You are the manager of a small business, a team, a department, a project or even a complete company. And you are to hire someone new. There is this candidate, but she is your opposite in nearly everything; you favour spontaneity, she doesn't, you ...
Inspiring Leadership Lessons from the Academy Awards? (14 Oct 2005)
Several years ago I watched the Academy Awards show
from start to finish for the first time. In the years
before that, I could only watch about 30 minutes of
the show before I got bored out of my mind. But this
particular year I didn't have to...
Making Your Work Environment Work Well: Tap Into the Synergy of the Solitary Soul (30 Apr 2006)
You may recall the scene in the film, "The Lion King," in which Simba, having been banished from his murdered father's kingdom, is floundering in the forest looking for sympathy from anyone who would listen to his sad tale of self-pity. He comes ...
Leadership & Employee Performance - Build a Bon Fire with The Annual Reviews (11 Mar 2006)
First of all, if all you ever do is an annual performance review for your employees, they are worthless. Put every last one of them in a big pile and burn them. The scenario of annual performance reviews often goes like this;
"I have nine re...
Web Based Becoming Home Base (25 Oct 2005)
The field of play today is vastly different from what it used to be, dynamic programs tracking customers, products, potential customers, product availability vs demand and a plethora of like information have staked their claim and they are not goi...
Are You Untouchable (30 Apr 2006)
In January 2003 The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran this headline - "Ohio lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs". They blamed competition from India and China.
In a recent article, Business Week discussed how Call Centers are being sent off shore, send...
What Signals Are You Giving? (24 Feb 2006)
When I was old enough to learn how to drive, I asked my Dad for lessons. The first thing he did was to buy me the book "Defensive Driving." He told me I had to read it, (and wouldn't let me behind the wheel until I did) but all I really needed to...
Training That Sticks: 5 Secrets For Making Sure Your People Use What They Learn (23 Sep 2005)
For training to work, it has to stick. "Sticky" training provides people with
knowledge and skills that significantly improve their work product, productivity and
success. Workshops, lectures and training sessions are wonderful, time-tested
t...
Business Meeting Creativity Ideas (01 May 2006)
Developing an innovative spirit in the workplace doesn't require extraordinary measures. As a manager, you can experiment with simple ideas that merely break routines, allowing your employees permission to drop the facade that we all don to some ...
Think Business Processes Not Departments - 5 Compelling Reasons (14 Nov 2005)
1. Process Thinking follows the natural flow of the business
A business process is a collection of interrelated work tasks triggered by an event and geared towards providing results or outcomes valued by the "customer". ...
How to Manage the Employee with Attitude (05 Mar 2006)
Mary had "attitude". Her manner was rude and uncooperative and her colleagues complained, but she was efficient.
Her supervisor believed he was stuck with a problem that couldn't be solved. He reasoned that in any office there was always someone t...
Are You Playing Checkers or Chess As A Leader? (16 Feb 2006)
Simple Ways To Improve Your Team's Performance
If you are a leader trying to create a positive work environment, hold off on buying posters and new carpet for your work area and take look in the mirror. Did you know that 70% of how your tea...
How To Get Your Clients to Pay On Time (08 Feb 2006)
Two things you can do to get paid on time by your customers
There is nothing more frustrating to a business owner than delivering quality products and services on time, only to have to deal with a customer that pays late. Slow and lat...
How to Manage Your Cash Flow Effectively (19 Mar 2006)
Good cash flow management is at the heart of most successful businesses. By the same token, cash flow problems caused by a time lag between when you pay your suppliers and when you receive money from your customers, is at the root of many c...
So What is a Server Anyway? (20 Oct 2005)
I was in the middle of a sales meeting when I was asked, "Anthony, what is a server, anyway?" Those within the field of business hear this word thrown around all the time. Some business owners know their companies have servers and know their com...
Five Ways to Be More Generous Through Your Business (11 Sep 2005)
One of the themes for my New Year's resolutions from last year was to become more generous. I was motivated by wanting to break a general feeling of entrepreneurial financial anxiety, as well as to begin fulfilling a childhood dream of beco...
Tired of Unproductive Meetings? (02 Sep 2005)
How much time every week do you spend in meetings? Do you feel every such meeting gives you better pay off than the equivalent time and energy spent elsewhere? While meetings can easily get unproductive and do nothing more than drain your energy, ...
Leaders Make Decisions: Its Not Part of the Job; It Is the Job (17 Nov 2005)
I was watching one of my favorite television mini-series, HBO's Band of Brothers, and I came across a forgotten viewpoint from the production.
Although the program centered around the time immediately following the Battle of the Bulge and th...
Beware of a Laissez-Faire Management Style (25 Dec 2005)
If there's anything that will prevent a company from optimizing its bottom line, it is a laissez-faire management style. In other words: a propensity among company managers to avoid too much interference in employee behavior.
All employees ...
Creating a Culture of Success (28 Sep 2005)
Why is a company culture so important?
I was reading a book call The World is Flat and the author was discussing the importance of a country's culture in making changes in adapting to changes in the world's economy. He was referring to a cou...
