You want to be an all-star manager, so it’s natural that your brainwaves—at least while at work—are concentrated on your team’s goals, progress and accomplishments. While it’s great to be focused on your work, don’t lose sight of this fact: Your employees are people. As a leader, your job isn’t just to motivate your team to meet and exceed expectations; it’s also to build … [Read more...]
10 Ways to Increase Your Productivity This Week
Build better time-management habits and you will be amazed by the way your productivity soars, as your stress level sinks. Add these practices to your workday: Save less. Be honest: How many files do you have that you never refer to? The surest way to avoid clutter is to never allow it to collect. Make your first instinct to delete an email or recycle a paper instead of … [Read more...]
10 Steps to Gain (or Regain) Your Employees’ Trust
When it comes to leadership, few things are as important as your employees' trust in you. Once you lose it, it's very hard to earn it back. Follow these 10 tips to build your employees' trust (or rebuild it once it's lost): Align your words and actions. Follow through with your commitments and promises. Honor the behaviors you claim are important to you—and engage in them … [Read more...]
Inspire Employees to Take Pride in Their Work
Employees who take pride in their work are motivated, productive and pleasant to be around. They raise the overall morale of the workplace and inspire their co-workers. They happily go above and beyond requirements and expectations simply because their work makes them feel good. These four leadership practices will instill pride in all of your employees: Build anticipation for … [Read more...]
When You Should and Shouldn’t Reprimand Employees
Reprimanding employees in front of other employees is never a good idea. Embarrassing staff members in that way damages morale and can put people on the defensive, making it less likely that they will fix their bad behaviors. Scolding employees in front of customers is worse. Even if employee has done something that deserves a good talking to, and even if you think the … [Read more...]
Stop With the Excuses! You Can Be an Exceptional Leader
I often hear people say that they would work on their leadership skills if their organization supported them, if they had more time and resources, or any number of other similar (and flimsy) excuses. Well, I say, no more excuses! Here are six steps that anyone can take to become strong leaders - no ifs, ands or buts about it. Just keep learning. It sounds simple … [Read more...]
It’s Time to Have That Difficult Conversation
You can put off having difficult conversations with employees about negative behavior and poor performance, but you can’t avoid those discussions forever. By delaying the inevitable, you risk the chance of escalating your dread into chronic anxiety. Perhaps you’re concerned about saying the wrong things and hurting someone’s feelings. You may be worrying yourself sick over … [Read more...]
6 Questions You Must Ask Yourself Every Single Day
As your leader, your job is about so much more than checking tasks off a to-do list and telling your staff what to do. You have the power to make a real difference in the business and in the lives of your employees. You need to always be thinking about the big picture and how you can move the team and organization forward. You need to come up with ways to make things run … [Read more...]
5 Core Practices of the Best Leaders
Regardless your age, industry, background or level within the organization, if you want to be a truly great leader, there are five core principles that will guide you to be your very best, according to Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, who have just released the sixth edition of their bestseller The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in … [Read more...]
Ira Glass on Being a Beginner
This quote from Ira Glass, the host and producer of NPR’s This American Life, has been embraced by many in the creative fields. We’ve seen it pop up on a number of design and photography blogs, but it’s just as relevant to those of us in the business world if you replace “good taste” with “vision.” Your “creative work” probably has more to do with creative problem-solving … [Read more...]