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Are You Part of the Problem, or Part of the Solution? Putting “Lead” Back into Leadership

Posted on 09/09/2014 by ·
Are You Part of the Problem, or Part of the Solution? Putting "Lead" Back into Leadership by Laura Stack #leadership #productivity

Many people split the world into dualities: You're either this or that. Positive or negative. On or off. Black or white. But in reality, human behavior occurs mostly in the shades of gray between any two extremes. So when it comes to leadership, I hate to say, “You're either part of the problem or part of the solution.” But it’s easy to see how it could be true. “Lead” means “go first.” So followers look to a leader for examples of how to behave and what to do. According to research by anthropologist Lionel Tiger, most baboons look at their leader every 20 seconds to see what they're doing. My Australian Shepard Lily follows me around the house and even while seemingly dozing, keeps an eye on me for cues of what to do. When we go for a walk, she continually looks at me for signals. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: ,

Six Quick Mediation Tips To Help Others Work Through a Conflict

Posted on 09/04/2014 by ·
Six Quick Mediation Tips To Help Others Work Through a Conflict by Laura Stack

"An ounce of mediation is worth a pound of arbitration and a ton of litigation." -- Joseph Grynbaum, American mediator. In any group greater than two people, you'll inevitably have conflict. (Even two people may prove one too many on some issues.) So it should come as no surprise that your team members will occasionally rub each other the wrong way, resulting in conflicts that come to you for resolution. In most cases, you can all sit down and reach a reasonable agreement after a little give-and-take discussion—assuming everyone wants to work it out. Or, if the disagreement seems petty, you can just make a quick decision and tell everyone to get back to work. But some conflicts are too deep-rooted or antagonistic to dismiss so easily. In those situations, you'll need a set of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , , ,

Technology Unchained: Embracing The New Without Risking the Downside

Posted on 08/28/2014 by ·
Technology Unchained: Embracing The New Without Risking the Downside by Laura Stack #leadership #productivity

"Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road." -- Stewart Brand, American writer and editor of the Whole Earth catalogue. According to legend, in 1779 a British weaver named Ned Ludd destroyed two stocking looms in a fit of rage. Ever since, his name has been synonymous with those suspicious about or fearful of new technology. But Luddites have always been with us. No doubt, scribes in ancient Sumeria sneered when young upstarts started writing on that newfangled paper stuff instead of traditional clay bricks. After all, why change what works? Ironically, the Internet overflows with stories about how new electronic technologies might doom society as we know it. The commentators fear our electronic helpers will atrophy the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: ,

Handle With Care: Avoiding the Dangers of Social Media

Posted on 08/26/2014 by ·
Handle With Care: Avoiding the Dangers of Social Media by Laura Stack

Every hiring manager has a story about someone who has botched a job interview or torpedoed a career due to thoughtless comments on social media sites. I know someone whose close friend, a technical writer, lost his job after making negative comments about his company's investment prospects on MySpace (remember them?). Few people think twice about posting embarrassing party pictures on their Facebook pages or casual trash-talk on Twitter. However, your prospective employer or current company also has an online presence, so you are the face of the company. Accordingly, they may keep an eye on you, which is not tough when you voluntarily post content for the world to see. As your mother always taught you: don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Moreover, if you can’t say something nice, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tools & Systems · Tagged: ,

The Mental Whetstone: Unconventional Ways to Hone Your Wits

Posted on 08/21/2014 by ·
The Mental Whetstone: Unconventional Ways to Hone Your Wits by Laura Stack

"Make sure you take the time to feed yourself with what your spirit has to offer." -- Darren L. Johnson, American author. No doubt about it: you have to keep your wits sharp to successfully lead a team. Some experts claim that doing tough mental exercises will help you sharpen your mind: the New York Times crossword, Sudoku, logic puzzles, reading, learning new tasks, taking classes, and so on. While there's nothing wrong with any of those activities, some scientists say these studies are flawed—the jury's still out on that. I tend to intuitively believe the studies that show dementia and Alzheimer’s have large genetic components, so I’m always eager to know how to keep my wits sharp. But the way I look at it, I’m getting plenty of mental stimulation from the challenges of running a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Life Balance · Tagged: , ,

Rebooting Your Productivity: How to Recover from a Workflow Crash

Posted on 08/19/2014 by ·
Rebooting Your Productivity: How to Recover from a Workflow Crash by Laura Stack #productivity

Let's say your productivity takes a nosedive. Maybe you've gotten lazy with your planning processes and your to-do lists are out of control. Perhaps you went on vacation, and you just haven’t been able to get on top of your inbox. Maybe you have a looming project due date that you haven’t even been able to think about. Or maybe unexpected changes in your industry have presented new challenges and taken you off your original course. Now what? Every second you're out of the race, you and those depending on you fall farther behind. So leap into action, resolved to restore your productivity in record time. But how do you reboot your productivity? Do what you do when your computer crashes—a hard reboot. A hard reboot always seems to be the last resort. You throw your hands up in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity · Tagged: ,

That Little Extra Something: Harnessing Your Personal Creativity at Work

Posted on 08/14/2014 by ·
That Little Extra Something: Harnessing Your Personal Creativity at Work by Laura Stack

"We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down." -- Kurt Vonnegut, American author. If it hadn't been for drive-thru banking, fast food would be a lot less convenient. Years ago, a McDonald's vice president was visiting the drive-thru window at his local bank when he thought, "Why couldn't this work for our restaurants?" The rest is history. McDonald's integrated the drive-thru idea into its new stores, and now lots of restaurants use drive-thru windows, including Starbucks. If a store doesn't have a drive-thru window and you're in a hurry to get a burger or a mocha latte, you probably won't even stop there. This represents just one example of the value of unleashing your personal creativity on a work problem. It costs you nothing extra, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , ,

The ABCs of Motivating Your Team

Posted on 08/12/2014 by ·
The ABCs of Motivating Your Team by Laura Stack #productivity #leadership

"New Employee Incentive Plan: Work or get fired." -- Hand-lettered sign seen behind the counter of a rustic country store. According to a recent story in Inc. magazine, Brian Halligan, CEO of software marketing firm Hubspot, has a singular way of handling go-getter employees who present him with great ideas with the potential to improve the company's bottom line. He fires them. The punchline? He fires them from their “day jobs.” He then appoints them as the CEOs of their own change initiatives, something like little start-up companies within the company. Halligan refers to this as his Mini-CEO Program, and he does it to both decentralize the company and empower team players. You can bet it motivates the heck out of his employees to do their very best for him, so they'll have a shot … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , ,

What’s Your Back-Up Plan? How to Prepare for Anything

Posted on 08/08/2014 by ·
What's Your Back-Up Plan? How to Prepare for Anything by Laura Stack #productivity

"It seems to me that everything that happens to us is a disconcerting mix of choice and contingency." -- Dame Penelope Lively, British author. On the morning of February 15, 2013, a fireball ripped through the sky above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, exploding 18 miles up after leaving a streak of fire tens of miles long. The minor asteroid, which was about the size of an apartment building, was actually the second to have visited the Siberian region in a little over a century: 1908's Tunguska meteor, which was about the same size, fortunately fell to Earth in an uninhabited wilderness, blowing down and charring 800 square miles of timber. The people of Chelyabinsk were lucky, because the meteor entered the atmosphere at a shallow angle. According to modeling done by Dr. Mark … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Management · Tagged: , , , ,

Butting Heads: How to Argue Productively

Posted on 08/05/2014 by ·
Butting Heads: How to Argue Productively by Laura Stack

It’s been said that every person brings joy to others: some when they enter a room and some when they leave it. The latter disagrees just to be disagreeable. But no matter how good natured people are, if you bring any two human beings together, they'll find something to disagree about eventually. The strong personalities inherent in any business endeavor can result in people butting heads at all levels. You might find yourself at odds with a team member, another leader, or with your own superior. When you find yourself at loggerheads with someone for any reason, you’ll want to find the most efficient way to resolve the issue quickly, so you can move forward with the business at hand. Needless to say, I'm not talking about small opinion issues that don't matter in the long run, like what … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged: , ,