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Category Archives: Business Acumen
Managing a Diverse Workforce
Diversity in the workforce can be a polarizing topic. But having a diverse workforce is more common and more essential than it would have been 15 – 20 years ago: Many companies have made great strides in having women and … Continue reading
Let’s Improve Our Forecasting and Policymaking
In reading and studying history, I never cease to be amazed at how badly political, economic, business, academic, and media policymakers and thinktanks forecast the future. Their predictions for a strategy or the effects of a law or policy are … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Leadership, Perform / Execution
Tagged Forecasting, Policymaking, Predictions
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10 Words to Improve Our Communication
As an individual, as a company, as a nation, and as a world we continue to struggle with effective communication. Here is a list of 10 key words to keep front of mind to improve as we work to become … Continue reading
Relearning
Much has been written about the importance of learning throughout our careers and how we can Learn Better. As we progress in our careers, it is equally important to relearn. That is, to review previously learned material to revise and … Continue reading
Avoid Problems
There are two ways to look at avoiding problems. The first way, as the cartoon points out, is to ignore the problem, sweeping the problem under the rug and hoping it just goes away. Humorous for a cartoon; deadly for … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Leadership, Personal Success
Tagged Avoid Problems, Insight, Vision
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Be a Decision Architect
Good individual and group decision-making is key to being a successful leader and driving a successful business forward. But we are all subject to individual biases (such as Confirmation Bias) and group behaviors (such as Groupthink) that lead to poor … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Personal Success, Team / People
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The When of Negotiation
In negotiation, there is always a bargaining range within which a deal can be struck – a zone of potential agreement. This bargaining range runs from the Seller Breakpoint (the absolute least that the seller will sell their product or … Continue reading
Overcoming the Stupidity of Smart People
Every day, we experience the consequences of smart people making stupid decisions. What causes intelligent people to make decisions that do not work and could never work or decisions that have unintended, negative consequences? Arrogance: Far too many smart people … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Leadership, Personal Success
Tagged Decision Making
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Build a Great (and Good) Company
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” Lord Acton This well-known quote from the 1800’s rings true. As countless observers continue to remark, great historical leaders (in business, politics, and the … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Business Leadership, Ethical Leadership, Good to Great
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Ideological Necrophilia
“Ideological necrophilia – a love of ideas that have been tried and proved not to work.” Moises Naim (Venezuelan writer and journalist) In the political world, we see ideological necrophilia in a continued love of Marxism and communism by the … Continue reading
Skin in the Game
In a previous job, I had around 100 salespeople who reported either directly or indirectly to me. As a group, they were strong in sales. But they lagged in paperwork, especially sales reporting and expense reports, and in doing any … Continue reading
Evolution and Change in Business
Looking at our businesses within the context of evolution can give us actionable insights to help move our businesses forward. Despite what we may have read or heard; evolution is not about a dog-eat-dog world where only the strongest individuals … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Improve / Turnaround, Perform / Execution
Tagged Change, Change Management, Evolution
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Let’s Be Scientific
As leaders, we are required to constantly evaluate evidence and make decisions. In doing so, we often succumb to “winging it” and making decisions on the fly, trusting our gut. While this might work for some decisions, it does not … Continue reading
Hold Opinions Lightly (While Holding Convictions Tightly)
“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” John Maynard Keynes In a leadership position, we need to hold our opinions lightly. We need to be able to change our opinion or viewpoint when new … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Personal Success
Tagged Confirmation Bias, Decision Making
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14 Basics to Master
Leadership training focuses intently on high level leadership skills – strategic planning, negotiation, managing stakeholders, projecting charisma, developing and communicating a vision. These are certainly vital skills. But, to be an effective leader first requires that we master basic productivity … Continue reading
Make Molehills
“Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.” Unfortunately, too many leaders ignore this wise advice. Instead, every minor issue becomes a major problem that needs to be addressed and resolved now. Why? Leaders make mountains out of molehills for … Continue reading
The Four Stupidities of the Smart Leader
To be a good leader, we have to be intelligent: intellectually, socially and emotionally intelligent. In a previous blog post, I even gave some advice on 8 Ways to Be As Smart As We Can Be. Being smart, however, does … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Leadership, Personal Success
Tagged Business Leadership, Communication
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Seek Out the ‘Useful Answer’
“When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.” Dalai Lama In my company, as in many others, we have a formal system to review work that we have done. Whether called post-project reviews, re-caps, or post-mortems, these reviews give the people … Continue reading
When Negotiating, Selling or Just Persuading, Quality Over Quantity
Niro Sivanathan is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School, who teaches Negotiations, Influence and Decision-Making. His psychological insights can help all of us be better negotiators, influencers and decision makers. In this blog, I let Niro’s … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Personal Success
Tagged Communication, Negotiation, Niro Sivanathan, Persuasion
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The First Two Steps in Process Improvement
Most process improvement initiatives fail miserably. First, they do not improve the processes they were supposed to improve. Second, they waste managerial and employee time, effort and attention. Or, third, the process may be improved; but this improvement does not … Continue reading
David M. Shedd - Move Your Company Forward 