Quality service begins with quality leadership. One of the most important characteristics of a good leader is the ability to communicate goals and objectives effectively. But how should a manager clearly and effectively communicate the goal of quality service?
When was the last time you could say of someone, “He’s a man of action” or “She gets results?” More importantly, when was the last time someone could say that of you?
We have all attended meetings at work, in professional or social associations, or as part of religious organizations. Some are productive and some…well, not so much. Whether you are a participant or the leader, you can enhance your career success by developing a few savvy meeting skills.
We all have areas in our lives which we want to improve. These may be small things that annoy and frustrate us about ourselves or major obstacles to overcome in our personal life and professional careers. Can you identify a few of those areas in your life? What are you doing to make improvements? The key to all improvement is making a commitment, designing a plan (dividing the major areas into smaller tasks), and allocating a few minutes once a day.
Whether you’re a department manager, division director, or company CEO, you’re still an employee. Are you and excellent employee, inspiring and motivating your staff to achieve excellence in all that they do? What is the secret to becoming an excellent employee?
Creating a proper voice mail greeting for your office telephone may seem like a small detail, but it tells your callers a lot about you. Perception is very important in establishing rapport and maintaining relationships. When you record an informative voice mail greeting and use call forwarding properly, your callers will perceive that you are considerate of their time, conscientious in your responsibilities, and a care about your professional image.
The road to success and happiness is well travelled by those who know how to apply their strengths to their life and work. If you focus your efforts on your areas of strength and delegate activities to your staff in their areas of strength, you too can travel this road.
If the CEO of your company walked into your office, what would be his perception of you? Have you ever taken an objective look at your office or work area? Is it well organized (or at least a mostly organized) and reflective of person in control of his or her environment? What does it communicate about your ability to manage projects, processes, or people? What impression does it give your coworkers, staff, and visitors?
If you’re like most of my friends, you probably work over 40 hours during an average week (even more during special assignments and critical projects). There is always a sense of pressure and stress that goes with the job. Of course, a certain amount of stress is good. It keeps us alert and focused. But too much stress can interfere with one of your most important daily activities, sleep.
Does your organization provide employees with opportunities for personal development? Terri Kabachnick, author of I Quit, But Forgot to Tell You, shares the results of a survey of 1400 executives, managers and associates: 76% would switch jobs for less money in order to work for a company that offers opportunities for personal development and flexibility.
