You know them – always the glass half empty outlook…complaining about the brightness when the sun breaks through the dismal gray February days. They derail conversations and meetings. When making a contribution, it comes with negative overtones and is diluted by the complaint of the day. They are disruptive to creative sessions and are toxicRead… Read more »
In November Google released Plus Pages for Business – it is similar to your personal Google Plus Page, but with features to create your electronic business personality. Whoa! – you say you work for a large organization or an agency and can’t put up a page for your day job…the Plus Business Pages works wellRead… Read more »
The last chapter of the book on our life has not been written yet. We may feel that it won’t be turning out as we had hoped or expected. While we were working – the world changed! The Internet has evolved and many roles which were staffed before are on-line now; Processes which had requiredRead… Read more »
Communication is an imprecise process – no matter how much effort and innovation we may put into choice of words, method of delivery, and focus on key points. Try as we will, the full transfer of knowledge from our mind to the listener happens only in the Vulcan Mind Meld. Typically a just a portionRead… Read more »
We participated this week with seven other entrepreneurs in the 2011 Capital Management Technology Hub and George Mason’s School of Management Technology Startup Challenge to introduce our cloud-based community and supporting tools: MyLeadershipPractice. What a top notch event and great learning experience! Plenty of innovative solutions to specific needs were presented. The competition was anRead… Read more »
Imagine the situation as Henry Ford was planning production of the Model T : over 5,000 parts; multiple manufacturing vendors; skilled to semi-skilled production processes; and growing demand. He addressed part of the production process by determining an optimal assembly sequence and moving the vehicle along to workstations which have the required parts, tools, andRead… Read more »
Peter Drucker said ‘60% of all management problems are the result of poor communication.’ Why is this true? Communications break down when losing focus on three areas: clarity of what’s expected accuracy of what’s completed, and timeliness of what’s needed. Clarity of What’s Expected – Projects which do not have clear goals, vision, and missionRead… Read more »
When talking about leadership, Dick Davies said “leadership can not be taught – it can only be learned.” It caught me by surprise at the time, but has stayed with me as a fundamental in developing leaders. Learn by doing. In my youth, I wanted to learn to play tennis and read several books aboutRead… Read more »
I recently took a road trip to the tip of Florida and stopped at several restaurants and stores along the way. It struck me how differently these retail organizations approached customer service. At Cracker Barrel, there was always one of the staff in proximity to the front door who welcomed the visitors warmly; the hostessRead… Read more »
Neither, with a few exceptions. Businesses are run to meet buyers’ needs and to make a profit. How they behave is subject to the urgency of the buyer’s need and the value the buyer places on satisfying that need. To illustrate, let’s look at two ice water stands set up by some neighborhood kids. Scene1:Read… Read more »