I am sure you also love it when someone says “We have being playing telephone ping pong” or whatever the expression is. Hang on … playing? It is not fun chasing anyone – yes, we are trying to contact someone and some people are just very difficult to get a hold of. And, what’s the deal with that person who calls you, and you miss their call by 15 seconds, and then you try call them back right away and it just rings.

We all got to keep cool heads in these wired times, and a sense of humour helps too.

What I can never quite grasp is when someone goes “Why didn’t you call me back?” Is that the rule – if someone calls you and you missed their call, then, it is expected that you call them back? I get a lot of calls in a day and I don’t monitor my phone like RoboPhoneCop, so if someone leaves me a message then I listen and call them back. But if that same someone then says “Did not see the missed call?” then I never actually know how to respond. Saying something like “I did see it” is not what they want to hear. Yup, these mobile machines are great and all, but they sure do make life more interesting.

We must always be polite and professional – what I would say is “I have been crazy busy and was going to try you later when I had time to think straight and can listen to you properly.” But I am sincere about it, and I do call them later, when I have time.

Nothing is worse than that brush-off call from the car, where you can’t hear much and most of the conversation goes like this “Hello … hello … can you hear me … hello … hello”, I’d better be off listening to Adele – she’s got a good voice and the music. Actually there are worse things, like death and taxes, but you get the point we are sharing.

Hang on. Isn’t the missed call akin to sending someone a blank e-mail and then saying, I never got a reply. Just saying.

http://coolfidence.com/5-golden-rules-of-the-missed-call-solution-20037

There is no such thing as a part-time entrepreneur. Yes, it sounds like so much fun to start a business. Some people will say it means that you are free and the world is your oyster. But it is all about hard work. Sure, it can be exciting, and often there are some amazing moments, but don’t expect to get much sleep. Sleeping late is fun. Being an entrepreneur is not constant fun. It is a full-time journey. Passion is the word you always hear when people talk of start-ups and entrepreneurial ventures. But it is not enough. Just like talent is not enough. It is all about your attitude. Selling is also a fundamental part of an entrepreneur’s journey. We are all selling, all the time. Internally and externally. Inspiring, motivating, sharing … we love what we do, and we do what we love. It doesn’t always love us back though. And this is where character comes into it. Being an entrepreneur requires strength, and grace.

As long as I can remember I loved to tell stories. And also, I am always captivated by a good tale. I make notes of all the compelling and colourful adventures that people share with me. I have found that entrepreneurs accumulate many many stories. Each chapter is another story: the chance taken, the moments of tension, the celebration that never ended, the pain that never lets go, the lessons learned, the ground covered, the mistakes we made, the people that we got close to, and the folk that are no longer there. Entrepreneurs are natural storytellers. Yes, not every entrepreneur is going to stand-up and make a speech to rival Barak Obama (that man sure can talk) but they all have loads of stories to share.

I have been working since I was 16 years old. At the big Hyperama in Sandton, representing Frank & Hirsch, punting Atari computers, during my last couple of high school years. Every Friday afternoon and every Saturday morning. To my 7 years of being a waiter, and the adventure of selling ties, caps and t-shirts, at the flea market on the weekends, when I got a driver’s license and realized that a car can be filled with stuff that one could take to the market and sell. Then there was contract software development when I was a Masters student at university, and of course, at the end of it all, was the start of IS. I was still waitering and working in the flea market when IS began, but stopped shortly afterwards. And through it all, the one thing remains constant: sell, sell sell, That and storytelling. All underpinned by hard work.

http://coolfidence.com/7-secrets-of-being-an-entrepreneur-solution-20036

With many millions of meetings happening daily, there are two certainties: Someone is looking for a phone charger, and someone’s running late.

Okay, so you genuinely got stuck in traffic even though you left mega-early… but you got stopped in a roadblock that took forever.

Five minutes probably won’t register. Half an hour, not cool. An hour late is a no show.

Do you call ahead and be proactive? Do you text from the road (from a stationary car)? Do you pretend like nothing happened and immediately butt into the meeting discussion on arrival?

If it’s a first meeting then should have your homework done. Do you know where you are going and how to get there? Don’t type the address into Google Maps on your way, when you’ll unexpectedly have no Internet connectivity. And don’t make matters worse by appearing unprepared for what’s being discussed.

http://coolfidence.com/5-tips-in-case-you-arrive-late-for-a-meeting-solution-20034