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In this installment of Cydcor Reviews, Miriam Caballero reviews Attitude is Everything by Jeff Keller.
Description of the book: This is the story of a lawyer who after practicing law for a few years, he realized he was not happy at all. He realized there were many things that he disliked and decided to change his job. In the process of finding what this new job should be, he realized there was more to do than just look for another job for him to do.
Throughout his struggle of finding the right job for him, he learned that in order for him to be happy, his happiness did not depend of his job. He learned that all this time the change needed to take place within him. This is where he learned that his attitude was the key factor to determine whether or not he would be happy or not.
Why Cydcor Leaders recommend this book: This is an easy read story many people could relate to. The author does a great job at giving examples of the negative thoughts he had based on the circumstances he was facing and the impact these negative thoughts had in his life. Once the reader is able to understand the struggles the author is explaining in his book, is easier to understand what the author is trying to explain. In this case, the message the author wants to get across is that in order to be happy, people must have a great attitude in everything they do. The author references a quote by Charles Popplestone, "You can't always control circumstances. But you can control your own thoughts."
Miriam's favorite part: My favorite part of this book is when he explains how "everyone starts with a clean mental window". The author explains that children view their life through a sparkling clean window. They are fearless and willing to get up no matter how many times they fall down. But there comes a point where life starts throwing dirt at their windows in the form of criticism, rejection, disappointments. This dirt starts to pile up and they no longer see life in the way they used to. They are not able to see things as they are and their attitude starts to change.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., April 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Cydcor, the leading provider of professional in-person sales teams, announced that the company is working with the Ventura Corporate Games to raise funds for Operation Smile, a children's medical charity that provides free surgeries to repair cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial deformities for children around the globe.
Cydcor and its network of independently-owned sales offices have been actively fundraising for Operation Smile since 2010 and have currently raised enough for two medical missions - one to Rio De Janeiro and the other to Mexico.
This year will be the sixth year in a row that Cydcor is participating in the Corporate Games, which are held in Ventura, California. Cydcor is a two-time winner of the JD Probasco Spirit Award, 2013 Division-C winner and proud sponsor of the Corporate Games.
For the first time, Cydcor will be sponsoring the game of "Corn Hole," which will raise funds for Operation Smile. The Corn Hole games will now be a Team Unity Award event with championship matches held during Closing Ceremonies on May 10. Corporate Games participants can enter the finals by attending one of the below qualifiers:
"We're committed to fundraising until we reach our third goal of another medical mission," said Vera Quinn, chief operating officer. "The team members at Cydcor enjoy the Corporate Games. Coming together as a team to build relationships and continuing our efforts for Operation Smile are just a win-win."
There are three steps for teams to qualify for the Corn Hole championships on May 10:
To qualify a team for the Corn Hole finals, e-mail ksaville@cydcor.com. To donate, go to www.operationsmile.org/cydcor and click "donate now."
Want to learn more? Like Cydcor on Facebook and follow them on LinkedIn.
About Cydcor
Cydcor is the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face Cydcor sales teams to a diverse client base of companies in a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, office products, entertainment, energy, and financial services. Serving Fortune 500 and emerging market clients in the business-to-business, residential, and retail channels through in-store marketing initiatives, Cydcor works with a network of 390 independently-owned corporate licensee (ICL) Cydcor sales offices, providing clients access to more than 4,000 sales professionals. The privately-held company is based in Westlake Village, California. For more information about Cydcor, go to https://www.cydcor.com
As a leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor knows how to create winning relationships with clients. Building trust is the foundation of a sales relationship. Trust takes time, effort, honesty and hard work for clients to feel comfortable with your delivery. Even in your career, moving up at work takes the ability to build trust and sell yourself to future managers or employers. Here are some tips from the experts at Cydcor for building trust in your professional life.
What are some ways that you build trust in the workplace? Tell Cydcor on Twitter!
Another great book, Cydcor reviews The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
Description of this book: Gladwell, a journalist and writer for The New Yorker magazine, is known for his comprehensive examinations of how change or success happens. The Tipping Point is an in depth look at how ideas get made into wildly popular companies, books or trends. Everything from television shows to teen smoking, popularity of ideas is modeled like an epidemic. There are carriers, those that evangelize the idea and get people excited about it. Malcolm Gladwell explains that there are three types of people involved in spreading an idea: connectors, mavens and salespeople. Connectors are people with a wide social network that are good at creating communities to rally for the concept. Mavens are knowledgeable experts that enjoy educating the public on their area of expertise. Salespeople are gifted at drumming up excitement for new things.
Cydcor recommends this book to future leaders and business people because: Gladwell has a talent for identifying key factors in how to make something popular. The biggest difference in an idea that fails and one that succeeds is knowing the right people to hand your idea to. Networking, knocking on the right doors and finding the people who will think the idea is “cool” is the best way to become a viral sensation. However, Gladwell also explains that ideas need to have “stickiness” factor that will help the important people spread it to others. Both of those factors also have to an in an environment where the idea and the people are relevant to current sentiment.
Our favorite part: "The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts."
Cydcor is a leading outsourced sales company that specializes in omnichannel sales. Follow Cydcor on LinkedIn or Twitter for more professional development advice. Want to work for Cydcor? Find our openings on the Cydcor Careerbuilder page today.
Description of this book: Delivering Happiness by Zappos founder Tony Hsieh is the story of how this young man created a new kind of company. Hsieh wanted to build a business that valued customers, employees, and investors equally. The CEO puts a strong focus on positive company culture, operating under the theory that a good corporate culture will let everything else fall into place naturally. A company of happy employees stay in the job longer, work harder and provide better customer service. Company success has to come from being unique and creating something people will get excited about. A focus on happiness not only attracted better talent, but gave Zappos a unique edge.
Cydcor recommends this book to leaders because: Hsieh has been able to build multiple companies in his career and has learned how to create a team of people that will work hard for his vision. Zappos now does over a billion dollars in sales annually. That is no small feat considering the competitiveness of online retailing. Future leaders should have a lot to learn about this company and take some ideas that challenge the norm of business leadership. Building a positive company culture can be a challenge and this book will lay it out for leaders.
Our favorite part: Zappos actually pays employees to quit. By giving them $2,000 to leave Zappos is they are unhappy, the company is less likely to retain team members who may be a negative influence on the work environment. That concept and other ideas.
Cydcor is a leading sales company that specializes in omni-channel relationships with customers. For more information on Cydcor, follow our Cydcor blog.
Last year, Cydcor raised over $270,000 for Operation Smile to help fund cleft palate surgeries for needy children around the globe. In July, the fundraiser surpassed $150,000, enough to fund a medical mission to another country. The mission involves sending doctors, volunteers and equipment to an area where access to healthcare is difficult, and provide screenings and surgeries for children. Cleft palates often result in complications eating, drinking and speaking, and many infants do not survive. Those that do often cannot attend school. Operation Smile hopes to restore millions of smiles and give those children a better chance at thriving.
This week, Cydcor volunteers are in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, meeting some of the people the money they raised are helping. In 2012, volunteers made a similar trip to Brazil, where more than 600 surgeries were provided to children. Cydcor is proud of their partnership with Operation Smile and plans to continue working with the organization in the future.
During the mission, volunteers have had the chance to spend time with the families of the children being operated on and see them through the transition of the surgery. Part of the strategy of Operation Smile is to assist facilities in the field to achieve the ability to provide the treatment of cleft palates and other facial deformities on their own.
You can make a donation to Operation Smile today and support this great cause. Help Cydcor fund another mission!
When an entrepreneur gets an idea for a business, investments need to be made into the idea to make it a reality. Investment is not only a reference to financial backing, but personal time, planning and energy. At Cydcor, we believe today’s job seekers should look to entrepreneurship for inspiration on making career decisions. Treating your resume like a business plan is the best way to create a career that is fulfilling. Starting out can be overwhelming, so it is important to plan and build a winning resume that will get the attention of the employers you want to work for.
Start out by deciding on the job you want the most, then work your way backwards. For example, if you want to be a chief executive officer of a sales and consulting company like Cydcor, then trace the step of the current CEO of the company you like and of its competitors. Learn what skills you need, such as leadership, communication, finance and project management. You can improve those skills through school or various projects. Make a list of skills you need, and the various job titles that will get you the necessary experience, all the way back to the beginning.
Here are some tips on investing in your resume and creating the career you want:
Want more inspiration, support or advice? Check out Cydcor on Pinterest for our all of our posts, reviews and other things we like to share to motivate our community.
In the digital world of today, most people are checking you and your business out online. Using social media can be an excellent way of building trust and supporting your brand. Cydcor uses a wide variety of social media platforms to reach various audiences and spread ideas. Here are some of our favorites and why.
Twitter is a great business tool. For no cost, businesses have access to a high performing platform to connect to your audience. As you work to establish yourself as an accomplished leader, with Cydcor or otherwise, social media can be a good tool to establish a strong network. Twitter is a great real time tool that will allow to easily spread news, ideas, blog posts and expertise to a wide variety of people. You can also use the # sign (a hashtag) to facilitate chats and answer questions related to a specific topic. You can follow Cydcor on Twitter here.
Facebook has a more relaxed feel to it. This platform is more about building community with people who already feel a connection to your brand. Facebook allows users businesses to post a variety of media and allows for each post to have comments, likes or the ability to share. Like Cydcor’s Facebook page.
LinkedIn can be great for recruiting an excellent team and finding other businesses to partner with. Built to be a professional networking site, LinkedIn shows information about companies and the individuals’ work experiences. LinkedIn shows to have a higher rate of interaction if you are promoting your blog or business related articles. Connect with Cydcor on LinkedIn.
Pinterest is a great place to collect ideas, inspiration and blog posts and present them to an active audience looking to share save those ideas. Cydcor has a variety of career-related Pinterest boards that are fun and interesting. Check out the Cydcor Pinterest Page.
What’s your favorite social media and how do you use it to promote your brand?
In honor of President’s day, Cydcor chose to review Lincoln by David Herbert to study one of America’s finest leaders throughout history.
Description of this book: This biography covers the life of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln was raised in rural Indiana in a poor household. The book follows Lincoln’s perspective as he picked himself up through poverty and through political savvy made his way into prominence quickly. The book examines his character, his key advisors, and reveals his human flaws as well as his greatness. The author, David Herbert, is a Pulitzer Prize
Cydcor recommends this book to future leaders because: Biographies and autobiographies are excellent sources of inspiration for anyone looking to achieve professional goals. Lincoln is an especially beloved figure for Americans because he was raised in poverty and came from a disadvantage to well educated men raised in wealthy homes in cities. In many ways, Lincoln is the best representation of the American dream, that hard work and persistence will always pay off. Cydcor highly recommends any manager to take time to read and learn about prominent figures in our culture, not just for inspiration but to improve critical thinking skills and improve confidence.
Our favorite part: Herbert does an excellent job of making sure to incorporate the realities of being president into the book. He explores how decisions were made based on the information available to him, rather than taking the traditional route of glorifying the historical figure retrospectively. It is important to look at leadership objectively and understand that decisions must be made regardless of whether you have all the facts. Leadership is about being able to make the best judgment calls you can at the time it is necessary.
Follow Cydcor on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest for more inspiration and leadership advice.
As a sales company, Cydcor knows it’s a noisy world out there. Creating a strong network for a sales business is hard work, and takes persistence. It can be tough to generate leads, and to get in touch with people. Sometimes, making a good impression means standing out from the crowd and being different. Here are some interesting strategies to make sure you get what you are looking for in your professional life.
Using Google Ads. A few years ago, a job seeker gained national attention through buying Google ads targeted at an employer he wanted to work for. In 2010, Alec Brownstein targeted executives of ad companies so that the right people would follow links to his portfolio. See the video of Brownstiein’s tactics on CBS News.
Introduce yourself to everyone. Use the term “elevator speech” literally. Meet people in line for coffee, in the elevator, at the grocery store. You never know who you are going to meet, and talking to strangers has become an unusual practice, especially in big cities. Being friendly could get you the exposure you are looking for.
Volunteer your time for a local charity. Do not be afraid to use giving back to the community as a networking opportunity as well. Volunteer for tasks that are suited to your skills, or for organizations that reflect your interests and values. Meeting like-minded people is a good networking tactic, and it is work that you can add to your resume and LinkedIn profile.
Plan an event in your field. Brainstorm to find an idea that would attract people in your field to you. Giving a seminar, hosting a networking event or throwing a charity fundraiser would be a good away to get attention and help others do the same.
Write articles to pitch to media sites. Craft an intelligent, informative article for a site like Huffington Post, Fast Company or an industry blog and pitch the article to the sites. Getting published on a high authority site can increase your visibility online and thus have more chops to show potential employers or business opportunities when they search for you.
What was the best connection you’ve made in your career? Let us know on the Cydcor Facebook Page or Twitter.
Professionalism is a way of behaving in a business or work setting that shows others you are reliable, knowledgeable and authoritative. At Cydcor, we pride ourselves in instilling top standards of professionalism for our team members, especially when they are in the field representing clients. Cydcor team members love to have fun at work but also know that basic professional behavior is a key to success.
Many employers refer to professionalism as “employability skills” or simply technical and verbal skills. According to a survey by York College of Pennsylvania last year, many human resource managers reported that professionalism has decreased significantly in recent years. Researchers cited that casual attitudes and a culture of entitlement are the main reasons why young people are coming off as less professional.
Generational gaps in the workplace may be to blame for the sentiment as well. In the age of the start up, many young people are finding jobs where they can act as though they are spending time with friends instead of entering a professional setting, but that style does not work for every work environment. Regardless of what is considered acceptable, being more polished and professional is always impressive, and it is advantageous to have a professional persona for business situations.
Being consistently on time and delivering expected results is the most important part of being professional. Instilling confidence in employers and clients that you can be relied upon will improve your work performance and increase your good reputation. Being on time and delivering results are values that Cydcor champions for our workplace.
Wardrobe can be a touchy subject, but how you present yourself will say a lot about you to a client or employer. Basic grooming and hygiene is important to appearance, but wearing quality clothes that fit well, are pressed and clean will also show that you take pride in your work.
Improving you vocabulary and grammar is also an excellent way to communicate that you are a skilled professional. You can improve your speech by joining a local Toastmasters group and improve your writing skills with a class or by reading books such as E.B. White’s The Elements of Style.
Would you like to join the Cydcor fleet of sales professionals? Find us at the Cydcor Careerbuilder page for open positions.