Posts in the ‘Management’ category
“I worked hard this year! I deserve a bigger bonus!” I heard this complaint almost annually in 15 years in various sales leadership positions. Sometimes it was a valid complaint. Most of the time it wasn’t. “You receive a salary for effort. You get a raise or a bonus for results.” I like people who […]
A lot of people do not like performance reviews. Many times it is the anticipation of bad news that can cause anxiety in the individual. The fear of the unknown can overwhelm people. That’s the problem. Nothing that is discussed in a performance review should be unknown. That is why they are called performance reviews […]
What are my priorities for this year? What accounts and what goals should I focus my efforts on? The time is now to ask these questions. Do not wait until after the holidays. I sat in many, many strategy sessions for individuals, small teams and large organizations. They can be a beat down or very […]
I believe every one of us needs to keep score of how we are doing. We need to know if we are achieving our stated goals. But, be careful! What you measure becomes your master. I see leaders and entire organizations mastered by what they measure. Often this is not a good thing. Many leaders […]
When someone does something well, a good coach jumps on the opportunity to praise them. Praise is a great motivator. But misplaced praise can demotivate. Making people feel good about themselves in a vacuum doesn’t work. In my past, I fell into the habit of always praising people. It hurt their performance and our relationship.
Craig’s boss left the company suddenly due to an ethics issue. Now Craig was leading the team. The team had been on a down hill slide for a while. But now, both performance and attitudes were in a nosedive. “How can I turn it around, Dave? People are angry, hurt, and wondering about their futures. […]
It had been 12 months since I hired Tracy. During the interview process she wowed me with her passion and drive to succeed. I wasn’t just moderately hopeful for her. I thought she would be doing my job some day! But 12 months later, that person was nowhere to be found. Tracy turned out to […]
“Tell me about yourself.” “What is your definition of teamwork?” “What’s your biggest weakness?” These are old interview questions that rarely improve an interviewer’s chance of finding the best candidate. Some interviewers have not changed their interview questions for years, or they are using the questions they were asked when they interviewed years ago. It […]
The Zone, Body For Life, Atkins, South Beach, and Vegan are all different eating plans I have employed to lose weight. They all worked too. That is, they worked as long as I executed the plan! I’ve spent many hours in conference rooms developing business plans. Some companies will take three months out of 2014 […]
Now what? After reviewing a stack of resumes, phone screenings, multiple interviews and reference checks, I have hired the best person out there for the job. What’s next? I could do nothing, roll the dice and hope my new hire reaches the potential I see in them. Or I could eliminate chance and put the […]
