Anyone can set a goal: “My team will make a billion dollars in sales.” The question is, can the goal be achieved? Achievable goals have several common characteristics. They are in line with the company’s mission, values, and strategy. They are specific and measurable. The needed resources are available (trained people, sales leads). They have…
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Time management is often broken down into prioritizing, planning, and scheduling; however, lack of organization can undermine all those strategies. Organizational skills affect your environment, your thinking, and your team. Organizing Your Environment A cluttered desk or office is distracting. Yes, you may be able to find that one file you need among the mess,…
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Effective leaders have developed their skills in thinking critically, aligning the organization or team, and taking appropriate action. Critical Thinking Critical thinking is what enables leaders to understand the impact of their leadership and to examine the relationship between their assumptions and conclusions, conclusions and actions, and actions and results. A critical thinker challenges assumptions…
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Occasional tardiness—a little lateness on a regular basis—can be easily overlooked, especially since 69% of workers who arrive late will stay late to make up the difference. Often it has its root in a problem that is strictly temporary, from a car that won’t start in winter to a child who awakes with a fever.…
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Effective leaders have developed their skills in thinking critically, aligning the organization or team, and taking appropriate action. Critical Thinking Critical thinking is what enables leaders to understand the impact of their leadership and to examine the relationship between their assumptions and conclusions, conclusions and actions, and actions and results. A critical thinker challenges…
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An environment of trust affects every part of change management, communications, decision making, problem solving, and team synergy; it is a fundamental part of an organization’s culture. Trust is not easy to build, especially with individuals and teams that are under stress and struggling to meet personal and professional goals. Moreover, building trust is not…
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Anyone can set a goal: “My team will make a billion dollars in sales.” The question is, can the goal be achieved? Achievable goals have several common characteristics. They are in line with the company’s mission, values, and strategy. They are specific and measurable. The needed resources are available (trained people, sales leads). They have…
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A basic step often overlooked in measurements of employee engagement is to define what engagement is: what are you measuring? Some companies define employee engagement as commitment to over-delivering on projects and enthusiastically devoting more time to the job—unfortunately, those same traits may lead to burnout. Others define engagement as job satisfaction, a positive relationship…
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A secretary was reprimanded because she read during lunch rather than socializing with the other secretaries. An overweight engineer was encouraged by his peers to eat a whole pizza (or two or three) while they bet on his abilities. An executive called a meeting to yell at the entire office that they were sending him…
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You cannot lead a crisis unless you are prepared for it. Crises may come from the natural environment, team dysfunction, competitive or economic threats, product failures, seemingly simple mistakes, miscommunications, security leaks, and many other sources. As a leader, you have many choices in how you prepare, respond to, recover from, and evaluate a crisis.…
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