Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

"A goal without a plan is just a wish," is something Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said a long time ago.  But, goals and plans were top of mind this past weekend. 

When the year started, I set a goal of running in 30 5K races during 2013.  Because of good weather on most weekends, minimal injury setbacks, and a lot of races to select from in the Kansas City area each weekend, I reached my goal last Saturday, and now with two months left in the year will surpass my goal. 

I would not have reached my goal without also having a plan in place of how I would train, schedule runs, and adjust for setbacks and unforeseen challenges.

A few months ago, my 49-year-old sister-in-law set a goal to run her first-ever 10K race.  She embarked on an even more specific plan by following a strict, time-tested, eight-week training plan to take her from couch to fully prepared to run her first 10K.  She reached her goal and then ran a second 10K a few weeks afterward.  I am so proud of her.
The same da…

If you are a workplace leader who supports a volunteer program at your business, you already know that by encouraging employees to give back to your community you are:
building teamworkmotivating employeesattracting new hires In fact, job seekers much prefer companies that have a strong volunteer program. And, a growing number of businesses are rewarding employees who volunteer by giving them extra vacation time and other incentives.

Fortunately, throughout the U.S. there are hundreds of volunteer opportunities where employees can contribute individually, or where leaders can organize teams of employees to volunteer together on a routine and scheduled basis.

To find organizations in need of volunteers, go to Volunteer Match and type in your zip code.  You'll be presented a list of nearby volunteer opportunities.  Also, you can find opportunities on iPartcipate.

Do you create an environment at your business/organization that allows peer coaching?

Hopefully you do. If you don't, encourage peer coaching among the members of your team. Peer coaching can be formal, informal or a combination of both.

You'll likely find that everyone on your team has a skill, technique, behavior that they can teach a fellow team member. That coaching is rewarding for both parties, and it helps everyone to learn an important skill for being a successful leader -- coaching.

Here are some good tips for leading a successful business operation from the handy booklet, 144 Ways To Walk The Talk, by Eric Harvey and Al Lucia:
Involve your team in setting standards that are achievable but also require everyone to stretch their knowledge and skills.Remember that regardless of what you say, it is the performance you're willing to accept that becomes your true standard.Work as a team to stay abreast of technology advancements.  Have different employees read different trade and professional magazines and blogs.   Ask others to share key learning from workshops, webinars, seminars and conferences they attend.  Make it easy via meetings and or within an Intranet forum/Blog area to share what everyone is learning and hearing.Ask each member of your group to identify the three most significant obstacles to their performance.  Create a master list and develop strategies to eliminate them.  Then, reward employees for identifying obstacles!

With only two months left of 2013, it's not too early to start identifying your New Year's Resolutions for 2014.

To get you started, how about selecting one or more of these 70 New Year's resolutions for leaders?

Perhaps write down five to ten and then between now and December 31, think about which couple you want to work on in 2014.
Don't micromanageDon't be a bottleneckFocus on outcomes, not minutiaeBuild trust with your colleagues before a crisis comesAssess your company's strengths and weaknesses at all timesConduct annual risk reviewsBe courageous, quick and fairTalk more about values more than rulesReward how a performance is achieved and not only the performanceConstantly challenge your team to do betterCelebrate your employees' successes, not your ownErr on the side of taking actionCommunicate clearly and oftenBe visibleEliminate the cause of a mistakeView every problem as an opportunity to growSummarize group consensus after each decision point dur…

Communications expert David Grossman of Your Thought Partner has published a new white paper – What the most successful CEOs know: how internal CEO communications shapes financial performance.

"CEOs who communicate often and well inside their organizations have better reputations – and that leads directly to better business results," explains David. "They’ve also got more engaged employees – another strong, measurable driver of positive financial outcomes."

David's white paper incorporates research compiled from a number of leading sources and points to some critical key headlines, including:
Internal communications helps drive organizational financial performance and other key business results, and enhances organizational reputation.There’s a correlation between effective internal communications on topics the CEO is best prepared to address, such as explaining business conditions and challenges, providing information on organizational performance and financial…

These five quotes from the new book released this week, Manager 3.0, really impress and inspire me:

"The leader is the person who brings a little magic to the moment." -- Denise Morrison

"The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already." -- John Buchan

"The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do." -- Apple Inc.

"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place," -- George Bernard Shaw.

"Twenty years from now you will more be disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did." -- Mark Twain

Manager 3.0 is a management book tailored specifically for young business leaders and provides them with the tools to bridge generation gaps in the workplace and gain awareness of other's differences and their own.

It's authored by Brad Karsh and Courtney Templin, both of JB Train…