Dwight Eisenhower was the one who said, “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.”
Strategic planning is a good example – it’s not urgent but it’s important. Very important.
Many of the day-to-day operational struggles we face in our organizations had their seeds sown in the past, when we failed to plan.
Of course, no one can predict the future, everyday has its own operational struggles but the fact remains that many severe operational struggles have, as their origin, a failure from months or years earlier – a failure in strategic planning. In other words, the absence of strategic planning or poor strategic plans, usually lead to operating nightmares. (more…)
In a challenging economy, consumers become value oriented, set stricter priorities, and reduce their spending. Although it’s wise to contain costs, this is not the time for your organization to stop spending on marketing. Rather it’s the time to put customer needs under the microscope to understand how they have changed, and nimbly adjust your strategies, tactics, and product offerings to the new reality.
At some level, every manager understands that to deliver great performance they have to unlock the potential in teams. And to do this, they need to turn a collection of individuals into a high-performing group, the members of which support one another.
If done effectively, performance reviews help managers to align and track measurable goals, create ongoing feedback loops for coaching, and boost engagement through recognition. In other words, managing employee performance is basically how work gets done and goals are accomplished.
Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and put discretionary effort into their work.
We are about to enter the second half of the year. So as you think of your goals for the year, this is a good time to take a very important step to increase your chances of accomplishing them. There is , however, just one major thing you need to awaken in you in order to turn your goals into accomplishments – Discipline. 
If you have not set personal goals (at least for this year), it is like setting out on a major journey with no real idea of your destination. One of the implications is that you feel as if you are adrift, working hard but don’t seem to get anywhere worthwhile.
One of the primary drivers of success is finding your strengths and focusing on using them. Your strengths are those personal characteristics that allow you to perform at your personal best.
One of the reasons people choose online learning style is that it’s very convenient. This advantage, however, means you have to take some extra steps to successfully learn online.