I am finally breathing again! That is such a simple fact of life we take for granted until it becomes a challenge and an issue. Over the past week, I have dealt with respiratory issues (bronchitis) along with our three year old boy having a hairline fracture on his metatarsal bone (right foot) which is very challenging considering how much …
Audit your life
Audit your life annually to retain focus, intention and determination on people and things are truly matter to you. Your family, your health, your career, your education…whatever the priorities may be at this time, refocus on them and do away with those (both people and things) that provide no value and are a complete waste of time. We each have …
People want to be heard and appreciated
People have an innate desire to be respected, heard, understood and appreciated. Once they reach out to those of us in customer service (READ: we are all in customer service) they want to feel that their concerns and problems are important to us, that we will take them seriously and be of assistance to them. Even when we are not …
Be a humble leader and accept criticism
Environment must be safe for dissent and as a leader you must be accepting, even welcoming of criticism and different ideas. As long as these ideas are presented professionally and courteously, you need to accept them with humbleness and give them serious thought and consideration. After all, be mindful that people on your team and other teams may know a …
One conversation at a time, no side chatter & respect the calendar
Communication is an essential pillar in building successful teams, but at times, it needs to be managed. While in meetings it is essential for everyone to be on the same page and focused on the topic at hand. People must be both physically and mentally present and engaged into what the team is working on. This is something that I …
Excuses don’t matter, your work does
Excuses are frequently irrelevant, cheap and everyone has at least a few. While it is important to learn from previous decisions and actions, it is equally as important not to spend too much time stuck in the past. Learn from the past, assess your current state, communicate present outcomes, but spend all of your time, effort and energy on moving …
Don’t delay the change
When the time is here to make progress, don’t delay the change. If something needs improvement, do it now and don’t delay the unavoidable. Do your due diligence, conduct detailed yet all encompassing research, communicate with your team members and once you have reached a conclusion, act on it.
No bad apples allowed
One bad apple can spoil the rest so please remove them from the basket. As a leader you must establish, promote and support an inviting, comfortable and respectful working environment and as such you can’t allow any single individual to jeopardize your workplace. No matter how good and valuable they may be from a functional perspective if they can’t cooperate …
Say yes to opportunity
Opportunities are frequently unexpected and very commonly show up unannounced. How we react to them is what makes the ultimate difference in how valuable they become to us. I have already emphasized the importance of embracing opportunities and have shared a few examples last year which support the fact that opportunities and new clients don’t come announced which was, once …
Don’t chase perfection, chase progress
Perfection is elusive and frequently unattainable. This is why it is important to focus on making daily incremental advancements towards the ultimate goal. Rome wasn’t built over night and neither will most of your projects or strategic and operational services. Collaborate, communicate and work together with your colleagues to advance your current state into what you all believe it can …