I hear executives whine like cranky kindergartners who missed a nap.  They moan and groan about the competition all the time. The whining sounds like…They are bigger. They have larger budgets. They are in more locations. They are in better locations. They have more man power to get things done. They have a bigger market share. They. They. They.

Forget playing the game THEY play. Figure out what they aren’t doing well and kick their ass at that!

Look at these 10 questions and answers and put them to use in your organization and you will be who THEY wish they could be. After you make millions of dollars from the answers to these questions remember where you got it from. The whining stops right now.

1. What is the marketing approach in your industry no one has tried yet? Do it.

2. What relationships do you want to establish your competition wish they had? Go for it.

3. What service could you improve to remarkable levels? No waiting, act today. In fact, right now.

4. What are the trends of your industry that will change over the next five years and how could you be there by next year four years in advance of your competitors? You have a full 8,760 hours to make it happen. Make it happen.

5. What is the most creative marketing idea you could smack the competition upside the head with? Think how good that would feel.

6. How could your salespeople out-smart, out-hustle, and out-maneuver everyone else in the industry? It’s there for the taking. It’s up to you how bad you want it.

7. What is the one product you produce or sell better than anyone else? Scream to the heavens about it like your hair was on fire.

8. What online technology hasn’t reached your industry and how can you capitalize on that fact? Go find it because it’s probably something you can do for free.

9. What is the biggest customer complaint about the competition? Be the superstar to those customers in that one area.

10. Where are you not giving your full effort and passion? Ask someone who reports to you and you’ll get a better answer than the one you came up with – unless they are afraid for their job.

11. What are the next ten questions you need to ask yourself as a leader who needs to grow?

All I know how to do is kick ass and chew gum, and I’m all out of gum. Whether it’s aliens or corporate dweebs I have low tolerance for bad behavior. So should you. Business executives and leaders in this country have gone soft and when times got real tough over the last two years these wimps went around screaming, “Game over man, game over!”  Get a grip you bunch of Hicks.

It’s time for leaders to be real leaders again and it’s time to stop coasting into the weekend and start kicking some ass at the end of the week.   So listen up and take some action because here are my 10 tips for making today a Kick Ass Friday.

NO WIMPS ALLOWED

1. Embrace the day and stop whining, “I’m glad tomorrow is the weekend — finally it’s here.”

2. Take one project you’re working on and make a focused effort to take a giant step to move that project forward.

3. Eliminate all meetings from any Friday so everyone know you expect them to drive business on the last day of the work week. No sitting in comfy chairs wasting a potentially productive morning.

4. Plan to come in Monday renewed, reinvigorated, and thrilled to tackle a new week. You come ready to play or don’t come at all.

5. Call a customer or client today to thank them for their business this year. They will be shocked and you’ll be remembered.

6. Make lunch count. Who do you need to take to lunch today? Client? Boss? Employee who never gets to go out for lunch?

7. Create a list of 5 things you must get done by next Friday. Go for the hard stuff.

8. Be intolerant. Make today a no whining, no bitching, no complaint day. Ask everyone to focus on the positive.

9. Refuse to listen to the news or read a paper. Take a day off from the “News Terrorists.”

10. Give your best effort until the very last minute of your work day……no coasting. THEN you can celebrate a great work week.

Get it done because you know you should. This is Ripley signing off.