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Multi-Tasking Decreases Productivity: Fact or Myth?

multitasking

“To do two things at once – is to do neither.” ~ Roman philosopher Publilius Syrus, 100 A.D. When we need to accomplish many tasks, we do 2-3 things at once, sometimes more. We do this in order to be more productive. Multi-tasking has basically become the American way. In fact, employers often include “multi-tasking” as one of the desirable traits they look for in job descriptions. But is multi-tasking really leading to increased productivity? According to some experts, the answer is no. Multi-tasking is generally less efficient than focusing on one thing at a time. Studies show it impairs…

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Are You Engaging? Funny, Smart, And Easy To Dance With Is Not Enough These Days

holly

You may be funny, smart, and easy to dance with, but if you are not engaging employees on an ongoing basis, all of your work in developing a strategic plan will be for naught. In my last two blogs, we talked about informing and inspiring employees during implementation of the strategic plan. The last piece of the puzzle involves engaging people so that they fully commit continuously to achieving the plan. When we inform people by clearly communicating the company’s destination, they develop a sense of direction and focus. When we inspire people by explaining why the destination is important,…

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“Live Each Day As If IT Were Your Last” Really?

live each day

“Live each day as if it were you last.“ It sounds wonderful doesn’t it. What would today look like if i truly lived it as if it were my last? Would I get out of bed?  I might just stay a while – not out of depression but because it’s so peaceful, so safe, so genuine with being. Would I waste the time required to shower and shave?  Would I brush my teeth?  If I were a woman, would I bother with makeup? And what about clothes?  Would I care? Would I go to work? Would I be concerned at…

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Coaching For Entrepreneurs, Copreneurs, Mompreneurs • Overcoming Blind Spots To Become Better Leaders!

coaching

Even great leaders can improve. A friend is a very successful CEO of a large, Fortune 500 firm; his daily schedule is packed with travel, meetings, conversations and preparations for the next day’s agenda. I always enjoy the time when he can carve out 2 hours for us to have a meal and some conversation. During a recent meal, Chris shared he was involved with a Coach. At first, I thought I had drifted off and missed when the subject changed to his golf game. “No!” Chris replied, a life coach, a career coach, a personal improvement coach. Now I…

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Are Company-Internal Satisfaction-Questionnaires Useful?

company-internal

Company-internal questionnaires are designed to capture the satisfaction of employees with regard to a given situation or to a freshly performed change (e.g. after a merger or re-organization). These survey campaigns can have two basic objectives: They provide information coming from the employees and help to monitor corrective actions or just give a feedback on the acceptance of a change in the working environment  or processes. They generate a buy-in of the employees and reinforce the commitment to the new situation they are facing. In the first case it is key to have the objective (taking actions, internal rules etc)…

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Master the Art of Procrastination

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I have learned that many leaders procrastinate unconscientiously.  This is a mistake.  I believe that if you are going to procrastinate–like any other activity worth doing–you should conscientiously know what you are doing and… be good at it.  Procrastination is a learned behavior.  Therefore, I have provided a brief ten lesson course that will help you to master the art of procrastination.  In this mini-course, you will become an expert at not doing. Lesson # 1 – Know What Procrastination Means It is difficult to be a good procrastinator if you don’t know what procrastination means.  The Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged…

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Leadership – The Fire of the Mind – Part Two

dr smith

There is a second characteristic of enlightened leadership that I would like to highlight. At a recent Potomac Officers Club event, Bob Woodward told a story about a lunch he had with Katharine Graham. The Watergate articles had begun to draw fire from the administration. The Post had, in deciding to back its reporters, put its journalistic reputation on the line. The situation was tense. The two of them sat down to lunch in Mrs. Graham’s private dining room. The first question she asked was “when are we going to learn the truth about what really went on?” As Woodward told it, he answered “probably never”. Katharine Graham looked at him intently and said “don’t ever tell me never”. Bob “left the luncheon a highly motivated man”.

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Do You Know How To Communicate Across Cultures?

AndreaHarvey

Here is a great article from Bnet that assists leaders to be more productive in conducting global business. Understanding communications across cultures is key. I welcome your comments… This Is Why They Don’t Understand You Overseas What’s the difference between a high-context and a low-context language? If that’s a stumper, I hope you’re not a graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management. And I certainly hope you were never a student of Thunderbird’s Professor Emeritus Robert Moran, the author of Managing Cultural Difference. Moran says that an appreciation for the differences between a high-context language and a low-context one…

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Relationship Management – Balancing The Golden Rule With The Stockholm Syndrome

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If you are on the business side of your company you have probably witnessed this potentially disastrous business condition. First, a couple of definitions. The Golden Rule: is treating your customers well, in short the way you like to be treated. Stockholm Syndrome: describes the behavior of kidnap victims who, over time, become sympathetic to their captors. I was familiar with both terms from my college studies but once I sat on top of a successful business unit at Albridge I put the two together. When you create value for your customer in a strategic way with infrastructure technology it…

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Trust and Respect! How Do You Run Your Company? Lessons Learned from a Successful CEO

truth and respect

At an early age, it seemed that Betsie Miklos was destined for success.  Not only has Betsie succeeded in an industry that has been considered by many to be a man’s world, but she obtained her degree in Mathematics 1965 during a time when it was certainly an extraordinary achievement for women.  In her own right, she has broken records. As a young woman she was introduced to computers by working for IBM, a company that was known to be in the forefront for equality for women in the 1960’s.  IBM presented opportunities that gave Betsie the foundation she needed…

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Golden Permission

golden egg

Do You Have Permission For Others To Help You? Turn Not-working into Networking Have you ever met someone at a networking event that was more concerned about their needs, not in helping you? Perhaps they forced a business card on you and asked for a time to meet with you. How did that feel? Perhaps this person meant well, and perhaps they even have something that could help you or your business. Unfortunately, the feeling of being ‘put upon’ causes us to reject the message and also the help someone might be able to give us. The trick is to…

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Be Proud of Your Achievements No Matter How Big or Small

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One of the most important attributes to being successful is by believing in one’s self and always remaining positive, no matter what the outcome is. We hear this a lot, yet somehow these two concepts are the first to disappear when life does not go according to plan. Of course, there is good reason for this, because when emotion comes into play, it is not always easy to think this objectively. Yet if you look at any person who is truly successful, these are the two most common attributes that they possess. However, in order to maintain these two powerful…

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Living in a Glass House?

glass house

I’m organized. I’ve always been organized. As a child, I would sit in the grocery cart and categorize items my mom would pick off the shelves into little zones in the cart.  When I couldn’t balance any more items on my lap, I would walk along-side the cart and be sure that if any new item was added, it was assigned to the right place. The ability to recognize patterns and see boundaries when there are none, are two skills that differentiate the “organized” people in the world. Did organizing the grocery cart items really matter? It did to me….

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Discussion of Three Popular Time Management Systems

Here is an article at www.effective-time-management-strategies.com that gives a brief overview of three popular time management systems: David Allen’s Getting Things Done, Franklin Covey’s Achieving First Priorities and the Pomodoro time management technique. The article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each system, but seems to assume you know what the systems are, so it’s not as helpful as a longer article could be. Nonetheless, a good overview. The real wisdom here is the author’s note: “Time management systems can be seductive, spruiking [sic] the benefits of increased productivity and effectiveness. The mindset of managing yourself in relation to time…

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The Role (and ROI!) of Coaching in Difficult Times

Francis Marshall has an article (click here) in the Training Journal entitled “The role of coaching in difficult times.” Here are some of the highlights: [C]oaching’s ability to unleash discretionary performance in the individual…when they are inspired to perform to a higher standard simply because they want to [C]oaching can play a key role in helping people think clearly and remain focused on their objectives Coaching is also crucial for helping employees maintain motivation [C]oaching helps people stay alert to the signals of recovery so that they gear up quickly once the economic corner has been turned Coaching is also…

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The Tedium of Coaching?

Stuart Walkley presents this article in the Training Journal on”The Tedium of Coaching,” in which he laments “an industry with a low entry point on qualifications and experiences, no single system of accreditation and with a range from the totally exceptional to the totally inept all under the one word ‘coach,’” and further mentions that “often the coaching process drives us through a number of sessions, which appear to have some linear progression leading towards a pre-ordained conclusion. I blame Excel and PowerPoint for this.” He ends with “How I long for some stream of consciousness, for some wild, extravagant…

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Take Back Your Attention!

Here is an excellent article by Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, at Fast Company, entitled Take Back Your Attention. His main thesis is that the computer, with email, FaceBook, Google, and a plethora of other fun toys and semi-useful activities, can be a distraction in addition to being a powerful tool. Here are some of the money quotes: “The easier it is to indulge our desires, the harder it is to exercise self-control.” “Human beings weren’t designed to manage the level of temptation to which we’re exposed every day. That’s why — irrational as it is — we…

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