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Monday Morning Motivators – April 9, 2007
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Espresso business tips are designed to "caffeinate" your mind while your java gets you going. Subscribing and Unsubscribing at www.mondaymorningmotivators.com
"Don't wait for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel, stride down there and light the bloody thing yourself."
-- Sara Henderson
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Table of Contents
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1. Checkers or Chess? – Linda Fayerweather
2. Are You Working Your Strengths? - Rebecca Booth
3. Professional Associations - John Meyer
4. To Do this Week
5. Fine Print
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1. Checkers or Chess?
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Are you playing checkers or chess with your staff? If you are playing checkers, you see each and every interaction with your employees as having a few simple moves – single slides or jumps – and each employee has the same “skill set”. But in chess, part of the strategy is learning how the individual pieces move and interact – a lot more like the average employee. Knowing what makes employees “tick” and also how they can help move the company forward is critical to keeping your company ahead of the competition. Lean companies strive to play chess and capitalize on the strengths of the individual.
Copyright 2007 Linda Fayerweather
Changing Lanes LLC
www.ChangingLanes.biz
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2. Are You Working Your Strengths?
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Marcus Buckingham penned a best seller a few years ago called Now Discover Your Strengths. He’s followed it up this year with Go Put Your Strengths to Work. Both are fascinating explorations of how we should rethink how we work. Instead of working on improving our weaknesses, Buckingham advises that we should improve our strengths instead. He cites Tiger Woods’ success at golf as a perfect example. We all know what a star Mr. Woods is, but did you know that he really, really stinks when he gets his ball stuck in a sandtrap? Instead of practicing how to get out of that situation more, Tiger focuses more on developing his turf game. What are you doing to capitalize on your strengths? Are you asking your teams to improve versus bloom? Twist the way you think about strengths and weaknesses and allow yourself and your employees to strengthen your business by parlaying their strengths!
Copyright 2007 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
www.marketingsolutioneers.com
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3. Professional Associations
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Professional Associations or as John Naisbitt describes them "Knowledge Networks" have been around for a long time. Some examples of these types of organizations are the AMS, American Management Society, or the Bar Association for Attorneys. These groups bring people of like businesses together to discuss their own industry. They exchange information and ideas and are sort of like a support group for their own kind. The benefits to joining these groups are twofold. One is the ability to talk about challenges and changes in your industry with people who are dealing with the same situations. Second is that you can develop friendly competitive alliances with others in your line of work. Remember that competitors can be a source of business also.
Copyright 2007 John R. Meyer
District Director, BNI Ohio
http://www.bni-ohio.com
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4. To Do This Week
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Begin a Five Week Kaizen of your office.
Week One – Sort your office.
