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Why Are You Here, Anyway?

Posted on 10/15/2012 by ·

"Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission." -- Former U.S. Secretary of State and four-star General. Why am I here? In addition to being one of the great mysteries of human existence, this question is one of the most important ones you can ask yourself, especially when you contemplate your job. It’s an exercise that should be undertaken regularly. Why do you occupy this particular box in your workplace's org chart? What do your superiors expect you to accomplish? What is your personal return on investment? What value do you bring to the company? If you have no real reason for working other than your need to occupy yourself or provide for your family, then you've lost sight of your workplace … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tools & Systems · Tagged: , , ,

Are You Stuck to Your Schedule?

Posted on 10/12/2012 by ·

Feel like your're in a rut? Feeling over-scheduled? Do something off-schedule that brings you joy. Drop into a bookstore. Take the long way home so you can drive around a beautiful lake. Your wellness is important. Take some time for yourself. No guilt! Recharge YOUR battery! Even the most productive among us needs to take the time to recharge our batteries. We need recreation to re-create, restore and renew. Another name for down time is your LIFE. We're not "human doings" after all—we're "human beings." No wonder we feel tired when we're scrimping on our own lives! Some people are so used to living on the hamster wheel that they don't know how to be on vacation. It’s not fair if you only take "working vacations." A real vacation doesn't involve your laptop by the pool, a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Life Balance · Tagged: ,

Calling for Backup

Posted on 10/10/2012 by ·

"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy." -- Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian Field Marshal. Sustained workplace productivity rarely flows from seat-of-the-pants, instinctive navigation. Only the strategic application of well-honed time management skills and advance planning will consistently keep you on your organizational course. This holds true, regardless of it your ultimate goals are fantastic profits or a better future for everyone. A crisis can always force the occasional impromptu response, of course, but you can minimize the disruption by making sure you always have a Plan B warming up in the wings. So take the following steps to drastically lower your odds of falling prey to the unexpected: Back up your electronic data properly. This statement may seem so obvious … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: , ,

Clarity of Outcomes: Clear the Air Before You Commit

Posted on 10/08/2012 by ·

"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision on what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out and meet it." -- Thucydides, ancient Greek historian. Clear, practical decision-making represents one of the hallmarks of the competent professional...though sadly, the commodity seems in shorter supply than it should be. People often make decisions reflexively, without sufficient data to understand the potential repercussions. Oh, sometimes they hit the bull's-eye through sheer luck. But since when was business a game of chance? You have to be able to see your target to hit it consistently, which makes clarity of outcomes your #1 goal in any decision-making process. Never blindly assume you understand what will happen if you do this as opposed to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , ,

Life Balance: Running on Empty

Posted on 10/05/2012 by ·

Life Balance: If you're running on an empty tank and fumes of habit, everyone around you loses. So rid yourself of the guilt you feel when you relax. More on life balance: The word ‘guilt’ starts with a “G” for ‘garbage.’ We all need to stop and smell the roses on a regular basis, but for some reason, we seem to feel guilty about resting. This can be particularly true of mothers who work outside the home. I promise you no one's head is going to burst into flames if you take a hot bath. Your life won't fall apart if you sit on the porch swing and enjoy the spring air. It might, however, fall apart if you don't. Your ability to take care of others decreases when you don’t care for yourself! Time is valuable. You have to savor it and make time for the things that electrify your life … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Life Balance · Tagged: ,

Back To The Phone Age

Posted on 10/04/2012 by ·

"Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." -- Gertrude Stein, early 20th century American writer. "Men have become the tools of their tools." -- Henry David Thoreau, 19th century American poet and philosopher. No doubt about it: modern technology has made us ultra-productive—and many people invariably pack more work into whatever time they save. But all too often we soon hit a point of diminishing returns, where our techno-saviors end up driving us to distraction and stealing our personal time. Electronic tools worsen this tendency because they kindle an urge for instant gratification. Think about it your thought process when you receive an email. You want to look at it right away, because if you don’t, you’ll continually wonder who's emailing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: , ,

No More Mr. Unreliable!

Posted on 10/03/2012 by ·

"Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that this is humanly possible." -- Hannah Arendt, German-American political theorist. Some things we take for granted and never really notice them until they’re missing. Little things, mostly, like fried rice with our cashew chicken or those silly stickers on bananas. But we can take big things for granted too: good health, rain, and clean air. The sudden lack of any of these can prove devastating. In the workplace, reliability ranks high on the Taken for Granted list. Everyone taking part in your team's workflow process, from the boss on down, must be consistently reliable. Actually, your name should be synonymous with Mr. or Ms. Reliable, especially when other’s work depends on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: ,

Five Ways to Bounce Back When You Drop the Ball!

Posted on 09/26/2012 by ·

"No matter how far life pushes you down, no matter how much you hurt, you can always bounce back." -- Sheryl Swoopes, American professional basketball player. "Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom."-- George F. Patton, U.S. Army general during World Wars I and II. You've never made a single mistake in your entire career—right? As much as we hate to admit it, we're only human, and perfection lies only in the realm of the Divine. We are high-performing individuals, certainly, but still just flesh and bone, and occasionally we drop the ball. This shouldn't come as a huge surprise to anyone, since we often juggle five or ten of them at once. Fortunately, balls tend to bounce; so when you drop a ball and it bounces back at you, grab it up and rebound yourself. Use these … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: ,

High Performer or Average Worker? How Can You Quickly Tell?

Posted on 09/24/2012 by ·

"The best in every business do what they have learned to do without questioning their abilities—they flat out trust their skills." -- John Eliot, American author of Overachievement: The New Model for Exceptional Performance.   Adding a new person to your workplace team is always a gamble. Usually you can't tell, just by looking, who will consistently deliver top-notch performance that makes the entire team shine...and who will just show up, do an average job, and fade into the woodwork. To clarify, "average" does not mean "bad." Average people define the norm and provide the benchmarks by which we recognize high performance. They do their jobs adequately when properly directed, and you can depend on them in most things. But you build your team around high performers—the "quantum … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: , ,

With Us or Against Us?

Posted on 09/19/2012 by ·

Do your coworkers consider you a productive team player—or an annoying bottleneck in the workflow process? You may find this a hard question to face, but unflinching self-honesty is essential to maximizing your personal success. So no matter how helpful you believe you are, take the time every once in a while to review your workplace productivity through the eyes of your teammates. Never forget: your work represents part of a group effort that requires everyone involved to pull in the same direction. You may very well pull harder than anyone else on the team...but if you pull the wrong way, you're hurting, not helping. Seven Questions If you can't determine your productivity status at a glance, then ask yourself these seven questions—and answer them truthfully. 1. How much do I really … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: , ,