2024-04-18 20:10
In today’s digital age, productivity is the cornerstone of success. ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art language model by OpenAI, offers a variety of applications that can boost efficiency and… Read More
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The 100 - Home - Tom Talks Blog
tomsalonek.com
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Tom Salonek's website and the supporting site for his book The 100 Building Blocks for Business Leadership.
2024-04-11 18:16
Boosting productivity in the business world often hinges on the tools you use and the strategies and processes you implement. Here are five actionable ideas that can reshape the way you work… Read More
2024-04-03 21:27
The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently altered the B2B marketing playbook, with traditional phone and email strategies losing their edge as remote work becomes the norm. As we navigate this n… Read More
2024-03-30 07:45
Written. Emails are easy. Physical mails are worth more. Mail a card.
Appreciation: Clearly express your gratitude. Mentioning the specific action or effort you’re thankful for s… Read More
2024-03-21 19:19
As a business owner, navigating the sea of taxes can feel like steering through a storm. But fear not! With the right strategies, you can lower your tax bill and keep more money in your pock… Read More
2024-03-13 20:18
Ever felt like your goals are mocking you from the pages of your planner? Fear not. Here are five surefire strategies to turn those taunts into triumphs.
1. Define It Like You Mean It… Read More
2024-03-05 03:02
Implement Scrum Framework: Scrum is a popular Agile framework that provides a structured approach to project management. Implement Scrum by forming self-organizing cross-functional teams, ap… Read More
2024-02-12 20:23
Yesterday’s Super Bowl had business strategy, marketing innovation, and team dynamics. Here are five key takeaways that businesses can apply from the gridiron to the boardroom.
1. P… Read More
2024-02-05 13:31
Reflect and Prioritize: Start with a look back at the past year. Identify what worked, what didn’t, and what you wish you had done differently. Use these insights to prioritize goals t… Read More
2024-01-24 19:02
Clarity is King: Ensure messages are straightforward and unambiguous. Avoid jargon and complex terms. Clear communication prevents misunderstandings and keeps everyone on the same page.
A… Read More
2024-01-10 13:46
Embrace innovation in 2024; don’t cling to old ways. Invest in your team’s growth, but watch out for burnout. Boost your online presence and listen to customer feedback. Go green… Read More
2023-12-14 13:51
1. Leverage Technology for Competitive Advantage In today’s fast-paced world, embracing digital transformation is not optional—it’s essential. Invest in technologies like A… Read More
2023-11-30 15:37
As the year draws to a close, business owners should take strategic actions to wrap up effectively and set the stage for the coming year. Here are five essential steps to consider:
1. Com… Read More
2023-11-14 13:39
If you’re not using ChatGPT, now is the time! You can use ChatGPT for:
Automating Routine Tasks: ChatGPT can automate repetitive tasks like generating standard reports, answering F… Read More
2023-11-02 12:30
In the fast-paced world of business leadership, effective communication is the cornerstone of success. Here’s a streamlined guide to help you navigate the do’s and don’ts… Read More
2023-10-27 11:55
Hack 1: Time Blocking
The Gist: Dedicate chunks of time to specific tasks.
Time blocking isn’t new, but it’s gold. Ever find your calendar looks free, but your day vanishes… Read More
2023-10-10 12:40
Thanks to Andrew Tellijohn, editor and publisher of Upsize magazine, for covering me and Intertech in the Catching Up section of the magazine in the article Salonek overseeing record years a… Read More
2023-09-13 11:45
Read, watch, stop:
The High Five Habit by Mel Robbins outlines how one single daily habit can change your life’s direction.
Fyre Fraud is a fascinating documentary about one of… Read More
2023-08-24 12:13
Read, watch, start:
In The 5 Second Rule, Mel Robbins shares how to stop procrastinating, eliminate worrying, and make dreams a reality.
If you like practical jokes, you’d enj… Read More
2023-08-09 11:56
Read, watch, stop:
Unique Ability: Creating the Life You Want by Dan Sullivan helps determine the one thing you do better than others, then create teams and systems to allow you to… Read More
2023-08-02 12:02
Read, watch, stop:
From macroeconomics to geo-political, subscribe to the Thoughts from the Frontline by John Mauldin.
The Bear on Hulu is an enjoyable watch of a chef running a restauran… Read More
2023-07-20 11:50
Read, watch, stop:
If you want a contrarian view of your investment advisor’s thoughts, check out Jared Dillian’s Daily Dirtnap.
A follow-on for comedian Sacha Baron Cohen spo… Read More
2023-06-29 11:44
Read, watch, stop:
Play Nice but Win: A CEO’s Journey from Founder to Leader by Michael Dell is an interesting story of the highs and lows running Dell Corporation.
Ali G, created a… Read More
2023-06-22 12:23
Read, watch, stop:
Principle Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey, the 7 Habits author, has good insights for life and business.
I’m a fan of the late Norm MacDonald, and his moth j… Read More
2023-06-13 12:04
Read, watch, stop:
Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker has solid insights in his books and blog on behavioral science, relationships, and business.
Air is a fun and fascinating docu… Read More
2023-05-25 11:59
Read, watch, stop:
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. This book is one of my favorite biographies of all time.
Questioning the Universe by Steven Hawking. Steven Hawki… Read More
2023-05-10 11:33
Read, watch, stop:
The Strangest Secret is one of my top favorite books of all time. I’m recommending another book from Earl Nightengale, Lead the Field.
Cosmos: Possible Worl… Read More
2023-05-09 05:25
Read, watch, stop:
The Strangest Secret is one of my top favorite books of all time. I’ve recommended it in my blog, and I’m recommending it again. This book is wo… Read More
2023-04-25 12:01
Read, watch, stop:
Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris is a laugh-out-loud read. He’s my favorite satirist.
The late Norm Macdonald is one of the best.
Stop not leveraging support… Read More
2023-04-18 12:30
Read, watch, stop:
ITR Economics by brothers Brian and Alan Beaulieu provide a-political insights on current and upcoming economic conditions.
While starting my firm out of my house, I re… Read More
2023-04-11 12:26
Read, watch, stop:
Those Bastards by Jared Dillian is a book that was just released, and disclaimer: I haven’t read it. I’ve subscribed to his financial newsletter… Read More
2023-03-30 12:08
I was asked by Shepherd, a group dedicated to helping others discover the best books, to share my top books for real-world business leadership. Here are the best books for practica… Read More
2023-03-24 05:27
Read, watch, stop:
The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz is an excellent book for life planning and setting goals. I recommend it without reservation.
Ted Lasso is back for se… Read More
2023-03-07 12:37
Read, watch, stop:
The Kiplinger Letter provides weekly forecasts on GDP, interest rates, employment, and insights on industries and economies.
Portlandia is an offbeat set of skits. &hell…Read More
2023-02-22 13:08
Read, watch, stop:
Prosperity in the Age of Decline is a book by two economist brothers I’ve followed for years. Regardless of politics, they are worth a read.
Neil deGrasse T… Read More
2023-02-17 12:35
Read, watch, stop:
Give and Take is a workshop we send our people who negotiate. This title is the corresponding book. As the author states, we don’t get what we deserve… Read More
2023-02-01 12:42
Read, watch, stop:
Sales Management Simplified is from the author of New Sales Simplified. If you manage salespeople or have managers who report to you who oversee salespeople… Read More
2023-01-26 12:45
Read, watch, stop:
New Sales Simplified is a solid book on sales. If you’re a salesperson, read it. If you’re a sales manager, recommend it and read the follow-up… Read More
2023-01-11 12:51
Read, watch, stop:
In Business, As In Life – You Don’t Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate. This book is on negotiation. We send our salespeople throu… Read More
2022-12-23 05:17
Read, watch, stop:
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl is a reminder that we can find something good in even the worst of times.
Billy Bob Thornton delivers a solid performanc… Read More
2022-11-30 13:00
Read, watch, stop:
Love him or hate him in Awaken the Giant Within Tony Robbins has some solid insights on how to navigate life.
If you like Yellowstone, check out 1883, the prequel.
Stop… Read More
2022-11-09 12:32
Here’s the read, watch, stop:
What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better is a book I reread yearly. The author’s descri… Read More
2022-10-25 12:05
Here’s the read, watch, stop:
Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich is the foundation for most people in today’s self-improvement industry. If you haven’t, check it… Read More
2022-10-20 12:01
Here’s my reading, watching, and stopping for this week:
When defining incentive plans, I found reading Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us to be invaluable. B… Read More
2022-10-11 12:28
Here’s what I’m reading, watching, and stopping:
Early in starting Intertech, I read The E-Myth. It focused on the importance of consistent systems in running a business… Read More
2022-09-27 11:36
Here’s what I’m reading, watching, and stopping:
Read The Economist. I first came across The Economist on a trip to London. I find it an a-political commentary on… Read More
2022-09-20 12:00
Here’s what I’m reading, watching, and stopping:
Read Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. Sedaris is my favorite non-fiction writer. From his stories wher… Read More
2022-09-13 12:34
Here’s what I’m reading, watching, and stopping:
Read The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale. I first read this book a couple of decades ago. Every year or so, I… Read More
2022-09-01 12:15
I’m changing the format of my blog posts to read, watch, and stop. I’ll share what I’m currently reading, watching, and, to help declutter life, something I&rsquo… Read More
2022-07-18 12:47
Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers shares multiple factors behind success, and that success isn’t just a combination of talent and hard work. Here are the key takeaways:
The se… Read More
2022-06-07 11:43
In Peak Mind by Amishi Jha, Dr. Jha shares three systems of attention for our brains: Flashlight: With the flashlight, we focus on the now. If we are too focused, we can mis… Read More
2022-05-03 12:38
In The Art of Stopping Time, Pedram Shojai, the author, shares something we all know; our most treasured resource is time. So how do we leverage it? Stop it!
What we get out o… Read More
2022-03-22 11:24
In the book “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do: Take Back Your Power, Embrace Change, Face Your Fears, and Train Your Brain for Happiness and Success,” the author A… Read More
2022-03-18 01:24
My thanks to my friend and CEO of AbeTech, Chris Heim, for recommending the book “The Obstacle is the Way.” Decades ago, before the release of this book, my partner, Ryan, who ru… Read More
2022-01-12 13:36
In the High Five Habit, Mel Robbins, the author of The 5 Second Rule, shares how a simple habit can change a life. She shares why we shouldn’t apologize so much in the book and what a… Read More
2021-11-30 11:59
The post Thanks to Minnesota Business Magazine for Including Me in the Minnesota 500 appeared first on Tom Talks Read More
2021-11-18 17:24
We need space to think. Space and managing our day are the core concepts of A Minute to Think: Reclaim Creativity, Conquer Busyness, and Do Your Best Work.
Being busy is diffe… Read More
2021-11-11 13:35
Can’t Hurt Me.
Ouch.
David Goggins, author of the book, Can’t Hurt Me, is one of the toughest persons ever.
The author’s life reads like a Rocky story. He gr… Read More
2021-10-21 12:19
In The 5 Second Rule, Mel Robbins shares how to stop procrastinating, eliminate worrying, and make dreams a reality. From waking up to starting a challenging project, count down from f… Read More
2021-10-06 12:26
My thanks to my alumni, Watertown-Mayer High School, for including me in their graduate’s of Watertown series. Also, gotta love the 80’s!
The post My thanks to my alumni, Wat… Read More
2021-09-07 12:02
Intertech landed on the Minneapolis Saint Paul Business Journal’s Best Places to Work for 2021. My thanks to our customers and employees for making us possible. Below is an excerpt f… Read More
2021-09-02 03:25
In his book, Magic Words, Tim David shares words that can dramatically increase persuasion. Magic words are words that use more effective communicators and help motivate others to take… Read More
2021-08-11 12:33
For the 15th time, Intertech has been named as a Best Place to Work by The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
My thanks to our employees and customers for making us possible.
The… Read More
2021-07-29 12:20
In The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success, the author shares what makes a psychopath and lessons we can learn from psychopaths.
The b… Read More
2021-07-13 11:23
In my previous post on Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing, I shared the differences between blue and red oceans and the four principles of blue ocean strategy. In this post, I outl… Read More
2021-07-07 17:13
I’ve just finished Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing. It has a lot of info. So I’m breaking it into a couple of posts. Here’s a recap of the first ha… Read More
2021-06-29 18:23
One of the Intertech Foundation’s focuses is the inspiration of young people towards the building of science, engineering, and technology skills. To further that pursuit, the Found… Read More
2021-06-21 18:36
Every year brings a host of qualified applications from talented college-bound high school students across the country who are interested in pursuing a degree in computer sciences. This year… Read More
2021-05-26 11:58
In Extreme Ownership, Jacko Willink and Leif Babin, Navy SEAL task unit leaders, relate military principles and tactics to business leadership. In the past, I shared a summary of t… Read More
2021-05-19 12:38
To help make better decisions, I just finished Perfectly Confident: How to Calibrate Decisions Wisely. The author notes:
Overconfidence makes for bad decisions. We rarely have… Read More
2021-05-12 12:11
Daniel Pink is one of my favorite behavioral scientists. I just finished When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. In it, he shares:
We all have different times when we… Read More
2021-04-20 12:45
In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin relate lessons from war to business. In their follow-up book, The Dichotomy of Leadership, they outline additional lessons learned.&n&hell…Read More
2021-04-07 12:07
In The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers, Ben Horowitz, outlines what it takes to be a solid leader:
Know what the organization needs and ge… Read More
2021-03-10 13:07
I finished The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. Sinek shares that the business world is not a finite game, so business leaders need to have an infinite mindset. Like in sports… Read More
2021-03-02 12:32
I recently finished Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee. In it, she shares:
A strive for efficiency can make us unhappy if we believe we need to keep up with others who portray successWhile cu… Read More
2021-02-23 13:26
I just finished, Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol. He shares the main ingredient for being an original thinker and why being bored is OK.
The best way to be an original t… Read More
2021-02-17 20:00
My thanks to Dave Osh with CEOpeek for discussing employee engagement and create a great place to work.
When an organization has high engagement, employees are giving extra discretion… Read More
2021-01-27 06:51
In my previous post, I shared the spheres of job satisfaction, the above are, in priority order, what makes a job engaging.
The post The 7 Parts of Job Satisfaction appeared first on Tom… Read More
2021-01-21 06:41
For employees to be happy and engaged, there are “spheres” of job satisfaction. Free beer doesn’t matter if your work is mundane and your manager’s a moron. When addr… Read More
2021-01-05 07:05
At Intertech, we’ve just completed our annual planning to set our strategies, goals, and projects for the coming year. All planning participants complete an exhaustive survey in advan… Read More
2021-01-02 08:15
Here are the top posts and briefs from 2020. My thanks to all of you for your feedback and insights:
The downloads page for my book was the top accessed page for 2020. It has over two doze… Read More
2020-11-19 06:33
With firms planning out 2021, here’s a reminder that for strategies to be meaningful, you must align everything in your organization to match the strategy. McKinsey & Company con… Read More
2020-11-03 06:45
My thanks to Minnesota Magazine for including me on the list of the Minnesota 500. Below is the profile from the magazine: Read More
2020-10-28 07:16
We are hiring. Getting the right people is vital, obviously, to building a great team.
Building a great team starts with finding great people. Top firms spend an excessive amount of… Read More
2020-10-20 06:34
Growing up, my dad was a big note taker. From the calendar in the barn with upcoming farm appointments to 3M pads in the house with reminders for the day to a journal of rain and crop resul… Read More
2020-09-30 19:33
In The 100, I dedicate a section to life planning. Similar to using this time of year to plan next year’s business goals, this is a good time to plan next year’s personal goals… Read More
2020-09-23 07:43
Every fall, we gather at an annual offsite meeting to set goals, no more than three per year, for the upcoming year. We also include time for socializing with each other (though, this year… Read More
2020-09-16 07:17
At Intertech, we improve communication in the leadership team through personality cheat sheets, which are personality profiles that remind us who hates long-winded descriptions and who strug… Read More
2020-09-09 06:47
Professionals expect clarity in performance appraisals and promotions. Make sure the expectations are set clearly from the very first day and give frequent feedback along the way. We’v… Read More
2020-09-01 15:35
My book, The 100, was supplemented by more than 25 downloadable templates and checklists to help lead a team, run a business, and manage your life. They are all available for free, and… Read More
2020-08-25 07:44
For over a decade, I, along with Intertech leadership, get our economic guidance from Brian Beaulieu of ITR Economics. He recently published Economic Recovery and Profits: Know This Tr… Read More
2020-08-19 07:31
There’s been a break in my blogging. Sorry.
Between leading Intertech through this time to being a tutor as my kids take classes through the summer to wrapping up an… Read More
2020-06-30 06:56
One of the Intertech Foundation’s focuses is the inspiration of young people towards the building of science, engineering, and technology skills. To further that pursuit, the Found… Read More
2020-06-23 06:40
It’s easy to delay adopting new technologies, even when the stakes are high. In so many cases, the energy is spent on improving business strategies (building more widgets, increas… Read More
2020-06-15 07:18
Every year brings a host of qualified applications from talented college-bound high school students across the country who are interested in pursuing a degree in computer sciences. This year… Read More
2020-06-08 07:04
At Intertech, we’ve long believed in the importance of giving back to the communities where we live, work, and serve our customers. The Intertech Foundation STEM Schola… Read More
2020-06-02 07:04
My thanks to multiple Intertech experts for their work to create:
Accessibility: What Stakeholders and Developers Need To Know Executive Brief Read More
2020-05-26 08:02
Congratulations to Ms. Emily Dahl and Mr. Sulaiman Bada, who are the recipients of the spring 2020 Intertech Foundation STEM scholarships.
There’s a lot of competition for our awa… Read More
2020-05-20 06:19
In the past, at this time of year, Intertech would do an employee supply drive for our primary giving partner, Crescent Cove, a children’s hospice.
Given the state of the world… Read More
2020-05-19 07:30
The Intertech Foundation has chosen its two Spring scholarship recipients. The winners are being notified. Once they are notified, we’ll share their stories.
In the past, the Inte… Read More
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