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Tag Archives: Do the Right Thing
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
The Challenge of Being Ethical
“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” Groucho Marx “There’s one way to find out if a man is honest – ask him. If he says, ‘Yes’, you know … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Personal Success, Team / People
Tagged Do the Right Thing, Ethical Leadership, Ethics
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Field Centric
As leaders, we can get wrapped up in so many different activities and meetings – meeting with the finance, human resources or marketing department; talking to investors, banks and insurance companies; strategic planning; looking at acquisition candidates or joint venture … Continue reading
Three ‘Cheats’ of the Ethical Leader
An ethical leader is someone dedicated to always doing the right thing for the employees, the business, and all stakeholders. Alas, this ideal for the selfless and driven leader clashes with the reality of who most of us really are. … Continue reading
The One Thing
In their book, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, authors Gary Keller and Jay Papasan suggest that a laser-like focus on the most important is essential to realizing success. Since the book dovetails so closely to … Continue reading
The ‘Crack Cocaine’ of Leadership
Crack Cocaine has three distinguishing features: It gives the user a short – lived, intense high It is highly addictive It inevitably leads to the user’s downfall These exact three characteristics are found when business leaders feed their egos. Let’s … Continue reading
Operations – The Five Daily Fundamentals
Most companies still provide a tangible product or service. This means that companies need to have operations employing people to produce the product, deliver the product, or provide the service. These operations are essential to great customer service and building … Continue reading
What Does a Buyer Want?
I recently interviewed a professional buyer at a customer company who was looking to move into a sales role for our company. I asked how she would use her current experience as a buyer to be a better salesperson. Her … Continue reading
We Must Impose Limits… On Ourselves
As business leaders, we are constantly being bombarded with distractions, new opportunities, and issues. Everything and everyone screams at us to do more. Yet, to achieve our goals, we must prioritize. By imposing limits on ourselves, we can better focus … Continue reading
Posted in Improve / Turnaround, Perform / Execution, Personal Success
Tagged Business Leadership, Business Transformation, Business Turnarounds, Consistent Execution, Do the Right Thing, Focus, Less is More, Make It Happen, Personal Productivity, Prioritization, Process Improvement, Simplicity, Tim Ferriss
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Get to the Front Lines
Undercover Boss has become a hit TV series by showing big corporate bosses going undercover and discovering the reality of the work lives of their employees. As leaders, we do not need to go undercover; we just need to get … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Accountability, Business Leadership, Business Transformation, Business Turnarounds, Change, Customer Satisfaction, Do the Right Thing, Employee Engagement, Face Reality, Human Resources, Integrity, Sales and Marketing, Sales Coaching, Winning Teamwork
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Foster Fresh Perspectives
As leaders, we can often get stuck in ruts, talking to the same people every day and thinking the same way as everyone else. To breakthrough and come up with new and innovative ideas and approaches to problems and issues, … Continue reading
Business Success by the Numbers
What numbers lead to business success? 0 – As in 0 /0 (zero injuries and zero accidents). In any company, the safety of employees and customers each and every day should be of highest concern. 1 – As in … Continue reading
The Leadership Machine – Developing Skills for Your Leaders and Executives
In their book, The Leadership Machine (Architecture to Develop Leaders For Any Future), Michael W. Lombard and Robert W. Eichinger discuss ways to build leaders and develop leadership competencies (skills) in any company. Although the book is a bit too … Continue reading
The “Hard Work” Myth
A few months ago, there was a lot of discussion and a bit of vitriol about Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, and her habit of leaving the office at 5:30 pm in order to have dinner with her family. … Continue reading
To Get Things Done, We Need More Meetings…With Ourselves
The majority of businesspeople are drowning in meetings – staff meetings, review meetings, planning meetings, etc…. The majority of businesspeople are inundated with distractions – colleagues stopping by open offices, a tidal wave of E-Mail, the allure of Facebook and … Continue reading
Stephen Covey’s “Habits” Books – Still Valuable After All These Years
Stephen R. Covey is justifiably famous for his books on business and personal success. In this blog, I briefly summarize two of his best and most relevant books for moving you and your company forward. The 7 Habits of Highly … Continue reading
Jack: Straight From the Gut
In Jack: Straight From the Gut, famed GE CEO Jack Welch (with John A. Byrne), gives a no-nonsense take on what made his 20-year tenure at GE so successful. The first fundamental in strategy is to be in the right … Continue reading
‘Tis a Gift to Be Simple
In a previous blog (Why is Business So Complex?), I highlighted the factors that drive business leaders and businesses towards greater and greater complexity and more and more work. Yes, business is complex. And that complexity cannot be ignored. But, … Continue reading
Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School
In his book, Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School, Philip Delves Broughton recounts his experience as a student at HBS. It is an interesting read, especially for those planning to go to business school. For our … Continue reading
David M. Shedd - Move Your Company Forward 