Category: Career

Happy Holidays, Here's Your Review

12/20/2013

By: Dawn L Miller

It's that time of year again! The 4th quarter brings our end of year reviews, possibly raise (or not) information and hopefully the anticipation of a long needed break.

If this is the first time you're giving or receiving feedback for the year, 2014 is the year to change your approach! Entering reviews should be like a proposal submission - if this is the first solid, wholesome interaction with your customer, you've missed the boat!

The "reward" for good performance, however, is where many employees and managers focus. With shrinking budgets, rewarding talent is increasingly difficult. How would you handle this or have you handled this challenge?

Whether a manager with direct reports, employee or just someone with an idea, I encourage you to respond to this post. For those that attended our fall off-site - consider your team's discussions, your thoughts since then and I encourage you to post on your thought process and perhaps how the exercise changed your viewpoint!

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What did you say? I can't hear you.

8/4/2013

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By: Eric Pearson

Feedback. We all need it, yet few of us take it serious enough or often enough to make an impact in our ability to lead others. When was the last time you asked someone their opinion, appeared to be attentive (smiling and nodding your head up and down at the appropriate intervals to give the impression of deep thought and consideration in what they are sharing) only to be lost in your own thought and at the end of the conversation realize you haven’t heard a word? I expect probably more recent and often than any of us wish to admit. Why do we continue to choose to fail to embrace the tremendous value of feedback?

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Breaking Away From The Herd

7/26/2013

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By: Tim Boyd

The term mob mentality was first circulated by the 19th century psychologists Gabriel Tarde and Gustave Le Bon. This term specifically describes the characteristics that emerge when people coagulate themselves into large groups of individuals. These characteristics are often referred to negatively and conjure up pictures of the mob brutality and anarchy in Charles Dickens’, A Tale of Two Cities.

General reference to the herd mentality does not usually refer to the beheading of the aristocracy and the destruction of entire parliament houses. It usually involves a simplistic element of peer pressure, in which people are encouraged to do something they normally wouldn’t do (jump off a cliff, smoke a cigarette, etc). The large group performs the act as a whole and the individuals partake in the experience due to an inherent fear of being left behind by the group. People fear that if they do not succumb to peer pressure they will be outcast from the group and left to fend for themselves … alone.

However, to be a leader sometimes is to be alone. As a leader, you have to consistently keep your head up and focus on all the options in front of you. You can’t let yourself get lost in the details … in things that don’t push you forward. Sometimes you have to migrate away from the herd in order to find your next path … the open door that will eventually lead you to the next big thing.

How many times have you been standing in a really long line to get into your favorite restaurant or the airport? Your head is down, immersed in your phone or otherwise preoccupied. You eventually ask yourself, “Why am I waiting in this line? Why is this line so long?” Surely this is the only option, you tell yourself. All other options have been checked. You eventually snap out of it and realize there that there is another door that no one else is using. When you step out of the line and head to the door you think to yourself … what if it’s not open? What will people think of me? Will they let me back in the line if it’s not open? People question themselves when they deviate from the norm. This fear based mentality has evolved over time in order to prevent individuals from being left behind by the group. However, when you find the door is open what happens? People start flocking to the new path and start questioning themselves as to why they didn’t think of it first.

As a leader you should never be afraid to make a decision based on your assessment of the current situation. You must realize that you have a unique perspective and a voice through which you can express your own personal thoughts and opinions. It has been shaped by decades of knowledge and experience. No one can take that away from you.

I was told a long time ago by a wise old man that as a leader, you must know when to lead and when to follow. This has become my mantra over the course of my career. Sharing with people your vision is just as important as working hard to make sure their ideas become realities. As a leader, you can’t force people to follow you. It is up to you to invite them on your journey.

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Navigating a successful career - It is not all about networking

7/20/2013

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By: Amit Shah

Two entrepreneurs started on a journey in 1998 that would lead them to create one of the most successful and iconic companies of the digital age. Their idea was simple; create a system for transferring money using Palm Pilots and other wireless devices. They observed that there were many petty transactions, especially among acquaintances, that required dealing with counting out dollars and cents or writing a check. Who wouldn’t want to send $10.83 with a couple of button pushes when splitting the dinner bill with friends rather than counting out change? They received a large amount of funding from Nokia and they developed a working product very quickly. Unfortunately, there was almost no traction in the market place.

The entrepreneurs began to realize that consumers were not yet comfortable sending money electronically – so they devised a plan to setup a website where people can test out the service and see how a transfer could take place and, generally, get more comfortable with the idea. Much to their surprise, the website was not only successful in teaching people how to transfer money online but it became the medium of choice among consumers of that time. So much so, that they abandoned the wireless idea completely and focused their full attention on the website, paypal.com.

What can this story teach us about managing our careers?

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Happy Holidays, Here's Your Review

What did you say? I can't hear you.

Breaking Away From The Herd

Navigating a successful career - It is not all about networking

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