Happy Leaders Day: Using Universal Skills of Parenting to Help You Lead
Some of the best parenting skills, it turns out, are also some of the best leadership skills. Not to say that your employees are children (whether they may sometimes act like it or not), but that you, as the leader, must figure out how to guide each of your staff members to their highest potential. And sometimes, you need to use the skills of a parent to do it.
Want to Focus? Plan a Vacation!
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Team Conflict: Why It’s A Good Thing
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Training New Employees
Trying to fit in to their new workplace environment, new employees engage in "behavior modeling"--social learning where people learn to do what they see or experience in a hands-on way.
Know When To Take a Break: Maintaining Composure Through Postponement
Last Friday, while on a weekly conference call, an issue generated enough heat to make one of the participants angry enough to leave the meeting. The meeting then proceeded without him (BTW: unless you are the boss, remember things don't stop just because you decide you aren't going to participate!). After the meeting ended, I called him.
Regret Is Always Centered on the One That Got Away
I've found while I may make a decision to act and later regret it, that regret remains with me a lot less than the regret I feel when I know that I should have done something and I don't do it! I believe this common for most decision makers: while we enjoy and celebrate our successes, it is the "ones that get away" that provides us with an undue amount of irritation. Why? Because when we realize the course of action we should take, and for a variety of reasons, don't take it, we immediately realize those missed opportunities can never be recaptured.
How to Deal With Me!
Memorandum to the Entire Company To: My Direct Reports & Anyone Else in the Company Who Has to Interact With Me. From: The Boss Re: How to Interact With Me Most Effectively
Every Organization Needs Some Crazies (but not the Certifiably Insane!)
Insanity: a defect of reason such that a person does not know what they are doing. Crazy: an unpredictable non- conforming person, possessed of great enthusiasm and energy, who is inpatient and passionately excited.
The Guts of an Action Plan!
"Everybody has a plan until they get hit." - Mike Tyson
Permit No Internal Distractions!
Last week I spent three days with two Green Industry Company owners and their Management Team putting together the company's Action Plan for Organizational Growth over the next twelve months. As a part of the Growth Action Plan development process, I asked each of the participants to give me their reason why the Company would not be able to double its revenue stream in the next twelve months. Some of the reasons given were "Lack of Follow Up", "Loss of Direction", and "Lack of Focus"--all good reasons why an organization would not be successful.
Jumping to a Conclusion Is Not Making a Decision!
"To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions. " Benjamin Franklin
Time for a Reality Check (or Seriously, What Were They Thinking?)
Idealism, without Realism, does little to improve the World.
Hey Millenniums! Time to Wake Up and Go to Work!
I just saw an advertisement for a seminar about how to manage Millennials in the workplace and I realized I've finally grown tired of hearing how the Millennials (aka "Generation Y")--those 75 million persons born between 1977 and 1998--are going to transform the workplace!
When and How to Criticize the Boss
"Angry" over Gen. Stanley McChrystal's candid Rolling Stone interview, Obama wants to hear for himself "what in the world he was thinking."
13 Reasons Why Meeting Sucks & What to do About Them!
There is no specific purpose for the meeting! Meetings can be used to avoid action. Avoid this by determining the meeting's specific outcome before scheduling it. The 4 best purposes for a meeting are to: • solve a problem • make a decision • develop a plan • answer a question
Will They Stay or Will They Go Duex?
“I love the way she don't talk as she's walking out the door” Marty Simpson
The Real Cost of Holding a Meeting that Sucks!
A meeting has value only when a decision is made or information is conveyed through the meeting. However, most meetings don’t accomplish either of these purposes. So, while Companies continue to hold twice as many meetings as are necessary, most of them are Meetings That Suck! One reason for this Meetings That Suck Syndrome is that we don’t realize what a sucky meeting really costs.
Will They Stay or Will They Go?
"You cheated! You lied! You said that you loved me!" The Shangri-Las
Why the United and Continental Merger – and Other Mergers – Are Not Going to Fly.
Merger Mania is once again in the air – literally. United Airlines and Continental Airlines announced they will merge into one company. Continental CEO Jeff Smisek and United CEO Glen Tilton claim the $3 billion deal will save at least $1 billion dollars a year through operational integration. According to business experts, this merger is only one of many large mergers to come in the next 24 months as CEOs react to an improved economy, capital to finance mergers becomes more available and large companies have an abundance of available cash to spend on acquisitions.
What is the Expiration Date on a Good Idea?
I recently began coaching a manager who told me “I have a million ideas a day.” My reply: “It doesn’t matters how many ideas you have, but how many good ideas you implement.” Success in the Knowledge Economy requires every Manager have:
