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 …
Don’t be average
Average. Even the word itself sounds mediocre and boring. Average, is not what you want to be. Recently, I have watched a video by Grant Cardone, a man who has succeeded against the odds and is a force of nature in the business world (sales in particular), which has reminded me of this overwhelming epidemic of being good enough to …
Don’t mistake kindness for weakness
Be kind and respectful to others, but don’t ever allow anyone to mistake that empathy for a weakness. People should be treated with respect, professionalism and common courtesy, but none of those gestures should be mistaken as a “free pass” by select individuals to perform outside standards, policies and processes that apply to all others.
You will grow and you will learn, but you will never “make it”
Each of has has our own goals that we want to accomplish and those goals are frequently modified before they are actually realized. As we achieve our goals, we set news ones and that process never ends for most people. There is always something we want to accomplish, whether professionally or personally and as such one rarely even reaches the …
Control and own your life
Life! You only have one and it is yours to live, so please take ownership and control of it. The overwhelming majority of your life is (or should be) within your control and as such let’s drop excuses, finger-pointing and blame. Be cognizant, mindful and aware of the feelings and needs of your family, friends, coworkers and others, but ultimately, …
It’s about the team, not you
Team must always be valued ahead of narrowly focused individual needs. Whenever possible, help people accomplish their goals even if they are not directly related to your responsibilities. Collaborate, communicate and be a team player. No one likes self-centered individuals who hide information or knowledge and don’t work well with others.
Business logic goes before technology
Business logic, processes and policies need to be in place before a technological solution can be selected. Additionally, start from the desired outcome then reverse engineer the process and steps needed to get there. During this process you must establish ownership and accountability of each of the steps and a clear timeline and what happens when and by whom. Only …
Don’t manipulate people, convince them to join you
Manipulating people is easy in most instances, but it is wrong in every single case. Collaborate and be honest with people, build relationships and create trust in order to ensure long-lasting, fruitful relationships. Build alliances, establish partnerships and don’t trick people into things as that always ends in a win-lose situation and you will not always win.
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 …