The MIDDAY NUGGET: RESET YOUR PASSWORD NOW

Welcome to the Midday Nugget. The purpose of the Midday Nugget or its mission is to communicate to you about what is on my mind today. The one thing that weighs heavily with me today and we will go from there.

Today's Topic: RESET YOUR PASSWORD NOW

Today, May 21, 2014, we heard that eBay was hacked two months ago and everyone involved in cybersecurity is not asking but telling us to reset our eBay password now?

I know, too little too late. Why wait two months? It seems that "[t]he hackers grabbed the customer database between late February and early March." Then "..it wasn't until two weeks ago that eBay discovered employee credentials had been stolen", and it goes like that. It goes like that because quite often we don't know about a problem until it becomes a problem (usually a big one).

Back when farming was big business, the farmer didn't know there was a problem in the hen house until there were chickens missing and with a little investigating there was a trail of feathers leading to the fox's den. All was until the fox got into the hen house. There was no problem until the breach in the fence was discovered. However, after having enough hens go missing old Farmer Brown would make a conscience effort to check the fence around the hen house on a daily basis.

The same applies today but with our digital fences. If you don't do so already please start checking all your digital fences on a regular basis. If the digital fences (your passwords) are too old (anything over 6 months) then it is time to change them.

Now I won't go into details as to what to change your password to but I will say this:
DO NOT CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD TO
  - ABC123
  - 1234567890
  - ABCDEFG
  - your phone number
  - your date of birth
  - your kid's name
  - your spouse's name

Don't even think about it.

When you go to your websites that require a login password, use their recommendations on how to create a password. If the site you are using does not have a recommendation, then it may be time to close that account. If they don't care enough to give their clients/customers a little guidance on what to do and how to do it, then they don't care, at all. OK, maybe they care a little bit and it may be just enough to take your money from you. Is that a good thing?

The take away here is to be prepared, be vigilant, and above all be consistent. It is your private information that is at stake and you have to do what you can to protect it. So, get out there and protect it before someone else uses it.

Thank you,

Dave Guerra

P.S. I do invite you to join the conversation and tell me what you are thinking.

As always you can read this blog post in its original location at http://daveguerra.blogspot.com

I invite you to
follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra
visit my website: www.daveguerra.com

To order your copy of The Walking Leader:  Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble

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Midday Nugget: Relevance / EVERYBODY IS RELEVANT!

Welcome to the Midday Nugget. The purpose of the Midday Nugget or its mission is to communicate to you about what is on my mind today. The one thing that weighs heavily with me today and we will go from there.

Today's Topic: Relevance (Being Relevant)

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines relevance as  "1. a: relation to the matter at hand
b:  practical and especially social applicability :  pertinence
2:  the ability (as of an information retrieval system) to retrieve material that satisfies the needs of the user."

It seems that in 2014, well into the 21st Century, there are still people that believe that there has to be "CERTAIN" people that matter. They truly believe that only a few people that matter. They can't comprehend that there are more than a couple of people that are relevant. They truly believe everyone else is irrelevant or do not matter. Incomprehensible I know.

Völlig UNFASSBAR! / Totally Incomprehensible

Why am I talking about today's subject. Well, there are two reasons. The first, was at a recent function at my daughter's middle school I was witness to something most disturbing. A set of parents approached the school principal and interrupted his conversation with the school's lead custodian to say Hello and shake the principal's hand. The principal then proceeded to introduce the man to the parents however, they wanted nothing to do with him. The parents then looked at the custodian as if he was leper and completely dismissed him. The man had obviously had this happen to him before shrugged it off and went about his business.

A little bit later the parents were working the room. Stopping at the tables of the parents that were in their opinion "people that mattered" and were introducing their daughter to the other parents. Sure, there is nothing wrong with meeting new people and introducing them to your family. However, how they went about it was not something that I want to teach my children to do. I know that everyone has their own way of doing things. However, try behaving this way in the business world and see how far it get you in 2014 and beyond.

Also I was shocked when I saw this video of a Gary Vaynerchuk Q&A session at South by Southwest earlier this year in Austin, Texas. When you watch the video you can see that even Gary Vaynerchuk was taken back by the question.



I like Gary's response and he hits the nail right on the head with it. His answer is spot on. Everyone is relevant and if you stop to figure out who has relevance and who doesn't then in the 21st Century you can rest assured that you are not going to get what you want because you are not getting with the right people.

The right people?

Yes, I wrote "the right people" and they are everyone involved with the people that were once perceived as the the "relevant" people.  In 2014, the right people are the gatekeepers, the next door neighbor, the bank clerk, the receptionist, the janitor, the high school security guard, EVERYONE. Those are the relevant people and EVERYONE IS RELEVANT!

Trust me, those are the people that can do more for you than the the lawyer, the doctor, the high school principal, or any "top dog" can. The thing is that everyone else will work with you, vouch for you, and ultimately be in your corner while the lawyer, doctor, principal or "top dog" is too busy, too self-important to give you any time or attention. Thus defeating your original intent.

A word of warning: if you are using someone just to get to that "top dog" then rest assured that the individual you were schmoozing will not work with you, not vouch for you, and most certainly they will leave you standing in your corner by yourself.

Be genuine and authentic with any one and everyone you deal with and things will work themselves out. Fail to see everyone as relevant then you get what you deserve: Nothing.

Thank you,
Dave Guerra

P.S. I do invite you to join the conversation and tell me what you are thinking.

As always you can read this blog post in its original location at http://daveguerra.blogspot.com

I invite you to
follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra
visit my website: www.daveguerra.com

To order your copy of The Walking Leader:  Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble

Here are some Technorati Tags: • The Walking Leader • relevance • everyone is relevant • Be Authentic • Your message • The Midday Nugget • • Dave Guerra • Leadership • Leading • Leadership Development • Professional Development • Lead, Follow, or Get out of the way • Ready, Fire, Aim! • If it ain't broke, break it. • Hire Crazies • Ask dumb questions • Pursue failure • Spread Confusion • Ditch Your Office • Read Odd Stuff • Avoid Moderation • Higher, Admire, Desire, Require, Satire, Inquire, On Fire, All Possible Scenarios • Give to the American Red Cross • Hire A Hero