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Showing posts from September, 2019

5 Tips For Writing A Company Policy

Keep these  five tips  in mind when you craft your next company policy: Keep the policy short and simple. Get rid of two old policies for every new policy you implement. Make sure that your organization's policy and procedures are written to serve your employees and customers--not just your organization. Don't write a policy in reaction to a single incident.  The problem may never arise again. Don't write a policy longer than one-page, no matter how large your organization may be. Thanks to author Bob Nelson for these great tips from his book,  1001 Ways To Energize Employees .

What To Ask At The End Of Every Project

Just a little more advice from the authors of,  Helping People Win At Work . Those authors, Ken Blanchard and Garry Ridge , recommend you ask the following  six essential questions  whenever you do a  project review : What did we set out to do? What actually happened? Why did this happen? What will we do next time? What should we continue to do? What should we do differently? Seems simple enough, but how often do we really take the time to step back and ask  ALL  six of these questions? And, these questions are important to ask even if there was no mistakes made during the project. Continually planning and executing without the value of a review can blindside you.

Bo Eason Teaches You How To Achieve Your A-Game In Life

Prepare to be inspired and then to work hard as you read Bo Eason ’s book on how to be the best in the world at what you do. The book, published earlier this month, and is called, There’s No Plan B For Your A-Game . Former NFL All-Pro and now one of the most in-demand motivational speakers and trainers, Eason provides you the four-step, real-world, game plan to help you reach your goals (declarations) and to play your A-game. Packed with uplifting personal stories, action steps and writing exercises, you’ll learn how to be accountable for developing your character, integrity, and commitment to reaching your goals. Plus, you’ll learn: Why obstacles are a good thing. The value of a “Never Do Again” list. How to leave behind those who don’t help you move forward. Why writing your success story in reverse is the best approach.  Bo Eason Today, Eason shares the following great advice: Question: How can a person stay focused and not let distractions t

Rank-Order Priorities To Motivate Employees

When you meet with your employee during her annual performance appraisal take time to determine  what motivates  her when it comes to her career development.  Motivation changes over time and changes depending on where the individual is in her career. So, to determine what motives her, author  Paul Falcone  recommends you ask her to  rank-order her priorities in terms of the following six guidelines : If you had to chose two categories from the following six, which would you say hold the most significance to you career-wise? 1.  Career progression through the ranks and opportunities for promotion and advancement. 2.  Lateral assumption of increased job responsibilities and skill building (e.g. rotational assignments). 3.  Acquisition of new technical skills (typically requiring outside training and certification). 4.  Development of stronger leadership, managerial, or administrative skills. 5.  Work-life balance. 6.  Money and other forms of compensation. Then, do your

How A Coach Differs From A Mentor

Author  Kristi Hedges , in her book,  The Power of Presence , provides these explanations of the  roles of a coach and of a mentor  and how they differ from each other: The Coach  shows empathy through a mixture of tough love and strong support.  The coach is not afraid to push you because she sees the best in you.  This leader has a good sense of what's going on in the rest of your life and isn't afraid to mention it as it relates to your performance and potential. The Mentor  makes you feel that your success is always top of mind.  Mentors have your back to guide you along in your career.  They will act as a confidante as you hash through ideas and won't hold it against you as your iterate.  Because they have done well, they operate from a point of helping others do the same.

Today's Three Leadership Tips

Be decisive A manager who can't make a decision or who can't make a timely decision will frustrate his/her employees. Equally bad, a lack of decision will impede the  progress  of the manager's team. Some managers make endless requests for data as a way to postpone their having to make a decision. Employees end up spinning in circles, slicing and dicing the information far beyond what is truly needed for the manager to make a decision. Some managers are simply afraid to make a decision in fear of making a "wrong" decision. These managers don't necessarily request needless data, but simply just never made a decision. Successful managers (true leaders) gather the data from their employees, make any necessary follow-up requests (probing beyond what their employee may have researched/gathered on their own), and then make their decision...knowing that in virtually all cases most decisions are not black and white "right or "wrong," but are the be

A Reprimand Should End With A Reaffirmation

"A reprimand should end with a reaffirmation of the person's past performance," explains authors Ken Blanchard and Garry Ridge in their book,  Helping People Win At Work . They provide this example: "The reason I'm upset is because this is so unlike you.  You're one of my best employees, and you usually get your reports in on time." "The reason this step is important is that when you finish giving someone a reprimand,  you want him thinking about what he did wrong, not how you treated him ." Thanks for this good advice Ken and Garry.

Ask For Help

If you are new to managing, or if you are struggling with a management dilemma, ask for help. There is no shame in asking for help. Seek the guidance of a colleague at work. Reach out to a mentor at or away from work. Turn to an online resource. Consult a book on managing. Whatever you do, don't sit back and do nothing. Managing even one employee can be challenging. And many managers receive little or no formal training on how to be a manager. That means you have to be proactive about learning how to be a good manager. Your team is depending on you, and to lead them effectively you need to know to how manage effectively. So, ask for help.

Readily Welcome Input

If you are a manager or leader, you likely know more than your employees or team members about many things within your business or organization. And, you often have many of the answers. But, you don't know it all. So, readily admit when you meet with your employees/team that you do not know all the answers. Invite others into conversations. Ask for their input. Value diversity of thought. Encourage inclusion. Welcome input.

How To Recruit Your Dream Team

Hiring Greatness  is the book by  David E. Perry  and  Mark J. Haluska , who combined have closed more than 1,800 hiring search projects. In their book, the authors share their  guide for how to attract, recruit and retain star executives . They advise that it is far more important that a leadership candidate possess specific intangible core attributes, than just decades of industry experience. And, these core attributes go far beyond mere technical skills. For Perry and Haluska, there are  28 core attributes  they always look for in a candidate. Those 28 fit within  five pillars of success : Character Intellect Business Intelligence Leadership Emotional Intelligence They also recommend that when interviewing a candidate you particularly like that you take a healthy step back to figure out why you feel so strongly about that person. So, that you ensure you are not being biased by the following prejudices: Charm  - Outward personality is

How To Be A Modern Day Legacy Builder

Legacy in the Making  is the fascinating book where authors  Mark Miller  and  Lucas Conley  provide readers a toolkit for how to be a  modern day legacy builder  for your company/brand.   The tool kit provides the roadmap for leaders who can harness the power of long-term thinking in a short-term world; the skill needed to create a modern day legacy. The fascinating part of the book is the stories from the authors’ exclusive interviews with modern legacy thinkers who are transforming business as we know it – stories from  The Honest Company ,  Grey Goose ,  Taylor Guitars ,  Girls Who Code , and the  San Diego Zoo . “These are the legacy builders that are out-performing rivals, attracting and keeping the best talent, and changing the way others engage with their work and think about their own legacies in the making,” explain the authors. Modern day legacy building is a new kind of legacy creation that simultaneously encompasses what was and what

Best Career Advice For An Effective Corporate Culture

Fortunately, most of my career I’ve worked in effective corporate cultures. If I put together the best of each, here is what made those environments effective: •  Leaders led by example on a consistent basis  and were willing to roll up their sleeves, particularly during tight deadlines or challenging times. •  Employees clearly understood how what they did made a difference  and how their contributions made the organization either more profitable or more effective. •  The workforce included a blend of  long-term  employees  with a rich company, product/service and customer history, employees who had been at the company for five to seven years, and then new hires with a fresh perspective and keen sense of new technologies and techniques. That blend worked best when the mix included virtually all A-players. •  Top managers had a clear, realistic and strategic vision  for how the company would grow and compete in the marketplace. •  Employees were challenged and rewarded  through

Required Reading For Nonprofit Leaders

If you lead a nonprofit organization, the one hour it will take you to read Peter F. Drucker's book called,  The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization , will be well worth it. This book may fundamentally change the way you work and lead your organization. Perhaps one of most challenging questions Drucker asks the reader is: " Do we produce results that are sufficiently outstanding for us to justify putting our resources in this area ? Because, Drucker argues that need alone does not justify continuing.  Nor does tradition, if your results are not sufficiently outstanding. If you volunteer for a nonprofit or are seeking employment at a nonprofit, this book is also an insightful and inspiring read.

Learn To Take Risks

Inspirational leadership wisdom came awhile back from Bahram Akradi, the CEO of Life Time Fitness. From that health club's monthly fitness magazine,  Experience Life , Akradi says: Once we get comfortable in our habitual patterns, we may fail to notice when they have outworn their useful purpose, or when new alternatives might serve us better. Once you've encountered a second way of seeing things, you're more likely to entertain the possibility of a third and fourth way, too. Do something that makes you just a little bit uncomfortable--and that renders you a little more awake. Thanks Akradi for encouraging us to break out from predictability.

10 More Ways To Be A Better Leader

Here are 10 behaviors, techniques and tips you can use to be an effective leader: Respond to questions quickly and fully. Take an interest in your employees and their personal milestone events. Give feedback in a timely manner and make it individualized and specific. Be willing to change your decisions. End every meeting with a follow-up To Do list. Support mentoring -- both informal and formal. Don't delay tough decisions. Do annual written performance appraisals. Explain how a change will affect employee's feelings before, during and after the change is implemented. Have face-to-face interaction as often as possible.

10 Essential Elements Of Dignity

In their book,  Millennials Who Manage , authors  Chip Espinoza  and  Joel Schwarzbart , quote Donna Hicks's explanation about how  dignity is different from respect . Dignity is different from respect in that it is not based on how people perform, what they can do for us, or their likability. Dignity is a feeling of inherent value and worth. Therefore, Espinoza and Schwarzbart recommend that leaders treat those they are leading with dignity and follow Hick's  10 Essential Elements of Dignity : Acceptance of Identity  - Approach people as being neither inferior nor superior to you. Assume that others have integrity. Inclusion  - Make others feel that they belong, whatever the relationship. Safety  - Put people at ease at two levels: physically, so they feel safe from bodily harm, and psychologically, so they feel safe from being humiliated. Acknowledgment  - Give people your full attention by listening, hearing, validating, and responding to their concer