The brain doesn’t do boring. We just can’t take it as humans, especially today, in a time when Twitter and Instagram posts dominate as news and entertainment sources. Long, dense, humorless presentations are a surefire way to lose your audience immediately. And once that happens it’s hard to get them back. Good presentations cater to audience interests, they engage …
Priorities
There’s always way more to do than can there are hours in the day. That will always be true. Personal, family, work and leisure obligations add up quickly. The key to getting as much done as possible is prioritization. Stephen Covey’s “First Things First” is a book with a simple premise: Your life has big rocks and …
Rapport
Try getting someone to go along with your idea, cause, product or service if they don’t like you. Of course we all know it doesn’t work, at least not for very long. Good rapport is a critical element of communication, relationship-building – and business. Sandler Training says this basic tenet is important because: People who …
Delegating
Leadership expert John C. Maxwell says it best: “If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.” But delegating is difficult. It means giving up control. It requires trust and confidence. It can add complexity. It’s …
Kick in the pants
Ever feel stuck in neutral? Having trouble getting started? Not sure what to do next? All pretty normal and natural feelings, but the key is to shake those feelings fast. Sometimes you just need a good kick in the pants. Marie Forleo is the author of Everything is Figureoutable and I checked out one of …
Decisions
Making good decisions is arguably one of the most important skills we can attain and develop. Our choices affect everything: health, family, friendships and work. Mike Irwin, author of “Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude,” outlines the five most detrimental mindsets to good decision-making – and how to avoid them: Fatigue. Judgement gets fuzzy when …
Innovating
Whether your business is services, products or some combination thereof, you’ve always got to be thinking about new business models that can keep up with change and withstand disruption. You’ve got to innovate. While increasing the velocity of innovation gets talked about a lot, there are often many hurdles like silos, time constraints and fuzzy …
Resiliency
Work is a team sport. And though individual resiliency is often identified as a success factor, team resiliency is just as important. A survey of 2,000 NCAA coaches recently outlined in the HBR reveals the four most important things that resilient teams have in common: They believe. Team members collectively believe that they can effectively complete tasks. They …
Growth
What sounds better, a performance-driven culture or growth-driven culture? They both sound good, but there are important differences. A performance-driven culture fosters a zero-sum game mentality where there are winners and losers. In unforgiving environments of performance-at-all-costs, the tendency is to minimize mistakes, cover up, and deny weaknesses. It becomes too risky to reveal any …
Adaptability
As Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in 1395: “Time and tide wait for no one.” No matter how much we might want time to slow down or stop time because of comfort, pleasure or familiarity, it continues. Circumstances change. People change. Forces beyond our control – change. Which leaves us no choice but to adapt, as expressed …