Remember when we would ponder our direction? Nowadays we have to do it all (and then some). There are products to learn, people to hire, alliances to form, markets to penetrate….and a whole lot of technology that is supposed to make things less complicated. Some times the path of least resistance beats the information highway. Does…
Leaders are celebrated, while managers are often criticized, but a combination of the two could be just what the economy needs. There’s been an ongoing debate for the past five decades and I’m not talking about Medicare or why the Chicago Cubs haven’t won a title since 1908. This debate has to do with leaders…
When presenting the Evaluate to Win™ system, I always get a positive response from executives with the idea of aligning every employee’s efforts with corporate strategies and priorities. It’s called “embedding” your strategy. It makes perfect sense. It ensures that the contributions of your staff are optimized toward the success of the organization…that is, assuming…
The endless assortment of messages, feelings and attitudes we bring from our past into our present influences how we see ourselves. It also directly impacts our ability to relate to others. Your self image serves as a sieve, filtering every experience and interaction and creates a running inner dialogue. You talk to yourself constantly about…
Your attitude, not your aptitude, determine your altitude – Zig Ziglar An observation was made of how both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over our nation’s deserts. All vultures see is rotting meat because that is what they are looking for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead…
To build rapport, relationships and to connect with customers, co-workers family and friends it’s important to watch what you say and how you say it. Poor conversation skills can derail teams, cause leaders to lose respect, destroy customer relationships, lose sales, and demolish friendships. Here are 12 things to avoid in your conversations. Gossiping –…
Living in the Washington DC area, you can’t escape the excitement of Washington Redskins fans as their team–finally, after four losing seasons–contends for a playoff spot. At the center of their big turnaround from 3 wins & 6 loses to ending up at the top of their division is their rookie quarterback, Robert Griffin, aka…
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it – Charles R. Swindoll A story is told of two men who lived in a small village who got into a terrible dispute that they could not resolve. So they went to the town sage. The first man went to the…
Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better – Bill Bradley In a column for the Harvard Business Review Blog Network, (http://bit.ly/UDGyUE) Jack Zenger unveiled a startling and troubling fact; we wait too long to train leaders. Citing research from his consulting agency he revealed that in their database of some 17,000 worldwide leaders participating…
According to a recent study, the average attention span of an adult is 8 seconds. People will listen to you longer, however to get their attention you need to have passion, energy, excitment and be interesting. In my presentation skills training sessions and coaching we go over a number of ways to keep your audience…
The US and Canadian armies (among others, I’m sure) are famous for its post-event after action review (AAR). Whether it’s a mission, a tactical maneuver, or just a patrol, the individuals involved meet immediately afterward to debrief on how it went and what they can learn for the next time. This goal is to quickly…
The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog – Frederick the Great Writing in The Book of Business Anecdotes, Peter Hay shares a story that back in the 1950’s, marketing whiz Stanley Arnold was working at Young & Rubicam, where he was asked to come up with a marketing campaign…