Leaders
First Impressions… They Count
Your mother and your career coach probably told you at some point that “First impressions last.” And you know why they both told you that? Because it’s true. For better or worse, like it or not, people’s first impressions of anything—an individual, a store, a brand of shoes—completely shape and color their perception of it…
Read MoreA Giant Waste of Time, Part 2 — Meetings
(Second in a random series on Business Time Wasters) If email is the great curse over the workplace, (and it is, trust me), then without a doubt, meetings are a spell that’s been cast over offices to suck the life energy out of employees and management alike while making us all think that issues are…
Read MoreA Giant Waste of Time, Part 1
(First in a random series on Business Time Wasters) Email. If there was any greater curse ever cast over the workplace, I can’t think of one. Sure, it facilitates communication. And none of us can even imagine anymore how we could function in a business environment without the ability to dash off a quick note…
Read MoreThe Communications Cocktail
Some of you got excited when you saw cocktail in the title above, didn’t you? You figured, “Finally, somebody agrees with me—a little liquid social lubricant can go a long way to getting people to loosen up and talk…” Slow down there, Norm. We’re not heading for Cheers. That’s a different conversation. But I’ll give you this much:…
Read MoreThe Real Problem Isn’t The One They’re Complaining About
When your employees voice a problem, split off the complainer from the complaint to get at the real issue (For my previous thoughts on workplace problems and a drama-free workplace, see People are the Problem and Solve it with Structure.) We live in an age of outrage. Whatever it is—jobs, schools, restaurants, auto repair, retail…
Read MoreWhy Can’t I Decide?
Are big decisions keeping you up at night? Is fretting over the benefits and risks ahead of you taking up your time for work and rest? Are you losing sleep trying to decide which path will bring you to success and which one will lead to ruin? Stop it. “I want to stop it,” you…
Read MoreThe Three-Legged Stool
“All I want is stability!” But really, what is “stability”? Why do you want it? And more importantly, how do you achieve it?
Read MoreWhat’s in it for me? Part 2 – Enter The Matrix
In Part 1, we looked at how every request you make is really asking someone to give something up. Even at the office, a request can take time away from home or change the way a task is usually, comfortably done. But you are asking someone to make a sacrifice. So why would an employee…
Read MoreWhat’s in it for me? Part 1: Requests Mean Sacrifice
In previous posts, I’ve alluded to “What’s in it for me?” or WIIFM as the driving force behind most decisions for most people. In this post, I’m going to dig into the concept and discuss how it comes into play when you make a request of someone. I’ll also discuss the ways you can make…
Read MoreWhat is the right schedule for measuring project success?
We have now covered the benefits of benchmarking – why you should do it & how you should do it. We have covered what some key metrics are to measure. But now I want to look at when we should measure project success? A 2005 study by hrb.org that Boston Consulting Group published way back in 1994, documented…
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