One client recently commented that he’s attending more meetings now than he previously did before the Covid shutdown, and it’s destroying his productivity. It’s a complaint I’m hearing more frequently. When I asked if his concern was due to the higher number of meetings he’s being requested to attend, or because the meetings themselves were unproductive, he replied that both were issues for him. Time is an irreplaceable asset. Deciding how much of your valuable time to …
Strategy and tactics are complementary. Both are needed to achieve goals, and neither works well without the other. While strategies tend to remain unchanged for long periods, tactics often evolve in reaction to changing circumstances or unforeseen obstacles. In “Good Strategy, Bad Strategy,” Richard Rumelt writes: “The most basic idea of strategy is the application of strength against weakness; or if you prefer, strength applied to the most promising opportunity. A good strategy doesn’t just draw on existing …
Since leaders are responsible for the performance of their teams, they often assume the role of primary accountability monitor for each team member. In team meetings, each teammate reports to the leader, in turn, on her or his activities. The result is a one-sided presentation of information between team member and leader, with little dialogue occurring among the rest of the team. This creates an environment in which team members assume that the leader is the only …
The marketplace is noisy, filled with commodities of all sorts, pitched to the masses, often using low price as the seductive hook. When the objective is to get orders, as many as possible, quickly and easily, then offering a low price can attract the crowd. Low price is obvious, direct and easy to evaluate for these buyers; its benefit is the same for everyone. If your growth strategy is to market your offering as a …
Leaders are expected to improve results, which means something must change. People often see change as risky, so they resist it until they are convinced that the expected improvement will outweigh the risk of the change. Surviving in a competitive world demands that improvements continue, so motivating people to change, to improve a product or process, consumes much of a leader’s time. Leaders may launch an improvement effort by explaining why the change is necessary, …
All automated systems rely on feedback loops to sustain accuracy and repeatability. These loops compare results against system settings, and adjust variables to ensure alignment and expected performance. Then, when change compels a system’s performance to improve, there’s a ready baseline of consistent data against which to measure and generate improved results. It’s a logical, unemotional process that delivers higher performance. The performance of people is similarly subject to unrelenting change that disrupts their status quo. And because the …
In this dynamic market, the most agile, growing businesses compete more against themselves than against any competitor. Competing companies, offering comparable solutions, struggle to differentiate themselves over time, resulting in declining prices and margins which impede sustainable growth. Your customers care only about the value you produce for them, and however you accomplished this last time, they will expect more next time. Producing more value than last time, without just reacting to what your competition is …
Empathy, the capacity to understand another person’s perspective and feelings, is often described as the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes. But don’t confuse empathy with making people happy or being nice. Empathy is a skill that enables leaders to scan large sets of data and establish priorities, sorting out what’s noise and what’s essential information by assessing signals, anomalies and novel patterns that compel their attention. For those who master it, employing …
During this prolonged time of disruption and stress, those you lead benefit from your personal attention in letting them know that they are appreciated and valued. The return on these efforts is higher individual and team performance, greater collaboration, increased willingness to invest in changes that deliver improvements, and enriched job satisfaction for your people. Good employees are hard to find, develop, and keep. And replacing trained, experienced people is often quoted as the #1 non-productive cost …
We celebrated Labor Day this week, a day dedicated to the contributions that working people make to our country’s progress and supporting us all. It’s a remembrance that we appreciate more this year because the Covid disruption has created a stark contrast. We honor those who have defied the risk and worked, often tirelessly, to keep products flowing and shelves stocked, to care for us, to teach us and to protect us; likewise, we remember and respect …
