Speed has a force-multiplying effect. It eliminates festering problems faster and accelerates vital progress on important to-dos. Source: AXIOS, January 18, 2024. Link. Get it out of the way and you have freed up bandwidth . . . INSIGHTS: Per the old time management tip . . . handle it once. Also see: The Two-Minute Tool, GTD®, May 19, 2020. Link. David Allen explains … [Read more...]
Develop an opportunity mindset
We experience fear as displeasure, and we experience excitement as pleasure. It follows that we move toward situations that provide pleasure and we avoid situations that provoke displeasure. Source: Giant Leap Consulting, January 2024. Link. . . . create a field of excitement where employees are more apt to face challenges than shirk them.” INSIGHTS: Consequences are … [Read more...]
Leadership or sales tactics
The most successful sales reps use leadership skills instead of typical sales tactics to achieve and maintain their level of success. Remember that everyone is a customer.” – Patrick T. Malone Source: Vet Advantage, December 2023. Link. Giving your customers permission to complain creates a comfortable relationship that leads to a sustainable competitive … [Read more...]
The pros and cons of servant leadership
Servant leadership is based on a simple concept: that as an employee, a worker is present to serve the organization. Source: ConnectUS, February 6, 2019. Link. As one moves up higher into leadership, then there are more people to serve. INSIGHT: Much like a jet engine, there is a lag from spool-up to thrust. … [Read more...]
Communication – a critical skill for success
Commentary Mr. Malone will return next week. Considering the Gen Alpha post in this edition, we are sharing several of his posts about communication. Reviewing them reminds me of his consistent coaching themes. Becoming a decision-getter requires we get out of our own way . . . truly listen absent our agenda and then inquire about what else? “ – Kirk Augustine Source: AHD … [Read more...]
I feel the need for speed
This is the era of speed, indeed. The winners will narrow their focus to the tasks that truly matter — and activate. Focus is a force multiplier on work." Source: AXIOS, November 30, 2023. Link. Too many people confuse motion with movement. INSIGHT: Knock it out and move on. … [Read more...]
Keeping it simple
These invaluable tips for success are thought-provoking. But the real question is, do we apply this advice practically to improve our situation? Source: Inc., November 20, 2023. Link. Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do.” INSIGHTS: If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room. … [Read more...]
Pay attention to others. They’re not thinking of you.
We all spend way too much time stewing about what other people are thinking about us — when they're not thinking about us at all. Source: AXIOS, November 16, 2023. Link. …paying attention to others is very different from worrying about what others think about you.” INSIGHT: You are not as bad as some say nor are you as good as others say. … [Read more...]
Be curious
One of the simplest and more effective ways to brighten someone’s day is by asking them a question. Being asked about ourselves and our lives makes us feel listened to, understood, cared for and validated. Source: Axios, November 7, 2023. Link. INSIGHTS: Be interested and others will find you interesting. … [Read more...]
The critical skill for success
Communication is critical for success. Yet it is multifaceted and beyond simply the expression of words. If you cannot communicate, it is like winking at a date in the dark . . . nothing happens.” Source: Inc., November 7, 2023. Link. INSIGHTS: Words and “music” make the song complete. … [Read more...]
The value of teamwork
We are talking about willing collaboration between professionals. Source: foundr, March 6, 2023. Link. Improved teamwork can better distribute work and share the load.” INSIGHT: Teamwork is more than a buzzword on a poster … [Read more...]
Want to move up?
Power should rarely flow from title or tenure and five other tips to help you earn more influence in your organization. Source: AXIOS, October 20, 2023. Link. The cold, hard truth of power is that it's easier to lose than to win. You can avoid criticism by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing.” Aristotle … [Read more...]
Body language
At parties, speaking with friends and at work meetings, some people are oblivious to real communication going on around them without words. Source: AXIOS, October 12, 2023. Link. Become a student of people in small group settings, be it card games, parties or work. I mean actively trying to spot human ticks, tells and patterns.” INSIGHTS: Almost 90 percent of in-person … [Read more...]
Get to the point
The most popular and fastest-growing type of meeting is the brief and efficient 15-minute block. Source: AXIOS, October 2023. Link. 90 percent of people admit to daydreaming during long meetings, and 75 percent say they are doing other work.” – Harvard Business Review INSIGHTS: Be ruthless with starting and finishing on time. … [Read more...]
Stop giving advice
Have you ever given someone the best advice and they completely ignored it, or they got defensive and angry with you? Advice requires permission . . . and aggressive listening.” – Suzie Price Source: LinkedIn Pulse, September 18, 2023. Link. Through the art of asking questions, you develop and strengthen the relationship. INSIGHTS: Seek first to understand. … [Read more...]
Self-evaluation
Self-assessment can help executives evaluate their impact on others, as well as give them useful direction on their own self-development and future direction. Source: JayMcdonald.com, September 2023. Link. Life is about how we build on our experiences to grow to be more fulfilled and to bring happiness to ourselves and to others. INSIGHT: Hire the mirror that doesn’t … [Read more...]
Emotional intelligence and teams
High-performing teams enforce a norm of speaking up when someone on the team acts in a way that harms team effectiveness. Source: LinkedIn Pulse, September 18, 2023. Link. A study of over 100 next-generation family business leaders finds how other executives in the business see a leader’s emotional and social intelligence predicts that person’s effectiveness as a … [Read more...]
Self-confidence is not immune to negative feelings
Even the most accomplished and confident leaders sometimes find themselves grappling with feelings of inadequacy and negative self-worth. Source: Forbes, August 22, 2023. Link. For leaders, a self-perceived fraudulence can be exacerbated by a relentless pursuit of perfectionism, where any minor flaw is magnified into a colossal failure. INSIGHT: Create a two-year … [Read more...]
Leading behavioral change
While there are many challenges in today’s practices, they are all challenges of behavioral change. Source: Forbes, February 17, 2023. Link. In 2023 more than ever, leaders need to be less strategy experts and more human experts. INSIGHT: Influence begins when the leader suspends, temporarily, their point of view and starts from the potential follower’s point of view. … [Read more...]
Empathy – the secret sauce
Empathy is one of the building blocks of healthy business relationships. Source: headspace, July 2023. Link. Being able to recognize and relate to the feelings of others does not come in degrees. Like any skill, it is there, or not. INSIGHT: The ability to suspend your own point of view for the moment is confidence. Also see: Search results for: Empathy, AHD. Link. … [Read more...]
Customer experience thoughts for managers
Managing and coaching a group of people hasn’t really changed over the years. Today, however, customer experience is at the forefront of every interaction and transaction. Source: Repertoire, October 2023. Link. You just have to find out what is important to that customer and how your product/service meets that need.” – Patrick T. Malone INSIGHTS: Malone shares the best … [Read more...]
Building rapport with questions
When the customer has answered that initial question and you have acknowledged their response, the next appropriate follow-up question is, “And what else?” Source: Vet Advantage, December 2022. Link. By asking “what else” you are demonstrating that you really do care, and the customer is more likely to reveal the real issue. INSIGHT: ALWAYS acknowledge the customer’s … [Read more...]
Less is more
One of the bigger problems in the modern workplace is wasting time on things better handled by someone else . . . or not done at all. Source: AXIOS, July 27, 2023. Link. It's striking how often I find people doing things we once cared about but no longer do. INSIGHTS: Be ruthless when allocating your time and energy … [Read more...]
Self-coaching helps motivate you
We need to step onto the field as our own coaches and motivators. Here are a few ideas to build your “tough situation” self-coaching skills. Source: LinkedIn Pulse, June 21, 2023. Link. When bad days hit get moving.” INSIGHTS: Tough situations are inevitable. How you react is manageable. … [Read more...]
Goal setting made easy
Most would agree that goals are important but many get bogged down because the process is too difficult. Here is a simple way to get started and be successful. Source: TIME, January 4, 2021. Link. Narrowly defining a goal helps you clarify the tasks necessary for reaching it. INSIGHTS: Trying to boil the ocean leads to failure and frustration. Start small. … [Read more...]
Filtering is a critical skill
One of the hardest things to do in leadership, and life, is to filter out BS. Source: AXIOS, June 29, 2023. Link. You need one or two people (intimate truth-tellers) who know your warts and worst instincts. INSIGHT: Balance – you are not as bad as your critics claim, nor as good as your supporters believe. … [Read more...]
You’re capable of courage
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to act despite it. Source: Giant Leap Consulting, June 14, 2023. Link. It is precisely those times when your knees are shaking, when your voice is unsteady, and when your stomach is teeming with rioting butterflies that you are being courageous . . . provided, of course, that you are moving through your … [Read more...]
The hard truth
The biggest lie we tell ourselves is: We crave truth. But the truth is hard and often uncomfortable. Being honest with someone is actually more respectful than holding back. Source: AXIOS, June 22, 2023. Link. INSIGHTS: Be blunt, respectful, factual and actionable Also see: How to deal with people who pretend to know more than they do, Fast Company, June 28, 2023. … [Read more...]
Agreement or commitment?
An agreement is a contract for mutual benefit. A commitment is deeper and more comprehensive. Commitments are worth the extra time and effort.” Source: gearsmagazine.com, March 5, 2021. Link. With commitment, there’s no going back – no limitation is recognized. It is the equivalent of the modern phrase, “I’m going all-in!” … [Read more...]
Quiet quitting or setting boundaries
Employees need to take a more active role in improving their work lives, rather than a passive one. Source: TIME, September 9, 2022. Link. If you’re really upset about something, you can often overestimate how unsolvable it is and you don’t need to quiet quit to get out of a situation. INSIGHTS: You are your best advocate. Also see: Search results for quitting, AHD … [Read more...]