The world is brimming with leadership tips and techniques for you to consider. Some days, it seems like everyone who’s spent more than a week in a professional setting has proclaimed themselves experts on leadership. In other words, there’s plenty of information out there. The issue is figuring out how much of it is worth considering.
The leadership tips and techniques that really matter share a handful of characteristics. If you encounter guidance that measures up to these standards, it’s definitely worth taking the tips seriously.
Career Tip - A Return to Basics
Business Management, Career advice, Employment, Recruiting No Comments »Today I want to encourage you to keep your eye on the ball. Get back to the basics. Focus on the fundamentals. Remember what really matters. Identify the simple principles and actions that are crucial to your success at work and at home. Simplify, Focus, Execute - Jon Gordon, author of The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work
If you’ve been working for any length of time in any capacity or industry, you have likely faced stressful points that make you want to scream. But as you’ve been working for any length of time, you know that a “pillow” is the only one who can take those screams, in a calm and supportive way.
What we get from these experiences is a chance to step back and reflect on what’s happening and how much we really control what’s happening. No, I’m not speaking in riddles; but I am making a point.
Restructuring - A Career Opportunity
Business Management, Career advice, Job Search, Recruiting No Comments »Restructuring is tough, usually because it’s imposed change. We are rarely in control of the process. If we decide to stay, we ride it out, and are relieved when the ride ends. As you have decided to say, this means your employer has the right to expect you are all in. By that I mean that you will keep to the rules around post restructure. These rules are:
· No harking back to the “good old days” - and no saying “that’s not my job”. It just might be now!
· No saying “that’s not how we used to do it”
In My Experience - Personal Stress and Its Impact on Workplace Productivity
Management, Productivity No Comments »We all remember the Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Their world was a fantasy land. Remember the dwarfs and the song they sung on their way to work? “Hi ho, Hi ho, Hi ho, its off to work we go”! O.K. come on now, be honest! How many of us are that cheerful as we fight traffic to get to the office.
Fact is, today in our western world, life is complicated. The demands of home, work, kids, pets and outside commitments constantly pull us in all directions. As employees, we come to the workplace with all types of things on our mind. And then we hear the statement; leave your personal life at home!
Every day you and I must solve problems, both large and small. And everyday we use the same process-or no process-for getting answers. Usually we stumble around in a thick fog, hoping we come up with something that works as a reward for our time, energy, and confusion. We may actually find solutions, but are they the BEST solutions? Are they the solutions that optimally serve our employees, our companies, our families, and ourselves?
Consider the last problem you needed to solve. Maybe that was yesterday, this morning, or just a few minutes ago. Whatever and whenever it was, how did you reach a conclusion? An answer? A strategy for moving forward? How did you get there, and were you satisfied? Or did you simply breathe a sigh of relief and run?
Should You Be Making Managers Into Leaders?
Employee motivation, Leadership, Management No Comments »Should you be making managers into leaders? That’s a trickier question than you might think. At face value, it seems like an obviously good idea. Things get more complicated when you look a little closer.
That’s because there is an inherent risk in trying to facilitate the transition. If you have good managers, it’s obviously tempting to try to tap their potential leadership skills. What happens if doing so starts to detract from their managerial skills and emphasis, though?
Are you better off with a distracted manager who’s trying to develop leadership skills or would you be in a superior position with a focused manager who’s not all that concerned with becoming a proactive force for leadership?
Remember how Tom Sawyer convinced all those other kids to paint the fence he was supposed to paint? He made wise use of other people’s skills.
One of the secrets to success in life is making use of the fact that others can contribute to your success with their diverse interests, skills and talents.
There are things you do better than other people; these skills and talents are what you do naturally. Your joy, satisfaction, and meaning in life come as the result of opportunities to do these things. The more you focus on activities that draw on these skills and talents, the better you will perform and the more success you’ll have in life.
Some people will tell you, if you ask them, that they think leadership is deciding on a plan of action and sticking to it, no matter what. Others will tell you it means taking charge of a situation and then handing out tasks so everything gets done right and by the set deadline.
What if that’s not leadership? What if leadership is less about handing out orders and sticking by a plan whether or not it works and more about working with people to mentor them and help them find their own path. I would argue that defining a leader today is much different than it was 5 or 10 years ago. In fact, I would say that inspiration is the biggest thing you contribute to a company or even a person when you become a leader.
While leaders are made, most are born. That sounds odd, doesn’t it? Well, the truth is we can’t all be leaders and not everyone wants to be a leader.
Establish a culture of innovation and prosperity by being “nice.” At the end of the day, successful organizations are fun places to work. Employees should feel like its fun to come to work. If Sunday night feels like dread and stress…your culture is wrongheaded.
Upscale clothier, Jack Mitchell, author of Hug your people shares why positivity is good for productivity and profits. His opinions were outlined in a recent Gallup management journal where he identifies four criteria for hiring “nice” people.
First-they have to be open, honest and have integrity.
Today thousands of managers are sitting at their desks both puzzled and annoyed at the three-letter-word that keeps getting thrown at them by their young workers. Baby Boomer and Traditionalist leaders describe this word as sounding, as one manager told us, “like nails on a chalkboard.” What, you might ask, is this word? And, if you’re a Generation Y-er, you might ask, “Why is it driving you crazy?”
“Why.” It seems like such a small, innocent word. However, it is actually a loaded term that has different meanings depending on which generation you belong to. In this article, we’ll spell out what “why” means to both the older, seasoned managers, and the young, new workers. And, we’ll give you the tools to overcome your distaste for “why” and embrace it to your managerial advantage.
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