Limiting Assumptions
"Between you and a wellspring of good ideas is a limiting assumption" (Nancy Kline author of "Time To Think")
What assumptions are you making that might be limiting your field of vision, blocking your view, getting in the way of progress, holding you back, stopping you making a breakthrough, moving on?
Why Would You Leave Me?
Annual reviews are often dreaded by both manager and employee.
Praise might be seen as an invitation to ask for a wage increase so it can become a matter of communicating the gap between existing performance and the ideal. The employee is put on the defensive.
But what if we treated the review as an opportunity to look for the positive.
What if we asked questions such as, "Are we fully utilising your talents?" , "What is it about your job that makes you jump out of bed in the morning?" "What stops it being your dream job?", "What you would like to change?", "What might cause you to leave?"
If we open up to the potential of people to enrich their work experience rather than remind them how far their performance falls short of 100%, how much better the workplace might be.
Who Are You Ignoring?
Imagine you are walking along the street and you spot a friend coming towards you. You wave. Your friend sees you but instead of returning your wave, he/she turns and, ignoring you, crosses the street.
How do you feel? What message do you think your friend is sending you? What message do you take from the incident?
Now imagine a friend, colleague or business contact sends you an email and you choose not to reply.
What message are you sending? 'You're not important to me', 'Your agenda doesn't interest me', 'I'm not interested in engaging with you', ' I'm not obliged to reply to you'. Not very flattering!
What message is the sender getting? All of the above plus, perhaps, 'this person can't manage their Inbox', 'this person is inefficient', 'this person is ignoring me so I'll take them off my contact list'.
Your management of your communications is an important part of your personal PR.
In these times, a contact is valuable resources- use it or lose it!
A friend is priceless. Treat him or her accordingly.
A Happy New Year?
It isn't easy to predict economic outcomes for 2012. Emigration, unemployment, cut backs, austerity - it seems to be all doom and gloom!
But 86% of of the working population are still working. 100% of the population still have to be fed and clothed. Whether the economy grows at 2% or 1% hardly makes much difference especially since the figures aren't accurate anyway. So don't let the big picture overwhelm you. Look at the smaller picture that you are a part of.
Concentrate on your own business. Look coldly at how its performing and remember "if you keep doing what you are doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting" . Are you clear about where you are in terms of cashflow, profitability, indebtedness etc. What is your cost profile - does it make sense compared with your turnover and margins. Get on top of the numbers.
Be clear about where you want to be in 12 months time; be informed; be realistic; be prepared to make tough decisions; be prepared to scrimp on everything if that is necessary for survival; be open to new ideas.
Look at all your options. Contract, expand, change the way you do business, shed unprofitable business and customers, shed unnecessary costs.
Talk through your issues with a trusted advisor or a business coach. Be prepared to take action. Don't just sit there - do something!
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