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Andy helps his clients increase their success in the selection, development and retention of leaders and emerging leaders. His career includes extensive experience in the selection and development of leaders and emerging leaders while a member of management teams at Fortune 500 corporations. He had held positions of leadership in sales, sales management, profit center management, organization development, labor relations, recruiting and Human Resources. Andy has worked to define and develop systems and processes ... [More]

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Eleven Qualities of Successful People
[Self-Improvement:Success] How do you define successful people? Og Mandino, in "The Greatest Salesman In The World," defined success as meeting ones goals - whatever they may be. Sounds good to me. Given that definition, what do successful people have in common? I was challenged to write, in 500 words or less, an answer to that question. Here goes.

A Story of Success - Here's to You Hank Teuteberg
[Self-Improvement:Success] I'm looking at a picture of one of the most successful men I have ever had the privilege to know. He was raised in Brookfield WI and moved all the way to a beautiful house he and my sister built overlooking Lake Oconomowoc - about 15 miles away from where he had been born. He enlisted in the Navy shortly after high school, then became a computer programmer back in the days of punch cards and big box mainframes. He got married to my sister 44 years ago, and they raised three children - and raised them well. And those children gave them eight grandchildren - and they delighted in them.

Ten Challenges to Successful Self Employment
[Business:Entrepreneurialism] Being your own boss is so tempting! No more working for the Man. No more politics. Total control over everything. Time to smell the roses.

Nine Ways to Discover and Develop Your Strengths
[Self-Improvement:Personal-Growth] Malcolm Forbes said: "Many people overvalue what they are not, and undervalue what they are." That's another way of saying that we place more value on our weaknesses than we do on our strengths. And in that mistaken evaluation lies one of the main reasons for under achievement, frustration and lack of personal clarity. If I asked you to list ten of your strengths and ten of your weaknesses, what comes to mind first?

Multi-Tasking - The Good and the Bad
[Self-Improvement:Success] There are two sides to multi - tasking. It's keeping a lot of balls in the air without dropping the important ones. It's getting more done with less. It's being effective with the resources available. It demands a high level of energy and commitment . But it's also the enemy of focus. It can be the enemy of effectiveness. Multi - tasking can be the friend of Resistance - that force that keeps us from doing the really important stuff. Multi - tasking can keep us thinking about what we're not doing, rather than focusing on what's in front of us.

The Six Steps of a Project
[Business:Management] Reading about the trials and tribulations of Boeing as it brings the 787 Dreamliner to market reminded me of a poster I saw in a clients office. It described the Six Steps Of A Project.

Grit and Goals - The Cornerstones of Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] In today's environment our definitions of what represents success may have changed, but the personal qualities that create the opportunity for success haven't. And when things are really tough, as they are right now for so many, it's essential to review where we stand with those essential qualities.

How to Increase Employee Commitment and Engagement
[Business:Management] Never has a high level of commitment and engagement been needed more than right now. With the dislocations, uncertainties and bad economic news of the day, and the lowering of expectations, keeping a high level of engagement and commitment requires a conscious effort on the part of organizations.

Muddling Through As a Success Strategy
[Self-Improvement:Success] Have you ever noticed how some people just seem to work their way through some of the most difficult situations, and come out the other side successfully? When asked, these people usually give some " Aw Shucks" kind of answer, and move on to the next thing. Those people know how to muddle - in the best of ways. I'm not talking about muddling as a way of preparing a cocktail, or as a negative description of someone confused and without a clue, but as a way of moving through unfamiliar, confusing and ambiguous situations and having the action of muddling lead to successful conclusions. .

Make Real Choice the Basis For Success in Hiring the Right People
[Business:Human-Resources] Act in haste and repent at your leisure. Who of us hasn't at some time acted in haste and later regretted a hasty decision? I suspect we all have done that. Lots of little decisions can be made quickly based on personal experience, intuition, biases, and our body of knowledge without much damage being done. But when it comes to hiring the right people for the right job, acting in haste will have long term negative consequences. To make real, considered, job focused choice the basis for hiring the right people three Elements need to be in place.

Finding the Right People is Tougher Now - The Key to Success is Preparation
[Business:Human-Resources] Employers say that finding the right people has always been a challenge. But high unemployment has made it even tougher. That doesn't seem to make sense. But our clients place as much if not more emphasis on preparation for recruiting and selection of critical positions in high unemployment markets as in tight labor markets. Careful preparation is necessary to overcome certain beliefs and behaviors that always seem to show up at times of high unemployment. The behaviors and beliefs our clients cite most frequently as needing to be overcome by careful preparation are the following.

Seven Strategies For When Where You Are is Not Where You Want to Be
[Self-Improvement:Personal-Growth] One of the most limiting things we can tell ourselves is that what we are doing and where we are is not where we thought we would be or where we want to be. Lots of people feel that way right now. With all the changes that have happened over the past few years, many people have seen their worlds turned upside down. They have seen their assumptions disappear. They aren't where they thought they would be - and they have a real problem adapting to the realities of their situations.

Place High Value on the Small Stuff - It's Key to Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] How often have you been to a meeting, been involved in a project, attended a convention or a gathering where things clicked - where it became apparent that there had been a great deal of planning and attention to detail - and the overall effect was terrific. The small stuff got the attention it needed to ensure success. Think about kaizen - the Japanese philosophy of "continuous improvement."

Create Constructive Confrontation to Multiply Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] "Without conflict there is no learning." I don't know who to attribute that statement to, but I had a boss who believed in it and demanded argument and conflict as a means of creating better communications and better decision making. The workplace he created was highly productive, relationships were based on respect and trust, and it was one of the most demanding, rewarding places I ever worked. Constructive confrontation was the rule of the day - it was a behavior that produced superior results.

Two Key Elements to Achieving Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] Peter Drucker and Jack Welch, two experts in anyone's list of experts, have identified many key elements leading to personal success. The following two are so fundamental and critical, but often get pushed aside in favor of the "silver bullet of the month" elements. They bear repeating.

Two Special People to Learn From
[Self-Improvement:Inspirational] I've been really fortunate to know people who have shown the kind of qualities and behaviors that have such a positive effect on so many. Here are stories of two such people whose behaviors and attitudes - in the last week - have had a positive effect on me.

Six Ways to Control The Trap of Too Many Choices
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] Choice is a good thing. There can be few more liberating beliefs than the belief that we can choose our response. But for a large group of people who are motivated by the acquisition of knowledge, choice can become a real threat to accomplishment. When does choice become a drag on accomplishment? Answer: When too many choices keep you from acting. Read on to see how to overcome the trap of too many choices.

Create Focus - Use SMART Goals to Fence Yourself In
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] We create focus when we fence ourselves in. And the best tool for building those fences are SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant / Realistic and Time specific. How often have you had ten different things you could be doing - each one with value, each one requiring time and concentration, and the result is you find yourself thinking about what else you could be doing rather than focusing on what you are doing? And you're tempted to put down what you're doing and rush into what you feel - at this moment - is a more important thing. Creating fences with SMART goals results in working on the really important things - without having to constantly argue with yourself about what you should be or could be doing.

Nine Attributes of Problem Solvers
[Self-Improvement:Success] Problem solvers are hard to find. In a market where scarcity commands top pay and recognition, problem solvers are in very high demand. Problem solvers share a number of attributes. Nine of them are listed later in this article.

Be a Problem Solver and Multiply Your Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] Given the world we live in right now, with all the negativity swirling around - it's time to really examine our behaviors, and work hard to be problem solvers. It's not easy, particularly when so many take the low road by blaming others, making sure they aren't blamed or by not being accountable for either their own actions or for actions to correct problems. But rising above those negative behaviors to be a problem solver has its rewards. First, it's a top ten percent behavior.

Our Greatest Source of Security
[Self-Improvement:Success] The only real source of security any of us have in this time of change and downsizing and merging and new business models and all the other stuff we see, read and hear - is what? The only real security any of us have comes from our own accomplishments. Top performers - the people who will prosper even in the toughest of times - believe that. For others it's a frightening thought - or a frustrating thought - or just plain not true.

7 Steps to Developing Personal Power
[Self-Improvement:Success] The most successful people are those who know who they are. They know that each of us is made up of three selves. Each of us is first, the person we think we are - our self concept; second, the person we want others to think we are - our mask; and third, the person others think we are - our perceived self. These can be three very different people. Successful people know that, and work hard to closely align their three selves.

Captain Sullenberger - Preparation, Routine and Opportunities
[Self-Improvement:Inspirational] Hats off to Captain Sullenberger and his crew and their rescue - I can't think of a better word to describe what they did - in saving the passengers and themselves when they had to ditch in the Hudson River. The accolades and gratitude and respect that the crew have received are well earned.

How to Hire the Right People
[Business:Human-Resources] "The first thing you have to do is hire the right people." Have you ever heard that profound piece of advice? Of course you're going to hire the right people - if you know who the right people are. If that's the case, why isn't more time spent defining what the job requires of the right person as the first step in any talent selection?

Ten Behaviors For Success in a Business Downturn
[Self-Improvement:Success] A lot is written about what to do after losing a job, but what about the people who don't lose their jobs, but are faced with the results of business slowdowns - layoffs, reduced expectations, salary freezes, greater responsibility with fewer resources and the uncertainty of what's next? Read on to get answers to behaviors that can create success - even in tough times

Use SMART Goals to Overcome the Tyranny of the Unimportant
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] Have you ever caught yourself rearranging your desk, or your E Mail files, or checking E Mail, or making a purchase on Amazon, or automatically answering your cell phone, even when you know the call isn't important - when you know, in your gut, that there is more important work to be done? And you just can't bring yourself to make that phone call, or that prospect call, or answer that E Mail request for information, or work on the quarterly reports? If you answered Yes, welcome to the world of Resistance, that force that always shows up when we are attempting to create positive change and progress - when we try to step out of the box - when we try to confront fear. Resistance shows itself in many ways - and the Tyranny of the Unimportant is right at the top of the list.

Where Success Happens
[Self-Improvement:Success] What does it take to be successful? What is success? How can I get there? Success happens at that special intersection of passion, commitment, talent and persistence. Think of those four as separate paths that flow into one path - one powerful path that leads to success - in it's infinite variety..

My Top Resolution For 2009
[Self-Improvement:Success] I'm not that great at keeping New Year's resolutions, but this one is going to stick - I promise. I resolve to wipe the F word "fair" from my vocabulary, from my thinking, from my emotions. How did I arrive at this resolution? Read on.

There is Plenty For Everybody - Share It
[Self-Improvement:Inspirational] A friend sent me a story about Heaven and Hell and sharing. It just struck me as such a good example of why a belief that there is plenty for everybody and a behavior of interdependence represent the highest order of living.

How to Be a Top Contributor in Tough Times
[Self-Improvement:Success] In these times - tough times by anyone's measure - it's important to be seen as a contributor - a person who makes a positive difference in the success of their enterprise. So what does it take to be a top contributor? We asked some of the most successful contributors we know. Here are their answers: ten Behaviors, Attitudes and Personal Skills of top contributors.

Victors Do the Work and Forget the Silver Bullets
[Self-Improvement:Success] Victors know success comes from doing the work. And that belief is even more important in tough times. At a time when resources have to be carefully committed, and when the need to focus on getting the really important things done is crucial, the temptation to look for silver bullets is greater than ever. And there are plenty of pitchmen out there ready to sell their product of hope - and quick fixes.

Use Goals to Stay in Play
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] Never has there been a more critical time to remind ourselves to "Stay In Play." "Stay In Play" tells us just how important it is to press on, to take the next step, to develop the best possible solution, to make the next sales call, to play the next down, to serve the next serve, to stay in the game.

Victim Or Victor - Your Choice
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] Right now it's tough to not feel like a victim. So many events seem to be beyond our control, and so many consequences of the decisions of others appear to have cost so many so much. It's an easy time to choose to blame others and let events just carry us along- the perfect example of a victim. Others choose to be victors. Faced with the same events and circumstances and consequences and outcomes as victims, they will continue to swim upstream - possibly more slowly and with more effort, but still working their way toward their goals. They know it may take longer, it may be tougher, but they choose to stand and fight, rather than let themselves be overcome by events. They take action - sometimes actions that seem so small - but they know that only action leads to results.

Only in a Rich Country at Peace
[News-and-Society:Pure-Opinion] When I read and hear the news, I come to the conclusion that the US is the richest country at peace in the world. We must be. Only in a rich country at peace could so many trivial issues make the news, and occupy our attention and energy.

Use SMART Goals to Get Through Tough Times
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] The most effective thing any of us can do right now is to focus on our goals - define them, refine them to reflect changing realities, test them to see if they remain realistic and relevant, and act to achieve them. It's hard. The steady drumbeat of news - about the economy, about the elections, about man's inhumanity to man - delivered with passion by so many talking heads on the 24 hour news cycle, can really divert attention from the really important things. That's where SMART goals are so important.

SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment
[Business:Management] Ambiguity is a fact of life in all organizations. In many cases it can be an advantage. But in most cases, the clearer the requirements, the better. Use SMART goals, keep them simple, and watch people respond with a high level of commitment to the enterprise. They can be, as in this case, the difference between success and failure.

Make Sure Your Dreams Are Your Servant, Not Your Master
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] In effective goal setting, using dreams to establish ideal outcomes is a critical step in creating the vision and purpose that become the building block for goals. When used that way, dreams are your servant. But when the word dreams is mentioned, many people are turned off - to them dreams are a waste of time - a trip into fantasy. They feel dreams are not for the real world. They see dreams as taking away from action and accomplishment. The line between dreams as the servant and dreams as the master is a thin one.

How to Ensure Dissatisfaction is a Key to Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] In the important areas of our lives, dissatisfaction is a positive - a way to constantly improve. At the same time, dissatisfaction has its limitations. Applying dissatisfaction to many areas of life just leads to frustration and regret.

When is the Best Time to Change?
[Business:Change-Management] The best time to change is when you don't have to - when you're not forced to -but when events and circumstances provide the opportunity and momentum for change. It's also the most effective time to change. It's when astute leadership has prepared for change and acts when the opportunity presents itself - as it almost always will.

Looking at Life Through the Rear View Mirror
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] Many of us spend a significant amount of time looking through the rear view mirrors of our lives. Some people spend all their time there - some spend no time there - but most have a nice balance between looking at what's behind and what's ahead. Have you ever had the experience of suddenly being confronted, in your mind, with something you did in the past that you wish you hadn't, or that you regretted, and that "something" flashes up on your brain screen and sends a chill down your spine, or a flop to your stomach, or a tear to your eye - or a song to your heart?

Valuing Individual Differences - Key to Team Success
[Business:Team-Building] Seeing things in a different way can be the road to success. Leaders place a high value on being able to see things through different lenses. Successful problem solving teams and project teams value individual differences as the means of arriving at innovative ways to meeting their goals. Most of us - based on our personal set of values, experiences, and a wide variety of other factors, develop a unique view of whatever we come in contact with. We each see things a little differently. In those differences lies tremendous value to ourselves and to others. It can be our greatest strength. The keys in valuing differences as key to team success involve two dimensions.

Ten Steps to Empowerment
[Business:Management] Empowering people can take many forms. In most organizations, there are many actions that can be taken, without financial risk to the organization, to start empowering people. From the biggest for profit corporation to the smallest non - profit, there are empowering behaviors that can add tremendous amounts of energy and leverage. Here are ten behavior driven actions to take to empower people.

How to Set SMART Goals - Start With the End in Mind
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] Setting worthy SMART goals can be a real challenge. SMART is the acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant and Time framed. For a lot of people, getting to goal statements that meet those criteria is tough. So where to start in this process of establishing SMART goals?

Your Attitude is Showing - Now What?
[Self-Improvement:Positive-Attitude] Your attitude is showing - and it's not good. What to do about it? A story about an attitude needing adjustment - and about critical personal decisions.

Become Thirty Percent More Effective in Selecting People
[Business:Management] Success starts with the right people in the right jobs. Particularly in leadership positions. But if that's really the belief of most organizations, why is it that so many selections fail at their jobs - or - even worse, just hang on and take up space? It doesn't have to be that way. In fact, every organization striving to improve their selection batting average can become at least 30% more effective. Read on to find out how you can add 30% effectiveness to your people selection processes - selection including hiring, transfer, promotion and team membership.

The Biggest Barrier to Building Relationships - One Way Conversations
[Relationships:Communication] One - way conversations make it easy to come to the conclusion that the person doing the talking thinks they have more to say than the listener does. It may be a bad conclusion to draw, but it's a very human one. And in arriving at that conclusion, potential relationships slips away. Read on to see how to avoid that behavior, and develop and excellent contact behavior.

The More Trust, the More Time to Succeed
[Self-Improvement:Success] Bill Oncken, in his book Managing Management Time, says that the more trust you have with your "universe " of people, the more time you have to do the things that lead to success. Trust is hard to earn. Once lost it's hard to regain. It's the most precious asset in any relationship - at any level - at any time. Read on to see how a successful Division President went about building trust.

Excellent Customer Service Starts With Excellent Employee Service
[Business:Customer-Service] Nothing sets the standard for excellent customer service more than excellent employee service. It's critical to measure the level of customer service. It's also critical to measure the level of employee service. There is a direct correlation between the two. Take the six elements of excellent employee service from this article and see where your organization stands. If you want better customer service, start with better employee service.

How to Increase ROI on People Development Investments
[Business:Management] How to ensure your critical people development investments are effective and carry a high ROI? Read on and then ask yourself seven questions. The answers will help define the best way to go about developing the skills, expertise and abilities of your people while increasing your ROI on development investments.

Nine Essentials of Employee Termination
[Business:Management] It comes time to part company. At that point, the most critical part of the termination process takes place. It's the place where the people remaining evaluate how it was handled - it's critical because well handled terminations create positive emotions toward the organization, and poorly handled ones cause the organization to lose credibility in the eyes of its employees. What are the nine Essentials in a termination situation that can positively impact the morale and perceptions of the people that remain?

Overcome the Wall Through Worthy Goals
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] It's halfway through the year. Time for a goal review. No surprises - in good shape on some, and hitting the Wall on the tough one or two. Unfortunately, those one or two always include really important stuff. They're goals that have to be met. And yet, every time a certain point is reached this Wall gets in the way. It's a Wall you can't see, it's built of things like fear of failure, fear of unworthiness, fear of lack of ability, fear of fear, lack of resources and commitment - things that keep accomplishment from occurring. Notice how the Wall only appears on the truly important, demanding, stretch goals? The goals that spell real progress, real success and real accomplishment? The Wall saves itself for the really important things.

Turn Negative Expectations Into Positive Outcomes
[Self-Improvement:Positive-Attitude] How often do we let negative expectations cause negative behavior? How often do we let negative expectations create negative results? If you're like me, it's more often than I like to admit. And yet, when I work to overcome negative expectations and project positive behavior, I am pleasantly surprised. Things end up better than I expected. What I've learned is to spend more time on positive behaviors, and less time trying to dwell on the reasons for negative expectations. How to do that?

Qualities of Resourceful Leaders
[Business:Change-Management] The ability of an organization to leverage their resources to provide excellent service, to meet and exceed commitments and to move forward technologically is a huge competitive advantage. Some organizations just seem to do a better job than others - one of the main reasons is resourceful leaders - at all levels. What are the qualities resourceful leaders share - regardless of position within an organization? We asked our clients - here's what they identified as eight essentials for resourceful leaders.

How to Increase Your Personal Energy
[Self-Improvement:Success] Successful people have an energy about them. It's one of their most valuable resources. We asked many of the most successful people we know where they would put energy on the scale of requirements for success. All placed it in their top three. How do they get and maintain their high level of personal energy? Here's what they told us about creating personal energy.

Organizational Silos - How To Deal Effectively With Them
[Business:Change-Management] I was driving through dairy country in Virginia, and the silos at every farm reminded me of a client I was working with at the time - a successful manufacturing company undergoing change. They had organizational silos - much tougher to deal with than the ones on the farm. But they do share certain characteristics. The company had been successful for many years, but new competition and new technology were forcing change. Their organizational silos were big obstacles to change.

Eleven Ways Leaders Create Focus
[Self-Improvement:Success] Focus is a key Personal Skill of leaders. The ability to bore into the most important things and stay attentive and focused on them, and continue that behavior as a means of solving problems, contacting prospects, writing a report, preparing a presentation, doing an analysis, maximizing the value of a meeting, is key to success. Focus maximizes time - it results in more being done in less time. And yet, for most people, acquiring the Personal Skill of focus seems impossible - too many distractions, too many things and too little time, too many impositions to even think of focusing on one thing for any period of time. The result is that a lot of decisions are made with superficial research, at best. Even the most important decisions get short attention - or get set aside, all in the name of not enough time. Read on to see how leaders create focus.

Ten Ways To Make Sure Your Goals Lead To Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] Success, energy, passion and commitment are created by success - success at accomplishing the goals we have set for ourselves, and the goals that others have set for or with us. Nothing is more powerful than accomplishment. But goals can be an obstacle to success as well. Read on to see how to make sure that doesn't happen to you.

Five Ways To Gain Self-Knowledge - Key To Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] Accurate self knowledge is the key to successful relationships. Notice the use of accurate? Who you think you are and who others think you are is often very different. The closer our understanding of our own behaviors, attitudes and personal skills is to how others perceive us, the better our chances for success - in anything. Most people agree with that statement. But most people never seek out anything other than affirmation of who they think they are. There can be no increase in self knowledge with that approach. Some people will tell you they really don't care what others think. In most cases, that's not true.

How To Create Survival Tools For Tough Times
[Self-Improvement:Success] Tough times are a big part of what makes us successful, as survivors and leaders. Getting through them effectively and positively depends on how we treat that space. Our personal survival tools go a long way to getting us through tough times. Some may call them coping tools - they're much more than that. We're talking about tools to help us stay positive and focused and optimistic.

Ten Key Questions - Renew Commitment Or Seek New Opportunities?
[Self-Improvement:Success] So much is written about finding the right job, the right relationship, the right career. Little is written about how to know when to stay committed to the present course or seek new opportunities. Knowing when to move on - look for new opportunities, relationships, and challenges - is critical to success. Read on to find ten key question sets to use in answering that question.

Goal Setting - Six Steps To Keeping Focus
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] We ask every leader we work with what they would do more of, better, or more often when they look back on their career, and the top answer is "Focus." When asked how they would do that, they answer that they would be even more goal oriented than they had been. In their opinion, goals create focus that creates accomplishment. With so many demands intruding or attempting to intrude on their attention and energies, goals that create focus are their firewall, and their primary path to success. Without goals, its like the sixty five year with a forty year old insde asking " What the hell happened?"

Plenty For Everybody - Project Team Success Depends On It
[Business:Team-Building] Project team success depends on a number of variables, but the one that shows up as most important involves the willingness of team members to collaborate. And collaboration requires a belief that there is plenty for everybody. And it's tough to spot as the reason a highly qualified, highly resourced, experienced, interdisciplinary team just did not click. A story to illustrate, followed by eight recommendations for project team selection and success.

Ten Ways To Make Time For The Important Things
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] Making time for the important things in life is a real challenge. Have you ever ended the day with the feeling that you were as busy as you could possibly be, but didn't make any progress on the really important things? Have you been resentful of the time and energy you have to spend on meeting the demands of others? Have you ever felt out of control - that outside forces take up all your time - and you feel like a victim? Here are ten ways you can make time for the really important things in your life.

Lessons In Survival - A Critical Leadership Skill
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] To survive - to hang in there - to keep your head while all around you others are losing theirs - to stay in play - is a critical skill of leaders. Let's face it - even the most astute, successful person will suffer setbacks, and surviving and overcoming those setbacks is the true measure of a leader. Read on for an example of survival and leadership...

Eight Times Good Enough Beats Perfect
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] When does Good Enough beat Perfect? When Good Enough clears space for action and accomplishment - for moving forward. Perfect, on the other hand, almost always gets in the way of action and accomplishment - it keeps real progress from being made. Waiting for perfect is a sure recipe for failure. Here are eight times when "Good Enough" will beat perfect.

Ten Ways Leaders Overcome Analysis Paralysis
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] One of the biggest challenges leaders have is to ensure that preparation and analysis add real value and provide the framework for action. The biggest enemy to action is analysis paralysis. Analysis paralysis is the graveyard of many organizations and careers. It's procrastination - on both the organizational and individual level - caused by fear of failure, fear of consequences, fear of not being thorough, fear of making a mistake.Here are ten ways leaders have ensured they and their organizations don't fall victim to analysis paralysis.

How To Keep Top Candidates From Falling Through The Cracks
[Business:Management] Top people are scarce - just ask any organization how tough it is to attract the best, let alone select the best. At the same time, I'm willing to bet that more top people - the right people for the right jobs - slip through the cracks in the selection process than anyone could imagine or admit. Here are ten of the top, invisible ways those cracks occur:

How To Increase Your Personal Value
[Self-Improvement:Success] Your personal value is the most important value you can create. Unfortunately, 7 out of 10 people in the US underestimate their personal value. It's easy to do - without even knowing it. It shows up in invisible ways - in risks not taken, jobs not applied for, opportunities not identified, relationships that never occur. It shows up in negative self talk - like "I could never do that!" or "I'm just a ------."

How To Create Optimism Through Accomplishment
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] Nothing creates a greater sense of optimism than accomplishment. And optimism is one of the core beliefs and attitudes of successful people. It's estimated that only 30 percent of our population are optimists, but that the majority of successful people are optimists. That estimate says that the better chance of accomplishment and success lies with the optimists.

How Leaders Increase Their Personal Energy
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] I recently posted an article that dealt with dealt with ways leaders create energy in their organizations through their beliefs and behaviors. This article deals with how leaders sustain and increase their personal energy.

How Leaders Create The Energy Essential To Success
[Business:Management] Leaders know high energy individuals, workgroups and organizations create success. How to create and sustain that high energy is the key challenge leaders face every day. The following behaviors and beliefs are keys that leaders we have worked with have found work to achieve consistent high energy with their people.

Keeping It Simple Isn't Simple
[Self-Improvement:Success] Keeping it simple sounds so - simple. But if you have a problem "getting tangled up in your own underwear," or suffering analysis paralysis, read on.

Become More Effective - Keep it Simple
[Self-Improvement:Success] I was agonizing over my 2008 goals - an annual emotion associated with getting my goals "right." Then it struck me that my time could be better used in action. And my overarching goal for the year changed.

How To Choose Your Response - The 24 Hour Rule
[Self-Improvement:Success] We're often told that our actions are choices. That can be hard to do - especially when all hell seems to be breaking loose. Read on to adopt the 24 Hour Rule - guaranteed to help you do a better job of choosing your response, regardless of the situation.

Think Outside The Box - A Key Question To Make It Happen
[Business:Team-Building] Think outside the box - how to do that? My experience tells me to look to others, ask the key question "what do you think?" and then use collective thinking to form a solution no one person would be capable of coming up with. The most important belief in thinking outside the box is that the product of focused thought and collaboration and communication of a knowledgeable group is the best way to arrive at new and unique solutions.

Create Focus - Eliminate Self Inflicted Distractions
[Self-Improvement:Success] I was trying to focus on my 2008 goals; it's been tough going and my mind kept moving to all the other things I could/should be doing right now. And the idea for this blog came to me. A self inflicted distraction. I have a lot of them.

Think Outside The Box - Develop Your Inner Voice
[Self-Improvement:Success] Thinking outside the box comes in lots of different sizes - from the smallest to the really big, sweeping, high leverage things. And while the really big, important changes that occur get the most attention, and are the most sought after, the sum total of all the little changes and habits of thought that happen every day are what lead to the really big stuff. And that's where our inner voices play such a big role in helping us think outside our boxes.

Think Outside The Box - Take The Time To Look Up
[Self-Improvement:Success] Think outside the box. How do I do that? I suggest you take the time to look up A personal story to illustrate my point:

How To Gain Respect
[Business:Management] There's a secret to gaining respect - one that I had the good fortune to learn early in my career - and from a most improbable source. The secret to getting respect is to give respect. Read on to see how that lesson was taught to me by a very special person.

Perseverance and Commitment - Never Give Up
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] Never give up. I just finished a terrific book - The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In it was a quote that struck me - it has to do with perseverance and commitment and dreams, and how you will know if you are pressing forward, or giving up.. "When your dreams are of some world that never was or of some world that never will be and you are happy again, then you will have given up."

Career Suicide - Proclaim Yourself A Victim
[Self-Improvement:Success] There is no quicker way to career suicide than to proclaim yourself a victim. No one likes victims - people are attracted to problem solvers and people in the know - they are repelled by self proclaimed victims. A true story to describe my point:

A Leadership Tool To Encourage Thinking Outside The Box
[Business:Team-Building] Thinking outside the box is a critical Personal Skill - one that will make the difference between success or failure. The real critical leadership skill is accessing the thinking of others to help see what possibilities lie outside the box - outside the individual world of thoughts and beliefs and biases. Try this exercise to get the "out of box" thinking flowing with your "universe" of people.

Eight Bad Assumptions We All Make, and How To Remedy Them
[Business:Management] These eight assumptions have the potential to get us in trouble - big trouble. They destroy clarity, create distrust, and stand in the way of organizational success and personal success. These assumptions are the ones we make based on our own behaviors, attitudes, and skills. We start by assuming that others think, act and have skills similar to our own. In fact, each of us is so unique that assumptions based on behaviors, attitudes and skills will result in being wrong at least 70% of the time

Act In Today - Nine Rationalizations That Get In The Way
[Self-Improvement:Success] Acting in today takes hard work. It's the only way to succeed. And yet, for many people, the attraction of tomorrow is so great. But tomorrow thinking is a trap. And self talk is one of the biggest traps to tomorrow thinking - and failure. What follows are some of the most popular rationalizations of tomorrow persons.

Leaders Know High Expectations Lead To High Performance
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Leaders know high expectations lead to high performance. Leaders know that the more people believe in themselves, and their leaders believe in them, the more they will accomplish - at all levels. Leaders show up in many different places. Here's a story of a real leader you never heard of.

The Two Dimensions Of Thinking Outside The Box
[Self-Improvement:Success] Thinking outside the box is a skill highly prized by all kinds of organizations. It's a skill that provides real opportunities in both the Internal and External Dimensions. It's a skill that leads to cutting edge thinking and innovation. It's a skill that can create enormous competitive advantage. It's not for everyone - in fact - it's a top ten percent skill.

Success Depends On Our Self talk
[Self-Improvement:Success] What we tell ourselves about ourselves - our self talk, will create success - or not. Our success depends so much on the messages we constantly send ourselves. We can be our best friends - or we can be our own worst enemies. Each of us is capable of affirming ourselves - or of sabotaging our own belief in ourselves.

Leaders Manage Goals To Ensure More Is Not Less
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Leaders manage goals to know when more becomes less. Leaders know there is a place where further effort, energy, knowledge, people resources and money don't really add additional value. In fact, more of anything after a certain point may be stealing from other requirements. Leaders know time, money and effort, by themselves, are really inefficient measures - results are what count.

Observation - A Critical Leadership Skill
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Leaders know observation skills are critically important to success - in any dimension. They work hard to develop their own, and to identify the skill in their people. Read on to learn more about this critical skill and how to improve your own observation skills.

Focus On Possibilities To Achieve Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] Focus on creating possibilities - it's the way to achieve personal success and organizational success. That conclusion came to me the other day - a day I fooled myself into believing was highly productive. I had been busy - worked hard - got a lot done. But I didn't feel like I had really accomplished very much. I had organized, managed, read, prepared and drafted a whole lot of stuff - but something was missing.

Hire The Right People - Keys To Increased Success
[Business:Management] The most effective action you can take to improve success in hiring the right people for the right jobs, particularly for leaders and emerging leaders, is to evaluate your own selection process. Find out how your organization appears from the viewpoint of candidates - you'll be amazed at what you find.

How To Know You've Quit
[Self-Improvement:Success] How do you know when you quit? Sounds like a pretty stupid question! You know you quit when you stepped off the track without finishing the race -when you stopped doing something that you wanted to complete - when you gave up on a worthy goal. Any number of actions - or lack of actions - tell you that you quit. It's not that simple.

Goals, Opportunities For Success and Paying Our Dues
[Self-Improvement:Success] What are the paths that come together to provide opportunities for success? How will we know when they come together? Will we be ready to recognize opportunity and act to succeed? What can we do to prepare for those opportunities? What does paying our dues really mean?

The Biggest Challenge To Change - The Status Quo
[Business:Change-Management] Creating change, accepting change, making change work, being rewarded by change - all are resisted by that condition called the Status Quo. The Status Quo is a subtle enemy - it creates resistance. And often without our realizing it.

Managing Goals - Leaders Know You Gotta Trim The Tree
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] Managing goals, leaders and trimming trees? Hang with me. Let me tell you, I am a goal junkie - big time. I'm constantly setting goals for all kinds of things in my life. They are all SMART goals - they meet the criteria for good goals - I know how to do that. The only problem is my wants always exceed my gets. And that's a problem. How many of you have the same problem? A story about trimming trees:

Five Actions To Achieve Personal Success
[Self-Improvement:Success] There are five actions you can take today that will add to your personal success. They don't cost a thing - they can be done now - they will replace negative habits with positive ones. Read on to see which of the five - or all five - can be of help to you.

Essentials Ensuring Success In Change
[Business:Change-Management] There are eight essentials ensuring success in change. They are about changing behavior, attitudes and personal skills - the most challenging and difficult kinds of change to make, but also the most effective and rewarding. We're not dealing with the act of acquiring something - billions of dollars worth of software,exercise equipment, books, tools, and processes are gathering dust because the people that bought them confused hope with results. They did not follow through with the eight essentials for change - the goals, actions, persistence and determination to make real differences in individual and organizational behavior.

Leaders Set Goals To Define Priorities
[Business:Management] Setting goals as the way to define priorities, whether in business or in personal life, is what leaders do to maintain direction and focus in their organizations and in their personal lives. Unfortunately, many managers take a tremendous amount of potential leverage out of their organizations by not prioritizing.

A Powerful Change Skill - Acceptance
[Self-Improvement:Success] Acceptance is one of those things we rarely think about as a Personal Skill or a Change Skill, but it can make a huge difference in our success in change situations - in all parts of our life. A story to illustrate my point-

Most Feared Words In Business - A Manager's Self Talk
[Business:Management] What follows is a conversation - one that happens all too often in business. The status quo, how managers have been trained, what got them to where they are, and business realities all play a part in this conversation. Listen to our fictitious, but all too real manager as he has this ongoing talk with himself.

Thinking Outside The Box - Access Collective Genius
[Business:Team-Building] Have you ever zeroed in on something and just had to act based on what you saw - and later discovered that there were other ways to deal with the issue? Is that thinking in the box? I think so. What to do about it? Access the Collective Genius contained in the boxes of others. Read on.

Tools For Change - Targeted Surveys
[Business:Change-Management] As a leader in your organization, have you ever had the feeling that your concerns and priorities for the business were not shared by the people who did the work? When change needed to be made, did you wonder what methods would be most effective in communicating and involving the people in the need for and process of change? Have you been concerned that the feedback in your organization is provided by a small percentage of your workforce, and may not accurately reflect what the majority of your people are thinking? If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you should consider the use of Targeted Surveys.

Successful Leadership - Beware The Silver Bullets
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] We are all tempted to keep looking for that one person, that one application, that one solution, that one customer that will make all the bad things go away and breathe new life into whatever we've been stuck with. The Silver Bullet - the epiphany - the stroke of lightning that cures all ills. Billions of dollars are spent every year on hope - and Silver Bullets - with little if any positive effect.

Leadership - 12 Ways To Tell Your People They're Important
[Business:Management] Many managers feel constrained by the rules and regulations of their organizations. They feel that their hands are tied when it comes to rewarding their people – that their actions are controlled by others, and there is little of any real value they can do to motivate their people. Actually,the greatest sense of accomplishment and importance often comes from non – monetary rewards, and from positive recognition from the person who is the boss. What are the ways to make your people know they are important?

Successful Leaders - 27 Truths Critical To Success
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] The 27 Truths are a compilation of beliefs, best practices and practical advice we have gained from work with many successful leaders. We offer them as a tool as you go about the business of building your career, and helping others build theirs.

Belief - Fail Often To Succeed - Says Who?
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] I don't know who started it, but the idea that you must fail in order to succeed didn't do anyone any favors. Unfortunately, it's become a firmly embedded belief in the hearts and minds of millions.

5 Essentials To Project Team Success
[Business:Team-Building] To maximize the contribution of project teams, a number of essentials need to be recognized. The good news is that the essentials to team success aren't expensive, don't require the expenditure of large amounts of capital or expense money, and don't require new brick and mortar. The further news and biggest challenge is that the only change needed to be made to implement the Essentials to Project Team Success is behavior.

Procrastination - Nine Steps To An Easy Day
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] As a follow up to "Procrastinators Never Have an Easy Day," let's talk about steps to take to achieve that easy day - that day when accomplishment and achievement are reached - when the overhang of things waiting to be done is manageable, and guilt and remorse are replaced with optimism and confidence. That sure sounds good - and it can happen - starting today.

Procrastinators Never Have An Easy Day
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] Pity the poor procrastinators. They never have an easy day. They can't - with so many things hanging over their heads - and most of them are the most important things, or the things that are feared the most, or are seen as having to be done perfectly.

Leadership Beliefs Critical To Success - Part Four
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Certain beliefs, convictions and statements keep being repeated in our conversations and seminars and feedback sessions with managers and leaders. What follows is Part Four of our series dealing with beliefs that are critical to success in the areas of Leadership and Hiring and Selection.

Leadership Beliefs Critical To Success - Part Three
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Certain beliefs, convictions and statements keep being repeated in our conversations and seminars and feedback sessions with managers and leaders. What follows is Part Three of our series dealing with the beliefs that are critical to success in the areas of Change and Self Responsibility and Accountability Change

Leadership Beliefs Critical To Success - Part 2
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Certain themes, statements and beliefs keep being repeated in our conversations and seminars and feedback sessions with leaders and managers. What follows is Part Two of our four part series dealing with beliefs critical to success. It deals with People Relationships and issues of Time, Trust and Respect.

A New Hire and An Aquarium
[Business:Management] What does an aquarium have to do with a new hire? More than you think. Read on and see how an experience in ignoring the rules of good aquarium management resulted in a lesson that has much broader application.

Goals - Deal With Reality - The Power Of Keeping Track
[Self-Improvement:Goal-Setting] Keeping track through goals - in its many forms - keeps me honest to myself. It keeps me accountable for my own behavior - for my own choices. I don't have to share the records with anyone else. I find when I do that, good things happen - probably because I am dealing with reality, and not with selective memory.

Leadership Beliefs Critical To Success - Part1
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] After working with many leaders and managers, certain themes and statements and convictions keep being repeated in our conversations and seminars and feedback sessions. What follows is the first of our series dealing with the beliefs that are critical to success as a leader.

Positive Power Of Music
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] What's tunes make you feel positive, full of hope and ready to hang in there and succeed? Here's mine.

There's Plenty For Everybody - Believe It
[Self-Improvement:Positive-Attitude] Go get what you want, there's plenty for everybody. Believe it and use the success of others as motivation.

Intuition - Keep Improving This Powerful Tool
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Your intuition is one of your most powerful tools - if you develop it. Read on to find out how.

The Fantastic Consequences Of Commitment
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] Commitment - "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness." Read on.

The Assumptions Trap In Predicting Outcomes
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Here's a story to illustrate how our beliefs can lead to assumptions that create expectations for us - expectations that end up not being met Treat assumptions with care - examine them carefully.

Time, Energy and People - Your Three Biggest Assets
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Did you know time and energy are variables? The people that are part of your Universe and how you deal with them has a lot to do with how much time and energy you have. Identify the three groups of people - their impact on you, and how your own behavior will affect your greatest assets.

Hire The Right People - A Two Way Street
[Business:Management] When the last time you looked at how you handle applicants? How many A players have you missed because your people dropped the ball? Trouble is, you probably don't even know it. A story to illustrate my point. And a suggestion.

Hire The Best - Assessments As Selection Tools
[Business:Management] Assessments are powerful selection tools that have helped organizations in making countless hiring, transfer, promotion, team membership and development decisions. Assessments represent an opportunity to do all these things while returning the highest ROI of any single people directed investment you can make.

Hire The Best - 11 Essentials
[Business:Management] These 11 Essentials are based on the beliefs, attitudes and best practices of organizations that have made selection a core competency of their business. They are presented to help you enhance your own success in selection. Hiring the best includes all selections – hires, transfers, promotions and team appointments.

Keys To Success In New Jobs
[Self-Improvement:Success] In every new job, whether a promotion, a transfer, a new organization, the keys to success are in working with people. Learn five key issues and solutions that will help you be more successful in dealing with the highest leverage, most challenging and rewarding parts of your job.