In the US, if men wear loafers with shorts socks should not be worn. It’s a major fashion faux pas made worse if the socks creep downward or are in a color other than a neutral tan that matches the shoes. Why does it matter? It does not look smart or elegant. Plus, if you are older it definitely will date you.

There were interviews after the recent US Ryder Cup defeat where the players were asked questions about their mistakes. In some cases, it appeared to be overkill.

When we make mistakes it is important to review why they happened to hopefully prevent the same errors from occurring again. However, it should not be a blood sport. Being civil is important. Being intrusive and rude will not change the past. It only makes it harder to move on. Losing is not as important as learning from it and then moving forward. Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. – Oscar Wilde

A number of years ago I had a meeting with a Senior Vice-President of a large company. He arranged for me to meet his VP who I would be coaching. The VP was a Guatemalan. In his culture, personal space is nose to nose unlike in the US where one arm’s length is the accepted norm. I did not step back from him because I knew this. The fact that I understood his background was important to him and I ended up working for his group over a period of ten years before he retired.

Here are some tips about personal space:

• In the US, one arm’s length is the norm and the only time you touch someone is during the handshake.

• In Spain, people tend to stand much closer together. They also touch each other more frequently than do their US counterparts. Trying to create personal space is viewed as shyness or rudeness.

• On the other hand, Australians require extra personal space—at minimum of an arm’s length or more is typical.

How you sound is as important as the words you chose, especially in different venues.

Your voice sound and pitch needs to be different when you are:

*In front of a live audience with a microphone

*In front of a live audience without a microphone

*Presenting a webinar using a headset

If you can, record yourself. Then assess what you hear when listening to the tapes. I have a Sony audio recorder that I use to help me ensure my voice and pitch engages the audience and conveys passion in the topic.

Nail polish has replaced the lipstick women bought when they felt they needed a pick-me-up. Your nail color can complete the total look.

The first lady, Michelle Obama, recently wore the nail color gray. What I love about this color is that it is one of the new opaque colors. It modifies the very fashionable colors to more conservative neutrals. One of my favorite brands is OPI in nail polish. It has wide range of colors—neutrals to the vamp black shades.

The trend for new bold colors began about five years ago when some young women wore candy colors. Then we moved into the very dark colors with shorter, square shaped nails. The first lady bridged her color choice by keeping her nails a bit longer and not squaring them off. It looked perfect and smart.

A New York Times (NYT) Sunday article featured Mario Batalli, chef, cookbook author, television personality talking about working in his kitchen. His philosophy and communication style as leader is that you do not have to shout to work with each other.

The culture in the kitchens of many restaurants is to yell to communicate. The high pressure, time sensitive, noisy environment lends itself to this.

On Tuesday, August 28, acclaimed chef, Charlie Trotter, was featured in the Chicago Tribune because his restaurant is closing on Friday. He discussed what he did to change the atmosphere and talked about chefs who became famous but may have paid a high price for that fame.

So, here we have two celebrated chefs, successful leaders in their own field and businesses, with two different styles. One style was forged twenty some years ago and the other is relatively current.

The questions to answer are what works best for you, does it benefit you and do you learn from it?

The Williams Sisters were featured in NYT’s magazine this Sunday. They feel that belief and training is the key to their success. It’s the opposite of “Fake it ‘till You Make it”. The reason that causes us to fail is we tend not to be prepared enough in the beginning.

I remember during the first three years of my business I spoke to groups and took projects on for very little money. So, I got educated and trained at the same time. This is critical to being successful at whatever you chose to do. Training and education are first on my list to getting prepared. Then it’s on to practicing in the real world.

Does this mean you will always be a winner? No. The Williams Sisters are a great example of a career of wins and setbacks.

Motivation and love of what you do is understood but most folks who fail love what they do and don’t lack for passion. However it is the training and practice that one needs to do before going live. Even when you are successful, training and practice is still essential to ensure your success.

Ask yourself, are you continuing to believe and train in your profession?

“You are never going to be right all the time. Get over it. The hurdles get smaller as you go along because you will be jumping over them.” Marsha Serlin, CEO, United Scrap Metal.

 So many times mistakes can paralyze us. I have learned over a period of time to not beat yourself up too much because you can learn from your mistakes if you get over them.

 For example, the first time I lost a project it took me a year to get past it. But it also taught me how to never be unprepared when presenting a project at a casual meeting.

About five years ago, I was faced with a similar situation. I went through a challenging hour of discussion with seven key decision makers for a project. But by then it had become a natural process to always be fully prepared.

Recently we spoke about the white casual and athletic shoe making a comeback. As we all know, fashion always changes. Look at the Summer Olympics, especially the runners. The colorful shoe is back flashing many combinations. Another change is that the shoes are light weight with slim lines. This trend has also shown up golf shoes.

Sock colors are also undergoing a bit of a transformation. Mixing colors appear to be the next new phase. So, the rules have been broken. Have fun with your new shoe colors!

Attached is a good example.

The Summer Olympics continues to confirm the importance of team work. Yes, of course the main idea is to win a medal and the preference is gold. However, most don’t win gold or any medal at all, for that matter. In business, we are often faced with difficult challenges where the end result takes an unexpected turn just like in the Olympics.

When your team is a strong one, the main issue is that the loss is not as important as the next step. I watched some of the teams who did not win a gold. They supported each other and focused on the next step. That’s what team work is all about.