Friday, March 09, 2007
Harry Potter as Leader
To learn more about the leadership qualities of Harry Potter (and to read my predictions about "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", the final book in J.K. Rowling's best-selling series), visit my blog about Harry Potter here.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Whew! Finally back!
Hi all!
My apologies to my regular reader ... been experiencing some technical difficulties, but they seem to be resolved.
I'll be back to blogging regularly quite soon!
Regards,
Tim
My apologies to my regular reader ... been experiencing some technical difficulties, but they seem to be resolved.
I'll be back to blogging regularly quite soon!
Regards,
Tim
Monday, December 04, 2006
GREAT Idea, BAD Execution....
"What IS this?!?"
My client, Karen, flipped the envelope across the desk with disgust. The long white envelope slid to a stop in front of me, with the word "Karen" written across it in a beautiful feminine script.
"What's wrong?" I asked Karen.
"The president of our company just sent us all holiday cards."
"...and...," I asked, more than a little puzzled.
"The cards are embossed inside with the president's name and the name of our company."
"So what's bugging you?" I asked, still confused.
"THE PRESIDENT PROBABLY NEVER TOUCHED THESE CARDS!" Karen shouted. "I expect to get these kind of cards from my car dealer ... but the president of my own company?"
"Well," I offered, "at least she signed your name on the envelope."
"Our president," said Karen quite dryly, "is a man."
****************
Karen's frustration points out a common dilemma among employees these days. So many employees--from division managers down to line-staff--are starving for personal recognition. By sending these coldly embossed (albeit beautifully) cards to his employees, the president of the company was blowing his chance to build emotional engagement in his company ... and the bottom line will suffer.
Great leaders recognize the importance of personal recognition. While few company presidents have time to sign Christmas cards by hand, leaders in organizations need to be careful...because--as in Karen's case--sometimes a Christmas card can destroy emotional engagement rather than build it up.
(above names and details have been changed to protect confidentiality).
BOTTOM LINE: SUPERIOR LEADERS PAY ATTENTION TO MAKE SURE THAT BAD EXECUTION DOES NOT DAMAGE A GREAT IDEA.
Holiday
Christmas
Leadership
Emotional Engagement
My client, Karen, flipped the envelope across the desk with disgust. The long white envelope slid to a stop in front of me, with the word "Karen" written across it in a beautiful feminine script.
"What's wrong?" I asked Karen.
"The president of our company just sent us all holiday cards."
"...and...," I asked, more than a little puzzled.
"The cards are embossed inside with the president's name and the name of our company."
"So what's bugging you?" I asked, still confused.
"THE PRESIDENT PROBABLY NEVER TOUCHED THESE CARDS!" Karen shouted. "I expect to get these kind of cards from my car dealer ... but the president of my own company?"
"Well," I offered, "at least she signed your name on the envelope."
"Our president," said Karen quite dryly, "is a man."
****************
Karen's frustration points out a common dilemma among employees these days. So many employees--from division managers down to line-staff--are starving for personal recognition. By sending these coldly embossed (albeit beautifully) cards to his employees, the president of the company was blowing his chance to build emotional engagement in his company ... and the bottom line will suffer.
Great leaders recognize the importance of personal recognition. While few company presidents have time to sign Christmas cards by hand, leaders in organizations need to be careful...because--as in Karen's case--sometimes a Christmas card can destroy emotional engagement rather than build it up.
(above names and details have been changed to protect confidentiality).
BOTTOM LINE: SUPERIOR LEADERS PAY ATTENTION TO MAKE SURE THAT BAD EXECUTION DOES NOT DAMAGE A GREAT IDEA.
Holiday
Christmas
Leadership
Emotional Engagement
A Little Nonsense Now and Then.....
...is relished by the wisest of people.
'Tis the holidays, and nothing says "Christmas" more than the Transiberian Orchestra and someone with too much time on their hands....
Watch the video.
This scene always brings a smile to my face.
BOTTOM LINE: Smart leaders make time for silliness and humor.
tags:
Leadership
humor
Transiberian Orchestra
Christmas lights
'Tis the holidays, and nothing says "Christmas" more than the Transiberian Orchestra and someone with too much time on their hands....
Watch the video.
This scene always brings a smile to my face.
BOTTOM LINE: Smart leaders make time for silliness and humor.
tags:
Leadership
humor
Transiberian Orchestra
Christmas lights
A Little Nonsense Now and Then.....
...is relished by the wisest of people.
'Tis the holidays, and nothing says "Christmas" more than the Transiberian Orchestra and someone with too much time on their hands....
Watch the video.
This scene always brings a smile to my face.
BOTTOM LINE: Smart leaders make time for silliness and humor.
tags:
Leadership
humor
Transiberian Orchestra
Christmas lights
'Tis the holidays, and nothing says "Christmas" more than the Transiberian Orchestra and someone with too much time on their hands....
Watch the video.
This scene always brings a smile to my face.
BOTTOM LINE: Smart leaders make time for silliness and humor.
tags:
Leadership
humor
Transiberian Orchestra
Christmas lights
Monday, November 27, 2006
It's SO Satisfying....
"The quality of relationships has a far bigger effect [on happiness] than quite large rises in salary..."
These are the words of economist Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England. A recent AP Science article discussed the connection between money and happiness. While many leaders seek to build salaries at the expense of relationships, the latest research is now showing that relationships have a larger effect on life satisfaction than money does.
While there is nothing wrong with making a 6-figure (or better) salary, wise leaders make sure they take an emotionally intelligent approach to their income ... by focusing on the importance of their relationships.
PLUS, as I mentioned in Leading People the Black Belt Way, a better way to lead is to use Both/And thinking. For leaders, it's not the question of either building better relationships OR making high salaries. The better question that leaders can ask themselves is .... "How do I do both?"
The answer: focus on relationships.
When you focus on relationships at work, you'll have employees who are more emotionally engaged. Emotionally engaged employees are more productive, which is better for YOUR bottom line.
BOTTOM LINE: Smart leaders focus on building better relationships. Better relationships create emotionally engaged employees ... which improves your bottom line.
tags:
Emotional Intelligence
Money and Happiness
Emotional Engagement
These are the words of economist Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England. A recent AP Science article discussed the connection between money and happiness. While many leaders seek to build salaries at the expense of relationships, the latest research is now showing that relationships have a larger effect on life satisfaction than money does.
While there is nothing wrong with making a 6-figure (or better) salary, wise leaders make sure they take an emotionally intelligent approach to their income ... by focusing on the importance of their relationships.
PLUS, as I mentioned in Leading People the Black Belt Way, a better way to lead is to use Both/And thinking. For leaders, it's not the question of either building better relationships OR making high salaries. The better question that leaders can ask themselves is .... "How do I do both?"
The answer: focus on relationships.
When you focus on relationships at work, you'll have employees who are more emotionally engaged. Emotionally engaged employees are more productive, which is better for YOUR bottom line.
BOTTOM LINE: Smart leaders focus on building better relationships. Better relationships create emotionally engaged employees ... which improves your bottom line.
tags:
Emotional Intelligence
Money and Happiness
Emotional Engagement
Friday, November 24, 2006
A Ounce of Prevention ... or a Pound of Financial Loss?
Say it isn't so.
The retail giant Walmart didn't know that lots of people were going to be visiting their website today?!?! In this AP article, Walmart's website crashed due to too many visitors.
Memo to Walmart Execs:
People tend to shop on the day after Thanksgiving (aka "Black Friday").
A lot of people.
Might want to build up that IT department a bit.
My guess is that Walmart won't be releasing figures on the financial damage (hint: average the total web sales for hours), but the figures could easily run into the millions. Imaging losing millions of dollars in sales because your website is down. Now imagine you have an IT department the size of Walmarts.
An ounce of IT prevention could have prevents a pound of financial loss.
BOTTOM LINE: Great leaders pay attention to the ounce-of-prevention rule.
tags:
Walmart
Black Friday
Cyber Monday
The retail giant Walmart didn't know that lots of people were going to be visiting their website today?!?! In this AP article, Walmart's website crashed due to too many visitors.
Memo to Walmart Execs:
People tend to shop on the day after Thanksgiving (aka "Black Friday").
A lot of people.
Might want to build up that IT department a bit.
My guess is that Walmart won't be releasing figures on the financial damage (hint: average the total web sales for hours), but the figures could easily run into the millions. Imaging losing millions of dollars in sales because your website is down. Now imagine you have an IT department the size of Walmarts.
An ounce of IT prevention could have prevents a pound of financial loss.
BOTTOM LINE: Great leaders pay attention to the ounce-of-prevention rule.
tags:
Walmart
Black Friday
Cyber Monday
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