As this is the last week of the year, many of us are understandably looking back at the past 12 months and discussing what we consider to be the significant events of 2011. In most cases, such discussions tend to focus on the numerous challenges and upheavals we’ve either watched from afar or witnessed first-hand. From natural disasters to political uprisings, there’s no question this year has placed our collective humanity within the frame of adversity and unimagined change.

Of course, adversity in and of itself is not necessarily a good or bad thing. Rather, it’s what we do and whether we’re open to learning from it that should decide whether it’s been of benefit or harm to us.

Certainly for businesses, the state of the global economy and the growing level of competition coming in from multiple fronts counts as one of the biggest challenges organizations and their leaders have had to contend with. And yet, contrary to what we might be reading in the papers, this doesn’t mean that weren’t some bright spots to be found amid all that doom and gloom.

One such example of this comes from the article, “Business Lessons Learned in 2011”, where a number of business leaders look back at the past 12 months and share their experiences of the lessons they’ve learned which will help them to improve and build on their business in the coming months.

Some of my favourite lessons shared in this piece include: Click here to continue reading »”What Has 2011 Taught You About Business and Leadership?”

The following is a guest post by Joel A. Garfinkle.

Being a good leader — or even a great leader — is just not enough if you want to keep moving up in your career. You must be so remarkable that no one can help but notice you. You must do great things — not once or twice, but continuously — in order to stand out, get noticed, and propel yourself to the top of your company.

Three great ways to stand out are by creating new products, solving difficult problems, and actively seeking out opportunities to do something truly remarkable.

1. Create a new product
You can find ideas for new products all over the place, but one of the best ways is to listen to your customers. What do they want that you don’t sell? Is there already a product on the market that will meet their needs? If not, you may have an opportunity to create a revolutionary new product that will fill this gap and satisfy an existing demand.

There are new products being released constantly, so you need something that is either completely different from what is currently available or a huge improvement. You won’t stand out by making minor changes. You need something that people will get excited about and tell their friends about — something that is different enough to create a stir in the marketplace.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Click here to continue reading »”3 Ways Remarkable Leaders Get Noticed”

Have you ever had an employee come to you with an idea or proposal to address a particular situation to which you answered with one of the following replies?

“That’s a great idea, but let’s shop this around a bit first.”

“I agree that we need to change this, but I’m not sure now is the best time.”

“It’d be nice if we could offer this, but I don’t think we can afford to right now.”

All of these responses sound understanding and appreciative of the employee’s input. And yet, notice how the use of “but” in each reply serves to effectively stop any further discussion or deeper examination of the proposal beyond this initial encounter.

Granted, there are times when leaders need to hold back eager employees because the measures they are suggesting might not be the best in terms of addressing a given problem the organization is facing. Unfortunately, such responses can also inhibit your employees’ sense of creativity and with it, your organization’s ability to innovate if the motivation behind this resistance is based on factors other than ensuring the collective success of your team.

With this in mind, here are four questions leaders can ask themselves to find out if they are letting their ‘buts’ get in the way of helping their team to succeed and thrive. Click here to continue reading »”Is Your ‘But’ Getting In The Way Of Your Team’s Success?”

If there’s one aspect of business that’s becoming clearer as a consequence of the current challenges present in today’s global economy, it’s that the most valuable resource an organization has are the people found within their workforce.

That’s why one of the most critical tasks businesses face is not only finding talented individuals, but finding those individuals who are the best fit for their organization. Equally important to this task is ensuring that you take the necessary steps to recognize and develop your employees. Otherwise, you risk losing these employees you worked so hard to find as they go elsewhere in search of better opportunities.

Perhaps the best example of this is Zappos, which not only performs additional interviews of potential candidates simply to assess “culture fit”, but which also offers new hires $2 000 to quit their jobs following a four-week training period in order to ensure those who stick around do so for the culture and not just for a regular paycheck.

Of course, we can’t all be like Zappos nor should we even try to be. But what we can learn from them is the importance of having a clarity about what our vision is and which values matter to us in terms of fulfilling our objectives. Armed with this knowledge, organizations will have a better understanding of which candidates will be a good fit for their team, as well as what leaders need to do to retain and develop their employees so that they can provide even greater value to the organization in the years ahead.

In her article “Finding (and Keeping) the Right People for Your Business”, Gina Abudi, co-author of the book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Best Practices for Small Business” shares her insights on how businesses should go about selecting and interviewing potential candidates, and what steps to take to help employees with their professional development so that they can continue to be valued contributors to your team.

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