A John Maxwell book published by Thomas Nelson, 2004, 272 pages, Nonfiction, Business, Leadership and Personal Development. Yes, I know I just reviewed a John Maxwell book. No, I’m not working for his publicist. Remember when you were a kid and every time a new Piers Anthony book came out, you just had to read it? Even…

A T. Scott Gross book published by Oakhill Press, 1996, 304 pages. Nonfiction: Business and Personal Growth. The book theme: Sell a customer, get paid once…serve a customer, get paid again and again. His mantra… 1. Reward high pressure service not high pressure sales. 2. Teach guilt free selling. 3. Be an example of a servant leader. This book conducts…

This is the last in a series of articles on becoming a great leader. It is a collection of the staples of great leadership and is compiled from many sources. Great leaders KNOW it is PEOPLE not PROGRAMS that create a quality organization. Great leaders have clear, consistent expectations. Great leaders take into account the impact of their…

Effective leaders treat others with a positive regard. Specifically, effective leaders understand the power of appreciation. This goes beyond the Carnegie precepts of “Be hardy in your approbation and lavish in your praise.” Effective praise is a skill set that must be learned like any other. As leaders we often find ourselves spending and inordinate amount…

There is a little rebel in all of us. The question is when an employee breaks the rules what should you do about it? It is an important question. The decision can have an impact not only on the employee but the whole department in which he works. Every manager should make it a habit to periodically…

In most any professional environment you will encounter those who are feeling the repercussions of long hours and impending deadlines. The pre-burnout conditions can manifest themselves in any of the following behaviors. Little or no demonstrated interest in the business at hand. Few outside interests or hobbies. Statements of apathy. Limited or no goals for professional or personal…

A series on becoming a more successful leader. There’s no doubt about it. Being in a leadership position is a very difficult job. We are required to do so much and to be all things to so many people. The advice we get is often great in theory, but falls short of the mark in practice…

The case of Floyd Landis, plus the earlier doping scandals bedeviling the Tour de France, ought to make us all think again about the true impact of competition. Sport (together with warfare) is one of the commonest sources of ideas about business, so when the world of sport seems to be in trouble, it’s worth…

A leader forced to utilize “hamburger management” is like a cordon bleu chef told to work as a short-order cook and produce nothing but hamburgers with french fries every day. Any organization that uses this approach is like a diner who eats nothing else. The first becomes bored, frustrated and disillusioned; the second becomes sick…

A civilized workplace is one where people have the time and freedom to do their jobs to the best of their ability. No one is bullied or hassled by some boss high on ego and testosterone. Leaders trust their subordinates to do what they’re paid to do; and subordinates trust their leaders to act with their interests in mind as well as the firm’s profits (and the executives’ stock options).

Project managers seem to come in two flavors, maybe three. The first flavor are those who follow the PMI guidelines by the book. The second are those who get thrown into project management by way of the “someone had to do it” route. Third would be a hybrid. This addresses those last two types. Let’s talk about some of the basic elements of running a project, and while we’re at it, we will discuss a few methods for running projects that might prove helpful to you.

It’s easy to get intense about your work. But it’s a major step from there to treating your job with such intensity it starts to take over nearly all of your life. Don’t just shrug off burnout as superstition or think you’re immune. It’s a serious issue that can wreck lives and produce problems for other people as well.

Talk to an aspiring project manager, or one interviewing at a new company, and one of the first questions is, “Do you use Microsoft Project?” The answer often defines how projects are run at that organization. Project is a great tool, but it is also very complex. It costs a lot. It requires other users…

Boss management – an unusal term but sometimes it is true that you need to give your boss a hand and to be more proactive on managing yourself, and your boss. Jacques Horovitz has 10 rules on how to manage your boss, in order to be more effective, faster in actions and gain trust: Decisions: If…