Posts for author: Lynn McClatchy
By Steve McClatchy, President, Alleer Training & Consulting Think of a time in your life when you were highly engaged. You seldom ever looked at the clock. You may have even missed meals or become dehydrated because your concentration in the moment overshadowed your basic needs. Hours, days, or even weeks just flew by. You […]
Do you remember the Budweiser “Wazzzzuuuup” commercials? They are a couple of years old now but their impact has not gone away. I hear friends, family members and even colleagues still use this greeting when they see each other. Why has this phrase hung around for so long? In one word–trust. These commercials portrayed very real, very authentic, very down to earth communication between very close friends.
Work/life balance is one of the most elusive and sought after values in business today. In a recent Aon Consulting poll, 88% of employees say they have a hard time juggling work and life. Employers recognize that out of balance or burned out employees can impact morale, engagement, attendance, productivity, retention, quality and even customer satisfaction so the stakes are high. With so much at stake why has work/life balance been so hard to figure out?
Do you ever have days that can be described as “putting out fires” all day or accomplishing more of other people’s work than your own? The actual amount of time during the workday that you spend doing productive and focused work, may be less than you’d like to admit. Your ability to remain productive, in the face of interruptions, has a great impact on your success and the success of your organization.
How well did you stack up this past year as a leader? Would you say that you had a good year, a bad year or that you didn’t give leadership much thought? If you’re like many people you fall into the last category. Let’s face it leadership is not something many of us put on our “to do” lists everyday. It’s not even something that many of us would have an easy time trying to define.
Are you a procrastinator? Do you live by mantras like “I do my best work at the last minute” or “If you wait until the last minute, then it only takes a minute!” If you do then you’re not alone. But if you take a step back and look at the impact of living by these statements they just don’t deliver on what they promise.
How did you do last year with your New Year’s Resolutions? Are you celebrating with jubilation from accomplishing all of them? Did you follow through on your promises to yourself to improve your life, your relationships, your wealth, health and happiness? No? Well, don’t be too hard on yourself; lots of people will make the same resolutions this year that they made last year, and the year before.
Face it, sales managers are ego-maniacs. It comes with the territory. But too majestic an ego could put your reputation – and job – in jeopardy. Your supreme confidence may help you close deals, but it can be a real obstacle to team development.
I arrived early to a lunch meeting recently and while I was waiting for my client to arrive I could hear parts of a sales meeting taking place at the booth directly behind me. What I heard that intrigued me most was the comment “that’s a great question!” made by the client. What are great questions? What changes an ordinary question into a great question? The answer, I believe, is the point of view from which it is asked.
If You Can’t Do It Today, Don’t Look At It Today – The basic purpose of a “to-do” list is to help you remember to follow through on something you committed to or would like to remember to get done. The problem is when you sit down to create a “to-do” list all the “to-do’s” that come to mind, regardless of when they have to be done often appear on one giant list.
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