Why annual performance reviews don’t work

Traditional, annual performance reviews don’t work and here’s why. Employees need consistent and constant input and suggestions when it comes to their responsibilities and performance. Having someone under perform for a year is a disservice to that employee, the firm as a whole and even yourself as a leader who is accountable for the overall performance and contributions of your …

Be honest, compete on value, not price

Honest and transparent approach will go a long way in customer acquisition and more importantly, customer retention. When it comes to your services and products it is important to be honest, sincere and transparent with respect to your strategy, cost and pricing that they may need to incur. Be honest with your clients and tell them the truth, tell them …

Attract the best talent, then do your best to retain them

Talented people are hard to find and they are even more difficult to retain long term. They have options and they know it. Having this in mind, it is important to invest in people ahead of anything else. Get the best folks you can and focus on quality over quantity. Once a team is built, then shift your focus towards …

Be a leader, not a decision maker

Leadership is earned, not given and as such you need to justify your privilege to lead others. Your title alone is not enough to make you a leader. Your position as a CEO, CIO, CFO, CMO, President, Vice President…gives you an opportunity to make decisions, not necessarily lead people forward. To lead others you must win their hearts and minds, …

Resources follow vision

Complaining about the lack of resources is utterly useless and here’s why. I am yet to meet an organization that has too many amazing people, too much money or too many great ideas, knowledge, technology…and so on. That doesn’t exist, accept it, internalize it and move forward. Instead of complaining, act on delivering value to the entire organization and making …

Overwhelmed? Breathe and move one step at a time

24 hours in a day don’t seem like enough for most folks nowadays. We have families, friends, businesses, schools, hobbies, sports…to attend to and they are all competing for our time and attention. At times, this can be stress inducing and result in feeling overwhelmed, feeling like you can’t get anything done. Well, when you feel this way (ideally BEFORE …

Build a great team, they are your reflection

The quality of your team, their performance and contributions are directly related to you as a leader. In a sense, they are a reflection of you. You set standards, expectations and instill values across your team and as such you need to use caution in the initial selection process. Furthermore, you need to provide them resources they need to be …