Be nice and be Successful in the Business World

Be Nice and be Successful in the Business World

“Be Nice and be Successful”

By Kevin McMahon

When talking about the business world, the words honor, care and compassion are not the first things that come to my mind. In the cutthroat word of business, we assume that the people who make it to the top have beaten out their competitors by sheer wit and force. After reading Scott Aylward and Pattye Moore’s “Confessions from the Corner Office”, I realized that there is a much better way to handle your professional-self and ensure that you are successful through making smart decisions and having good relationships. On page 80, Pattye and Scott talk about how important it is to “be a real leader” and break away from the traditional company models where the employee is treated as if they are not important. What inspired me the most about this section is how the two both acknowledge that you can treat employees and coworkers with the upmost respect, even when you disagree with them or have to make a tough decision that effects the organization as a whole.

Pattye Moore bounced back from a divorce by taking the reins to her career and working her way up from account management at Advertising Inc., a Tulsa-based Advertising agency, all the way up to President of Sonic Corp. Pattye currently serves as the Chairman for Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. She is also on the board of directors for ONEOK Inc. and Quiktrip Corp. Pattye also serves as a board member for he Oklahoma chapter of the Arthritis foundation. Pattye joined Scott in creating INSTINCTS, LLC, an organization that helps young professionals develop better leadership abilities.

Scott Aylward attended Michigan State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising. Scott found himself in Houston, Texas pursuing an advertising career when he realized that he could either continue living a lie in order to present himself in a more “favorable” light for promotion, or be a true leader while being comfortable within his own skin as a gay man. Scott took the risk and eventually found himself as CEO of the largest employee-owned advertising from in the country, Barkley Advertising. Scott and Pattye joined forces to create INSTINCTS, LLC, an organization that helps young professionals develop better leadership abilities.

“Confessions from the Corner Office” gives readers “attitude” and “performance” instincts to help professionals avoid the numerous pitfalls of the business world and navigate the corporate ladder with intelligence and poise. This allows professionals to use these tools for a steady rise in responsibility and success within an organization, rather than clamoring among peers for “the best opportunities”.

“Confessions from the Corner Office” really inspired me as a young professional in two ways. The first was that, while Scott new what he wanted to do at a young age, Pattye was older than most “young” professionals. Having just come off of a divorce, Pattye’s story showed me that anyone could be successful if they set their minds to it, no matter what circumstances they must deal with in personal and professional instances. The second way this book related to me was the reliability of each topic to my own worries and questions. Each professional and attitudinal instinct gave me a clear understanding of what Scott and Patty were trying to convey. They related years of work experience into useable data for me to take into the workforce as a young professional. 

I think that, “Confessions from the Corner Office” is a must read for professionals of any age. I know that this book will stay in my library as I head out into the working world, and I plan to lend it to many of my peers who want to start learning about how to be successful in business. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to go into the public relations sector or corporate America in general, and especially to anyone who has doubts about what to do when they actually land their first job. “Confessions from the Corner Office” gives you valuable and relatable information to set you on a path to be a good employee, and a great boss in the future.

 Tags

1.     “Confessions from the Corner Office”

2.     Pattye Moore

3.     Scott Aylward

4.     INSTINCT LLC.

5.     Sonic Corp. 

Links

For more information on Pattye, Scott and “Confessions from the Corner Office:

·       http://thepersimmongroup.com/speakers/tpg-speakers/pattye-moore/

·      http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=188495&ticker=RRGB&previousCapId=131943&previousTitle=RED%20ROBIN%20GOURMET%20BURGERS

·      http://thepersimmongroup.com/speakers/tpg-speakers/scott-aylward/

·      http://www.kaspublicity.com/pr/confessions/AylwardandMooreBios.pdf

·      http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2002/07/15/daily19.html

In need of a corporate soul mate. Any takers?

 Confessions from the Corner Office: 15 Instincts That Will Help You Get There

 Scott Aylward and Pattye Moore

 15 chapters, 229 pages

 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

 $6.90- Amazon.com

http://bit.ly/170BNdq 

In need of a corporate soul mate. Any takers?

By Sheon Paige

Public Relations Student 

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” This is a quote by Carl W. Buechner. Any great leader or inspiring leader will understand this quote. Scott Aylward and Patty Moore used this quote in their book Confessions from the Corner Office: 15 Instincts That Will Help You Get There, which is about leadership and success.

Being a great leader with the right frame of mind and instincts is how Aylward and Moore says will get you to the “corner office.” The corner office is a metaphor they use for success. The corner office represents the title of “I’ve made it.” Moving up the corporate ladder and being a successful leader is something we all want in our careers and Aylward and Moore know a lot about being successful leaders.

Aylward and Moore have worked together for more then 10 years and have 50 plus years of combined experience in the corporate world. They both have worked for top companies and made huge accomplishments within them. Aylward grew the ad agency Barkley Evergreen and Partners to one of the 50 largest ad agencies in the U.S. and Moore grew Sonic from $900 million to $3 billion in system-wide sales. You can read more about Aylward and Moore here http://www.kaspublicity.com/pr/confessions/AylwardandMooreBios.pdf. In those years of working together Aylward and Moore became corporate soul mates. They decided to write Confessions from the Corner Office to help up-and-coming leaders, like myself, in our careers.

This book covers 15 instincts that Aylward and Moore feel a leader should have. They say these instincts can be learned and should be practiced as often as possible when in a leadership role. One of the first things Aylward and Moore talk about in their book is finding a corporate soul mate. A corporate soul mate is a person or persons; it can be more than one, that you go to for advice, you look up to, someone that knows your line of work, the person you call when you have a great idea, and someone that can help you succeed as well as move up the corporate ladder and vice versa.

This is a good book to read. Every great leader has a partner in crime, mentor, advisor or someone to help them. Forbes.com has an article on 10 leadership lessons and having a mentor/partner is number four  http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2013/04/08/10-leadership-lessons-i-wish-i-learned-in-my-20s/. 

In my opinion I found this book to be very useful. Being a junior in college and a person who wants to get to the corner office one day in my career, this book gave me insight to things I can start practicing and become aware of now. The strengths of this book are not just the personal trials and tribulations that Aylward and Moore share, but the 15 instincts themselves. Most of these instincts are common everyday things that we simply let slip through and ignore, especially as we gain more power. It all comes down to how you treat people. Aylward and Moore summarize a leader as a person who treats others how he or she wants to be treated.

This book is a great tool to have and read as you journey through your career and become successful. Aylward and Moore have a lot of experience and I would love for them to make a sequel to this book offering more guidance and tips to up-and-coming leaders like myself. I became so inspired by Confessions from the Corner Office that I went and researched more tips and advice on being a great leader. Here are two great articles and a blog on leadership.

• ·      Blog- http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/career/the-four-things-every-leader-should-know-about-good-communication/548.
• ·      Articles- http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/ and http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkwilliams/2012/06/25/growing-a-company-qa-with-brad-smith-intuit-ceo-remove-the-barriers-to-innovation-and-get-out-of-the-way/.

I would advice everyone to read Confession from the Corner office: 15 Instincts That Will Help You Get There because you will gain great knowledge from two very successful leaders Aylward and Moore and it can help get you to your “corner office.”  

http://bit.ly/114TUOG