How to Keep Your Focus Razor Sharp

How to Keep Your Focus Razor Sharp: There’s a woman I know, a writer and consultant, who says she’s more stressed out by what she’s not doing than what she is doing. When she’s in the flow of work, she’s consumed by it, productive, engaged. But when she’s not and instead worrying about what she has to get done, she says she “hovers like a gnat around her work, not landing on anything, not getting anything done, and completely stressed out about it.”

Be Like Mike: Three Keys to Collaboration and Winning

Be Like Mike: Three Keys to Collaboration and Winning: This weekend Adam Scott’s caddie Steve Williams (Tiger Wood’s old caddie), was part of a major tournament win for the 14th time in his career. Williams carried the bag for 13 majors and three Masters wins for Tiger Woods before he was fired. This weekend, he helped Scott to his first

4 Questions You Should be Asking Your Employees

4 Questions You Should be Asking Your Employees: Are you having trouble motivating your employees? Struggling to figure out what resources your team is lacking? Not sure what you can do to make your management style more effective?

8 Ways To Achieve Better Work-Life Balance

8 Ways To Achieve Better Work-Life Balance: For most people, juggling the demands of a career and a personal life is an ongoing challenge, especially at a time when many companies have slashed their ranks–and expect more from the survivors.

Excellence From A To Z: 26 Qualities to Strive For

Excellence From A To Z: 26 Qualities to Strive For: The Greek Stoics believed that life is about learning to die. I like to think about it another way: reflecting on death can teach us how to live.

Good Employees Make Mistakes. Great Leaders Allow Them To.

Good Employees Make Mistakes. Great Leaders Allow Them To.: As a business leader, I found that one of the scariest things to do was to give your people the freedom to make mistakes. While mistakes allow individuals to learn and grow, they can also be very costly to any company. Scared as I was, I knew that truly great leaders found ways to allow their people to take these risks, and I genuinely wanted to be a great leader. I wanted to help my employees to grow. So I set out to discover how to accomplish this without placing my company in jeopardy. 

Change Is Hard. Remembering These 2 Things Will Make It Easier

Change Is Hard. Remembering These 2 Things Will Make It Easier: A rising star at one of the world's major consulting firms is munching on his shrimp and cashews at the Chinese restaurant across the street from his office in mid-town Manhatan. It's been a tough week. He's put in three consecutive fourteen-hour days at the office in order to satisfy a demanding client and there will be  a six-hour plane trip tomorrow.

How To Conduct A Personal S.W.O.T. Analysis

How To Conduct A Personal S.W.O.T. Analysis: An effective process companies use to assess themselves and their competitors and formulate their strategies is an analysis called “S.W.O.T.” But this exercise isn’t just for businesses. It can be helpful for job seekers and those who are looking to climb the career ladder, too. Here’s how the process works…

Get Noticed! Four Easy Steps to Climbing the Corporate Ladder

Get Noticed! Four Easy Steps to Climbing the Corporate Ladder: As a board member on dozens of companies, the CEO of several firms, and an executive on many more, I have spent countless hours behind closed doors with fellow leaders discussing what employee should be promoted within the company.  Have you ever walked by a conference room and wished you were a fly on the wall? You probably thought to yourself, what are we talking about in there?  Well, I’ll tell you.  We discuss competitive analysis reports and sales trends, new products launches and financial statements. We talk about strategy, expansion and legal issues. And – we talk about you.

5 Leadership Lessons for Today's Executive

5 Leadership Lessons for Today's Executive: The poster of 12 O’clock High, the 1949 Gregory Peck-led vehicle centering on the underperforming 918th Bomber Group, hangs framed in my Aveksa office. This is not because of its reputation as one of the best WWII films to emerge from the glut of late 1940’s war-centric cinema, but as a constant reminder of the timeless lessons of leadership the film triumphed.  Through juxtaposing the leaderships styles of Colonel Davenport and Brigadier General Frank Savage, 12 O’clock High explored what it meant to be an effective leader of troops.  Its lessons, which I will explore in this week’s column, can be translated from the harrowing skies above WWII Europe to the (significantly less dangerous) modern workplace.

Time Management Secrets Anyone Can Use

Time Management Secrets Anyone Can Use: If you’re reading this article instead of doing your work, chances are good that you have trouble managing your time efficiently. You’re not alone. According to a survey by Salary.com, 90% of workers waste at least a half hour each workday, not including lunch or scheduled breaks. While computers have dramatically increased efficiency, they have also provided the ultimate in distraction. The Web is like the next-door neighbor who keeps asking us to play when we know we have homework to do. It and e-mail offer so much distraction on a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour basis that we find it nearly impossible to give our full attention to higher-level tasks. Because there are no defined edges to most of our projects–and certainly not to our workdays–we live in an endless jumble of work and life. We can book a trip to Mexico while participating in a conference call. We can send work e-mails from a chairlift above the ski slopes of Vermont. It’s tough to establish boundaries and focus on any one thing.

3 Tips for Getting Your Organization to Move, Now

3 Tips for Getting Your Organization to Move, Now: My colleague PJ Chan was recently involved in helping a global pharmaceutical company take on an enormous challenge. Here she offers tips leaders can follow to generate the momentum their company needs to achieve success.

Three Questions for Business Leaders to Ask When Surprise Hits

Three Questions for Business Leaders to Ask When Surprise Hits: Despite tremendous developments in business strategy over the last fifty years, businesses and governments keep being disrupted by events that they might have seen coming, but didn't. In other words, they get surprised? and not in a happy, surprise party kind of way. Think 9/11, the Arab spring, Fukushima or the launch of the iPhone for Nokia. Such events often have consequences far beyond their immediate environment that make many firms suffer, and require a response that isn't in anyone?s existing playbook.  The late Steve Jobs ? no slouch when dealing with disruption in the marketplace ? once replied that his strategy was to ?wait for the next big thing.?

Five Important Lessons From A Trip To The Apple Store

Five Important Lessons From A Trip To The Apple Store: Want to sell more stuff? Take some tips from the folks who do it best.

Be a Giver Not a Taker to Succeed at Work

Be a Giver Not a Taker to Succeed at Work: I recently spoke to Adam Grant, who is the youngest tenured professor and single highest-rated teacher at The Wharton School. He is a former record-setting advertising director, junior Olympic springboard diver, and professional magician. He has been honored as one of BusinessWeek's favorite professors and one of the world's top 40 business professors under 40. His consulting and speaking clients include Google, the NFL, Goldman Sachs, Merck, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, and the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force. His new book is called Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success.

How to Get Others to See Your Potential

How to Get Others to See Your Potential: Chris was starting to worry. For eight years, he’d been on the fast track at his large, multinational company. But suddenly, his career began to stall. “I ended up replacing a VP and didn’t get the promotion,” he told me. “Then I replaced another VP and didn’t get that promotion, either. I was going through performance reviews and everyone said ‘you exceed expectations,’ but then I was asked to report to another Senior Director. Alarm bells went off - what am I doing wrong? What am I missing?”

How To Become A Better Superman

How To Become A Better Superman: Are you an idealist or a pragmatist? It’s one of the great dilemmas of life, but finding the perfect balance is quite simple. You simply have to become a better Superman.

When Measuring Impact, Ask the Right Questions

When Measuring Impact, Ask the Right Questions: Editor’s Note: Ehren Reed is a Research and Evaluation Officer for the Skoll Foundation. He is responsible for assessing the impact and effectiveness of the Foundation’s efforts in order to support ongoing learning and evidence-based decision making.

Don't Rely On Luck At Work: Define Your Career Aspirations And Goals

Don't Rely On Luck At Work: Define Your Career Aspirations And Goals: Do you feel like a cork bobbing in a stream going wherever the current takes you? Instead of relying on luck and hope, take control of your career by defining your aspirations and goals.

6 Easy Ways To Remember Someone's Name

6 Easy Ways To Remember Someone's Name: Maybe you have trouble recalling your clients’ names. Perhaps you draw a blank every time you introduce a new colleague to co-workers. You're constantly thinking to yourself: Is it Joan or Jane? Tim or Tom? Larry or Barry?

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Great Leader? Take The Test

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Great Leader? Take The Test: Most everyone, regardless of their current role, wonders if they’ve got the right stuff to become a strong leader. Today is your chance to find out.

4 Steps To Master The 'Art' of Sales

4 Steps To Master The 'Art' of Sales: Selling is the most basic and fundamental skill required to be a successful entrepreneur. Although a lot has been said and too much of a big deal has been made about it, I’ve heard from many aspiring entrepreneurs who are scared to death of selling.

6 Ways To Conquer Leadership Pressure

6 Ways To Conquer Leadership Pressure: How a leader deals with pressure will tell you much about who they are as a person. Their reaction to pressure will reveal the strength of their character and conviction, what and whom they value, and whether or not they can be trusted. The reality is most people buckle under pressure. Only a few handle pressure well, and even fewer possess the qualities to be able to thrive on pressure.

10 Ways to Become a Better Listener

10 Ways to Become a Better Listener: I never take the ability to listen for granted. Maybe it’s because my oldest daughter was born profoundly deaf, and though she has benefited from the modern technology (and miracle!) of a cochlear implant and the early intervention that has enabled her to hear, I have come to value listening more than ever. It’s also crucial to my livelihood. As a writer, I certainly can’t pen a story without carefully listening to those I’m writing about.

How To Always Say The Right Thing

How To Always Say The Right Thing: It's often true that the more proficient we become in our role as managers and leaders, the less preparation we think we need. As a result, we become less effective at motivating and inspiring others, and our ideal message gets buried or watered down because of a poorly articulated or organized presentation.

The Five Dimensions of Learning Agile Leaders

The Five Dimensions of Learning Agile Leaders: Living and leading today are much like swimming in the unpredictable, treacherous Lake Superior, the 4th largest body of fresh water in the world.  We dive into the water, and we never really know what is going to happen next. Although we operate under the illusion that life remains constant, clear, and under our control, this is far from reality.  Everything is always changing, and often situations and choices are unclear, uncertain, even murky.

15 Traits Of The Ideal Employee

15 Traits Of The Ideal Employee: When hiring for any size business, it's not what the candidates know today.  Information can always be taught.  The most intelligent companies hire on future success and heavily weigh personality when determining the most apt employees.

The Fastest, Easiest Way to Boost Creativity

The Fastest, Easiest Way to Boost Creativity: We'd all like to be able to turn on creativity at times, and research shows that simply looking at the right symbol can do just that. In fact, at least two such symbols have been shown to increase creativity in problem solving. What are these magic symbols?

Leading with a Clear Vision

Leading with a Clear Vision: It is not remarkable that Hubert Sagnières’ vision is clear. After all, he is CEO of Essilor, the world’s largest producer of eyeglass lenses. What is remarkable is the discipline with which Sagnières keeps various societal, business, and individual efforts all focused on the mission of improved vision and in their own boxes at the same time.

How To Manage Conflict At Work

How To Manage Conflict At Work: Effectively managing conflict is arguably the hardest thing a manager has to do.  I was recently reminded of this by a comment from a reader in response to a post (10 Things Successful Business People Aren't Daunted By).  Her observation?  "I'll be printing this off and putting it where I can read it every morning," she wrote.  "Dealing well with conflict (instead of running and hiding) has been one of my biggest challenges as a relatively new manager, so thank you for reminding me that conquering that fear of conflict is worth it!"

Five Must-Follow Rules for a Successful Office Culture

Five Must-Follow Rules for a Successful Office Culture: Culture, that ambiguous little catchall buzzword, has only recently become in-vogue with the modern executive.  Maybe this is because creating a successful office culture lacks the concreteness of, say, managing finances or launching an advertising campaign,  or maybe it is a result of those in charge simply refusing to recognize the importance of it.  Regardless, a culture will emerge. Whether it is a productive, positive one or one that forces employees to jump the proverbial ship whenever something new comes along, is your responsibility.

How to Get Things Done

How to Get Things Done: One of the greatest leadership success stories of the past decade unfolded in a place that was inarguably the site of the greatest tragedy of the previous decade.

Career Boot Camp: 5 Steps To Become A Better Presenter

Career Boot Camp: 5 Steps To Become A Better Presenter: Last up in this month’s “Career Boot Camp” blog series (read my previous entries here, here, and here) are my tips on becoming a better presenter, essential if you want to be seen as a good leader, build your workplace credibility, or catch the attention of upper management.

Change Happens. Embrace it. Enjoy it. Look Forward to It.

Change Happens. Embrace it. Enjoy it. Look Forward to It.: One of my very favorite books in life is Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson, MD. It is a fantastic book for many reasons. 1. It?s easy to read because it has big print and it has pictures! 2. It?s about two mice and two men and let?s face it, who doesn?t love a story about mice? 3. It has one of the best messages about letting go of the past, getting over the things you cannot change, moving forward, and realizing that there is no reason to fear the unknown because the unknown may be better than anything you could have imagined! It?s really all about change and how change has unlimited potential depending on how you deal with it.

How to Become a Higher-Ambition Leader

How to Become a Higher-Ambition Leader: At a recent conference, executives underscored the importance of employee engagement, contributing to the community, and creating sustainable environment strategies. Dina Gerdeman discusses the key points of "higher-ambition" leadership in this article, which first appeared on the HBS Working Knowledge website.

5 Easy Ways To Motivate - And Demotivate - Employees

5 Easy Ways To Motivate - And Demotivate - Employees: I'll put it as simply as I can: There are an awful lot of unmotivated employees out there.  With a recent national study showing that less than 1 in 4 non-management employees is fully engaged (aka, fully motivated and productive), there is, shall we say, ample room for improvement.   And since an employee's relationship with his or her direct manager is the single most important factor influencing engagement, the responsibility falls to management to improve motivational levels.  Accordingly, here are 5 easy ways to motivate - and demotivate - employees.

The Secret to Motivating Your Team

The Secret to Motivating Your Team: When your employees do something awesome?whether it?s finishing a project three weeks ahead of time, figuring out how to streamline a process, or just talking down an angry client?you, as a manager, want to reward them.
Except, if you?re not the top dog at your company, you may not be able to dole out free days off or give your employees hefty bonuses. But as it turns out, the secret to employee happiness isn?t rooted in those things anyway. In fact, one of the most effective ways to reward your employees is by simply recognizing their hard work and accomplishments.

3 Simple Steps To Get Where You Want to Go

3 Simple Steps To Get Where You Want to Go: In order to create the life or business you want, you have to do these 3 things. The good news is, you can.

Tips to Go Above and Beyond With Customer Service

Tips to Go Above and Beyond With Customer Service: Customer loyalty is hard to win and easy to lose. Here's how to make the extra effort required to stand out from the competition.

5 Tips To Lead Effective Conference Calls

5 Tips To Lead Effective Conference Calls: If you’ve been following my “Career Boot Camp” blog series this month, you’ll know that last week I covered how to lead effective in-person meetings. Let’s build on that knowledge by focusing on leading conference calls.

The New Rules of Leadership

The New Rules of Leadership:

Spring is in the air, the days are getting longer and the crocuses are poking up their hopeful heads. Yet, these remain bleak times for too many job seekers, even leaders and managers with impressive resumes. The reason? The demands of a collaboration-based, talent-hungry, global, wired economy are evolving so

5 Creative, Constructive Approaches To Bad Bosses

5 Creative, Constructive Approaches To Bad Bosses: Unless you're pretty lucky or haven't been in the workforce too long, you've probably experienced this: A boss you enjoy about as much as you would an afternoon with a wolverine (see nice photo).   But rather than wasting energy on frustration and anger, try applying some of your well-honed business skills to improve things:

Three Communication Skills That Make Suze Orman An Influential Celebrity

Three Communication Skills That Make Suze Orman An Influential Celebrity: More than 300,000 financial advisors in the United States provide saving, investing and retirement advice, but only one made the top ten of the Forbes 2013 list of the most influential celebrities: Suze Orman.

What I Learned From My Mentor

What I Learned From My Mentor: As told by nine leaders drawn from Forbes’ list of America’s Most Promising Companies. Edited by Max Mallet