Author Archive
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Reference Question
When someone leaves your employ your relationship with them is far from over. Former employee’s future job opportunities depend on the references from their past employers and the stakes can be very high. A good reference can mean unlimited opportunities but a poor reference can be the equivalent of being “blacklisted.” Just [...]
Creating A Showcase For Your Place
Your vision is the primary message for your small business. The thoughts, insights, and aspirations you have for your business paint the picture of your organization that you want the world to see. The methods for spreading this message are numerous and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. But one way [...]
Inspire to Lead and Lead to Inspire
Inspiration comes at both ends of the leadership equation. Leaders are called to guide and lead from many different directions but there is always an element of emotion and inspiration. The call to act as a motivator, guide, teacher, and mentor is usually the first step in a process whereby an individual begins [...]
Getting to Know You: Your Ezine at Work
In the days when customers would walk through your door, the first thing an entrepreneur would do is introduce themselves. “Hi, I’m John, what can I do for you today?” A warm handshake, a smile, and the customer relationship was established. This relationship is something that any salesperson will tell you, is [...]
Defining Dynamic: Managing the Personalities in your Organization
The good manager learns from day one that maximizing your resources is essential to good organizational management. Whether it’s people, materials, or money, using the resources on hand is the difference between success and failure. No resource is more critical or more hard to manage than your most valuable asset,your people.
It is the [...]
Forming a Mentoring Circle
More and more businesses are seeing the value of establishing mentoring programs for their employees but finding it hard to keep up with demand. Matching each employee with a mentor, with all the demands and responsibilities connected with the commitment, is a daunting task. One solution is to form a circle of mentors [...]
Conflict: Beneficial or Just Risky Business
The stereotype that conflict is always detrimental is coming under attack from many researchers. There is a growing school of thought that conflict can stimulate an energetic and dynamic working environment that shakes apathy and compliancy to its core. However, there is an equally vocal group that finds conflict is always dysfunctional and [...]
Boosting Your Sales by Boosting Morale: Employee Coaching
“Happy people sell more,” is a cliche that every manager hears but doesn’t really listen to. Good morale seems to have a trickle down effect and when a manager is happy, everyone is happy. But to boost sales, everybody has to be happy even when the manager is not. Morale building through [...]
Can you Teach Leadership: Confronting Conventional Thought
Many people, including many colleges and universities, are firm in the belief that leadership is an inborn trait and cannot be taught as a field of study. This belief is rooted in the historical context of charismatic leaders who rose to leadership roles as a response to economic, religious, and political events. Looking [...]
Agility and Innovation: The Niche Market’s Advantage
In the traditional concept of economies of scale, larger companies squeezed out their competitors by offering convenience and better values. We have seen the retail giant Wal-Mart mow down its smaller competitors with lower prices and one-stop shopping. It has been a long held belief that BIGGER WAS BETTER! But, in many [...]
Building Relationships to Build Business
Attending networking events is probably the most natural venue for building relationships. But don’t limit yourself to scheduled networking events. In your day to day life don’t forget to present your business to everyone you meet. I once gained two clients while purchasing a mattress set. Everyone you meet is a [...]
5 Ways to Avoid Employee Burnout
Burnout in employees and managers continues to be a major and costly issue affecting businesses today. Major inroads have been made in maintaining employee health through the use of Employee Assistance Programs,EAP, and improved employee counseling but days of work lost to depression and a host of other psychological problems continues to cost American [...]
Avoiding a Hostile Workplace: Fairness in Employee Discipline
The environment of your workplace is vital to employee satisfaction, reduction of turnover, and productivity. It is also vital to the legal stability of your business.
A hostile work environment can be the basis for many types of employee complaints and causes of legal action. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lists as [...]
5 Essentials to Effective Communications
Communication is a part of every business, both large and small. In large companies, communication is dictated by formal procedures but small companies experience the same communication processes in more informal ways. But the process and its effective use is the same for all companies. There are 5 essential components that will [...]
All Chiefs and no Indians: Leadership in the Team Context
It is hard to believe that you company could be blessed with too many leaders and the possibility of that happening is indeed remote. But what do you do when you need a leader to be a follower?
The role of a leader is not fixed and changes with the needs of the [...]
Training and Coaching for Inside Sales and Customer Service Staffs is Vital to Business Growth
When you are trying to grow your business during those first few years, the ability to turn prospects into customers and to keep customers satisfied with your products and services is MISSION CRITICAL.
However, some entreprenurs and small business owners may have a common misconception thinking their inside sales professionals and the customer service staffs [...]
