Fast Company. 12 Things Killer Employees Do Before Noon. A recent study published in an American Psychological Association journal, Emotion, suggests that early birds are generally happier than night owls. More than 700 respondents, ranging from ages 17 to 79, were surveyed and asked about their emotional state, health, and preferred time of day. Self-professed "morning people" reported feeling happier and healthier than night owls. Researchers hypothesize that one of the reasons could be because society caters to a morning person's schedule.
It's certainly true that the working world does. Do you want to be more like them? 1. [In Pictures: 10 Ways to Boost Work Productivity.] 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. [See 7 Work Habits That Are Making You Sick.] 7. 8. Lessons from Sheryl Sandberg: Stop Working More Than 40 Hours a Week. There's been a flurry of recent coverage praising Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, for leaving the office every day at 5:30 p.m. to be with her kids. Apparently she's been doing this for years, but only recently "came out of the closet," as it were.
What's insane is that Sandberg felt the need to hide the fact, since there's a century of research establishing the undeniable fact that working more than 40 hours per week actually decreases productivity. In the early 1900s, Ford Motor ran dozens of tests to discover the optimum work hours for worker productivity. They discovered that the "sweet spot" is 40 hours a week–and that, while adding another 20 hours provides a minor increase in productivity, that increase only lasts for three to four weeks, and then turns negative.
Anyone who's spent time in a corporate environment knows that what was true of factory workers a hundred years ago is true of office workers today. Accounting for Burnout. The Way of The Productivityist: A Manifesto. I coined the term “productivityist” because I believe there’s a need for it. There’s too many so-called experts in this realm and not many actual ones. I’m certainly not one. But I’m most certainly a productivityist. Yes, I've talked about it before...but it bears repeating: A productivityist is not a productivity expert. A productivityist is not a guru. A productivityist is a productivity enthusiast. They study productivity, be it the tools or habits. It’s because of this that many productivityists end up spending more time “doing” productive rather than “being” productive for a while.
I call it The Way of The Productivityist and whether you’re a productivityist or not, there’s some real gold to be mined from it.1 1. Night owls can be just as productive as early risers. 2. There will always be urgency in our lives. 3. Doing for the sake of doing isn’t the goal. 4. This falls in line with the whole doing vs. being concept. 5.
You can’t do everything. 6. 7. Don’t underestimate its power. How Big Data Is Changing The Way We Lead. Online Database of Social Media Policies. Nurturing Talent – A True Leadership Skill | | dhcdhc. Above all, leaders need good people to surround them. No organisation – large or small – can operate productively when the boss is doing all the doing and they are surrounded by people who cannot deliver the highest quality performance themselves. So it’s imperative to ensure that any team has members that deliver the very best results as individuals, as well as contributing to team outputs overall too. Whilst having a whole range of leadership skills are important, one of the most productive is to be able to ensure that there is a constant pipeline of capable people in your team.
In a bigger picture, leaders of the very biggest businesses need to have talent research and acquisition high on their agendas. At local level, team leaders can have even more vital impact on those they can influence to become dynamic and useful members of their team. Telltale Signs of an Unhealthy Hierarchy - Ron Ashkenas. By Ron Ashkenas | 12:10 PM April 17, 2012 We may talk about eliminating hierarchy, but most organizations still have one.
Frankly, it’s very hard to mobilize limited resources and diverse skills without someone taking charge. That’s why hierarchies have existed for thousands of years — from the days of the Pharaohs to the modern corporation. Yet there’s no doubt that hierarchies can be dysfunctional and make it difficult to get things done. As such, we blame them for slowing things down, lowering morale, and choking off innovation. You would think the key to a healthy hierarchy is a well-drawn organization chart, but it has more to do with company culture and behaviors. But how do you know when those behaviors are off track? Hierarchical Mirroring: This is the subtle notion that meaningful discussions only occur between people of equal rank across the organization, like a diplomatic negotiation. Have you seen these warning signs, or others?
Are We Accomplices to Passive Aggressive Team Members?? Leaders, unchecked passive aggressive behavior in the workplace impacts the dynamics and potential success of teams. Those affected feel used, manipulated, and disrespected. Passive aggressive is less direct not less aggressive. It is just as hostile as straight out aggression and can obstruct both morale and results. It erodes a key component of teamwork and engagement — trust.
It can disengage employees from each other IF we allow it. How do we become accomplices to passive aggressive team members? Leaders, Are You an Accomplice To Passive Aggressive Team Members Image by:korafotomorgana The Pattern Spot the pattern of passive aggressive behavior in order to eliminate its ruinous effect on your team’s success. Passive aggressive team members will: Interrupt another team member who is speaking to us with a quick “sorry” yet no real acknowledgment of the other person’s presence. The Impact Strong driver type leaders become an accomplice to this behavior with their sole focus on results. Are you being a ladder for leaders? Leaders create leaders. That’s what I believe. You know the ones. Those self assured inspirational leaders who are not afraid, infact actively seek, to recruit people who are more gifted than themselves.
The ones that actively mentor talent. The ones that ensure succession planning is implemented with vigour and rigour. Forgive me referring to past patriotic glories (particularly those against Italy now that I am living here but yesterday’s visit to Naples to watch the America’s Cup World Series reminded me of it)..but for me, one of most touching leadership moments, was when captain Russell Coutts literally handed over the helm of Black Magic to the young talented then-understudy Dean Barker in the last race against Luna Rossa, to claim the America’s Cup in 2000.
I was proud of NZ’s win but even more proud of that leadership gesture. They forget that they became leaders, because they were given opportunities and encouragement. There is the saying “don’t be a leader, be a ladder”. The Creative Generalist: How Broad Thinking Leads to Big Ideas | Entrepreneur the Arts. Duct Tape On The Rear View Mirror | Ovation Leadership. The handy mans secret weapon… Red Green would say.
He could build, fix, re-fix, and fix again anything, using duct tape as his “secret weapon”. I’ve become a fan of duct tape as well. Now, instead of limiting me to furnace grey, it comes in all kinds of colors, and patterns. Finally my fashion needs have been answered. Gary owns a very significant company. Gary initially thought he hired me to help with strategic planning. After explaining that Executive Coaching also develops initial trust between us, and helps to dig deeper beyond the surface symptoms into core critical issues to develop an agenda for strategic planning, he smiled a bit, and said, “look…I told you, My dad will continue to advise me, and what I need here from you are some good forms for putting a new business plan together”.
With that stern directive (that frankly I have heard too many times) I stood up, and thanked him for his time. I could tell he was offended…as most are, initially. Gary’s father did not pass away. 29 Ways to Stay Creative : Blog | Executive Coaching | CO2 Partners. The Manager's Cheat Sheet: 101 Common-Sense Rules for Leaders.
P.ost. Do Your People Trust You? - Linda Hill & Kent Lineback. By Linda Hill & Kent Lineback | 11:33 AM March 2, 2012 When we talk to managers, we often ask, “Do your people trust you?” Most are taken aback. It’s not something they’re often asked or a question they’ve even asked themselves. After some thought, most eventually say something like, “Well, I think so. I hope so. No one’s said he doesn’t.” Chances are, you don’t know for sure, either. As we explore this topic with managers, we find it’s a subject both familiar and unfamiliar. First, they often don’t realize how context-sensitive trust is. The second reason most managers feel a little lost when they think about trust is that most of us resist the idea that trust is something you can actively and consciously encourage. But believing as a boss that trust will somehow take care of itself may not work out the way you want.
What this means and how you do it will become more clear in the next two blogs, in which we will explore each of the two components of trust — competence and character. Lean Startup Lessons: Leaders, Get out of Your Comfort Zone. Employee Selection, Employee Retention, and Talent Management Strategies by The Rainmaker Group. 7 Essentials of an Effective Social Media Marketing Strategy. These days, every business needs to utilize the power of social media in order to compete successfully. The huge popularity of social sites has made them a superior way to connect with customers and to network with others in your field or industry. There are lots of businesses and individuals who are struggling with how to incorporate Social Media and it can all turn into a big mess very quickly if it is not set up and maintained professionally and efficiently. Whether you outsource your social media management or manage it in-house, in order to have the best success, planning your strategy carefully, and documenting it, is key.
Below are seven essential framework components for an effective social media marketing strategy. Essential # 1 – Executive Summary This may be the only document your CEO or a prospective investor may review so it should be written as a summary of all of the components of your plan. Related Resources from B2C» Free Webcast: Hooked: How to Build Habit Forming Products. The Most Dangerous Words You Can Say to Yourself. The most dangerous words you say to yourself are the words you place behind the words: “I am . . .” or the words “I can’t.”
In the past two weeks, I have heard the words “I am” followed by “a procrastinator,” “not good at this,” “impatient,” “not technical,” and “intolerant.” In a slight derivation on this theme, I have also heard “I can’t.” These words were followed “figure this out,” “understand it,” and “do it.” These were followed by “It’s impossible,” even though what was being discussed was possible (and eventually done). The words that you place behind these two little phrases are true. The statements you make aren’t true because you really “are” any of the negative words you use to describe yourself. It Doesn’t Excuse Behaviors Why do you say these things? But saying that you “are” something doesn’t excuse the behavior. What makes the words you use to describe yourself so dangerous is that they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s True Because You Said So Words are powerful.
10 Thinkers That Executives Actually Listen To.