Category: Employee Engagement
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Innovation as a Manager’s Mindset: Seven Types for Better Decisions Every Day
When leaders hear “innovation,” they often picture a product lab, an AI pilot, or a major transformation program. But in reality, innovation is not something you “do” once and check off a list. It’s an attitude — a way of looking at problems, opportunities, and day‑to‑day decisions that determines whether your organization moves forward… or quietly falls…
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The Evolution Of The Field Service Engineer: From Service Provider To Trusted Advisor
This post was originally published as a guest column in Field Technologies Online. Nothing happens for equipment manufacturers until something is sold. Nothing to install, nothing to service, nothing to renew. Great hardware and equipment manufacturers have been built on great engineers creating great products for great salespeople to sell. And the best of the…
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Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, especially when it’s wrapped in a big compensation package
A friend of mine just got off the phone with the head of HR from a national company. The HR executive noted that his company’s growth prospects were being limited by the lack of executive talent due to a depleted bench. He felt that “outside” talent was needed to expand their footprint and to bring in…
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Forcing Honesty in the Workplace
One of the most difficult managerial tasks is providing honest feedback to employees, especially for new managers. Providing objective feedback, delivering the feedback in an appropriate manner, and being able to handle the employee’s reaction takes hours of preparation and can be anxiety producing. This is so difficult that many managers avoid providing honest feedback…
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Leadership Stories: The Importance of Storytelling
Storytelling has always been the most effective way to deliver a message about human behavior. There’s a time and place for everything My father was never one to walk away from a fight. As a young teen, he heard some kids being disrespectful to an elderly woman and he quickly stepped in and taught them a…
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The Innovation and Bureaucracy Paradox
“Like it or not, effective hierarchy is more efficient than self-organized whatever.” @tom_peters The Innovation and Bureaucracy Paradox How do you create an organization where creativity is unleashed, morale is high and breakthrough results are consistently delivered? The answer: establish a better bureaucracy. For many people, just the thought of creating an innovative culture through bureaucracy seems crazy. The…
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The Ultimate Driver of Performance
You can have the best ideas on the planet. You can be Einstein and Steve Jobs rolled up into one. But if you can’t unleash the full potential of your people, you’re going to watch less ingenious competitors zoom past you and eat your lunch. Knowing what to do is just the start In my…
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Creating a Powerful, Entrepreneurial On-Site Sales Force
Nothing happens in any business until a sale is made. There is no order to fulfill, no customer to serve, no money to count. So who do you entrust with this all important job? . . . Everyone. Sounds like a great concept, but when you have a full time, professional sales force that is…
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6 Steps to Cultivating Entrepreneurship in your Organization
No doubt about it. Empowerment is a great way to motivate people and unleash their energy and talents. But here’s how to reach an even higher level of performance: Create an entrepreneurial culture. Think about it. On the one hand, you have a highly motivated employee. On the other hand, an entrepreneur who owns the…
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Unleashing the Entrepreneur in Every Employee
Unleashing the Entrepreneur in Every Employee In many industrial work settings, employees are simply viewed as cogs in a machine, I.e. cost of goods sold. It’s a longstanding tradition that dates back to Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford. But that perception sells people short. And it does a disservice to employers and employees alike. Empowering…