Russ: This is a BusinessMakers WebXtra, a continuation of Esther Steinfeld's interview with Michael Allosso.

Esther: What I want to know is, what can we do better as communicators at our own jobs, if we're not the CEO or the CMO, or the CFO? What can we do because we want to relate better to our co-workers, to our bosses? We want to bet our points across better as well.

Michael: I love your questions, Esther. There are lots of things you could do. First of all, think about energy level. Think about show time. Did you ever see that movie All That Jazz with Roy Scheider?

Esther: I did, of course.

Michael: He plays Bob Fosse, the great theatrical director. Bob Fosse gets up every morning, goes to the mirror, his butt dragging, looks himself in the mirror and says, "It's show time." The same with all of us. Go to the workplace in show time mode, where your energy is high. Energy has to be sustained all day long. You can't let it slack for a moment, because every interaction you have, nobody really cares what you did ten hours ago, ten minutes ago, ten seconds ago. They care about right now.

Secondly, you might think about concentration and focus. Those are fancy schmancy theatre terms, basically that means being in the moment. In sports, we call it being in the zone. It's being right there now, at this moment, so that I'm interacting with you. If someone walks by, I don't look at that person while I'm engaged with you, because what does that do? It dismisses you. It makes you less important. And those we call micro messages, so maybe I can in fact listen to your question while I'm following the track of someone who's moving furniture, but ultimately, you could receive the micro message that I don't respect you.

So focus and concentration every second, staying every moment, taking a breath. What many people forget is that in their effort to be energetic, to be productive, they never breathe. You have to stop. You have to breathe. You have to say nothing. Einstein said, "If A is a success in life, then A equals X plus Y plus Z. Work is X. Y is play. And Z is keeping your mouth shut." So if you, in fact, want to go to the workplace on your A game, think about Einstein's recipe. Yeah, work is very important. Where's the joy?

If you don't love what you're doing every day, Esther, get out. Please leave, especially if you're a leader. If you're in a leadership position, joy is infectious and so is lack of joy, and you can't fake joy. So that if you can bring that joy, the sense of play, to work every day, have a sense of humor, that's one-third of the equation, according to Einstein. But look what that last third is, keeping your mouth shut. Know when to just listen.

Michael: Listening and observation skills are critical, because if we go back to what you asked me earlier about the number one thing with CEOs. I told you it's about giving feedback. Well, you don't have to be a CEO to give feedback to another human being. And in order to give positive feedback-and I'm talking about truthful, specific, positive feedback. I'm not talking about, "Oh, you're great. You're terrific."

Esther: You did a great job.

Michael: You did a great job. Most, no all, intelligent people hate that. We call that sycophantic. You have to really look at another human being, really listen and identify in specific terms their excellence. You can do that on a daily basis. Man, do people enjoy having you as part of their team and/or as their leader.

Esther: So before I let you go, given all your experience working with CEOs, working with professionals, what advice would you give to a young, aspiring entrepreneur?

Michael: May I say two things?

Esther: Of course.

Michael: Do I have your permission to say two things?

Esther: Please do.

Michael: Number one, keep your stakes high. In other words, this interview today, if I treat this as, "Oh well, it's just an interview with Esther, oh boy. This isn't as important as when I go coach a famous CEO," man-o-man, do I loose. When you keep your stakes high, that means every single job you do, you do it like your life depended on it. Right now, I care to make this interview excellent, that this interaction with you, I want it to be excellent. If young entrepreneurs keep their stakes high for every single activity they do, three things frequently happen, excellence, repeat business, and you sleep like a baby at night.

Esther: Of course.

Michael: And then my second bit of advice would be, whatever your objective is in every interaction you do, whether it's to get ahead, to sell the thing, to get the job, if in addition to that, you said, "I want this person I'm interacting with now, or these people, to be better as a result of their interaction with me," think of how much more excellent every interaction would be and how much value you would bring to the universe. Those would be my two bits of advice.

Esther: Michael, thank you so much for being on the show. We really appreciate it.

Michael: My pleasure. Thank you, Esther.

Russ: And that wraps up this BusinessMakers WebXtra, Esther Steinfeld's interview with Michael Allosso. You're listening to The BusinessMakers show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.