There are lots of reasons for not holding your people accountable for poor performance. It’s uncomfortable. It’s emotional. It takes time. It takes energy. The costs of holding your people accountable are significant. So what do you do? You procrastinate, or avoid it altogether.
Why You Should Focus On Worst Practices As Well As Best Practices
Best practices. The activities and processes that correlate with success. You should want to migrate them throughout your organization to improve performance and accelerate change.
The #1 Mistake Every Company Makes When Strategic Planning
Everyone does it.
Every company I have ever consulted with – high-tech, low-tech, service, manufacturing, blue-collar, white-collar, whatever – takes on too much. Too many strategies, too many objectives, too many initiatives, too many projects, too much.
How to Make Prospective Employees Want You
All signs point to the “war for talent” dragging on. Low unemployment. Fewer people seeking permanent work. More employees jumping at the prospect of greener pastures. It’s a frustrating and discouraging time for many business leaders.
This One Test Reflects Your Level of Commitment
Everyone says they’re committed. Everyone says they want to win.
I’ve surveyed thousands of organizational leaders, asking them about their commitment to winning, however they define it. Their answers? “100% committed.” “All in.” “Failure is not an option.”
The Secret to Being an Outstanding Communicator
Every organization struggles with it. Employees want more of it. Managers are unsure how to best do it.
Communications. One word with many meanings that is the source of endless misunderstandings.
The 6 Most Important Questions to Ask Your Customers
What should you want to know about your customers? Some would say, “As much as possible.” Others would say, “One thing: How likely is it they would recommend you?” So which is it: everything or one thing?
Want to Hire High Achievers? Look for These 3 Traits
I’ve written extensively about the importance of hiring for traits, not just skills and experience. While a base level of skills and experience might be needed to get you in the game, it’s your traits that help you win the game.
How to Overcome the Common Biases Every Leader Has
During my doctoral studies in the psychology of human performance I was fortunate to study with Daniel Kahneman, a psychologist who would go on to win the Nobel prize for his pioneering work in behavioral economics. Behavioral economics deals with the systematic “irrationalities” that influence our judgment and decision-making. In short, it is now well recognized we are not the “rational actors” that economists long thought we were.
How to Be 100% Present in a Distracted World … and Why
You’re constantly under siege. Rings, pings, buzzes and alerts – the barrage of information and communications is never-ending. Is it any wonder that, like all of us, you’re prone to distraction?
Think You Know Your Customers? Attack Your Assumptions!
Lease your beliefs, don’t own them. It’s something I often say to my clients. Why? When you own your beliefs you feel compelled to defend them, and keep defending them, when they come under attack. When you lease your beliefs, it means they’re subject to reevaluation and you might decide not to renew them.
How Measurement Can Cause You to Fail
I’m going to open a proverbial “can of worms.” I want to deal with a topic that is critically important to business yet poorly understood. A topic for which we have much appreciation but little interest.