Marketing your services and products is essential in order to make sales, increase revenue, make your payroll and ultimately survive. Having that in mind, why is it that IT leadership frequently believes (or certainly acts that way) that their services shouldn’t be marketed across their organizations and beyond? Why do they believe that others will just magically become aware of …
Share the spotlight
Share opportunities with your team and empower your staff to get actively involved at the highest strategic levels. This exposure and recognition at the executive level will enable people to have a better understanding of the strategic priorities and realign themselves with that in mind. Furthermore, don’t keep all strategic, leadership projects and responsibilities for yourself, but rather share them …
Talk is cheap
Actions speak louder than words. We have all heard this saying and it holds true in nearly all areas of our lives. Having that in mind, it is interesting to see that way too many people don’t go past words, speeches and talks. Too many people don’t deliver what they claim they will and that is the greatest differentiation between …
Culture of innovation, creativity and progress
Building your culture is a hard work that needs to be thought out strategically, planned carefully and implemented one step at a time. The process of bringing everyone to a new standard of performance, new standard of thinking takes time and it is not something one can achieve over night. With that in mind, it is essential to remain committed …
Leaders set the culture
Leaders set the organizational culture and that will never change. Accept it and choose your leaders wisely. On the other hand, if you happen to be a leader, it is equally as important to take your responsibilities seriously and act in such way that promotes quality, accountability, and communication across all areas you lead. Whether you like it or not, …
Proactively reward your top performers, your top 10%
Top performers matter. Your top 10% of employees matter the most as they are the ones who truly move the needle and make a positive difference in your strategy and operations. This is why you must be strategic and thoughtful when it comes to managing their careers in a sense. Executive leadership must know who the best employees are at …
Manage egos, collaborate, communicate and include others
Manage egos and put the needs of everyone ahead of any individual needs. Collaborate, communicate and leverage skills and experience from other teams, groups and departments for the betterment of the entire organization. If other teams as asking to get involved, don’t take that as encroachment, but rather look at it as an extended, helping hand intended to contribute in …
To lead you must follow
To lead you must have followers, to have followers you must follow. Confused? Let’s explain it a bit better. Before you can become a leader you must know how to lead, you must know what works and what doesn’t. One of the best ways to learn this is by following others and experiencing how it is done well (or perhaps …
Our leaders lack self awareness
Self-awareness is essential for everyone, and it is even more important for those in leadership positions with strategic responsibilities. Leaders must know what their strengths are and even more importantly they must know what are the areas where they are not as comfortable at this time. Continue educating yourself, continue expanding and building your experience portfolio, but be aware of …
Why are we doing it this way?
?That question mark can mean many different things, so use it carefully. As you come across areas that may need some attention and care, start with a simple question, why are we doing it this way? Do your best not to attack or offend people, but rather focus on the solutions and better ways of achieving desired outcomes. Your new …