Carnival Of Management Tips

Welcome to the January 30, 2007 edition of carnival of management tips.

Derek presents On Leadership (Part I) posted at hopeisnotaplan.net

Anna presents The Link of Information, Knowledge and Success at The Engaging Brand

David Maister presents Passing It On posted at Passion, People and Principles.

lorenzo presents Channeling Inspiration posted at RealitySeeds

Jane May presents 8 Things Employers MUST Do To Find New Talent posted at Rich Dad Says, saying, "Great tips for business professionals looking to hire new talent."

Daniel Scocco presents What do Google, Apple and Harley Davidson have in common? posted at Innovation Zen.

David Lorenzo presents Are You Lazy? posted at The Business Advisor.

David Maister presents What a Company Needs Most posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, "What are the most important key ingredients for a company?"

Benjamin Yoskovitz presents Should You Exceed Expectations or Not? posted at startupspark.com,

Charles H. Green presents The Perversity of Measuring Trust posted at Trust Matters,

Praveen presents 5 Business Writing Tips From Hemingway posted at My Simple Trading System.

K T Cat presents Why Lean Six Sigma Works Only Sometimes posted at The Scratching Post.

David Maister presents Earning Trust - new careers podcast posted at Passion, People and Principles,

Charles H. Green presents I'm OK, You're an Idiot posted at Trust Matters

Laura Young presents Do You Deserve a Vacation? posted at Dragon Slayer, saying,

almomento presents The Hidden Power of Mastermind posted at BurstCreativity.

Murad Ali presents Marketing is about Messages; Not Sales. posted at The New Business World.

Mike Buckley presents Marketing Magic posted at Mine Your Own Business.

Daniel Scocco presents Competitive Advantage: Introduction posted at Innovation Zen

Murad Ali presents All the Online Marketing Methods: Increasing traffic and sales. posted at Online Business Concepts.

Emmanuel presents How to Manage Your Business posted at Comments on: There is a science to get rich.

John presents Value of Your Work: Get What You Deserve! posted at OhCash.com,

Rob presents Top 25 management tools for 2007 posted at successful-consultants.

Rob Llewellyn presents IT Management Life; Risk management culture posted at Rob.

Christopher J. Brunner presents Learning from Google HR Techniques posted at The Small Business Buzz,

Debra Moorhead presents The Meaning of TEAM posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Wilson Ng presents Making Employees Productive posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of management tips
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.

Continuous Improvement is Key to Business Success

A curse of business can be complacency, of taking the foot of the gas when things are going well. Here is a story to show you the importance of focusing on improvement as a manager/leader.

"A hunter said to his guide 'This seems to be a very dangerous cliff. It's a wonder they don't put up a warning sign.' The guide replied ' They had one up for 2 years but no one fell off so they took it down!"

See the danger here?? However, how many times do you do this at work. For example maybe the employee or customer surveys come in great...so you feel confident and take your focus away from keeping them happy. Results over time need continuous focus, continuing dialogue....management succeeds just like money - the more you put in, the more you get out.

So ask yourself today, "What area have you lost focus, because you think it is OK?"

Carnival of Management Tips

Welcome to the January 26, 2007 edition of carnival of management tips.

Murad Ali presents Companies that are Diverse Earn More Profits posted at The New Business World.

Krishna De presents Google alerts - probably the best free research tool in the world posted at Krishna De, saying, "Discover 10 tips to using Google Alerts to grow your business"

David Maister presents Non-Financial Currencies posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, "When you want to give a raise but you haven't got the budget, here's 15 other ways to reward and motivate people."

Charles H. Green presents Fear and Loathing at the Office posted at Trust Matters, saying, "Does your management style inspire fear and loathing?"

Christopher J. Brunner presents Relating to NBC’s “The Office” posted at The Small Business Buzz,

David presents The 7 Traits of Highly Effective Teams posted at Worldwide Success, saying, "As individuals, we can achieve many commendable goals. However, significant, large accomplishments that have a major impact in a company, a community, or the entire world, can only be achieved with a group of people.


Dragos Roua presents GTD for people living in transition countries posted at eDragonu - choice of a personal path.

Debra Moorhead presents 9 Business Etiquette Faux Pas and How to Avoid Them posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Erek Ostrowski presents Personality vs. Purpose posted at Verve Coaching.

Craig Harper presents 35 tips for creating and maintaining a successful startup posted at Renovate your life with Craig, saying, "At some stage, every successful business was simply an idea floating around in someone's head.

Will Chen presents "Paying Yourself First" Explained in Plain English posted at Wisebread, saying, "A powerful money management technique that will lead you to financial freedom."

Paul Gonzalez presents How to Stop Being Mediocre | The One Year Exit Plan posted at The One Year Exit Plan, saying, "If you want to stop being mediocre, you have to continue to act on the thing you're avoiding the most."

Kevin Henney presents When Business Blogging Goes Wrong posted at Quartz Mountain Weblog, saying, "Business blogging can be a great way to improve communication, but it can have a downside when used incorrectly.

Charles H. Green presents Leading Lawyers posted at Trust Matters, saying, "How can someone who bills 3,300 hours legitimately be described as managing, much less leading, a 550-lawyer firm"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of management tips
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.

Learning from Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is not the best bunker player in the world and does not enjoy practising them so his answer....perfecting his swing so that he goes in less bunkers.

Now have a look at this phrase NOWHEREISHAPPINESS

What do you see? Do you see "nowhere is happiness", or "now here is happiness"?

The follow up question is "Do you concentrate on what you can't do, or what you can do? As Marcus Buckingham would say build on your strengths to succeed in business. I guess Tiger must have read the book!

Management by Michaelangelo

There are many people who enter management thinking great, the end of doing all the boring, mundane jobs. Then they realise how hard management is, and they wonder why they ever aspired to being a manager. Well Michaelangelo has the answer...

When asked by a young boy why he was hitting a large piece of rock with his hammer and chisel replied, " Because there's an angel inside and I'm helping him to escape"

When you are next faced with the round of weekly coaching sessions, performance appraisals, recruitment...just remember what a creative, inspiring role you have...you are allowing the angel inside to escape....

Facts or Communication of the facts?

Often at work it is not the facts that are important it is how we portray them.

An example

A company always held a summer picnic, which included a hugely contested softball game between 2 departments that had developed a great rivalry over the years. They only played one game every summer, but argued over it all year!

Dept A won the game, but Dept B posted the following write up..." Department B is proud to announce that following this year's softball game, we finished in second place, having lost only one game all year. We also offer condolences to Department A who finished next to last, after only winning one game all year"

Truth - yes! But what a great way to turn a potential negative into a positive...

What is your success?

Too often we judge our success by others and this can make us feel miserable. Remember to define your own success, don't compare only to your own goals. The key is being true to yourself, true to your values.

Define your success before other's do, this will be much more satisfying.

Also, remember that we are all different and ensure you know how each person in your team defines their own success. Don't assume it is the same as yours....find out by asking, listening and then you can help them create a successful future.

Podcasts to Inspire the Mind

Podcasting is a fantastic tool and one which I had known about earlier. I have learned so much from listening to some of the great shows out there. Here is my pick of podcasts but feel free to add more

The Engaging Brand (affiliate to me, but still think it is a great listen)

Manager Tools

Harvard Business Review

Daily Thoughts on Business

Motivation on the Run

The great thing is that these are "free resources". Why not look through these as part of your development ideas for your talented team?

Autonomy is good for employees health

Not sure that autonomy is a good thing?

Well, a John Hopkins study found that workers who have very little input into how they do work are 70% more likely to die from heart disease than workers who CAN input into how they do their work.

Scientific evidence that giving people a little control is a healthy thing to do!

A quote to inspire you to inspire

Lou Gerstner said

"In the end, management doesn't change culture. Management invites the workforce to change the culture"

Look at the word invite....you invite because you want to, you invite because they are people you respect, you invite with the knowledge they have a choice...

Do you tell people what kind of culture, or do you invite them to the "culture party?"

If they are not accepting the invitation then look at that mirror, what are you doing that is preventing people wanting to come to the "culture party?"

The new form of bartering

In the modern world there has almost been a return to the old system of bartering. This time individuals provide their time, services and talent in exchange for the company providing money, learning, purpose and connections. What we barter with and barter for, may have changed but it is still revolves around the idea of exchange. It is a 2 way contract that must be respected by both parties....do you and your team work around providing value to each other?

A quick tip on reducing stress levels

A new study shows that you can achieve lower stress levels with cinnamon or peppermint scented air fresheners. I don't know if it works but worth a try if it reduces fatigue and stress....anyone tried it?

What we mean by listening...

I have published this poem before but I wanted to again as I think it is so powerful and recent readers may not have seen it. Listening is the most underutilised motivation and leadership skills in businss. Here is a poem that I always keep close at hand by Ralph Roughton which always helps me focus:

When I ask you to listen to me and you start by giving me advice, you have not done what I asked,
When I ask you to listen to me and you begin by telling me why I shouldn't feel that way, you are trampling on my feelings.
When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to solve my problems, you have failed me. Listen !
All I ask is that you listen, not talk or do...just hear me.
When you do something for me that I can do for myself, you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
When you accept as simple fact that I do feel what I feel, no matter how irrational then I can quit trying to convince you and get about the business of understanding whats behind this irrational feeling.

Isn't that powerful, print it out and place it on your desk......as an incredible reminder for the leader in you.

Carnival of Management Tips

Welcome to the January 4, 2007 edition of carnival of management tips.

Shamelle presents Who Borrowed Your Time Today? posted at Enhance Life.

Anna presents Compromise is not an Option posted at The Engaging Brand.

Phil B. presents Etiquette to Reading and Replying to Emails « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity.

David Maister presents Rights and Obligations posted at Passion, People and Principles.

Praveen presents Financial and Branding Lessons from Tyra Banks posted at My Simple Trading System.

Charles H. Green presents Trust on the Amtrak posted at Trust Matters,

Leon Gettler presents Coke and diversity: how to manage differences posted at Sox First,

Paul presents Increasing your hourly rate in order to get rich posted at Paul, saying, "When it comes to making more money, a lot of people think about working harder or working more. They equate the amount of money you get out with the amount of effort you put in. But this isn't really the case."

John E. West presents Leaders are made, not born posted at The Only Trait of a Leader.

Brandon Peele presents The Economics of Self-Awareness posted at GT.

David Maister presents We Succeed When We All Succeed posted at Passion, People and Principles,

Charles H. Green presents Tips, Tricks and Trust posted at Trust Matters,

Debra Moorhead presents How to Write Your New Year’s Resolutions posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

David Maister presents The Hardest Working Leader in Show Business? posted at Passion, People and Principles.

Vihar Sheth presents Responsible MBAs posted at Vihar Sheth.

Jack Yoest presents What Is The Best Predictor of Successful Leadership? posted at Reasoned Audacity,

Murad Ali presents Product’s Life Cycle: How Long You Have to Sell posted at The New Marketing World.

Murad Ali presents Theory of X and Y: Motivating your Employees. posted at The New Business World.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of management tips
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.

Valuing People

A little story that someone told me

"Mr X was sat at dinner between Mr Y and Mr Z, both of whom were renowned and Mr Z was very successful. After dinner Mr X said "When you sat at dinner with Mr Y you came away believing that he was perhaps the smartest individual you'd ever met....but you can see why Mr Z is so successful, when you sat with him you came away thinking that you were the smartest person on earth"

Mmmm food for thought, are you Mr Y or Mr Z? Do you place value on the person that you are talking to? And which one would attract talent?

How to support upset and create engagement

The best part of teams is that they are made up of human beings...the worst part of teams is that they are made up of human beings!

The motivation of a team will vary depending on the emotional state of each person, and often it is outside influences that affect people's mind fitness.

If you see someone upset or they come to you, give them some time. First, get away from your desk, show them that you value how they are feeling. Take them for a coffee, get them away from the telephone, e-mails, other people. Maybe even take them off site - I would go for a walk around the block, or go to a local coffee shop.

People say that they haven't got the time, well you haven't got the time for that person not to be productive, not to be in the right mindset, affecting the rest of the team. Imagine if the problem means that this person will leave - imagine the time you would have to invest in replacing that talent??

Your role is to lead people, and valuing their feelings pays huge dividends in the long term through commitment and loyalty.

A great tip to help you empathise

An interesting point is that if you watch mothers with their babies, they cradle them to the left and in doing so use their right side of the brain. So if you struggle with your emotional intelligence a great tip is when you want to feel and show more emotion look to the left. This is a great way of developing your right brain....so think before you choose your seat in a meeting or in a coaching session.

The importance of your website

79% of US Students said that they formed an opinion of a potential employer from their website.

So if you were to see your website as a window to your employer brand does it sell the values, the story...does it create a compelling reason for a potential candidate to want to work for your company?

How do you offer that as a project they propose how to make the site more attractive...a win win scenario!

Meetings as easy as ABC....

If you struggle with meetings and keeping the structure then here is a format that may help.

This tip is as easy as A,B,C,D which gives you an outline to run a team meeting

A= Achievements. Good way to start and give each individual a chance to shine.

B= Benefits. Good way to link achievements to ensure that they are helping the team, company towards their vision.

C= Concerns. This should be 2-way with both the team member and the team leader expresses any concerns that they have, potential issues, strategy gaps etc

D= Direction. Finish with a look forward to what needs to be achieved before the next meeting.

As easy as A,B,C....or and D!

When you are confused...

Remember when you are confused don't get frustrated, after all it is a positive! If you are confused then you should see it as a chance to learn, a chance to expand your knowledge.

By staying in this positive mindset will mean that you will learn quicker, and then pat yourself on the back at once again facing a potential problem and overcoming it.

This is also important with people in your team. Don't get frustrated if they learn slowly, check how they learn. Do they like you to explain, read how to do it or try/practice? If they are confused then use a different technique....and remind them that this is a positive as well, a chance to learn something new!

A new year, a new start

A new year brings a chance to set yourself some stretching personal targets. Here are some thoughts to help you achieve a life/work balance

N= No one can achieve balance with a high degree of honesty..be honest to yourself about how you need to develop and change.
E= Explore what you need to continue to do, build on your strengths.
W= Write down what you need to stop doing, stop avoiding ...be honest and take action.

Y= You will have development needs so what do you need to START doing?
E= Explore how you can save time by increasing your knowledge on technology. Automate what you can, use technology to do routine tasks.
A= Action is required to achieve life/work balance. What are 3 actions that you will take, and commit to?
R = Review the above each month, update as necessary, celebrate your progress and be honest about what you still need to address.