How do you keep the right talent at the table?

team, table, talent

With the U.S. economy supporting over 167 million workers, unemployment levels are low and stable, averaging between 3.5 and 3.7 percent over the past year. While that’s great for our economy, it strains resources and creates challenges to find, recruit and retain talent. Strong salary, benefit and signing offers tempt employees to jump ship. Turnover and recruitment are expensive. So, just how do you keep the right talent at the table? Do you know talent when …

Transitioning into a new leadership role? Get in and get known!

leader | leadership | team | relationships

A client recently took on a new position in an organization. She has been identified as a potential leader and is given the task of rebuilding a department decimated by turnover. Those remaining are there not by choice; they are there for the paycheck. Stepping in to a “new” leadership position To top it off, the “new” of the position means it is new to my client. She is coming in from the outside with …

If These Statements About Networking Are Familiar, Your Career is at RISK.

Networking | Business Network

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Maybe you haven’t bothered to read some of my posts on networking because you may think it doesn’t apply to you. Tell me if any of the following statements sound familiar: I’ve got a secure job at a large company. My work is completely internal. I don’t have the time to network. Networking just isn’t one of my top strengths. I’m in a good place right …

What is the difference between determination and persistence?

Persistence for success | Determination success in business

Determination – firmness of purpose; resoluteness. Persistence – firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. There is a difference here, yes? Subtle… and yet a difference. Determination and Persistence: Both Are Required for Success Determination is focus on the purpose. Persistence is the continuation of action around that purpose. Both are required for success. Determination brings the clarity of “I have decided,” while persistence describes the action …

Are you making the most of your business partnership?

Business partnership | Know your partner’s strengths | Partnership

Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses. -Marilyn vos Savant Powerful partnering can benefit both parties. How do you pair up? Strengths are never used in a vacuum. Make the Most of Your Business Partnership You’ve seen countless examples in my articles where strengths have collided, been navigated or been effectively deployed in negotiation. When it comes to strengths, there is always a ripple effect. You may be wondering how …

Lost at Sea! Navigator Needed

lost-at-sea

So you’ve gone and done it. You pushed off from the safe harbor and have ventured into the vast sea of “something new.” You prepared by charting a course yet along the way tides, headwinds and storms have blown you off course. With only the sea on the vast horizon you’re not sure if you are even rowing in the right direction. Not rowing is not an option as it would leave you “lost at …

Opportunity – Would You Recognize It?

recognize-opportunity

If I just had the chance to…  If only there was an opportunity to… There likely isn’t one of us who hasn’t uttered those words.  When we are feeling hemmed in and the future looks bleak, we wish for the opportunity to…  do something different move up in the organization make that big presentation Waiting and wishing won’t make that opportunity appear.  It doesn’t arrive with a bow and a gift tag.  In fact, it …

A Worthy Challenge

In this time of resolutions and promises made, I want to ask you a different question. How will you challenge yourself this year? Answer that question and you can answer this next one: What makes this challenge worthy of effort? Is it the lure of the pay-off? Why would you do something if there is no pay-off? What would the point be? If pay-off is what makes the challenge worth it, how do you measure …

Are You Training or Untraining?

In the sport of dressage, the trainers’ adage is you are either training or untraining.  Every step counts.  Every step counts as it prepares you for the next.  There is no middle ground.  You are either training or untraining your horse and yourself with every step. Dressage originates from the military.  Horses were trained to carry their riders into battle and to serve as weapons before rifles and artillery made it onto the scene.  In …

A Gift for You

It is that time of year for giving gifts. Here is a gift for you as we move into the new year. Grab your favorite warm beverage and settle into your reading chair or that special place by the window. Give yourself the gift of a few quiet moments to consider the following: What is it that you most want to get in 2018 for your professional development and career? Do you know what that …

Your Next Best Step

Do you know what that is?  What will 2018 bring for you?  What do you want it to bring?  Opportunity doesn’t show up like presents under the tree with a bow and a gift tag.  Most of the time it arrives disguised as something else; usually NOT what you were wishing for. Or we miss the opportunity altogether.  We don’t see it, even when it is not disguised because we don’t know what we are …

Is This Year’s Gift a Lump of Coal?

negative-feedback

A lump of coal has a negative connotation in our holiday traditions.  Misbehaving children would receive a lump of coal in their stockings instead of gifts as a reminder to do better next year.  Is the delivery of a few lumps of coal on your list this year as a leader?  How can negative feedback, that lump of coal, be a gift to both the organization and the recipient? Just the thought of delivering negative …

Feedback with Meaning 👍

social-media-feedback

“Like.” “Like.” “Like.” “Thumbs up.” “Heart.”  This is the feedback we give and receive on social media. It’s a thrill to see someone like what we shared. It’s also fun to give this feedback, sharing with others that we agree in some way.  But what meaning does it have? Not much in most cases.  This feedback is done quickly with the press of a finger. Some apps don’t even require that the article or post is …

All I Want for Christmas is Some Feedback

feedback

Feedback, feedback, feedback. Sound familiar? Except it is not just for Christmas or any other holiday; feedback is something employees and team members are demanding more and more on any day. Point the finger at overly-involved parents and school and sports programs that provide feedback constantly to the younger generations in our workforce. And only positive feedback some might add! This sea change to more feedback is not simply a cry from the younger generation. …

Do You Know What is Really Expected?

really expected

In a recent workshop on time management a participant shared that he had created blocks of time on his calendar for his various projects.  “Time-blocking” helps ensure you actually have time available to get the task done.  But it hadn’t worked for this participant.  When he got to the time block he didn’t know which project to work on.  That is not a time management problem.  That is a contribution “I know what is expected …

Navigating the Crossfire

crossfire

“Things are challenging — there are those who will oppose anything if it is not their idea…scheduled a team meeting tomorrow to do some work planning and I think that will help disperse some of the responsibilities a bit and give me some more time to manage the personalities.” A client recently shared this status update.  Does it sound familiar?  Anytime change is afoot you can expect crossfire.  It can happen with a recently promoted …

Finding Confidence in Your Understanding

understanding

What happens when we don’t understand someone?  Don’t think.  Give your initial response. By saying “don’t think” you likely did and came up with the “appropriate response” that we all want to give.  If the person you don’t understand is important to you, you attempt to uncover what is mysterious or confusing.  You ask questions of the other person, probe a little and search for that something they share that creates an “Ah-ha” for you.  …

Managing for Exponential Impact

impact

Growth is exciting but not if you aren’t prepared.  If you said “grow” today would your team be ready? The capacity of your team and organization to grow depends on the capabilities of your managers.  Much like the pebble in the pond, their impact is felt across the organization and is exponential. Consider the role of the manager.  Not only are they responsible for direct reports, they also manage upward to leadership and sideway with …

Harness the Ripple Effect

The Accelus Advantage | Discover what Accelus Partners can do for you.

If a pebble dropped in a pond ripples the surface to the outer edges, what happens when you drop a larger pebble?  The ripple effect is bigger.  Not only does it impact the surface of the water, the waves rippling across have more power and energy and move things further below the surface. But is that impact just a wave washing over the rest of the firm roiling their world for a few moments until …

Are You Ready?

ready

No one was ready for Hurricane Harvey and the rain-soaked aftermath that soaked Houston for days.  The devastation is immense and many remain in places other than the comfort of home. But so many were ready for the challenge.  First-responders, city and government officials and so many every day, ordinary people who were pressed into action by the unexpected challenges brought by the storm. Perhaps, like me, you were not pressed into action during the …