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By: Beth Flynn, Tuesday, April 01st, 2014

1.  Assume people are hungry for information.

2.  Abandon management-speak.

3.  Do a 360 degree stroll around your messages before delivering them.

4.  Watch your creative language.

5.  Know when to speak in specifics and when in generalities (p. 86-88).

 

What are some tips you use to improve communication?

What is the best communication advice you have ever received?
 

From:  Geisler, J. (2012).  Work happy: what great bosses know.  New York:  Center Street.

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By: Beth Flynn, Tuesday, April 01st, 2014

Kings, heads of government, and corporate executives have control over thousands of people, and endless resources, but often do not have mastery over themselves.  From a distance, larger-than-life leaders may look firmly in control of their businesses and their personal behavior.  What about up close?  Personal mastery is a difficult thing.  For example, can you think of any politicians in recent years whose personal behavior was revealed as opposite to their espoused values?  Or consider Fortune magazine's article a few years ago about why CEO's fail.  The records of thirty-eight ineffective CEO's revealed that all were good at cognitive stuff - vision, strategy, ideas and the like.  Things broke down during execution.  The CEO's behavior did not follow through on their thoughts and words.  Action did not follow intention.  Things as simple as sitting too long on decisions, not confronting underperforming subordinates, or not delivering on commitments ended up harming the company.  The CEO's had plausible excuses, but it seemed clear that their actual behavior did not reflect their stated intentions.  They seemed to know what to do but were not doing it. 

Have you ever had a clear intention and then failed to follow through (p. 5)?

What are some ways as a leader you can execute your vision, or strategy?

How can you make sure that your actions reflect your intentions?

 

From: Daft, R. L., (2010).  The executive and the elephant: a leader's guide for building inner excellence.  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.

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By: Beth Flynn, Tuesday, April 01st, 2014

“For the most part, many of us encounter visions whilst working for some corporation or government organization.  And for the most part, visions are boring, bear little relation to the reality of wider organizations and become nothing more than a plaque behind the reception wall.  But we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss how powerful a vision can be at creating real excitement and momentum and become a driver for change!

Stop and consider – when you’ve been at your best, at your most stoppable, hasn’t that been when you’ve had a clear idea of what it was that you wanted or needed to achieve?  You weren’t willing to quit until the job was done, or take no for an answer, or be slowed down by the negatives coming from others.  And these successes have arisen from ad hoc and very narrow visions of what you were aiming for – just think therefore about how much more effective you would be if you had a clear vision for all of your life!

The same is true for your business.  You must have a vision, and your vision must excite you and if you have employees it must excite them too (p 31-32).

·         What is your personal vision?

·         What are suggestions for making your personal and/or business vision more exciting?

 

Smithson, D. (2014). What managers don’t know: how to be a better manager, leader, and entrepreneur?  Theinformbook.com