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Clearing the Errors: Fixing Six Common Mistakes in the Corporate Environment

Posted on 04/03/2014 by ·
Clearing the Errors: Fixing Six Common Mistakes in the Corporate Environment by Laura Stack #productivity

"The first mistake in public business is the going into it." -- Benjamin Franklin, American politician, publisher, and inventor. Despite Ben Franklin's tongue-in-cheek observation, as quoted above, we Americans insist on "going into public business." The tendency arises naturally from our capitalistic system, where we can make good lives for ourselves if we work hard and follow a few logical rules. But as organizations grow and age, institutionalized mistakes creep into the workflow. Some seem obvious with a little self-analysis, some less so. In this article, I'll take a look at half a dozen that you, as a leader, should keep an eye out for. 1. Lack of a clear mission and vision. If you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you get there? Formulate simple, clear-cut … [Read more...]

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Making Employees Partners in Business: Realistically Democratizing the Workplace

Posted on 03/25/2014 by ·
Making Employees Partners in Business: Realistically Democratizing the Workplace by Laura Stack #productivity

"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." -- Martin Luther King, Jr., American religious and civil rights leader. Professionally, my life's work has revolved around making work easier and more productive for everyone involved. So I find the concept of democratizing the workplace attractive, which involves giving employees more freedom and allowing them to participate in decision making. When employees feel empowered in their work, they’re more likely to take ownership of their jobs and contribute more discretionary effort, thereby increasing their productivity. To succeed, democratization has to take place within a framework guided by leaders. Yes, your team members should be partners in the accomplishment of goals, but they are not necessarily equal … [Read more...]

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The Fast Beating the Slow: The Need for Speed in Modern Business

Posted on 03/20/2014 by ·
The Fast Beating the Slow: The Need for Speed in Modern Business by Laura Stack

"If you don't have a goal, you will score zero even if you run with the fastest speed." -- Israelmore Ayivor, African author and blogger. According to some futurists, there may come a time when technology evolves so rapidly we won't be able to keep up with it. At that point, the future will become completely unpredictable. They call this the Singularity—and some believe it's just around the corner. In the business world, change already moves at a breakneck pace. No longer do three- to five-year strategic plans suffice. As I've pointed out in my latest book, Execution IS the Strategy, static plans go stale within months. Indeed, some companies are reviewing strategy quarterly or even monthly. Front-line employees must have the permission and the flexibility to work with any tactics … [Read more...]

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A Better Measure of Success: Value Yourself, Value Your Time

Posted on 03/04/2014 by ·
A Better Measure of Success: Value Yourself, Value Your Time by Laura Stack

"How did it get so late so soon?" -- Dr. Seuss, American children's author. What is your time worth? How much do you personally value it? We all think about these questions at some point. However, you may never have seriously considered their implications...possibly because you don't really want to know. But to lead effectively, you have no choice but to learn the answers to these questions. Unlike many things associated with business, you can't replace or supplement time. You get what you get and not a second more. That being the case, the value of your time ties directly into your sense of self-worth. As psychiatrist and writer M. Scott Peck once put it, "Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it." Peck was … [Read more...]

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Shaping Your Destiny: Aligning Your Mission With Your Organization’s

Posted on 02/18/2014 by ·
Shaping Your Destiny: Aligning Your Mission With Your Organization's

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and Philosopher. Independence has always been a part of the American character, from frontiersmen hacking farms out of the wilderness to modern-day entrepreneurs hacking niches out of the marketplace. As a nation, we're well aware of this; after all, this is the Land of Opportunity, where rags-to-riches stories are a dime a dozen. As the statesman William Jennings Bryan once pointed out, "Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved." Bryan is a case in point, a man born to relatively modest means who graduated as valedictorian of his college in 1881, then went on to serve as Secretary of … [Read more...]

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Substance vs. Style: Why Reality Trumps Appearance Every Time

Posted on 02/11/2014 by ·
Substance vs. Style: Why Reality Trumps Appearance Every Time by Laura Stack #productivity

"Don't settle for style. Succeed in substance." Wynton Marsalis, American jazz trumpeter. Some people believe that how something looks, or the way you do something, matters more than the substance of that object or action. In rare cases, such as fashion, this may be true; but no matter how wonderful it looks, a charming dress still won't last long if it's made of playing cards or chocolate (and yes, there have been both). Nonetheless, perception creates reality in most people's minds. For example, you might think a person with his shoes up on his desk and his eyes closed is wasting company time, as one efficiency expert did when hired by Henry Ford. After just a few hours on the job, he recommended Ford fire the man. Ford told him the "lazy" fellow was in fact his top idea man, who … [Read more...]

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Lighting a Fire: How to Deal With a Slacker on Your Team

Posted on 02/04/2014 by ·
Lighting a Fire: How to Deal With a Slacker on Your Team by Laura Stack #productivity

"A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends." -- Cyril Connolly, English writer and literary critic Business is a collaborative enterprise. Very few jobs consist of one person working in glorious isolation. Even solopreneurs rely on others to get things done, because it’s too much work for a single individual, and we don’t have talents in every area. We humans have accomplished almost every big thing we've managed, from digging the Panama Canal to going to the Moon, by working together and building on the achievements of those who've gone before us. Since teamwork rules in the business environment, having someone on a team who doesn’t shoulder their share of the load can clog the … [Read more...]

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Ensure Engaged, Empowered Employees

Posted on 01/16/2014 by ·
Ensure Engaged, Empowered Employees by Laura Stack #strategy

When you have a lot at stake or a very high interest in an outcome, you’re more likely to do a better job (or at least try to). Your team members feel the same way. If they don’t enjoy their work, they won’t be motivated to spend discretionary effort on the strategic goals you set for them. Wouldn’t you rather be surrounded by people in whom you have full trust and confidence they will get things done? Your team will have more ownership in their work if you encourage them to take initiative, improve processes, and make last-minute changes vital to timely execution. Here are some simple, common-sense ways to achieve that confident competence: 1. Increase your ratio of engaged to disengaged employees. This requires not only personal strength but flexibility and empathy as well. If you … [Read more...]

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Teaching Self-Discipline: Controlling Non-Productive Urges at the Team Level

Posted on 01/14/2014 by ·
Teaching Self-Discipline: Controlling Non-Productive Urges at the Team Level by Laura Stack

"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort." -- Jesse Owens, American Olympic athlete. I love Robert Orben's famous quip, "Don't smoke too much, drink too much, eat too much, or work too much. We're all on the road to the grave—but there's no need to be in the passing lane." Most folks see this statement as a warning to take care of yourself and do everything in moderation. But like all good humor, it contains multiple levels—and when you get right down to it, Orben's statement is also about championing self-discipline over self-indulgence. Many Americans know Orben best for his newsletter Orben's Current Comedy, where he introduced tens of thousands of gags over the years. Back in … [Read more...]

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Promises to Keep: Productive and Reliable Goal-Setting Strategies

Posted on 01/07/2014 by ·
Promises to Keep: Productive and Reliable Goal-Setting Strategies by Laura Stack #productivity

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." -- Henry David Thoreau, American writer and philosopher. Workplace goals are the knots that tie together all the other factors crucial to modern business success: flexibility, agility, engagement, empowerment, hard work, self-discipline, teamwork, cross-functionality, you name it. They shape attention and give us direction in an increasingly chaotic world. German-American theorist Hannah Arendt once wrote, "Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that this is humanly possible." Goals represent a species of promise, and they apply to corporate teams as much as they do to any other human endeavor. Arendt knew quite … [Read more...]

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