Ask any plumber and they'll tell you: leaky pipes are bad news. They lead to decreased intensity, wasted resources, and slower delivery. And there's a good chance that if you are leading a team, there are a lot of leaks in your delegation "pipes". In my work with small business owners and entrepreneurs, I've found that one of their biggest hurdles comes when they have to start delegating tasks to their team. They've moved past the point where they can do all of the work themselves, and they need to spread activities around. Leaky Delegation Creates More Work But often, instead of taking responsibilities off of the leader's shoulders, … [Read more...]
Rock n’ Roll Bands and the New Entrepreneurial World
I remember reading Daniel Pink's Free Agent Nation a few years ago back and thinking, "This guy is on to something." Its description of an economy driven by the short-term partnerships of solopreneurs and freelancers turned out to be prescient. It's hard to define and a quickly-moving target. But the number of professionals working for themselves is trending up in a significant way. (here are some statistics for you). For many professionals, this new arrangement for business is overwhelming and a little scary. There's a lot of coming together and breaking apart and reforming into something new. It's conceivable to work with someone … [Read more...]
Business Lessons I Learned from B.A. Baracus
I've read a lot of business books on team-building, delegation, and leadership. But some of the best lessons on teamwork are the ones I learned at my grandparent's house on Saturday afternoons when I was growing up. And I'm not talking about the wonderful things I learned by helping my grandma set the table or by playing cards with my grandpa (although they were pretty awesome). I'm talking about the A-Team. Every Saturday afternoon my cousins and I gathered around to watch the reruns of Hannibal and his crew while they protected some poor soul from the villain of the week and then jetted off just before the MPs got there. MBAs Could … [Read more...]
Good Networkers Always Have Jobs
People that are good at building and maintaining a strong professional network are rarely unemployed for long; and it’s not just because they know a lot of people who can hire them. It’s because the competencies that are necessary for successful networking are highly sought after in the job market. When you are actively networking, you are both a) continually honing these skills and more importantly, b) proving that you have them! Intangible Business Skills Here are a few of the areas involved in successful networking that have an impact throughout your career: Interpersonal Communication Skills Networking is communicating. If you … [Read more...]