Posts Tagged ‘leadership development’
Why are you hiring?
Why did you hire your last employee? When asking business owners why they are hiring, their answers are usually a version of the following: they have gotten too busy, there is too much to do in their business, their client base has grown, they feel it is time to bring on a [insert job title:…
Read MoreThe Formula to Balance Your Business
Opportunity & risk. Gains & losses. Promotion & Prevention. These are all ways to describe the balance a business needs to succeed. You can’t avoid risk, and you – hopefully – have plenty of opportunities. Making these two things coexist is important, but one of the hardest things to do. Business potential Back in 2017,…
Read MoreHow to plan to be spontaneous
“The last thing I want for my business is a plan or a process. I need my people to be spontaneous and adaptable”. This is an actual quote from a business owner who is terrified of turning his employees into automatons. His fear is valid: at what point is too much instruction removing any capability…
Read MoreEvery business has a business culture: what is yours?
Business culture is not optional. Like gravity or photosynthesis, whether or not you acknowledge it, it is there. The question is never: do we have a company culture; the question is always: do we have a good company culture or a damaging company culture? And if it’s going to happen anyway, you may as well…
Read MoreHow to check in with your employees
You want employees who are happy to work in your business. You want to know that they look forward to coming to work, enjoy what they do all day long, and value your role as their boss and mentor. We have already talked about the importance of “checking in” with your employees, to find out…
Read MoreVirtual Meeting Etiquette: update to my course
My online course on how to run better company meetings has been receiving regular updates in the COVID19 generation. The latest is a lesson and worksheet on the proper etiquette for virtual team meetings. As managers you want to ensure your meetings are just as effective remotely as they are in person. See a preview…
Read MoreBe the person you want your employees to be
Leading by example. We all think we do it. But few people take deliberate steps to ensure this is true. The best descriptions of how to “lead by example” are the ones that create visuals: Model the behavior you want to see Create a picture of what is possible. Leading by example isn’t about what…
Read MoreWhy and how to check in with your employees
The number one secret to having happy customers is having happy employees. No matter what else you have in place, if your employees don’t like what they do, customers will notice, and they won’t like working with you. When you are thinking about how to gather customer feedback, remember that employee feedback should be part…
Read MoreYou don’t have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial
Have you ever thought to yourself: “I wish my employees were more entrepreneurial?” Immediately followed by the question: “If they were entrepreneurial, wouldn’t they start a business instead of work for me?”. Not necessarily: there is a difference between the words entrepreneur and entrepreneurial. Let’s explore it. Know how to spot opportunities Let me start…
Read MoreDon’t forget your lesson plan for the office
You remember school, and then school ended and you had some training at work, and then you were the boss, and you started your own business. At some point that formal “learning” ended. But is “learning” actually complete? Continuous improvement If you answered yes then you are probably not a regular reader of this blog.…
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