There are times in a person’s career when they feel stuck. It might not be an urgent problem (yet), but it’s certainly an important one. As we spend so much time at work, this malaise can bleed into all areas of life, dulling feelings of happiness and amplifying stress. It’s not a fun place. One… Read more »
Business Management Blog
Managing Yourself: Values
Clarifying your personal core values is a key step to developing as a leader. Core values are the actions and behaviours we appreciate so deeply that we can’t help but behave in those ways. We are what we do, and we behave how we believe. Unearthing the language to express these beliefs further strengthens our… Read more »
Persuasion Tactics for Managing Change
Robert Cialdini has spent the better part of his career scientifically studying the principles of persuasion. His research has led him to conclude there are six main principles that guide persuasion. If you haven’t seen this 11:50 minute animation that summarizes his conclusions, you should. What follows are practical applications for these principles as they… Read more »
Incentive Programs: Paying for Performance
A regular incentive program (or bonus) can be an excellent mechanism to redistribute the wealth a company retains in the good years and remain solvent in less successful ones. Ad hoc incentives can also be used to reward above-and-beyond performance. Unfortunately, too often the enthusiasm around the first surprise reward quickly morphs into entitlement on… Read more »
Take The Stress Out Of Compensation
Few business leaders are immune to the anxiety and discomfort that go along with discussions of compensation. What we hear: “They think the bonus is a guaranteed part of their pay. It’s entitlement!” “They expect to be gifted equity for time served.” “They brought me an internet search that indicated they were 50% underpaid. That… Read more »
Discover Your Areas of Working Genius
Patrick Lencioni and his team at The Table Group have developed a 10-minute online assessment called The 6 Types of Working Genius. The premise is that everyone has work activities that give them joy and energy and others that don’t. If they do the former kind of activity most of the time, they love their… Read more »
7 Tips to Avoid Procrastination
Procrastination is a form of self-regulation failure that involves prioritizing short-term mood repair over the long-term pursuit of intended actions (Sirois & Pychyl, 2013). Basically, it’s more fun to watch TV or read a book than to clean the toilet. At least, in the moment. The problem is that the toilet isn’t going to clean… Read more »
The Trouble with Work from Home
Switching from the office to work from home (WFH) can have a significant positive impact on your wellbeing. Daniel Kahneman’s research showed that commuting can be the single largest source of dissatisfaction in a person’s life. When the routine of rushing to get out the door, fighting traffic, and settling into the office is replaced… Read more »
Socially Distanced Team Building
Now that so many teams are remote (intentionally or not), it can be tough to reinforce company culture. After all, there isn’t a lot of bumping into one another. Good team building activities should be inclusive, voluntary, and during work hours. We asked our clients what they’ve been doing to keep the fun and culture… Read more »
Developing People Through Talent Assessment
In Good to Great, Jim Collins taught us that we need to get the right people in the right seats. In small business, the seats are fairly standard: President, General Manager, Sales Manager, Operations Manager, Finance Manger…There are industry-specific variations on this theme but those five titles represent the foundational core to most businesses with… Read more »