The Human Factor

Let Your Brain Take the Road Less Traveled

   Do you often find yourself doing the same things over and over and wondering why you get the same results every time? Contrary to the popular adage “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results,” it doesn’t mean you’ve lost your marbles. In fact, you’re probably doing exactly…

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Why Happy Employees are Winning Employees

  Many would say that in life, happiness is winning. Quick, name the single most important contributor to happiness in life. Chances are you said things like family, friends, achieving your goals, or having a good job and nice place to live. Or for the hedonists in the audience, perhaps you said fame, money, good…

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Work Less, Get More Done

One of the great ironies of our times is that the more we learn about the importance of uninterrupted focus in human performance, the more distractions and interruptions we face on a daily basis. Voice mail. Email. Telemarketing. Spam. Tweets. Snapchats. Texting. Instant messaging. Popup ads wherever we go on the Internet. Mobile applications that…

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Is Your Organization Changing Fast Enough to Win?

  One of my favorite quotes from Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric, is, “When the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” Which means if businesses don’t stay ahead of the change curve, they will soon find themselves in…

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Achieving Disruptive Innovation

    “Disruptive innovation” seems to be one of the more popular buzzwords in today’s business lexicon. Many companies pursue it. Few actually achieve it. Most end up settling for incremental innovation. What’s the difference between the two? Apple offers a perfect example. When the iPad and iPhone first came out, they revolutionized the mobile…

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3 Steps to Creating an Engaged Workforce

    What would you rather have – an organization where people show up just to punch the clock every day? Or an organization where people are enthusiastic about and committed to their work and their workplace? Obviously, this is a no-brainer. Everyone wants an engaged workforce. But most organizations either don’t make it a…

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Make Every Day Employee Appreciation Day

  In case you didn’t get the memo, March 3rd is National Employee Appreciation Day. Created in 1995 by a board member of Recognition Professionals International, a professional association dedicated to supporting employee recognition, Employee Recognition Day provides an extra opportunity to thank employees for their hard work and dedication throughout the year. Growing numbers…

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The Pitfalls of Biased Data

  It’s been months since the presidential election and I still haven’t recovered. Regardless of which party you align with or which candidate you supported, it’s hard to argue that this was one of the most uncivil, polarizing elections in our country’s history. The rhetoric and biases we saw on both sides of the political…

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Three Common Innovation Mistakes

    Company leaders love to talk about innovation.  When was the last time your company came out with something really new? How long has it been since you totally reinvented a critical business process that resulted in significant cost savings or productivity increases?  If you can’t remember (or you can remember but it’s been…

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Using Your Brain to Sell

    The human brain is a marvelous instrument. But, it has many built-in tendencies that can get in the way of making smart decisions and helping our organizations win. That’s why in today’s global markets, where everyone has access to the same information and technologies.  Using your brain more effectively is a critical leadership skill….

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How To Build Real Accountability

  Accountability –an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions Accountability is a word that gets tossed around a lot in the business world these days.  Unfortunately, most of what I hear revolves around the lack of accountability rather than how companies are winning by holding each other accountable. At…

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Prompt Employees to Think Strategically

In today’s hyper-paced markets, leaders must prompt employees to think strategically.  Gone are the days of employees plodding along waiting for the next big thing to roll down from corporate.  Companies need to innovate on a consistent basis in order to win. However, ongoing innovation is no easy task. First of all, innovation doesn’t mean…

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