Leadership Archives - Page 2 of 42

19
Aug 21
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Priority Strategy, What Is Next For You?

Tags : distractions prioritization squeaky wheel strategic

Do you have a priority strategy? A strategy that helps you decide what to do next? What is most important, urgent, or has the squeakiest wheel?

If you’re on a road trip, and you need a break for rest or for food, you might as well get gas too.

At the grocery store for bread and milk? You might as well buy a snack while you’re at it.

If you’re going to eat the pumpkin or apple pie, you might as well load it up with whipped cream.

It’s commonplace for people to pile on. Pile on whatever is around you, because right now is a time of great convenience or, if you’re falling off a discipline, you might as well splurge.

You also experience it when someone processes LIFO, last in, first out. It’s an act of convenience or proximity.

And finally, it may be the shout of, if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by.

Can you do better than that? What’s your strategy?

Priority Strategy

Prioritization that isn’t strategic may be wasteful.

Doing the next thing that pops up might not be as valuable as item number three in the pile.

Largely, it is often too easy, or too lazy, to not be strategic.

It happens in the digital world. Click the website, click the hyperlink, go deeper, dig more. It’s fast, it’s often friendly, and most of all, it’s convenient.

That’s exactly how people get sucked in. It’s how they get distracted and buried in something that might not have the highest priority or be the most valuable right now.

Prioritization should be strategic.

Always.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

18
Aug 21
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Changed Meetings, How They Affect Outcomes

Tags : changes costs delays meetings success

Do you want to get on a call with someone? Do you just ring their phone or do you schedule a time? What happens with workplace meetings? Have you been the victim of changed meetings?

Time is valuable to everyone. Is your time more valuable when compared with someone else?

If you started your day planning to work on the report due this week for your boss, but someone has now shifted the priorities, how do you adapt?

When you placed the meeting on your calendar for 10:00 AM and at 9:55 AM the person planning the meeting signals a delay until 10:30 AM, was your time wasted? Is there an opportunity cost?

Hours Spent

The cost to produce a single episode of your favorite television show may be in the several million-dollar range.

Actors and actresses, film crews, equipment, location fees, and time. It all costs.

Your favorite stars will spend hours of effort for you to be able to watch 20, 30, or 40 minutes of the final product.

Olympic level athletes may have special talents and abilities.

You might watch them for a few seconds, or less than a couple of minutes on television. Do you recognize and appreciate the culmination of years of effort it took to get to those few precious moments?

The hours of commitment, that perhaps millions of people will view all at the same time, for just minutes.

Why are top athletes and movie stars paid huge salaries? If it were by the hour what would that look like?

Changed Meetings

In your workplace everyone has a schedule. Perhaps a select few are to be on-call for immediate action when the boss shouts, for everyone else, their time may already be spoken for.

If you schedule a one-hour meeting with a team of five for next Wednesday at 9:00 AM, they’ve probably adjusted or given up something else in order to be there. A last-minute delay or cancellation costs.

The value of time is irreplaceable.

It is more than about being rude, more than about the disruption, it is the cost associated with delays or missed opportunities.

Everyone is has a mission. Disruption’s cost. Missed opportunities often don’t get a do-over.

Time wasted adds up, even if it only looks like a few minutes.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

10
Aug 21
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Meeting Arguments, Do They Change Minds?

Tags : arguments changing minds impressions types of meetings

Nearly anyone reading this has probably witnessed meeting arguments. They come in various forms and occur often.

There are many reasons to have meetings. Meetings can be everything from informational to decision making, from change of direction to staff meetings. Often, they include metrics, measurements, and other comparisons related to organizational goals or directives.

Why are there so many arguments or disagreements? Are they always verbalized? Can you sometimes see it in the body language? Is there an after the meeting, meeting?

Considering there are many different types of meetings and that the arguments will vary, do the arguments ever change minds? Is that the intent?

Meeting Arguments

It may seem logical that only some arguments ever change minds.

There is a theory that unless some information, an action or behavior, or an experience, leaves an impression on our subconscious, no change will occur.

This is exactly why some people will often suggest that you can’t change people, they’ll only change if they want to change.

Perhaps.

Yet impressions are often created from the outcomes of human interaction.

Exactly the kinds of interaction you might experience in a meeting.

For example, you may learn, never argue with the boss, or don’t challenge the person responsible for the budget.

It may be considered commonplace for sales to have disputes with operations, or the marketing team to express that there isn’t enough budget to create the appropriate impact.

Minds are changed when the data or experience creates an impression.

It doesn’t necessarily require an argument, yet an argument might ensue.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

09
Aug 21
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Data Decisions and Having Enough Information

Tags : choices data decision making information overload

Are you making data decisions? Where is the happy medium between not enough data and too much?

Information overload is a popular topic. Many people think that there is too much. Too much to read, consume, or otherwise process.

Digital video uploads to YouTube are happening faster than any one person consume. Interesting to think about, but it’s also important to remember that a big chunk of that data may never matter to you.

If you like buying and selling antiques, you may not care very much about the best way grow plants in a high-rise apartment. If you love sushi recipes you may not care about the 10 best guidelines for mountain climbing. Some data just doesn’t matter to you.

Data from news sources many be important, or they might be considered garbage. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will give you ticker data, does that matter?

What data do you really need to make good decisions?

Data Decisions

Finding the sweet spot for data quantity and quality will always make a difference. In research methods, the question is often asked about data validity and reliability. Good data or bad data?

In some decisions, there are people who will want to refute or refuse any data that doesn’t align with the intended direction of their decision.

More data than we can observe or view only serves to stall a decision, for better or worse.

Better to take a reasonable sample and be timely, than to stall on something without a good reason.

A project that starts late is much more likely to fail when compared with a project in motion that has an option to adapt.

Everyone knows time can work for you or against you.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

04
Aug 21
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Project Budget, Are You Spending Enough?

Tags : budget project funding resources wasteful spending

What does your project budget look like? Do you have enough resources?

If you get sick, and perhaps require an antibiotic, is one pill enough? If you take only one, will it help your condition or is it a waste of time?

A ten-thousand-dollar car might easily take you from Rhode Island to California, but if there is not enough money for gas, the car may not matter that much.

If you spend one thousand dollars on a marketing campaign, will it be enough to reach your audience and generate sales? What if you spend one hundred thousand dollars?

Sometimes, something is better than nothing. And sometimes, not enough doesn’t fix anything at all.

Starting matters. Someone may suggest that getting halfway is better than getting nowhere. I agree, yet what is the goal? Is the goal to get halfway?

Project Budget

When there is a problem, people often try to throw money at it.

Give some money and we’ll see what happens.

Return on investment should always be a factor. Understanding the goals and how the project will be measured should occur before funding, not after. And yes, spending a little money to explore if the project is reasonable makes sense.

Buying a dozen two by four pieces of lumber won’t build a house in an upscale neighborhood.

Buying a laptop with a 17-inch screen is nice, but if you need another thousand dollars for software and it’s not in the budget the laptop really doesn’t matter.

Businesses and government entities waste a lot of money each year on the concept of, “It’s in the budget.”

Spending nothing might be better than spending a little only to end up right back at nothing.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

30
Jul 21
-

Extra Effort and Little Things Are Sometimes Big Things

Tags : extra effort give more job success profit margins work hard

Do you believe in giving extra effort? Is the extra effort worth it?

Little things can mean a lot. Small changes, slight differences, sometimes make or break the deal.

An ice cream sundae might be a little nicer with some whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Paper plates and plastic forks are convenient at a lunch or dinner meal, but do they create the same impression as fine china and silverware?

Most cars have four wheels, air conditioning, and a radio, yet are they all the same? Luxury versus economy, have you thought about the differences? Have you driven both?

Differences might seem subtle on the surface, but underneath the surface they are game changers.

Is this true for your job or career? Does it make a difference for products or services?

Extra Effort

Have you ever read product reviews or public comments online? You probably have, and what do you see?

Hopefully you find plenty of fantastic testimonials, but if something is wrong, you’re probably reading about that too.

What makes one employee favorable over another? Is it experience or is it behavioral? One argument could be that experience drives the behavioral outcomes. Certainly, there is some truth there.

Why doesn’t everyone give extra effort?

The answer might be two-fold. Either they don’t know what they don’t know, or perhaps they feel the extra effort costs too much.

Giving more effort often costs time, energy, and leaves some people asking why.

Choosing do to more on the surface might appear to narrow margins and reduce profitability, but does it?

Should you work harder and give more or do just enough to get by?

People and businesses who care more often get more.

That’s a big thing.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

28
Jul 21
-

Problem Solving Tactics Are Part Of The System

Tags : problem solving systems tactics

Is part of your job to solve problems? There is a good chance that it is, in fact, it may be the exact reason your business exists. Problem solving tactics are part of the process.

It is commonplace for people to wish for a life (or career) without problems. Yet, that may be exactly why you are there in the first place.

When you fix a problem, resolve an issue, often there is another new problem right around the corner.

New Problems

Have you missed a team members birthday recognition?

You have a cake and a party and now you have a cake and party for everyone’s birthday. It all works great until you miss one birthday, just one, only one. Now you have a new problem.

In a metro area, you walk, take a train, or use a bicycle. There are challenges with weather, schedules, and convenience. You buy a car and it improves many of those problems, but invites a whole new set of challenges.

Even something as modern and efficient as a smartphone. It works fantastic, it grows on you, you use it for everything, until you don’t have service, then there is a problem.

In life, problems seem to always occur. Perhaps, they are unavoidable. Solve a problem and a new one appears.

Are problem solving skills and tactics important?

Problem Solving Tactics

Wishing problems will go away is common.

If problems will always exist, then they must be part of the system.

Many people are good problem solvers. They may be the go-to person, or even the boss. In some cases, they are the person who has been around the longest, knows the ropes, and has a history.

Management team members are usually confronted with problems. Their assignment is often to utilizing the team in order to fix, repair, replace, or otherwise resolve a problem or issue.

Every day is a push back against problems. Minimize the problem or obstruction and you’ll have a product or a service that others desire.

How you make decisions impacts problem resolution. Learning from mistakes can be powerful. Learning by observation or formal study can also be powerful.

People with a lot of knowledge and skill probably have solved a lot of problems. They’ve also created a few.

Problem solving is a tactic for success. Procrastinating about tackling the tough issues is not.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

26
Jul 21
-

A Strategic Plan Means You Won’t Get Lost In Tactics

Tags : firefighting objectives strategic plan strategy tactics

Do you have a strategic plan? Are you really just pushing through each moment of each day by responding to situations with tactical approaches?

In the workplace, tactics sometimes become a form of organizational firefighting. Whatever the emergency is, people jump in to solve the problem.

Jumping in to solve the problem is important, it is also valuable. Does it connect to strategy?

A quick reaction might be, “Of course it does.” Yet, does it really, or is it taking away from the strategic focus?

Solving a customer problem might be considered a tactical approach that is consistent with strategy.

The strategy is, delight the customer, the tactic is, solve the problem.

However, delighting the customer should be a strategic focus that means you don’t have to resolve a breakdown in order to provide delight.

Strategic Plan

A good strategic plan includes goals and objectives. The goals and objectives are pursued relentlessly through tactics.

Tactics may need to be adjusted, but it is not as common to throw away the strategic plan and start over.

The confusion seems to set in when the focus of the why seems to get overrun by the how.

Delighting customers through never ending problem solving is not a good strategy. It is a tactic, overrun with the mechanics of how.

Tactics often become reactionary. They are thrown in motion because something unexpected popped up. In some cases, people and organizations pride themselves on tactical firefights.

The ability to be responsive and solve problems is important. In some industries, that is the service model. For everyone else, allowing tactical firefights to consume your day probably means you need to take another look at your strategy.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

23
Jul 21
-

Brave Leaders Clear The Pathway For Success

Tags : brave leaders merit navigation

Do you know any brave leaders? In the workplace people are often confronted with choices. Choices for behavior that will condition what happens next.

While many people seek success by merit, much of your success is created by navigation.

Certainly, you need to have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform but you should never underestimate the value of relationships, etiquette, and social prowess.

Bravery may be something you haven’t really considered.

Brave Leaders

Being brave shouldn’t imply confrontation, harmful conflict, or cognitive dissonance.

Brave may be facing challenges head on rather than procrastinating or otherwise delaying necessary actions.

You might consider how you unveil your recent findings while studying the data or how you will advise the boss that too many cocktails and flirty behavior at the social gathering might turn off investors.

Also under consideration is risk. How far will you stray from the mainstream concepts for marketing in your industry. How risky will your ad campaign be?

Taking a stand on any topic of conversation might be a brave move. Will it be accepted or rejected?

Bravery is part of navigation that many workplace professionals struggle with. How much is the right amount and how much will reflect an imagine of being overdone?

Will your bravery disrupt your image of organizational fit?

Cross Roads

Throughout any career there are crossroads. Choices and decisions that need to be made.

Focusing on what is deemed right matters. What is deemed right by your standards may not be part of the culture of every organization.

Bravery is almost never a short-run game. Appropriately balanced with navigation it will determine long-run success.

Your next move might require the most bravery of all.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

19
Jul 21
-

Urgent Problems Use The Most Energy

Tags : firefighting problem solving strategy tactical

Do you have some urgent problems in your workplace? Maybe you haven’t started your day yet, or maybe you’re starting your day earlier than the most and haven’t encountered any, yet?

Ask a group of managers if they ever feel like they spend most of their time fighting fires and you’ll likely have a lot of agreement in the room.

Metaphorical firefighting is a common workplace tactic. A tactic deployed day-in and day-out. The phrase, at the end of the day, has a tiring feeling associated with it for the firefighter.

There is also another type of manager. The manager who believes he or she shouldn’t really have any problems. Things should be quiet, work alone, work for yourself, think for yourself, and a lack of questions or challenges means that you’re doing a good job.

Perhaps.

Yet, most managers are in place to react to and solve problems in their immediate area of responsibility.

What type of problems seem to get the most attention?

Urgent Problems

A challenge or problem that isn’t urgent might never be fully addressed. The reason is simple. There is always something more urgent or more costly affecting the business or organization.

How do you know it is urgent? How would you prioritize it, or is it all about the squeaky wheel?

When you enter the meeting what is the small talk?

Hey, how’s it going?

What’s new?

What’s happening today?

Even meeting agenda’s often start with addressing problems. In fact, one of the biggest reasons a meeting is schedule is to tackle some problem, challenge, or to become more prepared.

It seems that most problems are labeled as urgent problems when they first emerge. After some assessment, action is taken, or tackling the problem gets delayed because of complexity or needing additional analysis.

Small fires (metaphorically) are more easily put out while larger ones may continue to rage.

It might be important to consider the use of your energy. Fighting a bunch of small ones may leave the bigger challenges festering and never being fully tackled or resolved.

You need a good strategy first. Then use tactics.

It doesn’t work so well the other way around.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Category Archives: Leadership

Aug 21

-

Priority Strategy

Aug 21

-

Hours Spent

Changed Meetings

Aug 21

-

Meeting Arguments

Aug 21

-

Data Decisions

Aug 21

-

Project Budget

Jul 21

-

Extra Effort

Jul 21

-

New Problems

Problem Solving Tactics

Jul 21

-

Strategic Plan

Jul 21

-

Brave Leaders

Cross Roads

Jul 21

-

Urgent Problems

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