Did you watch Saturday morning cartoons as a kid? If so, how good is your memory? What Saturday morning cartoon character wore a hat like this one? My new hat – just like the one I used to see on Saturday morning. How confident are you in your answer (or how confident were you before …
How do you contribute to your organization? Are you good at what you do? Are you an expert? Are you reliable? Helpful? Conscientious? Hard working? Do you consistently do your part?If you answered “yes” to those questions, you are most likely contributing. However, you might not be standing out from the crowd.We all have two …
By now, we all know that we are supposed to be making data-driven decisions. Yet, most leaders still struggle to use data effectively. I think that one of the main culprits is that we’ve become data-intensive rather than data-driven. I recently worked with a leader to streamline his customer satisfaction reports. His report had eight …
Are you an action planner? Do you make sure that you leave every meeting with a clear list of actions, responsibilities, and due dates? If so, you are probably getting a lot done. But here’s the question: Are you achieving anything? Getting things done is about completing activities. Achieving something is about creating positive changes …
Read more “Scrap your action plans. Consider outcome plans instead”
Recently at the end of a workshop, we asked participants if we met their expectations for the course. One individual said no. He expected to learn how to work with employees that were more senior than he was. I was puzzled as to why our workshop didn’t meet his needs. Our content focused on how …
Giving feedback is a lot like playing darts. The best way to win is to have a sharp point, pitch it at the right angle, and have it stick.Keeping your point sharpDarts become dull when used over and over again. So does feedback. Saying the same thing repeatedly doesn’t reinforce your point, it dulls it. …
Read more “Want to give good feedback? Then brush up at playing darts”
Recently, a sales manager told me that he wished he had more time to do background research on his prospective clients. He was certain that if he had more time he’d be winning more sales. I asked him how the people who were winning the sales got up to speed on the client. He said …
Is there such a thing as having too much data? Absolutely and more and more organizations are starting to feel the pain. Automation, especially over the internet has allowed even the smallest companies to generate vast amounts of data. Unfortunately, most of it goes unused. Either it sits in databases and on servers unknown to …
About ten years ago, I had the opportunity to hear Sandy Linver, the founder of Speakeasy, Inc and the author of the book, Speak and Get Results: The Complete Guide to Presentations and Speeches That Work in Any Business Situation. Sandy’s presentation was on how to give presentations. During the Q&A, someone asked what to …
Read more “Being two minutes smarter than your audience doesn’t work”
How often do you hear someone say, “I’m just working with the hand I was dealt” when referring to their strengths and weaknesses? It’s a pretty common phrase. Well, Steve Shapiro, an innovation expert and author of 24/7 Innovation and The Little Book of Big Innovation Ideas, has taken that idea one step further. Shapiro …
Read more “Are you playing with a full deck? Personality Poker will help you find out.”