You may not realize it, but your organization is home to an incredibly powerful operating system (O/S). Think outside the realm of technology. What has the potential to engage and energize your employees, bring teams closer together, and create a high-performing workforce? It’s conversation. Conversation is the common denominator behind “apps” like customer service, … [More]
We’re Stuck in a Success Crisis!
Success and leadership have gears — and we’re not shifting them correctly. We’ve gotten stuck in the “more-better-faster, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, too-busy-racing-around-to-enjoy-our-lives” gear. We’re over-fed, under-nourished, over-medicated, under-rested and under-satisfied. Think of the wear and tear trying to drive everywhere using only one gear — second gear — … [More]
Raising Awareness of Financial Resources
According to a recent Wells Fargo/Gallup national study, “Diverse Small-Business Owners Share Their Experiences,” 71 percent of women business owners say they feel very satisfied as a business owner and 89 percent would own a business rather than do anything else. Yet, surprisingly, the survey also found that women are largely unaware of the many resources available to help … [More]
Motivation: Why Money Won’t Work
Spending time trying to identify what motivates one’s employees and then finding meaningful ways to do those things might not be the easiest strategy, but it is one that is consistently more successful than money. While we all love a good gift card, why do organizations continue to spend countless dollars trying to motivate and engage their staff with monetary incentives if we … [More]
Motivation: Gamifying the Workplace
Only 31.5 percent of U.S. workers were engaged in their jobs in 2014, according to a 2015 Gallup poll. A recently released survey from global business gamification leader Badgeville suggests gamification may be a motivator to help overcome this disengagement. The independent survey of more than 500 business workers, ranging from entry-level employees to C-level executives, … [More]
Creative Management Transforms People into Profits
When faced with any given challenge, the natural human response is, “What’s in it for me?” Consider the banking fiasco, the granddaddy of “What’s in it for me?” Our country watched in horror as executives paid themselves outrageous bonuses while their companies were failing. These senior managers felt no remorse at slashing their workforces and abandoning their customers … [More]
Keep Out of the Friend Zone
“Keep your work life and business life separate.” “Don’t get involved in your employees’ personal matters.” “There is no place for friendships in the office.” This is all age-old advice, but it is out of sync with what really happens in our workplaces. Friendships form in the workplace and it is, at times, impossible for employees to leave personal issues at home. As … [More]
Experts Have the Answers
What is the difference between experts who have built a platform and brand around their expertise and experts who are great at their work but haven’t figured out how to launch that one big idea or build a truly successful platform? Conversations I have every day with authors about brand strategy around their books and conversations I engaged in earlier this year at one of this … [More]
Do You Have a Noble Purpose? Or Do You Just Sell Stuff?
If someone asked your employees, “What’s the purpose of your business?” how would they answer? If the majority of your people believe that the primary purpose of your business is to make money, you’re on the road to mediocrity. It sounds harsh, but it’s true. Consider Monster.com. Monster was originally founded on the belief that helping people find jobs was a noble … [More]
Reality vs. Perceptual Reality
One of the “realities” I’ve discovered through the years of business ownership, consulting and speaking, is that the customer or client rarely sees you as YOU see you. This is known as Perceptual Reality. In his book Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads, Roy H. Williams defines Perceptual Reality as our imagination. We spend a great deal of time there, and while there we create … [More]
Underestimating the Value of an MBA: The Latest Fad
Why go back to a university after all these years just to incur mounds of student debt? Why learn finance, marketing and leadership skills when there are numerous examples of successful entrepreneurs who founded businesses without getting advanced degrees? Why try to learn business content in a world where ever-changing technology creates dinosaurs faster than Steven … [More]
Dodge the ‘Got a Minute?’ Misery
Got a minute? The fact is, unless you are a great rarity today, you not only don’t have a minute, you have a yawning deficit of minutes. There is work unfinished on your desk. You have personal aspirations of all kinds that you never find time for and obligations you barely find time for. You’re already stretched for time, so no, you don’t have a minute. Yet when almost … [More]
Who Are You – What’s Your Brand?
As a professional recruiting and staffing executive, I am amazed at how few business owners and corporate executives have consciously built their personal brand. Perhaps they don’t think of themselves as a brand, but in the competitive business marketplace, they can ill afford not to do so. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a “name, term, sign, … [More]
Hidden Bias Impacts Talent Management
When we hear the word “bias,” many of us often immediately jump to racial, gender, age or cultural assumptions — which do apply. But what about the hiring manager who is more productive in mornings, therefore unknowingly favors interviewees scheduled before noon? Consider Martin, who is down to the last three candidates and their interviews have been scheduled on the same … [More]
Can Feedback Help Us Succeed?
There are five simple words that can spell doom for a leader — “If I had only known!” These are the words a person utters right after a major client cancels a contract, a customer stops ordering or an error occurs that will cost the business owner thousands out of his own pocket. That’s why the best leaders and the most competent managers thrive on employee feedback! So why … [More]
Arizona Gubernatorial Candidates Talk Business
On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Arizona voters will elect the next Governor of Arizona. In Business Magazine invited candidates Doug Ducey, Fred DuVal, Barry Hess and J.L. Mealer to share their views and plans for business and economic growth. Doug Ducey (Rep.) What are three things you would do in your capacity as governor to spur economic growth and employment, especially in the … [More]
End the Performance Review
As a business consultant with organizations, both big and small, I regularly hear a litany of complaints about performance reviews or appraisals than range from “The formality of the appraisal stifles discussion” to “They are too infrequent” to “They are rarely followed up.” Please don’t get me wrong — I am not against performance feedback. In fact, I believe it is one of the … [More]
Navigate ‘Unsolvable’ Problems
Innovation. It’s a buzzword that’s so overused it’s tough to understand what it really means and how to capture its elusive spirit. We know we need more of it as businesses are increasingly challenged to produce an outcome that achieves seemingly irreconcilable goals, but we often receive conflicting advice on how to achieve it. When anyone tackles the topic of innovation, the … [More]
