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Keep a Meeting Focused & On-Point
Four tips to stop meetings being hijacked We’ve all experienced meetings where, despite our best efforts, we have found the meeting hijacked. For example, where someone is persistently interrupting or dominating the conversation, where someone continually goes off an unrelated tangent and side-tracks the conversation, where they go into extensive and unnecessary detail, or where someone tries to hijack the meeting for their own personal agenda. So how do you refocus the meeting and get it back on point? The
Building Performance Goals around Learning
High performance is not just about achieving, but learning! In the current environment we can no longer depend on what we have always done to achieve what we have always got. In short, we have to shift from focusing on what we achieve to focusing on how we achieve it. If you depend on behaving in the same way to get the results you want you will be sorely disappointed. You may sustain results in the short-term, but not in
Don’t Be Good – Be Great!
Tips on how to be the best you can be. The greatest potential for growth and development lies in the areas where you have a natural talent to start with. The more time you spend building on who you already are, the faster you will grow. This is often counter-intuitive for organizations and leaders as the focus is often on helping improve and raise their performance in areas where they are weak and at risk. It is often counter-intuitive for people
Understanding versus Doing
Understanding something does not mean you know how to do it. People often confuse understanding something and doing something. There is a common misconception that because we understand something we can do it. This misconception, or misunderstanding, creates confusion. Think of a time when you have explained a task to someone. You have asked them if they understand and they have confirmed that they do. You leave them to get on with the task at hand. When you return you
Flea Training
What is the one thing that limits your personal success most? This is a story originally told by Zig Ziglar – a leading sales trainer and motivational speaker. It is a good story – short, to the point and memorable. I won’t say any more – just take a moment to sit back and enjoy this particular gem. Flea Training “Fleas basically do two things… They jump and they ride dogs… If you want to train a flea what you
Benefits of a Premortem
How to anticipate problems and failure before they occur. We are all familiar with post-mortems and forensic examinations from all the TV crime series. Post-mortems are good for telling you what went wrong, why it went wrong, and the consequences of things going wrong (death in this instance) – but it doesn’t change the fact that the individual is still dead. It is case of being wise after the event, but being wise after the event doesn’t stop or prevent
The 90% Rule for Decision-Making
Too often we make a decision which, at best, is marginal. How many times have you made a decision that you have regretted? That involved more work than expected? Which impacted other work that was more important? That lead you to spreading yourself too thin? Why does this always seem to happen? In short, we are not selective enough in the choices we make. There is a simple and effective way to so this – it is called the 90
Reducing Anxiety in Your Organization
In a changing world the level of anxiety people experience increases as they become less clear on what is happening, more uncertain as to how it will affect them, and increasingly unsure about what to do. You will feel this for yourself, and your team will be feeling it too. So what can we do to counteract this and reduce the level of anxiety in the organization? Here are several tips to help you: Be transparent and simply tell the
Using the Buddy System
Anybody who has been scuba-diving will be familiar with the buddy system. You never dive alone, you always have a diving buddy – somebody who is there to help you and support you should you need it, and to ensure that you are safe. You, in turn, reciprocate. It can be hard dealing with the changes, challenges and opportunities at work – so why do it alone? A strong leader knows his or her weaknesses and looks for people who