Mike Acker's Blog, page 2
April 19, 2021
Become the Leader You’ve Wanted to Be
Maximizing your leadership skills can positively impact your professional and personal life. Developing these skills is one of the surest ways to enhance many aspects of your life.
Answering these questions will help you become a stronger leader:
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April 7, 2021
How to Discover Your Hidden Talents
It’s all about skills in the modern world. It’s never been more challenging to be a leader than it is today. Markets and entire industries are changing rapidly. For any leader to be successful, it’s important to have the proper skills.
Many of these skills are evergreen. For example, leaders will always need to be able to communicate well and delegate tasks. Take heart that your leadership skills will be valuable for a long time!
Shore up these leadership skills and protect your future:
1. The ability to motivate others. Great leaders are great motivators. Think about how you motivate yourself. It’s not that much different to motivate someone else.
2. Communication skills. Leaders must be excellent communicators. This includes public speaking, addressing small groups, and one-on-one. Remember to practice good listening skills. Fortunately, educational materials abound and there are plenty of willing victims to practice your skills upon.
3. Delegation skills. You can’t do it all alone. Many high-achievers have trouble letting go and giving up control. You must be able to trust others and use them in the most effective way possible. It’s not enough to just delegate, you must delegate assignments to those who will excel in that particular task.
4. Create a proper culture. Leaders must create a culture that matches the industry and the employees. A Wall Street investment bank has a different culture than an elementary school or a pharmaceutical company. Even departments may have their own unique culture.
5. Adaptability. The challenges facing leaders change regularly. Industries change. Customers change. Economic conditions change. Technology is rapidly changing the way organizations do business. Leaders have to be able to evolve to meet the changing landscape.
6. Time management. Leaders are busy. There’s always more to do than there are hours in the day. Choosing the most important tasks and making the time to complete them is paramount. Time management skills are easily learned but don’t come naturally to many people.
7. Relationship management. Great leaders have strong relationships with their direct reports, the hourly employees, executives, and customers. The stronger your relationships, the more you can accomplish. During great challenges, your relationships can make you or break you.
8. Change management. Leading an organization or department through change is a valuable skill to develop. As companies add technology and reduce workforces, change comes more rapidly.
9. Be a good follower. Leaders have to follow, too. Leaders that don’t follow are considered dictators. Once you inspire a team, they become largely self-sufficient. It is then your job to follow and provide occasional guidance.
10. Poise. Leaders face challenges. Poise is a necessary trait for a leader to possess. Without poise, small challenges become bigger, and employees lose faith. When you’re stressed and panicked, your employees are uncomfortable. Build your poise if you want to excel as a leader.
How do your skills measure up? You can try to predict your success as a manager from this list of skills.
Build your skills and your results will be enhanced. Even with all the big changes in modern businesses, leadership skills continue to be highly valued in the workplace. Great leaders are always in high demand.
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March 10, 2021
Top 10 Essential Leadership Skills
It’s all about skills in the modern world. It’s never been more challenging to be a leader than it is today. Markets and entire industries are changing rapidly. For any leader to be successful, it’s important to have the proper skills.
Many of these skills are evergreen. For example, leaders will always need to be able to communicate well and delegate tasks. Take heart that your leadership skills will be valuable for a long time!
Shore up these leadership skills and protect your future:
1. The ability to motivate others. Great leaders are great motivators. Think about how you motivate yourself. It’s not that much different to motivate someone else.
2. Communication skills. Leaders must be excellent communicators. This includes public speaking, addressing small groups, and one-on-one. Remember to practice good listening skills. Fortunately, educational materials abound and there are plenty of willing victims to practice your skills upon.
3. Delegation skills. You can’t do it all alone. Many high-achievers have trouble letting go and giving up control. You must be able to trust others and use them in the most effective way possible. It’s not enough to just delegate, you must delegate assignments to those who will excel in that particular task.
4. Create a proper culture. Leaders must create a culture that matches the industry and the employees. A Wall Street investment bank has a different culture than an elementary school or a pharmaceutical company. Even departments may have their own unique culture.
5. Adaptability. The challenges facing leaders change regularly. Industries change. Customers change. Economic conditions change. Technology is rapidly changing the way organizations do business. Leaders have to be able to evolve to meet the changing landscape.
6. Time management. Leaders are busy. There’s always more to do than there are hours in the day. Choosing the most important tasks and making the time to complete them is paramount. Time management skills are easily learned but don’t come naturally to many people.
7. Relationship management. Great leaders have strong relationships with their direct reports, the hourly employees, executives, and customers. The stronger your relationships, the more you can accomplish. During great challenges, your relationships can make you or break you.
8. Change management. Leading an organization or department through change is a valuable skill to develop. As companies add technology and reduce workforces, change comes more rapidly.
9. Be a good follower. Leaders have to follow, too. Leaders that don’t follow are considered dictators. Once you inspire a team, they become largely self-sufficient. It is then your job to follow and provide occasional guidance.
10. Poise. Leaders face challenges. Poise is a necessary trait for a leader to possess. Without poise, small challenges become bigger, and employees lose faith. When you’re stressed and panicked, your employees are uncomfortable. Build your poise if you want to excel as a leader.
How do your skills measure up? You can try to predict your success as a manager from this list of skills.
Build your skills and your results will be enhanced. Even with all the big changes in modern businesses, leadership skills continue to be highly valued in the workplace. Great leaders are always in high demand.
The post Top 10 Essential Leadership Skills appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING.
February 17, 2021
34 Easy Tips to Increase Your Productivity
When you boost your productivity, not only do you get more work done, but you can also do it quicker, freeing up more time for you to do the things you really want to do!
Try these tips to help you take control of your day and accomplish more:
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February 3, 2021
10 Characteristics of Great Leaders
While it’s commonly argued whether great leaders are born or made, there’s little doubt that great leaders share several characteristics. Leadership skills are among the most important to develop if you wish to advance your career. You’ll find that you already possess some of these qualities and likely need to develop the others.
Great leaders share these qualities:
1. Lead by example. Effective leaders know that they can get the best out of others by setting a good example. If you want your followers to be committed, positive, passionate, and involved, demonstrate those characteristics each day. What are you currently communicating to others by the example you set?
2. Take responsibility. Lousy leaders look to shift the blame when things start going wrong. A great leader, however, knows that setbacks occur. He also knows that if a failure occurs, it was his poor planning, vision, effort, or leadership that resulted in the poor results.
· A great leader accepts responsibility for the outcome, both positive and negative.
3. Vision. To lead effectively, a leader must know where she’s headed. After all, you have to lead to a specific destination. Do you have a vision for the future and can you communicate that vision to others? Is your vision clear and easy to understand? Is your vision focused? Do you know where you’re going?
4. A plan. You might know where you’re going, but do you know how to get there? Can you effectively share that plan with the members of your team? Is your plan believable and achievable?
5. Great communication skills. The ability to share your vision and your plan are paramount to success. Effective leaders are excellent communicators and work to enhance their communication skills further.
6. Motivator. It’s been said that one skill needed by great leaders is the ability to inflict pain on team members and get away with it. Impressive future results require sacrifice and discomfort in the present. Are you able to inspire people enough that they’ll continue to follow you instead of revolting against you?
7. Know how to develop others. It’s important to develop others to become better leaders. A great leader takes the time to develop the skills of her followers. The more capable your followers, the more impressive the results you’ll ultimately attain.
8. Inspire confidence in others. If people don’t believe you’ll be successful, you won’t receive their best efforts.
9. Integrity. Team members have to believe and trust in their leader. Can your team believe what you say? Do your team members trust that you’re fully committed to the project and to them? Without integrity, no one will trust you enough to commit and engage with your plans.
10. Can deal with chaos. Chaos is inevitable when working on big projects with a lot of people. Things often go wrong. Team members have personal issues. There’s always someone disgruntled. Plans change. The objective can change.
· A great leader knows how to calmly and purposefully deal with the unexpected and guide others through the resulting distractions.
How many of these 10 characteristics do you possess? Are you willing to develop those qualities that you lack? Great leaders have several qualities in common that you can learn and apply to enhance your leadership skills. Review these qualities and look for ways to further develop your leadership abilities.
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January 19, 2021
8 Tips to Boost Confidence at Work
Confident people tend to be more successful at work, are happier, and are not afraid to go for a promotion or face new challenges.
Would it not be helpful if you were able to boost your confidence in your skills and workplace abilities?
Try these tips to increase your confidence at work:
1. Cut out negative self-talk. A positive mentality will help you learn more easily and ultimately help boost your confidence. When you find yourself speaking negatively or criticizing yourself, immediately switch it to something positive, instead.
● For example, instead of criticizing your lack of knowledge about something, tell yourself: It’s great that I can learn what I need quickly and easily so that tasks like these become a cinch to do!
● Instead of saying, “I can’t,” ask yourself, “How can I?” This takes your focus off of the negative and puts it in the realm of the positive. In this mode, you may come up with the solution you need to enable you to do the thing that you thought you couldn’t.
2. Increase your knowledge. When you take the time to learn a new skill or piece of knowledge, you can be certain that what you’re doing is correct.
● You may want to look at online courses, or perhaps attend a seminar, designed to enhance your skills.
● Watch what others in your workplace do successfully and try to copy them.
3. Practice makes perfect. When you practice at a certain task, you will get better at it in time as you are able to correct any mistakes that you make.
● Each time you complete a task, ask yourself whether there is anything you could do differently to improve the process the next time you do it.
4. Work on your strengths. A proven way to boost confidence in the workplace is by focusing your attention on excelling at the skills you are already good at.
● Doing something excellently, rather than just adequately, can do wonders for your confidence!
5. Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if there is something you don’t know or understand. After all, the knowledge you seek could be the information you need to finish your task quickly and accurately.
6. Focus on your past successes. An easy way to boost your confidence is to think about past projects that you’ve completed successfully. Did you complete a task within the deadline? Perhaps received praise from your boss?
● Focus on the positives rather than the negatives.
7. Act confidently. If you’re approaching a new task, or perhaps an entirely new job, then chances are you won’t know exactly what needs to be done. In these situations, it’s completely normal to feel under-confident. However, if you act confidently and put on a positive frame of mind, you may surprise yourself.
● Not only will you gain the trust of your work colleagues, but your own self-confidence will increase too, with the knowledge that you are capable at your job with valuable skills to offer.
8. Have fun. Taking yourself too seriously in the workplace will leave your self-esteem in tatters when you encounter setbacks. Of course, you want to be good at your job, but this does not mean that you need to be serious 100% of the time.
● You are allowed to have fun and doing so will allow you to laugh at yourself and any mistakes you make.
● Take any criticism directed at you with good humor and you won’t suffer any knocks to your confidence.
A little extra confidence can go a long way toward helping you reach your career goals. Think of these tips the next time you’re feeling doubtful about your skills or abilities and you’ll be able to bring your confidence back up again in short order.
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January 6, 2021
4 Reasons Great Leaders Rise Early
Being successful takes a lot of dedication, effort, determination, and preparation. To become a great leader, you must plan ahead, be proactive, and set goals that you’re willing to work hard for.
Great leaders are known to have a schedule that they follow carefully.
While every leader has their own routine and special things that they do to succeed, you’ll find that most great leaders are early risers. They make a concerted effort to get up early every morning, so they can get more done during the day.
In order to become a great leader, it’s important to understand why getting up early plays a significant role in your overall success. Learn how you could benefit from waking up just a little bit earlier every morning. Maybe you’ll become the next great leader of our time!
Get Extra Time in Your Day
By getting up earlier, you’re adding time to your day. While it might not seem like much, an extra 30 minutes each day can make a big difference in your productivity. After you see the cumulative effect of the extra time, you’ll agree that the benefits are well worth it.
Think about how you could benefit from extra time in your day.
Decide whether an additional 30 minutes or an extra hour each day could impact your productivity. Just 30 minutes a day adds up to 14 hours a month that you didn’t have before. You can get a lot done in those 14 extra hours!
Enjoy Some Peace
When you wake up with the rest of your household, you can become stressed and distracted with everyone running around at the same time.
Helping the kids get ready for school, making sure your spouse packs lunch, and getting everything in order for breakfast and for your day can be stressful and overwhelming.
Because of so much going on, you might forget to do some important tasks or activities that you need to prepare for the day properly.
By getting up early, you can do a few things that help you get your day going, such as:
● Exercising
● Going over your day’s schedule
● Making a “to-do” list
● Planning for the week
● Spending time in spiritual reflection
Improve Your Brain
A study conducted in 2008 by Texas University determined that those who were early risers earned a full point higher on their grade-point average than those who considered themselves to be night-time folks. Christoph Randler, a Harvard biologist, learned in a 2008 research study that early risers were also more proactive. This quality leads to higher productivity and success throughout life.
Boost Your Energy
Sleep experts have discovered that people who go to bed earlier and get up earlier get much better sleep, so they’re more energetic the next day. Your body becomes more in tune with the earth’s circadian rhythm, which helps you on multiple levels. Studies have also revealed that those who are considered early risers are more agreeable, more optimistic, and much more satisfied with their lives. These qualities also boost energy significantly.
When you start getting up earlier, don’t expect to notice a difference in the first few days. Give it some time. Soon, you’ll notice the cumulative effect of getting up a bit earlier each day. Decide whether an extra 30 minutes or an hour each day can make a positive difference in your daily routine.
Just think, an extra hour each morning adds up to seven more hours a week and 365 hours in a year. For the average worker, those 365 hours equal about 9 weeks of full-time work. So, that’s like adding two more months into your year!
What could you accomplish in two extra months each year?
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December 28, 2020
12 Tips to Overcome Laziness
You know that you have a lot of things to do. You may even have big plans for the future, but you can’t seem to motivate yourself to get off the couch or off the internet. Everyone experiences laziness from time to time.
However, the most successful people are able to push laziness aside and take action.
Overcome laziness and find motivation from within with these ideas:
1. Alternate between periods of high focus and relaxation. Use a timer and focus for all you’re worth for 25 minutes. Then, take a five-minute break and do whatever you like. Just knowing that you only have to last for 25 minutes can be enough to motivate yourself to get busy.
2. Focus on the positive aspects of getting your work done. Think about the positive feelings you’ll experience when you’ve completed your work. Make a list of all the advantages of doing your work right now.
3. Be tough. Maybe it shouldn’t matter whether or not you feel like doing what needs to be done. Just do it! Easier said than done, but simple nevertheless.
4. Declutter. Excess chaos in your working space can sap the motivation and energy right out of you. Take a few minutes to clear off your desk and tidy things up a bit. Avoid using this as an excuse to procrastinate.
5. Focus on the long-term. Where will your life be in a year or five years from now if you stop being lazy? Where will you be if you continue on the path you’re traveling right now? Those with motivation issues often look at the short-term. The most effective actions require patience before the benefits appear.
6. Use your lazy time wisely. Just lying around isn’t that relaxing unless you make the most of it. Use your downtime to read a book, enjoy a hobby, or spend time with friends. Avoid wasting this precious time in a way that fails to add to your life in some way.
7. Get some help. Ask for help from a trusted friend or family member. You’ll feel bad about being lazy when someone is by your side and lending a helping hand.
8. Accept the fact that some tasks just aren’t enjoyable. Successful living requires doing a few things each day that you’d rather not do. Just get it done as painlessly as possible.
9. Create a to-do list each night. Before you close your eyes and start counting sheep, make a list of the four most important things to do tomorrow. When your feet hit the floor in the morning, you’ll already know what needs to be done. Give yourself a running start.
10. Become more aware of time. Time can easily slip by while watching TV or surfing the internet. Keep an eye on the time, regardless of your current task. At the end of each hour, ask yourself what you’ve accomplished.
11. Plan an enjoyable weekend. Knowing that you have a fun weekend to look forward to can make it easier to stay busy during the week.
12. Get some exercise. A good workout will wake you up and get the juices flowing. Daily exercise can make a significant difference in your ability to work hard and stay focused.
Have you been lazy lately? Use these tips to lessen the amount of laziness you experience in your life. Stay busy during the week and make the most of your weekends. You can’t afford to be lazy when the rewards for overcoming laziness are so great!
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December 25, 2020
4 Steps to Increase Your Leadership Skills
When most of us hear the word leadership, we usually think of political officials, CEOs, military commanders, or even athletes. While it’s true that you need good leadership skills to excel at these occupations, leadership is a valuable skill that everyone from any vocation or background can use for their benefit and the benefit of others.
Effective leadership doesn’t come naturally for most of us. Luckily, there are several methods that you can use to build and refine your leadership skills.
Discover the leader in you! Try these techniques to boost your leadership skills:
1. Strive for excellence. Part of being a successful leader is your ability to set the bar for others. You can be a good role model by constantly seeking ways to improve yourself and aspire to excellence.
· A hallmark of leadership is excellence. Work on honing your existing skills and developing new ones.
2. Focus on your vision and set goals. Consider what you want to accomplish in different areas of your life. Set goals that will help you to achieve your vision.
· Set goals where you are able to periodically measure your performance and progress.
· Break up larger goals into smaller ones so that you can celebrate your successes and maintain your motivation.
· Learn to identify and use all of your resources in the pursuit of your goals. When making plans to reach your goal, always work with the resources you have in your current circumstances, rather than developing plans based on resources and circumstances that you wish were real.
· Be willing to refine your plans and ultimate goals based on your progress as well as your dreams.
3. Develop your people skills. Leaders are known for their ability to inspire others to work towards a common goal. To be successful at inspiring others to work with you, it’s important to develop your people skills and emotional intelligence.
· Learn how to listen. Doing so helps to establish a connection and build camaraderie and trust, so others are more likely to follow your lead and help you.
· Help others to be their best. Part of being a good leader is motivating others towards positive change.
· Seek input from others when discussing goals and plans to reach your objectives. Give others a stake in the results by seeking their opinion. They’ll be more motivated to help you.
4. Be passionate and maintain a positive attitude. Most of us take cues from others in social situations, so you can teach others to have a positive attitude and to be passionate in their efforts by doing so yourself.
· Maintaining an upbeat attitude and giving your best effort help to energize the entire team so everyone is able to accomplish more, regardless of the circumstances.
Taking the time to develop your leadership skills can radically increase the amount of success that you experience in all areas of your life. These tips can help you to hone your leadership skills so that you can achieve your goals and enjoy a more satisfying life.
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December 21, 2020
Self-Development Ideas for Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs are in a challenging situation. They have to be good at so many things but are strapped for time.
Most entrepreneurs have limited time, energy, and other resources available to spend on self-development. Yet, at the same time, entrepreneurs are in a position to gain the most from improving their knowledge and skills.
It’s a tough balancing act and one that must be managed well.
If you’re an entrepreneur, try these ideas to successfully undertake self-development projects:
1. Carefully consider what you need to learn. Assess your needs and weaknesses and make a decision about what you need to learn. What will most add to your life or your business? Entrepreneurs are short on time, so it’s important to make a wise decision about how to spend your self-development time.
Ask yourself, “What would most benefit my life or happiness?” Then ask yourself, “What would most benefit my business?”
2. Selling skills. It’s hard to make money without customers or clients. Selling skills can be among the most valuable for entrepreneurs. If you don’t have all the income you desire, enhancing your selling skills might be a logical choice for your self-development efforts.
3. Marketing skills. If people don’t know about your business, you’re going to struggle. There are tons of inexpensive marketing choices available today for entrepreneurs. Maybe your business will benefit if you strengthen this important skill.
4. Social skills. Networking, gaining, and maintaining customers and clients is a big part of an entrepreneur’s job. If your social skills are subpar, your business will struggle. Everyone can benefit from greater social skills, whether they’re an entrepreneur or not.
5. Public speaking. Depending on your business, this can be a very useful skill. It can build confidence and comfort when dealing with people. Speaking at conferences can be a good way to market and sell your services or products to a larger audience.
6. Goals. Do you have goals? Many entrepreneurs would benefit from having a set of reasonable and applicable goals to work toward. Setting and striving for goals is a valuable skill to develop. It’s a skill that will be useful in more areas of life than just entrepreneurship.
7. Focus, discipline, perseverance. These are three qualities all entrepreneurs could use more of. If you’re lacking in any of these areas, consider implementing a program that builds on one or more of these characteristics. Other qualities to consider include the ability to deal with stress, confidence, and motivation.
8. Time management. Entrepreneurs are frequently pressed for time. The closest anyone can come to creating time out of thin air is to learn how to manage their time more effectively.
9. Health. Most small business owners fail to care for themselves properly. Too little sleep, too many skipped meals, poor food quality, and a lack of exercise are serious impediments to good health. Making your health a priority and building some healthy habits might be the best way to spend your self-development time.
10. Relationships. Entrepreneurs are notorious for having troubled relationships. The time commitment of running a business and the stress that goes along with it can be a real strain on any relationship. Perhaps learning how to reconnect is the best skill you can learn at this time.
Entrepreneurs are short on time, so they must approach self-development intelligently and efficiently.
Decide what area of self-development will best serve your business or life. Do you mostly want to make more sales or to enhance your health? Is managing your time the best skill for you to learn at this time? Take a look at your situation and allocate your self-development hours appropriately.
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