The last couple of weeks of December is the perfect time to take stock – not only of whether you’ve been naughty or nice over the past year – but of what you’ve accomplished, and where you need to focus your time, attention, and energy to set yourself up for success in 2016.

To help you do that, it might be useful to conduct the following seven productivity “inventories”:

• Goals inventory
• Personal inventory
• Environmental inventory
• Relationship inventory
• Financial inventory
• Time inventory
• Self-development inventory

For more details on each one, please click here to read my complete post on The Hired Guns website!

I can no other answer make but thanks, And thanks; and ever thanks.

~Shakespeare (Twelfth Night Act III scene iii)

In this fast-paced, always-on, often-superficial social media world we live in these days, it seems that so many people treat many of their relationships as disposable – rather than as something enduring and valuable to be nurtured and cherished. It becomes all about “What can I GET FROM this relationship?”…as opposed to “What can I GIVE TO it?”

With the constant focus on building our number of Twitter followers, LinkedIn connections, and Facebook Friends, it is so easy to lose sight of the people behind the profiles. And as we become consumed with increasing the quantity of our connections, what often suffers is the quality of the actual relationships that those numbers represent. 

To counter that, here are 7 simple ways to give back to others who have given so much to you:

1.  Send a thank you note – out of the blue – to a former boss, mentor, or teacher (or to anyone) who made a difference in your life.

2.  Write someone a glowing recommendation.

3.  Write a 5-star Amazon review for a book that made an impact on you.

4.  Tweet, Re-tweet, Like, Forward, and Share.

5.  Catch people doing something right.

6.  Be a connector.

7.  Pay it forward.

Those are the seven quick tips; to read the full post -- featuring more examples and details, please click here! 

We all want to be liked.

But if you had to choose between being liked, admired, respected, or trusted which would you choose?

If you could only pick one, would you rather have a boss that you liked, that you admired, that you respected, or that you trusted?

What about if you are a manager or HR recruiter interviewing potential job candidates. Could you, would you, hire someone who – on a personal level – you trusted to do the job…but didn’t really like?

These terms are definitely not mutually exclusive. And, ideally we’d like to be – and associate with – someone who possesses all four of these highly positive traits.

But what about when they come into conflict with one another?

Whose lead would you choose to follow?

Let’s say that you were assigned to a 5-person project team with four other people.

1. Alan is someone you really LIKE on a personal level. He’s a good guy, friendly, fun, personable, and you enjoy being in his company. But he’s kind of a class clown who others often make fun of, so you don’t really admire the fact that people don’t take him seriously, respect, or trust him on a professional level.

2. Betty you don’t really like that much on a personal level as she’s not really that friendly or warm towards you, but you ADMIRE her impressive background, advanced degree, and career accomplishments. As she doesn’t treat you or others with respect, you don’t have much respect for her in return, and are not sure if you really trust her.

3. Chris is not that friendly either, and you don’t really admire the fact that he got his job through an internal personal connection, leapfrogging over others who’ve been here longer and were more deserving. But you RESPECT the fact that he’s overcome numerous personal and professional obstacles to get as far as he has in his career despite these setbacks.

4. And Diane is someone who, upon first meeting, you don’t really like, admire, or respect based on what you’ve heard about her through the grapevine. But she is super-smart, has an amazing, unparalleled track record of success, and you TRUST that when it comes to getting things done, compared to everyone else on the team, there’s no one better.

So, based on the above brief descriptions, if you had to elect a team leader from this group (i.e., someone other than yourself), who would it be – and why? Is it the person you most like, admire, respect…or trust?

Sometimes as leaders we need to make tough decisions that not everyone’s going to like – or like us for. And, while it is nice when people admire us for our past accomplishments that’s all it is: a nice-to-have. Most importantly, we want people to respect us – our intelligence, our judgement, our integrity, etc. – and, ideally, to trust us.

But what is “trust” anyway?

In my leadership workshops and NYU “Leadership and Team Building” class, when we discuss the characteristics, traits, and qualities of effective leaders -- and my "Hierarchy of Followership" model (see below) -- the word “trust” inevitably comes up near the top of the list. But what do we mean by it?

That is such an often-asked question that out of the roughly one million entries in the English dictionary, according to Mirriam-Webster.com., “trust” is listed as the 102nd most commonly looked up word.

And when you look up the word “trust,” there are numerous definitions but they all basically have to do with “belief” and/or confidence. Belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc., and the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.

From a word origin perspective, “trust” and “truth” have the same root, and are both related to the concept of “belief”:

• Do you believe that this person is telling the truth?
• Do you believe that this person will follow-through on what they say they are going to do?
• Do you believe that this person will follow-up with you as promised?
• Do you believe that this person will keep his or her commitments?
• Do you believe that this person can be held accountable for meeting or exceeding expectations?
• Do you believe, from a leadership perspective, that this person is someone you would voluntarily choose to follow?

How can YOU gain the trust of others?

The best way to gain others’ trust…is to be “trustworthy.” That’s obvious. But it means exhibiting the qualities that you would want in a job candidate, a teammate, or a leader:

• Be truthful
• Be transparent
• Be authentic
• Be accountable
• Take ownership
• Keep promises
• Follow up
• Follow through
• Do what you say
• And say what you do

So the next time you are deciding whether a person is someone you should hire, or whose leadership you would choose to follow, keep in mind that while it would be nice if you liked, admired, and respected them…it is most important that you trust them.

Similarly, while it is great to be liked, feels good to be admired, and an honor to be respected, ultimately, the key to building relationships and gaining followership is to build trust.

In addition to having been one of the greatest ballplayers and most iconic baseball figures of all time, Yogi Berra, who passed away last week at the age of 90, was, of course, in many ways, almost as well-known for his wonderful way with words.

While, at first glance his famous quotes might appear perplexing (as well as hilarious – whether intentionally or not), when pried open they are found to contain wondrous pearls of wisdom.

Whether on the ballfield, at work, or in life, here are just a few ways in which we might benefit from practicing what Yogi preached…even if he didn’t actually say everything he said:

1)      “It ain't over 'til it's over.” His most famous quote reminds us of two very important, but very different, things: One is to be careful not to declare victory prematurely. The other is that until something is official, there’s always still hope.

2)      “Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise they won't go to yours.” There are too many people out there who are “takers.” As Wharton professor and author Adam Grant emphasizes in his excellent bestseller, “Give and Take,” it’s important -- and the right thing to do -- to reciprocate. Or, even better, simply to be generous.

3)      “He's learning me all of his experience.” Said about the future Hall of Fame catcher, Bill Dickey, who was teaching the younger Yogi Berra how to play the position, encourages us to pass down our wisdom to others.

4)      “I knew the record would stand until it was broken.” While congratulating the Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Bench on breaking his record for home runs by a catcher, this one reminds us that records are made to be broken.

5)      “If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be.” We often complain that people and things aren’t the way they’re “supposed to be”; but maybe the way things are IS the way it’s supposed to be…at least for now.

6)      “If you can't imitate him, don't copy him.” People often get frustrated and discouraged when comparing themselves to others. But perhaps the only people we should be comparing ourselves to is ourselves. As Jeff Schwartzman the head of Learning & Development of Liquidnet (and my teaching partner at NYU) always says: “Measure yourself against your own yardstick.” It’s better to be the best YOU you can be, rather than a second-rate someone else.

7)      “If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there.” Very simply, without a vision, a direction, a plan, and a goal, you probably won’t end up where you want to be.

8)      “It gets late early out there.” Referring to the difficult sun conditions in left field at Yankee Stadium, this one reminds us of how quickly time often passes us by.

9)      “Little things are big.” This one has so many possible meanings including the fact that a lot of time we focus on the big picture while losing sight of the details, and we often underestimate and undervalue the many smaller-sized and less-recognized contributions that various individuals make to a team’s or organization’s success.

10)  “Ninety percent of this game is half-mental.” So often we focus on the technical skills necessary to do a job, but forget about how important the mental/emotional/human aspect is.

11)  “You can’t hit and think at the same time.” A lot of times – when we’re delivering a presentation, interviewing, doing a task for which we’ve been trained, or swinging a baseball bat – our self-consciousness gets in the way...and we strike out. We second-guess ourselves, lose our confidence, stumble and fall. But when we’re well-prepared, confident, “in the zone,” and in a state of “unconscious competence,” we dramatically increase our chances for success.

12)  “We made too many wrong mistakes.” Making mistakes is normal; but we need to make the “right” ones, learn from them, and not repeat them.

13)  “What time is it? You mean now?” While Yogi was on a plane and didn’t know what time zone he was currently in when he was asked this, to me it’s a humorous reminder for us to try to be “in the moment.”

14)  “Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.” So often, especially in this digital age, we may end up following the crowd and jumping on the latest bandwagon. But maybe, sometimes, it might be better to just sit this one out.  

15)  “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Life is filled with choices and decisions – some minor and trivial, others future-determining and life-changing. As poet Robert Frost put it in his classic, The Road Not Taken, making choices is, ultimately, what life is all about. While we may sometimes decide to follow the crowd (see #14 above) or the path laid out for us by others, at other times we need to make our own choices, follow our own path, and take “the road less traveled”…i.e., the one which will make “all the difference.”

16)  “Four. I don’t think I can eat eight” Yogi’s response when asked by a waitress whether he wanted his pizza cut into eight slices or four slices. Shows us that with some decisions, it’s just how you slice it.

17)  “I really didn't say everything I said. Then again, I might have said 'em, but you never know.” This one speaks for itself.

To those of us who grew up with him having been around all our lives (especially if you were a Yankees fan growing up in New York!), Yogi’s passing last week really felt like losing a family member (in many ways he always reminded me of my Grandpa Sam -- same height and build, as well being an incredibly kind, warm, and genuinely friendly and generous man).

But even though he’s gone to that big ballpark in the sky, his baseball records, his Yogiisms, his smile – and his ability to make us smile simply by thinking of him – will continue to live on in the hearts of baseball fans forever.

All it takes is hearing one Yogiism, and it’s like déjà vu all over again.