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Tag Archives: Focus
Survival of the Fittest and Leadership Flexibility
Hawaiians and other Polynesians are the descendants of peoples who traveled by boat from East Asia to settle their islands. Those most likely to survive the long and arduous journey were those with “thrifty genes”. They were those ancestors who … Continue reading
Posted in Improve / Turnaround, Leadership, Perform / Execution
Tagged Focus, Innovation, Learning, Management, Productivity, Vision
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Decisiveness
“In a minute, there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” This line from the 1915 T.S. Elliot poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, is a lovely bit of poetry. It is also a … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Leadership, Perform / Execution
Tagged Consistent Execution, Decision Making, Decisiveness, Focus, Productivity, Vision
1 Comment
Checklists
Several years ago, a medical surgeon, Atul Gawande, wrote a best-selling book, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, that discusses the advantages of using checklists in all types of activities from surgery to disaster recovery to business. As … Continue reading
Posted in Improve / Turnaround, Perform / Execution, Sales and Marketing
Tagged Communication, Focus, Learning, Productivity, Project Management, Training
1 Comment
Optimize the Overall Business
As business leaders, we strive to have each of our areas improve its efficiency and effectiveness. Accounting, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Operations, Project Management, Customer Service – each of these parts of the business needs to be as effective as possible. Likewise, … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Leadership, Perform / Execution
Tagged Communication, Focus, Management, Productivity, Project Management, Success
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Think Twice and Do Once
Every Do-It-Yourselfer knows the carpenter’s advice: Measure twice cut once. In successful businesses, a similar recommendation holds true: Think twice and do once. To so many of us, immediate action appears to be essential: We are just doing it! We … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Improve / Turnaround, Perform / Execution
Tagged Focus, Productivity, Project Management
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8 Ways To Be As Smart As We Can Be
To do our best in business, we need to be as smart as we can be. Alas, I do not have any tremendous insight or magic elixir to make myself or anyone else be smarter. Sorry. What I do have … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Improve / Turnaround, Personal Success
Tagged Focus, Innovation, Management, Productivity, Success, Teaching
2 Comments
10 Ways to Really (and Truly) Be Organized
With all the meetings, E-Mails, objectives and communications in a typical company, staying organized is a never-ending task. Yet, there are a few fundamentals to follow to ensure that you stay organized and focused on the most important tasks each … Continue reading
Getting It Done: Achieving Twice as Much in Half the Time
Posted in Perform / Execution, Personal Success, Team / People
Tagged Business Transformation, Competitive Advantage, Consistent Execution, Decision Making, Employee Engagement, Focus, Leadership Success, Make It Happen, Pareto 80 - 20, Personal Productivity, Prioritization, Simplicity
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5 Daily Behaviors for 2017
The calendar says 2017. Unfortunately, far too many of our leaders are leading as if it is 5, 10, 20, even 30 years ago. Old-fashioned leadership and work styles and out dated, time consuming, and all but useless leadership behaviors … Continue reading
5 Ways Managers Can Make It Happen
In order to move our companies forward, we, as managers, need to get the right things done – the most important tasks that lead to success. This needs to happen in a workplace besieged by interruptions, distractions, and office chatter. … 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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Leadership Restraint
Contrary to popular opinion, a successful business leader does not need to: Have all the right answers and be the smartest person in the room Be involved in every matter and make every decision Overwhelm his or her subordinates with … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Focus, Leadership Restraint, Leadership. Less is More
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Clarity
With so much going on in our companies today, our employees have a large number of competing priorities as they do their daily tasks. What is most important? What should they focus on first?
Posted in Leadership, Perform / Execution, Personal Success
Tagged Business Leadership, Clarity, Communication, Consistent Execution, Focus, Goals, Objectives
1 Comment
‘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
Is Your Smartphone Killing Your Business?
Your iPhone, Android or Blackberry smartphone is a great device, enabling today’s business leader to constantly be in contact with the office and access the Internet or the cloud for needed information on the fly. Unfortunately, it is exactly this … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Perform / Execution
Tagged Business Leadership, Do the Right Thing, Focus, Less is More
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The Lost Skill of Delegation
“You cannot do it all.” As business leaders, most of us have come to realize that we need to better delegate tasks so that we can get what is essential done. But, it is important to remember that the purpose … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Perform / Execution
Tagged Business Leadership, Delegation, Do the Right Thing, Focus, Management, Winning Teamwork
3 Comments
The Most Seductive and Dangerous Mistake Smart Leaders Make
Business leaders are on the firing line, making it happen, and trying to realize ever more difficult goals. Far too often, for every one step forward, they take one, two or three steps backwards by making that most seductive and … Continue reading
Go Home!!! Work Fewer Hours and Get Better Results
Business leaders pride themselves on working hard, putting in the long hours required to achieve success. Paradoxically, the extra hours many of us put in may actually hinder our effectiveness and the performance of our companies. In short, working fewer … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Personal Success
Tagged Business Leadership, Do the Right Thing, Focus, Less is More, Winning Teamwork, Work-Life Balance
1 Comment
Minimize Distractions for Better Results
In business today, the opportunity for distraction is endless. This includes all the distractions of the urgent but unimportant that range from meetings to E-Mail to Internet surfing. Due to these distractions and constant interruptions, employees and companies often do not … Continue reading
David M. Shedd - Move Your Company Forward 