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With many thanks to friends and clients, we’ve made the top 25 list our 1st month out of the gate!

800-CEO-READ, a leading direct supplier of book-based resources, compiles a monthly list of best-selling business books based on purchases by its corporate customers nationwide. Here are the best sellers for October 2008:

23. “Relationship Economics: Transform Your Most Valuable Business Contacts Into Personal and Professional Success” by David Nour; Wiley.

You can read about the others here…

We recently enhanced our email newsletter distribution system in an attempt to further focus the value we provide to our broad base of constituents based on their individual and often unique preferences. 

Many Fortune 500 companies can’t get this right, so I was amazed at some of our findings:

1. On the positive side, many of the 40,000+ recipients not only opened our newsletter, but read the content, found it of interest and value, and even forwarded a number of items to others – see article on the value of social networking at work
2. Why do I need to know you’re out of the office and won’t be back until next Tuesday at 12:28 AM?!?  We all get way too many emails, and I’m convinced this is one we can do without.
3. The referral to others while you’re out was interesting, if not amusing – “here are 28 different names and numbers for you to contact if you want any of these 117 items on the menu of what I do each day.  By the way, I’ve stepped away for a bio break for 00:02 minutes.”

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In an economically turbulent time, does fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about “the other guy” work?  It seems to be effective in our political process.  How about in the business community?  I often wonder what effect this approach may have on both the short-term Relationship Currency® with that brand and in the longer-run, what about the organization’s Reputation Capital®?

Here is the latest FedEx campaign on the “published reports about DHL’s reduced capabilities…”

What do you think?

Today, Thursday, October 16, 2008, is National Boss Day.  As I thought through the significance of the day, I reflected on the state of our current workforce. We all know and understand there is a continued increase in the unemployment rate of US workers, and I believe that if people within America’s organizations turned inward for improvement on relationships, they may find more productivity and in the long run a reason to maintain current workforce levels.

This prompted me to create and share with you a systematic approach to implementing five fundamentals that nurture more effective relationships within any organization:

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What types of policies do employers need to have in place to protect themselves from videos made by employees and posted on YouTube?

Q - Do employers have any rights when it comes to limiting what employees say about them in personal videos available for public viewing?

A - Absolutely as most information seen or utilized within an organization is confidential and often not appropriate for public consumption – particularly on YouTube!  Employers do need to have a clear social networking strategy and supporting guidelines outlining acceptable behavior, “dos & don’ts” on content creation & distribution points, and succinct explanation of that which constitutes infringement of non-compliance.

Q - What are some examples of content that employers should just ignore vs. examples of content they can/should respond to with discipline?

A – Social networking has a personal and a professional aspect to it – on the positive side you want employees to have a balanced life, socialize, and go on vacations, so presenting the positive aspects of their lives outside of work online is actually OK.  On the negative side, crude, demeaning, belittling or otherwise inappropriate content referencing the organization by name, brand, or market comparison is simply a dilution of the employer’s reputation capital®.  Specifity drives credibility, so this is really good area for some training of what to & not-to do!

Q - What are the main threats YouTube and other similar services pose to employers? Defamation, public dissemination of proprietary information or other issues?

A – Inaccurate, half-truths, one-sided versions of events, outright misrepresentation, “he-said, she-said” slander, absolute defamation of a manager, a peer, an executive or even board members without merits, sensitive leak of confidential or market-sensitive information (think of a merger or acquisition event, or change of leadership before publically announced).  The positive aspect of social networking sites such as YouTube is that they reduce the barriers to individual publishing; unfortunately, that’s also the negative aspects when discretion isn’t exercised.

What are your thoughts?

Very few people like to be told that they are wrong. But artful relationship-centric executives know how to deliver candid, poignant criticism without cutting thin skin.

Here are five ideas that support the classic approach of influencing without authority:

1. Speak to the person’s agenda. Say nothing until you determine how your negative comments will affect the individual’s self interest. Everyone wants to be promoted, keep people off his/her back, get rich, and be perceived as a leader – so express your opinion in terms of how the person’s approach will interfere with his/her goal.

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