As a manager, how do you discover what people expect you to do? What feedback do you want that will help you improve your game and create opportunities for expansion in the future? The best way yet found to increase knowledge is to ask questions....
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Who wouldn’t want their team to exhibit excellent work? The main reason I see managers complain about the quality of work produced by their teams is because we rarely talk about what excellence looks like and how we would know if it actually occurred. People...
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Henry Mintzberg’s book ‘Managing’ has received excellent reviews, and it’s got a good slot in my bookcase. The management guru talks about popular but false views about the nature of managerial work, separates fact from myth, and provides the best information yet published on what...
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Meetings can be testing, even for the most prepared manager, and most people will agree that the amount of time wasted in meetings could be drastically reduced if several steps are taken. And those steps are fairly simple and straightforward. (more…)
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In a recent article on FOCUS, we outlined the five ways that focus can gain effective results. By aiming specifically at a goal, it’s like aiming a laser beam at a target; you go straight for the heart of the matter and identify how the means will achieve the...
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On one of our programs, a manager remarked that he had a team member who, no matter how he gave directions of what should be done, always failed to comply. It wasn’t a matter of competence or illiteracy…they just failed to do what was asked...
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Don’t think that Excel is just a spreadsheet. To excel at something is a pinnacle of achievement. Personal mastery begins with a vision of what you want to achieve in your life or at work. Some of us may have goals and objectives, but these...
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Meeting and talking with others is an excellent way of honing your thinking skills and becoming a person that others seek out for advice and information. So here are some ideas when we want to improve our hit rate when conversing with someone. (more…)
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Ever despaired at your team members’ lack of engagement at work? Ever wondered whether your key employees leave their brains at the office door when they come in and put them back in when they leave? You’re not the only one! Many managers wonder how...
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The Headline in the New York Times read as follows: Why I am leaving Goldman-Sachs Greg Smith is resigning today as a Goldman Sachs executive director and head of the firm’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. (more…)
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Expectancy theory suggests that motivation is based on how much we want something and how likely we think we are to get it. I often discuss this facet of motivation when coaching managers, as it answers many questions about desire, want and need for extrinsic...
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So…the secret is out. Of course, it depends on who you ask and what their current state is, but the UK survey of 4,500 managers showed that 43% described their own line manager as ineffective. And what of the other 57%? Managers in high-performing organisations were...
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