Listen.

Listen. 

It's a sad fact that we are often more polite to strangers than we are to the people we love the most.  If your spouse is trying to talk to you, whether it's to find out what you want for dinner, to tell you about her day, or to discuss a problem in your marriage, give her the same courtesy you'd give your boss, and LISTEN!  Don't try to finish her sentences, don't try to solve her problems, and don't ever say, "I told you so!"

Here's an especially fitting poem, written by Ogden Nash:

To keep your marriage brimming, 

With love in the wedding cup, 

Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; 

Whenever you’re right, shut up.

I don't have this down quite yet, but I'm working on it.

Alliance Partners - 1+1=3 (or more)

Strategically seeking relationships with others in complementary businesses is a major leverage point for working smart.  The term “networking” is often overused and seldom a properly leveraged relationship.  Building a network of alliance partners must be as beneficial to your alliance partner as it is to you.  Networking is a two-way street. 

Let another man praise you,

and not your own mouth;

a stranger, and not your own lips.

Proverbs 27:2 (World English Bible)

It makes sense for a Financial Advisor to network with CPAs and estate planning attorneys.  It makes sense for a plumber to network with electricians.  It makes sense for real estate agents to network with bankers, loan officers, and title companies.  Each of these relationships has something to offer that can help the sum of the parts exponentially exceed the whole.  

One of the most fundamental things you can do is introduce people to one another.  Human connections can change the world.  Stop for a moment and think carefully about people to whom you can make introductions and bring value.  And then give them value first.