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Rebuilding SWOT: Turning Threats into Opportunities

Posted on 05/27/2014 by ·
Rebuilding SWOT: Turning Threats into Opportunities by Laura Stack #productivity #execution #leadership

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." -- Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister. You may find it hard to believe, given its powerhouse status now, but the music recording industry came very close to dying before it ever got started. The potential for recording music became obvious immediately after Thomas Edison perfected his phonograph in 1887; in fact, Edison founded one of the very first recording companies. But many performers and managers viewed the technology as a threat to their traditional business model. If fans could purchase recordings of their favorite performers' music, they argued, no one would come to their concerts when the performers came to town. We all know how accurate that prediction turned … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , ,

Getting it Right the First Time: The Art of Communicating Expectations

Posted on 05/20/2014 by ·
Getting it Right the First Time: The Art of Communicating Expectations by Laura Stack #productivity #leadership

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright. In general, people like to talk more than they like to listen. This causes enough problems in the normal course of human affairs, but in the workplace, poor communication can result in a loss of time and money. Consider this minor example. A technical writer explains to his editor that the client wants to use an archaic spelling for a specific word on a report's cover. Nevertheless, she changes it to the accepted modern spelling. The report goes to the printer, and 400 copies come back perfect -bound. The client rejects the report because of the spelling of that one word, and the company that prepared the report not only has to deal with the embarrassment, … [Read more...]

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Who’s Up Next? The Value of Succession Planning

Posted on 05/13/2014 by ·
Who's Up Next? The Value of Succession Planning by Laura Stack

One aspect of leadership that’s often overlooked is succession planning—the process of providing for future leadership in an organization. Few of us bother to think about what will happen after we've exited the scene, and frankly, many leaders don't care. But succession planning is crucial to any organization's long-term success. Some companies that have been around for centuries, such as Lowenbrau and the Hudson's Bay Company, have excellent succession planning traditions in place, which is in no small part a reason they have lasted for so many generations. As practiced in the modern business arena, this process essentially boils down to "buy or build." Either you hire proven leadership from outside as needed, or you cultivate new leadership from within. The second option provides … [Read more...]

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Guest Post: Three Communication Tips Every Leader Should Use

Posted on 04/29/2014 by ·
Joe McCormack Headshot

Brief breakthroughs can come at any time. “I wish I knew how important brevity was for me 30 years ago.” That’s a powerful confession to hear from an accomplished Fortune 500 professional. I had just wrapped up a “Brief Leadership” seminar with a group of manufacturing managers and one of their senior leaders pulled me aside afterward. I thought he was going to thank me or ask a follow-up question. “I just can’t help myself with words,” he lamented. I was floored by his candor. Recognizing that his successful career, nearing its end, had been filled with constant falling into temptation to over-explain, he confided to me that his default mode was to dump on his subordinates and give them lengthy lectures. He was looking me straight in the eye, completely serious and … [Read more...]

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A Look in the Crystal Ball: Challenges Leaders Will Face in 2014

Posted on 04/01/2014 by ·
A Look in the Crystal Ball: Challenges Leaders Will Face in 2014 by Laura Stack

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves." -- William Shakespeare, British playwright and poet. Let's face it: business life won't be getting any easier or slower or less complicated (unless human nature and civilization undergo a radical reversal). Technology will keep advancing at a rapid pace, and the changes it brings will continue to reverberate through our society. When I was growing up, many things we take for granted now didn't even exist: cell phones, CDs, DVDs, home computers, and satellite radio, just to name a few. Now they're commonplace things most of us enjoy. What might be commonplace 30 years from now? There's no telling, but what I can say is this: the business leaders who are ready and willing to embrace the future will be the ones who prosper … [Read more...]

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Withstanding the Pain: How to Accept and Act on Constructive Criticism

Posted on 03/11/2014 by ·
Withstanding the Pain: How to Accept and Act on Constructive Criticism by Laura Stack #productivity

"To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Aristotle, ancient Greek philosopher. No one enjoys criticism, but sometimes we need it. No matter where you stand in an organizational hierarchy, you can always improve your game. While many of us claim we're our own harshest critics, that's rarely true. It’s usually more helpful to have someone else point out our flaws…if you trust the source. Criticism can be difficult to hear, but pain helps us learn and improve ourselves. As former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once stated, criticism is necessary because, like physical pain, "it calls attention to an unhealthy state of things." Once we feel that pain, we can take measures to correct it. As a leader, you’ve probably received more than your share of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: , ,

Strengthen the Beam

Posted on 12/19/2013 by ·
Strengthen the Beam by Laura Stack #productivity

Once you've optimized the force you apply to the strategic execution lever, you'll need to make sure the lever itself can handle the force before you apply it too vigorously. In our leverage model, the lever's beam represents your employees, both individually and collectively. The best way to strengthen the beam of your organizational lever is to have the right people in the right places, armed with the skills they need to execute in the moment and get the job done. It’s up to you to strengthen each team member's ability to execute strategy in every way possible. 1. Balance talent and hard work. Find the person with the right strengths needed to maximize the Personal Return on Investment (PROI) for each job on your team. Talent is a wonderful thing, but let's face it: it's useless … [Read more...]

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Toward More Productive Leadership: Seven Tips for Motivating Your Team

Posted on 10/30/2013 by ·
Toward More Productive Leadership: Seven Tips for Motivating Your Team by Laura Stack #productivity

"When people are crystal clear about the most important priorities of the organization and team they work with and prioritize their work around those top priorities, not only are they many times more productive, they discover they have the time they need to have a whole life." -- Stephen Covey, American educator and keynote speaker. You can spend months defining your team's core values, articulating your Mission and Vision, and fashioning a flexible, up-to-the-minute strategy—but your whole tower will crumble if your team members don't feel motivated enough to execute rapidly and consistently. If their collective attitude boils down to "Who cares?" then you've lost the game before you've even begun. If that's true, then who's at fault? Well, you can blame your team if you like. You can … [Read more...]

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Operational Efficiency: Energizing Accountability at the Leadership Level

Posted on 10/28/2013 by ·
Operational Efficiency: Energizing Accountability at the Leadership Level by Laura Stack #productivity

In the wake of the Enron scandal a dozen years ago, I saw a cartoon by Wiley Miller that nicely summed up the situation. The one-panel drawing showed an angry-looking man bursting through a door labeled "Accountability Department"—and finding no one there, because the office's sole occupant was hiding under his desk. In the post-Enron era, it sometime seems like accountability doesn't mean much anymore, especially when we see high-level executives duck responsibility for their mistakes or laziness with a wave of their C-Suite Golden Tickets. But these represent exceptions to the rule, not standard procedure. Accountability does still matter. Rampant Self-Honesty If you've made it to a leadership role, then you didn't get there by accident. Your superiors elevated you to the … [Read more...]

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Maximizing Organization: Ordering the Inputs and Outputs of Life

Posted on 10/25/2013 by ·
Maximizing Organization: Ordering the Inputs and Outputs of Life by Laura Stack #productivity

One of the keys of workplace competence lies in your ability to organize the inputs and outputs in your work life, so you can more easily locate data and resources anywhere: in paper files, on your computer, on the company Intranet, or distributed in your team members' heads. Since information constantly bombards modern workers, the ability to access it efficiently can enhance personal and team productivity to a surprising degree. By now, you probably have the basics down pat: a handy, usable, and garbage-free (HUG) time management system that includes your personal schedule, task lists, and contact info; a clean and uncluttered workspace; a dedicated filing system; and a simple file-naming protocol that helps you locate information quickly. You had to master these survival skills … [Read more...]

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