Management By The Numbers

Aug 16, 2011 | Leadership Development

As the saying goes, "What gets measured and monitored gets done." So, what are you measuring and monitoring? As the business owner, CEO, leader, or a manager in your organization, what are you monitoring on behalf of your team to ensure what you are supposed to be accomplishing is actually getting done? What metrics - or basic measurements - are you using to ensure the various projects and tasks you are so busily and diligently working on are actually on-budget, on-schedule, and still...

Let’s Talk Visions First – Then Missions

Aug 11, 2011 | Strategic Planning, WBS

The vision and mission are two separate and distinct components of your most important leadership tool: the strategic plan. And unlike many others who work in strategic planning, I'm a stickler when it comes to clients understanding the purpose of a vision statement and a mission statement. When someone says, “I don’t care what you call it: mission or vision—they mean the same thing.” My response is, “No they don't. They serve two very different roles in the plan, for the leadership team, and...

People Power

Aug 3, 2011 | Leadership Development

I had the opportunity to provide the keynote address at a client's annual team meeting in New York. For most organizations these events are quite boring and, to be honest, attended only by those employees who couldn't come up with a believable excuse not to attend. This organization, however, is different. Their employees are different, the leadership style is different, and their success and growth rates are different. Why? They believe in the power of their employees. I started to get an...

Clear The Roadblocks

Jul 26, 2011 | Leadership Development

Good managers run efficient organizations. Great managers develop solid teams of talented people to support and manage organizations efficiently. Good leaders identify opportunities and articulate a vision for their organizations. Great leaders project where roadblocks to those opportunities and vision may occur. Great leaders use their expertise and connections to move the roadblocks out of the way to ensure their managers and teams can implement the strategies when and how they need to...

Get Your Lunch

Jul 20, 2011 | Leadership Development

Have you ever been hungry for lunch and not able to focus on anything, let alone accomplish anything, until you get some food? Your attention is on one thing: getting food—now! Sweet or salty, it doesn’t matter as long as it gets in your mouth—now. This is your utmost goal and the focus of your actions. Everything else is put aside or is addressed only half-heartedly. Until you get a hold of some food, you have no interest in discussing, starting, or working on any other project. As you read...