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How to Influence to Win!
There’s a widespread belief that the business world is run by powerful people. There’s some truth to that, sure. But I think it might be …
Val’s Street-Smart Management Blog
How to Deal with the Boss from Hell
With power comes the abuse of power. And where there are bosses, there are crazy bosses. It’s nothing new. —Judd Rose We’ve all had dealings …
How to Know If You’re Ready to Lead
Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better. —Bill Bradley The pinnacle of a person’s career is a leadership role, right? Well . . . not necessarily. Many …
How to Get More Done Before the End of the Year
We all aspire to be productive—yet most of us struggle to reach that goal. Now that we’re moving into the back half of 2023 (wait—July …
Running Effective Meetings, Part 2
Meetings get a bad rap, and deservedly so—most are disorganized and distracted. But they can be a critical tool for getting your team on …
How to Run Effective Meetings, Part 1
Has anyone ever said, “I wish I could go to more meetings today”? —Matt Mullenweg If you do an Internet search for “this meeting should …
Giving Difficult Feedback
We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve. —Bill Gates Effective leaders know the value of surrounding themselves with …
Building Your Self-Confidence
Throughout my professional life, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a lot of great people. People that I’ve learned from and grown professionally. Some …
The How, When and Why of Giving Feedback to Your Boss
Ultimately, feedback is intended to help someone be better at doing their job which means that giving feedback to your boss should be easy, right? …
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How to Get More Feedback from Your Boss
Good leaders recognize that through feedback they can shape project outcomes and perhaps more importantly, their direct reports’ careers. When done right, feedback is helpful …
Reinvention: Finding the New You
It is not too late to take another path. —David Suzuki Let me start with this very important declaration: You do not have to …
Wipe the Slate Clean for 2022—Here Comes 2023!
Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas and progress. —Charles Kettering I love using hard-copy …
Overcoming the Year-End Madness Without Losing Your Mind (or Your Health)
In the spirit of the season, I offer you this gift: Twelve tips for overcoming the year-end madness! In the run-up to the end of the …
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What To Do If You Hate Your Job
I recently celebrated a big milestone in my life. This one was right up there with getting my driver’s license when I turned 16 (and …
6 Strategies for Upskilling Your Workforce Starting RIGHT NOW
As the business world continues to rebound from the pandemic, many companies are taking to heart the lessons they learned during two years of staffing challenges. …
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Lead from the Chair You’re In
Just because you aren’t in the C-suite or managing people doesn’t mean you can’t be a leader. Far from it actually! Without question, leadership skills are …
Developing Training that Doesn’t Suck
Developing your own training internally? Hiring an external company? Here’s how to ensure you’re developing training that doesn’t suck.
Mid-Year Reset: How to Get S#it Done between Now and the End of the Year, Part 2
Part 1 of Get S#it Done between Now and the End of the Year laid the foundation for our plan over the next six months. …
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Mid-Year Reset: How to Get S#it Done between Now and the End of the Year (PART I)
The business world has long used “Christmas in July” to motivate people to do holiday-caliber shopping in the middle of the year. If that nudge …
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Part 2: Improve Your Time Management and Focus to Improve Your Work—and Deliver Real Results
In my previous blog post, I discussed how to start tackling your time management issues by taking a high-level perspective of the big picture and figuring …