The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. 6-1-2017, Entrepreneur.com -- The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and we’ve found that 90 percent of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control. If you follow my work, you’ve read some startling research summaries that explore the havoc stress can wreak on one’s physical and mental health (such as the Yale study, which found that prolonged stress causes degeneration in the area of the brain responsible for self-control). The tricky thing about stress (and the anxiety that comes with it) is that it’s an absolutely necessary emotion. Our brains are wired such that it’s difficult to take action until we feel at least some level of this emotional state. In fact, performance peaks under the heightened activation that comes with moderate levels of stress. As long as the stress isn’t prolonged, it’s harmless.   Research from the University of California, Berkeley, reveals an upside to experiencing moderate levels of stress.…

5-24-2017 -- A leader should unite and inspire the team, not only innovating and making the workplace more efficient, but allowing others around them to feel energized by their passion for the industry. Troy White is the newest addition to the team at Cartronix in Valparaiso, Ind. and has filled the position of service manager. When White planned to relocate from Iowa in order to be near his new grandson, he hoped to find a workplace that fit well with his values.   “I had, through my research, already got the feeling that Cartronix was aligned with my values and beliefs as far as how things should be done and how customers should be treated,” he said, adding that he appreciated the business’s high standards. “When you work for someone who doesn’t have those standards and you have to compromise, it’s almost demeaning.” All of Cartronix’s staff members have been with the company for two-plus years. Eric Carter, owner of Cartronix, stated that when he’s looking for a new hire, he generally looks on the Internet for someone who might be interested in relocating. He checks the 12-volt industry website, and also Facebook. What’s he looking for? “Someone who wants…

5-18-2017 -- The beginning of car audio is rooted in the early 1970s when CB radio and 8-track players were a big deal—before the first sound-off events were staged in the late ’80s. Out on the West Coast, a movement had started. Folks wanted more out of their cars than the standard sonic fare. A group of enthusiasts had an idea about what needed to be done and started building 12-volt audio amplifiers. This was the backdrop for Audiomobile, launched with industry pioneers Paul Starry and Rich Coe at the helm.  The company name, of course, says it all. “It is a landscape name,” said Matt Overpeck, Vice President of Audiomobile. “It says exactly who we are—audio and mobile—and it is an absolute legacy brand. Many would say it is the genesis of high-end car audio.” The original Audiomobile from Costa Mesa, Overpeck said, not only put Starry and Coe on the map, but Larry Frederick and other luminaries like John Bishop, who literally wrote the book on high-end car audio. “They had a technical training manual that they published on a quarterly basis that was the vanguard of teaching retailers about audio and stereo,” Overpeck said. Audiomobile was not…

5-10-2017, Mobile Electronics -- A bird of prey has many functions. These functions change based on the surrounding environment. To survive, the bird must rely on its instincts and natural abilities to catch food. The method of catching food, however, is almost always different. Land-based predatory birds require different strategies than water-based predators. The birds in these varying landscapes go by different names, which include fish eagle, sea hawk, river hawk, fish hawk and one other—osprey. Much like its namesake, 12-volt retailer Osprey has earned its name by adapting to an ever-changing environment in its 32 years of doing business. The Westwood, Mass. location operates out of Boston's South Shore community, where car audio is only a fraction of its daily workload. The company goes by a different name, Boston Truck & Van, to cater to its fleet business installing ladder racks, van shelves, emergency lighting and GPS tracking. This work is done not just for small businesses like plumbing and electrical, but for local municipalities like police and DEA vehicles. Since opening its doors, the company has adapted to declining revenue in one category by venturing full-force into another. That journey began in a completely different market, far from…