Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Walk into any Chick-fil-A chicken fast food restaurant around the U.S. and when you say "thank you" the person working there will say "my pleasure" instead of "no problem." You'll likely hear the same "my pleasure" from the waiter at California Pizza Kitchen after he/she delivers your meal and you say "thank you." At first, the "my pleasure" sounds strange, because we are so used to being told it's "no problem." But, you'll get used to "my pleasure" quickly, especially because it's the much better response to your buying a product or placing your order, and when you thank a business for their service. As a leader, abolish "no problem" from your employees' vocabulary. Remind them that serving a customer isn't a problem at all. It's your business' pleasure to provide the service! Teach your team what Chick-fil-A has been doing for years and what you're beginning t...

Hopefully, you're setting a good example for your team by eating well, exercising and leading them to practice a healthful lifestyle. Fit, well-nourished, healthy employees perform better. According to the American Heart Association , research shows that employers that spend on health promotion and chronic disease prevention programs achieve a rate of return on investment ranging from $3 to $15 for each dollar invested with savings realized within 12 to 18 months. To ensure optimum performance among your team, consider adopting one or more of these suggestions (some of which you can do with little to no investment): Serve healthy snacks (breakfast bars, fruit and nuts) instead of donuts and candy at meetings. Negotiate gym membership discounts with fitness clubs near your office for your employees. Subsidize smoking cessation classes . Offer stress-reducing neck massages by local therapists for low prices to your employees during lunch periods. Organize teams of employees to par...

Thank you for following my Blog on management and leadership, and allowing me to share more than 70 posts with you on how to be a more effective leader. Thanks, too, to everyone who has posted comments, made topic suggestions, and forwarded various postings from the Blog to friends, co-workers and supervisors. I look forward to sharing more with you the rest of this year and during all of 2010. And, if you need to give some gift suggestions for yourself to friends and family, perhaps you select one of the Top 64 Leadership Books to add to your wish list. Eric Jacobson Overland Park, KS

You and your team may not hit your revenue or profit goals this year. Or, perhaps your organization won't accomplish all its goals during this tough economic year. But, as a leader, you likely still have plenty to be thankful for in 2009. So, be thankful. And, most important, verbalize your thanks! Take time this holiday week and then the rest of the year to smile and say "Thank You" to: Your employees who took pay reductions Your customers who still did business with you, even though they had tight budgets Your vendors that worked with you on pricing and terms Your partner businesses that banded together with you like never before Your team that helped you think of ways to reduce expenses and repackage your services to drive sales Your co-workers and peers who encouraged you to hang in there Your team that put in more hours and tackled additional duties beyond their job descriptions Your former employees for all they did for you before you had to exit...

If you want to be a leader who can get things done, be sure you: Engender trust. Instill confidence. Earn respect.

Here are some handy tips for how to run a better meeting: Limit attendance . Include only decision makers and key implementers. Use an agenda . Give each topic a time limit. Ask your staff to help set the agenda so they'll know the meeting will be relevant. Make sure attendees know at the meeting's beginning the benefit of why they are in the meeting . Create a not-on-the agenda list of topics that will be tabled for after the meeting or for another meeting. Set immediate deadlines for carrying out all decisions that are made during the meeting. If you follow these simple five tips you can prove to your team that meetings can be used to get things done! You can learn more about how to host an effective meeting by reading the booklet, " Best Life: Tips for 2009 ."

You've surely heard it before, but whatever you do in your manager and leader role, don't micromanage. You are likely micromanaging if you answer "Yes" to the following four questions: Do you fear having your employee's mistakes attributed to you? Do you require subordinates to report on everything? Do you think I could do it better? Do you believe you are indispensable but find yourself stuck in a rut? And remember, Don't be a bottleneck Focus on outcomes, not minutiae You can learn more about how not to micromanage in the booklet Best Life: Tips for 2009.