That’s not what I meant! The fact is, nobody likes to be misunderstood or have their words misconstrued, especially when another party wrongly applies sinister motives, casting their character in a negative light. And nowhere does this happen more frequently than via email or other modes of e-communication. Even during the best of times, email negotiation can be tough. But … [More]
Business Communication Tips to Take Back Control during COVID-19 Quarantine
World Health Organization announcements about the COVID-19 pandemic are raising many uncertainties and questions about the way business will now be conducted around the world. In the face of this unusual situation, companies often do not know what to do and how to communicate with customers, partners, even their own employees. It is obvious that the current quarantine … [More]
The Proactive Magic of Asking, ‘How Can I Help?’
On the Friday afternoon of 4th of July weekend, 2009, I was on the New Jersey Turnpike returning home from another bustling day of activities as CEO of Campbell Soup Company. My wife was away in Washington, D.C., helping our daughter move into her new apartment. In the backseat of the car, I was dozing off with my seatbelt on, at the end of a busy week. We were going fast, … [More]
Common Delegation Pitfalls
Delegating is the key to a successful business and what sets bosses apart from true leaders. The hardest part? Knowing when to let go. Some leaders find themselves delegating tasks, then nervously hover over their team making sure they do it right. Well, if the team doesn’t do it right, it might be as much their leader’s fault as it is theirs. Here are some of the top … [More]
Competitors Build on Collaboration
“I've definitely realized that there is more than enough business to go around,” says Dallin Harris, founder and president of Skyhook Interactive, discussing an “agency forum” group he takes part in within a larger business owners’ organization. It’s an unexpected assembly. Explains Harris, “In normal EO [Entrepreneurs’ Organization] forums, we try to stay away from our … [More]
Successfully Leverage Business Partnerships and Relationships
To launch, a business needs time and capital; but to genuinely scale, partnerships become equally as important. This has become a forced reality in a day when competition is now global, not just local. For business leaders, it means mastering and leveraging the resources outside the company as well as within. To lead successfully, knowing what is available, how to ask and how … [More]
Is Brand Obsolete in the Amazon Age?
Has the rise of e-commerce sites — Amazon in particular — made brands obsolete? Some people think so. In the Digital Age, or so the theory goes, customers don't even notice brand names. Online retailers offer endless supplies of in-stock products with plenty of user opinions to recommend them (or not). All the customer has to do is click through web pages and comparison-shop … [More]
Convey Complex Ideas Simply and Persuasively
Not everyone is a natural raconteur. But everyone can enhance his or her skill by keeping three principles in mind: People need to feel something for a story to have an impact. The story must be easy to follow and stripped of unnecessary detail. And finally, because focus is a scarce resource in the brain and attention spans are dwindling, the quicker it gets to the point the … [More]
Organizational Capacity Defined
These days, businesses are often exhorted to build organizational capacity, but what does that really mean? There are many definitions of “capacity,” but in simple terms, an organization’s capacity is its potential to perform — its ability to successfully apply its talent and resources to accomplish stated goals and satisfy stakeholder expectations. Capacity is the engine that … [More]
Financial Wellness Is Workplace Benefit for All
As more and more business owners offer retirement and healthcare benefits for their employees, the question is: What else can I do? This isn’t purely altruistic; while employers do want to help employees live well, benefits are also critical to a company’s success. Eighty-five percent of Americans are nervous about their financial lives, and 65 percent lose sleep over money. … [More]
How to Get a Meeting with the C-Suite
Hollywood has always known how to take a meeting. Tinseltown tête à têtes are how movies get made, box-office records are broken and stars are born. In the business world, fate-altering meetings don’t happen in directors’ or producers’ offices, they happen in the C-suite. For those, that is, who can break through. Thirty-three minutes and 13 seconds into the 2005 movie … [More]
HonorHealth’s Tradition of Impact
The word honor conjures up all kinds of thoughts about respect, ethics and pride. Whenever honor is brought into a conversation, the assumption is that a place of integrity and distinction is being described. This is exactly the case where Valley hospital group HonorHealth is concerned. Since 2013, HonorHealth has been serving the Valley. However, its legacy of helping the … [More]
Attention to Detail Can Make or Break a Company
“Pay more attention to detail.” It’s something we’ve all said to an employee, co-worker or even spouse at some point. It can be a frustrating statement for both the speaker and the listener because it is often akin to saying, “Don’t make mistakes you can easily avoid.” And, many times, the mistake or omission was one easy to avoid, especially if it had been supported by a … [More]
The Compounding Effect of Community Carry
It’s in the headlines on a daily basis — yet another startup secures major investment from one venture capital firm or another. On the surface, this appears to only be great news for the investors and the ones on the receiving end of those funds, but the impact actually reaches far beyond that. Funding a startup sets off a ripple effect. It’s not just an investment into that … [More]
Corporate Culture & Employee Retention
Good companies invest in their employees. The reason is obvious. Happy employees tend to hang around and provide a return on that investment. But when it comes to employee retention, are companies investing in the right thing? In the Silicon Valley, the latest statistics show a new trend — one of unrest and high turnover. New employees stay on the new job between 1.8 and … [More]
Two Weeks’ Notice?
The last 20 years in the workplace have seen sweeping change: resume submission by paper in the mail to computerized applicant tracking systems, hard copy live paychecks to direct deposit, and completely cashless businesses. Longstanding practices and traditions have died out, whether as a result of being replaced by technological innovation or simply because they couldn’t keep … [More]
10 Warning Signs of a Dysfunctional Corporate Culture
The growing spotlight on dysfunctional corporate culture and its potentially devastating impact on organizations has given new urgency around the issue in boardrooms today. Research shows that 30 percent of M&A deals fail to achieve financial targets due to culture-related matters, and some studies suggest that even workplace incivility can have an average cost of … [More]
It’s Risky Out There without Digital Policies
Almost every day, somebody makes headlines for a digital misstep: a data breach, an inappropriate comment on social media, online content that cannot be used by individuals with disabilities, etc. If you’re like a lot of business leaders, you may think, “We would never do that.” But unless you’re a one-person business, your good intentions aren’t enough to prevent someone else … [More]
