What If You Have More People Pleasers Than High Performers?

/

“The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves” - Ray Kroc

Great teams consist of a wide variety of personalities with different skill-sets who collectively strive to achieve a common goal. A challenge for leaders is to unlock everybody’s potential within the context of achieving team success. It’s a delicate balancing act that leaders don’t always get correct. This is especially true when leaders are misled into thinking people pleasers are high performers.

Read More

You Need to Know This About Momentum

/

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton

The very word momentum has us conjure positive images of making progress and getting results. While that’s true, there’s also a form of momentum that has virtually the opposite effect. Is momentum your friend or foe?

Read More

You Really Need A Not-To-Do List

/

“Less is more. Progress is made through precise, persistent, and purposeful pushes.” ― Scott Perry 

If you’re like most of us, then it’s likely you’ll have too much to do but not enough time. If left unchecked, then over time this can become demotivating and even overwhelming. That’s why a Not-To-Do list can help you become more effective.

Read More

The #1 Reason Deadlines Keep Getting Missed

/

“If we didn't have deadlines, we'd stagnate” – Walt Disney

Recently an exasperated CEO bemoaned to me how his senior leadership team consistently missed 50% of their deadlines. I asked why he thought this was the case and he explained how they just always take on too much. To me this was a cliché, so I paraphrased with “hmm despite your team having the right intent, they’re just not doing what they say they’ll do for 50% of the time.” He responded with “um, yes!!!”

Read More

Why You Should Leverage Your Strengths, Weaknesses and Preferences

/

“Knowing your weaknesses is as important as knowing what your strengths” – Anonymous

We all have our own specific strengths, weaknesses and preferences. There are things we find easy to do and things that we don’t. For instance, what’s a strength for you might be a weakness for someone else and what’s a preference for them might be a weakness for you. It’s what makes us unique. Those who work smarter in the work environment leverage their strengths, weaknesses and preferences.

Read More

When Near Enough Is Just Perfect

/

“I'm not perfect.  Never have been.  Never will be.” - Louis Tomlinson

Steve Jobs’s defining quality was perfectionism. The early days of Apple saw the development of the Macintosh take more than 3 years due to Jobs’s obsession with detail. In many ways, this mindset was Job’s legacy that set Apple apart from their competitors. However, trying to replicate a similar mindset may not be appropriate for you. Should you also always aim for perfection or are there times when near enough is just perfect?

Read More

Great Workplace Cultures Unlock Potential to Amplify Impact and Results

/

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” - Phil Jackson

Have you ever been in a team or attended a party, a dinner, a function or a similar event that you just didn’t want to be part of? You know the place you didn’t enjoy and couldn’t wait to leave. Imagine if that was your workplace day in day out? It’d be awful, wouldn’t it?

Read More

Perfect Workdays Rarely Happen by Accident

/

“Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.” - John Ruskin

What’s your definition when determining a perfect workday? Is it an easy day, an enjoyable day or something else? I think of perfect workdays occurring when my plan to make an impact is executed like clockwork. When I feel like I’m in control while I’m achieving or making progress on targeted outcomes. It’s rare that perfect workdays happen by accident.

Read More

How to increase focus and reduce work deadline stress before Xmas

/

“The biggest challenge is to stay focused. It's to have the discipline when there are so many competing things.” – Alexa Hirschfeld

What projects, outcomes, targets or deadlines do you need to achieve before Xmas? Chances are there’s more on your To-Do List than the time available. Are you on track or do you need refocus in the lead up to Xmas?

Read More

Reasons Why Incompetence Absolutely Destroys Productivity

/

“It happens; incompetence is rewarded more often than not” ― Jeff Lindsay

A productivity meme is to “get it right the first time.” It’s why real productivity is more about outcomes and less about speed. However, it’s hard to be productive when the same or similar mistakes are made over and over. Does repeated incompetence frustrate you?

Read More

What You Need to Know Before Writing a To-Do List

/

“Sometimes our stop-doing list needs to be bigger than our To-Do List” - Patti Digh

How effective do you manage your To-Do List? Do items reside there only for a short time before they’re actioned or is it more so a never-ending list that’s constantly growing causing frustration and even overwhelm? Did you know there’s a simple technique you can implement that will transform how you manage your To-Do List?

Read More

3 simple productivity hacks that will improve culture

/

“Culture is what happens when the managers leave the room – doing what’s right in the absence of authority.” – Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist, Salesforce

Work cultures matter. More precisely, the values, behaviours and attitudes that underpin how people within organisations go about their day to day activities. The benefits of culture are spoken about by leaders, but are simple productivity techniques in place to make it possible?

Read More

Wasting Time is the Proven Way to Fail

/

“I do not want to waste any time. And if you are not working on important things, you are wasting time.” - Dean Kamen

Managing energy is more important than managing time (See: Is it more important to manage time or energy?). However, this doesn’t diminish the importance of managing time because the reality is both time and energy are important to our success. What’s apparent though is ineffective workers consistently demonstrate that wasting time is the proven way to fail.

Read More

Managing Interruptions is the Difference Between Success & Frustration

/

“The effectiveness of work increases according to geometric progression if there are no interruptions” - Andre Maurois

Wish I was paid $1 every time I heard someone say: “I’d get more done if only I didn’t have so many interruptions!!!”  What many workers don’t realise is that one-third of interruptions are typically reduced when proactive steps are taken to manage them. Can the level of interruptions be the difference between success and frustration?

Read More

Is it more important to manage time or energy?

/

“The most precious resource for business people is not their time. It's their energy. Manage it well.” Robin Sharma

Most of us are so time poor that we’re constantly trying to cram as much as we can throughout each day. We turn to time management to maximise productivity, however, it’s impossible to make more hours in the day because time is fixed. On the other hand, our level of energy isn’t fixed because it can vary. Therefore, is it more important to manage time or energy?

Read More

How to get back on track at work

/

“If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree.” - Jim Rohn

You’re slaving away at work so why do you feel as if you’re constantly taking 1 step forward yet 2 steps backwards? Intuitively you know you should be spending 80% of your time on the key aspects of your role, but you’re so busy you can only find time for 15 – 20%. Surely there’s got to be a better way?

Read More