Focus on Business
05/14/2012 7:00:00 AM
A lot of people have given up on this idea. They act as if their lives are limited to a series of trade-offs, and they end up making difficult choices they really don’t want to make.
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05/07/2012 7:00:00 AM
Many lenders today may feel a little bit like Max, Mel Gibson’s iconic character in the 1980s futuristic sci-fi movie trilogy Mad Max. In the same way that the post-apocalyptic landscape faced by Max was a far different world than existed before, the post-financial crisis lending landscape is far different from what existed before 2008.
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04/30/2012 7:00:00 AM
A frequent refrain of top managers is "we need to do a better job of holding people accountable." Accountability seems to be the mantra for organizational get-well programs these days. One can agree with this in part, and yet there is an aspect of accountability that feels like a cop-out.
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04/23/2012 7:00:00 AM
Flash back almost three years ago, to the “technical” end of the Great Recession in June of 2009. The depth of the financial crisis was just beginning to be felt, and banks were tightening the reins on credit, which resulted in a credit crunch that made it nearly impossible for many businesses to obtain the capital they needed to grow, much less keep their operations going.
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04/16/2012 7:00:00 AM
Along with the existence of positive and constructive team roles, negative and destructive agendas can emerge that undermine the ability of individual teams to function and perform adequately.
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04/09/2012 7:00:00 AM
About half of all new businesses started in the U.S. will be out of business within five years. Or in other words, the long-term success rate for U.S. businesses is only about 50 percent.
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04/02/2012 7:20:00 AM
Do you work in an organization where you feel included, empowered and supported by your peers and superiors? Do you believe in the organization’s vision and understand your role in achieving that vision? We all have times when we feel unsupported and undervalued. But, the best places to work know how to translate burnout into engagement. Leading organizations today create organizational community: a sense of the organization as an interdependent entity in which all stakeholders’ needs are taken into consideration and win-win solutions are supported. ...
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03/26/2012 7:00:00 AM
If the product or service helps the customer, they like it, they want it, then why would it not be a top priority, if not the No. 1 priority? The answer is simple. Your product or service cannot become a client’s No. 1 priority until you understand the customer's priorities. ...
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03/19/2012 7:00:00 AM
It is human nature to try to motivate another person from the same basis as one’s own perspective. However, being motivated is an internal effort and therefore arguably cannot be instilled in someone else; rather, it must be self-induced. ...
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03/12/2012 7:00:00 AM
Resiliency is the ability to recognize, recover from and adjust to misfortune or change. Sustainability says that you’ve figured out how to get through a situation effectively and have come out the other end better for it. Resiliency and sustainability function together as you figure out how to identify stressors that work against you and begin to set the path that brings you through them. It’s just like a rubber band. ...
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03/05/2012 7:00:00 AM
“Are you working hard or hardly working?” This question often gets a chuckle. Unfortunately, it’s less humorous as it has become increasingly more difficult to find hard-working help. Many employers are challenged daily by the frustration of lackadaisical attitudes of their personnel, which is seemingly contagious and complicated by the expense of constant turnover.
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02/27/2012 7:00:00 AM
Do you have an idea to improve your organization or department that you want upper management to adopt? Do you need to close a sale? In situations like these, you are the underdog. It’s a given that it takes a team or coalition of people to effect change. We even see this tactic at play in reality shows where contestants are pitted against each other, where it’s usually portrayed as a dastardly tactic. However, you should consider this tactic to move your request or cause up the corporate ladder.
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