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Lonnie Pacelli - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Lonnie Pacelli has over 20 years leadership expertise as an executive, project manager, developer, tester, analyst, trainer, consultant, and business owner. During his 11 years at Accenture he built leadership expertise consulting with many Fortune 500 companies including Motorola, Hughes Electronics, and Northrop-Grumman. During his nine years at Microsoft he continued building leadership expertise through development of some of Microsoft’s internal systems, led their Corporate Procurement group, managed their Corporate Planning group, and led ... [More]
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Lonnie Pacelli Email Alerts
- Freud and the Small Business Owner
[Business:Small-Business] Are you an ID, EGO, or SUPER-EGO Entrepreneur? This Small Business Made Simple Short introduces the Small Business Made Simple series and focuses on four crucial aspects of small business management: starting a small business, growing a small business, handling small business challenges, and exiting a small business. Each Small Business Made Simple series Short is written by authors who know what they're talking about because they've lived the success and pain of running a small business. You'll get practical, straightforward advice that has been time-tested by those who've been through it.
- Thirteen Tips to Effective Upward Management
[Business:Management] Upward management is one of those skills that some do very well, many never seem to master, and virtually all learn only through on-the-job lessons-learned. When done well, both the manager and employee work as a team to ensure each other is informed, address problems before they spin out of control, and be more effective at managing. When done poorly, both manager and employee are not only ineffective at getting the job done but are chronically frustrated due to mis-steps and surprises.
- Market Your Business Using Practical Small Business Internet Marketing Tips and Tricks
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Internet-Marketing] Got a website but no traffic? Is your small business internet marketing ineffective? Consider these small business internet marketing tips and tricks to help drive traffic to your website...
- One Less Meeting Gets You Home in Time for Dinner
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] As much as I may grouse about meetings, some of them were necessary, beneficial and effective. Then again, there were those that were a total waste of time and could have been accomplished by some other means. The million dollar question then becomes, “How do you keep the beneficial meetings and eliminate the wastes of time?” In my experience, there are several situations where meetings are generally more appropriate than doing through other means...
- Watch the Pontificator!
[Business:Team-Building] The first thing you can do about the pontificator at your meeting is to take a good hard look at whether the pontificator absolutely needs to be at the meeting. Will the pontificator contribute valuable content and perspective that will add value to the meeting? If not avoid having the pontificator at the meeting in the first place.
- Great Communicators Can Be Made
[Business:Workplace-Communication] Courage. Conviction. Wisdom. Clarity. Credibility. Five attributes that are essential, regardless of whether you are speaking in front of hundreds of people, writing a report to your boss, or running a PTA board meeting. Five attributes that build the foundation of someone who gets his or her point across effectively.
- Drive a Tight Agenda, Don't Let it Drive You
[Self-Improvement:Organizing] An effective agenda goes beyond start time, location, topics, and durations. Effective agendas support the meeting purpose, set the expectations of attendees as to what will be discussed, inform attendees of any preparation that will be required prior to the meeting give the meeting leader a roadmap for driving the agenda, permit adequate time to cover each item and allow the meeting leader to adjust the agenda easily if the meeting gets behind schedule.
- Babbling is For Babies, Not Interviews
[Business:Careers-Employment] The demonstration of clear, concise thoughts through responses to interview questions is a major factor for your interviewer in deciding whether or not to hire you. When responding to questions, your interviewer is not only listening to your answers but also imagining you talking with colleagues, suppliers, customers, or executives. If you, as an interviewee, aren’t able to respond with crisp, concise, thoughtful answers during an interview, imagine how you would come off in a major customer presentation? You may have some insightful things to say, but if they get lost in long, meandering responses then you’re going to seal your fate as a declined candidate.
- Lie About Your Credentials, Kill Your Career
[Business:Careers-Employment] Resumes by nature are meant to inform, impress, and inspire a potential employer and get the employer to want to talk to you. Most employers only spend about twenty seconds looking at each resume they receive, and worse, most employers view the information contained on resumes as a way to weed out applicants . Putting your best foot forward to present a concise, compelling case for why you should be hired is crucial to getting you invited to the party.
- The Good and the Bad of Virtual Meetings
[Communications:Video-Conferencing] In today's "Global" environment more and more organizations are turning to virtual meetings to help people connect and more effectively get things done. Virtual meetings can be very powerful, but also can be a major detractor to doing business. Stick with the below goods and watch out for the not-so-goods:
- Practical Tips to Motivating Employees
[Business:Management] Some employees are true self-starters and seem to motivate themselves to excel. But even with your highest flyers, there could be times where he or she hits a funk and needs some positive motivation. Look to these tips to help you through the trial:
- Practical Interview Etiquette
[Business:Careers-Employment] OK, very few of us like the interviewing process. Unfortunately, you've got to face the music once in a while. Keep these few nuggets in mind when you're going on your next interview or if you want to advise a colleague:
- Is Internal Competition Good?
[Business:Workplace-Communication] It happens. Colleagues compete for rewards, attention, or kudos. Sometimes it's OK, other times it's not. Watch for these nuggets and see which side of the ledger your team is on.
- Squashing the Procrastination Demon
[Self-Improvement:Motivation] We all know a procrastinator . . . that person who does Christmas shopping on December 24th, pulls an all-nighter to get a report done, or avoids making even the simplest decisions. Many times the procrastinator puts forth a defense of "well, I do get it done, don't I?" Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Even if things do get done, though, the stress put on the procrastinator (and those around him or her) is greater than it needs to be.
- Humor Minus Credibility Equals Doofus: 12 Back to Basics Leadership Principles Anyone Can Follow
[Self-Improvement:Leadership] Ed was just appointed team leader in a public works organization of the federal government. In preparing for his first meeting with his new team, Ed thought long and hard about some of his prior managers’ leadership styles. One characteristic that he particularly admired in several of his managers was the ability to connect with the team through humor. He decided on a strategy that would help the team accept him as a leader—he would show his human side and use humor to connect with them.
Ed had his first meeting with the team and was very satisfied with the results. The team seemed to really like him. The meeting was filled with laughter and both the team and Ed seemed to really be enjoying themselves. Ed was very happy and believed things were getting off to a great start.
With each passing meeting, though, there seemed to be a growing concern among the team. While Ed seemed to connect with the team, he didn’t see the cooperation on getting things done as he had hoped. There were also a couple of team members who asked for permission to interview for positions outside of the group. Ed was growing concerned over the trend and asked Betty, one of the team members, what she thought was the problem. Betty’s counsel hit Ed right between the eyes: “Ed, you’re a great guy and people really like you, but I just don’t know if you’ve got what it takes to lead this group. We’re kind of feeling like you may not have the skills needed to lead us, which is creating a lot of concern among the team.” While Ed’s focus on using humor to connect with the team is great, he didn’t take the time to establish the necessary credibility with the team.
Leading teams of people to accomplish a project or tasks is tough stuff. Team members are looking to you as the team leader to provide leadership and guidance. When done well, the team loves you, your customer loves you, and you can revel in the satisfaction of a job well done. When done poorly, not only have you failed, but your team won't want to follow you the next time something needs to be done.
Your team expects you to lead. While you may be able to delegate work to your team members, you can't delegate leadership.
- How an Autistic Child Changed A Career...For the Better
[Business:Careers-Employment] Typically, career choices are made based upon responsibilities, compensation, or prestige where a businessperson makes a change to get a higher salary, more responsibility, or greater prestige. What about the situation, though, where the driver behind a career choice isn’t any of these; where it’s the needs of a child that drive the change? My choice was precisely that...
- Am I Meant to Mentor? Five Attributes of Best-in-Class Mentors
[Self-Improvement:Coaching] Being a best-in-class mentor can yield profound benefits for both the mentoree and the mentor. When this works well, the mentoree is able to effectively leverage the mentor's wisdom and apply the wisdom to his or her own leadership situations. When it doesn't work well, both the mentoree and mentor stand to lose out. Get five tips to help you become a best-in-class mentor.
- We Found a Rock Star! Hiring the Best of the Best
[Business:Management] Finding the right candidate for a job can be highly frustrating for both managers and recruiters. If you wait too long, the work will keep piling up and your management may start thinking you can get along without the position. Pull the trigger too soon and you risk hiring a candidate that does not fit in the organization. Get six tips to help you hire the best of the best...
- Not Another Ice Breaker! Team Building with a Purpose
[Business:Team-Building] Offsites are a very effective means to getting the team focused on solving a business problem, defining a strategy, or creating a revolutionary way of doing things. Done well, an offsite not only puts great minds together to address a business issue but it also builds better teams that work more effectively together and get more things done. Done poorly, an offsite will be viewed as a huge waste of time and will poorly reflect on you as a leader. Get seven tips for holding great team-building offsites..
- The Five Biggest Mistakes an HR Professional Can Make... From the Client's Perspective
[Business:Management] As a longtime client of numerous HR organizations, I’ve learned to appreciate the value that HR professionals provide and the times my HR partner protected me from potentially difficult situations. When working well, the client, employees, and company as a whole benefit. When things don’t work so well, though, everyone ultimately loses. Through my years as a client, I’ve locked down on five of the biggest mistakes that an HR professional can make in their relationship with the client...
- The Seven Deadly Sins of Management
[Business:Management] Pride. Envy. Gluttony. Lust. Anger. Greed. Sloth. You either recognize these as the seven deadly sins or as themes for prime-time television. Nonetheless, you were probably taught as a child that these are bad and you shouldn’t do them. As leaders, there are seven deadly character sins which make the difference between a mediocre and outstanding leader...
- Five Simple Strategies for Unifying Project Teams
[Business:Team-Building] Every experienced project manager has certainly experienced challenges in getting their teams to behave like…well, teams. But with organization and guidance you can help your project teams accomplish more and eliminate many of the setbacks and challenges that make teamwork so difficult. Get five strategies for unifying and organizing your teams...
- When Are You Coming Home? Five Practical Tips to Realizing Work / Life Balance
[Business:Management] If you’ve been in the business world since the mid 1990s you’ve likely heard your management espouse the desire for employees to achieve greater work/life balance. Despite all this, Americans are of the most overworked and flat-out busy people on earth, recently surpassing the Japanese and long surpassing the Europeans. Work/life balance starts with you. Get these five crucial tips to help you get on the road to achieving work/life balance in your life.
- In Search of the "Good Enough" Leader
[Business:Management] As leaders, we are constantly faced with deciding which tasks to do and how to apply resources to those tasks. There are rare occasions where stars align and we are able to get everything done exactly the way we want it with the resources given to us. Most of the time, though, we have to decide not only what to do but what not to do. Get six tips to help you be a good-enough leader...
- Pragmatic Consulting from the Client's Perspective
[Business:Management] Consulting, whether to internal organizations or external companies, is only as valuable as the client perceives. Great consultants possess several very key attributes which create value for their clients. Pick up on these points to increase your value as a consultant in the eyes of the only person that matters; those of the client's.
- Don't Let a Challenge Stall Your Business - Five Tips for Staying on Track
[Business:Small-Business] Without challenges, your business would cease to exist. After all, you began your business in response to a need and you continue it for the same reason. However, just as your customers' needs change over time, so do your business's. Your competition improves, technology changes, and your employees come and go. In order to stay in the game for the long haul, you need to find new ways to satisfy your customers, improve the efficiency of your processes, and maintain a healthy profit margin.
This leadership article outlines five simple tips for keeping to your mission and not losing focus.
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