Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Consider this advice from author  Paul R. Timm . He recommends  a different twist on asking your customers questions : stop asking your customers the "typical" questions and instead ask them open-ended questions. Here's specifically what Timm recommends: Don't Ask : How was everything? Can I get you something else? Did you find everything you need? Will that be all? Was everything satisfactory? Instead Ask : What else can I do for you? What else can I get for you? What else can I help you with? What else could we do to better serve you? How else can we be of help? These open-ended questions will let your customers really  express their ideas, opinions and needs . Timm is the author of,  50 Powerful Ideas You Can Use To Keep Your Customers .

Be sure to read the  definitive book on servant leadership . It's a curated collection of incredibly insightful and motivational perspectives on servant leadership via essays by 44 servant leaders. Edited by  Ken Blanchard  and  Renee Broadwell ,  Servant Leadership in Action , includes the personal stories from some of the most well-respected authorities on leadership: Patrick Lencioni John C. Maxwell Marshall Goldsmith Stephen M. R. Covey Plus, you'll read keen advice from celebrated sports coaches, company CEO's, pastors and retired military leaders. Each of the  44 stories/chapters  stands strong on its own. However, Blanchard and Broadwell group them within  six parts : Fundamentals of Servant Leadership Elements of Servant Leadership Lessons in Servant Leadership Examples of Servant Leadership Putting Servant Leadership to Work Servant Leadership Turnarounds Get your pen or highlighter ready. You're sure to take lots of notes as you cap

“ It has been estimated that 40% of executives fail within the first 18 months on the job, regardless of whether they were hired from outside the company or promoted from within ,” explain  Dan Ciampa  and  David L. Dotlich , authors of the book,  Transitions At The Top . Leadership transition is more complex than many realize, affecting the company’s strategy, operating efficiency, and culture. “ The key people involved with C-suite transitions have the power to ensure that the transition is successful if they understand their roles and follow the necessary steps ,” add Ciampa and Dotlich. Transitions At The Top teaches these all-important players the necessary steps. More specifically, it teaches what directors, the head of human resources, and the other senior managers must do individually and collectively to best ensure the handoff from an incumbent leader to the one who will step in to replace her/him in a planned transition. If you are wondering why the transit

“Making small changes to reach big goals is the answer,” says entrepreneur and bestselling author  Michael Alden  in his book,  5 % MORE: Making Small Changes To Achieve Extraordinary Results . “If you just put 5% more effort into any aspect of your life, you will not only achieve your goals, you will surpass them,” he explains.  “Far too often, people become paralyzed when they want to improve their lives, because the effort to reach their goals seems overwhelming,” adds Alden. “Or the opposite occurs. They decide to dive into something one hundred percent, but then quickly lose steam.” Therefore, Alden demonstrates that long-lasting success is based on small increases in effort. “Five percent is almost unnoticeable in terms of effort—but it accrues quickly, with each step boosting the baseline,” he declares. Although much of Alden’s advice is based on personal experience, observation, and common sense, he is careful to discuss the studies and research th

Eric Harvey and Al Lucia wrote a booklet called,  144 Ways To Walk The Talk . They provide the following great advice about giving feedback: 1. Make it  timely  -- give your feedback as soon as possible to the performance. 2. Make it  individualized  -- tailor your feedback to the feedback receiver. 3. Make it  productive  -- focus your feedback on the performance and not the  performer . 4.  Make  is  specific  -- pinpoint for the receiver observable actions and behaviors.

Do you create an environment at your business/organization that allows peer coaching to succeed? 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 the 12 golden rules of effective communication from  Paul Falcone , as highlighted in his book,  2600 Phrases for Setting Effective Performance Goals . Always remember to: Recognize achievements and accomplishments often. Celebrate success. Deliver bad news quickly, constructively, and in a spirit of professional development. Praise in public, censure in private. Assume responsibility for problems when things go wrong, and provide immediate praise and recognition to others when things go right. Create a work environment based on inclusiveness, welcoming others' suggestions and points of view. Listen actively, making sure that your people feel heard and understood and have a voice in terms of offering positive suggestions in the office or on the shop floor. Share information openly (to the extent possible) so that staff members understand the  Why  behind your reasoning and can ask appropriate questions as they continue along in their own path of career de

To learn how to stay motivated, read  High-Profit Prospecting , by  Mark Hunter . It's a powerful read that includes counter intuitive advice and cutting-edge best practices for sales prospecting in today's business world. Today, I share one of my favorite sections of the book where Hunter describes his  seven things motivated people do to stay motivated : Motivated people  ignore voices in their lives . These might be people in the office and friends who have bad attitudes. They're out there, and if you're not careful, they'll control you, too. Motivated people  associate with highly motivated people . Just as there are negative people in the world, there are also positive people. Your job is to make sure you spend as much time with the positive people as possible.  Motivated people simply  look for the positive in things . Positive people count it an honor to live each day, learn from others, and impact positively those they meet. Positive people take g

Every leader experiences periods of ups and downs. Hopefully, more up periods. If you struggle with too many down periods, it might be because you have perfectionist tendencies. Transform yourself into an optimist by: Viewing failure as an opportunity to learn  and understand that failure is part of a fulfilling life. Making room for pain . Don't deny yourself permission to feel painful emotions. Setting standards that are attainable because they are grounded in reality . Don't set goals and standards that are essentially impossible to meet. You can learn more about being an optimist by reading the book,  The Pursuit Of The Perfect: How To Stop Chasing Perfection And Start Living A Richer, Happier Life ,  by Tal Ben-Shahar

Trillion Dollar Coach  is about  Bill Campbell , someone you likely never heard of, who coached several of the biggest names in Silicon Valley during a 16-year tenure, and who’s behind-the-scene wisdom helped created over a trillion dollars in market value. Authored by  Eric Schmidt ,  Jonathan Rosenberg , and  Alan Eagle , they share that from Steve Jobs and Dick Costolo to Larry Page and Sundar Pichai, these big names in Silicon Valley give credit to Campbell for much of their success. Campbell, who died in 2016, started his career as a football coach at Boston College and Columbia then switched to business in 1979. As leaders at Google for more than a decade, Schmidt, Rosenberg, and Eagle had the benefit of experiencing Campbell’s executive coaching firsthand. In addition, for the book, the authors interviewed over 80 people with whom Campbell also worked. Through stories from those interviews, Trillion Dollar Coach features specific strategies and action steps to

"The challenge for the organizational architect is to systematically create the blueprint for an organization that  consciously connects everything to purpose ," explains author   Clive Wilson , in his book,  Designing the Purposeful Organization . "The product of doing this are measurable results and, importantly, a felt sense of success. Wilson's book is packed with  case studies  and  activities  that help you put to practice in your organization the learnings from the book. Clive Wilson My favorite part of the book is the " 10 Questions on Engagement,"  that all start out with, To what extent... ...does your organization  facilitate opportunities  for engagement within and between all stakeholder groups, so that they may share perspectives, learn and grow together in support of the organization's purpose? ...do  people come together to examine the way things are done , criticize processes and behaviors with a view to evolving a sha

According to  Ron Ricci  and  Carl Wiese , authors of the book,  The Collaboration Imperative , high-performing teams have the following characteristics: People have solid and deep trust in each other and in the team's purpose--they feel free to express feelings and ideas. Everybody is working toward the same goals. Team members are clear on how to work together and how to accomplish tasks. Everyone understands both team and individual performance goals and knows what is expected. Team members actively diffuse tension and friction in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The team engages in extensive discussion, and everyone gets a chance to contribute--even the introverts. Disagreement is viewed as a good thing and conflicts are managed.  Criticism is constructive and is oriented toward problem solving and removing obstacles. The team makes decisions when there is natural agreement--in the cases where agreement is elusive, a decision is made by the team lead or exec

“By focusing in specific ways on five key leadership elements— Purpose, Process, People, Presence, and Peace —you can increase your time, capacity, energy, and ultimately your leadership impact,” explains  Amy Jen Su , author of the book,   The Leader You Want To Be: Five Essential Principles for Bringing Out Your Best Self—Every Day . Su shares both Western management thinking and Eastern philosophy to provide a holistic yet hands-on approach to becoming a more effective leader with less stress and more equanimity. She draws on rich and instructive stories of clients, leaders, artists, and athletes. And, she focuses on three foundational tenets: s elf-care, self-awareness, and personal agency . Most important, Su explores in depth, chapter-by-chapter the  Five Ps : Purpose  – Staying grounded in your passions and contributions, doing your highest and best work that has meaning and is making a difference. Process  – Relying on daily practices and routines that honor your na

If you lead an organization that uses employee ID badges, considering using a different color or a special designation on the badges for newly hired employees for at least their first 30 days and ideally up to 60 days. Imagine how welcoming it will be for your new hires when employees recognize your newly hired employees' status via their special badges and then when your longer term employees introduce themselves to the new employees in halls, on elevators, in your break room, in the parking lot and at large group meetings. Some people call this a "hello" culture.  It's a culture that helps to quickly develop relationships.  And, it's a culture that ensures your new hires feel welcome during their critical onboarding time period.

From the book,  Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change , comes this useful checklist from author H. James Dallas for how to  identify and develop emerging talent  in your company/organization. Dallas recommends that each question should be graded on a scale of 1 to 3, with 3 being the best. Use the questions and the scoring for you and your employee to work together toward the highest ratings across the board. Has the person demonstrated a "getting lost with confidence" mind-set? Does the person communicate with authenticity? Has the person created a strong personal brand that is recognized by colleagues of all levels? Does the person know his or her blind spots and have people watching to prevent him or her from crashing? Is the person getting exposure to executive management? Does the person seek out and seriously consider advice? Is the person building an inclusive team and sponsoring others? Is the person proactive in finding opportunities to initiate an

Years ago in an  issue of  Inc.  magazine,  was a fascinating list of  35 questions  from business owners, entrepreneurs and management thinkers. Each offered  the one question  they would ask  to move a company forward . From the list,  my favorite most important questions to ask are : Are we relevant?  Will we be relevant five years from now? Ten? What prevents me from making the changes I know will make me a more effective leader? Are we changing as fast as the world around us? Who, on the executive team or the board, has spoken to a customer recently? And, my most favorite is : How can we become the company that would put us out of business? What question do you ask to help move your company forward?

“By understanding how their own mind works and training it for the most essential qualities, leaders can lead themselves effectively first, in order to better lead their people and tap into their human need for meaning, fulfillment and human connectedness,” explain  Rasmus Hougaard  and  Jacqueline Carter , authors of the book,  The Mind Of The Leader . Their book is based on extensive research, including  assessments of more than 35,000 leaders and interviews with 250 C-level executives. The authors found that  three mental qualities are essential to becoming effective leaders . Leaders must be: Mindful  – being present and attentive to their employees’ needs. Being focused versus distracted. Being aware versus being on autopilot. Selfless  – to model cultures based on growth and learning instead of ego. Being selfless versus ego-centered. Being confident versus diffident. Compassionate  – to show their employees they have their backs. Being kind versus indifferent

If you have a manager who isn't the best communicator, you can suggest he/she read Jane Murphy's and Khatun Huber's book,  What Could Happen If You Do Nothing? Actually, it's more of a handbook than a book, and it is best read by finding the section most applicable at the moment versus reading it start to finish. It's filled with mini-dialogues that demonstrate the impact of  engaged listening, deliberative questioning, and animating suggestions to facilitate change and action. For me, the most useful section is the list of a dozen or so questions (for each conversation category below) to ask an employee to: Start a conversation  with an employee Conduct a  meaningful follow-up conversation Clarify inconsistencies  in what you are hearing from an employee Build and further a conversation  on what's being said to move the conversation ahead Wind down  a conversation Solicit feedback Equally enlightening are these  questions from which a manager

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.

While recently reading C. Elliott Haverlack's book,  Unbundle It , I found his  11 ground rules for meeting behaviors  to be particularly helpful: Arrive on time. Be respectful of other attendees. No phones or computers if at all possible. No leaving the meeting or getting up to walk around until scheduled breaks. No eating unless during working meal meetings (consuming beverages as appropriate is acceptable). No side conversations. Good posture. Listen intently (even if you don't want to). Ask questions at the appropriate time. No filibustering. Take notes.

Awhile back, I shared highlights from the useful book,  First-Time Leader , by George Bradt and Gillian Davis. Here's one more gem from the book -- the authors' recommendations for a  six-step strategic planning process : Set an aspirational destination (derived from the mission and vision). Assess the facts of the current reality and develop potential future scenarios. Identify options to bridge gaps between the current reality and the desired aspiration. Evaluate options under different scenarios. Make choices. Develop detailed plans that will deliver on selected strategies. Act, measure, adjust, and repeat.

"Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something.  In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see it as a place you go to give, and not a place you go to take." --  Anthony Robbins

Picture this. You call an employee into your office for a meeting. As your employee is explaining something to you, you turn to your computer monitor to check e-mail. Or, you answer your phone. Or, you look at your mobile device. Or, you engage in a conversation with someone who enters your doorway. Do any of these once and your employee will likely forgive you. Do any of these actions regularly and you'll quickly lose the respect of your employee! Rarely is there a reason not to give your employee your full, undivided attention during a meeting/conversation. You can only be a good listener if you are maintaining eye contact with your employee and not multi-tasking.

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 decide. Successful managers gather the data from their employees, make any truly 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 best decisions made at tha

Entrepreneur  magazine's February 2012 issue offered these great, timeless tips on  how to give praise : Praise followed by criticism is not praise. Praise followed by praise is probably a little too much praise. Ending an expression of praise with "...and stuff" nullifies the praise. And, Make it timely. The closer the recognition is to the behavior, the more likely the behavior will be repeated. Be sincere. Be impromptu.  Remember, a handwritten note is worth more than a gift card. Having trouble writing your handwritten note of praise? Try this template to get you started: _______, I couldn't be more impressed with how you______.  Not only did you____, but you_______.  Beautiful. Thanks, ________

I'm a big fan of  Marcus Buckingham 's work, teachings and books, so I was eager to read his book, co-authored by  Ashley Goodall . Titled,  Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader's Guide to the Real World , the book debunks what we've come to believe as basic truths in the workplace. What at first may seem provocative and counter-intuitive, you'll learn why the nine lies "cause dysfunction and frustration, ultimately resulting in workplaces that are a pale shadow of what they could be," explain the authors. Keep an open-mind as Buckingham and Goodall take you through these nine lies (each a chapter in the book) with engaging stories and incisive analysis as they reveal the essential truths behind these lies: People care which company they work for The best plan wins The best companies cascade goals The best people are well-rounded People need feedback People can reliably rate other people People have potential Work-life balance