How many articles have you read by now about setting goals and New Year’s resolutions? “They need to be realistic. They need to be achievable. They need to inspire you.” Yep, we get it. They need to be all of those things. And it feels amazing to set goals; to get yourself back on track.
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Think of the leaves on a vine as they grow up the side of a building. They’re beautiful. They blossom, they grow, and eventually, your entire building is covered with them. As the autumn season approaches, one by one, they start to turn colors. Some yellow, some red, some brown. So many leaves to admire, and every time we look at them, we think of the beauty they bring. Then they start to fall off. Until only a few are left. What will replace them? Naturally, new leaves blossom and grow in their place. They start out small, and then repeat the cycle.
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The moment we hear that business leaders and executives are working on (not just talking about) succession planning and building talent depth charts, we are ecstatic! Because the truth is, many talk about it, but don’t put any action behind the words. Sometime in the future, we’ll hear, “Yeah, we were talking about creating a succession plan for that role. We just never got around to it.”
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Recently, I visited the Grand Canyon. For the fourth time, I had the opportunity to witness this majestic natural wonder. Every time I go, it takes my breath away. If you have been to the Grand Canyon, you know that you can see the canyon from many different viewpoints. You can stay safe and walk only along paths that have guard rails (sturdy dividers between you and the vast drop to the bottom) or you can hike down to more rugged areas and find flat cliffs that jut out over the canyon. These areas have no guard rails and no protection from falling.
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If you’re a business owner or executive, you’re probably working hard to grow your business. And sometimes that means sleepless nights; long days. It can be hard not to think about business. And as the business grows, things change. Or at least they probably should. When we try to keep doing what we’ve always done, we soon realize that it won’t work. Now we have growing pains.
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During a recent conversation with the leaders of a company, we asked them to imagine that their department was not a part of the overall company, but a stand-alone business having to provide value to its customers and make money to continue. Then we asked the question, “How would you organize the company related to positions, roles, and responsibilities? And how would you measure effectiveness?” This is what we call disrupting the org chart.
Some leaders had to be reminded that every minute someone is working costs money. They then considered how to measure productivity in areas that are service related. They recognized that their employees tend to come to work and most are busy. But they’re not necessarily busy with things that are high payoff or things that move the needle related to value and time. They came in to do their job.
They also recognized that they were not asking their (internal) customers what was needed from them as a department. They simply were doing their job and finding ways to make their job easier; not really considering how it affected others. There was no system in place to continually assess needs and effectiveness as things changed for their customers.
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Office politics is a topic that is typically avoided and rarely acknowledged. But it actually has a
remarkable impact on productivity in the workplace. The difference between a historic and a modern view of office politics is how we address it. The fact is, there is a need for office politics – it’s how we get things done. Embracing this view is the key to getting to the next level, which is differentiating between office behaviors that are positive and welcome or negative and offensive.
Embracing change…This is a sore subject for some, and for others, an exciting one. No one likes to talk about it for fear of how people will react. When it comes to change, there are two ways people tend to react. For some, it’s new and exciting. It creates motivation. But for others, it’s scary, it’s unknown, and can be the center of their frustration and despair.
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Ah, another new year is upon us…a time of re-newal, re-juvenation and oh yeah, re-solution. Why is it that people feel compelled to make life changing pronouncements at this juncture? Studies show that fewer than 10% of New Year’s resolutions are ever kept. What, then, can increase the percentage rate of success? Here are a few quick tips that may improve your chances of achieving your objective:
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Do you ever feel like you’ve hit a wall? You’ve set goals for your department or organization, and as hard as you try, you can’t get over that one obstacle that’s standing in your way. Do you ever feel stagnant? Stuck in the same spot, not going anywhere. Not seeing new things. Not listening to new perspectives. You know you’re in a funk, but can’t figure out how to get out.
Why not think differently? What if I told you that people just like you are struggling with the same issues in their organization and on their teams? What if I told you there was a way to challenge your habits, thoughts, and assumptions? What if I told you that you didn’t have to face those obstacles alone?
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