Would you be interested in a behavioral assessment tool that can help you: Strengthen your communication skills? Build your leadership abilities as well as your coaching and mentoring skills? Reduce personal and organizational conflict, stress, and turnover? Make better hiring decisions? Learn to appreciate behavioral strengths, challenges and differences in yourself and in others? Increase
Five Things To Do Before December 31
Two years ago, I wrote a piece about things that ought to be done to close out the current year cleanly, and get a strong start in the new year. Since this is the time of year to do those sorts of things, I thought it would be appropriate to post a similar piece. So
“Negotiations are built on agreement, not disagreement.”
We tend to associate “negotiating” with lawyers, politicians, and purchasing agents. But the fact is, we all negotiate. We negotiate compensation packages for new employees, we negotiate price and terms with our customers, we negotiate bedtimes with our kids, and household budgets with our spouses. So we all negotiate all sorts of stuff . .
“Whoever said, ‘If it ain’t broke . . . ‘ “
It’s easy to get a little lax about taking care of your car. That is, you get in, it starts right up, and then you’re zipping down the road. No worries, right? But then, warning lights start appearing on the dashboard or the brakes start to squeak, and you realize you haven’t had it serviced
“Everyone has a number.”
While monthly financial statements are essential to effectively managing your business, they are historical documents. They tell you what’s already happened when it’s too late to do anything about it. So in addition to monthly financial statements, you also need measurements that are predictive in nature to serve as early warning signs that something may
It’s all in the execution.
James “Murph” Murphy is a former F-15 fighter pilot who left the Air Force after 12 years to enter the business world. In his book, “Flawless Execution,” he talks about the rigors of being a fighter pilot, about the exhaustive work pilots do as they prepare to fly a “mission,” and about the concentration and
Judge by results, not by effort or activities
It’s an easy trap to fall into. We get seduced by a great work ethic. “Look at Johnson over there . . . salt of the earth, I tell ya. He’s in early, stays late, doesn’t complain, and you never find him goofing off. I wish I had a hundred just like him.” Actually, no
To-do’s Before Year End
January is a time of renewal. It marks a new beginning, a fresh start. But there are things you should be doing now, before December 31, to get you out of the blocks fast when the year turns over. If you’re on a roll, you need to think about how to keep that roll going.
Learn to delegate
I’ve written about delegation before, but I continue to think about it because so many small business owners don’t do it very well. Entrepreneurs often like to pull all the significant levers in the business and push all the important buttons. They built the business and know the critical parts of it better than anyone,
Tip – A great management tool!
No quote this week. I want to offer a tip you will find useful, but I didn’t have a quote that would complement it. One of my favorite management tools is a trailing 12-month average. If you’re familiar with this tool, stop here. You already know what I want to tell you. But if not,
