Managing employees and raising children

My wife Mary and I decided to have children in our late twenties, somewhat later than many of our peers. One of the advantages of waiting, however, was the decade of experience we had accumulated in managing independent, unrelated employees. … Continue reading

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Beware hiring a “Charles Ponzi” to lead your sales or IT team

“How strong is our sales pipeline for next year?” Bob, the CEO of Creative Analytics asked in the annual strategy planning meeting. “Great!” replied Pat, the sales VP. “I’ve got a dozen projects lined up, at least half are a … Continue reading

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The most valuable asset you have is your team

Over the course of my career, I’ve seen many CEOs who underutilize their teams. This letter, written in response to a New York Times article, recently caught my attention. The author’s management insight is not limited to the medical profession. … Continue reading

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How good is your employee fit and finish?

Based on how well an employee “fits” their job, they can be a platinum-level player or literally a lead-level player dragging the organization down. (For more on the Platinum-Lead model read my Strategic Downsizing article.) What makes an employee a … Continue reading

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Do your employees know what they are being paid for?

Many years ago I sat down with one of my employees and asked why he hadn’t made progress on his assignment. “I haven’t had the time to work on it,” he told me. I asked him what he had been … Continue reading

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What the world needs now is personal accountability

What does “being accountable” mean? Chances are, one of the definitions on this list comes to mind for you: Commitment and/or buy-in. Completing within agreed timeframes. Having the authority and resources. Knowing how it ties in and communicating this with … Continue reading

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Why do people resist change?

People resist changing the status que is because every change creates winners and losers. Continue reading

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Do you hire the best or the best available?

You are always better paying the short term price and continuing to search until you identify a candidate who is the best for the job rather than the best available. Continue reading

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Strategic Delegation: The Key to Increased Productivity

Without strategic delegation time management becomes a problem, top performers cannot handle more highpotential activities, individuals attempt to accomplish too much and get burned out or demotivated from their excessive workload, the quality of work diminishes
dramatically and deadlines are missed. Continue reading

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Is your strategic plan a virtual secret?

The power of a team derived strategic plan is that the entire team shared the plan and they could judge their daily actions against that plan. Continue reading

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