Year-End Self Assessment Tool
Evaluate your own performance in 2012 before you move into 2013. The following downloadable assessment tool will help you reflect on the year, and can be used for you as an individual, team, or company. It’s easy to forget all you’ve accomplished and all you’ve had to overcome so take time to reflect back over the year, and perhaps review your calendar or journal before completing the survey. Financial results are a key measure of success for any business or non-profit (no money, no...
Read MoreAre you measuring what drives success?
Are you measuring what drives success? Too often I see individuals and companies focused on analyzing what’s already happened. It’s like driving by only looking through the rear view mirror. Let’s take a simple example. Measuring my weight is measuring my past behavior. Measuring how many minutes I’ve exercised or how many calories I’ve consumed is a likely predictor of future weight (and perhaps health). Or, when I was writing a book, was I better off measuring how many pages...
Read MoreMaking money and using it
Do you pay the appropriate attention to both revenue and net profit (even if you’re a non-profit)? I had an interesting discussion with a leader about the use of financial measures as directional tools to focus his employees’ efforts. He finds that his people can relate to company financial goals more easily than other goals, so he used the measures to give his staff indicators of success or lack thereof. He personally doesn’t care that much about the ultimate profit and is more...
Read MoreTop 9 Responsibilities of Leaders
What should leaders attend to as their highest priorities? What does the leader need to do for the organization or the group that only the leader can do? What do you define as your leader responsibilities? Compiling recent interviews with leaders, we created a list of the top nine priority functions of a leader. Based on my conversations with the leaders, though, the process of thinking about their most important responsibilities and obligations seems to have been a valuable one. My...
Read MoreComponents of a Strategic Plan
The questions a leadership team ask themselves when planning have great importance. The components of a good strategic plan are designed to explore a wide variety of questions. You can access lots of online resources and each has its own language and definitions, but here’s a quick guide to what I encourage organizations to include as valuable components of a plan: TIME FRAME: Think broadly about the next 3 years. Some organizations look out 5 or 10 years, but in this economy...
Read MoreMeasuring Quality Leads to Results
Measuring Quality Dr. Amy Schumacher of Southcentral Foundation Huge congratulations to everyone at Southcentral Foundation, the organization I so enjoyed working with through the Gestalt International Study Center this past year in Anchorage Alaska. They are one of four recipients of the the 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest Presidential honor for performance excellence through innovation, improvement and visionary leadership. Take a minute to look...
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