Communication is one of the most important tools leaders can use to focus their employees on understanding, embracing, and delivering a company’s strategy. However, most individuals reach positions of leadership without learning how to communicate with others in a way that not only accurately conveys information, but elicits a successful response. In Beyond the Babble, Bob Matha and Macy Boehm present a three-step process for leaders to improve communication in their companies. The process, known as the On Strategy approach, has one goal: to provide leaders with the process and tools needed to achieve better business results with effective communication. For a free trial of EBSCO Business Book Summaries click here.

Last week we had our first quarterly quell of 2014. It was one of the most interesting weeks I’ve had in a very long time--and that’s saying a lot (I live an eccentric life). Generally when people think of company-wide meetings, their first instinct is to panic. Well, since I’ve started at Rustici, my urge to panic has been a frequent one. Why? Because this place is cool, and when you’ve been conditioned to be skeptical of career luxuries, it’s pretty difficult to let go of that habit. They say it takes 28 days to start or break a habit. After 35 days, my 6-year-long work anxiety habit is GONE. This comfort comes from knowing that I’m surrounded by a gang of the smartest, coolest, most dedicated people you can get under one roof. I am no longer afraid to share my ideas, challenge others, ask for help, or just plain be myself. These people are awesome. Here are three examples why: 1. They are real: Imagine a circle of trust, but less corny. That was our Monday morning quell kick-off meeting. Aside from the entertaining agenda banter, Mike and Tim (the two owners of Rustici Software) talked about things that mattered to me and everyone else. They also welcomed any (really, any) questions and answered them openly and honestly. We were talking like real people. 2. They are passionate (sometimes about really nerdy things): Monday night was Magic game night. Joe ordered new card packs a month in advance. During the draft and three rounds of play, the intensity rivaled that of a Walker Texas Ranger stare-off (post roundhouse kick). At one point, the pizza guy came to drop off our dinner. He stopped, looked around, and asked half-terrified, half-amazed, "Who are you people?" I found myself thinking the same thing when I asked some of the veteraned players why the newbies beat them. My favorite answer came from Joe: "Well, when you’re helping your opponent learn how to play, sometimes you help them win. That’s okay," It sounds like a Disney movie, but for Rusticians, the passion to support trumps the passion to win—I’ve witnessed this consistently, with my own eyes. 3. They are nuts: This year Tim planned a wedding-themed murder mystery party as a surprise wedding shower for Jena (who was told we were doing a medieval-fantasy-themed mystery). After weeks of pretending, we all (including Jena’s fiance, Stephan) showed up in our best wedding-themed outfits. Jena walked in with a face mask and velveteen cape. To say the least, she was extremely surprised. After the shock wore off, she wore her toilet-paper wedding gown with pride, transformed into her character, and got murdered (in the game). Not a single person under-committed. I was seriously terrified of Mike (the Italian mob father) and felt so sorry for Andy (the paranoid wedding planner). These people are not afraid to be themselves or have fun—they are the best kind of crazy. Here are some more pictures of the murder mystery party. So, who are these people? I’m still learning who these people are, but there’s one thing I know about them all—they work at Rustici Software—and I’m happy and proud to have become one of them. The post Who are you people? appeared first on Rustici Software.

I’m thrilled that, for the sixth year in a row, we have been recognized as one of Nashville’s Best Places to Work. We’ve received a lot of awards over the years, but this is the one that I care most about, that award that recognizes the core of who we are and what we do. There are so many reasons Rustici Software is a special place. From the Jenafits down to the toilet paper, there are a hundred little things that make me love coming to work on Monday morning. The best part of Rustici Software is that we actually care about each other. It’s not just lip service, we really care about and respect each other as people. It makes all the difference in the world. Parking at the office is getting scarce as we grow, but there is always one parking spot that stays open late into the morning. It is the spot right in front of the door. Nobody takes the best spot. We don’t want it. We want each other to have it. This isn’t something that we’ve ever actually talked about around the office. It’s an unspoken thing that we just do. The best spot in the lot isn’t reserved for the CEO, nor for the employee of the month. It’s reserved for the guy or gal who had life get in the way that morning. The one with a sick kid, or who hit a rough patch of traffic. It is reserved for the person who probably needs it most. It’s an honor and a pleasure to work with people who care so much. As the founder of a company, you can set a tone and you can offer great benefits, but you can’t make a great place to work. It takes a village to do that. Thank you to everybody who makes Rustici Software possible. The post The Final Spot appeared first on Rustici Software.

Now more than ever networking has become an essential tool for finding a new job. With the global economy still a year or more away from a turnaround and unemployment in the U.S. hovering near 10%, many are finding even interviews hard to come by these days. In order to get a leg up in the job market, job seekers need to cast out their fear of networking, stop relying solely on traditional networking practices, and create their own personal brand that can be sold to employers. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal shows how job seekers can use both traditional, face-to-face forums and online social sites to effectively network in today’s diverse job market. To be truly effective, job seekers must not only be willing to attend industry events, visit job fairs, and use their personal contacts, but must also be willing to create an online presence. A business card is a great tool in a job seeker’s networking efforts, but a business card should also include a website where potential employers can read a prospect’s resume, view photos, and learn something about the person behind the credentials. Sprucing up your networking skills can go a long way in helping you land a job, but having a working knowledge on how to network will also help you advance once you’re in the job. Like most skills, networking becomes easier the more often you do it, so print some business cards, create a web presence, and start meeting people. Related book summaries in the BBS library: The Connect Effect, Click

Corporate America looks forward to Friday because it’s close to the weekend and they usually get to dress casually. Not us. We love every day at work, and we get to wear what we want all the time. But we also like to have fun, and sometimes it’s fun to play pretend and dress a little fancy. If the suits can dress down, then we can dress up! When the idea of reversing casual friday was mentioned, there was support instead of grunts. We throw around silly ideas all the time, most often around the pong table at lunch. The great thing is that we seem to band together over these silly ideas. And so, Fancy Friday was born. It’s not mandatory, and we usually have sporadic participation, but that makes it more exciting. You never know who’s going to dress up on a particular Friday. I almost always fancy it up because it’s a fun excuse to wear ridiculous heels. Ervin has made a few dashing appearances in the lineup so far. Ryan and Jena were recent additions—both super hip. And Freddie even dressed up one day while working from home! That’s dedication. In the spirit of being supportive last week—and because he looks awesome in a blazer—Mike decided to partake in Fancy Friday—and, he did it right. Complete with blazer, dress pants, collared shirt, and what looked like freshly-polished shoes. The bad news? …he was the only one that dressed up! I felt really bad. There was no way that I was going to let Mike be the only fancy one in the office. After all, the more logs you add to the fire, the longer it burns—and Fancy Friday needs to burn on! There was only one thing to do: Go buy a new outfit. So I did. Mike and I looked super official all day long. Instead of shaming me for forgetting, Mike made me feel cool by taking this picture -> Perhaps Fancy Friday won’t stick around forever—Vednesday, where we used to all wear v-necks on Wednesdays, didn’t— but the people who make it possible will. Whether they’re dressed up or not, each person is a part of this silly new tradition in their own way. It’s really "just something else" to be a surrounded by the people of Rustici Software—no matter what the situation. This translates into work, too. Any idea—big or small— will be met with support. That’s just the kind of people we are. Fancy Friday lives on! The post Suit Up! Fancy Fridays are Here appeared first on Rustici Software.

Effective leadership depends on the ability to inspire a team to peak performance. Lead by Example offers managers at every level advice on developing the character traits, attitudes, strategies, and actions that win the respect of teams. The source of power behind great leadership is great character, and successful leaders focus on always setting the right example for their teams, from crisis management and relationship-building, to accountability and self-assessment. By following the author John Baldoni’s 50 key points, leaders can work on building these essential skills and creating a dynamic professional image that benefits the team, the company, and ultimately themselves. For a free trial of EBSCO Business Book Summaries click here.

What do Rustici Software owners, Mike and Tim, have in common with Phil Jackson? They are all great coaches. If you’ve never heard of Phil Jackson, he is one of the best basketball coaches of all time. He was called the "Zen Master" because he had the ability to motivate and manage superstar players (and their egos) without yelling or screaming. It’s quell week—a time for us to reflect on what we’ve done each quarter and what we’re going to do next. Each quell week is kicked off by a company-wide meeting in the pong room, led by Mike and Tim. The cool thing is that they talk about the state of the organization, their vision for our future, and their expectations, without causing panic or fear. They are our "Zen Masters." Since our last quell, we’ve grown by 15 percent. That’s a lot of new bodies added in only a few months. I’m not nervous about our growth, because our coaches provide the vision to power forward and the support that enables us to do great things. But, how you think about your projects and approach them are important. Here are the two biggest takeaways (coaching tips) from yesterday’s talk: The Mindset: Q: Where are we heading? A: This is our foundation: Continue thinking of this as a place where you want to come to work everyday. Somewhere you feel safe, comfortable, and valued. From orientation stories told by Joe to my personal experience at Rustici Software, this has been true. It’s important to remember that this is the environment that’s allowed us to grow and be successful. The commitment to keeping this ecosystem intact is what will continue us on that path. The Execution: Do you affect your problems or are you affected by the work that comes in? Look at your work Identify what’s difficult Go to your peers and find solutions Don’t wait, act on it Again, we live this everyday. The people who work here aren’t just working; they’re giving their best to deliver the best. Instead of waiting for problems, they go find them and actively try to solve them. We’re going to continue to do that. Okay, so we’re not a basketball team, and Mike and Tim aren’t actually coaches. But we are a team with great leaders who give really awesome pep-talks. The best part? Now that we’re motivated and ready to get things done, we get to have some fun, too. Next up, paintball! The post Pep Talks Aren’t Just for Athletes appeared first on Rustici Software.

Toyota’s recent recall trouble highlights the need for companies to respond appropriately to crisis. Toyota President Akio Toyoda’s initial response to the recall of certain Toyota models for uncontrolled acceleration was seen by many as inadequate. In this case his apology was viewed as insincere and disproportionate to the size of the issue. In addition, the company initially tried to downplay the severity of the problem while casting blame on third-party manufacturers. In essence, Toyota’s response left much to be desired, but how can companies learn from Toyota’s mistakes? In the case of crisis response there are several key factors to keep in mind: 1. Communication. Toyota did not adequately communicate the acceleration issue to its customers. As a result, many were confused over the cause of the acceleration issue and which car models were affected. At  the same time, the company made conclusions as to the cause of the problem before all information was available. While crisis and emergencies are inherently chaotic, companies must keep their customers and employees informed to the best of the ability throughout the ordeal. If a company does not have adequate information to make a conclusion, it should communicate this fact to its internal and external stakeholders and let them know that they will be informed when the information becomes available. 2. Partner Relationships. Before the acceleration issue was fully understood, Toyota blamed some of its third-party manufacturers for the problem. While this move was meant to reassure customers as to the safety and quality of the Toyota brand, the company may have hurt its relationship with some of its partners. While this may not have such a dramatic impact in the automotive market (part suppliers are heavily dependent on automotive contracts for the majority of their income), other businesses may not be able to afford weakening partner relationships by playing the blame game. For this reason, companies should think twice before making any accusatory statements towards business partners or suppliers. 3. Leadership. When the accelerator issue first came up, Toyota leadership was reluctant to take action and make the necessary moves to reassure its stakeholders and solve the problem. Company leaders must be able to quickly assess and tackle the problem before it gets out of hand. This means keeping employees informed of the situation and reassuring customers and external stakeholders. If leaders wait too long before taking decisive action, a problem can quickly escalate into a full-blown crisis. Related book summaries in the BBS library: Corporate Conversations, Beyond Good Company, Just Good Business

There’s a running joke around the office about sunshine and Ervin’s arms. Basically, if the sun is visible, so are his "guns" (arms). It just so happens that in addition to Ervin’s arms, we had some actual guns out on Monday, too. As our quarterly quell kickoff activity, we pulled together 22 Rustici Software assassins to play paintball. It was an organized display of stealth and agility, and if real guns were involved, I’d be terrified. Why? Exhibit #1: There was an absurd amount of planning from both teams. On Chris’s team, The Asymptote Killers, teammates were provided with a map for positioning and attack routes. We were also assigned battle buddies, with whom we developed extra tactics. Before battle started, we were given the following orders by Chris: "If your teammate is taken down, avenge them." And so we did—with excellent accuracy. Exhibit #2: Andy’s team, Muerte por Pintura (Death by Paint), had no fear. They won the first few challenges purely by being ridiculously gutsy. Bmiller and Tim sprinted through open ground to grab the flag—getting pelted from all sides. Throughout all eight challenges, their sneak attacks reminded me of lionesses stalking prey. Their tactics worked—Andy’s team was the overall winner. Okay, so it may sound like this was the opposite of team building as we delighted in shooting little bombs of paint at each other. But, my favorite part of the day wasn’t actually the shooting, it was what came after each round ended. Instead of complaints about getting shot, tears over forming welts, or sourness about losing a challenge, there was laughter and high fives all around. Compliments and praise for shooting someone in the face? It kind of reminds me why this place I work is so interesting (and awesome). You don’t have to be on the same team, you don’t have to have the same goals. The one thing that’s constant is support and appreciation for producing good work and being excellent. The post Sun’s Out, Guns Out appeared first on Rustici Software.

In April, we sent out a survey to see what Tin Can tools the community wants us to build. To help us out, we’ve hired four interns who’ll build some of the tools that were voted on. Our four new members, Chris, Jake, Nolan, and Chaim-Leib, are smart (and really cool), so they won’t be making coffee or copies—unless it’s for themselves.While they’re building awesome things, we’ll be supplementing their time here with a few perks like money, knowledge, and friendship. First, on building awesome things: The interns will be helping us to build Tin Can tools we don’t have time to do on our own. Though they can’t fulfill all the survey requests during their short time, they will be making a significant dent in the list. Brian Miller, our in house Tin Can expert, built a 13 week program that kicks off with the basics and builds to a couple of big final projects. Under Brian’s guidance, they’ll be working on the following: Formalizing Google Hangout implementation Adding features to existing libraries Developing JSON schema to later implement statement and object validation Writing a Python library for Tin Can Assisting with the community LRS conformance testing project We’ll be sharing details of each project as it is completed throughout the summer. Back to the perks: Getting Paid Good work deserves good compensation! The interns are getting a competitive weekly salary for the duration of the 13 week program. They are officially part of the team now, so indulging in cupcakes, ice cream, and other kitchen goodies is fair game. Dropping Knowledge College teaches you the skills necessary to do your job. Internships should teach you how to apply those skills to be a successful part of an organization. To provide some insights on how a developer’s role impacts business, the interns are reading two books for our own little book club: One about successfully managing a team to achieve goals within a budget and timeframe (The Mythical Man-Month) And the second, about how to effectively do software development in a "newer" world (Pragmatic Programmer) Making Friends Each week, the interns will hang out with two different developers or non-developers for a lunch and learn. They’ll learn from different areas of the organization and make some new friends in the process. We’re big on having a friendly, supportive environment. Being surrounded by cool people is half of the recipe to loving your job.We’re really excited to have our new teammates here for the next few months. They’ll be working hard, but their work will matter. Stay tuned for updates and check-ins from the interns over the next few months. The post Making Code, Not Coffee: The interns are here! appeared first on Rustici Software.