To find success, define success

A few weeks ago we established that “failure” is not a moment in time, an ending, or an event.  But what about success? Success, it turns out, is also not final.  It isn’t like a movie we are watching, with a defined endpoint, when success has been achieved, the music begins, and we fade off…

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Failure usually isn’t (what we think it is)

“It was a complete failure. All the time: wasted. Everything I tried: wrong. Now I’m doubting everything I do.” Statements that, unfortunately, sometimes happen in a business environment.  When I heard this one I took issue with, well, all of it.  Something had indeed gone wrong. But no time had been wasted and I didn’t…

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Three easy ways to keep your brain curious.

Curiosity is good for business.  It improves collaboration, keeps your business goals fresh, and can lead to greater innovation.  Most importantly, curiosity has been shown to increase adaptability, an essential trait for running your business in the long term.  When you demonstrate curiosity in what you do, others will start to emulate that approach. But…

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The one question that will transform your performance reviews

You can throw company happy hours, host team dinners, buy pinball machines and eliminate job titles all you want.  But once you put an employee in a performance review, there is a strict hierarchy of who reports to whom.  And that hierarchy is what makes it challenging to get good feedback: the employee knows you…

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The formula for happy employees

One of the top three challenges that new employees have is unmet expectations: the job is not what they expected it to be.  That means difficult conversations where they are telling you that they expected something different, and what are you going to do about it. Or even worse: they quit.  One simple fix will…

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How to talk to problem employees

Happy employees

Nothing you tell your employees should ever come as a surprise.  This is especially important with bad news.  If you are telling an employee that they are at risk of being fired, and they had no idea, then you are the one who made a mistake, not them.  But don’t tell your employees about their…

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When company values become harmful

I’ll get straight to the point: company values become harmful when they are not enforced.  This happens more often than you would imagine, and usually because of good intentions. But the harm is always greater than the perk.  The wrong way to use values Let’s say you claim a core value at your business is…

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The Glue Your Business Needs Every Day

What has to happen in your business?  When people think of business functions, they tend to list marketing, sales, finance, human resources, maybe production as well.  However you make your list, there is one fundamental business function that ties all the rest together; the glue that makes it work, if you will.  Management.  Collaborate more…

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How are you hiring?

You have a role; now it’s time to fill it.  Use the work you did to know why you are hiring and who you are hiring to improve how you are hiring.  Hiring skills How important is skill expertise in hiring?  It turns out: not very.  Skill expertise is not to be ignored, of course,…

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Who are you hiring?

You have described the problem you are solving and used that to decide what role you need to hire.  Let’s now transition to “who” you have to hire.  And yes, I did say transition. It’s a journey, not a step.  Hiring for impact Answer one question before making further decisions: Which roles have the biggest…

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