Stakeholder Engagement – How to be more successful by creatively
Complexity. Change. Uncertainty. These are the “givens” in
your world. Yet, one simple “rule of business” remains
constant. Your organization’s ability to execute is the
ultimate determinant of your success. And, when it comes to
effective execution you just can’t do it in a vacuum. You
must create stakeholder-based innovations, strategies,
systems and processes, and metrics if you want to really
execute. You need to become an OUTERPRISE.
What is an OUTERPRISE? Simply stated… your enterprise
alone is no longer enough. Superior execution demands a new
way of thinking – one that takes an “outside in” approach.
We call this the Outerprise. You need to invite your
customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders into your
organization, integrating them into your team, and enabling
them to have a real impact on your business. Tap into this
critical resource to achieve new levels of performance and
competitive advantage.
Who are the critical stakeholders?
Using Internet Fax Comparison Charts To Find The Best Fax Service
Copyright (c) 2007 Titus Hoskins
Using comparison charts is a time tested method of quickly
finding the best deal for any product or service you wish
to buy. Whether you’re looking for the latest large screen
TV or the cheapest Internet fax service, comparison charts
will quickly give you the necessary information you need to
make an informed decision.
The main reason shoppers use comparison charts is time. You
can save time by accessing all relevant data (prices,
sizes, ratings, customer support, merchants, etc.) you need
to make an informed decision. Comparison charts will give
you all this vital information at a glance.
When choosing a business service such as Internet fax we
have to be especially careful before we make our decision.
Whenever we are buying any service we have to be extremely
prudent. How reliable is the service? How good is the
customer support if we should have problems? Are there any
hidden fees which will rob us blind? Is the service
completely scalable for any company or business which
suddenly expands?
How Much Should You Charge?
When marketing a product or service, businesses find it
difficult to set their prices. Too high, and no-one will
buy, too low, everyone will buy, but you will go broke. So
how do you set your prices?
The basic principle of pricing is that you should set your
prices as high as the market will allow. But what does that
mean? (You may not decide to do this for other marketing
reasons such as trying to buy customers, or offering an
introductory price to encourage people to try a new product
or service. But this should be a conscious strategic
decision.)
When setting their prices, the single biggest mistake that
businesses make is not to understand the value they offer
compared with their competitors. So you must understand why
your product is better than everyone else’s.
Is it stronger? Does it last longer? Is it better designed?
Does it look better? If it is a service, what are the
superior results you provide? What is the value of such
differences to the buyer?
Injecting Fuel Into Your Mastermind Fire
Mastermind Groups are a great way to meet creative, innovational, and thought provoking people. You bounce ideas off of each other and collaborate and elaborate on each of the ideas. Some of the best discussions have come from seemingly “ridiculous†ideas, but once you start going through the process and discussing the idea, it actually creates a positive and energizing dialog.
What happens after you’ve been in the same group, with the same people month after month? It starts to get boring!
There are a couple of things you can do to prevent this problem.
A Better Strategy for Hiring
There is a valuable lesson managers can learn about
recruiting from professional sports. In professional
sports, each change in a team’s line-up makes headlines.
Fans speculate how their team will fare with the loss of
one player or the addition of another. And for coaches,
every change in the line-up is critical, their jobs
frequently hanging in the balance. Each pick, therefore,
is based upon a careful, strategic, selection process.
Moreover, the selection process often begins long before an
actual change. It’s the sports world’s s approach to
succession planning.
The same dynamics should hold true for hiring members of
the organization’s team. Yet too few managers rank
themselves high in selection or interviewing skills. Fewer
still are trained in the skills needed for adequate
succession planning. Many managers, in fact, go to
inordinate lengths to retain mediocre employees rather than
face making changes. And some readily acknowledge that the
person most likely to get a job is not the best person for
the job, but the person best skilled in job hunting
techniques. What’s a manager to do? Learn from the “pros”.
Relationships Versus Leadership
Effective leadership is a complex combination of skills,
knowledge, and other “personality” qualities all rolled
into one person or role. Find the right combinations, and
your leadership career will prosper. But how important is
it as a leader, to build great relationships based on trust
and respect?
Our focus at LeadershipMentor.net is to teach new leaders
how to be more successful. The reason we enjoy the new
leaders, is because they typically are not “locked in” to a
communication or leadership “style”. They are open to
learning how they can approach their new position to be
successful. Try to sell an experienced leader that
building relationships based on trust and respect is vital
to success, and they will usually point out their great
track record without this focus. In other words, they
simply use positional authority to get things done, rather
than influence.
So how can you build relationships with those around you,
that are truly based on trust and respect?
Leadership: Being Open to Feedback
Oftentimes leaders say they are eager for opinions about
their performance. In many cases, they honestly do want it.
Some say they are open to feedback, but their behavior says
otherwise. People in leadership roles can find it
challenging to go about getting honest feedback concerning
their job performance. Many executives hire coaches and
consultants like me to collect feedback anonymously from
people who otherwise would be uncomfortable offering
opinions. We, as neutral parties, can report what we learn
without fear of reprisal.
Jerry, the deputy director of a large non-profit
organization, told me that he is confident in his talent as
a leader and is committed to improving his skill. During
our first session, we decided to do a 360 assessment to
step up his growth. We used an on-line survey tool to
gather feedback from his boss, his peers, direct reporters,
and his customers. Jerry was excited about the process and
eager to hear what people had to say.
The feedback turned out not to be what Jerry expected; in
fact, he did not like the results. Jerry assessed his
leadership skills quite differently than the survey
responders did. While he saw himself as open to other
people’s ideas, the responders reported him to be
autocratic and controlling. What Jerry saw as honesty and
commitment to the growth of his staff and the organization
came across to the feedback providers as arrogance and a
tendency to be overly critical.
Another Year Hating Your Job or Loving Life?
Copyright (c) 2007 Mary Foley
I’ve come to the conclusion that to be successful – really
successful – you’ve got to love what you do.
Not like it okay. Not do it because you know how. Not do
it because you’ve invested so much time and energy into it.
I mean LOVE it! The kind of love that makes you want to
get up in the morning and get going. Because your work has
meaning, significance, and fulfillment. If these aren’t
words that describe what you do day-in and day-out, then
perhaps this year is the time to make a change, to step up
to your big, bodacious moment – or BoMo as I call it.
How satisfied are you with your career on a scale of 1 to
10, with 10 being extremely satisfied?
3 Job Interview Questions You Must Master
When The Recruiter Asks:Â Â Â “Do You Have Any Questions?”
Usually this question is always reserved for last during an
interview, and it’s hardly a fluffy, throw away question.
It may just seem like the interview is over and they are
asking this question as a courtesy. FORGET ABOUT IT!! This
can be the make it or break it interview question. Point
is this .. the interview questions never stop until you
actually leave the office!
Your answer here will be the last thing they hear from you.
You can so easily make it a memorable moment by having a
really good question to ask. No self serving questions
please, those are killers and reason enough to dismiss your
chances. Asking about on going training’ or “‘if hired, I
would be very interested in moving to the next level, can
you tell me what certifications I would need’ or “‘can you
tell me if there is a company policy in place should there
be a Pandemic’ “‘ a thinking person asks these type of
questions. That’ll be a great impression to leave them with.
If you do proper research on the company first, you’ll come
up with great questions to ask them.
When The Recruiter Asks:Â Â Â “What Do You Know About Our
Company?”
Set Sane Financial Goals
Copyright (c) 2007 Audrey Burton
Setting unreasonable financial goals for your business can
make you crazy! You may think you are motivating yourself
to achieve more by setting your expectations high, but the
opposite is often true.
Big businesses have systems and algorithms for projecting
their financial goals, and so should you. Yours can be
much less sophisticated and complicated and can yield the
same result.
When your business is new, setting your goals is kind-of a
shot in the dark. Unless you have some data on which to
base your projections, you will most likely be estimating.
Talk to people in your same industry to find out what they
earned in their first years, keeping in mind how your
business differs from theirs.
