Dianna Booher's Blog, page 30

Is It Wrong to Always Be Right?

Recognize any of these people around you? They must always have the last word in a discussion. They want to “set the record straight” in meetings. They blame others for their mistakes.  They find “reasons” why their information was inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete. They missed deadlines because they didn’t “know” about them. Their failed projects are due to “unclear instructions.”

If you yourself struggle with the tendency to always be right, consider ways to break the habit:

 

Breaking...

4 Things Young Managers Can Learn From Older Employees

Last week’s blog addressed What Older Employees Can Learn From Young Executives. Granted, all five characteristics represent generalizations and aren’t universally applicable. But as generalizations, they guide thinking toward positive expectations.

The same can be said about what younger managers can learn from older employees. Stereotypical thinking, for sure. Nevertheless, the following traits are common in older employees—and well worth considering.

 

What Young Managers Learn From Old...

5 Things Older Employees Can Learn From Younger Executives

The cards seem stacked for failure when a team of 50 to 60-year-olds learn they’re reporting to a 30-year-old manager brought in from the outside. Age difference. Less experience. New to the organization. All the stereotypical thinking slips to the forefront of their minds to block a more seasoned perspective.

Yet perspective may be exactly the prescription for increased productivity and satisfaction in such a work arrangement. Here’s why:

 

What Older Workers Can Learn From Younger Execut...

4 Ways Positive Communication Can Be a Big Negative

Attend any industry conference and you’ll find a motivational speaker talking about the importance of a positive outlook. You may even take home positive mantras to paste on your bathroom mirror.

Nothing wrong with that. Leaders are generally optimistic people. Given that predisposition, leaders need to beware that on occasion their bias for the positive can produce negative outcomes.

 

Beware of 4 Ways Your Positive Communication Becomes a Negative

 

Biased Data to Decision Makers

Be on y...

How Fragile Is Freedom This Year?

I’m not the only one asking this question. A startling message came through to me on Facebook a few weeks ago—even before the Steve Scalise shooting. It was from a business acquaintance in India whom I’ve corresponded with for the past five years. His message: “Are you safe? America seems in big chaos and trouble. If you need to escape, you and your family can stay with my family.”

So I’m not alone in this uneasy feeling that America is walking on the edge.

What do workers, sightseers, or...

6 Secrets to Becoming Your Own Boss

Not everyone longs to be THE boss of a large team or organization. But given a choice, most of us would like to BE our own boss. We want the freedom to use our own judgment in making work-related decisions, to set our own work schedule, to earn at the income level we choose.

Whether you accomplish that goal in reality or emotionally, here are six secrets to making it happen faster.

 

How to Become Your Own Boss: 6 Secrets to Being Your Own Leader

 

Communicate the Opportunities Clearly

Tak...

3 Interview Questions to Hire the Best Candidates

In the early days, I definitely made my share of bad hires: The employee who stole equipment. The salesperson who never made a sale. The woman who continually fell asleep at her desk and did her personal errands including her daughter’s wedding planning while out of the office on company business.

In the beginning I hired based on likeability, “experience,” and references. Later, I discovered that very competent people often fail due to core character issues. And while a values match is cr...

5 Mistakes Leaders Make That Cripple Teams

Leaders create the culture that helps their teams thrive––or barely survive. Of course, no leader intentionally stymies or stalls a team. But even the strongest leaders may make mistakes that freeze their people rather than free them to be their best. Here’s how:

 

How Leaders Cripple Their Team: 5 Mistakes

 

Mistake #1: Spoon-Feeding Solutions Rather Than Growing Innovators

Great leaders develop their people. They do that by presenting them with challenging situations and new opportunitie...

Are You Leaving Customers in the Dark With a Vague Agenda?

You’ve interacted with your prospect a couple of times—either on the phone or by email. You’ve researched the organization. You’ve teased them with some industry data that you think they’ll find valuable. Then finally you get that all-important invitation: “Why don’t you come out and talk with us in more detail.”

You don’t want to blow it at this stage by showing up with an agenda that results in just another meeting that only prolongs the sales process.

 

You Need a Written Agenda

So let’...

Communicate Like a Leader: 3 Strategies to Connect

When my client Mitch visited our office, he had both good news and bad news. “Let me give you the good news first. . . . A couple of partners and I just bought a small telecom at a great price—basically a spin-off of the entire division I used to manage.”

“That’s great news.” I followed up with several questions and learned that the spin-off he referred to was from a nationally known company that had downsized his entire division.

“The downsizing didn’t sound exactly like good news at the...