the best management ideas ever

There are many crucial parts of being considered a great leader. In this day and age, it includes how you conduct yourself on everything from Zoom to emails to social media. It matters what you say in-person to a colleague through to how you address the entire company at a meeting. 

Actions may set the tone-- but words are just as (if not more) important. 

They may be some of the most fearsome predators around, but even sharks have predators of their own: humans, killer whales, sperm whales, and other, larger sharks, just to name a few. The lesson for business owners? No matter how strong or standout your business is, there's always someone out there ready to take a bite out of it. In honor of Discovery's Shark Week, we've channeled our inner Jaws to give our thoughts on how to hunt down your competition - and ensure you keep your place at the top of the food chain.

Who in your leadership is an expert on the impacts of global trauma, stress, and anxiety? Whose your specialist in pandemic response?

Do you have someone or a team that can assess and predict the effects of stress on consumer behavior? Who in your C-suite has the authority to make decisions based on market scenario planning? Whose your expert futurist?

Do they have the tools to find patterns and shifts quickly and accurately? 

Age gracefully. What on earth does it mean when someone tells you to age gracefully? 

Everything in popular media tells us to freeze aging– stop it in its tracks while you can. But, time moves. Technology transforms everything from customer needs to business models. Everything Ages. 

The thing to remember, however, is that to age gracefully isn't to go quietly into the night. It's not getting stuck in "old ways" and it's not taking on everything new for the sake of it being new.

Networking isn't easy. It can be awkward and exhausting – and you might walk away feeling like you didn't represent yourself or your business the best you could. But never fear! There's a tool you can use to make your next networking experience a success: storytelling.

Storytelling is a powerful thing. It's leveraged in journalism, marketing, comedy, and so much more. We all love a good story, so why not use it to make a deeper connection with someone and potentially start a new business relationship?

As a leader, speaking is part of the job, or at the very least should be. But giving a talk can be daunting, even for those who have done it many times before. Here are our tips for delivering a speech that keeps audiences enthralled, while communicating everything you need to.

You Talkin' To Me?

Your audience is a key factor in what you're presenting, and how. Presenting to a room of subject matter experts requires a different approach from presenting to marketers or career hopefuls. When you know who you're targeting, you can shape the length, style, and tone of your presentation accordingly.

Imagine that illusive mentor character that comes in at the right moment and says that little line, that's kind of cliche, but also totally drives the point across.

It might be your grandma. It might be Dumbledore. Either way. Get their voice in your head. 

Ready?

"A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link."

"Great leaders don't blame the tools they are given. They sharpen them." -Simon Sinek

"The only thing worse than training employees and losing them, is to not train them and keep them." - Zig Ziglar

"Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to." - Richard Brown

Do you let business come to you naturally or are you constantly nurturing prospects? Trick question - you should be doing both. If you're good at what you do and you invest in ongoing marketing efforts then business will come to you naturally. But, it's also important to do some business development nurturing. 

It's like when you're decorating your house. You invest in a houseplant, but then you fail to invest in taking care of that houseplant. It needs nurturing care. Sometimes specialized care. Or it won't last. 

King Arthur ruled over Camelot, bringing it security and prosperity. How? By utilizing his best people - the knights of the roundtable - to get the job done. King Arthur didn't manage each and every farmer, blacksmith, and soldier individually. That would have been impossible- and possibly insane. King Arthur had a strong middle management team that executed his vision.

Productivity doesn't just happen - it's planned. And with our collective productivity increasing some 80% since the 70s, all of that planning is clearly working. Need some tips for squeezing a little more out of your day? Here are some of our failsafe ways to ensure that you're using your time as effectively as possible.

Diversity in the workforce is a hot button topic. But studies have shown that diversity isn't only good for your company culture - it's good for your bottom line. Having a team that represents different cultures, genders, socioeconomic background, ages and even ways of thinking is a plus for your business. It helps you see beyond your own perspective - and it helps you get into the heads of your consumers. 

The vision many people have when they dream about running a business is often a far cry from the day-to-day reality. The freedom, flexibility and fine dining lunches don't necessarily materialize. In their place, many small business owners struggle with long days, stress and cash flow.

Though common, those issues don't need to be part of the experience. Often, they arise when small business owners need a stronger grounding in the basics of business operations and process.

Here's what you need to know to ensure that your business ticks along like a dream.

Businesses today have to move and think fast to keep up with the ever-changing landscapes of their industry. Without the agile mindset, staying competitive is almost impossible. By encouraging and developing a culture of creative collaboration, you give your business a competitive advantage. A huge leg up on your competition!

Cross-functional (leadership, accounting, marketing, production, development, customer service, etc.) teams can meet in a collaborative environment and bring different skill sets, perspectives, and functional expertise to the table to solve a common problem or achieve a common goal. It can be easy for cross-functional teams to fall into competition with each other, but thoughtful cooperation and guidance is the name of the game. Remember, you’re all supposed to be working toward the same goal - success!

What is a Fractional COO?

A fractional COO is a Chief Operating Officer (COO) that an organization brings on a part-time basis or as-needed basis.

They are there to provide guidance, expertise, and executive-level leadership to help businesses and organizations avoid roadblocks in their business model and ensure they are on the right strategic and operational track for maximum growth. 

Fractional COO’s offer these services at a fraction of the cost of a full-time COO, which makes them an attractive success tool for smaller to medium-sized companies and organizations that are just starting out and don’t yet have the budget for a full-time COO.

Did you know Mark Wahlberg starts his day at 2:30 am?

That means that by the time the average college freshman rolls out at 10:00 am for class, he's already put in eight hours.  2:30 am might be a tad excessive, but then again Mark Wahlberg commands a net worth of roughly $225 million. So, maybe we all should be taking note. 

If there is one imperative for every business, it’s a stellar elevator pitch. You might want to consider developing one or re-thinking the current one, otherwise, it may be a sign you don't understand your brand, as well as you, think you do.

If you can’t communicate your message clearly and concisely in three minutes or less, then your messaging may need to be reevaluated.

There is, however, an art to creating your elevator pitch. Here are a few of our best tips to help you craft and deliver yours with panache and flair the next time someone asks you about your business. 

We're all familiar with the "fail fast, fail often" mantra. With it comes a new approach to dealing with setbacks and challenges. It's no longer verboten to miss out on a job opportunity, fail to land a contract or throw everything you have into an idea that doesn't work out. But that doesn't mean that failure is any easier to handle when you're the one succumbing to it.

Almost the entire population has a digital footprint - that includes 92% of toddlers. No matter who you are, the world can Google a picture of you, read your tweets or see your educational accomplishments. Together, all of these things become your "personal brand."

Strategic thinking involves looking at how today will inform tomorrow - and making decisions accordingly. Where conventional thinking is reactive, short-term and cautious, strategic thinking is all about looking for and anticipating new ideas, opportunities and plans.

Thinking big picture is the process of stretching, extending your thinking far beyond the immediate day-to-day needs your business. It's moving outside the box, looking for an edge, and striving for something farther off than you may assume possible. It's establishing a vision for your company that doesn't include merely wanting to make money. 

We all do it: Sitting there, nodding our heads, still making eye contact, but waiting for the person we're having a conversation with to finish their sentence so we can talk. As soon as they finish, we jump in with our counterpoints — which now may not even be in direct response to what they just said.

A good coach would never send players onto the field without a strategy. And as a business leader, neither should you. It's your job to develop a game plan that sets you and your team up for success. But as many coaches know, you might have the perfect plan on paper, but it's worthless if it's not properly executed. Below are some tips for creating — and sticking to — a solid game plan that will push you to victory.

In 2018, CEOs face a myriad of dramatic challenges on every front: rising cyber security threats, costly healthcare, capital funding, the new administration’s evolving regulations, ever-more demanding customer expectations and the economy.

I know most startup gurus, entrepreneurs, and CEOs are crazy busy. Heck, I’m one of them. Each of us has only a limited amount of time at our disposal, no matter how large our team is. But there are ways to maximize productivity and still stay on top of your game, while having a little fun — who doesn’t like to have some fun with what we’ve made our professional passion, right?

Let’s say you’re vetting a new job and you’ve pinged your network. You may have heard, “They’re a great company to work for.” Or, “They treat employees horribly, and the business is struggling.” What they’re describing is the company’s culture, and a business succeeds or fails on the strength of its “personality” – shared beliefs, values, ethics, and goals.

Any C-level executive or business leader understands that intensely loyal clients or customers can translate into measurable growth. Now recent research shows that by concentrating only on your most ardent customers, companies can add an invaluable tool to their growth strategies: referrals.

The CEO's guide to prepping for the perfect presentation.

Over 500 employees are packing into the auditorium. They’ve had this date on their calendar for at least a month, and you can feel the suspense, anticipation, and excitement. People are buzzing as they wait for the new CEO, we’ll call him Bob, to emerge from backstage. There’s some mood music piping from the speakers, and on the screen is the company’s redesigned logo. After a few more minutes, Bob emerges to a thunderous applause and takes his spot behind the lectern…

A few minutes after he begins to speak, the energy in the room drops. The employees’ eyes start to wander. They start checking their cellphones and exiting for the bathrooms. His confidence waning, Bob begins desperately scanning the audience for a new fan – anyone paying attention with passion. When this fails, he drops his much-practiced speech and begins horribly ad-libbing. He stumbles over his words, and his posture becomes stiff and robotic. The audience’s interest level is doing a nose dive. What happened?

Bob may have won his position through effective leadership and work ethic, but that doesn’t mean he’s a great presenter. If you’re in a leadership role, the ability to speak and present well are critical skills for taking your organization. 

At many companies small and large, leaders spend their time addressing the day-to-day issues rather than focusing on the big, strategic picture that is most important to the organization's growth and direction.

As a business leader, you have two truths when it comes to getting a productivity pop: Delegate and Focus.