LinkUP Thursday: 10 Simple, Science-Backed Ways To Be Happier Today and more...

"Our commute to the office can have a surprisingly powerful impact on our happiness. The fact that we tend to do this twice a day, five days a week, makes it unsurprising that its effect would build up over time and make us less and less happy" from... 10 Simple, Science-Backed Ways To Be Happier Today

Good Morning Folks,

Please enjoy these articles that got the most likes and great comments when I shared them on social media.

Can You Be Found? Why You Must Personally Invest in Social Media

Coveting Not a Corner Office, but Time at Home

8 ways to turn passion into success

Superhero or Sidekick: Which One Are You?

Five Ways to Change Someone Else's Mind

10 simple, science-backed ways to be happier today

How to stop doing so much busy work

Thanks again for your amazing energy and support that is fuelling the FSO fire across the country. FSO did not get to this place by luck. With the market on our side, we have recognized the opportunity for limitless growth.  

Folks, there is so much awesome “stuff” happening in our great company. We have awesome leaders; awesome people; and a market that is in love with us and competitors that just cannot keep up! 

Good luck and feel it folks. It is real. Thanks for reading, sharing and supporting.

Have a GREAT day,

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here

Ted Tuesday: Rita Pierson— Every Kid Needs A Champion

"Simply outstanding and relevant to all those who dare to struggle and dare to win in the game of Education."

Good Morning Folks,

On this Ted Tuesday, I'm excited to share this inspiring talk from Rita Pierson.

Pierson, a teacher for over 40 years, has seen all sides of education. Both of Pierson’s parents and grandparents were teachers, and since 1972, Pierson has taught elementary school, junior high school and special education. According to Pierson, the most important component of learning – what keeps kids in school and passionate about reaching their goals – is simple: relationships. “Every child deserves a champion,” says Pierson,”an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”

Rita Pierson is one of the best educators i've ever seen! Her powerful voice is also inspiring me. I bet this talk is strong enough to stimulate the educators all over the world!!

She has such a passionate, compassionate, witty way of bringing her ideas through! She made me think about the teachers I had who were there for me and my class mates. Our champions...I will never forget them.

Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don’t like.’” A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.

Indeed, it’s heroes just like Pierson and the educators we honor today that are these very champions. “Is this job tough? You betcha,” says Pierson. “But it is not impossible. We can do this. We are educators. We are born to make a difference.”

I hope you enjoy Pierson’s TED Talk as much as I did.


Have a GREAT day. Love LIFE!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me."

~~Ayn Rand

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Ted Bonus: A Talk to Cheer You Up On Hump Day

"Take a moment this Wednesday to be thankful for all the wonderful things in your life. "

Good Afternoon Folks,

I thought that on hump day something to lift the spirits would be in order.
Louie Schwartzberg’s TEDxSanFrancisco talk “Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.” from June 2011 is an excellent mediation. 

Schwartzberg’s talk is a beautiful embodiment of these virtues, and while it’s not a typical presentation, there are certainly elements in it that we can use to better ours.

Most of the power in Schwartzberg’s presentation lies in his use of visuals. Arrestingly beautiful video plays in the background as an accompaniment to his words. Smartly, he avoids use slides riddled with bullet points and words, instead harnessing the power of the incredible photography and video he has collected over years. His visuals fit ideally with the topic at hand, and they do a great job of keeping the audience enthralled from start to finish.

With that said, take a moment this Wednesday to be thankful for all the wonderful things in your life. As Brother Steindel-Rast points out: we so rarely take time to look at the sky and at the faces of other people. Spend a few moments this upcoming holiday season letting gratefulness wash over you, and allow yourself to fall in love with nature’s enduring beauty.

For I am deeply thankful and grateful for all of you reading this right now!

Have a GREAT day. Love LIFE!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, 
whose presence calls forth your best." - Epictetus 
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Ted Tuesday: Dan Pink— What Motivates People

"You should watch this because it is influencing the conversation about what makes a great workplace. It can help you do a better job as a boss" 

Good Morning Folks,

On today's show, career analyst and author of the best-selling business book Drive, Dan Pink, examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward. 

The talk contains the substance of this book. If you're a boss or concerned about leadership, you need to become familiar with that message. The ideas are important. Pink's rendering of them, for good or ill, will define and influence the discussion of motivation in business for quite a while. He does get the big picture right. He says that people would prefer activities where they can pursue three things.

==> Autonomy: People want to have control over their work. 

===> Mastery: People want to get better at what they do. 

==> Purpose: People want to be part of something that is bigger than they are. 


Pink delivers many key ideas that matter. 

Key Idea: There is a difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. 

Key Idea: Intrinsic motivators are more powerful. 

Key Idea: If you use monetary rewards to get people to perform the way you want, those rewards may have the opposite effect. These are important things for a boss to know. 

Bottom line: "You should watch this because, it is influencing the conversation about what makes a great workplace. It can help help you do a better job as a boss."

Now let's join Dan Pink for "The Puzzle of Motivation."

Have a GREAT day. Love LIFE!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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“People may not always remember what you said, 
but they will always remember how you made them feel."
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LinkUP Thursday: Leadership's Biggest Challenges

"Invest in individual mastery and market value . . . culture is to attracting high impact talent as a great product is to attracting good customers."

Good Morning Folks,

As you know I am a firm believer in continuing education by asking my team to read business books. Tom Peters is one of my favorites.

But now, thanks to the Internet, there are much shorter reads with just as powerful takeaways.

Here are a few I found to share with the leaders among us this morning:

Jack Welch: Star Wars: When to Let a Top Performer Walk

How CEOs Can Transform HR into a Revenue Driver

How to Get Employees to Embrace Social Media

How To Uncover Your Company's True Culture

The Most Powerful Habit You Can Imagine

The Future of Work

Some thoughts on the culture article: Give me a team I can bring together in person now and then and watch the synergy pay off. 


As an people / talent professional, I have been astounded by how often senior leaders don’t “get” that culture is a living thing, unique to a company or organization. I once heard a fairly new leader describe the corporate culture of our organization to candidates but what he described was the culture of his previous company. He truly thought that if he said it, it would be so. As hard as I tried, I could not convince him that one organization’s culture could not simply be grafted onto a new organization and its employees.

The article linked above proffers that "... many companies have tried to adopt, say, the Zappos culture or the Google culture… but in most cases those attempts fail because culture is something that can be mimicked but almost never successfully copied."  

Within every organization, decision making drives performance. Every employee comes to work every day and makes decisions that impact performance.   The workplace has many temptations that employees must resist, from the petty impulse to claim credit for someone else's work, to the unscrupulous lapse of lying in a negotiation, to the criminal act of misrepresenting financial numbers.   

These decisions, at every level of the organization, define the corporate culture and drive performance.   

In 2008, Harvard Business School Professor Robert S. Kaplan and his Palladium Group colleague David P. Norton wrote The Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage.   There are ten (10) steps to define the corporate culture and drive performance, including:  

Step 1: Visualize the strategy.   

Step 2: Communicate the strategy. 

Step 3: Identify strategic projects.   

Step 4: Align projects with strategy.   

Step 5: Align individual roles and provide incentives.  

Step 6: Manage projects.   

Step 7: Make decisions aligned with strategy.   

Step 8: Measure the strategy.   

Step 9: Report progress.  

Step 10: Reward performance.  

To make change, leaders must identify behaviors that are in line with the desired culture and find ways to reward or reinforce them

I will like t say these idea is common among young growing companies regardless of years in existence, they are still learning, but when they get to certain points in their growth, they begin to value employees much as the value the customer, quite really, they realize that the employees also make the hearth of the company much as the customer do, it's a matter of time, if the company as a future or big dreams.

Have a GREAT day. Love LIFE!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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“Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill
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TED Tuesday: Forget Mindfulness.Try Nevermindfulness: Bruce Turkel at TEDx

"At FSO we strive to surprise, delight and WOW you every day. Our brand is not about what we do, but built on what we can do for you."

Good Morning Folks,

My friend Bruce Turkel, whom we featured here recently, makes brands more valuable. He's worked with Bacardi, Discovery, Philips, MetCare, Miami, spoken at MIT and Harvard, and discusses branding on FOX Business.

In his TED talk "Forget mindfulness.Try nevermindfulness" he helps us understand that a brand is more than just a logo or a sign; that it is the entire experience of interacting with a company at every touchpoint. He argues that great brands make themselves all about you whereas less successful brands lose touch with the customer by having it backwards.

At FSO we strive to surprise, delight and WOW you every day. Our brand is not about what we do, but built on what we can do for you.

Have a listen to Bruce's brief talk. It can change how you approach your job and how your leaders can better understand their challenges.


In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Want to read more from Bruce? Visit his blog at TurkelTalks.com

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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 "“Customers are hard to build and easy to loose”

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"TO DO"

"At FSO, we want our employee's "to do" lists a short as 3 words 

"Make Clients Happy." 

Good Morning Folks,

Those of you who follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter know that I am a big fan of J.T. O'Donnell and her CAREEREALISM.com blog.

Today J.T. offers some suggestions on making daily "to do" lists and proffers what they should include. Sometimes writing the little things down to follow up with are the only way I can get them done.

Of course at FSO, we want our employee's "to do" lists a short as 3 words "Make Clients Happy." 

My Top 10 daily involves quite a bit to do with calling clients, making marketing calls, following companies that are making the news in my industry and making calls to them, identifying and speaking to top candidates and (since I work in recruitment) sending top candidates to clients. At the end of the day I give myself a minute to clear my thoughts.

From a sales guy's perspective:

1. Sell Something Every Day  

2. Create a new Customer or Grow an Existing Client every Day 

3. Set Appointments 

4. Conduct Appointments 

5. Follow Up from Appointments 

6. Target New Opportunities  

7. Inspect that your team is doing the same things 

8. Monitor 

9. Manage 1

10. Measure (3M's)

But J.T.'s list that follows has real practical implications to a wide group of workers (and job seekers too)as it fits your present needs. Others might have different priorities for the day. That might relate both to industry as well as to career stage. But I think the primary "common factor" here is that we should create for ourselves a daily routine of tasks to complete to remain sharp and satisfied.

J.T. Blogs, "I’ve never shared this list with anyone until now. It’s the list of ten things I try to do every workday. Yes, there are days when I don’t get them all done, but I do my best to deliver. It has proven very effective for me. They are:

• Read something related to my industry.
• Read something related to business development.
• Send two emails to touch base with old colleagues.
• Empty my private client inbox by responding to all career coaching questions within one business day.
• Check in with each team member on their progress.
• Have a short non-work related conversation with every employee.
• Review my top three goals for my company that are focused on it's growth.
• Identify and execute one task to support each of my top three goals.
• Post five valuable pieces of content on all my major social media accounts.
• Take a full minute to appreciate what I have and how far I’ve come.

Very interesting list, not only does it focus on staying updated with your industry but encourages networking with old associates which becomes a lesser priority to many individuals. It also reminds you to connect with your employees on a personal level that will encourage a friendlier atmosphere.

We often become too busy with what happens in our life that we forget to take time to thank those that help us. We should put this into practice more often and see how this small gesture makes our day.

I would add a few extras to J.T.'s list

1. Compliment someone. 
2. Do a favor without being asked. 
3. Listen before thinking. 
4. Think before speaking. 
5. Encourage someone. 
6. Remember there is life outside work.

When done with todo list: Breathe deep, put on some music or not, go outside, get a breathe of fresh air, sit by lake or serene location, look at the stars, give thanks, think or pray for those that are gone, you miss or are less fortunate than you and count your blessings.

These simple efforts leads to great results.

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"You have two hands. One to help yourself, the second to help others."
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Ted Tuesday: The Science of Stage Fright (and how to overcome it)

Interviewing for a job? First day in a management position addressing your team? In the military and standing up in front of dozens of soldiers and trying to maintain your composer while trying to keep trying to keep their attention and respect? How scared do you get before speaking in public?

Good Morning Folks,

One thing can strike fear into the heart of the fiercest warrior, the most powerful CEO and the smartest person in any given room: having to speak in public. The thought of it makes the palms sweat, the heart beat faster and the limbs start to shake. An estimated 75% of people have a fear of speaking in public, and it’s something that nearly everyone who takes the TED stage must work hard to overcome.

 Mikael Cho

Heart racing, palms sweating, labored breathing? No, you're not having a heart attack -- it's stage fright! If speaking in public makes you feel like you're fighting for your life, you're not alone. But the better you understand your body's reaction, the more likely you are to overcome it. Mikael Cho advises how to trick your brain and steal the show.



This TED-Ed lesson, the science of stage fright, just might help. In the lesson — which is taught by educator Mikael Cho and directed by animator Robertino Zambrano of KAPWA Studioworks — looks at stage fright not as an emotion, but as a physiological response. In other words, it’s not so much something to be overcome as to be adapted to.

“Humans are wired to worry about reputation. Public speaking can threaten it,” says Cho in the lesson. “It’s the fight-or-flight response, a self-protective process seen in a range of species.”

The lesson explains exactly what happens in the body before speaking in public and, of course, gives suggestions on how to calm stage fright. The obvious: practice, practice, practice. The not-so-obvious: stretch your arms above your head before you go on to trigger a relaxation response in the hypothalamus. (Yeah, it kind of reminded us of Amy Cuddy’s idea of power posing too.)

The best way to not get stage fright is to not care what people think about you to begin with. The easiest way to do that is to simply run through the worst possible scenario that's outside of your control, then ask yourself "So what if this happens? Is it THAT bad?".

Now, of course, you may end up in a loop by imagining worse and worse scenarios as consequence, but remember that we're talking about stuff you can't control. The moment you reach something that you DO control, imagine you make it!

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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“Truth alone will endure. All the rest will be swept away before the tide of time.” ~~Ghandi.

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FSO: Building Great Leaders to Make a Great Organization Even Greater

"TRUE leadership is the ability to inspire others to greatness beyond their expectations. "

Good Morning Folks,

I don't often blog to toot our own horn, but because we have so much great "stuff" happening at FSO that I simply cannot keep it a secret.

In order to guarantee perfection, protect the brand and ensure future growth, it is imperative that we “FSO-ize” our new staff who will be supporting my legacy and vision across the country

We recently held a (re) IMAGINE SUMMIT with over 40 hand-selected Experience Managers and Leads attended a highly energetic and intensive program from Oct 14th – Oct 15th at FSO Headquarters and via Sypke for those few that couldn't attend.

The goal? To achieve a solid foundation, solid work force and team players who have the “can do attitude” that makes FSO so special.

More importantly, we wanted each and every person who flew in to New York for this special event to come out feeling completely energized, excited and pumped to work for us and spread the word and energy back across their regions. The two day program provided a wonderful opportunity for our new starters and representatives to experience the FSO love fest and Personal, Passionate and Productive culture firsthand!

Of course they are out with clients every day so they bring a "field real" perspective.

One manager noted "having come back to the industry we created, every account we hold someone else had, many times waiting since we returned in 2010 until their contract with the incumbent was up for renewal to make the switch. Ultimately it’s the people, passion and what happens when no one is looking. There's is a reason we were brought on- better product at better price than anyone else. We bring the passion back."

So what it all boils down to is our corporate culture and our leaders ability to inspire others to greatness beyond their expectations.

All of us at FSO live and breath what we call the  8 “P”s:

1. Personal
2. Productive
3. Passionate
4. Positive
5. Progressive
6. Professional
7. Proud
8. Proactive

FSO is building great leaders to make a great organization even greater. According to our Chief Inspiration Officer "Dr. Phil" (Levy, this) TRUE leadership is the ability to inspire others to greatness beyond their expectations. He argues...

• There is no one style of leadership.
• Great leaders are authentic and are perceived as genuine.
• Great leaders style should be one that they are comfortable with and that maximizes their strengths and minimizes their weaknesses.
• Great leaders  an interest, respect, and compassion for others.
• Great leaders motivate with optimism, passion, confidence and humility.
• Great leaders praise publicly and criticize privately and constructively

The effort and atmosphere at FSO is just awe-inspiring. To my staff: THANK YOU for your wonderful efforts, motivation, teamwork, leadership, care, passion and a desire to execute like no other. The list goes on but I think you get it :). And to our great clients: THANK YOU for your continued support. We appreciate your business and our ever-evolving relationship.

We have a ton of people who believe in and love what we do. It is up to our leaders to build the confidence and leadership in FSO to ensure the best-ever “skip in the step, fire in the belly and twinkle in the eye” coupled with delivering the three “Ps”.

It is winning time. It is time for all of us to put on our thinking caps; smile; laugh; lead and show our newest family members the excitement and enthusiasm behind winning the largest prize the industry has seen!

As I reflect on another action-packed week "fso-izing", I m reminded that our business and our company is built on great people who care. Coupled with the best knowledge and tenure this industry has ever seen, we are unstoppable. we are not perfect, but we will strive for perfection each day to perform for FSO

On that good note, make every day count and enjoy your week.

Have a GREAT day, and...

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here

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“It’s important to be optimistic and to call stakeholders to a purpose bigger than themselves.”  ~~Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks

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