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Three Tips for Express Success
Three Tips for Express Success Quick ways to build success and momentum by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions When we come back from summer holidays, New Year celebrations or other breaks we return refreshed, reinvigorated and enthusiastic. Our desire and belief in what we can do is at an all-time high – so here are three tips to get you on your way 1. Clarity Be clear on what you want to achieve. Look ahead for the next 90
The Fallacy of Work-Life Balance
The Fallacy of Work-Life Balance by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions Considerable effort has been devoted to discussing and developing “work-life balance” – the ability to achieve all that you want in both your personal and professional lives. The problem with this is that “work-life balance” doesn’t exist! Let me explain. Work-life balance is an artificial construct developed by people, it is not “real” and you find it nowhere in the natural world. When I started work some 30
The Motivation Trap
The Motivation Trap by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions Why motivation alone is not enough, you need more... Imagine what would happen if your favorite football team took the field and the ONLY training they received in the last 8 months had been sitting in a room. Within the room, they'd be listening to legends of the game motivate them on what it takes to win and being shown presentations of what past champions have done by way of plays
Three Ways to Improve How You Work
3 Ways to Improve How You Work by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions We are often so busy doing the work that we forget to take a step back and give ourselves the time to focus and re-energize ourselves. Here are 3 tips for improving your personal effectiveness, no matter what you do. 1. Boost your personal efficiency When looking at profit improvement potential (or waste) in a business it is often said it is easy to identify 30%
Five Strategic Tips for a Profitable Future
Five Strategic Tips for a Profitable Future by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions A recently published book, Understanding Michael Porter: The essential guide to competition and strategy (Magretta, 2012), compiles and applies the work of management guru, Michael Porter. Full of useful insights, here are five pearls of wisdom that can, if applied, create a more robust, more profitable and sustainable business. Tip 1: “Strategy explains how an organization, faced with competition, will achieve superior performance. The definition is
3 Key Ideas to Help Business Leaders Succeed
3 Key Ideas to Help Business Leaders Succeed by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions Here are three tips to help you succeed. Understand what your customers REALLY want going ahead When planning for how you will evolve your products and services start by sitting down with your best customers and asking them these two questions: “What are the key challenges (good and bad) you will face in the next 12 months?” “If you had a magic want and no
5 Ways to Build Your Leadership Brand
5 Ways to Build Your Leadership Brand by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions Many companies have an ad hoc approach to developing their leaders, developing them as and when necessary to help them fulfill their roles. The weakness here is that it is just about the company. Take a step back, and let’s review the underlying assumption here. In doing this, I would like to revisit some of the work of Peter Drucker, one of the gurus of management
The Only 2 Ways to Reach Your Customers
The Only 2 Ways to Reach Your Customers by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions There are two ways to market to and gain customers, and two ways only. Either you reach out to them, or they are attracted to you. One way you try to “push” them to come to you, the other way you attract them to you and your offerings and they “pull” themselves in. These two ways are at opposite ends of the spectrum So what
Holding People Accountable
Holding People Accountable By Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions A recent survey quoted in an article in the Harvard Business Review Blog highlighted that the single, most avoided responsibility was holding people accountable. In the survey of more than 5,400 upper-level managers from the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific gathered since 2010, 46% are rated "too little" on the item, "Holds people accountable — firm when they don't deliver. This result is consistent at all levels of management,