and more opportunities to help others.

What ways do you think money can help make you into a world-class leader?

Bad Habits Busted!

This month we’re looking at ways we can be world class business leaders.  Today we’re talking about one of the most prevalent and most challenging: rudeness!  Somehow people have become more and more rude over time, less inclined to follow even basic societal niceties.  Maybe the exact rules of etiquette have changed some over the past few decades with the changes of technology and working with all cultures around the world and not being able to adopt all customs at all times. However, those who are rude, and know it, are asking for trouble when trying to do business.

Phones:

I love being able to check my email or be available for my partner when something comes up.  However, it’s rude to randomly check your messages or answer your phone while in a business meeting or while working with customers.  If you’re a front-line worker and expected to work with people as well as answer the phone, do your best to let other workers answer the phone while you’re with a customer, but if that’s not possible, make sure to politely excuse yourself and ask how you can help the person on the phone, and take a message if it’s evident it’s more than a “what are your hours” type question.

Manners make you stand out:

In this world where manners and etiquette have fallen by the wayside, those who display manners stand out.  Even just saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ can make people sit up and take notice.  You don’t have to go out of your way to display good manners, but showing some basic common courtesies like holding the door open for someone, cleaning up the area around you, cheerfully greeting guests, and being polite and kind even if you’re not thrilled with the person you’re talking with or job you’re doing, can make a big impact on a first time (or long time) guest.

Ignorant people:

I have to admit that I think there are tons of people who have gotten so used to not using manners, that they just don’t realize they’re being rude.  If you have employees like this, it’s important to do an education class and just remind everyone what you, as the business owner, expect when they’re interacting with customers.  You’ll set the stage for discussion around what it means to represent your brand and why you want them to act a certain way.  It’s not about controlling people or telling them they’re wrong, it’s about everyone improving to be better people, and ultimately have happier customers.  But, once you’ve had this class and discussion, you’ll have to lead by example and show your people how you want them to interact with your customers.

This week I encourage you to check your rudeness at the door.  Don’t let your bad habits hurt your business any more.   If you don’t think you’ve got bad habits, ask an employee or friend you trust to reveal them to you.

Awesome Asparagus

If you ever wondered what to do with asparagus, wonder no more!  These recipes will get you inspired to eat this healthy and delicious vegetable.  It’s low in calories, has lots of folic acid, lots of potassium and fiber and other goodies that help your body run well!

Asparagus rafts

Asparagus in blankets

Asparagus ribbon salad

Asparagus bread pudding

Spring couscous with asparagus, peas and mint

Fritatta with asparagus

Asparagus soup

Chicken, asparagus and bacon skillet

Ham, asparagus and cheese strata

Lemony asparagus and new potatoes

Citrus roasted asparagus

Garden risoto

Vegetable pot pie

Asparagus and carrot slaw

Asparagus and green beans with chili-orange oil

Corn and asparagus salad

Grilled asparagus stromboli

Grilled salmon with sweet corn tomato and avocado relish and grilled asparagus

What are your family’s favorite asparagus recipes?

Learn to Grow

This month we’re going to take some inspiration from Robin Sharma’s recent article, 51 Ways Ordinary People Reached World Class.  You can read that here, and today, we’re going to talk about the importance of never ceasing to learn.

Why learn? Well, in case you have missed it over the past few years things have changed rapidly.  What we would have learned in marketing school 10 years ago would not have included anything about social media and today we wouldn’t spend as much time on print publications for marketing purposes.  That’s just one small example, there are countless more.  If you’ve running your business based on just what you knew when you got out of college 10+ years ago, you’re making a big mistake.

But learning’s not just about knowing more, it’s about becoming smarter.  Yes, when you know more you can help more people or make better products, but you can also learn how to do things better, faster or more efficiently than you did in the past.  No, time probably doesn’t improve on Mom’s fabulous brownie recipe that you’ve built your business on, but the back end of running your business can be improved with some of the newer client management systems, or even by building a website to promote your business.

But learning is really a personal thing: no matter how “current” your business is, you can always improve you personally.  As the head of the business, you need to be able to work with many different types of people, deal with many challenges and still have a life when you’re not working.  You can always improve as a leader, in personal interactions and in communication skills.    You can also learn a lot about yourself and who you are by your ability to spend time alone with yourself and let new ideas come to you.  If you can’t walk alone without your phone playing music or with a partner, or can’t meditate for 10 minutes each day, learn how!

There are lots of great ways to learn, some of the easiest are newsletters that you can subscribe to or blogs you can read.  You’re checking your email all day (even though you shouldn’t), so why not find some that are helpful for business purposes and a few to encourage you in your personal interests?  You can also take a class, join a mastermind group, work with a coach or mentor, or read a book (one of my favorites!).

Join me this week in making a commitment to learning something new every day!

It Begins with You

Neale Donald Walsch said “that love is the center and the core of everything, and that Self is the place where all love must begin”

I believe that our relationships and families would all drastically improve if we stopped hiding and started standing up.  Some of us have to take responsibility, others of us have to let go and make others take responsibility, but most of us have to learn how to really love.

Yes, the family unit was created to raise children and provide stability in the community, but much more important, it was created to teach, share and spread love.  It’s usually where our first glimpses of love are had, and most lasting impressions of what love is are created.

But if we actually want to dream about a world where the horrific events of Boston don’t happen as often, loving ourselves and each other is part of the answer.  Of course, it’s not that simple in most cases, we don’t just love someone, we have to learn to love them.  No, love isn’t the whole answer, but it is part of the answer to fixing relationships, and even the world.

So if you were to take on the challenge of learning to love better, what would it require?

First, it would require you acting on the fact that the type of love you need may not be the type of love that is what someone else needs.  Maybe love is your partner making your favorite dinner, but to them, love is sitting on the couch together watching TV or a movie every night.  If you think that everyone things love is a bunch of flowers or long night in the bedroom, you’re wrong.  Those are important in every relationship, but may not be what makes your partner feel loved.

Second, know that kids are easily swayed by money and gifts, but would rather have your time and attention.  I’ve been with countless kids who know their parents are ignoring them.  Actually set aside that phone for a time each day and just be with your kids (I suggest you leave the phone in another room so you’re not tempted).  Make it a point to do special things with them and have special parent-kid time individually with your kids.

If we all made it a point to show and tell others that we loved them, everyone would feel more appreciated, more recognized and slowly but surely, the world would become a better place.

Honest Business

April 30 is National Honesty Day, and there are two places that I believe honesty is very important: in our families and relationships, and in our businesses.  I’m a big supporter of visible, open businesses.  I don’t believe that a business needs to cover anything up or lie about anything or tell half-truths or hide the truth to clients and potential clients.  No, every client and potential client doesn’t need to know everything, but it is important for them to know enough to feel comfortable doing business with you.  In the same note, it’s important to be open with your employees as well.  They don’t need all the information, but they need enough to be able to make educated decisions that support you and the business and do the right things for the customers.   Here are my big 3 reasons why you should be honest in business:

If you’re lying about one thing, you’re probably lying about others.  This breaks down the trust that you try so hard to build in order to gain clients.  When lies and half truths come up, people wonder what else you’ve lied about and what might be trust-on-a-shaky-foundation now has no foundation to rest on  at all.

No excuses necessary.  Yes, sometimes there’s a valid reason why something is the way it is, or why something happened.  I totally understand that, and so do most customers.  But if you’re just honest that you don’t have a product that day or that a machine is broken, rather than making up a lie, you’ll be able to offer an alternative.  Maybe there’s another product that would serve as a substitute, or you could suggest another shop that can do what you can’t, or at the very least let people know when you expect to be back to normal.

You’ll last longer. If customers and employees know they can count on you to be straightforward and honest with them, they’ll be more likely to be good employees and customers and bring you business.  Likeable businesses (that have a good foundation, financially smart plan and good products/services) last longer than those that aren’t pleasant to do business with.

This week I encourage you to take a good look at your business and check in to see if you’re being honest with yourself, your employees and your customers, and what you can do to improve that.