One critical habit to address in reducing workplace stress involves your productive and non-productive use of time. How you manage your time is directly correlated to your stress levels. Some stress is normal. In fact, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety states that stress is often what provides us with the energy and » Read More
Tag Archives: Focus
One Piece of Paper
Writing a lot of words on a subject gets easy. Often you can simply write and write and (at least I) think that you’ll eventually say something important. I’ve often said too much. It might have been earlier in my career when I was selling or even more recently with my teenagers when their eyes » Read More
Stop greasing these 3 squeaky wheels
“A ‘squeaky wheel’ isn’t the highest priority project. It’s the loudest or most noticed. In many organizations, it gets the grease, while projects with greatest potential to bring about business results get delayed or set aside.” This quote, from the book Everything’s A Project, is playing like a mantra in my thoughts. We focus on squeaky wheels because they are irritating, not because they are important. We want the irritation to go away. But oil isn’t the answer.
Effective Communication Skills: Acknowledge Emotions Before Solving Problems
Recently, I was working through an issue with another person. They were distressed over the results of a process that affects both of us. I helped to create the process. I have authority to change the process if necessary. And I have knowledge of the system to troubleshoot and fix a fair number of problems. » Read More
Ten EveryDay Leadership Decisions
In the course of your day as a leader you are faced with many decisions. Some come in emails, some in inquiries, and some in meetings. Some you have time to consider, for some you will rely on input from others, and others you must make immediately. There’s no question, leadership requires decision-making. The decisions » Read More
Small Moments
After being on my own as a small business person for seven years, I recently contracted with a smart, talented young woman to assist me with day-to-day tasks, graphic projects and schedule management. The decision was not an easy one… I tend to be a private person and I need a certain amount of “mental » Read More
Focus and Excellence
“Other men will make other violins, but no man shall make a better one.” Antonius Stradivarius
Life is a Fork in the Road by Don Shapiro
A friend of mine has recently launched a blog with an interesting purpose. Don Shapiro (LinkedIn Profile, @DonShapiro1) came up with an idea to pursue the decisions people make with a blog called Life Is A Fork In The Road. The premise is that our life is made up of several, maybe even hundreds of » Read More
Who Do You Love?
It seemed as I was graduating from college in the early 1980′s, prevailing business thought revolved around a passion for the customer. Business writing seemed to be dominated by the power of the customer at least from a marketing perspective. Customers selected the style of car and the flavor of food. Customers were front-and-center of » Read More
Leadership: Focus On Your Team
It seems more and more I read where people are speaking about their limitations in the workplace. The economic downturn has caused us to cut back, hunker down, retrench, re-evaluate, re-strategize and review just about everything. But there are several things we can do to influence our situations. As John Maxwell has so aptly said, » Read More
Recent Comments
Deborah Costello says
What a thought-provoking post, Mike. I think we all get so hung up on writing r...
Christina Haxton, MA LMFT says
I wanted to share a great response from Patrick McLaughlin ..."It may be a c...
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