Peter Drucker was Right (again)
n an August edition of The Economist, I found this Peter Drucker quote: ” Much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to work.” o one in management gets up in the morning with this as their goal. People are trying to do the best they can, hopefully taking many variables and perspectives into […]
The Mindful Marketer
A new book from my friend and colleague, Lisa Nirell. Congrats, Lisa, and thanks for sharing your wise advice with the rest of us! The Mindful Marketerhttp://www.palgrave.com/articles/article-detail/author-corner-lisa-nirell/
Transformational Success: A Client Story
Story by Jeff Resnick / Casro : Transformational Success at Schlesinger Associates
Newsletter – August Already? Lessons from Your Sales Force
Lessons from Your Sales Force
In the News — 7 Habits of Highly Effective SBOs
Small business owners, or anyone for that matter… http://sparkbusinessiq.com/article/7-habits-highly-successful-sbos/ 1. Focus on Why You Want to Succeed. “Set your major goals in the context of why you want to achieve them, not just what you want to achieve,” says Karen D. Walker, president of Oneteam, Inc., a consultancy in Shelburne, VT. “Having clarity about intention will increase the quality of your decisions […]
60 Second Survey – How Large is Your Gap?
How large is the gap between your present and your potential? Take this 60-second survey to rate your organization: Scale 1-101 Could you repeat the question? (Never thought of it)3 We say we do this, but we don’t (Intention without action)5 I’ve seen it happen here, once (Action without follow up)7 […]
A Communication Story
I sent an email communication to three neighbors, apprising them of an upcoming event in our home so that the parking and traffic wouldn’t be a surprise. One wrote back “so sorry we can’t make it!” The second wrote “hope you have good weather and a wonderful time. Let’s get together sometime!” The third hasn’t […]
One of Our Greatest Human Capabilities
One of our greatest human capabilities is the capacity to reflect. Yet we spend almost all of our time – on some days all of it! – doing, reacting, immersed in busy-ness. When do you schedule time for yourself to think? To synthesize, to plan, to debrief, to learn and to improve? How can we […]
Linking Work with Customer Impact
From here, it is hard to say exactly what went wrong and where within the GM system that led to the 13 deaths caused by ignition switch defect. I will leave that analysis to others. I am sure that most GM employees area as concerned about safety as I am, they drive their families in […]
What I Do – A Metaphor
The difference between what I do and training is like the difference between a private banker and an ATM. We need both, but they are not the same skill set or value.
Do Your Employees’ Personal Problems Affect Work?
Here’s a link to a recent article for American Express on dealing with the personal problems of employees http://amex.co/1n9b76T with my quoted input: Karen Walker, president and CEO of consulting firm ONETEAM in Shelburne, Vermont, . . . adds that your degree of involvement should hinge on whether the personal problem is affecting the employee […]
Necessary but not Sufficient
It is that time of year again! Goal setting, resolutions and good intentions are everywhere.These are important rituals for us personally and professionally to take stock of where we are and where we aspire to be.The problem is that all too often we only set the goal and then we think that we are […]
Why I do what I do
This just in from a client. Made my day! Just want to send a quick note to share the HUGE milestone. We just completed by far the best ‘revenue’ billed month we have ever seen. Absolutely remarkable. Thanks so much Karen! You played such a pivotal role in this moment…. I can’t thank […]
Driving Force
One of the most important decisions that you will make concerns your driving force. Very few people know early in life what they want to be when they grow up. My mother always wanted to be a nurse. Of course, that was one of only four career choices available for women in Western culture at […]
Time to Think
Too often, a client will say “I spend my days in back to back meetings, and I do my real job after work.” There are a number of things wrong with this sentence, but let’s focus in on just a few. First, why are you scheduled in back-to-back meetings? End those meetings 10 minutes before […]
A Hurricane of Nephews
Our nephews just left after their annual visit. They live in the South and visit us for camp and a few Vermont summer days each year. As always, I was overjoyed to see them arrive, happy they had good experiences at camp and grateful for the time we had together as a family. And noticing […]
Ask for What You Want
Ask for what you want, notice what you get. So many of our problems can be solved by such a seemingly simple action. No one else can truly understand what is in our minds. The best they can do are successive approximations based on our past behavior. Many well-intended actions by others are off the […]
China
I’m reading an excellent book China’s War with Japan 1937–1945: The Struggle for Survival by Rana Mitter Informative, accessible context for what’s happening today in China and much of Asia. If you have a “must-read” list, this should be on it.
The Importance of Success Criteria
How do you know when you are done? Complete? Ready to move on to the next thing/task? Success criteria. And yet seldom do we define those criteria for the activities in our lives. I noticed this morning that I was able to leave the house, without any guilt, for a morning walk because I was […]
Catching Up
I often spend part of a three day holiday weekend catching up in my office. Filing that needs to be done, important but not urgent documents that need to be dealt with. My intention is to deal with these during my normal work week (whatever that is these days) but somehow there is always a […]
Breaking the Waves
While walking down the crowded streets of Manhattan yesterday, I noticed a shift in the foot traffic pattern and my rush hour walk became easier. It took me a minute to sort it out, but the difference was that I was walking behind someone- taller than me – who was in essence, breaking the waves in front […]
Which One is Which?
Perspective. It is so important to remember that we each have our own and that others’ are different. I stood in line at a buffet last week during a small workshop. Before me were 2 types of fruit smoothies: strawberry and kiwi. The man in line ahead of me asked “which is which?” I smiled, […]
Centipede
Centipede On my morning walk today, I saw a centipede for the first time in many years. For those of you with different fauna in your community, a centipede looks a lot like a worm but has (roughly) a hundred legs. As I walked by on my two legs, I thought about how the centipede’s […]
Own Your Brand
Imagine that one day you don’t have your business card. You want to find work, or go out on your own. But very few people return your calls or respond to emails. Then you learn people were primarily responding to your position, not to you personally; because you didn’t build your brand! More at: http://bit.ly/ZuLwq4
One Basic Tool for Success
We live in a time of immense change. It is pervasive and permanent; there are no safe havens from change. Our best and most productive response to this situation is to be adaptable and flexible to be able to effectively handle ambiguity. This is only possible when we have a clear sense of self-worth and […]