Name: Bob Mason
Date registered: April 15, 2013
URL: http://www.planleadexcel.com
Nov 02 2010
The concept of work-life balance is more prevalent now than in the past, but I believe the problem still exists, thanks to technology. How many times do you actually work from home after normal hours because you have a computer, Wi-Fi, and a cell phone? In fact, I think the problem may be getting worse, not better.
Oct 28 2010
What are you a part of? I’ve met many people who feel they are a part of a civic group or a professional organization, or even some who feel deeply connected to a group of fans of a particular sports team. But, rarely do I find anyone who would describe themselves as part of the company that employs them. Sure, they’re a part of the workforce, or an employee of the company, but they don’t express a feeling of being a part of something worthwhile and bigger than the individual.
Oct 26 2010
There is much emphasis on teamwork in leadership development these days. Unfortunately, there are many leaders who don’t manage teams very well, resulting in teams that are less effective than they could be. There are several steps to team building that are essential to the success of the team. Note that these steps involve the leader more than the team.
Oct 21 2010
Who are you? Do you know? How would you describe yourself? I don’t mean your height and weight. Look deeper. Leaders must know as much as possible about the people for whom they are responsible, but they often forget that the first person they need to get to know is themselves. Here are five things that, as a leader, you should understand about yourself.
Oct 19 2010
Each leader develops his or her own style of leadership. Much has been written on the subject. Rensis Likert’s defined four styles of leadership – Exploitative Authoritative, Benevolent Authoritative, Consultative System, and Participative. Hersey and Blanchard gave us Situational Leadership. I recommend further study of both Likert and Hersey, Blanchard. But for the purposes of easy understanding, I define the common styles of leadership as authoritative, directive, democratic. There’s certainly a place for each of these in any organization, but good leaders must know when to apply them.
Oct 14 2010
Leadership in a retail store is difficult for two reasons. First, store managers seldom receive much training in the concepts of leadership. Second, many company personnel policies make it difficult for a store manager to create an effective team. Store managers often don’t control the hours of part-time workers or the number of …
Oct 12 2010
I recently did an interview with Dana Woods for her Blog Talk Radio show, “Professional Scope.” Dana is a skillful interviewer and it was an enjoyable hour. She asked me a question though that I really hadn’t considered before. Should a leader brand themselves in their leadership role? Of course branding is a popular topic in the marketing world, but I’d never really considered it as a leadership concern. The idea makes sense though.
Oct 07 2010
As leaders, we are usually pretty quick to demand answers when things go wrong. We want to dissect failure, figure out what went wrong and how to fix it, and unfortunately, sometimes place blame. It’s healthy to do this. Not to place blame, but to analyze what happened and develop plans to fix the problem and prevent recurrence.
Oct 05 2010
There seems to be a month, week, or day for just about everything. I don’t know who determined this, but October is International Strategic Planning Month. I also don’t know why the world needs a strategic planning month but since we have one, I’ll certainly take advantage of it.
Sep 30 2010
7 steps for a retail manager to develop an engaged team of associates.
