Category Archives: Uncategorized

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happy boss

Happy Boss, Happy Life? Maybe or Maybe Not

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Do you have a happy boss? Does that make your life a little easier?

First, the boss can also be a metaphor for the customer. It could also be applicable to members of the board of directors or other stakeholders.

Are you making them happy?

Often, everyone is working hard to satisfy the boss. In simple terms, that is what you do, yet is everyone happy?

It is unlikely that in every circumstance or every situation especially when you consider the huge potential for varying degrees of satisfaction, that everyone will be happy.

Does that make it all, OK?

Probably for most circumstances we would say no.

Happy Boss

Working to please the unpleased, or the uneasy to please is a battle you take on nearly every day.

It is a metric of sorts. Outside of varying degrees of subjectivity, it is a binary situation. Satisfied or not satisfied. Happy or not happy.

What usually happens next is that it is used as a guide. Create more happiness by achieving improved results.

Your attitude may have much to do with the long-term outcomes. So will the ease or the lack thereof, in satisfying the boss.

When you are working towards creating happiness, you’ll likely find more of it. There is simply less room for the unhappy. Even for the chronically unhappy.

It is a circumstance that, when created, becomes easier to find the energy reserves to achieve. You may also discover that a happy boss always makes your life easier.

You get to choose the approach.

It even works in your personal life.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), 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.


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compelling leaders

Compelling Leaders Are Better Communicators

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What creates leaders? What creates followers? Do compelling leaders create better followers?

What does it mean to be a leader?

What is leadership?

Two questions that I often ask when helping teams build foundational skills for leadership.

We don’t always stop to think about it and people attempt to connect the dots of leadership with the concept of formal authority. The formal authority suggests that you’ve moved to the position of supervisor, manager, or director.

Formal authority matters. Yet, leadership is about so much more.

Formal authority is often granted to people with the highest credential, the person or persons who have been around the longest, or the ones that demonstrate great depth in technical skills.

Leadership is expected to ensue.

Does it?

Not always.

Are They Communicators?

There are terms often thrown around to indicate people who are compelling.

You can consider phrases like, “street smarts,” or “used car salesman.” Both of these are often quickly identified with someone who can navigate people situations with clever grace.

They create buy-in or can sell beach front property in South Dakota.

They are well skilled in persuasive communication. Most of their skill is developed informally, not through conventional education but through trial and error. They’re observers and they’ve learned what works and what doesn’t.

It is not so much natural as it is a learned skill.

They’ve developed communication skills that allow them to be convincing and compelling.

Compelling Leaders

Every once-in-a-while we encounter a compelling leader.

The compelling leader has a large tool box. He or she can stand toe-to-toe with the formal leaders, and can also create a strong following.

People rarely follow because they are told to do so. People follow because they are compelled to do so.

There is a phrase, a meme of sorts, “Great leaders don’t develop a belief in the leader, they develop a belief in the follower.”

The best news for any leader, formal or otherwise, is that the act of creating a compelling message is a learned skill. Being a great leader is an option. It’s not an appointed position.

Compelling leaders are great learners.

And great communicators.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), 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.


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powerful belief

Powerful Belief and the Facts Surrounding It

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Believe you are going to have a good day or a bad day, and you will find lots of evidence to support your belief. Belief has an amazing effect on performance. Do you have powerful belief?

We see it in religion, in politics, and with innovation. Belief often creates power. Have you considered how your belief is guiding your outcomes?

Just the Facts

“Show me the facts!” is often proclaimed as a requirement to establish belief. Yet, much of our discussion, our presentations, and what is repeated is based on theory or opinion.

In the business meeting when people are looking for a reason why the strategy won’t work, they’ll probably find some. Of course, in contrast when the group seeks reasons why something may work or is worth a try, they’ll likely find some.

People with experiences (we all have some) want to share those experiences as facts. We tried this once, it didn’t work, and that is a fact.

Manifested facts become beliefs, and beliefs manifested are often presented as facts.

Seeing Is Believing

We believe what we see. Throughout many forms of media, the persuasion to buy this product so you can look like me, feel like me, and have success like me is overwhelming.

Social media attempts to remind us of how people live large, have luxurious homes, vacations, and “life is good.” We also see some of the opposite. The bad boss story, the customer service horror stories, and the passing of people and pets.

We live surrounded by stories of fame and fortune. And stories of tragedy and gloom. There is not much room for average, yet on the bell curve it is exactly where most people or businesses exist.

Powerful Belief

Powerful belief happens every day. It is connected to decisions, a choice, and what you look for.

Most of what comes true for your career, for sales revenue, or the marketing plan starts with belief.

You decide what you’ll look for. The why’s or the why not’s.

You’ll find it and you’ll believe it.

Powerful.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), 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+


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training priorities

Move Up, Move Down, Training Priorities

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A fundamental goal of nearly every business is to make money. Even non-profit organizations need revenue streams and outcomes associated with delivery. Do you have time for training? What are your training priorities?

The excuse that is hard to argue is the one that positions against the fundamental goal. Yet, there is a difference between never, and when the time is right.

Starbucks closed its doors yesterday (May 29, 2018) for employee training. In a move that many may criticize as having the wrong priorities, Starbucks appears insistent on change.

Move Up or Down

We filter our to-do lists every day. Some items move up, some move down, and some never seem to get any action. Is this the training plan for your business? Are the best businesses always shipping product or fulfilling services with no time for training?

It may be very tempting to believe that everyone just shows up, rolls up their sleeves, and starts shipping. After all, the business model is well known and the Company doesn’t survive without revenue. Certainly, revenue and fulfillment for today is important.

I would also venture a guess that growth is on the CEO’s mind. Scaling up, more people, more technology, and more costs, which means more revenue is required.

Most organizations don’t get better when they only believe in shipping. Their scale becomes balancing the status quo. Great people don’t join, good people don’t stay, and those who are left without options just continue to ship.

Training Priorities

It seems logical that not shipping wastes time and money. What is the cost of not training? What are your training priorities?

Is training worth closing the doors for a few hours, is it worth rotating some work or training in shifts? What will the outcome be?

Employees typically rise to the competence of the most skilled in their environment. They communicate, get along, and engage at the level of group acceptance.

Quality, service, and caring about the outcomes improves with training. Reducing harmful conflict, having a customer centric focus, and leading the way to future growth happens with advancement, not the status quo.

Most people have a fundamental goal connected with work too, they want to make money.

It seems ironic when the intrinsic goals are similar, that planning to improve employee performance slides so far down the list.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), 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.


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