Monthly Archives: July 2015

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Are Your Elected Officials Competent And How This Impacts Your Business

It has always amazed me that there are very few minimum requirements to be an elected official in government. You do not need an education or any work experience. You do not need an internship or anything that would help you gain the necessary leadership or political and business experience. All you need is to get nominated, let your name stand, and get more people to vote for you than any other candidate. Essentially, it is a popularity contest which allows the most popular rather than the most competent person to be elected.

To prove my point, take a look at some of these quotes from our “highly qualified,” elected Canadian politicians;

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Boost Business Productivity By Implementing The 6X6 System

A number of years ago I was introduced to a concept called the 6X6 system. It is a very simple but powerful productivity tool that forces you to prioritize your activities and focus on the most critical task as you work towards achieving business targets and goals.

I am not sure who came up with this technique but the famous public relations pioneer Ivy Lee introduced a similar concept in 1918 to Charles M. Schwab and his Bethlehem Steel Corporation executives. As the story goes, Lee was hired by Schwab to help the Bethlehem Steel executives become more productive. Lee told Schwab that he would not charge a fee but rather Schwab could pay him what he believed his services were worth after the concepts were applied at the corporation.

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How To Stay Creative in a Bureaucratic Environment

I get together once every few months for breakfast with past employees, coworkers and other acquaintances. Besides catching up with each other and staying in touch, the purpose of these early morning breakfasts is to discuss leadership topics and concerns. One of the topics we touched on during our last breakfast was how to stay creative in a culture that is burdened by bureaucracy.

This can be a very tough thing to do! Typically a bureaucratic environment is not at all creative. In fact, most bureaucracies poison creativity and are toxic environments at best. However, if you are stuck in a bureaucratic workplace and you do not want to leave, it is important to remember that creativity thrives within constraints.

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Seven Steps To Becoming A Better Communicator

“If you can’t communicate and talk to other people and get across your ideas, you’re giving up your potential.” Warren Buffett

Your business success and your personal success depend on your ability to communicate. You must communicate to your past customers, present customers and future customers. You must communicate with shareholders, stakeholders, employees, contractors, vendors, wife, kids, family and so many other people. Failure to communicate effectively is a lid on your potential and the potential of your business.

Warren Buffett was extremely shy and terrified of public speaking early on in life. However, he knew that he had to overcome this fear and learn how to communicate if he wanted to be successful. So, he registered for a Dale Carnegie class which he completed early in his career and what he learned there helped him to communicate effectively and live up to his potential instead of give up his potential.

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How To Keep Your Organization Focused During Tough Economic Times

“Spend eighty percent of your time focusing on the opportunities of tomorrow rather than the problems of yesterday.” Brian Tracy

 

Most people associated with the oil and gas industry have been affected in some way by the lower oil prices in the last year. Cost constraints, cutbacks, downsizing, rightsizing, restructuring, realignment, redeployment or layoffs. Whatever you want to call it, losing your job is a very stressful situation. And, almost as stressful as losing your job is watching the reductions in staff happen all around you and wondering if you are next!

The stress related with this constant threat of job loss can have significant productivity issues with the staff who remain. People who are concerned about losing their jobs will lack motivation and productivity. From the prolonged, hushed conversations at the coffee areas to updating resumes and LinkedIn profiles to applying for jobs and contacting recruitment agencies. All of these activities take away from quality time spent on tasks that make the business money.