Category: Leadership

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Leadership -Connecting with (your) people to improve results. Step 4: Removing roadblocks

In this series we are talking about connecting – connecting to people, connecting people to the business results you want, and getting those results.

Recap:
In Step 1 you selected up to three of the most critical strategic themes or objectives. In Step 2 you mapped these themes to your Strategy so that key objectives can be prioritized and contrasted (it is not uncommon to have conflicting objectives that need to be sorted out). And in Step 3 you prioritized so that you’d be sure that what is most important gets done.

Now before we move on, it is critical to have a plan for identifying and removing roadblocks. You will face at least one. I’m going to list a few of the most common ones here, along with answers that have worked for others. I’d love to have comments and additions from readers.

Here are three common roadblocks to getting what you expect: Continue reading “Leadership -Connecting with (your) people to improve results. Step 4: Removing roadblocks”

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Leadership -Connecting with (your) people to improve results. Step 3: Prioritizing

In this series we are talking about connecting – connecting to people, connecting people to the business results you want, and getting those results.

Recap:
In Step 1 you selected up to three of the most critical strategic themes or objectives. In Step 2 you mapped these themes to your Strategy so that key objectives can be prioritized and contrasted (it is not uncommon to have conflicting objectives that need to be sorted out).

Step 3 is to prioritize so that you are doing the right things. Continue reading “Leadership -Connecting with (your) people to improve results. Step 3: Prioritizing”

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Leadership -Connecting with (your) people to improve results. Step 2: Mapping Strategy

In this Leadership series we are talking about connecting – connecting to people, connecting people to the business results you want, and getting those results.

In Step 1 you selected up to 3 of the most critical strategic themes or objectives. Now you will prepare to share these objectives or themes with those who need to act in order for Strategy to be executed.

I’ve decided to share with you how our company is taking these same steps. I hope this helps clarify the process…

For Abrige Corp the most critical objectives fall into these themes:
“Get Visible!” & “Systematize Everything.” I’ve logged these into our STRATEGY application, below: Continue reading “Leadership -Connecting with (your) people to improve results. Step 2: Mapping Strategy”

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Leadership -Connecting with (your) people to improve your results. Step 1: Strategic Themes

Overwhelmed with your days right now? Underwhelmed with your business or job?

Let me re-introduce you to …connection… starting with the people around you…

I’m a bottom-line gal… and I am here to tell you to get social within your organization. I am positive that doing so will improve performance across the organization. No worries if you haven’t really excelled at this to date. We can tell and if you look around you, you are not the only one. (and it’s not your fault entirely… technology, and actually performance management systems specifically, has played a role in this trouble and I’ll get to that later in this series). But you CAN realize improvement quickly, by making a few small shifts in how you connect with people.

So how you do this without changing who you are? Continue reading “Leadership -Connecting with (your) people to improve your results. Step 1: Strategic Themes”

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Connecting people to business performance!

From what is (now) to what can be (in the future)

What’s in it for me? (aka WIIFM). You may be asking yourself this right now. Do you think there has been a disconnect in communication, and strategy, in corporate America? I know there has!

When people are not communicating transparently and with empathy, the disconnect between what people do and what leaders expect (aka Strategy) grows larger.

Reconnecting people – at all levels – into performance management systems and to the performance of the company is critical. And it is do-able! 

The first step might be to shift from performance management to performance momentum! An Aligned Momentum program, powered by the A.M. software, just might be the transformative solution you are looking for. Feel free to reach out to me directly at lori[at]thepivotcatalyst[dot]com.

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Business and leadership failures; how to avoid being next

The recent global upheaval has brought down some iconic companies, and in some cases it is obvious why these leaders failed.

But in most cases it is not that clear how exactly that leader failed, when we reconsider by visually stepping into his or her shoes without benefit of hindsight. Most of these leaders say they made the best decision with the information they had and were aimed in the direction their stakeholders wanted them to go. Could you or someone you know be next? And it is with this realization that we leaders pause.

Below is one of several news releases that depict a leader that in hindsight didn’t lead in the right direction. This one is about the SEC’s Chairman Christopher Cox. An earlier article was about AIG’s former CEO Martin Sullivan. My comments are in italics.

Continue reading “Business and leadership failures; how to avoid being next”

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Communication tips for leaders: when times are uncertain

This transformation guidance is more personal in nature. In the last post I posed some questions about communication in tough times.

Here are a few tips if you are open to mental work:

Take steps to rid your uncertainty with the present (or past). Be certain about the future.
How? There are many ways to do this. I’ve found some that work well for me that I’ll touch on here and can expand if you are interested. I’ll focus on leaders, who are often processers and problem-solvers.

If you are a problem-solver you may not feel settled without fixing whatever it is right now. Many will say that the best thing to do is to focus on solving the problem. That was me. I’ve made progress. Sure I still solve problems – lots of them. It is that I select the problem and typically tackle it very early when something still can be done about it, sometimes even catching it before the problem is well known.

Continue reading “Communication tips for leaders: when times are uncertain”

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How do you communicate bad news?

What message would you communicate to your employees if you are (or were to be) a leader of a company suffering from lost profits, lost customers and/or lost value during these still uncertain times? How would you communicate it? What would you expect the employees to do next? What might you tell employees about changes you/leadership will make? How would you handle your own emotions caused by uncertainty? How might you refocus yourself, your mastermind (those around you that help with decisions) and your employees on solutions? How might you keep the communication… and the positive sparks it should create…alive?

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Marketing skills for leaders, managers and HR: Observe Obama

I’m writing this to get your attention and give you some ideas about “marketing” to your own people. I mean, the people that can affect the success of your company, be they employees including management, Board, community, suppliers, outsourced entities, etc.

Parts of this blog post are excerpted from an article that originally appeared as part one of a two-part series in Steve Harrison’s Book Marketing Update print newsletter. Steve and his brother Bill are successful information marketers, who are also successful at staying on that higher ground that I so appreciate. I’m not an author yet, but when I am they will be the guys I will turn to for help.

My comments are in italics.

No matter which candidate you like (or dislike) in the current presidential race, one thing is obvious: Barack Obama is one heck of a marketer.

I will refrain from stating my political viewpoints here. This post is about using marketing skills to motivate.

Continue reading “Marketing skills for leaders, managers and HR: Observe Obama”