success Archives - Page 2 of 3

20
Jun 17
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Are Tactics More Important Than Goals?

Tags : goals strategy succcess tactics vision

Developing and executing a good strategy is important. So is avoiding tactical firefighting approaches. What will get you to where you want to be? Are tactics more important than goals?

Strategy, Vision, and Goals

One of the most important concepts for creating individual or team success is to have a good strategy, a clear vision, and appropriate goals to get you there.

At the same time, it is important to recognize that having any of those, or all of them, won’t create the end result you’re looking for. You’ll need well executed tactics.

Ask three busy workplace professionals about their day and there is a good chance one of them will tell you that they were busy fighting fires. Fighting fires is a tactical approach to fix whatever pops up. This is a bad habit to get into, but you still need tactics.

When I help groups with formulating strategy we always develop tactics that will lead them to their vision or goal. Having a vision and strategy isn’t what gets you there, it is the tactics that get you there. This is not tactical firefighting though. There is a difference.

Here is how this breaks down. You have a vision or goal, where you want to be. Then you need a strategy for how you will get to that goal. Next in line are the tactics that you will use to pursue that strategy that will take you to the goal.

Sounds pretty simple right? The challenge might be that people often confuse the level of importance for goals as compared to tactics. You can have a fantastic goal. You can even have a fantastic strategy, but without the continued tactical pursuit, you just won’t get there.

Tactics More Important

Are tactics more important than goals? Think of tactics as your daily habits. A collection of good habits might be exactly what is necessary to get you to your goal.

Don’t slip into a habit of fighting fires and don’t have a vision and strategy without tactics.

Tactics might be the most important. Your daily tactics produce your results, with or without specific goals.

Reminds me of the fundamentals of computing, lesson one, garbage in, garbage out.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

17
Mar 17
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5 Reasons Over-Commitment Might Be Hurting Your Career

Tags : career coaching over-commitment success

Most people in the workforce want to give their job and career the best they have to give. They work hard, smart, and are committed. Can trying to do too much be hurting your career?

During my career I’ve run into a lot of interesting things in the workplace. At first glance, situations which are almost unbelievable. People sometimes say that love is blind. People who are trying really hard to be impressive in their job might sometimes have blind spots too.

hurting career

Just like too many donuts, hot wings, or trips to the Chinese buffet, over-commitment might be hurting not helping your situation.

Hurting Your Career

Here are five reasons:

Can’t do everything. Many people are trying to impress. They raise their hand to take on projects with no real consideration that they might be taking on too much. This also sometimes happens when people are bored with their duties. They volunteer for other assignments making them too busy for their regular duties.
Connects you with weaknesses. Just because you like to do it doesn’t always guarantee that you are good at doing it. Many people like to sing in the shower or at the karaoke bar. That doesn’t mean they should quit their day job. In the workplace people connect you with your work. If your work isn’t the best, what people might see is incompetence.
Working twice as hard. You might have to work twice as hard or twice as long as someone with the natural talent or skills to do the same work. Certainly if it is an interest for you and you’re willing to work hard at it, you might be able to achieve success. Just make sure you’re making the most of your natural (or developed) talents and abilities.
Defensive positions. I can’t even begin to express how harmful it might be to take on work or assignments just because you want to block someone else from doing it. This is competition gone too far. Sometimes people will volunteer for roles or tasks simply because they don’t want someone else to have an opportunity to shine. Terrible.
Poor response times. Communication challenges might be the root cause of nearly every workplace problem or issue. It is also responsible for a lot of missed opportunities, mistakes, and poor customer service. When you’re over-committed you’re likely coming up short on call backs, email, and follow through. It’s probably also hurting your professional relationships.

Do Great Things

Caring about your career is excellent. Striving to do a great job is excellent. Offering to help or get involved for the greater good of the organization, excellent.

Being over-committed for any reason might be one of the biggest blind spots impacting your career success.

over-commitment

It doesn’t make you look good, it makes you look bad.

Your biggest struggle might be finding the right balance without crossing any lines.

Have you ever felt over-committed? Could it be a blind spot that is hurting your career?

– DEG

Originally posted on March 17, 2017, last updated on October 22, 2018.

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer. 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.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

31
Oct 16
3

Do You Deserve A Raise?

Tags : investment raise skill building team player

Ask five people if they would like a raise and chances are pretty good all five will say yes. It’s a good bet, but should you ask for one?

Before doing anything, have you considered all aspects of what makes investing in you a smart choice for your organization? Most strong organizations are managing from the bottom line, meaning that they are always looking to improve or appropriately manage their financial position. Money spent is often viewed as an investment, an investment that expects a return. Are you a smart investment?

You can begin by asking yourself a few important questions.

Have you protected the organization? Let’s face it; an organization is about being an organization. While you might believe your department, team, or the entire operation revolves around you it probably doesn’t. You are a part of making everything work and supporting the ebb and flow of the organization. Protecting its brand and image is part of your responsibility.
Have you been a team player? Teams matter, and if you are not supporting, cooperating, and effectively working with other team members this could be a flag to onlookers that you are not so valuable after all. In fact, you could be a worry in the back of their mind. Demonstrate how you integrate with team efforts.
Are you an example for exceptional customer service? Remember that customer service, or what is sometimes being phrased as the customer experience, is critical for every organization. What is surprising to some is that customer service always has an internal component. You must be sure you are a great example of both the internal and external customer experience.
Have you learned anything new? The best organizations offer or in some way support learning opportunities. They recognize that being smarter is one of the best ways to prevent falling behind. Ask to be a part of learning opportunities and to continue developing your skills. Make sure you are always learning something new.
Are you a smart investment? Employee turnover is costly; hiring high end expertise to join the organization from the outside is expensive too. Most employers get an advantage from promoting from within, but they have to have internal candidates who are role models of their [the organizations] future. Be a smart investment for them by continuing to invest in yourself.

There are many factors that can make it difficult for organizations to continue to give raises to each employee year after year, but smart organizations know that they need to grow their best talent. Remember that timing is always critical, and you should consider all aspects of value that the organization brings to you, especially those that don’t appear on your pay stub. Sometimes staying the course even when a raise is not possible will pay off much bigger long-term.

Do you deserve a raise? Perhaps, but let me ask you this, are you a smart investment?

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and coach that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is the author of the newly released book, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

30
Sep 16
2

Is the Fear of Success Real?

Tags : confidence failure fear leadership success

Nearly everyone recognizes the idea of being afraid of failure. Some people are so intent about never failing that they always play life extremely safe, never really taking any risks. Other people love the idea of risk and don’t worry much about failing. They recognize the possibility of failure but only at a level that keeps them pushing towards the pursuit of their goal. They also accept the idea that sometimes failure does occur and they are prepared to manage it.

On the other hand, there are also people who fear success. Sometimes when the suggestion of a fear of success emerges, people struggle to form the connection with success and fear. Is the fear of success real?

Fear of Success

Like its opposite partner, the fear of failure, the fear of success comes in various levels and for various reasons. Based on research and my experiences working with people, especially in coaching roles, here are five of the most common factors associated with having a fear of success.

Maintaining a higher standard. The fear is that you’ll be unable to keep things up at this level. Because the standard will have become so high you will forever have to work that much harder. It feels easier to stay where you are comfortable.
I’m not worthy or don’t deserve it. Self-esteem and self-efficacy are the two most important building blocks for self-confidence. If you’ve been told many times that you’re not worthy, or you can’t do it, or that it’s impossible. You may believe you are not worthy or that you don’t deserve to achieve your goal or obtain a higher level of success.
I’ll lose friends and create enemies. Envy from others can be a major setback for those who have achieved more success. People may resist the idea of becoming more successful because they fear losing friendships or creating enemies.
Success requires great risk or luck. Many people don’t like the feeling of risk and believe that they are never lucky. Luck and risks are very different, but some believe they are unlucky at everything because they “never win.” The idea is the more successful I become the more my fate rests in risk or luck, so I’m afraid to become more successful.
I don’t like being in the spotlight. This fear is rooted in the idea that the spotlight makes the person uncomfortable, if you don’t like to draw attention to yourself or your achievements you may try avoid excelling at anything or everything.

Surprising to some, the fear of success is real. While it is often deeply rooted in other unrelated circumstances or situations the fear may be enough to make people consciously or subconsciously avoid any scenario that may position them for additional success.

Do you fear success?

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and coach that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is the author of the newly released book, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

18
Aug 15
-

Most Important, Most Strategic

Tags : fix problems most important strategic

Many people and businesses believe they are doing what is most important. After all, they are doing what the customer asked for, what the department across the hall needed, or helping a co-worker to finish the project on time. They are convinced they’re doing the right things first, and the first things right. They know their priorities.

Suddenly, or not so much, revenues are off, more customers are frustrated, and they can’t keep up with demands. They’re busy, but falling short of expectations.

Management decisions begin to feel counterproductive. The business needs more employees not fewer, they need to spend more time with customers not less, and the employees could fix things if they only had a bigger budget.

In the workplace every time you are fighting a fire, oiling the squeakiest wheel, or fixing what is broken you risk missing what is most important. A strategy of fix may become a strategy of fate, or equivalent to no strategy at all.

Most important is usually not the easiest, the loudest, or the most popular, it is the most strategic.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, corporate trainer, and keynote speaker that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

28
Jul 15
-

Questions to ask…

Tags : change costs pivot

It isn’t so much that we hate change. It is that change makes us feel uneasy, nervous, and afraid. Economic factors, competitive factors, and even government regulations may force our workplace to change, but those aren’t the only reasons to consider change.

Change is happening all around us, and for that reason, staying the same may put your survival at the biggest risk. Maybe instead, ask yourself, “Why should we stay the same?” Of course, you’ll give yourself lots of reasons, things like:

it works
we’re growing
we’re exceeding our goals.

If those are your answers maybe you should ask yourself, “How long will that continue?” If those aren’t your answers, you probably already recognize something needs to change. I’m certainly not talking about just carelessly throwing around change efforts, I’m talking about purposeful change for long-term success.

Anything can work for a period of time. Continued success is likely conditioned on how well you change. Staying the same is easy and probably the fastest path to the finish, but in this case, the “finish” is not a line you want to cross.

Perhaps the best question to ask is, “What costs more, change or comfort?”

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, corporate trainer, and keynote speaker that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

21
Jul 15
-

Good Race

Tags : customer service high road low road selling

It seems like we all sell something. You often have two choices, the high road or the low road. You assess your confidence and the risk. In one choice, you approach the problem from the side. You try to bring the opposition down. You say little unattractive things that may be cleverly disguised as attractive.

Two Roads

It may sound like this:

“They’ve been providing good service. I’m not sure though, I understand they’ve been so busy as a result of their recent marketing campaign I don’t know if they’ll be timely. Our staff is big which costs us more and in this economy that is scary we don’t like to see anyone lose their job but it’s worth it to us to always have the immediate resources, we would love to have your business.”

Your conscious tells you that you haven’t really blasted the competition. In fact, you’ve said good things, but you’ve also painted the picture that they may not be able to deliver. Better yet, you’re tugging on their emotions with the “job loss” comment. Perhaps you’ve created doubt in the customers mind. In your mind, you’re proud.

Another choice is to approach it straight up, also known as, the high road. It may sound more like this:

“I’m really not sure about how our competitors are doing, but what we offer has all the features and benefits that align with your expressed need and we have a team ready to dig in and tackle this. I’m willing to work hard to get and keep your business, you have my promise. What is the next step? We would love to provide a formal proposal.”

Your proud, you’ve honestly approached the situation and tackled it straight up.

Two people can’t win the race. One will take the high road and another will take the low road. In the beginning either road seems like a reasonable choice.

The high road may feel like the harder climb, but the low road will always keep you at the bottom.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and consultant that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

26
May 15
-

Creating Buy-In

Tags : buy-in change shared experiences

So often we hear the words, “create buy-in” and we recognize that it means that we have to get everyone on the same page, the same sheet of music, or at the least, inspired to move towards a prescribed direction. From my experiences true buy-in is an elusive concept, a concept that everyone knows the desired outcome, but one that very few people know or understand how to create.

Many of us have heard that creating buy-in is accomplished by including everyone in the change, allowing for questions, discussions, and for the change resistors to have a say. Of course all of those help, but they are not the complete solution. As part of the lunch and learn programs I offer to the business community I put together this short video which digs a little deeper into some factors critical for creating buy-in. Those factors may include:

Creating Shared Experiences
Trusted Communication
Practicing Patience

When change leaders and teams are able to obtain reasonable levels of success in those three areas, there is a much greater likelihood that the change at hand will also succeed.

Do you have buy-in for your change?

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and consultant that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

27
Jan 15
-

Attracts Flies

Tags : customer service results sales

Do you have the clients, customers, or business relationships that produce the outcomes you wish for and need?

Chances are good that you attract what surrounds you. While this may not always be your intention or how you wish it would work out, it may be reality that you own what you attract. Business or personal.

Is the customer database for low priced economy automobiles the same as the database for mid-sized business sedans, or to go one step further, high priced super cars? Most would quickly say no, the demographics are quite different. And with that, I suggest so are the people and those relationships.

Sure, marketing and advertising have something to do with all of this, but sometimes the results aren’t so apparent. So we do more of the same, yet we expect something different.

Do you want something different? Different customers, different interactions, and perhaps most importantly different outcomes?

What you attract is what you’ll get. Don’t attract flies.

– DEG

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Photo Credit: William Cho

02
Dec 14
-

Cheap or Valued?

Tags : budget free market share price and value

Many people believe that building your email list, creating a social media following, or blogging your thoughts will get someone’s attention, and do it with little or no cost. In a world where everything is free, nothing has value, and people regard you, your message, or products and services as worth very little.

A twenty dollar watch keeps reasonable time, but it is not a Rolex. A five-thousand dollar used car may get you where you need to be but it is not a Rolls Royce. Of course, you may suggest that there is a market for both extremes and a lot of space to be occupied in between. True.

If you are wondering how to position yourself (your job), your products and services, or your entire business, it is important to remember that just because we have the means, the price of entry, expansion, and growth are not free. That is, unless you want to attract the market (or job) that doesn’t pay you much, the person who wants your services only if they are the lowest price, and a business that survives solely on goodwill without any income or budget.

You don’t have to change anyone’s mind. You don’t have to fight for market share. Not when you realize that your success lies at the intersection of price and value, not cheap and unwanted.

– DEG

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Photo Credit: Mark Rain

Category Archives: success

Jun 17

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Strategy, Vision, and Goals

Tactics More Important

Mar 17

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Hurting Your Career

Do Great Things

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May 15

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