Skip to main content

Category: Wise

Build A Culture Of Accountability

linda Leave a comment

“What else can I do to rise above my circumstances and achieve the results I desire?”

Effective leaders, that is leaders who lead a winning team, operate on the premise that their people must focus on achieving results, and they build a culture of accountability into their team. This means that everything they personally do in that regard is to support and encourage the best outcome possible from each individual.

These sought-after leaders are able to lead their people beyond the boundaries of their ‘task’ and inspire them to pursue optimum results. They achieve this by creating an environment that motivates the individual to ask themselves, “What else can I do?”

This is a question that must be asked over and over until the desired results are achieved. “What else can I do to rise above my circumstances and achieve the results I desire?”
Read More

Goal Setting: 13 Tips for SMART Goals!

linda 1 Comment

Why Goals are Important

An often quoted 1953 Harvard Business School study on the topic of the importance of setting goals, stated that written down goals made all the difference! Is there merit in this? According to further research, this study apparently never occurred – yet has become an urban myth.

So in 2011, Gail Matthews, Ph.D., Dominican University undertook to confirm or deny whether there is merit in the myth!

A psychology professor at California’s Dominican University, Matthew’s research focus has been on the psychology of career choice and career development – goals obviously play a big part.

What the study found, provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of:

  • Accountability
  • Commitment
  • And writing down one’s goals!

Accountability

The first key insight discovered was that accountability has a positive effect on goal outcomes.

Mathew’s conclusion on accountability was that, “Those who reported their weekly progress updates achieved significantly higher outcomes than those who didn’t.”

Commitment

The second insight is that just making a public commitment makes a difference.

The conclusions of the study in this area: “Those who sent their commitments to someone else, accomplished significantly more didn’t.”

Simply sharing the goals, even once with people who will encourage and support you helps you stick with it. (Be careful not to share with those who will ridicule you though)

Written Goals

Finally, if you only do one thing in relation to your goals, write them down!

Study conclusion here, “Those in the study who wrote their goals accomplished significantly more than those who didn’t.”

This confirms what I have seen in my nearly three decades of experience in helping people achieve greater outcomes for themselves and their life.

So the question that often is raised is, “How do I set Goals, now that I know they are important?”

Here are 13 Tips for Successful Goal Setting:

Read More

7 Ways To Engage People

linda Leave a comment

Looking for some tips on really getting people engaged with what we do, I came across this great article by leadership expert Kevin Eidenberry. It’s so pertinent to the Savvy Team philosophy of teamwork that I just had to share it.

As Eidenberry says, engagement is a very trendy word, and while it is powerful, people are making it harder to understand and think about than is necessary. So to ‘engage’ people, let’s get to the heart of the matter. Let’s talk about what people really want in their lives. Because when they have these they will automatically and effortlessly be engaged in happily and effectively doing the work that’s required.

The following list won’t really surprise you, because it includes many of the things you want too.

Keep in mind that your people are people, and as individuals we certainly all want more of these things in both our personal lives and our work environment.

Remember when (and if) you provide them, engagement automatically ensues – so as leaders it’s your job to make sure you engage your people by ensuring that all seven of these things are obvious – because generally we are all much happier, more effective and co-operative when we get clarity about them!

Read More

7 LIFE LESSONS We Can Learn from Geese!

admin Leave a comment

 

A friend of mine was recently sharing with me about the innate wisdom of her chickens.  It reminded me of this wonderful story which I had bought to my business associate’s attention back in 2008. It seems particularly appropriate at this time of disruption and rapid change.

Often the rapid change that arises from inevitable growth can create overwhelm, discomfort and distress. Yet growth or death are the only two options that are offered equally to all living and sentient beings.

In the autumn you will often see geese heading north (or south depending on where you live) for the winter. If you live in a region where they pass by you’ll see them flying along in their well recognisable “V” formation.

You might be interested in knowing what science has discovered about why they fly that way, how these amazing birds cooperate and how they manage to fly such huge distances and overcome incredible odds. How they overcome challenges that would be impossible without utilising these strategies.

I appreciate these lessons because we can adapt what science has revealed from their studies of geese. Learning their strategies offers us life lessons that can help every individual get where and what he or she wants, and in a much faster and easier manner. That’s surely worth some introspection don’t you think?

Why the V Formation?

Read More