Initiative Overload…
By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Are you guilty of committing initiative overload? Have you bit-off more than you can chew? As we head into the final month of Q1, it is my most sincere hope that you will take pause for a bit of reflective thinking – I would ask that you ponder the following question: “Am I so busy that I’ve lost the ability to be as productive as I need to be?” One of the most common problems facing executives is the lack of ability to remain focused on highest and best use activities. In fact many executives are their own worst enemy when it comes to taking themselves out of the “productivity zone” (see Finding the Zone). While we could talk about being better managers of technology, communications, interruptions and various other productivity killers, today’s post will focus on the number one killer of executive productivity which is biting-off more than you can chew or what I like to call initiative overload…
Leaders that cannot effectively deal with conflict are not really very good leaders are they? From my perspective, the issues surrounding conflict resolution can be best summed-up in three words…”Deal With It“. Conflict Resolution is a skill set necessary for survival in today’s business world. While you can try and avoid conflict (bad idea), you cannot escape conflict…The fact of the matter is that conflict in the workplace is unavoidable. It will find you whether you look for it (good idea) or not. The ability to recognize conflict, understand the nature of conflict, and to be able to bring swift and fair resolution to conflict will serve you well as a senior executive or entrepreneur. In today’s post I’ll share my perspective on the art and science of conflict resolution.
It never ceases to amaze me at the number of people who are charged with hiring who possess absolutely no skill at doing so. While I rarely meet a CEO who is completely comfortable with turning the hiring process over to HR, most of them still seem to acquiesce and do exactly that…”Who should do the hiring?” is a question that more CEOs should spend time pondering. In today’s post I’ll share my philosophy on the best way to insure that you hire tier-one talent.
Really? Identifying leaders? Have we really degenerated to this point? News Flash – If you have to look for leadership it doesn’t exist…Today’s post is not going to sit well with many in the leadership profession, but then many of my posts seem to have that effect. That said, I’ve never been a fan of what I refer to as “make-work” disciplines. By that I mean practice areas that serve no real purpose other than to generate a revenue stream for a coach or consultant, or justify headcount within a department. In my opinion the practice of leadership identification is simply based upon flawed business logic, and it is make-work in the purest form.
While success is normally considered to be a good thing, unless you’re prepared to handle it, success can quickly complicate your life. Even worse, without the proper perspective, success can actually contribute to the beginning of your downfall. So my question is this: Is your success serving as a springboard for even greater success, or is it merely a temporary state, precariously positioned and ready to implode with the slightest change in circumstance? As strange as it may sound, success can often times be the precursor to failure. Success without perspective, purpose, and focus can actually cause more harm than good. In today’s post I’ll discuss how CEOs and entrepreneurs can either leverage success, or if they’re not careful, have it serve as a catalyst for a rapid downward spiral…
In recent months I have observed a decent amount of politically correct discourse on the topic of team building and equality. The gist of the argument seems to be that for teams to be productive, employees have to feel “empowered” by having an equal voice. I can sum-up my feeling on this in one word…ridiculous. To be blunt, the concept of equality in the workplace has only made team building more difficult as employees seem to have a sense of undeserved entitlement with regard to their roles and responsibilities. And as odd as it may sound, one of the greatest impediments to building productive teams is practicing management by consensus. In today’s post I’ll share my thoughts on team building and equality…
In thinking about the comments I’ve received from readers on the topic of leadership I noticed an interesting paradox…while many of you vehemently disagree on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of different leadership styles, most of you are in total agreement on the qualities and attributes possessed by great leaders regardless of style. In further pondering this dichotomy an interesting thought came to mind – If I could genetically engineer the perfect leadership gene what qualities and characteristics would constitute the architecture of leadership DNA? In today’s blog post I’ll attempt to paint the portrait of the perfect leader…
The topic of “Employee Engagement” is something that many CEOs tend to struggle with. Long gone are the days where the executive leadership of a company can remain sequestered in their offices with an internal focus on hard metrics. Given the current economic climate, it takes far more than cost-cutting to survive. It is the CEO who understands the need for focus on the soft metrics of customer centricity and employee engagement that will create sustainable growth in revenue and brand equity. In today’s post I’ll examine the need to have a fully engaged work force… 
Are you easy to help? Think about it…do you make it easy for others to want to help you, or is your demeanor such that most people won’t lift a finger to assist you in a time of need? How many times during the course of your career have you witnessed executives and entrepreneurs who desperately need help, but either don’t recognize it, or worse yet, make it virtually impossible for someone to help them? In today’s post I’ll address the importance of positioning yourself to be helped…
My question is this: Is your intellect and asset or liability? All one has to do is watch a very bright person defend their position to understand what I’m driving at with today’s post. Observing intelligent people lecture, spin, posture, position, cajole, rationalize, or justify their beliefs in order to “get the win” is often times entertaining, but it can also be exceedingly frustrating. I’ve come across more than a few self-proclaimed “intelligent” people who believe that their intellectual acuity is far superior to the discernment ability of their peers and co-workers. Not only are these intellectual giants wrong, but sadly, by the time they awaken to a state of reality it is already too late. In today’s post I’ll share the keys to leveraging your intellectual assets as opposed to having your intelligence serve as a barrier to your success… 