Posts Tagged 'leadership'

The Great Illusion (Symptoms and Causes)

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The Great Illusion (Symptoms and Causes)

The Great Illusion

In life and in business, we often notice the symptoms before the causes.  Symptoms are by-products.  They are not causes.  And though symptoms will make you miserable, they are not causational.

Fever is a sign of infection.  Where is the infection?  Smoke is a sign of fire.  What is on fire?  Those are the real questions.

In business, a lack of sales is a sign that something is amiss.  The lack of sales is a symptom.  The inability of an ...

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Excellence As An Ideal

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Excellence As An Ideal

Excellence As An Ideal

Something’s amiss.  Sometime, in a galaxy far, far away, something changed.

As far back as I can remember, we were equipped for excellence.  The pursuit of perfection.  Excellence as an ideal.  I seemingly and simultaneously straddle two generations: The Baby Boomers and Generation X.  It depends upon who you ask.  It depends upon what chart you look up.

I was born in the summer of 1965 – my birthday often falling on the last day of the school year.

Things ...

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SALY

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SALY

SALY

A short title, yes.  But, it’s a short title with big implications.

What is SALY?

SALY is not the name of your sister, mother, wife, or girlfriend.  After all, it’s not even spelled correctly.

SALY is simple: It stands for Same As Last Year.

Where did SALY Come From?

SALY is a term I came across ages ago when I was discharging my duties as a CPA.  I was privileged to work with a firm called Coopers & Lybrand – a Big Eight firm.  Back ...

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A Primer on Hiring

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A Primer on Hiring

A primer on hiring

When I was little boy, the neighborhood kids would play cowboys and Indians.  The Old West wasn’t too far a distant memory back then.  And, if you are in the politically correct crowd, don’t get too excited.  This article isn’t really about cowboys and Indians.

It’s about an idiom: “Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians.”  This translates to “Too many managers and not enough workers.”  And, let’s address this right away.  This article doesn’t insinuate that mangers ...

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Business Consulting – Then and Now

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Business Consulting – Then and Now

Business Consulting: A Recent History

For the past four decades business consulting has been associated with three phenomena:

  1. A business owner comes to realize his business is broken.  He can’t fix things and he is finally ready to ask for help.
  2. A C-level executive (or Board of Directors) decides to hire an outside business consulting firm to validate his opinion.  Or, he needs to hire a scapegoat for some difficult decision the organization needs to make.
  3. A business needs to implement a new process ...
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Vision and Leadership and Effectiveness – Oh My!

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Vision and Leadership and Effectiveness – Oh My!

Vision and Leadership and Effectiveness – Oh My!

Vision and leadership and effectiveness are the proverbial lions and tigers and bears of business and life.  All are big things in and of themselves – even more so, when taken together.  Whether you are a student, a solo entrepreneur, or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, all these are necessary for success.

Vision

Vision is where you want to go.  Every successful endeavor must have an end goal in mind.

Where there is no ...

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Help Wanted or Not?

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Help Wanted or Not?

Help Wanted or Not?

When It Comes to Getting Help, There are Three Types of People:

  1. People that don’t believe they need help.
  2. People who know they need help – but are afraid to ask.
  3. People who know they need help – and are willing to ask for it.

We ALL need help.  I need help.  You need help.  Chances are, you make a living helping people.

  • Taxi drivers drive.
  • Accountants account.
  • Chefs cook.
  • Pastors shepherd.
  • Painters paint.
  • Plumbers plumb.

It is a blessing to be able to help people doing something ...

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The Best Business Blunders

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The Best Business Blunders

The Best Business Blunders

At Blue Elevator ™, we haven’t seen it all – but we have seen a lot.  Based upon observations over the past quarter of a century, here’s a list of where typical businesses come up short.

To that end, Blue Elevator ™ is pleased to publish the “Best Business Blunders.”  Needless to say, this list is a recap of what NOT to do.

  1. The list isn’t in any sort of order.
  2. There isn’t one mistake that is any more critical ...
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Leadership and the Silent Majority

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Leadership and the Silent Majority

Leadership and the silent majority

So you want to be a leader?  The leader title doesn’t just apply to those in positional leadership, such as the C-Suite (e.g. CEO, CFO, COO, etc.) – it applies to all of us who desire to make a positive impact on our workplace, ministry, and the world.  As we will address, it is important for the leader to know his or her respective constituency – and specifically, a group we will call the silent majority.

As ...

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