On-the-job Success

How 360 Assessments Can Help (Not Hurt) Performance

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360 degree view shutterstock_146736260An article in the New York Times slams 360 reviews for being “cruel” and counterproductive. The author describes 360s as being too often the conduit for mean-spirited attacks, not founded on substance, and reflecting an absence of constructive criticism. I actually agree with the article’s point of view for the types of 360s described. Yet I find 360s to be incredibly helpful to clients if conducted the right way.More

Leadership vs. Management: A Client’s Story (Part 1)

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fernglasBringing a leadership mindset to your job (a compelling vision that you can influence others to support), no matter what your level, is a key to helping you stand out and move up (or stay employed) in an organization. Recent client experiences have once again reinforced this point for me. In this first of a two part blog entry, I’ll share with you how an executive-level client’s leadership mindset was key to her early success in a new job. In Part 2, I’ll share with you how a client on one of the lower rungs of the corporate ladder was able to achieve success by demonstrating leadership.More

Choose the Right Leadership Style to Get Results

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animal,cute,ducks,d_b,cuteness,animals-b832101ed6b4383c27bd1f7d64f115bd_hWhen we need someone’s help or cooperation, most of us will adapt our style to the audience and environment.  For example, we might communicate differently with a colleague depending on their level of motivation, or whether there’s a severe time crunch or not. While you want to keep that same flexibility when managing staff, default to an influencing and delegating leadership style unless there’s a good reason not to. Here’s why:More

Surprise! Start Your Presentation Off with a Bang

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GossipBring the element of surprise into your presentation to make it memorable and powerful. Humans evolved to remember the unusual and the shocking; use this knowledge to your benefit!

For example, I coached one client to begin his presentation (to an executive audience at a Fortune 500 company) with a slide that had one single large number on it. Then he said:

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Giving a Presentation? How to Address their #1 Question

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Raised hands in presentation
They all have the same question

I once went to a seminar where the presenter was sharing some leadership development ideas with the audience. At the end of the presentation, we were all left with the same question— What do we do with this information? In fact, someone asked this very question (“what is our next step…”), and the presenter’s response was “That’s a good question, I’m not sure.” BIG mistake, and it was the key reason his presentation was a fail.

The number one question any audience member has is “how does this help me?” For your presentation to have any chance of achieving greatness (or even goodness), you must answer this question.More

3 Tips for Delivering a Powerful Presentation

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How you present yourself or your work can determine a potential promotion, sale, or job offer. These three simple ideas, from my new book, Peak Presentations, can go a long way towards helping you achieve the outcomes you want.

PowerPoint Slides: Don’t Compete!
When using PowerPoint slides to support a presentation, make sure the slide content doesn’t compete with what you are saying. More

Presentations: 6 Ways to Hook Your Audience

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When you are giving a presentation, look to actively engage your audience right from the start. Don’t assume they are paying attention; they may be thinking about their last meeting or the next one! So go beyond the dry and conventional; Capture their imagination, make them part of the show. Use any of these six approaches to hook your audience, so you can then reel them in with a memorable, powerful presentation.More

The Single Best Presentation Tip: Tell a Great Story

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Whether your goal is to sell, inform, or land a job offer, telling engaging, relevant stories can turn even a so-so presentation into a great one. Illustrating your points with the right stories will have a far stronger impact than many other things you can do, including slide design, body language, eye contact, and so forth.More

Improve Productivity with Effective Contact Management

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Note: This post originally appeared on the MENG website
Having an effective contact management system can save you a lot of time and missed opportunities, whether you are in business for yourself, in a job search, or on the job.  It’s just too easy to let your inbox grow to unmanageable proportions, miss an important follow-up, waste time with things like “filing” or looking for that one email, or lose touch with potential clients.  The key to solving all these problems and more, for me and for my clients, is to have a desktop-based or cloud-based system where all communication elements for a contact are associated with the contact, together in one place.  These elements include:More

Performance Reviews, Part 1: What Managers Should Know

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This post first appeared on the Five O’Clock Club’s website
Performance reviews are widely used in organizations, yet are implemented inconsistently and are often controversial: Do they work? What’s the best way to implement them? Don’t unfair grudges or favoritism, or other forms of bias, fatally compromise them? I’ll begin to share with you a few thoughts on each of these questions in this first of a two part blog post.More

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