Work from home (WFH). Remote work. Hybrid work. These terms have been ingrained in our vocabulary for the last three years and it has become the new normal. Managing a team that is remote or semi-remote has its challenges. So, here’s four rules for managing in the new hybrid work world.
4 Rules for Managing in a Hybrid World Read More »
I’m a firm believer in the saying: “…All leaders are readers.” Harry S. Truman One skill I’ve been working on is to read faster, but not just devouring a book, but to also digest the essence of the book. Here’s some tips on how to read smarter and deeper.
How to Read Smarter Read More »
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise“. – Benjamin Franklin This is one of Ben Franklin’s most notable quotes. Franklin’s numerous achievements positions him as one of the most studied people in history on how to be more productive and successful. (including me!) Sahil Bloom, breaks down Franklin’s
Tips from Ben Franklin on being more productive Read More »
Even pre-pandemic work-from-home and hybrid work environments, companies (well-known companies too) have suffered through toxic company culture. I remember hearing from top bank executives and how they were so tired of dealing with toxic bosses and trying to figure a way out or at least how to manage their daily work without going crazy or
Is your company culture broken? Read More »
Speaking in public is notoriously known for being the most common activity people are afraid of doing. Of course, in work and life, we often don’t get to choose to avoid public speaking – it’s a necessary skill as you advance in your career. So, if you want to improve your public speaking, here’s something
Want to improve your public speaking? Read More »
Whether you’re working in-office, remotely or a hybrid work environment, being able to communicate clearly is an important skill to being an effective leader. From my own experience, I know not all leaders & managers are equipped with this skill (effective communication). But I’m sure you’re smarter and savvier (you’re reading this aren’t you?), so
Leaders: How to Communicate More Effectively Read More »
Not everyone is a born leader and that’s ok. For those of us who aren’t born with natural leadership abilities, here’s six examples of how you can be more of a conscious leader.
How to be a Conscious Leader Read More »
I’ve run a hybrid and remote-only business for nearly fifteen years now, but I know since the pandemic, managers and companies new to hybrid or remote work are having a tough time figuring out how to manage your remote workers. Here’s fives tips to help you with your work-from-home staff.
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The traditionalists have always had a “work hard, play hard” mentality. We’re now seeing that this mentality is not the most ideal way of working and approaching a work/life balance. If you’re an executive feeling burnt out, here’s some advice from a famous workaholic on how she’s combatting burnout.
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Managers seem to fall into three categories: Managers who can’t relinquish ANY control and micro-manage you Managers who are TOO hands-off and don’t take any responsibility Managers who have just the right amount of responsibility yet let’s you do your job (you want to aim here) But for those who have a tough time letting
How to Delegate Like a Boss Read More »
…traditional views on work is to you have to “look” like you’re doing work, or rather being busy. But that can be a barrier for being truly productive, innovating and just achieving more. This “invisible work” is the what will help you achieve more.
Achieve More by Doing This… Read More »
The biggest obstacle to being productive is multi-tasking (contrary to what we tend to believe). Here’s how to resist the urge to multi-task and focus on one task at a time. Brought to you with Best Self Planner
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Contrary to Jim Carrey’s 2008 film, Yes Man, the best thing you can do for your life, sanity and productivity is learning how to say “No”. Here’s 16 tips for how and what to say “No” to.
The Best Productivity Hack Is This… Read More »
Good managers listen more than they speak. But if listening isn’t a “natural” skill for you, how do you become a better listener? Here’s 9 tips to be a better listener: Repeat the last few words of what was spoken back to the speaker Repetition is fine (in point 1), but contrary to common practice,
9 Tips to Be a Better Listener Read More »
Here are 10 wonderful visuals for reframing how you view productivity & success: 10 visuals that will change how you see success & productivity: 1. pic.twitter.com/gagZeSmwfR — Elliott 📖 | 🚀 (@elliottaleksndr) March 15, 2022
10 Graphics That’ll Change How You View Productivity & Success Read More »
A large-scale study found well-being and happiness to predict outstanding work performance. Are you working on your well-being and happiness?
Top Performers Have This Superpower Read More »
Research has shown that workers perform 33% better, 75% are more committed to their company and 49% less likely to leave, if they find their work to be meaningful. But the amount of workers who believe their work is meaningful is not so sunny. Here’s a look at five sources to help you make your
How to Make Work More Meaningful Read More »
Good leaders don’t just criticize, they provide useful/practical feedback. We’ve all had managers or leaders who aren’t the best at giving feedback, so here’s nine tips for giving & receiving constructive feedback.
How to Give Better Feedback Read More »
Bad bosses. You know, there’s ALWAYS one you’ll encounter. I know I’ve received many comments from clients who don’t know how to handle a bad boss. How do you avoid becoming a bad boss or manager? Good leaders inspire, but how do you do that? One strategy is to truly be an authentic leader, which
Are You an Authentic Leader? Read More »
I write a lot about leadership and how many of us are thrust into a leadership role without really any kind of preparation. You might be good at your job, but managing and leading people involves a whole different basket of skills. Bad leaders tend to micro-manage, lead with fear or a heavy-hand and leave
Good Leaders Do This… Read More »
Good leaders are good problem-solvers. But we’re not all born with this ability. Here’s a simple yet effective problem-solving strategy: Instead of adding new elements to a solution, consider removing existing elements. It feels very counter-intuitive, for example in some European cities, urban planners have removed traffic lights & road signs in certain places to
A Brilliant Problem-Solving Strategy Read More »
It used to be mark of shame to have a gap in your resume / CV. Even if you had very legitimate reasons for work gaps, it was always something that hindered job searchers. Finally, recruiting & hiring practices are starting to catch up and those job gaps are beginning to be accepted as normal
Job Gaps Are Becoming Normal Read More »
I regularly share how much of an extreme Introvert I am. But I remember being an employee and the moments in my career that resulted in promotions. I couldn’t sit back and hope for a promotion, I had to take the bull by the horns and ask for it. Whether you’re an Introvert like me
10 Ways to Stand Out at Work Read More »
New progressive leaders & managers look to remove traditional biases that could derail any kind of innovation. One such bias is “motivation to conform” or in more layman terms, a room filled with “Yes-people”. In this McKinsey article, they suggest a possible solution to overcome this is: trying Anonymous brainstorming and silent voting. FINANCE &
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Watch this video to see how this long-standing Swedish tradition contributes to staff wellbeing and productivity. FINANCE & MONEY EDGE Credit Suisse Leaks Data on Over 18K Accounts 3 Major Fintech Trends to Watch for 2022
Use This Swedish Trick to Reduce Stress in the Workplace Read More »
In a work-from-home or remote world, you might be saving time on commuting to and from work, but much of your time might be being wasted on energy-draining & pointless interactions like endless & pointless Zoom meetings. McKinsey shares how to avoid these draining interactions by categorizing interactions into these three categories. FINANCE & MONEY
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I’ve written about this repeatedly, often managers and leaders are promoted to leadership roles without any kind of training or coaching as to how to be a good leader or manager. Just because you’re good at your job, doesn’t mean you’re immediately a good leader or manager. The best managers and leaders don’t try to
The Best Leaders Do This Read More »
Whether you’re in the office or working from home, it’s easy to get distracted from actual work. I’m a firm believer, we really only have the ability to focus on “deep work” for about four hours. With the digital age we live in now, distractions are at their highest. The first step is to understand
Having Problems Staying Focused on Work? Here’s What To Do… Read More »
In a lot of industries & societies, it has traditionally been a “mark of pride” by the number of work hours you put in. However, that’s proving to be an archaic way of thinking about work. The “work hard, play hard” mantra doesn’t hold anymore in this day and age. Burnout is a real thing.
Being More Productive By Working Less Read More »
SPACS or Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, have been the rage in recent years (despite the fact, they aren’t new). The attractiveness of SPACS has to do with: An alternative (and simpler) way of taking a company public Makes it easier to raise capital Allows retail investors to buy the company’s IPO One of my favourite
Are Investors Making Money with SPACS? Read More »
In this issue: Remote work is saving people & businesses time and money Canada set for another strong year in M&A after a record 2021 The world leaders in real-time payments As the Omicron variant spreads like wildfire throughout the world, many companies are moving back to a remote or hybrid working model for the
Remote Work is Saving People & Businesses Time & Money, Canada’s Strong M&A Market Read More »
With Omicron raging like wildfire, plans for people to return to the office are either stalled or being reversed. While there is no right answer for the “new” work model, each company needs to figure out what’s the most ideal plan for your company. One thing that can’t be ignored is the desire for more
A Hybrid Work Model That Works Read More »
I’m a huge (Ice) Hockey fan, and my hometown team, the Vancouver Canucks had an awful start to this season. On paper, the team shouldn’t be performing so badly. What was going on? Ultimately, after a streak of losing games and not looking like the team they should be – the leadership team was fired
How to Build Trust as a Leader Read More »
Meetings can be such a pain and waste of time if left unchecked. The iconic John Cleese of Monty Python fame shares some timeless tips (all the way back from 1976!) [via Recommendo]: ESSENTIAL CLIPS Saudi Arabia continues diversification initiative via share offering of Saudi Telecom Co (STC) You should know: this country is winning
How to Have Productive Meetings, John Cleese Shares These Tips… Read More »
Often times, I hear people complain about their boss, immediate supervisor or manager. If you think about it, we’re not all born with leadership skills. We’re often thrust into a leadership role without any kind of preparation. If you’re in a leadership role, a skill to add to your toolbox is how to get proper
How to Become a Better Leader Read More »
Even before a global pandemic moved everyone to Zoom meetings, in-person meetings have mostly been culprits in wasting time and negatively affecting productivity ever since the meetings were “invented”. To prevent meeting overload and scheduling non-useful meetings, you can ask these two questions before considering a meeting: Will you have something to contribute? Will you
Cut 10 Hours of Meetings By Doing This… Read More »
Over the last two decades of working in the training industry, I’ve had the benefit of meeting many intelligent and educated professionals from around the world. Over that time, I believe people end up in two groups: People who have stopped learning out of curiosity and interest, they may still “take a course” but only
Learn to Love Learning Again Read More »
Not everyone is a born leader, but you can become a great leader with the right skills. Effective leaders are also good at critical thinking, including problem-solving and decision-making skills. So, here’s 5 ways you can improve your critical thinking skills and improving your leadership skills: Collect more and better data. Good critical thinkers collect
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I’ve written about this in the past, many of us are thrust into a leadership role without much training as to how to be an effective leader. Leading vs performing your job prior to moving into a leadership role are two very different things. Just because you’re good at your job doesn’t mean you’re going
The 3 Must-Have Qualities of Effective Leaders Read More »
Fighting Zoom Fatigue I don’t about you, but whenever I hear the word “Zoom” now, my eyes start to twitch a bit. People across the world are starting to feel the “Zoom Fatigue” factor now. Zoom has become so intertwined with our work lives now, Stanford has done a study Zoom fatigue and found four
Fighting Zoom Fatigue, SPACS Avoiding This Country, CACS in BaaS Read More »
Pre-Pandemic it was already hard to hire & retain good staff, but now with so much uncertainty in the world and people re-evaluating their life goals, it’s even harder to retain employees. Especially when in some cases up to half of workers are contemplating leaving their current jobs, what do you do when you want
How to Retain Employees Without Paying More Read More »
As many white-collar workers are still working remotely and some companies permanently allowing a work-from-home option, compensation & salary is now under debate. As we’ve learned already, traditional HR methods aren’t going to work in a remote work environment. Traditionally, pay was largely affected by geographic location, but now, the focus on job outcomes may
The Salary Based On Geography Debate Read More »
ESSENTIAL EDGE Rethinking Performance Reviews “Performance reviews are performed by people, and ‘people are biased,’” said Dr. Evelyn Carter, a managing director at Paradigm, a San-Francisco-based strategy firm that works with tech companies on their DEI goals. via The 21 Hats Morning Report and original article by Protocol The traditional ways of doing performance reviews
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Whether you’re back in the office or still working from home, “productivity” is a phrase we love to hate in the digital era. Eric Barker, of Barking Up the Wrong Tree, shares tips organized people do each day to stay productive and organized: Deny being in denial: most of the time, we deny how much
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While some companies are slowly moving staff back to the office, there are still many who have permanently moved to work-from-home or allowing permanent flexibility in choosing to work remotely. Managers are having to adjust to this new type of work setting (traditional methods definitely will not work in this type of environment). So, companies
Creating Culture in a Work-From-Home World Read More »
@StephSmith brings up an interesting point: the forty hour work week was implemented nearly a hundred years ago. Technology has since allowed us to automate and increase our speed in achieving outcomes for many things, yet we still cling on to the 40 hour work week without much thought of why. The archaic metric of
Is It Time to Rethink the 40 hr Work Week? Read More »
Many managers and senior executives are thrust into a managerial and leadership role without the proper guidance or training to be an effective leader. Sure, they probably were promoted due to their job performance but performing well at a job function and leading a team are two different things. So, many managers may feel like
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Finding hidden gems within a business is a difficult task because most executives are too close to the business sto see these blind spots. In this useful thread, Bryan Eisenberg, shares details of The Johari Window model for finding these blind spots: If you run a business and are wondering if you are leaving 💵
Is Your Business Leaving Money on the Table? Try This… Read More »
I can’t remember learning anything about strategic decision-making in school (unless you’ve taken an MBA I guess), but here’s a great strategy for how to make better and faster decisions: We tend to get stuck in not making any decision because we don’t want to make the wrong decision. But that would be based upon
Make Better and Faster Decisions Read More »
Many of us thrust into a leadership role without any kind of training. It’s mostly sink or swim in a lot of cases. So, here’s a mental model for being a better leader: the action-centred leadership model This model was developed by John Adair, a former military leadership teacher at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
A Mental Model for Being a Better Leader Read More »