Bob Schultek Author of The Gauntlet Every day, there are moments when you can choose to lead. Leadership is more about these moments than it is about accomplishing grand initiatives. Making a difference is all about these moments. One member of your team might be stuck and need your guidance or suggestions to open another path. When a choice between two possible options is required, rather than immediately making the decision, you ask your team to consider …
Bob Schultek Author of The Gauntlet rschultek@staging.elfin-bead.flywheelsites.com 216-272-4449 Pursuing improvement means tackling change. Change is hard work…it requires commitment, perseverance and discretionary effort. Commitment, perseverance and discretionary effort cannot be commanded…they must be inspired. Inspiration rises when people believe that their work is meaningful…that they are making a difference. The awareness that work is meaningful springs from the expression of a Company’s Purpose and how consistently its leaders and people act in accordance with …
Your customer service reps have unlimited access to your customers, yet they are often considered to be expendable and typically treated as such. Are you managing your customer service function as a cost center or as a profit center? How much of your customers’ satisfaction is impacted by your customer service reps? Exceptional customer service is a proven differentiator. When access to information is so effortless that many products are seen as commodities, when the …
An effective leader realizes that sustaining growth, or reigniting it, depends on the depth to which his or her people are committed. Successful, dedicated teams are bonded by more than their aspiration to achieve a shared goal. These 3 leadership factors result from the awareness that your people are your most sustainable competitive advantage for driving growth. Purpose: Commitment cannot be compelled; it must be inspired. People must choose to invest discretionary effort above and …
Few strategies are actually implemented as planned. Circumstances inevitably arise to disrupt the best of plans. Every experienced business leader understands this reality, and the need to adapt. With this certainty of uncertainty, what then makes the difference? What produces success? Business planning is still an essential, productive exercise. But leaders recognize that it’s the planning process that is most valuable, not the plan document that emerges. The process of developing the plan engages leaders …
Every day, there are moments when you can choose to lead. Most of the time, leadership is more about these moments than it is about accomplishing grand initiatives. Making a difference is all about these moments. When I accepted my first management role, my superior and mentor guided me to the realization that most of my time would now be spent working with people rather than with things. He wanted me to appreciate that success, …
Perhaps they lack the required experience, confidence or competence. Perhaps their goals are unclear. But often, it’s the behavior of the employee’s leader that is the primary cause for constraining an employee’s performance. When a leader acts differently than the employee expected – neither being nor doing what they believe is appropriate – then the employee is likely to get discouraged and fail to meet his or her potential. Leaders don’t do this on purpose, …
The beginning of each new year offers us the exhilarating opportunity to begin anew. Your new year’s appraisal should build on your achievements and clarify your objectives for 2015. Celebrate success – What worked well last year? What goals were achieved and why? What progress was made towards fulfilling your Purpose and realizing your Vision? Does your team know what was accomplished and how they contributed? Assess direction – Are your Purpose and Vision statements …
Every business wants to be distinctive. But often, small and mid-size companies are so consumed with surviving that the limited time invested in planning centers on leveraging competitive advantage, without appreciating the reason the business exists, beyond the need to make money. With this approach, the leaders of these businesses lose vital energy to drive action, elevate performance and achieve goals. Rediscovering Purpose motivates employee engagement and releases vital energy that drives action, elevates performance and …
The working relationship between manufacturer and distributor is often defined by sales quotas. But using only quotas to manage this vital affiliation does not preserve the relationship’s primary, mutually beneficial purpose of sustaining growth in the market. When that purpose is unclear, and it becomes separated from the profit motive, bad things happen. The original purpose of the manufacturer-distributor working relationship was to increase sales by expanding market coverage in local markets. For a while, …
