As much as we would like to believe that good work is always rewarded, that’s a naive view of the realities of organizational life. You need to understand how others perceive you and focus on adjusting your behaviors to ensure that the perceptions are positive and not limiting. Here are 5 lessons on the dangers of ignoring how you are perceived from a very real case:
(This post originally appeared at the Management Excellence Blog by Art Petty.) Every year I offer my heartfelt encouragement to the many newly minted MBA students leaving their classrooms and cohorts behind at graduation. In prior years, my “Congratulations! Now What?” post was intended to offer some transition guidance for leveraging the degree. For this year, I’m emphasizing the need for new graduates to retain their hunger for learning and shift their efforts to regular and far-reaching exploration of the ideas changing our world.
(Note: this post originally appeared at the Management Excellence blog, copyright 2015 Art Petty.) Why do we fail with our initiatives (projects, strategy, leadership) in the workplace so regularly when the causes of failure are well documented and the practices to minimize the chances of failure so well identified?
(Note: this post originally appeared at the Management Excellence blog copyright 2015 Art Petty) Ask and answer a simple question: “How did the three most powerful people in your firm (without a “C” in their titles) arrive at their current positions?” The answer to this question contains some key lessons for you in your own quest to enhance your career and gain more control of your work. Here are six lessons…
I’ve talked to many 40 and 50-something professionals on how their perspectives and attitudes on personal and career issues have changed over time. Their insights are instructive and inspirational. Enjoy! (note: this post originally appeared at the Management Excellence blog. Copyright 2015 Art Petty.)
From Art Petty, writing at the Management Excellence blog: The ability to see around corners or, see over the horizon, are two phrases that relate directly to the idea of perceptual acuity. While we’re barred by physical faculties from literally achieving those feats of optical gymnastics, as professionals, we are accountable for attempting to translate the external noise from our customers, our competitors, the new developments in technology and the many other forces propelling our world and our industries and then making decisions to either exploit opportunities or mitigate risks. Those who do this successfully…great strategists, product managers, management teams, entrepreneurs and innovators of all kinds, strive to see patterns and opportunities where the rest of us might see randomness. Here are 5 ideas to help you strengthen your professional acuity:
Good competition raises the level of performance for all involved. Whether in athletic endeavors or business, a skilled, aggressive competitor forces us to raise the quality of our own game. Strenuous competition with aggressive, skilled performers tests us physically and mentally and helps us find that extra gear needed to perform at our best. Annoyingly, the opposite also seems to hold true.
Our core body muscles groups…those muscles in your pelvis, lower back and abdomen all work in harmony to provide stability and to help propel us through our daily lives. A strong core is critical to long-term fitness health and stability, while a weak core leaves us susceptible to muscle injuries, lower back pain and other muscle-related maladies. Much like our physical core, there’s a set of professional core muscles that require on-going exercise and development for optimum health. These include…
Frankly, this is a remarkable time to be in business and to be serving in a leadership role. The risks, fears of change, possibilities of disruption or the realities of creative destruction and non-destructive creation are all facts of our business lives and they create a remarkable backdrop for us to create…to innovate. But first, we’ve got to fight our natural tendencies when determining how to act in this environment. Here are 3 key pitfalls to avoid and 5 key skills that leaders must cultivate to succeed in this ever-changing world:
The Saturday Serial is an on-going management and leadership story and case based on a fictional firm and fictional characters all dealing with very real challenges in leadership and management. The intent is to stimulate thinking and discussion in a format different than the traditional “how to” blog post. Each episode includes a series of discussion questions for your consideration (or use with your team). I’ll share my views on the prior week’s chapter and questions in a subsequent post. Welcome to Episode 1:
