Tag Archives: Communication

Why Vacation Matters …

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by Ellyn Shook

As chief HR officer for a professional services company, I’m focused on providing our clients the talent they need when and where they need it. Doing this means I often spend time analyzing key data — from chargeability and payroll costs to talent supply/demand forecasting and retention. Then there’s a metric many might be surprised to learn I also keep a close eye on: vacation time used.

Why? Certainly, a company’s balance sheet can benefit from employees using their paid time off. But to me, the advantages lie in innovation and productivity. Continue reading →

What Your Employees Can Teach You About Running Your Business Better

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Avatar of James O'Brien, PhDby James O’Brien, PhD

It should come as no surprise to small-business owners that employees often see things differently than they do, especially when it concerns how the company should be run. Understanding what these differences are, however, is crucial to a healthy business—one that prospers under strong management and continues to thrive and grow with help from loyal employees. Continue reading →

Lead Without Trying So Hard

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80-whitney-johnson-1by Whitney Johnson

In early 2011, I gave a TEDx speech. Because I wanted my ideas around dreaming and disrupting to come alive in a way that’s not possible in writing – and because of my nagging performance anxiety – I started working with a speech coach. Since then, I’ve given a series of talks across the country. But it wasn’t until early in 2014 when I had a true breakthrough, one as much about being a great leader as it was about giving speeches. Continue reading →

What Do You Stand for As a Leader?

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by Shawn Murphy

I wonder what it was like to be on the battlefield when the war ended? To take up arms against another group of human beings cannot be easy. But to do so for independence, or for a bigger purpose that called men forward with belief in their hearts and determination in their aim, the casualties was a price to pay.

Last Friday, the U.S. celebrated its independence on the 4th. Military service is one of the most honorable choices to be made, particularly when defending freedom. My mind, however, wanders to those moments where flashes of leadership beckoned a commander to show what he stood for no matter the odds or decisions that needed to be made.

Now to show what you stand for can be an ego-driven act. I’m not interested in this. What I want to look at are the realities testing what a commander stood for and what leaders can learn today. Continue reading →

Can You Simplify Your Organization?

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32f99cf676d10ad8956e1b.L._V352357172_SX200_written by Neal Thornberry

Complex organizations are just that—hard to get your arms around in terms of structures, processes and relationships. Even good intentions can create their own unintended complexities.

The best thing senior management can do is to make the road to innovation clear. If managers haven’t built it, or worse yet haven’t communicated it, they need to do so. Continue reading →