Employees are prone to mistakes, mishaps and miscalculations. No one is perfect. Therefore, companies – which are comprised of people – make mistakes too. The issue isn’t “if” a business will err, but rather “when” it will err. It happens. When someone makes a mistake, how is it handled? Minimizing the frequency of mistakes and managing such issues well – even when trying valiantly to avoid errors altogether – is what elevates some companies above others. When things get jumbled, there is a better way to deal with it. Continue reading →

Is your company introducing a new blog or drip campaign? Getting ready to deploy a new product? Developing a new marketing campaign? Launching a new division? Great. Is the information you are sharing “sticky”? It should be. Sticky is good. Sticky means memorable, relatable and impactful. According to Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, there are six basic principles to follow to ensure that any new idea, message, product, campaign or brand sticks to your target audience. Before you deploy, make sure your next big effort passes the “sticky” test. Continue reading →

Captains of industry are always looking for ways to help staff relieve stress, combat boredom, boost engagement, increase well-being, collaborate more, be creative, amp up analytical precision, and raise productivity. Sounds challenging. But what if the best way to accomplish all that is actually simple… just encourage employees to laugh, smile and have fun! There is ample evidence that a serious, highly-focused, intense workplace is exactly the wrong atmosphere to generate big ideas and even bigger results. So how does a leader get people to lighten up at work yet still deliver results? Continue reading →

Time is precious… the only finite resource. And you are now considering spending seven minutes of that precious commodity reading this. You should because every minute of time is not spent equally well. Some investments of time generate a better return than others. Seven minutes now might save you hundreds or thousands of minutes down the road. Unless you already manage your time with the perfectly-calibrated precision of a Swiss clock and the efficiency of a U.S. Marine Drill Sergeant, reading this might be the best time investment you make all year. Continue reading →

It turns out the best managers – those who consistently extract the work excellence from direct reports — are those who are the best teachers. And, the best teachers are not those who are busy directing, giving feedback and correcting work… nor those pushing people to “get out of their comfort zone” or focus on improving the things they do badly. Nope. The best teachers quietly watch… waiting to spot and praise excellent work and then leverage those instances into teachable moments and improvement opportunities. That is how the best managers get excellence from every employee leaving competitors in the dust! Want to try it? Continue reading →

Employers want employees to do excellent work. And, most employees inherently want to do excellent work (if recognized and rewarded for it). But, in reality, most work is not “excellent” and can be improved. Helping employees improve their work is where things get tricky. Countless entrepreneurs, leaders, managers, professors, HR specialists, psychologists and economists have spent a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how to help people do excellent work. Praise? Criticism? Rewards? Reprimands? Focus on failures? Pushing people out of their comfort zone?
Just what promotes excellence? Here’s what works and what doesn’t! Read more. Continue reading →

The “Halo Effect” is a cognitive bias in which a person’s overall impression is influenced by assumptions based on unrelated, concrete information. If a person likes one aspect of something, he is predisposed to think positively about other aspects of it, even if totally unrelated. For example, “I love iPhones. Therefore, Apple is the best company for computers.” While the Halo Effect can certainly be damaging in some areas of business, imagine if that bias could be harnessed and channeled on behalf of a brand. It can and has. Here’s how! Continue reading →

Never judge a book by its cover. That bit of wisdom cautions not to prejudge based on superficial or unrelated factors. This adage is a warning against the “Halo Effect,” a type of cognitive bias in which one person’s overall impression of a person, place or thing is influenced by assumptions based on unrelated, concrete information. For example, a good looking or nice person is more likely to be hired and promoted because it is often assumed that an attractive or likeable person is also intelligent and capable. So how does the Halo Effect affect business and brands? Continue reading →

Fact: Most employees need training. Training ensures new hires get oriented and existing staff stay up-to-date on the latest and greatest tools, techniques, systems and skills. But, training takes time and eats into productivity. For many managers, the act of “teaching” employees feels wasteful. Leaders often feel that employees paid to do a job should already know how to do the job, or worry that money invested in training leaves when an employee leaves. So just how much should companies invest in training so employees are prepared to do the job? Continue reading →

There is a lot of talking done at work. But all talk is not created equal. Some conversations are critical for success and take time. Some chats are casual and should be limited. And some discussions go nowhere and should not happen at all. So how does a manager determine which conversations are beneficial, which are pointless blather and which are beneficial to get everyone working on productive tasks? And, how does a leader get employees to work more and waste less time talking? Continue reading →