Addressing Your Leadership Blind Spots (Yes You Have Them)

Addressing Your Leadership Blind Spots (Yes You Have Them)

by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments
We would all like to think that we are completely aware as leaders of what is happening around us and completely self-aware of how we are contributing to it but here is a harsh reality: You probably are missing a lot... you have blind spots. No matter how much time we invest in personal development, leadership development, and improving our skills as managers we all have blind spots in our leadership. We aren't seeing some important things that affect the performance of our organization, our people, and our outcomes. Those blind spots may lead you to make poor choices (as they did recently with Wells Fargo and their "incentives"), they may be contributing to a poor office culture which you as the leader don't see, or they may simply be limiting your employee's engagement in their work which leads to poor productivity, outcomes, and likely loss of some of your talented team members. The reality is that every leader has blind spots... you aren't...
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Great Business Books for Small Business

Great Business Books for Small Business

by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments
I've been known for some time as a voracious reader and I'm often asked for recommendations of good books for specific situations.  I promised in an entry earlier this month that I would list some of my favourites, so that's what today is all about. This list is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully it will introduce you to some new titles or authors that you might not have otherwise picked up that may be able to help you in some aspect like for example with the complete guide to payroll for your small business.  This isn't about navigating the corporate heirarchy or mastering MBA level statistics or theories, it is a list designed to address the specific needs and challenges faced by small businesss and Entrepreneurs.  The list is in no particular order (I'm not big on rankings) so the last book on the list might be just as helpful for your specific needs as book number one.  I hope...
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It’s All In The Follow Through

It’s All In The Follow Through

by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments
It's been said many times that follow up is key to success, but I would suggest that it goes deeper than just a simple follow-up if you want to dominate in your field. Just like a good golf swing, the best hitters in baseball, and a great slapshot, the key to exceeding the expectations of your clients and colleagues is the follow through. Following up is a simple one time activity that anyone can do.  Leaving a meeting with an expected 'follow-up' date or meeting is easy (provided the meeting went well), but committing to something of real value during a meeting that would require you to 'follow through' is much less common. I had a meeting at the end of last week with a new network connection in which we both spent some time going over the types of services we provide to our customers and the types of customers we are most interested in being introduced to, and I was surprised and...
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Intelligent Perseverance Yields Results

Intelligent Perseverance Yields Results

by Tim Empringham, MBANo Comments
In my last entry I talked about some of the key traits that an Entrepreneur needs to have, one of which was an ability to 'relish the door slam'.  Ironically shortly after I wrote that entry I received this week's Harvey Mackay column (highly recommended) that spoke about perseverance in tough times. While Harvey was speaking in general about the state of the economy and its effect on business in general, I think that the element of perseverance is even more important when it comes to small business owners and Entrepreneurs.  Even beyond the ability to relish the door slam, Entrepreneurs require the discipline to stay the course when finances are tight, the work/life balance is hopelessly out of alignment, and when nothing seems to be going right for weeks on end. This is not to say that Entrepreneurs should stick to their same routine when things aren't going their way.  Dr. Phil is famous for asking "how's that working for you" and while I can't say I watch...
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