Dan Sullivan is the founder of The Strategic Coach, Inc. and the creator of The Strategic Coach Program . . . a program that helps already successful entrepreneurs become even more successful. He is also the author of more than 30 publications including one entitled “WhoNotHow.” In this particular publication, he teaches that procrastination is
The first rule of management is delegation. Don’t try and do everything yourself because you can’t.
Entrepreneurs often have a tough time delegating effectively. After all, the company is their baby. They gave it life and steered it through its formative years. They know how to press all the important buttons and pull all the essential levers better than anyone else. But if they continue to refuse access to those buttons
“Prioritizing causes us to do things that are, at the least, uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful.”
Setting priorities. That’s something many entrepreneurs struggle with. In fact, entrepreneurs are sometimes likened to crows who get distracted by every new shiny thing that comes along. Unfortunately, this creates confusion as employees try to keep up with ever-shifting priorities. In other cases, instead of setting priorities vertically with the most important at the top
“The art of delegation is one of the key skills any entrepreneur must master.”
The stereotypical entrepreneur is a guy running around with his or her hair on fire, pushing all the buttons, pulling all the levers, and wearing all the hats. We’re all wired a little bit differently, but ultimately, we all reach the limit of what we can do alone, and when we do reach that point,
“Much of what we call management today consists of making it difficult for people to work.”
Noted business author and keynote speaker, Dan Pink, talks about motivation . . . a lot. He talks about what motivates us and what does not. He talks about which motivators work and which do not. One of his favorite topics is “if-then” motivators. “If you do this, then you’ll get that.” Those motivators grew
Everyone is accountable
Accountability. Everybody talks about it, but few really practice it. In its purest form, accountability is a contract to carry out a specific responsibility, and if the responsibility is time-sensitive, to carry it out within a specific time frame. The problem is, for many people, accountability isn’t viewed as a contract, but more of a
“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
Today we have more ways to communicate with one another than ever before. Of course, we have face-to-face spoken communication which we have had for thousands of years (although we seem to be doing that less and less). We also have old-fashioned written communications such as letters, newspapers, magazines, books, etc. These too we’ve had
Are you a bad boss? (Part 2)
My previous posting asked, “Are you a bad boss?” I then offered a number of bad boss behaviors (poor emotional control, indecisiveness, micromanaging, etc.) for your consideration. Well, I apparently missed a few. I have gotten some notes (from people, I assume, who are bad bosses themselves, who are recovering bad bosses, or who at
Are you a bad boss?
An old adage says, “People don’t leave their companies, they leave their managers.” There are lots of reasons an employee may leave a company . . . higher pay, better hours, shorter commute, etc. . . . but in many cases, a bad boss is in there too. Think about your own work experience and
Why can’t we ever get anything done around here?
Our last posting talked about BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and we asked, “What’s Your New Year’s BHAG?” But achieving a BHAG is just like keeping a New Year’s resolution: it’s all in the execution. It’s all in the doing. It’s one thing to dream up a BHAG, it’s quite another to put the wheels
