balance Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

04
Mar 21
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Energize Daily, Life Is Like a Battery

Tags : balance efficiency energy life work

An apple a day? Do you energize daily or just go with the flow? Are you conscious of how you spend your time?

Not everyone makes their own schedule, especially as it relates to workloads on the job, but have you considered what you do and when?

I’m a morning person. Not everyone is, but I happen to be. I’ve also used it to my advantage across my career.

I could force myself to stay in bed and wait on the rest of the world to get up, but what would I be missing?

A better life I believe.

Most people can adapt to one way or another. People who work third shift for years have a tendency to want to stick with the program.

What about you? Have you adjusted your biorhythms to adapt or are you more leaning towards what seems to come naturally?

There are certain things I feel you have to do so that you get the most of your day.

For example, much of my college experience was as a non-traditional student. In order to keep doing some of what I wanted, I needed to get up at 6:00 AM on weekends to study. It worked for me. That way around 10:00 AM I could actually do somethings that I really wanted to do. Discipline and persistence got me through it.

When are your batteries fully charged?

Energize Daily

When it comes to your work or your career how are you working? Are you taking advantage of when you have the most physical energy versus when you have the most mental energy? Are they at the same time or at different times?

The same is true for when you exercise, do household chores, or shop for groceries. It might also be true for when you pay the bills, chat with friends, or catch up with social media.

Gaining high-efficiency and effectiveness comes with being strategic about managing your time.

If you really need to concentrate or brainstorm, considering doing it when you have the most mental energy. If you need to do something physical, try to schedule it when you have the most physical energy.

For your life, or in your job, are you taking care of your energy?

Life energy is like a battery. It works best when its fully charged.

-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
Oct 20
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Meeting Decisions May Be The Hold-Up

Tags : balance choices decisions meeting management time

Is your workplace culture caught up in meeting decisions? Decisions that are always contingent on holding a meeting?

Meetings often feel necessary and certainly, many of them probably are. Meeting effectiveness matters because too many details, a lack of fact-finding, or the wrong people at the meeting can derail even the best intentions.

Most of the best work that you do comes when you find the right balance. The balance between too much and too little, too authoritarian or too relaxed, and even too fast or too slow.

Size Matters

In the smallest of businesses, the owner makes the decisions. There is a time to contemplate and study, and also a time to act. The owner can, at his or her descrestion, act fast.

Big companies have different hurdles. The decision-making process is often slower, seemingly more calculated, and often tied up with too many people having a hand in the pot.

Decision quality is often a concern. One side believes the decision was made too soon and without enough information. The other side believes there was analysis paralysis and too many details.

Who really suffers?

Meeting Decisions

Ultimately, it is likely the customer who suffers the most.

They have to deal with delays, less quality, and often rising prices.

Who has the bigger advantage? The big company or the small company?

While the big company has more market share and thus exposure and reputation, the smaller company is nimbler and more flexible. Decisions mean outcomes and outcomes mean action.

Your next decision and the time it wastes or maximizes may not only be holding you up, but it may also be holding you back.

Are you surfing the status quo or are you blazing a trail for future success?

It’s probably a balancing act.

Ending the meeting or holding one will help you find the right balance.

-DEG

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.

13
Oct 20
-

Leadership Balance, Find the Middle Ground

Tags : balance community culture leadership

Harmony is typically not found in extremes. Regardless of which end. Leadership balance is where the best results will develop. Are you finding the middle ground?

Too many meetings, or too few?

Too strict and authoritarian or too soft and too lenient?

Are you too congratulatory and appreciative or too subdued and neglectful?

Everything in leadership is about finding the right balance and balance is often hard to achieve.

Culture and Community

In the workplace, the environment and culture are often suggested to be about creating a community. The community works best when everyone can find the right balance.

Unhappy communities often seek a form of asylum. They prefer to retreat, withdraw, or to be left to their own devices.

Differences are more notable and not embraced in unhappy communities. Instead, people feel divided and seek a safe space.

Often, they leave the community. Heads down and defeated they are disconnected and weary, physically, emotionally, or both.

A focus on self, defeats communities and builds an unhealthy culture.

In contrast, a quest for balance is a generous act.

Is there balance in your leadership?

Leadership Balance

Leadership is artful.

There are a few small pockets of people who believe that leaders are born. The educated population largely believes that leadership skill is developed and that great leaders are made.

The toughest challenges of leadership may not be about risk, vision, or processes and systems. The toughest challenge may exist in how leaders choose to set navigational examples, inspire, and build community.

It is a generous dance with balance.

Communities often don’t respond well to force.

-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
Sep 20
-

Learning Satisfaction Creates Commitment

Tags : balance career focus job satisfaction

Are you committed to doing your best work? Does job satisfaction play a role? Learning satisfaction may be the first step to a more fulfilled workplace experience.

Are you interested?

Much of what creates fulfillment in your life is about balance. Too much or too little of anything and it feels like something is just not quite right.

Too many meetings, not enough time to act.

Always out on the road, missing more office time.

Too much production of the same thing, boredom and monotony.

Things changing all the time, not enough focus.

Abundance of email messages, or the opposite, no customers to serve.

It is really about figuring out how to find the balance or navigate the extremes.

No Problems, No Job

If there was nothing to address, no problems to solve, or no strategy to formulate then you probably wouldn’t have the job.

The same might be said about a travel schedule, the amount product needed or services to provide. No change means boredom, and no email messages or phone calls may signal the beginning of the end.

It also matters for communication efforts, Zoom meetings, or scheduled phone calls. Too much or too little and things just aren’t working.

Job or workplace satisfaction is a state of mind. You feel accomplished, confident, and those feelings are aligned with expectations.

What did you expect?

Learning Satisfaction

Never a meeting, never someplace to be, no interruptions, and certainly no phone calls or email messages? That certainly doesn’t seem like a recipe for success.

Satisfaction comes from recognizing that without all of the things that are too much, there probably wouldn’t be a need for your services.

Setting expectations helps navigate job satisfaction.

It may be one of the most important things to learn.

-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
Apr 20
-

Workforce Push Back And The Quest For More

Tags : balance metrics motivation push back

Has workforce push back ever disrupted the flow in your organization? Does the quest for more ever end up becoming a quest that results in less?

Balance is an interesting aspect of the work we do. The push versus pull, the give versus take. It often comes down to finding the appropriate balance.

Concept of Balance

The idea of balance is something often discussed in leadership development programs. Conceptually, it may be evidence of what many would identify as situational leadership. It is inclusive of those circumstances or situations where one leadership principle is sacrificed in order to gain more of another.

In the seminar, workshop, or webinar, some people get their fill before time is up, others don’t want the moment to end. Some are listening carefully and learning something they haven’t heard before, and yet others believe that they know the concept well.

The facilitator, instructor, or host, has a duty then. A duty to produce something in the middle. The middle is where you’ll satisfy the most.

The Expectation of Give More

We find the same thing when leading workforce teams.

The business or organization is always striving for the most productivity, highest efficiency, and the greatest customer satisfaction. The expectation is to give more. More effort, more time, or more commitment.

Sometimes this seems counter intuitive since the labor force pushes back to not allow management to gain too much.

The labor force may be organized, informal, or part of a clique. Their push back message masquerades as fairness, yet the course of doing business may feel different. It seems like it is about giving more.

At the farmers market or the mom and pop bakery, a customer seeks a farmers or bakers dozen. Only, a dozen doesn’t mean twelve, it means thirteen. The concept is about give more.

The restaurant owner works hard to build a brand. Much of the front-line staff receive compensation based on tips. Customers provide greater tips when they are satisfied or impressed. It is the expectation of management, a concept of give more.

Workforce Push Back

In workforce circles, or any circle for that matter, there is always some push back. There is the quest for balance, the small tug of war, and one side gains while another side gives.

Somewhere in the middle is the happy medium. That place where at least for this moment, everyone is moving the same direction.

The quest for more should be simple.

It develops from a motivational cause, not a rule, not a specific metric, and certainly not by pushing.

Wanting more and giving more is always about balance.

-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.

12
Dec 17
-

Customer Service Balance Is Reasonable

Tags : balance cost customer service reasonable reliable

Have you ever thought about what makes special things, special? What really creates a memorable customer experience? Having customer service balance may be what attracts the masses. Do you have it?

What is the difference between the racecar and one you buy off the dealership lot?

Why does the state of the art always come with bugs?

Making coffee at home is a fraction of the price at the gourmet shop, but the gourmet shop is always packed with people.

High Cost or Reliable

The fast racecar is expensive. It is custom built, requiring hours of special labor. It is fast, but it is designed to win the race, not go the most miles without maintenance.

The latest technology, most elaborate software, or techie gadget often isn’t perfected, but it is breaking new ground with features others don’t have. It is cool, but doesn’t always work and the learning curve is long.

Coffee from a home brewing device doesn’t allow you to easily visit a few friends, display your new shoes, or have others observe you in action with your mobile computing device.

Being the best has costs. Having the fastest car, the latest techno gadget, or sipping one dollar per every two ounces of coffee costs too. Those who produce the best and consume the best should realize that there is volatility to the market.

Volatile Market

The fastest car won’t last as long as the lower priced mass produced reliable one. Having the newest techno gadget is pretty cool, until those on the old platform are still surfing while you’re waiting for tech support or trying to figure out the new menu. The coffee shop is the place to be right now, it’s not the only place.

Having the best or creating a trend costs, but often being the most reliable, with a reasonable price will endure the volatile nature of the consumer.

Customer Service Balance

Customer service balance may be about the best solution. People paying a reasonable price don’t expect perfection.

What they do expect is to get what they pay for. Their purchase risk is smaller and long-term satisfaction is much higher.

Special, high end, and the fastest is cool, until it isn’t, which usually doesn’t take very long. This is exactly why it is only a trend.

Balance seems much more reasonable.

– 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 five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and 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+

28
Nov 16
2

Millennials and the Work / Life Blend

Tags : balance Gen z millennials work / life blend

Many of the traditionals, baby boomers, and generation X population are familiar with the idea of work / life balance. It has been the topic of many books, self-help guides, and even a buzz phrase for corporate culture, unfortunately that was during the 1990’s, and perhaps into the early 2000’s.

What is the work / life blend and how is it different from work / life balance?

Work / Life Blend

Millennials and gen Z (Gen 9/11, iGen) are much more interested in the work / life blend. This style of corporate culture suggests that your work is much more integrated with your life as compared to the concept that work and life are two very different aspects.

Starting in the late 1980’s some management styles began to measure performance based on the number of hours you put into your job on a daily or weekly basis. The bragging rights or social proof of performance was demonstrated by stating the number of hours worked as compared to productivity, efficiency, or outcomes. Even today you might find pockets of what I will call old school management philosophy that attempts to correlate a person’s value to the organization by the number of hours spent on the job.

Over the course of a few decades the medical (and psychiatric) communities began to suggest that many people needed more work / life balance. The millennials and gen Z population observed much of this trend through their parent’s steadfast commitment to work and building a better life only to still be working towards those same goals today, and so they have decided that there must be a better way.

The better way, or so it is believed, is more work / life blending.

Work and Lifestyle

Regardless of the generation, this concept doesn’t work for every occupation or for every person, nor should it. However, many employers can and probably should consider incorporating a culture related more towards a work / life blend. Especially those who insist they want millennial and gen Z representation but cannot understand why they experience so much employee turnover within these generations.

Examples of moving more towards a work / life blend might include the ability and permission to:

have more flexible hours, recognizing that some of your work occurs outside of the workplace
encourage processing email and interacting electronically after traditional hours
connect performance measurement to results, not “clock” hours
incorporate marketing and branding efforts with social “off the clock” activities
have open workspaces with less confinement and more team centric objectives

The concept centers on the idea that work is mixed in with lifestyle.

Messengers Message

If you are a traditional or baby boomer manager who glances at this concept and just as quickly dismisses it, may I suggest that you pause? There certainly are challenges here and it might seem impossible in manufacturing, retail, and healthcare (just naming a few), but to the extent possible this concept should be explored. Early adopters in some sectors are testing combinations of fixed (traditional) hours and flex hours (read flex as blending) in an attempt to stimulate cultural change.

Avoid thinking of this concept as functioning like a light switch, with full on or full off.

Most workplace cultures will benefit the most from strategically working towards this concept and should not try a drastic move from one extreme to the other. At the same time it is important to consider that successfully onboarding and retaining the future generation of workers might depend on how soon you begin to develop and value job roles and duties that incorporate more of a work / life blend.

– 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+

Tag Archives: balance

Mar 21

-

Energize Daily

Oct 20

-

Size Matters

Meeting Decisions

Oct 20

-

Culture and Community

Leadership Balance

Sep 20

-

No Problems, No Job

Learning Satisfaction

Apr 20

-

Concept of Balance

The Expectation of Give More

Workforce Push Back

Dec 17

-

High Cost or Reliable

Volatile Market

Customer Service Balance

Nov 16

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