Brand and culture. Two sides of the same coin. Your brand is the outside world’s perception of who you are. The only question is, is that perception the one you have intentionally put in place and nurtured, or is it the one your market has bestowed on you by default. Likewise, your culture is how
Stop Making Those Decisions
In a 1995 article by A.E. Carlisle entitled simply, “MacGregor,” Carlisle tells the story of the title character who is a plant manager with a remarkable management style. At the core of MacGregor’s style is his refusal to make any operating decisions. Sounds a little odd, doesn’t it? Yet his plant (even though it’s the
Building Happiness at Work
In our last posting, we talked about some of the conditions at your workplace that influence how contented your employees are in their jobs. Several of those are particularly powerful and should be singled out for a little more scrutiny. To learn what they are, please read below. A friend of mine used to
12 Critical Questions
Awhile ago, we talked about Marcus Buckingham, a senior researcher at the Gallup Organization, and discussed his findings in his excellent book, “Now Discover Your Strengths.” He has more to offer us. Buckingham says a workforce can be divided into three categories: people who are loyal and productive, or “engaged,” those who are just
“A good leader inspires other people with confidence in the leader. A great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves.”
Over the years, I’ve been on a lot of “plant tours.” Usually, our guide is the owner or CEO or plant manager, and the focus is usually on the systems and equipment being used in each step of the manufacturing process. But awhile ago, I was on a tour that was fundamentally different in
“People can’t see it your way until you first see it their way.”
Listening is an essential skill whether you’re at work or at home, whether you’re the CEO or an hourly worker. Yet it’s a skill that many of us either never acquired, or have allowed to lapse. In a conversation, do you find yourself crafting your next statement of brilliant insight rather than listening to
“If your business keeps you so busy that you have no time for anything else, there must be something wrong, either with you or with your business.”
Do you have time to do things you want to do outside of your business? Or, said another way, do you feel you have good “balance” in your life? Obviously, there are times when business activity is high and things can get a little hectic, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Over
“The best ideas for improving a job come from those who do it every day.”
Absolutely true. If you want to know where there is waste in your organization, ask your people. They know where it is, but they won’t tell you unless you ask. At a medical practice that has a number of offices, we asked the staff for “time wasters”. . . activities that take up a
