#Leadership : 5 Ways to Keep Your Productivity High All Day…Ever Hear of the Ivy Lee Productivity Method? You’re About To.

/in /by

In 1918 Ivy Lee, a productivity consultant, counseled Charles Schwab, then the president of Bethlehem Steel, to adopt this plan for his employees. Schwab did just that, saw productivity soar and presented the consultant with a $25,000 check — a princely sum back in those days.

iron works steel and machine parts modern factory indoor hall

There are a few things we can actually control in our life; sadly, time isn’t one of them. But we can control how productively we use it. Certainly we need to: Most of us have been in situations where we wished there were “more hours in the day” to get things done.

Related: 4 Productivity Tips That Changed My Life This Year

However, a recent Stanford study throws water on that notion, suggesting that simply devoting more time to getting things done isn’t as helpful as it would seem.

The study revealed that productivity falls off dramatically after a 50-hour work week, and that those working 70 hours accomplish little more with those additional 20 hours. So, the issue isn’t about having more time to get things done, it’s about using the time you already have more wisely. Consider these five productivity hacks to optimize your daily hustle.

1. Start your morning right.

How you start your morning sets the tone for the entire day.

Waking up earlier and getting into full activity mode can help you get more done the entire day. You should also start your day on a positive note. While most people tend to focus on what they’ve not been able to accomplish the previous day, resetting your priorities and attacking the new day’s goals is key to making the best use of your time.

Keep the phone and emails aside and start with some mind-stimulating exercises such as lifting weights and doing yoga. The workouts will get your blood flowing  and pump you up for work, while yoga will help you clear your mind.

Related: The Secret to Increased Productivity: Taking Time Off

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

2. Employ the Ivy Lee productivity method.

This an old productivity strategy recommends that you close each day by writing down a list of six important things you want to do the next day. Each task is listed according to its level of importance. The most important one comes first, the least important, last.

Your aim is not to clear your tasks as soon as possible but to focus only on completing the first task. Move on to the next task only once you’ve completed the first one. Do this until everything is done.

James Clear, productivity expert and author, explains in a blog post how in 1918 Ivy Lee, a productivity consultant, counseled Charles Schwab, then the president of Bethlehem Steel, to adopt this plan for his employees. Schwab did just that, saw productivity soar and presented the consultant with a $25,000 check — a princely sum back in those days.

3. Try polyphasic sleep.

According to research reported in the New York Times Magazine, sleep deprivation costs businesses in America more than $63 billion annually. While it’s in our nature to sleep only at nights — which for most people is insufficient — taking short naps or siestas during the day may be just what you need to keep your productivity high.

Polyphasic sleep is a sleep hack that aims to boost productivity by disrupting the normal straight seven-hour sleep (monophasic sleep). With polyphasic sleep, you sleep only 30 minutes every six hours. This approach gives you roughly five hours’ extra sleep in a day, while your body still gets the rewards of a normal six-to-seven-hour sleep.

4. Always wear a cheerful outlook.

Our productivity seems to be connected to our mood. That statement seems obvious, but now there’s proof: A University of Warwick study found that happy employees work harder. The study established that by working alongside cheerful people, employees studied were 12 percent more productive.

If you yourself aim to see increased productivity at your business, stick with employees who are cheerful and happy and stay away from those who tend to share negative stuff. You can also contribute to the productivity levels of others by staying happy yourself — which is great for everybody.

5. Drink coffee.

Hey, all you java fans, multiple studies show that drinking coffee can boost our productivity levels. Jeff Bickley, founder of Gayo Kopi, an exclusive coffee brand, validates this in a chat.

“Coffee can play a powerful role in boosting our productivity,” he says. “Throughout the day, a compound known as adenosine is produced, as neurons in the brain are fired. We end up feeling tired and worn down as a result of its  continuous production.

Coffee helps combat this by impersonating the A1 receptor, which helps block adenosine.”

Related: 7 Healthy Habits That Maximize Your Productivity Every Day

So bring on that mocha latte.

 

Entrepreneur.com | November 20, 2016  | Ayodeji Onibalusi

#Leadership : From Cold Emails That Work To Finding Your Purpose: This Week’s Top Leadership Stories…This Week’s Top Stories May Get you to ReThink the Much-Reviled Cold Email and Ask the Right Questions to Find your Company’s Purpose.

/in /by
This week we learned why cold emailing may not be as useless as many believe, how a condiment company used its own history as the starting point for writing a mission statement, and why one Thiel Fellow is washing his hands of the Trump ally’s organization.

These were the stories you loved in Leadership for the week of November 14:

1. SIR KENSINGTON’S: THREE QUESTIONS FOR FINDING YOUR PURPOSE

Can this condiment company help your business find its mission? Maybe. Sir Kensington’s, which makes ketchups, mustards, and more, didn’t just pluck its corporate “purpose” out of the sky or have a CSR officer draft a memo. It looked back on what had actually led to the company’s success. These simple questions can lead to the type of self-examination to help you do the same.

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

2. MENTORSHIP AND THE ART OF THE COLD EMAIL

“I’m all about cold emailing,” says Jennifer Fitzgerald, CEO and cofounder of PolicyGenius. That may be surprising for some to hear, but it’s helped Fitzgerald secure some of her most prized mentors. She isn’t alone. Here’s what fellow startup founders have discovered about putting a widely reviled networking method to good use.

3. FORMER FELLOW TO PETER THIEL: YOU CAN HAVE YOUR MONEY BACK

The Thiel Fellowship awards $100,000 grants to students under 22 years old to drop out of school and pursue an innovative project. But since the program’s billionaire benefactor Peter Thiel is a high-profile Trump supporter and now part of the president-elect’s transition team, one fellow says he’s had enough. This week, Cosmo Scharf explained why he cut ties.

4. FOUR EMAIL SUBJECT LINES THAT MAKE EVERYONE HATE YOU

Your simple follow-up email may seem harmless enough, but on the other end, somebody is staring at their inbox and grinding their teeth. This week we learned why certain email subject lines are likely to backfire, leaving others feeling more aggravated than interested in helping you.

5. THIS PROJECT MANAGER’S WORKFLOW HACK TRANSFORMED HOW GE BUILDS AIRPLANE ENGINES

One Air Force veteran who now works with GE Aviation says his military experience taught him to spot problems that impact others and take action quickly. That training came in handy when Paul Thienprayoon saw how badly his team’s inventory system was slowing down the assembly and repair of GE-made airplane engines. Here’s how he took a simple Excel sheet and turned it into a software tool that streamlined the Aviation division’s workflow.

 

FastCompany.com | FAST COMPANY STAFF  | 11.18.16 5:00 AM

#Leadership : 14 Scientific Reasons to Disconnect Over the Weekend (Infographic)…Start Enjoying your Weekends.

/in /by

Work hard, play hard. We’ve all heard that expression — and it does hold some truth. If you find yourself burnt out and stressed over the weekend, it’s time to reassess how you approach your work-life balance.

free- man at bench in desert

Related: 5 Ways Weekends Can Boost Your Productivity Monday Through Friday

Taking time off is healthy — and even though many of us can’t swing a weeklong vacation to de-stress, we can at least take advantage of our Saturdays and Sundays. Disconnecting from work over the weekend has a number of benefits — increased productivity, job satisfaction, performance and creativity.

So sit back and relax. Here are 14 way scientific reasons why you should disconnect over the weekend, compiled in an infographic by Net Credit.

 

Entrepreneur.com | November 19, 2016 | Rose Leadem

Your #Career : Does Your Boss Have Favorites? Here’s What to Do…You Cannot Control the Actions of your Boss; You can Only Control your Reaction to Him or Her

/in /by

You see your co-worker hanging out in your boss’ office almost every day. They laugh, make inside jokes and seem more like longtime Buddies than employer and employee.

Anytime you try to join the camaraderie, they don’t exactly embrace your contributions to their little social circle—it’s more like they tolerate you. And coincidentally (or not), the high-profile projects always seem to go to this particular coworker.

Yep, your boss clearly has a favorite. These tips can help keep your career moving forward when that favorite isn’t you.

Get a reality check

Your supervisor’s favoritism may be frustrating, but try not to let it get to you. Complaining and whining about it won’t help you get ahead, says Billie Sucher, a career-transition management expert, so focus on maintaining your professionalism. One way to do that is to get honest with yourself—even if that means taking a slice of humble pie.

“No one wants to admit that a colleague might be more experienced or skilled [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][and thus enjoys more face-time with the boss], but in reality, this is frequently the case,” says Alexandra Levit, author of Blind Spots: The 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success. “If you really believe favoritism is in question, talk to a mentor outside the situation—in confidence—for an honest and fair assessment.”

Don’t limit this assessment to just the technical aspects of your job. “Take a good look at your performance and relationships at work,” says Hannah Morgan, career strategist and founder of CareerSherpa.net. “Are you easy to get along with? Do you have strong relationships with your colleagues? Do they trust you? All of these factors are equally as important as your qualifications to do the job.”

You can also choose to address the issue directly with your boss to get his or her feedback. Focus the conversation on how you can improve your performance, Sucher says. Rather than expressing anger or frustration about your place in the office hierarchy, ask what you can do to become a more valuable member of the team. Additionally, discuss your own short- and long-term goals with your boss, and lay out plans that will help you get where you want to be, Levit says.

Take the reins

While it would certainly be nice to be chummy with your supervisor, it’s not a prerequisite in order for you to excel at your job. Instead of concerning yourself with your boss’s feelings about you relative to your coworkers, concentrate your energy on what actually matters—the work you do.

“You cannot control the actions of your boss; you can only control your reaction to him or her,” says Sucher. “Focus on what is before you—your tasks, accountabilities and serving your customers and employer to the best of your ability.”

Make sure your boss knows you’re doing great work by regularly reporting on your accomplishments. “Don’t just go to your boss when there is a problem,” says Boni Candelario, a New York City-based career coach. “Set yourself apart and express your successes and how they relate to your department’s success.”

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

Proactively pitch project ideas in areas your boss cares about. If you’re getting passed over for assignments you think you should have, provide your boss with reasons and facts to support why you should get the next one, Morgan says.

Know when to walk

After you make your case to your boss, his or her reaction should help you decide if it’s worth staying at this job or not, Morgan says. So let’s say you’ve spoken to your boss, discussed your aspirations for more challenging work and explained your personal goals, and your boss has emphatically agreed that you should be working on bigger, better projects. Terrific! Except the next time a plum account becomes available, you’re once again passed over, leaving you bored and unchallenged in your role.

Unfortunately, you may still find that your boss is dismissive toward your goals and uninterested in helping you move forward. That’s a flag.

“If you have done all that you can possibly do from a professional standpoint and are still uncomfortable in your environment, dust off your resume,” Sucher says. Take a first step in the right direction by setting up an account on Monster—so employers that are looking to hire can find you easily and so you can manage alerts on jobs you’re interested in.

You can find a manager who will have your interests in mind. “There will always be favorites,” says Sucher, “but a good leader knows and shows that all of her team members are her favorites.”

 

Entrepreneur.com | November 18, 2016 | Monster.com 

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

#Leadership : Five CEOS On The Skills It Takes To Land The Corner Office…These Business Leaders Share Some of the Skills they Didn’t Expect They’d Need Once they Tot to the Top.

/in /by
The lure of the top corner office is strong, but there’s a reason not everybody grows up to be the head of a company—the job is a massive undertaking. CEOs are asked to do it all: setting strategy, closing deals, hiring people, firing people, calming irate customers, fixing broken light switches. And sometimes that’s just by 10 a.m. on Monday.
CEO Image Getty

Of course, the job doesn’t end there. Monster talked to several CEOs to find out what must-haves you need before you can consider yourself cut out for the gig.

1. HOW TO SAY NO

Whether you’re leading a team of 20 people or you’re a giant in the industry, it can be hard to turn down opportunities to grow, says David Nilssen, CEO of Guidant Financial, a small-business financing company based in Bellevue, Washington. CEOs are often looking for new ideas and markets, and when opportunities come up, it can be tempting to take every one.

But a CEO has to learn how to say no.

“The ability to scale will come from stripping out distraction and complexity from the system,” Nilssen says. So focus on whether these opportunities are really ones you can fulfill or merely serve as a distraction from your main mission.

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

2. HOW TO PITCH

Sometimes, the opportunities don’t come knocking; sometimes you need to do the knocking. You have to be able to make a case for your company to outsiders.

“That applies whether you’re looking for investment dollars or appealing to the board of directors on something you really want to make a priority for the company,” says Clark Benson, CEO of Ranker.com, a Los Angeles-based company that compiles crowdsourced lists online.

“You just really need to know how to pitch, and it’s not as easy as it sounds,” he continues. “It’s a learned skill that you have to invest hours in to be really good at. You don’t really realize how much you, the CEO, are also expected to be the hype guy.”

3. HOW TO READ FINANCIALS

Anne-Marie Faiola, CEO of Bramble Berry, a soap-making supply company in Bellingham, Washington, says she wishes she had had the ability to read financial statements before she started her business.

“Unfortunately, I learned how to read those reports the hard way—by being embezzled from or by having to draw on a line of credit because I couldn’t read a cash-flow analysis properly,” she says.

Faiola went back to school to get an MBA, focusing on accounting. “This is a skill that can be learned,” she says. Even getting familiar with the basics of business finance can help prevent disasters down the line.

4. HOW TO TAKE CRITICISM

“When you’re at the top, you’re the primary target for people’s criticism,” says Timothy Trudeau, CEO of Syntax Creative, a San Diego-based digital marketing company focused on music distribution. “You need to be able to hear this criticism and do something about it, all the while not taking things personally.”

At the core of criticism lies a valuable learning opportunity: People are telling you they want to see change. As CEO, change is something you need to know how to facilitate. Writing off criticism as mere complaining misses the point entirely.

And when the criticism isn’t warranted, you’ll simply need to find ways to move on. Trudeau says CEOs must take the high road, even if they have been treated unfairly.

5. KNOWING HOW THE WORK REALLY GETS DONE

When Erin Jump Fry became CEO of Fancy Fortune Cookies in Indianapolis in 2005, she knew she’d have to be familiar with the business—but she didn’t know that would include details like how the baking machines worked.

“As the person who has to approve equipment purchases and repairs, I eventually realized I needed to have hands-on knowledge of how all our custom machinery works so I could source upgrades and additional machines, and know how to talk to engineers and machinery designers in their terms,” she says.

Even though the day-to-day details are no longer in your job description as CEO, understanding your production processes has serious benefits. Knowing how the sausage gets made at your company can help you identify efficiencies and estimate your ability to scale. And if the need arises, you can step into different roles in an emergency.

“I didn’t expect to have to pitch in and work production for huge orders,” Fry says, “but when someone calls in sick on a day when you need to ship 40,000 cookies, then it’s all hands into the bakery.”

FastCompany.com | MARY ELLEN SLAYTER, MONSTER |  11.16.16 5:00 AM

Your #Career : How Getting Fired Could Be the First Step Toward a Better You…Few Things are More Motivating than Losing your Job. Don’t Squander this Opportunity to Learn About Yourself and Embrace a New Direction.

/in /by

Getting fired can feel like rejection or the painful end of something. It certainly doesn’t feel good. It can cause you to go into protective mode and tell yourself a story that wasn’t your fault. It also can lead you to beat yourself up for not meeting expectations.

Laid off Worker with Box

People get fired for many reasons. Perhaps the business wasn’t doing well and needed to cut costs or restructure. Maybe your boss really was an idiot and the two of you didn’t get along — so you subtly self-sabotaged yourself. Or maybe the job wasn’t serving you. Think back. Did you find yourself wasting time because your heart wasn’t in it? Did you get complacent and flatline instead of looking for ways to challenge and motivate yourself?

Whatever the situation, I guarantee you will be better off somewhere else in the long run.

Grieve. Then get moving.

Allow yourself to grieve for a short time. Then, stop feeling sorry for yourself and start to look on the bright side: You now have countless opportunities to consider.

Getting fired isn’t the end of the world. It isn’t even the end of your career. If it was unexpected, odds are there’s no predetermined path laid out for you. Take this opportunity to assess and regroup. What is it that you truly want to be doing? Are you satisfied in your current career, or do you need to pivot?

Most important, remember you have it within you to bounce back — with new self-knowledge that will help you become stronger than ever before.

You might want to look into specialty training or further education. Or maybe you need time off to do some soul-searching. Whatever you decide, realize you now have many different paths from which to choose. More than one is bound to make your life more fulfilling than it was at the job you left behind.

Related: 6 Habits That Turn Dreams Into Reality

Success breeds complacency.

Oftentimes people who reach a certain level of success cease to strive for more. Their basic needs are met. You might linger for years in a job that’s only mildly fulfilling you. If you’re thinking, “It can’t get much better than this,” you’re functioning but not really really thriving.

Getting fired gives you a different perspective. Take a look at your life and your next moves with fresh eyes and a beginner’s excitement. What else might you want out of a job that would make you passionately excited to get up every morning? You — and your eventual employer — deserve more than just complacency.

Related: Getting Fired Was Step One to Increasing My Pay 1,000% in 3 Months

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

Failure is your best teacher.

Absolutely none of the world’s most successful people took a straight, smooth, always-upward path. Taking risks and reaching for something more naturally means you will get turned down and endure rejection. In fact, stretching beyond your job description could be the reason you got fired from the position that didn’t fit.

Failure isn’t an end, and it certainly doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. Failure teaches resilience, empathy, and self-confidence. The experience is painful, but the lesson it teaches can be quite a gift.

Related: A Special Guide to Growing Stronger, Feeling Better, and Bouncing Back After Failure

“Failure is neutral — it’s how you emotionally hold it inside of yourself that is not,” says Ashley Stahl, a career coach to millennials. “In truth, failure is just feedback that it’s time for you to course-correct. Use failure as an opportunity to evaluate where you add the most value as a worker, and celebrate the fact that you’re not great at everything.”

Be honest with yourself so you can move forward.

So, what do you do now that you’ve been fired? You can look ahead by being honest about your past. Ask yourself the hard questions — the ones whose answers might reveal you bear some responsibility.

What could you have done better? What part did you play in getting fired? Would you be happy at a different job in the same field, or might you actually want to do something else?

Look at the pros and cons of your last job.

What did you love? What did you hate? Did you like the culture, or do you need something different? Smaller, larger, more service-oriented?

As best you can, isolate the characteristics you most want in your next job. Otherwise, you risk falling into something that looks just OK. Real progress means you’re moving closer to fulfillment, not just into another position that won’t engage you on a deeper level.

Start making phone calls.

Call your friends, if you haven’t already. Let them know you’re looking for a job in your sector or primed for something new. Networking is your lifeline. Your friends, family members, and colleagues should know a skilled and employable rock star is available to join their team. Take all the introductions, advice, and sympathetic ears offered.

Most important, remember you have it within you to bounce back — with new self-knowledge that will help you become stronger than ever before.

 

Entrepreneur.com | November 17, 2016 | Murray Newlands

 

#Leadership : Why you Should Never Work Longer than 90 Minutes at a Time…By Working in 90-Minute Intervals (or Less) you Could Maximize your Productivity. Here’s What you Need to Know.

/in /by

There’s so much emphasis on increasing productivity these days. Some companies are even doing things like doing away with meetings altogether to try to increase it. Workers are being mindful of productivity, too. Given the pace and expectations of modern life, we’d all like to understand how to best maximize our time and energy. It turns out, there may be a simple solution.

Clockwork

By working in 90-minute intervals (or less) you could maximize your productivity. Here’s what you need to know.

1. Strategic renewal works

Sometimes it seems like rushing around from place to place, or from one task to the next, is the only option we have for getting everything done. Our days are packed, so trying to find a chance to slow down a little feels almost impossible. But, taking time to relax could actually save you time in the long run. According to a piece in The New York Times, “strategic renewal,” which includes everything from daytime naps or workouts to longer and more frequent vacations, has been shown to increase productivity in the long run. So, while it might seem like there isn’t enough time to take a break, it’s actually one of the keys to getting a lot done.

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

2. The basic-rest-activity-cycle (BRAC) impacts our waking and sleeping lives

We’ve known for more than 50 years that we sleep in 90-minute cycles. (If you have a sleep tracker, likely as a feature of an activity band, you might have noticed this yourself.) We move from light sleep, to deep sleep (and restorative REM state) in roughly 90-minute waves. About a decade after we learned about this natural sleep cycle, researchers began to realize that we follow a similar pattern in our waking lives as well.

3. To maximize productivity, work in 90-minute intervals

In response to this information, and in an effort to better understand productivity, Florida State University Professor K. Anders Ericsson and his colleagues studied “elite performers,” folks who excelled in their field, whether they were musicians, athletes, or chess players. Ericsson discovered that uninterrupted practice in intervals of 90 minutes or less, with breaks in between sessions, worked best for maximizing productivity. Also, he noted that these folks rarely worked more than four-and-a-half hours in a given day.

“To maximize gains from long-term practice,” Ericsson concluded, “individuals must avoid exhaustion and must limit practice to an amount from which they can completely recover on a daily or weekly basis.”

By focusing on limiting our fatigue to a level that we can completely recover from in a timely way, we can help to maximize our time and our productive efforts. Perhaps thinking of work or projects in terms of how they can be blocked into 90-minute chunks could be a good place to start. Who knows, maybe with practice we could even build to keeping our active workdays under that four-and-a-half-hour maximum Ericsson recommended, too.

Find out how your salary stacks up on PayScale.

Read the original article on PayScale. Copyright 2016. Follow PayScale on Twitter.

Businessinsider.com | November 11, 2016 |  Gina Belli, PayScale

#Leadership : 4 Ways Your Leadership Development Is Failing Managers…Companies, after All, Don’t Choose Managers by Drawing Names Out of a Hat. So, How Do Good Employees Become Bad Managers?

/in /by

Nobody sets out to become a bad manager, but the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of bad ones out there.

Platform Corridor

The 2015 State of the American Manager: Analytics and Advice for Leadersreport from Gallup analyzed the engagement levels of 27 million employees worldwide. It found that managers accounted for at least 70 percent of variance in employee-engagement scores.

Since a subsequent, 2016, Gallup report looking at approximately 1,500 employees found that only 35 percent of employees surveyed were actually engaged, the obvious conclusion is that it’s time to rethink what constitutes good management.

Companies, after all, don’t choose managers by drawing names out of a hat. They look at the qualities and potential of current employees and try to determine who has performed well and has what it takes. So, the question becomes, how do good employees stray off the path and become bad managers?

Let’s take a look at how leaders can guide managers through leadership development and help them effectively develop and grow:

Create career paths.

Leadership development and the path to becoming a good manager starts long before an employee is offered the position. Throughout their career, employees who want to become managers need opportunities to gain the necessary experience to become great managers.

Start employees off right by defining clear career paths that show what they can do to fit into the role in the future. Provide them with clear steps and guidance so they understand that they — and their future — are being invested in by the organization. Make sure you show them how each step in their development will help them achieve their individual career goals as well as contribute to the company.

Employees who step up will make it easier to identify which employees are interested in management opportunities as well as which ones are most qualified. That will make it easier to eliminate options that might become bad managers in the future.

Related Book: Real Leaders Don’t Follow by Steve Tobak

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

Provide consistent training.

Management is a skill. It has to be learned, which is why many organizations offer training to help develop new managers. The problem is that a short course in how to run a team isn’t enough to let all that knowledge truly sink in and help people form good management habits.

Grovo’s 2016 Good Manager, Bad Manager report looked at responses from 500 middle managers and more than 500 employees. It found that 33 percent of respondents said they hardly ever received follow-up sessions to reinforce their management training. That is why it’s no surprise that 80 percent of managers who change their behavior after management training go back to their old ways in just six months or less.

Training is not a set-it-and-forget-it-scenario. Maintain an ongoing leadership development program for all managers. Don’t just assume they understand and let them be. Provide real-time support for their behaviors and actions by checking in to make sure they are putting the information into action. Repetition will ensure that good management practices become more engrained in the way they lead each and every day.

Evaluate managers.

The aforementioned Grovo report found that 84 percent of managerial respondents believed their companies needed a better way to evaluate managers and their abilities. That type of thinking leads to the wrong type of management behavior being rewarded by the organization. Of the managers surveyed by Grovo, 74 percent said ineffective managers were frequently praised or promoted for their performance.

When managers are improperly evaluated, that action sends the message that bad management is what a company values, what  it rewards. Avoid this by establishing clear criteria of what good management looks like. Share these standards and expectations, not only with managers, but also with employees, so they can know if their superiors are providing the right type of leadership.

Also hold regular evaluations with managers. Discuss their performance and offer feedback from senior leadership as well as those they manage. That way, as soon as a manager begins to veer off the good management path, he or she can be guided back on track.

Build an accountability culture.

Good managers hold themselves accountable. They take responsibility for their mistakes and work to find solutions. They don’t try to pass the buck or take credit for others’ successes. Unfortunately, after gaining more power, many people forget these values.

Emphasize the importance of taking ownership of one’s work throughout the organization. Have clear methods to track individual and company goals so each employee can see how he or she is contributing. Make sure everyone knows whom the team’s performance reflects upon.

If a project fails, is everyone accountable or is the manager? Employees at all levels will be encouraged to be accountable once there’s an understanding about who is responsible for what, and how progress is measured.

Related: Why You Need to Invest in a Leadership Development Program

Becoming an excellent manager is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. To ensure that good employees don’t become bad managers, organizations must have a clear picture of what leadership development looks like — and then communicate it.

 

Entrepreneur.com | November 15, 2016 | Andre Lavoie

#Leadership : Why Everyone’s Salary Should Be Revealed…Transparency in Pay Provides Employees with Reassurance that They are Being Treated Fairly in Relation to Their Peers.

/in /by
 When it comes to their salaries, Americans are pretty pessimistic.  Almost two-thirds of over 71,000 U.S. employees who are paid the market rate for their positions believe they’re underpaid, according to a PayScale survey. These workers also said they’re considering looking for higher-paying work somewhere else, and they’d still leave if you gave them a raise.
pay-check

That’s because employees at companies that didn’t practice transparency just assumed that their coworkers were making more money.

“It turns out that pay transparency—sharing salaries openly across a company—makes for a better workplace for both the employee and for the organization,” David Burkus, author of Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual, said in his TED Talkearlier this year. “When people don’t know how their pay compares to their peers’, they’re more likely to feel underpaid and maybe even discriminated against. Do you want to work at a place that tolerates the idea that you feel underpaid or discriminated against?”

Keeping salaries secret does exactly that. Since companies are often transparent about expenses like health care and travel that have skyrocketed over the past few years, “It makes sense to pivot from the old way of keeping pay grades under a veil of secrecy to a more transparent way by sharing the compensation information on all employees based on the different roles,” says Tim Tolan, CEO and managing partner of the executive search firm The Tolan Group.

In fact, being open about what you pay employees can have benefits that exceed the savings companies can have by negotiating with each individual employee.

IT BOOSTS EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION

“Transparency in pay provides employees with reassurance that they are being treated fairly in relation to their peers,” says Jeanne C. Meister, coauthor of The Future Workplace Experience: 10 Rules for Mastering Disruption in Recruiting and Engaging Employees. “They may still leave, but pay may not be part of the equation.”

Workers who are paid less than the market rate for their jobs were more satisfied if their employer was transparent about their pay, according to PayScale. And if someone sat down and openly discussed the reason behind the compensation, their job satisfaction rose from 40% to 82%.

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

IT INCREASES EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

In a study from Cornell University and Tel Aviv University, researchers found that keeping salaries secret is associated with decreased employee performance. In an experiment, students were paid a base salary for completing three rounds of a computer matching game. While participants played the game individually, they were assigned to a four-person work group. Half of the participants were informed about only their own performance and bonus pay, while the other half experienced pay transparency, being told what the other team members were being paid. The study found the group that had pay secrecy also had decreased performance in the task.

IT ENCOURAGES GROWTH AND RETENTION

Pay transparency provides an incentive for employees to climb the ladder, says Burkus. “The research shows that when people know how they’re being paid and how that compares to their peers, then they’re more likely to work to move up it,” he said in an interview with Harvard Business Review. “And even those high performers are more likely to work hard to stay high performers in order to demonstrate why they bring that much value to the organization.”

IT HELPS FIGHT GENDER BIAS

Transparency requires employers to justify their decisions, and makes it less likely that these decisions will be based on bias or discrimination, says Kate Mueting, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Sanford Heisler, LLP.

“For example, D.C. has one of the lowest gender pay gaps in the country (11%), and this is largely attributable to the fact that the federal government has lock-step, transparent compensation,” she says.

Earlier this year, Fast Company reported that President Obama had announced a proposal aimed at closing the gender wage gap by requiring companies with 100 or more employees to report their staff’s pay broken down by race, gender, and ethnicity to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This information would be an update to the EEOC tool that currently collects wage data from businesses and isn’t scheduled to start until September 2017.

BUT THERE COULD BE DRAWBACKS

“In reality, salaries remain a sensitive topic,” says Lauren Griffin, senior vice president for Adecco Staffing. “Before openly speaking about your income with peers, it’s important to consider whether those conversations would offer any benefit.”

For example, sales environments commonly share performance rankings, which hint toward a person’s paycheck. “In that situation, openly discussing pay could encourage teams to share best practices and drive them to get better,” she says. “In addition, it could help retain less tenured employees who want to know what to expect as they move up within an organization.”

While there may be justifiable reasons why one employee commands a higher salary, such as increased responsibilities or experience, pay discussions can cause team members who don’t have access to the big picture to become disgruntled and feel undervalued, says Griffin.

“Once you open this door, you can’t close it,” she says. “Employees who perceive that their salary isn’t fair when compared to a peer’s can spread those frustrations to other colleagues and teams, ultimately leading to poor engagement, turnover, and decreased productivity.”

HOW TO SHARE THE NUMBERS

Potential drawbacks make the way that you share the information important. Choosing a method that fits your company culture can help. For example, Buffer puts all of its salaries on its website for anyone to see. SumAll shares numbers within the company, and Whole Foods employees can make an appointment to view the company’s “wage report.”

Other companies post pay rates for certain positions and let employees figure out individual salaries based on the hierarchy or their organizational chart. Some companies share their formula for calculating pay rates, while others provide the median salary for key roles and make this transparent both inside the company as well as on the company’s Glassdoor page.

“Some executives are concerned about the privacy issues,” says Tolan. “A way around sharing exact amounts would be to use salary bands and provide ranges for each role—and while you would still know which band a coworker is in, you probably would have to guess at their actual salary.”

Sunlight makes it impossible to hide things, said Berkus in the HBR interview. “And so in a transparent culture, regardless of how you do it, you tend to find people who have a higher sense of the organization being fair,” he says. “You tend to see increases in collaboration and all sorts of other positive effects.”

 

FastCompany.com | STEPHANIE VOZZA  | 11.15.16 5:24 AM

#Leadership : How to Disrupt Your Next Meeting — and Look Like the Smartest Person in the Room…Even the Most Ineffective Meetings Represent Opportunities for Leverage.

/in /by

Eighty percent of success, the saying holds, is about just showing up.  By this measure, the millions of meetings that are held in offices across the U.S. every day provide attendees with a strong chance to make the other 20 percent happen.

top view, group of students together at school table working homework and have fun

If they could appreciate being there, that is.

 Last year, a survey of 2,066 Americans by Harris/Clarizen showed that almost 50 percent preferred just about “any unpleasant activity” to sitting in a meeting. Alternatives included taking a trip to the DMV (18 percent), watching paint dry (17 percent) and undergoing a root canal (8 percent).

But is taking this attitude a winning strategy for an ambitious professional? Spoiler alert: not so much.

Related: Let’s Give Meetings a Much-Needed Makeover

Worse, it drives your boss nuts. Recently, one senior executive of an American-based tech multinational told me that members of her team routinely “check out” during meetings.

“These are very smart people,” she says. “But often, they either start multitasking or just aren’t fully present at meetings.”

Behavior like this can hurt even the most valued high-potential employees, because it shows passivity, rather than leadership and initiative. To be sure, there are plenty of reasons to mentally check out during an endless round of meetings — including fuzzy agendas, vague objectives and the general feeling that one just doesn’t need to be there.

In theory, anyone who calls a meeting will have a purpose in mind: to arrive at a decision, solve a problem or share updates that require feedback. In practice, that’s often not what happens.

So that kind of meeting is a waste of your time, right? Wrong. Even the most ineffective meetings represent opportunities for leverage.

Here are three ways to look like the smartest person in the room, even when a meeting feels like the dumbest time-suck ever:

1. Challenge up.

When the CEO or a senior executive attends a meeting, lower-ranking team members can wind up feeling intimidated or tongue-tied. Even when they have valuable ideas to offer, they can feel obliged to defer to authority — or worse, wholly succumb to group-think, which occurs when an organization appears to value harmony and conformity over rigorous analysis and critical evaluation.

But reticence in meetings often leads to flawed decision-making, so bosses hate it. (You may snort at this with disbelief, but my coaching experience bears this out.)

Recently, the president of a Detroit-based automotive parts manufacturer, whose VP of sales I coached for executive presence, shared that he wanted his lieutenant to “challenge [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][him] more in meetings.”

Recent research supports this. A 2013 Center for Talent Innovation survey of 268 senior executives found that integrity and speaking truth to power are highly sought-after qualities in emerging leaders. Similarly, a 2014 paper by the American Psychological Association showed that being courageous and speaking from the heart are characteristics of executive presence that help people get ahead.

But that begs the question: how do you successfully challenge the boss and not get fired? The answer is to offer substance — through sound reasoning and compelling evidence — and in a way that doesn’t threaten his or her status. This is important to get right: Neuroscience research has shown that a perceived status threat — such as a condescending tone, a scowling facial expression or thinly veiled sarcasm — is as painful as a blow to the head, leading to increased cortisol levels and anxiety.

A boss experiencing this sudden flash of stress hormones may react emotionally (translation: negatively) rather than focus on the value of your perspective.

Related: 5 Tips For Better Meetings

 

Like this Article ?  Share It !    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing  Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !)   www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K)   http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

Conveniently, success can lie in a simple swap-out of prepositions. Replace “but” with “and” when challenging your boss. Try saying it out loud to yourself right now, and see which sounds better: “I appreciate everything you just said, but we should consider XYZ.” Or, “I appreciate everything you just said, and we should consider XYZ.” The latter conveys a collaborative spirit whereas the former just sounds oppositional.

But you can’t approach this half-heartedly. A challenged boss may challenge back by probing for context or detail, or both. You responding with a sheepish expression and a half-baked argument can do more harm than if you’d said nothing. Still, if you’re immediately short on the requested details, offer to provide additional information post-meeting.

2. Disrupt the seating order.

It’s natural to sit with those who make us feel comfortable: friends, allies or teammates. But you’ve already established those bonds. Because organizations run on relationships, use your next meeting to expand your network.

Try sitting next to someone to whom you’ve never spoken, someone with a vastly different skillset or professional background — even someone who, at first blush, you may not like. This takes effort, but the approach can yield significant benefits, allowing you to establish new connections, gain a new perspective on a problem or cooperatively brainstorm ideas.

What’s more, the gesture signals to someone that you respect them. And if there isn’t an opportunity for a quick sidebar chat, you’ve created an opening to connect after the meeting — provided you actually speak to them, of course.

You can break the ice, and avoid a threat response, by elegantly justifying your disruption of the usual seating order. Ask, “’Mind if I sit next to you? I wanted to run something by you.” Or offer a firm handshake and say, “We haven’t officially met. I’d love to learn a bit more about you.” The options are endless.

The point is to take advantage of the many opportunities at meetings for smaller conversations with your colleagues, especially in problem-solving sessions. Reduce emotional distance by reducing physical distance.

3. Commit to providing something of value.

Providing value is the antithesis of “just showing up.” But if you think that value means the loaf of banana bread that you distributed at the last meeting, think again. People will gladly accept your kindness and thank you politely, but no one will see you as a serious player or respect you for filling their tummies with empty calories, however delicious.

Meetings are about progress, results and relationships. Being prepared is a good foundation for providing value, but as corporate meetings go, especially impromptu ones, you may not always be clear on a meeting’s objective until it starts.

Related: An Introvert’s Guide to Communicating With Results

Regardless, the key here is to be engaged. When a meeting begins, commit yourself to providing value in one form or another. Don’t hang back and wait for others to speak. Instead, take the lead — humbly (especially when you’re not in charge). This could mean asking thoughtful questions that broaden everyone’s understanding of an issue. It could mean offering fresh ideas that lead to possible solutions to a pesky problem. It could mean bringing the meeting back on track when it’s been hijacked by an off-topic rant, or using humor — judiciously — to de-escalate tension in the face of a frosty exchange between participants.

There are many ways to contribute value. Deciding in advance that you’ll do so can sufficiently prime you to shine in a meeting, even as others in the room silently wish they were somewhere else.

 

Entrepreneur.com | November 15, 2016 | HARRISON MONARTH

 

 [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]