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Better Prioritization, Faster Execution
How to determine what your priorities are, and how to execute with excellence using a simple tool. Not only are our organizations undergoing an accelerating of change, but so are our customers. In this increasingly competitive environment we have to be more relevant, and provide greater value, if we are to retain these customers. In short, we have to help them meet the changes they are experiencing whilst being able to meet the changes we are experiencing. This compounds the
Four Ways to Build & Maintain Employee Engagement
The risks and costs of allowing engaged employees to become disengaged, and how to avoid it happening. Everybody wants engaged employees who are committed, energized and enabled in doing their work. We look at where we think different people are and pigeon-hole them as appropriate. We forget, however, that they can move from one state of engagement to another, Research by Wayne Hochwarter, Professor of Business Administration in the Florida State University College of Business, has shown that employee engagement,
How to Optimize When Managing Costs
How to Optimize When Managing Costs By: Andrew Cooke, Blue Sky GPS How to identify which costs need to be addressed, their importance and impact, and how to develop and prioritize your cost management program for the optimal effect. Many businesses are concerned with the changes that are occurring in their marketplaces. Changes in expenditure by major industry players, pressure for changing economic conditions, government policy and actions and a myriad of other factors are coalescing to raise the
The Risks of Conforming
We often look at the risks associated when people don’t conform, and we often don’t like those who fail to act in the way we want or we expect. But how often do we consider the risks associated with conformity? The answer is rarely, yet the risks are considerable. We often go along with a course of action or carry on with an activity even when it is obvious to us (and often to others) that to do so is
Trust Equation, The
Building and Assessing Trust Trust underpins relationships, and relationships underpin business. Good business is built on good relationships, but we rarely look at how we build good trust. This is important as when we think of trust and what it means, we quickly realize it encompasses many things. We use the word “trust” to: Interpret what people say Describe behaviors Decide if we feel comfortable sharing information Indicate whether we feel other people have our interests at heart The Trust
The Three “A’s” for Dealing with Conflict
Attacking.Abdicating.Accountability. When dealing with conflict there are only three ways in which you, or your reports, can respond. These are attacking, abdicating and being accountable. Attacking – this is the first part of the “fight or flight” syndrome which we experience when we come across an uncomfortable situation. For example, we are in a meeting where someone has a differing opinion or idea. We respond by becoming verbally violent and adopt an aggressive behavioral style. Although this is a form
The Three Ss of Winning in Business
Why you need self-confidence, simplicity and speed in business Many businesses, as they grow, develop a bureaucracy. This makes it hard for the business to adapt to the accelerating changes we are experiencing. As Professor Gary Hamel said: “Today, the most important question for any organisation is this: are we changing as fast as the world around us?” In the current environment if we do not grow then we do not stagnate, we atrophy. Jack Welch, while he was the
The Power of Words
How you say what you say can make you more powerful! How you say what you say matters! It matters in two ways: firstly, it reflects how you perceive things and yourself; and secondly, it affects how others perceive you! If you sometimes feel that you are not expressing yourself strongly enough, or are not coming across in the way that you intend, then let me share a few tips which you can use – right now – for yourself!
The Unusual Leader (Who Helped His Team Raise Their Performance)
A different approach that produced results Do you struggle to motivate your team? Could your team be more productive and more effective? Do you have people who are not performing to their potential? If so, then you are not alone. Like many other leaders, great and small, you are making the same mistake: assuming that the answer to these questions lies with others (your team), when in fact it lies with you (the leader). The problem is that our normal