What Is Your Company’s Builder/Protector Ratio?

When operating a business, you are constantly striving to cultivate growth. There is a management principle called the Builder/Protector Ratio that exists in different stages of development in every company. Builder/Protector Ratio is an important…

Dreaded Performance Reviews – A New Approach Based on Common Sense

According to Marcus Buckingham, author of First Break All the Rules, and a more recent White Paper called “Next-Generation Performance Management,” here’s how great managers manage: “They define very clearly the outcomes they want,…

Communicate Your Way to Profit

Do your employees know how they and their contribution impact your bottom line? Do they understand your business model – how the company is structured and how it makes money? Too many business owners fall prey to these three myths: Employees…

Create Values So Employees Can Envision the Right Attitude

Don’t go halfway in branding your company’s operating style. Do you have a defined vision? Check. How about a mission statement? Check that box too.   But if you haven’t given your employees a way to translate these high-level ideals…

Delegation – When, What and How

Why is it so difficult for some leaders to delegate? Deep down, they surely know that delegating responsibilities and decisions can foster growth across their company. They also must know that delegation leads to personal growth, which in turn…

Tap Into the Intelligence of Your Organization

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Business owners and leaders often assume they know how their employees think, how they feel, what they know, and what they don’t know. They assume the best, when in reality it’s been reported that 70% of employees are either disengaged (very…

Describe and Define Critical Processes

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Anything that needs to be done more than once can be captured and turned into a process. Entrepreneurs tend to ignore the value of processes. There are lots of reasons for this (and none of them are good), but that’s a story for another day.…

Creating a Dialogue to Improve Performance

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Why is there often a disconnect between a boss and an employee?  It can start with the employee’s first day on the job. They’re fresh, excited, and eager to impress. The manager is congratulating themself on a great hire and they’re…

Establish Company-Wide Behaviors That Instill Accountability

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Accountability is an overused word and an underutilized behavior. It means, of course, “doing what you say you’ll do.” It’s also characterized by “owning up to a mistake, correcting it, and apologizing to anyone harmed by that mistake.”…

The Right Approach to Setting Employee Goals and Objectives

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Ideally, goals and objectives within an organization should cascade from the top. Each person should be responsible for establishing their own goals and work objectives in ways that are relevant to their job and support one or more organizational…