Randy Grieser's Blog, page 12

The Art of Productivity

We are all busy. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear the phrase, “I’m so busy,” from someone. It seems that there is never enough time to do everything we have to get done. As the days, weeks, and years go by, our to-do lists get longer, not shorter. Most of us are overwhelmed by the feeling that we have too much to do and not enough time to do it.

Here’s the cold, hard truth: We will never catch up. We will never finish the to-do list. There will always be more we could, should, and would...

Building Passion in Employees

Far too many people lack passion for their work. There are employees who feel trapped, are bored, or simply hate their jobs. Because of this, the organizations they work for can only achieve so much. These employees become stuck and are limited by their lack of passion. Without passion, employees will not sustain the energy and focus necessary to help their organizations truly succeed and make a difference.

Having passion as a leader is one thing, but inspiring passion in your employees is an...

The Lost Art of Thinking

In the various places I have lived or visited frequently, I’ve always had my spots where I go for solitude – the special places I go by myself to sit and reflect. Solitude is important because it is only when we are alone, with the quietness of our inner thoughts, that we can find the space to truly focus. I believe these moments of quietness, away from the “pings” and “pongs” of our phones, far removed from our to-do lists, are essential for self-improvement.

Solitude is really about taking...

2 Insights for Better Meetings

Meetings are frequently mentioned in my conversations with leaders as a source of frustration and a barrier to productivity. Meetings do take time, and sometimes it feels like that time is wasted. However, meetings are essential for sharing information, making decisions, and fostering innovation. We can’t get rid of meetings; they are here to stay. But we can reduce the time we spend in meetings through better planning.

Two key questions I keep at the forefront are:

1. Why are we having the m...

10 Leadership Book Recommendations

Limiting my number of book recommendations to a list of ten has been an interesting exercise. There are more that I could add to the list, but these are the ones that have inspired me most to think differently and grow as a leader.

I have read these books over the past decade. It’s important to note that my state of mind, or issues I was struggling with while reading, greatly affected my willingness to be impacted by the books on this list. These books addressed important issues for me right...

The Case for Organizational Health

Following are some recent comments from our staff about what working in a healthy workplace means to them:

“I previously worked in an unhealthy organization and found that regardless of the task I was doing, it was miserable being there. Happiness at work is not as much about the work as it is about being respected by your co-workers and supervisors.”

“Coming from an organization that was toxic, working in a healthy organization makes me actually want to come to work. I am happy to pick up ex...

5 Keys to Leading Innovation

As children, my siblings and I never had a shortage of ideas, and many of them were actually implemented in some form or another. If an idea didn’t pan out, we would move on to the next one. Being curious and creative was natural for us. If we had an idea, we would pursue it. There was no second guessing, delaying of plans or meetings to determine budgets. We simply tried things because we were curious and had the desire to create something unique.

Great innovators still embrace the curiosity...

Know Yourself – Self-Awareness for Strong Leadership

Who are you? Really!

What makes you tick, what gets you going? What are you good at? What are you bad at? Self-aware leaders continually ask themselves these questions. They are curious, they seek out information and welcome the answers.

Taking the time to be self-aware, to really consider one’s strengths and weaknesses, to build self-understanding, is not something that most leaders do very often. They are too busy focusing on the multiple tasks of any given day and on things considered far...

5 Keys to Finding Great Talent

Organizations are who they hire. Whether an organization succeeds, or even survives, ultimately comes down to the people who work there. I work hard, I am dedicated and a driven leader, but I can’t do it alone. As organizations mature and become more complex, the need for exceptional and diversified talent grows.

“Look, I don’t really know where we should take this bus. But I know this much: If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off t...

Why Passionate Leadership Matters

Passion is a profound positive feeling for something that is deeply and personally meaningful.

Passion is more that this though. Passion is about vision, and also contains energy, excitement and enthusiasm.

Passion inspires others to join and identify with your vision. No one has ever been inspired by a leader who is not passionate. Passion – and alternatively, the lack of passion! – is contagious. If you want to have a passionate, inspired workforce, it begins with you: the leader.

Turning v...